Republican opponents of the new health reform overhaul legislation must be dancing in the streets now as a new government report suggests what they have argued all along -- that health care costs will increase with seniors on Medicare taking the biggest hit. A so-called panel of impartial economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the billions of … [Read more...] about U.S. Health Agency Predicts Higher Costs Than Obama Promised
While Wall Street Crashed The Economy, Some SEC Staff Watched Porn
While Wall Street financial manipulators concocted exotic deals to sink the economy, some of the top regulators and contractors regulating their activities at the Security Exchange Commission were watching pornography on government computers. An internal memo written by SEC Inspector General David Kotz said 33 commission regulators downloaded the sexually explicit images on … [Read more...] about While Wall Street Crashed The Economy, Some SEC Staff Watched Porn
Looking Back at the Elian Gonzalez Debacle
It's hard to believe it was a decade ago. But it actually is the tenth anniversary of the day that heavily armed INS agents extricated Elian, then six years old, from the fanatically anti-Castro exile community that had made him a symbol of their cause, and returned him to his father in Cuba -- where, as Tim Padgett writes in this very interesting retrospective, he should have … [Read more...] about Looking Back at the Elian Gonzalez Debacle
Democrat “Outs” Another Democrat For Being Straight
If you've been looking for further proof that American politics is going thoroughly bonkers as partisans claw for increasingly personal labels to hurl at and discredit foes or those who don't agree -- it's a lot easier doing that than debating someone on such piffle as actual policies and offering alternative solutions -- then look no further than Pennsylvania where one … [Read more...] about Democrat “Outs” Another Democrat For Being Straight
Tea Party Headache
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Tea Party Headache
The Adoption of a Child is ‘Not an eBay Purchase!’: Interfax, Russia
Who is responsible for monitoring children after they are adopted by parents in another country? That's the question at the heart of a controversy over a Russian child adopted by American parents. The seven year old, Artem Saveliev, was 'rejected' by his adoptive mother, and sent back to Russia alone on a long-haul air flight from Tennessee to Moscow. This article from Russia's … [Read more...] about The Adoption of a Child is ‘Not an eBay Purchase!’: Interfax, Russia
Make Mine a National Day of Religious Freedom, Please
The decision handed down last week by the U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, in which Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer is an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause, is a perfect example of the kind of judicial restraint and fealty to the text of the Constitution that the Republican Party claims to hold so dear. Which, of course, … [Read more...] about Make Mine a National Day of Religious Freedom, Please
Earth Day: Photography Studio for Our Mother
TECH BLESS: If you were a raptor and flew over the earth, you would see with your specialized eyes-- many of the same amazements gigantic glass eyes of satellites see, they who fly on wings of steel. Sometimes humans are weak-- but their technology is strong. Bless the tech that truly blesses us back. dr.cpe. See here, to view the many aerial views of your Mother … [Read more...] about Earth Day: Photography Studio for Our Mother
The Dangerous Combination of Populism and Economics
Financial reform is the new focus of the Obama White House and Democrats in Congress. Coming on the heels of a grueling and politically costly fight over health care reform, Democrats can be forgiven for seeking once again to be seen as champions of the apocryphal "little guy" who is the unquestionable saint of American political discourse. Republicans got to ride that pony … [Read more...] about The Dangerous Combination of Populism and Economics
Dan Coats Is Having Problems In Indiana
STOP THE PRESSES AND GO TO EDIT ON YOUR BLOGS! Dan Coats isn't as much of a shoo-in for the GOP Senate nomination as many thought. He now has big problems -- big problems with conservatives. … [Read more...] about Dan Coats Is Having Problems In Indiana
They Say “Clothes Makes the Man”
And Brian Bilbray believes clothes make the illegal immigrant. … [Read more...] about They Say “Clothes Makes the Man”
Shootout At The OK Corral – Records Discovered
All right, I’ll admit it. This isn’t going to end nuclear proliferation or result in a two state solution in the Middle East. But the original records from the Coroner’s Inquest into the shootout at the OK Corral have been found. Two Cochise County clerks, Bonnie Cook and Michelle Garcia, were assigned to clean out a storage closet of archived county records. Stuffed in a … [Read more...] about Shootout At The OK Corral – Records Discovered
From iPad to iWorthless
A few months back, Apple’s co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs introduced the world to a strange device with a silly name. With the unveiling of the iPad, many critics around the world immediately, and somewhat gleefully, proclaimed Apple had finally made a technological blunder. These critics surmised the iPad was flawed because the name was more suitable for a feminine hygiene … [Read more...] about From iPad to iWorthless
Is Lindsey Graham Being Slimed?
Is Republican Senator Lindsey Graham being "slimed?" The newsweekly The Week raises this issue and offers a solid roundup. But it's subhead really capsualizes what is occuring: A conservative activist says the moderate GOP senator is a closeted gay who's being blackmailed into supporting immigration reform. Is Graham being slimed? The fact that the activist is using this … [Read more...] about Is Lindsey Graham Being Slimed?
The Basic Problem With Obamanomics Made Clear — Again
Two headlines on today's CNN website make perfectly clear what's been wrong with Obama and his team's economic policies from the start, and why though there's been some improvement in this realm of late, the basic flaw in these policies has not been fixed. The first headline read: "Obama Won't Trash Wall Street;" the second headline read: "Wall Street To Abandon … [Read more...] about The Basic Problem With Obamanomics Made Clear — Again
Suggested Chicken Mood Music for Sue Lowden’s Barter Idea and Political Campaign
As Jerry Remmers has noted HERE and as I also noted in our popular Around the Sphere linkfest, Nevada Republican senatorial candidate Sue Lowden wants to lower health care costs by adopting a barter economy to pay doctors. She gave a chicken as an example of something that has been given to doctors in past. It is true that some Americans do, indeed, tinker with the barter … [Read more...] about Suggested Chicken Mood Music for Sue Lowden’s Barter Idea and Political Campaign
Cola Wars and the Campaign to Sell Wall Street Status Quo (Guest Voice)
Cola Wars and the Campaign to Sell Wall Street Status Quo by Tina Dupuy In the past hundred years Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola have spent billions in advertising and employed millions of people to get you to think this caffeinated bubbly sugar water is different/better/worse than that caffeinated bubbly sugar water. People are fiercely loyal and opinionated on the subject. All … [Read more...] about Cola Wars and the Campaign to Sell Wall Street Status Quo (Guest Voice)
Mud Slings, Clock Ticks For Arizona Governor Signing Anti-Immigrant Law
This is disgusting. Isn't there a grown-up in the house? As the five-day time clock ticks down to zero for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to sign or veto the state Legislature's anti-illegal immigrant law, the bill's author and the cardinal of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Diocese are engaging in a mud-slinging contest. On Monday. Cardinal Roger Mahoney described the bill in … [Read more...] about Mud Slings, Clock Ticks For Arizona Governor Signing Anti-Immigrant Law
Pravda, McCain, Obama, Egypt and Arizona: What is the Connection?
According to the Associated Press, the Arizona House on Wednesday approved a bill that would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president. Of course, one of those constitutional requirements is that the candidate must be a natural born citizen, i.e. born … [Read more...] about Pravda, McCain, Obama, Egypt and Arizona: What is the Connection?
Amazon and the sin of profit
Although one would generally describe The New Yorker as a progressive publication, it seems to slip into a reactionary mindset when the interests of the literary establishment are on the line. In this week's issue, Ken Auletta takes a look at the Kindle, the iPad and the threat that e-books present to old school publishing houses. The article presents Amazon as the … [Read more...] about Amazon and the sin of profit