Medvedev Says Georgian Army Buildup Causes ‘Concern’ (Update1) (click here)
By Torrey Clark, Helena Bedwell and Denis Maternovsky
Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Georgia’s actions, including a troop buildup on the borders of two separatist Georgian regions, are cause for “serious concern” a year after a war between the two countries.
“Georgia’s actions continue to cause serious concern, from the unceasing threats to restore its ‘territorial integrity’ by force and daily warlike rhetoric to its concentration of armed forces on the borders with South Ossetia and Abkhazia and serious provocations in border areas,” Medvedev said in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Excerpts from the letter were posted today on the Kremlin Web site....
Russia to increase border troops deployed in Abkhazia, South Ossetia (click here)
www.chinaview.cn
2009-08-05 22:52:02
MOSCOW, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia plans to increase the number of troops it has deployed in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from around 1,800 to 3,000 by the end of the year, a deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.
"Presently, there are some 1,000 Russian military personnel in Abkhazia and up to 800 in South Ossetia," Grigory Karasin said, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency.
He said that by the end of the year there will be 1,500 troops in each region.
Karasin also said Russia has verified reports that say Ukraine was involved in arm shipments to Georgia prior to the brief war between Georgia and Russia last summer.
"We do hope that Ukraine, as a state near to us, will stop playing these dangerous games, creating problems in current relations, already problematical," he said....
There are two tropical waves currently 'off Africa' that could result in some kind of tropical storm. But here again, unless these storms track directly across the planet and stay within the Intertropical Convergence Zone, they won't amount to high vorticity hurricanes. As soon as they swing north across Earth, the tropospheric water vapor isn't available to sustain them, yet alone sustain a Cat 4 or 5 storm.
According to what I understand Representative David Scott held a town hall meeting with a predetermined agenda. He convened the meeting to listen to residents within his district regarding a road that was proposed that would ultimately dismantle their homes and businesses.
During the course of the meeting a physician came to speak to him about health care. Having knowledge of the loud and disruptive incidents across the country, Rep. Scott cut the physician short in his address of health care to state the meeting was deliberately set up to hear from people regarding the egregious road construction.
What has occurred since is more of the same anger that has been leveled at elected House and Senate members. In the case of Rep. Scott, he has already set up a meeting for this weekend regarding health insurance reform and has asked the physician involved to a beer.
I think that is all fine and good, but, the desecration to the office sign of Rep. Scott is a different issue, I don't see it at vandalism. To say that a Swastika is vandalism is like saying graffiti is only art. That is a poor assessment of the danger within that symbol.
The Swastika is a the symbol for White Supremists. They embrace it as a symbol of power and White Supremists kill. It is my opinion that they have disabled a conversation between the people and their government by using this sensitive issue as a platform.
Don't tell me that White Supremists and the KKK aren't alive and well, because they are. I am sincerely concerned for Representative Scott and what could be a death threat. I am so concerned I'll go to say his offices need to be moved into a secure building whereby visitors to his office need to walk through metal detectors to gain entrance to his office. And, NO, I don't believe that is an over reaction.
I'll go as so far as to say, this is not just a simple citizen uprising against a topic they don't understand or honestly oppose, but, I believe the topic of National Health Insurance Reform has been hijacked by extremists groups as a method of achieving their purpose. I make this statement in reference to the Homeland Security Warning earlier issued that has been very correct in predicting the behaviors of White Supremists such as the killer at the Holocaust Museum.
Witnessed yesterday on the route President Obama took to his Town Hall Meeting was an armed individual displaying his weapon. That is legal in New Hampshire, but, it is too close for comfort when the President is in town for discussions regarding a sensitive topic. That is brash behavior. That unnecessary behavior is a show of force. It was a call for others to openly arm themselves as well.
I have heard people freely state on Talk Radio that they hope this descent will erupt into a full blown revolution. These folks want the violence.
I believe Rep. Scott is a wonderful elected official and takes his commitment to the people of his district seriously while being very sensitive to ethnic cultures that could be changed with so called advancements such as roads. I am concerned for him. I believe he is in danger. I strongly discourage any further town hall meetings by anyone without proper security at the entrance to any room. Even then the numbers of angry people pose their own potential for danger.
In a town hall meeting by Senator McCaskill, I witnessed a complete break down in the confidence of government. Practically everyone in the hall stated they did not trust her regardless of her honest and forthright answers. It was a dangerous circumstance that she handled exceptionally well.
People don't want to hear the truth and what is best for the country. I have said this before. They won't hear you. Senator Spector ran into the same phenomena at his town hall. People came prepared with elaborate statements of authority and wished him ill will on judgement day. His answers were also honest and forthright, but, they were not the answers those folks wanted to hear. They wanted to hear, what they wanted to hear and nothing was going to change that, not even the truth.
I believe the circumstances are unfortunate as they exist between constituencies and their elected representatives. Not all those elected suddenly changed overnight into monsters with two heads and six eyes. The undermining of authority of the USA government is of 'the same tone' and comes from nearly the same voice.
I believe continuing the conversation is important if the truth is to be heard at all, however, there is an undertone of murder and death including the symbols such as the Swastika from hate groups such as the White Supremists and the KKK that cannot be ignored.
The journalist asking the question is a man. A little sexist I would say. This was no mistake. He disregarded any expertise Secretary Clinton had on the issue and wanted to know what her husband thought. He tried to water down his sexist question of our Secretary of State by asking another woman to respond to the same question. He spoke down to Hillary. Didn't think twice about it.
Translating Hillary Clinton's Outburst in Africa (click title to entry - thank you)
What gave you people the idea that diplomacy is best conducted by Stepford wives or saints? The very same people--women--who whine about gender disparity are among the first and most vocal to question the propriety of this woman's choice to put an insult back in its place, and in no uncertain terms....
I sincerely believe the Right Wing Media has 'whipped up' the opposition to the point of being irrational and there is no sense for the President to address them because they won't hear him anyway.
In most of the Town Hall Meetings I have seen or listened to there has been a lot of yelling with little discussion. They are beyond reason.
The Right Wing media is instilling fear in these folks and I feel badly for them. They state things such as the government has taken over our banks, Obama Motors and now they want to take over our health care. There is not a true word in any of it. None. Yet, these folks go on and on as if it was written in stone.
Wow.
The banks were bailed out. It has happened before. It has happened with S&Ls. You know Silverado and Neil Bush. The banks are being held responsible for the funds they took and they are paying it back. The USA Treasury is making 7% on the dollar. That is fairly steep by the way. It is to discourage them from having it happen again.
The Auto Manufacturers were bailed out and they weren't given free reign to do what they wanted with the people's money either. They had to present a 'viability plan.' From what I see so far, Chevy has got the edge. They are offering sporty cars without giving up power on the road while still getting incredibly good gas mileage. Not only that, but, their 'shares' the country now holds will go to the public in ten months from the date of bankruptcy. The 60.8% shares will go on the stock exchange for sale back to the public.
Tell me there is something "W"rong with this. See, because jobs have been saved and the American people are finally getting automobiles they can be proud of manufactured by an American company for the first time in modern history. I have yet to find fault with it, realizing all this was made possible by the "Paulson Pity Party." The man that wanted the economy to crash and burn in order for Goldman Sachs to receive huge amounts of money from AIG. It was contemplated and deployed and he just watched as the USA infrastructure became unraveled. Nice, huh? I think we did the best we could given the circumstances.
Now, onto health care. Where was everyone? During his campaign for President it was completely obvious National Health Care Reform was going to be addressed. There is absolutely nothing about the bill that will cost the Middle Class a dime over 10 years. That is what he promised and that is what he is delivering. Those might be the folks that are irate at these meetings. It might be.
But, the Right Wing media is using lies such as euthanasia will be employed. "W"rong. Grief Counceling is hugely different than euthanasia and there currently are not laws in the USA to allow it. I believe Oregon still has assisted suicide, but, we know what kind of back flips people have to go through to obtain that permisson and receive the drugs. Those laws were enacted for the primary reason of incurable cancer victims. Would it be nice to have most cancers completely curable and such laws wouldn't be necessary at all.
Grief Counceling has been around for a long, long time. It is employed with families for end stage of any disease or severe trauma. It has nothing to do with having a doctor perscribe euthanasia to a patient of any age. Yet the Right Wing Media is stating it will be used on the elderly in nursing homes in the form of euthanasia. It is flat out lie.
You know, regardless of the 'state of one's health' most Americans like their lives enough that they don't want it to end. The Oregon Assisted Suicide Law has seen few people seek the medications and even when they have the medications in their hands even fewer actually carry out the act.
The "Government Option." There is nothing evil or sinister about it. What the "Government Option" offers is a method to obtain health care as if one was a federal employee. Any person or family obtaining health care through The "Government Option" will have the right to choose from a menu of PRIVATE companies. My understanding is that it isn't free either. Anyone participating in the "Government Option" will have to pay the cost every month no differently than if they were on the payroll.
The "Government Option" has to exist. To begin with, all President Obama heard from people when he was campaigning was how nice his health care was as a Senator, but, the American people could not get such health care. In addition, it is a form of self regulation of other companies. If a preson can leave their insurance carrier without reprisal to take the "Government Option" it will cause a backlash to invoke change in the way Americans are treated by their health care providers. No company wants to loose members. Having a wide base of support by having large numbers of members is what provides the health care in the first place.
Monies collected bi-weekly or monthly are sent to the insurance companies and they are invested. Supposedly, there is far less expenditures than income to any company. That is their profit margin and it is allowed to exist. That is how life insurance companies work as well. They receive monthly premiums, invest them and pay on the policy when the insured dies. It is a sound principle. Where the American Health Care System took a turn for the worse is when the health care insurance companies increased their profits by denying claims. People died.
Now, when people are facing surgery they are locked out of for any reason by their insurance company, they can turn to the "Government Option" which cannot turn them away for coverage. They won't die anymore.
Is there something Un-American about this? Or. Is there something very American about this? I think it is the later. I believe what President Obama, the Senate and the House has done is care for the people of this country in a most compassionate way that will allow every American a fighting chance when they face illness or infirmity.
There is nothing wrong here. Nothing. Sorry to realize a sector of the public is vulnerable to Right Wing Media lies. Perhaps it is their access to the public for the purpose of instilling fear among the people we need to address. It isn't fair to them. I know those folks at the town hall meetings are good people and they think they are doing the right thing. But, they have been fed a huge amount of lies and fear by the Right Wing of this country. I find that very sad. If I believed every word said as well, I'd be scared, too.
I do believe Christian Talk Radio needs to 'take a break' from using self-rightous positions and seek to bring those that need health care 'on board' to the National Initiative. A religious belief of 'convenience' seems to be the forte of the Right Wing Talk Radio Nut Cases.
...This story is one of many healing stories (click here) that were chronicled and that made it into the printed pages of our Bibles. People, who were the contemporaries of Jesus, are no different from the masses of people in our modern world. They want to live in healthy bodies.
Apparently, Jesus never avoided sick people. Rather, he called upon whatever powers were available to him and brought healing to people.
One of the games played by Bible scholars is to debate what we really know about Jesus from Nazareth. Elaborate rules are set to determine the authenticity of the material found in the four gospels.
Applying those rules, lists of “what we know about Jesus” are developed. The usual list contains eight to 15 items. I have never seen such a list that did not include Jesus was a Galilean who preached and healed....
