Patricia Thurston's Radio Weblog

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:50:46 GMT

Kagan: ‘The only way’ to ‘force’ Iran to halt its nuclear program is an ‘attack.’.

Appearing on MSNBC this afternoon, Iraq surge architect Fred Kagan criticized direct talks with Iran and made his case for attacking Iran, claiming it is the only means to “force” the country to halt its nuclear program:

Well, there’s nothing we can do short of an attack to force Iran to give up its nuclear program. … At the end of the day, the only way that you can make for sure that [a nuclear arm’s race] doesn’t happen is with an attack. There are a variety of things you can do short of an attack and hope that they will work, but hope is not a method here.

Watch it:

[Think Progress]

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:06:46 GMT

Abizaid: ‘We can’t be in Iraq more than the Iraqis want us to be there.’.

Ret. Gen. John Abizaid, the former commander of the US Central Command from 2003-2007, told a meeting of the Pacific Council on Monday that if the people of Iraq want the U.S. to leave, the U.S. should leave. “We can’t be in Iraq more than the Iraqis want us to be there,” Abizaid said. Reportedly, Abizaid predicted that by January the Iraqis “will be close to getting their act together.” “The Iraqis have moved beyond the American political debate,” he added.

[Think Progress]

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:00:47 GMT

Savage Comment Sparks Outcry.

Shock jock Michael Savage clearly has an overblown sense of the extent of his “expertise” on a wide range of topics, but he overstepped his bounds by attempting armchair psychology about a sensitive subject last week—autism—and drew fire from angry parents and supporters.

READ THE WHOLE ITEM

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[Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:48:19 GMT

Donâo[dot accent]t âo[breve]Bankâo[dot accent] On It.

The World Bank, the international global capitalist lending institution, was criticized by an independent report after a critical examination of development activities funded by the Bank. The report, released Tuesday, railed against the environmental degradation caused by many projects in poor countries that harm local communities in the name of “development”.

Read the report at worldbank.org/oed.

The New York Times:

The World Bank and its partners need to do a far better job of considering the environmental effects of projects they finance in poor countries, its internal review group concludes in a new report.

The review, released Tuesday, examined some of the $400 billion in investments in nearly 7,000 projects from 1990 to 2007. It found that recent pledges for environmental sustainability by the bank and sister institutions, including the International Finance Corporation, were often not put into practice when dollars were turned into dams, pipelines, palm plantations and the like.

The authors of the 181-page environmental report, the first by the bank’s Independent Evaluation Group since 2002, said it was crucial for the bank and its partners to intensify their focus on measurable environmental protection, given rising vulnerability to environmental risks and the increasing flow of financing for projects related to climate change.

Read more

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[Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:40:52 GMT

Der Spiegel or âo[breve]Der Lyingâo[dot accent]?.

Remember how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki endorsed Obama’s plan for U.S. withdrawal from the country? And then remember how the endorsement suddenly became a question of “translation”? Well, it ends up that it wasn’t a botched translation at all, and that Maliki’s office personally reviewed the final interview before it was published.

Crooks and Liars:

We already knew that the Maliki “clarification” came only after pressure from the White House & CENTCOM, and that that “clarification” largely just reaffirmed his point that Obama’s time frame is more in line with the views of the Iraqi government. We also already knew that the original translation was done by Maliki’s official translator, not Der Spiegel. Well, now TNR is reporting that Maliki’s office personally reviewed the translation and signed off on it.

But it turns out that Maliki actually got a copy of the interview before it was printed and had the option to make any changes. A writer at Der Spiegel sent us this tidbit of info:

“The reason the magazine scores so many high level interviews is that the editors agree to allow the subjects to “authorize” the interviews before they go to press. It wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, in other words: Maliki not only endorsed Obama’s plans for withdrawing from Iraq, but his office then explicitly approved the endorsement before it was printed. The denials, then, were doubly facetious. Spiegel couldn’t say so, though, without revealing its embarrassing authorization policy.”

Read more

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[Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:34:11 GMT

McCain On The Run: Cancels Press Availability

Marc Ambinder reports that John McCain's one press conference of the week has been abruptly canceled:

The one scheduled McCain press conference of the week has just been canceled, we are told. No word as to why. Grumble, grumble.

Why? Scheduling. Which is like answering "food" to "what did you eat for breakfast."

Ambinder offers a relatively innocuous explanation:

My bet is that the campaign much prefers local and regional interviews. Us national press folks will ask qualitatively different questions -- McCain v. the press, McCain v. history, McCain v. Obamania... The priority here in northern Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional district is on getting good local news coverage.

But Ben Smith sees more, pointing out that Obamania is the least of McCain's worries right now:

Despite the press crowd around Obama, McCain's avail today was the one with more promise to make news:

He hasn't explained what he meant by juggling the timeline on the surge and Awakening (though his staff did the best salvage job possible); whether he meant that Obama was deliberately selling out the country; whether he shares his campaign's grievance with the press; or what he thinks of his staff's genocide-themed attack.

And now he's canceled the avail.

<img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=6504cf418139a61f6658d083c6b5c6fc"; height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=6504cf418139a61f6658d083c6b5c6fc"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - The Huffington Post News Editors [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:08:18 GMT

CBS did air McCain's charge, also made earlier in the day, that Sen. Obama "would rather lose a war than lose a campaign," which, said Time's Joe Klein on CNN, "is the most scurrilous thing that I have heard a presidential candidate say in the nine elections I have covered." [Cursor.org]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:07:42 GMT

After Sen. McCain exhibited 'a fundamental misunderstanding of Iraq,' by falsely stating in an interview with CBS that the surge "began the Anbar awakening," CBS edited it out of what aired on its evening newscast. And Newsday points out that McCain also "tips a GOP attack line" in the interview. [Cursor.org]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:06:06 GMT

But Salon reports that "a movement is stirring in Washington for a sweeping new inquiry into White House malfeasance," modeled after the Church Committee, in an article that "provides names and dates that seem to corroborate the earlier Radar story on Main Core." Plus: 'The exaggeration of terror.' [Cursor.org]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:56:41 GMT

As Glenn Greenwald debates informal Obama legal adviser Cass Sunstein on "Democracy Now!," responding to comments made by Sunstein as reported by the Nation, Jonathan Turley expresses his concern that "the Bush crimes will remain buried for all time." [Cursor.org]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:43:04 GMT

Dave Zirin: COINTELPRO Comes to My Town: My First-Hand Experience With Government Spies

Finally, at long last, I have something in common with Muhammad Ali.
No, I'm not the heavyweight champion of the world, and haven't been named spokesperson for Raid bug spray. Like "the Greatest" - not to mention far too many others -- I have been a target of state police surveillance for activities -- in my case against the death penalty -- that were legal, non-violent, and, so we assumed, constitutionally protected. In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was given by an undercover agent known to us as "Lucy." She sat in our meetings of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, smiling and engaged, taking copious notes about actions deemed threatening by the Governor of Maryland, Robert Ehrlich. Our seditious crimes, as Lucy reported, involved such acts as planning to set up a table at the local farmer's market and writing up a petition. Adding a dash of farce to this outrage, she was monitoring us in the liberal enclave of Takoma Park, Maryland, a place known more for vegans than violence, more for tie-dying than terrorism.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the ACLU, we now know that "Lucy" was only one part of a vast, insidious project. The Maryland State Police's Department of Homeland Security devoted near 300 hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 to harassing people whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and Maryland's use of death row.

My dear friend Mike Stark, a board member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is at times referred to in "Lucy's" report as a "socialist" and an "anarchist." One can only assume this is the pathetic time honored tradition of reducing people to simple caricatures, all the better to garner Homeland Security grant money.

Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the suit, was as well consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His "primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism -- anti-war protesters." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or
HIDTA. Yes, a respected peace organizer of many decades standing is checked as a terrorist, his actions listed as criminal, for doing nothing more than exercising his rights. It boggles the mind.

Former police superintendent Tim Hutchins defended these totalitarian practices by saying, "You do what you think is best to protect the general populace of the state." (The article mentioned that Hutchins is now a federal defense contractor. I guess The Global War on Terror is just the gift that keeps on giving for the Hutchins family.)

But "protect the general populace" from what? The surveillance continued even after it was determined that we were planning nothing more dangerous that carrying clipboards in a public place. Hutchins and the Ehrlich administration have undertaken an ugly violation of our civil rights, manipulating fears of terrorism to stamp out dissent.

This is COINTELPRO pure and simple. Like the infamous counter-intelligence program whose heyday many assume was a relic the 1950s and 1960s, it's an effort to harass the innocent and breed paranoia, all for daring to question power.

Governor Ehrlich and Tim Hutchins stand in the legacy of those who hounded Martin Luther King, and facilitated the death of Malcolm X. They stand in the tradition of those who drove the great actor, college football superstar, and activist Paul Robeson toward The mental breakdown that claimed his life. When Robeson's files were opened under the Freedom of Information Act, the results were terrifying.

As his son, Paul Robeson Jr. has written, "From the files I received, it was obvious that there were agents who did nothing but follow every public event of my father, or even of me.... It took on a life of its own.... Over time, even for someone as powerful and with as many resources as my
dad had...the attrition got to him."

Now Robeson is on a postage stamp. The moral midgets who destroyed him went unpunished. That's what has to change. The ACLU, to their credit, is going on the offensive.
As ACLU lawyer David Rocah said at a news conference in Baltimore on Thursday, "To invest this many hours investigating the most all-American of activities without any scintilla of evidence there is anything criminal going on is shocking. It's Kafkaesque."

Unfortunately for people like Gov. Ehrlich, it is also "the most All
American of activities" to take the constitution and use it as their personal hand wipe.

As the great political philosopher Ice T wrote, "Freedom of Speech.... just watch what you say." Well, now is exactly the time not to watch what we say. I'm angry. I'm angry for my friends, who trusted "Lucy" and others. I'm angry that my tax dollars went to paying the salaries of people who spy and intimidate those exercising their rights. I'm angry that Barack Obama just voted to increase the power of the Federal government to disrupt people's lives. And I'm angry enough that I'm joining a lawsuit initiated by the ACLU. "Homeland Security" picked on the wrong sports writer. They also picked on the wrong group of activists. We will not be silenced.

[People who want to express their outrage can contact the office of the current Governor Martin O'Malley. We should demand a full investigation of the MSP, public release of all documents obtained through this illegal activity, and a specific commitment that the
anti-death penalty and anti-war movement will not be targeted. Call the office of the governor at 1-800-811-8336, or submit a comment online at http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/]

<a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=052645a570b1a6f3d3987d84bafabba2";><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=052645a570b1a6f3d3987d84bafabba2";/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=052645a570b1a6f3d3987d84bafabba2"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - Dave Zirin [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:38:55 GMT

Harry Shearer: Intel Goes Down the Memory Hole Again

Verbs are important. The Bush Administration has gone from saying we "know" something--as in, "we know Saddam has nuclear weapons"--to we "believe" something. Which is fair warning, for a faith-based foreign policy. (No longer a Feith-based one)

Nonetheless, Sunday morning on Fox News Sunday, Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said he "believes" Iran is moving towards acquiring nuclear weapons. Interrogator Chris Wallace didn't ask him upon what that belief was based. Nor did he ask Mullen whether that belief represented a disagreement with the publicly expressed consensus view of the intelligence community, released last December in a National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran had halted such a program four years ago.

As I recall, the 2002 NIE, the public version of which (minus the privately expressed caviats and dissents) was used to support the push for war in Iraq, was often brandished by media questioners and war supporters to silence those who opposed the invasion. It's no surprise this latest NIE has fallen down the Administration's memory hole, but what excuse do those in the media have for sipping the amnesia juice?

<a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=799dfe75955a9842adf8d4d3a4790139";><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=799dfe75955a9842adf8d4d3a4790139";/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=799dfe75955a9842adf8d4d3a4790139"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - Harry Shearer [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:15:18 GMT

Adele Stan: Afghan Ambassador Likes Barack Plan, Too?

A few hours into his journey to the two key lands occupied by American troops, Barack Obama is feeling the love. Indeed, it seems as if leaders in both Iraq and Afghanistan are looking for some change they can believe in.

As I reported for The Media Consortium, on the eve of Obama's senatorial fact-finding mission to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Afghan ambassador to the U.S. issued a plea for more U.S. troops in his country. Ambassador Said Jawad's request, delivered with a sense of urgency in a Washington, D.C., forum, vindicated Obama's long-held contention that the U.S. invasion of Iraq served only to divert attention and resources from the true front lines in the fight against terrorism, which the Democratic presidential candidate locates in Afghanistan. Last week, Obama published an op-ed in the New York Times advocating the redeployment of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

The current capacity of U.S. forces is inadequate, Jawad asserted, noting the recent attack by the Taliban on a U.S. Army outpost that left nine Americans dead. As for our European allies, Jawad said, "The NATO forces are not fighting as hard as they should."

The concern of most Afghans, Jawad said, was not that the U.S. was on their land, but whether the U.S. would stay long enough for the nation to build institutions capable of serving and protecting the people. Implicit in his statement was the belief of many Afghans that the U.S. will abandon their nation once again at our earliest convenience, just as we did after the Afghans effectively fought -- and won -- the final battle of the Cold War.

Jawad and his wife, Shamim, are of the same generation of Obama and his wife, Michelle, and strike me as a couple possessing certain affinities with the Obamas. They're cross-cultural, keenly intelligent, lean and attractive. In an Obama administration, the public diplomacy as regards Afghanistan promises something photogenic.

Although John McCain has, of late, jumped onto the Afghaniband-wagon, my HuffPo colleague Jon Stolz unearthed some 2003 video of McCain speaking rather dismissively of Afghanistan, essentially saying it would fine for the U.S. to "muddle through" there.

Today's big news was the apparent endorsement of Iraq President Nouri al-Maliki for Obama's 16-month draw-down plan. Somebody must have just reminded the Iraqi leader that Obama isn't yet president; just hours after they were reported, Maliki's spokesperson began back-pedaling his comments.

All this before Obama has met with either Maliki or Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

<img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=1c40446106d7a6c9f19d1575ff82203d"; height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=1c40446106d7a6c9f19d1575ff82203d"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - Adele Stan [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:50:35 GMT

Car restrictions begin in Beijing. Tough new rules aimed at forcing more than one million cars from Beijing's roads during the Olympics come into force. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:45:46 GMT

General Petraeus: Al Qaida May Be Shifting Focus Back To Afghanistan From Iraq

BAGHDAD — After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday.

"We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued viability of al-Qaida's fight in Iraq," Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview at his office at the U.S. Embassy.

Whatever the result, Petraeus said no one should expect al-Qaida to give up entirely in Iraq.

"They're not going to abandon Iraq. They're not going to write it off. None of that," he said. "But what they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan."

He said there are signs that foreign fighters recruited by al-Qaida to do battle in Iraq are being diverted to the largely ungoverned areas in Pakistan from which the fighters can cross into Afghanistan. U.S. officials have pressed Pakistan for more than a year to halt the cross-border infiltration. It remains a major worry not only for the war in Afghanistan but also for Pakistan's stability.

Discussing al-Qaida in cautious terms, Petraeus said he is not certain of the reliability of the intelligence information about the terrorist network's latest thinking. He was adamant, however, that until now al-Qaida has seen Iraq as its best opportunity for establishing a militant Islamic state closer to the Persian Gulf.

"That could be under review," Petraeus said. "We do think they are considering what should be the main effort."

He offered a mostly upbeat assessment of conditions in Iraq just weeks before he is to make a recommendation on whether to further reduce U.S. troop levels. Petraeus said the country is showing fresh signs of promise not only on the security front, where insurgent attacks are down sharply, but also politically.

He applauded the latest evidence of movement toward reconciliation by Sunnis and Shiites _ the announcement Saturday that Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc had ended a nearly yearlong boycott of the Shiite-led government.

"It's a very important step forward," Petraeus said after an aide interrupted the AP interview to deliver the news. The general flashed a wide smile and instructed the aide to pass along his congratulations to top government officials, who have come under enormous pressure from U.S. officials to reconcile.

Petraeus declined to say what he might recommend to President Bush regarding further U.S. troops reductions. The assessment, he said, is based on a range of factors, including the prospects for Iraqi government approval of legislation required before provincial elections can be held this fall.

He would not talk about specific troop levels later this year. But the enthusiasm of Petraeus's description of security, political and even economic progress in 2008 gave the impression he may be inclined to tell Bush that fewer than the current 15 combat brigades will be needed by year's end.

Petraeus said he was encouraged at the possibility of al-Qaida reconsidering Iraq as its highest priority war front.

"There is some intelligence that has picked this up," he said, adding, "It's not solid gold intelligence.

This information, while unconfirmed, parallels reports that fewer foreign fighters are joining the insurgency in Iraq.

"We do know the foreign fighter flow into Iraq has been reduced very substantially," he said. From a peak of 80 to 100 foreign fighters entering Iraq each month, the total has dropped as low as 20 per month, he said.

He attributed the decline to a combination of factors. They include the intense U.S. and Iraqi military operations against al-Qaida in Baghdad, Mosul and elsewhere, and stronger actions by neighboring countries to prevent militants from crossing into Iraqi territory. He mentioned Saudi Arabia as an example.

The other main source of violence in Iraq over the past year _ Shiite militia extremists _ also has been curbed. Petraeus said that whether leaders of those Shiite groups, who fled in many cases to Iran, end up returning to fight for control of such Baghdad sections as Sadr City will be a critical bellwether.

"This will be very important because it will be an indicator of whether Iran intends to start a new chapter in its relationship with Iraq, or not," he said.

Petraeus said Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, got an encouraging response when he traveled recently to Tehran to express concern about the role of Iranian-supported Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Al-Maliki "received assurances from the highest levels that Tehran wants nothing but constructive relations."

Petraeus is due to leave his post in Baghdad in September to head U.S. Central Command, with responsibility for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan as well as Iraq. He is to be replaced in Baghdad by Gen. Raymond Odierno, who until February had served as the No. 2 commander in Iraq.

<a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=1506cd11e357edc4f9782ba908f43d95";><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=1506cd11e357edc4f9782ba908f43d95";/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=1506cd11e357edc4f9782ba908f43d95"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - The Huffington Post News Editors [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:43:13 GMT

Paul Abrams: The McCain Campaign is Over: Ended by Iraqi PM, Nouri al-Maliki

As reported in these pages, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has endorsed Barack Obama's 16-month withdrawal timetable.

The McCain Campaign is effectively over.

McCain had two rationales for his candidacy. The first is that he is a selfless war hero, who placed duty over self in the Hanoi Hilton. That image is partially tarnished by his kowtowing to people he called "agents of intolerance" (Pat Robertson, the late-Jerry Falwell, Pastor Hagee), his embrace of George W Bush and his policies, and the constant stream of sleazebags who he has called 'honorable', but who have had to exit his campaign. That is not to say that his heroism during his imprisonment will ever go away, but rather that he just does not seem to be the same man today as he was then, or even in 2000.

The second rationale is that he, somehow, was the man to pursue the Islamic terrorists. Barack Obama seized the bin Laden/Taliban national security mantra way back in the early days of the Democratic Primary debates, took a lot of criticism from his Democratic rivals and the Bush Administration for it, stuck by his position, and now has McCain following suit. Victory: Obama.

All McCain had then was Iraq, amazingly quoting bin Laden (without recognizing bin Laden's vested interest in disinformation to focus attention away from himself--and McCain is supposed to be the experienced one!!) that Iraq was the central theatre of the "war on terrorism" to prove that the US could not leave because of chaos, genocide and Islamic terrorism. That image, too, was tarnished by McCain's lack of clear understanding just who the enemy was, but he still staked claim to maintaining the "gains" made by the surge that, depending on the day, he either invented or supported or both.

With al-Maliki's statement, what is McCain to do now? Is he going to say that the US will stay even if the Iraqi government does not want us? If not, then is he willing to allow the descent into chaos and genocide he has been predicting?

About all McCain could say is that al-Maliki's statement would not have been possible without the surge. That is highly debatable. Obama could more rightly say that al-Maliki's statement would not have been possible if it were not for his candidacy--knowing that an Obama Presidency would mean the withdrawal of US troops, the Iraqis now have the incentive that Obama, John Kerry, Russ Feingold, and others have been promoting for years as the major change in policy necessary for Iraqis to begin resolving their differences.

Or not. But, not to allow the US to remain hostage to the decisions of Iraqi politicians.

Most important, however, is that the American people want the US involvement ended. Obama is far more trusted to end it than McCain. McCain's controversy over the wisdom of doing so has been rendered moot by al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki has moved the campaign discussion to "post-surge" policies.

Obama can say, "the only 3 people who remain wedded to a perpetual US engagement in Iraq are John McCain, George Bush and Dick Cheney, and, fortunately, the time for 2 of them to direct US policy is rapidly coming to an end".

What does McCain have left?

A gas-tax holiday that destroys infrastructure jobs and does nothing for gas prices? Continuing obstructionism on providing universal healthcare? Another set of taxcuts for the wealthy?

Watch for the man who claimed he wanted a "respectful campaign" to descend into a continuous barrage of mudslinging, and nothing more.

It is all he has left. And, when he does do it, his legacy will be forever tarnished.

<img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=85792e87adf83ca229e69d1ae1760116"; height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=85792e87adf83ca229e69d1ae1760116"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - Paul Abrams [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:37:00 GMT

Insurance Company Rules: The Cure For Everything But Healthcare

Health Care For America Now, which is a "national grassroots campaign organizing millions of Americans to win a guarantee of quality, affordable health care for all" has been joined in their fight by Public Service Administration - the satirists who last made news when they explored the colorful depths of John McCain's vocabulary. The result of their collaboration? "Insurance Company Rules," which re-imagines what the world would be like if we all lived our lives the way health insurance companies do. As you might imagine, that world would be indescribably hilarious if it weren't so awful.

Their video debuted at Netroot Nations this afternoon, and now, you can catch it here!

<a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=2d149de44e498f1dc8e6975fc2df6f5a";><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=2d149de44e498f1dc8e6975fc2df6f5a";/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=2d149de44e498f1dc8e6975fc2df6f5a"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - The Huffington Post News Editors [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:24:53 GMT

Photos And Video From Barack Obama's Foreign Tour

Barack Obama kicked off his overseas trip this week with a visit to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait before heading to Afghanistan to meet with U.S. troops and Afghan officials. Here are photos and video from Obama's first two stops:

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., poses with SPC Lakeisha Willingham, 311th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), after a shoot-around game of basketball at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, 2008, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shakes hands with service members at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, 2008, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) meets with troops in Kuwait, in this frame grab taken on July 18, 2008 and released on July 19. After leaving Kuwait, Obama met the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan Saturday to talk about the war he says is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration.

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he leaves the gym after talking to service members at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

Obama In Afghanistan

U.S. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama (L) stands with Gul Agha Shirzai, the governor of Nangarhar province, in the city of Jalalabad east of Kabul July 19, 2008. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday to talk about the war he says is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., gets help from service members wishing U.S. ARCENT a happy 90th birthday at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (3rd R) poses for a photo at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan July 19, 2008. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday to talk about the war he says is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration.

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., listens as Maj. Gen. Charles A Anderson, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Central Command explains the differences between Humvee's at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation

In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., signs memorabilia for service members at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation visit.

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Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:11:46 GMT

How Long Will Your Doctor Continue Accepting Private Insurance?. Doctors are getting fed up with private insurers. Here's a look at what out-of-pocket costs could look like for patients. [AlterNet.org]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:00:40 GMT

Amy Goodman: Donâ€™t Drink the Nuclear Kool-Aid. We can't let the nuclear power industry use global warming as an opportunity to sell its insanely expensive and dangerous power plants. [AlterNet.org]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:57:01 GMT

Patt Morrison: ``That's 'Screw In a Lightbulb, SIR,' Airman!''

This is not a joke. How many Air Force generals does it take to choose upholstery?

At least four. At least that many ranking generals had a hand in choosing the decor of deluxe ''comfort capsules'' for themselves and their peers aboard military transport planes, so the brass don't have to suffer with the enlisted hoi polloi.

The story in today's LA Times describes private jet-like touches -- sofas, beds, leather swivel chairs, flat-screen monitors with stereo -- and also cites a price of $16.2 million for all this, out of the War on Terror budget. That was for the original ten luxury capsules; the number's been dropped to three, and some chairs, which cuts the cost to a mere $7.6 million -- a consolation, no doubt, to men and women who have served their country and then can't get the post-war care they need.

When Air Force brass changed their minds about color and wanted Air Force blue leather seats instead of brown, and a seat pocket, that added $68,240 to the tab.

The description sounds like a brochure for a Gulfstream 5, and the promo job was all about waving the flag. It's patriotic to encase high-ranking butts in luxury that ''the people of the United States would be proud of.'' When, pray, would the people of the United States be seeing this deluxe set-up? And I don't think ''proud'' would describe the sentiments of the enlisted people who got an eyeful of the first-class section they aren't allowed to occupy.

I'm proud that we know how to win one war, slam-dunk -- the war on generals' hemorrhoids.

<a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7a4db3809ec31715c504a903569f9bcd";><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7a4db3809ec31715c504a903569f9bcd";/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=7a4db3809ec31715c504a903569f9bcd"; style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> - Patt Morrison [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:31:04 GMT

Ashcroft Defends Waterboarding In Front of House Judiciary Committee. WASHINGTON - Former Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday “it was not a hard decision” to withdraw Justice Department legal opinions that approved the use of harsh interrogation methods which critics say amount to torture. Ashcroft, testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee, said he did not necessarily disagree with the conclusions of the two [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:25:52 GMT

Warming Is Major Threat To Humans, EPA Warns. WASHINGTON - Climate change will pose “substantial” threats to human health in the coming decades, the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday — issuing its warnings about heat waves, hurricanes and pathogens just days after the agency declined to regulate the pollutants blamed for warming. In a new report, the EPA said “it is very likely” that [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:18:22 GMT

New Uranium Leak Discovered at French Nuclear Site. PARIS - French nuclear safety authorities said Friday that a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in southeast France had caused a radioactive leak but no damage to the environment. The latest uranium spill at the plant run by nuclear giant Areva in Romans-sur-Isere came amid much public concern over a leak at another facility [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07]

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:17:40 GMT

Army to Shoot Live Pigs for Medical Drill. HONOLULU — The Army says it’s critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated. Despite opposition by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Army is moving forward with its plan to shoot live pigs and treat their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise Friday [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07]