http://www.obbreeze.com/waterbyindex.php?seq=17
You’ve got to shake your fists at lightning now
You’ve got to roar like forest fire
You’ve got to spread your light like blazes
All across the sky
They’re going to aim the hoses on you
Show ’em you won’t expire
Not till you burn up every passion
Not even when you die
Come on now
You’ve got to try
If you’re feeling contempt
Well then you tell it
If you’re tired of the silent night
Jesus well then you yell it
Condemned to wires and hammers
Strike every chord that you feel
That broken trees
And elephant ivories conceal
For the Roses is a 1972 album by Joni Mitchell, between her two biggest commercial and critical successes – Blue and Court and Spark. Despite this, in 2007 it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It’s Mitchell’s first, and so far only, album to accomplish this feat.[1]
It is perhaps best known for the hit single “You Turn Me on I’m a Radio”, which Mitchell wrote sarcastically out of a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was indeed a hit, reaching #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming Mitchell’s first top 40 hit released under her own name (as a songwriter, several other performers had had hits with songs that she had written). “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” — a menacing and jazzy portrait of a heroin addict — and the Beethoven-inspired “Judgement of the Moon and Stars” were also popular. The title song “For the Roses” was Mitchell’s farewell to the business; she took an extended break for a year after.[2]
“Banquet” describes a metaphorical table from which “some get the gravy / Some get the gristle… and some get nothing / Though there’s plenty to spare”. “Barangrill”, with its more complex arrangement, is a lighter and sprightly rap which extols the uncomplicated virtues of a roadside truck stop. “Lesson in Survival” is the first of the love songs, about the longing for greater privacy, a sense of isolation, and a love for nature. “Let the Wind Carry Me” contrasts thoughts of a more stable, conventional life with the overpowering need to live with minimal constraints upon one’s freedom.
The second side opens with “See You Sometime”, which deals with fleeting feelings and romantic competition. “Electricity” extols the simplicity and serenity of the quiet country life against the way in which people in modern society think of themselves unconsciously as machines. “Woman of Heart and Mind” is a portrait of a flawed lover.
The album was critically acclaimed with The New York Times saying “Each of Mitchell’s songs on For the Roses is a gem glistening with her elegant way with language, her pointed splashes of irony and her perfect shaping of images. Never does Mitchell voice a thought or feeling commonly. She’s a songwriter and singer of genius who can’t help but make us feel we are not alone.”
A nude photograph of Joni Mitchell was included on the inside cover of the original LP and is included in the CD booklet. The photograph shows the singer from the rear and was taken from a considerable distance; she is shown standing on a rock and staring out at the ocean. This created some controversy at the time.
Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitar, piano
- Wilton Felder – bass
- Russ Kunkel – drums
- Graham Nash – harmonica
- Bobbye Hall – percussion
- Tom Scott – woodwind, reeds
- Jim Burton – electric guitar on “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire”
- Stephen Stills – rock’n’roll performer on “Blonde in the Bleachers”
- Bobby Notkoff – strings
http://www.4shared.com/file/198835029/38f933b6/08_Electricity.html
(01 Banquet)
http://www.4shared.com/file/198830741/52e9fab5/02_Cold_Blue_Steel_and_Sweet_F.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198831052/6f08ebae/03_Barangrill.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198831475/c453b453/04_Lesson_In_Survival.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198831914/edd6b010/05_Let_The_Wind_Carry_Me.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198832578/a9950d37/06_For_The_Roses.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198832947/1b1dba01/07_See_You_Sometime.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198829925/4928d21a/01_Banquet.html
(08 Electricity)
http://www.4shared.com/file/198836715/d989535/09_You_Turn_Me_On_Im_A_Radio.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198837050/a46dd55e/10_Blonde_In_The_Bleachers.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198837318/cc9c2631/11_Woman_Of_Heart_and_Mind.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198838035/da3e9601/12_Judgement_Of_The_Moon_and_S.html
BlessedIsTruth's Blog 
January 17, 2010 at 12:33 am |
Hi Rosie girl.
Miss your comments and presence at RS, so thought I would stop in and say Hi Lady.
Great posts. I stop by at least every other day to see what you are up to.
Take care.
January 17, 2010 at 12:43 am |
Hey, amy!
I do notice that some of you are stopping by and I do appreciate.
Hope you like the music!
January 17, 2010 at 12:43 am |
This is probably my favorite Beethoven. Although I’m sure there’s still a lot I don’t know.
I used to listen to this over and over again when I was cruising down the Southern State on my way to pick up our son from a show.
It kept me awake.
http://www.4shared.com/file/198958264/97d6a0b9/06_-_Symphony_No_7_In_A_Major_.html
January 17, 2010 at 12:47 am |
It’s the changes in the music that reel me in.
No matter the type.
It could be Beethoven or Bryan Ferry or whoever.
January 17, 2010 at 12:54 am |
“changes that reel me in”
You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher.
Say what?!
January 17, 2010 at 1:01 am |
Here’s another song in which I love the changes.
If you listen to the end, it’s totally different from the beginning.
http://www.4shared.com/file/198971499/6dbaa093/04_-_Love_Me_Madly_Again.html
January 17, 2010 at 1:32 am |
Speaking of Them Changes!
http://www.4shared.com/file/198983003/73fd0542/03_Changes.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/198977981/57c9d56f/Electric_Flag__Buddy_Miles_-_T.html
January 17, 2010 at 2:13 am |
In this episode we talk about MYLAB with Melinda Leslie and more!
http://eerieradio.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=391594#
http://www.alienexperiences.com/MelindaLeslie01.html
January 17, 2010 at 2:23 am |
January 17, 2010 at 2:24 am |
January 17, 2010 at 2:24 am |
January 17, 2010 at 2:40 am |
The Allagash Incident.Ufo encounter and
Abduction.
January 17, 2010 at 2:41 am |
January 17, 2010 at 3:57 am |
Joined by ufologist Stanton Friedman, author Kyle Lovern discussed the history of UFO sightings over West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
January 17, 2010 at 3:58 am |
More Like This:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_filter=0&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&suggested_categories=25&search_query=cspeedracing+coast+to+coast+stanton+kyle
January 17, 2010 at 6:42 pm |
Most Recent Polling
Massachusetts Senate – Special Election
ARG 1/12 – 1/14 600 LV 48 45 Brown +3
PJM/CrossTarget (R) 1/14 – 1/14 946 LV 54 39 Brown +15
Blue Mass Group/R2000 (D) 1/12 – 1/13 500 LV 41 49 Coakley +8
Suffolk/7News 1/11 – 1/13 500 LV 50 46 Brown +4
Rasmussen Reports 1/11 – 1/11 1000 LV 47 49 Coakley +2
PPP (D) 1/7 – 1/9 744 LV 48 47 Brown +1
(I wonder if Independents in Massachusetts would be leaning left IF ObamaCare more closely resembled RomneyCare.)
January 17, 2010 at 6:53 pm |
Medicaid provision for Nebraska raises ire
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011602884.html
The rebellion against the $100 million promise has spread to nearly one-third of the nation’s attorneys general, including two Democrats.
Meanwhile, the Nebraskan whose state would get the help — Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat who was the crucial 60th vote for the bill — says he never asked for the favor to get his vote and wants it to go away.
***
Back in Nebraska, the Medicaid controversy has descended into a war of letters between Nelson and Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican rumored to be considering challenging Nelson.
“Nebraskans expect a fair deal, not a special deal,” Heineman wrote in two open letters to Nelson.
The senator wrote back that he would ask Senate and House negotiators to remove the provision “if it’s the governor’s desire.”
Nelson said he thinks the Senate and House negotiators should follow his original idea —
let each state decide whether to cancel the Medicaid expansion after three years
-or-
give every state the same permanent payments.
*** One Senate Democratic aide said that would cost an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion over a decade — “a big leap budget-wise,” another Democratic aide said. ***
The furor, Nelson said, has caught him by surprise. “You absolutely learn in the job,” he said. “I’m not saying, ‘Woe is me.’ It’s the price of being the 60th vote.”
(I think it is a mistake for Repubs to zero-in on Ben Nelson. Let’s not forget about the other senators and their stinky provisions.)
January 17, 2010 at 7:03 pm |
Bill Nelson’s Medi-scare will cost us
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-mike-thomas-column-medicare-advantage-20100116,0,4662243.column
Enter Bill Nelson.
Seeing their golden goose threatened, the insurance companies got their customers riled up about losing all those perks.
A lot of them e-mailed Bill Nelson, and when senior citizens speak in Florida, politicians snap to.
Nelson inserted what is now known as the Florida Flimflam in the health-care bill.
It allows seniors currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans to keep them.
But it doesn’t protect all of them because that would be too expensive.
It just protects them in areas that have high Medicare costs.
Call it a coincidence, but that includes about 80 percent of Florida’s 1million Medicare Advantage enrollees, most of them from South Florida.
*** This will cost about $7.5billion over 10years. ***
This certainly seems to be a convoluted reward system.
Counties where Medicare is most abused are rewarded the most.
Counties where Medicare costs have been held down are penalized.
The rationale is stunning.
It seems seniors in South Florida have been so spoiled by all their perks, taking them away would be downright cruel.
“I don’t think it is fair,” Nelson says. “This is something they have come to rely on.”
Why can’t they learn to rely on the same traditional Medicare plan that millions of other seniors have relied on for decades?
This kind of political maneuvering is what embarrasses those of us who support universal-health-care coverage.
It also is disturbing evidence that Congress never will be able to cut $400 billion or so out of future Medicare expenses that will be required to pay for health-care reform — money that should be trimmed even without this legislation.
They can’t even cut the little abuses.
The main person relying on Medicare Advantage is Bill Nelson.
And I’m not sure boosting his re-election chances is worth $7.5 billion over 10 years.
(I’m guessing the writer believes that all seniors in all states should lose their Medicare Advantage benefits. That would certainly be more fair than Granny in Florida keeping hers, but Granny in Arizona losing hers.)
January 17, 2010 at 7:09 pm |
Dems Are Bluffing on Reconciliation Threat
http://www.redstate.com/dan_perrin/2010/01/16/dems-are-bluffing-on-reconciliation-threat/
(No kidding. But that won’t keep Rachel Maddow from running with it.)
January 17, 2010 at 7:14 pm |
Ben Nelson’s deals is for Dems ONLY? (Actually, that would be Bill Nelson.)
http://huntingdemocratswithdogs.blogspot.com/2010/01/ben-nelsons-deals-is-for-dems-only.html
I will start looking into it, but I read somewhere on the web that Ben Nelson’s special carve out for Medicare Advantage was just for 3 Dem-heavy counties in Florida. Could that actually be f’n true? Could the State’s Senator have actually set up a special deal just for party-heavy counties? Could that actually be f’n true? Could that actually be f’n true? Could that actually be f’n true?
Posted by Classic Liberal
(LOL! And the moral of the story is … Never vote for anyone named “Nelson”)
January 17, 2010 at 7:23 pm |
The Obamacare Union Carve-Out and Thomas P.M. Barnett on Haitian Relief
http://hughhewitt.com/blog/g/11420871-a3b6-45d7-96d3-7880d3b5de67
Not only does this carve-out outrageously treat nearly identically-situated Americans differently –same income, same health plan, but the union member is spared an enormous tax burden and the non-union member or his company pay it– the impact of the exemption will be of far more consequence and a far greater advantage to organized labor than even the very controversial “card check” proposal.
Imagine the extraordinary advantage that will fall to companies like GM –already a government car company– when it doesn’t have to pay any of the tax but non-unionized car companies do have to pay it.
The same advantage will roll through the economy, with every unionized business benefitting and every non-union company in effect paying a premium for staying non-union.
Even long time opponents of unionization will have to reconsider their stance given the cost advantage now open to companies providing their health insurance through collective bargaining.
Democratic senators like Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln and the so-called Blue Dogs in the House, already in deep trouble in their home states because of Obamacare’s massive unpopularity, are now stuck supporting an enormous give-away to organized labor, one that penalizes every other citizen.
The Obama-Pelosi-Reid negotiators managed to take a very bad bill and make it far worse.
Pray that Brown wins and Barney Frank is right.
Obamacare is a disaster on many levels and it just got much worse.
(I hadn’t realized the intended consequences of this. Hugh Hewitt is exactly right. Will this be enough to make any of the 60 senators change their mind? Not to mention any final HCR bill is supposed to be “deficit-neutral.”)
January 18, 2010 at 1:41 am |
TPM Barnett is one of my favorite’s interviewed by Hugh Hewitt.
Thomas P.M. Barnett’s long view of how to revitalize Haiti
http://hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=f2266320-aad4-4ccf-a87c-e01c3c85c2b2
EXCERPT
HH: As I recall, one of your propositions in Great Powers is that when governments intervene, they ought to build roads, power and water systems, and the rest is really superfluous until you get those three.
Am I recalling that correctly?
TPMB: Well, you always want to do kind of the basic Maslow Hierarchy of Needs approach, okay?
You want to start at the bottom and make sure the basic stuff is there.
You don’t want to try to overbuild the infrastructure, because you want the outside companies and investors and what not to see that as an opportunity to come in and finish that.
And you really don’t want aid groups or official development aid ever involved in building something where they can’t fund the maintenance.
So if they’re going to build a road but there’s no money for the maintenance, you’re almost better off not building the road until you can get somebody to come in and own that thing and maintain it over time.
HH: Now has the federal government, either at the State Department, the Pentagon, has anyone embraced this kind of thinking?
Can we look for this to roll out in Haiti?
Or are they still pretty much get them food and water, and then we’ll move on?
TPMB: Well, you know, we didn’t really have the disaster scenario as much in Iraq, which was the great learning ground, where the big byproduct there was the COIN strategy, the counterinsurgency stuff.
There has been an effort like I described at the Center For Excellence out in Pacific Command for the last fifteen years.
It will, it has received a great deal of prominence, this organization.
It’s come under the direct tutelage of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michelle Flournoy.
And the plan is to make this kind of center and its knowledge available, replicate it in all the combat and commands throughout the military,
because they’re coming to see this capacity, this requirement to come in and deal and really revitalize a place post-disaster, post-conflict, whatever, as being the sine qua non of obviating the requirement to go back again another five to seven years.
And you look at Haiti’s history, going back a hundred years, we sent the Marines in there so many times, it’s ridiculous.
So the revitalization has never happened there yet.
HH: We have 10,000 troops almost certainly going to be on the ground according to news reports today within the next 48 hours.
Do you think we have a plan for how they will be most effectively deployed and used?
TPMB: The military has a plan for making, has all sorts of procedures and protocols for making certain things happen.
You know, what has always been lacking has been the kind of supra-agency kind of coordination or approach, what we call the interagency process.
And this may be the kind of failure to the extent that it doesn’t do everything we want it to do or feel that it should be able to do.
This may be the iteration that gets us to move more aggressively on the interagency with regard to disaster relief.
January 18, 2010 at 1:56 am |
http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/
http://thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/
To be sure, Mr. Hewitt does not always agree with Mr. Barnett. And I don’t always agree with either one of them.
But they are both flat out smart.
January 18, 2010 at 4:03 pm |
The second path is a different kind of heavy lift. The Senate does not, in fact, need to act on the bill anymore. It has already passed a version. With Brown seated, the White House could prevail upon House Democrats to pass the Senate bill as written, making the same case it has made all along: It’s this or nothing. That would be a heavy lift on both the left and right of the caucus. But again, imaginable.
January 18, 2010 at 4:23 pm |
1. Finish up the House-Senate negotiations quickly and hold a vote before Scott Brown is seated. Republicans will scream, but how could they scream any louder? It’s a process argument of murky merits that will be long forgotten by November. 2. Get the House to pass the Senate bill, and maybe use a reconciliation bill (which only needs a Senate majority to pass) to implement as many House-Senate compromises as possible. 3. Go back to Olympia Snowe. I have not seen any persuasive reporting, or even conjecture, about what Snowe is actually thinking. Her substantive demands have been met. By the end of the process, her only demand was to delay the bill by some unspecified time period, which is such a vacuous demand that it’s hard to believe it represents her actual beliefs. Did she turn against the bill completely? Did she decide that she couldn’t take the heat for voting yes? Or did she figure that, with sixty Democrats, her voted wouldn’t really be needed so there was no reason for her to take the heat? If options 1 and 2 fail, we may find out about Snowe. Obviously, the alternative is option 4: Crawl into a hole and die.
What the left has in mind if brown wins
January 18, 2010 at 4:53 pm |
Always interested in how people stumble upon this blog.
“klimt”
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/klimt/kiss/
January 18, 2010 at 4:58 pm |
“koostapo”
http://www.myspace.com/koostapo
January 18, 2010 at 5:06 pm |
Most Recent Polling
Massachusetts Senate – Special Election
PJM/CrossTarget (R) 1/17 – 1/17 574 LV 52 42 Brown +10
PPP (D) 1/16 – 1/17 1231 LV 51 46 Brown +5
InsideMedford/MRG 1/15 – 1/15 565 LV 51 41 Brown +10
PJM/CrossTarget (R) 1/14 – 1/14 946 LV 54 39 Brown +15
ARG 1/12 – 1/14 600 LV 48 45 Brown +3
Blue Mass Group/R2000 (D) 1/12 – 1/13 500 LV 41 49 Coakley +8
Suffolk/7News 1/11 – 1/13 500 LV 50 46 Brown +4
Rasmussen Reports 1/11 – 1/11 1000 LV 47 49 Coakley +2
January 18, 2010 at 5:27 pm |
Brown Express Nearing Hyper-Speed?
http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politics/1191-brown-express-nearing-hyper-speed
The four latest polls all show GOP state Sen. Scott Brown with a lead over Democrat attorney general Martha Coakley. The survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic outfit, shows Brown up five points; PPP had him up by one less than a week ago.
Some of those polls (not PPP’s, though) have small sample sizes, so take them with a grain of salt. But that’s not the only bad news for Coakley.
Intrade, the futures market, has Coakley selling at around 35 while Brown is selling at 65. According to James Taranto, Intrade had her at a 3-to-2 favorite on Friday.
Finally, it doesn’t help that some of Coakley’s supporters don’t seem to know her name.
But before anyone jumps on or off Brown’s runaway train, check out Nate Silver’s analysis. In various posts he examines many of the recent polls and why Coakley may outperform the polls. Real Clear Politics also sifts through the polls and concludes Brown likely has a slight edge.
January 18, 2010 at 5:38 pm |
sorry that our web site is down… we are working on it and hope to have service restored soon
January 18, 2010 at 5:49 pm |
Know Your Enemy
U.S. Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, blamed the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked Afghan Taliban faction based in Pakistan.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gynlQzpLFwXoutu4y5o9112azZiw
NATO officials said the attack appeared timed to upstage preparations for a Jan. 28 major international conference in London on ways to shore up the Afghan government to confront the growing Taliban threat.
U.S. Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, blamed the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked Afghan Taliban faction based in Pakistan. The group also was believed to be linked to the Dec. 30 suicide bombing against a remote CIA base that killed seven of the agency’s employees in Afghanistan’s Khost province.
“The Haqqani network has been pretty lethal bringing out the suicide bombers. This is probably their handiwork today,” he told reporters, adding that at least 15 similar attempts had been foiled over the past few weeks.
“Today’s attack by the Taliban in Kabul is yet another example of their brutality and contempt for the Afghan people,” said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces. “Afghan national security forces effectively dealt with the situation and should be commended. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the innocent victims of this cowardly attack.”
Abdul Rahman Hamedi, 38, lamented the violence in the capital at a time when fresh international forces are being sent to southern and eastern Afghanistan, where fighting has been particularly intense.
“Today it looks like a coup,” said Hamedi, who ran with his son from his shop. “Everybody said ‘The city is full of suicide bombers.”‘
January 18, 2010 at 6:01 pm |
A payoff to Big Labor
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Hugh-Hewitt/Will-Massachusetts-voters-save-seniors-doctors-from-Obamacare-81923197.html
Even President Obama chipped in to help Brown, by cutting an outrageous deal with organized labor last week to make the already bad Obamacare bill far worse in the eyes of anyone with a sense of fairness.
As a result of this deal, union members and the companies which employ them will not have to pay the enormous excise tax on so-called “Cadillac plans,” a 40% burden on the value of the benefit above a prescribed level.
Thus an auto worker toiling away for GM but with his UAW card will see his health benefits taxed significantly less than an auto worker working for any car company that doesn’t have the UAW negotiating for its workers.
Same job. Same pay. But different tax burdens. The deal is so lopsided that no effort is being made to disguise it as other than a payoff to Big Labor.
Few have focused yet on just how great a payoff it is. Consider the vast new incentive that companies and workers will have to unionize if Obamacare survives the next four weeks and becomes law with this provision.
Even long-time opponents of unionization on shop floors across the country will have to rethink their stance given the size of this plum. Even management will have to recalculate their position vis-a-vis unions when the financial advantage to having a union represent the workforce is so significant.
Of course the cost the unions are avoiding will be absorbed by non-union wage earners and the companies that employ them. But the downstream consequences of so greatly favoring unions are enormous and of course destructive.
So called “moderate” Democrats like senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas are already in deep political trouble in their home states because of their support for Obamacare, as are the Blue Dogs in the House.
Imagine the reaction among their voters when word gets out that Big Labor got a sweetheart deal biggger than those bestowed on Louisiana and Nebraska combined.
(So Obama-Reid-Pelosi concluded that adding yet another stinky provision would make ObamaCare more palatable for the American people?! Maybe we give Obama too much credit in the smarts department!)
January 18, 2010 at 6:10 pm |
The Mood Of The American People
http://conservativeamericannews.com/us-politics/the-mood-of-the-american-people
H/T Free America52
January 18, 2010 at 6:12 pm |
Freeper Thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2431309/posts
January 18, 2010 at 6:17 pm |
Yet another poll
Massachusetts Senate – Special Election
Daily Kos/R2000 1/15 – 1/17 500 LV 48 48 Tie
(Keep looking for a new Rasmussen poll, if there is one.)
January 18, 2010 at 6:21 pm |
Limbaugh and Hannity
http://gateway.andohs.net/player/?sid=826&nid=2920
January 18, 2010 at 7:04 pm |
Maybe Hannity will be less schizoid, geez louise!
I’ve never been a fan of Limbaugh.
And yet, and yet at times I am in 100% agreement with him.
And in the very next segment, he overreaches.
I grow weary of both sides overreaching.
January 18, 2010 at 7:06 pm |
Speaking of paranoia.
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd that Rasmussen goes down just now?
January 18, 2010 at 7:18 pm |
January 18, 2010
Happy Birthday, Reverend Doctor!
Athough I think King’s birthday was actually last Friday.
Now there was a man who could give a speech!
http://www.4shared.com/play/10329682/efdae9dd/sharing.html
January 18, 2010 at 7:22 pm |
http://www.thekingcenter.org/Default.aspx
http://www.mlkonline.net/video.html
January 18, 2010 at 7:24 pm |
January 18, 2010 at 7:30 pm |
CyberHymnal is one of my favorite online destinations!
BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/h/bhymnotr.htm
January 18, 2010 at 7:41 pm |
Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings, Battle Hymn of the Republic, on tour at the Chautauqua Institution.
January 18, 2010 at 7:42 pm |
Chautauqua Institution
Bill and I went to school very close to here.
The surrounding physical geology made for some great hiking!
And this is the region where they grow the grapes for Welch’s grape juice. Yum!
http://www.ciweb.org/
January 18, 2010 at 8:34 pm |
Honestly, I never know what is going to be popular, or not.
I delete the files that are the most popular.
That is not what I’m all about.
http://www.4shared.com/file/159065822/7453a860/Jack_Jones_-__Fly_Me_To_The_Mo.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/164411825/a3bc52b1/12_Las_Siete_Rejas__Con_Victor.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/160003470/5f0c2c21/01-Mio_Bello_Bello_Amore.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/169366086/9d6c0fe8/Melanie_Safka_-_Gods_Only_Daug.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/169365390/7de78a2b/Fernando_Ortega_-_Let_All_Mort.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/159779305/bee71610/12_Malacun_Wawapa.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/164411267/2449734f/04_Charagua.html
January 18, 2010 at 8:56 pm |
I should qualify my last statement.
I’ve posted what is left after deleting the most popular.
I am trying to be careful not to post anything too popular.
Rose
January 18, 2010 at 9:08 pm |
Rasmussen is working again!
Cha cha!
Obama approval
47% — 52%
January 18, 2010 at 9:10 pm |
More from Rasmussen
Interest High In Massachusetts Senate Race:
49% Nationally Want Brown To Win, 34% Pulling For Coakley
January 18, 2010 at 9:17 pm |
34% of America is out of their gourd!
January 18, 2010 at 9:19 pm |
Geez, let’s get Gregg and Wyden in there on HCR.
You can’t always get what you want.
January 18, 2010 at 9:22 pm |
love songs
http://www.4shared.com/file/159778085/ccc44524/07_Coplas_De_Amor.html
January 18, 2010 at 10:18 pm |
I wish there were some way to contact Frank Serpico. I became acquainted with him at our church back in 1974 – 1975.
I do believe he’s gone off his rocker.
http://frankserpico.blogspot.com/
January 18, 2010 at 10:28 pm |
MIKIS THEODORAKIS ANTONIS KALOYIANNIS MARIA DIMITRIADI MANOS ELEFTHERIOY TA LAIKA
January 18, 2010 at 10:29 pm |
January 18, 2010 at 10:54 pm |
I’VE ADDED SOME MIKIS THEODORAKIS MUSIC TO PLAYLIST.
http://www.4shared.com/play/10329682/efdae9dd/sharing.html
January 18, 2010 at 10:58 pm |
Some of you may be more familiar with his soundtrack from “Z”
January 18, 2010 at 11:03 pm |
January 18, 2010 at 11:06 pm |
The government do change, don’t she?
Who’s getting beat up now?
January 18, 2010 at 11:50 pm |
Sorry, I meant to post this earlier.
Hugh Hewitt
http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=KRLAAM&uid=104
Cha cha.
January 18, 2010 at 11:56 pm |
Hugh Hewitt just spoke of how some Haitians are being transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Our service club used to volunteer there.
Mr. Hewitt said that other Haitians need to be transported to other states, not just Florida.
He’s right. And I’m glad we’re doing this.
January 19, 2010 at 12:16 am |
Michael Barone
huge gap in balance of enthusiasm (Brown v Coakley)
very critical of payoff to Big Labor
key demographics or slippage across the board?
young voters?
Dems will have to recalibrate
Ezra Klein not old enough to remember
LOL!
will House sign off on Senate bill?
Pelosi scrambling
Dems at 218 WITH Stupak
numbers will reverberate
better than 1994
Beau Biden — will urge Dems to put HC away?
Barone goes after youngins Chait and Klein again
how funny!
chicanery
Mass does not look one-sided anymore
Oh shit!!!
January 19, 2010 at 12:20 am |
Michael Barone
The Party’s Over In Massachusetts
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/01/18/michael-barone-massachusetts-senate-race-obama-health-care/
January 19, 2010 at 12:23 am |
More Polling
Massachusetts Senate – Special Election
Politico/InAdv 1/17 – 1/17 804 LV 52 43 Brown +9
PJM/CrossTarget (R) 1/17 – 1/17 574 LV 52 42 Brown +10
PPP (D) 1/16 – 1/17 1231 LV 51 46 Brown +5
ARG 1/15 – 1/17 600 LV 52 45 Brown +7
January 19, 2010 at 12:30 am |
Fred Barnes
What if Brown wins?
new senator’s term begins day after election
reconciliation ain’t gonna happen
anti-Obama
reject huge lurch to the left
Obama horrible yesterday
Arlen Specter — What a maroon! What an ignoranimus!
Haiti — get people off of island!
Europeans toothless
Obama needs to leap to the middle
January 19, 2010 at 12:33 am |
Fred Barnes: Could the House kill Obamacare?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Could-the-House-kill-Obamacare_-8764571-81580952.html
January 19, 2010 at 12:54 am |
“Why would any House member vote for the Senate bill, which is loaded with special-interest provisions for certain states?” Mr. Stupak asked. Indeed.
In an interview on Monday, Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, who opposes the Senate bill in part because of provisions related to insurance coverage of abortions, said: “House members will not vote for the Senate bill. There’s no interest in that.”
When the idea was suggested at a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, Mr. Stupak said, “It went over like a lead balloon.”
“Why would any House member vote for the Senate bill, which is loaded with special-interest provisions for certain states?” Mr. Stupak asked. “That’s not health care.”
In addition to his concerns about the abortion provisions, Mr. Stupak said the Senate bill does not do enough to improve the quality of health care, and it preserves the federal antitrust exemption for health insurance, which would be repealed under the House bill.
January 19, 2010 at 1:01 am |
Team Rubicon
http://badgerjake.blogspot.com/
January 19, 2010 at 1:05 am |
Robert Piccioni, Ph.D. will discuss the extraordinary odds required to form a universe by chance, balancing just the right geometry, genetics and geology to sustain life.
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2010/01/18
http://www.guidetothecosmos.com/
January 19, 2010 at 1:10 am |
The Massachusetts Polls and the November Election
Posted By John Podhoretz
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/214896
January 19, 2010 at 1:18 am |
John Podhoretz
Obama — this is his test
HC polling in low 40s
at some point reality sets in
cognitive dissonance — that’s the tkt!
Both Hewitt and Podhoretz are right about Haitians coming to America.
50,000 to 75,000 Haitians — nativists are already up in arms about it
Whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto Me.
January 19, 2010 at 1:21 am |
Here We Go [Rich Lowry]
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Mon, January 18, 2010 — 7:09 PM ET
——-
Democrats Seeking to Push Senate Health Bill Through House
The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders,
scrambling for a backup plan to rescue their health care
legislation if Republicans win the special election in
Massachusetts on Tuesday, are preparing to ask House
Democrats to approve the Senate version of the bill, which
would send the measure directly to President Obama for his
signature.
01/18 07:17 PM
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWM1MzQ3Yjc4NmYzYjczNmFkMjJjNzc5OTFhZDc2ZjE=
January 19, 2010 at 1:29 am |
rich lowry — doesn’t believe Stupak will rubber stamp Senate bill
conservatives gained new media edge?
Obama misunderstood his mandate
Amen to that!
lost and kicked away Independents
a bridge too far
Obama overreached
post partisan — deeds, not words
Haiti — airlift to US — nativist backlash
45,000 to Florida
2010 — amnesty bill?
January 19, 2010 at 1:33 am |
http://www.hoekstraforgovernor.com/
January 19, 2010 at 1:40 am |
Pete Hoekstra
Michigan — One State Depression?
capitalists fleeing Michigan
reform tax code
jobs friendly, business friendly
ObamaCare — 700 million unfunded mandate to Michigan
House rubber stamp Senate bill — does not foresee but doesn’t put anything past “these people”
January 19, 2010 at 1:49 am |
Screw the AARP!
The Association of Mature American Citizens
http://www.amac.us/
January 19, 2010 at 1:56 am |
“They’ve betrayed you!” (The AARP, that is.)
January 19, 2010 at 1:59 am |
http://www.childhope.org/
January 19, 2010 at 4:49 pm |
http://www.charlotteconservative.com/index.php/2010/01/brown-coakley-exit-polls/
Exit polls
January 19, 2010 at 4:52 pm |
The polls have opened at 7AM in the vote for Senate Election in Massachusetts. Polls will be open until 8 PM this evening. Results from exit polls will show early indications of who is leading the race for Senate. More solid early exit polling results are expected by shortly after noon time in Massachusetts. Early exit polls in the Gardner, Fitchburg and Peabody areas show Brown leading by 14, 17, and 15% points. While too early to call a lock similar continued results by 2 – 3pm should confirm the loss by Martha Coakley. All three early predictors have Scott Brown gaining over 50% of the states voters in a sweeping come from behind victory. The Candidate are voting early at their respective hometown polling booths at the 7 AM opening of polls. Scott Brown votes in Wrentham while Matha Coakley heads to the polls this morning in Medford. Candidates are making early morning phone calls thanking supporters for their support while trying to energize their base to mobilize supporters to get out and vote. Projections are for a Scott Brown victory in the heavily Democratic State of Massachusetts.
January 19, 2010 at 5:21 pm |
Live Thread: Massachusetts Senate Race – Brown/Croakley
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2431940/posts
(Should be informative AND entertaining!)
January 19, 2010 at 5:26 pm |
Karl Rove: Scott Brown Will Win By 3-6 Points
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/01/19/karl_rove_scott_brown_will_win_by_3-6_points.html
January 19, 2010 at 5:32 pm |
Video
With friends like Olbermann, who needs enemies?!
Scarborough Slams Olbermann Over Anti-Brown Tirade: ‘Sad And Pathetic’
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2010/01/19/scarborough-slams-olbermann-over-anti-brown-tirade-sad-pathetic
January 19, 2010 at 5:36 pm |
Texas Governor: Democrat White trails both Perry and Hutchison… http://tinyurl.com/RR1030
January 19, 2010 at 6:24 pm |
Video:
The outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race could play a pivotal role in efforts by President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass a health care overhaul bill this year.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Multimedia/2010/January/011910HOTH.aspx
So, what are the options being kicked around to get health care through Congress should a Brown victory occur?
MARY AGNES CAREY: One option, which doesn’t seem like it would be acceptable to too many House Democrats, is for the House to quickly act on the Bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve.
To move that quickly, and then fix things down the road, perhaps through a Budget Reconciliation Bill.
We talked about this last week, there were a lot of intense negotiations between President Obama and the Democratic leadership in both chambers, those negotiations could certainly step up by quite a bit with the hope that you could get an agreement that could move through the House and then move through the Senate.
The time would be of the essence if Scott Brown wins.
JACKIE JUDD: Do you think it would fly?
DREW ARMSTRONG: Well, I think we are going to see some very hard negotiating positions until, I don’t know, around 11 o’clock tonight when all the results are in, and the talk about what people are willing to accept today and what people are willing to accept tomorrow could be very, very different.
Three days ago, Democrats that we talked to were saying no, there is no Plan B.
It is this or nothing.
Well, now obviously there is a Plan B of some sort or another.
I mean, they know that they need to get the Health Bill done and get it done quickly.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind with the Brown/Coakley election, one, it is going to take a few days for this election to get certified, for all the results to come in.
I mean, it is not that this is going to happen tonight and Brown is going to take this seat on Wednesday morning or anything like that.
There is probably a week to a week and a half window, assuming the election isn’t close, assuming there are no legal challenges.
I mean, I am sure Democrats have a very, very fond memory now of what happened with Al Franken and will be keeping that in mind.
That took six months to finish up and a nice window for them to have in terms of finishing a health care reform,
so I think even though this one pivotal event does happen
and I still think there is a lot more mushiness in exactly what the final play out on all of this is.
(The House could pass the Senate bill “as is” but that is looking less and less likely, as some House Dems have stated publicly they will NOT rubber stamp Senate bill. And if the Senate gets another chance to vote on a new bill with changes, any one of those changes (like the Big Labor Payoff) would give each Senator a reason to vote nay the second time around.)
January 19, 2010 at 6:58 pm |
If Dems do indeed have to go back to the drawing board, hopefully they will consider Wyden — Bennett, which some Repubs have signed onto.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_14063812
Hatch and Bennett didn’t start the year as health reform foes, and even now they both say reforms are needed.
They were among the small group of senators Obama invited to his health-care forum this spring.
At the time, Bennett was pushing his own proposal — with Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden — which would have greatly reduced the number of people insured through their employer, in favor of a more free-market approach.
*** Their bill, the Healthy Americans Act, would have required everyone to buy coverage and would have banned unpopular insurance practices. ***
Hatch, meanwhile, was meeting as part of the Finance Committee’s “gang of seven,” which sought to craft a bipartisan bill.
But their enthusiasm faded through the summer as Democrats coalesced behind specific proposals.
*** Bennett and Wyden met multiple times with Obama, who in the end called their plan too “radical.” ***
(Bullshit!)
Hatch dropped out of the gang, saying he couldn’t stomach the direction it was headed.
Hatch’s rhetoric against the bill has grown increasingly tough, saying at one point the public should “rebel.”
January 19, 2010 at 7:09 pm |
The Healthy Americans Act
Portable, affordable, high quality private health care guaranteed for all Americans
http://wyden.senate.gov/issues/Legislation/Healthy_Americans_Act.cfm
Click to access HAA_How_It_Works.pdf
Cosponsors can be viewed here, although I believe there are more than are listed here.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-391
January 19, 2010 at 7:12 pm |
January 19, 2010 at 7:20 pm |
Live WRKO Boston, following election all day, Rush is usually on from 12-3 but they have someone else on today instead,Charlie Manning?…people calling in with stories from their voting places, out holding signs etc.
Howie Carr coming up at 3 p.m., he’s had Scott on a lot, I’d be he’ll be calling into Howie today!
http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/entercom/player/?id=WRKO
January 19, 2010 at 8:07 pm |
I thought it very interesting to hear that Scott Brown did, in fact, vote for RomneyCare.
He is for HCR, just not Obama-Reid-Pelosi Care.
My sentiments exactly.
January 20, 2010 at 5:11 pm |
What Sort of Health Care Reform Does Scott Brown Actually Support?
http://reason.com/blog/2010/01/20/what-sort-of-health-care-refor
At this point, exactly where Scott Brown stands on health care policy is a matter of significant interest.
He ran against the Democratic reform plan, but he also spoke favorably of the Massachusetts’ system, which is virtually identical to what President Obama and Congressional Democrats have proposed.
(I keep hearing pundits on both the left and right say this. I’m guessing Romney himself would NOT agree with this assessment.)
In a press conference just a few minutes ago, Scott Brown mentioned in passing that he supports some kind of basic plan for everyone, but was against the Medicare cuts, tax hikes, and massive spending now being proposed.
He followed this answer by letting another reporter know that he hadn’t slept much—the implication being that he could really use a couple hours of shut eye.
Presumably, the first answer stemmed from the second, because it doesn’t make much sense.
Policies that employ the machinations of government to expand coverage cost money.
But it might also be a signal that Brown is open to some kind of scaled-back compromise plan.
I can’t think of what that would be, but I’d guess Democratic leadership is making every effort to find out.
January 20, 2010 at 5:16 pm |
“a signal that Brown is open to some kind of scaled-back compromise plan”
I heard Brown say that he believes each state should do their own thing, the way Massachusetts did.
Maybe Brown will support Wyden — Bennett.
Who knows?!
January 20, 2010 at 5:22 pm |
Brown win could spark Obama war on Wall Street
http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/01/20/brown-win-could-spark-obama-war-on-wall-street/
Now Brown’s victory threatens the healthcare reform bill that Kennedy championed on his deathbed.
Democrats could still ram it through before Brown makes it to Washington.
But potential legal challenges make that unlikely.
As it is, Brown’s election is enough of a systemic shock to freeze the political process on Capitol Hill.
Moderate Democrats in both chambers are nervous about their previous “yes” votes for healthcare.
They may be unwilling to make any more.
The prospects look even bleaker for cap-and-trade energy legislation, a bill with even less support than healthcare.
Financial reform legislation was already likely to get milder rather than stronger.
But not so the rhetoric.
Unable to trumpet the economy, hitting Wall Street is one of the few political bullets Democrats have left.
So expect the Obama administration to go all out for the bank tax with increasingly harsh words for big financial institutions.
Democrats may also be more willing to consider controversial proposals banks hate, like letting judges rework mortgages.
But given the Massachusetts precedent, it may not be enough to save the party from a wipeout in the fall.
January 20, 2010 at 5:53 pm |
Demoralized Democrats (Hysterical Ezra Klein accuses fellow Dems of “betrayal”)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/01/demoralized_democrats.html
Last night, I was talking to a committed Democrat.
A Massachusetts Democrat, in fact.
And her despair was persuasive.
“I didn’t vote for a party that would abandon my agenda because it lost one seat in the Senate,” she said.
“The party I voted for, and want to be part of, would recognize political opportunity in the waning days of its supermajority and pass what it could pass, and then keep coming back for more.”
The loss in Massachusetts was a terrible disappointment to Democrats.
But it can be explained away.
Martha Coakley was a terrible candidate.
Scott Brown ran an excellent campaign.
These things happen.
But the reaction congressional Democrats have had to Coakley’s loss has been much more shattering.
It has been a betrayal.
(Geez Louise! Pull yourself together, Ezra!)
January 20, 2010 at 6:02 pm |
Obama to Create Panel to Study Deficit
The deal calls for an 18-member panel, with a dozen members named by Congressional leaders and six by the president, several Democrats said.
The presidential appointees could be administration officials or outside experts, but it remained unclear whether all 12 Congressional appointees would be incumbent lawmakers or if some outsiders might be included.
For the commission’s recommendations to go to Congress for a vote, 14 of its 18 members would have to agree to them.
Mr. Obama would create the commission by an executive order if, as expected, the Senate rejects a separate proposal from Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the budget committee’s senior Republican, to establish a commission by law.
The Senate vote on the version could occur on Thursday.
Mr. Conrad was a participant in the White House talks.
Besides the budget commission, the deal anticipates that Congress will approve an increase this week in the nation’s debt limit, now at $12.4 trillion, so the government can continue borrowing through this year to cover its operations.
Also, the Senate will agree to vote, and probably pass, a House bill that writes into law a pay-as-you-go requirement.
It would mandate that new spending and tax cuts be offset by spending cuts or tax increases to avoid adding to deficits.
Mr. Conrad had blocked the so-called pay-go measure in the Senate, objecting to provisions in the House version that exempted several popular but costly tax cuts and some Medicare spending.
Those policies, if extended in coming years as has been routine, would together add about $3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
The exempted policies include the Bush tax cuts for households making less than $250,000, estate tax changes and annual adjustments to the alternative minimum tax so middle-class taxpayers are not affected.
They also include periodic increases in Medicare reimbursements for doctors.
To satisfy Mr. Conrad and hold down the costs of extending those policies without offsetting savings, the administration and Congressional officials agreed that the exemptions for the alternative minimum tax and estate taxes would be limited to two years, and doctors’ payments would be exempted for five years.
The Bush tax cuts for all but the richest taxpayers would continue to add to annual deficits.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for the Senate Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Tuesday night that the senator did not know enough about the proposed bipartisan commission to comment.
But Mr. Stewart said the proposal was a “very odd way to do things.”
However, David Walker, the president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which is dedicated to deep deficit reductions, said in a statement,
“The announcement of an agreement to create a presidentially appointed fiscal commission that will report to the Congress and be assured a vote on its recommendations is a major step toward putting our nation’s financial house in order while protecting our social safety net programs.”
January 20, 2010 at 6:09 pm |
http://www.pgpf.org/
NationalDebt
$12,319,326,469,724.43 (+)
(IMO, this is what is scaring America. And also private property rights. i.e., what is publicly held now which used to be privately held.)
January 20, 2010 at 6:14 pm |
January 20, 2010
http://www.4shared.com/play/10329682/efdae9dd/sharing.html
January 20, 2010 at 6:41 pm |
Video
Republicans Revel in Brown Win As Democrats Try to ‘Move Forward’
Massachusetts Senator-Elect Promises to Be “New Breed of Republican”
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/republicans-scott-brown-victory-rejection-democratic-arrogance/story?id=9611601
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that change of course must include killing the health care reform bill in its current form.
“Last night a shot was fired around this nation. A shot was fired saying no more business as usual in Washington, D.C.,” said McCain on the Senate floor.
“Stop this unsavory sausage-making process called health care reform where special favors are dispensed to special people for special reasons in order to purchase votes.”
(Amen to that!)
January 20, 2010 at 6:47 pm |
FLOOR STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN 1-20-10
January 20, 2010 at 6:54 pm |
Scott Brown’s Win: A Signal for Dems to Tack Left or Right? (There’s no such thing as a dumb question. But if there were such a thing, that would have been one.)
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/20/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6120015.shtml
It is not only Republicans, however, arguing that voters want to see Washington tack right.
“The independents are speaking loudly around the country today and they’re telling us, one, to get together here in Washington,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said Tuesday.
“The second thing really is to do something about the economy and move to the center and worry about things that [independents] are worried about.”
Moderate Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh said liberal lawmakers should align more closely with their moderate allies.
“Whenever you have just the furthest left elements of the Dem party attempting to impose their will on the rest of the country — that’s not going to work too well,” he said.
On the liberal blog Talking Points Memo, commentator Bernard Avishai writes that progressives who pushed for liberal health care reforms are to blame for Democratic candidate Martha Coakley’s stunning loss in Massachusetts.
“The real question Democrats have to ask themselves is: how come the greatest piece of social legislation since Medicare is something a progressive Democratic candidate for Ted Kennedy’s seat has to speak so defensively about?,” Avishai writes.
“And we can look no further than Howard Dean, and MSNBC, and Arianna Huffington, and, yes, some columnists at the Times and bloggers here at TPM — you know, real progressives…
[Meanwhile], the undecideds are thinking: ‘Hell, if his own people think he’s a sell-out and jerk, why should we support this?”
(I’m confused.)
January 20, 2010 at 7:13 pm |
Gosh, isn’t this simple?!
Obama did not correctly interpret his mandate, or he didn’t care.
Obama was foolish enough to allow Reid and Pelosi to take the lead on HCR, or he’s a true believer.
I believed from the outset that Obama would try and move the country too far to the left too quickly.
Independents who voted for Obama became increasingly alarmed by this.
And then increasingly sickened as details of the stinky provisions leaked out and they became aware of the underlying fundamental unfairness of many of these special provisions.
IMO, Reid is to blame for his arrogant behavior and also his fellow senators he made sweetheart deals with.
But Obama is mostly to blame. For not objecting to this unsavory behavior.
I am in favor of universal coverage and a strong individual mandate.
It sounds as though Scott Brown might favor helping individual states to adopt RomneyCare or something like it.
Or perhaps he will sign onto Wyden — Bennett.
We shall see.
January 20, 2010 at 7:24 pm |
“The longer the clock’s running, the bigger the chance you have for something to pop up and surprise you,” says Peter Harbage, a Democratic health policy consultant. Negotiators cut parochial deals for individual lawmakers—extra Medicaid spending for Nebraska, exemptions from Medicare Advantage cuts for parts of Florida, special help for some Montana residents suffering from asbestos disease. All this helped secure the 60 votes to get the bill through the Senate, but it bolstered the perception that the measure was pork barrel spending aimed at helping some more than others. “They say, ‘Look, God knows what other dirty deals they did,’” says Uwe Reinhardt, a health economics professor at Princeton University.
Exactly!
January 20, 2010 at 7:29 pm |
Btw swelling Medicaid rolls is not the answer
We can do better!
January 21, 2010 at 5:27 pm |
http://tinyurl.com/ybxhoct
Joost niemoller on geert wilders
If link works
January 21, 2010 at 6:05 pm |
Geert Wilders in Dutch court over anti-Islam comments
Geert Wilders, a popular anti-Islamic politician, went on trial in Amsterdam on Wednesday, charged with inciting hatred against Muslims in a case seen as a test of Dutch tolerance and free speech.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/7037762/Geert-Wilders-in-Dutch-court-over-anti-Islam-comments.html
“I remain combative and still convinced that this political process will only lead to an acquittal,” said Mr Wilders.
“It is surreal that I sit in a courtroom, in a criminal court. I never had any idea this would happen.”
Outside the court, dominated on the first day by procedural issues and wrangling, up to 300 protesters chanted slogans such as “Do not silence Geert” and “We are all on trial”.
“Our judiciary can’t be trusted. They seem not to be in touch with society any more,” said one demonstrator. “The Dutch justice system is really making a fool of itself.”
Last October, Mr Wilders won an appeal against a government ban preventing him from entering Britain after he was barred and deported a year ago.
He faces a maximum of one year and three months imprisonment if convicted by the Amsterdam court.
January 21, 2010 at 6:17 pm |
Mr Wilders sparked outrage with his 2008 film “Fitna”, which compared Islam to Nazism, and his repeated calls for the Koran to be banned on the same basis as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
His Freedom Party is leading the opinion polls in the Netherlands and came second in European elections last June.
***
I haven’t viewed “Fitna” so I can’t really comment, but I do know that Americans must pay attention to this trial.
Fitna Geert Wilders 4parts in English
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=52BE08AFAC18D82D&search_query=AndreXtra+fitna+geert+wilders&rclk=pti
January 21, 2010 at 6:30 pm |
While Obama and Dems are scrambling to find common ground on HCR that both Dems and Repubs can vote for, may I suggest considering what Senator Judd Gregg has put forth.
There Is Time For Change
http://gregg.senate.gov/news/oped/article/?id=0c72431c-371a-4ee6-a2d1-f0544cb6f00c
We must step back and work in a bipartisan way to produce thoughtful legislation that gives each American access to affordable, high-quality insurance options. To do this in a way that does not bankrupt our children’s future, it is critical that we adopt these five quality-enhancing, cost saving measures. We must:
–replace our out-of-date payment system with a system that rewards quality over quantity in order to provide effective health care for less.
–implement tort reform to reduce frivolous lawsuits, which increase costs and drive doctors and medical professionals out of practice.
–focus on encouraging Americans to live healthier lifestyles by creating incentives for exercising and getting preventative screenings and other wellness measures that reduce the cost of care.
–focus on areas that we know account for significant health care spending, such as Alzheimer’s and obesity.
–reduce our long-term health care costs and reform unsustainable entitlement programs that threaten to strangle our economy.
January 21, 2010 at 6:35 pm |
More on the new Obama bank plan — Mark Calabria of Cato, a supersmart observer of the financial sector in DC, gives me his two cents
http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/01/21/more-on-the-new-obama-bank-plan/
I find it hard to believe that the govt has any clue as to what correct size and level of trading is for banks. Sounds like nothing more than cheap politics.
Ex ante, no one told Bear was too big. So is the size limit going to be even smaller than Bear?
Obama misses one reason for banks becoming so large: their fund advantage due to “too big to fail” – if he were serious he’d come up with a plan to end too big to fail, rather than a plan for permanent bailouts.
And where’s the break-up plan for fannie and freddie? Just seems like just picking winners and losers based on politics.
I don’t see it going anywhere in the Senate [though I’m] not completely ruling it out. House could easily pass something so stupid – it is the House after all.
It does complicate financial reform – Obama might just be killing financial reform – hard enough time reaching agreement.
January 21, 2010 at 6:59 pm |
January 21, 2010
http://www.4shared.com/play/10329682/efdae9dd/sharing.html
January 21, 2010 at 7:20 pm |
Mark Steyn on how the vote counting is unfolding in Massachusetts
http://hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=45a2bab1-f45b-4cc0-8b2e-fc6ef5878240
HH: Now do you believe that at the White House tonight they’re going to have the conversation that I confirmed again today with a Clinton White House veteran, after the ’94 vote, they sat around and they explicitly said we’ve got to get back in the game, we have miscalculated.
Does the Obama White House have the ability to say wow, Alinskism is not so popular, we’d better go back and find the center?
MS: No, I don’t think so.
I think that’s because this White House is surrounded, and this administration at its heart is surrounded by stupid people.
Clinton was smart enough to hire smart people. Obama isn’t that smart.
And I think that’s why in effect, he compounded Martha Coakley’s problems in the disastrous rally appearance on Sunday.
You know, if the whole rap against you is that you’re the hack candidate of a discredited party machine, the answer isn’t to fly in Obama, John Kerry and miscellaneous, idiot princelings from obscure branches of the Kennedy family, and hold a so-called rally in a private school at which the President, having gone to the trouble to fly in and put his prestige on the line, can’t be bothered to string together a halfway coherent speech.
I think that’s the arrogance of Obama.
I think what this, what his appearance on Sunday had in common with the Olympic business in Copenhagen and the climate change appearance, too, is this arrogance that somehow, he can just fly in, and the sheer aura of Obama will transform the situation.
And it doesn’t work anymore. He’s become a bore.
And that little bubble he’s in with these dreadful, dreadful, tin-eared speechwriters, the ones the media were doing all the cuckoo profiles about, the guy, what is he, Favreau, or whatever his name is…
HH: Right.
MS: These guys are talentless. They can’t turn it around for him.
I’m not persuaded there’s enough savvy people in the Oval Office to actually speak up in these meetings and tell him what Clinton was told in ’94.
HH: Do you believe that Democrats on the lower levels at the Congress, or an Evan Bayh or Blanche Lincoln, can they save themselves by publicly even beginning to intimate and hint at what you just said, and by separating themselves on votes?
MS: Well, I think that, I do think that depends on very particular interests.
I know you’re no fan of Barbara Boxer…
HH: Right.
MS: And one thing is interesting, is if what happens, what appears to be happening in Massachusetts happens, that certainly puts Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat in play.
HH: Absolutely.
MS: And at that point, fellows like Evan Bayh really have to think about whether in a sense, if there is an anti-administration mood in November, whether they want to present themselves to the electorate as de facto members of the administration.
I don’t think Evan Bayh is going to be wanting Obama to fly in, in November, not if he has the same effect he had on Martha Coakley’s race.
HH: Oh, so many interesting things to ponder.
Mark Steyn from http://www.steynonline.com, thank you, friend.
We’ll talk to you on Thursday.
January 21, 2010 at 7:22 pm |
“these dreadful, dreadful, tin-eared speechwriters, the ones the media were doing all the cuckoo profiles about”
If Obama really is in need of a talented speechwriter, I’m available.
hehe
January 21, 2010 at 7:45 pm |
Christopher Hitchens reacting to Massachusetts, and non-believer relief to Haiti
http://hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=0da2789b-b22b-4b82-8e15-98fe462c5a0d
HH: And is there any mistaking the message that Obamacare is not going over well even in deep blue Massachusetts?
CH: I don’t think there’s any possible mistaking that message.
It confirms to me something I’ve long thought and hate saying, but I’ve always thought that deep down, Americans do not want to be covered.
They just don’t want national health.
They say they do when they’re asked.
They put it quite high up on the list.
They feel they ought to say yes, but they don’t really.
HH: Do you expect…
CH: I mean, the nearest it ever got to being something like a national health service was under Nixon, and I don’t think it’s ever going to be that well positioned again.
And I just think…you know what I think, honestly, Hugh?
I sometimes think Americans want to live dangerously.
They think this wouldn’t be America if you had health coverage.
HH: Oh, it could be…
CH: You and your children should be at risk.
It’s funny, but it’s there somewhere.
HH: It could be leftover of pioneer days.
There wasn’t much of a health service in the West as they pushed forward.
CH: Well, it may even be they’re doing that, but not that anyone remembers what the Hell that was like, and think what it was like before dentistry, and to go to some of the states where there aren’t any dentists, and see what people look like.
HH: Well, go to Haiti.
CH: I mean, it seems to me an absolutely nightmarish delusion, but I think it’s very widespread.
Somehow, they feel they’d rather not have it if it comes at the price of single payer, or any simulacrum of it.
HH: And, they also might believe that it’s bankrupting, that it is a complete disaster for the economy.
CH: No, no, that’s not it. That’s not it.
HH: I don’t want to debate.
I don’t want to quarrel, but I could debate you on that.
Let me ask you about Haiti.
CH: Yeah.
***
“Somehow, they feel they’d rather not have it if it comes at the price of single payer, or any simulacrum of it.”
Uhh, yeah!
January 21, 2010 at 7:51 pm |
Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl reacts to the vote last night
http://hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=a25ad0e5-a00f-49dc-8ac5-2b75cbf90e4e
HH: Now Senator Kyl, I almost feel bad for Arlen Specter, because he was your colleague for so many years, and did a fine job during some of the nastiest confirmation hearings.
I’m all for defeating him this time around, because he left the team that I root for and believe is in the best interest of the country.
But have you seen him yet?
Does he have any idea the cliff he walked off?
JK: (laughing) I think you got it right. Yes, I’ve seen him.
He’s got a tough primary in Pennsylvania, first of all, and then I think he’d have a tough general.
So I’m not exactly counting on him being back here after next November.
HH: Well, what I’m getting to is do they realize now that it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t the Arizona conservatives, or the California conservatives who were driving this anger.
This was Massachusetts.
JK: Right.
HH: He’s losing in…it’s these New England Republicans that are saying are you people crazy?
This will destroy the American economy.
JK: That’s why I began by saying I don’t even think that we realize yet how big a deal this is, how broad and deep it is.
And I think every incumbent, Democrat and Republican, need to really be careful now, because it’s independents, it’s Republicans, and it’s Democrats.
And there’s not much loyalty to any political party here.
What the people obviously are saying, at least this is the way I’m hearing them, and I heard it when I was in Arizona for the last two and a half weeks, is you guys have to start listening to us.
We’re your boss. You think you know it all in Washington.
You’re elitists, and you’re telling us what’s best for us, and then saying well, we think in a couple of years you’ll like this health care bill just fine, even if you don’t like it right now.
And what they’re saying is we know enough about it to tell you right now we don’t want it, and so don’t pass it.
And while you’re at it, stop spending money like crazy, and stop trying to take over the world with all these different takeover deals.
I think that’s the message.
And any politician that ignores that, ignores it at his or her peril.
HH: Senator Jon Kyl of the great state of Arizona, thank you, Senator, for joining us.
Good luck in getting your colleagues to recognize the truth of what you just said.
January 21, 2010 at 8:01 pm |
Just as Obama-Reid-Pelosi overreached, I do believe Repubs now may overreach.
The citizens of Massachusetts already have something very close to universal coverage.
So I wouldn’t read too much into that.
There is vehement opposition to ObamaCare, but that doesn’t mean that opposition extends to HCR in general.
There is still a widespread fear of losing coverage and being responsible for catastrophic health care costs. i.e., people fear losing everything they’ve worked for, all their savings.
I do believe Senator Gregg’s proposal for HCR addresses those concerns.
January 21, 2010 at 8:15 pm |
A Lefty Perspective
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/01/the_democrats_options.html
(1) Ignore Massachusetts:
(2) Bow to the narrative:
But you could also argue that the bill really is so fatally compromised by the deals and the lies and the ads and the arguments that you need to start over.
In that case, I think Democrats should just draw up something clean and simple and move on it quickly.
People can at least understand Medicare buy-in and Medicaid expansion.
(Oh, this is such bullshit! Expand government-run HC! No! That is NOT the answer.)
And both ideas work in reconciliation.
If you’re going to retreat in the face of Massachusetts, at least retreat to ground you can defend, and that might be worth keeping.
(Swelling Medicare and Medicaid rolls is another name for public “option” and I seriously doubt you could even get 50 votes for that in the Senate right now.)
(I’ll say one thing for Ezra, he won’t give up on his single-payer dream.)
January 21, 2010 at 10:05 pm |
Pls seat brown ASAP
He is a target right now
He and his family are in need of secret service protection
January 22, 2010 at 4:47 pm |
The history of student loans reveals a troubled past in which losses were hidden and liberals have been trying to take over the sector for decades, just as they are trying to do with health care today. There’s push back coming from several states who’ve realized the move will cost them jobs. Here’s a website detailing the issue for Indiana and FL, PA, VA, DE, and NY are said to have similar efforts underway, as well. Several colleges and universities have already written letters of protest to Congress due to the damage to current student loan options the planned government takeover will cause. Here are pdf copies of two letters to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, one from Senator Johanns of Nebraska to Duncan on 11-03-09 and one from Senator Alexander of Tennesee to Duncan, as well outlining the issues involved. That move gathered steam when it was learned that, despite no changes currently in effect, Duncan has already contacted schools and universities in hopes of encouraging them to get on board. Text below. Unfortunately, it appears if we don’t keep a close eye on this administration and Congress, there might not be much of a private sector left by the time we get to 2012.
This is why independents are abandoning obama
January 22, 2010 at 4:58 pm |
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/01/obamas-student-loan-grab-will-cost-jobs-eliminate-competition-and-grow-government.html
Links referenced above can be found here
January 22, 2010 at 5:14 pm |
Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, said Thursday that compromise was possible, but that Mr. Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders needed to start over. “We just really have to peel back the layers of the onion here, so to speak, and go back to the drawing board, and try to see what essentially could be a basis for consensus,” Ms. Snowe said. Areas of potential agreement, she said, include aid to small businesses and regulation of the insurance industry to prohibit “the most egregious practices.” Ms. Snowe supported an earlier version of the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee, but then turned against the legislation after Senate Democrats made major changes without consulting Republicans.The House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, said Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Obama were ignoring the message of the Massachusetts election. “They are still scheming and scrambling to find a way to pass their government takeover of health care,” Mr. Boehner said. And he warned, “If they jam it through, I think they are going to face a firestorm from the American public.”
January 22, 2010 at 5:39 pm |
CT poll shows support for ObamaCare crumbling
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/01/22/ct-poll-shows-support-for-obamacare-crumbling/
Most interesting for such a blue state, the idea of expanding Medicaid to gain universal coverage is a non-starter.
Only 26% support the proposal, while 47% oppose.
The entire point of the effort was supposedly to get everyone insured, and even traditionally liberal voters in Connecticut pass on the idea of hammering state budgets to do it.
It’s not just one or two aspects of the bill that Connecticut voters dislike — it’s everything.
If ObamaCare is this unpopular in Connecticut, imagine how popular it has become elsewhere.
AG Richard Blumenthal has swamped the competition for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat since Dodd announced his retirement, but that may change significantly if Democrats insist on jamming this bill down America’s throat.
“the idea of expanding Medicaid to gain universal coverage is a non-starter”
That is indeed good news. Because some on the left will want to use reconciliation to do a jam-down on Medicaid and Medicare expansion. Which is government-run HC, and there’s your public “option” — Why? Because the left still dreams of single-payer.
January 22, 2010 at 6:06 pm |
Camouflage Through Limited Disclosure: Deconstructing a Cover-Up of the Extraterrestrial Presence ~ Randy Koppang (Author)
***
Expert in alien abduction experiences, Melinda Leslie discussed cases of people who were interrogated, followed, and even re-abducted by covert operatives following their alien abduction.
In her latest research into such “MILAB” cases, she’s uncovered 14 “military on military” abduction reports, in which military personnel are recruited into deeper covert levels, interfacing with ET technology, and sometimes communicating with aliens.
In one case, a military worker named Ray signed up for a special ops program.
The next thing he knew, he was coming out of an altered state at his parents’ home and it was two years later, she recounted.
Memories can be wiped out through a combination of hypnosis, intimidation, drugs, and mind control, said Leslie.
http://www.alienexperiences.com/MelindaLeslie01.html
***
I heard Melinda Leslie on with George Noory last night. I do have reason to believe her. Maybe I missed it, but what I really want to know is why are these creatures here?
Why is this happening to me?
Do they have our best interests at heart?
Are we powerless to stop this?
Am I a hybrid?
I wish I was kidding.
January 22, 2010 at 6:15 pm |
Coast to Coast AM 1/21/2010 [1/15] ET Abductions & Covert Ops
January 22, 2010 at 6:15 pm |
More Like This:
http://www.youtube.com/results?uploaded=d&search_filter=0&search_query=cspeedracing&search_type=videos&suggested_categories=25&search_sort=video_date_uploaded
January 23, 2010 at 5:50 pm |
Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said there is a “fighting chance” that President Barack Obama will call for a freeze in most federal discretionary spending in his State of the Union speech next week. “The president can say in this State of the Union address, ‘I’m going to include in my budget a freeze on discretionary spending, I’m drawing a line in the sand, and I’m going to use my veto pen to enforce that,’” Bayh said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. Bayh said that while he wasn’t certain the president will do so, “I think that there’s a fighting chance that he will.” Bayh — who met this week with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag — also said he expects Obama to use the Jan. 27 address before Congress to embrace a federal commission to suggest spending cuts and tax increases that Congress would be forced to vote on. Still, Bayh said he doubts such a commission will clear Congress and that Obama will later have to establish such an independent body by executive fiat. “Getting 60 votes will be very hard,” said Bayh, a second-term Democrat who will face voters in this fall’s midterm elections. “I think he’ll then come forward with an executive commission which is not as good, but is at least there’s a step in the right direction.”
January 23, 2010 at 6:07 pm |
Cutting taxes to stimulate the economy is not as simple this time round. Professor Reuven Brenner and I argued in the December 2009 issue of First Things that fundamental changes in American economic policy are required to emerge from the Great Recession. We proposed that the United States fix the dollar to the Chinese yuan and other currencies in order to re-orient trade flows to the developing world. We added, “We have been borrowing in order to consume; we need now to save in order to invest. We need to shift the tax burden, moving it away from savings and investment and toward consumption. We should replace individual and corporate income taxes with consumption-based taxes.”
Hattip James pethokoukis
January 23, 2010 at 6:37 pm |
http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/2010/01/22/on-trial-for-telling-the-truth-political-correctness-vs-free-speech/
Chesler on geert wilders
January 23, 2010 at 7:21 pm |
New thread