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Thursday, October 29
Health care discussion includes the public; Also, what is happening with Joe Lieberman?
by
margieburns
on Thu 29 Oct 2009 10:33 AM EDT
More signs of the
times on health care and ‘insurance’ Health care discussion moving to and from the public and related
phenomena; Also, what is happening with Joe Lieberman? From Obama’s netroots
Organizing for “We just finished going through the submissions to OFA's Health Reform Video Challenge, and they’re great. There are ... more » Wednesday, October 28
What is the 'centrist' number of claims denied?
by
margieburns
on Wed 28 Oct 2009 10:42 AM EDT
What is the 'centrist' number of claims denied?
--I love newspapers. I still love the newspapers in this country, even after the harm they have done to themselves--going deeply into debt to gobble up other papers, etc. I love to wade through (most of) the pages of a big daily. But as I have written before, we have a problem when the language of what should be reportage is in fact disguised political rhetoric. That word 'centrist' is a premier example. Reporters missing the real story in the health care debate--that we may have a chance to pull the ... more » Tuesday, October 27
Public option not dead, never was: Small business speaks up, Big business lobbyists make fools of themselves
by
margieburns
on Tue 27 Oct 2009 10:33 AM EDT
Public option not dead, never was: Small business speaks up,
Big business lobbyists make fools of themselves Memo to pundits, reporters, officeholders and candidates for
office who declared the public option “dead”*: Read the letters to the editor
in your local paper. N.b.: Reading them could cause some chagrin or could at least be a bit humbling. The letters often contain some pretty straight
reporting. Genuine health care reform, including a ... more » Monday, October 26
And more delights from the Tea Party-ers
by
margieburns
on Mon 26 Oct 2009 01:34 PM EDT
From those perpetual party hearty-iers on the GOP fringe--a phrase I have long resisted using, for a combination of reasons including dislike of tautology--comes new entertainment. Now, at long last: Tea Party the movie!
Here is the announcement from my first-names-buddies-type friend, former Texas Congressman and now full-time lobbyist Dick Armey, exactly as stated:
"Help FreedomWorks Promote Tea Party The Movie!
Dear Margie, We need your help to spread the word about the definitive tea party movie: TEA PARTY: The Documentary Film releases direct to DVD and via download from the Apple Appstore this Thanksgiving Day at www.TeaPartyMovie.com... more »
Statement from House Financial Services Committee in response to GOP accusation
by
margieburns
on Mon 26 Oct 2009 01:06 PM EDT
Here is the statement publicly released by the House Financial Services Committee Friday (Oct. 23):
Financial Services Committee Statement Responding to Republican Procedural Objections Washington, DC--Steve Adamske, Communications Director for the House Financial Services Committee, made the following statement in response to Ranking Member Spencer Bachus’ claim that Chairman Frank cut off debate on the bill to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency: “At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Chairman Frank announced he would move the previous question after more than 16 hours of debate over four days on the bill to create the Consumer Financial Protection ... more »
Blackwater asks federal government to protect it in Iraq
by
margieburns
on Mon 26 Oct 2009 12:51 PM EDT
Blackwater asks federal government to protect it in Iraq
This just in: An interesting article, today, from the National Law Journal: Blackwater, the unbridled security firm in Iraq, is asking for federal protection. Specifically, defense lawyers for Blackwater Worldwide, in Iraq to investigate and question in the course of their work for defendant-client Blackwater, are asking the government--i.e. the American taxpayer--for bodyguard/security detail while there. The Justice Department is resisting the request. So far. more »
“Just never eat till you’re full and never eat after six o’clock”
by
margieburns
on Mon 26 Oct 2009 10:42 AM EDT
“Just never eat till
you’re full and never eat after six o’clock” Yes, it is easy to lose weight—if your health is basically good, if you control your own schedule, and if you have the means and the opportunity to eat properly and to exercise sensibly. Meanwhile, below is another intriguing health-oriented recommendation that I received over the weekend from ... more » Sunday, October 25
Desperate protect-insurance-industry-at-all-costs fallback positions on the TV talk shows
by
margieburns
on Sun 25 Oct 2009 11:31 AM EDT
Desperate protect-insurance-industry-at-all-costs fallback positions on the TV talk shows
--They've got nothing. But they're still trying. Watching/skimming through the round of Sunday-morning talking heads this morning was in a sense reassuring. The corporate media have big progress in the past couple of weeks, arcing from pronouncing the public option 'dead' to calling it 'revived' (screen caption on ABC, This Week with George Stephanopoulos). Actually, it was never dead and did not need to be revived; that's not the story. The story is that the insurance industry and its cohorts in public office and in the media have been ... more » Friday, October 23
More problems at Northwest Airlines?
by
margieburns
on Fri 23 Oct 2009 10:35 AM EDT
This summer saw some problems at Northwest Airlines, as previously posted. Today CNN reports on some more problems: A plane nonresponsive to radio (NORDO) communications overflew 150 miles--past the Minneapolis airport where it was supposed to land--on Wednesday before returning to normal. Reported the pilots were not communicating for about an hour approaching Minneapolis. Another 16 minutes--the 150 miles in question--brought the return to routine.
Even more problematic is that investigators sound dubious about the explanation given by the crew, that crew members grew "distracted" by a heated discussion over airline policy; news reports suggest an alternative theory that ... more »
Ballot: Vote on whether to support Dems who oppose public option
by
margieburns
on Fri 23 Oct 2009 06:55 AM EDT
MoveOn is circulating an online ballot to cyber enrollees:
"The official question is: "Should MoveOn refuse to support the re-election of any senator who helps block an up-or-down vote on a health care reform bill with a public option?"" Now that the Senate Finance Committee has reported out a bill to the full Senate, to prevent health care reform legislation from reaching the floor, the GOP in the Senate needs Democrats to join in: "Republicans need at least one Democrat to join them. . . . It's pretty upsetting to think that a handful ... more » Monday, October 19
Desperate? prosecutors try to keep Blagojevich from making $ to pay lawyers
by
margieburns
on Mon 19 Oct 2009 01:41 PM EDT
Desperate? prosecutors try to keep Blagojevich from making money to pay defense lawyers--
They must be desperate. It's the only realistic hypothesis: In a transparent effort to prevent ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich from making money to pay for a legal defense, prosecutors at the Northern District of Illinois are scheduled to appear in federal court today to argue that Blagojevich should not be allowed to appear in a television reality show. There are some ironies in this ugly and unconstitutional spectacle. For one, the NDIL is the office of Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, and it was Fitzgerald ... more » Sunday, October 18
Why must U.S. taxpayers pay PR Newswire millions?
by
margieburns
on Sun 18 Oct 2009 02:23 PM EDT
Why must Why are taxpayers paying a
private, foreign ( Given that every federal agency has its own office of public affairs or the equivalent, it comes as something of a surprise to see that the job of putting out ... more » Saturday, October 17
Tattoos, misogyny, sabotage, lying, backbiting and backstabbing--It's time for Top Chef!
by
margieburns
on Sat 17 Oct 2009 04:53 PM EDT
Tattoos, misogyny, sabotage, lying, backbiting and backstabbing--It's time for Top Chef!
--Are lying, deceit and stupid over-aggression prerequisites for men to go on Top Chef, or does it just seem that way sometimes?
First, there's that little matter of distortion. Mattin, the young French chef, produced a 180-the-reverse-of-accuracy in the competition for several French judges, denying that he had shot down Ashley's suggestion to put the right vegetable in the veloute sauce. more »
Wednesday, October 14
Rising insurance premiums: They never go down
by
margieburns
on Wed 14 Oct 2009 10:41 AM EDT
Rising insurance premiums: They never go down
--Unlike some other financial phenomena--house prices, stock prices, precious metal prices, to name a few--in the ups and downs of market fluctuations and/or economic downturns, insurance premiums never go down. Never. Not in a period of that 'growth' touted by the GOP, the corporate media outlets, and the rightwing noise machine, and not in a recession so deep it threatens to rival the Great Depression. During 'up' times, premiums rise because enough employers and individuals can pay for them to sustain demand, the argument goes; during 'down' times, premiums rise because the insurance ... more » Tuesday, October 13
Update: Former insurance company exec says industry 'report' is bogus
by
margieburns
on Tue 13 Oct 2009 11:29 AM EDT
To its everlasting credit CNN reports today that former insurance executive Wendell Potter is on record as saying that the just-issued insurance carrier 'report' on rising insurance premiums--i.e. threatening to raise rates if reform passes--is false.
A partial transcript of the interview with Potter is linked here. CNN's earlier piece about the 'report' is here. It's a break for the public that at least some actual reporting is being done now that the insurance industry is coming out of the shadows/smoke-filled rooms. As George F. Will falsely said of President Obama, the more they talk, the more their ... more »
Insurance Industry Fights Health Care Reform with Extortion: "Try it, and we'll raise your premiums"
by
margieburns
on Tue 13 Oct 2009 09:40 AM EDT
Insurance Industry Fights Health Care Reform with Extortion: "Try it, and we'll raise your premiums" Circumventing the corporate media outlets . . . The insurance industry has finally come out overtly against health care reform, with an extortionate threat to raise premiums if any meaningful reform passes ... more » Sunday, October 11
Why is Arianna Huffington campaigning against Obama?
by
margieburns
on Sun 11 Oct 2009 11:08 AM EDT
Arianna Huffington has finally come out of the closet.
--Huffington's on-air comments and much of the writing on HuffPost have been devoted for months to casting doubt on President Obama generally and on every administration policy and action. Today (Sunday, October 11, 2009), on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Huffington finally comes across much more overtly: She is campaigning against the health care bill. (Incidentally, Stephanopoulos' dismissal of the Nobel Peace Prize is a disgrace, albeit a tribute of sorts to cultural illiteracy.) Huffington doesn't put her position that way, of course. As usual, she purports to be supporting ... more »
Fox, CNN propaganda talking point: Harp on 'deficits,' don't mention GWBush Wall Street bailout
by
margieburns
on Sun 11 Oct 2009 09:59 AM EDT
Fox, CNN propaganda talking point: Harp on 'deficits,' don't mention GWBush Wall Street bailout
--Simple tactics, corporate media It's simple, it works, it's dishonest: Talk through your multi-billion media megaphone about Washington in a "sea of red ink," talk about having bailed out Wall Street but not Main Street, talk about "job creation"--but never, never, under any circumstances mention that the unlidded, virtually unmonitored, tumorous financial-sector-bonanza $350 billion Wall Street bailout came in fall of 2008 under the GWBush administration and was entirely the notion of the Bush circle. We are not off to a good start for this ... more » Friday, October 9
President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
by
margieburns
on Fri 09 Oct 2009 10:07 AM EDT
President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
--Some good news, excellent news, hope-affirming news to end a week or kick off a weekend in need of excellence: The United States has a president who has won the Nobel Peace Prize and who deserves to win it. The extent of a change like that can hardly be overestimated. The web site of the Nobel Foundation linked here is far too slow uploading--indirectly a good sign if it indicates that quick access is being impeded by an overload of visits to the site from people around the globe. Hope is alive, globally ... more » Wednesday, October 7
Keith Olbermann to give extra commentary tonight
by
margieburns
on Wed 07 Oct 2009 06:48 PM EDT
Keith Olbermann to give extra commentary tonight
--Countdown with Keith Olbermann is devoted tonight to a special hour-long commentary, on health care reform. Olbermann has already promised in preview to take up the issue of health care from more than one angle, including some recommendations on steps that members of the public can take along with the more usual political commentary and polemic. Hope it goes well. We need all the help we can get. more » Monday, October 5
Michael Moore's movie makes a hit
by
margieburns
on Mon 05 Oct 2009 06:19 AM EDT
Michael Moore movie a hit Seeing Michael Moore’s new movie Capitalism: A Love Story Saturday night, at the vintage theater in old Greenbelt, Maryland--billed as the first planned urban community in the United States, created with the personal blessing of Eleanor Roosevelt—was a blast, and not from the past, notwithstanding the film’s reliance on U.S. history including some archival footage. The ... more » |
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