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September 30, 2007
Another video on the Aquygen water car
Posted by doctormatt at 10:10 PM
A car that runs on water? New welding gas?
H2O becomes HHO - Clearwater FL
Denny Klein - Aquygen Hydrogen
Posted by doctormatt at 10:05 PM
"Brown's fuel"
Canada professor shows an unlimited energy source from water.
Posted by doctormatt at 10:03 PM
What motivated the 9/11 hijackers? See testimony most didn't
U.S. support for Israel - too hot to address?
Posted by doctormatt at 7:34 PM
Democrats can stop the war NOW by stopping funding.
Posted by doctormatt at 7:24 PM
The Greater Depression
Let me cover the big picture. I do think we're approaching the end of the world as we know it…I think there is such thing as the business cycle. It exists. And we've had the longest expansion - and the strongest expansion - in the world history. But we're at the end of a 25-year boom. It's gone on more than a full generation now. And I'll tell you how it's going to end: It's going to end with a depression, and not just a depression; not just another Great Depression; it's going to be the Greater Depression
What's a depression, incidentally? It's a period of time when distortions and misallocations of capital are liquidated; that's called a depression. Over the last 25 years, distortions and misallocations of capital have produced an artificial boom. But when these distortions and misallocations of capital are liquidated, we'll get a depression.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18466.htm
Continue reading "The Greater Depression"
Posted by at 12:59 AM
Who really rules Israel?
Jewish state controlled by four informal networks, not by government
In light of the battle between Olmert, Netanyahu and Barak for the next premiership, the public debate focuses on the question on who of these three politicians is the "strong leader" many Israelis yearn for. At the same time, the failures of all Israeli leaders throughout history and their inability to implement their policies are attributed to a series of elements, including political instability, the plethora of parties, and the low popularity of all government institutions.
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3452359,00.html
Continue reading "Who really rules Israel?"
Posted by at 12:55 AM
Link TV coverage of Ahmadinejad's visit to NYC
Posted by doctormatt at 12:51 AM
Congress Quietly Approves Billions More for Iraq War
The Senate agreed on Thursday to increase the federal debt limit by $850 billion -- from $8.965 trillion to $9.815 trillion -- and then proceeded to approve a stop-gap spending bill that gives the Bush White House at least $9 billion in new funding for its war in Iraq.
Additionally, the administration has been given emergency authority to tap further into a $70 billion "bridge fund" to provide new infusions of money for the occupation while the Congress works on appropriations bills for the Department of Defense and other agencies.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=237751
Continue reading "Congress Quietly Approves Billions More for Iraq War"
Posted by at 12:47 AM
Clinton Global Initiative
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=509&srcid=891
Posted by doctormatt at 12:35 AM
Kucinich - "Congress Must Stop Funding The War"
WASHINGTON - September 26
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), issued the following statement after opposing H.J.Res. 52, the continuing resolution for FY2007:
“We do not have to fund the war. The Democratic leadership must tell the President NO to any additional funding. We can separately appropriate money to bring the troops home. The only thing required is honesty, integrity and a willingness to end the war,” Kucinich said.
Continue reading "Kucinich - "Congress Must Stop Funding The War""
Posted by doctormatt at 12:32 AM
Hugo Chavez interviewed
Posted by doctormatt at 12:28 AM
Agitation
"My aim is to agitate & disturb people. I'm not selling bread, I'm selling yeast."
Unamuno, wall graffiti in Paris, May 1968
I'm glad when people call me an agitator.
After all, what does an agitator do in a washing machine?
It gets the dirt out.
Paraphrased from Jim Hightower
Posted by doctormatt at 12:24 AM
Now Read The Truth: Lieberman-Kyl DEFANGED Because of YOU
By thepen
WE THE PEOPLE CUT THE HEART OUT OF THE LIEBERMAN-KYL AMENDMENT
It has taken a couple days for the actual disposition of the Lieberman-Kyl amendment to leak out, but in FACT, the two most offensive paragraphs (3 and 4), which we were objecting to so strenuously as amounting to a declaration of war on Iran, were REMOVED IN THEIR ENTIRELY prior to the vote. Which means we WON.
Behold your victory:
Continue reading "Now Read The Truth: Lieberman-Kyl DEFANGED Because of YOU"
Posted by at 12:08 AM
September 29, 2007
Democrats Were Charged To End A War, Not Start One
by Mike Gravel
Hillary Clinton was either misinformed or economical with the truth in Wednesday night’s debate when she responded to my challenge to her by saying the Senate’s resolution earlier in the day on Iran was designed to permit economic sanctions against individual members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/28/4175/
Continue reading "Democrats Were Charged To End A War, Not Start One"
Posted by at 11:29 PM | Comments (1)
Original news sources from around the world -
eNewsReference
http://www.enewsreference.com/country_news.shtml
Posted by doctormatt at 11:23 PM
Iraq Will Have to Wait
by Scott Ritter
The long-awaited “progress report” of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the status of the occupation of Iraq has been made, providing Americans, via the compliant media, with the spectacle of loyal Bush yes men offering faith-based analysis in lieu of fact-based assessment. In the days and weeks that have since passed, two things have become clear: Neither Congress nor the American people (including the antiwar movement) have a plan or the gumption to confront President Bush in anything more than cosmetic fashion over the war in Iraq, and while those charged with oversight mill about looking to score cheap political points and/or save face, the administration continues its march toward conflict with Iran unimpeded.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/27/4134/
Continue reading "Iraq Will Have to Wait"
Posted by at 11:14 PM
Chattanooga Channel 39 airs Democracy Now at 4PM
M-F 4 PM UHF Channel 39 TV
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now is broadcast
Posted by doctormatt at 5:10 PM
The Nonbelievers
An increasing number of young people in America - and adults around the world - don't believe in God. Greg Epstein, who advises fellow atheists and agnostics at Harvard University, wants to create a kind of church for those who reject religion. But he's encountering resistance from some of the very people he wants to unite.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/09/16/the_nonbelievers?mode=PF
Continue reading "The Nonbelievers"
Posted by at 4:20 PM
What’s Wrong With This Picture: More Blacks and Latinos Live In Jail Cells Than In Dorm Rooms
* Here’s a statistic to make you scratch your head and say, What is *wrong* with this country?! Ready?
* According to new Census numbers, more than three times as many African Americans live in prison cells than in college dorms. [ABC News]
* For Hispanics, there are 2.7 inmates for every one person living on a campus.
* For Whites, there are twice as many people living in a college dorm than in prison.
* The racial makeup of our prisons doesn’t match the racial makeup of our society, not by a long shot: About 46% of inmates are white, 41% are black and 19% are Hispanic.
* The number of Americans locked up in 2006 was double the prison population of 1990.
And think about how much more it costs to keep someone in jail than it does to improve early education. This makes no sense, people.
http://miccheckradio.org/issues/2007/september/28/necessary_news#13507
Posted by doctormatt at 3:51 PM
Hate crime bill passes, for now
Yesterday, the “Senate voted to expand the hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victims.”
The bill — which will pass as an attachment to the defense authorization bill — slid by with the 60 votes necessary to avoid a filibuster.
Continue reading "Hate crime bill passes, for now"
Posted by at 3:49 PM
September 28, 2007
China and the 1 Trillion Dollars
Predatory Class Has sold us out.
China and the 1 Trillion Dollars (for starters)
As we all know, first cheap and now high-tech Chinese goods have saturated
the US Market for well over a decade now.
This created a very large strain on the balance of trade between the US and
China.
Additionally, the Chinese government to keep that imbalance running at full
steam kept their currency the Yuan pegged to the dollar so that their
currency would maintain at a fixed "low" rate to the dollar and thus their
manufactured goods would remain cheap in comparison to US Goods where their
currency would not appreciate to the dollar and thus cheaper Chinese
products.
Continue reading "China and the 1 Trillion Dollars"
Posted by at 10:13 PM
Breast Feeding Stigma?
What's the big deal about breast feeding in our society?
This made all the major main stream media outlets.
"Ruling gives breast-feeding student extra break in exam"
A state appeals court judge ruled yesterday in favor of a Harvard medical student who wanted extra time to pump breast milk during a licensing exam.
Continue reading "Breast Feeding Stigma?"
Posted by doctormatt at 11:48 AM
September 27, 2007
Sample Skepticality.com podcast
http://cache.libsyn.com/skepticality/061_skepticality.mp3
Posted by doctormatt at 10:34 PM
“The Future of LGBT Rights in Tennessee: Organizing, Educating and Litigating”
“The Future of LGBT Rights in Tennessee: Organizing, Educating and Litigating”
is the topic of the John Googin Memorial Lecture at ACLU-TN’s annual meeting on
October 4, 2007. Christine Sun, ACLU-TN LGBT Project Attorney, will discuss her
current work, as well as future strategies for building a strong coalition to
secure the rights of LGBT people in Tennessee.
The event is free and open to the public.
October 4, 2007
6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Green Hills Branch Library
3701 Benham Avenue
Nashville, TN 37215
DIRECTIONS: From I-440, take Exit 3—the 21st Avenue South/Hillsboro Road exit.
Merge south onto Hillsboro Road. Turn left at the stoplight onto Glen Echo. Turn
left onto Benham Avenue. The library will be on your left. Parking is available in the library lot.
For more information, please ask for the flyer and press release, or contact
ACLU-TN at 615-320-7142.
Posted by doctormatt at 10:17 PM
Mike Gravel on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:23 AM
Barack Obama on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:22 AM
Dennis Kucinich on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:21 AM
Hillary Clinton on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:20 AM
John Edwards on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:19 AM
Joe Biden on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:18 AM
Bill Richardson on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:16 AM
Chris Dodd on the issues
Posted by doctormatt at 10:15 AM
Robert F. Kennedy on moral courage
"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of the colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." -- Robert F. Kennedy
Posted by doctormatt at 6:24 AM
September 26, 2007
Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics
For 15 years, Hillary Clinton has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill. Is she triangulating—or living her faith?
It was an elegant example of the Clinton style, a rhetorical maneuver subtle, bold, and banal all at once. During a Democratic candidate forum in June, hosted by the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, Hillary Clinton fielded a softball query about Bill's infidelity: How had her faith gotten her through the Lewinsky scandal?
Continue reading "Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics"
Posted by at 11:55 PM
Holy Toyland
The mega toy retailer, Wal-Mart- is now selling Biblical toys like the talking Jesus
The missed opportunities are regretful. Goliath is barely taller than David. Jonah is inexplicably bigger than the whale is he's supposed to fit inside. And where the hell is Satan?
Julien, my four-year-old son, had two plastic action-figures locked in mortal combat.
“Who will win,” he asked, looking up at me, “Spider-Man or Moses?” We discussed their relative strengths, and he settled on the superiority of Spider-Man. The Moses toy had only a big staff in one hand and a couple stone tablets in the other—not very impressive next to Spidey’s web-slinging power. Also, my son reasoned, Moses, with his long white beard and bathrobe, looked “too old” for serious battle.
Continue reading "Holy Toyland"
Posted by at 11:49 PM
What world war III might look like
Neoconservatives are great observers of war and warriors, though they are sometimes not in complete agreement about the numbering of the conflicts that they send other people's sons and daughters to fight. Norman Podhoretz, the patriarch of the neocons, believes that the Cold War was World War III and that the U.S. is now fighting World War IV against "Islamofascism." He intends to expand World War IV by slating Iran as the next domino to fall to America's military might. Podhoretz undoubtedly sees the current global conflict as something that is good and necessary, both containable and winnable, but as his judgment on Iraq was fallible, his prediction of Iran's rapid destruction is also unreliable. It might be useful to imagine just how war with Iran could play out if the Iranians don't roll over and surrender at the first whiff of grapeshot.
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/giraldi.php?articleid=11666
Continue reading "What world war III might look like"
Posted by at 11:44 PM
Wonkette Impeachment Tags
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/impeachment/?format=rss
Continue reading "Wonkette Impeachment Tags"
Posted by at 11:11 PM
A bit about Elizabeth Kucinich
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1813550.ece
Continue reading "A bit about Elizabeth Kucinich"
Posted by at 8:47 PM
September 25, 2007
From Prime to Subprime, America’s Home-Mortgage Meltdown Has Just Begun
Inflation is an immoral tax that leads to immoral values
~ Anonymous South American banker
Having been in the credit profession for the past 23 years, I have observed several cycles involving the loosening and then the inevitable tightening of credit-underwriting standards. Of course, the Federal Reserve stands at the epicenter of such cycles. While money and credit are flowing like beer at an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone ends up looking like an attractive credit risk. When it appeared that the U.S. economy was heading into a recession, after the collapse of the dot.com and telecom bubbles, the Federal Reserve opened up the taps and encouraged one and all to imbibe its tasty, low-cost credit – with the most popular "flavor" being the mortgage loan. At this point, mortgage lenders merely became bartenders serving anyone who walked in the door. To reach this nadir in mortgage-lending standards, it is inescapable that the "Five Cs" of credit were ignored regardless if a mortgage loan was deemed prime, Alt-A, or subprime. This is exactly why the home-mortgage meltdown has just begun.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund41.html
Continue reading "From Prime to Subprime, America’s Home-Mortgage Meltdown Has Just Begun"
Posted by at 11:42 PM
How the Market Will Unravel
The bearish case for stocks is predicated on the notion that the massive creation and accumulation of debt -- particularly the consumer sector -- contributed to a large portion of the domestic economic (and stock market) gains experienced since 2000.
This added liquidity from nontraditional lenders dulled the effect of the Fed and served to buoy the low credit markets, allowing companies that should have failed to have access to large sums of equity and bonds. This created the feeling that all was well with the business world as stock markets rallied around the world and corporate default rates hit all-time lows by early 2007.
But that was an illusion.
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-market-will-unravel.html
Continue reading "How the Market Will Unravel"
Posted by at 11:36 PM
How the falling dollar affects Americans
US consumers' standard of living may drop as they pay more for foreign goods, but demand for American labor will rise, say economists.
The saga of the sagging dollar continues.
All year, the dollar has drooped compared with other major currencies. Last week, after the Federal Reserve reduced interest rates, it fell even further – now at a level not seen since 1997. The Canadian loonie is even stronger – on par with the greenback for the first time in 30 years.
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-falling-dollar-affects-americans.html
Continue reading "How the falling dollar affects Americans"
Posted by at 11:33 PM
Israel using Sexual blackmail on closet gay politicians? Yes
http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/viewtopic.php?p=60282#60282
Posted by at 11:21 PM
US backing 'secret war' against Iran?
The CIA disputes a report linking Washington and a Pakistani guerrilla campaign against Tehran.
The US government has been secretly supporting a Pakistani militant group that has staged a series of deadly attacks against Iran, ABC News reported, citing unnamed US and Pakistani intelligence sources.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0405/p99s01-duts.html
Continue reading "US backing 'secret war' against Iran?"
Posted by at 11:18 PM
The Second Great Depression
This piece was first published February 2007...
At that time, the author asked "So why isn't the Euro soaring?"
Since then, the Euro has risen from 1.30 to 1.42, an increase of about 10%.
(That means the dollar has dropped 10% vs. the Euro in approximately the last 6 months.)
“The US economy is in danger of a recession that will prove unusually long and severe. By any measure it is in far worse shape than in 2001-02 and the unraveling of the housing bubble is clearly at hand. It seems that the continuous buoyancy of the financial markets is again deluding many people about the gravity of the economic situation.” Dr. Kurt Richebacher
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17145.htm
Continue reading "The Second Great Depression"
Posted by at 11:11 PM
60 Minutes interview with Ahmadinejad - Part 1
(CBS) On Sept. 20, 2007, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, Iran. In the interview, transcribed below, President Ahmadinejad spoke through his own translator.
SCOTT PELLEY: Do you have a greeting to the American people?
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful, I would like to greet the American people and the good nations around the world. Right now we are in the city of Tehran. It's in the afternoon of an autumn day. We're in the open air in a garden. And the air is pleasant. And fall, little by little, is settling in, mixing with the summer breeze, I guess. And I think that right now, you have different time zones obviously and different climates. We have early morning in the U.S. and other time zones perhaps approaching the noon. So once again, greetings to you. I very much hope that nations around the world start their days with peace, friendship, and happiness.
Continue reading "60 Minutes interview with Ahmadinejad - Part 1"
Posted by at 10:49 PM
Transcript: Ahmadinejad Interview, Part 2
SCOTT PELLEY: You have said in the past that you have 3,000 centrifuges in a line producing highly-enriched uranium. Do you have more now?
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: No. Our plan and program is very transparent. We are under the supervision of the agency. Everything is on the table. We have nothing to hide.
Continue reading "Transcript: Ahmadinejad Interview, Part 2"
Posted by at 10:47 PM
Transcript of Ahmadinejad's U.N. Speech
NPR.org, September 19, 2006 · The following is a transcript of remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Madam President, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Distinguished Heads of Delegation, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I praise the Merciful, All-Knowing and Almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this Assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the international community.
Continue reading "Transcript of Ahmadinejad's U.N. Speech"
Posted by at 10:42 PM | Comments (2)
September 23, 2007
American Economy: R.I.P.
Hubris prevents realization that Americans are losing their economic future along with their civil liberties and are on the verge of enserfment.
By Paul Craig Roberts
The US economy continues its slow death before our eyes, but economists, policymakers, and most of the public are blind to the tottering fabled land of opportunity.
In August jobs in goods-producing industries declined by 64,000. The US economy lost 4,000 jobs overall. The private sector created a mere 24,000 jobs, all of which could be attributed to the 24,100 new jobs for waitresses and bartenders, and the government sector lost 28,000 jobs.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18350.htm
Continue reading "American Economy: R.I.P."
Posted by at 5:17 PM
A purpose
To love.
To be loved.
To never forget your own insignificance.
To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you.
To seek joy in the saddest places.
To pursue beauty to its lair.
To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple.
To respect strength, never power.
Above all, to watch.
To try and understand.
To never look away. And never, never, to forget.
Arundhati Roy
Posted by doctormatt at 5:12 PM
Dick Cheney - His role
Washington Post special analysis of the most powerful vice president ever...
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/
Posted by doctormatt at 4:47 PM
Who is your neighbor supporting?
This utility lets you see who is contributing funds to political candidates:
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=gates&fname=william&search=Search
Posted by doctormatt at 4:35 PM
What's the difference between a cult and a religion?
Various religious groups in America, from Jehovah's Witnesses to Mormons, have been considered cults at some point. What is the difference between a religion and a cult? What constitutes a real religion?
Washington Post Readers’ Responses -
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/2007/09/religion_or_cult/comments.html#comments
Continue reading "What's the difference between a cult and a religion?"
Posted by doctormatt at 4:31 PM
Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia
By Chris Hedges
In his book “Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia,” John Gray warns that as the era of liberal intervention in international affairs wanes, it is being replaced with “primitive versions of religion” that will be used to fuel apocalyptic violence. His is a world where faith-based violence will become the norm, where societies will plunge headlong into self-immolation and where desperate groups of people will soon battle in a Hobbesian struggle for dwindling natural resources.
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/print/20070916_book_review_hedges_black_mass/
Continue reading "Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia"
Posted by at 4:04 PM
You Have No Rights
Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive and author of “You Have No Rights,” explains how our president became a “medieval king,” and why your civil liberties are in greater danger than ever.
James Harris: Here again on Truthdig this is James Harris with Josh Scheer. On the phone is Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive and the author of the new book “You Have No Rights.” I feel like I have some rights left, and so do other Americans. So why did you choose this title for your book?
http://www.truthdig.com/interview/item/20070814_rothschild_transcript/
Continue reading "You Have No Rights"
Posted by at 3:55 PM
The Great Iraq Swindle
Great analysis from Rolling Stone
How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle/print
Posted by at 3:47 PM
Hillary's Health Care Plan
By Maggie Mahar
Hillary's plan is out. As I discussed in the post below, it does require all Americans to buy insurance, but it also mandates that insurers must offer insurance to everyone, regardless of whether they are healthy or sick:
"End to Unfair Health Insurance Discrimination: By creating a level-playing field of insurance rules across states and markets, the plan ensures that no American is denied coverage, refused renewal, unfairly priced out of the market, or forced to pay excessive insurance company premiums"
Moreover, the plan guarantees that working families will receive a refundable tax credit designed to prevent premiums from exceeding a percentage of family income.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/sep/17/update_hillarys_plan
Continue reading "Hillary's Health Care Plan"
Posted by at 3:39 PM
Class Matters More than Medicine
By Maggie Mahar
When compared to other developed countries, the U.S. ranks near the bottom on most standard measures of health. Many people assume that this is because the U.S. is more ethnically heterogeneous than the nations at the top of the rankings, such as Japan, Switzerland, and Iceland. But while it is true that within the U.S. there are enormous disparities by race and ethnic group, even when comparisons are limited to white Americans, our performance is “dismal” observes Dr. Steven Schroeder in a lecture published in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday.
Why? It’s not the lack of universal access to healthcare, says Schroeder, though that’s important. And it’s not just that we don’t exercise enough and eat too much—though that is a major cause. But there is one factor undermining the nation’s health that we just don’t like to talk about in polite society: Class. When it comes to health, as in so many other areas of American life, class matters. In fact, it matters more than whether or not you have access to medical care.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/sep/21/class_matters_more_than_medicine
Continue reading "Class Matters More than Medicine"
Posted by at 3:28 PM
CBO: Bush Plans For Iraq Will Cost Trillions
A new Congressional study finds that President Bush's plans for the U.S. in Iraq over the next several decades will reach the trillions of dollars, on top of the approximately $567 billion the war has already cost. That accounting assumes a significant troop draw-down -- and still tallies a daunting expense for the United States.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004243.php
Posted by at 3:23 PM
There's One Thing the US Presidential Contenders All Have in Common: God
Note: In this article, Timothy Garton Ash, a British commentator and author, gives his perspective on the 2008 presidential race from the other side of the Atlantic.
We all know Christmas begins earlier every year, but imagine if it were to begin in May. And that's May the year before. This is what's happening with the presidential elections in the US. There are another 17 months until the actual vote next November, but the campaign is well under way. On Tuesday, I watched a television debate between 10 Republican contenders, following a similar one between the Democratic hopefuls last Sunday. At this rate, election fatigue will set in before we've even reached election year. Candidates are not merely nailing their colours to the mast; under media interrogation, they are compelled to take up detailed positions that they'll then find difficult to shift. This is not good for US policy.
http://www.alternet.org/story/53591
Continue reading "There's One Thing the US Presidential Contenders All Have in Common: God"
Posted by at 12:08 PM
Quiz - Which presidential candidates share your views?
Take this quiz and find out!
http://www.dehp.net/candidate/index.php
Posted by doctormatt at 11:49 AM
Dates of initial presidential primaries
Saturday, January 5, 2008 - Wyoming
Monday, January 14, 2008 - Iowa
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - Michigan
Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Nevada , South Carolina
Tuesday January 22, 2008 - New Hampshire
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - Florida
Saturday, February 2, 2008 - Maine
Posted by doctormatt at 11:37 AM
YouTube - You Choose - presidential candidate videos
http://www.youtube.com/youchoose
Posted by doctormatt at 11:32 AM
Mike Gravel after Iowa debates
Mike Gravel on money in politics and the implicit need for clean, public financed elections.
Will the People ever catch on?
Posted by doctormatt at 11:28 AM
Natural Beer Commercial
Posted by doctormatt at 10:28 AM
Kucinich Ad
Great Video - Who really stands with your values?
Posted by doctormatt at 9:41 AM
Dennis Kucinich - YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Kucinich2008
Posted by doctormatt at 9:37 AM
Debt Is Not An Asset
By John Hoefle
"I don't know how the financial system is going to survive through October," Lyndon LaRouche commented on Aug. 31, after reviewing recent developments on the global financial front. We need to get the firewalls up fast to protect the population, he added.
The growth of the global financial system is premised upon a very simple fraud, namely the treatment of unpayable accumulated debts as assets. Those "assets" are then leveraged many times over, turning thousands into millions into billions into trillions of dollars of financial bets. With each passing year, the financial system gets further divorced from reality, further past the edge of the cliff.
Continue reading "Debt Is Not An Asset"
Posted by at 9:29 AM
Commentary: Bush fulfills H.L. Mencken's prophecy
It took just eight decades but H.L. Mencken's astute prediction on the future course of American presidential politics and the electorate's taste in candidates came true:
On July 26, 1920, the acerbic and cranky scribe wrote in The Baltimore Sun: " . . . all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
Continue reading "Commentary: Bush fulfills H.L. Mencken's prophecy"
Posted by at 9:10 AM
"I Cannot Be Bought or Bossed"
By Kevin Gosztola
There’s something relieving about hearing a candidate speak those words. It’s a super relief if those words are sincere and genuine. When one looks at candidates who have raised money, one expects that candidate to have not raised money that would make it seem he or she has been “bought” or “bossed” already. However, not being “bought” or “bossed” has its consequences. By not agreeing to accept contributions from corporate powers and by trying to shift the way campaigns are run in America, a candidate not only must deal with getting the American people on his or her side during the election but also must deal with trying to keep the corporate powers that be from interfering with his or her desire to get the message of his or her campaign to the American people.
Continue reading ""I Cannot Be Bought or Bossed""
Posted by at 9:06 AM
Five Dems in Iowa Agree: 'No' to Single Payer System
By Kucinich for President 2008
Five Dems Agree: "No" To Single Payer System
Kucinich Takes Them All On
Statement by Dennis J. Kucinich, Democratic Candidate for President.
DAVENPORT, IA - In a debate sponsored by one of the nation's leading private insurance sales organizations, AARP, five Democratic presidential candidates unanimously voiced opposition to a single payer national health plan, Medicare for All. The only presidential candidate to author such a plan, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, was not invited to the debate, despite the fact that he has run ahead of or even with three of the five candidates on the stage in Iowa.
"They all decry the plight of the American people and then they turn around and promote the very system which is driving people towards ill physical and economic health, bankruptcy and death: the for-profit health insurance system," said Kucinich. "They do not believe they can get a consensus for change in Congress, yet there was no demonstration of any intention to change the system, despite the fact that 47,000,000 Americans have no health insurance and another 50,000,000 are underinsured."
Continue reading "Five Dems in Iowa Agree: 'No' to Single Payer System"
Posted by at 9:03 AM
Why Vegetarianism Is the Best Way to Help the Environment
In 1987, I read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and—primarily for human rights and environmental reasons—went vegan. Two decades later, I still believe that—even leaving aside all the animal welfare issues—a vegan diet is the only reasonable diet for people who care about the environment or global poverty.
This past November, the environmental problems associated with eating chickens, pigs, and other animals were the subject of a 408-page United Nations (U.N.) scientific report titled Livestock’s Long Shadow.
Continue reading "Why Vegetarianism Is the Best Way to Help the Environment"
Posted by at 8:57 AM
So are breasts sexual?
Breasts are just a part of the "whole package" that makes a woman. Obviously they are beautiful, feminine body parts, yes, but the mere looking at them in some everyday context shouldn't make men instantly think about sex.
We are not saying that men can't appreciate woman's breasts as feminine and beautiful body parts, or that man and woman can't enjoy touching each other's bodies during the intimate relationship. We are saying breasts are NOT supposed to be some kind of a "turn-on", a special obsession point for men.
The advertisements and media images play to the idea that men are supposed to be "all ready" the instant they get a flash of a breast. It's not men's fault though, if they think so, because they have been culturally conditioned to see it that way. So on this site we hope to fight back against this sad trend.
We're saying let breasts be like legs and hips and neck and face etc. and all the other body parts - not some almost like inanimate objects that automatically 'click men's brains' to the "turn on" mode. Some people mention to us Song of Solomon, which mentions breasts in a sexual context. BUT it clearly places breasts on the same level as other body parts, such as teeth, neck, and hair.
Posted by doctormatt at 12:15 AM
September 22, 2007
Air Attack on Iran in the works
It looks like a military strike is in the works and I base that on two things: observable fact and the rhetoric emanating from the White House. There’s a lot of movement of troops and material into the region–it’s stuff the United States can’t hide. It’s a huge expense to put Navy battle groups in the Gulf and we’ve got three of them there. We’ve also moved new fighter planes to Guam amidst much public fanfare. You can plainly see the upturn in US Naval activity in and around the Norfolk Naval installations. The movement of ships, re-supply, ammunition loading and general level of activity is high.
The Naval facilities and the ammunition loading areas are well known, and the activity is readily visible, especially at night. There’s a stream of ships coming in to load up and when they take off new ones come in. There’s only one part of the world where all that stuff is heading. Also, everyone I know who would be involved in an attack on Iran–pilots and other air assets–is gone. Normally some of them are around but now all of them are away at the same time.
The other evidence of a likely strike is all the harsh talk from the White House. President Bush has been talking about Iran a lot more recently, and he put the Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist groups. Whatever you think of the president, he has said he won’t let Iran move forward with its nuclear program. I’d take him at his word.
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/09/hbc-90001112
Posted by at 11:39 PM
General strike - 11/6/07
Of all the various depredations of the Bush regime, none has been so thorough as its plundering of hope. Iraq will recover sooner. What was supposed to have been the crux of our foreign policy—a shock-and-awe tutorial on the utter futility of any opposition to the whims of American power—has achieved its greatest and perhaps its only lasting success in the American soul. You will want to cite the exceptions, the lunch-hour protests against the war, the dinner-party ejaculations of dissent, though you might also want to ask what substantive difference they bear to grousing about the weather or even to raging against the dying of the light—that is, to any ritualized complaint against forces universally acknowledged as unalterable. Bush is no longer the name of a president so much as the abbreviation of a proverb, something between Murphy’s Law and tomorrow’s fatal inducement to drink and be merry today.
If someone were to suggest, for example, that we begin a general strike on Election Day, November 6, 2007, for the sole purpose of removing this regime from power, how readily and with what well-practiced assurance would you find yourself producing the words “It won’t do any good”? Plausible and even courageous in the mouth of a patient who knows he’s going to die, the sentiment fits equally well in the heart of a citizen-ry that believes it is already dead.
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/10/0081720
Continue reading "General strike - 11/6/07"
Posted by at 11:32 PM
Contain and Engage: A New Strategy for Resolving the Nuclear Crisis with Iran
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/02/iran_report.html
Posted by doctormatt at 11:12 PM
No End in Sight - the movie
http://www.noendinsightmovie.com/
Posted by doctormatt at 10:45 PM
In the Valley of Elah
“Exactly the Sort of Movie America Needs”
Over 400 people filled the main theater of the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday night for an advanced screening of "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon, co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress. Oscar-winning Director Paul Haggis spoke and answered questions, and CAP Senior Fellow Joseph Cirincione helped introduce the preview with comments on the film and the Iraq war.
"In the Valley of Elah" is already enjoying rave reviews. Richard Corliss of Time lauds “the combination of dedicated actors and a superior script.” Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly says it “is exactly the sort of movie America needs right now—a lacerating, bone-deep inquiry into the war in Iraq, one that struggles to find meaning in the very chaos of that conflict.” Having seen this film, I completely agree.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/elah.html/print.html
Continue reading "In the Valley of Elah"
Posted by at 10:42 PM
The Cost of Staying the Course in Iraq
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/costs_chart.html
Posted by doctormatt at 10:37 PM
How to Cut Poverty in Half in Just Four Steps
Imagine if everyone in California were poor. In other words, all 36.5 million inhabitants of California—the most populous state in the richest nation in the world—are living lives of privation. Holding on to life and liberty, maybe, but with little hope of engaging in the pursuit of happiness. A pretty sad state of affairs, right?
Well, you can stop imagining. Not everyone in California is poor, of course—Steven Spielberg lives there, after all—but it is the sad case that 37 million Americans across the country live below the poverty line, and millions more are struggling to make ends meet.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/05/poverty_howto.html/print.html
Continue reading "How to Cut Poverty in Half in Just Four Steps"
Posted by at 10:34 PM
A Time to Speak: Why Progressive Religious Leaders Must Find Their Voice on Sexual Justice
There's a growing recognition of an organized progressive religious voice in this country. Collaborative efforts by mainstream and progressive religious leaders to address such issues as the budget, poverty, the war in Iraq, and immigration are now recognized and featured in prominent publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Newsweek.
We are beginning to counter the perception that the religious right speaks for religion in America. Many of us are also working to address what I have labeled the "religiophobia" of secular progressive organizations, or a fear of religion that keeps organizations from reaching out to faith communities and from articulating a moral vision.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/06/b1754617.html/print.html
Posted by at 10:28 PM
Beyond Abstinence-Only
Speaking Out on Adolescent Sexuality
By Rev. Debra W. Haffner
The United States may be raising some of the most sexually confused adolescents in the world. Movies, advertising, web sites, music, and television shows give teens the message that “everyone is doing it,” while the official policy of the federal government and 46 states is abstinence-only until marriage. And most parents, schools, and religious institutions say little to nothing to adolescents about their sexual behaviors, sexual orientation, and sexual health, even though one recent report revealed that the vast majority of Americans have been having sex before marriage for decades.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/02/beyond_abstinence_only.html/print.html
Continue reading "Beyond Abstinence-Only"
Posted by at 10:23 PM
What is a Progressive?
A progressive is someone who is idealistic enough to believe that things can be better and pragmatic enough to get it done.
http://genius.americanprogress.org/
Posted by doctormatt at 10:18 PM
Progressive report update
CONGRESS - Filibuster Frenzy
This week, a bipartisan majority of the Senate voted to restore the right of habeas corpus to detainees, grant the District of Columbia full voting representation in Congress, and mandate that U.S. troops receive at least as much time at home as they are deployed. But facing strong opposition from the White House, the measures narrowly fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the Republican leadership's filibusters and will not move forward. Instead, conservatives spent the week defending the Bush administration and condemning a New York Times ad. The media largely billed the defeats as Senate "rejections" of the measures, failing to highlight the conservative obstruction.
http://americanprogressaction.org
Continue reading "Progressive report update"
Posted by at 10:06 PM
September 21, 2007
Pacifica Radio affiliates
http://pacificanetwork.org/radio/content/blogcategory/24/63/
Posted by doctormatt at 11:41 PM
Pacifica Radio - Berkeley CA - KPFA 94.1 FM
Posted by doctormatt at 11:39 PM
Boulder Colorado Progressive Radio
KGNU
Posted by doctormatt at 11:35 PM
The Progressive Voice of the Mountains
WPVM Radio - 103.5 FM - Asheville NC
Posted by doctormatt at 11:32 PM
Dutch study: Lesbian parents just as good
New research from the Netherlands shows that children raised by lesbian couples are as well-adjusted as those raised in heterosexual families.
The study shows results nearly identical to similar research in the United States and Canada, according to the Rockaway Institute, a national center for public policy and research on LGBT issues.
Continue reading "Dutch study: Lesbian parents just as good"
Posted by at 11:29 PM
US medical students urge passage of employment non-discrimination act
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization, representing more than 68,000 physicians-in-training, today urged the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 20 to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 2015), in order to protect every American from discriminatory employment practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Continue reading "US medical students urge passage of employment non-discrimination act"
Posted by doctormatt at 11:26 PM
Physicians for a National Health Program
The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 46 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.
This is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment though a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.
Posted by at 11:21 PM
Major Health Care Proposals Ignore the 'Big Leak,' Says Health Insurance Expert
“Universal health care is getting the attention it deserves, but unfortunately the proposals receiving the most attention ignore the ‘Big Leak,’” which is the enormous non-benefit costs incurred by health care providers who must match their billions of billings with thousands of differing private health care plans,” says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. “Putting everyone under the Medicare umbrella would eliminate that leak,” he says.
Continue reading " Major Health Care Proposals Ignore the 'Big Leak,' Says Health Insurance Expert"
Posted by at 11:19 PM
White House in Contempt
Letter from Representative John Conyers -
I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on the status of the contempt of Congress resolution in the House of Representatives.
As you may know, the Judiciary Committee passed a resolution before the August recess holding the White House and Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for their failure to provide documents and appear before the committee as legally required by subpoena.
The information we have received to date from the Justice Department from our U.S. Attorneys investigation indicates the White House played a central role in the firing of the nine federal prosecutors. Yet, the White House has stonewalled and consistently refused to cooperate with inquiries into this matter.
At the heart of our investigation is the evidence uncovered suggesting that the nine U.S. Attorneys were fired for politically-motivated reasons, while others may have been retained because they were pursuing partisan investigations.
We have also discovered that job candidates' political contributions and affiliations were considered in hiring decisions for nonpartisan positions in the Department of Justice. Our job has been made more difficult by apparent misleading testimony from the Attorney General and other Department of Justice officials.
Continue reading "White House in Contempt"
Posted by doctormatt at 5:59 AM
September 19, 2007
Paulson: U.S. to Hit Debt Limit Oct. 1
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Wednesday the government will hit the current debt ceiling on Oct. 1. He sought quick action to increase the limit, saying it was essential to protect the "full faith and credit" of the country, especially at a time of financial market turmoil.
The limit is $8.965 trillion. Unless Congress votes to raise it, the country would be unable to borrow more money to keep the government operating and to pay debt obligations coming due.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070919/debt_limit.html?.v=2&printer=1
Continue reading "Paulson: U.S. to Hit Debt Limit Oct. 1"
Posted by at 9:06 PM
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright
Ben Bernanke has placed the dollar in a dangerous situation, say analysts
Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East.
"This is a very dangerous situation for the dollar," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas.
"Saudi Arabia has $800bn (£400bn) in their future generation fund, and the entire region has $3,500bn under management. They face an inflationary threat and do not want to import an interest rate policy set for the recessionary conditions in the United States," he said.
Continue reading "Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright"
Posted by at 9:03 PM
Greenspan: Euro Gains As Reserve Choice
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said it is possible that the euro could replace the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of choice.
According to an advance copy of an interview to be published in Thursday's edition of the German magazine Stern, Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore.
Continue reading "Greenspan: Euro Gains As Reserve Choice"
Posted by at 9:00 PM
Nebraska State Senator Sues God
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The defendant in a state senator's lawsuit is accused of causing untold death and horror and threatening to cause more still. He can be sued in Douglas County, the legislator claims, because He's everywhere.
State Sen. Ernie Chambers sued God last week. Angered by another lawsuit he considers frivolous, Chambers says he's trying to make the point that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody.
Chambers says in his lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."
The Omaha senator, who skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians, also says God has caused "fearsome floods ... horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes."
He's seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.
Continue reading "Nebraska State Senator Sues God"
Posted by at 8:44 PM
September 18, 2007
Forum on religion and 2008 election set for Sept. 20 at Vanderbilt
The dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School will speak on religion and the
2008 presidential election on Sept. 20 in the school’s first community
outreach of the fall semester.
James Hudnut-Beumler, the Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of
American Religious History and dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School,
will speak at the 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. community breakfast on Thursday,
Sept. 20. His topic will be “Religion and Politics in the 2008 Election: A Look
into the Future.”
“Religion is one of the many issues that the presidential candidates will
address during the election,” Hudnut-Beumler said. “As we look to the
future, we will discuss how questions of religion may influence the
political platforms of the 2008 election.”
The forum will be recorded for podcast on VUCast, the Web site of
Vanderbilt News Service, at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/
Posted by doctormatt at 5:46 PM
September 16, 2007
The Iran Attack That Wasn't
How reporters trumped up a story about Iranians killing Americans in Iraq.
On July 2 and 3, The New York Times and the Associated Press, among other media outlets, came out with sensational stories saying that either Iranians or Iranian agents had played an important role in planning the operation in Karbala, Iraq last January that resulted in the deaths of five American soldiers. Michael R. Gordon and John F. Burns of The New York Times wrote that "agents of Iran" had been identified by the military spokesman as having "helped plan a January raid in the Shiite holy city of Karbala in Iraq in which five American soldiers were killed by Islamic militants …"
Lee Keath of the Associated Press wrote an even more lurid lead, asserting that U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner had accused "Iran's elite Quds force" of having "helped militants carry out a January attack in Karbala that killed five Americans."
http://www.prospect.org//cs/articles?article=the_iran_attack_that_wasnt
Continue reading "The Iran Attack That Wasn't"
Posted by at 3:07 PM
Was a Covert Attempt to Bomb Iran with Nuclear Weapons foiled by a Military Leak?
Critically exploring whether or not there was a covert attempt to instigate a catastrophic nuclear war against Iran is illuminated through an introduction using the recent B-52 Incident.
On August 30, a B-52 bomber armed with five nuclear-tipped Advanced Cruise missiles travelled from Minot Air Force base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force base, Louisiana, in the United States.
Each missile had an adjustable yield between five and 150 kilotons of TNT which is at the lower end of the destructive capacities of U.S. nuclear weapons. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 13 kilotons, while the Bravo Hydrogen bomb test of 1954 had a yield of 15,000 kilotons. The B-52 story was first covered in the Army Times on 5 September after the nuclear armed aircraft was discovered by Airmen.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18374.htm
Posted by at 3:00 PM
9/11 Explains the Impotence of the Anti-war Movement
The anti-war movement has proven impotent to stop the war in Iraq despite the fact that the war was initiated on the basis of lies and deception. The anti-war movement stands helpless to prevent President Bush from attacking Iran or any other country that he might demonize for harboring a future 9/11 threat.
September 11 enabled Bush to take America to war and to keep America at war even though the government’s explanation of the events of September 11 is mired in controversy and disbelieved by a large percentage of the population.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18391.htm
Continue reading "9/11 Explains the Impotence of the Anti-war Movement"
Posted by at 2:26 PM
Video - 9/11: Dr. Robert Bowman on the impossibility of the the official government story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1nyRHhqRGA
Posted by at 2:20 PM
Living in a Housing Bubble
Interview With Dr. Housing
How long have you been following the housing market?
In terms of following real estate closely, I have been following the market for 8 years. I've always had an interest in housing and real estate, however. My interest started when I read Nothing Down by Robert Allen. The ideas seemed so simple and made sense. When I read the book for the first time, nothing down still was used only by experts. Of course, once I got into investing and working in the industry, I realized that there was more to housing than simply finding a place and going zero down. Now after reading countless books and being active, real estate isn't such a simple industry. It is hard to believe that nothing down became mainstream in the last few years. Many people read only bullish housing books and jumped into a bullish time for housing, and now they are having a hard time figuring out what to do in a bearish market.
Continue reading "Living in a Housing Bubble"
Posted by at 2:17 PM
Dollar's retreat raises fear of collapse
FRANKFURT: Finance ministers and central bankers have long fretted that at some point, the rest of the world would lose its willingness to finance the United States' proclivity to consume far more than it produces - and that a potentially disastrous free-fall in the dollar's value would result.
But for longer than most economists would have been willing to predict a decade ago, the world has been a willing partner in American excess - until a new and home-grown financial crisis this summer rattled confidence in the country, the world's largest economy.
On Thursday, the dollar briefly fell to another low against the euro of $1.3927, as a slow decline that has been under way for months picked up steam this past week.
"This is all pointing to a greatly increased risk of a fast unwinding of the U.S. current account deficit and a serious decline of the dollar," said Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and an expert on exchange rates. "We could finally see the big kahuna hit."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/13/news/econ.php
Continue reading "Dollar's retreat raises fear of collapse"
Posted by at 2:11 PM
Mark Twain - on national self deception
Let's hope we don't do it again with Iran -
"And now the whole nation -- pulpit and all -- will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open.
Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
Mark Twain
Posted by doctormatt at 8:37 AM
September 14, 2007
San Francisco to Offer Care for Every Uninsured Adult
Since contracting polio at age 2, Yan Ling Ho has lived with pain for most of her 52 years. After she immigrated here from Hong Kong last year, the soreness in her back and joints proved too debilitating for her to work.
That also meant she did not have health insurance. Not wanting to burden her daughter, who was already paying her living expenses, Ms. Ho delayed doctors’ visits and battled her misery with over-the-counter medications.
“Sometimes the pain was so bad, I would just cry,” she said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Last month, unable to bear her discomfort any longer, Ms. Ho went to North East Medical Services, a nonprofit community clinic on the edge of Chinatown, and discovered to her delight that she qualified for a new program that offers free or subsidized health care to all 82,000 San Francisco adults without insurance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/us/14health.html?ref=health&pagewanted=print
Continue reading "San Francisco to Offer Care for Every Uninsured Adult"
Posted by at 8:07 AM
Domestic Use of Spy Satellites To Widen
Law Enforcement Getting New Access To Secret Imagery
The Bush administration has approved a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings and underground bunkers.
A program approved by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security will allow broader domestic use of secret overhead imagery beginning as early as this fall, with the expectation that state and local law enforcement officials will eventually be able to tap into technology once largely restricted to foreign surveillance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081502430_pf.html
Continue reading "Domestic Use of Spy Satellites To Widen"
Posted by at 6:32 AM
Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006-2007 from Project Censored
#1 No Habeas Corpus for "Any Person"
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) ushered in military commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. Text in the MCA allows for the institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice system for "any person" arbitrarily deemed to be an enemy of the state, regardless of American citizenship.
#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 allows the president to deploy military troops anywhere in the United States and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities in order to "suppress public disorder."
http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1122/1/
Continue reading "Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006-2007 from Project Censored"
Posted by at 5:54 AM
Threatened species Red List shows escalating 'global extinction crisis'
Corals and seaweed have joined the ranks of threatened species, and more apes and reptiles are now facing extinction according to the World Conservation Union, which warns of a "global extinction crisis".
The conservation group's annual Red List of threatened species, published today, found that the extinction crisis had escalated in the last year with 16,306 species now at the highest levels of extinction threat, equivalent to almost 40% of all species in the survey.
A quarter of all mammals, a third of all amphibians and one in eight birds on the 2007 IUCN Red List are in jeopardy.
More than 180 species have been added since 2006 to the ranks of those classified as endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/12/internationalnews.greenpolitics/print
Continue reading "Threatened species Red List shows escalating 'global extinction crisis'"
Posted by doctormatt at 5:11 AM
September 13, 2007
End the "surge" in Iraq
Video from Center for American Progress
Posted by doctormatt at 10:45 PM
September 12, 2007
Dollar hits fresh 15-year low
The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as the greenback continued to suffer from the prospect of a cut in US interest rates.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve would move to lower interest rates at its meeting on September 18 have increased since last week’s US employment report, which showed the recent turmoil in the credit markets had spilled over into the wider economy.
“The dollar remains undermined by the increasing prospect of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve as it attempts to forestall the US economy from slipping into recession,” said Derek Halpenny at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1281bc8-604c-11dc-8ec0-0000779fd2ac.html
Continue reading "Dollar hits fresh 15-year low"
Posted by doctormatt at 10:19 PM
Do you believe any 9/11 conspiracy theories?
MSNBC Poll - Was the U.S. government somehow involved?
2/3 of those responding to the poll said YES.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14727720
Posted by doctormatt at 10:07 PM
September 11, 2007
Jurors hard to find for Warren Jeffs trial
ST. GEORGE, Utah - There is a very real possibility that the trial of Warren Jeffs - North America's most notorious polygamist - may be have to be moved from this southern Utah city because an impartial jury can not be found.
Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list alongside Osama bin Laden when he was arrested last August. He is the so-called prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose 15,000 followers (including about 600 in Bountiful, B.C.) believe that he is God's mouthpiece on earth and may well be a god himself.
Continue reading "Jurors hard to find for Warren Jeffs trial"
Posted by at 12:44 PM
September 10, 2007
Machinery In Place For Dictatorship in America
If President Bush doesn't make himself dictator it's only because he chooses not to do so, not because he lacks the means.
Indeed, we are all walking the streets today at the pleasure of the two gentlemen in the White House former Nixon counsel John Dean calls "co-presidents"- and whose regime, he warns, is "a dangerous threat to democracy."- (Read Dean's book, "Worse Than Watergate"-, published by Warner).
In fact, though, if anyone is pulling the strings to create a police state, it is Vice President Cheney. The former Halliburton CEO is tied closely both to those creating a private army and to those building massive new detention facilities.
Continue reading "Machinery In Place For Dictatorship in America"
Posted by doctormatt at 9:57 PM | Comments (2)
September 9, 2007
Edwards/Kucinich 2008?
The Gold Standard For Progressive Candidates
When I exhorted Edwards to live up to his own gold standard, and when I urged the people to apply this standard to the candidates’ policy positions and to the conduct and financing of their campaigns, I should have cited the fine example already set by Dennis Kucinich. Why should I perpetuate the neglect modeled by the mass media?
The Superior Record of Dennis Kucinich
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/04/3597/print/
Continue reading "Edwards/Kucinich 2008?"
Posted by doctormatt at 10:00 PM
Big Brother IS Watching You, Starting October 1st
Perhaps one of the real benefits of my wee hours babysitting chores is my unrestricted access to the C-SPAN rebroadcast of Committee Hearings. This morning I watched a doosey - The House Committee on Homeland Security . You can link to the video on this page.
Beginning in October 2007 the Department of Homeland Security will open a new office called the National Applications Office (NAO) charged with civil/domestic intelligence gathering.
This new division of Homeland Security was conceived entirely by the Executive Branch, with no Congressional input, and will serve as a clearinghouse for requests to access the data provided by military spy satellites, with a resolution of inches, to view the territorial United States. During the hearing Charles Allen, Assistant Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis told Chairman Bennie Thompson that their legal and civil rights oversite concerns were misplaced.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/9/51544/46359
Continue reading "Big Brother IS Watching You, Starting October 1st"
Posted by doctormatt at 9:52 PM
Video - The Corporation
Great documentary.
Corporations as entities with antisocial personality disorder.
Limited time charters anyone?
Download a windows media or real player version here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12998.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 9:42 PM
Purported Bin Laden speech
TRANSCRIPT
"All praise is due to Allah, who built the heavens and earth in justice, and created man as a favor and grace from Him. And from His ways is that the days rotate between the people, and from His Law is retaliation in kind: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and the killer is killed. And all praise is due to Allah, who awakened His slaves' desire for the Garden, and all of them will enter it except those who refuse. And whoever obeys Him alone in all of his affairs will enter the Garden, and whoever disobeys Him will have refused."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18342.htm
Continue reading "Purported Bin Laden speech"
Posted by doctormatt at 9:36 PM
Notable quotes
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." : Texas Governor George W. Bush, April 9, 1999, on the US intervention in Kosovo
Conquered states that have been accustomed to liberty and the government of their own laws can be held by the conqueror in three different ways. The first is to ruin them; the second, for the conqueror to go and reside there in person; and the third is to allow them to continue to live under their own laws, subject to a regular tribute, and to create in them a government of a few, who will keep the country friendly to the conqueror: Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
"It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil.": Fredrich August von Hayek - (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974 - Source: The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972), p. 146.
Posted by doctormatt at 9:32 PM
9/11 Coincidences - part 8
Posted by doctormatt at 9:23 PM
9/11 Coincidences - part 11
Posted by doctormatt at 9:17 PM
The Great Iraqi Swindle
How is it done? How do you screw the taxpayer for millions, get away with it and then ride off into the sunset with one middle finger extended, the other wrapped around a chilled martini? Ask Earnest O. Robbins -- he knows all about being a successful contractor in Iraq.
You start off as a well-connected bureaucrat: in this case, as an Air Force civil engineer, a post from which Robbins was responsible for overseeing 70,000 servicemen and contractors, with an annual budget of $8 billion. You serve with distinction for thirty-four years, becoming such a military all-star that the Air Force frequently sends you to the Hill to testify before Congress -- until one day in the summer of 2003, when you retire to take a job as an executive for Parsons, a private construction company looking to do work in Iraq.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle/print
Continue reading "The Great Iraqi Swindle"
Posted by at 1:17 AM
September 7, 2007
"Blacklisted News"
http://www.blacklistednews.com/category_list.asp
Posted by doctormatt at 9:03 PM
Is China quietly dumping US Treasuries?
A sharp drop in foreign holdings of US Treasury bonds over the last five weeks has raised concerns that China is quietly withdrawing its funds from the United States, leaving the dollar increasingly vulnerable.
Data released by the New York Federal Reserve shows that foreign central banks have cut their stash of US Treasuries by $48bn since late July, with falls of $32bn in the last two weeks alone.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/09/05/bcnchina105.xml
Continue reading "Is China quietly dumping US Treasuries?"
Posted by doctormatt at 8:47 PM
Iraq's many armys
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/24BD0D96-88ED-4731-8326-3BDE774DAEEA.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 12:31 PM
Al Jazeera in English
http://english.aljazeera.net/English
Posted by doctormatt at 12:28 PM
September 6, 2007
Couple role plays the political way
Bush F's America
Posted by doctormatt at 3:22 AM
Mad World in Iraq
Song and slide collage
Posted by doctormatt at 3:15 AM
How is America like a Fascist State?
Posted by doctormatt at 3:04 AM
September 3, 2007
The Predicted Financial Storm Has Arrived
Contradictions now wrack the world's financial system, and a growing consensus exists between those who endorse it and those who argue the status quo is both crisis-prone as well as immoral. If we are to believe the institutions and personalities who have been in the forefront of the defense of capitalism, we are on the verge of a serious crisis-if not now, then in the near future.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank for International Settlements, the British Financial Services Authority, the Financial Times, and innumerable mainstream commentators were increasingly worried and publicly warned against many of the financial innovations that have now imploded. Warren Buffett, whom Forbes ranks the second richest man in the world, last year called credit derivatives-only one of the many new banking inventions-"financial weapons of mass destruction." Very conservative institutions and people predicted the upheaval in global finances we are today experiencing.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18296.htm
Continue reading "The Predicted Financial Storm Has Arrived"
Posted by at 9:05 PM
The twenty buck solution
We would live in a completely different world, a world without an Iraq war, a world without hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed, a world without almost 4000 soldiers killed and tens of thousands wounded, a world without hundreds of billions spent for nothing, and most importantly, a world without George Bush as president, but for one thing. We would live in that world if only George Bush had gotten a blowjob.
That's all it would take. We came that close to getting rid of George Bush and ending our national nightmare. Such a small thing that would have made such a big difference.
Continue reading "The twenty buck solution"
Posted by at 5:37 PM
Social History of the Bra
The bra was invented by an engineer of German extraction called Onto Titzling in 1912. He was living in a New York boarding house, and one of his neighbours, a voluptuous opera singer called Swanhilda Olafson, complained that she needed a garment to hoist her vast bosom aloft every evening -- so Titzling obliged, using some cotton, elastic and metal struts. Unfortunately, he failed to patent the device and, in the early 1930s, a Frenchman named Philippe de Brassière began making a suspiciously similar object. Titzling took him to court, but the unscrupulous Frenchman won the day. And that's why the garment all the ladies are wearing is called a brassiere, not a titzling.
http://www.alternet.org/story/59877/
Continue reading "Social History of the Bra"
Posted by at 9:00 AM
Israel's other demographic challenge
Jerusalem's busy Mea Shearim neighbourhood is witness to a looming demographic dilemma for Israel.
It is an almost exclusively ultra-orthodox Jewish enclave, its narrow streets and crowded apartments teeming with thousands of black-hatted, white-shirted "Haredi" men and their families.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6970195.stm
Continue reading "Israel's other demographic challenge"
Posted by at 7:06 AM
September 2, 2007
Advanced jive move A
Posted by doctormatt at 5:34 PM