Refuse and Resist Mandatory Flu Vaccines --3100 signatures - add yours!
Insurance Lobby Reduces Unemployment By Hiring Thugs For Town Hall Meetings By R J Shulman 13 Aug 2009 Those angry voices shouting slogans against health care reform at town hall meetings come from a group that is actually grateful: Thanks to the Insurance lobby, they have recently left the ranks of the unemployed. UnitedHealthcare, CIGNA Health Insurance, and the Republican National Committee have hired an estimated 5,500 unemployed thugs, bullies, and emotionally challenged people to swarm town hall meetings to shout down any intelligent discussion on the issues. (Satire)
US death squads are little bees! Pakistani Muslim clerics slain in Somalia 13 Aug 2009 Masked gunmen stormed a mosque Wednesday in western Somalia, killing at least five Pakistani Muslim clerics. Authorities tried to find out who carried out the execution-style murders [c'mon], and why. The victims belonged to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told The Associated Press in Islamabad. Tablighi Jamaat is believed to be apolitical and nonviolent. Some of its members travel the world, preaching to fellow Muslims.
'Statute of Limitations Has Expired' on Many Secrets, Former Vice President Says --Cheney Uncloaks His Frustration With Bush 13 Aug 2009 In his first few months after leaving office, former vice president [sic] Richard B. Cheney threw himself into public combat against the "far left" agenda of the new commander in chief. More private reflections, as his memoir takes shape in slashing longhand on legal pads, have opened a second front against Cheney's White House partner of eight years, George W. Bush. Cheney's disappointment with the former president [sic] surfaced recently in one of the informal conversations he is holding to discuss the book with authors, diplomats, policy experts and past colleagues. [You know you're in trouble when... you reflect upon your term in office vis a vis the statute of limitations. --LRP]
AP: Former AG Gonzalez says criminal probe of CIA interrogations could be dangerous 12 Aug 2009 Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says a criminal investigation into whether CIA interrogations after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks crossed legal lines could have a chilling effect on U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Gonzales said a Justice Department investigation "could discourage" CIA operatives from "engaging in conduct that even comes close" to department guidelines.
U.S., NATO deaths from Afghan bombs up sixfold --A record 62,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan. 12 Aug 2009 U.S. and NATO deaths from roadside and suicide bomb blasts in Afghanistan soared sixfold in July compared with the same month last year, as militants detonated the highest number of bombs of the eight-year war, figures released yesterday showed. Three U.S. Marines and a Polish soldier were killed in the latest attacks, setting August on course to surpass the record 75 deaths of U.S. and NATO troops from all causes in July. . [See: We can't 'afford' health care for all US citizens, but by golly: Afghanistan Needs More Money --U.S. ambassador asks for an additional $2.5B next year for development and [KBR-funded] civilian reconstruction. 12 Aug 2009 Obama has asked for $68 billion in Defense Department spending in Afghanistan next year, an amount that for the first time would exceed U.S. military expenditures in Iraq. Spending on civilian governance and development programs has doubled under the Obama administration, to $200 million a month -- equal to the monthly rate in Iraq during the zenith of spending on nonmilitary projects there.]
AP journalists wounded in Afghanistan --Photographer Emilio Morenatti loses a foot after bomb attack 12 Aug 2009 Two Associated Press journalists wounded in a bomb blast while on assignment with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan were evacuated to a medical centre in Dubai today after being treated at a military hospital. The Army said that two U.S. soldiers were also wounded in the bombing of a light armoured vehicle called a Stryker near the Pakistani border. Photographer Emilio Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were travelling on Tuesday with a unit of the 5th Stryker Brigade when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted in the open desert terrain, the military said.
Canadian withdrawal from Afghanistan loss to NATO: expert 13 Aug 2009 A U.S. expert sees Canada's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2011 to be a great loss to NATO's mission there, Canadian media reports said Wednesday. The Canadian departure would seriously undermine NATO's war as it is not about a small number of troops but a big issue as the loss of experience and credibility with local Afghans, according to Anthony Cordesman, a U.S. counter-insurgency expert, who served as a special adviser to the alliance's new ground commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal.
US soldiers largest swine flu-infected group in Iraq 12 Aug 2009 US soldiers in Iraq have become the largest group in the country to be infected with the deadly A/H1N1 virus, which is rapidly spreading in Asian countries. Iraqi health officials reported on Wednesday that some 67 American soldiers have been diagnosed with swine flu, adding that 23 Iraqis and six other foreigners have tested positive for the deadly virus. [They were likely vaccinated with it. Notice how disease outbreaks and pandemics usually begin at US military bases and Army medical research facilities?]
Baghdad bombings kill at least 8 12 Aug 2009 Several bombs exploded nearly simultaneously Tuesday in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad, killing at least eight people. An explosives-laden car parked near a market entrance and two other nearby bombs detonated within minutes of one another about 8:40 p.m. in the Amin Thaniya neighborhood in east Baghdad, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 22, police and hospital officials said.
Five killed in Iraq attacks 12 Aug 2009 Five people were killed, including four police officers, and eight wounded in separate attacks in Iraq's tense northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul on Wednesday, police said. Three bomb disposal agents were killed and three hurt as they attempted to defuse a car bomb at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), police Major Salam Zinganah told AFP.
Interrogation Inc.: A Window Into C.I.A.'s Embrace of Secret Jails 13 Aug 2009 In March 2003, two C.I.A. officials surprised Kyle D. Foggo, then the chief of the agency’s main European supply base, with an unusual request. They wanted his help building secret prisons to hold some of the world’s most threatening alleged terrorists. Mr. Foggo, nicknamed Dusty, was known inside the agency as a cigar-waving, bourbon-drinking operator, someone who could get a cargo plane flying anywhere in the world or quickly obtain weapons, food, money -- whatever the C.I.A. needed... Mr. Foggo went on to oversee construction of three detention centers, each built to house about a half-dozen detainees prisoners, according to former intelligence officials and others briefed on the matter.
Feds to tour Michigan prison where Gitmo detainees could go 12 Aug 2009 Federal officials will travel to Standish, Michigan, on Thursday to tour a state prison that could be used to house terror suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. government officials said Wednesday. Among those who will check out the facility, the officials said, will be representatives from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.
Bayh seeks more Guard toxin review --KBR may have caused hundreds of U.S. troops to be exposed to dangerous levels of toxin 12 Aug 2009 Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and four other Democratic senators are asking the Pentagon’s inspector general to review the Army’s response to the potential exposure of Indiana National Guardsmen to a deadly chemical in Iraq. The senators said they think that the conduct of the Army and by the military contractor [terrorists] KBR may have caused hundreds of U.S. troops to be exposed to dangerous levels of the cancer-causing sodium dichromate.
KBR Secures Engineering Services Contract for Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Export Refinery Project 12 Aug 2009 The American engineering, construction and service company KBR Incorporated (Houston, Texas) has been awarded a contract by the state-owned Saudi Aramco (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) and ConocoPhillips (Houston) to supply detailed engineering and procurement services for the Yanbu export refinery project.
Lockerbie bomber could be freed from prison next week --Many British families believe Megrahi is innocent. 13 Aug 2009 Preparations are under way to free the Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing from prison next week, after doctors said his terminal prostate cancer was in its final stages. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, sentenced to a minimum life term of 25 years in 2001 for killing 270 people in the bombing, is expected to be released on compassionate grounds in time to return home for the start of the festival of Ramadan next week.
Secure Flight begins phasing in Aug. 15 --Secure Flight requires that airlines get your birthdate and gender so you can be prescreened against a government watch list. 12 Aug 2009 A change, which is rolling out airline-by-airline but which officially begins to phase in this weekend on Aug. 15, will require that you hand over to the federal government more personal data than ever before in order to reserve a seat on a domestic flight. The overhauled Transportation Security Administration program is required by law, but many consumers haven't heard much about it. A new TSA program called "Secure Flight" transfers the responsibility of pre-screening passengers from the airlines to the TSA.
State to offer 2 types of licenses for renewals 12 Aug 2009 Those who choose not to seek the federally-compliant ID will not be able to board an airplane or enter certain federal buildings beginning in 2016, when the federal government will begin enforcing the new standards. The state will issue two forms of the driver's license or ID -- one labeled federally compliant and one labeled non-federally compliant. Those seeking a new Indiana license -- such as first-time drivers and new residents who have moved here from another state -- will have to obtain the federally-compliant ID or license.
DNA database has 300 children added a day 11 Aug 2009 More than 300 children a day are being put on to the DNA database fuelling fresh fears over the growth of the "Big Brother" state. Almost 1.1 million youngsters aged between ten and 17 have had their profiles recorded by the police since 2000, with a large proportion aged under 15, the Daily Telegraph can disclose. And around one in six are likely to have never been convicted of any crime.
One third of all children in jails are 'wrongly imprisoned' 13 Aug 2009 More than a third of children sent to prison last year were wrongly jailed, a report into child custody rates says. The study by Barnardo's found that the Government had breached its own guidance on child custody by allowing so many 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds to be imprisoned for a non-serious offences.
Study: Militancy on the rise in US 12 Aug 2009 An institutional inquiry into militia growth in the United States points to mounting activities on the part of armed groups amidst economic and state problems. A new report published by the non-profit US legal firm, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), identifies the ailing economy and a 'moderate' Democrat president of African descent as the root causes for the increasing dissent which has led to the mushrooming sprout of armed bands and hate crimes across the country.
Swine flu may have peaked, experts say 13 Aug 2009 An expected second wave of pandemic influenza which was expected to strike Britain later this year may turn out to be less dangerous than previously thought, according to some of the world's leading flu experts. Scientists are having second thoughts about whether they were right to expect a more lethal form of H1N1 swine flu virus to emerge this autumn following a re-evaluation of previous influenza pandemics.
Health agency adopts rules to increase flu vaccinations 12 Aug 2009 (MA) State public health authorities today adopted emergency measures designed to boost flu vaccination rates among healthcare workers and to allow dentists, pharmacists, and paramedics to administer influenza shots. The state Public Health Council, an appointed board of doctors, consumer advocates, and policy specialists, voted unanimously to require hospitals and clinics to provide flu vaccine to all their workers and certain volunteers. Infectious disease specialists have long recommended that medical employees be vaccinated, but studies have shown that barely half of workers wind up being inoculated against the viral illness. Even with the emergency action taken today, medical employees could still decline to be vaccinated. [Right, they're not stupid. They don't want a mega-dose of mercury, squalene, Polysorbate 80 and insect eggs. See: Baxter not to provide anti-swine flu vaccine to Czechs --Czech Health Ministry: Baxter unable to guarantee vaccine is safe, won't be responsible for its side-effects 03 Aug 2009; Baxter Vaccine 'Oddities' 17 Jul 2009.]
Drug to combat swine flu leaves '1,000 patients in suffering' --Officials insist Tamiflu is safe as reports of side effects continue to rise 12 Aug 2009 Health officials yesterday defended the Government's policy of giving the antiviral drug Tamiflu to everyone claiming to be suffering from the symptoms of swine flu despite more than 400 reports of adverse drug reactions since the start of the outbreak. Critics of the policy of widespread distribution of Tamiflu have also warned that people who fail to complete the course of treatment may be fuelling the evolution of drug-resistant forms of the type of H1N1 influenza A virus behind the swine flu pandemic. [See: Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug 12 Mar 2006 Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu.]
Did Obama sabotage health care reform? By Lori Price 13 Aug 2009 The health care CEOs are making millions of dollars per year, mainly by denying people coverage. President Obama would have won popular support for quality reform ('single-payer' health care) by putting this issue front-and-center. But he didn't. Instead, he allowed the rightwing to hijack the debate. Did Obama do that on purpose, so that he would not be held accountable to his campaign promise (apparently, a lie) that he would push for universal health care coverage? Health Insurance Company CEOs Total Compensation in 2008 By Michael Ricciardelli 20 May 2009 Ins. Co. & CEO With 2008 Total CEO Compensation: Aetna, Ronald A. Williams: $24,300,112 Cigna, H. Edward Hanway: $12,236,740 Coventry, Dale Wolf: $9,047,469 Health Net, Jay Gellert: $4,425,355 Humana, Michael McCallister: $4,764,309 U. Health Group, Stephen J. Hemsley: $3,241,042 Wellpoint, Angela Braly: $9,844,212]
Leaked Email: CNBC Went to Tea Partiers Looking for Angry Protests 12 Aug 2009 CNBC approached Tea Party activists, looking for angry protest events that would make good television, according to a leaked email from a Tea Party discussion group. And one Teabagger responded by flagging an upcoming event that, he said, "should be a riot ... literally." Yesterday, Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin sent an email, obtained by TPMmuckraker, to a Tea Party google group. Martin told the group: "We have a media request for an event this week that will have lots of energy and lots of anger. This is for CNBC."
Swastika painted at Georgia congressman's office --Congressman, who is black, said he has received mail in recent days that used N-word references to him 11 Aug 2009 A swastika was found Tuesday painted on a sign outside the office of Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat. Scott's staff arrived at his Smyrna, Ga., office Tuesday morning to find the Nazi graffiti emblazoned on a sign bearing the lawmaker's name. The vandalism occurred roughly a week after Scott was involved in a contentious argument over health care at a community meeting.
CLG: Guns OK Outside Obama Town Hall; Kerry Pins Brought Arrest At Bush Rally By Lori Price 12 Aug 2009 Bush's Waffen-SS arrested (and strip-searched) people with Kerry-Edwards buttons pinned to their T-shirts and paper protest signs at his at his GOP-only appearances. But, when a Reichwinger attends a New Hampshire town hall meeting with a gun -- merely yards from President Obama -- the protester not only gets to remain at the meeting but also gets to be a guest on MSNBC's 'Hardball.'
Video: Arrest Yesterday at McCaskill Healthcare By Chad Garrison 12 Aug 2009 As you can see from the [Peter Glickert] video, the woman arrested yesterday at Senator Claire McCaskill's healthcare forum was kicked out of the event after a fellow attendee took it upon himself to confiscate her property. As Glickert observes on his blog, the television news only showed the woman being escorted out by police -- leaving viewers to assume that her actions, alone, prompted her arrest.
Sen. Grassley: Govt. Would 'Decide When to Pull the Plug On Grandma' 12 Aug 2009 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) continued the thoroughly debunked right wing euthanasia/death panel meme today, telling a town hall crowd, "You have every right to fear....a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on Grandma..." Grassley is the latest republican to jump on the euthanasia bandwagon. Today, Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele said Sarah Palin's "death panel" comment was "perfectly appropriate" given the "life-and-death decisions" the government would make under a health care reform bill.
Steele: Palin's Talk of a "Death Panel" Is "Perfectly Appropriate" 12 Aug 2009 RNC Chairman Michael Steele just appeared on the Neil Cavuto show, where he endorsed Sarah Palin's accusation that President Obama will set up "death panels" to decide who is worthy or not of medical care.
Wall St. approves as Fed keeps rates near 0% 12 Aug 2009 The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to keep a key interest rate near zero, saying the economy is stabilizing and inflation is under control. The announcement by the Fed's Open Market Committee was widely expected but was still welcomed on Wall Street: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 120 points, or 1.3%, to 9362. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "did what everyone [!?!] hoped he would," says Mike Holland of Holland & Co.
Gay-Marriage Bid Is Delayed 12 Aug 2009 California's leading gay-rights group said Wednesday it would wait until 2012 to put a measure on the state ballot to legalize same-sex marriage -- much later than many advocates expected and a sign the national push for gay marriage could stretch for years despite recent victories in some states. Equality California, the group that organized an unsuccessful effort to block California's Proposition 8 last year banning gay marriage in the state, said it planned to wait three years because it would take that long to change enough minds to win at the polls.
Ontario polar bears officially threatened species 12 Aug 2009 Polar bear populations in Ontario's north are on the decline, turning cautious concern for the animal's survival into planned action. The Ontario government is changing the classification of the polar bear population from special concern to threatened species to ensure a greater protection of the bears.
Indianapolis Zoo's polar bear dies 12 Aug 2009 One of the world's oldest polar bears is dead at the age of 34. Indianapolis Zoo officials say the bear named Tahtsa died Wednesday after years of declining health. Veterinarians decided to euthanize her when she could no longer stand.
Previous lead stories: Inquiry into Britain's involvement in torture rejected by Government 11 Aug 2009 An inquiry into whether Britain’s intelligence services have been involved indirectly in the torture of terrorist suspects by foreign agencies is not necessary, the Government said yesterday. Downing Street’s rejection of calls for an inquiry came as the head of MI6 publicly insisted that none of his intelligence officers could be accused of complicit involvement in torture.
U.S. battling CIA rendition case in 3 courts 10 Aug 2009 The Obama administration is fighting on multiple fronts - in courts in San Francisco, Washington and London - to keep an official veil of secrecy over the treatment of a former prisoner who says he was tortured at Guantanamo Bay. The administration has asked a federal appeals court in San Francisco to reconsider its ruling allowing Binyam Mohamed and four other former or current prisoners to sue a Bay Area company for allegedly flying them to overseas torture chambers for the CIA.
