July 2008 archive

ACTION: Front Group for Insurance Industry Likes Our Healthcare Just as It IS!

From the HCAN website!

A group called American’s Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry front group, is launching a campaign to convince America that they are indeed satisfied with their private insurance coverage.

Oh, yes!  We are SO VERY SATISFIED with our inablitity to afford health insurance, to be under-insured, to be told by the middle-man insurance company that we CANNOT have THAT drug OUR Doctor prescribed, or THAT treatment that OUR Doctor suggested, because the INSURANCE CORPORATIONS don’t want to PAY for it with the money that WE PAID THEM in order to …. What?  Insure that we have healthcare coverage?  NO!

In order for them to decide if our procedure or medication might just bite into their unholy profits just a BIT too MUCH!

This is INSANE.  Yet, as we have discussed, we knew this was coming and it was coming fast.  

IT’s HERE!

Docudharma Times Tuesday July 22



Hey!

Don’t Listen

To Him

He’s The

Iraqi Prime Minister




Tuesday’s Headlines:

Israelis, Palestinians look to Obama with hope, skepticism

Radovan Karadzic, Europe’s most wanted man, arrested for war crimes

Sarkozy puts on the charm in attempt to sway Irish

Suu Kyi ‘may be free in six months’

Why Thai-Cambodian temple dispute lingers

Talks to end Zimbabwe election crisis start

Media ought to give Africa a fair shake

Iraq Points to Pullout in 2010

Senior al-Qaida leader gives interview  

Brazil has top Olympic sailors? Who knew?

Women Are Now Equal as Victims of Poor Economy



By LOUIS UCHITELLE

Published: July 22, 2008


Across the country, women in their prime earning years, struggling with an unfriendly economy, are retreating from the work force, either permanently or for long stretches.

They had piled into jobs in growing numbers since the 1960s. But that stopped happening this decade, and as the nearly seven-year-old recovery gives way to hard times, the retreat is likely to accelerate.

Indeed, for the first time since the women’s movement came to life, an economic recovery has come and gone, and the percentage of women at work has fallen, not risen, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

COUNTDOWN TO BEIJING

China on war footing ahead of Olympic Games

Fearing terrorist threats, Beijing has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel, banned cars into the capital and is installing surface-to-air missiles near stadiums.

By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 22, 2008


BEIJING — In China, the preparations for the Olympics look more like a military deployment than arrangements for a sporting event.

The government is installing surface-to-air missiles near the stadiums and setting up checkpoints to stop out-of-town cars from entering Beijing. It has enlisted 110,000 security personnel and more than 1 million citizens to protect the Games against what it says are credible terrorist threats.

Unmanned drones are to patrol the skies above Beijing for the duration of the Games, from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24. The 800-mile border with North Korea will be sealed, according to reports from South Korea. Beijing’s airport will be closed during the opening ceremony to enforce a “no fly” zone around the city.

USA

Guantanamo Judge Blocks Use of Some Statements

‘Highly Coercive’ Conditions Are Cited

By Jerry Markon

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 22, 2008; Page A01


GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba. July 21 — Prosecutors in the trial of Osama bin Laden’s former driver cannot use as evidence some statements the defendant gave interrogators because they were obtained under “highly coercive” conditions while he was a captive in Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Monday evening.

As the first U.S. military commission since World War II got underway, Navy Capt. Keith J. Allred threw out the statements that Salim Ahmed Hamdan made after he was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, including detailed descriptions of bin Laden’s whereabouts.

Real News: Ex-CIA Agent Ray McGovern on Obama’s ‘New World’

Transcript here.

McGovern: “The game is over with Iraq and so the question is how does this strategic change affect the real players in the area. The Israeli right wants a confrontation with Iran to keep US forces in the region. The US military leadership is against a “third front” but has to contend with Cheney.

Raymond McGovern is a retired CIA officer. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven US presidents for over 27 years, presenting the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them. McGovern was born and raised in Bronx, graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University, received an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University, and graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Listening is a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.

–Arya Sura, Jatakamala (aka Garland of Birth Stories

aka Once the Buddha Was a Monkey)

Phenomena IV: listening


Evaporation

Inattentive

I spent much of my life

speaking in paragraphs

to people who had difficulty

waiting

for the end of a sentence

before breaking in

to change the subject

to talk about them

their thoughts

not mine

which lay unfinished

by the side

of the conversation

with my ideas

drifting away

somewhere

probably forgotten

if not evaporating

into nothingness

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 6. 2008

The Stars Hollow Gazette

You know I’m sorely tempted to promote.  It’s the kiss of death a midnight essay is- Fredo!

Instead I’ll tell you about some other games we play in my club.

When we were meeting in Niagara Falls there were just the 2000 of us which we considered quite a come down from our previous strength.  My future Executive Vice President, Vicki, saved my ass at least twice.

The first time was when she invited me to be part of the kool kidz klub and told me about the hole in the wall dive across the street from the Convention Center (at a 90 degree angle from the empty mall) that served the most delicious Porterhouse steaks (sorry vegetarians, I eat meat).

But the second time was this-

At Closing Ceremonies we were in some kind of open un-Air Conditioned Amphitheater.  For Officers- Black Tie.

As the speeches droned on my delegation melted outside where at least there was a breeze and there was nothing at all I could do about it.  I HAD to be there.

I must admit I was disappointed when Vicki slipped away, but I couldn’t blame her.  It was horrible and she had no reason to stay.  She wasn’t even my exec yet, I had someone who was outside with the rest.

Instead she came back with armfuls of cold (and very expensive) water.

I’ll never forget that day.

Later on resignations opened up a spot.  I went to Vicki with no expectations that she would even consider my request, but instead she taught me how to dance in front of a crowd and even today I’ll meet up with her and her husband and we’ll chat about all the good times.

Vicki cares about people.  She rewards the team.

That is politics.

The Bonus Expeditionary Force

It must have had a dreamlike quality to it: a summer’s day in Washington, the tanks and troops on the street accompanied by officers like George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower, led by none other than General Douglas MacArthur.  America’s Caesar was wearing a full salad bowl of ribbons and medals, magnificent astride a great horse; to the impoverished veterans he was riding to meet, he must have looked like a mighty warrior of a bygone era.  Then, to their horror, the Chief of Staff of the US Army ordered his infantry to fix bayonets, his cavalry to draw sabers, and his tanks to move forward.

Join me, if you will, in the Cave of the Moonbat, we’re tonight’s historiorant finds Depression-hit vets of the First World War encamped in a Hooverville in Washington during the summer of 1932.  I’m not saying it contains lessons to be learned about the interrelationships of Republican presidents, veterans, economic depression, and violent authoritarianism, but as St. Colbert once said, “I can’t help it if the facts have a liberal bias.”

Casting the Beauty Platform: Peace in Our Times

“Peace in our times?”

Moving broken line | stable broken line | stable broken line

Moving solid line | stable solid line | stable solid line

Trigrams: Heaven over Earth moving to Wind over Thunder


12. Obstruction

42. Benefiting




Obstruction.

This is not the other not benefiting the noble one’s persistence.

Much goes, little comes.

One cannot continue, one is being obstructed. This is frustrating. There is more loss than gain. This isn’t the other going against one’s interests, actually. Blaming someone may make one feel better, but isn’t helpful at solving the problem.

Benefiting.

It is beneficial to have a goal to move to.

It is beneficial to cross the big river.

Benefiting from the situation. It’s a good idea to have a plan for undertaking something, to make good use of the opportunity.

Moving line 1:

Pulling out grass and entangled roots because of its accumulation.

Persistence brings good fortune.

Progressing.

Removing something that has accumulated and is now in the way, weeding it out by the root. Under the surface, things may be more entangled than one thought. Things go well by persevering with this. There is progress being made.

Moving line 4:

Having a higher purpose.

Without fault,

but it is a category separate from happiness.

Working on something that’s important to you, perhaps regarding your personal or spiritual development. There is nothing wrong with that. It is no pleasure to go through this development, but it really needs to be worked with.

Trusting a Complete Stranger

“Don’t talk to Strangers.”



Mom & Dad

The dark car rolls up and the window slides down…

“Hey kid! Want some candy.” You like puppies, right?”

“All I need is your name, address, phone number and you’ll need to initial… right here, and sign here…Aah, don’t bother reading it, I’m a good guy. Trust me.”

“My Name is Lisa” — Powerful short film about Alzheimer’s

For the first five years of my marriage, my wife and I cared for her mother — “Mumsie” — who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. I was her primary caretaker. Reading through the entries of ~another~ son-in-law who served as his mother-in-law’s primary caretake, I came across a powerful video by SheltonFilms about caring for Alzheimer’s patients called “My Name is Lisa.” It struck me so powerfully that I had to share it with folks.

“You want to have some idea what it is like to be a care-provider for someone with Alzheimer’s or other age-related dementia? Watch it.”

            — Jim Downey

Before reading the rest of this essay, watch the following piece.

My Name Is Lisa


The rest of the essay, plus the director’s video log, is over on ePluribus Media if you’d like to check it out.

The video alone is more than worthy of its own space on a page.

Vacation Part Two

It is said that the first day back from a wonderful vacation is tough.

Well it is much more so when facing the very real prospects of a career that will end not because of job performance,patent award dinners or hours upon hours of home study to keep pace in a technical field. It is by decision and design of asshole scumbag profitwarmongeringSatanworshipping Bohemian Grove attendees.  Yes so excuse me if I vent.

Pony Party



(h/t huff-puff)

~♥~ Pony Party is an Open Thread. Please don’t wRECk the Pony. ~♥~  

Funkaliscious Monday – Summertime

Yeah, I know its Monday. But I’m feeling in the mood for some funk. And since we’re in the heart of summer – how bout some summertime music? Here’s a few – starting with, what is in my opinion, the classic for the season.

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