Notes 47
Channel surfing from security of our home surreal. Our ally exposed for what he has been for the past 30 years, a ruthless, repressive dictator and our friend. Makes Bull Connor look like a pussycat while demonstrators continue the tactics that brought down British Empire in India
Egypt protesters throng square after violence
By Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press –
CAIRO –
Thousands including families with children flowed over bridges across the Nile into Tahrir Square, a sign that they were not intimidated after the protesters fended off everything thrown at them by pro-Mubarak attackers — storms of hurled concrete, metal rebar and firebombs, fighters on horses and camels and automatic gunfire barrages. The protesters passed through a series of beefed-up checkpoints by the military and the protesters themselves guarding the square.
_____________________________________________________
THIS is TRANSFORMATION. A new world at hand
Noam Chomsky | "The Arab World Is on Fire"
Noam Chomsky: "'The Arab world is on fire,' al-Jazeera reported on Jan. 27, while throughout the region, Western allies 'are quickly losing their influence.' The shock wave was set in motion by the dramatic uprising in Tunisia that drove out a Western-backed dictator, with reverberations especially in Egypt, where demonstrators overwhelmed a dictator's brutal police. Observers compared the events to the toppling of Russian domains in 1989, but there are important differences."
______________________________________________________
Maybe there are some Christ values acquired along the way. The deaths mount. Like U.S losses in Afghanistan since the start of the war ten years ago
US Officials: US-Egypt discuss Mubarak quitting
By MATTHEW LEE and BEN FELLER, Associated Press Matthew Lee And Ben Feller, Associated Press – 42 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is in talks with top Egyptian officials about the possible immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and the formation of an interim government that could prepare the country for free and fair elections later this year, U.S. officials said late Thursday.
Creation of a military-backed caretaker government in Egypt is one of several ideas being discussed as anti-Mubarak protests escalate in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, the officials said. Those protests are expected to grow in size and intensity on Friday and the administration fears they may erupt into more widespread violence unless the government takes tangible steps to address the protesters' main demand that Mubarak leave office.
___________________________________
Modern Christian orthodoxy in America at odds with Christ of the Via Dolorosa, hung on the cross on Golgotha, turning his cheek, forgiving his tormentors, and abjuring wealth. No warrior He.
Presidency has 'deepened my faith,' Obama says
– Thu Feb 3, 11:31 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's two years in the White House have deepened his Christian faith, he said Thursday as he brushed aside lingering doubts by some Americans who still believe he is Muslim.
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama was put in the extraordinary position of having to reassure American voters that he is a Christian
_______________________________________________
There is nothing as terrible as killing another human being. And there is nothing like the scenes playing before us this past week to show its brutality. But if you want to see it up close and grasp its pain and its complexity and the oppression that leads people to rebel whether they are Irish or Egyptian, see this movie
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Ireland, 1920. Damien and Teddy are brothers. But while the latter is already the leader of a guerrilla squad fighting for the independence of his motherland, Damien, a medical graduate of University College, would rather further his training at the London hospital where he has found a place. However, shortly before his departure, he happens to witness atrocities committed by the ferocious Black and Tans and finally decides to join the resistance group led by Teddy. The two brothers fight side by side until a truce is signed. But peace is short-lived and when one faction of the freedom-fighters accepts a treaty with the British that is regarded as unfair by the other faction, a civil war ensues, pitting Irishmen against Irishmen, brothers against brothers, Teddy against Damien....
________________________________________________
They made me do it. That’s the reason AT&T was eavesdropping against the law. It’s always the reason when we won’t oppose what is wrong
Vodafone: Egypt forced us to send text messages
Vodafone says Egyptian authorities forced it to broadcast pro-government text messages
Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press, On Thursday February 3, 2011
LONDON (AP) -- Egyptian authorities forced Vodafone to broadcast pro-government text messages during the protests that have rocked the country, the U.K.-based mobile company said Thursday.
_________________________________________________
Why we’re in trouble as a nation? Money is the bottom line driving every decision.
Maybe Alaskans could just pay taxes instead of living off the oil dole and the disproportionate return they get from the Feds for what they pay in.
Shell: No Beaufort Sea drilling in Arctic for 2011
Dan Joling, Associated Press, On Thursday February 3, 2011
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) --
Alaska receives upward of 90 percent of its general fund revenue from the petroleum industry, and top state officials reacted strongly to the decision. U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, blamed the Obama administration and the EPA.
"Their foot dragging means the loss of another exploration season in Alaska, the loss of nearly 800 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs," Begich said. "That doesn't count the millions of dollars in contracting that won't happen either at a time when our economy needs the investment."
"...an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society - cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian." -Howard Zinn,
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Les Miserables
The scene in Libration Square real time yesterday reminded me sadly of the battle scene in Les Miserable, t this time on a world stage, the revolutionaries behind makeshift barricades, outmanned, outgunned, and outraged. The feeling of the Battle of the Bulge, surrounded, no food, no drink, and no hope but staring at the enemy and saying “Nuts!”
Clashes Erupt in Cairo Between Mubarak's Allies and Foes
Anthony Shadid, David D. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim, The New York Times News Service: "President Obama's calls for a rapid transition to a new order in Egypt seemed eclipsed on Wednesday as a choreographed surge of thousands of people chanting support for the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, fought running battles with a larger number of antigovernment protesters in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square. Both sides exchanges volleys of Molotov cocktails and rocks, while the military restricted itself mostly to guarding the Egyptian Museum and using water cannons to extinguish the flames."
Watch Live: Revolution in Egypt
Watch Al Jazeera English's coverage, live on the scene in Egypt
___________________________________________________
These are HEROES
Egypt army moves to stop assault on protesters
Maggie Michael, Associated Press – CAIRO – Egyptian army tanks and soldiers cleared away pro-government rioters and deployed between them and protesters seeking the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, as the prime minister made an unprecedented apology Thursday for the assault by regime backers that turned central Cairo into a battle zone.
The military began to move with muscle for the first time to stop the fighting early Thursday after a barrage of automatic gunfire hit the anti-government camp before dawn, killing at least three protesters in a serious escalation.
A sense of victory ran through the protesters, even as they organized their ranks in the streets in case of a new assault. "Thank God, we managed to protect the whole area," said Abdul-Rahman, a taxi driver who spent the night in the square. "We prevented the pro-Mubarak people from storming the streets leading to the square."
Clearly there is a difference between “backers” and hired guns. If the media is not sure, they should use words that do not appear to show Mubarak has public support.
Mubarak backers attack foes with firebombs, bricks
CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.
___________________________________________________
Clashes Erupt in Cairo Between Mubarak's Allies and Foes
Anthony Shadid, David D. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim, The New York Times News Service: "President Obama's calls for a rapid transition to a new order in Egypt seemed eclipsed on Wednesday as a choreographed surge of thousands of people chanting support for the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, fought running battles with a larger number of antigovernment protesters in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square. Both sides exchanges volleys of Molotov cocktails and rocks, while the military restricted itself mostly to guarding the Egyptian Museum and using water cannons to extinguish the flames."
Watch Live: Revolution in Egypt
Watch Al Jazeera English's coverage, live on the scene in Egypt
___________________________________________________
These are HEROES
Egypt army moves to stop assault on protesters
Maggie Michael, Associated Press – CAIRO – Egyptian army tanks and soldiers cleared away pro-government rioters and deployed between them and protesters seeking the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, as the prime minister made an unprecedented apology Thursday for the assault by regime backers that turned central Cairo into a battle zone.
The military began to move with muscle for the first time to stop the fighting early Thursday after a barrage of automatic gunfire hit the anti-government camp before dawn, killing at least three protesters in a serious escalation.
A sense of victory ran through the protesters, even as they organized their ranks in the streets in case of a new assault. "Thank God, we managed to protect the whole area," said Abdul-Rahman, a taxi driver who spent the night in the square. "We prevented the pro-Mubarak people from storming the streets leading to the square."
Clearly there is a difference between “backers” and hired guns. If the media is not sure, they should use words that do not appear to show Mubarak has public support.
Mubarak backers attack foes with firebombs, bricks
CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.
___________________________________________________
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Internet "Kill" switch; gloves are off in Egypt; obscene Wall Street payroll
Notes 46
Timing terrible for trying to get public support for this after affairs in Egypt. Or are the people going to lay down for this like they did for eavesdropping in the Patriot Act? And TSA feeling up their bodies at the airport? Seems like people in government are preparing to protect themselves from public.
Internet 'Kill Switch' Approved By Senate Homeland Security Committee
Bianca Bosker, Huffington Post
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved a cybersecurity bill, Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), that would give the president far-reaching authority over the Internet in the case of emergency.
As The Hill explains, the bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, and Tom Carper, would give the president "emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life."
[or a fed up populace saying they won’t take it anymore]
___________________________________________
This is not Health Care negotiation. Obama’s going to have to get his hands dirty, show proof of life
US condemns violence in Egypt, chides government
Bradley Klapper And Matthew Lee, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON – The United States criticized the government of President Hosni Mubarak and condemned violence in Egypt's capital as clashes between protesters and pro-government supporters demonstrated there would be no easy resolution to the unrest destabilizing America's closest ally in the Arab world.
A day after President Barack Obama pressed Mubarak to loosen his grip on power immediately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. "deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt."
"We are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators," he added in a statement. "We repeat our strong call for restraint."
______________________________________________
Clearly there is a difference between “backers” and hired guns. If the media is not sure, they should use words that do not appear to show Mubarak has public support.
Mubarak backers attack foes with firebombs, bricks
CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.
______________________________________________
People abandoned once. No gold the second time. Maybe we’ll get a bike-riding, Mandarin-speaking ambassador to China who has done his mission and believes in service
Dems choose Charlotte for 2012 convention
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama's selection of this Southern city for the 2012 Democratic convention signals he will try to reassemble his diverse coalition of 2008 supporters and fight for the conservative-leaning states that helped him win the White House
The convention's apparent theme — The People's Convention — indicates that the president will try to rekindle the grass-roots flavor of his groundbreaking 2008 bid.
______________________________________________
If they’d sunk or swam on their own, perhaps their obscene compensation might be bearable. But the continuing free money from the Fed makes this unbearable.
Wall Street pay hits new record
By Zachary Roth
For most Americans, wage growth has been sluggish, to say the least, ever since the Great Recession began in late 2007. But that's not the case for Wall Street, the sector that helped cause the downturn. In fact, it looks like for the financial industry, the good times are well and truly back.
Less than two years after a massive government bailout, total Wall Street compensation hit a new record of $135 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The rise is in part the result of increased revenue, which also spiked to a record high of $417 billion.
The average Wall Streeter is now paid $141,000 -- up 3 percent from last year.
__________________________________________________
Israel at center of GOP early hopefuls’ search for international credentials
The GOP Line on Egypt -- and Obama
By Michael Crowley, TIME
This is a tricky place for the GOP candidates, and the way this debate plays out with tell us interesting things about how the Republican Party has changed on foreign policy since George W. Bush left office. Republicans have spent most of the post-9/11 era positioning themselves as the champions of freedom and democracy abroad. The GOP has also positioned itself as the true defender of Israel against a Democratic Party which, in this telling, obsesses over Israeli settlements and wants to negotiate with Israel's mortal foes, Iran and Hezbollah. Consider the way leading GOP 2012 contenders - Romney, Pawlenty, and soon Haley Barbour - have been visiting Israel to kiss Bibi Netanyahu's ring. If they're looking to impress Netanyahu and emphasize their pro-Israel bona fides, then, the Republicans will couch their enthusiasm about Cairo's revolution.
_____________________________________________
So the gloves are off. Obama’s made his final deal with the devil and the people get screwed again. Reminiscent of the Soviet Spring of ‘68, Tiannemen Square in China, Shia in southern Iraq, Intafada in Israel.
Mubarak supporters, protesters clash in Egypt
Violence comes as country's military calls for end to demonstrations
CAIRO — Hundreds of pro-government supporters attacked protesters Wednesday in Cairo's central square, where thousands were pushing ahead with demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak supporters were out in the streets for the first time Wednesday in large numbers, with thousands demanding an end to the anti-government movement a day after the president went on national television and rejected demands for him to step down.
"We saw rocks flying in all directions … it was total mayhem," an Al-Jazeera correspondent in the area of Tahrir Square told the TV station.
_____________________________________________
The dominoes are falling--but not in Far East. An unholy alliance made in midst of turmoil with Iran in ’79 and built on buying Egypt for Israel is coming unglued
Yemen's President to retire in 2013
BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is pledging to step down, after his second term expires in 2013.
Sunday's announcement, follows eight days of popular protests, demanding his ouster, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, and other major cities.
They expressed outrage, at potential Constitutional amendments, which could make Saleh, the country's President for life.
____________________________________
More original plotters in 911--but no attack on Qatar OR Saudi. All pressure on Pakistan/Afghanistan
WikiLeaks cable shows three Qataris in September 11 plot
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A classified U.S. document obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks shows three previously undisclosed participants in the September 11, 2001 plot, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
"There is no manhunt," the official was quoted as saying. "There is no active case. They were looked at, but it washed out," he was quoted as saying, downplaying a report by Britain's The Daily Telegraph, which said the FBI has launched a manhunt for the previously unknown team of men suspected to be part of the attacks.
__________________________________________________
Uncertainty not stopping health insurers like the media is fond of saying about business managers. Uncertainty all a smokescreen. Business is a gamble always filled with uncertainty.
Too big to stop? Obama's overhaul lumbers on
By Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press --
WASHINGTON – It has too much momentum for one judge to stop it.
Most insurers, hospital executives and state officials expect they'll keep carrying out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even after a federal judge cast its fate in doubt by declaring all of it unconstitutional.
"I don't think people are going to hit the stop button," said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of the consulting firm. "You probably don't make the big bets right now, but you make the incremental investments in case you have to make the big bets 6 or 12 or 18 months down the road. Everyone proceeds with an informed approach."
___
Associated Press writer Bill Kaczor in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Timing terrible for trying to get public support for this after affairs in Egypt. Or are the people going to lay down for this like they did for eavesdropping in the Patriot Act? And TSA feeling up their bodies at the airport? Seems like people in government are preparing to protect themselves from public.
Internet 'Kill Switch' Approved By Senate Homeland Security Committee
Bianca Bosker, Huffington Post
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved a cybersecurity bill, Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), that would give the president far-reaching authority over the Internet in the case of emergency.
As The Hill explains, the bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, and Tom Carper, would give the president "emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life."
[or a fed up populace saying they won’t take it anymore]
___________________________________________
This is not Health Care negotiation. Obama’s going to have to get his hands dirty, show proof of life
US condemns violence in Egypt, chides government
Bradley Klapper And Matthew Lee, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON – The United States criticized the government of President Hosni Mubarak and condemned violence in Egypt's capital as clashes between protesters and pro-government supporters demonstrated there would be no easy resolution to the unrest destabilizing America's closest ally in the Arab world.
A day after President Barack Obama pressed Mubarak to loosen his grip on power immediately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. "deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt."
"We are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators," he added in a statement. "We repeat our strong call for restraint."
______________________________________________
Clearly there is a difference between “backers” and hired guns. If the media is not sure, they should use words that do not appear to show Mubarak has public support.
Mubarak backers attack foes with firebombs, bricks
CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.
______________________________________________
People abandoned once. No gold the second time. Maybe we’ll get a bike-riding, Mandarin-speaking ambassador to China who has done his mission and believes in service
Dems choose Charlotte for 2012 convention
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama's selection of this Southern city for the 2012 Democratic convention signals he will try to reassemble his diverse coalition of 2008 supporters and fight for the conservative-leaning states that helped him win the White House
The convention's apparent theme — The People's Convention — indicates that the president will try to rekindle the grass-roots flavor of his groundbreaking 2008 bid.
______________________________________________
If they’d sunk or swam on their own, perhaps their obscene compensation might be bearable. But the continuing free money from the Fed makes this unbearable.
Wall Street pay hits new record
By Zachary Roth
For most Americans, wage growth has been sluggish, to say the least, ever since the Great Recession began in late 2007. But that's not the case for Wall Street, the sector that helped cause the downturn. In fact, it looks like for the financial industry, the good times are well and truly back.
Less than two years after a massive government bailout, total Wall Street compensation hit a new record of $135 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The rise is in part the result of increased revenue, which also spiked to a record high of $417 billion.
The average Wall Streeter is now paid $141,000 -- up 3 percent from last year.
__________________________________________________
Israel at center of GOP early hopefuls’ search for international credentials
The GOP Line on Egypt -- and Obama
By Michael Crowley, TIME
This is a tricky place for the GOP candidates, and the way this debate plays out with tell us interesting things about how the Republican Party has changed on foreign policy since George W. Bush left office. Republicans have spent most of the post-9/11 era positioning themselves as the champions of freedom and democracy abroad. The GOP has also positioned itself as the true defender of Israel against a Democratic Party which, in this telling, obsesses over Israeli settlements and wants to negotiate with Israel's mortal foes, Iran and Hezbollah. Consider the way leading GOP 2012 contenders - Romney, Pawlenty, and soon Haley Barbour - have been visiting Israel to kiss Bibi Netanyahu's ring. If they're looking to impress Netanyahu and emphasize their pro-Israel bona fides, then, the Republicans will couch their enthusiasm about Cairo's revolution.
_____________________________________________
So the gloves are off. Obama’s made his final deal with the devil and the people get screwed again. Reminiscent of the Soviet Spring of ‘68, Tiannemen Square in China, Shia in southern Iraq, Intafada in Israel.
Mubarak supporters, protesters clash in Egypt
Violence comes as country's military calls for end to demonstrations
CAIRO — Hundreds of pro-government supporters attacked protesters Wednesday in Cairo's central square, where thousands were pushing ahead with demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak supporters were out in the streets for the first time Wednesday in large numbers, with thousands demanding an end to the anti-government movement a day after the president went on national television and rejected demands for him to step down.
"We saw rocks flying in all directions … it was total mayhem," an Al-Jazeera correspondent in the area of Tahrir Square told the TV station.
_____________________________________________
The dominoes are falling--but not in Far East. An unholy alliance made in midst of turmoil with Iran in ’79 and built on buying Egypt for Israel is coming unglued
Yemen's President to retire in 2013
BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is pledging to step down, after his second term expires in 2013.
Sunday's announcement, follows eight days of popular protests, demanding his ouster, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, and other major cities.
They expressed outrage, at potential Constitutional amendments, which could make Saleh, the country's President for life.
____________________________________
More original plotters in 911--but no attack on Qatar OR Saudi. All pressure on Pakistan/Afghanistan
WikiLeaks cable shows three Qataris in September 11 plot
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A classified U.S. document obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks shows three previously undisclosed participants in the September 11, 2001 plot, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
"There is no manhunt," the official was quoted as saying. "There is no active case. They were looked at, but it washed out," he was quoted as saying, downplaying a report by Britain's The Daily Telegraph, which said the FBI has launched a manhunt for the previously unknown team of men suspected to be part of the attacks.
__________________________________________________
Uncertainty not stopping health insurers like the media is fond of saying about business managers. Uncertainty all a smokescreen. Business is a gamble always filled with uncertainty.
Too big to stop? Obama's overhaul lumbers on
By Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press --
WASHINGTON – It has too much momentum for one judge to stop it.
Most insurers, hospital executives and state officials expect they'll keep carrying out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even after a federal judge cast its fate in doubt by declaring all of it unconstitutional.
"I don't think people are going to hit the stop button," said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of the consulting firm. "You probably don't make the big bets right now, but you make the incremental investments in case you have to make the big bets 6 or 12 or 18 months down the road. Everyone proceeds with an informed approach."
___
Associated Press writer Bill Kaczor in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Today's news before it stinks--Obama, Blair, Mubarak, revolutionaries
Notes 45
Will a transitional government under Mubarak lead to same betrayal as transformational government under Obama and all the elation and hope for a new democracy be destroyed? Interestingly, the rise of Mubarak in Egypt in 1981 coincided with the decay of democracy beginning with Reagan in the same year
Jubilant crowds flood Cairo, escalating protests
Sarah El Deeb And Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press – CAIRO –
More than a quarter-million people flooded Cairo's main square Tuesday in a stunning and jubilant array of young and old, urban poor and middle class professionals, mounting by far the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.
The movement to drive Mubarak out has been built on the work of on-line activists and fueled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the Tunisia unrest took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a once-unimaginable series of protests across this nation of 80 million people — the region's most populous country.
_______________________________________________
An interesting rewriting of history. Blair says Sadam was a brutal dictator whose leadership led to an impoverished country while Mubarak was a benign dictator whose leadership led to improving standards for Egyptians--skipping over fact that Iraq suffered under years of progressively punishing embargoes while Egypt was showered with billions.
Tony Blair tells Piers Morgan why it's "over" for Mubarak (even if he stays until elections)
Tony Blair was interviewed by Piers Morgan for tonight's "Piers Morgan Tonight" and When Piers Morgan asked if Blair thinks Mubarak should stay in power until elections and not leave immediately--
MORGAN: If you don't have world leaders telling him publicly it's over, aren't you going to create a - a vacuum and a
void here into which the extremists could well come?
BLAIR: Well, it is over, in the sense that whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a period of transition until we get to elections.
____________________________________________________
So the man in the street gets promise of new leadership--next year--and the U.S. juggles all its promises to loyal dictators
Egypt's Mubarak says he won't run for a new term
AP – In this image from Egyptian state television aired Tuesday evening Feb 1 2011, Egyptian President Hosni …
By SARAH EL DEEB and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Sarah El Deeb And Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press – 7 mins ago
CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he will not run for a new term in office in September elections, but rejected demands that he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on Egypt's soil, in a television address Tuesday after a dramatic day in which a quarter-million protesters called on him to go
His speech came after a visiting envoy of President Barack Obama told Mubarak that his ally the United States sees his presidency at an end. Frank Wisner, a respected former U.S. ambassador to Egypt who is a friend of the Egyptian president, made clear to Mubarak that the U.S "view that his tenure as president is coming to close," according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the ongoing diplomacy
____________________________________________________
Abdullah not wasting anymore time
Jordan's king fires Cabinet amid protests
Jamal Halaby, Associated Press – 1 hr 36 mins ago
AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his government Tuesday in the wake of street protests and asked an ex-prime minister to form a new Cabinet, ordering him to launch immediate political reforms.
The dismissal follows several large protests across Jordan_ inspired by similar demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt — calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai, who is blamed for a rise in fuel and food prices and slowed political reforms.
_________________________________________________
After Egypt, writing on wall no longer in invisible ink. Army finally preparing to end adventure with poison pen.
US general predicts Taliban `assassination teams'
AP
WASHINGTON - The Afghanistan war can be won without Pakistan's army moving against militants in North Waziristan, the No. 2 American general for the war effort said Tuesday, publicly signaling that the U.S. is resigned to the idea that Islamabad won't take on that terrorist safe haven.
_______________________________________________
The amazing thing is our leaders can have compassion for our war dead at the same time their decisions are responsible for hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed, and we do not see them as King Macbeths with blood all over their hand. Guess Shylock was right. Some blood isn’t red.
MEMORIAL DAY 2010 / WAR IS AN OLD RECYCLED LIE
Three dead Americans in Afghanistan ~ why ?
War is a waste so why do we celebrate it with parades, flags and glorious war stories when, in reality, they are fought by our youth who are but pawns in the hands of old men ~ seduced by power and greed ~ who are more than willing to waste our most precious resource on illegal wars and occupations : Allen L Roland
The aspect of control and domination is a precipitating factor in all wars, and it is also the the principle aspect of ego consciousness ~ which is directly contradictory to our innate propensity to unite and cooperate, which are the principle aspects of soul consciousness and the Unified Field
______________________________________________
Too bad AZ doesn’t police its own laws. Why local laws and enforcement are insufficient to stop gun killing gun trade.
NYC mayor conducts gun-sale sting in Arizona
Samantha Gross, Associated Press – Mon Jan 31
NEW YORK – Weeks after the shooting in Tucson, sellers at an Arizona gun show allowed undercover investigators hired by New York City to buy semiautomatic pistols even after they said they probably couldn't pass a background check, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday.
"After Tucson, you would think that people, particularly at a gun show in Arizona, would have been much more careful in enforcing the law," he said. "That unfortunately in some cases wasn't the case."
______________________________________________
Another ambitious Democrat veers right. What about paying the bill by eliminating vouchers to the rich and corporations and the money manipulators for free pass on taxes?
Cuomo slashes spending, freezes taxes in NY budget
By Dan Wiessner Dan Wiessner – 10 mins ago
ALBANY, New York (Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed laying off nearly 10,000 state workers and cutting billions from education and Medicaid programs as he laid out his first budget on Tuesday, designed to close a $10 billion deficit.
The Democratic governor proposed no new or increased taxes in the $132.9 billion budget plan, which would shrink the current budget ending March 31 by 2.7 percent. If the budget plan holds, it would mark the first spending decrease since 1997.
Cuomo had billed the budget as an opportunity to alter a process he labeled a "sham" that led to runaway spending in the past because of automatic spending increases and deception that he likened to what he uncovered on Wall Street in his previous job as the state's attorney general.
_____________________________________________
Hurray--earmarks have been a sly way to guarantee reelection of sitting Congressmen by making them favorites at home for bringing home the bacon.
Inouye reluctantly announces earmark moratorium
WASHINGTON – The Senate's foremost champion of "earmarking" pet projects back home has reluctantly joined President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans in banning them for the next two years.
________________________________________________
To Be or not to BE. That is a question for healthcare law. Perhaps the compromise would be to eliminate “mandate” for “one payer.” Issue eliminated.
PENSACOLA, Fla. –
In the health care lawsuit, Vinson ruled that lawmakers lack the power to penalize citizens for not doing something. Defenders of the law said insurance can't work if people are allowed to opt out until they need medical attention. Premiums collected from many who are healthy pay the cost of care for those who get sick. Since the uninsured can get treated in the emergency room, deciding not to get coverage has consequences for other people who act prudently do buy coverage.
"The judge's decision contradicts decades of Supreme Court precedent that support the considered judgment of the democratically elected branches of government that the act's individual responsibility provision is necessary to prevent billions of dollars of cost-shifting every year by individuals without insurance who cannot pay for the health care they obtain," White House adviser Stephanie Cutter wrote in an Internet posting.
____________________________________________________
It’s a game of egos for winners thoroughly beating their opponents, like most games. Maybe Tiger will get his back after his wife beat him in how many ways….
Follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon
PGA Tour rookie Brendan Steele, who earned status this season with the big boys after finishing sixth on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2010, was paired with Tiger on Sunday at Torrey Pines, where Woods closed with a 75 to Steele's 70.
After the round, Steele told Sports Illustrated that he didn't think Tiger gave it 100 percent during the final round.
Will a transitional government under Mubarak lead to same betrayal as transformational government under Obama and all the elation and hope for a new democracy be destroyed? Interestingly, the rise of Mubarak in Egypt in 1981 coincided with the decay of democracy beginning with Reagan in the same year
Jubilant crowds flood Cairo, escalating protests
Sarah El Deeb And Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press – CAIRO –
More than a quarter-million people flooded Cairo's main square Tuesday in a stunning and jubilant array of young and old, urban poor and middle class professionals, mounting by far the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.
The movement to drive Mubarak out has been built on the work of on-line activists and fueled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the Tunisia unrest took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a once-unimaginable series of protests across this nation of 80 million people — the region's most populous country.
_______________________________________________
An interesting rewriting of history. Blair says Sadam was a brutal dictator whose leadership led to an impoverished country while Mubarak was a benign dictator whose leadership led to improving standards for Egyptians--skipping over fact that Iraq suffered under years of progressively punishing embargoes while Egypt was showered with billions.
Tony Blair tells Piers Morgan why it's "over" for Mubarak (even if he stays until elections)
Tony Blair was interviewed by Piers Morgan for tonight's "Piers Morgan Tonight" and When Piers Morgan asked if Blair thinks Mubarak should stay in power until elections and not leave immediately--
MORGAN: If you don't have world leaders telling him publicly it's over, aren't you going to create a - a vacuum and a
void here into which the extremists could well come?
BLAIR: Well, it is over, in the sense that whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a period of transition until we get to elections.
____________________________________________________
So the man in the street gets promise of new leadership--next year--and the U.S. juggles all its promises to loyal dictators
Egypt's Mubarak says he won't run for a new term
AP – In this image from Egyptian state television aired Tuesday evening Feb 1 2011, Egyptian President Hosni …
By SARAH EL DEEB and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Sarah El Deeb And Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press – 7 mins ago
CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he will not run for a new term in office in September elections, but rejected demands that he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on Egypt's soil, in a television address Tuesday after a dramatic day in which a quarter-million protesters called on him to go
His speech came after a visiting envoy of President Barack Obama told Mubarak that his ally the United States sees his presidency at an end. Frank Wisner, a respected former U.S. ambassador to Egypt who is a friend of the Egyptian president, made clear to Mubarak that the U.S "view that his tenure as president is coming to close," according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the ongoing diplomacy
____________________________________________________
Abdullah not wasting anymore time
Jordan's king fires Cabinet amid protests
Jamal Halaby, Associated Press – 1 hr 36 mins ago
AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his government Tuesday in the wake of street protests and asked an ex-prime minister to form a new Cabinet, ordering him to launch immediate political reforms.
The dismissal follows several large protests across Jordan_ inspired by similar demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt — calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai, who is blamed for a rise in fuel and food prices and slowed political reforms.
_________________________________________________
After Egypt, writing on wall no longer in invisible ink. Army finally preparing to end adventure with poison pen.
US general predicts Taliban `assassination teams'
AP
WASHINGTON - The Afghanistan war can be won without Pakistan's army moving against militants in North Waziristan, the No. 2 American general for the war effort said Tuesday, publicly signaling that the U.S. is resigned to the idea that Islamabad won't take on that terrorist safe haven.
_______________________________________________
The amazing thing is our leaders can have compassion for our war dead at the same time their decisions are responsible for hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed, and we do not see them as King Macbeths with blood all over their hand. Guess Shylock was right. Some blood isn’t red.
MEMORIAL DAY 2010 / WAR IS AN OLD RECYCLED LIE
Three dead Americans in Afghanistan ~ why ?
War is a waste so why do we celebrate it with parades, flags and glorious war stories when, in reality, they are fought by our youth who are but pawns in the hands of old men ~ seduced by power and greed ~ who are more than willing to waste our most precious resource on illegal wars and occupations : Allen L Roland
The aspect of control and domination is a precipitating factor in all wars, and it is also the the principle aspect of ego consciousness ~ which is directly contradictory to our innate propensity to unite and cooperate, which are the principle aspects of soul consciousness and the Unified Field
______________________________________________
Too bad AZ doesn’t police its own laws. Why local laws and enforcement are insufficient to stop gun killing gun trade.
NYC mayor conducts gun-sale sting in Arizona
Samantha Gross, Associated Press – Mon Jan 31
NEW YORK – Weeks after the shooting in Tucson, sellers at an Arizona gun show allowed undercover investigators hired by New York City to buy semiautomatic pistols even after they said they probably couldn't pass a background check, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday.
"After Tucson, you would think that people, particularly at a gun show in Arizona, would have been much more careful in enforcing the law," he said. "That unfortunately in some cases wasn't the case."
______________________________________________
Another ambitious Democrat veers right. What about paying the bill by eliminating vouchers to the rich and corporations and the money manipulators for free pass on taxes?
Cuomo slashes spending, freezes taxes in NY budget
By Dan Wiessner Dan Wiessner – 10 mins ago
ALBANY, New York (Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed laying off nearly 10,000 state workers and cutting billions from education and Medicaid programs as he laid out his first budget on Tuesday, designed to close a $10 billion deficit.
The Democratic governor proposed no new or increased taxes in the $132.9 billion budget plan, which would shrink the current budget ending March 31 by 2.7 percent. If the budget plan holds, it would mark the first spending decrease since 1997.
Cuomo had billed the budget as an opportunity to alter a process he labeled a "sham" that led to runaway spending in the past because of automatic spending increases and deception that he likened to what he uncovered on Wall Street in his previous job as the state's attorney general.
_____________________________________________
Hurray--earmarks have been a sly way to guarantee reelection of sitting Congressmen by making them favorites at home for bringing home the bacon.
Inouye reluctantly announces earmark moratorium
WASHINGTON – The Senate's foremost champion of "earmarking" pet projects back home has reluctantly joined President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans in banning them for the next two years.
________________________________________________
To Be or not to BE. That is a question for healthcare law. Perhaps the compromise would be to eliminate “mandate” for “one payer.” Issue eliminated.
PENSACOLA, Fla. –
In the health care lawsuit, Vinson ruled that lawmakers lack the power to penalize citizens for not doing something. Defenders of the law said insurance can't work if people are allowed to opt out until they need medical attention. Premiums collected from many who are healthy pay the cost of care for those who get sick. Since the uninsured can get treated in the emergency room, deciding not to get coverage has consequences for other people who act prudently do buy coverage.
"The judge's decision contradicts decades of Supreme Court precedent that support the considered judgment of the democratically elected branches of government that the act's individual responsibility provision is necessary to prevent billions of dollars of cost-shifting every year by individuals without insurance who cannot pay for the health care they obtain," White House adviser Stephanie Cutter wrote in an Internet posting.
____________________________________________________
It’s a game of egos for winners thoroughly beating their opponents, like most games. Maybe Tiger will get his back after his wife beat him in how many ways….
Follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon
PGA Tour rookie Brendan Steele, who earned status this season with the big boys after finishing sixth on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2010, was paired with Tiger on Sunday at Torrey Pines, where Woods closed with a 75 to Steele's 70.
After the round, Steele told Sports Illustrated that he didn't think Tiger gave it 100 percent during the final round.
The Muslim Brotherhood and other bogeymen from the American past
Notes 43
Paradise Lost. What we have let slip away because it was not our problem if AT&T was listening to us.
Farewell to Modernity in the New Age of Surveillance
Jan Widacki LLD, Truthout: "The world we were aiming at was to be a free one, granting people peace, equality, riches and healthcare, and allowing us to extend our lives and rid ourselves of numerous illnesses - and yet, the world we are approaching, which Fukuyama calls 'our posthuman future,' may be far more hierarchical and focused on competition than the present one: a world where the powers-that-be will be able to achieve full control over governed communities, and the governed communities, in turn, will manifest full control over the individuals. It is going to be a world of different - possibly genetically modified - people. Perhaps humankind, Adam and Eve's tribe, is reaching for the forbidden fruit. Will that effort result in an end to a possible life in a paradise of democracy and human rights?"
_________________________________________________
The reliability of our government in defining risks to our well being is marginal at best from WMD in Iraq to aviation threat levels to the Gulf of Tonkin to the Bay of Pigs to the Cold War. As far back as the USS Maine in1898 in Cuba and maybe before. Now we have the Muslim Brotherhood threatening us. How long are we going to be suckered into doing the bidding of the war profiteers and the empire builders?
The Muslim Brotherhood: The Future of Egypt?
Caitlin Dickson Caitlin Dickson – Mon Jan 31, 12:44 pm ET
WASHINGTON, DC – As protests in Cairo continue, attention has turned to the Muslim Brotherhood, the 83-year-old Islamist opposition group. Members of the long-suppressed organization have recently been arrested in the protests. The opinions of the Muslim Brotherhood are vast and varied, as beliefs that the group's sole motivation is to oust President Mubarak and bring peace to the country are contradicted by proclamations that the Brotherhood plans to take over Egypt and create an anti-American state.
____________________________________________
It’s not Islam that has been threatening the West. It is the West that has been trying to convert Islam going back to the Crusades, and more recently as part of American foreign policy over oil.
The Wrong Friends: The Uncomfortable Lesson of the Uprisings in the Middle East
David Mednicoff, The Boston Globe: "This rising tide of mass protests against Arab secular strongmen urges us to think again about the role of Islam and government. Decades of Western policy have pushed Middle Eastern governments toward secular reforms. But a more nuanced view of the region - one that values authenticity as much as Western dogma - suggests something different. If we are concerned about stability, balance, even openness, it may be Arab Islamic governments that offer a better route to those goals."
________________________________________________
Well , duh. Mea culpa too late
Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON
The recent WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic reports showed that Washington knew what problems it increasingly faced with the regime of President Hosni Mubarak and his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was spreading her spin widely on U.S. television talk shows Sunday.
"It's not a question of who retains power," she said. "It's how are we going to respond to the legitimate needs and grievances expressed by the Egyptian people and chart a new path. Clearly, the path that has been followed has not been one that has created that democratic future, that economic opportunity that people in the peaceful protests are seeking."
_________________________________________
Gibbs got it right. This is about action. Sometimes you can’t finesse an issue. You just have to stand for what you believe in.
U.S. increases pressure on Mubarak to act quickly
By Steve Holland and Andrew Quinn Steve Holland And Andrew Quinn – 1 hr 56 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House increased pressure on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to act swiftly to respond to mass protests on Monday and said appointing a new government was not enough.
Still walking a diplomatic tightrope, however, U.S. officials insisted President Barack Obama was not calling on Mubarak to step down and said it was up to the Egyptian people to decide the way forward in Egypt.
After a weekend in which Mubarak named a new vice president but clung to power in Cairo, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declared, "This is not about appointments, it's about actions."
Paradise Lost. What we have let slip away because it was not our problem if AT&T was listening to us.
Farewell to Modernity in the New Age of Surveillance
Jan Widacki LLD, Truthout: "The world we were aiming at was to be a free one, granting people peace, equality, riches and healthcare, and allowing us to extend our lives and rid ourselves of numerous illnesses - and yet, the world we are approaching, which Fukuyama calls 'our posthuman future,' may be far more hierarchical and focused on competition than the present one: a world where the powers-that-be will be able to achieve full control over governed communities, and the governed communities, in turn, will manifest full control over the individuals. It is going to be a world of different - possibly genetically modified - people. Perhaps humankind, Adam and Eve's tribe, is reaching for the forbidden fruit. Will that effort result in an end to a possible life in a paradise of democracy and human rights?"
_________________________________________________
The reliability of our government in defining risks to our well being is marginal at best from WMD in Iraq to aviation threat levels to the Gulf of Tonkin to the Bay of Pigs to the Cold War. As far back as the USS Maine in1898 in Cuba and maybe before. Now we have the Muslim Brotherhood threatening us. How long are we going to be suckered into doing the bidding of the war profiteers and the empire builders?
The Muslim Brotherhood: The Future of Egypt?
Caitlin Dickson Caitlin Dickson – Mon Jan 31, 12:44 pm ET
WASHINGTON, DC – As protests in Cairo continue, attention has turned to the Muslim Brotherhood, the 83-year-old Islamist opposition group. Members of the long-suppressed organization have recently been arrested in the protests. The opinions of the Muslim Brotherhood are vast and varied, as beliefs that the group's sole motivation is to oust President Mubarak and bring peace to the country are contradicted by proclamations that the Brotherhood plans to take over Egypt and create an anti-American state.
____________________________________________
It’s not Islam that has been threatening the West. It is the West that has been trying to convert Islam going back to the Crusades, and more recently as part of American foreign policy over oil.
The Wrong Friends: The Uncomfortable Lesson of the Uprisings in the Middle East
David Mednicoff, The Boston Globe: "This rising tide of mass protests against Arab secular strongmen urges us to think again about the role of Islam and government. Decades of Western policy have pushed Middle Eastern governments toward secular reforms. But a more nuanced view of the region - one that values authenticity as much as Western dogma - suggests something different. If we are concerned about stability, balance, even openness, it may be Arab Islamic governments that offer a better route to those goals."
________________________________________________
Well , duh. Mea culpa too late
Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON
The recent WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic reports showed that Washington knew what problems it increasingly faced with the regime of President Hosni Mubarak and his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was spreading her spin widely on U.S. television talk shows Sunday.
"It's not a question of who retains power," she said. "It's how are we going to respond to the legitimate needs and grievances expressed by the Egyptian people and chart a new path. Clearly, the path that has been followed has not been one that has created that democratic future, that economic opportunity that people in the peaceful protests are seeking."
_________________________________________
Gibbs got it right. This is about action. Sometimes you can’t finesse an issue. You just have to stand for what you believe in.
U.S. increases pressure on Mubarak to act quickly
By Steve Holland and Andrew Quinn Steve Holland And Andrew Quinn – 1 hr 56 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House increased pressure on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to act swiftly to respond to mass protests on Monday and said appointing a new government was not enough.
Still walking a diplomatic tightrope, however, U.S. officials insisted President Barack Obama was not calling on Mubarak to step down and said it was up to the Egyptian people to decide the way forward in Egypt.
After a weekend in which Mubarak named a new vice president but clung to power in Cairo, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declared, "This is not about appointments, it's about actions."
Sham universities, funeral pyres, and a final bucket wish realized
Notes 44
Unintended benefits. Interesting how our obsession with illegal immigration is finally getting the government to move on the money hemorrhaging into phony training programs.
Feds probe Calif. 'sham university' for visa fraud
Press Terence Chea, Associated Press – Tue Feb 1
SAN FRANCISCO – The government of India is urging the United States to show leniency toward Indian students who were enrolled at a "sham university" in California that U.S. authorities say was a front for illegal immigration.
The U.S. attorney's office alleges the owner of Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton used the unaccredited school to charge foreigners millions of dollars in tuition fees and help them obtain student visas to stay in the U.S.
_______________________________________________
So much for the 1st Amendment when the Koch Brothers get together
25 arrested at California conservative meeting
Sun Jan 30, 9:10 pm ET
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Authorities in California say 25 protesters have been arrested for trespassing outside a strategy session of conservative political donors at a Palm Springs-area resort.
Sunday was the second day of the four-day conclave. It was organized by brothers David and Charles Koch, who have funded the fight against global warming laws and have financial ties to tea party groups.
_____________________________________________
When the people are aroused, mountains will yield. The problem is arousing people in denial and standing on the edge of a cliff
Raffi | The Right to a Future
Raffi Cavoukian, Truthout: "Are we tweeting while Earth burns? Is climate collapse our new collective Titanic? How do we best describe the survival struggle of seven billion in a way that connects with the public and with decision makers? The science on global warming is clear and compelling. Earth is in serious climate crisis. That's why many writers have recently upgraded climate change to climate collapse, climate catastrophe, the long emergency. To convey the climate threat fully, we need a new Story.... I propose a new lens and lexicon for conveying climate change as the greatest threat on Earth, a tragedy of epic proportions, especially for the world's young."
_______________________________________________
Congressman Jeff Miller in Florida’s 1st District.
Here’s a record to write home about. What’s the Constitutional authority for a health care subsidy to private insurance industry that gets 50% more than any government system in the world for services? And will funnel 33,000,000 more government subsidized customers through the private system rather than having a single payer public system that eliminates the price gouging?
Miller Newsletter January 30, 2011
Three weeks ago a new Congress was sworn in, and, immediately, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives began to fundamentally change the way the House works. We adopted a House rules package requiring all legislation to cite Constitutional authority. This rules package also requires that legislation be publicly available for at least three days before voting on it. Additionally, we changed budget enforcement rules to ensure limited government and fiscal responsibility prevails over wasteful spending.
In the Republican Pledge to America, we promised to repeal and replace the job-killing health care package passed in the 111th Congress. The ObamaCare package was a 2,800 page monstrosity that imposed unconstitutional mandates on our citizens. This bill increased economic uncertainty and infringed upon our individual liberties without effectively reducing the cost of health care. H.R. 2, one of the first bills introduced and passed in the 112th Congress, repealed ObamaCare with a simple two-page bill. By itself, repealing ObamaCare will save $2.6 trillion over ten years, or $22,643 per household.
______________________________________________
I do not know if justice is blind or not but I get the feeling the blindfold has gotten rotten
By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Melissa Nelson, Associated Press – 1 min ago
PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health care overhaul unconstitutional Monday, siding with 26 states that argued people cannot be required to buy health insurance.
Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson agreed with the states that the new law violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties. He went a step further than a previous ruling against the law, declaring the entire thing unconstitutional if the insurance requirement does not hold up.
________________________________________________
People taking more charge of a lot of previously off limits options
Funeral pyres an option in Colo. mountain town
By IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Ivan Moreno, Associated Press – CRESTONE, Colo. – Belinda Ellis' farewell went as she wanted. One by one, her family placed juniper boughs and logs about her body, covered in red cloth atop a rectangular steel grate inside a brick-lined hearth. With a torch, her husband lit the fire that consumed her, sending billows of smoke into the blue-gray sky of dawn.
_______________________________________________
There’s dying and there’s dying with a mission
How a Dying Wish Became a Best-Selling Investment Guide
Posted Jan 28, 2011 by Peter Gorenstein
A shot to beat the buzzer, a walk-off home run...the most memorable winning moments often come at these final stages of a game, with the clock running down and your back against the wall. Seldom does real life offer these same opportunities to make an indelible mark while staring death in the face. But for Gordon Murray, a former Wall Street investment banker, that's exactly what happened.
Murray died on January 15 at the age of 60 from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Fortunately, several months before he died he was able to accomplish his dream, to write and publish an investment guide for individual investors.
Unintended benefits. Interesting how our obsession with illegal immigration is finally getting the government to move on the money hemorrhaging into phony training programs.
Feds probe Calif. 'sham university' for visa fraud
Press Terence Chea, Associated Press – Tue Feb 1
SAN FRANCISCO – The government of India is urging the United States to show leniency toward Indian students who were enrolled at a "sham university" in California that U.S. authorities say was a front for illegal immigration.
The U.S. attorney's office alleges the owner of Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton used the unaccredited school to charge foreigners millions of dollars in tuition fees and help them obtain student visas to stay in the U.S.
_______________________________________________
So much for the 1st Amendment when the Koch Brothers get together
25 arrested at California conservative meeting
Sun Jan 30, 9:10 pm ET
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Authorities in California say 25 protesters have been arrested for trespassing outside a strategy session of conservative political donors at a Palm Springs-area resort.
Sunday was the second day of the four-day conclave. It was organized by brothers David and Charles Koch, who have funded the fight against global warming laws and have financial ties to tea party groups.
_____________________________________________
When the people are aroused, mountains will yield. The problem is arousing people in denial and standing on the edge of a cliff
Raffi | The Right to a Future
Raffi Cavoukian, Truthout: "Are we tweeting while Earth burns? Is climate collapse our new collective Titanic? How do we best describe the survival struggle of seven billion in a way that connects with the public and with decision makers? The science on global warming is clear and compelling. Earth is in serious climate crisis. That's why many writers have recently upgraded climate change to climate collapse, climate catastrophe, the long emergency. To convey the climate threat fully, we need a new Story.... I propose a new lens and lexicon for conveying climate change as the greatest threat on Earth, a tragedy of epic proportions, especially for the world's young."
_______________________________________________
Congressman Jeff Miller in Florida’s 1st District.
Here’s a record to write home about. What’s the Constitutional authority for a health care subsidy to private insurance industry that gets 50% more than any government system in the world for services? And will funnel 33,000,000 more government subsidized customers through the private system rather than having a single payer public system that eliminates the price gouging?
Miller Newsletter January 30, 2011
Three weeks ago a new Congress was sworn in, and, immediately, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives began to fundamentally change the way the House works. We adopted a House rules package requiring all legislation to cite Constitutional authority. This rules package also requires that legislation be publicly available for at least three days before voting on it. Additionally, we changed budget enforcement rules to ensure limited government and fiscal responsibility prevails over wasteful spending.
In the Republican Pledge to America, we promised to repeal and replace the job-killing health care package passed in the 111th Congress. The ObamaCare package was a 2,800 page monstrosity that imposed unconstitutional mandates on our citizens. This bill increased economic uncertainty and infringed upon our individual liberties without effectively reducing the cost of health care. H.R. 2, one of the first bills introduced and passed in the 112th Congress, repealed ObamaCare with a simple two-page bill. By itself, repealing ObamaCare will save $2.6 trillion over ten years, or $22,643 per household.
______________________________________________
I do not know if justice is blind or not but I get the feeling the blindfold has gotten rotten
By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Melissa Nelson, Associated Press – 1 min ago
PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health care overhaul unconstitutional Monday, siding with 26 states that argued people cannot be required to buy health insurance.
Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson agreed with the states that the new law violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties. He went a step further than a previous ruling against the law, declaring the entire thing unconstitutional if the insurance requirement does not hold up.
________________________________________________
People taking more charge of a lot of previously off limits options
Funeral pyres an option in Colo. mountain town
By IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Ivan Moreno, Associated Press – CRESTONE, Colo. – Belinda Ellis' farewell went as she wanted. One by one, her family placed juniper boughs and logs about her body, covered in red cloth atop a rectangular steel grate inside a brick-lined hearth. With a torch, her husband lit the fire that consumed her, sending billows of smoke into the blue-gray sky of dawn.
_______________________________________________
There’s dying and there’s dying with a mission
How a Dying Wish Became a Best-Selling Investment Guide
Posted Jan 28, 2011 by Peter Gorenstein
A shot to beat the buzzer, a walk-off home run...the most memorable winning moments often come at these final stages of a game, with the clock running down and your back against the wall. Seldom does real life offer these same opportunities to make an indelible mark while staring death in the face. But for Gordon Murray, a former Wall Street investment banker, that's exactly what happened.
Murray died on January 15 at the age of 60 from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Fortunately, several months before he died he was able to accomplish his dream, to write and publish an investment guide for individual investors.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Buoyancy gained/buoyancy lost in struggle to be free
Notes 42
A reader writes on Assange interview on 60 Minutes
EH
The shoe is on the other foot. Citizens hardly have the right to use the word privacy any longer, there are camera's, phone-taps, e-mail-taps and heaven knows what and we have to explain ourselves very humbly at every turn, all under the motto "if you are not a terrorist, you have got nothing to hide" (thank you David). So if our e-mails etc. ought to be readily accessible for them, so that they can better regulate us, how much more should their e-mails be readily accessible for us.
We pay their salaries, we are their bosses, we are supposed to be responsible for everything they do because we chose them. But we cannot take responsibility for something that is not known to us. No CEO would take responsibility for a company he has no full control over, and for full control you need full insight.
_______________________________________________
Schumer on top of this latest addiction
Sun Jan 30
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two drugs that produce a "meth-like" high and are being sold under the guise of "bath salts" would be banned as federally controlled substances under a bill unveiled on Sunday by Senator Charles Schumer.
____________________________________________________
Why is Schumer so far behind on criminalizing tobacco and companies’ license to kill?
Nicotine study opens path for anti-smoking drug
AFP/File – Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug …
by Marlowe Hood Marlowe Hood – Sun Jan 30
PARIS (AFP) – Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug treatments to help smokers kick their habit, according to a study released Sunday.
Tobacco kills more than five million people every year and accounts for nearly one-in-10 adult deaths, 90 percent of them due to lung cancer.
__________________________________________________
No responsibility here for unequal distribution of oil revenues. We’ve got our own wealth distribution problems. But we do set the table for how the game is played. House rules.
Face of Mideast unrest: young and hungry for jobs
Brian Murphy, Associated Press – Sun Jan 30
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Just days before fleeing Tunisia, the embattled leader went on national television to promise 300,000 new jobs over two years.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak did much the same Saturday as riots gripped Cairo and other cities: offering more economic opportunities in a country where half the people live on less than $2 a day.
The pledges-under-siege have something else in common: an acknowledgment that the unprecedented anger on Arab streets is at its core a long-brewing rage against decades of economic imbalances that have rewarded the political elite and left many others on the margins.
______________________________________________
U.S money buys different rights in different countries. We are watching it all played out right in front of us these days. In some countries like Gaza, it doesn’t buy anything from Hamas. In West Bank, it buys settlements for Israel from Abbas.
Clinton meets with Haiti presidential candidates
AFP
By BRADLEY KLAPPER and JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Bradley Klapper And Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press – 15 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The United States has no plans to halt aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in spite of a crisis over who will be the nation's next leader but does insist that the president's chosen successor be dropped from the race, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.
A reader writes on Assange interview on 60 Minutes
EH
The shoe is on the other foot. Citizens hardly have the right to use the word privacy any longer, there are camera's, phone-taps, e-mail-taps and heaven knows what and we have to explain ourselves very humbly at every turn, all under the motto "if you are not a terrorist, you have got nothing to hide" (thank you David). So if our e-mails etc. ought to be readily accessible for them, so that they can better regulate us, how much more should their e-mails be readily accessible for us.
We pay their salaries, we are their bosses, we are supposed to be responsible for everything they do because we chose them. But we cannot take responsibility for something that is not known to us. No CEO would take responsibility for a company he has no full control over, and for full control you need full insight.
_______________________________________________
Schumer on top of this latest addiction
Sun Jan 30
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two drugs that produce a "meth-like" high and are being sold under the guise of "bath salts" would be banned as federally controlled substances under a bill unveiled on Sunday by Senator Charles Schumer.
____________________________________________________
Why is Schumer so far behind on criminalizing tobacco and companies’ license to kill?
Nicotine study opens path for anti-smoking drug
AFP/File – Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug …
by Marlowe Hood Marlowe Hood – Sun Jan 30
PARIS (AFP) – Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug treatments to help smokers kick their habit, according to a study released Sunday.
Tobacco kills more than five million people every year and accounts for nearly one-in-10 adult deaths, 90 percent of them due to lung cancer.
__________________________________________________
No responsibility here for unequal distribution of oil revenues. We’ve got our own wealth distribution problems. But we do set the table for how the game is played. House rules.
Face of Mideast unrest: young and hungry for jobs
Brian Murphy, Associated Press – Sun Jan 30
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Just days before fleeing Tunisia, the embattled leader went on national television to promise 300,000 new jobs over two years.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak did much the same Saturday as riots gripped Cairo and other cities: offering more economic opportunities in a country where half the people live on less than $2 a day.
The pledges-under-siege have something else in common: an acknowledgment that the unprecedented anger on Arab streets is at its core a long-brewing rage against decades of economic imbalances that have rewarded the political elite and left many others on the margins.
______________________________________________
U.S money buys different rights in different countries. We are watching it all played out right in front of us these days. In some countries like Gaza, it doesn’t buy anything from Hamas. In West Bank, it buys settlements for Israel from Abbas.
Clinton meets with Haiti presidential candidates
AFP
By BRADLEY KLAPPER and JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Bradley Klapper And Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press – 15 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The United States has no plans to halt aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in spite of a crisis over who will be the nation's next leader but does insist that the president's chosen successor be dropped from the race, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)