These people got lost…

These people got lost… 11 August 2009

Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, 2012 Re Election, DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Lie Down Fall Down Dems.
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mannequins

Mannequins at Design Dish

… en route to the NH Town Hall today… the one with Obama… they thought (well, you know, as best they can with no heads) they might pass the screening and get in.

They absolutely promise to sit quietly, have no political affiliations, whatsoever!… and, as you can see, no chance of conceal carry issues.

***

Cliff Notes (via Politico)… popcorn by the door, serve yourself.

After returning from Mexico, Obama hits the road again today.

Tackling health care, Obama travels to Portsmouth, N.H. where he will hold a town hall to discuss what his health care package would mean for Americans who already have insurance. Obama is expected to put an emphasis on the consumer protections he has discussed in recent weeks and will focus on ending the refusal of coverage based on preexisting conditions.

About 1,800 people will be in attendance, White House aides said.

POTUS will speak for about 15 minutes and then take questions from the audience, a W.H. aide said.

Portsmouth, N.H. resident Lori Hitchcock will introduce POTUS, the aide says. Hitchcock, the aide says, was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2003 and no insurance company will accept her because of her pre-existing condition. She has been uninsured for 2 years.

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Comments»

1. marisacat - 11 August 2009: I see Eunice Shriver has slipped the mortal coil….

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2. marisacat - 11 August 2009: 3 American Troops Killed in Afghanistan

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 11, 2009

Filed at 7:09 a.m. ET

KABUL (AP) — NATO says three American troops have been killed in three separate clashes in southern Afghanistan.

The military alliance says the three died in separate ”hostile fire incidents.” It did not disclose the exact location of the attacks.

The NATO statement said the first died of wounds suffered in an incident that occurred on Saturday, another died on Sunday and the third died Monday.

July was the deadliest month in Afghanistan for U.S. and NATO troops since the 2001 U.S. invasion. Seventy-five troops died. So far in August, at least 24 U.S. and NATO troops have died.

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3. marisacat - 11 August 2009: From the Harper’s Index:

Bombings in Baghdad and northern Iraq killed 47 people,
wounded hundreds, and obliterated the entire village of
Khazna, near Mosul. General Stanley McChrystal, top
commander of the war in Afghanistan, called Vietnam War
historian Stanley Karnow for advice. The main lesson to be
learned from Vietnam, Karnow said, was that “we shouldn’t
have been there in the first place.”

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: PTB / Disaster Capitalists Insight: 0
Their Giving A Damn ?…….. - ∞

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: This piece from the UK, entitled

<a href="<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6792217.eceTake Our Picture We Don’t Give a Fuck

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Double take here

This piece from the UK, entitled

Take Our Picture We Don’t Give a Fuck

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CSTAR - 11 August 2009: Wait! That guy in the picture looks like Geithner!

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Then they’ll get away with it.

And Obama is involved

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4. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Quite the recipe from The Quicksand State

New poll finds Corzine gaining slight ground on Christie in N.J. governor’s race

Governor has shored up base,
but GOP candidate still leads 2-to-1 with independents

Just add Lye.

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CSTAR - 11 August 2009: Mortuary science?

Mortuary reform now!

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CSTAR - 11 August 2009: I’ll eat my words.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Looking for a an illustrative link above for “lye” it popped up on
Da Googallama.

I couldn’t help but shake my browsing it…

While not “on the ground” or even “in” the ground…
the classic Amero-Slobber is there lurking behind , literally, a cold steel/ chemical cadavre incinerator, the latest in body disposal efficiency , they say..

“It’s not often that a truly game-changing technology comes along in the funeral service,” the newsletter Funeral Service Insider said in September. But “we might have gotten a hold of one.”

So “on the ground” – I guess –
it’s a “game changer” for the funeral directors

And Sold as “Green” too, LOL….the Steel Manufacture and deisel fueled Cargo ship and truck transport to get it here aside…

Hmmm. …Don’t suppose the Pentagon might be in the market for such a device now, would they?

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Hook it up to a Home Esspresso or Cappuccino machine
and you can froth off your java jolt with a Hint of Uncle Ned
a little Spice of Aunt Martha…

after “growing the market” tho – We ALWAYS DO—
all sorts of exotic consumable opportunities present themselves,
(well sort of , after our targetting and various coffee runs of sorts) “Mosul Merchant”..
“Afghan Bridesmaid” ..”Gaza Schoolchildren”..American “Detainee”

but rarely, if ever “Juan Valdez” or “Java Plantation Worker”.
They’re just naturally turned into dirt where they slaved…

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5. catnip - 11 August 2009: Posted at my place and Mo Betta: If you don’t support Obama, you’ll kill him.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Some mighty fine wordsmithing, catnip..

“Spelunker in Chief” -

But, no. If the “left” (whatever is left of the left in the US surely isn’t in this Democratic party) abandons

the Spelunker-in-Chief (I coined that term) who never met a cave he didn’t like - he’s as good as dead.

“…never met a cave he didn’t like”
Or a – (sic) —- > Spiel.

And While they’ve made a rubber room of the country….
and turned the ponies out for whinying and grazing,
(lest Stall Vices become worrisome.)..

the “Health” AND Death Merchants ….

Get PAID.

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6. catnip - 11 August 2009: I don’t know how I ended up with this e-mail. Maybe somebody (BHHM?) can make some use of the info:

Hi Liberal Catnip. Are you attending Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh this week? Here are a few events that you might be interested in. Let me know and I’ll reserve space for you or any of your colleagues at each of them. In the meantime, hope to see you there. –Toby.

–CONFERENCE CALL PREVIEW: Sen. Bob Casey, Leo Gerard and Robert Borosage will join organizers to preview the conference and discuss how Pittsburgh revived its manufacturing sector, providing a model for the nation. The complete news advisory follows, but the call is on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET and the call-in number is 888-481-2862, code 2911487. Please let me know if we should reserve a line for you or any of your colleagues.

–STEEL PLANT TOUR: We’re taking a group of bloggers and reporters on a first-time tour of a modern steel plant in Steeltown, showing how the nation’s building a new economy out of the ruins of the old, one that includes a vibrant, competitive and sustainable manufacturing sector. The tour is around noon on Thursday.

–STRAW POLL: We’re conducting a straw poll of participants at the conference to gauge where the progressive blogosphere stands on the White House’s accomplishments and most interestingly, on the Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak match-up, after the two debate at the conference.

–PIRATES STADIUM PARTY: We’re holding an invite-only reception at Pirates stadium, complete with food, fun and batting practice on the field. The event is Friday evening. Let me know if you’d like to attend.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: My guess is you got it prolly via a blast email to
Dkos UserID’s..kos’s email database..

Another possibility – why’d they’d bother I don’t know -
but another possibility is its security detail related…
pick your spook…or JDL wannabe spooks

It does seem our overlords are getting skittish tho…
with all the town hall nonsence.

Always the problem when harnessing conflict…Brings out the bona fide Jackboots and all bets are off crazies….Specter is getting pounded today in Lebanaon, Pennsylvania..

Well, this Kabuki the PTB engineered::to wit::
Dem Faux “Reform” and whimpers +
GOP harnessed outrage = Massive Cost shift from Corporate Plans and Bonanza for Insurers, Medicine and Pharma

has - whoops! – gottten away from the Incumbancy.

I wouldn’t be found near the joint (Neutered Roots) or any other place like this Bad Theater at the Town Halls…

Again.. I’d say it’s most likely you got the email from some list..

I had to laugh tho…Remember that kerfluffle over the New York Air Force One Photo Op?

The Air Force was monitoring Blog Blowback.
But even more suspiciously –
LUCID then took a PLANE to Italy. LOL. Basterd.
Left me here in Jersey. Not even a postcard.

Joking aside…This is what the Uniformed Flyboys were up to..

The mission quickly became a public relations disaster as panicked New Yorkers, fearing another 9/11-style attack, emptied office buildings. In the aftermath, Louis Caldera, director of the White House military office that authorized the flight, was fired.

The Combat Information Cell’s first assessment of the event said “Web site blog comments ‘furious’ at best.” Local reporting of the flyover was “very critical, highlighting scare factor,” it added.

A search of Twitter, which allows people to post messages of 140 characters or less to a circle of friends, family or fans, showed that users were posting a rate of one message, or “tweet,” per minute about a pair of F-16s chasing a commercial airliner, the cell said.

Media coverage over the next 24 hours “will focus on local hysteria and lack of public notification,” the cell predicted. “Blogs will continue to be overwhelmingly negative.”

But this jumps out of ..the arttcle? The plane? the Blogosphere..?

“Damage control requires timely counter-information,” but the opportunity for that had passed, the assessment said. The cell recommended acknowledging the mistake and ensuring it didn’t happen again.

Another update on April 28 said the story was still “reverberating, surprisingly resilient.” The tweet rate had grown to three per minute and the words “New York” had been pushed into Twitter’s list of most talked about topics. Videos of the event posted on YouTube had been viewed more than 260,000 times, it said.

Gahd. Our “finest” –
funded by the last of our Very VERY fine cash –
now are tracking…
“Tweet Rates” .

Let me ask you tho – any info in the email header?
You might be able to see what ISP emeail server it originated from…I wouldn’t call the number though as it refines data-mining putting a tel with an email…

But hey…you did get an ‘Invite only” offer to attend…
At Pirates STADIUM. LOL.

Again, most likely via kos email database, perhaps security or other datamining….Screening Operations Either Way.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Also …@ “‘Pirates Stadium” ..

How RICH.

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7. catnip - 11 August 2009: Support for Congressional Health Care Reform Falls to New Low

Public support for the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats has fallen to a new low as just 42% of U.S. voters now favor the plan. That’s down five points from two weeks ago and down eight points from six weeks ago.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that opposition to the plan has increased to 53%, up nine points since late June.

More significantly, 44% of voters strongly oppose the health care reform effort versus 26% who strongly favor it. Intensity has been stronger among opponents of the plan since the debate began.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of those under 30 favor the plan while 56% of those over 65 are opposed. Among senior citizens, 46% are strongly opposed.

Predictably, 69% of Democrats favor the plan, while 79% of Republicans oppose it. Yet while 44% of Democratic voters strongly favor the reform effort, 70% of GOP voters are strongly opposed to it.
Most notable, however, is the opposition among voters not affiliated with either party. Sixty-two percent (62%) of unaffiliated voters oppose the health care plan, and 51% are strongly opposed. This marks an uptick in strong opposition among both Republicans and unaffiliateds, while the number of strongly supportive Democrats is unchanged.

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: TPM is still heralding the death of the Right Wing.

Out of touch .. much?

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8. catnip - 11 August 2009: It’s high time that our side asks smart questions (14+ / 0-)

of these Democratic officials in the chart!

I’m on Twitter. I’m also a part of the FDL team on health reform.

by slinkerwink on Tue Aug 11, 2009 at 08:53:01 AM MDT

*
* [new] There is one problem… (8+ / 0-)

This morning I watched Arlen Specter’s town-hall and he was given a “b-p fastball” right down the middle in the form of the following paraphrased question by a supporter of health care reform:

In 1997 I was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder that landed me in and out of hospitals for 4 years and I want to thank the taxpayers for their help during that time, as I did not have health insurance. However, when I recovered I spent a lot of time in the library learning about computers and subsequently got a job working for an insurance company. While working for the ins. company I learned of many corrupt practices, like overbilling for kickbacks, etc. When I told my superiors about it I was fired. Can you assure me that you will back strong reforms to prevent corrupt practices like these?

Arlen’s reply was “I will not support any bill that allows kickbacks, those are the same as bribes. Next question!”

My jaw hit the floor. He could not even answer questions about term limits believably. He said I will bring the idea of referendums back to the Senate, instead of saying “we have elections, those are how you can hire or fire me.”

How can politicians be so tone deaf and inept at the most simple messaging? It’s apparent when I watch these town-halls that Dems need to go to a sweat lodge somewhere and get beat over the head with talking-points by competent political thinkers.

Hey John, I got a question for ya! Can I give you a ride to the airport? – David Letterman

by Iron Lung on Tue Aug 11, 2009 at 09:04:32 AM MDT

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: slinkerwink.

Texan. Hill STAFFER. Thrown out on her slinker-bum.
Now rolls around the mesquite-grilled blogsphere…

,Noelle Cigarroa Perese

Get Noelle Cigarroa Perese’s RSS Feed RSS
Become a Fan Get Email Alerts from this Blogger

Noelle Cigarroa Perese is known for her writing over at Dailykos and Firedoglake under her username, “slinkerwink.” She is a graduate of Smith College with a B.A. in Government, and recently was named as a Netroots Nation ’09 Scholar by Democracy For America and Dailykos due to her political writing. She is a former congressional staffer, and has been involved with the progressive netroots since 2004. She enjoys the use of social media on domestic policy issues, and can be followed on Twitter.

Hamster Cheese-Eater—->

Your Donations Now Paying NYCEve and Slinkerwink
By: Jane Hamsher Friday July 17, 2009 9:53 am

Paid Astroturfer.

Get The F**K Out And Attend These Townhall Events!
by slinkerwink
Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 06:07:16 AM PDT

Etc Etc Etc.

Now .. Where’s my pipe tobacco?

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: I’m sorry. One visit to read catnips fine piece,
and I’ve come down with a case of the Blog Wrecker She Vixen

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catnip - 11 August 2009: There is no cure but the occasional hallucinations can be fun.

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: Reply
catnip - 11 August 2009: Your Donations Now Paying NYCEve and Slinkerwink

Well isn’t that special?

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: I read that it did nto appear that efforts in PA to have Pro Obama and Pro Health Care forces at the TownHalls this week was very aggressive. You know, Specter events.

sob… I so feel for Specter.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Well….

Part of that ex Ob group I was talking to you about are from the Reading Lancaster Lebanon area…..surprisingly a very dense area of Progressive activists in State , e.g John Morgan – who was not at the meeting but no doubt will recieve outreach on it…but that pocket in PA… Lancaster of all places was one of four counties Obama carried in the Primary ..Strong Anti War, decent alliances with Unitarian and Mennonite congregations…Decent peeps.

Apparently Specter got stoned in Lebanon, Pennsylvania today.

With no cover. You’re on your own , Arlen…You too , Joe.

I bet this Poodle Fest Joint appearance coming up at Neuterd Pooch Pittsburgh will be their last for a while. Back to bunker time and hustling campaign cash.
Maybe the set-piece sniping on Meat Press and the like..

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catnip - 11 August 2009: Neuterd Pooch Pittsburgh

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9. catnip - 11 August 2009: Up here in Canada…

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: While I’m thinking of it…

Is it true that every Canadian gets a FREE
Canadian Mountie Outfit?!?

I can just imagine marching around the house,
big family dinners on Holidays…
Enough fuckin Red to bring down a satellite

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Where you fuckin put the horses I don’t know..
LOL

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catnip - 11 August 2009: You have odd, yet interesting, fantasies.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Reply
10. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Uh oh

Target Of Obama-Era Rendition Alleges Torture

Plastered on the FP of HuffPo.

Buuuut. Reading Deeper…

According to court papers, on April 7, 2009, Azar and a Lebanese-American colleague, Dinorah Cobos, were seized by “at least eight” heavily armed FBI agents in Kabul, Afghanistan, where they had traveled for a meeting to discuss the status of one of his company’s U.S. government contracts. The trip ended with Azar alighting in manacles from a Gulfstream V executive jet in Manassas, Virginia, where he was formally arrested and charged in a federal antitrust probe.

This rendition involved no black sites and was clearly driven by a desire to get the target quickly before a court. Also unlike renditions of the Bush-era, the target wasn’t even a terror suspect; rather, he was suspected of fraud.

Oh what a web of deceit we’ve woven…IMO- It’s obvious that our Overlords, the very proponents of torture and Police State tactics will use the decrying of the same to whitewash pervasive …politically connected.. Security and Defense contracting fraud…
Nope can’t go get ‘im. Could be “rendering”.

Wherein, WRT any notion of legitimate “Security” or Rule of Law…
we are “rendered”… by the perversion of language regarding what is legitimate apprehension and detention..and what is not….
Rendered indeed, by the corruption endemic to the “Security” and “Justice” apparatus itself..

This from closer to Home…Today…

Waterfront Commission officials accused of corruption at N.J., N.Y. ports
by Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday August 11, 2009, 12:46 PM

NEW YORK — The bi-state agency formed to combat corruption within the New York and New Jersey ports

became riddled with abuse —

misusing federal Homeland Security funding, hiring unqualified cops, and allowing convicted felons to get jobs.

Welll, buddy-.

In a scathing 67-page report, the New York Inspector General said the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor had failed in its duties. Gov. Jon Corzine has already fired the New Jersey Commissioner, former State PBA President Michael Madonna.

“This was a total agency breakdown,” Inspector General Joseph Fisch said. “Instead of ridding the waterfront of corruption, this agency itself was corrupt.”

Established in 1953, after public hearings sparked by a newspaper investigation exposed pervasive corruption involving mobsters and dock workers, later portrayed in the film “On the Waterfront,” the quasi-independent commission oversees waterfront hiring and has a police force to conduct investigations. The commission has an annual budget of more than $11 million and a staff of 100 employees.

But the commission had long ago stopped doing its job, according to the report, citing favors to insiders, corrupt dealings, fraud and abuse. In one example, it noted the commission bought a patrol boat paid for by a $170,000 Homeland Security grant, which was supposed to be “capable of early detection of a waterborne attack.”

Its role was to “deploy officers…at high risk target locations such as the NYC Passenger Ship Terminal, Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne.” Instead, it was used to escort guests and VIPs during Fleet Week and other events.

The commission’s audits were more than a decade behind schedule, but the inspector general found that Frank Nastasi, the director of audit and control, often kept his door closed, while running a private tax preparation business at work and accessing pornography on his office computer.

And former general counsel Jon Deutsch helped someone keep his port business despite a federal racketeering conviction for storing illegally diverted international goods in his port warehouse.

Since the inspector general began investigating the commission, former executive director Tomas De Maria resigned and Deutsch was fired for misconduct in October 2008.

Crickets on the Economy tho – it’s Town Hall Tuesday-
as we hang by a shred before
riot-in-the-streets kind of Economic meltdown…Which is where, IMO, the distress seen in the “Town Halls” is really coming from, and being exploited. The Incumbancy thought it would be cathartic for the proles somehow happy with the JOBLESS recovery. ( A certain corruption of the mind with the PTB there.)

Yet The PTB proceeds with their imperitive.
In their view – THEY MUST shred corporate and governmental liabilitiy for health care on to the populace in this ruse of “reform”.
It’s all done without taxing the rich, the middle class ass-ram will take care of that along with increased fees on everything from toll roads to ticket sales, condoms to wine coolers….

The Town Hall Producers aside, The Incumbancy is going to ram this through tho…they ARE going to do it, and wonder why the rhetoric of violence then becomes the reality…

Here’s the deal– I think there is going to be serious, serious trouble after this Summer Recess.
..But Really WHAT COULD THEY DO?
The Beholden Fucks.
WHAT WOULD THEY DO? So they Punted and RAN,
hoping the August venting of spleens will pass Left and Right….

Clue: The Anger and Hostility is REAL. And its primarily ECONOMIC.

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catnip - 11 August 2009: Target Of Obama-Era Rendition Alleges Torture

Scott Horton = commie

’nuff said!

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Scott Horton? LOL.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Horton Heard a Thumbscrew?

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: I can’t figure out if you guys are snarkin’.
I know who he is . Horton the Lawyer.
There’s two…unrelated. I find Horton of Harpers…and Columbia lodging
Not unlike other much vaunted Anti War Iviy Academics who once roamed that hallowed campus. Sayyys a lotta good shit…even on Scott Horton of AntiWar outlets..

buuut

Special Note to Senator Schumer:
You’ve been out there telling your constituents, who are generally steaming at you over your decision to make Michael Mukasey the Attorney General (and it was your personal decision), that they should take solace from the “facts” that David Addington and Alberto Gonzales opposed the Mukasey nomination. I think that is so. You are also busy telling people that you’re a “pragmatist.” We need pragmatists in politics, of course. Without them the system won’t work. Let’s just be sure that we don’t use political pragmatism to justify sending the Constitution to the shredder and institutionalizing a system of torture. There are some areas where being “pragmatic” is not an acceptable response—on that point, I’m solidly with Barry Goldwater and Bruce Fein. Show your constituents that you care about our national values. Push this probe as aggressively as possible. Don’t relent. Who knows, maybe your constituents will even forgive you for an excruciatingly bad judgment call. After all, I made the same mistake.

Jesus Christ. Send him a candygram.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Like MB, I’ve felt Horton has been at a few too many hot nexus.
Just IMO.

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11. catnip - 11 August 2009: Massive lineups in Atlanta for mortgage refinancing

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12. marisacat - 11 August 2009: HA! Rush and Hannity are playing the “He winked at me!” bullshit over and over and over… manna from heaven.

President Obama today suggested that the health care reform legislation for which he’s pushing has been endorsed by the American Association of Retired Person.

“We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors,” the president said.

At another point he said: “Well, first of all, another myth that we’ve been hearing about is this notion that somehow we’re going to be cutting your Medicare benefits. We are not. AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare, okay?”

The problem?

The AARP hasn’t endorsed any plan yet.

The country’s largest advocacy group for Americans over 50 issued a statement after the event saying, “While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”

…..

Perhaps the most provocative question came from a woman who brought up concerns about medical panels that would “guide care” according to the administration, the same panels that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin called Obama’s “death panels” which, she speculated, would determine who gets care and who doesn’t.

But halfway through her question, the woman, obviously flummoxed, paused. The president said something to the effect of “you’re doing fine.”

Then the woman turned to the crowd and said coyly, “He winked at me.”

And that was from one of the only “skeptics” in the room.

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13. ms_xeno - 11 August 2009: Locally, a homeless guy wandered into somebody’s house and went to sleep on their couch. While he was asleep, somebody in the house went to a bar and told another member of the household about the homeless guy. Said informed home resident returned home and shot the intruder to death as he slept.

For which he’ll serve about two years. The fallout on LJ was epic. Anyone who wants to read it– just say the word.

God, I love living in Progressive Mecca. [rolleyes]

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: God, I love living in Progressive Mecca. [rolleyes]

oh puhleeze ms x.. I out mecca you here in overcast, fog swept Liberal Land..

Anyone who wants to read it– just say the word.

Yes! Please post the link…

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ms_xeno - 11 August 2009: I especially like how one of the first goombahs to weigh in on the right to shoot sleeping intruders dead is a frequent fetus-worshipper over there. Honestly, you can’t make shit this good up.

See?

Plus, it’s raining here again. Could life get any better?

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: Hurricane Felicia shows up? Earthquake? Pestilence?

Things can always get better!!

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ms_xeno - 11 August 2009: Well, the rain makes me happy. I wouldn’t mind working in that former roasting pit of a warehouse I was stuck in for two weeks last month– now that it’s cooled down again. Too bad they never called me back.

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14. marisacat - 11 August 2009: Ugh.. someone just shot a toll taker here on one of the bridges, between Richmond (East Bay) and San Rafael (Marin).

Speaking of spirals fo violence.

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: the toll taker died. But you know with a description of the vehicle … if the cops can’t get this shooter, then something is wrong.

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15. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Silence Is Betrayal

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16. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Obamageddon

An American president is launching the most ambitious, the most expensive, and certainly the most dangerous military campaign since the Vietnam War – and the antiwar movement, such as it is, is missing in action. After a long and bloody campaign in Iraq and the election of a U.S. president pledged to get us out, our government is once again revving up its war machine and taking aim at yet another “terrorist” stronghold, this time in Afghanistan. Yet the antiwar movement’s motor seems stuck in the wrong gear, making no motions toward mounting anything like an effective protest. What gives?

We shouldn’t doubt the scope of the present war effort. Make no mistake: the Obama administration is radically ramping up the stakes in the “war on terrorism,” which, though renamed, has not been revised downward, as the Washington Post reports:

“As the Obama administration expands U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, military experts are warning that the United States is taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that will probably eclipse that of the Iraq war.”

There are always “warnings” in the beginning, aren’t there? For some reason, however, they are never heeded. Instead, we just barrel ahead, undaunted, into the tall grass where ambush awaits us. War opponents predicted the Iraq invasion would prove unsustainable – and we were right. We said that, far from greeting us with cheers and showers of roses, the Iraqis would soon be shooting at us and demanding our ouster – and we were right. We said the rationale for war was based on a series of carefully manufactured and marketed lies – and that was the truth, now wasn’t it? Yet it seems we are caught in an endlessly repetitive nightmare, where the same prophetic voices are being drowned out by a chorus of “responsible” voices – to be followed by an all-too-familiar disaster.

The problem, however, is that the scale of these disasters seems to be increasing exponentially. As Gerald Celente, one of the few economic forecasters who predicted the ‘08 crash, put it the other day, “Governments seem to be emboldened by their failures.” What the late Gen. William E. Odom trenchantly described as “the worst strategic disaster in American military history” – the invasion of Iraq – is being followed up by a far larger military operation, one that will burden us for many years to come. This certainly seems like evidence in support of the Celente thesis, and the man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the fall of the Soviet Union, the dot-com bust, the gold bull market, the 2001 recession, the real estate bubble, the “Panic of ‘08,” and now is talking about the inevitable popping of the “bailout bubble,” has more bad news:

“Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war.”

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marisacat - 11 August 2009: As Gerald Celente, one of the few economic forecasters who predicted the ‘08 crash, put it the other day, “Governments seem to be emboldened by their failures.”

So on point.

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17. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Rape Victims Charged Up to $1,200 for Rape Kits

When a woman is raped, police turn to scientific evidence-semen, blood and tissue samples-to identify her attacker. The evidence is collected through a medical exam of the victim, who is not supposed to pay for this crime-solving process.

But 15 years after Congress passed a law to ensure that rape victims would never see a bill, loopholes and bureaucratic tangles still leave some victims paying for hospital expenses and exams, which can cost up to $1,200.

Congress requires state or local authorities to cover these costs, but the state legislatures that regulate the process offer piecemeal guarantees of Congress’ mandate, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund and ProPublica found. Some states allow hospitals to bill the victim’s insurer. Confusion in California and other states allows police to occasionally ignore Congress’ rules and require victims to cooperate with an investigation before exam costs are covered. Lax enforcement of the law, victims’ advocates say, also means some hospitals in Illinois bill victims directly.

Congress created the Violence Against Women Act to protect victims and encourage them to report rapes. The law known as VAWA has forced many states to crack down on billing problems.

But ambiguities in the law still allow a remarkable disparity in the legal system: Some rape victims, unlike victims of other crimes, have to pay for basic evidence collection.

“We never ask a robbery victim to pay for the cost of fingerprints,” said Sarah Tofte, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, which has been tracking how states comply with VAWA.

As a victim recovers from her assault, the last thing she needs is a bill for her exam, said Katherine Hull, a spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

After all, she said, “Rape is not something you can budget for”.

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18. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Single-Payer & Interlocking Directorates

How often are employees allowed to work on projects that might put some of the people they work for out of business? That’s the conflict of interest that journalists reporting on the healthcare reform debate are often put in by the boards of media corporations they work for, which frequently include representatives of the insurance industry.

While a recent New York Times/CBS poll (6/20/09) has found yet again that the majority of Americans believe the government would both provide better coverage and keep costs lower than private insurance companies, a single-payer plan as an option for healthcare reform continues to be underrepresented in the media (Extra!, 6/09). A single-payer plan would allow the delivery of healthcare to remain private, but the government would pay for it out of a single federal health insurance fund. Like Medicare or Canada’s healthcare program, it would cut out the middleman by bypassing private health insurance companies. But such companies are well-represented on the boards of directors of media conglomerates—a factor that may help explain the blackout of such a popular possibility for reform.

When a director from one company sits on the board of directors of another company, that’s known as an interlocking directorate. For example, directors of the New York Times Co. also sit on the boards of several other large companies, including Chevron, Verizon and Ticketmaster. These directors are expected to act in the best interest of each company they direct; when one of the corporations in question is a media company, this can pose a conflict. Would someone who sits on a media company’s board object to coverage that damages another company that board member directs? Extra! has pointed out this conflict in the past (e.g., 9–10/01), noting that “even if these board members do not attempt to influence coverage of their businesses, their presence likely suffices to make media executives think twice about covering certain stories.”

A recent FAIR study of nine major media corporations and their major outlets, Disney (ABC), General Electric (NBC), CBS, Time Warner (CNN, Time), News Corporation (Fox), New York Times Co., Washington Post Co. (Newsweek), Tribune Co. (Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times) and Gannett (USA Today) found connections to six different insurance companies. Five out of the nine media corporations studied shared a director with an insurance company; two insurance companies—Chubb and Berkshire Hathaway—were represented by more than one media corporation director.

The study also found crossover between these media corporations and several large pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis, whose profits would also likely be negatively impacted by a single-payer system. Out of the nine media corporations studied, six had directors who also represented the interests of at least one pharmaceutical company. In fact, save for CBS, every media corporation had board connections to either an insurance or pharmaceutical company.

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19. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Addicted to War: America’s Brutal Pipe Dream in Afghanistan

Looks like the “Good War” in Afghanistan is morphing even more directly into the “Drug War” that the U.S. government has been waging all over the world — and especially against its own people — for almost 40 years now, with all the attendant aggrandizement of authoritarian powers and degradation of civil liberties and human rights.

As The Times reports, and Pentagon brass confirmed, the “continuity government” of the Obama Administration has drawn up yet another “hit list” of people to be arbitrarily assassinated: 50 “drug lords” allegedly associated with the Taliban. No doubt the many drug lords associated with the American-installed Afghan government — and those cooperating directly with the Western occupation — are exempt from this dirty laundry list.

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ms_xeno - 11 August 2009: Well, all along what the Pwoggies wanted was their vewy own Wonnie Weagan, and now they’ve got him.

Stay the course, Pwoggies. Stay the course. [snerk]

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Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: change, for a mo’ betta war!!

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20. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Is everyone sitting down?

Santorum dips toes in 2012 Iowa waters

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21. lucid - 11 August 2009: Catnip & BHHM – I didn’t get the chocolate fountain invite email… last I knew I hadn’t been banned yet. They still always invite me to the nyc meetups though. They were really pumping the one with Miss Laura. That’s exactly what I need, I night getting drunk with Miss Laura. I think I’d rather have a vulture pluck out my liver.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: let her get the upper hand, and you will.

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catnip - 11 August 2009: I should dial into that conference call. Commie from Canada on the line..

I hear Miss Laura eats vultures for breakfast…

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22. Madman in the Marketplace - 11 August 2009: Consumerism is ‘eating the future’

We’re a gloomy lot, with many of us insisting that there’s nothing we can do personally about global warming, or that the human race is over-running the planet like a plague.

But according to leading ecologists speaking this week in Albuquerque at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, few of us realise that the main cause of the current environmental crisis is human nature.

More specifically, all we’re doing is what all other creatures have ever done to survive, expanding into whatever territory is available and using up whatever resources are available, just like a bacterial culture growing in a Petri dish till all the nutrients are used up. What happens then, of course, is that the bugs then die in a sea of their own waste.

One speaker in Albuquerque, epidemiologist Warren Hern of the University of Colorado at Boulder, even likened the expansion of human cities to the growth and spread of cancer, predicting “death” of the Earth in about 2025. He points out that like the accelerated growth of a cancer, the human population has quadrupled in the past 100 years, and at this rate will reach a size in 2025 that leads to global collapse and catastrophe.

But there’s worse. Not only are we simply doing what all creatures do: we’re doing it better. In recent times we’re doing it even faster because of changes in society that encourage and celebrate conspicuous and excessive consumption.

“Biologists have shown that it’s a natural tendency of living creatures to fill up all available habitat and use up all available resources,” says William Rees of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. “That’s what underlies Darwinian evolution, and species that do it best are the ones that survive, but we do it better than any other species,” he told me prior to the conference.

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23. catnip - 11 August 2009: Perseid meteor shower tonite.

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24. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Camille Paglia in Salon

Aug. 12, 2009 | Buyer’s remorse? Not me. At the North American summit in Guadalajara this week, President Obama resumed the role he is best at — representing the U.S. with dignity and authority abroad. This is why I, for one, voted for Obama and continue to support him. The damage done to U.S. prestige by the feckless, buffoonish George W. Bush will take years to repair. Obama has barely begun the crucial mission that he was elected to do.

Having said that,…

“Having said that”, Camille of Diggin The Dignity And Authority Thing
then moans out OhhhhhhhhWhhhhaaaaWhaaaaaaWhhyyyyyyyyyy
for the rest of the essay…

Add Camille to the Punk’d pile…

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ms_xeno - 12 August 2009: Paglia and Obama. Truly a marriage made in Heaven. :p

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25. marisacat - 11 August 2009: Very sorry… 2 or three of Madman, one of BHHM AND one of catnip all out of Moderation.

I fell asleep around 7 pm… and neglected my guard post!

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26. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: It is to laugh..

Frank DiPascali Madoff Goon Plead Guilty today and is facing
125.

And the Judge overuled BOTH the Defense (Mukasey’s SON)
AND Ob’s DOJ who were arguing he remain free on Bail. So into the slammer or Protective Custody he goes until sentencing next May. And like, prolly, For EVAH.

Guy had a 2-1/2 million dollar bond – chump change- given the Billions floating around that supposedly went Poof!
The Judge is no dummy . He wasn’t going to take the rap for the guy fleeing……or worse.

***Ostensibly, Now it’s Ob’s job and Holders to see he lives long enough “to sing”. But I think they all just want to get his Hot Potato Ass in Jail and carry on. I doubt there going to be pushing him too hard or that it will go beyond Madoff Family members, certainly not to anybody with Big Time Juice.. I think they’ll nail the Boys and Madoff’s Brother, the niece… but no further..Given the kind of people in New York , the “victims” who were IN…EARLY …… or took a slice later to keep it going. .

Indeed, he detailed for the first time how he and unidentified others …..

{Snip}
::
Mr. DiPascali, who had been one of Mr. Madoff’s closest aides for decades, also said he would “dedicate all my energy to trying to explain to others how this happened” as a cooperating witness for federal prosecutors who are still investigating Mr. Madoff’s vast crime, which left his clients bereft of almost $65 billion they thought was in their accounts.

“Bereft”
– I’m bereft of a Fuckin Break here.

Mr. DiPascali is facing up to 125 years in prison; his former boss was sentenced in June to 150 years. “The defendant has ample incentive to flee,” the judge said, adding that the bail arrangements amounted to little more than “an honor system.”

Marc L. Mukasey, defending Mr. DiPascali, repeatedly assured the judge that Mr. DiPascali knew his only hope for leniency was to cooperate. Indeed, Mr. Mukasey said, he has already earned the trust of prosecutors and investigators. Moreover, he said, Mr. DiPascali is part of a close and loving family, some of whom would incur significant losses if he were to flee before sentencing.

Marc O. Litt, the federal prosecutor, also urged the judge to accept the bail arrangement, explaining that Mr. DiPascali could be an extremely important guide through the labyrinthine records of the Madoff operations.

LOL….EVERYBODY is running from the Stench. They just want to get this guy in Jail, tuck this case a way after bagging the Madoff family, leaving much of the loot in the inexplicable ether..
Most importanly- leaving the secretive banking hiding Fraud, Political skimming and tax evasion…still Secret.

While he said he would consider a revised bail arrangement in the future, he ordered Mr. DiPascali to be jailed immediately. The former Madoff aide was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, leaving behind a huddle of lawyers looking for a way to preserve his freedom to assist the investigation.

What to do? LOL. GMAFB- RUN!
I wonder if DiPasquali realizes that neither his Lawyer, the US Attorney’s Office in New York or the Judge are particularly interested in what he has to say. Whether he knows it or not, he is spending the first night of the rest of his life in JAIL.

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BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: Sorry. The DiPascali story is via the NYT

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27. BooHooHooMan - 11 August 2009: LOL. Mens Rea Tarded.

Mr. Mukasey, his lawyer, said that while Mr. DiPascali was “1,000 percent guilty,” he had believed — before the Ponzi scheme crumpled — that Mr. Madoff could somehow repay his clients.

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28. Violence « Marisacat - 11 August 2009: [...] BHHM in the last thread: Here’s the deal– I think there is going to be serious, serious trouble after this Summer [...]

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29. marisacat - 11 August 2009: new post..

LINK

……………. ………………..

I apologise for how long this thread went… anyone wants a comment near the end moved to the new thread, let me know. Easy for me to do from the comments back pages…

where.is.the.cat@gmail.com

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Marisacat