Sure! Drill baby drill! New technologies! Safer! Cleaner! Even in environmentally sensitive areas! Except for...... Alaska oil spill now up to 100 gallons Just last week, BP said the release involved an estimated 3 gallons of oil By Associated Press BP now estimates as much as 100 gallons of crude oil may have spilled in an area around a well house where a pipe broke in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, Alaska officials said Tuesday. BP's initial estimate was 3 gallons of oil. The spill, discovered Dec. 21, came from a 6-inch line carrying a mixture of crude oil, water and natural gas, said spokesman Weld Royal of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. As of Tuesday, BP's updated estimate is that 300 to 700 gallons of liquid spilled, with as much as 100 gallons of that being crude oil. Last week, BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the release involved an estimated 3 gallons of oil and 131 gallons of water. Environmental Conservation officials acknowledge it's difficult ...
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>What's truly stunning to me is that the ultra-conservative contingent of the republican party has endorsed Perry. The guy that made a huge show of declining bailout money but showed up at the back door with an application for funds when no one was looking. Perry's Secret Jerusalem Trip Raises Questions Reporting Bennett Cunningham The city of Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has a new defender: Texas Governor Rick Perry. In August, Perry was given the "Defender of Jerusalem" award. So Perry and his wife flew first class to Israel at more than $5,000 per ticket. The governor's security detail of four Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers was also along for the trip. They all took the 7,000 mile journey to accept the award at a time when the governor was asking everyone else in state government to cut back on travel. During a speech in Houston , Perry directed state agencies to "curtail taxpayer funded trave...
LIEBERMAN THE LYING WANKER from Chattahbox.com Lieberman’s 60th vote is needed to get the Senate bill to the floor and overcome a Republican filibuster. And once again, he is abandoning the Democratic Party when he is most needed. Despite his campaigning for Sen. McCain during the presidential election and speaking out in opposition to candidate Barack Obama during the RNC, Majority Leader Harry Reid still welcomed Lieberman back into the fold and allowed him to retain his committee assignments. During Lieberman’s 2006 Senate run as an Independent, after losing the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, Lieberman campaigned heavily for single payer, universal health insurance for all: “What I’m saying to the people of Connecticut, I can do more for you and your families to get something done to make health care affordable, to get universal health insurance,” Lieberman said during a July, 2006, debate. Lieberman also supported a proposal called, “MediChoice,” which would “allow anybody ...
JOE LIEBERMAN SUCKS Howard Kurtz (WAPO) writes: This from a senator who, as much as anyone, helped run up the national debt since 9/11 by pushing to raise the military budget to its highest level since World War II. It is a budget inflated by enormous expenditures on high-tech weaponry irrelevant to combating terror, such as the $2-billion-a-piece submarines -- produced in his home state of Connecticut -- that he claimed were needed to combat al-Qaida, a landlocked enemy holed up in caves. Lieberman is worried about the impact of a very limited public option on the debt the same week as he and others in Congress passed a $680-billion defense bill larded with pork of the sort the Connecticut senator has always supported. . . . Maybe he can also take some time then to justify his strong support for the government bailout of troubled banking and insurance companies that has tripled the federal deficit this year to $1.4 trillion. Is AIG not now a 'government-run insurance company,...
Good People Musings I know a lot of good people. I mean, a lot of really good, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, dear people. This is not about them. This is about a couple of people that I heard today that were such a resoundingly refreshing gust of crisp, cool and wonderful air that I feel the need to share. Alan Grayson You probably know him as the guy that said the republican health care plan is if you get sick, die quickly. Today I heard him in a committee meeting when he requested the opportunity to ask questions of Broun (Republican Rep from Georgia, I think) who has initiated legislation which, again, attempts to pull all funding from ACORN. He coolly asks if Broun knows what bills of attainer are. This is something specifically called out as unconstitutional as it attempts to spearhead legislation towards a particular entity in an effort to punish. Essentially, it is a way to bypass the judicial branch and the legal system. Grayson is repeatedly asked to relinquish his time to...
The Evil Public Option (from the funpie weblog) In the town where I grew up, there were a couple of mom and pop bookstores, one called Borders, and one called Barnes & Noble. These small businesses, the backbone of our economy, provided a wide array of reading material, music and games, along with coffee and scones. Each also provided a type of membership card. The one from Borders was free, and entitled holders to additional discounts on books and free desserts on their birthdays. The one from Barnes & Noble cost $25 and entitled holder to save at least $25 over the course of purchasing something like another $1000 worth of books. Both were a great deal, and these little mom and pop stores provided each other with a healthy competition in the spirit of the American Dream. Then one day, a “public option” was forced upon my little town. This government-run public option – some called it a “library,” I called it a nazi-loving beauracratic nightmare – had the audacity to sw...
Quick Musings As anyone can tell you, I believe in close and firm monitoring of those entities involved in the financial system. Clear and present reform as well. But it appears that our tendency is to focus on the label rather than the content. There are swirlings of outrage regarding Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs was a huge company. Thousands of people worked for that entity. Thousands. Was each and every single person involved in that company tainted, a money grabber that threw our country into economic ruin? Was each and every employee at Enron corrupt? Judging by the outrage, the crying, the blank, bewildered looks by those carrying their belongings from the building in cardboard boxes the answer would have to be no. It is our way to sweepingly swipe at an entire entity - Iran (all of Iran), California, Wall Street, Conservatives, Liberals - and cast all out. Baby. Bath water. Let's show a little insight, a little maturity, and little bit of wisdom. Healthcare You can say socia...
Beyond the Fringe Right Reaction Here is a round-up of world reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Obama as reported by news agencies . UN SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON We are entering an era of renewed multilateralism, a new era where the challenges facing humankind demand global common cause and uncommon global effort. President Obama embodies the new spirit of dialogue and engagement on the world's biggest problems: climate change, nuclear disarmament and a wide range of peace and security challenges. FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY It confirms, finally, America's return to the hearts of the people of the world... you can count on my resolute support and that of France. ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR In a short time he has established a new tone, creating a willingness for dialogue and I think we all should support him to make peace in this world possible. There is a lot do but a window of opportunity has been o...
Yeah, yeah, SNL is funny. I find it amusing that the far right only finds the humor when they are scoring on Obama but whatev. Here's a quick list of what Obama did in his first 100 days. But let's not forget, the mess that was left for him will take years to clean up. Expecting a new guy to come in and completely clean up all the graft, the sleeze, all the infiltration of outside influences, within a year is naive. It took well over 8 years to get to this point, it will take time to clean it up. 1. Health Care : The Obama White House cleared an important hurdle in the health care reform debate when it appropriated $19 billion in the stimulus package to help implement an electronic medical record system. The money is paltry compared to the hundreds of billions set aside for an overhaul of the health care system in the budget. But officials inside and out of the White House say its significance is hard to overstate. "We need to have health IT so we have a better idea both o...
Tonight I had the example of what is wrong with my country, what I see as the flagrant cruelty inherent in the current system. There is a company, a Texas company, that is extremely profitable and doing a booming business. This company has a strict code of conduct, policies and procedures by which an employee must abide. An employee, for example, must come to work sick. If that employee is too sick to come to work, he/she will not be allowed to return to work without a doctor's note. Regardless of severity, regardless of cause, this employee who might be suffering from a cold, experiencing a stomach virus, etc. must go to a doctor. This from a company does not provide any health insurance to its employees. That's right. Not only does this employee that is earning just above poverty wages lose a day's pay, the employee has to pay top dollar, in the vicinity of $100, for a doctor's visit as well as any medication that might be prescribed. This is what's wrong about ou...
All this Tea Party and shouting about Healthcare Reform has no credibility to me. Why? Because supposedly it's about big government spending, spending money we don't have, adding to a deficit that our children's children will have to pay. But I didn't see one of these guys out during the bush years when we were thrown into horrendous debt with an unjustified war. Why has this become the issue du jour NOW? Why after 8 years of unprecedented spending, infringement on our civil liberties and flagrant disregard for law is this particular issue suddenly worth freakin' out about? But to Healthcare. This is what I want to know. Why do we have health insurance? Why are we hanging onto this industry that exists to take money from people, take a cut and then disperse the remainder to those that actually do the work? Health insurance is a middle man. It provides no service. It obviously does not attempt to negotiate some stellar deal for its consumers. It instead, takes money ...
If you haven't read the Rolling Stone article "Sick and Wrong" by Matt Taibbi, you need to stop reading this and go read that. It is a seven page gut wrencher. I want to believe that it being a slow news period that every single smidge of news is exaggerated and blown into a weird distortion all for ratings. I want to believe that Obama is playing the cool card. The no drama, unruffle-able, calm leader of the free world. I want to believe that the democrats will break from history and unite with purpose and strength with one objective - to get this done. And to get it done properly. But every single word in that article rang true to me. Every penny in the coffer of the representatives and senators from the entities fighting reform was a nail in the coffin of its demise. I believe we will not only get squat, I believe we will see the destruction of a brilliant opportunity squandered. Squandered and sullied. No other president has been given this kind of an opportunity. The...
"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace: business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering," President Franklin Roosevelt told an audience in Madison Square Garden in 1936. "They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me and I welcome their hatred." As he told his audience in 1936, "It is an old strategy of tyrants to delude their victims into fighting their battles for them."
The republicans are not even the least bit interested in bipartisanship. I understand Obama's need to have consensus but that is a dream that will not come true. At this time in history, this is all about not allowing the democrats to have success. I don't believe that it is all an astroturf effort. I have listened to rush et al and the craziness in is in full effect. What my hope is that they get so extreme that even their most ardent supporters start to scratch their heads and wrinkle their collective brows. But what is more likely to happen is an extremist attack against the administration. The democrats need to ensure that all needs are met and to push this through. We need reform and once it is in place those gripped by the fear of socialism, death panels, forced circumcision, etc. will realize that the those stirring the pot had no basis for their fear mongering. Some might continue to support them but I believe the majority will feel betrayed and not just a bit silly...
I hold my nose and read a godawful blog in the Houston Chronicle occassionally which I will not reference here as I do not want to promote this kind of crazy. But I did read a good comment that I thought was worth posting as it is concise and factual. "Nazism is fascism, by the way, which is far right. Socialism is an economic system, not a form of government. Socialism provides greater individual freedom, not less. Totalitarianism is not socialism. Fascism is not socialism. Big government is not socialism. Our present oligarchy is not socialism. Conservatives aren't freedom loving. Conservatives by definition, don't want change. That is why all government is conservative--the role of government is to protect--you can't protect what hasn't come yet. That is why all politicians are conservative: you can't win voters who don't exist yet. That is why popular movements bring the real changes in society, and laws, governments and other institutions catch up late...
I am a huge, huge Whale Wars/Sea Shepherd supporter. My husband and I dVR it and watch, spellbound. It's funny. I have changed a lot of practices, habits in my life based on my love for the dependents in this world. I am moved to tears AND to action by the blatant cruelty we inflict on those that cannot fight back. I have seen endless, countless videos of the most horrific examples of the daily torture we inflict on animals and on children. I have seen it all. Literally. And I am also extremely aware of what happens when hunters hunt and kill their prey. I know. I have seen it. But last night was still horrifying. The part that caught me and threw me around, emotionally, was seeing this glorious animal fighting for TWENTY FIVE MINUTES while the harpoon was still in his head, having been shot six or seven times, he fought with all his might. The blast of water from his blowhole was what made it unbearable. Knowing that this animal took 25 MINUTES to slowly choke and drown on its own...
Why the shouting? I think I know the answer, in fact I know that I know. But I wrestle with this. I understand the anger. I understand that feeling of not being heard, of the country that you love and live in careening recklessly, out of control towards impending doom. I felt that way. I empathize, deeply, I honestly do. I remember the despair and outrage at being called a terrorist, unpatriotic (whatever that really is), an aider and abettor, a conspiracy theorist. I get that. I also understand how in all that darkness and disillusionment that spark of someone else, someone out there that heard me and felt as I did. How that voice speaking is like a life line, a buoy in a raging sea. I get that. But never did I think it was a good idea to go and shout at someone trying to explain something. Regardless of their point of view. Sure, I got angry with friends and family that kept on and on about how wrong I was. I was incensed. I couldn't understand how they didn't SEE it. No mat...
Obama wants to kill your grandma Five right-wing myths about healthcare reform, and the facts By Mike Madden Turning America socialist apparently wasn't enough for him -- now President Obama is trying to make old people kill themselves, callously deny important medical procedures, funnel tax dollars to abortion clinics and wiggle the government's way into every doctor's office in America. At least, that's the sense you might have about the healthcare reform proposals Congress is considering from listening to opponents describe them. Already, conservative activists have erupted against the plan, with protesters hanging Democratic lawmakers in effigy and disrupting town hall meetings . As both the House and the Senate clear out of the Capitol for the month, expect the viral buzz -- and the TV battle -- about what's in the bills to grow louder and louder. The White House finally seems to have realized that the administration can't win the policy debate without a...
Josh will be gone mid-August. Gone to UT. He graduates on June 6th and then we are mere months from his departure. It's crazy. The images I have of that kid, the memories are fantastic. From the nights when I would have to lay in the crib to comfort him back to sleep when he was just a tiny guy to his crazy climbs to the top of just about anything from the age of 18 months to the look on his face when he got an Iphone to My God! There are too many strong, vivid colorful memories of a boy that was so ill fitting to this world - that felt out of step, felt inferior, and odd in comparison to his peers to a confident, funny, bold beauty. His easy going demeanor veils a driven, ambitious motivated kid that has found what he loves to do. At 17! What a gift. I adore him. I adore his humor. His empathy. His out of nowhere flash of kindness. I love who he has become. I love that others have found him and have brought him around to the realization that he has a lot to offer. He is braver so...
Are you fucking kidding me? The rightwing has gone off the deep end. Biden and Obama go out for a burger which I think is beyond belief that this is considered news. Regardless, they are in an absolute frenzy with Obama NOT having ketchup and having the audacity to request a spicy mustard which transforms into an elitist request for Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. Are you getting this? This is all they got? I am continually stunned by what people will allow into their brains via their ears. I can only imagine what kind of national crisis it would cause if he requested a veggie burger. God forbid. I know. I know. I shouldn't even listen. When Rush is talking about the purity of the party damning the moderates, I have to say, it's like all my dreams coming true. Here they are literally opening the exit door and tossing people out because they aren't conservative enough. They don't even get that the democrats won because they were seen as the party of inclusion. Instead of ...
Believe Me, It’s Torture What more can be added to the debate over U.S. interrogation methods, and whether waterboarding is torture? Try firsthand experience. The author undergoes the controversial drowning technique, at the hands of men who once trained American soldiers to resist—not inflict—it. by Christopher Hitchens August 2008 Here is the most chilling way I can find of stating the matter. Until recently, “waterboarding” was something that Americans did to other Americans. It was inflicted, and endured, by those members of the Special Forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that they might expect to meet at the hands of a lawless foe who disregarded the Geneva Conventions. But it was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict. Exploring this narrow but deep distinction, on a gorgeous day last May I fou...