Jack & Jill Politics

Google is the no longer controls the ghost in it's shell.

AFTERNOON OPEN THREAD IS UP

Africa is going green.

This is nauseating. CBC is arguing about how re we going to pay for the war. Theywere honest enough to admit Bush II said Iraqi oil would pay for it.

Rikyrah ,

Here is a picture of the place settings.

http://twitpic.com/qryba

I love that green and the gold. The table looks gorgeous.

thanks

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091118/S...

Empire BlueCross BlueShield is reporting a sharp increase in small businesses terminating coverage that started around the first quarter of this year.

“They just can't afford it anymore,” said Empire Chief Executive Mark Wagar, who says that between 30% to 50% of businesses are dropping coverage altogether.

“They are not going to a competitor [of ours],” he said. “They've just had enough.” .................................................. Empire's small business drop-out rate has significant policy implications for New York state as it grapples with its budget deficit, says Mr. Wagar. Lawmakers are toying with the idea of adding more surcharges on patient services, as well as other health taxes. That would only increase premiums, say insurers.

“That's why it is so important that we not tax health insurance benefits—10% of every premium dollar already goes to taxes and fees to the state,” said Mr. Wagar.

CSPAN: India Prime Minister Arrival Ceremony - embed code from link: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/290227-1&sho...

<object id='cspan-video-player' classid='clsid:d27cdb6eae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000'

THANK YOU

WONK WONK WONK:

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/gop_state_di...

GOP WHINES THEY DIDN'T GET INVITED TO THE STATE DINNER.

NICE.

You whine about how the man is destroying the country, call his wife a gorilla, stir up people to kill him, vow to shut down everything he does and then you wanna whine you didn't get invited to his party? ROTFL!!

ahem..

G-T-F-O-H with that shyt..

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Michelle lookin' cute for the arrival ceremony. She's got her legs oiled down, so to me, that signals that she's gonna go glam tonight with the dress. Everytime her legs are oiled down she brings it!

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//...

FLOTUS looks great.

More pics from daylife: http://www.daylife.com/search?q=obama

thank you to both of you!!!

Old news but makes my point that only the names have changed in DC:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/11/20/lan...

What's different from the $600 million health care lobbyists money slinging orgy we witnessed?

Thats my point. It does not matter who is in DC. They play the game of money, power, and abuse. If its not a big Pharma lobbyist, its a UAW PAC slinging around money or packing the national labor relations board to change long standing policy to favor one side or the other.

I never want to see anyone shot by the police. White people must begin to understand that the police's attitude we are above the law stance must change.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/2009112...

Police in Britain arresting people willy-nilly in order to get their DNA in database [yes, of course, it's mostly minority folks]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/24/...

75% of all the young black men in the UK between 18 and 35. I read that over and over, trying to detect some less-than-obvious qualification that would make that statement not mean all the young black men in the UK between 18 and 35. Damn.

Patients face bitter choice: Pay up or lose care
Premium-pay medical practices grow as doctors seek more control, cash
By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
msnbc.com
updated 7:23 a.m. CT, Mon., Nov . 23, 2009



ANAHEIM, Calif. - When Bob Goodrich’s longtime doctor started providing premium care only to patients who paid a $1,600 annual fee, the 63-year-old felt he had no choice but to write a check.

His wife, Marjorie, 64, was sick with a serious adrenal disorder and nervous about having to switch doctors. And she was drawn to the longer appointments, personal attention and 24/7 access that Dr. Susan Debin promised the new “concierge” arrangement would provide.

But with already-high monthly insurance premiums and constant cash outlays for co-payments and deductibles, the family couldn’t afford two elite medical memberships.

So Goodrich, a retired parks director, gambled that his own high blood pressure wouldn’t get worse. He paid the fee for his wife — but not for himself.

“I’m old school,” he said. “The women and the children go in the lifeboat first.”

The Goodriches’ dilemma is becoming more common as a growing number of doctors enact their own brand of health reform. These physicians are opting out of the system, with some doctors dumping insurance companies altogether and others forcing patients to pay thousands of dollars in cash to keep the care they’re accustomed to.

Doctors often tout this model as “concierge” care — you get more if you pay more. But for some patients, the flip side of this arrangement feels more like pay more or get less.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34019606/ns/health-...

Monday, November 23, 2009
Now Introducing Your 2010 Republican Starting Lineup!
The Republican party releases a purity list that each Republican candidate next year must pledge to. Seems it is all anti-Obama. Moderates need not apply:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership;
posted by Brian Francis at


http://www.politicalinaction.com/2009/11/now-in...

"We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;"

This reminds me of the R's and Newt Gingrich's "contract ON America" scam where arguments were made for small government. What really happened, federal agencies were "outsourced", federal employees were then purged (mostly minority), and a shadow government run entirely by contractors was created that is far larger and more costly than the federal government.

Good catch!

They were in charge for 8 years and none of this stuff was important then. Smaller government? Really? They're still using that line with a straight face? I wonder how the Log Cabin Republicans feel about the Repubs damn near demonizing them or are they like some of the minority Repubs-just self loathing and going along with the program.

Credit crunch: RNC flack sacked
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 11/23/09 5:54 PM EST


Trevor Francis, communications director of the Republican National Committee, abruptly resigned Monday, and two Republican strategists familiar with the situation said he was pushed out because Chairman Michael Steele didn’t feel he was getting enough credit for the GOP’s electoral success earlier this month.


Francis had only been in the job since March, and neither he nor the RNC veered from the sort of vague explanations that typically suggest a less-than-amicable political breakup.


RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho would only say that Francis was “pursuing other opportunities,” and Francis allowed just that he was “returning to my career in the private sector.”


A former official at public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, Francis was tasked with trying to keep the voluble Steele on message and explaining away the instances when he strayed.


While still occasionally committing gaffes, Steele has become more disciplined in his frequent TV appearances.



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29849...

Obama Closes In On Afghan Troop Increase
by Tom Bowman

November 23, 2009
President Obama is expected to address the nation early next week, saying he will send a sizable force of additional troops to Afghanistan, sources tell NPR.
The tentative plan is for the president to make his announcement Dec. 1, followed shortly thereafter by testimony on Capitol Hill by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Also expected to brief Congress is the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?st...

Only in our upside down world does a statement who escalates war (or fails to order the prosecution of war criminals) end up winning a "peace" prize. Oh, wait, War criminal Henry Kissinger also fits that bill....never mind.

Barack, what's your exit strategy? Why are throwing away our country's resources over an pointless and unjust war? Why money to fund wars in far away places but ZERO monies for New Orleans and Detroit? Come on Barack, didnt they teach you better at Columbia and Harvard? Didn't you ever hear a thing or two about carrying on with the White man's burdens [and wars] at Rev. Wright's Church?

I mostly agree with you except the bit about Kissinger. He and Nixon extricated the USofA from Vietnam. They did a lot of dancing around the point, but their goal was to get the hell out of a land war in Asia.

Maria Celeste of Telemundo Interviews Lou Dobbs
Posted by SouthernGirl2 on November 24th, 2009
Telemundo’s Maria Celeste bitch slaps Lou Dobbs for lying about illegal immigrants supposedly bringing leprosy into the U.S. This exclusive interview aired on November 20th on Telemundo. María Celeste confronts Lou Dobbs head on for his past attacks and remarks on inmigrants in the US and gives him a chance to apologize or retract his statements.

http://weeseeyou.com/2009/11/24/maria-celeste-o...

rikyrah

I was looking a discus replies ad I saw yours about Keep Calm and Carry On.All Icould think is SL should spoof President Obama w/ Layne Pryce(Jared Harris). I can just see him firing Fredo w/ the words Very Good Happy Christmas

Rob,

you are funny

Workers stealing data for competitive edge Posted on 23 November 2009. The recession is creating camaraderie amongst workforces, at the expense of their employers, is the finding of a transatlantic survey. Carried out amongst 600 office workers in Canary Wharf London and Wall Street New York, 41% of workers have already taken sensitive data with them to their new position, whilst a third would pass on company information if it proved useful in getting friends or family a job.

Pilfering data has become endemic in our culture as 85% of people admit they know it’s illegal to download corporate information from their employer but almost half couldn’t stop themselves taking it with them with the majority admitting it could be useful in the future!

However, it would seem employers have only themselves to blame as they appear pretty lackadaisical when it comes to protecting their data from their employees with 57% of respondents stating that it’s become a lot easier to take sensitive information from under their bosses noses this year, up from 29% last year.

The survey entitled “the global recession and its effect on work ethics”, carried out for a second year by Cyber-Ark – found that almost half of the respondents 48% admit that if they were fired tomorrow they would take company information with them and 39% of people would download company/competitive information if they got wind that their job was at risk. Additionally a quarter of workers said that the recession has meant that they feel less loyal towards their employer.

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=8534

I know I told you all about Blood and Bone on DVD with Michael Jai White.

yesterday, I watched Black Dynamite - also with Michael Jai White - it's based upon a character he created, and he wrote the movie. I thought it was hilarious.

We got to see it before it left Philly, yes it WAS very funny! I think I might have to buy the dvd for my collection.

hey Town,

while Givhan didn't get an invite to tonight's State Dinner, guess who did?

Robin Roberts - just heard it on GMA.


BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Robin Givhan's Wednesday column:

The Obamas' First State Dinner? Not so Stately

The White House trounced tradition at Tuesday night's State Dinner for Prime Minister Singh of India.

Instead of the traaditional guest list of politicos and Washington insiders, the Obama guest list was filled with a strange mix of politicians and regular people, diplomats and cronies, people from back home and lest we not forget, the required celebrity or two.

Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, a once basketball player turned morning show reporter, was on the guest list. So was Oprah Winfrey, former actor Kal Penn, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai and celebrity chef judge Padma Lakshmi.

Who was not on the guest list? Washington insiders Cokie Roberts and Sally Quinn, whose feud with then first lady Hillary Clinton for being left off a State Dinner guest list is legendary. Just as health care reform boiled to a roar in 1993, Quinn seems prepared to resume her First Ladies Feud for a new generation.

Instead of being held in the White House State Dining Room as is tradition, the Obamas chose to erect a spectacular tent on the White House Lawn. Instead of the White House Chef preparing the meal, the Obamas have recruited celebrity chef Marcus Samuelson to cook the meal.

Generally State Dinners are to showcase American food and wine. Here too, the Obamas broke with tradition to serve Indian meals, perhaps to curry favor (pun intended) with yet another non-American crowd.

And what's a State Dinner without fashion? Bold colors were the order of the day. As she arrived at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looked splendid in a paprika colored pantsuit, while Vice President Joe Biden's wife Jill stepped out of the limo dazzling in a ginger colored Oscar de la Renta number. The arrival of Prime Minister Singh's wife Gusharan Kaur brought true Indian flavor with a brilliant mango and cinnamon colored silk sari encrusted with jewels.

But everyone was waiting with baited breath for what Michelle Obama would wear, and the reports are that not only did Michelle Obama break with State Dinner tradition, but she went sleeveless (again) and with a little known designer (again). Sources say Obama arrived in a saffron colored gown, which did little to amaze and was reminiscent of her inaugural dress. The plain sheath, which was designed by Indian-American dressmaker Rajiv Patel, was said to look like a robe you could get from any Indian dress shop and was faded against everyone else's dazzling frocks. The choice of an Indian-American designer seemed savvy on its' face, but appeared to be yet another way for the Obamas to pander.

Perhaps Michelle Obama should have stuck with tradition. A State Dinner is no time to try to be a revolutionary.

i'm trying to understand this obsessive interest in this state dinner. is it because it's a new administration, OR is it because folks are afraid Barack & Michelle are going to eff things up? are they going to use the correct flatware? are they going to manage to sneak collard greens and cornbread on the menu? are pookie, ray ray, and 'nem going to gatecrash?

I realize you are being satarical here.
Under Bush II State Dinners was the equivalent of going to dinner before the Prom at Mickey D's. State Dinner's are supposed to be the equivalent of the Oscar's and Music Awards parties. Let your hair down except for the heavyweight's(currently PRC and Japan). the Reagans and Bush I understood that you had to have the glitterati to add to prestige of State.

which is sorta kinda my point. i think the obamas are going to do it right and they are going to do it well.

*dead*

Translation: I'm in the corner with Cokie and Sally, bitching about the FLOTUS and doing a beltway version of Mean Girls.

I want to see her column tomorrow and compare it with my fake one. LOL

I do too...

BWA HA HA HA HA

you broke it down again, Town.

I would invite Sean Hannity and Rev. Wright and seat them next to each other. :)

Obama gave his first interview after his inauguration to her so I'm not surprised. Plus Michelle has done two interviews with her since being in the WH plus they both did several with her in the campaign.

There will be some snarky columns written in the coming days after the guest list has been published.

In the next several months, the Supreme Court will decide at least a half-dozen cases about the rights of people accused of crimes involving drugs, sex and corruption. Civil liberties groups and associations of defense lawyers have lined up on the side of the accused.

But so have conservative, libertarian and business groups. Their briefs and public statements are signs of an emerging consensus on the right that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained.

The development represents a sharp break with tough-on-crime policies associated with the Republican Party since the Nixon administration.

“It’s a remarkable phenomenon,” said Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “The left and the right have bent to the point where they are now in agreement on many issues. In the area of criminal justice, the whole idea of less government, less intrusion, less regulation has taken hold.”

Edwin Meese III, who was known as a fervent supporter of law and order as attorney general in the Reagan administration, now spends much of his time criticizing what he calls the astounding number and vagueness of federal criminal laws.

Mr. Meese once referred to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of the “criminals’ lobby.” These days, he said, “in terms of working with the A.C.L.U., if they want to join us, we’re happy to have them.”

Dick Thornburgh, who succeeded Mr. Meese as attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and stayed on under President George Bush, echoed that sentiment in Congressional testimony in July.

“The problem of overcriminalization is truly one of those issues upon which a wide variety of constituencies can agree,” Mr. Thornburgh said. “Witness the broad and strong support from such varied groups as the Heritage Foundation, the Washington Legal Foundation, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the A.B.A., the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society and the A.C.L.U.”

Right and Left Join to Oppose Government in Criminal Cases

---

"Overcriminalization", places police with tasers in schools starting at elementary, is using "three strikes-like" policies in schools, creates "school to prison pipeline", is using census data of urban centers to project prison stock futures, is labelling a 4th grader as future inmate based on test taking abilities, and is likely a result of prison lobbying and politician-investors opportunities.

Just read this in my morning dose of the NYTimes. Personally, I think this is way overdue. I also think that this has been one area in which AG Eric Holder, a Black man from Queens, NY, could have had a bigger impact. Especially since the over-criminalization of our society affects Blacks and Browns disproportionally. Why are we prosecuting marijuana cases? And why is there a set of laws for Jamal with a crackbag or Abdul with the bootleg Cds.....but a different set of laws for them MoFos at AIG and Goldman?

Holder = Fails.

Did you read last week's WSJ's article posted below about DOJ's promise to white collar criminals?: We will take your fancy cars

you do know how much I enjoyed the stories about those crapping in their pants about them going after the SWISS bank accounts; and how they're going into another tax haven next. only proves what I believed all along - they could have gotten them all along if they HAD WANTED TO.

lot of cases here that have deep ramifications

I doubt that these conservatives are concerned with the kind of overcriminalization you're talking about.

Recently discharged vets of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are joining the swelling ranks of the country's unemployed. They bring to the job hunt both special skills and training and, often, the terrible traumas and injuries of their military experiences.

~snip~

A 2007 VA survey found that 18 percent of recently discharged veterans were unemployed and that of those who had found a job 25 percent made less than $22,000 a year. And that was before the recession began.


~snip~

But it's not just the recession that can make the job search difficult for returning vets. According to a recent study by the Rand Corporation, nearly 600,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have suffered wounds that affect their ability to think.

Rand found that 300,00 returning veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or major depression, while another 320,000 thousand have sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury -- literally brain damage often caused by roadside bombs.

"When you're suffering form PTSD, you have all these triggers," said Walter Williams. "Sometimes you don't even realize the triggers. So you can be at work just doing your job and someone can make a movement or a gesture and just with muscle memory you might react."

Vets Battle Unemployment and War Injuries

The cycle continues. Returning vets from Wars come home unprepared for the challenges they face. Everyone faces this challenges differently. I separated from the Marine Corps in 2003 after a tour in Iraq. The transition can be a difficult one without family and financial support. That was six years ago in a different economy. I had a good family structure and all the support I needed ie job, lodging and love. A lot of vets come home to no family and/or support that is sometimes why they went in the military in the first place. I didn't empathize with Vietnam Vets until I came back from the military. I couldn't understand how decorated Vets could end up living on the street begging for change. Now I understand. PTSD, Mental Illness and Drugs not properly addressed with professional help is devastating.

Here's an idea: sell off our prisons to the highest bidders, reap a pile of short-term cash to inflate near-empty state coffers, then lease back the prisons for 20 years at a cost to the state that far exceeds the original purchase price paid by the companies. While we're at it, let's completely privatise medical and mental health services - and mandate that bidders come in with lower per prisoner cost estimates than those currently paid out by the state. And, to cap it off, privatise the day-to-day operations of all the prisons, including supermaxes and death row sites, and, in an incentive to cut corners, split the savings 50-50 between the state and the private companies doing the administering.

Conservative fantasy? Alas, no. This is the set of kooky proposals recently embraced by legislatures in a near-insolvent Arizona, looking to trim dollars from their state budget.

A boondoggle to the private sector? Sure. A recipe for disaster as poorly paid, under-trained private prison guards assume control over supermax prisons - an environment in which private guards have had little-to-no prior experience (historically, private prison companies looking for easy criminal justice pickings have shied clear of hard-to-manage high security facilities)? Almost certainly. An invitation for prisoners to sue as medical and mental health services are farmed out to low-ball bidders? Yes, again.

"I'm telling you, it takes the cake," says Caroline Isaacs, programme director of the prison-reform group the Arizona Friends Service Committee. "I've lived here for 15 years, and I'm completely blown away by this. This has never been done anywhere."

A couple of weeks ago, the Pew Research Centre found that 10 states were facing particularly devastating budget implosions. Not surprisingly, many of these - including California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida - were states hit particularly hard by the bursting of the housing bubble. Much has been written about California's crisis. But in many ways smaller states like Arizona are in even bigger trouble; and as they teeter on the brink, so increasingly bizarre policy proposals are gaining traction. Arizona's even contemplating selling off its capitol building, for Pete's sake.

A few years ago, in my book American Furies, I compared the reactionary practices of the Maricopa county jails - centered in Phoenix and run by the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio - to the progressive reforms being implemented in Arizona's state prisons by then-corrections commissioner Dora Schriro.

No Escape from Debt by Selling Jails

---

Prediction: This will NOT have a happy ending.

Prisons as economic development! it happened in own turf in upstate NY; it happened in Texas....and soon it'll be happening all over the country.

selling public assets; leasing them, has never served the public good, nor the taxpayers

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.

The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so "compartmentalized" that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.

The White House did not return calls or email messages seeking comment for this story. Capt. John Kirby, the spokesperson for Adm. Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Nation, "We do not discuss current operations one way or the other, regardless of their nature." A defense official, on background, specifically denied that Blackwater performs work on drone strikes or intelligence for JSOC in Pakistan. "We don't have any contracts to do that work for us. We don't contract that kind of work out, period," the official said. "There has not been, and is not now, contracts between JSOC and that organization for these types of services." The previously unreported program, the military intelligence source said, is distinct from the CIA assassination program that the agency's director, Leon Panetta, announced he had canceled in June 2009. "This is a parallel operation to the CIA," said the source. "They are two separate beasts." The program puts Blackwater at the epicenter of a US military operation within the borders of a nation against which the United States has not declared war--knowledge that could further strain the already tense relations between the United States and Pakistan.

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan

---

Wonder how many times, over how many years, this story has to be presented before the media picks it up?

What is it about the American psyche that leads to the creation of entities such as BlackWaters "covert operations" in foreign countries? I've said this before and i'll say until I die: The CIA has got to be the biggest and most resourceful terrorist organization in the history of mankind. Period.

With that logic that would make the members of CIA terrorists right? And the CIA director(Terrorist in Charge) reports to the President. So that would make Obama???? Bin Laden. LOL

By the way, it was the CIA torturing people, running Black Ops inside Pakistan and Iran.....they were also running Black Sites and snatching people off the streets and sending them to Syria and Egypt. Now you tell me: What does that make them?

You are absolutely correct about what is going on in Pakistan and the CIA. Couple this with what Blackwater is doing in the country and the US is slowly escalating a war in Pakistan in addition to what's going on in Afghanistan. The drone bombing is deplorable and is killing civillians. Obama has condoned this. Blackwater continues to operate with impunity under the Obama administration's watch inthe reigion as well. Democracynow did and excellent piece about this today and the Guradian has written about it as well:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/24/blackwat...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/24/dro...

Peace

Tell her dthomas. Obama has condoned these "terrorist" activities and is continuing to approve these "terrorist" activities. As far as I'm concerned a person authorizing terrorist activities is a terrorist. AM2k9 wants it both ways.

Prudent

Go to your local library and grab some books on the CIA. Perhaps, you may want to grab:

The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, by Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks.
The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA, by John Ranelagh.
Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda
LEGACY OF ASHES: THE HISTORY OF THE CIA
and one of my favorites: Killing Hope: US Military and CIA: Interventions Since World War II.

They're fascinating reads and you could probably read them between now and the new years.

Hey, AMK2k9 please don't try to educate me on the CIA. You need to choose your words more wisely. You never answered my question. If the CIA is a terrorist organization like you claim and the CIA reports to the President doesn't make that make Obama as terrorist as well?

And lets not stop there. 99% of the people who come to this site including the mods voted for Barack Obama. Does they make them terrorist supporters? Barack Obama is sending more troops to go kill "people of color". And we voted for this? Are we supporting terrorism as well? You logic is a faulty one. I love your posts they are very comical.

I didnt mean to slight you or educate you. Knowledge is a beautiful thing. From age immemorial humanity's capacity has been enhanced by the knowledge they obtain.

"If the CIA is a terrorist organization like you claim and the CIA reports to the President doesn't make that make Obama as terrorist as well?"--I didnt answer it because framed that way, your question is a moot point. Especially since you consider the fact that the CIA serves the same purposes under Republican and Democratic Presidents alike. It was there before Barack Obama and it'll be there after Obama leaves. It'll commit the same shenanigans under Barack Obama as they did under Reagan, Geoge H.W, Bill Clinton and George W. But, like Chomsky has the habit of saying, if the Nuremberg accords were fully applied to American Presidents, since WWII, each of them could be convicted of War Crimes (and not just George W. Bush and Dick Cheney).

Moot point??? The person authorizing the activities of the CIA is a moot point? What fantasy land do you live in?

A week ago you said this:

"I have worked with missionaries, both Chinese and Americans, that smuggle Bibles into China?."

I think your missionaries have conducted more "terrorism" throughout history than the CIA ever could. It seems like you are the pot calling the kettle black. Why would you ever help people smuggle a book full of torture, slavery and killing into a country where you could be jailed for doing it. That sounds like terrorist activities to me. And I bet if China would have caught your ass smuggling Bibles and you were jailed in a Chinese prison. You would have been begging the US Embassy to come save your ass. LOLOLOL You're a joke. You use every moment to spread your anti-american rhetoric and disrespect the same people who live and die to provide you with the freedom and protection to talk how you do.

I usually don’t respond to personal attacks because in the end, they’re pointless. You don’t know me and I dont know you. Personally, the moment the debate gets to resorting in personal attacks, I feel the debate is not worth having.

Regarding the missionaries: I don’t disagree with you. In fact, I decided to study religion because I wanted to understand the mindset of Americans and Europeans. How can they call themselves Christians, yet have such a history of aggression and oppression against Black and Brown peoples. I couldn’t comprehend how someone who calls himself a Christian like George W. Bush could be so callous in terms of matters of life and death. What I’ve come to the conclusion that America’s just the latest chapter in the history of Western [White?] aggression against peoples of color.

Religion has always played a role in the oppression of Black and Browns. In fact, I’m currently doing post-graduate research on the role played by [white] missionaries and religious orders in the implementation of the colonial system. Though Im in the early stages of my research, I can tell you that yes, these MoFos have blood on their hands. Yes, in the name of religion (though I’d also argue that economic interests were the primary motivation while religion was their motifs). Yes, yes, yes, European Christians were horrible and committed crimes against humanity. YOU WONT FIND A CONTRARY ARGUMENT FROM ME THERE.

At the same time though, you certainly can make a distinction between the Christian faith/religion as exemplified in the life of Jesus and expressed in the gospels, and the religion of George W. Bush, a “Christian” slave owner in the Antebellum South, and the U.S Soldier who prays and sings a hymn prior to getting on a plane to bomb Iraqi villages (and killing women and children). Certainly, one can make an argument for “hope” in faith in Jesus, even if (and even as) you have no use for the history and legacy of European Christianity. I think it is that hope that’s fueling the underground revival taking place in China where close to 100 Million people have become Christians in the last 30 to 40 years.

Regarding the “Anti American” silliness. I can tell you that I am an American. Proudly so. I also argue that to speak against torture, and against the unjust and illegal military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (now being executed by Barack Obama) is to be a true American. To speak against drone attacks, GITMO, snatching people off the streets and sending them to Bagram air force base (as our government is still doing today) is to be an American. To speak out against economic imperialism and a foreign policy deeply rooted on White supremacy is what it means to be an American. That’s the tradition of a Frederick Douglas, John Brown, and Martin Luther King Jr. That’s the tradition I’d rather attach myself to. I have said countless of times (here and elsewhere) that if my “freedom” (whatever the F*ck that means in light of economic slavery which very few of us can escape) depends on unjust military adventures such as those in Nicaragua, Salvador, Belize, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Beirut, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Somalia, Vietnam (notice these are all countries populated by peoples of color ☺), then such freedom is not worth having. That’s “freedom” at the expense of others; at the oppression of others, if you will. White folks, like those who follow Sarah Palin, may be comfortable enjoying such freedom, but I was taught better. I think as peoples of color, and given our history of oppression, we should go to higher lengths TO NOT oppress others. If you call that being “anti-American” then be it. I suggest you go and read Martin Luther King Jr’s “A Time to Break the Silence” to see what anti-Americanism looks like.

On Nov. 20th, a media research firm called Media Curves.com used a CNN report about an extremist organization called "Oath Keepers," to analyze beliefs and attitudes around militia groups and the Second Amendment. In short, once Americans become aware of the militia movement's extremist anti-government rhetoric, support the "Second Amendment" declines drastically.

Results of a new media study among 300 Americans revealed that the majority (53%) reported that armed militia groups should be outlawed in the United States after viewing a news clip featuring a militia group.


The study was conducted by HCD Research using its MediaCurves.com® website on November 19-20, to obtain viewers’ perceptions of a video clip featuring a group called the Oath Keepers. The group is a nonprofit organization that non-violently resists the actions taken by the U.S. Government to overstep constitutional boundaries. To view interest curves and detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.

Majority of Americans Want Militia Groups Outlawed

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Will GOP's purity oath purge the "oath keepers" from their midst?

interesting study

I am asking for your help.

Any and all links to video from today about the State Visit.

C-span, I don't know how to find the embed code for their videos, so whatever help you can give me from C-span and elsewhere that is covering the State Visit is appreciated.