Amazing claims and controversy

"Fox says Time Warner Cable may drop Fox TV shows#," is from Yahoo! News (12/18/09).

"If Joe Barton's BCS Bill Is All About Making Lobbyists Some Dough, Then Good Work#," is from The Dallas Observer (12/18/09).

"Costco removed tomatoes to save Sarah Palin from possible pelting~," is from Signs of the Times (12/16/09). Diane says, "I got quite a chuckle out of this article. Maybe we should start pelting her with potatoes and apples. I hope there's no store who feels they have to clear the entire produce department; get rid of their eggs, just because Palin is 'coming to town'............"

"Revealed: Bush officials e-mailed bogus rumor blaming Gore for failure to kill Bin Laden#," is from The Raw Story (12/16/09).

"Perino: It's 'Demonstrably False' To Say 'Bush Was Too Triumphant In His Rhetoric' About War#," is from Think Progress (12/15/09).

"Schwarzenegger on Palin's global warming stance: Take her 'with a grain of salt.'#," is from Think Progress (12/15/09).

"Coulter: Meghan McCain looks like Tiger Woods’ mistress#," is from The Raw Story (12/14/09).

"Steele's Economic Plan: Take Away Unemployment Benefits#," is from Think Progress (12/14/09). Jon asks, "WOW! This guy Steele is a real nutcase! Does he even listen to what he says?"

"Wall Street Journal editor added attack by Limbaugh to Kennedy obituary#," is from The Raw Story (12/14/09).

"GOP Purity Test Echoes Berlin in 1933#," is from The Huffington Post (12/13/09).

Jon recommends this fine website: Common Dreams.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.

Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Technorati tags: blogging news links republicans

Posted via email from Behind These Links

The Earth In the Balance

Image via Wikipedia

"GOP's global warming rumble: Sarah Palin v. Arnold Schwarzenegger#," is from Yahoo! News (12/16/09).

"Copenhagen Climate Talks SUSPENDED, In Chaos, As Countries Walk Out Of The Conference (UPDATED)#," is from The Huffington Post (12/14/09).

"'Smokey Joe' Barton: Global Warming 'Is A Net Benefit To Mankind'#," is from Think Progress (12/14/09).

"Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years#," is from Yahoo! News (12/14/09).

"AP IMPACT: Monsanto seed business role revealed#," is from Yahoo! News (12/13/09). Jon worries,"This is troubling. This could adversely affect the entire world. Talk about a monopoly!"

"Inuits need cash for freezers in warming Arctic#," is from Yahoo! News (12/11/09). Jon's comment: "They must not have gotten the rethug memo that global warming is a fairy tale."

"Heartbreaking Stories Warn New Yorkers of What May Be in Store if the State OKs Controversial Gas Drilling#," is from AlterNet (12/10/09). Summary: Residents of others states are issuing words of warning for New Yorkers who may soon allow companies to use the "fracking" process to drill for natural gas. Jon says it "sounds familiar."

"Palin Refuses To Say If She’d Debate Gore On Climate Change: ‘It Depends On What The Venue Would Be’#," is from Think Progress (12/10/09). Jon says, "Bailin palin would be torn to shreds by Gore, thats why she will decline."

"No Slowdown of Global Warming, Agency Says#," is from Common Dreams (12/09/09).

"Sea level is rising along US Atlantic coast, say environmental scientists#," is from Science Daily (12/09/09). Summary: An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years.

"Copenhagen - A to Z#," is from Think Progress (12/08/09).

"Our Lives Are Filled With Worthless Crap That's Destroying the Earth: Here's What You Can Do#," is from AlterNet (11/28/09). Summary: The way to lower the quantity of energy required to make and distribute short-lived consumer goods is to make them durable, repairable and upgradable.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.

Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Technorati tags: blogging news global warming environment

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Posted via email from Behind These Links

The continuing saga of The Tiger

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"Earl Woods AFFAIR? Tiger's Father Cheated Too, Former Flame Dina Parr Says (VIDEO)#," is from The Huffington Post (12/16/09).

"Tiger Woods wife wants a divorce#," is from The Raw Story (12/16/09).

"Woods' future cloudy as wife buys new Swedish home#," is from Yahoo! News (12/14/09). Jon's comment: "The quote at the end shows his hypocrisy, he's just like all the other high paid coddled athletes who think they they are special!"

"Tiger Woods in the news: tabloid revelations and blind eyes#," is from Devil Ball Golf - Golf Blog - Yahoo! Sports (12/13/09)

"Golf in shock as Tiger takes indefinite break#," is from Golf - Yahoo! Sports (12/13/09).

"Tiger Woods, Jamie Jungers SEX DETAILS: 'Wild,' 'Crazy' And Against The Wall#," is from The Huffington Post (12/10/09).

"COCKTAIL waitress Jaimee Grubbs said sorry to Tiger Wood's wife on US television for sleeping with her superstar husband.#," is from The Sun UK (12/10/09).

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.

Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Technorati tags: blogging news Tiger Woods

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Posted via email from Behind These Links

Health-care bill wouldn't bring real reform - washingtonpost.com

. . . From the very beginning of this debate, progressives have argued that a public option or a Medicare buy-in would restore competition and hold the private health insurance industry accountable. Progressives understood that a public plan would give Americans real choices about what kind of system they wanted to be in and how they wanted to spend their money. Yet Washington has decided, once again, that the American people cannot be trusted to choose for themselves. Your money goes to insurers, whether or not you want it to.

. . . Improvements can still be made in the Senate, and I hope that Senate Democrats will work on this bill as it moves to conference. If lawmakers are interested in ensuring that government affordability credits are spent on health-care benefits rather than insurers' salaries, they need to require state-based exchanges, which act as prudent purchasers and select only the most efficient insurers. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) offered this amendment during the Finance Committee markup, and Democrats should include it in the final legislation. A stripped-down version of the current bill that included these provisions would be worth passing.

In Washington, when major bills near final passage, an inside-the-Beltway mentality takes hold. Any bill becomes a victory. Clear thinking is thrown out the window for political calculus. In the heat of battle, decisions are being made that set an irreversible course for how future health reform is done. The result is legislation that has been crafted to get votes, not to reform health care.

I have worked for health-care reform all my political life. In my home state of Vermont, we have accomplished universal health care for children younger than 18 and real insurance reform -- which not only bans discrimination against preexisting conditions but also prevents insurers from charging outrageous sums for policies as a way of keeping out high-risk people. I know health reform when I see it, and there isn't much left in the Senate bill. I reluctantly conclude that, as it stands, this bill would do more harm than good to the future of America.

via washingtonpost.com

Dr. Howard Dean is taking on the courageous task of informing the U.S. populace that "Emperor HealthCare has no clothes." He says,
"If I were a senator, I would not vote for the current health-care bill. Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform."
In this Thursday WaPo editorial he lays out the reasons why passage of the health care reform legislation in its current Senate form would do more harm than good for the American people. I have excerpted his most important concluding paragraphs.
Like a large number of Progressives, I have serious reservations about this massive "welfare for the health insurance sector." It feels like a complete capitulation to the well-heeled lobbyists that have crawled the halls on Capitol Hill since Congress' reform effort began. And we will be worse off for it if it is not improved before final passage.

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

The Senate and Health Care - Links of Interest

"Lieberman won’t rule out running as a Republican in 2012#," is from The Raw Story (12/16/09).  Jon says, "Time to kick this self-serving traitor to the curb!"

"Lieberman's Medicare Flip-Flop Leaves Democrats Fuming#," is from The Huffington Post (12/14/09).

"Lieberman: No Need For Medicare Buy-In Because Baucus Bill Was So Good#," is from TPMDC (12/14/09).

"Dems against Dems in health care vote struggle#," is from Yahoo! News (12/14/09).

"Senate Democrats Consider Nightmare Scenario On Health Care#," is from The Huffington Post (12/13/09).

"White House pressuring Reid to negotiate with Lieberman?#," is from The Raw Story (12/13/09).

"Senate Dems may change health care compromise#," is from Yahoo! News (12/11/09).

"Pharma Deal Shuts Down Senate Health Care Debate#," is from The Huffington Post 12/11/09).

"How a Few Private Health Insurers Are on the Way to Controlling Health Care#," is by Robert Reich from The Huffington Post (12/11/09).

"After voting against debating health reform, Republicans demand Senate 'stay in' to debate this weekend#," is from Think Progress (12/10/09).

"Health-care reform: Will it ruin Medicare?~," is from Consumer Reports.org. (12/10/09).

"ThinkFast: December 9, 2009#," is from Think Progress. A few health care items of interest.

"Senate blocks tough abortion limits in health bill#," is from Yahoo! News (12/08/09).

"Steele calls Sen. Reid's slavery remark 'ignorant'~" is from BLNZ (12/8/09). Summary:

GOP's Steele demands Senate's Harry Reid apologize for slavery remark in health care debate. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele is renewing his demand that Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apologize for likening health care overhaul opponents to those who resisted putting an end to slavery.

Recommended by Jon: Common Dreams.org

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.

Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Technorati tags: blogging news

Posted via email from Behind These Links

Incredible New Hubble Image Full of Stars | International Space Fellowship

Just in time for the holidays: a Hubble Space Telescope picture postcard of hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds. The festive portrait is the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood.

Hubble's Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region. Credit: NASA/ESA

The massive, young stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. There is no known star-forming region in our galaxy as large or as prolific as 30 Doradus.
Many of the diamond-like icy blue stars are among the most massive stars known. Several of them are over 100 times more massive than our Sun. These hefty stars are destined to pop off, like a string of firecrackers, as supernovas in a few million years.
The image, taken in ultraviolet, visible, and red light by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, spans about 100 light-years. The nebula is close enough to Earth that Hubble can resolve individual stars, giving astronomers important information about the stars’ birth and evolution.

via spacefellowship.com

Click on this link for a wonderful new Hubble image. It depicts a region labeled charmingly as a "stellar nursery." It comes to us as a result of the recent refurbishing of the Hubble Space Telescope by brave astronauts armed with hammers, wrenches and fabulous new instruments..

Posted via web from Southwest Postings