Million dollar babies. Somehow an additional tax on the wealthiest Americans just doesn't break my heart.

It isn't as though Congress is taking away the backyard pleasure horse, you know what I mean? Everything in balance America. Everything in balance. Give me a break here. I suppose there might be a stable hand or two that might end up on the unemployment line, but, in exchange for what exactly?


Posted: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 5:47 PM
Wertheimer snags Honest Pursuit for $3.1-million (click title to entry - thank you)
by John P. Sparkman
..."We thought she would be about $2.5-million," said Wertheimer, who races and breeds in partnership with his brother, Gerard. "If you could get that family every day, you wouldn't pay that much."...

November 17th, 2009 1:30 PM
AP POLL: Tax the rich to pay for health bill (click here)
By Erica Werner / Associated Press
The House bill would impose a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and households making more than $1 million.
The poll tested views on an even more punitive taxation scheme that was under consideration earlier, when the tax would have hit people making more than $250,000 a year. Even at that level the poll showed majority support, with 57 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed.
"You know, I mean, why not? If they have that much money, it should be taxed," said Mary Pat Rondthaler, 60, of Menlo Park, Calif. "It isn't the same way that the guy making $21,000 is."
Not everyone agreed.
"They earn their money. And they shouldn't have to pay for somebody else. It doesn't seem fair," said Emerson Wilkins, 62, of Powder Springs, Ga.
Overall, the poll found the public split on Congress' health care plans. In response to some questions, participants said the current system needed to be changed, but they also voiced concerns about the potential impact on their own pocketbooks, preferring to push any new costs onto wealthier Americans....

I think I left off with Page 14 or something like that...

Okay, so I know that The Baucus Bill is not an original bill and I know that it is an amendment to Medicare. I also know the Baucus Bill INAPPROPRIATELY targets aspects of the Medicare LAWS inappropriately and with bias toward cronies such as Medicare Advantage. I also know that simply makes my blood boil.

Now.

The bill goes on to FOCUS the brunt of the responsiblity NOT on the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but, on THE STATES. It is the states that will be ridden into compliance and will carry the EXPENSE of enacting this law. The question is "How much is in this provision that will be paid to the States from the Federal Government to mediate their expenses in ADDING to their expense of being in compliance with this federal legislation?"

The 'title' to the State Plans will be "Qualified Health Benefit Plan. Page 15, lines 1 through 8:

QUALIFIED HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN.—For purposes of this title, a health benefits plan which is offered in the individual or small group market shall be a qualified health benefits plan with respect to a State if—
(1) the plan has in effect a certification (which may include a seal or other indication of approval) issued or recognized by the State that such plan meets the applicable requirements of—

A Seal?

The plan has to display a Seal of some kind to be qualified.

I see.

Well, there is nothing like looking official. Sort of like a birth certificate or something.

Do you know what the placement of a 'simple seal' will cost in 'ceremony' of implementing the bill?

That means there will be a 'CLEARINGHOUSE' of qualified health benefit plans examined by one, possibly two people, in order to QUALIFY for a 'seal' and those folks will probably be making well over $50,000 a year, at least.

And I'll tell how silly this is going to become.

When a 'plan' is submitted and it does not 'get' a seal displayed on it, companies will have the State in court to discern the issue as to why that plan did not qualify AND they will seek redress by having the opportunity to change their plan to meet the requirements for the seal.

If a seal is displayed therefore the public will KNOW all they have to do is find a seal on the document and it is a qualified plan.

It is my opinion, such a ceremonial issue is not necessary and will only lead to corruption.

It will get plenty expensive and will become cost prohibitive to most State budgets. Not only that, but, it will treat the public as if they are dunces that only have to look for a seal, sort of like a 'Seal of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.' It is condescending, rude and idiotic.

The rest of the entry of those subparagraphs say basically nothing, but, simply repeat what is already stated in page Page 14 which I already discussed. Page 15, lines 17 through 20:

‘‘(B) complies with such other requirements as the Secretary or the State may establish pursuant to this title for qualified health benefits plans.

That line NULLIFIES the entire Federal government and everything it has stated before this line and after. It is corrupt and double talk.

The bill by Baucus is an empty bill.

It means nothing.

A State can come in and legislate its own version of this bill plugging in and taking out any provision passed by the Federal legislation to send on 'its customized' version for application to State law so long as it 'insures' that Medicare Advantage will insure its Individual and Small Group Market AND any 'Coop' is limited to sharing the cost of perscription medications.

The Baucus Bill is meaningless and is nothing more than a 'gesture' to the people of the USA to say the Senate 'did something' to act as their advocate, but, it completely turns all authority over to each State legislature to do as they please. The Bill says 'Secretary OR the State,' is does not say 'Secretary AND the State.' And WHO is the Secretary to alter any federal legislation at will anyway?

This bill keeps getting weaker and weaker and practically begs the States to participate. Page 16, lines 1 through 12:

‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘health benefits plan’ means health insurance coverage and a group health plan.

‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR SELF-INSURED PLANS AND MEWAS.—Except to the extent specifically provided by this title, the term ‘health benefits plan’ shall not include a group health plan or multiple employer welfare arrangement to the extent the plan is not subject to State insurance regulation under section 514 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

The Bill pulls in even more EMPTY authority that already exists in the Federal Government. MEWAS is an acronym that stands for "Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements." It is an aspect of the ERISA laws. ERISA is an acronym that stands for "The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974."

Now to back a bit and I don't believe I have to go through hoops to talk about a bill that is an ORIGINAL bill either. But, to back up a bit, this provision basically says, ALL the previous 'enforcements' of the bill are in place and carry brevity EXCEPT when... Follow? I have a feeling there are more EXCEPT WHENs in this bill than there is law.

Now to realize how silly all this is? One simply has to know that ERISA is not a law that REQUIRES 'squat' compliance from any employer, but, simply provides 'guidelines' to 'help' employers make good decisions. In other words, IF employers are making decisions regarding 'benefits' to employees it is recommended they think about it in a 'certain' way that provides good benefits.

ERISA applies only to Private Employers and does not require employers to provide benefits at all. No insurance. Nothing. So, when the Baucus Bill states the legislation is in effect EXCEPT when ERISA applies by provisions of MEWAS, it is AGAIN nullifying the brevity of the legislation to give permission to provide NO benefits.

Now, MEWAS is a bit like a 'cooperative' for employers to share assets when providing insurance to employees. The problem with MEWAS is that it has been embezzled. Let me see if there is an online reporting of that.

Well, it is discussed here, but, I am going to try to find a case.

MEWA Enforcement (click here) - The Labor Department has devoted significant resources to investigating and litigating issues connected with abusive MEWAs who sell the promise of inexpensive health benefit insurance, but default on their obligations. Particular emphasis has been put on identifying ongoing abusive and fradulent MEWAs and working to shut down such operations.

Here is some fraud, but, it doesn't really constitute embezzlement. It shows clearly what Americans are up against in discerning 'good' health insurance that they thought was affordable form 'bad.'

"Unfortunately, Christine’s experience is not an isolated case. (click here)

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and federal and state regulators, in the past two decades health insurance scams sold through both legitimate and phony associations have defrauded thousands of small businesses and self-employed individuals.4 In the last six months, over 50,000 working Americans and their families have lost their health insurance coverage, and many of these victims are now faced with millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills that should have been paid by association health plans.

I think I found a case in California. The problem is that when I kept going deeper into the site to read the transcripts all kinds of bells and whistles start going off on my computer and I thought I best not continue, so I ran some diagnostics to be sure nothing made its way into this machine. I paid plenty of it, ya know? I am going to try one more time.

This is kind of interesting.

Rodger Burge, an attorney with Parr, Waddoups, Brown, Gee & Loveless in Salt Lake City, said the two opinion (click here) letters reflect a “constant struggle since 1983,” as MEWA providers continue to try to find “creative ways to avoid” state regulation.
Lower Costs, Higher Risks
Prior to the 1983 amendment, MEWA promoters “typically represented to employers and state regulators that the MEWA is an employee benefit plan covered by ERISA and, therefore, exempt from state insurance regulation under ERISA’s broad preemption provisions,” the DOL notes in its guidance, MEWAs Under ERISA: A Guide to Federal and State Regulation.
MEWAs could market insurance coverage at rates lower than regulated insurance companies, which made them more attractive for small businesses that had difficulty obtaining affordable group health care coverage.
“In practice, however, a number of MEWAs have been unable to pay claims as a result of insufficient funding and assets through excessive administrative fees and outright embezzlement,” the DOL said in its guidance....

The problem we face today as a nation is that we have tried as citizens to maintain health insurance to bring care to ourselves and our families and this is the outcome. It is a field day for lawyers.

When NEW law allows the mistakes of the past and the continued problems of the present to 'migrate' into its influence, then it violates the 'public trust.' Because, when people come to their government to help them solve their problems they don't expect it to continue to percipiate the same problems over and over again. The Baucus Bill does exactly that. The bill is basically ignoring the lessons of the past that are grossly well documented and continues to perpetuate the problem.

Embezzlement is when an accountant to a company or even a corrupt Board of Trustees or Board of Directors or an officer to a company takes funds from the company and uses it for personal wealth. It is such a problem that professionals, lawyers, legitimate accountants 'advise' clients or potential clients 'online.' Example here:

Embezzlement: What? Who? Why? How? Detection!! Prevention!! (click here)

A Three-Part Presentation Exclusively For Our Readers (Part 1 ) by Stephen Linker
I have helped clients prevent and/or detect fraud for thirty years. One of my first embezzlement discoveries will serve as the example in this series of articles.
I was a senior accountant working for a small firm in a very quiet community on Long Island. It started off innocently enough. I was working on the year-end closing of the books of a small retail heating oil business. My job was to adjust the books and prepare the client’s financial statements and tax returns for the year end. During that year, the company was in the process of converting their billing and collection system from a manual to a computerized system....

So, to continue to say the Baucus Bill is poorly conceived and even more poorly written is validated by the fact there are 'components' to the bill that repeat the same problems we as a nation are trying to solve. It is not good law. So far my opinion is that it should be abandoned for the other Senate Bill that more strongly resembles the House Bill.

I can't believe after all this I am only upto page 16. Buoy.

Page 17 uses 'new' definitions, the remainder of 16 defines Health Insurance Coverage and Issuer, Group Health Plan and Health Benefits Plan Offeror according to existing definitions in the Tax Code. The new defintions this bill offers is in regard to MARKETS. It first defines 'Group Market" with no delineation to Large or Small, then it defines "Individual Market," and then it defines "Large and Small Group Markets." The verbiage is fairly simple and determines 'large from small' according to the definition in the tax code. There is language that bothers me.

Page 17, lines 10 through 15:

‘‘(1) GROUP MARKET.—The term ‘group market’ means the health insurance market under which individuals obtain health insurance coverage (directly or through any arrangement) on behalf of themselves (and their dependents) through a group health plan maintained by an employer.

Here again the legislation removes language to control its focus by dismissing any sincere defintion as to what health insurance coverage is for a group. It states there is a health insurance market that can take any arrangement. It states it as if an after thought and puts it in parenthesis. The probably is that 'any arrangement' actually might legalize fraud and embezzlement when applied to the group health insurance market. That really makes this 'SEAL' thing interesting doesn't it?

What the bill should state is that group health insurance markets are comprised of a 'pool' of qualified insurers that qualify under the laws governing Insurance agencies and companies that provide health insurance to the general public as perscribed by Federal or State Law whichever is more restrictive to the definition of quality and qualification.

What that does is to have the Federal Government define what exactly 'quality qualification' is and also allows more restrictive definitions that a State might have to apply over and above that of the Federal Statues. In realizing any agency or 'insurer' has to have a license to provide such coverage to anyone or to a group in some kind of 'speciality' practice of the licensure, it removes the need for a 'seal' as the 'license' then defines the qualifications of those writing the policies and enforcing the quality.

The licensing of those that write and offer these policies demands MORE than any bogus 'seal' by any State agency that removes such protections from 'individual and small group health insurance policies.'

In other words, my Aunt Betty could become someone that places 'seals' on policies even if she is not licensed. But, if the law states those providing such policies to the public have to be licensed it removes the ability to easily commit crimes. Aunt Betty could act as an independant contractor that is able to understand what it takes to obtain a 'seal' and rubber stamp any policy as she sees fit if that were allowed by State law. The 'idea' that unlicensed agents could be written into a State law to carry out this mess to exonerate the State from the cost of doing same is all too tempting in some states. Oh, yes. Absolutely.

The bill goes on to define the words Preexisting Condition Exclusion and Health Status Related Factors and seem 'okay' for the most part. I'll list them here.

Page 18, lines 16 through 23 and Page 19, lines 1 through 5:

‘‘(b) PREEXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘preexisting condition exclusion’ means, with respect to coverage, a limitation or exclusion of benefits relating to a condition based on the fact that the condition was present before the date of enrollment for such coverage, whether or not any medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received before such date.
‘‘(c) HEALTH STATUS-RELATED FACTORS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘health status-related factors’ means health status, medical condition (including both physical and mental illnesses), claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, genetic information, evidence of insurability (including conditions arising out of acts of domestic violence), and disability.

The bill excludes any attempt to qualify as a health benefit plan if there are exclusions as stated above.

I would like to see more than 'acts of domestic violence' included here though.

We already know that issues of 'rape' are considered a pre-existing condition.

So.

To better serve all Americans, it should state, "including conditions arising from acts of crime." After all, prisoners that commit crimes receive state funded medical treatment even after they have been shot by police officers. It is only JUST that every citizen receive the same consideration.

There MIGHT be issue here as well, that exclusions might be justified under this verbiage to place restrictions on 'Acts of God or Nature or War.' The verbiage is not bad but could use some tweeking to include most all issues found to enter into the venue of health care.

And this is not difficult to include.

Hospitals across this country, in all fifty states, provinces, tribal areas and military outposts keep records and 'track' the kind of problems that come into their practices. They have to so 'purchasers' know what to order from medical suppliers to stock the hospital and office selves.

Page 19, lines 6 and 7 and 15 through 22:

‘‘SEC. 2203. GUARANTEED ISSUE AND RENEWAL FOR INSURED PLANS....
...‘‘(B) in the small group market in a State, must accept—
‘‘(i) every small employer in the State that applies for enrollment of its employees under the plan; and
‘‘(ii) every individual who is eligible to enroll in the plan by reason of a relationship to the employer as is determined—

This provision states the plans only qualify if they accept all those that apply to them.

Okay.

However when it comes to the definition of "...small employer...' it leaves out the 'idea' and 'reality' there are 'other small groups' than just that of employers. There can be 'cooperatives' of small groups, namely that of farmers that belong to 'units' that serve their buying needs for supplies. These small groups could affiliate and purchase health insurance for 'individuals' that belong to those groups.

So, I believe there needs to be an inclusion here other than just 'small businesses.' Farmers can be viewed as businesses, but, they aren't necessarily small either. Farmers don't necessarily employ people, some on just seasonal basis and some, 'though few,' are family farms that 'provide a living' to members of that family.

To include the 'opportunity' for all Americans the word 'small business' needs to be broadened to include 'small groups affiliated for a common purpose.'

This bill also defers all these definitions to the authority of the States. Every state knows its populous. So, if the States are to be defining small groups there should be stipulation in the Federal Statue that States include all definitions of small groups within their populous. There needs to be an understanding that as that populous changes so does the definition.

Page 20 and this is where I am going to 'end it for this evening.'

Page 20, lines 12 through 16:

An offeror of a plan shall not be treated as meeting the requirements of this subsection unless the plan also accepts, renews, or continues in force coverage of an individual who is eligible for enrollment in the plan by reason of their relationship to the named insured under the plan.

I like this because it extends COBRA benefits.

In other words, when a child or employee to a group has a change of circumstance they still have the option of keeping their same coverage. So far, there is no restriction to this provision in this bill.

It provides 'continuity' of coverage and will provide the 'insurer' with the insight needed to understand its insured on a continual rather than cost cutting basis. It provides a 'long term' client base that has different demands on health insurance over a lifetime.

In other words, when children are young their health insurance needs are different than when they are adults. The 'average' child needs wellness check ups far more often than they do as adults.

Let's suppose a person is covered by the same health insurance for their entire life. The premium can be bettered 'discerned' as if they are paying for 'life insurance.' The cost of a persons health care needs, assuming FIRST they will remain mostly healthy and vital will be 'limited' to what is required for 'basic health care.' Those costs change from year to year based upon their age. If that cost is spread out over a lifetime the cost to the group and/or individual is known and limited.

That changes where there are 'usual living dynamics' added such as broken bones or diseases. It is interesting to realize health insurance companies have been doing themselves a 'disfavor' by cutting their 'insured' based upon their 'profitability' of the people that have diseases or higher costs to their health care.

It might be that if a disease is sent into remission the increase to their 'bottom line' might actually increase. OR. If a 'brittle diabetic' receives better care from a new physician added to the network, the cost of their care actually would decrease and add to the profitabilty of the company.

So.

To enforce the 'dynamic' that a health insurance company has to keep their insured regardless of the 'individual' profit margin is to realize it increases the probability of profits that can be realized over a lifetime of coverage rather than limiting it to the time when they have no health care needs at all.

Good night for tonight.

I was diagnosed with an "in situ" comedo cancer in my left breast at the age of 43 and it saved my life. That was eleven years ago.

Actually, this is where legislation DONE WELL can prevent stupidity that sides with cost cutting and sacrifices lives for profit. This is EXACTLY why we need effective legislation and move forward to bring the highest standards of care to everyone without siding with cutting costs and inconvenience.

Women over 40 should have recommendations to have regular mammograms and men should have prostate checks and both genders should have follow ups. If I didn't take the recommendation of my physician seriously, I would have been diagnosed far later and with greater peril to my health.

This must have come from Bush's Advisory Panel as a 'political volleyball' to twart Health Care Insurance Reform. I need to find the source. And then figure out of this was some kind of 'cock-eyed' political view of the world.

One thing the American consumer has to remember, the 'guidelines' SET DOWN in the House Reform Bill specifically states there is a 'public inclusion' in the decisions by any Advisory Panel. I read 'same' here on this blog. The public and its advocacy groups are INCLUDED in the decision making regarding the public's well being. THAT is not the case in the current Bush Advisory Panel.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Recommends No Impediments to Breast Cancer Screening Until Science Improves (click here), Current Screening Recommendations Should Remain, World’s Leading Breast Cancer Organization Reports
DALLAS – November 16, 2009 – Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s leading breast cancer advocacy organization, has carefully reviewed the data and new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concerning mammography screening. Komen for the Cure issued the following statement today from Eric P. Winer, M.D., chief scientific adviser and chair of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board.

“Susan G. Komen for the Cure wants to eliminate any impediments to regular mammography screening for women age 40 and older. While there is no question that mammograms save lives for women over 50 and women 40–49, there is enough uncertainty about the age at which mammography should begin and the frequency of screening that we would not want to see a change in policy for screening mammography at this time.”...

This is what promoted the whole thing. It is related to 'SPENDING' and forget about the lives that were saved.

New Studies Show the Downside Of Cancer Screening (click here for additional video)
False Positives Bring High Costs, But Doctors Back the Value of Cancer Tests

By JOSEPH BROWNSTEIN

ABC News Medical Unit

Sept. 1, 2009

Recent years have seen a rise in encouragement for cancer screenings, but a number of studies have reminded physicians and their patients of the old saying about free lunches.

That is, nothing good comes without a cost.

Two studies released Monday -- one looking at prostate cancer and the other at breast cancer -- appearing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, show that increased screening brings false positives and the costs of emotional anguish and sometimes unnecessary treatment.

"The fact that it is a surprise to so many physicians and so many patients is a symptom of the debate taking place now regarding health care reform," said Dr. Thomas Schwenk, a family physician with the University of Michigan, commenting on the prostate cancer study. "

The American approach to medical care is to always do more, irrespective of whether it has any value, and even in the face of data showing that doing more causes harm."

The Legislature needs to include in the Health Care Insurance Reform Bill a provision for using the 'highest standard' of safety for all citizens NOT 'the mean' of any statistics that sides with 'risk taking,' especially when the issue is life threatening such as cancer. This is a silly recommendation and needs to be reversed. It is a direct political attack on the new Health Care Insurance Reform Bills before the legislature now.

Alaska's government squandered its 'take' on its natural resources and now it wants to kill Polar Bears. NO!!!!

Every political figure that ever ran for office, and this TYPICAL of Republicans, used the high income from the Alaskan natural resources of oil as if those wells were never going to dry up to be elected. They 'PAID' the people of the State a subsidy and BOUGHT elections.

Every elected official is GUILTY of it and absolutely at no point in time did ANY of them set up a Trust Fund for the people of Alaska to support their government or their well being. NOW, that is NOT the problem of the lower 48 OR the USA EPA OR the Polar Bears. That is the problem of a corrupt Republcan dominated party system in that state and they are all going to have to live with it now.

And NOT every drop of Alaskan oil comes down The Pipeline and NOT nearly most of the oil comes to the lower 48 states. It is sold to foreign markets. Alaska is not going to kill Polar Bears to continue to pollute our oceans no matter how much the Oil industry bellaches!

Bascially, TOO BAD. You did it all "W"rong in that state. Get over it and hope the Health Insurance Reform Bill give you all good coverage! We aren't paying for the Alaskan way of life for making the mistake of squandering your children's future on luxury and good times!

NO MORE Alaskan Oil Fields to destroy the natural biotic areas of our Wilderness. NO MORE!

On Monday, Alaskan state officials announced that the owners (click here) and operators of the bulk freighter, M/V Selendang Ayu, that sank off the north shore of Unalaska Island in the Bering Sea in 2004 have agreed to pay the state of Alaska nearly $850,000 to settle oil spill, wreck removal and lost fish tax claims.

This article from the LA Times is laughable. They show a picture of a Polar Bear in a class cage after a taxidermist got finished with it and then goes on to say how much land is devoted to the preservation of the species. The reporter writing on this subject has never even seen Polar Bear wild in the Arctic, guarantee you. And yet they can write all about it.

The Polar Bear under glass isn't even full grown. Polar Bears have 'range,' are 'territorial' and we aren't talking about a species that lives on land we are talking about a species that lives on ICE. AND. Is a Marine Mammal. It takes a lot of territory to support the GENETIC diversity of this species and the shipping channels to its territory in the USA need to be redrawn.

Critical habitat in Alaska is proposed for polar bears (click title to entry - thank you)
By Kim Murphy
October 23, 2009
It would be the largest habitat zone in the U.S., but an Interior Department official says it wouldn't slow oil and gas development, nor address the melting sea ice that threatens the bears.
Reporting from Seattle - In what would be the largest habitat zone ever established in the U.S. to protect a species from extinction, the federal government on Thursday proposed designating 200,541 square miles on the coast of Alaska as critical habitat for polar bears....

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is very warm and there is no AGED Ice in the Arctic anymore.

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows polar bear by a whale bone pile in Alaska.

This is a good opportunity to bring greater protections to the Polar Bears. So long as Alaska is stating, in opposition of even their own decades of state records, that the Polar Bear is not worthy of protections, the Protection Groups need to update their research and submit the data that will move the Polar to Endangered from Threatened based on the fact more and more of their 'home' is lost year after year. Currently the Arctic has NO 'Aged Ice,' the home of the Polar Bear. That interprets into profound danger for the species that may reach a 'tipping point' where it is unretrievable.

Keep in mind, genetic diversity is paramount to any species survival. A quick and vast reduction of that diversity will CRASH the species in the face of numbers today !!!!

Alaska fights to reverse polar bear protection listing (click title to entry - thank you)
Local Time: 4:52 PM AKST on November 16, 2009
...As Alaska North Slope wells dry up, the state is turning to potential offshore discoveries to refill the trans-Alaska pipeline and ensure the long-term prospects of a $26 billion proposed natural gas pipeline. Protections for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act could thwart that, Parnell says, adding that they're not needed....

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 ft

Temperature :: 34 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 26 °F

Humidity :: 87%

Dew Point :: 30 °F

Wind :: 10 mph from the NNW

Pressure :: 29.05 in (Falling)

Visibility :: 1.8 miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Overcast 800 ft
(Above Ground Level)

There is moral decay in the USA and it has nothing to do with spirituality. I ain't a preacher and don't intend to be.

There is a right and a wrong in this life. The path the USA has been traveling has been one of immoral indulgence of wealth AT THE COST of overseeing the well being of us all. It is going to stop.

There is no faith on this planet that has THE RIGHT TO DICTATE to another. NONE.

There no is man or woman alive that has THE RIGHT to pass judgement on another. NONE!

There is no political party with THE RIGHT to judge any citizen in this country as worthy of their own thoughts or their own well being. There is NO political party that has the right to deprive any citizen of this country the right to health and hence life. NONE!

Democractic US Senate contenders (from left) Michael E. Capuano, Stephen G. Pagliuca, Martha Coakley, and Alan Khazei addressed the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization’s concerns last night at Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain. (Photos By Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

There WAS a very healthy division of church and state in this country and it needs to be reclaimed while political influence with the Republican Party would see themselves in a 'high moral ground' to turn the USA into a theocracy. It is going stop.

The race to fill the shoes of the Late Senator Edward Kennedy is a daughting one. He loved the people of Massachusetts as family and viewed the greater society of the USA the same way. I think one of the candidates running for US Senator to fill the shoes of the Late Senator Edward Kennedy had something interesting to say.

Attorney General Martha Coakley: "The American dream has been turned upside down . . . and it is time to answer yes, yes, yes, yes to all these questions,’’ she said."

I want you to look what 'the paranoid Senate' did to the page where Bill S1796 was. (click here) That link ONLY yesterday took anyone clicking on it to the Baucus Bill. That is called CENSORSHIP. Censorship is being practiced in the USA regarding the Baucus Bill.

Hello, America.

Hello?

Whatever happened to transparency and DEMOCRATIC participation in government?

Huh?

Sorry, there is no www.senate.gov web page matching your request. The address may have been typed incorrectly, the page may no longer exist, or the file may have been moved to a new location during our recent redesign.
Your request will be automatically redirected to the www.senate.gov Home page after 10 seconds.
If this problem persists, please contact the Office of the Secretary Webmaster at webmaster@sec.senate.gov.

Now, look at this (click here). Where, oh, where did the Senate Health Care Bill go, oh where oh where did it go?

Why there it is. Redirected in hopes no one could find it. AH, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Let's see if the NEW link, less than 24 hours old, opens now.

Why, there ya go (click here). Better download it to my computer before it disappears again.

My, my, my, my. Shame on them.

Page 1 seeks to capture the 'spirit' of the bill IN SMALL PRINT:

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

Well, they may have changed the 'statement' to ORIGINAL, rather than amending SSI LAW. It reads as below. It will show up soon enough if the bill amends the SSI laws or not. It will have to state so in the text of the bill. I don't think this was changed completely overnight either. ?????????

At any rate, I have downloaded the text as it appears today at this computer site on November 16, 2009 at 7:39 PM. There will be no additions, deletions or alterations to the bill as it appears today by me. There is no other person that accesses this computer LEGALLY either. It is my personal desktop and it is a magnificent computer. Custom made so I could read satellites and do some online gaming and accumulate large volumes of information without deleting it. Currently when I need to transfer information off this DATA BASE, I have an 80 Gig hard drive that is a peripheral for PERMANENT storage. It isn't connected to this computer EXCEPT for OFFLINE transfers.

So, with that, I can now read the bill uninterrupted. Unless the paranoid government does something stupid to it like consider it a SECURITY risk. It might be. TO THE GOP that is. Well, enough of all that.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER 19, 2009
Mr. BAUCUS, from the Committee on Finance reported the following original
bill; which was read twice and placed on the calendar

I got a problem with the first page. Good reason to hide it, I suppose.

A BILL
To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

I have a problem with the SHORT Title on the First Page:

‘‘America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009’’

This isn't about THE FUTURE. This is about changing the face of health care insurance and health care delivery and the quality of that delivery to enhance the quality of life of all Americans. It isn't about 'futures as in stocks either.' It is not about the well being of health insurance companies OVER and ABOVE the well being of the people that are suppose to receive care, so given those words BOTHER me, I think there is a better SHORT Title to be discerned here!

Page 1, lines 6 & 7 being the Table of Contents to the Bill and it continues to the top of page 13. I am not interested in the Table of Contents or its 'correctness' to the actual content of the Bill. I don't intend to 'skim' through this babe. So. With that....

Ah, PAGE 13. PAGE 13. PAGE 13. What a damn remarkable choice of verbiage. Dear God, does anyone really consider the Baucus bill ORIGINAL or benevolent to the well being of the people of this country. LUCKY 13 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Page 13, lines 1 through 13. What is it with this 13 junk? Someone's idea of a joke. I can't wait to see page 666. Coincidence I am sure.

TITLE I—HEALTH CARE COVERAGE
Subtitle A—Insurance Market Reforms
SEC. 1001. INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS IN THE INDIVIDUAL AND SMALL GROUP MARKETS.
The Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘TITLE XXII—HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE
‘‘SEC. 2200. ENSURING ESSENTIAL AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH BENEFITS COVERAGE FOR ALL AMERICANS.

Does anyone want to actually call this language legitimate? I mean really. This ONLY addresses individuals and small groups? Medicare is not an individual entity nor is it a small group, how can a bill with such BROAD interest in the people of the USA be amended into issues of small groups or individuals? That doesn't make sense.

Insurance Market Reforms? Insurance Market Reforms? This isn't about the insurance market. It is about providing ACCESS to ALL Americans REGARDLESS of the Insurance Market. This isn't about supporting corporations or conglomerates in the market place. It is about the well being of the American people and access to QUALITY and affordable health care REGARDLESS of the provider.

I WANT A PUBLIC OPTION. WITHOUT QUESTION THERE IS TO BE A PUBLIC OPTION TO BE SURE THE PEOPLE OF THE USA AREN'T 'TRAPPED' IN 'REFORM' THAT DOES NOT BENEFIT THEM IN ANY CONFIGURATION OF THE MARKET.

The Baucus Bill is ILLEGIMATE. The private insurance sector of the USA is NOT to be the beneficiary of ANY legislation of the people of the United States of America. This Bill is illegitimate. It is not about THE PEOPLE as the USA Constitution dictates, it is about 'the market' (an intangible and fluctuating entity). It isn't constitutional. It does NOTHING for the people and the laws of this land are supposed to be BLIND to private entities that are ALLOWED to exist within the SOVEREIGN boundaries of the USA. Our laws are about the PEOPLE, not Wall Street. Wall Street is allowed to exist. It is NOT guaranteed rights under the Constitution of the United States of America over and above the well being of the citizens of this country.

Page 13, lines 14 through 20 and Page 14, lines 1 and 2:

‘‘It is the purpose of this title to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable and essential health benefits coverage—
‘‘(1) by requiring that all new health benefits plans offered to individuals and employees in the individual and small group markets be qualified health benefits plans that meet the insurance rating reforms and essential health benefits coverage requirements established under parts A and C;

WHERE IS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL? Where is Eric Holder !?!?!?!?!?!?!

This is not about Insurance RATING reforms, it is about putting forth a law that protects the people of this country. Not reforming insurance RATES. Reforming insurance rates is not the business of the USA Constitution or its laws. Providing affordable access to the ALL the American people is what this legislation is supposed to provide.

I WANT A PUBLIC OPTION. THERE IS NO LEAVING IT OUT OF ANY BILL AND THESE "Rate Reforms" are an illegitimate use of the powers of the USA Legislature. Insurance rates are up to the companies and if they LOSE subscribers because they can't provide quality insurance at reasonable rates that is THEIR problem.

This is illegitimate use of the laws of the USA. This is practicing business with government authority.

You know what is going to happen here? There will be sculpted out some kind of understanding to provide some kind of 'RATE reform' to provide for individuals and small groups in the SSI laws and will abandon reform to those insurances that provide coverage to employees of businesses. As a consequence, the rates charged to companies for their insurance will go up without mercy and the people that work for large employers will have their rates unmercifully increased while services will diminish.

This is unacceptable law. Completely. It interfers in the private sector of this country in an inappropriate manner.

Page 14, lines 3 through 15:

‘‘(2) by establishing State exchanges under part B that provide individuals and employees in the individual and small group markets greater access to qualified health benefits plans and to information concerning these health plans;
‘‘(3) by making health benefits coverage more affordable by establishing premium credits and cost sharing subsidies under part C for individuals enrolling in a health benefits plan through an exchange; and
‘‘(4) by establishing the CO-OP program under part D to encourage the establishment of nonprofit health care cooperatives.

There is nothing comprehensive or worthwhile here. It divides benefits according to the SECTIONS of the Medicare Law. There are some benefits provider to individuals and small groups and there are some that are not. It is bad law.

To understand better what this bill does one has to realize the different aspects of the SSI law when it comes to health care. There is nothing comprehensive for people under the Baucus Bill. It divides up 'interest' in even the 'reform' it states it provides.

Part A, B, C, D 2009 (click here)

Part A: (Hospital Insurance) Premium

Part B: (Medical Insurance) Premium

Part C Overview (Medicare Advantage Plan)

Part C is the combination of Part A and Part B. The main difference in Part C is that it is provided through private insurance companies approved by Medicare. With this program, you may have lower costs and receive extra benefits.

Part D Overview
Part D is stand-alone prescription drug coverage insurance. Most people do have to pay a premium for this coverage. Plans vary and cover different drugs, but all medically necessary drugs are covered. You can choose what drug plan will be best suited to your needs.

The ONLY way small groups and individuals will receive HOSPITAL coverage under the Baucus Bill is if it is provided by private insurance companies that currently qualify under Medicare Advantage. How convenient. How much money did Medicare Advantage throw to the people that wrote this mess?

And the coop for Part D, is for PERSCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE ONLY.

I don't think so.

How is Medicare Part D ever going to provide for medical coops? Part D is about perscription drug coverage. It isn't about medical ANYTHING. Is this a joke? Because if the Baucus Bill is a joke it is a very bad one.

This has gotten on my last nerve tonight. I'll pick up again tomorrow. For now, I have something to do really worth my time.

Speaker Pelosi takes her clout to the country.

I thought Speaker Pelosi did her job and did it well. Perhaps that is why she is accompanying others around the country to promote the legislation until it is finished.

Tomorrow is supposed to begin the work on the Senate health care insurance reform bill. McConnell is promising to prolong debate. I can't imagine in anything that needs to be said that wasn't already debated in the House, unless, McConnell is indicating his House cohorts are incompetent in bringing issues of brevity to the House floor.

I will start reading all 1504 page of Senate Bill 1796 (The Baucus Bill) tomorrow evening. (click here) Until then.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gerard A. Compito, MD, Princeton Radiology Associates, Representative Rush Holt and David C. Youmans, MD, Chairman UMCP Department of Radiology take a tour of the University Medical Center at Princeton where Pelosi spoke about healthcare reform.

Secretary Geithner sends memo to Bernanke from Japan.

The 'authority' under current laws of the USA to 'break up' banks too big to fail falls under "Anti-Trust." Obviously the practice of Anti-Trust has been weakened and avoided since the days of "Ma Bell."

When a single 'private' entity, such as Goldman Sachs, becomes so invasive through a fiscal infrastructure it becomes a single authority that can seek 'leverage' from government. That is exactly what occurred during the YEARS of Bush/Cheney. The private sector was 'preferred' and there was vast deregulation that began with Clinton but enhanced under the majority of Republican 'clout.'

Quite literally, with so much money OWED to the USA by these banks the soverignty of the country can fall into question if they 'fail again.' And they don't care if they 'fail again' because their executives will have scalped the USA for everything its worth and left on the first plane THEY OWN out of town. "Too Big to Fail" is best defined "Too Big to Exist." It is up to the government of a free market economy to not 'just' regulate them, but, rid the danger of their influence from its people and that of their allies.

If Japan wants a stronger USA dollar, then the USA wants a stronger USA dollar, especially if that was verbalized by the Secretary of the Treasury in an official visit.

Government 'authority' has to return 'back to the people.' This mess has to end. The USA can't be the 'petty cash' to Wall Street. The country needs regulation, the 'REPUBLICAN' economic of privatization of every aspect of life DOES NOT WORK !

The fact of the matter is the USA Treasury should never have been involved in any bailout. We compromised the only company worth its salt in J. P. Morgan when we bailout out the incompetents of Wall Street. All of it should have imploded and the country would have started over with a clean slate and a reasonable treasury.

Right now, the country has more invested in the outcome of these banks than it should and Morgan stands to lose all its gains through its practices of 'free market' if there are issues with any of the others that received the monies.

The TARP funds were required for Morgan to take because without them their 'capacity/assets' would have been diminished while the other banks were allowed to regroup for yet another attack with more ricidule than Morgan had. Morgan had to take TARP to 'KEEP' its viability. I am glad they did take the funds and they are still doing well. I found it interesting that Paulson and Co., didn't sell their shares in Morgan, but, couldn't wait to get out of Goldman to buy Citigroup.

Governors of the Federal Reserve (click here)

All I ask of any 'change to a single authority' is to picture it operating under Bush and Cheney. Then 'secure' the sovereignty of the nation and Middle Class to exist. Okay?

January 2004
Bush-Cheney Energy Strategy: Procuring the Rest of the World's Oil (click here)
By Michael Klare
Foreign Policy In Focus
When first assuming office in early 2001, President George W. Bush's top foreign policy priority was not to prevent terrorism or to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction--or any of the other goals he espoused later that year following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Rather, it was to increase the flow of petroleum from suppliers abroad to U.S. markets....

Republican exploitation of the USA is NOTHING without exploitive wars. General Eisenhower developed the USA Military Industrial Complex, Vietnam Nixon, Iran-Contra Regan, Iraq Bush. DO NOT give Executive Power over the USA fiscal infrastructure. DO NOT ! Don't even give it access.

Single US banking regulator proposed (click here)
The Federal Reserve should be stripped of the bulk of its banking regulation powers and hand them to a new banking regulator, according to draft legislation being proposed by a powerful US Senator.
By James Quinn, US Business Editor
Published: 9:42PM GMT 10 Nov 2009
...Senator Dodd's aim is to eliminate what he calls the "alphabet soup of multiple bank regulators that has led to weak, confusing regulation where it's easy for problems to fall through the cracks and difficult to know who is responsible."
His proposals are the most wide-reaching in addressing some of the root causes of the financial crisis, and go much further than existing proposals backed by the US Treasury....

It would appear as though in carrying out the 'will of the people,' Secretary Geithner is in for a 'show down' with Mr. Bernanke and his former social network on Wall Street.

Ya see, there isn't any reason to continue down this road with "The Fed" as its actions, direct actions by Bernanke, CAUSED the fall in the USA Dollar. Bernanke at the time of "The Goldman Sachs Emergency (You emergency is not mine.)" flooded the USA dollar circulation with $1 Trillion of 'loose cash.' It still remains to be realized if that will 'cause' rampant inflation in the USA while company CEOs are grabbing all they can before everything goes south.

Secretrary Geithner needs to live up to his word and not hand out major policy statements like candy to a baby only to take them back when he returns to the pressure of his peers in DC and Wall Street. Change is change and given the history of his family, I am sure Secretary Geithner will reflect on the loyalities of those people.



Secretary Geithner has an interesting family history according to Wikipedia. According to Wiki his family may have met President Obama's mother some time ago. But, reflecting on that and the fact his family had ties to another beloved President, former five star general and President Eisenhower (Cardiac Patient while President. He did have Nixon as a VP though.), that simply couldn't get enough of the American People and their Middle Class (maybe that was FDR.), Secretary Geithner needs to seek to control the fiscal infrastructure of the USA and stop the financial excoriation of the country's treasury by entities that once provided him a very nice living.

Nov 11, 2009
Strong dollar vital to US (click title to entry - thank you)
TOKYO - US TREASURY Secretary Timothy Geithner said here on Wednesday that a strong dollar was 'very important' to the United States, seeking to reassure Asian nations concerned about the greenback's recent slump.
'I believe deeply that it's very important for the US and the economic health of the US that we maintain a strong dollar,' he told reporters.
Given the dollar's key role in the world financial system, 'we bear special responsibility for trying to make sure that we are implementing policy in the US that will sustain confidence' among global investors, he said.
US officials regularly express their backing for a 'strong dollar' but have done nothing to arrest its slide, which many see as necessary to reduce the big US trade deficit.
The dollar has plunged about 15 per cent against a basket of six other major currencies from a peak earlier this year, sparking concern among Asian countries who have big holdings of dollars in their foreign exchange reserves....


Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pays lip service to keeping dollar strong (click here)
The Obama administration may prefer a weaker currency because it's a boon to U.S. exporters, but no one is going to say so for fear of waving a red flag at markets....
...Besides, the administration has to be figuring there's no reason to mess with success.
Consider: One long-term concern about a falling dollar is that it could undercut U.S. financial markets by scaring away foreign investors, whose dollar-denominated assets lose value as the greenback falls.
But the Treasury bond market isn't suffering from a lack of investor demand even though the administration is borrowing record sums. And the U.S. stock market, too, remains robust, as investors see dollar weakness as good news for American multinational firms. The Dow Jones industrials rose to a fresh one-year high Wednesday.
"It's the best of everything right now," says Win Thin, a currency strategist at Brown Bros. Harriman in New York.

UPDATE 2-Fed's Tarullo--Idea of big bank surcharge appealing (click here)

Mon Nov 9, 2009 8:26pm EST

By John Parry
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo on Monday endorsed the idea of requiring big banks to hold more capital and renewed his suggestion that direct efforts to limit the size of banks may be worth considering.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other officials have raised the idea of a capital surcharge to prevent banks from getting so big that the government is compelled to prop them up in a crisis.
The idea "has substantial appeal," Tarullo said in remarks prepared for a speech at New York University.
Tarullo did not comment on the outlook for the economy or interest rates in a speech on financial regulation.
The Fed governor said that in the debate over reforms to prevent a repeat of the recent financial meltdown, policy-makers could also focus on changes to the structure of the financial system as well as regulations.
He said both regulators and the financial industry were to blame for the crisis.
He renewed his suggestion that directly limiting the size of financial institutions may have merit....

US bank reform bill seeks to strip powers from the Federal Reserve (click here)

By Tom Braithwaite and Sarah O'Connor in Washington
Published: November 11 2009 02:00 Last updated: November 11 2009 02:00

An influential US Senate committee has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the country's regulatory architecture that would strip powers from the Federal Reserve and create a single banking regulator....

...Mr Dodd said most institutions would benefit from a regulator that would provide "clarity, cut red tape and make it easier to compete" but banks would "no longer be able to shop for the weakest regulator"....

...The Senate draft legislation creates an agency to oversee systemic risk, which could call for banks to be broken up if they threatened the entire financial system. The proposals, although more radical than other versions, stop short of forcing the break-up of healthy banks, which has been advocated by some economists.
Republicans declined to support the proposed legislation, which Mr Dodd said was vital to cracking down on abusive selling of mortgages and credit cards. But he said he was still "optimistic" that the Republicans could be brought on board.

"...just doing God's work." No one at the New York Times asked if Hasan said those were his words or if he had financial problems ????????

Blankfein thinks he is God?

He hasn't met God yet !

Paulson and Co. dumped Goldman Sachs stock to buy Citigroup shares. No it isn't the company that belongs to the former Secretary of the Treasury. Literally, Paulson and Co. simply gave Goldman Sachs back its stock to purchase their holdings of Citigroup. Interesting isn't it? Just one of those paper things.

Paulson & Co Takes $1.45 Bil Citigroup Stake - Update (Click here)
11/14/2009 3:40 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Hedge fund Paulson & Co., held 300 million shares of Citigroup Inc. valued at $1.45 billion on September 30 and also let go its entire stakes on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , according to form 13-F filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission late Friday....


Paulson and Co. - The Hedge Fund (click here)
Chester L.F. Paulson, Founder, Chairman, President (click here)

This is where it gets interesting. It just goes to prove that only a few people run the financial systems of the global markets. They aren't just getting ONE bonus from one program either. Next time Wall Street wants a bailout? Remember these folks are running the entire show and are manipulating their outcomes the way they want it.

There aren't mistakes being made that the government needs to 'bailout.'

None.

This is done purposefully.

The people of the USA need to have the GUTS to 'Just say NO."

These people had the audacity to BLAME THE CONSUMER for the implosion of 'BAD ASSETS.'

Hello? America? Hello, is anyone listening?

BOARD MEMBERS AFFILIATED WITH John Alfred Paulson * (click here)
Alan Greenspan
Deutsche Bank AG
Board Affiliations
Paulson & Co. Inc.

Rufus Putnam Coes
Chief Operating Officer, Paulson & Co. Inc.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIPS
Director
Managed Funds Association (click here)
Website of Managed Funds Association in Washington, DC (click here) with Richard Baker as Chief Executive Officer and President.
Richard H. Baker has been Chief Executive Officer and President at Managed Funds Association since February 2008. Mr. Baker has represented Louisiana's sixth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1986, is one of the most respected voices in Congress on financial services and capital markets issues. He has been a Senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee where he has played a leadership role on the many debates that have taken ... place in Washington in recent years and championed the objective of safety and soundness in financial industry regulations.

The February 2, 2008 resignation of Republican Richard Baker triggered a special election for Louisiana's 6th district. In anticipation of this election, party qualifying occurred before Baker's resignation. The timeline mirrored that of the 2008 special election for the 1st congressional district. The two elections were the first Louisiana congressional elections not based on Louisiana's jungle primary system since the 1970s.

The egos here are just not to be believed. While "The Ed Show" is calling for a moritorium on Home Foreclosures, the executives at Goldman Sachs are rolling in dough.

...Just when it seemed Wall Street’s most powerful banker (click title to entry - thank you) had jumped headfirst into the transatlantic hullabaloo over the Almighty’s place in the Goldman Sachs bonus pool, we get word from atop 85 Broad Street that Goldman’s chief executive officer was only kidding.
Yes, it’s true, Blankfein did tell a reporter for the Sunday Times of London that he’s just a banker “doing God’s work,” a quote the newspaper couldn’t help but use for the headline of its 6,900-word opus about Goldman last weekend. And, no, Blankfein didn’t mean for these words to be taken seriously, according to the bank’s spokesman, Lucas van Praag.
It was “an obviously ironic, throwaway response,” van Praag told me in an e-mail. “Sort of like saying, ‘I’m living the dream’ in response to a question about how you’re doing.”...


Citicorp Building in New York City skyline.

This is just so cool. I want the astronauts to bring back a frozen moon rock. Go ahead, try.

I think they said something like, -200 and some odd degrees? Right? Sure.

I wasn't going to comment any further today until I saw this article in the New York Times. (cilck title to entry - thank you)

The importance of the military carrying out this investigation should be obvious so I won't beleaguer the point here.

However, I believe a word of caution is in order when the media is discussing Nidal Hasan. I don't believe talking about the tragedy or reporting facts voluntarily offered by the investigators is inappropriate, however, there is this 'thread' of 'mind speak' that accompanies some of this discussion that should be averted.

In the NYTimes article it is stated there was more evidence that leads to the belief Nidal Hasan was a very disturbed man. I believe the article is done well and speaks to many possibilities as to why Nidal Hasan decided to kill so many people that day.

Nidal Hasan acted alone. He wasn't on orders from any extremist Islamic group or affiliated with any foreign entity. He acted no different than Timothy McVeigh did. He acted in violence against a 'thought/ideology' he had and felt compeled to 'handle' for whatever deranged reason exists.

Men like McVeigh, and it is primarily men, don't accept their own reality. They seek to change it inappropriately by blaming a 'monster' they can't control. That monster is usually the government. The government or military lacks compassion or outreach in a way that would change the lives of those angry for whatever reason, valid or otherwise.

Nidal Hasan, no different than McVeigh or others like them was seeking control. Their own 'comfort zone' was displaced and they blamed others for their circumstances. Their personal circumstances. I find the 'idea' that Nidal Hasan was having business cards printed at the same time he was losing control rather interesting. Somewhere in his thinking there was an 'idea' there was a greater need for his 'ability' in a society that would reward his talents.

A business card is a form of 'offical document' of one kind or another. It is an expression of whom one is and how that person can provide services. I am assuming the address on Nidal Hasan's business cards stated his home address and not an address in Yemen. A business card says one is important and valuable.

If the media doesn't report on Nidal Hasan well, it will be exhibiting bias toward Muslims. Why would the media treat him differently than McVeigh and extrapolate his acts into a international network of terrorists? Why? Because it exists and it is a ready explanation when all other explanations seem unavailable.

Nidal Hasan was an American and from what I can gather his parents were immigrants. People that immigrate to the USA do so to seek a better life. Immigrants often have strong emotional ties and sometimes even relatives in their country of origin and it is not unusual for immigrants to send monies and gifts to their relatives when their 'good fortune' allows them to do that. If that is the activities of Nidal Hasan's family it does not predispose him to violence. All to often it is in the USA that ethnic misfortune finds resolve.

If Nidal Hasan was upset over things in the news and felt he had to act, then he wasn't living with reality, but, a sense of himself derived from a need for feeling control and an 'authority' in that control. He made up his own mind while telling himself he was correct. He never stopped to ask if his belief system was perverse or imperfect. He granted himself the right to kill through some magical thinking that will be discovered by the military investigation. That magical thinking was no different than the magical thinking of mass murderers that came before him. It is not crazy or certifable. It is however a perversion of 'self' in a way that elevates the 'idea' of self righteousness, almost god-like.

When reporting about Nidal Hasan it has to be done with the removal that there was some greater danger than just the man. He was conflicted. He isolated himself in that personal conflict and 'decided' with full authority of his mind and self will to murder. Do not grant him the opportunity to be 'something greater' than he is by starting to lump him together with unknown individuals that are 'learning' to act similarly in society. When a discussion like that opens then one is talking about White Supremists and Black Trench Coat Mafia as well.

And we know White Supremists murder and they murder in large numbers in a gathering called a lynching. This is not a concept the FBI, Military Intelligence or the CIA is disfamiliar.

If Nidal Hasan was 'anything' he was an American Male with a huge identity crisis mired in a 'culture of violence.' It isn't a 'military thing' it is however a 'violent thing' in trends throughout this American fabric. Reflect first on that and then discuss Nidal Hasan.

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

There are some journalists that sincerely love this country and believe in the strength of a Middle Class. Albeit, they are few and far between.

Labor in the USA needs to pay attention to some of its staunch supporters.


Op-Ed Columnist
Free to Lose (click here)
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 12, 2009
Consider, for a moment, a tale of two countries. Both have suffered a severe recession and lost jobs as a result — but not on the same scale. In Country A, employment has fallen more than 5 percent, and the unemployment rate has more than doubled. In Country B, employment has fallen only half a percent, and unemployment is only slightly higher than it was before the crisis....

Bob Herbert has been an Op-Ed Columnist through some of the most difficult political times of our day. He has been steadfast and when the chips were down in 2004, he, Krugman and Michael Moore (From "Slacker Uprising, "There is no crying in politics.") refused to 'give up the ship,' no matter how bleak the future of the USA was appearing to many of us.

Why Bob Herbert isn't celebrated for his strong views, especially in Civil Rights is yet for me to understand.

Just in the last two day, these gentlemen have written stark Op-Eds that I believe President Obama and his advisors should be paying attention to as well as the 'economic numbers' in front of them. If the people that need their attention the most, including the attention of Vice President Biden, aren't getting that attention there is little benevolence being directed to the economy, so much as simply 'profits to Wall Street.'


Op-Ed Columnist
A Recovery for Some (click title to entry - thank you)
By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 13, 2009
President Obama’s strongest supporters during the presidential campaign were the young, the black and the poor — and they are among those who are being hammered unmercifully in this long and cruel economic downturn that the financial elites are telling us is over....

NASA discovers water on the Moon. Yeah, but, can you irrigate with it?

Being this was found at the poles, it makes complete sense there should be some trace of anything that can be frozen there.

BUT.

One has to stop to realize, the Moon was declared to have no atmosphere. So. Like. What gives?

Realizing as well there is 'organic mass' picked up by the instruments, it was a blastedly good idea, NASA had the foresight to put the returning astronauts of the Apollo project in 'DeCon,' huh? Right? Smart folks at NASA.

NASA The plume at about 20 seconds after impact

Moon strikes found significant water (click title to entry - thank you)
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor
Friday, November 13, 2009
(11-13) 13:28 PST MOUNTAIN VIEW -- The spacecraft that sent a used-up rocket crashing into a crater near the moon's south pole last month uncovered "significant" quantities of water and possibly organic chemicals that may have come from comets that slammed into the lunar surface over billions of years, mission scientists announced Friday....
...Colaprete estimated that the impact churned up water vapor and tiny fragments of crystalline ice equal to about 25 gallons of pure water and said the instruments aboard the spacecraft revealed the presence of many organic chemicals yet to be identified in the debris....
...As to the water itself, Colaprete said the Cabeus crater, where temperatures are as low as 365 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, is probably "a little wetter" than Chile's Atacama desert, the driest of any deserts on Earth....

Nidal Hasan is crippled by the soldiers that stopped his raging madness.

He is lucky to be alive and speaks to the 'civility and sanity' of the soldiers at Fort Hood. The sanctity of life is important to them and justice to its loss, no doubt, paramount.


Saddam statues are melted down
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — When Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a pair of monuments stood as symbols of his iron-fisted domination: towering bronze statues depicting a heroic Saddam as the mighty conqueror, on horseback, sword aloft. But U.S. troops blew the statues off their pedestals after the invasion of Iraq, giving the soldiers who pulled Saddam out of his hiding hole a keepsake to bring home.
The 50-foot-tall statues were melted down and recast by a skilled Iraqi artist who turned them into a new memorial that depicts a GI mourning his fallen comrades while a young girl tries to console him. The new statue, mounted on a black granite base, is the centerpiece of an Iraq war memorial being built outside the 4th Infantry Division's museum at Fort Hood in central Texas. 7/14/2004
http://1-22infantry.org/current/4idmonument.htm


Legally, 'we're in for a long haul' (click title to entry - thank you)
Case against soldier accused in mass shooting faces many hurdles
By LYNSI BURTON and STEWART M. POWELLWASHINGTON BUREAU
Nov. 9, 2009, 9:57AM
UPDATE (10:52 a.m. Monday): An Army hospital spokesman says the Fort Hood shooting suspect is conscious and able to talk.
WASHINGTON — As Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan lay under heavy guard at Fort Sam Houston on Sunday, military prosecutors and the accused Fort Hood gunman's family were preparing for what could be a long and complicated legal proceeding.
Military justice experts told the Houston Chronicle that Hasan, if he recovers, could face the death penalty in a military court-martial — unless civilian prosecutors conclude that he was part of a terrorist plot that would justify moving his case into federal criminal courts under U.S. anti-terrorism laws.
But veterans of the military justice system say that any case against Hasan could take many months and could be delayed by medical assessments of the Army officer's physical and mental health. And even if a death sentence is handed down, the military justice system's lengthy appeals process has effectively thwarted all executions since 1961....

Reality television has done a great deal of damage to children. Their parents become disoriented from reality to a world one can hardly call 'real.'

The issue here really isn't 'the parents' it is the audience and the willingness of a 'couple' to exploit their family for wealth.

It should be the concern of the viewership that the children aren't effected by the 'reality' of their exploited lives.

I think privacy for the children of this program and the other one...what was it "Kate and John" or something? I think privacy is what they children need and a return of some form of normalcy.

I believe this exploitation of children is wrong. If exploitation of children is wrong for 'Octomom' then it is wrong for everyone.


"Balloon Boy" hoax parents Richard and Mayumi Heene leave district court after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the incident at the Larimer County Justice Center in Fort Collins, Colorado on November 13, 2009. UPI/Gary C. Caskey...

Richard and Mayumi Heene Plead Guilty (click title to entry - thank you)
By GINA DINUNNOTV GUIDE
Friday, November 13, 2009
Last updated 11:02 a.m. PT
Richard Heene, the father of "Balloon Boy" Falcon Heene, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant stemming from the families' Oct. 15 hoax, according to CNN.
Heene lawyer: Arresting Heene parents in front of kids "would be 'child abuse'"
His wife, Mayumi Heene, is charged with one misdemeanor count of false reporting to authorities.
According to the Larimer County sheriff's office, Heene turned himself in Thursday and was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
The penalty range for the felony is two to six years in prison with a fine ranging from $2,000 to $500,000. His wife's misdemeanor range is six months in jail with a fine of $50 to $750, according to a statement issued by the district attorney's office.

Al Qaeda members going on trial. Legitmate law applied to legimate prisoners.

He was born (click title to entry - thank you) in Kuwait to a family from the Pakistani region of Baluchistan, returning to Pakistan as a teenager and then studying at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University...

(That is in Greensboro, North Carolina by the way. It is a minority university with many distingished graduates. Unfortunately, the notoriety here isn't good. We bring people from other lands to learn and to return to their countries to better the quality of lives of their people. I guess the USA doesn't count on hatred and bigorty toward the very diversity we enjoy in the USA to be an issue for its generosity.)

...in the US where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1986.
In the late 1980s he moved to Peshawar in Pakistan from where he fought with his three brothers alongside Osama bin Laden against the Russians in Afghanistan....

...In 2003 he was working on a plot to hijack aircraft and crash them into Heathrow airport, Big Ben and Canary Wharf when he was captured in March at a house in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Mohammed was subsequently waterboarded 183 times before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Behind closed doors at a combatant status review at Guantanamo Bay in 2007 Mohammed issued a statement in which he confessed to involvement in 31 separate plots, adding: “I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation from A to Z.”...

It will no doubt be a long and protracted trial. There will be issues with torture and whether or not any confession is actually valid.

I remember the 'affect' of Mr. Padilla (...not your usual website for information - click here) when he stood trial. By that point, what was the purpose? He didn't know what his life was about or what it had transpired to be.

But, the reason for the trial was not about his 'mental state' or his diminished capacity, it was about his crimes and the people that suffered because of his heinous acts.

If issues of 'competency' manifest there are folks like Richard Cheney the nation can thank for that being an issue at all. If the facts to his prosecution are compromised due to torture conducted illegally and with some sort of validity because some screwed by 'team of Bush lawyers' repeatedly stamped approval within their inner circle of 'good 'ole boy' understanding, the the nation can realize how completely the competency of their Constitution was compromised when it should have been upheld beyond a shadow of a doubt.

No judge in their right mind will ever allow this idiot to walk free, BUT, the 'competency' of the evidence and the person might determine the sentence he will receive.

General James Jones arrives in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has a history of being effective with USA backing.

Twin Suicide Bombings Hit Northwest Pakistan (click title to entry - thank you)
By Sean Maroney Islamabad13 November 2009
Pakistani security officials say two suicide car bombings killed at least 16 people and wounded scores of others in northwestern Pakistan on Friday. The attacks come as U.S. National Security Advisor Jim Jones is in the country for meetings with civilian and military leaders.
The first attack early Friday morning targeted the regional headquarters of Pakistan's spy agency, the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), which is overseeing the anti-militancy campaign in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan....

The goal is to achieve stability in this region of the world. Pakistan is a nuclear country. Non-proliferation needs to be a mandate in countries burdened with extremist regimes within their borders. The nuclear capacity of Pakistan is a direct threat to its sovereignty and a reason the Taliban and/or al Qaeda won't stop their assaults.

ISIS Technical Assessment: Pakistan's Stock of Weapon-Grade Uranium (click here)
byDavid Albright, PresidentKevin O'Neill, Deputy Director
June 1, 1998
On May 28 and May 30, 1998 Pakistan conducted up to six nuclear tests. A Pakistani government statement said that the nuclear test devices contained "uranium-235," commonly referred to as "weapon-grade uranium" (WGU; uranium enriched to 90 percent or more of uranium-235). The statement said that this uranium was produced at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), called the Kahuta facility, near Islamabad. While Pakistan's tests remove any doubt about its ability to produce nuclear weapons, significant uncertainties surround estimates of Pakistan's WGU stockpile....


From an edition of "Meet the Press" in September of this year.


...MR. GREGORY: Let, let me go through a few other hot-button issues (click here) in our remaining moments. In Pakistan an important al-Qaeda figure, a Mehsud, who was the head of Pakistan's al-Qaeda leadership, reportedly killed. Are you able to confirm that today?
GEN. JONES: I wish I could, to be honest with you totally. We think so. We, we put it in the 90 percent category, if you want. But Pakistan has confirmed it. We know there are some reports now from the Mehsud tribe that, that he wasn't. But the evidence is pretty conclusive.

MR. GREGORY: What, what does it mean to the United States' security?

GEN. JONES: Well, I think it's a--this is a big deal. And, and it's not only--by the way, it's not only happening in this part of the world, it's happening in other parts of the world as well with some--with a gradual coming together by the family of nations to reject terrorism as something that's acceptable. In terms of the region, it means that the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani government are doing quite well in terms of their fight against extremism. This was--Baitullah Mehsud was the public enemy number one in, in, in Pakistan, so it's their, their biggest target. And we've already seen evidence of dissension in the ranks about who's, who's going to follow him. This is--if this is--if this happened, and we think it did, this was a good thing.

MR. GREGORY: Is it still your belief that Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan?

GEN. JONES: That one's a little bit more elusive. We are still very much on the hunt. We think that he's still in that general region. But that's a, that's a tougher nut to crack....


ISIS warns of Pakistan's latest nuclear drive (click here)
Wed, 20 May 2009 00:42:48 GMT
A US arms control institute has warned that Pakistan's nuclear weapons programs could threaten the region.
"Pakistan is indeed progressing in a strategic plan to improve the destructiveness and deliverability of its nuclear arsenal," the Institute for Science and International Security said.
The institute released satellite photos on Tuesday that showed the expansion of a chemical plant complex near Dera Ghazi Khan.
The plant produces uranium hexafluoride and uranium metal, materials used to produce nuclear weapons, the ISIS report said....

Mr. Independent goes independent. Why? Because he couldn't get control over the electorate to raise his ratings. He lost the election, you know?

In the year 2009, are journalists seeking control over the message to their viewership or listening audience rather than reporting the news?

Another one bites the dust. (click here)

...The longest-running anchor on CNN's air, Dobbs was one of the nation's leading financial journalists before turning his program in a more opinionated direction. His persistent advocacy against illegal immigration angered many....

It would be interesting if all the news was reported, rather than just the chosen topic.

Sympathy for Gordon Brown in row over misspelled letter of condolence (click here)
Nov 11 2009 By Magnus Gardham
GORDON BROWN bared his soul yesterday in a bid to quash the most tawdry allegations yet thrown at him.
The Prime Minister said he "felt the pain" of grieving parents after losing his baby daughter Jennifer in 2002.
Brown has always been loath to talk about his private suffering.
But he made the comment at his monthly press briefing after a second day of astonishing personal attacks led by the Sun newspaper.
They were faithfully followed up by feckless BBC reporters who were lambasted on their own website for propagating the scandal....

An official letter to a grieving parent isn't a place for the inconsideration of misspelling. The loss of a soldier and a son should require more than a 'fast note' to the postmaster.

So, who else is inhibiting 'the change' the American electorate has demanded?

Greg Craig is in the chair to the left of President Obama. The guy chewing his fingernails. I guess there are more than one remnants of the GOP still hangin' around. They need to 'get with the program...or plan their retirement. That is, IF they still have enough from the bailout to retire.

Posted: 10:08 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009
Top White House lawyer Greg Craig quitting (click title to entry - thank you)
By JENNIFER LOVENASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO — The White House’s top lawyer plans to return to private practice and being replaced by a longtime adviser to Barack Obama.
...It was the highest-ranking resignation so far in Obama’s 10-month presidency, and became public just as the president was arriving in Asia for a weeklong tour. It also came just hours before Attorney General Eric Holder was set to announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, while five other suspects will be prosecuted in military commissions. This was revealed to The Associated Press by an Obama administration official earlier Friday....

Ida keeps the title of "Killer Storm" even in remnants.

Rough weather blamed as surfer dies off Rockaway Beach (click title to entry for videos at Newsday site - thank you)
November 12, 2009
By CARL MACGOWAN
carl.macgowan@newsday.com
As the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida threaten to wreak havoc on Long Island's coastline Friday, the system is already being partially blamed in the death of a surfer in the waters off Rockaway Beach.
The unidentified 36-year-old man's leg strap attached to a surfboard became tangled and the rough surf pushed him toward a jetty, officials said. Emergency medical technicians attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
With winds forecast to gust up to 35 mph and rain expected to fall all day, Nassau and Suffolk officials closely watched the storm Thursday as it crawled up the East Coast after drenching the Carolinas.
Freeport and Nassau County emergency management officials said they were ready to evacuate residents from low-lying areas south of Atlantic Avenue if conditions worsen....