Its my Right to be Left of the Center

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner in Afghanistan

2009-11-26T06:20:00.000-08:00

It's no easy task evidently as this story from McClatchy shows:

Just getting the ingredients for Golf Company's one-day-early Thanksgiving dinner was a military operation.

First, the Marines consulted their translators. Then the translators persuaded the Afghan border police to go to a market in what may be the most dangerous part of Helmand province.

Buying the $68 worth of chicken and hot peppers and potatoes and rice and flat bread turned out to be the easy part, however. It was the cooking Wednesday night that nearly caused a squad of casualties.

"Hey, you can't put out a grease fire like that!" someone yelled as one of the self-appointed chefs, Cpl. Cody Baird, 21, of Thurmont, Md., yanked a wok-like pan full of flaming grease off the fire, which was fueled by broken up shipping pallets.

He swung the pan around, his mitt already on fire, and he had to set the pan on the ground before the rest of him went up in flames.

That was, by a conservative count, grease fire number eight, including a crowd-pleaser with flames that reached almost as high as the walls of the camp.

And the actual cooking hadn't begun.

Damn, it's funny but it's sad..ya know? Breaks my heart that our soldiers are freezing their asses off in a country that doesn't appreciate them on this special day of the year. But they are thankful and that is the important part:

"This is pretty good for eating," De Young said. "It's like KFC, and we don't get good meals like this often, and if Cummings hadn't thought this up, we'd be eating that stuff in the trays again."

Damn, I got something in my eye..yeah, that's it. Gotta start cooking people, so remember these guys today and be thankful for what you have.

Have a safe and sane Turkey Day!

2009-11-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

If you don't eat turkey, then enjoy the day. Hugs to all!

In the land of milk and honey...and Maybachs.

2009-11-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend in San Diego. My yuppie sista had an emotional emergency and I responded. As we were driving towards Carlsbad, a nice and very expensive beach community, I spotted a beautiful car that I did not recognize.

It was a Maybach. At least the nameplate on the ass end announced it as a Maybach. The logo was nothing I had seen before:

My sista thought it was part of the Mercedes family of cars. The vehicle was simply gorgeous. When we got home I googled the sucker and learned the following:

They don’t call dealerships..dealerships. They are ’studios’. A used Maybach can start around $200,000.00 and a new one goes for, depending on the options you want, around half a million devalued american bucks.

I shit you not..check it out if you don’t believe me. And my sista was right..they are part of Mercedes Benz.

As we sat around her living room..I asked her and her husband, both upwardly mobile, hard working individuals, how much they thought Maybach’s went for..both said $100,000.00. That is a price range seen for Bentley’s, Lamborghini’s and the Rolls-Royce Phantom..to name a few.

The Maybach’s price makes those other vehicle prices pale in comparison.

Conspicuous consumption is something that really jerks my chain.

Especially when you consider that almost fifty million american’s can not afford health insurance, whole families are homeless, millions go to bed hungry at night and the official number of poor in the US in 2008 was 39.1 million people or 13% of the population..children of color make up the majority of the poor with 34% of them African-American and over 30% of them are Hispanic. And our way of measuring poverty is grossly flawed at best.

In America people..in America.Of course the neocon Heritage Foundation will tell you otherwise and actually call it all bullshit. But I have seen poverty and it sure as hell exists, many times generation after generation in the same family. I have looked into the eyes of a hungry child who was too ashamed to admit that the only decent meal they got each day was the fucking free breakfast or lunch at their school. It broke my heart..then it made me so mad I can’t begin to describe it here.

Sure, the top one percent or “ultra high net worth” households (roughly 1 million people in the US) can drive whatever the fuck they want, and I can marvel at the beauty of such a vehicle. But that doesn’t make it morally right.

Heaven help those Maybach owners if all the poor folks ever rise up and want to even the fucking score. It would make the russian revolution look like a walk in fucking Central Park on a sunny day.

DOJ drops charges against Blackwater employee

2009-11-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

I guess those 17 dead Iraqi's don't count for much in the grand scheme of things for the Dept of Justice. Or they just have more important shit to do. From Jurist:

Federal prosecutors from the US Department of Justice indicated Friday that they will drop manslaughter charges against a Blackwater Worldwide security guard who had been involved in the September 2007 shooting incident in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis. According to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Channing Phillips, a motion was filed under seal to dismiss the charges against Nicholas Slatten. No reason was given as to why the indictment was being dismissed, but prosecutors asked that they be allowed to resubmit the charges at a later date if desired. Since the incident Blackwater has changed its name to Xe Services.

Eric Holder and his folks at the DOJ really haven't impressed me one fucking iota since he took over. They have continued many of the BushCo arguments about secrecy just for starters, and nothing jerks my chain more than seeing BushCo bullshit being continued by the current administration after all the promises that were made during the run-up to the 2008 election.

Jon Stewart on Palin- Spot-friggin-on!

2009-11-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

This is fantastic. Stewart really hits all his marks on his 'special comment' about Sarah the Impaler.

His best line:

"when you peel back the pretty, shooty layers of the Palin onion, there's no onion. It's just a conservative boiler plate mad lib: 'Freedom is good and taxes are--ooh I need an adjective--how about, I don't know, silly?'

I love this man.

9th circuit tells neocon homophobes to take a hike.

2009-11-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

From Jurist:

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a lower court's denial of a conservative advocacy group's motion to intervene in a challenge to Proposition 8, California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The appeals court held that the district court did not abuse abuse its discretion by denying the motions to intervene. The Campaign for California Families had sought to intervene, alleging that the defending parties to the suit, Official Proponents of Proposition 8 and ProtectMarriage.com, would not adequately represent the interests of the Campaign. Judge Margaret McKeown rejected that argument:

The reality is that the Campaign and those advocating the constitutionality of Prop. 8 have identical interests—that is, to uphold Prop. 8. Any differences are rooted in style and degree, not the ultimate bottom line. Divergence of tactics and litigation strategy is not tantamount to divergence over the ultimate objective of the suit.

The Campaign alleges that the current defendants in the suit challenging Proposition 8 have compromised upholding the measure by conceding to facts that declare homosexuality is an immutable characteristics. The current defending parties deny those claims.

In August, a judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that several advocacy organizations representing both sides of the issue could not intervene in the lawsuit [PDF] challenging Proposition 8. The lawsuit was filed in May by former US solicitor general Ted Olson and prominent litigator David Boies, who were opposing counsel in Bush v. Gore, which decided the outcome of the contested 2000 US Presidential election. The challenge was announced shortly after the California Supreme Court ruled that state law challenges to the ban lacked merit. Proposition 8, approved by voters in November, was a response to the California Supreme Court's decision last year striking down a statutory ban on same-sex marriage as violating the equal protection and privacy provisions of the state constitution.

It's too soon to celebrate, but even a small victory like this feels good.

Read the Senate healthcare bill and the CBO analysis

2009-11-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here is the Senate bill and here is the CBO analysis of said bill.

Bring your lunch as the bill is over 2000 pages. It's 2,074 pages to be exact.

We have to know wtf we are talking about..so as to address the fuckery the rightwing nutters will be unleashing very soon, if they haven't started on this bill already.

Here is ThinkProgress's analysis of 'the bill' which is sort like the Cliff Notes version.
Enjoy!

Army Corp of Engineers found liable for Katrina damage.

2009-11-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

A lower federal court has ruled for the residents of the ninth ward and roughly 100,000 other residents of New Orleans.

The government will most likely appeal this ruling. From the NPR link:

A federal judge in New Orleans has ruled the U.S. government owes damages to residents whose homes were swamped by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters in 2005.

In a sometimes scathing critique of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval found "monumental negligence" in the operation and maintenance of a shipping channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

He rejected the government's argument that the Corps was immune from liability and had properly maintained the navigation channel, known locally as MRGO.

Flood victims had sued, arguing the widening of the channel and subsequent loss of protective wetlands turned MRGO into a speedway for Katrina's storm surge. Judge Duval blamed government engineers for letting the shipping channel "run amok."

Duval awarded damages of about $720,000 to four people and a business. The case has been closely watched by other Katrina victims seeking compensation from the government.

Three cheers for this judge. The ruling might not stand but he did the right thing anyway regardless of how the higher federal courts rule.

Will the new Bagram detention facility be humane?

2009-11-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

The old detention facility was a nightmare that many referred to as Gitmo II and most enlightened individuals considered worse than Gitmo. From Jurist:

International human rights officials toured the new US detention facility in Parwan, Afghanistan, at the edge of Bagram Air Base on Sunday. The new facility [NYT report], which has room for 1,400 detainees, is part of the Obama administration's wider efforts to improve its Afghan detainee system and will eventually be controlled by the Afghan government. Officials have promised greater transparency based on a case management system, which will allow detainees to be informed of the charges against them and provide them with the right to challenge government witnesses. Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and Human Rights Watch called on the Obama administration Monday to make sure its detention policy conforms to international law.

Last week, HRF urged the US to reform its detention policy at Bagram in order to combat counterinsurgency. In September, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit [seeking information related to the treatment of prisoners at Bagram, citing fears that is becoming the "new Guantanamo." Earlier that month, the Obama administration issued new guidelines allowing Bagram detainees to challenge their indefinite incarceration. Detainees will have access to members of the US military who would be able to gather classified evidence and question witnesses on behalf of any detainee challenging his detention. The military officials would not be lawyers, but they are expected to provide detainees, some of whom have been held for more than five years without charges, better representation before military-appointed review boards. The changes come amidst ongoing protests by prisoners. Hundreds of Bagram detainees have been refusing shower and exercise time and have ceased participation in a family visits and teleconferences program set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As for transparency..The Big O hasn't been doing much to further the cause either, in my humble yet vocal opinion. Only time will tell us how different Obama's prison is to BushCo's prison.

This book is worth reading..

2009-11-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow a new book will hit the stores. No, I am not talking about “Going Rogue: An American Life”, Palin’s new memoir, I am talking about “Going Rouge: Sarah Palin – An American Nightmare“. This book contains articles and essay’s written about Sarah the Impaler from well-known left of center folks like Max Blumenthal, Eve Ensler, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Jessica Valenti, Juan Cole, Jim Hightower, Robert Reich, Naomi Klein and my favorite.. Matt Taibbi. Truthout has a writeup about this new endeavor and speaks to the editors Richard Kim and Betsy Reed about their book that exposes the former Alaska governor for what she really is…a publicity whore who hasn’t a clue about running a government and is so self-serving it’s downright pathetic and dangerous for America.

This book isn’t a personal attack of Palin the individual, its a testament to her record as a politician who seeks to hold America’s elected highest office despite her massive shortcomings and extreme right belief system. A section of the books introduction:

Palinism works by draping hard-right policy in a winning personal story and just-folks rhetoric, delicately masking the extremism of her true positions and broad- ening the audience for them. Its genius rests in its ability to magically absorb inconvenient facts and mutually contradictory realities into an unassailable personal narrative. In the Palin universe, her unwed pregnant teenage daughter Bristol is somehow a poster child for abstinence- only education; hence criticism of Palin’s sex-ed policies is an attack on her family. While Palin says tolerantly that members of her own family disagree about abortion, that there are “good people” on both sides, and that she would “personally” counsel a pregnant 15-year-old who’d been raped by her father to “choose life,” she actually believes that a child in that situation should not have the legal option to terminate her pregnancy. Although Palin is an aggressive advocate for opening up the United States’ oil reserves to drilling instead of investing in renewable energy, she labels herself “pro-environment,” a stance exemplified by her love of shooting animals or her husband’s hobby of racing snowmobiles across the tundra. And who’d dare question Palin’s foreign policy credentials, when her son Track shipped out to Iraq after high school?

A small taste of the Q&A with the editors in the TO article:

TO: Why do you think Sarah Palin remains so widely accepted by conservatives as a viable national politician, despite her obvious shortcomings?

RK: A part of that is definitely the narrative she sells; being a mom from Alaska. Also, she also does share the views of 20 percent of the electorate: the far right. And it’s clear that they are not actually thinking in this moment of winning national elections. They’re not even trying to hold onto a seat in New York’s 23rd district, which has been in Republican hands since the 1850s. That was the race where Sarah Palin intervened and hacked out the moderate Republican. So that’s a big question that’s unknown: Is the Republican Party going to follow Palin into basically suicidal territory in terms of a national election?

Below is Robert Greenwald’s short video explaining the basis of the book and why it’s important to get the facts out about this irresponsible woman who seeks to drag our nation into the abyss and make a few bucks for herself whilst doing it.

Never underestimate Sarah from Wasilla. She is dangerous and crazy like a fox..and the far right adores her, regardless of her shortcomings and failings as a leader on every level.

Is this really a surprise?

2009-11-14T14:40:00.000-08:00

I damn near swallowed my tongue when I read this today.Not because it shocked me, but because it angered me and the people that did the study on it were probably shocked by the findings.

To quote from the article: A survey of US soldiers in Afghanistan shows declining morale among army units and that troops facing three or more combat tours have higher rates of mental health and marital problems, the US Army said Friday.

The key phrase is bolded..three or more friggin tours people. To continue from the writeup:

Soldiers in Afghanistan who had gone through three or more deployments were “significantly more likely to meet the criteria for a psychological problem” than those on their first and second deployment, the report said.

Among troops facing three or more deployments, 31 percent were suffering from mental health problems compared to 18.1 percent of soldiers on their second deployment and 13.6 percent on their first combat tour, it said.

And marital problems were dramatically higher among soldiers with three or more combat tours, with 30.8 percent experiencing marital crises compared to 14.3 percent for those on their first deployment.

These soldiers know we are doing nothing to better the lives of the Afghanistan people or to end the reign of terror that Al Qaeda has going on in the world..specifically that part of the world. They are frustrated and probably at their wit’s end.

Add to that, the ratio of mental health caregivers to soldiers is a whopping one to 1,123 soldiers.

WTF? Lemme say that again for ya..one mental health provider for every 1,123 soldiers. Holy fuckamoly..that is criminal. But the government says that will change shortly because they plan on shipping a shitload of Shrinks over there by the end of the year…hopefully none of them are like Major Hasan for christ’s sake. We saw how well they screen those guys recently.

And The Big O is taking his sweet time figuring out wtf he is gonna do. I am glad he is doing that..but I really don’t see much as changing..just the numbers being deployed and redeployed..and redeployed again..and again and again.

It’s criminal I tell ya..fucking god damn criminal what we do to our soldiers in the name of the war on friggin terror.

About that legal gambling thang on Wall St...

2009-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

I am sick of hearing about how well the fucking pricks on Wall Street are doing. We, the universal we, peons are still suffering and will continue to suffer for at least another year.

So the recession isn't even near ending..I don't give a rat's fucking ass how well BofA or AIG is doing. That ain't real Amerika folks. Take this writeup. Sixty percent increase in patrons to the local food bank.

That..is fucked up.

But the bonuses are going to flow to those fuckers that gamble every day with other peoples money. They make nothing. They manufacture nothing.

Yet a project engineer in Arkansas with a family to support just got his pay cut by ten percent.

But he is happy to have a fucking job. Shit like this makes me see red. Good, hard-working, honest people struggling to keep the family housed and fed..yet the bankers and hedge fund fuckers are getting bonuses.

Just..ain't..fucking..right. Chris Dodd's idea might not be perfect, but it's a fucking start. Keep the friggin foxes out of the henhouse.

How can I miss you if you won't go away Lou?

2009-11-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

As a brown bitch I was quite giddy to hear the news that Lou Dobbs has left CNN. But we, the universal we, should not get too excited as Lou won't be leaving the public arena..oh hell no people!

Surely he will end up at Faux Noise..or perhaps run for some office fitting of his nativist, racist, bigoted, immigrant-bashing fuckery (bear in mind..dog catcher is too good for him).

As a kiss off for sweet Lou, check out Politico's page entitled The Arena: Will you miss Lou Dobbs? So far, I have yet to find anyone that will, including one of The Shrub's henchman, Scott Stanzel, that waxes poetic about Lou. Some of the interesting thoughts below:

Maria Cardona Democratic strategist and public affairs executive :
And as for Lou Dobbs, my advice is for him to run for office. Let him stand on his ideas and let him rise and fall by those ideas as he puts them forth in a true fashion on the political stage for voters to embrace or reject. He seems to think he has all the answers so he should put his money where his mouth is and truly put those ideas to the test. And let others ask him the tough questions for once.

Scott Stanzel Pres., Stanzel Communications, former Dpty. WH Press Secretary :
I will not miss Lou Dobbs, his show or his “advocacy journalism.” In recent years, the blurring of the lines between opinion and news reporting has damaged the credibility of mainstream reporters and news organizations. It’s refreshing to see CNN make a decision to fill the Dobbs slot with a respected and accomplished hard news journalist like John King. Maybe there is hope for the news business after all.

Yousef Munayyer
Yousef Munayyer Exec. Dir., The Jerusalem Fund :
However, since Dobbs could be nothing other than a seasoned objective journalist, if figured Alzheimer’s was probably setting in and that he would likely be stepping down soon. It happened sooner than I expected.

Thomas J. Whalen Professor of Social Science, Boston University :
I'll miss him like major league baseball misses Roger Clemens, which is to say not at all. As for future employment opportunities, he could check out being a border guard, as the issue of illegal immigration seems to obsess him.

Victor Kamber Carmen Group :
Its hard to miss someone who was irrelevant to begin with. Lou Who? He has three choices 1) try to get a contract and job at FOX, 2) Run for political office and see if he really has a following that cares what he has to say, 3) Write books and columns and try to develop a following of opinion leaders that care about his views. . There is a fourth option, one he will never take and that is to go away quietly in the night.

Walter Russell Mead Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy, CFR :
Dobbs might start out running for a Senate seat somewhere, or he might go for the brass ring and mount a presidential run.

The White House has to hope he will. A third party run by Lou Dobbs would likely give the Democrats a hold on the executive mansion through 2016.

Buh-Bye Lou..don't let the door hit ya where the good lawd split ya...if you end up on Faux..so be it..Rupert loves you freaks.

Senator Tom Coburn our F*ckwit of the Week.

2009-11-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

This man should be drawn and quartered..just..for..starters. There is no excuse for his action regarding the Veterans Caregivers Bill currently in committee.Representative Joe Sestak says it best..and from his lips to everyone else's ears. Senate bill 1963 needs to be acted on..NOW.

This man is a liar and a carpetbagger. That he continues to be re-elected by the idiots in OK simply slays me.

Veterans to Obama: Do NOT escalate the Afghan war.

2009-11-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

Sign our petition to send a clear message to President Obama: Do not send more soldiers into this quagmire:

http://rethinkafghanistan.com#petition

An Afghanistan War veteran will travel to D.C. to deliver this message to the White House. Make sure your voice is heard.

Not Guilty? Are you kidding me?

2009-11-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

This case has been on my radar since day one. I figured both these fuckwits would pay dearly for the start of the economic collapse.

But I was wrong. They were both found not guilty this week. I shit you not. The jury deliberated for a whole six-friggin-hours. From the NYT article:

The verdict, the first in a major criminal case stemming from the current financial crisis, brought to an end a two-year ordeal for the managers, Ralph R. Cioffi and Matthew M. Tannin. They had been led away in handcuffs in June 2008 and accused of lying to their investors about the precarious state of the funds they oversaw.

Investors lost $1.6 billion when the funds, heavily invested in mortgage securities, collapsed in the summer of 2007. The fiasco presaged the financial turmoil that would later upend Wall Street and the broader economy.

The three-week trial riveted the financial and legal communities, which viewed it as a bellwether for other cases, both criminal and civil, involving the financial industry. The jury of eight women and four men, drawn mostly from working-class neighborhoods, essentially found that while Mr. Cioffi and Mr. Tannin may have made bad investments, making a bad investment was not a crime.

But..they lied. They lied whilst their hedge funds were sinking in the quicksand. The jurors said they were great salesmen..but they were not liars.

Fucking amazing. Simply...fucking...amazing.

One process remains however..the Securities and Exchange Commission has a shot at these two guys. Hopefully they will get it right.

Because the blue collar jury did not.

Stupak the tool.

2009-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

Emptywheel has a great article up about the asshole that singlehandidly took women's reproductive rights and stuck them in the crapper yesterday..Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). Seems the worthless fuck is a "C-streeter". From the writeup:

As you read Bart Stupak boasting of taking reproductive choice away from women, remember that he’s not just an otherwise good Democrat (he’s not, in fact, a Blue Dog) who consistently lets the agenda of the Catholic Church override the well-being of his constituents, he’s also one of C-Street’s top Democratic members. This man, crowing over his legislative success is speaking as a representative of a group that preaches moral purity for others, but excuses itself from such moral guidelines with a back-slapping prayer lunch with the buddies. And then turns around and uses that moralizing to accrue political power.

What a dirtbag. That this fucking asshole can stand and brag about denying women a legal medical procedure makes me physically ill.

We can only hope that when the conference meeting between the Senate and House members takes place...his fucking prehistoric amendment will be dropped like a hot rock.

House passes HR 3962

2009-11-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

The bill passed with ONE Republican voting for the measure. Louisiana's newest representative, Rep. Joseph Cao, voted with 219 Democrats to pass the "Affordable Health care for America Act".

A giant cheer went up when the 218th vote was cast.

What a long fucking day it has been. Never have I seen such bullshit and bravado. Nevah! Below are the names of some of the 39 Democrats that voted NO, courtesy of Politico:
Barrow
Boccierri
Marshall
Baird
Adler
Boren
Chandler
Edwards, Tex
Herseth sandlin
Holden
Kratovil
Kissell
Boucher
Altmire
Boyd
Bright
Childers
Artur Davis
Lincoln Davis
Gordon
Griffith
Kosmas

Watching history on Cspan:‘‘Affordable Health Care for America Act’’

2009-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

I have had the telly tuned into the House since 5am this morning. I was anxious for the debate to begin.

Well, it finally has. It's incredible to watch the fuckwits with the (R) after their name, talk shit about HR 3962(pdf). The outright lies they have the audacity to recite. The bullshit they toss out as if it is the truth and nothing but the truth. I took the time to sift through the 1900+ pages of it. How many of the R's actually did that I wonder..

Watching my own representative Kevin McCarthy (R) was an exercise in futility and frustration for me. The "S" word, oh lawd..the "S" word used again and again and again. The dreaded single payer health care, said like it's a dirty word, a horrible illness in and of itself.

But then, I also got to watch my favorite, Henry Waxman. He was eloquent, he was spot-fucking-on. He laid out what the bill will fix, what it will do away with. Facts, just the facts..no fearmongering like the (R)'s.

Does this bill make me happy? Fuck no..far from it. I am a supporter of single-payer. But it's a start in the right direction, and it will curb the carpetbaggers at the insurance corporations who have been fucking us for decades.

There will be four hours of debate..tune in and watch a little history folks. Read the bill for yourself..or at least tab through it. Watch the debate online at Cspan.org.

Because it's taken almost 100 years to get this close to change. It's worth your time.

The real unemployment number- 17.5%

2009-11-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

From the WSJ blog:

The comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs. Its continuing divergence from the official rate (the “U-3″ unemployment measure) indicates the job market has a long way to go before growth in the economy translates into relief for workers.

The U-6 rate is now the highest since the Labor Department started this particular data series in 1994. It likely isn’t as bad as it was in the 1980s, when the headline unemployment rate hit 10.8%. U-6 only goes back to 1994, but a discontinued measure has a longer history. That old U-6 measure peaked at 14.3% in 1982. Through some calculation, a comparable measure can be determined in the current report. Under the old U-6 methodology, the October rate would be 14%, the highest rate since 1982, but still below the peak.

*snip*

The U-6 figure includes everyone in the official rate plus “marginally attached workers” — those who are neither working nor looking for work, but say they want a job and have looked for work recently; and people who are employed part-time for economic reasons, meaning they want full-time work but took a part-time schedule instead because that’s all they could find.

So fuck that 10.2% number tossed out there today..the real number is a lot friggin uglier.

I finally went to the damn Doc's today. As Dave told me in an email yesterday..there is little if anything a doctor can do for what ails moi at this point. Gotta be patient...well, I ain't. So I whined and got some yummy cough med with codeine in it.

At least I haven't been able to smoke a cigarette in five days. Nap time for my sick ass...

Election day in VA and NJ, gay rights in Maine

2009-11-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

I am under the weather. Got some bug friday on the airplane. So, this will be short..

I think the Dem's will take a friggin bath. It's not all because of Obama, but a certain percentage of voters will be going to the polls to voice their displeasure with The Big O. Of course the rightwing fringe will be out there en mass.

I hope Maine voters vote down the proposition regarding gay marriage. Damn fucking homophobes.

Your thoughts m'dear readers?

Healthcare reform? Not for woman's needs evidently.

2009-10-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

From The Nation we learn that none of the healthcare reform bills require the health insurance corporations to pay for birth control for women:

None of the bills emerging from the House and Senate require insurers to cover all the elements of a standard gynecological "well visit," leaving essential care such as pelvic exams, domestic violence screening, counseling about sexually transmitted diseases, and, perhaps most startlingly, the provision of birth control off the list of basic benefits all insurers must cover. Nor are these services protected from "cost sharing," which means that, depending on what's in the bill that emerges from the Senate, and, later, the contents of a final bill, women could wind up having to pay for some of these services out of their own pockets. So far, mammograms and Pap tests are covered in every version of the legislation.

WTF? I am seriously pissed-the-fuck-off. We females endure the bullshit while all insurance companies cover fucking Viagra. I am beyond the birthcontrol age, but that doesn't mean I don't get mad when I see this shit for our sisters of child birthing age.

We are half of the adult population..so why in the blue hell are we expected to pay for typical needs for women, such as pelvic exams.

This isn't about abortions..until Congress overturns a federal law..abortions do not have to be covered by any insurance plan. This is about basic preventative procedures. Again, from The Nation article:

Consider what happened when the subject of women's preventive healthcare services came up in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) in July, after the minimum benefits package had already been determined. Because some essential care for women wasn't included in the list, HELP committee member Senator Barbara Mikulski proposed an amendment that would require the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to stipulate that basic women's health services would be covered. The language said nothing about abortion, referring only to "preventive care and screenings."

Yet the voting on the amendment went exactly along pro- and anti-choice lines. The amendment passed by just one vote, with all the committee's Republicans as well as Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, voting against it. The committee's discussion of the amendment was dominated by Republicans' worry about the possibility of government money winding up in the hands of Planned Parenthood. Since there is no similar language included in the just-released House bill, the only hope for requiring full coverage for these essential services now lies with the Senate.

While some within the anti-abortion movement have long opposed birth control, there is still widespread support for it among the general public, with virtually all women of childbearing age who have had sex using contraception. So why would senators treat birth control and other basic women's health services as a proxy for abortion? "People equate family planning services with Planned Parenthood, and they equate Planned Parenthood with abortion," says Adam Sonfield, an expert on funding for reproductive health services at the Guttmacher Institute. The senators who turned Mikulski's language into a referendum on abortion "either misunderstood or purposely distorted the amendment."

This is such bullshit, I can not believe it. I am stunned that the assholes in Congress can not differentiate between a pelvic exam and a fucking abortion.They probably can, but they choose not to.

Fuck those anti-choice fuckwits,with a sharp object. I hope to hell they have to face the wrath of their constituents very soon.

Good reads today at Sirens Chronicles

2009-10-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

I will be boarding a plane here in Billings within the hour. Praise Jeebus!!! The sky is dark and foreboding..hopefully I will not get stuck here another day. It's fucking cold here people!

Please check out Sirens Chronicles. We have excellent writers that would love your opinions on various subjects that are mostly political in nature.

Roadtrip update...

2009-10-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

No one was killed or maimed during our roadtrip from hell. Thank Buddha.

We finally made it into Billings MT last night around sunset. My sis and I were both exhausted after driving for three days through major snowstorm's and dealing with her dog who does NOT travel well, even when he is tranquilized up to his brown eyes.

For a trip that was supposed to only take a day and a half..it took us three full days of driving. The speed limit was anywhere from 75-80mph. But you can't go that fast when it's snowing..although the locals seemed to not mind the driving snowstorms and blew past us like we were standing still.

Since I did the majority of the driving, I did not get to take any photos of the beautiful countryside we drove through. Utah and Idaho were simply breathtaking.

The temperatures were always at freezing or below. This did not go over well with either of us, since we are both Southern Cali dwellers.

My sis got into her new home this morning. It was a shock to see that 'move-in ready' here in Billings means no fresh paint, nor does it mean a clean house. But it's a cool two bedroom house with a fenced backyard of at least a quarter of an acre. There are also two apple trees in the backyard. The fireplace is great and it's in the master bedroom. The hearth is stone and quite massive.

The other thing that didn't go as expected is the delivery of her household goods.

Those won't be here until Monday at the earliest.

My sis did not bring work clothes with her. She starts her new job on Monday.

So she will be living in an empty house that will only contain her blowup mattress.

I fly out tomorrow around 11'ish. I can't wait to get home but I am sad that my lil sis will be struggling. Once her household goods arrive, she has three days to unload them. She has several friends here in Billings that are supposed to help her.

Needless to say, I am staying an additional night here in the motel. She wants to stay in her empty house.

To each her own.

Normal political blogging will resume shortly.

On the road again...

2009-10-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

I m in St George Utah. It's a beautiful place. The rocks, the canyons, we were oohing and awwing all the way through the state yesterday afternoon.

Day one of the roadtrip did not go as planned. It started off with me locking my keys in my house. Nothing like having to break into your own abode just so you can get the hell outta town.

And it went downhill from there.

I will tell more later..got to get on the road as we did not drive very far yesterday and our schedule is all hosed up at this point in time.

Keep us in your thoughts..please. We can't take any more bad luck. seriously..