Pillai Unplugged

Janie's Graduation videos & photos

2011-05-22T14:48:00.003-05:00

Hooding and award ceremony at Sheldon Hall.

Commencement Program Book

Photo links

Graduation Ceremony Photos

Saturday Grad Party Photos

John Yoo, Still A War Criminal

2011-05-05T16:45:00.002-05:00

Here's a great quote:

"Former government lawyer John Yoo taking credit on behalf of the Bush administration for Sunday's strike against Osama bin Laden is like Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic, taking credit for the results of the 1998 Academy Awards," - Andrew Cohen.

Not only do these war criminals and shoddy lawyers refuse to take accountability for their crimes, they tell clear untruths about how the capture of bin Laden was achieved and distort history.

So let us be very clear. The war criminal Dick Cheney presided over the worst lapse in national security since Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people. This rank incompetent failed to get bin Laden at Tora Bora, and then dragged the US on false pretenses into a war in Iraq, empowering Iran's dictatorship, and killing another 5,000 more Americans on a wild goose chase. He presided over the deaths of more than 8,000 Americans, and tens of thousands of Iraqis during his criminally incompetent years in office.

On the other hand, the man who abolished torture as soon as he took office, Barack Obama, captured and killed Osama bin Laden, and captured a massive trove of intelligence, more than two years later. No Americans died in the operation.

What on earth are we debating? How have these delusional maniacs managed to even get us onto this turf? Because they have to. Because when the full truth of these past years are fully in focus, they will be revealed as some of the greatest criminals ever to have wielded power in America.

-Thanks to Andrew at The Daily Beast

Colbert and Planned Parenthood.

2011-04-12T16:09:00.002-05:00

I was laughing so hard - and apparently Colbert couldn't help himself either.

Ex-Racehorses Starve as Charity Fails in Mission to Care for Them

2011-03-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

Ex-Racehorses Starve as Charity Fails in Mission to Care for Them - NYTimes.com

This is sad in so many ways. I wish someone of the stature of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett would agree to fund this effort to keep these animals well fed till they die. This would be a pittance, sofa change in fact, to add to the huge philanthropic effort they already put forth.

India - is she ready for prime time?

2011-03-14T11:24:00.007-05:00

I have been hearing a lot about India and how changed it is. I go back every year, and of course I see some progress. But is it progressing in the true sense? Or is she riding a wave of unsustainable growth?

India needs to dig deep and come up with high tech products. Not just high tech services. High tech services are transferable to other countries, especially when the hourly rates go up. Do we have a Samsung or a Hitachi? A Sony or a Panasonic? No, but what we have are programmers hives, like Infosys or TCS.

Sure they provide valuable service. But is that such a big deal? Not to me. India needs to invent! And invent big. Remember the stir a small car like Nano caused in the world market? And of course, the stir went away soon.

So instead of resting on the laurels of a service industry that basically saves money for foreign companies when they offload labor (and their valuable jobs) to India, whether that is call center operations or application development, India needs to come up with it's Apple. It's Intel, or it's Ford.

Go big. See the lowly Kia and Hyundai of yesteryears becoming a global player? Samsung? In other words, learn from Korea. Learning from Japan might be a bit too imposing of a demand for India right now, as Japan has been doing this for decades.

Now, while at it, lets start cleaning up. We need stricter laws, and honest cops who enforce those laws. We need to preserve our forests and rivers. Clean up Ganges - it's current label as the World's most polluted river is a dark stain to say the least. Include civic lessons in high schools. Clean cities, no stuck open drainages. Treat water before letting it into sea or rivers.

Democracy is wonderful, but sometimes a hard hand is required to force progress through, a la China. Build roads and rails, but with quality and without kickbacks. And take care of the abject poor.

There is a lot India has to do to be a world player. And it can be done, but not with the current business model of 'service'. Not in the long term. India has the brain power, and education to drive a high tech manufacturing industry. Lets head that way.

And we cannot ignore this elephant in the room: grinding poverty, in which we are number one.

Call centers and internet jobs are not for them. They need manufacturing. Small, large and some in between.

Republicans want what is good for the country?

2011-03-11T12:21:00.004-06:00

Yeah, if the country is comprised of just the top 1% income earners only. Then they support them 100%. Now how do I know this?

Well, the good folks at The Christian Left has compiled some numbers and put it together in a nice image that should illustrate how Republicans do things. I was just talking to Mohamed, my friend who owns my local sandwich shop, about how for example Gov Walker (R) of Wisconsin, whose R might be a stand-in for both Republican or Recalled, created this budget deficit problem as soon as he took charge of the Badger State. There was none, mind you, in Dec 2010. So he comes in on Jan 2011, and gives away $130 million as unfunded tax breaks to corporations. Bam! There is your budget hole.

So what does he do next?

Asks the middle class to bear the burden - all Public Union workers got a nice pay cut, and he banished their half century old Collective Bargaining right. And that Wisconsin Kochsucker wiped some of that corporate shit that was on his nose as he got off his knee pads. Break the unions that leans Democratic while handing over huge chunks of money to the rich. Win-win for everyone, if by everyone, we mean the top 1%, as I said in the beginning.

So without further ado - here is how they do it. Thanks to The Christian Left.

Been a while. So I will just say something with a picture.

2011-03-11T09:09:00.004-06:00

No words necessary.

Hitch - get better!

2010-12-15T16:24:00.003-06:00

From Vanity Fair - by Hitchens. He is talking about Glenn Beck and his blathering idiotic followers here.

"But the Beck-Skousen faction want to make such a debate impossible. They need and want to sublimate the anxiety into hysteria and paranoia. The president is a Kenyan. The president is a secret Muslim. The president (why not?—after all, every little bit helps) is the unacknowledged love child of Malcolm X. And this is their response to the election of an extremely moderate half-African American candidate, who speaks better English than most and who has a model family. Revolted by this development, huge numbers of white people choose to demonstrate their independence and superiority by putting themselves eagerly at the disposal of a tear-stained semi-literate shock jock, and by repeating his list of lies and defamations. But, of course, there’s nothing racial in their attitude …"

Megyn Kelly on the Propaganda Channel..

2010-10-29T11:07:00.003-05:00

Biased? Fox News? Hell no.. Watch this - and try to fathom the astonishing shallowness of this woman while she is trying to browbeat the CAIR (Islamic Relations in America something) person..

It is so illuminating how she gets all high and mighty when CAIR asks her the question whether she gets nervous when she sees Muslims in planes. Does not answer. I mean what can she say? She gets nervous? That would make her a bigot. Does not make her nervous? That would imply she's unlike the 'big majority of Americans' who thinks like Juan Williams. She gets all pissy and argues that Juan Williams' First Amendment was violated. No stupid blonde, it was not. Two things. He spoke freely. But he should be ready to accept the consequences from his employer who expects him to behave a certain way, as a journalist. This was but one of the many examples of him acting stupidly - but this one did break the camel's back.

Who names anyone Megyn anyways? MeGYN?!!

Hi - I am a teapartier! But I have no friggin clue what I am talking about.

2010-10-29T09:31:00.001-05:00

Glenn Beck: Evolution Is 'Ridiculous -- I Haven't Seen A Half-Monkey, Half-Person Yet'

2010-10-21T12:55:00.000-05:00

No mirrors in your mansion, Beck?

Think - what has Obama accomplished.

2010-10-14T14:39:00.001-05:00

Take it away, Sully

Preventing a second Great Depression, which was a real possibility (and not just the jobless recovery we're in, but a full-scale collapse), rescuing the banks without nationalizing them, saving the auto-companies with precision and technocratic skill (I didn't think it would work at all, and it did), re-setting relations with the rest of the world, bringing a new sanity and balance to Middle East policy, taking out 400 al Qaeda operatives, using the myth of the surge to get the hell out of Iraq (for the most part), upping the ante to get a deal with the Taliban and enacting a centrist, moderate law that for the first time in history ensures that anyone can get health insurance in this country ... really, in perspective, pretty damn remarkable.
Politically, he had to deal with a GOP gone insane, and a propaganda machine of such virulence and relentlessness that you can see he is where he is. But although he is right that he lost the connection to us, his supporters, I don't think he could have kept up the hope and change inspiration indefinitely.

The View From My Window 2000 - 2010 - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2010-10-11T11:34:00.001-05:00

The View From My Window 2000 - 2010 - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Happy Tenth Anniversary, Andrew! Been a pleasure - right from the first couple years when I came in, read, and left, red in anger, at your complete faith in the reasoning behind the disastrous and traitorous Iraqi Invasion, to seeing your growing disappointment in the Bush era, your mea culpa regarding how wrong you were, and then on to your out and out support for candidate and then President Obama. And along the way peppered with many wonderful posts -I have lost count to how many I have re-blogged or emailed to friends and family.

You stayed true to a real conservative philosophy. Espousing the fact that the Govt should not be out there solving all the problems, but it should be more of a partnership. I agree. I do not like the Conservatives as they appear before me with their cheap populism - but I do like you.

So happy tenth!

No witch!

2010-10-08T13:27:00.001-05:00

Nice! A parody of Christine 'I am not a witch' O'Donnell ad.

General Motors’ Wage-Cutting Deal Clears Way for Subcompact Car - NYTimes.com

2010-10-08T09:06:00.004-05:00

General Motors’ Wage-Cutting Deal Clears Way for Subcompact Car - NYTimes.com

This is such a good piece of news! I am impressed with both GM and the UAW for making this happen. I am glad GM decided to do the right thing by doing the manufacturing here in the US, and for UAW for making the difficult decision of agreeing to the two-tier pay-scale system. A lot of the laid off workers at this plant is getting called back into service.

This is a fairly small step in the larger scale of Auto manufacturing, but a significant stepping stone for the resurgence of GM (of which I was sure of) and the re-emergence of Union jobs.

Orion Plant is also getting retooled to manufacture the Buick Verano (above). A beautiful car!

Kudos to all involved. I saw the Chevy Cruze last week at the dealership. A very fine car. Let's get that build & design quality into this new sub-compact as well.

Money quote from my blog in Dec 2008:

"And I am telling anyone who will listen that GM will be back, and back with a vengeance. They had turned the corner around 2 years back with their quality and design, and I for one am pulling for them. Hope they have an address book of all the workers they are planning on laying off, because the General is going to need them in a couple years."

Why MSNBC Isn't Like, And Can't Beat, Fox News | The New Republic

2010-10-07T14:15:00.003-05:00

Why MSNBC Isn't Like, And Can't Beat, Fox News | The New Republic

This is Chait, on the New Republic. I have always felt this way as well. This grand narrative that is Fox News. All day, it is essentially the same. You take a story - as in this example, the Black Panthers incident. Minor, by any sense of proportion, but in the right hands, with the right kind of treatment, the story turns into a true evil, and three days & nights later, the avid Fox News watcher comes away thinking the Panthers could be knocking on his door. The news time by itself is not overt - but it's the subliminal messaging through specific words during the real 'News' time, and specific titling to the stories, followed by the combined outrageousness expressed by Beck/Hannity/OReilly and associates that gets you thinking dark thoughts.

Success. MSNBC in comparison, is like Cartoon Network on Saturday morning. All innocent, no incessant repetition. Just the news. In the evening, sure there are opinionated shows, all of them left leaning. But mostly just good old fashioned news, at least during the time it classifies as the 'News' time.

Need more evidence? See the Daily Show clip from Jon Stewart down below.

JS on the Daily Show

2010-10-07T14:05:00.003-05:00

Give it up for Jon. And for all the Fox News lovers out there - listen and weep.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

For Fox Sake!

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

"Take Jesus Christ Out, If Possible" - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2010-10-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

"Take Jesus Christ Out, If Possible" - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

This shows what goes on behind the certification of a movie. The strange thing is I do not know if the letter is indeed part of the Monty Python movie.

It should be - it is hilarious!

Noisy Wind Turbines Attract Complaints - NYTimes.com

2010-10-05T16:34:00.000-05:00

Noisy Wind Turbines Attract Complaints - NYTimes.com

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I can understand their pain - and short of eliminating that pain, which I do not think is going to happen, the next best thing would be to minimize it.

As France did - may be turning off some of them after sundown might be an option.

Enlightening article, all the same.

And while we fight here about some high speed rails..

2010-08-17T09:26:00.003-05:00

The latest, most outlandish transit solution, reports China Hush, is a “straddling bus” (also called a “three-dimensional fast bus”) that travels over the tops of automobiles, like a mobile tunnel. Commuters board from a station one story above the ground, and when the straddling bus parks to pick up riders—as many as 1200 per vehicle—it doesn’t disrupt the flow of traffic.

The project seems almost too good to be true, even though construction of a 115-mile line in Beijing’s Mentougou District is set to begin by the end of the year. The innovating company, Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, claims that building the infrastructure for straddling buses is three times faster and much cheaper than a comparable distance of new subways.

(From Will Wlizlo's article)

Can we please have that damn high speed train, at least now?

"Think before you speak or act.."

2010-07-23T11:33:00.004-05:00

We have been taught or at least told that many a time.

Now looking at the damage caused by a knee-jerk reaction from the Dept of Agriculture's rash decision to fire Shirley Sherrod - we have a President asking all of us to do the same.

Wise words - and a good picture of him pausing before a speech.

Mrs.Sherrod - we apologize.

2010-07-21T11:06:00.005-05:00

I have been stunned by what happened to Shirley Sherrod, this mother of a figure who got caught up in this nasty cobweb laid out by this despicable Teapartier named Breitbart.

My language skills will not allow me to write what I truly want to write. Right now, I am so white-hot angry, I should not be writing or talking to some of my friends who listen to these people like Beck and Breitbart. You shall remain nameless - and hope someday you will see these money-grubbers for what they truly are. They are nothing but prevaricators, and should not be allowed a platform to voice their rants. Read me, Fox News?

In the mean time, my friends, read Ta-Nehisi Coates from Atlantic. (No permission was requested, I am hoping you would not mind if I just drop your words down here, TNC)

Let's take a moment to understand what we've seen over the past several days. As of last week, the Tea Party was a movement whose leadership included a man who once called the first black president of the United States, "a welfare monkey," and who attempted to satirize the NAACP in the following fashion:

Dear Mr. Lincoln,

We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

It was also a coalition that hosted a speaker at its national convention who once argued for reinstatement of some of the vilest implements of segregation and charged that Obama was a "socialist ideologue" elected by people "who could not spell the word vote or say it in English. It was a movement that hosted politicians who charged that Barack Obama "favors the black person," The NAACP, responding to this history, requested that the Tea Party denounce the elements of racism in its midst.

With that as a backdrop, Joe Biden offered a limited defense of the group:

"I wouldn't characterize the Tea Party as racist," he said on Sunday's "This Week." But "there are individuals who are either members of or on the periphery of some of their things, their -- their protests -- that have expressed really unfortunate comments."

It's important to note the shift in argument from "elements of racism" to "a racist group." Perhaps Biden just answering a question. In any case, he was not a pains to take up the NAACP's more nuanced point. Nor was he much interested in the question--the notion that Tea Party racism is reducible to people "on the periphery" who have "expressed really unfortunate comments" is a woeful understatement directly at odds with the facts. But that is the administration's position.

Yesterday, that same administration forced out, Shirley Sherrod, a longtime Civil Rights worker and black USDA appointee, evidently, because she dared confess that she'd once been motivated by racial prejudice but had since seen the error of her ways. Sherrod details how, as a child, her family was essentially terrorized by the Klan and white vigilantes. Her father was murdered 45 years ago. Her widowed mother, at one point, had to stand on the porch with a rifle to fight off the Klan. "I know who you are!" she yelled at them.

Sherrod's personal story is about redemption, and the case she highlights took place 20 years ago, long before she was working for the federal government.:

Young people I want you to know that when you're true to what god wants you to do the path just opens up and things come to you. God is good I can tell you that. When I made that commitment, I was making it to black people and to black people only. But you know God will show you things and put things in your path so that you realize that the struggle is really about poor people.

It's worth watching the entire tape. Sherrod's message is strikingly Obamaesque. After detailing her own awakening, she pushes a message of personal responsibility arguing that many of the worst ills in the black community are perpetrated by the people living in that community, and that much of the struggle now comes down to young people working harder. There is even that standard black riff about how we once took care of our own, and spanked each other's children, the same riff Obama offered last year before the same NAACP, which Sherrod was addressing.

There's a lot in the speech that you could quibble with. Perhaps you don't buy that it's actually rich vs. poor. Perhaps you don't believe that many of the ills in black communities are brought on by people that live there. Maybe you don't think that its a good idea that you can't get fired from a government job. You can even debate her Edmund Morgan-like interpretation of racism. You can dispute that black people were once more communal. All fair points. But that isn't the argument that got Shirley Sherrod fired. Instead it's, as Andrew Brietbart has said, that this is an instance of Obama appointee preaching racism at an NAACP function.

Taking it all in, it must be said that the landscape is as follows: We have an administration that will contort itself to defend a movement whose convention speakers call for the reinstatement of the tools of segregation. That same administration will swiftly jettison an appointee, herself the victim of homegrown terrorism, for echoing the kind of message of redemption and personal responsibility that has become the president's hallmark on race. Andrew Breitbart says that Sherrod's speech, not the Tea Party's rhetoric, is the real racism. It is an argument that is as old as American white supremacy, and one that this administration, through its actions over the past week, has tacitly endorsed.

The argument has been made that this isn't Obama, just the people working under him. That theory elides the responsibility of leaders to set a tone. The tone that Obama has set, in regards to race, is to retreat with great velocity in the face of anything that can be defined as "racial." Granted, this has been politically smart. Also granted, Obama has done it with nuance. But it can not be expected that the president's subordinates will share that nuance.

More disturbingly, this is what happens when you treat the arrest of a black man, in his home, as something that can be fixed over beers. This is what happens when you silently ascent to the notion that racism and its victims are somehow equally wrong. The ground, itself, is rigged with a narrative of inversion that goes back centuries. When you treat the two side as equals, expect not just more of the same. Expect worse.

In the short-run, it's easy to see the way out--Apologize. Offer Shirley Sherrod her job back, whether she wants it or not. The long-run is much more fraught. I have long backed Obama's mixture of soft words and hard deeds on race. The point is that by targeting the broader demographic areas where black people are troubled, you can, at once, settle old business for black people while helping many more white people. Health Care is the obvious model.

But words, too, have power and a strategy of falling back from the rhetoric racists, while sometimes correct, is not definitive. There has to be some amount of courage, some understanding of the moment, to accompany the quiet strategy. I do not expect Barack Obama to condemn the Tea Party's racist elements, any more than I expect Ben Jealous to lead the war in Afghanistan. But I do not expect him, or his administration, to make the work of the NAACP harder, to contradict them for doing that which the administration can not. I do not expect them to minimize those elements, thus minimizing the NAACP's fight, and then accede, to people who are pulling from the darkest, vilest reaches of the American psyche.

On the great American scourge of racism, this administration must stand, sometimes publicly, for something. Failing that it will fall--indeed, already has fallen--for anything.

Oh words fail me here..

2010-05-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

okay, two words. Epic Fail!

Facebook, I am quitting you.

2010-05-18T14:42:00.004-05:00

You were such a pointless waste of time - really. Why would I want to know who is doing what?

If they want to tell me what they are doing, they can call or email. I'd be happy to respond.

Other than that - I enormously dislike how Facebook conducts it operations, hate it's arrogant and immature young punk of a CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who looks like a nerd all the jocks beat up on (although the jokes on the jock now, hehe, since Mark's got all your personal data), and above all hate it's labyrinthian layers of security options, the vast majority of which are jury-rigged to make your so called private information semi-public or full out public.

I joined in August 2009, and I am out today. Adios - and it was not nice knowing you.

And I am returning to my cherished blogspot. Where I can type away what I want to type without a care of offending 'friends'. Friends - hah, that's the biggest joke in Facebook.

Health Care Bill!!!

2010-03-21T22:33:00.003-05:00

Has just passed the House!

No Public Option, as I was hoping for. But still some of the most revolutionary changes that ever came to the House in the last 50-60 years!

And I was a part of it. Thank you President Obama for the roller-coaster ride.
And I will be remiss if I did not thank the leadership of Rep Pelosi.

2010-03-05T14:11:00.001-06:00

Snowcalypse - 2010.

2010-02-09T09:58:00.000-06:00

It's time to find our George Bailey.

2010-01-08T13:17:00.002-06:00

Watch the video first:

Bank Of America - our bank. Has it been good to us? Well - what is good? They like our money. We like their online banking. But everything else? Like charging us 12 bucks a month for some crappy minimum rule, on top of the money they keep, without paying us anything worthwhile in interests?

I - we - are seriously thinking about approaching our neighboring credit union for all our banking needs. That means - all. Sever the relationship with BOA. Granted, the branch of BOA we bank at is part of our community, the employees there could be our neighbors.

But that is something minor to me compared to the predatory habits of such banks, especially in light of the bailouts. There are plenty of cases where poor folks who are in credit card debt (could be because of illness, sudden expenses, whatever) and missed one payment getting their interest rates jacked up to nearly 30%. 30%!!! You who work there, in BOA, should be ashamed such daylight robbery is allowed to happen. With OUR money! We bailed you out!

So enough! If you are too big to fail, we will make you a wee bit smaller, so if you have to fail, we can fail you.

Rep Bart Stupak - a man of strong convictions.

2010-01-06T22:42:00.000-06:00

About Stupak. Actually, this is to Stupak.

You can stand proud and beat that chest of yours claiming you were protecting the fetuses while attending the funerals of the dead who died due to a lack of health insurance, something you in your ever increasing hubris and a sudden feeling of omnipotence, managed to block because you didn't get your way regarding abortion coverage.

Since the bill didn't pass, all the women who had glorious visions of undergoing abortions paid by the government, shelved their plans to get pregnant.

And the dead - their last words were,"Well, thank god for Stupak. Even if I have no hope or money for this rather simple treatment, and am dying and my kids will be without a mom, I am glad the fetuses were saved."

Well done, Bart! Well done.

Stop Motion Talent!!

2009-12-29T12:29:00.000-06:00

Stunning.

Palin just went - "oh shit!!"

2009-11-18T11:03:00.002-06:00

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/to-our-readers.html

18 Nov 2009 11:44 am

To Our Readers

This is only the second time in its nearly ten-year history that the Dish has gone silent. The reason now is the same as the reason then. When dealing with a delusional fantasist like Sarah Palin, it takes time to absorb and make sense of the various competing narratives that she tells about her life. There are so many fabrications and delusions in the book, mixed in with facts, that just making sense of it - and comparing it with objective reality as we know it, and the subjective reality she has previously provided - is a bewildering task. She is a deeply disturbed person which makes this work of fiction and fact all the more challenging to read. And the fact that she is now the leader of the Republican party and a potential presidential candidate, makes this process of deconstruction an important civil responsibility. We take this seriously as we always have. We want to be fair to her, and to her family, and to the innocent people she has brought into the spotlight. And we are not reporters. We are merely analysts trying to make sense of evidence already in the public domain, evidence that points in all sorts of directions, only one of which can be true.
Since the Dish has tried to be rigorous and careful in analyzing Palin's unhinged grip on reality from the very beginning - specifically her fantastic story of her fifth pregnancy - we feel it's vital that we grapple with this new data as fairly and as rigorously as possible. That takes time to get right. And it is so complicated we simply cannot focus on anything else.
There are only three of us.

And we have had the book for less than a day. We feel we owe it to you to get it right - or as right as we can - until we post or publish anything. As readers know, we also differ on some key issues and intend to air them and thrash this out until we are confident that whatever we publish is as fair as possible.
At some point, we will also go back and make sure we have not missed all the evidence of the other lies that Palin is now peddling. We won't miss anything. But we ask for your patience.
There is a possibility here of such a huge scandal that we would be crazy not to take our time either to debunk it or move it forward for further examination.
We have only one commitment: to get this right. Please bear with us as we do the best we can.

Now the NRA might say - only if she had a gun in her hand, this would not have happened.

2009-11-18T09:38:00.000-06:00

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a suburban Philadelphia woman lying in bed was struck by a bullet that came through a wall, killing her.

Investigators recovered a dozen shell casings from a gun battle outside.

Police say Kathy Ann Stewart was talking on the phone with her fiance Sunday night in the second-floor bedroom of her mother's home in Chester when the bullet came through the wall. When Stewart suddenly stopped talking, the fiance called the house, and a family member found Stewart unconscious.

The 49-year-old mother of three died Tuesday morning.

Police Capt. Joseph Massi says gunfights are common in that neighborhood of Chester, an economically struggling city southwest of Philadelphia.

Police say they are trying to identify two males caught on surveillance videos.

Andrew Sullivan is persuasive here..

2009-11-17T10:43:00.001-06:00

Regarding prosecuting KSM in NY.

"I think it's a potentially brilliant move. I do not believe for one moment that this case was brought in a civilian court without sufficient evidence to convict KSM of criminality to put him away for good. But what an open civilian case will also do - and it's why a war criminal like John Yoo is so apoplectic - is reveal the extent to which the brutal torture of KSM was unnecessary, and led to the government's inability to prosecute him to the full extent of the law.

It will be a civic lesson to America and the world. It will show the evil of terrorism and the futility and danger of torture. It will be a way in which Cheney's torture regime can be revealed in all its grotesque excess at the same time as KSM's vile religious extremism is exposed for its murderous nihilism. That all this will take place in New York - close to where the mass murder took place - is a particularly smart touch.

This will, then, be a Nuremberg-style event - because it will pit Qaeda barbarism against the cooling, calm and resolute nature of real Western justice in the clear light of history. But it does one more critical thing. It reveals a new confidence in ourselves and the Western way of life.

When you listen to the Fox News right speak about this, they reveal amazing levels of fear. They have been truly spooked by these men with long beards and chilling eyes. They are so scared of them they are willing to drop any and all legal principles that the West has historically used with respect to mass murderers. Their fear brought them to institute torture, and to engage in mass brutality against prisoners of war in every theater of combat in a manner that will tragically taint the honor of the US military for a very long time. It led them to establish Gitmo, to create for the world a reverse symbol of the Statue of Liberty, and imprint it on the minds and in the consciences of an entire generation of human beings, whose view of America will never be the same.

It made speedy prosecution of any of those who allegedly plotted and planned 9/11 impossible - and will make actual prosecution of any of them extremely hard. It turns out, then, that the primary (if not the only) thing we had to fear - was fear itself. It was our fear that gave al Qaeda so many propaganda victories.

And it is the refusal to be afraid that reflects the decision to bring this fanatic mass murderer back to the scene of the crime, to remind the world, all these years later, of why he is on trial, to restore a patriotic pride in the system we have, a system which it is al Qaeda's goal to destroy.

I believe this is the best symbolic answer to 9/11: a trial, with due process, after tempers have calmed somewhat, that exposes this evil for all it truly was. And also reveals the tragedy of an American government that lost its nerve and has now, under a new president, regained it."

Deer..

2009-11-16T11:22:00.002-06:00

Interestingly, someone else captured two deer that were louging around in front of our house. Kind of neat. And they do look like Lacy. Reminds me of that day down by our friends' lake house when Lacy spotted these deer - and she started whining her friendly whines, indicating she wants to meet em. The deer were looking strangely interested as well.

All very cute. Animal interactions.

2009-11-11T08:45:00.002-06:00

This could easily be Jax - our greyhound. He's got the same moves - happy, curious and rambunctious..

Egypt/Lebanon

2009-11-09T09:29:00.001-06:00

Some fantastic shooting using Canon 5D MkII

Egypt / Lebanon Montage from Khalid Mohtaseb on Vimeo.

Old dogs - and why they are even more endearing..

2009-11-02T14:43:00.001-06:00

Not long before his death, Harry and I headed out for a walk that proved eventful. He was nearly 13, old for a big dog. Walks were no longer the slap-happy Iditarods of his youth, frenzies of purposeless pulling in which we would cast madly off in all directions, fighting for command. Nor were they the exuberant archaeological expeditions of his middle years, when every other tree or hydrant or blade of grass held tantalizing secrets about his neighbors. In his old age, Harry had transformed his walk into a simple process of elimination—a dutiful, utilitarian, head-down trudge. When finished, he would shuffle home to his ratty old bed, which graced our living room because Harry could no longer ascend the stairs. On these walks, Harry seemed oblivious to his surroundings, absorbed in the arduous responsibility of placing foot before foot before foot before foot. But this time, on the edge of a small urban park, he stopped to watch something. A man was throwing a Frisbee to his dog. The dog, about Harry’s size, was tracking the flight expertly, as Harry had once done, anticipating hooks and slices by watching the pitch and roll and yaw of the disc, as Harry had done, then catching it with a joyful, punctuating leap, as Harry had once done, too.

Harry sat. For 10 minutes, he watched the fling and catch, fling and catch, his face contented, his eyes alight, his tail a-twitch. Our walk
home was almost … jaunty.

Read on..

Names Of The Dead

2009-11-02T11:27:00.004-06:00

The following comes from a story posted by someone on the website hosted by Rep Alan Grayson (FL) www.namesofthedead.com - just sad.

Josephine Hoist
42, Huntington Beach, CA

Scott Hoist writes:

My mother died of colon cancer when she was 42 years old. She had 5 children, ages 6 to 17. I was 9 years old when she died. She suffered for 3 years. The night she died, my little brother and I lay in bed crying. We could hear her screaming in pain. The echoes of those screams have never left us. We as a family were very poor. My father was a self employed carpenter. It took him and my two older brothers five years to pay off the doctor and hospital bills, and that was in 1963. Of course, we did not have health insurance then, but that horrific experience taught me a lifelong lesson of empathy and compassion toward others who have suffered the loss of a loved one from illness and disease. I share this very personal and private story with all of you so that we as a nation can finally recognize and acknowledge the needless pain of our broken health care system. All of us will die. Some of us will die peacefully with all the comforts of modern technology at our disposal. Others of us will be cast aside, marginalized, ostracized, abandoned, and discarded by cold blooded corporate selfishness and greed. What we do now as a nation will determine the extent and scope of perpetuating needless suffering not only for the injured, but for the survivors. We, the walking wounded must do more than pick up the shattered pieces of our lives and struggle to carry on. The time has finally come. Now, it is up to us to do the right thing. Let us work together to create a more compassionate nation. We must become a civilization where families can live (and die) in the warm and comforting embrace of a caring society. I ask you to do this in honor and memory of my mother.

Walking - not shaving - for a year.

2009-11-02T09:36:00.003-06:00

Christoph Rehage walked across China one whole year..A fantastic time lapse.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

Another blast in Pakistan.

2009-10-28T10:52:00.003-05:00

This time in Peshawar - about 92 killed with 200 injured. Just as SoS Clinton arrived in Pakistan.

Every time I see these news stories, I think back about the times when I was in India just reading about the Pakistani intelligence agencies creating and/or aiding and abetting all these terrorist organizations within their country so that they can inflitrate the border into India and cause havoc in Jammu and Kashmir. I knew then that their day of reckoning would come. And when it came, it will be horrific.

Well - this is it. I hate to say this Pakistan, but your little evil birds have come home to roost because they have nowhere to go. They cannot go to Afghanistan because your old friend, the US of A is tightening the screws on them there. And Indians sure aint letting your filth spill into their country anymore.

And so it will not be pretty for you Pakistanis. I have been saying or thinking this for years - unless you dismantle your little Madrassas - drain that swamp so these mosquitos cannot breed anymore - you will never truly know whether you will see your mother/father/brother/husband/wife/children again when they leave home on any given day.

A Secular Democracy has it's strong points - and you're living the perils of not having one.

May God protect the innocents in Pakistan.

Did she know the meaning of the title of her book??

2009-10-28T09:32:00.008-05:00

Apparently the half-term ex governor of Alaska got $1.25 Million as a signing bonus for her 'memoir' written by someone else, of course. I mean writing a book is hard - who has the time for it when you are the Governor of.. oh never mind.

Oh - and by way of definition from Merriam Webster:

Rogue:
1 : vagrant, tramp
2 : a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel
3 : a mischievous person : scamp
4 : a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave
5 : an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation.

So - looks like she hit the nail on the head with that title. Glimpses of honesty.

Man meets woman on the Tube..

2009-10-21T10:30:00.004-05:00

Set to Coldplay's Strawberry Swing. I swear I was rooting for these two by the end.

Strawberry Swing from Matt Clark on Vimeo.

Carl Sagan - An Auto-tune, in appreciation.

2009-10-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

The terrifying new counter..

2009-10-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

Polanski got caught by Chris Hanson

2009-10-08T11:55:00.003-05:00

Sooner or later, every predator gets caught by him..

Happy Birthday, Bapu.

2009-10-02T08:54:00.007-05:00

Even though he was generations older than me, I look to him as like my own grandpa. I am not sure how that happened, but he is to me, and to millions of Indians, will always be a loving grandfather.

So Happy Birthday, Gandhiji. You are still being revered and respected by people around the world. Example - anyone who goes to Google today will see this image:
Pretty cool, huh?

He was a man of unflinching faith, and uncompromising principles. Here's something that was so powerful, it made quite a lasting impression on me: A militant Hindu, who admitted killing a Muslim child in revenge for the murder of his own son by Hindu militants, came to Gandhi, who was almost dying from prolonged fasting. He laid down his weapons and urged Gandhi to break his fast, saying he did want to carry the sin of his death. The Mahatma listened intently and told the man of a way out of his past sins against fellow Muslims. He said (and I am sure I am paraphrasing here) : "You go back, adopt a Muslim child whose parents were killed by Hindus and bring him or her up strictly as a Muslim not a Hindu."

That there was the man. Unbending in his belief that the human faith can co-exist peacefully, if only they just try a little harder.

I am glad he walked upon this planet.

Congressman Alan Grayson - From Ballsville, America.

2009-10-01T09:39:00.002-05:00

Ladies and Gentleman, finally an evolutionary event. A spine was seen on a previously spineless group. This is Alan Grayson and he decided to call out all Republicans on the House floor. And he continued to show that new democratic spine in the Situation Room.

When asked to apologize to the House leader by the Republicans who got 'offended', he directed his apologies to the dead. The dead that had to die because of a lack of healthcare in this country. 42000 every year. He's good. Here's hoping he stays that way.

Letter to Dem Senator Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas)

2009-09-29T15:30:00.001-05:00

Hilarious, Senator - in your 'choose topic' section on your email form, you have 'Health'. Most Senators who are in the pockets of insurance industry at least pretend to care about their constituents by using the word 'Healthcare'.

Anyways - excellent performance today at the Rockefeller/Schumer Amendments hearing. Or should I say, silent performance. If I were an insurance executive I can see that I got excellent value from some of that $325,350 we pumped into your wallet just this year alone, and you did not disappoint.

On the other hand, since I am not, thanks for sticking it to the poor Americans who get regularly shafted by the same corporations you get your blood money from. We could not even get a few words of debate out of you to explain your nay votes.

Shame. Enjoy while it last. With Democrats like you, who needs Republicans to kill off real reform.

Now that's consistency!

2009-09-29T10:23:00.001-05:00

Or he is so famous and cool - the world leaders are happy to be seen posing with a cardboard cutout of him.

Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

New baby? Oh how cute! That would be $165,000. Sorry she came out too early.

2009-09-10T15:34:00.003-05:00

From the horror stories written by people like you and me on BarackObama.com

Sue

Delray Beach, FL

I was working and had health insurance when I became pregnant for the 3rd time. We did it everything right. We dated for 4 years until we had enough money in the bank to get married and start a family. We had savings, a house, two family income with a 401K. My company dropped our insurance to give us raises. I thought no big deal. I had enough saved for my daughters delivery. I could not get insurance being already pregnant. My daughter came almost 2 months early. After 2 weeks at childrens hosptial in Dallas our bill was close to 165,000. We paid everything we could, all of our savings, sold our house, cashed in our 401K. Not enough. Moved back to the apartment complex we lived in after we just got married. Even wound up on Food Stamps and Medicaid for about a year. Enought with the insurance companies. I still fight them to this day.

Broken hand? That will be 10 grand please. Yes maa'm, with your insurance.

2009-09-10T15:18:00.002-05:00

A good nod to Physical Therapy in there - that's why Janie is in the right field. Less meds, natural healing.

Pearl

Lakeside, CA

I'm lucky. I guess. I have "good" insurance -- my broken hand only cost us $10,000. Insured since 1986, I've never used it for anything but check ups, etc. till now. WE NEED OUT-OF-POCKET MAXIMUMS! And a de-emphasis on pharmaceuticals as curealls. If you THINK you are "happy" with your insurance, you MUST ask yourself if you've ever REALLY -- I mean REALLY -- needed it. Reassembling my bones required pins, one of which was stuck into a nerve for eight weeks, bringing on an incurable chronic nerve pain condition. (I'm guessing THAT will be considered a preexisting condition in the future.) Disorders like RSD (aka CRPS) are treated with Physical Therapy (PT) and being medicated into near comatoseness with anti-depressants (which can CAUSE depression); anti-seizure meds (tho I don't have seizures); blood pressure meds (tho I have no BP problem); and a heap of pain killers (serious, crazy, unending NERVE pain). Plus misc other meds to combat side effects of the "big meds." Pharma loves this scenario. Pain MANAGEMENT doctors are now called Pain MEDICINE docs. Many times I wanted to 'soldier through' the pain but was advised the RSD would worsen. (RSD cripples. And NERVE pain IS unbearable.) Headed down a path of lifelong medication, against advice, I insisted "get me off all these drugs!" Now "bad pain days" are better than "good days" used to be when medicated. Getting approval for PT (the best treatment) was always hard, but drug approval is absolutely NO PROBLEM!. Too many details ... just needed to make the additional point that the current system, so mired in the Pharmaceutical industry, steers patients into medication bigtime and longterm. Huge chunks of money would be saved if the system was as intent on getting you OFF medication as it is about getting you ON it. I'm glad I have insurance, but I never thought a broken hand would cost me ten grand out of my pocket since I do have insurance. And I'm glad I got the medication I truly needed, but was uncomfortable with the doc's resistance to helping me get UNmedicated. And, even with all the problems and unfair expense, I absolutely do want all my fellow citizens to have health insurance and access to care. (I'm 100% for single-payer. Healthcare, like Police and Fire, should not be for-profit in the first place. High salaries are fine, but not corporate profiting off people's suffering. It's sick, twisted and barbaric. And it should all be off the backs of employers -- how can we be competitive when others in the world do not have these expenses in producing their goods? We negotiated away single-payer and should settle for NO LESS than a Public OPTION!)

One of the countless stories on the wonderful healthcare system in the US. Truly tragic.

2009-09-10T15:07:00.002-05:00

From BarackObama.com

Sarahjean
Seattle, WA

In 2004 I was a healthy athletic 23 year old. I had just changed jobs and was in the last 30 days before getting my health insurance coverage. While watching the disappointing election results I decided to go to bed. On my way to bed I checked to make sure the back door was locked. I tripped over a boot on the back stairwell and fell into the basement. As I fell I twisted my right leg 180 degrees, dislocated my shoulder and hip and broke my ankle. The back of my head was hit hard and I ended up doing a lot of damage to my sciatic nerve. It was 2am, I was alone in the basement and couldn't get up. When I finally did get to the hospital they hold me I had a "Sprained" my leg and shoulder and sent me home after hours and hours of waiting. But that wasn't what was wrong with me. As my nervous system broke down the pain increased I knew something big was wrong. A week later I couldn't even breath it hurt so bad and my leg was almost black it was so purple and swollen. I went back to the E.R. For 8 hours I had to wait and they let me scream in pain, occasionally coming up to me to tell me to "be quite, your disturbing the other patients..." I couldn't understand how they could just ignore me. Finally an orthopedic doctor from outside of the E.R. came to see me. He immediately knew what was wrong with me. That was such a relief. However I needed a lot of medication to control the pain and a lot of tests to find out the extent of the damage. In his words I was lucky not to be paralyzed. The normal result for the injury I had gone thru. Instead my injury was hypersensitivity. The nerves constantly fired "pain" signals to the brain, and if I moved or was touched they went into overdrive. Not to mention the broken ankle, dislocated joints, and too many pulled or torn muscles, tendons or ligaments to count. I could not work, I could not even dress or bath myself due to the extent of the injuries. I had to sell all my assets and wait over 4 months before running out of money entirely before I could get medicare. Although it was some help, it didn't cover 1/4 of what I needed. Most doctors just passed me off to other doctors and I fell thru every loop whole or crack in the system. Meanwhile my injuries healed incorrectly further complicating it. One day I got to see the same wonderful orthopedic doctor again, he told me in confidence that I would never actually get the treatments I needed because I didnt' have the right insurance coverage. I was both crushed and happy to know someone was at least being honest with me. Shortly after that medicare changed their coverage and everything that I needed was no longer covered. After that I moved out of state to live with my mother. The only government assistance I got was food stamps. My mother actually went thru bankruptcy due to the medical bills. One woman at DHS actually told me to get pregnant so I could get coverage and assistance. I was shocked and horrified by that thought. I couldn't take care of myself and she wants me to have a child?! What kind of system is that!? I'm now 28, I spent 2.5 years bed ridden, needing other's to dress and bath me, and requiring assistance for almost everything else. Another year or so was spent between wheelchair (that I couldn't push, due to my shoulder) and crutches or walker. Only within this last year have I been able to walk on my own. I cannot run, jump or crawl, but I can walk. I have spent my 20's watching my friends go on vacations, playing beach volly ball and go kayaking. Get their masters and PhDs, get married, buy homes and started having families. I have been impoverished, and emotionally beaten down. I push myself to work full time so I can afford to live. I damage my body by working, but it's the only way I can make enough to get health insurance. Insurance I cannot afford to actually use since because of my medical history my insurance costs are thru the roof! But I've suffered for 5 years because of a 30 day gap in insurance coverage. The system failed me. I'm told I can no longer carry a child due to the spinal and hip injury. I have to get constant therapy treatments just so I can walk and move and work, but it's the walking and moving and working that require me to get the treatments. It's a catch 22. I am a 28 year old college educated woman, who put myself thru collage - who now cannot afford to support myself. I have spent the last 5 years of my life in pain, living off of others for an injury that I should be been able to recover for in a year or less. It now will dominate the rest of my life. This is something that no other person or family should have to go thru. I support health care reform and beg others to as well. ~Sarahjean

New IPhone commercial.

2009-08-28T14:38:00.001-05:00

Lots of new useful apps.

Boehnor on Kennedy death.

2009-08-26T12:57:00.001-05:00

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Kennedy was a "tireless public servant. . . . While there were few political issues on which he and I agreed, our relationship was never disagreeable."

In other words,

"Just in case my fellow republicans decide to judge me by my kind words on the senator's death, I am going to make sure they know where I stand on issues."

The Lion Roars No More. Feb 22, 1932 - Aug 25, 2009

2009-08-26T09:15:00.005-05:00

Sen Kennedy has died of a malignant glioma, a type of incurable brain tumour, nearly 14 months after he was diagnosed with it following a seizure.

I have enormous admiration for this man. He was wealthy beyond what most people can imagine, but his true wealth was his abundant love for his fellow man, the downtrodden, the not so lucky among us. He fought a tireless battle to make sure that a family fighting for their little one's life following say a dignosis of cancer, will not end up losing the very place, the very home that family might have to come back to live, with or without that little one. Those kind of unspeakable tragedies happen in this country, the wealthiest of all nations, and it is ironic that there was only this lone lion roaring against this gross injustice, in all of US Senate.

And now that cause has lost a tireless champion. In a year, in a period where we needed him even more, when President Obama could have used his wisdom, we lose him. But my hope is, his death would cause the liberals and progressives to create an even bigger sense of urgency to have a meaningful health care reform bill that includes that vital Public Option, that buy-in to Medicare for all.

And lets call that bill the Edward Kennedy Health Care Reform bill.

RIP, Teddy. You made me proud to call myself a liberal and a progressive.

Obama townhall Live..

2009-08-20T14:37:00.007-05:00

Going on now. And he is rocking.

Next time someone tells me he or she has no idea what Obama's health care reform plan is, I got news for them.

1. Public Option - for those among us who are unfortunate enough to be poor or sick, or ever have been chronically ill. Two preconditions our wonderful insurance companies frown upon.

2. For the rest 80% of the country who already have insurance through your employer, you will no longer be screwed over. Basically no limits, no limits by year, no pre existing condition bullpucky. Real insurance reform.

3. There are provisions like firewalls etc that prevent an employer from dumping the group health coverage plan to force the employees to choose Public Option.

4. Pay for all of it. Not kicking the can down to our kids. 100 Billion a year - yeah the richest country in the world can afford that, through cuts in costs.

So thank Pres Obama (if this passes) the next time you fall ill, and not have to wrangle with the insensitive idiots at Wellpoint and UHC and Blue Cross. Enough with protecting companies for eight long years.

Or call and thank your Republicans and fellow Blue dog dems who stopped meaningful health care, after you lose your battle with your private insurance company trying to file a claim.

How to deal with morons - 101.

2009-08-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

Take it away, Barney!!

Health care horror stories.

2009-08-14T14:04:00.003-05:00

I've found no medical providers willing to negotiate with me for their services. In fact, many of them seem almost totally unfamiliar with HSAs and how they work. And what patient really wants to try to negotiate lower prices with a provider? Talk about uneven bargaining positions. That's just another conservative "let-the-marketplace-decide" pipedream that is totally removed from reality.

I'm also deterred from seeking timely care because I don't want to make myself uninsurable in the future. Last year, I applied for a group policy through my alumni association. After I completed the detailed application and provided additional information over the phone, I received a letter telling me Blue Cross California was "declining" my coverage. Days later, I received another letter listing three reasons:

* Knee tendonitis and low arches treated with physical therapy (in 2002)
* Shin splints treated with physical therapy within the past year (which
cost me $3,000 out of pocket)
* History of treatment for sciatica (once-in 2004)

My blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol are all low, and I weigh less now than I did 20 years ago in college. I take no prescription drugs, have never been seriously ill, and have never received ominous test results. But I couldn't get group coverage because I'd previously sought medical care while insured under COBRA or grad school policies. And a traditional individual policy would be prohibitively expensive. This is how we encourage people to become entrepreneurs?

Our system is clearly in need of reform.
- From Andrew Sullivan Blog.
Here's another one:
I have been self employed with an HSA for my family for about 4 years. My experience with finding out even approximately what a procedure would cost was a nightmare. My son was having one of the most simple procedures done, ear tubes. Yet no single person could even give a ball park figure for what the procedure would cost. Individual calls needed to be made to the doctor performing the procedure, the hospital, the anesthesiologist, etc. Also, the costs for everyone varied on where the procedure was done.

When it was all said and done, the cost was $6,000 for a 10 minute routine procedure with no complications. This was up from $2,500 just two years earlier. The most touching part of the whole experience was realizing that the people doing the actual procedure, the doctor and the anesthesiologist, were less than 20% of the total cost.

Of course the ear-tubes were not covered because my son had one ear infection prior to getting our HSA coverage, so it was considered a preexisting condition. On a related note, my wife's entire back is not covered, not because she had some sort of prior procedure or injury, but because she has been to see a chiropractor. Also, her lungs are not covered because she has asthma. Brilliant.

I hate the Government! Make it smaller!!

2009-08-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

Adapted from a poster in NY Times. Kudos.

Bipartisanship.

2009-08-13T09:11:00.002-05:00

As the ConservaDems strive to get bipartisan support for the healthcare reform, and some of the republican members says things like it is not enough to get 60 votes to pass this as it affects the country so much, a pattern is becoming clear.

Conservadems, many of the ridiculously named 'Blue Dog Democrats', are essentially in the pockets of the Insurance and Big Pharma industries. Not as much as say Republicans, but non the less, they are. So - to pander to them, as well as pander to their party, they are doing their level best to do this comical circus act of riding in two boats, one leg in each.

Well, it was amusing so far, because it used to be a lot calmer waters. It is not anymore. Democratic activists have been awakened, and are taking serious note of these road-blocking Democrats, and seeing in them what they really are. It is a mystery what they think they can accomplish with this approach - that is, if they genuinely seek bipartisanship with the likes of Sens. Grassley and Issakson, or if they are merely playing along to appease their corporate donors.

Either way, the fact remains they are doing a huge disservice to the needy, the less fortunate Americans who deserve good health care without getting their bejeezeus scared out of them everytime they have a fever. Conservatives will always stand in the way of social reform. Spending money to improve the overall life of a country's citizens is socialism to them. Welfare is a bad word to them - without realizing the first words written in the Constitution talks explicitly about the welfare of the people as in "in order to form a more perfect union, ...provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare".

So is Medicare - that other socialist program - bad for the country as well? Well - you can ask the seniors how they like em now, and the overwhelming majority likes it. The reason is that they do not have to run scared from one insurance company to another, getting their hopes dashed and chance of survival dim, in case of a catastrophic illness.

So lets see how the conservatives, the Republicans voted for this program, shall we? In 1965, in a Democratic controlled Presidency (Johnson) and Congress, the Senate (68Dems-32Repub) voted 70-24, and the House voted 307-116.
60% Senate and 50% House Republicans voted against it, while only 16% Senate and 19% House Democrats voted against it.

So seniors, GIVE THANKS to your Republican senators and representatives next time you see them for helping to do their best to stop giving you quality care. They infact tried to create a Death Squad for you, not Death Panel. Because a Death Squad will kill you - no questions asked.

Or we can thank the Democrats and their innate feelings of societal obligations and that idea of 'I am my brother's keeper', that kept us from seeing a lot of elderly indigent folks by helping pass the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare of 1965.

Now back to the point of all this. It's nearly 45 years since the last major social reform, and it's time for a new one. Something that would help Americans deal with the skyrocketing cost of healthcare in this country. We have a President who experienced it first hand when his own mother was diagnosed with cancer, and in the end died from it. He has talked about the fact that one of the lasting memories he has is seeing his mother talking and arguing with Insurance companies. So Senator Kyl, contrary to what you said, we do need reform and regulations for the Insurance industry.

Healthcare reform with a Public Option will be passed without Republican support (as usual) in Obama's first term, and if ConservaDems are going to stand in front of this, you won't have your seats in the next election.

My Kenyan Birth Certificate!

2009-08-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

Bet you didn't know I was born in Mombasa, did you?

So you think you can douche?? - Jon Stewart once again at his best

2009-07-30T09:22:00.003-05:00

Glenn Beck needs to lower his dose of crazy pills he is taking lately.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-29-2009/so-you-think-you-can-douche

Parents visit - good food, good friends..

2009-07-23T16:05:00.001-05:00

Mumbai Terrorist Attacks - Amazing video

2009-07-15T14:12:00.005-05:00

This shows the videos of the gunmen juxtaposed with the conversations they were having with their handlers coming from hundreds of miles away, urging them to keep shooting and killing..

Also you can see the confession from the lone terrorist who was captured.

Sure it is a forced confession. Some force is good in this case, especially when you have video clips of the guy walking around with that smug look of a tough guy with an AK47 mowing down innocent people, all with that cocky self assurance of his impending ascension to paradise.

Reality bites. Paradise will have to wait. Once he is jailbait in a supermax Indian jail, he would be hoping for that capital punishment that just might not come his way.

Niagra Falls - Stop Motion Video

2009-07-14T16:38:00.001-05:00

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman on Vimeo.

New Balance - Made in USA (well, currently 25% Made in USA)

2009-07-01T13:10:00.002-05:00

Still - it is a lot better than 100% made elsewhere. A video about their town. This can be Anytown, USA. But this is real.

So buy American. Whenever possible.

ABC..Z.

2009-06-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

R.I.P, MJ.

I do Remember The Time.

Single payor system - who is lying here?

2009-06-11T15:21:00.003-05:00

Here are two comments towards Kristof's OpEd in the Times today. Do I trust these two letters that sound so absolutely genuine, or the utter farcical comments that roll off our Republican senators against the Obama plan? Frankly, you guys are nothing but liars, and corrupt, deep in the pockets of the big Pharma and empty suited interests like the AMA.

Dear Nicholas Kristof,

Thank you for telling the truth about Canadian
health care.

31 years ago, my wife gave birth in Toronto There were many
complications and at one point we had three nurses, plus the obstetrician, plus
much equipment--all needed. The day after my wife came home she had to return to
the hospital for further recovery; that time she had a private room.

The
entire bill was $12.

A year later, back in the US, our perfectly healthy
son had a severe asthma attack and spent several days in a hospital in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. The day after he came home, I then discovered that our American
medical insurance had been cancelled without informing me. The bed alone was
$900.

I am tired of living in a country where insurance moguls are evil
enough to tell lies about Canada--and where the people are gullible enough to
believe them.
— John McCumber, UCLA Los Angeles

All expats, like us, shake our heads in dismay when we read about US
"health scare" politics.

My wife gave birth to a beautiful child in
January. We received only one bill: 101 Euros (less than $150). And that's
because we chose to pay for the private room instead of the free double.
Standard length of stay after child delivery: 3 days.

All the ObGyn
visits, all the blood tests, all the postnatal visits: covered.

How much
do we pay in health care per year (a family of 6)? A little under $1000. We
chose our own doctors - any doctors. When someone is sick, we call our doctor
and are seen usually within 2 hours.

When one of our children suffered
seizures a few years back she was flown by helicopter to a University hospital
80 miles away. I fainted when I received the bill: $0. Including 2 days at the
hospital for observation.

After years of Florida hanging chads, WMDs,
swiftboat veterans, Katrina, default swaps and Palin-craze, it's so depressing
to read about the return of Harry and Louise. (Where's my glass of Bordeaux?)

— Mbalick, Saumur, France

Not to forget my own mom's experience in India - where she managed to get excellent care for her BC diagnosis, without going broke.

So yeah, it works everywhere else in the world, Senators. It will work exceptionally well here - but you have to be honest, and not corrupt.

Not torture? Talk to this Marine..

2009-06-11T08:59:00.002-05:00

To all the people I have debated on this issue who argue that waterboarding is not torture. From Andrew Sullivan.

Detainee deaths under US Custody - till early 2006.

2009-06-09T14:39:00.004-05:00

Torture or otherwise - full list here from Human Rights First.

The Physics of Chemistry Explained Better..

2009-06-09T12:46:00.001-05:00

A cut-up of Dick - by Stewart.

2009-06-05T12:58:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Dick (Uncut)

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economic Crisis

Once again - superhuman skills. This time, no bikes.

2009-06-03T07:58:00.001-05:00

This time it is Damien Walters, acting like he's been eating a lot of rubber.

And here's why we should shut down this hell called GITMO.

2009-05-22T12:28:00.003-05:00

From the Rolling Stone article by Jeff Tietz, about the teenaged detainee Omar Khadr.

Upon their return, the MPs uncuffed Omar’s arms, pulled them behind his back, and recuffed them to his legs, straining them badly at their sockets. At the junction of his arms and legs he was again bolted to the floor and left alone. The degree of pain a human body experiences in this from of “stress positioning” can quickly lead to delirium, and ultimately to unconsciousness. Before that happened, the MPs returned, forced Omar onto his knees, and cuffed his wrists and ankles together behind his back. This made his body into a kind of bow, his torso convex and rigid, right at the limit of its flexibility. The force of his cuffed wrists straining upward against his cuffed ankles drove his kneecaps into the concrete floor. The guards left.

An hour or two later they came back, checked the tautness of the chains between his hands and feet, and pushed him over onto his stomach. Transfixed in his bonds, Omar toppled like a figurine. Again they left. Many hours had passed since Omar had been taken from his cell. He urinated on himself and onto the floor. The MPs returned, mocked him for a while, and then poured pine oil solvent all over his body. Without altering his chains, they began dragging him by his feet through the mixture of urine and pine oil. Because his body had been so tightened, the new motion racked it. The MPs swung him around and around, the piss and solvent washing up into his face. The idea was to use him as a human mop. When the MPs felt they had sucessfully pretended to soak up the liquid with his body, they uncuffed him and carried him back to his cell. He was not allowed a change of clothes for two days.

Open Letter to Sen Harry Reid, Nevada.

2009-05-22T11:25:00.001-05:00

Dear Senator Reid,

After 8 painful years longing for freedom, liberty, justice , truth and rule of law to prevail in this country, we the Democrats finally managed to regain the upperhand. Without a shred of doubt, I can state that we managed to do this because of one man. President Obama. His campaign, and his rhetoric was highly instrumental in accomplishing what was considered impossible, especially if you think back to the night when election results were being announced in 2004. We were floundering, and he electrified the nation and gave the party the tremendous momentum to steamroll over Republicans.

I give you credit as well - but now I am dumbfounded and saddened, and frankly disappointed in your leadership role when you decided to oppose Pres Obama in closing Guantanamo Bay prison camp. That place - however well it is being run now- came out of the Bush regime, and is a tremendous blot on America, and her strong adherence to the rule of law. Your extremely feeble excuses about this vast and rich country not having resources to imprison/process just a tad under 200 detainees housed there reeks of rank politics, self serving at best, and not with the best interests of this country at worst.

When you muttered something like "we have to free them before we can imprison them" or something similar, it showed an extremely shallow thought process that defied imagination, that made you incapable of defending your own decision. And that is not leadership, Sir.

Hope you will reconsider, and support our President going forward. It was a hard won victory, and Republicans enjoy seeing us fight among each other, especially on issues like this.

I mean no disrespect to you in person here. Just decided to voice my disppointment and disagreement. You are not my senator in that I live in Missouri, but you are the leader in Senate, and as such is responsible for herding these cats in the right way.

Thanks for your time.
Regards
Anil Pillai.
314 308 1288.

Pres. Obama - National Security Speech - National Archives.

2009-05-21T11:08:00.001-05:00

These are extraordinary times for our country. We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century. There is no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear.

And we have begun to make progress. Just this week, we have taken steps to protect American consumers and homeowners, and to reform our system of government contracting so that we better protect our people while spending our money more wisely. The engines of our economy are slowly beginning to turn, and we are working toward historic reform of health care and energy. I welcome the hard work that has been done by the Congress on these and other issues.

In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.

This responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology threatens our people, and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm. We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.

Already, we have taken several steps to achieve that goal. For the first time since 2002, we are providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy. We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the world's most dangerous people access to the world's deadliest weapons, and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border, and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we once again have the strength and standing to truly lead the world.

These steps are all critical to keeping America secure. But I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights –are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality and dignity in the world.

I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn of their truth when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words – "to form a more perfect union." I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never – ever – turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.

I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset – in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.

Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.

It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing they'd receive better treatment from America's armed forces than from their own government.

It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.

It is the reason why we've been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.

From Europe to the Pacific, we have been a nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law. That is who we are. And where terrorists offer only the injustice of disorder and destruction, America must demonstrate that our values and institutions are more resilient than a hateful ideology.

After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era – that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.

Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that – too often – our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us – Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens – fell silent.

In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach – one that rejected torture, and recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Now let me be clear: we are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat. But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability. For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable – a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass. And that is why I took several steps upon taking office to better protect the American people.

First, I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.

I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts – they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.

The arguments against these techniques did not originate from my Administration. As Senator McCain once said, torture "serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us." And even under President Bush, there was recognition among members of his Administration – including a Secretary of State, other senior officials, and many in the military and intelligence community – that those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. We must leave these methods where they belong – in the past. They are not who we are. They are not America.

The second decision that I made was to order the closing of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists. Let me repeat that: three convictions in over seven years. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system. Meanwhile, over five hundred and twenty-five detainees were released from Guantanamo under the Bush Administration. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of the detainees were released before I took office and ordered the closure of Guantanamo.

There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law. Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law – a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.

So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.

The third decision that I made was to order a review of all the pending cases at Guantanamo.

I knew when I ordered Guantanamo closed that it would be difficult and complex. There are 240 people there who have now spent years in legal limbo. In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. We are cleaning up something that is – quite simply – a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.

Indeed, the legal challenges that have sparked so much debate in recent weeks in Washington would be taking place whether or not I decided to close Guantanamo. For example, the court order to release seventeen Uighur detainees took place last fall – when George Bush was President. The Supreme Court that invalidated the system of prosecution at Guantanamo in 2006 was overwhelmingly appointed by Republican Presidents. In other words, the problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.

There are no neat or easy answers here. But I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo. As President, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. Our security interests won't permit it. Our courts won't allow it. And neither should our conscience.

Now, over the last several weeks, we have seen a return of the politicization of these issues that have characterized the last several years. I understand that these problems arouse passions and concerns. They should. We are confronting some of the most complicated questions that a democracy can face. But I have no interest in spending our time re-litigating the policies of the last eight years. I want to solve these problems, and I want to solve them together as Americans.

And we will be ill-served by some of the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue. Listening to the recent debate, I've heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them; words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country. So I want to take this opportunity to lay out what we are doing, and how we intend to resolve these outstanding issues. I will explain how each action that we are taking will help build a framework that protects both the American people and the values that we hold dear. And I will focus on two broad areas: first, issues relating to Guantanamo and our detention policy; second, issues relating to security and transparency.

Let me begin by disposing of one argument as plainly as I can: we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people. Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders – highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety. As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact: nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal "supermax" prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. As Senator Lindsey Graham said: "The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational."

We are currently in the process of reviewing each of the detainee cases at Guantanamo to determine the appropriate policy for dealing with them. As we do so, we are acutely aware that under the last Administration, detainees were released only to return to the battlefield. That is why we are doing away with the poorly planned, haphazard approach that let those detainees go in the past. Instead, we are treating these cases with the care and attention that the law requires and our security demands. Going forward, these cases will fall into five distinct categories.

First, when feasible, we will try those who have violated American criminal laws in federal courts – courts provided for by the United States Constitution. Some have derided our federal courts as incapable of handling the trials of terrorists. They are wrong. Our courts and juries of our citizens are tough enough to convict terrorists, and the record makes that clear. Ramzi Yousef tried to blow up the World Trade Center – he was convicted in our courts, and is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison. Zaccarias Moussaoui has been identified as the 20th 9/11 hijacker – he was convicted in our courts, and he too is serving a life sentence in prison. If we can try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo.

Recently, we prosecuted and received a guilty plea from a detainee – al-Marri – in federal court after years of legal confusion. We are preparing to transfer another detainee to the Southern District of New York, where he will face trial on charges related to the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania – bombings that killed over 200 people. Preventing this detainee from coming to our shores would prevent his trial and conviction. And after over a decade, it is time to finally see that justice is served, and that is what we intend to do.

The second category of cases involves detainees who violate the laws of war and are best tried through Military Commissions. Military commissions have a history in the United States dating back to George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They are an appropriate venue for trying detainees for violations of the laws of war. They allow for the protection of sensitive sources and methods of intelligence-gathering; for the safety and security of participants; and for the presentation of evidence gathered from the battlefield that cannot be effectively presented in federal Courts.

Now, some have suggested that this represents a reversal on my part. They are wrong. In 2006, I did strongly oppose legislation proposed by the Bush Administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework, with the kind of meaningful due process and rights for the accused that could stand up on appeal. I did, however, support the use of military commissions to try detainees, provided there were several reforms. And those are the reforms that we are making.

Instead of using the flawed Commissions of the last seven years, my Administration is bringing our Commissions in line with the rule of law. The rule will no longer permit us to use as evidence statements that have been obtained using cruel, inhuman, or degrading interrogation methods. We will no longer place the burden to prove that hearsay is unreliable on the opponent of the hearsay. And we will give detainees greater latitude in selecting their own counsel, and more protections if they refuse to testify. These reforms – among others – will make our Military Commissions a more credible and effective means of administering justice, and I will work with Congress and legal authorities across the political spectrum on legislation to ensure that these Commissions are fair, legitimate, and effective.

The third category of detainees includes those who we have been ordered released by the courts. Let me repeat what I said earlier: this has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to close Guantanamo. It has to do with the rule of law. The courts have found that there is no legitimate reason to hold twenty-one of the people currently held at Guantanamo. Twenty of these findings took place before I came into office. The United States is a nation of laws, and we must abide by these rulings.

The fourth category of cases involves detainees who we have determined can be transferred safely to another country. So far, our review team has approved fifty detainees for transfer. And my Administration is in ongoing discussions with a number of other countries about the transfer of detainees to their soil for detention and rehabilitation.

Finally, there remains the question of detainees at Guantanamo who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people.

I want to be honest: this is the toughest issue we will face. We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.

As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture – like other prisoners of war – must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. That is why my Administration has begun to reshape these standards to ensure they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible and lawful standards for those who fall in this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don't make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.

I know that creating such a system poses unique challenges. Other countries have grappled with this question, and so must we. But I want to be very clear that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for Guantanamo detainees – not to avoid one. In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man. If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight. And so going forward, my Administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution.

As our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if we refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing. I am not the only person in this city who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution – so did each and every member of Congress. Together we have a responsibility to enlist our values in the effort to secure our people, and to leave behind the legacy that makes it easier for future Presidents to keep this country safe.

The second set of issues that I want to discuss relates to security and transparency.

National security requires a delicate balance. Our democracy depends upon transparency, but some information must be protected from public disclosure for the sake of our security – for instance, the movements of our troops; our intelligence-gathering; or the information we have about a terrorist organization and its affiliates. In these and other cases, lives are at stake.

Several weeks ago, as part of an ongoing court case, I released memos issued by the previous Administration's Office of Legal Counsel. I did not do this because I disagreed with the enhanced interrogation techniques that those memos authorized, or because I reject their legal rationale – although I do on both counts. I released the memos because the existence of that approach to interrogation was already widely known, the Bush Administration had acknowledged its existence, and I had already banned those methods. The argument that somehow by releasing those memos, we are providing terrorists with information about how they will be interrogated is unfounded – we will not be interrogating terrorists using that approach, because that approach is now prohibited.

In short, I released these memos because there was no overriding reason to protect them. And the ensuing debate has helped the American people better understand how these interrogation methods came to be authorized and used.

On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that were taken of detainees by U.S. personnel between 2002 and 2004. Individuals who violated standards of behavior in these photos have been investigated and held accountable. There is no debate as to whether what is reflected in those photos is wrong, and nothing has been concealed to absolve perpetrators of crimes. However, it was my judgment – informed by my national security team – that releasing these photos would inflame anti-American opinion, and allow our enemies to paint U.S. troops with a broad, damning and inaccurate brush, endangering them in theaters of war.

In short, there is a clear and compelling reason to not release these particular photos. There are nearly 200,000 Americans who are serving in harm's way, and I have a solemn responsibility for their safety as Commander-in-Chief. Nothing would be gained by the release of these photos that matters more than the lives of our young men and women serving in harm's way.

In each of these cases, I had to strike the right balance between transparency and national security. This balance brings with it a precious responsibility. And there is no doubt that the American people have seen this balance tested. In the images from Abu Ghraib and the brutal interrogation techniques made public long before I was President, the American people learned of actions taken in their name that bear no resemblance to the ideals that generations of Americans have fought for. And whether it was the run-up to the Iraq War or the revelation of secret programs, Americans often felt like part of the story had been unnecessarily withheld from them. That causes suspicion to build up. That leads to a thirst for accountability.

I ran for President promising transparency, and I meant what I said. That is why, whenever possible, we will make information available to the American people so that they can make informed judgments and hold us accountable. But I have never argued – and never will – that our most sensitive national security matters should be an open book. I will never abandon – and I will vigorously defend – the necessity of classification to defend our troops at war; to protect sources and methods; and to safeguard confidential actions that keep the American people safe. And so, whenever we cannot release certain information to the public for valid national security reasons, I will insist that there is oversight of my actions – by Congress or by the courts.

We are launching a review of current policies by all of those agencies responsible for the classification of documents to determine where reforms are possible, and to assure that the other branches of government will be in a position to review executive branch decisions on these matters. Because in our system of checks and balances, someone must always watch over the watchers – especially when it comes to sensitive information.

Along those same lines, my Administration is also confronting challenges to what is known as the "State Secrets" privilege. This is a doctrine that allows the government to challenge legal cases involving secret programs. It has been used by many past Presidents – Republican and Democrat – for many decades. And while this principle is absolutely necessary to protect national security, I am concerned that it has been over-used. We must not protect information merely because it reveals the violation of a law or embarrasses the government. That is why my Administration is nearing completion of a thorough review of this practice.

We plan to embrace several principles for reform. We will apply a stricter legal test to material that can be protected under the State Secrets privilege. We will not assert the privilege in court without first following a formal process, including review by a Justice Department committee and the personal approval of the Attorney General. Finally, each year we will voluntarily report to Congress when we have invoked the privilege and why, because there must be proper oversight of our actions.

On all of these matter related to the disclosure of sensitive information, I wish I could say that there is a simple formula. But there is not. These are tough calls involving competing concerns, and they require a surgical approach. But the common thread that runs through all of my decisions is simple: we will safeguard what we must to protect the American people, but we will also ensure the accountability and oversight that is the hallmark of our constitutional system. I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable. I will deal with Congress and the courts as co-equal branches of government. I will tell the American people what I know and don't know, and when I release something publicly or keep something secret, I will tell you why.

In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years. To protect the American people and our values, we have banned enhanced interrogation techniques. We are closing the prison at Guantanamo. We are reforming Military Commissions, and we will pursue a new legal regime to detain terrorists. We are declassifying more information and embracing more oversight of our actions, and narrowing our use of the State Secrets privilege. These are dramatic changes that will put our approach to national security on a surer, safer and more sustainable footing, and their implementation will take time.

There is a core principle that we will apply to all of our actions: even as we clean up the mess at Guantanamo, we will constantly re-evaluate our approach, subject our decisions to review from the other branches of government, and seek the strongest and most sustainable legal framework for addressing these issues in the long-term. By doing that, we can leave behind a legacy that outlasts my Administration, and that endures for the next President and the President after that; a legacy that protects the American people, and enjoys broad legitimacy at home and abroad.

That is what I mean when I say that we need to focus on the future. I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November. And I know that these debates lead directly to a call for a fuller accounting, perhaps through an Independent Commission.

I have opposed the creation of such a Commission because I believe that our existing democratic institutions are strong enough to deliver accountability. The Congress can review abuses of our values, and there are ongoing inquiries by the Congress into matters like enhanced interrogation techniques. The Department of Justice and our courts can work through and punish any violations of our laws.

I understand that it is no secret that there is a tendency in Washington to spend our time pointing fingers at one another. And our media culture feeds the impulses that lead to a good fight. Nothing will contribute more to that than an extended re-litigation of the last eight years. Already, we have seen how that kind of effort only leads those in Washington to different sides laying blame, and can distract us from focusing our time, our effort, and our politics on the challenges of the future.

We see that, above all, in how the recent debate has been obscured by two opposite and absolutist ends. On one side of the spectrum, there are those who make little allowance for the unique challenges posed by terrorism, and who would almost never put national security over transparency. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: "anything goes." Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants – provided that it is a President with whom they agree.

Both sides may be sincere in their views, but neither side is right. The American people are not absolutist, and they don't elect us to impose a rigid ideology on our problems. They know that we need not sacrifice our security for our values, nor sacrifice our values for our security, so long as we approach difficult questions with honesty, and care, and a dose of common sense. That, after all, is the unique genius of America. That is the challenge laid down by our Constitution. That has been the source of our strength through the ages. That is what makes the United States of America different as a nation.

I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture, and that we will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law. Make no mistake: if we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that as President. And if we cannot stand for those core values, then we are not keeping faith with the documents that are enshrined in this hall.

The Framers who drafted the Constitution could not have foreseen the challenges that have unfolded over the last two hundred and twenty two years. But our Constitution has endured through secession and civil rights – through World War and Cold War – because it provides a foundation of principles that can be applied pragmatically; it provides a compass that can help us find our way. It hasn't always been easy. We are an imperfect people. Every now and then, there are those who think that America's safety and success requires us to walk away from the sacred principles enshrined in this building. We hear such voices today. But the American people have resisted that temptation. And though we have made our share of mistakes and course corrections, we have held fast to the principles that have been the source of our strength, and a beacon to the world.

Now, this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. Unlike the Civil War or World War II, we cannot count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and – in all probability – ten years from now. Neither I nor anyone else can standing here today can say that there will not be another terrorist attack that takes American lives. But I can say with certainty that my Administration – along with our extraordinary troops and the patriotic men and women who defend our national security – will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe. And I do know with certainty that we can defeat al Qaeda. Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies, and they will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are; if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals.

This must be our common purpose. I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together. We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America – it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation. We have done so before in times that were more perilous than ours. We will do so once again. Thank you, God Bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

My remark prior to Obama's Guantanamo speech

2009-05-21T09:45:00.002-05:00

On StlToday.com

Reagan famously said, “America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.” And he is quite right about that. My perspective on this is different from the average American. I am a legal immigrant to this country, and what has always attracted me to America and her people is this strong sense of Law, this pervasive feel that here is a country where no man is above the law. You break a law, you will do the time for it. She stood for freedom and justice for all. And I mean all.

That is the iconic image of America as a country on the outside, on the other side of the world, including in many Islamic countries despite the various sins commited, well meaning or otherwise, by various US Administrations. The collective good of America has always blotted out these sometimes violent mistakes.

And post 9/11, America shined even more brighter around the world. Wars, both of need and of choice were fought. Too late to change any of that. But in that fog of war, if we managed to avoid/circumvent/blatantly break the laws of this country and to the contracts it is a signatory to, then that needs to be addressed. Especially if it resulted in detainees who could be innocent getting held up for indefinite amount of time (as they say, this so called war on terror will be forever), it is a huge affront to the principles of Liberty and Freedom that we so espouse.

Guantanamo was chosen to be used to circumvent American legal authority - but it is firmly under American control. We do not need to go that way. America is a vast country with large extremely sparsely populated areas. We can build a federal prison, bring them in, and process them one by one. If they didn’t do a crime, send them home to their families. Else, imprison them here for life. Instead of destroying human rights, uphold the rule of law, and create a better security monitoring environment where by these released detainees or others never ever get to plan an attack.

Cheney is a Traitor.

2009-05-11T13:15:00.005-05:00

Andrew Sullivan nails this scum to a wall - if nailing scum is humanly possible. Especially someone as slimy as Cheney. You will be hard pressed to find as despicable a public character as he is in America right now.

Hope I can see him being arrested and thrown in jail in my lifetime, but till then guys like Sullivan can excoriate him as much as they can. Until then, I will just enjoy the visions of a crushed Cheney in a jail cell.

Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

I don't know how else to interpret his obviously self-destructive grandstanding this weekend. But think of the long view for a moment. Here is a former vice-president, who enjoyed unprecedented power for eight long, long years. No veep ever wielded power like he did in the long history of American government. In the months after 9/11, he swept all Congressional resistance away, exerted total executive power, wielded a military and paramilitary apparatus far mightier than all its rivals combined and mightier than any power in history, tapped any phone he wanted, claimed the right to torture any suspect he wanted (and followed through with thousands, from Bagram to Abu Ghraib) and was able to print and borrow money with impunity to finance all of it without a worry in the world. But even after all that, he cannot tolerate a few months of someone else, duly elected, having a chance to govern the country with a decent interval of grace.

What character does this reveal? The same character that sees torture - torture - as a "no-brainer". The same man who believes that freezing naked prisoners to hypothermia or strapping them to a board for a 175th near-drowning or stringing them up in stress positions so long the shackles rust up is in line with America's constitutional history and custom. The same tyrannical temperament that cannot abide another reality existing which isn't hammered or tortured into the shape he wants and demands.

Worse: he launches verbal assault after assault on the men and women who succeeded him. He accuses them of risking the lives of Americans, of making America less safe, and openly brags that his violation of the Geneva Conventions worked. Not content with writing his memoirs and letting history judge, he flails around like some prize fish, flapping on the deck of the boat, opening and shutting his mouth as his career expires.

And as history slowly accepts that this man disgraced his office more profoundly than any before him, as it sinks in that this man did not merely make mistakes, as all flawed politicians do, but committed war crimes, with pre-meditation and elaborate subterfuge, he slowly realizes what's happening to him. He can feel it. And so he resists the way he always resists - by lashing out, attacking, smearing, snearing, and grabbing every inch of the limelight he can.

Those of us who want him to face real accountability should, of course, welcome all this. Cheney does not seem to understand that he is incriminating himself further with every interview, every time he adjusts his story, every time he moves from torture as a "no-brainer" to a "last resort", every time he assaults yet another person who knows too much about him and what he did.
But does Cheney really believe that in a battle for the judgment of the American people, and for history, he will win a brawl with Colin Powell, with a man who is actually on record early on warning of the dire consequences of weakening or abandoning the Geneva Conventions?
Cheney wants a war with him? Now? Judged in the theater of public opinion - outside the Hannity-Limbaugh-Coulter ghetto?

They really do want to commit suicide, don't they? Well, I'm not in a rush to stop them.

Sarah Palin Nursing Chair

2009-05-04T15:47:00.002-05:00

aww..

Astonishngly Stupid.

2009-04-28T10:57:00.002-05:00

I don't find too many things about the Obama Administration that makes me froth at the mouth. In fact, I can handle almost all the decisions they made so far, the ones I like and the ones I do not like, with the 'you win some, you lose some' and 'they are doing their best under trying circumstances' arguments.

But this one - it takes the cake in terms of it's sheer absurdity, stupidity and complete ignorance of the ground facts. They flew a damn 747 just practically skimming the buildings over NY City. I don't usually panic under just about any circumstances - but I will guarantee you that i would have seeing the giant bird, followed by screaming fighter planes. And if I could panic, imagine the trauma caused to thousands of New Yorkers who lived through unspeakable tragedy on September 11, 2001.

I think heads should roll - no matter who in the highest levels knew about this. Do not care - fire em, Mr. President. Do not play with people's fear. The mind is a fragile thing for people who lived through a terrible tragedy - and to think so many people involved in this stupid stunt didn't think one bit of announcing to the public early enough that there might be a fly-by today - that shows utter disregard to the people of this city.

You can be good at something. Or you can be just phenomenal..

2009-04-27T15:24:00.001-05:00

This is just stunning.

Beautiful!

2009-04-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

EMBED-Sneezing In Ultra Slow Motion - Watch more free videos

A fast walking hypocrite - Peggy Noonan.

2009-04-24T08:57:00.002-05:00

Andrew Sullivan is on these days..

"The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing a triumph for the rule of law, a reassertion of the belief that no man is above it, and a rebuke for an arrogance that had grown imperial," - Peggy Noonan, December 21. 1998.

"It’s hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking, ‘Oh, much good will come of that.’ Sometimes in life you want to keep walking… Some of life has to be mysterious." - Peggy Noonan, April 19, 2009.

Remember also that the issue with Clinton was perjury in a civil suit. That required impeachment. But war crimes?

Faster, Peggy, faster.

Churchill Vs Cheney.

2009-04-23T13:54:00.002-05:00

Andrew Sullivan declares it is a no-contest. I agree.

Prosecute!

Obama - do the right thing.

2009-04-15T14:03:00.001-05:00

From Andrew Sullivan:

The question before the president today is not whether to prosecute his predecessors for war crimes; it is simply whether to release the memos that the Bush administration drew up describing in gruesome detail the torture techniques they authorized - or to cover them up. There are zero national security interests in keeping such information secret. The ICRC report has already detailed what was done to many high value detainees, and the methods are unequivocally war crimes, and known across the world. To directly attach such torture techniques to the specific decisions of the Bush administration merely provides accountability. No more; no less. It provides transparency.

Continue reading here..

Happy Patriot's Day.

2009-04-15T13:29:00.002-05:00

I have to completely echo Paul Begala's article on CNN today. Truer words have not been spoken. Bravo Paul. With implied permission and due recognition to you, I am copying this on to my blog. Here it is:

Happy Patriots' Day. April 15 is the one day a year when our country asks something of us -- or at least the vast majority of us.

For those who wear a military uniform, those who serve the rest of us as policemen and firefighters and teachers and other public servants, every day is patriots' day. They work hard for our country; many risk their lives -- and some lose their lives.

But for the rest of us, the civilian majority, our government asks very little. Except for April 15. On this day, our government asks that we pay our fair share of taxes to keep our beloved country strong and safe.

Freedom isn't free. That's what the courageous World War II veterans of the American Legion taught me back in Texas Boys State decades ago. That phrase had special meaning for them. Those guys had seen buddies blown apart at Anzio or Guadalcanal.

I grew up in a different era. There was no draft, and while I have friends and family members who joined the military, most of my peers, like me, opted for the security and prosperity of the private sector.

This country has showered me with the blessings of liberty. So what do I owe my country in return? Paying my fair share of taxes, it seems, is the least I can do. Thanks to President Obama and the Democratic Congress, 95 percent of Americans will get a tax cut this year. No one -- not even the wealthiest 1 percent -- will have to pay higher income taxes until 2011.

So why are a bunch of Fox News clowns and right-wing cranks hosting "tea parties" all over the country? The Boston Tea Party, in case the clods at Fox didn't know it, protested "taxation without representation." Note the second word: without. The goofballs tossing tea bags today have representation. They voted in the election; they lost.

That a bunch of overpaid media millionaires would lead a faux-populist revolt is comical. They somehow held their populist instincts in check as George W. Bush and the Republicans cut taxes on the idle rich and put the screws to the working stiffs.

Bush's tax policies were a godsend to the Paris Hilton class, but they sent the country on the road to bankruptcy and helped ruin the economy. But now that we the people have decided to set things right, now that we've hired Obama to fix the mess conservatives created, now they're protesting?

Give me a break. Instead of tossing tea bags for the cameras, the Fox phonies ought to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There they would find better, braver men who have truly sacrificed for their country. They deserve nothing but the best -- not the shameful and shoddy conditions they endured during the Bush administration.

You want something to protest? How 'bout protesting how little we give back to our veterans? Or how 'bout protesting that the entire budget of the National Cancer Institute (where government researchers battle a disease that will strike half of all men and a third of all women) is 0.03 percent of what we gave the bandits at American International Group alone? Oh, but veterans benefits and cancer research might cost money. It might require -- dare I say it? -- paying taxes.

If the whiners at Fox News want to advertise their selfishness, they are free to do so. But please don't dress it up as patriotism. Patriotism is putting your country ahead of yourself -- which is the precise opposite of what the tea party plutocrats are doing.

Like I said - I could not have put it better myself Paul. And you should be on more TV shows.

End of an ERa Tonight.

2009-04-02T14:52:00.002-05:00

Tonight happens to be the 332nd episode of ER - and it's final one. I will miss it for sure, and now Janie will too (she had taken a liking to it in the last few years).

This is a show that I have watched ever since I had a television in the US - and that would be around 1998. It is a remarkable achievement indeed. To have a cast that is rolling off into greener pastures, only to be replaced by a seemingly more talented bunch of people. To see youngish actors with freckles come in, and build themselves into fantastic characters, and then leave a vacuum when they either die or move on. Every episode managed to convey the underlying humanity even in the most autocratical of surgeons and chiefs.

If I have to choose a favorite - it would have been Dr.Greene's (Anthony Edwards) last episode. It was stunning.

So - with all that in mind, let there be many re-runs, starting with the first episode. Bravo!

There's the Queen - and then there's the Prince..

2009-04-02T14:18:00.002-05:00

Think Joe Biden is the most gaffe prone statesman out there? Think again. Here's Prince Philip:

The Duke was taped making the impolitic remark during a good-natured exchange with Barack Obama at Buckingham Palace this afternoon. His comment risks confirming his reputation as the most gaffe-prone royal.

As the two men waited with The Queen and Michelle Obama for the official photograph of their private meeting, the US president detailed his engagements in the capital earlier in the day.
"I had breakfast with the Prime Minister, I had meetings with the Chinese, the Russians, David Cameron... And I'm proud to say I did not nod off in one of the meetings," he said.

To which the Duke laughingly replied: "Can you tell the difference between them?"
While there is no suggestion that the 87-year-old intended to offend, his offhand comments about the physical similarities of foreign politicians at an event intended to strengthen global unity will raise eyebrows.

This is not first time that the Duke has got into trouble for alleged rudeness, particularly to foreigners. During a royal visit to China in 1986 he warned British students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed."

Seven years later her greeted a Briton in Hungary with the words: "You can't have been here that long – you haven't got a pot belly".

In 1998 he told a student visitor to Papua New Guinea that he had done well not to be eaten and in 1984 he asked a Kenyan woman "You are a woman, aren't you?".

Last year said to a group of belly-dancers: "I thought Eastern women just sit around smoking pipes and eating sweets all day".

And that is just incredible thinking how well the Queen speaks.

Gripping website..

2009-03-27T16:08:00.004-05:00

Websites and blogs - there are billions. I personally probably go through millions each year. Nothing sticks - until you hit some of these nuggets, and then all that time spent surfing all these days becomes worth while. It is almost like prospecting for gold..

Well, I just found a site that is stunningly good - and so thought provoking, it should be nominated for a Webby.

Days With My Father by Phillip Toledano.

So touching, and it makes you want to be thankful for what you have in your life now. And to tell our dads that we love them very much. I do.

Anything's possible..

2009-03-24T16:09:00.002-05:00

In USA..wait, I meant to say UK. This clip you are about to see is just amazing.

Mindertainment

2009-03-24T13:56:00.001-05:00

Six years and counting for the Wrong War.

2009-03-19T13:23:00.005-05:00

Six years ago this day, I remember sitting down in front of the TV to watch the start of America's latest misadventure. This one - even I predicted how it would end. I remember two days before that getting into a 'spirited' debate with one of my friends at the time about what the Bush Administration was trying to do.

Years later, I met him again, and he had the decency to admit he was wrong.

Here's to the hope that President Obama will somehow manage to finish what Bush and his acolytes foolishly started, the rationlizations of which are still evolving. The other day, Cheney claims that the major goal of this invasion was the Democratization of Iraq. Good to know - because clearly you would have gotten nowhere with the American people with that reason then. So Cheney lied his way into a war in which he had nothing to lose. The loss was suffered by millions of Iraqis, both men, women and kids, and hundreds of thousands of dead or maimed US soldiers and their families. Stuff happens, right, Cheney?

On this sixth anniversary, it is my hope that the so called leaders who l(i)ed us into an unnecessary war, and the atrocities that followed, be investigated and prosecuted, so such a cabal can never ever take over our country.

Something good has to come out of something so evil. Let this be it.

My Kidney, His Life.

2009-03-19T10:59:00.002-05:00

A wonderful movie made by a Washington Post journalist about his dad, and organ donation.

AIG - and our Congressional Witch Hunt.

2009-03-19T10:53:00.001-05:00

I get it. People are angry. I am angry. Barney Franks is angry. What I do not get is the lynch-mob mentality expressed by guys like Franks. I respect him as he says it like it is and is a good Democrat - but sometimes his crass and blunt ways of talking interferes with his way of thinking as well.

To me, it is not about the 160 million dollars in unearned bonus money, but about the attitude that got us to that point. What made the execs think it would be okay to reward incompetance? So yes, I do want the money returned - but I really really do not want to know their names. It is inconsequential (and potentially dangerous to their life) to me as to who they are - but what I want on the dock is the one official who ultimately is responsible for creating/approving such contracts.

That would be a good start. But no - absolutely do not publish the names of these recipients. And to the grandstanding Congressional members: Stop. Many of you sound and look utterly childish and immature with your nagging comments, like what the initials of AIG stands for, like Incompetence and Greed, etc.

C'mon. That is 4th grader stuff. Grow up.

The future, according to Microsoft - Year 2019.

2009-03-02T10:55:00.001-06:00

In ten years, we might be seeing all this and more. Created by Microsoft - many of these are already in the design phase.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-GB&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a517b260-bb6b-48b9-87ac-8e2743a28ec5&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Future Vision Montage">Video: Future Vision Montage</a>

So out of touch.

2009-02-27T09:30:00.003-06:00

Chalk it up to these minority Republican governors to remain completely out of touch to the plight of the middle class unemployed/underemployed.

Govs. Perry, Sanford, Jindal, Perdue et al - be very, very aware that the nation, and especially the denizens of your state are watching your every move. Your excuses of 'what will happen when the federal money runs out?' does not help, soothe or placate the troubled masses who are laid off. The Federal assistance runs in the billions - more than enough to help many unemployed from plunging deeper into credit card debts and worse, losing their home or the ability to provide for their family.

They are watching - so be very careful when you play with their lives while pandering to your selfish Republican idealogy. Take a lesson from Gov Christ of Florida. Republican, but he sees the plight of his people, and welcomed Federal funding.

It is our taxes, the money that these folks and I put into a fund to be used on a rainy day. Well, it is pouring, and it is to be used. Help them - or find yourself irrelevant, much earlier than your next re-election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/us/27govs.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

Credit Crunch Explained! Great Video..

2009-02-20T14:05:00.000-06:00

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

That Crab Mentality..

2009-02-20T13:37:00.002-06:00

You have seen crabs fighting to get out of the basket? One crab goes up, but as soon as he is about to make it out, the others make a grab at him and pull him down..The result - the guy never have to put a lid on the basket.

The American Worker is now like that. The common complaint - UAW members and GM/Ford/Chrysler formed a contract to provide reasonable health care for all it's members and families. It is something that should be applauded that a corporation decided to take care of employees , both former and current. And we demand that the rest of them do so as well - or at least force the government to help with the skyrocketing costs in health care.

But no - instead conservatism, as the honchos in Fox and WSJ decide, is to make everyone fend for themselves, including 85 year old ex-assembly line workers crippled with back pains, and not much of a savings to turn to. That means - yes, all these UAW members need to relinquish their pay or health care coverage, and be as much in a living hell as the rest of the non-union workers when they retire.

Well, the mayor of Lansing had enough. Listen as he tells it like it is to the Fox guy who is probably against lending some money to his own mother - because that would be helping someone in need, which is anathema.

US is in recession - here's the proof.

2009-02-16T09:03:00.003-06:00

My wife got this in the email - from her sister, who got it from other full-blooded Americans. You know US is in deep recession and Americans are trying to grasp at anything that might bring some good luck when you see images of Hindu Godesses being forwarded around in emails..Here is the 'Money Angel'. Hilarious and sad in a way.

"Money Angel
This is a money angel. Pass it to 6 of your good friends or family and be rich in 4 Days.Pass it to 12 of your good friends or family and be rich in 2 Days.I am not joking. You will find an unexpected windfall. If you delete it, you will never know! SHE WORKS SHE REALLY WORKS!!"

President Obama (whew!) - Inauguration Speech full transcript

2009-01-21T11:39:00.001-06:00

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

I thank President Bush for his service to our nation...

(APPLAUSE)

... as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.
The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.
(APPLAUSE)
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
(APPLAUSE)
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.
It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died in places Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.
Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
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For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.
The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth.
We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality...
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... and lower its costs.
We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.
MR. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.
And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.
But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
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As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.
Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.
And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.
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Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.
With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense.
And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."
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For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.
And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
To those...
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To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
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To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.
And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.
And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.
It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break; the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.
It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old.
These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
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So let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.
In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by nine campfires on the shores of an icy river.
The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.
At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you.
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And God bless the United States of America.
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