Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

In a bow to Senate moderates, the measure lacks a government-run insurance option of the type that House Democrats placed in their bill. Instead, the estimated 26 million Americans purchasing coverage through new insurance exchanges would have the option of signing up for privately owned, nonprofit nationwide plans overseen by the same federal agency office that supervises the system used by federal employees and members of Congress.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Here are those who vote to protect a corporation over a victim of rape:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Saturday, September 19, 2009

I am American and proud to be…………
Pro-Military, Anti-Torture,
Pro-Veterans Rights, Anti-Mercenary,
Pro-Journalism, Anti-Monopoly Media,
Pro-Environment, Anti-Pollution,
Pro-Women’s Choice, Anti-Death Penalty,
Pro-Military Defense, Anti-Occupation,
Pro-Speech, Anti-“Free Speech Zones”,
Pro-Privacy, Anti-Warrantless Domestic Wiretapping,
Pro-Middle Class, Anti-One Percenters,
Pro-Universal Healthcare, Anti-Corporate Greed,
Pro-Democracy, Anti-Electronic Voting Machines,
Pro-Courage, Anti-Fear,
Pro-Truth, Anti-“Official Story”,
Pro-Patriot, Anti-“Patriot Act”,
Pro-Justice, Anti-War Crimes,
Pro-Rules of War, Anti-Rendition,
Pro-Disaster Relief, Anti-Incompetence,
Pro-Science, Anti-“Story Telling”,
Pro-Accountability, Anti-Corruption,
Pro-Civil Rights, Anti-Gender/Sexual Orientation Discrimination,
Pro-Gun, Anti-Police Brutality,
Pro-Separation of Church and State, Anti-“Christian Nation”,
Pro-Union, Anti-Exploitation,
Pro-Drug Treatment, Anti-Drug War,
Pro-Immigration, Anti-Racism,
Pro-Peace, Anti-Preemptive Illegal War,
Pro-Love, Anti-Hate.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Tuesday, August 18, 2009


In an interview with the Huffington Post on Saturday, Richard Trumka, the secretary-treasurer and likely next president of the AFL-CIO, said his federation is drawing a line in the sand when it comes to a public option in the health care bill. Lawmakers who don't support the provision, he said, shouldn't take anything for granted.

"We'll look at every one of their votes," Trumka said after his speech at the Netroots Nation convention. "If they're against the Employee Free Choice Act, if they're against health care for that reason, I think it'll be tough for them to get support from working people."


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Friday, August 14, 2009

This is only the beginning of horrible future. The smell of violence fueled by fear, hate and racism is in the air.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

That we're not going to cry 'emergency' every time we have a Katrina

Wednesday, June 03, 2009


Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor



PO2 (EOD2) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)
Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was
awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor
posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq,
giving his life to save his fellow Seals.
(Notice: Mike was not a Navy SEAL, he was EOD.
He gave his life to save a group of Navy SEALS..)

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego ,
as his coffin was being moved from the hearse
to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National
Cemetery , SEAL's were lined up on both sides
of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's,
with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's
coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his
gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down
embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.


The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side,
it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it



This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero..

This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see every day..
Since the media won't make this news,

I choose to make it news.

Hat tip to Vicky C. for the email.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1797. Article 11 states: "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility [sic], of Mussulmen [Muslims]; and, as the said States never have entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Sept. 17, 2001: President Bush signs a directive authorizing the CIA to kill or capture suspected al-Qaida members and to create detention facilities where suspects can be held and interrogated.

October 2001: The U.S. prepares a detention camp on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to house prisoners captured during the war in Afghanistan. Over the next seven years, the prison population will grow to about 775 detainees, most of whom are never charged.

Jan. 9, 2002: Justice Department lawyers John Yoo and Robert Delahunty write a memo arguing that the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war do not apply to U.S. treatment of suspected Taliban or al-Qaida members.

Jan. 25, 2002: White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales says that this view of international law "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions."

March 28, 2002: Abu Zubaydah is captured in Pakistan. Described by President Bush as "a senior terrorist leader and a trusted associate of Osama bin Laden," Zubaydah is treated for his wounds and placed in the CIA's clandestine network of detention sites. Zubaydah's allegations that he was tortured are later documented by the Red Cross.

Dec. 2, 2002: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approves harsh techniques for interrogating prisoners, including stress positions, nudity, sensory deprivation and threatened attacks by dogs. The following April, he approves further measures, including sleep and food deprivation.

Jan. 16, 2004: The U.S. Central Command announces that it has begun investigating reports of abuse against suspected insurgents in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Over the next several months, photographs and videos will surface documenting that inmates were beaten, threatened by attack dogs and sexually abused. Seven soldiers are eventually charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery.

August 2004: A military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay names 15 detainees to be tried by a military commission on charges related to terrorism. To date, only three have been convicted. More than 400 Guantanamo prisoners have been released with no charges.

June 29, 2006: The Supreme Court strikes down President Bush's military commissions, saying they were not authorized by federal law nor required by military necessity. The decision comes in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for bin Laden. The justices find that the commissions violated Hamdan's rights under the Geneva Conventions.

September 2006: President Bush publicly reveals the existence of "a separate program operated by the Central Intelligence Agency" to interrogate suspects such as Zubaydah. He says that Zubaydah had stopped talking, so the CIA used "an alternative set of procedures" to question him. In the same speech, he asserts that "the United States does not torture."

October and December 2006: Officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross interview 14 "high value" prisoners who have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay from secret CIA prisons. The report, given to CIA Acting General Counsel John Rizzo the following February, finds that the detainees had been subjected to ill treatment that "constituted torture."

Dec. 6, 2007: CIA Director Michael Hayden says the agency destroyed videotapes showing the interrogations of Zubaydah and another detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The announcement is apparently timed to pre-empt a New York Times article on the issue that is about to be published.

March 8, 2008: President Bush vetoes legislation that would have banned the CIA from using "extreme" interrogation techniques, such as simulated drowning, a practice known as "waterboarding." The legislation would have limited the CIA to practices that are permitted by the U.S. military.

Nov. 22, 2008: A military judge throws out the case against Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad on the grounds that the evidence against him was obtained under coercion.

Jan. 22, 2009: Two days after his inauguration, President Obama signs executive orders to review U.S. detention and interrogation practices, close the Guantanamo prison and forbid "extraordinary rendition," the practice of sending prisoners to other countries to be interrogated using procedures that are prohibited in the United States.

April 16, 2009: President Obama announces his decision to release government memos from 2002-2005 on "harsh" interrogation techniques. "This is a time for reflection, not retribution," Obama says, adding, "at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past."

April 21, 2009: President Obama says he is not prepared to rule out prosecutions of some of those responsible for setting the interrogation policy.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Obama signed off on taking out pirates By Nia-Malika Henderson & David S. Cloud | 4/12/09 @ 6:07 PM EST

President Barack Obama issued a standing order to use force against pirates holding an American captain hostage — including giving a Navy commander the authority to act if he believed the captain’s life was in danger, two senior defense officials said Sunday night.

Navy snipers aboard the USS Bainbridge on Sunday shot and killed three of the pirates after the Bainbridge’s commander gave the order, when a pirate was spotted aboard the lifeboat pointing an AK-47 rifle at Capt. Richard Phillips, one defense official said.

“The clear belief by the captain of the ship was that he was in imminent danger,” this official said.

The exact details of the shooting remain murky. The snipers fired after all three pirates became visible on the enclosed lifeboat where they were holding Phillips, a Navy official in Bahrain told reporters — giving the snipers the chance to kill all three at once, so that none would be left behind to harm Phillips.

Obama's involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against Al Qaeda and other terror groups, officials said.

“It’s not a combat operation, so the lawyers wanted to ensure this was done right," said a second defense official.
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Phillips’ rescue brought to an end a tense five-day standoff that proved an early test for Obama, who said little about the case in public but behind the scenes received more than a dozen briefings on it, White House aides said.

A timeline provided by the White House showed he issued the orders to use force at 8 p.m. Friday, and again at 9:20 a.m. Saturday, after new Navy forces moved on to the scene. In both cases, he was first briefed by the National Security Council for an update on the situation.

The timeline suggests that planning for the rescue mission intensified Saturday evening, as the National Security Council updated Obama on “planning for hostage contingencies” at 6:30 p.m. At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Obama received an update on “action leading to the rescue of Captain Phillips.” He called Phillips about 4 p.m. Sunday.



In a statement, Obama said, “We remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region. To achieve that goal, we must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, be prepared to interdict acts of piracy and ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes," Obama said in a statement.

The defense officials also provided new details behind the rescue, noting that Bainbridge had been in contact with the pirates at one point. One of the pirates, a 16-year-old boy, had come onto the Bainbridge for medical attention and was speaking to the crew about the conditions under which Phillips might be released.

The seas had started getting rough and the lifeboat where the pirates were holding Phillips was dead in the water. So the pirates agreed to be towed out further from shore to calmer waters. During that time, the towline was shortened so that the life raft was only 25 to 30 yards from the Bainbridge.

At some point on Sunday, all three remaining pirates were spotted on the boat, including one holding the AK-47, and the authorization was given for the snipers to shoot. All three were killed and a smaller boat was dispatched from Bainbridge to pick up Phillips.

One defense official said it was very likely the surviving pirate would be prosecuted for piracy by the United States. Other pirates have been turned over to the Kenyans but "I don't think that will be the case here," this official said, adding that the specific decision to prosecute would be up to the Justice Department.

After calling on other countries to prosecute pirates the U.S. might feel it has to make an example of the youth in custody, this official said, though his age would have to be taken into account.

At a briefing in Bahrain, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney warned that the Navy’s use of force to Phillips could "escalate violence in this part of the world." Pirates ply the waters off the Somali coast, but it was a rare instance that they took an American flagged vessel with an American crew.

Jonathan Martin contributed to this report.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Vermont Overrides Veto, Makes Gay Marriage Legal
By Susie Madrak Wednesday Apr 08, 2009 1:45pm

Apparently gay people are now considered full-fledged human beings in certain select states!

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.