July 23, 2009 archive

The Friends We Keep Tell Much About Us

The New Your Times reports:

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – “You know what this is for,” Emilbek Kaptagaev recalled being told by the police officers who snatched him off the street. No other words, just blows to the head, then all went black. Mr. Kaptagaev, an opponent of Kyrgyzstan’s president, who is a vital American ally in the war in nearby Afghanistan, was found later in a field with a concussion, broken ribs and a face swollen into a mosaic of bruises.

The United States has remained largely silent in response to this wave of violence, apparently wary of jeopardizing the status of its sprawling air base, on the outskirts of this capital, which supports the mission in Afghanistan. Indeed, the Obama administration has sought to woo the Kyrgyz president since he said in February that he would close the Manas base.

In June, President Obama sent a letter to Mr. Bakiyev praising his role in Afghanistan and the campaign against terrorism. Mr. Bakiyev allowed the base to stay, after the United States agreed to pay higher rent and other minor changes.

And:

Syrgak Abdyldaev says he barely escaped that fate. In March, Mr. Abdyldaev, 47, a well-known journalist who has scrutinized the president’s political activities, was lured to a meeting by an anonymous caller who promised confidential information, and was attacked.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07…

Okay, Okay, you say.

But it’s worth being nice to despotic regimes such as Kyrgyzstan, because we can save the women of Afghanistan from the Taliban, right?

Lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men face violent abuse, including rape, in Kyrgyzstan, both in family settings and from strangers on the street, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today. The report calls on the Kyrgyz government to acknowledge the problem and protect the victims, and on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other European institutions to step up their response to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

http://www.hrw.org/europecentr…

That’s OK, right? Obama sure has this one covered:

So why is Afghanistan worth fighting over when Kyrgyzstanis are being tossed away like last months milk ?

Um, well…

Here’s a picture from the north of Afghanistan:

Yea, that’s change alright.

Deja Vue, All Over Again

About those lobbyists who visited the President

Curious about who those lobbyists were with whom Obama has been meeting? First a quick rant and then we can look at who these people are and what they are all about after the fold.

Too often, we see the word “lobbyist” and reflexively think “bad,” “evil,” “spawn of Satan,” and “lower than the poop I stepped in while walking in the park the other day.”

While that may be true for some of them, like this guy, there are some “good” lobbyists, too. Organizations like the American Cancer Society, Sierra Club, and Human Rights Campaign are just as much lobbyists as PMA Group. Furthermore, every time you call your Senator or member of Congress, you are a citizen lobbyist.

Overnight Caption Contest

Pony Party: Cool Animals

Pony Party is an open thread.  Please do not rec the party, and please leave your own pics, vids, or whatever in the comments.

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

GOP keeps citing Lewin Group study, unholy alliance of UnitedHealthCare and Heritage Foundation

One Hundred Twenty Million Americans Will Lose Their Insurance! The words drip from the mouths of the GOP in their opposition to the public option. Of course it’s all bunk, but the details behind the Lewin Group which produced these numbers are worse.

First Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) released a rebuttal of the Lewin Group study, revealing that the Heritage Foundation paid for study and that UnitedHealthCare owns the Lewin Group(PDF).

Then came a doozy from the Washington Post:

[T]he Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association, a physician’s group, of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. Ingenix supplied its parent company and other insurers with data that allegedly understated the “usual and customary” doctor fees that insurers use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network care.

In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994.

Vestas workers occupy: ‘A fight for jobs and the planet’

Original article via Socialist Worker (UK):

Workers at Vestas, the UK’s only wind turbine manufacturer, occupied their factory in Newport, Isle of Wight on Monday evening against plans to close it. Dave is one of the ­occupying workers. He spoke to Socialist Worker on Tuesday.

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