August 14, 2009 archive

Aug 14 2009

Docudharma Times Friday August 14

White House deal with drug firms draws flak  

An $80-billion pact with the pharmaceutical industry intended to advance the administration’s healthcare reform goals has instead created confusion and discord.

 By Tom Hamburger

August 14, 2009



Reporting from Washington – An $80-billion deal with the drug industry that the White House thought would add momentum to its campaign for national healthcare reform has instead provoked a political tempest, frustrating and bewildering some of the president’s most important allies.

As complaints rolled in, the administration offered varying, sometimes contradictory explanations of the deal.

“I’ve heard a lot of confusion about what was agreed to,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who wrote healthcare legislation that would impose more cost on the industry than that contained in the White House agreement.

North Korea frees South Korean worker after Hyundai official’s visit

The chairwoman of Hyundai Group went to Pyongyang to seek the man’s release after President Clinton’s successful trip gained the freedom of two American TV reporters.

By Ju-min Park and John M. Glionna

August 14, 2009



Reporting from Seoul – A 44-year-old South Korean worker held in North Korea since March was released Thursday during a visit to Pyongyang by a prominent South Korean corporate leader, authorities said.

The release came a week after former President Clinton traveled to the North Korean capital and secured pardons for two American television reporters who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country.

Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun of Hyundai Group flew to Pyongyang on Monday to negotiate the release of her employee, a technician at a northern industrial complex jointly run by North and South Korea.

Aug 14 2009

Call for Our Arrest! ~ Wild Wild Left Radio #31

The world has turned upside down, my friends, when Free Speech is being challenged on so many levels that even the people of the so-called Left call for the rounding up of Lefty’s for speaking their mind. Or when the Left celebrates the jailing of the Right for using words we despise. The line is being erased.

Lets face it, I have wished for a good caviar plague to cull the Elite herd, and who hasn’t thought the Demon Cheney should be staked, beheaded, burned, his ashes scattered to the four corners of the Earth, then the ground salted where those lay, so that his Evil can never rise again?  With or without my tongue firmly placed in my cheek, giggling to myself as I keyed that, there are those who are being incarcerated from both the Right and the Left for such utterings, and those who will support such actions for reasons from ideologuery * to personal vendettas against those whom they bear petty malice. “Jail them, harass them, crucify them!”

(* Yes, I reserve the right to make up words as I see fit ©Dianism)

There is a perfect Trifecta of Freedom under Siege under which to discuss these ideas:

Deathers.

Is there a difference between expressing an Opinion, and Lying outright? Does it make a difference if it is under the umbrella of Journalism? If so, why aren’t all of Fox News reporters imprisoned? Could we assuage the fears of the elderly, were they fed truth instead of outright lies?

Hal Turner.

The right-wing frother is behind bars… and while I take personal pleasure in that fact, that is why I am glad there are Laws in place, so people cannot employ their personal prejudices to enforce Laws out of malice.

But, where does the razor fine line between opining and plotting lie? Do we defend David Duke or the KKK’s right to march, under the guise of Free Speech, or do we say Eichman hung for inciting and plotting the Holocaust without ever laying hand to weapon? Do we Police thought crime; things like a Feminist saying they want “Those who blow up Women’s Clinics to face a firing squad of gynecologists?”  Do we stand mute while protesters carry signs calling for the killing of President Obama and his children?

It is a slippery nuanced slope, with valid angles all around.

Impending Civil War?

As the Hate Speech and Gun Toting amps up, will the Right start attacking the Left? As the Economy crashes, will Communities continue to make being Poor illegal, to protect the little they have left against the hungry?

If violence breaks out between factions among us, will it be used by the State to justify Martial Law on us all?

Will ever see collectively that we need to Revolt against the Elites for the good of us all?

Do we disarm our neo-con enemies, only to find ourselves helpless against Martial Law and Prison Camps? Whats a Liberal to do, fight back, or roll over?

We are facing a Perfect Storm. (with the additional pressure of the H1N1 on the horizon)

The time for the discussion about where to draw the lines of our Freedoms is now – for both those with whom we do not agree, and for those we do.

Join us and be Jailed with us!

Join Gottlieb, Ed Encho and I tonight at 6pm EDT on Wild Wild Left Radio, via BlogtalkRadio, for an interesting hour of Political Reporting and Commentary.

WWL Radio: Free Speech in Practice.

The call in number is 646-929-1264

Listen to The Wild Wild Left on internet talk radio

The live chat link will go live around 5:15.

CHAT LINK:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/F…

Aug 14 2009

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning

2009 Poems:  Dreamcatcher


Dream Catcher #5

Fractured Hope

Designs expand

replicating

inexactly

stretching

the fabric

of existence

until it shatters

Shards compress

in an optimistic

but perhaps

unattainable

quest

for a stable

future

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–March 15, 2009

Aug 14 2009

Late Night Karaoke

Open Thread

Aug 14 2009

Overnight Caption Contest

Photobucket

Aug 14 2009

Normalizing Fascism Inch by Inch

To start, let’s put Apocalyptic Christianity into a historical perspective.

Native American Holocaust – Sex, Race and Holy War. Excerpts from the book: American Holocaust by David Stannard Oxford University Press, 1992

From the moment of its birth Christianity had envisioned the end of the world. Saints and theologians differed on many details about the end, but few disagreements were as intense as those concerned with the nature and timing of the events involved. There were those who believed that as the end drew near conditions on earth would grow progressively dire, evil would increase, love would diminish, the final tribulations would be unleashed-and then suddenly the Son of Man would appear: he would overcome Satan, judge mankind, and bring an end to history. Others had what is generally thought to be a more optimistic view: before reaching the final grand conclusion, they claimed, there would be a long reign of peace, justice, abundance, and bliss; the Jews would be converted, while the heathens would be either converted or annihilated; and, in certain versions of the prophecy, this Messianic Age of Gold would be ushered in by a Last World Emperor-a human saviour-who would prepare the way for the final cataclysmic but glorious struggle between Good and Evil, whereupon history would end with the triumphant Second Coming.

Trail Of Tears: Moving Beyond The Myth Of America

Aug 14 2009

Oh, Johnny Boy (Edwards that is)….

http://www.wral.com/news/local…

Let’s see…

Aug 14 2009

This is NOT a diary! This is an INFORMATION alert!

I heard about this initiative this afternoon on the Tom Hartmann show.  I listened with interest and decided to look up the group, identifying themselves as, Mad as Hell Doctors!  I thought it was a pretty cool idea and one that certainly wouldn’t hurt, if nothing more than an attempt to offset what could occur with the healthcare reform plan(s), still in the formative stages.  So, I thought I would bring the information to you, as well, since it’s quite possible that not many know about it as yet!

What is Single Payer?

(click on link)

ON SEPTEMBER 8TH, A CARAVAN WILL CROSS AMERICA TO DELIVER A CLEAR AND SIMPLE MESSAGE

TO OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON:

HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE – NOT PROFIT!



See our Itinerary

MAD AS HELL!

You CAN handle the Truth

There’s no nice way to say it. The financial cost of health care is killing our citizens, hobbling our economy, crushing small business, and threatening the solvency of our government.  In the meantime, the Health Care Industry is spending almost two million dollars a day lobbying Congress and manipulating public opinion to accept “reform” legislation that leaves a vicious, for-profit system intact. The “public option” is a trap. We need real reform that finds immediate savings, controls costs, and accomplishes the moral imperative of true Universal Access.  A Single Payer plan is the only real path to a Health Care System that is socially, ethically and fiscally responsible. And yet, our elected officials refuse to even discuss the possibility of a Single Payer plan!

If that doesn’t make you mad, we recommend checking your pulse.

Please go here to read more!

PLEASE NOTE:  Content copyright 2009. Adam Klugman. All rights reserved.  This partial/incomplete use of the copyrighted material should qualify under the “fair use” laws, as being for information and instructional purposes only!

I think this is a very interesting and innovative effort.  Although, you may or may not agree with each and every single point, I do think this would be a good effort for us to join and help — I don’t think there’s a chance in hell of getting single-payer, but this kind of pressure may help to assure us of something better than what may be handed down to us!

NOTE TO ALL:  TO SIGN UP, GO TO “CONTACT US” ON THEIR WEBSITE!

(Some people were wondering!)

Aug 14 2009

Stop Herta’s Deportation

19 year-old Herta Lluso is going to be deported from the US on August 19.  Unless, of course, we can get ICE officials to grant her a stay of deportation.  That’s where you come in.

Herta’s case is a strong example of just why we need the Dream Act:

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (The “DREAM Act”) is a piece of proposed federal legislation that was introduced in the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives on March 26, 2009. This bill would provide certain illegal immigrant students who graduate from US high schools, are of good moral character, arrived in the US as children, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency. The students would obtain temporary residency for a six year period. Within the six year period, a qualified student must have “acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or [have] completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor’s degree or higher degree in the United States,” or have “served in the uniformed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, [have] received an honorable discharge.” “Any alien whose permanent resident status is terminated [according to the terms of the Act] shall return to the immigration status the alien had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status under this Act.”

Wiki.

Passage of the Dream Act, however, won’t solve Herta Lluso’s deportation, because she’ll be gone, deported to Albania, long before it passes unless we get a stay of her deportation.  What we need to do is get a stay of her deportation.  And we need it now.

I found Herta’s story at dreamactivist.org:

My name is Herta Llusho, I am 19 years old, and I writing this because I am about to be deported.  I was born in Albania and was brought to the United States when I was 11 years old.   With the help and support of my family, I have struggled through more than seven years of legal proceedings to find a way to stay in this country legally.  Despite our best efforts, on August 19, I will be removed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the only place I know as my home.  I will be sent back to a country that has become a foreign place to me.  I don’t even speak Albanian well anymore.  My only hope of staying here is for as many people as possible to ask DHS to delay my deportation until the DREAM Act is passed.

My parents brought me to the United States because they believed in the promises this country had to offer. To them it was the land of opportunities, values, and ideals. They were faithful believers of the American Dream, meaning that through hard work, education, and good character their children could accomplish anything they wanted. In fact, they believed in it so strongly that they sacrificed their own lives, as well as their relationship to make it happen. My dad stayed in Albania with the hope of relocating to the US, while my mom left everything behind in pursuit of a better life for her children. To this day, even after many years of struggle and sacrifice, they still believe that it is all worth it, and so do I. I have been truly blessed in the many opportunities I have received. The United States has made me the person I am today. I would like nothing more than to contribute to the country that has given me so much.

You can read her entire story at Citizen Orange.  And you can listen to her tell it here (audio is not great, so turn it up):

There’s not a lot more to say about why Herta should be kept in this Country.  It’s obvious. She is the kind of person we want in this Country.  It is our loss to deport her.

Let’s stop this deportation. Suggested action steps are here.  Please do what you can.

——————

cross posted from The Dream Antilles

Aug 14 2009

Exaltation of the Don

As he rises, the world comes alive. His presence alone the goad of the life force to resume movement.

At the first hint in the eastern sky of his presence, the birds, every bird and all the birds, are spurred once again to sing. Their song the only fitting accompaniement suited to the magnificence of his presence.

And his presence slowly and inexorably touches the earth….and brings it to life. The flowers open and reach for him, the trees turn their leaves to bask and soak in his radiance. He warms the dust and dirt of the world and by his word transforms it into life giving soil.

The rushing waters call his name, the trickling creek whispers it and the waves crashing upon HIS rocks roar it out for all to hear.

And all who hear his glorious name… though they cannot comprehend it fully and are capable only of hearing the echoes that vaguely symbolize the primal power of creation that reverbrates from its sounding…..exalt.

Exalt at the coming of the Don.

Their eyes shine, their skin grows warm, their penises rise and their vulvas grow moist and their ears turn and cock in hopes of hearing more. All of the eye between the eyes open wide and then the shutters of consciousness must quickly and protectively close lest they be overwhelmed in glory that will burn a mere human brain to fundamental ash at the radiant vibration of his burning light.

He is the bringer of all things good and wholesome and wise.

The world …awakened, shrinks and bows as he bestrides it, spanning the oceans and the continents, blessing forest and desert, replenishing spring and lake, impregnating the flocks, manifesting honey in the hives. Stags and bulls lay down to die as he provides meat for the people in his passing and the feilds of wheat ripen, alonfg with the fruit of the trees and the buds and grapes of hemp and vine.

The moans of the wind mourn his passing as he again, as is his way, passes over the mountain. And in his absence, the cold and lonely night returns to the land.

He is the Don, and the world is a celebration of him.

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