It would seem reading is fundamental. I sincerely doubt either of these people want to have adverse outcomes for veterans. Click here for PDF link.

Barack Obama with Iraqi war veteran Tammy Duckworth after the two placed a wreath at The Bronze Soldiers Memorial in Chicago on Veterans Day last year. Duckworth, now assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs, says a controversial VA guide on end-of-life decisions continues to undergo revisions.

It is another 'alarmist' attempt as defaming the Obama Administration. This is a Right Wing initiative and there really isn't anything to say, but, the document in question is 52 pages or so long, so I thought I'd read through it.


Living-Will Guide For Vets Stirs Health Overhaul Fears (click here for audio presentation)
by Joseph Shapiro
...That kind of language is offensive to Jim Towey, a former official in the Bush administration. "It's framing these quality of life issues in a way that guilt trips veterans. That makes them feel their life is a burden not a gift," he says....

It is only correct to note the Department of Veteran's Affairs has made a disclaimer stating the document is being reviewed by professionals and clergy and will ungo changes as needed.

I have a feeling this is standard issue, "Living Will" stuff. I haven't read it before, so let's see exactly what is so offensives. I'll say this up front as an initial assessment, as this Bush Official, what's his name? Jim Towey. Mr. Twoey was grasping at straws in 2007 when he couldn't explain the heightened suicide rate and the negligence of those Veterans that were in 'waiting lines' for treatment. Mr. Towey, took the 'easy route' out of a difficult situation and decided to 'blame' a document he found offensive. Perhaps there are some words that are offensive and perhaps if a Veteran was suicidal and decided to read a book on "Living Wills" it might push him over the edge, but, the point is WHY were Veterans feeling suicidal? The book didn't cause the suicidal feelings or ideation. It questionably could have entertained throughts AFTER the fact, but, it didn't CAUSE those overwhelming feelings. A lot of these Veterans were attempting to receive treatment, but, were put on waiting lists. The waiting lists are the issue, NOT, the book.

That said.

The PDF opens up to 55 pages. The first page is the VA disclaimer I already stated. Page Two is the title page; "Your Life, Your Choices, Planning for Future Medical Decisions: How to Prepare a Personalized Living Will." The picture on the cover is of a COUPLE sitting together in COUNCIL with a man that seems to be interested in their outcome in the decision making. There is one cup of coffee on the round table they are all sitting at with an undetermined person as to whom is drinking the coffee.

Page 3 is another title page with the authors listed. Yep. The 'creators' are:

Authored by
Robert Pearlman, MD MPH
Helene Starks, MPH
Kevin Cain, PhD
William Cole, PhD
David Rosengren, PhD
Donald Patrick, PhD MSPH

Design & Layout by
Brems Eastman & Partners
Information Design Seattle

There is one MD MPH, one MPH, three PhDs and one PhD MSPH. Now, if there is anything offensive in this official document by the USA Veterans Affairs I would think the highly qualified authors should be held responsible. What do they call it when a person kills themselves because of actions of someone else? Manslaughter? There ya go.

The book opens with an example. It is a good example. It is fictious, but, does place the reader in a set of circumstances that would dictate a 'moral/ethical' dilemma. Profoundly. The Example states:

Dad had been in declining health for months. Then he fell asleep at the wheel and was in a bad car accident. Three weeks later he was still in a coma. A breathing machine pumped air into his lungs because he could not breathe on his own. The doctors thought his chances of coming out of the coma were slim. They talked with Mom and me about turning off the breathing machine and allowing Dad to die naturally. I felt terrible. I didn't think Dad would want to be kept alive like this. But I knew Mom would feel guilty for the rest of her life if we told the doctors to "pull the plug" while there was still even the slightest hope. We weren’t sure what we should do because Dad never told us what he would have wanted. I really wish we'd talked about this before."

I want to take a look at the example. The 'content' is a person of unknown gender with a father. There is absolutely no reference to a 'military' anything in that example. It is a bland example, void of any 'invitation' to military demise. No names, no titles, no rank, no nothing.

The same page has an introduction to the 'concept' of taking responsibility for 'advanced directives/decision making.' It is standard issue regardless of it being a hospital brochure or otherwise:

...But studies have shown that spouses guess wrong over half the time about what kinds of treatment their husbands or wives would want. You can help assure that your wishes will direct
future health care decisions through the process of advance care planning.

Page 5 gets right down to business. Think about it, decide, write down your wishes, tell your significant other(s), etc. Most terminally ill cancer patients welcome this discussion.

Page 6 offers the reader two options. Either read through 'The Basics' and fill out the form at the back of the booklet OR there is a further 'insight' in a section called "Resources." This is the description of the "Resources."

Part II: Resources. Turn to these sections for additional help and further explanation of ideas and topics introduced in “The Basics.”

Page 7 and 8 are the Table of Contents and the title to each section gives the reader a good preview to any of the topics. Certainly, someone not prepared to discuss the issue could be well warned off by any of the titles. Nowhere so far have I witnessed this booklet recommending to make this decision on one's own. There is 'collaboration' written all through this up to now. Ultimately, taking 'responsibility' is still up to the person making the Living Will.

The brochure goes on with examples. The topic is unpleasant and so are the examples. It discusses how family members are left to 'guess' about someone's final decision regarding life support. By page 11, the brochure is giving examples of the 'differences' in definition of words casually used in conversations regarding life support and the continuation of life. The concept is difficult to discuss and the words are difficult to read:

People have very different notions of what it means to be a “vegetable.” Here are some more examples:
• “You sit in a chair and don’t do anything all day.”
• “You can’t read anymore.”
• “You’re just a body with some life in it.”

The brochure goes on about how does a person make the decision whom to elect to speak for them. In other words, how does someone choose a "Health Care Power of Attorney." There are examples as to why it is important to select ONE person who understands one's wishes as they have conversed about it. The example cited in the book is one of a man with terminal cancer.

In the margins of the brochure there is mentioned a 'exercises' to help one decide beginning on 21. On page 20 there is help in guiding decision making to Health Care Power of Attorney (my words, not theirs). The brochure is worded very 'simply' at this point.

Page 13 is frequently asked questions.

Page 14 are definitions to advanced directive, proxy directive, instructional directives and personalized statement. The brochure goes on to ask, "Which directive is best?"

I am up to Page 22 and I am finding NOTHING offensive about this brochure. It has a goal and that is to have the client write a Living Will. In the side margins there are little illustrations stating there is an blank document to fill out in the back and on Page 45 and 46 there are statements to help open up the discussion between yourself and the person you choose to be your spokesperson should you not be able to speak for yourself in a health care setting. All through these pages I have read nothing but collaboration between the person writing the Living Will and the person they are entrusting their life to. There is nothing, absolutely nothing offensive or inappropriate in these 22 pages. It is s difficult subject and the brochure acknowledges it all through its content.

The bottom of Page 22 it refers to Resource section. HOWEVER, it 'previews' the kinds of topics covered in the Resource section. In previewing the topics the reader is fully aware as to whether it is necessary to proceed. There are no statement of 'must read' the Resource section or no absolutes in any of the content.

Here’s a sample of the kinds of questions that are answered in the Resources section:
• What makes life worth living?
• What’s likely to happen if you have a serious stroke? What do you need to think about in
advance?
• What if someone you love needs a feeding tube? What are the pros and cons?
• What can you do to keep the courts out of these advance care planning decisions?

There is not a darn thing wrong with this brochure. NOTHING. It approaches a delicate subject with openness and as if the reader has no basis of understanding of the topic. The brochure states to seek spiritual advise. Now, a book that is THE DEATH BOOK wouldn't bother doing that, would it?

The pages of the PDF do not coincide with the pages of the brochure as it would appear in print.

Thought-provoking exercises.
Which exercises should I complete?
You can complete any or all of them. Each of the exercises addresses different issues, including:
1. What to consider when choosing a spokesperson (page 20),
2. Your wishes regarding what makes life worth living (page 21),
3. Your personal and spiritual beliefs that affect medical decision making, and your feelings about hope and risk taking (pages 22-23),
4. Your wishes regarding the way you might spend your last weeks or days if you were dying, and other related matters (pages 24-26).
We recommend that you complete at least the exercises on pages 21-24. These will be the most useful to others if they have to make decisions for you. You may want to ask your religious advisor to help you think through the questions about quality of life, medical interventions, and death and dying. Religions have different philosophies about what to do under the situations described in these exercises.

Everyone that has a Living Will, I hope has put some thought into it. We know as a society what is tolerable as a 'condition' of the body to one person, might be intolerable to others. I witnessed a runner who stated, "If I were ever in an accident and couldn't walk or run, I wouldn't want to live." That is somewhat questionably extreme to my way of thinking, but, none the less they are legitimate points of view. Hopefully, it is a point of view that was well thought out and 'decided' with the discussion of those that love them and perhaps with a 'spiritual' advisor.

So, on Page 24 of the PDF begins CHECK LISTS. Page 24 hosts the 'checklist' "Who should speak for me? "

Page 25 of the PDF begins the CHECK LIST for "Your Beliefs and Values - What makes your life worth living?" Within this Check List are four selections for one to check off. They are: "difficult, but acceptable," "worth living, but just barely," "not worth living," and "can't answer now." The LIST to the Check List has some very tough statements. I believe these are some of the frequently mentioned as 'offensive.':

a. I can no longer walk but get around in a wheelchair.
b. I can no longer get outside—I spend all day at home.
c. I can no longer contribute to my family's well being....
...j. I can no longer control my bladder.
k. I can no longer control my bowels....
....m. I can no longer think clearly-I am confused all the time.
n. I can no longer recognize family/friends
o. I can no longer talk and be understood by others.
p. My situation causes severe emotional burden for my family (such as feeling worried or stressed all the time)....
...r. I cannot seem to “shake the blues.”

They are definitively 'sensitive' statements. HOWEVER. Nowhere in this brochure is it advised to make these decisions alone. Nowhere in this brochure does it state there should not be a conversation with those that are significant to your life. On the contrary this brochure goes out of the way in the early pages of its content to be sure the one filling out these pages have engaged others in discussion and is supported through their participation, even with a suggestion to consult a 'spiritual' advisor.

The brochure continues in 'facing' tough questions regarding 'end of life' issues. The brochure discusses organ donation, autopsy, funeral services, burial arrangements and it has many pages dedicated to discussing specific medical conditions such as coma, dementia, stroke, etc. I believe if there needs to be any 'update' to the brochure it might be in the area of medical conditions and what is being done in the year 2009, which is very different than nearly 40 years ago.

There is a discussion of feeding tubes, CPR, ventilators, palliative care and hospice. Beginning with page 42 of the PDF, there are more checklists that CUSTOMIZE the care one would receive if any, for all the specific medical conditions previously discussed. See, the person working through this brochure is allowed to receive different 'care' or 'lack of it' for a stroke or coma or whatever the case may be. I've need seen that approach before. I think it is a good one. There isn't necessarily a 'blanket' Living Will for all incidence of health insults one might encounter. As a matter of fact, in the year 2009, the outcome to many strokes these days is very hopeful with better understanding, yet, a vegetative coma is another subject entirely.

There are mentioned words such as ethical standards, legal considerations. All sorts of complicated concepts such as that. The brochure does an incredibly good job of 'breaking it all down' into understandable and definitively challenging terms.

On page 55 of the brochure even goes on to REFER anyone reading it and working through its Check Lists to contact other Resources.

Other Resources
Contact any of the following organizations for more information about topics covered in this workbook. Many of the national organizations have local chapters. Call the numbers listed for a referral to the chapter nearest you. Each organization also has a wealth of information on the World Wide Web, with links to other sites and organizations. Visit them at the internet addresses
listed below.

Resources on the List (and this section should be checked for accuracy of addresses and websites)

Disease-related groups

Alzheimer's Association
(800) 272-3900
Internet: www.alz.org

American Cancer Society
(800) 227-2345 (800-ACS-2345)
Internet: www.cancer.org

American Diabetes Association
(800) 342-2383 (800-DIABETES)
Internet: www.diabetes.org

American Heart Association
(800) 227-8721 (800-AHA-USA1)
Internet: www.americanheart.org

American Lung Association
(800) 586-4872 (800-LUNGUSA)
Internet: www.lungusa.org

National Kidney Foundation
(800) 622-9010
Internet: www.kidney.org

National Stroke Association
(303) 649-9299
Internet: www.stroke.org


Advance directives

Choice in Dying
(800) 989-9155 (800-989-WILL)
Internet: http://www.choices.org/

Hospice

National Hospice Organization
(703) 243-5900
Internet: http://www.nho.org/

Organ & Tissue Donation

Coalition on Organ & Tissue
Donation
(800) 355-7427 (800-355-SHARE)
Internet: http://www.infi.net/~donation

Funerals & Cremation

National Funeral Directors Association
(800) 228-6332
Internet: http://www.nfda.org/

Neptune Society (cremation)
(800) 201-3315
http://www.neptunesociety.com/

There is dearly nothing wrong with this brochure. It is to the point and it is an excellant tool for those that want to confront this subject. I will say this, any Veteran that is suicidal belongs in treatment, surrounded by loving families and should not be handed a brochure on Advanced Directives UNLESS that Veteran is feeling despondant due to 'end of life issues.' Then a Living Will might actually seem like a mechanism of control. But, if the Veteran is suffering from PTSD, depression or other psychological issues; there is no way they should be confronting this issue. It could be that they never should confront this issue. Now, is having this brochure on a website wrong? No. There are plenty of other places a suicidal individual could go to decide about a Living Will if they wanted to, so having it on a Veterans' website is no different than having one anywhere else on the web.

What has occurred with this brochure is the same thing that is occurring with the House's Health Care Bill. It is taken out of context and exploited to raise fear in the American populous to turn the tide of 'popular opinion' away from President Obama and his administration. Lying and decieving the public is the only way the Right Wing can achieve their goals. Chris Wallace is guilty of removing the meaning of the 'content' of the words in this brochure. He is one of Murdock's. (I don't care if I do spell his name "W"rong. Actually, I kinda like it that way.) What do you expect from Murdock's 'tribe' ?

I am sure any 'updates' that can be brought to the brochure will be welcome. I also believe President Obama and his Press Secretary are handling this mess exactly right. They talk to the issue in logical terms without ignoring the topic. They have to confront the lies and deceptions. That is the best part about being decent people in an honorable administration; the lies can be directly dispelled and once they are, then dismiss them as lies and get on with the business of the country.

I'll start back with the House Health Care Bill this evening.

GMC is outsourcing American jobs and technology. Where is the UAW, because, GM will close plants in the USA as a result.

When GM is dissolved this time after making the same mistakes as last time and the American people lose their monies, maybe then, the country will learn that backing losers only begets more losers.



Board endorses direction of reorganized GM (click title to entry - thank you)
Wed Aug 5, 2009 1:35am EDT
DETROIT (Reuters) - The board of General Motors Co endorsed the automaker's direction and the focus of management after the first meeting of directors since GM emerged from a U.S. government-financed bankruptcy last month. A...";

GMC has abandoned, ONCE AGAIN, the American Auto Worker. The people of the USA saved the company from complete liquidation and now thanks to 'old blood' at GMC there will be plants manned in foreign nations rather than expanding the production of GM's products in the USA.

The Volt proved to be a hopeful new beginning for the car manufacturer and its work force. An exclusive design of a car that achieved 230 mpg. The sales from such a vehicle would have opened new plants and employed more workers, expanding the USA tax base and increasing the USA GDP while exports of the car helped balance the USA trade deficit. Now, in one simply action by the Board of Directors of GM, there will be production plants of GMC vehicles in India, China and Germany. So much for the loyalty of improving the USA economy, increased work force, expanding tax base and a better position for GM and the USA in the world.

Roger Smith's spirit continues to live in the 'Slimeball Halls' of GMC.



Chevy needs bigger share of GM sales, brand’s boss says (click here)
Jesse Snyder
Automotive News
August 28, 2009 - 2:56 pm ET
DETROIT -- Chevrolet's target as the value brand of a leaner General Motors Co. is to capture 60 to 65 percent of GM sales globally, Chevy boss Brent Dewar said today.
He identified the United States, China and India as Chevrolet's best opportunities for growth but also said Chevrolet intends to double its European sales to 1 million over an unspecified period.
As GM shuts or sells its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and reduces the number of U.S. Chevrolet franchises by 1,000, surviving Chevy dealers are being asked to expand and upgrade stores to handle anticipated higher volumes in 2010 and 2011, Dewar said outside a regional dealer meeting in suburban Detroit.
"We're asking them to step up to higher sales targets" that follow a reduction in Chevrolet dealers following GM's bankruptcy and the reduction of brands, Dewar said....



...There isn’t much left of the GM brand, and one wonders what will be there a year from now when GM, the new GM, will be in the midst of an expected initial public offering.The automaker, fresh from Chapter 11, has decided, as was first reported in The Wall Street Journal, that it will phase out attaching a small GM badge in the front bumper of each vehicle. There will be no such badge on 2011 models.As the bandit in The Treasure of Sierra Madre famously said, “We don’t need no badges…I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.”

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2009/08/_there_isnt_muc.html

Big Deal: German Government financed General Motors with taxpayers’ money
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hesitating to use more taxpayers' money for the rescue of General Motors European carmaker OPEL. But an embarrassing fact remains: According to information from LifeGen.de, the German Federal Government has financed through the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) two important research projects of General Motors in the past- with German public money.

http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/shownews.php4?getnews=m2009-08-26-4708&pc=s02


Merkel party ally urges delay in Opel decision: report (click here)
Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:47am EDT
..."I think it would make sense to delay the decision until after the federal elections," Hans-Peter Friedrich, conservative parliamentary deputy floor leader, told German daily Die Welt.
"An objective decision could only be made with difficulty in this heated atmosphere in light of the election campaigns," he was quoted as saying in an article to be published on Monday.
Talks to sell Opel have been running for months and loom as a hot political issue ahead of German elections on September 27, because of the state support required for the eventual buyer....

Spain Doesn’t Rule Out Aid If GM Drops Opel-Sale Plan (Update1) (click here)
By Javier Marquina
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Spanish government said today it wouldn’t rule out giving financial aid to General Motors Co.’s Opel unit even if the U.S. carmaker decides to keep the European division.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain is “following intensely” the negotiations on a possible sale of Opel. Asked whether Spain would still offer aid if GM decides not to sell Opel, Zapatero said his government is “ready to give help to different alternatives for Opel and GM in Spain.”...

No one's paying attention to the Atlantic? There are three significant circulation systems...

The 3rd tropical system is noted west of Liberia off the African shore.


August 31, 2009
0815z
UNISYS Water Vapor North and West Hemispheric Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

Besides the 'near shore' turbuence of the Gulf of Mexico, there are three tropical waves in the Atlantic. They are large tropical systems, the one nearest to North American is immediately east of Grand Turk and the Bahamas. The second system is directly east of the Lesser Antilles and the third is west of Liberia ,off the African coast.

The 'severe' storms have been occurring in recent years during this 'late summer' season, but, have not yet occurred past Labor Day. However, the hurricane season with minor turbulence has extended into January of the following year, which in this case would be 2010.

It's Human Induced Global Warming. Strange things happen.

August 31, 2009
1430z
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click title to entry for 12 hour loop - Thank you)


August 31, 2000
1217 gmt
Tropical Atlantic Satellite

August 27, 2009

Fall River Mills, California

Photographer states :: It was hot and windy today - this fire started from HWY299E - appears we had a careless motorist - possible cigarette out the window? Just speculating for now. Fortunately the only house up there is several yards away and saved!....this is most likely where the fire started.....

California Drought Fires theatened homes and Mount Wilson Observatory

Click here for USA interactive Drought Map


If Hurricane "Jimena" stays on course it will follow the coast of North America in a nearly directly northern path. The storm may be diminished be the time it meets with California, but, it might still be carrying a lot of water. It is California's best hope.


August 31, 2009
1430z
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES West Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)


August 26, 2009
Angeles National Forest
Photographer states :: An LA County Fire Department Firehawk helicopter makes a water drop on the Station Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest. This is one of two fires burning in the area.

The weather at Glacier Bay Nationa Park (Crystal Wind Chime) hasn't changed in weeks;

Nah, it will never happen on Earth. It is all a bunch of talk. Scientists make predictions that NEVER come true.

Well. Guess what?

It's happening !



Elevation :: 33 ft
Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W
Local Time: 7:07 AM AKDT (GMT -08)
Temperaure :: 50 F
Conditions :: Overcast
Windchill :: 50 F
Humidity :: 94%
Dew Point :: 48 F
Wind :: Calm
Pressure :: 30.06 in (Falling)
Visibility :: 0.5 mile
UV :: 0 out of 16
Clouds :: Overcast at 300 ft (Above Ground Level)

Higher ocean acidity will affect Alaska fisheries (click title to entry - thank you)

By Jeff Richardson
Originally published Monday, August 24, 2009 at 12:00 a.m.

Updated Monday, August 24, 2009 at 5:57 a.m.

FAIRBANKS — A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher has confirmed what scientists have suspected for years — the state’s seas are becoming acidic at a faster rate than more temperate waters.
The growing level of acidity could be a big problem for Alaska sea life, since shellfish — and the animals that eat them — might be damaged by the changing environment.
“Ocean acidification is a today problem, not a 100 years from now problem,” said Jeremy Mathis, a UAF chemical oceanographer. “We’re at the tip of the spear, I think.”...

"...sail on..."

The passing of Edward M. Kennedy closes a chapter in American History, just as the loss of President Lincoln closed the chapter on oppression of human beings.

The Kennedy Family dedicated themselves to bringing equity to the citizens of the USA that were without a champion.

Those that would dissent in the aspirations of the Kennedys never knew the 'reality of oppression.' Say it was their Irish heritage and the knowledge of oppression of the ethnicity both in Europe and American that brought them a resolve in life that would create 'an enemy' to politics as usual in Washington, DC.

It was a family committed to valuing the equality of all people as themselves that brought about a reality to the American Fabric that would rattle the status quo for decades and into decades in the future.

Ted Kennedy was the center of his family's stability and the epicenter to equality in DC.

He will be missed. He will be missed as his brothers before him and perhaps, just perhaps, more than they ever could be.

He was a vital figure on all levels of his life and there is a void today that needs to be filled by someone as dedicated to the principles that all 'men' were created equal. His sense of justice will live on and it is that conscience that was captured in a political party that now has a task to fill a void as vast as any vacuum of space.

Sympathies to his family and dearest friends. They suffer a loss today, but, not so great as the one of a champion lost to those in the country he loved.


His funeral service was a Roman Catholic Requiem High Mass.


..."We can still hear his voice (click here) bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers’ rights or civil rights," President Obama said in his eulogy before 1,500 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mission Hill. "And yet, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did."...

It can easily be said, the Kennedy family saw to the rise of the African American's first Black President. They took up the fight where Lincoln had left off. No one can take that away from them. The legacy is obvious through the price they paid. America is grateful.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy is moved from his precious Hyannis Port.

August 28, 2009

August 25, 2008

"...high principle and bold endeavour...renewal for our nation...the work begins anew, the hope rises again and the dream lives on."

The Kennedy legacy passed through a generation of men and women always upheld 'The Good Fight.'

You aren't getting away with it anymore ! The Health Insurance Industry is VILLANIOUS.

Michael B. McAllister is a villain. He lives "IN PLAIN SIGHT" of the very people he kills by denying vital claims, over charging for the services Humana provides and limits the options any insured individual can exercise.

Men and women like McAllister have to be replaced with a Health Care Insurance system that TAKES CARE of Americans and doesn't demonize them and victimize them !

End of Discussion.

NO SYMPATHY ! ! ! ! ! ! !


Michael B. McCallister, Humana president, said, “Our industry has not done a great job of improving clarity and transparency.”

Let me make this completely clear and transparent. "...clarity and transparency...' is NOT the issue although it sounds like a good strategy to hide the truth now that the end of the corruption is near. The problem that Mr. McCallister 'doesn't get' is that his company and all those like them DENY services and puts affordable insurance out of the reach of those who find it vital to the well being of Americans.

Simple.

Real simple.

The New York Times is attempting to 'soften' the image of the villans. Why? Because the New York Times IS Wall Street.

They represent THE SLIME BALLS !!!!!!

Time stands still. Ted Kennedy has passed.

The Clinton White House provided the USA with a Budget SURPLUS. I think I left off with page 300 or so.

.
04:00 AM PT, Oct 15 2008

When President Clinton left office (click title to entry - thank you), the federal budget was showing a $127-billion surplus.
The books are closed on fiscal 2008. The surplus the current President Bush inherited has turned into a record deficit: $455 billion.
That is more than twice the 2007 deficit of $162 billion and beyond the previous record of $413 billion in 2004....

...from The Nation...

Paulson Bailout Plan a Historic Swindle (click here)
By William Greider
September 19, 2008

...If Wall Street gets away with this, it will represent an historic swindle of the American public--all sugar for the villains, lasting pain and damage for the victims. My advice to Washington politicians: Stop, take a deep breath and examine what you are being told to do by so-called "responsible opinion." If this deal succeeds, I predict it will become a transforming event in American politics--exposing the deep deformities in our democracy and launching a tidal wave of righteous anger and popular rebellion. As I have been saying for several months, this crisis has the potential to bring down one or both political parties, take your choice....

The pages I have been reading for at least the past 100 pages are primarily regarding Medicare and the changes that will provide for a streamlined and more efficient use of American Health Care which is anticipated to allow people a higher quality of life and less cost to the USA Treasury.

The House Health Care Recovery Bill seeks to set 'example' to the Health Care Industry with their improvements in Medicare delivery. Ultimately, all private physicians will be members of the new Health Delivery Infrastructure as a means of improving their own care delivery to their patients.

Page 299, starting with line 3 there is a solid commitment by the House Legislature to these goals:

SEC. 1152. POST ACUTE CARE SERVICES PAYMENT REFORM PLAN AND BUNDLING PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall develop a detailed plan to reform payment for post acute care (PAC) services under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Medicare program)’’. The goals of such payment reform are to—
(A) improve the coordination, quality, and efficiency of such services; and
(B) improve outcomes for individuals such as reducing the need for readmission to hospitals from providers of such services.
(2) BUNDLING POST ACUTE SERVICES.—The plan described in paragraph (1) shall include detailed specifications for a bundled payment for post acute services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘post acute care bundle’’), and may include other approaches determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(3) POST ACUTE SERVICES.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘post acute services’’ means services for which payment may be made under the Medicare program that are furnished by skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long term care hospitals, hospital based outpatient rehabilitation facilities and home health agencies to an individual after discharge of such individual from a hospital, and such other services determined ap10
propriate by the Secretary.
(b) DETAILS.—The plan described in subsection
(a)(1) shall include consideration of the following issues:

The bill goes on to describe more details and definitions not necessary to list here. There is an important limitation to the 'Pilot Program' that is designed to promote the 'principles' of these provisions. It is important to realize the commitment of which the House Bill lends itself to a benevolent intent of the citizens of the USA.

Page 306, lines 11 through 23:

‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall only expand the pilot program under subsection (a)(2) if the Secretary finds that—
‘‘(1) the demonstration program under section 1866C and pilot program under this section maintain or increase the quality of care received by individuals enrolled under this title; and
‘‘(2) such demonstration program and pilot program reduce program expenditures and, based on the certification under subsection (d), that the expansion of such pilot program would result in estimated spending that would be less than what spending would otherwise be in the absence of this section.

AND

Page 307, lines 5 through 7:

‘‘(e) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as requiring the participation of an entity in the pilot program under this section.’’.

Page 311, line 15 begins a discussion about home care and the new provisions for it under Medicare.

The provisions continue for many pages while it defines the requirements for physician participation and hospitals and physician owned hospitals, etc. It is all necessary terminology to protect, 'ultimately' the monies being paid for services. In other words, are there monies being paid twice to the same entity under different names and is there an exploitation by any entity for double dipping. The extent this bill goes to 'secure' proper payment to the entity providing services is rather extensive with every section. They are being careful with the people receiving care and the money that pays for the services. This bill was NOT drafted in a couple weeks. This bill has been 'in the works' for some time. There isn't this kind of detail without very careful processes to cover all the bases necessary. This isn't a 'rough draft' either.

Page 315, lines 16 through 20 provide for transparency. The following paragraphs details what happens where there isn't disclosure.

‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall publish, and periodically update, the information submitted by hospitals under paragraph (2)(A) on the public Internet website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.’’;

This will allow 'watch dogs' such as AARP to monitor services, providers and payment of monies. There is fairly tight control over unsustainable growth of a health care system. There are formulas within the legislation that provides for assessment of hospitals, the number of their procedure rooms, operating rooms and bed in relation to the size of the community it serves and the growth of that community. In other words, the 'facilities' can't just dump monies into building a parking garage because their non-profit 'fund' has extra monies that would put them outside the definition of non-profit. Within this bill, facilities have to clearly justify the spending on infrastructure and where the justification lacks, the extra monies will be returned to the clients of that facility in the form of rebates. It is the the way it is supposed to be. Non-profits aren't supposed to continually increase what they charge simply to have surplus and build things. It is wasteful.

I am listing this here because it is a definition most people don't think about in terms of health care providers. Page 326, lines 4 through 9.

‘‘(3) PHYSICIAN OWNER OR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection and subsection (f)(2), the term ‘physician owner or investor’ means a physician (or an immediate family member of such physician) with a direct or an indirect ownership or investment interest in the hospital.

Some physician owned facilities can be non-profits. Some don't have emergency rooms and don't necessarily provide for emergencies that occur within them. Some are long term care facilities. At any rate, much of this section discusses all that and wants to have plans from these facilities as to what they do when emergencies result, etc. It is a lot of long winded '...but, what if ...' kind of stuff. There is a provision on Page 321, lines 7 through 13 that allows for community input in regard to local facilities.

continued...

"There has got to be some kind of rebellion between the people that have nothing and the people that's got it all." I can't wait !

The USA Constitution does not 'require' Capitalism !

It allows it !

The purpose of the USA Constitution is to provide for the peace and tranquility of the citizens of this country, not their enslavement !



"Where is our money?"

"I DON'T KNOW."

The Cheney Observer - The KKK is alive and well ! Funding by Private Equity Industry (click title to entry - thank you)

Report: Nagin dismissed in crime-camera lawsuit (click here)

05:49 PM CDT on Monday, August 24, 2009

WWLTV.com
NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Ray Nagin has been dismissed personally from a crime-camera lawsuit, according to published reports.

The Times-Picayune reports the mayor was dismissed from the civil suit brought by two crime-camera firms that allege their technology was stolen in a conspiracy by the city, Nagin's fomer technology chief and Dell Inc.
Nagin remains in the lawsuit in his official capacity as mayor.

Mayor Ray Nagin Hails New Orleans Recovery (click here)
Tue, 08/25/2009 - 19:50
By: Floyd O. Wilson
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
US News

Four years ago this week, the City of New Orleans was deep under the waters splashed ashore by a raging Hurricane Katrina. By the time the storm cleared, hundreds of men, women, children and their pets were dead. A formerly vibrant city on the Gulf Coast was left in ruins, depopulated by almost a third of its homeless citizens and property damage running at more than $100 billion.
But the damage didn't stop there. A White House that until then had seemed invincible was left reeling and humbled from the exposure of its utter incompetence to a shocked nation, whose reputation for efficiency and compassion was by now in tatters. What's more, the recovery efforts was not only disjointed, but also was thoroughly corrupt.
A lone voice that at least temporarily could be heard on radio by a grieving city that of Ray Nagin, the affable mayor who, though bearing a portion of the blame, was justly deemed the only public official still in touch with his suffering people and at least understood exactly the magnitude of tragedy that had befallen his beloved city....

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
ALABAMA EXPOSURE: Don Siegelman wants Karl Rove to Testify (click here)
www.tuscaloosanews.com

August 23, 2009

For several years, former Gov. Don Siegelman has been demanding that Karl Rove, adviser to former President George W. Bush, testify to Congress about his alleged actions in Siegelman’s federal criminal case.

Siegelman was convicted of bribery charges in federal court in 2006. Last month, Rove was interviewed over two days by U.S. House Judiciary Committee lawyers under an “agreement of accommodation.”

Here’s the relevant Siegelman question and response, according to the unofficial transcript on the committee’s Web site:

“In fact, you did have an interest in the Siegelman case, didn’t you?” asked Elliot Mincberg, majority chief counsel of investigations and oversight.

Rove said, “I had a lot more pressing things on my platter than the [2006] Alabama governor’s race, and, as a result, a lot more significant things to worry about than the Don Siegelman case.”

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., in a press release about Rove’s interview, focused on Rove’s alleged involvement in the alleged illegal firing of certain U.S. attorneys during Bush’s term....

DIDN'T BELIEVE ME ABOUT MURDOCK AND HIS LYING NEWS EMPIRE ?

Rupert Murdoch’s WSJ Nailed on Karl Rove’s Lies (click here)

...The reason I want to thank you is that Mr. Rove has clearly lied about me in this article. You have captured and printed it without even checking to see if it is so or not. The lie he has told is and I quote, “Judiciary Democrats didn’t get testimony from either Mr. Siegelman or Dana Jill Simpson, the eccentric Alabama lawyer, who drew attention by publicly supporting the allegations.” In case you are unaware, I testified on September 14, 2007, before the House Judiciary Committee lawyers that were selected to question me. I most definitely gave sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Democrats. In fact, I gave over 143 pages of testimony before the Judiciary Democratic and Republican lawyers. It is unfortunate that your paper does not give a rip about the truth or you would have checked out the bold-faced lie that Karl Rove put in his article before you printed it....

NewsCorp’s Wall Street Journal Busted For Printing Lies (click here)
Thanking Murdoch’s Journal for More of Rove’s Lies
08/24/2009 by Gabriel Voiles
OpEd News has published an open letter from attorney Dana Jill Simpson (8/20/09) to “Mr. Murdoch and all the editors at the Wall Street Journal,” in which she expresses her wish to “thank you from the very bottom of my heart for running Karl Rove’s delusional article, ‘Closing In on Rove,’ on August 20, 2009″:
Thanking Murdoch’s Journal for More of Rove’s Lies
OpEd News has published an open letter from attorney Dana Jill Simpson (8/20/09) to “Mr. Murdoch and all the editors at the Wall Street Journal,” in which she expresses her wish to “thank you from the very bottom of my heart for running Karl Rove’s delusional article, ‘Closing In on Rove,’ on August 20, 2009″:
The reason I want to thank you is that Mr. Rove has clearly lied about me in this article. You have captured and printed it without even checking to see if it is so or not. The lie he has told is and I quote, “Judiciary Democrats didn’t get testimony from either Mr. Siegelman or Dana Jill Simpson, the eccentric Alabama lawyer, who drew attention by publicly supporting the allegations.” In case you are unaware, I testified on September 14, 2007, before the House Judiciary Committee lawyers that were selected to question me. I most definitely gave sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Democrats. In fact, I gave over 143 pages of testimony before the Judiciary Democratic and Republican lawyers. It is unfortunate that your paper does not give a rip about the truth or you would have checked out the bold-faced lie that Karl Rove put in his article before you printed it.

August 25, 2009
NJ Gov: GOP Poll Shows Race Tightening (click here)

Amid sustained attacks from Democrats over ties to Karl Rove and a personal loan to a former colleague, Chris Christie's lead appears to be shrinking. A poll conducted by Rick Shaftan, a consultant to Christie's former primary opponent, shows that Gov. Jon Corzine has pulled to within just two points....

Rove falsely claimed Obama admin. pushing vets toward "assisted suicide" (click here for video from Murdock)

August 25, 2009 7:23 pm ET

Continuing Fox News' pattern of falsely suggesting that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely, Karl Rove claimed that the Veterans Health Administration is directing veterans to an end-of-life educational booklet, "Your Life, Your Choices," that includes contact information for "a group that believes in assisted suicide," and thus "the kind of guidance we're giving returning veterans" is "you ought to go to an assisted suicide group." In fact, that group is not referenced in the current version of the document, a fact that Jim Towey -- who originated the smear of the booklet as a "death book" -- acknowledged in interview on Fox News Sunday....

Aide indicted, widens Abramoff scandal (click here)
Former official accused of accepting thousands in gifts
By Ben Conery (Contact) Saturday, August 22, 2009

A former congressional aide who also worked at the Labor Department and the government's broadcasting service has become the latest public official to be ensnared in a corruption scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Horace M. Cooper, 44, was accused Friday of taking thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff between 1998 and 2005.
Authorities say Mr. Cooper first began receiving gifts while working for former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican. He is accused of continuing to accept gifts while working as chief of staff for the Voice of America broadcasting service and as chief of staff for the Employment Standards Administration of the Labor Department....

Kevin Spacey's Abramoff is tight with Bush & Cheney in 'Casino Jack' (click here)
Sunday, August 16th 2009, 4:00 AM

Filming just wrapped on "Casino Jack," in which Kevin Spacey plays jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Having gotten a peek at Norman Snider's deft script, we can tell you that some of its real-life characters have cause for concern.
The screenplay paints George W. Bush and Karl Rove as much chummier with Abramoff than they've acknowledged. ("How you doing there, buff guy?" Bush asks the black-hatted con artist in one Oval Office scene.)...

Everyone is trying to 'sell' the idea that the younger voters that came out in droves for Obama have disappeared from the radar on Health Care Reform. "W"rong. They are there, but, they aren't unhappy about it, only that the man they elected into the Presidency is letting the Republicans 'get away' with lies, DESTROYING any friendly bipartisan for the sake of the country and fear mongering !

August 25, 2009
Boiling health-care pot (click here)
Posted by Michael Carper

So this is where bipartisanship gets you. Barack Obama gave Republican leadership the entire summer to voice opinions regarding health care. Instead of publicly supporting a plan and fostering thoughtful public discourse, the moderate Senate Republicans let their radical colleagues in the House and their equally frenzied allies on the airwaves dictate the Republican response.

Which leads us to where we are today: A bunch of angry boomers afraid of a non-existent health-care plan. Or, depending on when they tune into Fox News, "ObamaCare," "socialism," or "a government takeover."

Because President Obama let the health-care pot boil for three months without taking leadership by sharply defining the bills specifics, conservative commentators are bursting their kettle, screaming about select portions which may or may not be in the text of HR 3200 or whichever bill they feel deserves hyperbole. If no text exists, pundits like Karl Rove exaggerate about the British NHS or the Veteran's Affairs hospitals. They generally avoid Medicare, lest their readers remember where those checks are coming from. This active opposition, grassroots or not, is overwhelming the 77 percent of Americans that support the idea of a public option. Barack Obama can defend this idea. Let him.

George Walker Bush couldn't declare eminent domaine over the land for his library, so he thought he'd just use intimidation.

Deal between SMU, ex-condo owners to end land fight falls apart (click here)
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News lstahl@dallasnews.com
A deal that was supposed to end a long-running lawsuit against SMU – and smooth the path for George W. Bush's presidential library – has fallen apart amid charges that both sides broke the terms of a confidential agreement.
Last month, Southern Methodist University and two former condominium owners announced that they had settled the bitter four-year fight over who is the rightful owner of land now slated for the grounds of the Bush library.
The lawyers hailed the deal on the basis of an e-mail that contained four bullet points, according to filings in the case and interviews with attorneys on both sides. But now, what those bullet points said – or did not say – is in dispute, with both sides pointing fingers.
The terms of the agreement were kept confidential, but lawyers said the former condominium owners would be paid in exchange for dropping their claims to the disputed land....

According to Thomas and Scalia there is nothing in the Constitution that says a black man can't be killed even though he is innocent.

Editorial
Innocent and in jail (click here)
The Supreme Court has at last made a ruling that may help free the wrongfully convicted.

...Last week, they ordered a federal court in Georgia to reconsider the case of death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer 18 years ago. Since then, seven prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony, and dignitaries including former President Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI have pleaded for clemency, with the pope's representative providing Georgia officials with a detailed critique of the evidence used to convict Davis....

...In dissenting from the order, Justice Antonin Scalia (joined by Justice Clarence Thomas) complained that the court "has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is 'actually' innocent."...

Tom DeLay, the hammer, is a Birther !

Tom DeLay Joined the Ranks of the Birthers (click here)

...DeLay did not avoid the question. On the contrary, he seemed to place himself firmly in the birther camp. "I would like the president to produce his birth certificate," he said. "I can. I can, most illegal aliens here in America can. Why can't the president of the United States produce a birth certificate?"
DeLay even went so far as to ask for Matthews' help in securing the document. "Chris, will you do me a favor?" he asked. "Will you ask the president to show me... his birth certificate." Matthews declined, and pointed out that there was a newspaper announcement of the president's birth in 1961. DeLay questioned that as well: "Is a newspaper article an official document?"...

....Then we got a look at a May 1996 article from the Houston Chronicle about a series of protests by the disabilities advocacy group ADAPT, brought to our attention by Democratic consultant Peter Lindstrom.
It begins like this:
"Groups of protesters, most of them in wheelchairs, barricaded two local political offices Tuesday to demand changes in the way disabled people receive care in America. ... A second group of about 150 ADAPT supporters blockaded and occupied U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's office in Sugar Land [Texas], until DeLay agreed to meet with them. "
And continues:
"Tuesday's protesters narrowly escaped arrest by Stafford police when DeLay, who is in Washington, D.C., agreed to meet with them next month."
Huh. And here, again, is what DeLay told Chris Matthews:
"When I did my town hall meetings, I'll never forget one back in the '80s -- on health care, by the way. They brought in quadriplegics on gurneys and dumped them on the floor in front of my podium."
Time tinges everyone's memories; but this seems like a bit of a stretch.
Is it possible that DeLay is thinking of the ADAPT episode -- and just replacing 90s with 80s, district office with health care town hall, protesters in wheelchairs with quadriplegics dumped from gurneys, and not-having-been-there-at-all with seeing it unfold in front of his podium?
Perhaps DeLay's story would have a little more credibility if he could simply produce its birth certificate.
Late Update: Two reporters who've covered DeLay extensively over the years say the quadriplegic story is new to them.

'Dancing With the Stars' pairings announced (click here)

- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two-time champ Cheryl Burke (hey, it had to be someone, didn't it?)...

The Cheney Observer continued below...

The Cheney Observer - continued...

...I have expressed my frustration with this tactic many times before (click title to entry - thank you), and I know it is getting tedious. But, to recap, the tactic is this: (1) Make a preposterous and false claim about a bill. (2) Have the claim disproved. (3) Avoid defending the original claim, but instead observe that the controversy reflects "a legitimate difference of interpretation" about what might happen in the future. Effective opposition in three easy steps!...


Perhaps the TRUTH about Karl Rove's role in the US Attorney's firing will be turning 'state's witness' against George Walker Bush. After all, it took ? six ? or ? seven ? time before the Grand Jury of Fitzgerald to fry Libby instead to himself.

Rove and Miers' Public Testimony Could Focus on Bush (click here)
Former Bush administration officials Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will be called to testify publicly about the U.S. attorney firings, according to a report from Jason Leopold at The Public Record.The public examination is expected to cover President George W. Bush and information he might have received about the firings.The news follows last week's release of documents from Rove and Miers' non-public testimony before staff members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Those documents included Rove's testimony about the Don Siegelman prosecution in Alabama. It is unclear if the public testimony, expected to come this fall, will cover the Siegelman case....


Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove to appear on FOX's 'Family Guy' (Video) (click here)



Sarah Palin and Jeb Bush Poised to Lead Town-Hallers (click here)
August 25, 2009 09:28 AM ET Paul Bedard
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Some call it the next conservative revolution, but whatever we dub the antigovernment ire at tea parties and town halls, there so far appears to be no elected official leading the charge. "It's a faceless movement," says a former Bush adviser, who credited media bigs like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck for whipping up the frenzy. So who's best positioned to lead the protesters into the next presidential election? Whispers asked a dozen GOP and conservative leaders to come up with a top 10 list. First, Rep. Ron Paul, popular among the town hallers. Then, Sarah Palin, whose 2008 crowds cheered her antitax message. Third, Newt Gingrich, the father of the 1994 conservative revolution. Next, populist Mike Huckabee. And fifth, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said to be the family's passionate conservative.
The rest: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; House GOP Whip Eric Cantor; and Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Pat Toomey.
Note who's missing: Mitt Romney. The GOP analysts say that's because conservatives are wary of his program to reform healthcare in Massachusetts that some say resembles universal healthcare.

Well, it would seem Jeb Bush is ahead of Sarah Palin in harkening the Catholic Vote.

700,000 expected at Communion and Liberation’s Rimini Meeting (click here)

August 25, 2009
Jeb Bush, Tony Blair, Mary Ann Glendon, Robert George, the president of the European Union, and dozens of figures in European ecclesiastical, political, and intellectual life are speaking this week at the 30th Rimini Meeting, which is associated with the Communion and Liberation movement. “Knowledge is always an Event” is the meeting’s theme....

Obama Leads Top GOP Contenders for 2012 in New Poll; Palin is Weakest Opponent; Romney Tops 2012 GOP Field (click here)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new nationwide poll of American voters shows President Obama leading major 2012 Republican presidential contenders. The survey, conducted by Clarus Research Group, a nonpartisan research firm based in Washington, D.C., shows Obama leading GOP challengers by margins ranging from 9 to 19 points.

In the poll, Obama led:
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, by nine points: 47 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided.
Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, by 10 points: 48 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided.
Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, by 18 points: 52 percent to 34 percent, with 15 percent undecided.
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, by 19 points: 53 percent to 34 percent, with 13 percent undecided.
"The fact that Obama falls below 50 percent against two possible Republican opponents should be troubling for him," said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus Research Group. "It also shows that the electorate is increasingly divided on Obama, with significant partisan polarization." The president's standing among swing voters has eroded since November, 2008, when exit polling showed he defeated John McCain 52 percent to 44 percent among independents....

The Latest from Carlyle, there is no recession or 'down turn' at the firm.

Prior to Plainfield Asset Management, Ms. Pedersen (click here) was a Managing Director at U.S. Trust Company where she was the head of a team in their Family Wealth Management practice. Previously, Ms. Pedersen held positions at J.P. Morgan Investment Management as an energy analyst and at Morgan Stanley in Corporate Finance.
Ms. Pedersen earned her BA at the University of Pennsylvania and her BSE at The Wharton School.
* * * * *
The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $84.5 billion of assets under management committed to 64 funds as of March 31, 2009. Carlyle invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $55.7 billion of equity in 909 transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $227.5 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 890 people in 20 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $109 billion in revenue and employ more than 415,000 people around the world. http://www.carlyle.com/

Primus confident of bid for AIG unit (click here)
Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:20am EDT

By Faith Hung and Rachel Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Primus Financial Holdings is "very confident" it will get approval from Taiwan's regulators for its bid to buy AIG's (AIG.N) Taiwan insurance unit, a top executive from the investment firm said on Tuesday.
Primus' co-chief executive Wing-fai Ng told Reuters in an interview that it planned to list Nan Shan Life in Taiwan in three years if it won the bid, and then in Hong Kong and the United States, which would turn Nan Shan into a global brand.
Primus, founded by former top Citi (C.N) Asia banker Robert Morse, is in the final bidding race with the Carlyle Group CYL.UL and Bain Capital for a deal estimated at about $2 billion for Nan Shan, the most expensive asset for sale in Asia of American International Group.

American International Group, Inc. (New York Stock Exchange) (click here)

The latest from from GM CEO Fritz Henderson who is in line to become the next Rodger Smith, by squandering the selling of the American technology for the Volt and outsourcing its production to Europe through Opel.

Where is the UAW when they are needed. They sold their souls to keep GM alive and now GM is turning on them ! They are turning on them with American Treasury funds !

FACTBOX: New GM board at center of Opel talks (click here)
Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:44pm EDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - The new board of General Motors Co has emerged as a key player in the outcome of the automaker's long-running talks to sell off its Opel unit.
Last week, the board failed to endorse a carefully negotiated deal that would have sold Opel to a group led by the Canadian automotive group Magna with financial backing from the government of Germany.
Instead, the board asked for more information on that bid and a rival offer from Belgium-based RHJ.
Sources with knowledge of the deliberations also told Reuters on Monday that GM was considering trying to raise $4 billion to keep Opel instead of selling the unit.
GM's board includes members appointed by Treasury, Canada and the United Auto Workers union healthcare trust as well as GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, reflecting the ownership of the automaker that emerged from bankruptcy in July.
Treasury holds a more than a 60 percent stake in GM, Canada and its Ontario province holds 11.7 percent, the UAW healthcare trust 17.5 percent and creditors from the old GM, now called Motors Liquidation Co, hold a 10 percent interest.
GM is not publicly traded but plans an initial public offering as early as next year.man has experience fixing struggling businesses -- he made his name helping to pull Continental Airlines out of bankruptcy in the 1990s and turning the airline around....
* Daniel Akerson, managing director and head of global buyout at The Carlyle Group, was a Treasury appointee to the board in July....

Under the terms that gave the USA citizens 60.8% stock in General Motors COMPANY, they were to sell off their foreign assets. They are in breech of their agreement with the American Taxpayers. I say we need to reclaim the company and take back what is rightfully ours !

Slimeballs.

Wall Street = Slimeballs.

'Gov. Corzine: Unions Key to Income Equality' (click here)
by Tula Connell, Aug 15, 2009
As the state with the most extensive union membership, it’s no surprise that New Jersey working families have a strong social contract, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said today. Speaking at a lunchtime panel at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Corzine told the hundreds of progressive bloggers in the audience:
There is no question that the association of the union movement with shared wealth is absolutely a reality—and we need to get back to it.
Corzine, who is in a tough fight with challenger Chris Christie in one of two governor’s races this fall, said the distribution of income in this country is skewed—with the nation’s tax policy ”completely tilted toward corporations against labor.” (Media reports today tie Bush-backer Christie with Karl Rove and the illegal firing of U.S. attorneys. Find out more about Christi’s anti-worker stances here.)...

London Mayor Criticizes Tube Contractor Over Delays (Update2) (click here)
By Brian Lysaght
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- London Mayor Boris Johnson criticized the work of Tube Lines Ltd., the largest contractor on the London Underground, over its delays on a project to upgrade the Jubilee Line.
“I am hugely frustrated at their progress to date, which is simply unacceptable,” Johnson said in an e-mailed statement today. The company may not meet its contractual deadline to finish work on the line by Dec. 31, and has “stretched Londoners’ patience almost to breaking point,” he said.
Tube Lines, owned by Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial SA and San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp, said it will complete the work on time if it’s allowed to shut the line for five extra days to allow work crews into the tunnels. The company has a 30-year contract, called a public-private partnership, to maintain and upgrade the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines....

continued...

The Cheney Observer - continued from above...

Halliburton breaks ground in Williston (click here)
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) An international oil service company is expanding in Williston.Halliburton Co. broke ground Thursday on a complex estimated at about $20 million in the city's Industrial Park.Halliburton provides oil field services to major companies and independent firms, and employs more than 300 people in northwestern North Dakota and eastern Montana.The new complex is to open next year with space for tools, truck washing, sand and parking.Halliburton officials say they had to lay off workers in Williston recently but they believe the economy will change....

Food for thought. Is the newspaper business about reporting 'the truth' or 'promoting politics?'

He Said, She Said Journalism, Horse Race Journalism, & the Church of the Savvy (click here)
August 19, 2009
I’m posting something Jay Rosen, an NYU Journalism professor posted two years ago on “he said, she said”/horse race political journalism. Rosen calls it the “church of savvy,” and I guess others do as well.
The issue is that don’t journalists don’t actually cover the issue and whether a claim is true or not, they just report on the politics of the situation. Or, better put in one of Rosen’s tweets: “Is it true? vs. Will it work? The church of the savvy disgusts Paul Krugman http://tr.im/wrTr ”...

So good to know former Senator Bill Frist believes in American Labor.

Sen. Bill Frist uses Cash for Clunkers, junks Suburban for Prius (click here)
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Aug 25th 2009 at 9:02AM
Apparently, it's a common misconception that all Prius drivers are Democrats. Not true. In fact, recently retired Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) just got himself a shiny new hybrid hatchback from Toyota. The former senator even got a few thousand dollars off the price of his new eco-friendly ride courtesy of the just-concluded Cash for Clunkers program here in the United States.
In an interview on Larry King Live, Frist responded to King's quip that "You don't see a lot of Republicans driving a Prius" with the response that the hybrid's 50 miles per gallon along with the fact that "the taxpayer gave me $6,000 to do it" as reasons for the Prius purchase....

Follow the Government MONEY !!!!

Oh, it's only Halliburton, Jr - KBR.

Shoddy Work To Follow !!!

Analyst: KBR moving from military to energy work (click here)
HARTFORD, Conn.
Shares of KBR Inc. rose Tuesday after an analyst raised his price target on the engineering and construction company's shares, saying KBR is moving successfully into large energy projects and away from military contracts.
Broadpoint AmTech analyst Will Gabrielski raised his price target to $29 from $24 and reiterated a "buy" rating on KBR.
The Houston company, which was spun off from Halliburton Co., is doing a "solid job of transitioning" its work from the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LogCap, though it took longer than expected, Gabrielski said.
Last month, defense contractors DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp. received a combined $3 billion contract from the Army for support services to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The award excluded KBR.
However, Gabrielski said two large Iraq orders could be awarded by the end of the year and KBR's "positioning in Iraq remains intact given the company's entrenched status."...

Halliburton Company HAL, builds concrete plant, will cost $10 million to $12 million (click here)
Halliburton Company
Rochester, NY 8/25/2009 03:12 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
Halliburton Company said that it has agreed to begin construction on a concrete plant to serve north-central Pennsylvania's expanding natural gas drilling industry. The cost estimation will be $10 million to $12 million, including a concrete plant, warehouse, offices, truck wash and maintenance bays. The site is appealing because it is close to areas where exploration companies are drilling into the potentially lucrative Marcellus Shale gas formation, says Halliburton officials.

‘Concrete’ proof of gas development impact (click here)

Bush bashing (click title to this entry - thank you)
Cheney’s next target is apparently his former boss
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 14, 2009, 8:39PM

During the last two presidential terms, an oft-repeated assertion by journalists covering the White House was that the real power in the George W. Bush administration was Vice President Dick Cheney. A New Yorker Magazine cover satirized the relationship by depicting Bush as Cheney's manservant cleaning up behind him.
Apparently that image wasn't too far from Cheney's own conception of his role as one of the most influential No. 2's in American history. A report in the Washington Post by Barton Gellman indicates Cheney is hard at work on a tell-all memoir that will unload on his former boss for failing to continue following the veep's policies in the closing years of his presidency....

So, Who Is John Durham? (click here)

...By the early '90s, working out of the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut, he was receiving national attention heading cases against New England crime kings, providing evidence to put John Gotti behind bars, and going after crooked politicos like former Connecticut governor John Rowland. In 1999, he was asked by former attorney general Janet Reno to investigate a number of corrupt state police officers and FBI agents in Boston that had been working with the mob (a case whose players served as inspiration for characters in the Oscar-winning film, The Departed).
During the '80s and '90s, Durham became known in New England as the "white knight": dogged, spotlight-shy, puritanical, and successful. He's a devout Catholic that takes no prisoners in the court room. As of 2001, he'd never lost a case. In July 2004, he was awarded the Award for Exceptional Service by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft....

Ninth Circuit Rejects Armenian Genocide Suit (click here)
By ANNIE YOUDERIAN

(CN) - The 9th Circuit dismissed a lawsuit for insurance benefits filed by victims of the Armenian genocide. The court said the claims were trumped by the U.S. government's refusal to use the term genocide to describe the systematic slaughter of more than 500,000 Armenians during and after World War I....

...Senior Circuit Judge Thompson cited the Bush administration's efforts to quash a 2007 Armenian Genocide Resolution, which sought official recognition of the genocide. Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that passage of such a resolution "could harm American troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and significantly damage our efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey." Then-President George W. Bush added that the resolution "is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."...

6 Confirmation Questions For Ben Bernanke (click here)
August 25, 2009 03:57 PM ET Rick Newman
It’s not surprising that Ben Bernanke is getting a second round as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Had President Obama bounced Bernanke after one two-year term, it would have sent an unsettling message just as the economy appears to be turning the corner. And history may show that Bernanke’s aggressive intervention in the economy over the last 18 months has been much more prudent than the hands-off approach his detractors would have preferred....

...Why did Goldman Sachs get AIG bailout money? Six months after the beginning of the AIG bailout, we learned that $12.9 billion worth of AIG bailout money actually went to Goldman Sachs, which had multiple deals with AIG that the government basically redeemed at 100 cents on the dollar. Three European banks got more than $30 billion in AIG bailout money, with other AIG trading partners getting lesser amounts. There may have been a sound reason for passing through so much money to AIG counterparties. So what was it? And why didn’t those trading partners even take a haircut on their deals with AIG, when the government itself will probably lose a bundle? This deal is especially fishy given that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came straight to Washington from Goldman, where he was CEO. Bernanke has the standing to put conspiracy theories to rest—if there’s a convincing explanation for the Goldman payouts that for some reason we haven’t heard so far....

...John Rendon (click here) spoke and gave an assessment of how they had done in the run-up to the war. And he said, “Well, there were three things we tried to do, and we did well on two, but not the third.” The first was to make the news be theirs 24/7, and they did that by the morning briefings from Baghdad—or from Kuwait and then the afternoon press conference from the Pentagon. “We wanted to control the printed media, and that was primarily done by the embedded program.” He said, “The one thing we failed at was we didn’t have people who provided the context. We lost control of the military analysts, and they were giving context.”...

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