Jack & Jill Politics

GOP Disses 9/11 Responders

WASHINGTON — First responders from 9/11 can accept if Republicans don’t vote for a bill to help ailing Ground Zero workers, but they say rudeness is another matter.

Several victims of the terror attacks who have become advocates on behalf of other ill responders say they were treated poorly when they called some Capitol Hill Republicans in hopes of getting them to back a measure coming up for a committee vote Wednesday.

“One office said, ‘Why do you people keep calling us? Leave us alone,’” said Charlie Giles, 41, from Barnegat, N.J. “‘You people?’ That is a disgrace from a congressman’s office.”

Giles, a Republican, said his rounds of calls — and GOP opposition to a bill to reopen the Sept. 11 Victims’ Compensation Fund — left him so angry he’s ready to denounce his party when he and other responders take a bus to the Capitol Wednesday.

“I’ll bring my Republican card, and show it to them,” he said. “If I have to tear it into a million pieces in front of them, I will.”

Giles, who was an EMT on Sept. 11, 2001, singled out the offices of Reps. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.), as did other angry responders. They said their reactions from other members of the GOP was better.

Spokespeople for both congressmen said they were not aware of any problems with callers, and insisted they provide unfailingly polite and helpful service.

In one instance, a spokesperson for Forbes thought an intern may have annoyed someone by offering to take their name and see if an appointment could be arranged.

“If someone felt they were mistreated, we apologize,” said Rooney spokesman Jeff Ostermayer. “Our office treats everyone who calls with courtesy and respect.”

Daily News calls to their offices were answered politely, but a worker in Rooney’s office said she couldn’t answer a question about the bill, and transferred the call to a Democratic committee office without saying that’s what she was doing.

“They were just cold,” said Glen Klein, 50, a retired city detective, “like you’re interrupting their lunch or something like that.”

Klein, of Centereach, L.I., spent nine months working at Ground Zero and is collecting Social Security disability.

James O’Connell, 50, an ex-Army man who recently survived a suicide attempt he blames on his 9/11 suffering, said he couldn’t understand the reception he got.

“They were at the very least, conduct unprofessional,” he said. “I don’t get politicians. I thought 9/11 was something that affected all Americans. I thought it was nonpartisan.

“I’m just baffled by the conduct of all these people,” he said, adding that it wasn’t just about his treatment on the phone that bothers him.

“There was such great unity in the country after 9/11 and I don’t understand why in 2009 people are dying and nobody cares,” he said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2009/07/gop...

AFTERNOON OPEN THREAD IS UP

CNN emails the Blue Dogs have struck a deal on healthcare...no details on what it is, though.

To hell with the blue dogs.If they are so interested in fiscal sanity then explain this
I think it's pretty clear by now that saving money really isn't the motivation behind Blue Dog obstructionism:

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The last time a president tried to overhaul U.S. health care, Americans were spending $912 billion on the system and 40 million were uninsured. Today they’re spending $2.5 trillion and almost 50 million lack coverage.

President Barack Obama’s effort to revamp the system faces resistance from lawmakers of both parties who warn that the more than $1 trillion cost of the plan will break the budget at a time when the government already faces record deficits.

“Despite what President Obama claims, the bill he is promoting today will make health care even more expensive,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said last week when the president visited Boehner’s home state of Ohio.

The experience of the 15 years since Bill Clinton failed to win passage of legislation suggests that the price of inaction may be even higher than the cost of Obama’s plan.

Congress refused to touch the issue for a decade after the collapse of Clinton’s 1994 bid. A similar outcome this year would likely add millions to the ranks of the uninsured, boost costs for businesses and workers, and do nothing about what may be the top threat to the government’s long-term fiscal health, proponents of the plan argue.

“The budgetary implications of doing nothing are continued exponential growth in health-care costs, a steadily increasing health-care share of GNP, an eventual bankruptcy of the Medicare trust fund, and health-care costs becoming a prohibitive share of the federal budget,” Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council, said in an interview.

Health-insurance premiums for families have risen 119 percent since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Menlo Park, California-based policy-research firm. Inflation has risen 28.5 percent over that period, according to the Labor Department.

Premium costs are projected to rise another 9 percent next year, an increase that 42 percent of employers plan to pass on to their workers, according to a report last month by PricewaterhouseCoopers. That’s likely to further squeeze millions of Americans who find themselves in high-deductible insurance plans as wages stagnate because of the recession.

Earnings per hour climbed by a 0.7 percent pace on average over the last three months, the Labor Department said earlier this month, the smallest gain since the agency began keeping records in 1964. Meanwhile, the share of insured workers with at least a $1,000 deductible has almost doubled since 2006 to 18 percent, according to Kaiser.

For companies, the cost of health care “appears to be borne by the employees in the form of forgone wage increases and by consumers in the form of higher prices,” according to an October 2007 research paper by economists Victor Fuchs and John Shoven of Stanford University.

Some companies say the rising costs are also hurting them.

“Health reform could not be more critical,” Mike Duke, president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, said in a letter last month to Obama. “Reforming health care is necessary not just to improve the health of all Americans, but also to remove the burden that is crushing America’s businesses.”

For Louis Gerstner, former head of International Business Machines Corp., failure to curb medical-care costs will have a devastating, ripple effect.
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Advertise hereAwards

"The last time a president tried to overhaul U.S. health care, Americans were spending $912 billion on the system and 40 million were uninsured. Today they’re spending $2.5 trillion and almost 50 million lack coverage."

The increase in medical spending can largely be attributed to better drugs and medical advances that prolong life and life expenctancy. Yes, Americans like to survive heart attacks and cancer.

Many of the 'uninsured' of which there is no definitive, accurate census, choose to forgo insurance, and many are illegal immigrants. Covering the uninsured with a basic level of care that will protect them from 'catastrophic' illness is a laudable goal already implemented by the governemnt through Medicaid, SCHIP, and Medicare. Reforms to control cocts, reduce waste and fraud can be done with sweeping legislation that seeks to impose controls and choice for the 85% of Americans who are happy with their insurance plans and quality of care.

The 'straw man' created by supporters of a public plan is that IF WE DO NOTHING that things will get worse. Yet, I know of very few who support doing nothing. Most folks I talk to want to see reforms to REDUCE WASTE, FRAUD AND OUT OF CONTROL LITIGATION enacted BEFORE we trust the government to take over the entire system. One need to look no further than the VA, IHS, Medicaid and Medicare to see what is in store for the rest of us if we entrust the Federal Government with our health security.

Employees demand "Cadillac' plans that cover everything one can imagine from massages, to birth control, and accupuncture, just to name a few. If employers were required to provide only basic plans, they could reduce their costs, pay their employees more AND provide lower prices for consumers. Employees could then seek supplemental coverage 'cafeteria' style, choosing what they want to be covered...BUT UNIONS WILL NOT GO ALONG WITH THIS!

Until Americans assume the major responsibility for purchasing and controlling their health care consumption we will never root out waste and fraud, never convince folks to pay for their smaller expenses out of pocket or change unhealthy behaviors that lead to larger medical problems down the road.

The public option as it stands now hope to be all things to all people, providing the highest level of care and services at a low cost, but that is a pipe dream. Tax payers will be just as burdened that ever before if we enact legislation that puts the government in charge instead of patients and their doctors.

Does a child need to have a strep test everytime they have a sore throat? Probably not, but if it is automatically covered by insurance and the Dr. would rather practice medicine 'defensively' and order the test even IF he/she would deem it unnecessary, why not?

Now, what if a strep test is only available IF the Dr. deems it necessary. If the Dr. says wait, but you want the test any way, you pay.

My friend who is a teacher has her health insurance pay for massages, anti-depressants, and more while she continues to remain overweight. Her back pain and depression are directly linked to weight-related self-esteem/psychological issues for which she has been in and out of counceling for FOR YEARS with no improvement. If she had to actually pay for her drugs and massages, maybe she would choose to tackle the underlying issues rather than seek 'placebos' that do little to actually solve her health problems.

I on the other hand am a healthy, a non-smoking woman who maintains her weight through diet and exercise. If I want a massage, I pay for it because I deem it to be a luxury. I have less stress, great self-esteem and see my Dr. anually for a check-up,mamograms and pap smears. No high blood pressure, even though there is a history of it in my family. My Dr. says my lifestlye is the greatest contributing factor for my low blood pressure, low cholesterol.

I am 'rich' with our household income being over $250,000. Who is the greater drain on our health care system? Who is contributing more to the rising cost of healthcare? But who will pay more?

Is THAT fair?

Thank you. There are never fiscal concerns when the public is being shaken down. Is anybody "concerned" enough to be in a hurry to erect the consumer protection agency?

The Hill reports that Blue Dogs have successfully stalled the process until after the August recess as they try to win concessions in the bill’s composition:

The Blue Dogs and House leaders have struck a deal to guarantee that the House will not vote on a healthcare bill before August, a leading Blue Dog said on Wednesday.

In exchange for putting off a floor vote until after Labor Day, the Energy and Commerce Committee may be allowed to continue its markup of the healthcare bill this week even if an agreement has not been reached between Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and seven Energy and Commerce Committee Blue Dogs over the content of the bill.

Asked if House leaders had told Democrats that there will be no House vote on healthcare before Friday, Blue Dog Co-Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) said, “I don’t think [leaders have] made public statements to that regard, but my understanding is that that would be part of an agreement, if they actually do move forward with an Energy and Commerce markup that there will be no vote on the House floor until after Labor Day.” …

“There has been no official announcement on floor timing, but at this point, the odds are that we will not likely vote before we adjourn for August,” a Democratic leadership aide said.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/blue-dogs-s...

Hotair notes"

"Now the House will return to their constituents and hear an earful from all sides of the health-care debate, but the ground has shifted considerably in the meantime. The popularity of ObamaCare has plummeted as the costs have become more known, and so have Obama’s polling numbers. Moderates will face more conservative constituents, but even more traditionally liberal districts are going to look at hundred of billions of dollars in increased deficits with some skepticism.

When Congress reconvenes, expect the moderates to have even more pull — and for the split between Democratic leadership and its rank-and-file to widen."

All this good news as this debate will effect EVERY American and our elected officals must not rush to enact such sweeping legislation without considering the wishes of their constituents. They should READ THE BILL and be prepared to defend their positions to those they were hired to represent.

The August recess is gonna be a zoo.

I've got a Blue Dog, a hard Dem, and a hard R all within driving distance.

Bring the fight to them. Hold them accountable for the positions they take and make them coherently explain what's in it for you and your family. Then you can decide if the costs and the consequences, the risk and reward of this reform is in YOUR BEST INTEREST.

As my Dad taught me, "On one is going to look after YOU better than YOU."

didn't you say your dad uses medicare?

My plan's to get a cohernet set of questions, and ask them all the same ones.

Of course, as my luck goes, I'll be somewhere else when Rep. Scott's townhall goes down....

Just try to avoid phrasing question that can be answered with the vague platitudes already being spouted by supporters.
"If you like your plan, you can keep it." "Nothing will change for you." "The rich will pay for it all." etc.

I would start by knocking down the straw man erected by supporters by prefacing your questions with a brief statement explaining what you personally are willing to support. You are NOT one of the "Do NOTHING" crowd.

Why is THIS plan the BEST plan? Why the rush? There is always more than one solution to any given problem.

Think about your needs and goals as an individual, father and citizen. Do you want a public option, or would you just like to see the government reform the public option that now exist? Do you want to see your Congressmen, Senators and other elected official and government employees enrolled in the same plan that would like to impose on the rest of us?

You get the idea. This debate needs SPECIFICS and requires ACCOUNTABILITY not vague platitudes and promises.

Interesting...

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of Israel's Shas Party, has called US President Barack Obama "a slave" who seeks to rule the world and control Tel Aviv's affairs.

(Press TV) Israeli leader calls Obama 'slave'

"American insidiousness tells us to build here and not to build there as though we were slaves working for them," he said. "We live in a time when slaves are governing us and are trying to control us."

The racist remarks were made during Yosef's weekly sermon on Saturday during which he protested the Obama administration's policy to exert pressure on Tel Aviv over its settlement expansion.

"We are not employees of the Americans… and Israel does not work for the United States," he shouted.

Barack Obama, the first African-American US president, has come under increasingly pressure from Israel over his strategy for peace in the Middle East.

Then maybe Israel needs to stop holding their hand out for America's money.

Plus how are you gonna be a "slave" and tell somebody what to do? Does that even make sense? LOL

President Obama = Nat Turner...didn't you know? LOL

Plus how are you gonna be a "slave" and tell somebody what to do? Does that even make sense? LOL"

No, massa

How much do you want to bet that this wont get played like the Rev.Wright soundbite in our media?

Our media is scared of the Jewish community. They have money and money = power.

Simple solution.Cut off all military aid,stop blocking UN resolutions and declare them a pariah nation with sanctions till they give up their WMDS.

Only way Israel gives up their nukes is by using them.

I'm open to a honest debate as to why we have to give the 51st State

ONE DAMN DIME.

anyone else open for putting Israel's funding ON THE TABLE?

I said we needed to talk about AIPAC, cause I swear that PAC runs all shyt Israel in DC.

Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard lost their congressional seats when they tried to put Israel's funding on the table. IN fact, every member of congress that comes off "Anti-Israel" always gets a well-funded challenger, while Rahm the Enforcer dries up any other funding sources they might have.

I've seen this up close and personal and it couldn't be done better if Al Capone put out contracts and had Frank Nitti to "enforce" them in a way that had Eliot Ness going batshyt until he figured it out.

Yes.
Israel claims to be a nation of laws. Everytime they close down and illegal settlement(by the governements terms not international law) the settlement movement engages in Krystalnacht on Palestinian property, primarily olivegrove, agricultural land and infrastructure. The government promptly arrests Palestinians for protecting their property.

Yep, its about time.

Watched Lucia Whalen give a press conference about her 911 call and it is interesting to me that her attorney said that she would not answer any questions in regards to what is in the police report. She is defending herself against being accused of being racist...understandable...she got her plug in about how wonderful Cambridge is...but no comment on the lies written about her in the police report by the "honorable" officer Crowley. Why???

I missed the first couple of minutes of the presser, but after it was over the MSNBC talking head that the lawyer made a comment about a woman was the one with the cooler head, while 3 men gave a knee jerk reaction or something to that effect. Did anyone hear that? If so, why would the lawyer make a comment about 3 men when it was only ONE man who is responsible for Whalen being harassed? Gates was thankful that she called and Obama didn't say anything about her. It was Crowley who LIED and filed a FALSE REPORT saying she mentioned race and personally talked to him.

The talking head also made a comment about Whalen not being invited to the WH, so I guess the Doo Doo Brown press corp. and the media will be whining about that.

If she just wants to be left alone (which I can understand), why does she want to be invited to the WH?

Whalen didn't say that she wanted to be invited to the WH. It was the MSNBC reporter (I think it was Contessa Brewer) who said it, no doubt trying create some bullshyte meme. You know how they do.

Ah, ok. I don't know what prompted Contessa Brewer to say that, but I asked that question, I've run across a quote from Whelan's lawyer. She said something like "The three men who acted fools are meeting at the White for beers tomorrow, but this woman who didn't act foolish will be here in Cambridge working".

I find that interesting too that she refused questions about Mr. Crowley report. It would seem she wants nothing to do with Mr. Crowley lying ass and wants this media fire storm over. I think she blames Mr. Crowley for putting she said two Black men in her report.

That attorney of hers was way to gleeful to introduce her like she was about to give a concert performance. As "D." said there was really no reason for her to give a press conference...a statement, yes...but a press conference. There is something more up?

Hell, what she said could've been emailed as a press release.

That was funny and your right I was thinking the same thing. The only thing she wanted to point out is she didn't mention the word Black like the report Mr. Crowley wrote.

Perhaps, there's a lawsuit pending ...... OR they don't want to muddy the waters any further than has already been done by the police. Did you notice she wouldn't get into any specifics on her family? It's not OUR right to know everything little thing about every little person involved in this fiasco. I wouldn't give out information on my family, etc., either. The media makes a pile of shit into a story.

"The media makes a pile of shit into a story."

But, the media haven't touched Cambridge Chronicle story: Councilors took City Manager Healy and Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas to task for not keeping them informed about past press conferences and in the loop about the decision to form a committee to investigate the city’s police department..

Heat IS building up within Cambridge.

The media REALLY has no interest in covering anything REMOTELY linked to painting Jim Crow(ley) the BAD, BAD, racist cop that we know he is.

Lucia Whalen is giving press conference! She seems very angry!

She seemed more upset than angry.

Presser was pointless, though.

I agree...What was the presser? she seemed more afraid of being called a racist...lol

She should have come forth much earlier. Like right after the stupid Cambridge Police presser.

There was really no point to her coming forward at all.

Yes there was. She should have come forth with the TRUTH much earlier. Her silence help to create a frenzy. She should have come forth and nailed Crowley's ass to wall for lying on what he wrote in his report.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda ....... she couldn't have know what Crowley had written in his report immediately. Then once it was 'out there' I will bet real money she & her husband had this dicussion about how far to get involved, especially once it was onbvious from the released 911 tapes, she never made mention of race and DID make mention of suitcases.

Stop trying to make her into a villain; she's not. Not every woman can be as outspoken and on it as you or me or anyone else here.

In fact, to my mind's eye - I found a great many people back East to be very reluctant to do shit, get involved, stay something directly or straightforwardly. Something I could not understand.

She heard what was in that report when we all heard. But she chose to stay silent and let a firestorm occur. She's outspoken now. She certainly could have stopped all the drama made by the Cambridge Police dept. What's the point now?

She want to clear her name Mr. Crowley report painted her as a racist. The woman had no choice in her mind but to speak up.

I won't question her motives.

Yet.

Is she going to sue?

Couldn't get a good read from that presser. It really seems like she just wants to be left alone.

Who would she sue? Crowley, or CPD as a whole? I'm not sure she'd win, either way....but we'll see what happens.

She should sue both of them, D.

Crowley for lying about her actions, and the CPD for trying to back HIM up and cover up his lying ass.

Take all their shyt....I hope Crowley can't get a job as dogcatcher when this is over.

Remember the guy who was a security guard at the Watergate Hotel and called to report a break in that was authorized by your hero, Tricky Dick?

The poor guy lost his job for merely doing his job, and was virtually unhirable anywhere else.

I think Ms. Whalen is well within her rights to sue Crowley for using her by slandering her as a racist, when the 911 tapes clearly shows she didn't mention race of the suspects.

Sounds like you'd rather blame Ms. Whalen than accept the fact that Crowley is an effing bigot hiding behind his damned badge.

Nixon? Damn, CPL, I wasn't even born then.

I don't blame her for anything...hell, there's nothing to blame her for. She did what anyone else would've (should've?) done.

The only two people really at fault for anything here are Gates and Crowley.

D,

Gates is not at fault. Fault at what? Yelling inside of his own home? Not a crime!

The lying racist Crowley made a false arrest. That.is.all.

Both of them took the situtation way too far.

I don't think either is criminally wrong-as you suggest-but their actions towards each other were both wrong.

I know you disagree. Sorry.

Of course I disagree.

Gates did nothing wrong.It was a false arrest.

How you handle things inside of your home is your business & the way Gates handle things inside his home is ... his business. He didn't do anything wrong by yelling @ the Po Po.

I'll test that theory should the police ever come knocking at my door.

From another site: "Actually, I think Whalen could use MA's Good Samaritan Sword law to sue Crowley. He attempted to come to her aid and thwart a robbery, but ended up recklessly causing damage to her character"

From my understanding, both, Crowley and Whalen, could sue each other using MA's Good Samaritan law.

Just another reason for everyone involved to stop talking.

Good question she might for slander do to Mr. Crowley. I'm still trying to figure out were he got Two Black men with backpacks when the witness never mention race to him...

His fucking head.... the Haldol had worn off.

lol

Yes, I was thinking the same thing too. Why the hell now does she come forward and not sooner?...I guess being called a racist pulled her behind out of hiding.

Jesus fucking Christ! She was stopped by another woman who had seen what was going on. Whalen just happened to have her cell phone with her and the other woman didn't. ........

How in the hell can anyone hold HER responsible for simply calling to report a possible break-in? You've heard the 911 tape - she never mentioned race. She mentioned the suitcases on the porch. She is not the one to focus on.

You right she is not the one in focus. But, she is the one who triggered this whole damn issue with her call. She did a good thing calling and should have come forward to clear her name sooner after Mr. Crowley slandered her in his report.
No, I take that back she got a lawyer after finding out Mr. Crowley slander her name.

So she called? Did you not hear her in the press conference say that she believes we should look out for each, help each other, be kind to each other? She was doing her civic duty as someone who was there. She is NOT the one.

What Crowley wrote in his police report, he probably thought it would not be disputed. She's disputing it and has for a bit. You & I don't know the behind-the-scenes with her or her family and/or attorney. She seemed like a very decent woman. She's been dragged into this further by Crowley and all the shitheads who backed him up thinking there'd be no repercussions.

Well think again - dickheads.

Good points you made...I find it funny how the media keep ignoring the fact Mr. Crowley police report is false. The keep pushing this memo Hero Cop called stupid by President and Gates racist for question hero cop. While the poor witness until two days ago due to Mr. Crowley report was called a racist neighbor.

Glenn Nye's my current Representative...he's a Dem, but he's growing on me.

Politico Op-Ed: "Health reform must be fiscally responsible"

While continuing on our current path is untenable, with an ever-increasing portion of our gross domestic product dedicated to health care, the reform should be fiscally sustainable, and we must not pass the cost on to future generations. After years of reckless deficit spending, it would be irresponsible to enact health care reform without paying for it.

What does it cost the country in lost man hours and productivity? What does it cost when you provide basic care and examinations and catch treatable diseases before you end up in the emergency ward treated at the highest cost possible then released w/ prescriptions you can't pay for? What does it cost to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease and others w/ pharmaceutical drugs vs hospital care and operations?
It's way more than a trillion dollars over ten years.

PS I saw that you bought your health insurance as an individual not as a group on your wife's policy? I understood you to be a vet and entitled to care through the VA? Why are you using them if this is the case?

When I got out, apparently I fell into the category of people who made too much to get treatment through the VA (not that what I made was a whole lot compared to the cost of living in DC, but whatever). Which put me in priority group 8 (I believe; don't quote me on the group number).

That doesn't bother me, as there's people who need their care more than me.

If that was the case why did you opt for single payer coverage9the most expensive) vs using your wife's group?

Just my choice.

Made no sense to me to get it through the campaign, seeing as how it ends in November.

I think this is what really has Karmi upset
Tanning beds as carcinogenic as asbestos and cigarettes

The ultraviolet light used in tanning beds is as carcinogenic as asbestos, arsenic, radium and cigarettes, a special committee of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded. The use of sunlamps had previously been classified only as "probably carcinogenic in humans." Moreover, the committee concluded that all types of UV radiation induce cancer, not just the UV-B that has been implicated in the past. Some tanning salons claim to use only UV-A, which was thought to be safer, but the committee said that is not the case.

The committee of 20 scientists from nine countries met in June and reviewed more than 20 studies in humans, as well as animal studies. They reported online in the journal Lancet Oncology that the risk of skin cancer increases 75% when people start using tanning beds before age 30. They also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused tumors, not just UV-B.

UV radiation produces a specific mutation in DNA in skin cells, converting a cytidine base to thymidine, thereby triggering the cancer process. The studies show that this transformation occurs no matter what type of UV radiation is employed.

Previous studies have shown that younger people who use tanning beds regularly are eight times as likely to get melanoma as those who do not. Melanoma is also becoming increasingly prevalent in young people, whereas at one time it was observed mostly in those over age 75. The American Cancer Society urges young people to use bronzing creams rather than tanning beds.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/boos...nd-radiu...

See, now there's proof for the white folks that being a certain color can be HAZARDOUS to ones health, in fact, it can be down right deadly...

Especially if getting that "natural" color comes by "unnatural and artificial" means.

Just like Paul Mooney says - y'all want to look, sound and hip-hop with Niggers, but you don't want to go to jail with niggers..."

Love Paul Mooney! He has always been on point about that!

Oops, there it is!

That's not nice.....

Today's Conversation -
Op-Ed Project: Writing To Change the World
http://bit.ly/kyBRe

This was one of the most popular panels at this year BlogHer conference.

Exerpt of transcript from Ed Shultz show Tuesday, July 28.

Panel weighs in on Michaell Vick and PETA recommendation that Vick get a brain scan. Ron Christie, Jamal Simmons, and Roy Sekoff

SCHULTZ: Stephen A. Smith and Michael McGraw, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks for coming in.

All right, Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist, is with us tonight on our panel. Roy Sekoff, founding editor of the “Huffington Post,” and Ron Christie, a Republican strategist with us tonight.
This is a as much a social question about us as a country, I think. When do we reach the level of acceptance? And it crosses I think a lot of social mores lines. Jamal, what do you think about this?

JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I‘m finding it hard to get worked up about this. I think that there‘s a real issue here about Michael Vick. Michael Vick committed a crime. It is a serious crime. He was punished for that crime. He‘s now trying to come back and get back into his game, literally, and earn a living.

I think we ought to give him a chance to do that. He ought to have the opportunity. I can‘t help but remember a story that ran in the Detroit newspapers a few years ago about a homeless man who lived in the train station, and he had a dog. And they did a three-part series about how this guy ended up being homeless. The paper ended up having to run a fourth story, because so many people wrote in asking, how can they help the dog who was living with this homeless man in the train station?

People had to ask the question, what about the homeless guy? So I think the animal aspect is important here. But there‘s a lot of other things that are also important. I don‘t know what that story had to do with this story. But it probably had as much to do with it as brain scans did.

SCHULTZ: Ron Christie, do you ever think that this will ever leave Michael Vick in any way, shape or form? Is this just something he‘s going to have to live with the rest of his life?

RON CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think the stigma of the crime he committed and the heinous nature of the crime he committed will stick with him. Ed, as you pointed out in the previous segment, he was tried, he was convicted, he was penalized, he served 18 months in prison. I just took great offense listening to that person from PETA say he has to get a neurological scan.
I mean, we‘ve heard some people saying African-Americans should have scans on their brains and what not. I took great offense to that. The man has sat down with the commissioner of the NFL. Michael Vick has also sat down with the Humane Society. I believe he‘s regretful. For goodness sakes, he‘s lost over 100 million dollars. If a team in the NFL decides to reinstate him and let him play, that‘s one thing. But the man should be allowed to regain his livelihood, whether it‘s football, construction work, driving a truck, whatever it is.
But for people to go out there and say he needs to have a brain scan I find patently offensive.

SCHULTZ: The story definitely hits the sensibilities of all of us in this country, especially pet owners. We think about our pets possibly having to go through something like that. Roy, is the NFL possibly making a big mistake by even entertaining the idea of bringing him back?

ROY SEKOFF, “HUFFINGTON POST”: Not at all. Let‘s keep it in perspective here for a second. Remember, Lynndie England, who was the sort of poster girl for the torture of humans at Abu Ghraib? She served the same amount of time as Michael Vick. OK?
He has paid a very serious price. The main thing about the NFL that you‘re asking is, if you really can‘t get over it, don‘t go to the games. Don‘t turn on the TV. Go to the games and boo him. You have the right to do that. But you don‘t have the right to deny him the right to try to make a living. I don‘t think the NFL‘s making a mistake at all.

SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, stay with us. So much more coming up. I appreciate your take on all of this tonight.

that's why I said FUCK PETA.

"RON CHRISTIE: "for people to go out there and say he needs to have a brain scan I find patently offensive."

Men from Mar landing will probably be announced today, I actually agree with something that Ron Christie said!

I have been repenting all day. Clearly revelations is upon us so I need to get on the good foot.

Yeah, time to get right with your maker.

My thoughts exactly. I am agreeing w/ Ron Christie.

Dont let your shady cousin Ray Ray give you a ride in Chicago.

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has issued a new deadly force police policy, which is scheduled to go into effect this weekend. Chicago cops will now be permitted to shoot at drivers or passengers in cases of felons fleeing in motor vehicles.

Another excuse to use black and brown folk as target practice.

there's no way that this is going to be a positive. some little kid is going to get hit by a stray bullett from the police - you can count on it. this is just setting up for riots that will result.

I am so agreeing with you. This will turn out badly!

At their "fair and balanced" website purportedly devoted to "tolerance," and "civil discourse," Fox Nation is suggesting that Obama's health care bill is a back door bill for slavery reparations. And yep, they suggest that white people will die as a result.

(News Hound) Fox Nation Plays Race Card In Health Care Debate

The short Fox Nation post states: "Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color.President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means."

So what is the basis for such a hypothesis? If you click through to the article, an unsigned Op Ed in Investor's Business Daily, it's based on the flimsiest of foundations, Obama's statement to a group of minority journalists pressing him about reparations (which he opposes): "If we have a program, for example, of universal health care, that will disproportionally affect people of color, because they are disproportionally uninsured," the article quotes Obama as saying.

The author then goes on to speculate, "This may be a goal of Obama's health care plan: the redress of health care disparities on the basis of race and the punishment of those believed to be responsible, such as greedy doctors who perform unnecessary tests and procedures and greedy insurance and drug companies lusting for profits." And then again maybe it isn't. The author offers no evidence that the bill will have racial preferences besides his or her inflammatory speculations. Those got ratcheted up even further in the final paragraph: "The racial grievance industry under health care reform could be calling the shots in the emergency room, the operating room, the medical room, even medical school. As Terence Jeffrey, editor at large of Human Events puts it, not only our wealth, but also our health will be redistributed."

It is amazing that even w/ the video people do not believe these people are evil.
Years ago you know there were old woman who said "that boy was just born bad"

The troubling part is public responses to the divisive "noise machine". Somehow, there still appear to be people "out there" who wholly internalize what is being said. It is as if, a segment of the population operate under the assumption, if it is on teevee or radio, it must be true. The amount of energy and time spent to "undo" the harm is staggering.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES:
President of black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha sued by members over funds, including $900,000 wax statue

Suits says president of Chicago-based, national group also lavished $400,000 on herself

Members of a prominent Chicago-based sorority are suing to oust their national president -- former Chicago Housing Authority comptroller Barbara McKinzie -- saying she misappropriated funds and commissioned a $900,000 wax figure of herself.

She also is accused of taking nearly $400,000 for personal expenses and arranging for a $4,000 monthly stipend to be paid to herself after she leaves office.

McKinzie, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and its current and some former board of directors members are targeted in a lawsuit filed by eight sorority members last month.

Among the allegations:

• • AKA directors violated the group's rules when they approved a four-year "pension stipend" for a total of nearly $192,000. They also purchased a $1 million life insurance policy for McKinzie.

• • McKinzie used the group's American Express card to buy designer clothing, lingerie and jewelry, then redeemed points racked up on the card to get a 46-inch HDTV, gym equipment and other items for personal use.

• • The president started a campaign to raise $100 million for an endowment fund to be run by her management firm -- BMC Associates.

McKinzie denied any wrongdoing Tuesday, saying the lawsuit was backlash to "enforced stringent financial standards as part of a professionalization of our organization."

"Change never comes easy," she said. "The malicious allegations leveled against AKA by former leaders are based on mischaracterizations and fabrications not befitting our ideals of sisterhood, ethics and service."

McKinzie's likeness, along with one of the first national AKA president Nellie Quander, cost a total of $45,000, she said. All other figures are of group founders or first national presidents. The $900,000 "was allocated by the AKA board of directors to help defray overall expenses for our 2010 convention,' McKinzie said.

The wax figure of McKinzie is being prepped at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, where it will be in a growing exhibit of predominantly black fraternity and sorority representatives.

Parks, King, Keys, Donda West members
Founded at Howard University, AKA is the oldest predominantly black Greek-lettered sorority.

Members have included civil rights icons Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King; former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt; musician Alicia Keys; astronaut Mae Jemison; poet Maya Angelou; actresses Jada Pinkett Smith and Roxie Roker; singer Gladys Knight; TV personality Star Jones; educator Marva Collins, and Kanye West's late mother, Donda West. Michelle Obama accepted honorary membership in 2008 but has yet to be inducted.

Mattel Inc. created the limited-edition AKA Centennial Barbie, the first Barbie based on any sorority.

The suit also alleges that McKinzie persuaded the board in 2008 to approve $250,000 -- later increased to about $375,000 -- in compensation to her for services rendered on behalf of the sorority. McKinzie's pay was based on her securing $1.6 million in cost savings to AKA, but there was no proof that there were any savings, the members said.

The suit contends the expenditures should have been approved by AKA members last year. It seeks to have the board removed and money returned.

Leadership also is accused of overcharging for the group's 2008 conference, one that observed Alpha Kappa Alpha's 100th anniversary.

The registration fee was doubled to about $500 per member for the 2008 meeting, which brought in about $13 million. The complainants say expenses for that gathering were about $9 million, and the surplus was spent at McKinzie's discretion.

The dispute is being played out on open-access Web sites and blogs, a rarity among the black heritage fraternities and sororities that typically value handling internal discord more discreetly.

In another dispute, members of Illinois-incorporated Zeta Phi Beta Sorority are contesting the 2008 election of comedian Sheryl Underwood as national president. A D.C. Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to unseat Underwood.

The ABCs of AKA
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. has initiated more than 260,000 members since its 1908 founding at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

About 50,000 members are active in the group’s 950 chapters worldwide.

At its 2008 centennial celebration in Washington, D.C., AKA set a Guinness record for the largest sit-down dinner, drawing about 20,000 guests.

Mattel Inc. created the limited-edition Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Barbie, the first Barbie based on any sorority.

The group settled a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit after the 2002 deaths of two California college students who drowned in the Pacific Ocean while attempting to pledge the sorority.

The group has offices at 5656 S. Stony Island Ave., and is incorporated in D.C. Its educational foundation, also being sued, is incorporated in Illinois.

Dues from active members range from $70 to $200 per year, and along with meeting registrations are the primary revenue source for the group’s operations.

Michelle Obama accepted honorary membership in 2008 but has yet to be inducted.

Why hasn't the First Lady been inducted yet?

She flunks the paperbag test.

and that's not snark. Even though I know a couple of sistas who are AKAs and are pretty chocolate, they have told me how they felt being "token" members of AKA, and how they busted their asses to get in and fit in.

Glad my nieces are Zetas, LOL

900k for a wax figure?

did the two wax figures of The President and First Lady cost a tenth of that?

where there is a cash cow, it will be milked.

A great rebuttal by NBA player Etan Thomas utilizing a racists sympathizer's own logic. See:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/etan-thomas/can-p...

has anybody read the colin powell interview about the gates thing?
he said, "You just suck it up. What are you going to do?" and "You don't argue with a police officer," wtf?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,535223,00.h...

yep saw it yesterday tallblackman and I agree with your assessment.

wtf? Especially if you are IN your OWN home. wtf indeed.

i'm wondering if thats just the mentality of older black men that grew up during the civil right era..... cause i damn sure don't feel that way.

Its was/is a "survival mechanism " within cultures/sectors of this society. There are real and swift penalties for saying what's on your mind or not being "agreeable" in some circles.

Colin Powell was in the military where officer promotions are based on evaluations from a superior officer. If a/any soldier manages to piss off a superior officer their military career path can literally end at that moment. Suck it up is a part of the military culture.

Edit

@ morphus . thats right. i forgot about that. i still carry a little military baggage but nothing close to this.

We have a thread though called BlackMan101...and he is not of Powell's generation and he says pretty much the same thing as Powell.

That's what I was thinking.

"i'm wondering if thats just the mentality of older black men that grew up during the civil right era"

2 for 2. I agree with that assessment as well.

Val. I think it is the mentalitiy of men with sons and grandsons that want them to live and not be dead right.

The instant Obama announced he would make health care reform his defining issue reform opponents kicked their attack into high gear. The two hit points are that it’s too costly and too intrusive – meaning that it will snatch from Americans the right to choose their own doctors and health plans and dump health care into the alleged slipshod, inefficient hands of government bureaucrats. The real fear of private insurers, pharmaceuticals and major medical practitioners is that they’ll have to treat millions of uninsured, unprofitable, largely unhealthy blacks and Hispanics.

(Earl Ofari Hutchinson) Blacks, Hispanics Biggest Losers if Health Care Reform Flops

The huge racial disparity in the number of uninsured has been a sticking point for every Democratic president since Harry Truman proposed the first national health care plan in the late 1940s. The number of blacks and Hispanics without a prayer of obtaining health care at any price has always been wildly disproportionate to that of whites – even poor whites. It has steadily gotten worse over the years.

The legions of black and Hispanic uninsured are far more likely than the one in four whites, who are uninsured to experience problems getting treatment at a hospital or clinic. This has devastating health and public policy consequences. A study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that they are far more likely than whites to suffer higher rates of catastrophic illness and disease, and are much less likely to obtain basic drugs, tests, preventive screenings and surgeries. They are more likely to recover slower from illness, and they die much younger.

Studies have found that when blacks and Hispanics do receive treatment, the care they receive is more likely to be substandard than that of whites. Reports indicate that even when blacks and Hispanics are enrolled in high quality health plans, the racial gap in the care and quality of medical treatment still remains low. 
 Private insurers routinely cherry pick the healthiest and most financially secure patients in order to bloat profits and hold down costs. American medical providers spend twice as much per patient than providers in countries with universal health care, and they provide lower quality for the grossly inflated dollars. Patients pay more in higher insurance premiums, co-payments, fees and other hidden health costs. At the same time, government medical insurance programs shell out more than public insurers in other countries with universal health care. 



With much fanfare, three major hospital groups and pharmaceuticals announced in June and July that they would plough more than $200 billion into health care reform. This appeared to be a major step toward breaking the age-old logjam on getting real health care reform. That’s hardly the case. Neither the pharmaceuticals, the hospitals, nor private industry groups publicly pledged to fully drop their opposition to providing coverage and at cost medicines to those considered “high risk” or, less charitably, “undesirables.” Those are the millions who suffer chronic and major diseases—cancer, diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

Blacks and Hispanics have far greater incidences of these ailments than whites. Even when they can pay for medical coverage, they can be excluded from coverage if afflicted with these medical maladies. The health care industry’s reform plan is vague, tentative and subject to change at every step of the negotiating process. They still have a free hand to exclude high-risk cases from coverage.

The much-debated “public option” is the only government check and balance to guarantee coverage and treatment for the uninsured and those labeled as high risk. Yet, industry groups have mounted a major effort to kill outright or water the public plan down to where it is meaningless. In a press conference in June, Obama sent a mild signal that the public option is open to negotiation. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel went further and privately told opposing Republican Senators and doubting conservative Democrats that Obama would consider “alternatives” to the tepid government option. Emanuel didn’t say what the alternative was other than a nod toward an even vaguer and unproven system of loosely regulated, nonprofit health care co-operatives.

For decades, the health care industry has gutted every proposal for expanded health care. It has couched its attack by posing as the noble public-spirited guardian of the nation’s health and pocketbook – arguing that a public plan is too costly, inefficient and entails too much heavy-handed government control and interference. As the Post/ABC News poll shows, more Americans are buying the industry’s spin. This is catastrophic news for the millions of black and Hispanic uninsured who desperately need real health care reform.

It is way the cost/deficit factor is BS.
Many of the diseases are treatable by drug therapies. Putting more people on them in th elng run brings down cost because you are not treating them at death's door in the emergency room. Nor does putting more people on them at a lower cost per pill hurt them because the formularies will be for generics.
What hurts the pharmaceutical firms is the cost of creating a successful new drug is patent law and overseas infringement that prevents return on investment.

Haven't some R&D burdens been lessen for U.S. businesses using research from universities and NIH? Vaguely recall complaints about U.S. pharms getting leg up from NIH in particular.

It seems, the practice of *just* buying and cannibalism of companies with products was bound to fail. over time

The crisis mounting within this nation's health care system has striking ramifications for people of color. Disproportionately represented in the ranks of the uninsured and medically under-served, people of color are too often without a voice in current debates regarding reform of the health care system.

Multi-Cultural Approach to Health Care

Good health is the product of educational, occupational, economic, social, environmental, physical and spiritual well-being. Since socioeconomic inequalities are reflected in the significant health status differentials experienced by people of color, access to health care must be viewed as an issue of social justice and equality. Reform must address the socioeconomic conditions experienced by people of color.

1. Health Care is a Human Right

Reform of the health care system must provide universal access and ensure a single standard of health care, regardless of ethnicity, residency, citizenship, or employment status, including care for persons without an established residence.

2. Individual and Institutional Racism Must Be Eliminated from the Health Care System

Reform must identify and eliminate patterns of individual and institutional racism, sexism, and homophobia, which perpetuate a health care system where people of color are chronically underserved and suffer from significant differentials in health status. As a result of these patterns of discrimination, including divisive race politics, people of color are deprived of material resources, occupational and economic opportunities, and access to health care and education. These oppressive patterns must be replaced with culturally equitable systems.

<snip>

6. Cost Containment is Necessary for Any Systemic Reform

Cost containment, a necessary feature of health care reform, must not present barriers to health care access for people of color. Effective and efficient health care requires that culturally related criteria be used to assess the quality and appropriate utilization of services.

7. Health Care Must Provide Comprehensive Benefits With a Broad Approach to Services

Comprehensive care must be provided for everyone, including children, the aged, and disabled, chronically ill, or homeless persons. The basic level of services should provide health promotion and preventive services, and primary care for each individual. Health must be viewed in a broader socioeconomic context that addresses how a community’s health status is affected by poverty, unemployment, discrimination, housing, and education, among other factors. The health care system and its providers must recognize the limitations of the medical model and move toward a broader approach to services, emphasizing the need for change in social policy.

8. Health Care Financing Must Be Progressive

Reform should spread the burden of financing health care coverage across all sectors of society based on the ability to pay.

9. The Health Care System Must Include Mechanisms for Community Accountability

The health care system must include mechanisms to assess consumer and provider satisfaction and address concerns about the effectiveness of health care delivery within the community served. These mechanisms must include consumer satisfaction surveys, community-based needs assessment, and measures of quality of care, with a view towards improving health outcomes for people of color.

While this approach fairly articulates the problems facing our efforts to reform health care, it raises a number of questions and concerns that are central to the debate.

1. Health Care is NOT a right. It is a service provided to those who need it, whenever they need it. Insurance helps you to afford the medical care even you need when you may not be able to afford it. In exchange for this 'security' the insured pays for this product at a price they can afford. Some people choose to pay more than others in order to cover themselves to greatest extent possible. Others choose a more basic plan, that will provide them with protection against 'catastrophic' events for which they cannot possibly pay on their own. These individuals choose to pay for small expenses out of pocket and choose to live the healthiest lifestyle possible. Employers provide a wide range of plans based on the contracts negotiated with their employees or employee unions.

For those who cannot afford to pay, they must look to others (other citizens, represented by their elected government), to provide them with the security they cannot provide for themselves. To what should they be entitled? A plan that protects them to the largest extent possible, no matter the cost, or are they only entitled the most basic level of service?

By nature, the most basic plan will be deemed 'substandard' if the individual wants to be covered to the greatest extent possible or if the individual chooses to participate in high risk behaviors that will pre-dispose them to health problems later in life.

What level of care will meet the requirement of the government to provide for the 'general welfare' of its citizens without infringing on the other rights of individuals to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness any way they see fit, in accordance with our laws?

2. While eliminating racism is a noble goal, free people cannot be governed out of their individual prejudices and biases. "Culturally related criteria"??? What is THAT? Defining culturally related criteria is IN AND OF ITSELF INSTITUTIONAL RACISM.

3. Cost containment can only be assured IF 'defensive' medical practices are curtailed. This can be achieved through tort reform. It can also be achieved by making medical records portable and electronic. It can also be achieved by rationing care and price controls. Which of these measures are the American people willing to accept? Will Americans accept rationing in order to save money?

4. Comprehensive Care = a basic level of care for those whose 'socioeconomic context' is based on their inability to pay for said care, via taxes. Any other type of coverage will exceed the definition of 'general welfare' as required by the Constitution. If an obese, smoker will not quit smoking or lose weight because they will be covered for any subsequent medical costs how can we hope to 1)control costs and 2)not ration care? Can you not foresee the day when THE GOVERNMENT(in lieu of the private insurance company) will tell you that you cannot have have that bypass surgery because you refuse to lose weight or stop smoking?

5. "Health Care Financing Must Be Progressive

Reform should spread the burden of financing health care coverage across all sectors of society based on the ability to pay."

This is where our entire concept of individual freedom to pursue our own goals is tossed aside in favor of a 'collective' dictate that places the needs of an underpriveledged group AHEAD of the INDIVIDUAL. How is that good or right?
The individual is the LARGEST MINORITY and they will lose their voice and their freedom as they will be engulfed and consumed by the 'collective.'

The wealthy in this country already pay almost half of the taxes. When the tax payers are outnumbered by the non tax payers, they will no longer be free.

The crisis that is approaching is the underfunding of Medicare. The Medicare trust fund will be depleted in about 7 to 8 years. This will require either massive tax increases or severe rationing (denial) of care for the over 65 age group.

Can we have a link or is this just assumptions?

The depletion of the trust fund can be google at hundreds of sites.
The AARP (i am a member) put the state of the trust fund on their site long ago.

http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/dd138_hi...
note the graph - i think it was figure #2 assets in toilet by 2019 - this was 2005 figure, now that unemployement is 10% a lot less money is going into the fund and it will deplete earlier.

Thank you

Ooops - sorry: see figure 1 for fund in toilet.

figure 2 shows how Medicare taxes must double or triple to keep up with costs.

Great counter argument by Etan Thomas using an antagonist's own racists sympathizing logic on the Gates issue:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/etan-thomas/can-p...

Health Insurance Stocks Soar on Baucus Deal News
By: Teddy Partridge Tuesday July 28, 2009 5:57 pm


News that Senator Max Baucus' Finance Committee deal on health care financing excluded a public option sent health insurance stocks soaring Tuesday.

Shares of U.S. health insurers rose broadly on Tuesday on hopes a health reform bill would not include a government-run option, which has drawn strong opposition from insurers who fear it would destroy the private marketplace.

The S&P Managed Health Care index of large U.S. health insurers closed 6.5 percent higher.

Aetna rose 12.6 percent, Coventry was up 12.7 percent and Cigna was 7.7 percent higher, all on the New York Stock Exchange. Centene rose 7.9 percent.

Health insurance executives who have poured money into the campaign coffers of Blue Dogs, Max Baucus, Chuck Grassley, Kent Conrad, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins (as well as their political action committees) likely made all their money back in the one day rise in stock prices. The companies themselves, which hold huge amounts of their own stock, surely recouped all of their PAC investments on Tuesday alone.

You don't have to wonder whether Wall Street thinks Max Baucus' deal is great news for the health insurance industry's status quo: numbers like these don't lie.

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/07/28/...

Legislation+lobbyist+money+Congresscritter=public policy. Wash, rinse, repeat.

hmm, just how objective can Baucus be about real health care reform?

Alot more info at this website on this issue http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/projects/2009...

"Lobbying disclosure filings for the first quarter of 2009 reveal that five of Baucus’ former staffers currently work for a total of twenty-seven different organizations that are either in the health care or insurance sector or have a noted interest in the outcome. The organizations represented include some of the top lobbying organizations in the health sector: Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Researchers of America (PhRMA), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Amgen, and GE Health Care.

The former staffers turned lobbyists include two former chiefs of staff, David Castagnetti and Jeff Forbes, and one former legislative assistant, Scott Olsen. Other former staffers working with health care portfolios include Angela Hoffman and Roger Blauwet.

The overall health and insurance sectors haven’t just been kind to Baucus’ staffers, but they’ve also aided his campaigns handsomely over the years, especially in his barely contested 2008 reelection campaign. In 2008, Baucus received $1,148,775 from the health sector and $285,850 from the insurance sector. For his career he has received $2,797,381 from the health sector and $1,170,313 from the insurance sector."

Microsoft and Yahoo agree search deal
By Richard Waters and Joseph Menn in San Francisco, and Alan Rappeport in New York
Published: July 29 2009 00:41 | Last updated: July 29 2009 13:07

Microsoft and Yahoo agreed on Wednesday an online alliance that could create a more formidable rival to Google in the search business.
In a joint statement, the companies confirmed the widely expected deal, which will give Microsoft a 10-year licence to integrate Yahoo’s search technology into its existing search platforms, while Yahoo will become the “relationship sales force” for advertisers for both companies.
This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of internet innovation and development,” said Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s chief executive. ”Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides.”
Shares of Yahoo fell more than 6 per cent to $16.09 in pre-market trading on Wednesday. Microsoft shares rose almost 1 per cent to $27.30

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/488009c2-7bce-11de-97...

It's always been curious to me that many people harbor disdain and outrage towards MS merely because of its monopoly status. Yet, in plain view, there have been Google, Intel, Oracle, and others in the IT industry who are in the same position but have always seem to had a sweetheart status with the public.

Maybe, now, the public will see some search engine competition. Cuil was a disappointment.

Should Obama sign a peace treaty with North Korea?
It's too late to rid the country of nukes, but we can keep its program under control.
Lewisburg, Pa. - A rare opportunity has emerged for the United States and North Korea to directly engage in diplomatic dialogue. The Obama administration should quickly and firmly grab it.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday saying that "there is a specific and reserved form of dialogue" with the US that can address the nuclear situation.

The statement followed remarks over the weekend by Sin Son-ho, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, who said his government was "not against a dialogue" with Washington. These statements are apparently in response to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's call for North Korea to return to the negotiating table.

Secretary Clinton said last week in Thailand that if North Korea agrees to irreversible de-nuclearization, the US will move forward on a package of incentives, including normalizing relations with Pyongyang. Clinton later said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that North Korea won't be "rewarded for half-measures" toward ending its nuclear weapons program.

The willingness on both sides to resume talks is encouraging, but there are major hurdles ahead.

Frankly, it is unrealistic for the US to ask North Korea to give up its nuclear technology. The reason is simple: The nuclear card is the only one North Korea has; it will not easily give it away. The ostrich policy of refusing to accept North Korea as a nuclear state has to be ditched. A solution to the North Korea conundrum must begin with recognizing the fact that North Korea has the ability to produce nuclear weapons and will remain nuclear-capable.

The cold war has not ended on the Korean Peninsula. Regime survival is a top priority for Pyongyang. Depicted as being belligerent and menacing to its neighbors and the US, North Korea retorts that it is the US that has been hostile and provocative.

The impoverished North needs the nuclear program as a bargaining chip. It is also in dire need of energy, which nuclear technology can provide. It is highly unlikely that Pyongyang will actually use nuclear weapons against its neighbors or the US – the Communist leaders are fully aware that it would be suicidal.

In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton took a soft-line policy toward North Korea. He promised millions of dollars in aid, food, oil, and even two nuclear reactors in exchange for denuclearization. President Clinton also sent Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong-il.

But Congress never approved the budget for the construction of the two nuclear reactors, there was evidence that North Korea was violating its end of the bargain, and Clinton left office, unable to solve the problem.

Then George W. Bush put North Korea on the "axis of evil" list and took a hard-line approach, which also backfired. More sanctions will not affect the lives of North Korean rulers and will only cause more suffering for the common people. Heated rhetoric does not help solve the problem, either.

But that doesn't mean there's no way forward.

Kim Jong-il is now apparently picking his successor. Kim Jong-un, his youngest and favored son, has been rumored to be the next leader of North Korea. If this is true, there might be some hope for North Korea.

The younger Kim was educated in the International School of Berne in Switzerland. He is reported to have been introverted but friendly to his classmates. Unlike his father and grandfather, he has first-hand experience in a Western society.

It would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility that Kim Jong-un may introduce political and economic reforms to North Korea after he consolidates his power.

Consider China: Mao Zedong, who only spent a few months in Moscow and never ventured to the West, kept China in isolation and constant conflict with foreign powers while Deng Xiaoping, who studied and lived in France as a teenager, brought sea changes to post-Mao China.

When Deng emerged as China's leader after the Cultural Revolution, the US and other Western countries welcomed him. President Jimmy Carter invited him to Washington and praised his bold economic reform initiatives.

Nearly two decades after Russia and China established diplomatic relations with South Korea, neither the US nor Japan has taken steps to recognize North Korea. Why doesn't President Obama reach out to Kim Jong-un and establish a working relationship with him as early as possible?

North Korea is predictably unpredictable, but one thing is clear now: It is determined to keep nuclear technology and strengthen its nuclear weapons. Yet, what North Korea needs most is not the two light water reactors promised to it under the collapsed 1994 Agreed Framework; it needs security guarantees and diplomatic recognition.

Acquiring nuclear technology does not make North Korea more dangerous; it is how the regime uses this technology that matters. Since North Korea is already nuclear-capable, the US should keep this traditional enemy close by signing a nuclear cooperation deal with it and co-managing its nuclear program. Both South Korea and China are also supportive of a less confrontational approach to North Korea.

Ultimately, the US-North Korea dialogue should aim at establishing diplomatic relations and signing a peace treaty, which may be the best way to keep North Korea's nuclear program and technology under control.

Zhiqun Zhu is an associate professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. He is also the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur chair in East Asian Politics at Bucknell.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0728/p09s02-coop....

You can't lie down w/ rabid dogs.

delete

Dem healthcare infighting intensifies
By Alexander Bolton and Jeffrey Young
Posted: 07/28/09 08:11 PM [ET]

A House fight among Democrats on overhauling the nation’s healthcare system has spread to the Senate, where centrists and liberals are clashing over the direction the legislation should take.

Trouble is brewing now that a bipartisan group of senators — led by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) — has signaled it will exclude a government-run insurance option from the committee’s draft legislation that could be marked up next week.



Leaving it out would be a major step toward attracting Republican support for President Barack Obama’s signature issue. But it also would alienate liberals, who say the effort is wasted without it and are preparing a barrage of amendments for the Finance markup.

The House legislation has divided Democrats in that chamber along similar lines and is built around a public option to be paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, an idea that has almost no chance of winning GOP votes. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee this month voted along partisan lines to approve legislation with a public option at its core.

Infighting among House Democrats has led to an impasse at the Energy and Commerce Committee that is expected to prevent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from meeting her deadline of completing work before the August recess.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/infighting-...

I'm glad the progressives are standing up for the American people.

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 28, 2009; 7:04 PM

David Axelrod's son is following his father's career path -- that is, the one he had before becoming a political strategist.


Ethan Axelrod is joining the Huffington Post, the liberal Web site that has been largely supportive of President Obama. His dad, now a White House senior adviser, was a Chicago Tribune reporter until he quit in 1984 to help run a Senate campaign (and still has a soft spot for newspapers, though his old one is in bankruptcy).


"I've been interested in journalism for a while," the 22-year-old Axelrod said Tuesday. "I heard through my father that they were expanding, so I applied for it."


The younger Axelrod started yesterday as editor of the Huffington Post's new local edition in Denver, the third of a dozen planned sites that have already launched in New York and Chicago and will next target Los Angeles. He applied for the job, was interviewed by Arianna Huffington along with other candidates, and was tapped after submitting a mockup of the Denver home page. The site goes live in September.


Axelrod began writing and editing for the school paper while at Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, and he hadn't necessarily planned to join the online world until learning of the Huffington opening. His father's journalistic roots "piqued my interest a bit," he said. "I've always been a follower and admirer of news reporting." Wonder if his father's colleagues will say the same thing after four years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

Jewish privledge.

Yep, just like Luke Russert's Irish Catholic priviledge.

How Fox News Gets Away With It... (with updates)
by Deep Brain Diarist
Share this on Twitter - How Fox News Gets Away With It... (with updates) Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 04:01:39 AM PDT
Let’s see if we can take a few minutes here to explain the success of Fox News.

For one thing, to give the Devil its due, Fox revolutionized (for better or worse) the delivery of TV news in the same way that USA Today changed newspapers forever. Flashy colors. Loud noises. Short sentences. Easy to understand, sound bite concepts. They broke it all down into good vs. evil, and they got to define which was which.

But more than that... the reason they are so successful?

Their viewers WANT to be lied to!

Deep Brain Diarist's diary :: :: During the Bush administration, Fox viewers wanted to think the Iraq war was a worthwhile adventure. They wanted to believe that Saddam was tied into 9/11, that he met with al Qaeda. They WANTED to believe that he not only WAS developing WMDs, he was damn close to HAVING a workable nuke that he could give to terrorists who could slip into our unprotected nation and blow up Manhattan. They WANTED to believe that standing against the president in a time of war was TREASON, (as opposed to standing against THIS president in a time of war, which is PATRIOTIC.)

Fox News viewers WANTED a news delivery system that not only sympathized with their paranoid world view — they wanted a news delivery system that would falsely CONFIRM it.

So, Fox gives its viewers what they want. And on the rare occasion than an MSNBC happens to prove a Fox News lie — well, that’s just "yer lib’rul media" all JEALOUS and stuff about the success Fox News has had.

When the talking heads on Fox News get it wrong, and it gets pointed out by TPM or Kos, or Media Matters (like progressive bloggers called our attention to Bill O’Reilly’s fuzzy math when he said "of COURSE Canada’s life expectancy is higher than ours... we have 10 percent more PEOPLE than they do...") Where you or I will scratch our heads in amazement over such lunacy, the Fox News viewer will nod his greying white head in agreement. Because O’Reilly said it, not some "egghead" like Keith Olbermann who thinks he’s better than they are because he’s all SMART and junk... After all, smart guys like Olbermann and Obama, they’re just wise guys who think they know stuff, not REAL folks like Joe the "Plumber" or Sarah Palin or George Bush, who you’d like to chug down a brewski with.

When Glenn Beck says — almost in the same breath — that President Obama "hates white people" and then, "I never said he doesn’t LIKE white people," and your head does NOT explode, it’s because — as a Fox News viewer — you AGREE with this unresolvable dichotomy. If you DON’T agree with it, it’s because you’re brainwashed by the liberal MSM and can’t think for yourself — like Limbaugh tells them THEY can.

The ultra-right Pajamas Media website recently ran a column by Frank J. Fleming — ostensibly a humorist — criticizing "smart people" for saying Obama is a great president. If satire was intended, it was missed by the readership — in the comments you will see Obama referred to as a narcissist, a megalomanic who "thinks he smart", and — as "the One!" See, it’s because we believe Obama and we like the idea of "hope and change" that we should be mocked for giving our faith to a false god... a false AMERICAN like Obama! (They never say what’s WRONG with the concepts of "hope" or "change." They just mock.)

When the ultra-right Michelle Malkin organ, Hot Air.com, runs stories criticizing the "birther" idiots, the readers unload their invective — not just on Obama, but on the guy who wrote the column, because THEY KNOW that Obama is actually an Indo-Kenyan Canadian Mooslim with Dual British Citizenship. And if YOU don’t know that, it’s because you’ve been watching the Clinton News Network or have been watching that Rachel Maddow who is an admitted gay and therefore can not be trusted on ANYTHING.

Fox News knows they don’t have to get as far into the gutter as their viewers would like them to go. They run down the "birthers" while lauding the racist-but-otherwise-inconsequential "teabagger" movement. They will tell the truth when they can (and it doesn’t hurt them to do it), but they WILL "innocently" misidentify a Republican as a Democrat if he does something bad, or stupid, or illegal.

They can out and out LIE, and then claim it’s a typo!

Now, they put folks on the air to lie about Obamacare. They lie about the stimulus. They lie about EVERYTHING. And the core viewer — the ones Fox WANTS to watch — pour it on their mashed potatoes like gravy.

So, think what you want about Fox News. They are clearly NOT in the news business. They are in the "conservative misinformation" business. They are giving their viewers what they want. And they do it very, very well.

UPDATE: Thanks for the rec list love!

UPDATE x2: When I was much younger and still in the news business, I lived in a town that did not have a building safety code. The voters consistently rejected it because it meant "gubbermint interference" in their lives. A late friend of mine on the city council, in an unguarded moment, leaned over toward me and said, "if only stupid people could realize that it's better to be smart." I responded, "if only stupidity were PAINFUL..."
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/29/759...)

Gallup:

When Americans say that their personal healthcare costs will increase if a new reform law is passed, it could mean that these individuals perceive that they will pay doctors, hospitals, and providers more money, or that they will be paying more for all Americans' healthcare indirectly, through higher taxes. Whatever the case, the data show that a third of Americans believe their costs will go up in some way if healthcare reform is passed, almost twice as many as say their personal costs will go down.

Bottom Line

These results do not coalesce into a terribly optimistic picture of Americans' views of the perceived impact of healthcare reform:

Whether the focus is access to healthcare or the quality of care, less than a majority of Americans are convinced that healthcare reform will be beneficial to either the country or to their own personal situations.

Americans are less likely to believe healthcare reform will result in improvements to themselves personally than to the national healthcare situation.

Americans believe that healthcare reform will increase costs rather than lower them, both nationally and for themselves.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/121943/Benefits-Heal...

What do they believe will happen to the cost of we keep the status quo? besides believing it will go up is not the same asnot wanting it. People but things everyday that will increse the cot of housing and transportation. Why? Because they believe the new home or car will improve their life.

Everything has cost, but not everything has value. People who talk about cost without discussing benefits are afraid of change.

Well it appears that the GOP propaganda is working.

or not. who exactly participated in the poll and how many people?

According to Howard Dean as of yesterday 72% of the American People suport the healthcare initiative.

50% of Republicans support it as well. . . . don't have the direct quotes from Dean but you can find the replay of his segment when he subbed for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

I thought you typed wanking. I still think that word works, too.

Oh LilyTiger,

You have me laughing out loud this early already! lol

"Racial opportunist"? Has Michelle Malkin looked in a mirror lately?

Megan McArdle of The Atlantic:

Why I Oppose National Health Care

http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/07/a_long_...

"The other major reason that I am against national health care is the increasing license it gives elites to wrap their claws around every aspect of everyone's life. Look at the uptick in stories on obesity in the context of health care reform. Fat people are a problem! They're killing themselves, and our budget! We must stop them! And what if people won't do it voluntarily? Because let's face it, so far, they won't. Making information, or fresh vegetables, available, hasn't worked--every intervention you can imagine on the voluntary front, and several involuntary ones, has already been tried either in supermarkets or public schools. Americans are getting fat because they're eating fattening foods, and not exercising. How far are we willing to go beyond calorie labelling on menus to get people to slim down?

These aren't just a way to save on health care; they're a way to extend and expand the cultural hegemony of wealthy white elites. No, seriously. Living a fit, active life is correlated with being healthier. But then, as an economist recently pointed out to me, so is being religious, being married, and living in a small town; how come we don't have any programs to promote these "healthy lifestyles"? When you listen to obesity experts, or health wonks, talk, their assertions boil down to the idea that overweight people are either too stupid to understand why they get fat, or have not yet been made sufficiently aware of society's disgust for their condition. Yet this does not describe any of the overweight people I have ever known, including the construction workers and office clerks at Ground Zero. All were very well aware that the burgers and fries they ate made them fat, and hitting the salad bar instead would probably help them lose weight. They either didn't care, or felt powerless to control their hunger. They were also very well aware that society thought they were disgusting, and many of them had internalized this message to the point of open despair. What does another public campaign about overeating have to offer them, other than oozing condescension?

Of course, the obese aren't the only troublesome bunch. The elderly are also wasting a lot of our hard earned money with their stupid "last six months" end-of-life care. Eliminating this waste is almost entirely the concern of men under 45 or 50, and women under 25. On the other hand, that describes a lot of the healthcare bureaucracy, especially in public health."

Can you do anything besides cut and paste? This article says absolutely nothing about the benefits or costs of real health care reform. She simply assigns motives to the proponents and argues against the motives.

This writing is unthoughtful and dishonest. She apparently is unconcerned with the health effects of obesity on others. She writes as if she is protecting the obese, but the truth is she believes they are weak and deserve their condition. This is the belief of the libertarian; let’s have a dog fight because I can win. I am smarter, richer, and thinner. Her second point seems to be that health care workers want to kill old people, especially the workers focused on public health.

Her article has nothing to do with the health care reform debate. It is about her ability to know the motives of others.

Anyone who equates this healthcare reform initiative to weight loss, obesity and killing old people is a moron.

Who needs healthcare reform? How about the folks who have:
Cancer, Diabetes, Lukemia, Hypertention, High Blood Pressure, Anisakiasis, Bird Flu, a.k.a. Avian Influenza, Botulism, Campylobacter and Campylobacteriosis Foodborne Disease, Invasive Candidiasis - Systemic Candida Fungal Infections, Cholera, Cold Sores Caused by Herpes Virus, Colitis Caused by Clostridium difficile, CMV, or Cytomegalovirus in Pregnant Women, E. coli O157:H7 - Bloody Diarrhea, or Hemorrhagic Colitis, Ear Infections – Otitis Media, Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, Listeriosis caused by Listeria monocytogenes,Lyme Disease, Measles , Mono, a.k.a. Mononucleosis or the Kissing Disease, MRSA - Community-Acquired MRSA
MRSA - Healthcare-Acquired MRSA, Mumps, Yeast Infections, Norovirus (Norwalk Virus) Infection, Ringworm Fungal Infections of the Skin, Rotavirus Diarrheal Disease, Rubella Congenital Disease Profile, Salmonellosis Caused by Salmonella,
Shigella and Shigellosis Foodborne Disease, Staphylococcus aureus Food Poisoning, Strep Throat, Swine Flu Infections in Humans, Thrush, Toxoplasmosis Congenital Disease, Tuberculosis, Typhoid Fever Caused by Salmonella Typhi, Whooping Cough or Pertussis, The Common Cold, Influenza, HIV/AIDS, Pneumonia, Alzheimer's Disease Aphasia Bell's Palsy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Epilepsy, Encephalitis, Huntington's Disease, Neuromuscular Disorders, Neuro-oncology, Neuro-immunology, Neuro-otology Pain, Pediatric Neurology Phobia Sleep Disorders Tourette Syndrome, Parkinson's Disease and other movement disorders.

Not enough of a good reason to make sure all Americans have access to quality and affordable healthcare? Well okay. . . . let me hit the rest of the issues Americans face . . . in alphabetical order this time
Abarognosis, Acquired Epileptiform Aphasia, Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Adrenoleukodystrophy, Agenesis of the corpus callosum , Agnosia, Aicardi syndrome, Alexander disease, Alpers' disease, Alternating hemiplegia, Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (see Motor Neurone Disease), Anencephaly , Angelman syndrome, Angiomatosis, Anoxia, Aphasia, Apraxia, Arachnoid cysts , Arachnoiditis, Arnold-Chiari malformation, Arteriovenous malformation , Asperger syndrome , Ataxia Telangiectasia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Auditory processing disorder, Autonomic Dysfunction, Back Pain, Batten disease, Behcet's disease, Bell's palsy, Benign Essential Blepharospasm, Benign Focal Amyotrophy, Benign Intracranial Hypertension, Bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria , Binswanger's disease, Blepharospasm, Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome, Brachial plexus injury, Brain abscess, Brain damage, Brain injury, Brain tumor, Spinal tumor,
Brown-Séquard syndrome, Canavan disease, Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
Causalgia, Central pain syndrome, Central pontine myelinolysis, Centronuclear myopathy, Cephalic disorder, Cerebral aneurysm, Cerebral arteriosclerosis
Cerebral atrophy, Cerebral gigantism, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Chiari malformation, Chorea, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), Chronic pain, Chronic regional pain syndrome , Coffin Lowry syndrome, Coma, including Persistent Vegetative State
Congenital facial diplegia, Corticobasal degeneration, Cranial arteritis
Craniosynostosis , Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Cumulative trauma disorders
Cushing's syndrome , Cytomegalic inclusion body disease (CIBD)
Cytomegalovirus Infection , Dandy-Walker syndrome, Dawson disease
De Morsier's syndrome, Dejerine-Klumpke palsy, Dejerine-Sottas disease
Delayed sleep phase syndrome, Dementia, Dermatomyositis, Developmental Dyspraxia, Diabetic neuropathy, Diffuse sclerosis, Dysautonomia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dystonia, Empty sella syndrome, Encephalitis, Encephalocele , Encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis, Encopresis, Epilepsy, Erb's palsy, Erythromelalgia, Essential tremor , Fabry's disease , Fahr's syndrome
Fainting, Familial spastic paralysis, Febrile seizures, Fibromyalgia
Fisher syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia, Gaucher's disease, Gerstmann's syndrome
Giant cell arteritis , Giant cell inclusion disease , Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy
Gray matter heterotopia , Guillain-Barré syndrome , HTLV-1 associated myelopathy , Hallervorden-Spatz disease , Head injury , Headache , Hemifacial Spasm , Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia , Heredopathia atactica polyneuritiformis
Herpes zoster oticus , Herpes zoster , Hirayama syndrome , Holoprosencephaly
Huntington's disease , Hydranencephaly , Hydrocephalus , Hypercortisolism
Hypoxia , Immune-Mediated encephalomyelitis , Inclusion body myositis
Incontinentia pigmenti , Infantile phytanic acid storage disease
Infantile Refsum disease , Infantile spasms , Inflammatory myopathy
Intracranial cyst , Intracranial hypertension , Joubert syndrome
Karak syndrome , Kearns-Sayre syndrome , Kennedy disease
Kinsbourne syndrome , Klippel Feil syndrome, Krabbe disease
Kugelberg-Welander disease , Kuru , Lafora disease , Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome , Landau-Kleffner syndrome , Lateral medullary (Wallenberg) syndrome
Learning disabilities , Leigh's disease , Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome , Leukodystrophy , Lewy body dementia
Lissencephaly , Locked-In syndrome, Lou Gehrig's disease, Lumbar disc disease
Lyme disease - Neurological Sequelae , Machado-Joseph disease (Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3) , Macrencephaly , Megalencephaly , Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome, Menieres disease , Meningitis, Menkes disease , Metachromatic leukodystrophy, Microcephaly , Migraine , Miller Fisher syndrome , Mini-Strokes
Mitochondrial Myopathies , Mobius syndrome , Monomelic amyotrophy
Motor Neurone Disease , Motor skills disorder , Moyamoya disease
Mucopolysaccharidoses , Multi-Infarct Dementia , Multifocal motor neuropathy
Multiple sclerosis , Multiple system atrophy with postural hypotension
Muscular dystrophy , Myalgic encephalomyelitis , Myasthenia gravis
Myelinoclastic diffuse sclerosis , Myoclonic Encephalopathy of infants
Myoclonus , Myopathy , Myotubular myopathy, Myotonia congenita
Narcolepsy , Neurofibromatosis, Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
Neurological manifestations of AIDS , Neurological sequelae of lupus
Neuromyotonia , Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis , Neuronal migration disorders
Niemann-Pick disease , Non 24-hour sleep-wake syndrome , Nonverbal learning disorder, O'Sullivan-McLeod syndrome , Occipital Neuralgia , Occult Spinal Dysraphism Sequence , Ohtahara syndrome , Olivopontocerebellar atrophy , Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome , Optic neuritis , Orthostatic Hypotension , Overuse syndrome , Palinopsia, Paresthesia , Parkinson's disease , Paramyotonia Congenita , Paraneoplastic diseases, Paroxysmal attacks , Parry-Romberg syndrome (also known as Rombergs Syndrome)
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease , Periodic Paralyses , Peripheral neuropathy
Persistent Vegetative State , Pervasive developmental disorders, Photic sneeze reflex, Phytanic Acid Storage disease, Pick’s disease, Pinched nerve , Pituitary tumors, PMG , Polio , Polymicrogyria , Polymyositis , Porencephaly , Post-Polio syndrome , Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN) , Postinfectious Encephalomyelitis, Postural Hypotension , Prader-Willi syndrome , Primary Lateral Sclerosis , Prion diseases , Progressive Hemifacial atrophy also known as Rombergs_Syndrome , Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, Progressive Sclerosing Poliodystrophy , Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Pseudotumor cerebri , Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (Type I and Type II) , Rasmussen's encephalitis , Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome , Refsum disease , Repetitive motion disorders, Repetitive stress injury , Restless legs syndrome , Retrovirus-associated myelopathy , Rett syndrome , Reye's syndrome
Rombergs_Syndrome , Rabies , Saint Vitus dance , Sandhoff disease , Schizophrenia , Schilder's disease , Schizencephaly , Sensory Integration Dysfunction , Septo-optic dysplasia , Shaken baby syndrome ,Shingles , Shy-Drager syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome , Sleep apnea , Sleeping sickness , Snatiation, Sotos syndrome, Spasticity, Spina bifida , Spinal cord injury , Spinal cord tumors , Spinal muscular atrophy, Spinal stenosis
Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, see Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
Spinocerebellar ataxia, Stiff-person syndrome , Stroke , Sturge-Weber syndrome
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis , Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy
Superficial siderosis , Sydenham's chorea, Syncope, Synesthesia, Syringomyelia
Tardive dyskinesia , Tay-Sachs disease , Temporal arteritis , Tetanus
Tethered spinal cord syndrome , Thomsen disease , Thoracic outlet syndrome
Tic Douloureux , Todd's paralysis , Tourette syndrome , Toxic encephalopathy
Transient ischemic attack , Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Transverse myelitis , Traumatic brain injury , Tremor , Trigeminal neuralgia
Tropical spastic paraparesis , Trypanosomiasis , Tuberous sclerosis
Vasculitis including temporal arteritis , Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL)
Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis (VE) , Wallenberg's syndrome , Werdnig-Hoffman disease , West syndrome , Whiplash , Williams syndrome, Wilson's disease

And that isn't all. How about folks who just had an accident in a car, at home, victims of random house fire, what of folks who need special care like physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy blah blah blah.
Ya'll need to grow up or stop contributing garbage to the conversation. Sit yo as**s down and let the people who really care about this issue work to resolve it.

Stop making Sense!

Val, there's absolutely NOTHING to add to your post.

You rocked it!

Only reason I know what some of this stuff is, is because I'm a House fan.

Good morning J&J family. I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to work and heard that the president will be in Bristol Virginia today promoting HCR. Bristol is directly on the Virginia-Tennessee state line; this place is so small they only have one hospital, 60 police officers and one post office. NPR interviewed some of the residents about the president’s visit and whether they supported HCR, well, the ones interviewed did not. You heard the same republican talking points but one man’s opinion stood out from the rest. His children are on CHIP, he does not support the president’s plan because ” it will help Black people and put White people at a disadvantage”.
Is this what it’s all about? Is this why the Congress is having such a hard time getting their act together on HCR because the White constituents back home think this is for Blacks? I know this is one man’s opinion but maybe, just maybe that opinion was planted by the opponents of HCR. These poor areas of the country need all the help they can get; this is not welfare but they see it that way; public option equals government handout and only Blacks get government handouts.

congratulations!

your third eye has been cracked wide open.

"Is this what it’s all about? Is this why the Congress is having such a hard time getting their act together on HCR because the White constituents back home think this is for Blacks? YES

We can't have the niggas getting free handouts with our HARD earned money. It is all about that mentality of these white folks who don't have a pot to piss in themselves, but would rather go without a pot to piss in, if it meant black folks should get healthcare and other help they needed. SMH.

Those elected congressmen and women are catering to their white constituency, first and foremost.

thanks for the info.

apparently that man is a glen beck viewer; beck was ranting the other night about how HCR is obama's latest attempt at securing reparations for black folks. i wish i was joking about that.
liberals rub their hands with glee whenever republicans let their racism show, dreaming about how this will turn the electorate away from them even further, but it won't; it's been working for them for ages. there's plenty of ignorance and latent racism to go around, and for a lot of otherwise nice people, having a black man running the show has touched parts of them they didn't really realize were still there, and they are finding the white resentment thinly disguised as populism that republicans are offering to be quite appealing. ignorance and hate are powerful motivators, they''ve inspired people to work against their own best interests for just about as long as man has walked this earth.

Blacks and Hispanics make up nearly half of Americans who have no health care insurance, according to various reports. Haven't keeping brown people in their place been one of the "cultural issue" of "conservatives? The fact that we can have modern day "sundown" towns/burbs living in poverty but will object to any policy strictly on the basis that a policy will possible benefits to POC is telling.

That is so sad. They can't even put their racism aside for their own benefit.

Good Morning. Here is a little GO-GO for your hump day jam.Enjoy
Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb (1982)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buXt-yyZEss

thanks DJ.

Thanks.