Sarah Palin's brand of populism is dangerous and deceptive. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
Sarah Palin's brand of populism is dangerous and deceptive. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
...Last week, the new darling of the right
did her best to vindicate me. She appeared
on the radio show of a certain Rusty
Humphries, another steaming and hearty
slice of good-old U.S. prime, and was
asked whether she would make an issue
of President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
Her response: "I think the public rightfully
is still making it an issue. I think it's
a fair question." That was on Thursday,
Dec. 3. On Friday, she had published
a second "thought" on her Facebook page,
reassuring all and sundry that: "At no
point have I asked the president to produce
his birth certificate, or suggested that
he was not born in the United States."

Well, exactly. Of course she hasn't. She
just thinks it's a good idea for others
to do that, in their "rightful" way, since,
after all, it is "a fair question."

Could anything be more cowardly and contemptible?
- posted by barbara @ 12/07/2009 03:54:00 PM  0 comments

 
Jon Soltz: What Color Is The Sky In Palin's World?
Jon Soltz: What Color Is The Sky In Palin's World?
more lies and divisiveness from the pretender
to the 2012 republican nominee for the presidency.

Please read. in concrete terms the author
explains how much more respectful President
Obama has been than gwbush ever was toward the
troops.

Sarah Palin is a pathological liar who thrives
apparently on being divisive, and she'll make up
crap so she can diss anyone on the left even when
she's completely totally off the mark.

i can't believe there are people who believe her,
believe in her, and see her as any kind of "good."
- posted by barbara @ 11/24/2009 05:09:00 PM  0 comments

 
unhappycamper's Journal - Peace (Dial up warning)
unhappycamper's Journal - Peace (Dial up warning)
freewayblogger.com

Peace.
- posted by barbara @ 11/21/2009 05:42:00 AM  0 comments

 
Frank: The Persecution of Sarah Palin - WSJ.com
Frank: The Persecution of Sarah Palin - WSJ.com
...amid all this score-settling, Ms. Palin wanders into
some predictable traps. When explaining her political philosophy,
for example, she tells readers that "conservatism is a respect
for history and tradition"; on the very next page she instructs
readers to accept the creative-destructive whirl of the market,
which affects society the way "wildfires in Alaska burn away
deadfall to make way for new growth."

So much for tradition. The respect she shows history, though,
is the kind of respect you show the flag when you soak it in
kerosene and touch a match to it. "[W]e tried growing government
to save the economy back in the 1930s, and it didn't work then
either," Ms. Palin writes. It is a modest assertion, though,
compared to the astonishing finding Ms. Palin reveals in the
next sentence: "Massive government spending programs and protectionist
economic policies actually helped turn a recession into the Great
Depression." If this is, as it seems, a reference to the New Deal,
then history, per Ms. Palin, sometimes goes backwards, with the
WPA and its ilk actually bringing about events that took place
before they were launched.
- posted by barbara @ 11/17/2009 10:20:00 PM  0 comments

 
Security Theater | Mother Jones
Security Theater | Mother Jones
....Security is both a feeling and a
reality. The propensity for security
theater comes from the interplay between
the public and its leaders. When people are
scared, they need something done that will
make them feel safe, even if it doesn't
truly make them safer. Politicians naturally
want to do something in response to crisis,
even if that something doesn't make any sense.

i'm over the fear, just had it with it.
- posted by barbara @ 11/16/2009 03:43:00 AM  0 comments

 
Sheriff Joe Arpaio - Special Reports - Phoenix
Sheriff Joe Arpaio - Special Reports - Phoenix

it staggers the imagination to consider that
this person still holds office. hopefully not
much longer.
- posted by barbara @ 11/02/2009 04:41:00 PM  0 comments

 
The Geography of Jobs - TIP Strategies
The Geography of Jobs - TIP Strategies
Note the dateline at the top. this is an eye opener.
- posted by barbara @ 10/21/2009 03:37:00 AM  0 comments

 
Jamie Bales - Graphic Designer - Huntington Beach, California
Jamie Bales - Graphic Designer - Huntington Beach, California
my very talented niece.
- posted by barbara @ 10/03/2009 01:07:00 AM  0 comments

 
teabaggers untie

- posted by barbara @ 9/23/2009 02:43:00 AM  0 comments

 
The Mudflats � Happy Constitution Day!
The Mudflats � Happy Constitution Day!
General welfare means health for ALL. Not some. Not most. All.

it's constitutional; think about it.
- posted by barbara @ 9/18/2009 02:44:00 AM  0 comments

 
Veterans For Common Sense
Veterans For Common Sense

Op-Ed: Afghanistan Isn't Worth One More American Life
- posted by barbara @ 9/10/2009 03:09:00 PM  0 comments

 
The Mudflats
The Mudflats
Rural Alaskans need help.
- posted by barbara @ 9/05/2009 01:25:00 AM  0 comments

 
The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit
Let's just get this right:

Do you like your state and not the federal government controlling the curriculum of your kids' schools? Thank Ted Kennedy.

Do you like being able to vote starting at age 18? Thank Ted Kennedy.

Do you think low-income people should get help with heating their homes in the winter? Thank the man.

Do you think the federal government should fund cancer research? Yep.

Do you believe that Meals on Wheels is a good thing? Ditto.

Does your daughter (or you, if you're female) like playing soccer or basketball or softball at school? That'd be because of Ted Kennedy.

Do you think that disabled people should be able to go to school? Have access to buildings? Not be discriminated against for housing and loads of other things? Kennedy, big time.

more at link.
- posted by barbara @ 8/26/2009 03:42:00 PM  1 comments

 
Truthdig - Reports - This Isn’t Reform, It’s Robbery
Truthdig - Reports - This Isn’t Reform, It’s Robbery: Percentage change since 2002 in average premiums paid to large US health-insurance companies: 87%

Percentage change in the profits of the top ten insurance companies: 428%

Chances that an American bankrupted by medical bills has health insurance: 7 in 10

medicare for everyone.

—Harper’s Index, September 2009"
- posted by barbara @ 8/25/2009 03:55:00 PM  0 comments

 
Roger Ebert's Journal: Archives
Roger Ebert's Journal: Archives:It is a moral imperative.
I cannot enjoy health coverage and turn
to my neighbor and tell him he doesn't
deserve it. A nation is a mutual
undertaking. In a democracy, we
set out together to do what we
believe is good for the commonwealth.
That means voluntarily subjecting
ourselves to the rule of law,
taxation, military service, the
guaranteeing of rights to minorities,
and so on. That is a cheap price to pay.
- posted by barbara @ 8/22/2009 12:31:00 PM  0 comments

 
Margaret and Helen
Margaret and Helen
- posted by barbara @ 8/13/2009 04:12:00 AM  0 comments

 
how is this better than single payer, or even different
other than the profit aspect?

my son has an apparent pinched nerve in his back which is
causing him constant pain. the doctor recommends an MRI.
i'm scared shitless of how much this will cost me since
my Aetna "gold" HMO has already resulted in surprise
charges following my colonoscopy and IVP procedures
(even though in the latter case, i was very careful
to explain to the Dr's office that i needed to know
my bottom line before anything was done).

so i called Aetna this morning to get the bad news
ahead of time. if it's too much money we'll do
cortisone shots first, or acupuncture. but given
the amount of pain he is in, how long he's been
symptomatic, and his tender age (he's only 17),
i would like for his doctor to be able to see
what's happening in his back. as would his doctor.

so aetna tells me that authorization must come from
their "third party Administrator" MedSolutions. Apparently
what must happen is my doctor's office calls these
MedSolution people who request and review the
"clinicals" and then render their decision on
whether an MRI is indicated. According to my dr's
office it's 50/50 whether they'll approve it. i
am then told that if it is approved it will cost
only my copay of $30.00. I record the Call ID so
that when they hit me up for more than $30 later
they can hear for themselves this rep of their
company telling me repeatedly that i will only
have to pay $30 as long as the doctor's office
contacts the proper "third party Administrator"
and procures authorization through them.

i want to know: how does this rigmarole constitute
making a decision "between the patient and his doctor"?!
it's BULLSHIT! private insurance companies, ever mindful
of the business they are in (read: it is NOT patient care,
it IS profits for the shareholders), have created a
bureaucratic nightmare for hapless consumers to try
to pick their way through even a minor illness or injury.
i dread ever having to maneuver this maze in the event
of a major life threatening illness.

the government could not possibly do worse than this,
probably would do much much better, and without a doubt
when the profit aspect is removed from the equation,
more people will be covered for less money.

SINGLE PAYER Health Care for Everyone. NOW.

PS - authorization acquired in record time. procedure
scheduled for tomorrow.

do you think they might be working with people with
more alacrity and liberality due to the political
storm underway?
- posted by barbara @ 8/10/2009 08:48:00 AM  0 comments

 
Andrew Kreig: Gagged Former FBI Translator Claims U.S. Rep Bribe Evidence
Andrew Kreig: Gagged Former FBI Translator Claims U.S. Rep Bribe Evidence
- posted by barbara @ 8/08/2009 08:55:00 PM  0 comments

 
- official website of THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
- official website of THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
eight years ago today.

- posted by barbara @ 7/19/2009 11:58:00 AM  1 comments

 
The Great American Bubble Machine : Rolling Stone
The Great American Bubble Machine : Rolling Stone: "The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs
is that it's everywhere. The world's most
powerful investment bank is a great vampire
squid wrapped around the face of humanity,
relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into
anything that smells like money."

matt tabibi.
- posted by barbara @ 7/02/2009 08:59:00 PM  1 comments