TODAY'S POST: McClellan Revelations, Pentagon v. Troops, R's Health Plans, Obama Education Plan, Feinstein Censure
...another quickie:
And he said, he’s with you, he’s been a loyal ally in fighting terrorists. He’s also advanced democracy in Pakistan. He has, he has said he’s going to take off his uniform, he’s said there will be elections. Today he released prisoners, and so far I’ve found him to be a man of his word.
-- President Bush on Musharaff…not a joke
VIDEO SECTION
Another former Bushie writes a book…McClellan’s “Plame” bombshell: he lied about Plame, and Bush and company were all part of it (but apparently, he’s going to use the old “Reagan Defense” to protect Bush, meaning: “he had no idea what was really going on so he’s innocent). Amazing…watch Olbermann cover it:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/olbermann-on-mcclellan-revelations-bush-was-a-passively-involved-liar-in-chief/
Now watch Olbermann interview Joe Wilson on the new revelations:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/22/countdown-books-liars-or-all-the-presidents-liars/
Dems finally standing up on war funding??? Perhaps...its good to see Murtha's ferocity back anyway:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/david-obey-taking-a-stand/
Pentagon to injured troops: “you owe us money”. Yes…a new low has been reached…see to believe:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/21/sorry-you-got-hurt-serving-your-country-now-give-us-back-our-money/
Watch Olbermann’s Worst Person…wait till you hear him go after the Pentagon:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/21/countdowns-worst-persons-the-bugman-beck-the-pentagon/
The ‘gap’ in Republicans’ healthcare plans
By: Steve Benen @ 5:20 PM - PST
Rudy Giuliani was treated for prostate cancer. John McCain has been treated for melanoma, the most serious type of skin malignancy. Fred Thompson was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.
And as the LA Times’ Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar explained in a good piece today, all three could be denied healthcare insurance under their own healthcare plans.
All three have offered proposals with the stated aim of helping the 47 million people in the U.S. who have no health insurance, including those with preexisting medical conditions. But under the plans all three have put forward, cancer survivors such as themselves could not be sure of getting coverage — especially if they were not already covered by a government or job-related plan and had to seek insurance as individuals.
“Unless it’s in a state that has very strong consumer protections, they would likely be denied coverage,” said economist Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, who has reviewed the candidates’ proposals. “People with preexisting conditions would not be able to get coverage or would not be able to afford it.”
The Republican presidential hopefuls seem to realize that their plans leave millions of vulnerable Americans behind, but also realize that the alternative is government regulation — specifically, telling insurers that they can’t exclude people with pre-existing conditions, and can’t price these people out of coverage. Given a choice between a large gap of uninsured and government-imposed safeguards for Americans, the GOP candidates prefer the prior.
MORE ON THEIR “PLANS” FROM CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS:
HEALTH CARE PLANS OF GOP CANCER SURVIVORS WON'T COVER CANCER SURVIVORS: Last month, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed that if he had gotten the prostate cancer in a country with government-based health care, his "chances of surviving" would have been much slimmer. Giuliani said he preferred a "free market" approach that uses tax incentives to encourage Americans to enroll in private health plans. But as the Los Angeles Times reported, Giuliani's plan would be unlikely to cover cancer survivors such as himself. Along with Giuliani, the plans of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former senator Fred Thompson, who also are both survivors of cancer, would likely exclude Americans such as themselves. According to experts who spoke to the Times, it will take five to 10 years for insurance companies to consider providing coverage to cancer survivors. For example, a prostate cancer survivor like Giuliani "could be covered after five years of being cancer-free, at a 40% higher premium" -- five years that is, if they had a "less severe form of the disease. Though each of the candidate's campaigns say they are considering options for closing the gaps in their plans, tax credits and subsidies are unlikely to "cut it."
FEINSTEIN CENSURE UPDATE:
Censure of Sen. Feinstein fails: Party staffer Bob Mullholland calls bloggers and activists “worse than Bush” and “pre-nursing home
Let’s start with the good news first, even though there is plenty of bad to come later, given the disgraceful behavior of California Democratic Party staffer Bob Mullholland, caught on video. In just five days, over 33,000 Americans, 90% or more Californians, joined the Courage Campaign call for the California Democratic Party (CDP) to censure Senator Dianne Feinstein for her pivotal votes to approve Judge Michael Mukasey as U.S. Attorney General and Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
These Americans were joined by the Courage Campaign, MoveOn.org, Progressive Democrats of America, CrooksandLiars.com and over 40 Democratic Clubs and progressive organizations from across California. With a week of non-stop organizing, this movement changed the conversation of the entire meeting of the CDP Executive Board.
Party Chair Art Torres spent about half of his speech on Saturday praising Senator Dianne Feinstein, acknowledging that people within the Democratic Party are upset with a few of her crucial votes. Of course, these weren’t just any votes. They were votes contrary to core Democratic (and democratic) values like opposing torture, racism and homophobia. Despite the party chair’s call not to censure Sen. Feinstein, the censure resolution was endorsed by the Women’s Caucus, the Progressive Caucus and the Irish-American Caucus at the E-Board meeting.
Unfortunately, it was never formally taken up or addressed by either the Resolutions Committee or the main body of the Executive Board. Members of the Resolutions Committee objected to hearing it, which meant it could not be brought to the Executive Board — which was within their prerogative, given that it was a late resolution.
OBAMA EDUCATION PROPOSAL EXTENDS LEARNING TIME, REWARDS TEACHERS: Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced an $18 billion per year education plan that effectively endorses two key proposals laid out in a 2005 comprehensive report by the Center for American Progress (CAP). First, CAP recognized two years ago that "students need more learning time" and repeatedly called for extended school time. Yesterday, Obama pledged $200 million to schools that want to lengthen the school day or year. Second, CAP noted that "the foundation for good teaching is good teacher preparation" and endorsed a compensation system that "rewards teachers who demonstrate high levels of proficiency and expertise." Obama called for a competitive salary for "well prepared and successful teachers." He would also offer free undergraduate tuition or masters degrees for students willing to teach in high-need schools for four years. The ultimate goal of any education form, according to the CAP plan, must be to "ensure that all American children -- regardless of race, ethnicity, income, or geographic location -- are afforded access to the high-quality schools that enable them to participate in the promised opportunity of the American dream. And we must produce more high-caliber students to compete successfully with young people overseas who can today rightfully boast of their world-class educations."
Fearing that President Bush would again use the congressional recess to install executive branch appointees without Senate confirmation, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) gaveled in a 30-second Senate session yesterday. "This is an exercise in protecting the Constitution and our constitutional process," Webb said.
"The conflict in Afghanistan has reached 'crisis proportions,' with the resurgent Taliban present in 54 percent of the country and "closing in on Kabul," according to the Senlis Council, an independent think tank. To "prevent NATO's defeat at the hands of the Taliban, a rejuvenated 'coalition of the willing' is needed," the report said.
The Huffington Post:
Rudy Giuliani has a firefighter problem. Following up on earlier criticism, a group of 9/11 family members and firefighters met on Monday at Dartmouth College to launch a campaign against the former New York City mayor and current Republican presidential candidate for what they deem to be massive failures before, during and after the attacks of 9/11.
But at least one member of the FDNY continues to offer his support to the former mayor — and may be getting paid for it.
John R. Orlando, who serves with Engine 216 in Brooklyn, New York, has been cited prominently as a Giuliani supporter. Last June, in a New York Times article detailing the mixed reviews Giuliani has among the city’s 11,000-membered firefighting force, Orlando said he regularly saw Giuliani at fires despite suggestions otherwise.
Read on…
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
TODAY'S TOPICS: Giuliani Lies, Kucinich, Edwards, SF Sues ES&S, Bowen Sues Too!
I guess its the sign that I have a serious problem...even as I sit at home sick as a dog, I still have to post something! I need help :)
So a real quickie...can't comment much, not exactly 100%:
"We are going to follow him around and tell the true story of what happened on 9/11.” … and get the message out to all of America and every state to let them know that Rudy Giuliani is not Mr 9/11. He’s not a hero. He ran that day.”
-- FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches
An excellent breakdown of the writers guild strike, and why the big corporations are screwing them:
I think — I think that they are looking to bust the union. I think that they know that Internet downloads, distribution to cell phones, iPods and even technologies that aren’t in creation yet are the way that we, the majority of people, are going to be seeing television, you know, content, not on the actual tube.
The last time that the Writers Guild had an agreement, we didn’t have DVDs. We didn’t have the Internet. We didn’t have any of the new technology and distribution systems. So what the writers are looking for is basically any type of piece of that pie. They’re looking for fair compensation. It’s a basic labor issue.
And as we know, corporate media companies are trying to drive every last red cent out of the writers’ content. There would be none of these TV shows that, Michael, you said people want to see. There would be no content without the writers, and the writers are trying to get anything.
It’s the height of nickel and diming. Well, not even nickel and diming. They’re not even asking for a dime.And they don’t want to give them a nickel.
-- Jennifer Pozner, director of Women In Media & News
VIDEO SECTION
Giuliani lies on 9/11 being exposed by firefighters...watch the chief tell it like it is:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/nyc-fire-chief-giuliani-not-a-hero-he-ran-that-day/
Torture advocate, war criminal, and liar, Albert Gonzalez finds out what its going to be like on his “speaking tour”…paid for out of student tuitions…Watch:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/its-a-gonzo-protest-in-florida/
Watch Kucinich give a great speech on global warming…so sad that instead of ONE BIT of substance articulated by candidates at this “Presidential Forum on Global Warming and America’s Energy Future”, the only thing covered by the corporate media was that Hillary got heckled. Wow…way to get the facts out to the people that are so needed on how to save our species!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/dennis-kucinich-at-the-global-warming-debate/
And the other stand-out candidate the Dems have: John Edwards gives his global warming speech:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/18/john-edwards-at-the-global-warming-debate/
NEW POLLING...
I wish it were Edwards…but its still a good sign to see Obama ahead of Clinton in Iowa now:
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) draws support from 30 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, compared with 26 percent for Clinton and 22 percent for former senator John Edwards (N.C.). New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson received 11 percent.
RASH OF VOTING MACHINE REVELATIONS CONTINUES
FROM BRAD BLOG:
San Francisco Files Lawsuit Against ES&S for Fraud, False Claims, Breach of Contract
Damages and Penalties to 'World's Largest' Voting Systems Provider 'Could Reach into Millions of Dollars'
"San Francisco's experience with ES&S raises extremely troubling questions, not simply about the integrity of this company's technology, but about the integrity of this company itself," San Francisco's City Attorney Dennis Herrera said today in announcing his new lawsuit against Elections Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S)...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5332
CALIFORNIA FILES $15 MILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST ES&S!
Voting Machine Company Allegedly Violated Law by Deploying Uncertified Touch-Screen Machines in Several CA Counties and Lying About It in Public Hearings...
“ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again, and it got caught,” said Bowen in a press release just issued this evening. “California law is very clear on this issue. I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into this state, ignore the laws, and make millions of dollars from California’s taxpayers in the process.”...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5324
Diebold Optical-Scan Failures Reported in Florida May be Affecting Connecticut As Well
Faulty Memory Card Connectors, Undisclosed by the Company or the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, Discovered in Recent Election
Employee from New England's Diebold Distributor, LHS Associates, Barred from Work in Connecticut After Alarming Public Comments at The BRAD BLOG...
Failures in optical-scan voting systems made by Diebold Inc., as recently revealed in the state of Florida, might have occurred elsewhere across the country. In fact, any state where Diebold's optical-scan voting machines are in use might be having the problem, and they may not have been made aware of it --- either by the company, or the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) which is mandated by law to be a "clearinghouse" for such information...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5320
I guess its the sign that I have a serious problem...even as I sit at home sick as a dog, I still have to post something! I need help :)
So a real quickie...can't comment much, not exactly 100%:
"We are going to follow him around and tell the true story of what happened on 9/11.” … and get the message out to all of America and every state to let them know that Rudy Giuliani is not Mr 9/11. He’s not a hero. He ran that day.”
-- FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches
An excellent breakdown of the writers guild strike, and why the big corporations are screwing them:
I think — I think that they are looking to bust the union. I think that they know that Internet downloads, distribution to cell phones, iPods and even technologies that aren’t in creation yet are the way that we, the majority of people, are going to be seeing television, you know, content, not on the actual tube.
The last time that the Writers Guild had an agreement, we didn’t have DVDs. We didn’t have the Internet. We didn’t have any of the new technology and distribution systems. So what the writers are looking for is basically any type of piece of that pie. They’re looking for fair compensation. It’s a basic labor issue.
And as we know, corporate media companies are trying to drive every last red cent out of the writers’ content. There would be none of these TV shows that, Michael, you said people want to see. There would be no content without the writers, and the writers are trying to get anything.
It’s the height of nickel and diming. Well, not even nickel and diming. They’re not even asking for a dime.And they don’t want to give them a nickel.
-- Jennifer Pozner, director of Women In Media & News
VIDEO SECTION
Giuliani lies on 9/11 being exposed by firefighters...watch the chief tell it like it is:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/nyc-fire-chief-giuliani-not-a-hero-he-ran-that-day/
Torture advocate, war criminal, and liar, Albert Gonzalez finds out what its going to be like on his “speaking tour”…paid for out of student tuitions…Watch:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/20/its-a-gonzo-protest-in-florida/
Watch Kucinich give a great speech on global warming…so sad that instead of ONE BIT of substance articulated by candidates at this “Presidential Forum on Global Warming and America’s Energy Future”, the only thing covered by the corporate media was that Hillary got heckled. Wow…way to get the facts out to the people that are so needed on how to save our species!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/dennis-kucinich-at-the-global-warming-debate/
And the other stand-out candidate the Dems have: John Edwards gives his global warming speech:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/18/john-edwards-at-the-global-warming-debate/
NEW POLLING...
I wish it were Edwards…but its still a good sign to see Obama ahead of Clinton in Iowa now:
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) draws support from 30 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, compared with 26 percent for Clinton and 22 percent for former senator John Edwards (N.C.). New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson received 11 percent.
RASH OF VOTING MACHINE REVELATIONS CONTINUES
FROM BRAD BLOG:
San Francisco Files Lawsuit Against ES&S for Fraud, False Claims, Breach of Contract
Damages and Penalties to 'World's Largest' Voting Systems Provider 'Could Reach into Millions of Dollars'
"San Francisco's experience with ES&S raises extremely troubling questions, not simply about the integrity of this company's technology, but about the integrity of this company itself," San Francisco's City Attorney Dennis Herrera said today in announcing his new lawsuit against Elections Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S)...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5332
CALIFORNIA FILES $15 MILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST ES&S!
Voting Machine Company Allegedly Violated Law by Deploying Uncertified Touch-Screen Machines in Several CA Counties and Lying About It in Public Hearings...
“ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again, and it got caught,” said Bowen in a press release just issued this evening. “California law is very clear on this issue. I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into this state, ignore the laws, and make millions of dollars from California’s taxpayers in the process.”...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5324
Diebold Optical-Scan Failures Reported in Florida May be Affecting Connecticut As Well
Faulty Memory Card Connectors, Undisclosed by the Company or the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, Discovered in Recent Election
Employee from New England's Diebold Distributor, LHS Associates, Barred from Work in Connecticut After Alarming Public Comments at The BRAD BLOG...
Failures in optical-scan voting systems made by Diebold Inc., as recently revealed in the state of Florida, might have occurred elsewhere across the country. In fact, any state where Diebold's optical-scan voting machines are in use might be having the problem, and they may not have been made aware of it --- either by the company, or the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) which is mandated by law to be a "clearinghouse" for such information...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5320
Monday, November 19, 2007
TODAY'S TOPICS: Ilegal Immigration, Global Warming, Cafferty, Moyers, Media Consolidation
Sick today...so just posting some stuff from C&L and the Center for American Progress:
THE “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT” CON JOB… (you've all read me make this very same case)
As our paychecks stagnate, our personal debt climbs and our health care premiums skyrocket, We the People are ticked off. Unfortunately for those in Congress, polls show that America is specifically angry at the big business interests that write big campaign checks.
So now comes the con - the dishonest argument over illegal immigration trying to divert our ire away from the corporate profiteers, outsourcers, wage cutters and foreclosers that buy influence - and protection - in Washington.
Republicans like Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) are demanding the government cut off public services for undocumented workers, build a barrier at the Mexican border and force employers to verify employees’ immigration status. Democrats like Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) are urging their allies to either embrace a punitive message aimed at illegal immigrants, or avoid the immigration issue altogether. And nobody asks the taboo question: What is illegal immigration actually about?
The answer is exploitation. Employers looking to maximize profits want an economically desperate, politically disenfranchised population that will accept ever worse pay and working conditions. Illegal immigrants perfectly fit the bill.
Politicians know exploitation fuels illegal immigration. But they refuse to confront it because doing so would mean challenging their financiers.
Instead we get lawmakers chest-thumping about immigration enforcement while avoiding a discussion about strengthening wage and workplace safety enforcement — proposals that address the real problem.
-- David Sirota…exactly correct on the immigration boogie man
VIDEO SECTION
Now watch Rachele Maddow debate both Buchanan and Mathews on the immigration issue…amazing, they just don’t get it…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/hardball-buchanan-and-maddow-on-illegal-immigration/
Thanks god I’m not the only one…watch Ed Schultz give the same analysis of Hillary and the debate as I did last week:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/did-hillary-really-win-the-debate-lets-play-hardball/
Bill moyers does it again…watch this short report on media consolidation…NOTHING more important in the long run:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/bill-moyers-journal-media-ownership-rules/
New Guantanamo revelations covered by Jack Cafferty…when he reads those emails from people you know some real good stuff is coming…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/cafferty-leaked-inside-look-at-guantanamo-a-little-scary/
Unfortunately…on some issues we’re almost “de-evolving”. Watch Jack Cafferty discuss the recent “victory” by anti-choice nut jobs in court: that’s right, a fertilized egg is a person…gee…I wonder where they want to take this precedent???
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/cafferty-is-a-fertilized-egg-a-person/
If these new studies don't start to wake people up, I truly don't know what will (actually I do...global disaster)
Final Warning To Humanity'
"[T]he world's scientists have spoken, clearly and in one voice," said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on the most recent report of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). After a rigorous multi-stage review process that includes 2,500 scientific expert reviewers, 800 contributing authors, and 450 lead authors representing 130 countries, the IPCC warns that "all countries" will be affected by climate change if carbon emissions continue to spiral. By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees celsius, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could lead to an eventual rise in sea levels of up to 1.40 meters. With "strikingly" blunt language, the report reads like "a final warning to humanity," notes Time magazine. "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment," declared IPCC chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri.
DEBATING WAYS TO BATTLE WARMING: This weekend, Grist and Living on Earth sponsored a presidential candidate forum to discuss ways to tackle climate change, in partnership with the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, California LCVEF, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, and the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy. The event was attended by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), former senator John Edwards, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). "[R]educing oil dependence and global warming is the second most important issue among independent voters," states Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress. With "little disagreement among them" on the urgency of climate change, Clinton and Edwards emphasized the need to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050, consistent with the goals of the IPCC, along with a mandatory cap on greenhouse emissions. Such plans to combat global warming can be undertaken with a very modest reduction in global annual GDP growth of 0.12 percent, notes Pachauri.
AN UNEQUIVOCAL FACT: Earlier this year, the IPCC said it was "more than 90 percent likely" that global-warming was man-made. It now reports "increased confidence in climate science," leading to the conclusion that "the time for doubt has passed. The IPCC has unequivocally affirmed the warming of our climate system, and linked it directly to human activity." This increased consensus pours water on right-wing insistence that there is still debate on climate change science. "The scientific definition of that [climate change] is lacking," maintains White House environmental adviser Jim Connaughton. The traditional media are also at fault in going against the scientific consensus. For example, ABC and CNN regularly air segments claiming global warming is not human-induced.EFFECTS ALREADY HERE: The IPCC report notes that the effects of climate change are "becoming evident already," and without due action, will be "abrupt or irreversible." The United States is seeing these ramifications today. The normally wet southeastern United States is currently suffering from the worst drought of the past 100 years. Recently, the IPCC reported that the last three decades have seen "a spring/summer warming of 0.87 degrees celsius," caused by global warming, and "earlier spring snowmelt has led to longer growing seasons and drought." Furthermore, Arizona is currently entering into its second decade of extensive drought. The intensity of hurricanes the recent California wildfires has also been linked to the warming earth.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: The IPCC concluded that "reductions in greenhouse gases had to start immediately to avert a global climate disaster," calling on the United States and China to play "a more constructive role." "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late," said Pachauri. The White House cites the need for "the technology that will make a lasting solution possible" but pushes only "voluntary" emissions reductions. The upcoming Bali conference, which the United States will attend, "is tasked with launching a two-year round of negotiations for intensifying cuts in carbon emissions beyond 2012, when current pledges run out under the Kyoto Protocol." "We cannot afford to leave Bali without such a breakthrough," Ban said. Furthermore, the White House and EPA should cease their "unprecedented obstructionism" and allow California's request that the federal government allow the state to regulate automobile greenhouse emissions under the Clean Air Act. Finally, Congress can reduce greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2030 compared to business as usual by passing a comprehensive energy bill after Thanksgiving recess.
EMBATTLED STATE DEPARTMENT WATCHDOG PROTESTS HOUSE HEARINGS: On Friday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced that the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing after Thanksgiving recess to examine whether State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard lied to Congress. In a recent hearing, Krongard testified to the committee that his brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, had never told him about his involvement on Blackwater's board of advisers. Buzzy, however, has contradicted his brother's statement: "He asked me whether I had any financial interest or any ties to Blackwater, and so I told him 'I'm going on their Board.'" Krongard is facing allegations that he blocked a House investigation into whether weapons illegally smuggled into Iraq by Blackwater employees were then "sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization." Krongard's lawyer has now written to Waxman and asked him to cancel the hearing, and Buzzy has resigned from Blackwater's board. Krongard has also stepped down from the State Department's two main internal investigations in Iraq.
"Americans are reading less and their reading proficiency is declining at troubling rates," says a new report by the National Endowment for the Arts. The trend could have "a profound negative effect on the nation's economic and civic future," the report warns.
Speaking to the National Bank of Kuwait yesterday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that "Iran is far from acquiring a nuclear weapon" and that he believes it is "unlikely" that the United States will strike the Islamic Republic militarily.
"The number of economists forecasting the U.S. will slip into recession almost doubled over the last two months, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics."
The U.S. dollar has fallen to historic lows against both the euro and the yen as worries about the strength of the U.S. economy continue. The drop has been precipitated by the U.S. credit crisis, which has caused foreign investors to "pull some of their investments out of U.S. markets and put them in other countries."
Sick today...so just posting some stuff from C&L and the Center for American Progress:
THE “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT” CON JOB… (you've all read me make this very same case)
As our paychecks stagnate, our personal debt climbs and our health care premiums skyrocket, We the People are ticked off. Unfortunately for those in Congress, polls show that America is specifically angry at the big business interests that write big campaign checks.
So now comes the con - the dishonest argument over illegal immigration trying to divert our ire away from the corporate profiteers, outsourcers, wage cutters and foreclosers that buy influence - and protection - in Washington.
Republicans like Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) are demanding the government cut off public services for undocumented workers, build a barrier at the Mexican border and force employers to verify employees’ immigration status. Democrats like Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) are urging their allies to either embrace a punitive message aimed at illegal immigrants, or avoid the immigration issue altogether. And nobody asks the taboo question: What is illegal immigration actually about?
The answer is exploitation. Employers looking to maximize profits want an economically desperate, politically disenfranchised population that will accept ever worse pay and working conditions. Illegal immigrants perfectly fit the bill.
Politicians know exploitation fuels illegal immigration. But they refuse to confront it because doing so would mean challenging their financiers.
Instead we get lawmakers chest-thumping about immigration enforcement while avoiding a discussion about strengthening wage and workplace safety enforcement — proposals that address the real problem.
-- David Sirota…exactly correct on the immigration boogie man
VIDEO SECTION
Now watch Rachele Maddow debate both Buchanan and Mathews on the immigration issue…amazing, they just don’t get it…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/hardball-buchanan-and-maddow-on-illegal-immigration/
Thanks god I’m not the only one…watch Ed Schultz give the same analysis of Hillary and the debate as I did last week:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/did-hillary-really-win-the-debate-lets-play-hardball/
Bill moyers does it again…watch this short report on media consolidation…NOTHING more important in the long run:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/bill-moyers-journal-media-ownership-rules/
New Guantanamo revelations covered by Jack Cafferty…when he reads those emails from people you know some real good stuff is coming…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/17/cafferty-leaked-inside-look-at-guantanamo-a-little-scary/
Unfortunately…on some issues we’re almost “de-evolving”. Watch Jack Cafferty discuss the recent “victory” by anti-choice nut jobs in court: that’s right, a fertilized egg is a person…gee…I wonder where they want to take this precedent???
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/19/cafferty-is-a-fertilized-egg-a-person/
If these new studies don't start to wake people up, I truly don't know what will (actually I do...global disaster)
Final Warning To Humanity'
"[T]he world's scientists have spoken, clearly and in one voice," said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on the most recent report of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). After a rigorous multi-stage review process that includes 2,500 scientific expert reviewers, 800 contributing authors, and 450 lead authors representing 130 countries, the IPCC warns that "all countries" will be affected by climate change if carbon emissions continue to spiral. By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees celsius, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could lead to an eventual rise in sea levels of up to 1.40 meters. With "strikingly" blunt language, the report reads like "a final warning to humanity," notes Time magazine. "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment," declared IPCC chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri.
DEBATING WAYS TO BATTLE WARMING: This weekend, Grist and Living on Earth sponsored a presidential candidate forum to discuss ways to tackle climate change, in partnership with the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, California LCVEF, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, and the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy. The event was attended by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), former senator John Edwards, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). "[R]educing oil dependence and global warming is the second most important issue among independent voters," states Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress. With "little disagreement among them" on the urgency of climate change, Clinton and Edwards emphasized the need to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050, consistent with the goals of the IPCC, along with a mandatory cap on greenhouse emissions. Such plans to combat global warming can be undertaken with a very modest reduction in global annual GDP growth of 0.12 percent, notes Pachauri.
AN UNEQUIVOCAL FACT: Earlier this year, the IPCC said it was "more than 90 percent likely" that global-warming was man-made. It now reports "increased confidence in climate science," leading to the conclusion that "the time for doubt has passed. The IPCC has unequivocally affirmed the warming of our climate system, and linked it directly to human activity." This increased consensus pours water on right-wing insistence that there is still debate on climate change science. "The scientific definition of that [climate change] is lacking," maintains White House environmental adviser Jim Connaughton. The traditional media are also at fault in going against the scientific consensus. For example, ABC and CNN regularly air segments claiming global warming is not human-induced.EFFECTS ALREADY HERE: The IPCC report notes that the effects of climate change are "becoming evident already," and without due action, will be "abrupt or irreversible." The United States is seeing these ramifications today. The normally wet southeastern United States is currently suffering from the worst drought of the past 100 years. Recently, the IPCC reported that the last three decades have seen "a spring/summer warming of 0.87 degrees celsius," caused by global warming, and "earlier spring snowmelt has led to longer growing seasons and drought." Furthermore, Arizona is currently entering into its second decade of extensive drought. The intensity of hurricanes the recent California wildfires has also been linked to the warming earth.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: The IPCC concluded that "reductions in greenhouse gases had to start immediately to avert a global climate disaster," calling on the United States and China to play "a more constructive role." "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late," said Pachauri. The White House cites the need for "the technology that will make a lasting solution possible" but pushes only "voluntary" emissions reductions. The upcoming Bali conference, which the United States will attend, "is tasked with launching a two-year round of negotiations for intensifying cuts in carbon emissions beyond 2012, when current pledges run out under the Kyoto Protocol." "We cannot afford to leave Bali without such a breakthrough," Ban said. Furthermore, the White House and EPA should cease their "unprecedented obstructionism" and allow California's request that the federal government allow the state to regulate automobile greenhouse emissions under the Clean Air Act. Finally, Congress can reduce greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2030 compared to business as usual by passing a comprehensive energy bill after Thanksgiving recess.
EMBATTLED STATE DEPARTMENT WATCHDOG PROTESTS HOUSE HEARINGS: On Friday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced that the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing after Thanksgiving recess to examine whether State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard lied to Congress. In a recent hearing, Krongard testified to the committee that his brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, had never told him about his involvement on Blackwater's board of advisers. Buzzy, however, has contradicted his brother's statement: "He asked me whether I had any financial interest or any ties to Blackwater, and so I told him 'I'm going on their Board.'" Krongard is facing allegations that he blocked a House investigation into whether weapons illegally smuggled into Iraq by Blackwater employees were then "sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization." Krongard's lawyer has now written to Waxman and asked him to cancel the hearing, and Buzzy has resigned from Blackwater's board. Krongard has also stepped down from the State Department's two main internal investigations in Iraq.
"Americans are reading less and their reading proficiency is declining at troubling rates," says a new report by the National Endowment for the Arts. The trend could have "a profound negative effect on the nation's economic and civic future," the report warns.
Speaking to the National Bank of Kuwait yesterday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that "Iran is far from acquiring a nuclear weapon" and that he believes it is "unlikely" that the United States will strike the Islamic Republic militarily.
"The number of economists forecasting the U.S. will slip into recession almost doubled over the last two months, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics."
The U.S. dollar has fallen to historic lows against both the euro and the yen as worries about the strength of the U.S. economy continue. The drop has been precipitated by the U.S. credit crisis, which has caused foreign investors to "pull some of their investments out of U.S. markets and put them in other countries."
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