Egberto Willies - As I See It

Eric Massa And Glenn Beck Conspire For Train Wreck TV #p2 #tcot

2010-03-10T01:29:53Z

It was train wreck television on Tuesday evening when now-retired Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) appeared on Fox News's Glenn Beck show and insisted that he had not crossed any ethical lines with staffers and was subjected to intense political pressure from the White House (including a naked encounter with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel). Still, Massa stressed, he was retiring from Congress on his own accord.

In a one-hour interview with Beck that had much of the journalism world gawking and twittering in amazement, Massa offered a series of bizarre, even inexplicable explanations for his abrupt departure from office. Coming just hours after news broke that the he was under investigation for groping multiple male staffers, Massa insisted that the interactions were playful in nature, though inappropriate in retrospect.

Part 1

"Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn't breathe," he said. "I should have never allowed myself to be as familiar with my staff as I was... I own this misbehavior."

If that wasn't enough of a head-scratcher, Massa grew even more cryptic and bizarre when the topic turned to his insistence that Democratic forces had forced him out of office -- because they were so worried that he would derail health care reform. He did say that the decision "not to run again" was his and his alone -- but he still pegged his immediate resignation to White House brow-beating.

And yet, the only evidence he could summon was basic and formulaic types of political pressure.

"It literally keeps me awake at night," he said. "Glenn, I have had people come to me, union leaders -- and I'm a union guy and I know you're not -- who look at me and said, 'If you don't support this health care bill, I will not contribute to your campaign'. Glenn that's a bribe."

Even Beck wasn't buying it, pointing out that what Massa was talking about was, in fact, just lobbying.

Story continues below

Part 2

When the topic turned to the now-infamous moment in which Massa claims that Emanuel confronted him while naked in the House of Representative's shower to bark at him about a vote on the budget, things got even weirder. The ex-Congressman insisted that the confrontation did take place, even though the White House has denied it.

"I was in my first two months," he said. "I was in a battle about the budget, Rahm was angry with me. He poked his finger in my chest while we were in the shower. I went through it on the radio show. Not only did it happen, I will never forget it. Rahm Emanuel doesn't like me. I get it."

Through it all, Beck prodded (indeed, practically begged) Massa to point to specific cases where the chief of staff or anyone else did something legitimately corrupt. He couldn't.

"My arm has been twisted 17 times from Sunday," Massa declared. "It is called whipping."

The Fox News host seemed completely and utterly un-amused. And towards the end, he grew a bit hostile. "America, I've got to shoot straight with you," he said. "I think I've wasted your time. I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time. And I apologize for that."

Massa tried, once more, to restate his case but to little success. He promised, however, that he would do one more interview before leaving the stage.

Eric Massa And Glenn Beck Conspire For Train Wreck TV

Chamber of Commerce Lies About Health Care Reform | Media Matters Action Network

2010-03-09T19:40:12Z

Chamber of Commerce Lies About Health Care Reform

4 minutes ago

On March 9, 2010, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published a blog post falsely claiming the Democratic plan for reforming health care would increase premiums, increase the deficit, and kill jobs. In reality, the plan would reduce the deficit, lower premiums, and create up to 4 million American jobs.

The Chamber Falsely Claims Reform Will Increase Premiums

U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

Your health care costs will increase. The bill will do very little to control costs (iv), while simultaneously taxing the health industry -- taxes consumers will pay (v) -- and forcing Americans to purchase more expensive health insurance. [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 3/9/10]

PolitiFact: "For Most People, Premiums Would Stay About The Same, Or Slightly Decrease." According to PolitiFact.com: "The CBO reported that, for most people, premiums would stay about the same, or slightly decrease. This was especially true for people who get their insurance through work. (Health policy wonks call these the large group and small group markets.) People who have to go out and buy insurance on their own (the individual market) would see rates increase by 10 to 13 percent. But more than half of those people -- 57 percent, in fact -- would be eligible for subsidies to help them pay for the insurance. People who get subsidies would see their premiums drop by more than half, according to the CBO. So most people would see their premiums stay the same or potentially drop." [PolitiFact.com, 1/27/10, emphasis added]

CBO: House Bill Will Result In Lower Costs For American Families. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that in 2016, premiums will be $5,300 for an individual and $15,000 for a family of four in the Exchange. Without reform, the average family premium is expected to grow to $24,000. [CBO, 11/2/09; House Education and Labor Committee, 11/2/09]

CONTINUED

Chamber of Commerce Lies About Health Care Reform | Media Matters Action Network

How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America (MUST READ) #tcot #p2

2010-03-09T19:35:44Z

Excellent analytical story. It is amazing that the article correlates social ills with failed economic conditions caused by a failed structural design in our economic system. It shows how otherwise stable white communities descend into what is thought to be an inner city minority problem. This is something many progressives have been preaching for years. Hopefully articles like these will shift the discourse from blaming the victims of a failed system and instead modify our economic system that more broadly reward humans for their work as opposed to for their luck or bestowed financial entitlement.

“The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar men. It could cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a despair not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come.”

“If it persists much longer, this era of high joblessness will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults—and quite possibly those of the children behind them as well. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar white men—and on white culture. It could change the nature of modern marriage, and also cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a kind of despair and dysfunction not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.”

FULL ARTICLE

How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America - Magazine - The Atlantic

It's Up To You To Fight #p2 #tcot

2010-03-09T18:55:43Z

Don't shoot the messenger. It's an old cliche, but it's true.

Unfortunately, shooting the messenger has become the main strategy of the people trying to stop us from taking action on climate change. And it needs to stop.

Just a couple of days ago, a columnist excoriated my friend Vice President Al Gore, insinuating that his warnings about the crisis of climate change were somehow self-interested -- ignoring his lifetime of dedication to this issue.

And maybe even worse, the last months have seen a sustained attack on scientists. Rush Limbaugh called them "liars" and "skunks" and said that they should be "named and fired, drawn and quartered."

And all of this to create an atmosphere in the media that there's some broad dispute over whether climate change is real, let alone worsened by man-made emissions.

Well, we have to defeat the campaign tactics of distract, divide, and distort -- we need to stand up and say, "Enough!" Tell the media that you demand honest reporting about what's really going on.

Take a moment, go to TruthFightsBack, and write a letter to your local newspaper demanding real, probing, and fact-based coverage of the science of climate change.

I know something about people taking lies and distortions to attack someone personally. I chose a life in the public eye, and I can take it. But scientists are just doing their jobs. They don't deserve to be the targets of campaigns to distract from reality.

And that reality is - simply - that every major scientific body that has looked at the evidence has come to the same conclusion. They all conclude that the climate is changing in dangerous ways, and human activity - our pollution, our emissions - is pulling us in a dangerous direction. This is simply not in doubt anymore.

So, take a moment to raise your voice for the truth. Follow this link to send a letter to your local paper and tell them that you want reporting on real debates, not phony attacks:

http://www.truthfightsback.com/StepUpForScience

We started TruthFightsBack.com to fight for the truth, and that's what we're going to do. I hope you can join us.

Thank you,
John Kerry

ARREST THEM! #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-09T16:24:41Z

Today we're taking it to the streets.

The insurance companies are having a conference in Washington, DC to plot how to kill health reform. Thousands are gathering as we speak to perform a citizens' arrest. Even though you can't be there in person, you can help us hold the insurance companies accountable for their crimes.

We've obtained the fax numbers for the offices of the insurance companies. With your help, we can shut them down!

Chris Shiflett, guitarist in the Foo Fighters, has recorded a video to deputize you into the citizens' posse so you can help us arrest the insurance companies:

Click here to watch the video. We'll automatically send a free fax of a wanted poster with an insurance CEO's face on it to the insurance company offices.

Even if you can't be with us in person you can help us arrest their fax machines and shut them down! Imagine - thousands upon thousands of wanted posters showing up at the offices of the insurance companies.

The insurance companies have committed awful crimes against the American people:

They violate contracts by selling you insurance and then denying you care¹
They launder money through other front groups - including tens of millions through the ultra right-wing Chamber of Commerce²
They pervert our democracy by bribing public officials by spending millions per day on corporate lobbyists³
And 45,000 people die every year because they don't have insurance⁴

It's time to arrest them, and you can help. Click here to deputize yourself and we'll automatically send a fax to the insurance companies to let them know we're coming after them!

Today we're arresting the insurance companies. Tomorrow we're taking our message to Congress with a citizens' lobbying day on Capitol Hill. We'll tell Congress that they need to listen to the people, not insurance company criminals, and pass health reform that works for us - now!
President Obama has called for an up-or-down vote on health reform by Easter. Congress is already gearing up to meet the deadline.⁵

It's time to stand up together and stop the insurance companies.
Click here to help us arrest the insurance companies right now! We'll automatically send them a fax!

To your health,
Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now

Ken Starr: Liz Cheney Wrong For Attacking Department Of Justice Attorneys #p2 #tcot

2010-03-09T15:01:04Z

Liz Cheney has been under fire from both left and right after she tried to paint Department of Justice attorneys as terrorist sympathizers for working on the defense of Guantanamo detainees. One of the sternest rebukes comes from a law school dean, former judge, and well-known former special prosecutor.

Ken Starr appeared on MSNBC's Countdown on Monday night, speaking with guest host Lawrence O'Donnell. Starr isn't exactly a popular figure on the program, often criticized by and never making an appearance with regular host Keith Olbermann. But on this issue, Olbermann was happy for Starr to appear and refute Cheney. He relayed a message through O'Donnell, "that's how seriously we both take this, that even we agree on it."

Starr explained the role of lawyers in the American justice system and why it's considered appropriate for them to work in defense of an accused criminal. He drew both literary analogies, pointing out the judicial responsibilities felt by Atticus Finch, and historic comparisons, explaining how John Adams was once called upon to defend the British Redcoats in a court of law. As for the specific message being spread by Cheney and her organization, Keep America Safe, Starr did not mince words.

"This was very unwise, and really and out-of-bounds characterization and challenge to good, honorable lawyers." CONTINUED

Ken Starr: Liz Cheney Wrong For Attacking Department Of Justice Attorneys (VIDEO)

The Epitome of Being Republican Politician is Hypocrisy - Roy Ashburn: 'I'm Gay' #p2 #tcot

2010-03-09T14:56:49Z

State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.), the fierce opponent of gay rights who was arrested last week for drunk driving after leaving a gay nightclub, confirmed in a radio interview Monday that he is gay.

"I'm gay," Ashburn told local radio host Inga Barks before returning to the Senate for the first time since his arrest. "Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long."

Ashburn, a 55-year-old divorced father of four, claimed his 15-year crusade against proposed gay-rights laws in the California statehouse stemmed from his desire to vote the way his constituents wanted.

Roy Ashburn: 'I'm Gay'

White House Optimistic That House Has Health Care Cover #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-08T20:08:35Z

The Obama administration believes it gained a valuable boost last week in getting health care passed when a 50th Democratic senator informally announced he would back reconciliation fixes to the bill.

Not that there remains any doubt that the Senate has the will to get legislative changes passed by an up-or-down vote -- rather White House officials view the news as the surest sign of commitment that the Senate will make alterations to adapt reform more to the liking of House Democrats.

"It is a sign of momentum," one top Obama aide told the Huffington Post.

As it stands now, the major health care hurdle confronting Democrats is in the House of Representatives, where a handful of lawmakers remain skeptical about passing the Senate bill pro forma. For weeks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) has looked for a formal commitment from Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that the chamber will use reconciliation to pass amendments to the bill. At one point, there was discussion of the Senate actually amending its bill before the House voted on it -- though that was scuttled due to the rather crude parliamentary reality that you can't change legislation that isn't yet law). At another point, talk spread that Reid was circulating a letter, to be signed by 50 other Democratic senators, pledging to use reconciliation to change their bill.

At the time, Reid's office insisted that was just a rumor. But with freshmen Alaska Democrat, Mark Begich, becoming the 50th Senator to say they will back reconciliation, the practical purpose of such a letter has been achieved.

Whether Pelosi can now use that sign of commitment to reconciliation fixes to persuade her caucus to back the Senate bill remains to be seen. Members, undoubtedly, will be pleased to see some of the backroom deals stripped from the language. And added subsidies for insurance coverage as well as a deferred date for the start of the excise tax makes the legislation more palatable to voters back home. But other side issues that can't be changed through reconciliation, such as abortion, still present a threat to passage and are keeping congressional aides cautious.

"[P]art of this deal will be making sure the House believes we can fix the things they want fixed," said one Senate aide. "But the real uphill battle is if she has the votes to pass the bill to begin with."

White House Optimistic That House Has Health Care Cover

Mr. President - What has he done!! #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-08T19:24:40Z

Robert P. Watson, Ph.D. Coordinator of American Studies
Lynn University
Email: rwatson@lynn.edu

I am always being asked to grade Obama's presidency. In place of offering him a grade, I put together a list of his accomplishments thus far. I think you would agree that it is very impressive. His first six months have been even more active than FDRs or LBJs the two standards for such assessments. Yet, there is little media attention given to much of what he has done. Of late, the media is focusing almost exclusively on Obama's critics, without holding them responsible for the uncivil, unconstructive tone of their disagreements or without holding the previous administration responsible for getting us in such a deep hole. The misinformation and venom that now passes for political reporting and civic debate is beyond description.

As such, there is a need to set the record straight. What most impresses me is the fact that Obama has accomplished so much not from a heavy-handed or top-down approach but from a style that has institutionalized efforts to reach across the aisle, encourage vigorous debate, and utilize town halls and panels of experts in the policy-making process. Beyond the accomplishments, the process is good for democracy and our democratic processes have been battered and bruised in recent years.

Let me know if I missed anything in the list (surely I did).

Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family
The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House
Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
New federal funding for science and research labs
States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
New funds for school construction
The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
US Auto industry rescue plan
Housing rescue plan
$789 billion economic stimulus plan
The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
US financial and banking rescue plan
The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards
Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program
Instituted a new policy on Cuba , allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
Expanding vaccination programs
Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
Closed offshore tax safe havens
Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back
Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices
Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
Lower drug costs for seniors
Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings
Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
Improved housing for military personnel
Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses
Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
Increasing student loans
Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program
Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy
Established a new cyber security office
Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.
Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts
Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness
Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient
Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced
Improving benefits for veterans
Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud
The FDA is now regulating tobacco
Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules
Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports
Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons
Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive
Making more loans available to small businesses
Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare
Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court
Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans
Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000
Renewed loan guarantees for Israel
Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan
Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan
New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans
Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production
Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters
Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket
Held first Seder in White House
Attempting to reform the nation's healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured
Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform
Has announced his intention to push for energy reform
Has announced his intention to push for education reform.......

Oh, and he built a swing set for the girls outside the Oval Office

Palin Crossed Border For Canadian Health Care #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-08T19:03:09Z

While Sarah Palin is busy telling Americans that the current healthcare bill is government takeover of healthcare, it seems in the past she found the Canadian system better than what she had in Alaska. The GOP has elevated the definition of hypocrisy. Their evilness with regards to what is best for America is without precedent in our country.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

Officials at several hospitals in that area declined to give out information on patient visits.

Palin Crossed Border For Canadian Health Care

CNN On Zeta Tau Alpha v Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Controversy

2010-03-07T22:13:44Z

There isn’t reverse racism, it is simply racism. Don Lemmon got this one right. The white sorority came ready to complete and was on point. The AKA’s simply looked like they thought it was theirs. That said, the organizers coming back with a scoring error is despicable.

As a black man who worked for Corporate America in the 1980s I can tell you that I have experienced first hand the pain of being denied what you have worked for and earned. Were it not for a thick skin and the ability to quit at nothing I would have been disillusioned and quit trying to move forward. This disillusionment is what has afflicted many minorities and is one of the reason many do not even try to get ahead. For minorities to inflict this on anyone is completely despicable given that they know the implications.

Minorities have felt the pain of overt, covert, competitive, social, & corporate racism. To inflict this on anyone must be called out irrespective of who it is. For that reason I have no respect for minorities against homosexuals or any other select group.

Zeta Tau Alpha brought it and beat the hell out of AKA. This was not a tie and the sponsoring organization should be ashamed of themselves.

Arroz Con Pollo with a Caribbean and Indian Touch

2010-03-07T16:28:12Z

Arroz Con Pollo

1 lb Chicken parts cut in small pieces
2-1/2 cups rice
Chicken broth powder
1 can of Coconut Milk
3 Cups water
1 Tsp of Yellow Curry
½ Onion
Half bunch cilantro
Half bunch parsley
Olive oil
1 Can Sweet Peas
6 Cloves of garlic
Seasoned Salt
Vinegar
Black Pepper
Olives, Radish, Avocado, Tomato for salad side dish
Plantains to make patacones(double fried plantains)

Marinate chicken for at least 1 hour in vinegar, season salt, & black pepper.
Fry chicken in olive oil till brown on both sides.
Cut up Cilantro, Parsley, Onion, Garlic.
Sautee in pan till tender.
Add water and coconut milk to cooking pot.
Add powdered broth to pot and season salting to taste.
Add curry to taste to pot.
Add sautéed seasoning, chicken, and rice.
Bring pot to a boil, simmer and cover for about 20 to 30 minutes
Fold in 1 can sweet peas gently.

Bon Appetit

#HCR Reality- We now have confirmed 50 votes #p2 #tcot

2010-03-06T18:01:32Z

Senator Mark Begich is open to using reconciliation for health reform. From a letter to a constituent:

Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform.
The reconciliation process is a budgetary tool used to address spending and deficit issues with a simple majority vote. The budget reconciliation process has been used 22 times by both parties since 1980. Action to clean up the health reform bill will further reduce the deficit.

Comprehensive health care reform has already passed the Senate with 60 votes. If the House passes the Senate bill, the President could sign that version of comprehensive reform into law. I believe reconciliation would only be used as a tool to take out special backroom deals and to eliminate concerns raised by many Alaskans I've talked with. The President has proposed narrow changes which I support, including completely closing the coverage gap for seniors' prescription drugs, eliminating the special Nebraska funding provision, providing additional federal financing to all states to help pay for the expansion of Medicaid, and strengthening the Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse provisions.

Again, thank you for contacting me. As the 111th Congress moves forward, please continue to be in touch with your thoughts and concerns.

Sincerely,
Mark Begich
U.S. Senator

That makes 50 Senators publicly open to using reconciliation to finish health reform without any maybes. There will be a reconciliation fix to the Senate health bill, as long as the House first passes one.

Open Left:: Mark Begich open to reconciliation for health reform--that makes 50 without any maybes

Obama Retains More Trust Than Republican Leaders On Health Reform #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-06T17:11:04Z

It's a truism that when the parties battle, some independents and non-political people turn off to both parties. But that hides the fact that there are winners and losers in the battle for public opinion. One big loser is health insurance companies, but they are only marginally less trusted than Republican Congressional leaders.

This Gallup poll released yesterday notes:

Americans remain more confident in the healthcare reform recommendations of President Obama (49%) than in the recommendations of the Democratic (37%) or Republican (32%) leaders in Congress. But these confidence levels are lower than those measured in June, suggesting that the ongoing healthcare reform debate has taken a toll on the credibility of the politicians involved.

Take a look at the numbers (click for bigger pic):

But take a look at the expanded graph for who the real losers are:

Republican leaders, 32. Health insurance 26. Losers.

Hey, you can take my word for it. I'm a doctor, and I come in at 77. And I'm telling you, health reform needs to pass. And I am far from alone. CONTINUED

Daily Kos: Gallup: Obama Retains More Trust Than Republican Leaders On Health Reform

Just a wonderful feel good story. Humanity still has hope #p2 #tcot

2010-03-05T23:30:07Z

March 5, 2010

Just before he became a father, Colbert Williams left home because his family was too poor to take care of him. As he remembers it, "My mother didn't have a place for me to go."

Williams and his son discussed their strong bond at StoryCorps in Michigan. But in a "prequel" of sorts, Williams also spoke with the man who took him in as a teenager — his fifth-grade math teacher, Ralph Catania.

Catania, 69, was divorced and had no children of his own. He became Williams' legal guardian when his former student turned 16.

"Was there anything that you feared about moving in with me?" Catania asked.

"Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?" Williams said. "Everything."

And he really does mean everything — from what kind food Catania kept in the house to his culture and background. All Williams really knew about the man he was moving in with was that he was a nice teacher.

"I'm a young black man and you're a white man," Williams said. "And I'm like, 'I don't know anything about white people.' "

Then Williams asked Catania about his thoughts after learning that Williams, then 16, was going to become a father. CONTINUED

Teacher Takes In A Teen, And Gains A Family : NPR

Stupak Wrong & GOP Wrong Senate Bill Does Not Pay For Abortion #p2 #hcr #tcot

2010-03-05T23:19:27Z

ABC has fact checked whether the Senate bill pays for abortion. It does not. LISTEN.

Conservatives Turn Against Liz Cheney - As Bad As McCarthy

2010-03-05T23:13:56Z

The backlash is growing against Liz Cheney after she demonized Department of Justice attorneys as terrorist sympathizers for their past legal work defending Gitmo detainees -- and now it's coming from within deeply conservative legal circles.

On Friday, the conservative blog Power Line put up a post titled, "An Attack That Goes Too Far." Author Paul Mirengoff, called Cheney's effort to brand DoJ officials the "Al Qaeda 7," "vicious" and "unfounded" even if it was right to criticize defense lawyers for voluntarily doing work on behalf of Gitmo detainees.

Reached on the phone, Mirengoff offered an even sharper rebuke, contrasting what Cheney is doing to the anti-communist crusades launched by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and, in some respects, finding it worse.

"It could be worse than some of the assertions made by McCarthy, depending on some of the validity of those assertions," Mirengoff said, explaining that at least McCarthy was correct in pinpointing individuals as communist sympathizers. "It is just baseless to suggest that [these DoJ officials] share al Qaeda values... they didn't actually say it but I think it was a fair implication of what they were saying."

Mirengoff isn't alone among conservative legal theorists who think the ad campaign by Cheney's group, Keep America Safe, is distasteful. In a statement to the American Prospect, John Bellinger III, a former legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, called the effort "unfortunate."

"It reflects the politicization and the polarization of terrorism issues," Bellinger said. "Neither Republicans nor Democrats should be attacking officials in each other's administrations based solely on the clients they have represented in the past."

CONTINUED

Conservatives Turn Against Liz Cheney - As Bad As McCarthy

Time-lapse photography is an old trick turning new again

2010-03-05T22:34:35Z

FULL STORY

By Lila King, CNN

March 5, 2010 11:58 a.m. EST

Time was, if you wanted to make a time-lapse film, first you had to build a machine.

In the late 1920s, John Ott was an American high school student with a passion for photography and a lot of time on his hands. He wanted to capture apple blossoms unfolding over time on film, and he knew he needed to take frequent pictures around the clock, even while he was sleeping or away at school.

So he wired together a kitchen timer, a camera, a paper clip and a pull cord, and voilà: Photos taken at regular intervals over time and sped back up revealed the beauty of the blooming flowers to the naked eye.

Ott went on to become a pioneer of time-lapse photography, filming incremental changes in flowers and insects, and helping to pave the way for scientific research that still today gains insights from slowed-down views of biology and the physical environment.

Time-lapse is a photographic technique that captures images much more slowly than normal video but plays them back at standard speed, which condenses long periods of time into a relatively short video. It's like "slow motion, seen from the perspective of eternity," says Richard Misek, a film professor at Bristol University in England who is writing a history of time-lapse. (See Misek's iReport time-lapse of a busy Melbourne lunch.)

When John Ott wanted to experiment with time-lapse, he had to build a contraption, but today's inexpensive digital tools make it easy for almost anyone to give it a try and share their results with the rest of the world.

All you need is a camera on a tripod, an idea and a healthy dose of patience. And a folding chair, recommends Raphael Rodolfi, an iReporter who took part in a time-lapse challenge on CNN iReport last weekend. Someone has to sit with the camera while it's filming an extraordinary sunset or clouds moving slowly across a sky.

See iReporters' tips for trying time-lapse

Dozens of people shared their first time-lapse attempts on CNN iReport last weekend. Jim Dourney, who shot a day in the life of a busy Florida inlet, said he found time-lapse "surprisingly easy to do." Simple instructions for using the movie-making software that comes standard on may computers are just a Google search away.

Maarten Koner runs a group dedicated to time-lapses on Vimeo, a video sharing site popular among filmmakers and creative photographers. It's a wildly active group, where inventive new time-lapse videos from across the world pop up every few hours.

When people first pick up a digital camera and want to try video, "slow motion is the first thing you do," Koner says. "Time-lapse is the second." What's the draw? It's simple to make magic. "I think people are really surprised by the effect, and then it becomes an addiction."

Another attraction, says artist Keith Loutit, is that in some ways, time-lapse brings back some of the wonder of analog photography. "When people turn a camera on and it's firing away, there's a real wonder about what's going to happen. People are so used to looking at the back of the camera now." But with time-lapse, you don't see the result until you get back home.

Loutit is a photographer whose work uses time-lapse and tilt-shift techniques to turn the real world into what looks like meticulous animation. His "Bathtub IV," a piece shot over three months in Sydney, Australia, tells the story of a helicopter rescue at a busy beach. He was looking to cast a place he knows well in a different light.

When iReport asked its community to try time-lapse as part of a weekend assignment series, several participants remarked that it had made them think about the places they live and see every day in a new way.

See all the iReport time-lapse videos

"Waiting in the cold with my camera made me sensitive to subtle changes in the scene I might normally have missed," iReporter Hannah Slagle Palmer said. (Watch Palmer's video of gnat-sized airplanes hopping over the Atlanta, Georgia, skyline.)

That's what it comes down to: "The power of time-lapse," Misek said, is that it "shows you time frames that you can't normally perceive. When it's at its best, it shows you the world from another perspective."

iReport Blog On The Project

Last week we challenged the community to try out time-lapse videos to tell a local story, with stunning, global results. You can see the highlights in a new piece on CNN.com today. (It's all part of our new weekend assignment project -- the next challenge starts tomorrow, jump in!)

Along with videos and local stories, several of the contributors shared tips on trying timelapse. If you’re thinking of taking the plunge yourself, take heed from others who’ve done it before:

Richard Misek, London
I'd just say if you want to shoot a time-lapse, experiment and put some ideas into it. Don't just shoot a time-lapse of something because it will look beautiful. Beautiful is boring. A sequence usually only becomes really interesting when the film-maker puts something of him/herself into it.

Elliot Darren, St. Etienne, France
Be patient.

Egberto Willies, Kingwood, Texas
I am not qualified to give advice on this issue. However, just do it. It is a rewarding project.

Wil Massenburg, Yorktown, Virginia
Have lots of time and be patient with the process and always use a tripod!

Keith Schomig, Annapolis,Maryland
The subject matter should be something that evolves over time at a rate too slow to perceive normally but obvious when sped up (e.g., weather patterns, rising tide, growing plants).

Lulis Leal, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Patience. I realize there are many cameras today with a time-lapse feature conveniently built in, however, I wanted to show that even the simplest point and shoot camera can create a time-lapse effect. I will enjoy practicing and perfecting this new technique.

James Dourney, Fort Pierce, Florida
Don't be afraid of trying it – it’s not only fun, but surprisingly easy to do.

Hannah Slagle Palmer, Atlanta, Georgia
No need to get overwhelmed with intervalometers and extra software. You can do this low-budget and low-tech. Be patient. Commit to one scene and watch it unfold. The smallest changes are the most surprising!

Sabri Akin, Istanbul, Turkey
I'd suggest them to keep their tripods stable and being careful on 'f' value according to weather/light in the composition and I'd ask them to go with minimal compositions besides crowded flows.

Shawn Kendrick, Cambridgeshire, England
Use manual focus when capturing your frames, and make sure your tripod is steady; this will alleviate the jitter you sometimes see in time-lapse videos. A good friend tipped me off to this after a few lackluster attempts. Oh, and have fun!

Jose Maria Cuellar, Madrid, Spain
Try the camera settings I did: aperture priority and let the camera choose the exposure time. Auto white balance is also very important if the lights conditions are going to change. For example in my time-lapse, the first photo needs day-cloudy white balance and the last one tungsten white balance. If the exposure is going to last several hours, plug in your camera. The battery will not be enough.

Mark Leslie Cruz, Toronto, Canada
Always, always and always use a tripod. Use manual focus mode and white balance and have a lot of patience.

Charles Quinn, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Experiment. You don't need to buy lots of fancy equipment or software. A quick search of the internet or even the software that comes with your digital still camera, and you'll find ways to do some interesting time lapse.

Jamen Percy, London
Trial and error. Have a play and check google for tips and methods. Make the effort, you will surprise yourself at what is actually happening around you.

Raphael Rodolfi, Peoria, Illinois
Protect your camera from wind gusts. Be behind or next to a bigger object or use your body as a shield. And take a folding chair.

Kaard Bombe, Laguna Niguel, California
Find a good location and make sure it’s something that you won't mind filming; there's nothing worse then filming something boring for 30 minutes.

Jeffrey Martin, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Just experiment and enjoy this fascinating application ... making mistakes or not.

Miriam Cintron, New York
My advice would be to make sure to pick something that shows dramatic change over a period of time. I don't think it's necessary to shoot every few seconds as I did if the subject is one that takes a long time to change. The effect would be as dramatic if shot over a 24 hour period for example.

George Kuzni, Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania
As far as advice for time-lapse video makers, I would say, don't invest the money into the equipment, instead invest the time and discipline, and catch all those rare moments.

Owen Buckley, Pacifica, California
It's easy to do. Never touch the camera once you start taping. Use a wall outlet for power (never a battery).

James Brierton, Athens, Georgia
As outlined in the instructions: don't move the camera, don't change the interval and just let the video speak for itself. Trying to get too fancy with it will just make it that much more difficult to understand.

Joshua Shearer, Plainfield, Massachusetts
Find a good way to keep your camera powered! A batteries are good but they die quick.

Ash Davies, Melbourne, Australia
Photograph everything and keep everything.

Brian Pace, Marina del Rey, California
One thing I've found very helpful to do is just to experiment. I've been surprised at what actually moves over a long period of time. The first time I photographed a star I got a streak. I thought it was because the tripod was shaking, but it was because I was actually seeing the earth's rotation! I've photographed clouds before and seen them do strange things. In one video, the clouds were just traveling across the sky and then suddenly went downward. I have no idea why that happens! That was pretty cool. It all happened just because I took my camera out to just to see what happens, I had no idea it was coming.

The only other thing I would add is that it is a really good idea to understand exposure. One of the first things I wanted to do was shoot a sunrise from the balcony of my apartment. It took me three tries to get it right. The second one was almost there, but I was using longer exposures, which looked great ... until the sun came up. So the footage was several nice frames of the courtyard at night, then the sun started to rise and ... WHIIIIIIIITE. I have 300 frames that are all white. Woops. Once I worked out how the exposures worked in daytime photography, I was able to get my sunrise.

Kevin Palivec, Hawley, Texas
Be patient! When you're shooting a time-lapse, you tend to feel you could get a better shot or angle after it's started and you're tempted to stop or move the camera. DON'T! Trust your initial instincts when setting the camera up. Look at a scene or event and in your mind. Envision it moving at fast forward! Typically what happens is, when you play it back after moving your camera you find that the original placement was good and the new placement doesn't work as well.

John W. Oliver, Santa Barbara, California
If they want to shoot a time-lapse with the sun in frame they may have trouble getting a proper exposure throughout their shot. There are neutral density graduated filters out to purchase that will tone down the sun to allow you to properly expose for both the sky and the foreground.

Daily Kos: More on the Lost Decade, Courtesy of Cheney-Bush #p2 #tcot

2010-03-05T21:40:02Z

Let’s put blame where it belongs.

Just about any way you look at it, the country got smacked around from January 2001 to January 2009. Aside from its wretched foreign policy, violations of human rights and civil liberties, nowhere did the Bush administration pound us harder than on the economy. Despite this, the Republican Party's megaphones at Foxaganda and scattered throughout much of the rest of media are now eagerly telling Americans our future prosperity depends on another round of the clever governance that got us where we are.

To illustrate just how disastrous the GOP's last turn at the wheel was, The Economist recently highlighted figures from Christopher Wood, a strategist at the Hong Kong-based investment group CLSA:

^{Click for larger graphic.}

Real GDP in America grew by an average of 1.9% a year during the 2000s. This may not sound all that terrible, especially for a decade that saw one short recession and another particularly deep and long one. But it is the economy’s worst performance for a long time. During the previous six decades, average growth was 3.9% a year. Only the 1930s—when growth was a mere 0.9% a year—were worse. And America’s population is growing smartly, so GDP per head has grown a good deal more sluggishly than GDP as a whole. The story is much the same when the growth in Americans’ personal consumption during the ten years to the end of 2009 is compared with previous decades. Again, only the 1930s were worse.

In terms of employment growth, the 2000s were also a lost decade. In the years between 1940 and 1999 the number of Americans employed outside farming grew by an average of 27% each decade. In the one just past it fell by 0.8%. In January this year, the number of people who had been jobless for more than six months reached 6.3m. And though the economy has grown for each of the past two quarters, the unemployment rate has only just begun to inch downwards. Though the recession is now supposedly at an end, the pain of the noughties’ miserable economic performance will be felt for a long time to come.

It's true that the deregulatory fever which got its first big boost from the Reagan administration culminated with some awful actions in the late '90s, stuff like the deep-sixing of the Glass-Steagall Act that Republicans pushed but which the White House might have vetoed had it not been for the likes of Robert Rubin and Larry Summers saying what a good idea repealing that New Deal era protection was. An overeager expansion of unfettered free trade and the dot.com bubble also took their toll. Nonetheless, that earlier decade ended with the federal budget in a modest surplus and a record 23 million jobs generated.

The Republicans have a solution for the economic mess we're in: Bring back the '00s. No better slogan than one ending in zeroes could be found for the Party of No.

Daily Kos: More on the Lost Decade, Courtesy of Cheney-Bush

TruthFightsBack – Climate Change #p2 #tcot

2010-03-05T21:12:42Z

If we ever needed a great example of how Washington is broken, we got it this week. One Republican Senator spent days using every procedural trick he could to delay an extension of unemployment benefits in the worst economy we've had in decades. Only the overwhelming attention to the issue caused the other side to finally stand down and allow the vote to go forward.

One thing we can be sure of: we'll get the same games around legislation for clean energy reform to address the climate change crisis. And this is just too important to play games around. We need the good jobs that'll come from building the new clean economy, and our planet desperately needs us to stop polluting the air.

But we saw this week that when the pressure intensifies, we can break through the obstruction and games to get results. But only you can bring that pressure.

So please, take a moment and call your Senators and let them know that you want action. Call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121, and they'll connect you to your Senator.

When you call, be polite but firm in your resolve to see action on this critical issue. Tell them why this is important to you, and that you demand that they support immediate action on clean energy and climate change. They need to know that you care about this.

Look, this isn't as partisan an issue as many we've seen. I've been working hard with Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, on the legislation, and I've had productive meetings with other Republicans. But we need to raise the level of urgency across the board to get the result we need.

We need to protect our climate from carbon pollution. And reforming the way we create energy will repower our economy, creating investment and good jobs and putting our country back in control of our own energy again. This is a critical step that we have to take.

So make that call today. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators. They need to hear from you.

Thank you,
John Kerry