Our meeting with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights is the best orientation to the impact of the Israeli attack. PCHR meticulously documents everything, and deals quite fearlessly with both internal and external violations of human rights.
PCHR estimates that, during the Israeli attacks, 2,500 tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza. That equals 3 kilos of explosives per meter. (They have a massive display of weapons fragments in their office, with all too many bearing indications that they were made in the USA).
recent commentaries
A Nation on the Brink - Mexico's July 5 Legislative Elections
Submitted by MichaelCollins on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 09:09
A Nation on the Brink Mexico's
July 5 Legislative Elections
Part 2 of a three part series (Part 1)
Michael Collins and Kenneth Thomas
Mexico approaches this election confronting the rise of a narcostate, growing economic chaos, social inequalities, citizen disenchantment--or worse
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Happy 4th Of July America From North Korea
Submitted by artlyn entertainment on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 00:04
I have done a couple of postings regarding North Korea using South Korea's Yonhap News Service.
What better way to get the news than straight from the closest source than a rewrite from AP, UPI or others.
Here's what Yonhap has reported regarding more missle firings.
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Palin to quit as Alaska governor at end of July
Submitted by Connecticut Man1 on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 18:40
Gov. Sarah Palin announced today that she will resign in a few weeks. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will take over at the Governor's Picnic in Fairbanks on July 26.
"People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska," Palin said.
No word on any new Palin scandals about to break... Yet. Paydirt from Brad Blog?
Okay, I've now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to the building of Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex built during her tenure as Mayor. Both structures, it is said, feature the "same windows, same wood, same products." Federal investigators have been looking into this for some time, and indictments could be imminent, according to the Alaska sources.
The BRAD BLOG has not been able to receive confirm from any federal sources on this. Our information comes from local Alaskans who follow Palin, and who have been keeping an eye on this for some time, while keeping it quiet at the request of federal investigators.
Palin recently received a dubious honor from the press, beating out disgraced former Governor Rod Blagalphabet of IL and numerous other worthy nominees:
Our governor has won the prestigious ”Sitting Duck Award,” given out annually by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists to the “most ridiculed newsmaker in America.”
Whew.
Past president Mike Leonard, a columnist for The Herald Times of Bloomington, Ind.: “As a Hoosier, I feel that she’s done something that Dan Quayle could never do. Which was to make Dan Quayle look good. … After the election, the video of Sarah and the poultry processing factory … that pretty much says it all. The gift that keeps on giving.”
If we’re going to be put through all the drama, the craziness, and the scandal, the least we should get is an award for it.
I am certain we will read more about Palin in the news in the future... But I have a feeling that Palin will not enjoy it.
Below the fold and via the political carnival,Palin's near incoherent ramblings at the presser:
FROM THE MAILBOX: ***HEALTHCARE FOR ALL INFORMATION PROJECT***
Submitted by carol white on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 16:07
from Campaign for America's Future
1. CBO-KAY! Senate HELP Bill Rebounds
2. Important new report on public insurance plans from the Urban Institute
3. Memo To Deficit Hawks: Public Plan Option Indisputably Saves Money
4. Health Care Deform: Afraid of the public option? This is what America will look like without it
5. WeWantThePublicOption.com
6. Tell Congress: Take the Pledge!
1. CBO-KAY! Senate HELP Bill Rebounds
By Tim Foley
Change.org
Click for source
Republicans have made hay for the past few weeks on how Ted Kennedy's bill cost too much ($1 trillion dollars) and covered too few (only an additional 16 million). Of course, that score was on a partial bill, one that the Congressional Budget Office itself claimed "[does] not represent a formal or complete cost estimate for the draft legislation" (italics theirs.) It also lacked the details on the individual mandate, the employer "pay or play" mandate, and the public health insurance option. But Kennedy and Chris Dodd have kept at it, undeterred from the catcalls, and have finally delivered the goods. According to Jon Cohn on The Treatment, the new, full bill is in.
Read more here
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Hydraulic Fracturing: Your Money or Your Life
Submitted by TXsharon on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 15:36
Ninety-two percent of the 278 known chemicals used to produce natural gas have adverse health effects including endocrine disruption, neurological disorders and cancer. Chemical information is limited because the industry claims formulas are trade secrets. If, like most Americans, you believe your water, air and soil are protected from these chemicals by federal environmental statutes, you are dead wrong. Loopholes in our federal environmental laws allow the oil and gas industry to endanger public health and safety and risk vital natural resources.
Fueled by technological advances, a frenzied expansion in natural gas drilling has exploded into 34 American states. Once the burden of rural areas, it now encroaches into heavily populated cities turning neighborhoods into industrial zones. They’re calling natural gas a bridge fuel, an alternative fuel, the “clean” energy. Enough PR money burnishes a dirty fossil fuel into an environmentally friendly magic bridge to lead us far from our energy crisis. In truth, the production process that endangers public health and safety, depletes scarce water supplies, and generates colossal amounts of toxic waste cancels out the slightly cleaner burn. It's a heavy toll to cross this bridge.
The question becomes: who pays?
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Featured Video's: At Free Documentary.org
Submitted by jimstaro on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 14:09
FEATURED VIDEOS: At Freedocumentaries.org, you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!
Like These:
Hacking Democracy: Trailer
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Keep Up the Single Payer Pressure
Submitted by Connecticut Man1 on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:24
Via my COMA-CT email:
Physicians for a National Health Program - www.pnhp.org,
16,000 physicians in support of single payer national health insurance
July 2, 2009
Dear Colleague,
We invite you to sign the following "Open Letter to President Obama" urging him to endorse single-payer health reform, and to forward it on to your colleagues in practice and in medical school. Since we released the Open Letter about a week ago, over 600 physicians have signed it and 75 have joined PNHP.
The battle for genuine health reform has intensified, as has the terrible crisis in our health care system. Now more than ever we have a responsibility as physicians to speak out for the only reform that can provide truly universal, comprehensive and affordable care: single-payer national health insurance. We are strengthened by knowing that our viewpoint is shared by the majority of our colleagues and the public.
In addition to signing the Open Letter yourself, please distribute it as widely as possible to your physician and medical student contacts. (Donation or membership in PNHP is welcome but not required to endorse the letter.)
Now's the time to to make the voices of physicians who support single payer heard by President Obama.
Thank you for signing and helping to circulate the Open Letter.
| Marcia Angell, M.D. Past Editor-in-Chief, New England Journal of Medicine Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School |
Oliver Fein, M.D. Assoc. Dean, Weill Cornell Medical College President, Phys. for a National Health Program |
| Arnold S. Relman, M.D. Past Editor-in-Chief, New England Journal of Medicine Professor Emeritus, Harvard Medical School |
Quentin Young, M.D. National Coordinator, Phys. for a National Health Program Past President, American Public Health Association |
| Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H. Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Co-founder, Phys. for a National Health Program |
James G. Kahn, M.D., M.P.H. Professor, UCSF School of Medicine Chair, California Physicians Alliance |
Open Letter to President Obama to Support Single-Payer Health Care:
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Health Series Meets DK Greenroots!
Submitted by TheFatLadySings on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:05
Proper environmental management is the key to avoiding the quarter of all preventable illnesses which are directly caused by environmental factors. The environment influences our health in many ways — through exposures to physical, chemical and biological risk factors, and through related changes in our behaviour in response to those factors.
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The 4th of July: It's Time for a Change
Submitted by carol white on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 08:07
hat tip to Paul Krugman for the chart taken from the recent BLS report. The rate of wage change over the past three months is expressed as an annual rate:This Fourth of July is a good time to remember the words of The Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
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This 4th of July, "Give Peace a Chance"
Submitted by jimstaro on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 18:50
The famous tune was penned by John Lennon and Yoko Ono 40 years ago this Saturday, July 4.
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Gaza Views, First hand report of conditions in Gaza -- Part IV
Submitted by rosahill on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 14:36
This is the final post of the four part series by Felice Gelman who writes about her recent trip to Gaza under the pen name rosahill. Here are links to the first three posts from her diary. Here are links to the first three posts, Part I, Part II, Part III.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A Detailed Account of the Impact of Israel's Attack
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The State of California Issues IOU's in Place of $s: State Budget Crisis
Submitted by carol white on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 08:56
hat tip Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
For the first time since the Great Depression (with a brief exception in 1992) California, state finance officials will begin issuing IOUs today to meet its $24-billion budget shortfall.These will go to local governments, vendors, taxpayers and college students receiving state financial aid. State workers will face more unpaid leave days and Counties that administer social services also would not get paid, nor would taxpayers who are still expecting refunds.
Were California an independent nation it's economy would rank in the top ten globally and now it is bankrupt, and it is not the only US state economy in deep trouble. It's economy accounts for 12 percent of US domestic product and has the largest retail consumption in the country.
Lieberman Campaign Lies on Healthcare Reform
Submitted by Connecticut Man1 on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 19:10
Via Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent, Joe Lieberman has taken his strongest stance yet in support of doing nothing honest in healthcare reform:
U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has a bipartisan group of senators ready to help pass health care reform — minus a government-run insurance plan.
During a New Haven stop to support overall reform, Connecticut’s independent fourth-term senator gave his strongest statement to date opposing Democrats’ and President Obama’s call for a “public option” health care plan.
The problem with his faux idea of bipartisan solutions in opposition to a public option? This is something that he had campaigned on in the past:
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Open Thread -- Treason and Sedition, Fox News Edition
Submitted by Open Thread on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 14:47
YouTube:
Michael Scheuer Calls For Osama to Attack: Glenn Beck and Fox News Air It
Three days before the Fourth of July -- a holiday celebrating our nation's Independence Day -- and the reich-wing has stepped up the drumbeat toward insurrection, treason and sedition. Hat-tip to MinistryOfTruth of DailyKos
Every Republican member of Congress should be immediately called upon to voice their opinion on this outrage, on the record and in public.
Every right-wing pundit and "strategist" -- particularly those like Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh -- should have to weigh in, publicly and on the record.
This is the ultimate incitement of domestic and foreign actions by active enemies during a time of war: it is treasonous, it is seditious, it is wrong on so many levels. In light of all the troops who have fought in our name and to protect our nation "over there" so that we could never again be attacked over here, this unrejected statement made by Schaeur on Fox News is the ultimate slap in their faces.
It is the ultimate in dishonor.
It is the ultimate un-American sentiment.
It is beyond fathomable.
Check out the diary by Ministry of Truth for action items, and get involved now -- before another Timothy McVeigh, James W. Von Brunn, Eric Robert Rudolph, Dan White, James Earl Ray, Lee Harvey Oswald or Scott Roeder.
Let's put the words of Mike Malloy to the test: do Republicans really want our nation to fail? Do Republicans really want us to bear the brunt of another 9-11 or Oklahoma City bombing?
They're worse than useless. These are terrorists. These are domestic terrorists. They want the country to fail, for God’s sake. They want exactly what anyone who attacked this country on September 11, 2001 wanted. The real internal terrorists are the Republicans, I mean, isn't that clear?
Those are the words attributed to Mr. Malloy; they ring too true, now. Let's put the Republicans in Congress to the real test, and see if they live up to their hype, or to their actions. And in the meantime, let's ask the FCC and Secret Service to pay Fox and friends a little visit.
Obama Townhall NOW: National Discussion on Health Care Reform
Submitted by Connecticut Man1 on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 12:27
Via the White House Blog:
On Saturday the President posted a video asking for your questions on health care reform. In just a few days, we’ve gotten hundreds of submissions. The questions spanned the ideological spectrum, and ranged from heart-breaking and personal to almost wonkishly policy-focused.
Today’s the day where the President will get to answer some of the best submissions.
But even if you didn't get a chance to submit a video question, the opportunities to participate have just begun. Watch, discuss, and engage through our Facebook live-stream chat application, watch and drop us comments at WhiteHouse.gov/live, or take part in the conversation on Twitter using hashtag #WHHCQ.
The event will begin around 1:15 EDT:
We'll not only be monitoring all of those conversations closely during the event and looking for ways to incorporate your feedback into the conversation, but following up after the event in the coming days to get to as many questions as possible from the ones the President couldn't get to, and to address follow-up questions to his answers there.
Watch it live:
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