April 2012
3 tags
2 tags
Cancer v. the Constitution « Dr. Jen Gunter →
The patient in the emergency department smelled of advanced cancer. It is the smell of rotting flesh, but even more pungent. You only ever have to smell it once.
[…]
She hadn’t gone to the doctor because she had no health insurance. The only kind of work she could get in a struggling rural community was without benefits. Her coat and shoes beside the gurney were worn and her purse from...
4 tags
VHA vs. Medicare: And the winner is … | Harvard... →
A Harvard Medical School-led study shows that cancer care provided by the Veterans Health Administration for men 65 years and older is at least as good as, and by some measures better than, Medicare-funded fee-for-service care obtained through the private sector.
3 tags
WatchVice President Biden weighs in on the controversy surrounding the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the “Stand Your Ground” law that has allowed his shooter to remain free. Tune in Sunday for the full interview during the first hour-long episode of “Face the Nation.
(via Behind the scenes with Biden at Face the Nation - CBS News Video)
4 tags
U.S. Department of State: Honoring the Legacy of... →
statedept:
Barbara Shailor serves as Special Representative for International Labor Affairs.
On March 23, President Obama announced that Americans would celebrate March 31, 2012, in recognition of Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez, who made it his mission to “ensure respect, dignity, and fair treatment for farm workers,” was a strong advocate for human rights and social justice — for migrants, for...
5 tags
House Passes Ryan Budget Resolution | David Dayen →
House Republicans have passed the Paul Ryan budget resolution, a sweeping plan that slashes long-term mandatory spending, goes under the discretionary spending targets set by the debt limit deal, cuts taxes for the rich and corporations, changes Medicare to a voucher program, eliminates Pell grants for hundreds of thousands of students, and generally authorizes just about every conservative wet...
1 tag
2 tags
Senators Who Voted To Protect Oil Tax Breaks... →
stfuconservatives:
via Think Progress:
In a 51-47 vote, 43 Senate Republicans and four Democrats filibustered to protect $24 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil. Although a majority voted for Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) bill, it fell short of the 60 needed. The only two Republicans to break rank were Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
A Think Progress Green...
4 tags
Kansas Republicans To Advance Conscience Clause... →
Republicans look to advance a bill that will allow pharmacists to refuse to fill any prescription they believe will terminate a pregnancy. In other words, Republicans are trying to make it legal to deny women access to contraceptives of any kind. According to the Kansas City Star:
“The chamber tentatively agreed Wednesday to advance the bill, which is primarily intended to broaden the legal...
1 tag
Watch(via Iconic sites go dark as Earth Hour shines light on climate change – USATODAY.com)
1 tag
2 tags
Forensic experts: Zimmerman was not crying for... →
3 tags
“Sen. David Vitter undermined public trust when he blocked a raise for Interior...”
– Panel: Vitter undid trust | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA
But nothing happens to him and he promises to keep blocking unless Salazar gets on the drill baby drill bandwagon.
3 tags
Robert Shrum: Will a Tea Party Supreme Court... →
7 tags
2 tags
Irish bishops say God is “silent and unmissed” in... →
I just liked the headline….
March 2012
2 tags
5 tags
“I have so much respect for what she did in the fact that she sacrificed her body...”
–
Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), on his opponent Tammy Duckworth — an Iraq veteran who lost both legs and part of her arm in combat. (via think-progress)
This from the jerk who was $100,000 behind in child-support payments.
2 tags
Wisconsin Republicans To Run Fake Primary... →
Joshua Spivak reports the four Democratic state Senate hopefuls in Wisconsin will all face “fake” primary opponents. Republican leaders confirmed the tactic which they also used in last year’s recall races. “The goal is to push the election so it is on the same day as the Walker recall — otherwise, the Democrats may have had a serious advantage in those races (as...
6 tags
3 tags
6 tags
6 tags
The Navy, Russians, Shipping & Insurance... →
Absolutely all of the top-elite officers of these services appear to be convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, about Human Generated Climate Change (HGCC). All of those I have met consider it to be both real and one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Ponder this: the US Navy is striving with great intensity to prepare for an Arctic Ocean that is nearly ice-free for large parts of the...
2 tags
Arizona law would criminalize being lewd or... →
God, we have some insane state legislators in this country…
“H.B. 2549 would make it a crime to use any electronic or digital device to communicate using obscene, lewd or profane language or to suggest a lewd or lascivious act if done with intent to ‘annoy,’ ‘offend,’ ‘harass’ or ‘terrify,’” the letter notes. … ‘Lewd’ and ‘profane’ are not defined in the statute or by reference. ‘Lewd’ is...
4 tags
“The Republicans say that we can’t afford to pay for cutting the carbon emissions...”
– What Insurance Companies Already Know About Climate Change (via azspot)
3 tags
Joe Arpaio Faces Crossroads In Civil Rights Case →
America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff is fast approaching a crossroads where he must decide either to settle claims that his officers racially profiled Latinos in his trademark immigration patrols – and overhaul his practices – or take his chances at trial.
11 tags
4 tags
The Founding Fathers loved health care mandates →
azspot:
Not only did mandates pass muster with the Framers in Congress, they were signed into law by George Washington and John Adams. Those who say that the Founding Fathers would object to any governmental regulation of the free market should double-check their history. They won’t like what they find.
(via slacktivist)
3 tags
“‘Conservative’ is a magic word that applies to those who are in other...”
–
the Internet’s smartest liberal blogger, Digby (via azspot)
Have to agree with the quote and azspot’s opinion of digby. [Edit - finished reading the ariticle and note that the author,Rick Perlstein, is the one who noted digby is ’ the Internet’s smartest liberal blogger’ -...
3 tags
“‘Conservative’ is a magic word that applies to those who are in other...”
–
the Internet’s smartest liberal blogger, Digby (via azspot)
Have to agree with the quote and azspot’s opinion of digby.
1 tag
“It’s been tried in our history and it hasn’t worked. It didn’t work when we...”
– President Obama, in a fiery campaign speech in Vermont, referring to Republican proposals as “you’re on your own economics.” (via liberalsarecool)
5 tags
Resigned →
reagan-was-a-horrible-president:
rosa—sparks:
I really did cry last night. I didn’t weep or come undone or wail like a widow, but I cried.
I posted a quick, from my guts post about my anger and sadness at hearing and seeing this. The response to my post is overwhelming. I can’t believe that many people have read ANYTHING I would write, in the middle of the night, in a moment of raw emotion.
...
2 tags
“For me, it was embarrassing to be a janitor at my own high school. … I was poor....”
– Former Georgetown student and high school janitor Hector Cendejas to Newt Gingrich, regarding his suggestion that we repeal child labor laws and let poor kids be janitors at their own schools to teach them self-respect and the value of hard work. (via stfuconservatives)
3 tags
Iowa Senator introduces bill to revitalize middle... →
Today’s introduction of the “Rebuild America Act” by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin would do more to help the American economy and revitalize the middle class than any bill currently before Congress.
[…]
For Social Security beneficiaries, the “Rebuild America Act” would increase benefits by about $60/month for the average beneficiary – a boon for seniors, disabled workers and survivors living...
7 tags
Retroactive state law lets GOP chairman's brother... →
Wells Fargo bank will file a court challenge to a new state law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder that overturned a $2.4-million judgment against the brother and business partner of Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak, the bank’s attorney said Friday.
The law Snyder signed Thursday, which says a lender can recover only the real estate offered as collateral when a certain type of...
7 tags
“When people choose not to buy broccoli, they don’t make broccoli unavailable to...”
– Paul Krugman, “Broccoli and Bad Faith” (via ryking)
“…Obama’s chief flaw is that he is congenitally incapable of recognizing that...”
– David Brin (via azspot)
2 tags
“If you believe the US is a democracy, if you believe in the rule of the many and...”
– What if democracy is just an illusion? | John Stoehr (via ronmarks)
The national mythos of this country, being some exalted democracy ordained from on high as a blessing to this planet to radiate freedom from sea to shining sea, is just that, a myth. There has always been a ruling class in this...
4 tags
Keith Olbermann is out at Current TV, Eliot... →
That didn’t take long… I have enjoyed Olbermann, but apparently, he is not a team player
9 tags
Koch Brothers, Chamber of Commerce Face Possible... →
On Friday evening, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling that could begin the process of revealing the identities of secret donors to groups connected to Karl Rove and the Koch brothers.
The court ruled in Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission that the FEC rules that restricted campaign donor disclosure are not valid and must be changed to provide for...
7 tags
2 tags
Voter fraud, by the numbers. From 2000-2007 there...
think-progress:
32,229 UFO sightings
352 deaths by lightning
9 possible cases of voter impersonation
6 tags
One of NOM’s Top Secret Donors Revealed: Mitt... →
We often talk about how hard NOM works to hide their donors – even if it means circumventing the law – but now, we’ve learned the identity of one of their high-profile financial supporters: Mitt Romney.
Financial documents obtained by HRC reveal that Mitt Romney donated $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage in 2008 – essentially funding NOM’s strategy of using racial division and...
4 tags
General Motors pulls funding from climate sceptic... →
Car giant breaks off 20-year relationship with Heartland Institute in ongoing row over its role in questioning global warming
[…]
In a statement, GM said that it now runs its business “as if climate change is real and believe we have a role to play in developing new cars, trucks and technologies that can make a difference”.
The funding cut – just $15,000 a year – is small...
6 tags
Portions Of Scott Walker's Anti-Union Law Struck... →
Just over a year after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed a measure taking away most collective bargaining rights for public workers, labor unions scored a victory as a federal court struck down portions of the law. The court ruled that the state cannot prevent public sector unions from automatically deducting dues from workers’ paychecks and cannot require them to be recertified...
3 tags
Obama-Wan Care: Strike Me Down And I Shall Become... →
“Strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”
There is great wisdom and prophesy in these words.
While an adverse decision in the Supreme Court would vanquish the Affordable Care Act to a footnote of modern American history, the systemic crisis in healthcare that the law exists to address will still remain. That crisis will, invariably, give rise to...
1 tag
Lone Star State Of Mind: Could Texas Go It Alone?... →
It’s a popular idea in Texas that the Lone Star State — once an independent republic — could break away and go it alone. A few years ago, Texas Gov. Rick Perry hinted that if Washington didn’t stop meddling in his state, independence might be an option. In his brief run for the White House, he insisted that nearly anything the feds do, the states — and Texas in particular — could do...