"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Roosters

"Okeydoke"

President Karzai and Former Prime Minister Abdullah Abdullah may be headed for a run off election.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai releases a dove during the Afghanistan Independence Day ceremony in Kabul onAugust 19, 2002. AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (click title to entry - thank you) says partial election results show blatant evidence of "state-engineered" vote fraud, such as polling districts in which every vote was cast for President Hamid Karzai.

Mr. Abdullah Saturday urged the international community to intervene, saying that if Afghanistan's next leader is chosen through a fraudulent vote, it could fuel instability in the country.

Afghanistan's election commission says it stands by the partial results it has released on its Web site.

Officials postponed the release of the next round of election results, which were due Saturday. It is not clear if they made that decision based on a request from Mr. Abdullah.

The most recent figures, based on returns from 60 percent of the country's polling stations show Mr. Karzai leading Mr. Abdullah with about 47 percent of the vote.

Candidates need at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.


Helium hopes: Afghan presidential candidate and former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah hopes his fortunes will soar as high as balloons. But incumbent Hamid Karzai is set to pop them. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Peace in Afghanistan is a Priority, not War. The USA is not the 'bad guy.'

The German Base in Afghanistan called for the air strike. Why? Because their lives were in danger.

Just that simple. The Taliban stole two fuel tankers and were probably headed for the German Base to kill them. There isn't anything else to understand. I don't care if the tankers were sinking in mud, the people that came to assist the Taliban criminals were as guilty as the thieves themselves.

The USA and NATO want this war to be over more than the people of Afghanistan do evidently. What are they doing anywhere near the Taliban? Were they pressured into service at the end of a gun muzzle? Then they need to come to terms with their need for a strong military and police to stop the victimization of the people of their nation.


Victims of the Taliban's plot to kill German soldiers being cared for in a hospital in Kabul.

Afghan airstrike triggers German opposition outcry (click title to entry)
By MELISSA EDDY
Associated Press
2009-09-06 01:48 AM
A German-ordered airstrike in Afghanistan triggered an outcry from the opposition Saturday, even as the nation's foreign minister called for a thorough investigation.

The attack was ordered early Friday after the Taliban hijacked two fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan where German troops are stationed. Germany will hold parliamentary elections Sept. 27 and the incident could put Chancellor Angela Merkel's comfortable lead in the polls under pressure.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, insisted in comments to the Bild am Sonntag weekly that officials have no information indicating that civilians had been killed in the strike, ordered by a German officer and carried out by U.S. planes.

"Based on the information I have at this time, only Taliban terrorists were killed in the strikes," Jung was quoted as saying in comments released Saturday.

I realize Afghanistan has been in dire conditions for a long time. It is due to the instability in the region caused by The Taliban and the international criminals they protect.I don't want to hear complaints about our military anymore. We don't want them there, but, they are carrying out the responsibility to the people of the USA, Europe and other allies. The USA is seeking to end the suffering of the people of Afghanistan while securing that region from any further possibility of instability.

I don't believe there is a choice in being in Afghanistan to finish the goal of the invasion. In realizing how close the Taliban and possibly al Qaeda came to possessing nuclear capacity under the Musharraf dictatorship, there really is little choice in completing the mission.

The USA military is held responsible when they cause harm to innocent people where there are operations AND the actions are deliberate. Where killing innocent people was unnecessary and cruel. The military has a long history of holding officers and enlisted soldiers responsible for actions that are unlawful. The actions of the USA military in destroying two tankers full of fuel was a necessary act to protect German soldiers and stop the aggressions of Taliban criminals.

I refuse to allow the morals of our country and that of our military to become 'a strategy' to defame their good works and be used as propaganda within the nation of Afghanistan. There is a war being fought in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan military needs to take on the role of defending their country. The leadership of Afghanistan has to stand for morality and admirable acts within an economy that is peaceful, bringing dignity to their people.

The bombs dropped by the USA was appropriate and necessary. The Taliban and their international criminal allies were the target. There isn't anything else necessary to understand or debate. I admire the leadership of the USA military for seeking ever increasing improvements in methodologies to protect innocent civilians, but, at the same time the people of Afghanistan and their leadership need to do their part as well.

Okay. President Karzai needs to let the people of Afghanistan know when they cooperate with enemy targets they can suffer consequences.

This is an outrage that Afghan civilians were supporting the insurgency of Taliban by purchasing stolen fuel that will eventually kill NATO and/or Afghan soldiers. I don't have sympathy for people if they are 'accepting' the Taliban as merchants of stolen goods.

The 'warlord' culture has to end. It cannot continue. When military supplies are stolen there should not be a market for them at the next 'hide out.'

Thievery of fuel supplies belonging to NATO troops is an 'underground.' The people of Afghanistan can't have it both ways. They can't seek to have a country free of hardship while at the same time prolonging the war. Assisting the Taliban by purchasing stolen supplies needs to be seen as a crime as much as the acts of violence by the Taliban. The Taliban would have used the fuel and the monies obtained from its sale to kill Afghan troops. That doesn't mean anything to the people of Afghanistan?

The civilians need to remove themselves from the Taliban culture and seek for success for their military. This is an antiquated 'warlord' culture that can't be tolerated anymore. The civilians have to remove themselves from the 'war theater.' A stolen NATO supply tanker is a part of the 'war theater.' There are consequences to being a part of that 'underground' culture.

...Afghan and NATO officials say that Taliban insurgents in the northern Kunduz province were driving two hijacked fuel trucks to an unknown destination when fighter planes located them on a river bank and bombed them.

NATO officials say the pre-dawn strike destroyed the fuel trucks and killed a large number of militants. Villagers, however, say locals had also gathered around the hijacked trucks to collect fuel from them when the attack occurred. It caused a huge fireball, they say, that instantly burned most of the people alive....

The statement by UN Special Representative Galbraith shows concern for the civilians of Afghanistan and rightly so, but, it also shows concern for the fact the civilians involved were indeterminable by the military fighting the war to stop the insurgency.

Statement by the Deputy UN Special Representative, Peter Galbraith on Kunduz airstrike (click here)
Kabul, 4 September 2009 - I am very concerned by the reports we have seen this morning of casualties among civilians from an air strike against stolen trucks in Aliabad district of Kunduz province.
As an immediate priority, everything possible must be done to ensure that people wounded by this attack are being properly cared for, and that families of the deceased are getting all the help they need.Steps must also be taken to examine what happened and why an air strike was employed in circumstances where it was hard to determine with certainty that civilians were not present. UNAMA is sending a team to look into the situation.

The United Nations has been 'in the trenches' with the Afghan people since the beginnings of the war in 2001. They can make a difference if they begin to speak in a 'reasonable' tone that 'instructs' the Afghan people of cooperating with Taliban criminals.

These Taliban stole the fuel. They were more than willing to break Afghan law and use the fuel for purposes of killing more people, be it Afghan civilians in car bombing or suicide bombing or Afghan military personnel or NATO troops. That is criminal activity. They understand it and they can comprehend what is right and best for them and what isn't.

The PROBLEM is the tolerance of The Taliban/Warlord culture. It was tolerated by President Karzai to attempt to maintain control of some semblance of government. It has to stop. There is a 'right' and a 'wrong' and this act of aggression by the Taliban that involved so many innocent Afghans was wrong !

Thursday, 15 November, 2001, 17:13 GMT
UN aid shipment reaches Afghanistan (click here)

The first substantial United Nations aid shipment has crossed the river from Uzbekistan into northern Afghanistan.

A barge carrying 200 tonnes of wheat flour crossed from the Uzbek port of Termez to Hairaton, 18 km (11.2 miles) away on the Afghan side of the river.
The aid arrived as relief agencies warned that a humanitarian disaster was imminent, with 3.4m Afghans dependent on aid to survive through the harsh winter.
Meanwhile, a senior US official visiting northern Afghanistan has pledged more than $5m to aid agencies in the region....

The United Nations has perspective on this insurgency and the horrible treatment the people of Afghanistan are rendered under their power. The UN knows the nightmare of civilization in the reality of international criminals that bomb infrastructure killing innocent people. The UN is well vested in this action.

It is time to stop the 'permission' given to criminals. According to the USA military leadership we are facing a rough road for the next year to eighteen months until the insurgency is brought under control.

The Afghan people have to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem by allowing themselves to be involved with criminals that seek to destroy their government and enslave the Afghan people. I know they don't want the 'dark days' of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar back again. I know they don't.

They need leadership they have come to trust to 'instruct' them on behavior that will facilitate their safety and bring peace to their country quicker than any military can. They have to limit their 'economy' to what any country would view as 'legal.' What occurred today was criminality that increased the danger to civilians (other than the ones at the tanker site), Afghan military and NATO troops. They know better than this. The Afghan citizens aren't acting out of anger in cooperation of the Taliban, they are acting out of permission to participate in an 'underground' culture.

"...over the last fifteen years, the price of health insurance is crippling us...."

"No body has explained how it is going to be paid for?"

Perhaps no one of Murdock's tribe can explain how the new Health Insurance Reform Bill will pay for ITSELF, but, most of the rest of us actually HEARD for ourselves how President Obama explained how it would be paid for. Goes to show the folks watching and listening to Murdock's news don't get ALL the information in the way the rest of us do.



HMO claims-rejection rates triggers state investigation (click title to entry - thank you)
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is joining state regulators in scrutinizing the payment practices of seven major health plans in response to complaints from physicians and hospitals.
By Lisa Girion
September 4, 2009
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is joining state regulators in scrutinizing how HMOs review and pay insurance claims submitted by doctors, hospitals and other medical providers.
His announcement came Thursday as regulators said they had stepped up scrutiny of the payment practices of the state's seven largest health plans in response to complaints from physicians and hospitals.
The increased attention also comes on the heels of a first-of-its-kind report issued this week that said the California health insurers reject 1 in 5 medical claims....

Returning to The House Health Insurance Reform Bill, on page 355, lines 21 through 25 and Page 356, lines 1 through 6 regarding changes in Medicare, Part D, Prescription Drug Program.

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each year beginning with 2011, the Secretary shall consistent with this paragraph progressively increase the initial coverage limit (described in subsection (b)(3)) and decrease the annual out-of-pocket threshold from the amounts otherwise computed until there is a continuation of coverage from the initial coverage limit for expenditures incurred through the total amount of expenditures at which benefits are available under paragraph (4).

This is about closing the 'Donut Hole.' Every year the coverage limit increase while the out-of-pocket expenditures decrease. By gradually changing the ratios it can be discerned to the effectiveness of the provision. The concern here is that once those covered by Part D run out of coverage they stop taking medications or selectively take medications of which opens up the possibility of re-hospitalization or hospitalization for a worsening disease. The cost to health insurance goes up for every hospital admission. If re-admissions can be avoided with adequate coverage for perscriptions the cost effectiveness will be incredible.

Any content not mentioned previous to Page 355, Line 21 continued to return control from Medicare Advantage (MA) to the consumer of Medicare.

Page 358, line 11 is the beginning of a very interesting provision. This provision requires drug manufacturers that give drug rebates to the Secretary for persons with full eligibility under the new 'Donut Hole' law. Wow. Who would ever consider this as an issue to bring down the cost of perscriptions issued through Medicare Part D. I'll be darn. This bill has been 'in the works' for a long time. This level of scrutiny of the USA health care system and its relationship to Medicare Part D didn't take place in a couple of weeks. These legislators have been compiling this information and initiative for quite some time. Probably since the passage of the bill creating Medicare Part D under the previous administration. Well. Leave no stone unturned.

Page 359, lines 3 through 18.

‘‘(2) REBATE AGREEMENT.—A rebate agreement under this subsection shall require the manufacturer to provide to the Secretary a rebate for each rebate period (as defined in paragraph (6)(B)) ending after December 31, 2010, in the amount specified in paragraph (3) for any covered part D drug of the manufacturer dispensed after December 31, 2010, to any full-benefit dual eligible individual (as defined in paragraph (6)(A)) for which payment was made by a PDP sponsor under part D or a MA organization under part C for such period. Such rebate shall be paid by the manufacturer to the Secretary not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of the information described in section 1860D–12(b)(7), including as such section is applied under section 1857(f)(3).

The Bill goes on from there providing terminology, definitions, oversight, penalites for non-compliance, how the new law will be instituted and the high degree of confidentiality accompanying this law.

Page 370, lines 1 through 8 introduces the same level of government reimbursement for drugs with a discount. I guess so.

‘‘(g) REQUIREMENT FOR MANUFACTURER DISCOUNT AGREEMENT FOR CERTAIN QUALIFYING DRUGS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this part, the term ‘covered part D drug’ does not include any drug or biologic that is manufactured by a manufacturer that has not entered into and have in effect for all qualifying drugs (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)) a discount agreement described in paragraph (2).

Here again The Bill discusses the definitons, etc. that accompanies such a provision. It also has scrutinized the 'discount' when it appears as a supplement to 'out-of-pocket' expenses. Everyone has an angel I suppose. The House didn't miss a trick.

Go, House Membership, Go !

Page 375, line 1 begins an entire provision in regard to perscription drug coverage under Part D as it applies to dispensed medications by Nursing Homes. Anything else?

Yep.

Page 375, line 1 begins to discuss the provisions for medications provided by special programs for HIV/AIDS (Properly entitled AIDS Drug Assistance Program - which actually falls under Medicare - Part B) and for medications utilized by Native American Indian.

Page 377, starting with line 21 prohibits changes in any medication formulary eligible for Part D from being removed or cost changes that would increase subscribers out of pocket costs. These insurance companies are so tricky. They don't care for nobody. They want their money and that is all they want.


‘‘(F) CHANGE IN FORMULARY RESULTING N INCREASE IN COST-SHARING.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in clause (ii), in the case of an individual enrolled in a prescription drug plan (or MA–PD plan) who has been prescribed and is using a covered part D drug while so enrolled, if the formulary of the plan is materially changed (other than at the end of a contract year) so to reduce the coverage (or increase the cost-sharing) of the drug under the plan.

Well, all right now. I think we have some very engaged legislators.

Page 379, line 8 starts to add the concept of 'Telehealth Services' to an expanding role to enhance health care.

Page 380, lines 6 through 17.

‘‘(c) TELEHEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appoint a Telehealth Advisory Committee (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Advisory Committee’) to make recommendations to the Secretary on policies of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding telehealth services as established under section 1834(m), including the appropriate addition or deletion of services (and HCPCS codes) to those specified in paragraphs (4)(F)(i) and (4)(F)(ii) of such section and for authorized payment under paragraph (1) of such section.

Telehealth delivery (click here) could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone, or as sophisticated as using videoconferencing between providers at facilities in two countries, or even as complex as robotic technology. It is my understanding that Robotic Technology is used in long distance surgery when a physician specialized in any discipline not widely practiced cannot be 'in the surgical suite' to personally perform the surgery. There is a surgeon attending the patient at all times that guides the robotics. This is used in health clinics in Africa.

Telehealth helps Bristol GP practice improve care for chronic heart failure patients (click here)
3 September 2009
GPs at The Orchard Medical Centre in Bristol have reported on the success of telehealth in improving care for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), keeping them independent and out of emergency care, and promoting greater self-management.
The Bristol-based practice has successfully integrated telehealth into its CHF service, to provide more preventative support within the community setting, help avoid hospital admissions and reduce some of the burden on secondary care providers whilst providing a cost-effective model of care for the management of the condition....

That discussion goes on upto page 390 and with line 12 The Bill begins provisions to Eliminate Barriers to Enrollement

SEC. 1203. ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO ENROLLMENT (a) ADMINISTRATIVE VERIFICATION OF INCOME AND RESOURCES UNDER THE LOW-INCOME SUBSIDY PROGRAM.—

It authorizes the sharing of income tax returns to validate ineligibilty of those earning too much to receive the benefit. It also allows for retroactive payment of medications when a citizen is found eligible. There are exceptions for enrollees for RFP plan. They cannot be enrolled in both. Those provisions continue with technical explanations upto page 401, which starts the provisions for Subtitle B - Reducing Health Disparities. I'll end it there and pick up there later.

Perry leads secession movement and practices "Censorship." Another UN-American moment for the Right Wing.

..."What we've got right now on the right is, they didn't get back into office and they're into a take-no-prisoners strategy," said Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.
This wasn't how it played in 1991 – a speech that the Obama team has pointed to repeatedly in the last two days as it sought to blunt the attacks....

It is just simply UN-American !

United States v. State of Texas (click here)

In 1970, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas ordered the State of Texas and nine school districts to remedy past discrimination that continued to harm the educational achievement of minority students in the State. MALDEF intervened with the court on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American GI Forum of Texas to hold the state responsible for providing equal educational opportunities to Latinos and English language learners (ELLs) and to remedy past de jure discrimination against Latino students.
In 1981, the District Court found that the State had failed to help ELLs overcome language barriers. Following the decision and while the case was on appeal, the State of Texas passed a law expanding bilingual education to grades K-6 and providing for English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for middle and high schools.
In February 2006, MALDEF filed a Motion for Further Relief against the State for failing to monitor and supervise the State’s bilingual and ESL programs. On July 30, 2007, U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice issued a Memorandum Opinion and Judgment denying all the relief MALDEF requested. However, a year later, in the most comprehensive legal decision concerning the civil rights of English language learners in the last 25 years, Judge Justice threw out his earlier opinion in its entirety and found that Texas had violated the rights of ELLs under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. Among the violations that he noted were that the Texas Education Agency under-identifies ELLs and that the achievement standards for intervention are arbitrary and not based upon equal educational opportunity. He also noted that the State’s intervention monitors lacks bilingual and ESL certifications, thus leading to the “blind leading the blind”; and the system monitors only at the district-level, as opposed to the campus-level, thus allowing for failing ESL programs in secondary schools to be masked by successful bilingual programs in elementary schools. The Court ordered the State Defendants to submit a new monitoring plan and a new or modified language program for secondary ELLs by the end of January 2009.
Roger Rice and Jenni Lopez of META are co-counsel in the case, which seeks to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to learn regardless of language ability.

"The Handbook for Texas" (click here)

EDUCATION FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

...In 1871, Texas organized a public school system. The succeeding system, formed under the Constitution of 1876,qv reestablished the segregation of races but make impartial provision for each. Between 1873 and 1893 at black state conventions,qv African Americans from all sections of the state met to express their opinions, to delineate their needs, and to shape educational policies. Most significant were the Waco and Brenham conventions and the first meeting at Austin in 1884 of the Colored Teachers Association....

...The early 1950s marked several changes. These included improvements in school buildings and facilities, equalization of teachers' salaries, and an increase in funds for classroom instruction and libraries. The Texas Association of New Farmers of America, the African-American equivalent of Future Farmers of America, had chartered chapters in 178 high schools, with a membership of more than 9,000 high school boys studying vocational agriculture....

...The United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) outlawed segregated education and consequently had tremendous influence on programs of education for African Americans. Texas was one of the leaders in desegregation throughout the South. Two black students had been admitted to previously all-white schools in Fiona, Texas, before the 1954 decision. Shortly after the 1954 decision, the San Antonio school district became one of the first districts nationwide to comply. San Antonio had the advantages of good race relations and an articulate policy statement. This desegregation process began in September of the 1955-56 school year. Though San Antonio's desegregation of its schools moved quite smoothly, other school districts, such as Houston's, were amazingly slow. In 1964 Texas accounted for about 60 percent of the desegregated school districts in the South and for more than half of all African-American students attending integrated schools in the South....

...Although black students overall have greater difficulty than white students with the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test, many educators attribute the problem to poverty and lack of educational resources. Legislation in the 1990s equalizing school financing may mitigate the problem. Another issue is that in many urban areas of Texas, resegregation appears to be occurring. In 1989, 63 percent of black students in Texas still attended predominantly black schools; this was exactly the national average (only ten states had higher percentages). It is impossible at the moment to assess the long-term consequences of this phenomenon.

Over crowded prisons with majority being African American. Why?

At midyear 2008 (click here), there were 4,777 black male inmates per 100,000 black males held in state and federal prisons and local jails, compared to 1,760 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 727 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.

College Enrollments of Recent Black High School Graduates Are on the Rise
Article from:
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Article date:
July 1, 2005
Author: Anonymous

CH II Publishers, Inc. Summer 2005.

Provided by ProQuest LLC.
In recent years, more African-American high school graduates have been enrolling in college. But blacks still trail whites by a large margin in full-time enrollments at four-year colleges and universities.
Anew report from the Census Bureau reveals that recent black high school graduates are narrowing the gap with whites in college enrollments. The data shows that of the 333,000 African Americans who graduated from high school in 2003, 194,000, or 58.3 percent, had enrolled in college by the fall of that year. For whites, 66.2 percent of the 2003 high school graduates went on to enroll in college that fall.

More African-Americans going to college; fewer graduating

Townes, Glenn
New York Amsterdam News; 11/8/2007, Vol. 98 Issue 46, p33-33, 1/3p

The article focuses on the current state of education of African Americans. According to a recently released report from the "Journal of Blacks in Higher Education," the number of African American students enrolling in college is at record levels, but fewer are graduating with higher education degrees. It is viewed that viable and consistent increases in the number of African American students successfully earning and completing college remains a public issue as much as an individual one.

Foundation launches plan to double number of minority college graduates

Townes, Glenn
New York Amsterdam News; 1/1/2009, Vol. 100 Issue 1, p32-32, 1/3p

The article reports that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will give $69.8 million worth of grants to groups in the U.S. that will increase the number of minority students who attend college and graduate. A statement from Allan Golston, president of the Gates Foundation's U.S. Program, about education in the U.S. It cites several researches such as "The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education's" statistics on African-Americans with college degree.

Fewer Low-Income Students Attending Yale

Martineau, Kim
Hartford Courant, The (CT); 01/22/2008

Jan. 22--The number of low-income students at Yale is declining, a new study shows, even as Harvard and some top-ranked public institutions, including the University of Connecticut, have made gains in admitting more students from the bottom of the economic ladder.
As income inequality grows, prestigious schools across the country are scrambling to become less elitist and admit more low-income students, especially as their multibillion-dollar endowments climb to record highs.
In recent years, Harvard and Yale universities, and others, have boosted financial aid and expanded recruiting to draw more students of modest means.
A study by Iowa scholar Tom Mortenson indicates mixed results. Many of the universities rated "best" by U.S. News and World Report showed a declining enrollment of students with federal Pell grants -- need-based grants to promote access to postsecondary education....

Drop in enrollment of black students at USC

Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education; May2008, Vol. 22 Issue 5, p5-5, 1/9p

The article focuses on the report of the University of South Carolina's student newspaper "The Daily Gamecock," that the number of black freshmen entering the university dropped by 32 percent between 2000 and 2007. The University of South Carolina was identified by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education as having the highest black student enrollment of any flagship university in the nation, but a downward trend has occurred since then. Dennis Pruitt, vice president of student affairs, has said that because overall freshman enrollment has increased, the number of African-Americans is not properly represented in these percentages.

The Instigators and proudly so. Murdock's FOX brags about their ability to increase social dissonance.

"BACK TO SCHOOL" for FOX means vicious politicking at any age.

What Murdock does is 'create' the news by aggitating dissonance. How does it feel as a consumer of the news to be a 'target' of a news agency.

Feel a little like a puppet on a string?