The state of Maryland stands poised to put its entire $90 million investment in Diebold Election Systems Inc. touch-screen e-voting systems on ice because they can’t produce paper receipts.
--source
until they agree to open source their software, i will fight them tooth and nail. they delivered electoral votes to bush, just like their CEO promised. and if it were up to me, they wouldn't have an opportunity to repeat that mistake.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
it's true, you're known by the company you keep
When Claude Allen, President Bush's longtime domestic-policy adviser, resigned suddenly on Feb. 9, it baffled administration critics and fans. The White House claimed that Allen was leaving to spend more time with his family, while the Washington Times speculated that the 45-year-old aide, a noted social conservative, might have quit to protest a new Pentagon policy about military chaplains. Allen himself never publicly explained the reason for his departure.they should ALL be charged with refund fraud. so, they lied about why he left. and he left because he was a thief. one has to wonder why he was even hired to begin with, since one doesn't have a job with that stature and suddenly becomes a thief. one's a thief, FIRST, then gets a job with stature.
News today may shed light on the mystery of Allen's resignation. According to the Montgomery County Police Department, Allen was arrested yesterday and charged in a felony theft and a felony theft scheme. According to a department press release, Allen conducted approximately 25 fraudulent "refunds" in Target and Hecht's stores in Maryland. On Jan. 2, a Target employee apprehended Allen after observing him receive a refund for merchandise he had not purchased. Target then contacted the Montgomery County Police. According to a source familiar with the case, Target and the police had been observing Allen since October 2005.
Allen is charged with practicing a form of shoplifting called "refund fraud."
source
Quote of the Day
Friday, March 10, 2006
FARPOINT.FACTOID
"We need a net inflow of capital of $3 billion a day to keep the economy afloat," said Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr. Some analysts warn that further political hostility against foreign companies buying American assets could boomerang against the United States.
--SOURCE
another repuke idea that has backfired.
the good news just keeps on coming
from yahoo
More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.
(snip)
Bush's job approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74 percent, a dangerous sign in a midterm election year when parties rely on enthusiasm from their most loyal voters. The biggest losses were among white males.
On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent.
Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.
By comparison, Presidents Clinton and Reagan had public approval in the mid 60s at this stage of their second terms in office, while Eisenhower was close to 60 percent, according to Gallup polls. Nixon, who was increasingly tangled up in the Watergate scandal, was in the high 20s in early 1974.
all i can say is oh WOW
from reuters:
ROME (Reuters) - The granddaughter of Italy's wartime dictator Benito Mussolini has defended being a fascist by saying it was better than being a "faggot".
Alessandra Mussolini's televised derogatory remarks came less than a month after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi welcomed her far-right political party into his coalition before a general election in April.
Mussolini, proud of her ancestral ties to "Il Duce", had been criticised by a drag queen-turned-politician about being a fascist on Italian TV talk show Porta a Porta.
"I'm proud of it," she snapped in comments due to be aired later on Thursday.
Vladimir Luxuria, who hopes to be Europe's first "transgender" MP and is running with the Communist Refoundation party, then asked if Mussolini wanted to lock up homosexuals.
"Better to be a fascist than a faggot," Mussolini said, using the highly offensive Italian word "frocio", according to Porta a Porta's press office.
It was not the first time one of Berlusconi's allies publicly insulted homosexuals. Mirko Tremaglia, an outspoken right-wing minister for Italians living abroad, said in 2004 that Europe was ruled by "culattoni".
The word derives from the Italian colloquial for bottom (culo) and refers to sodomists.
Quote of the WeeQ
from david ignatius:
what wonder? who's wondering? i don't wonder. do you?
"The collapse of the deal was a measure of Bush's political weakness—but even more, of America's traumatized post-Sept. 11 politics. The ironic fact is that the UAE is precisely the kind of Arab ally the United States needs most now. But that clearly didn't matter to an election-year Congress, which responded to the Dubai deal with a frenzy of Muslim-bashing disguised as concern about terrorism. And we wonder why the rest of the world doesn't like us."
what wonder? who's wondering? i don't wonder. do you?
today's MUST READ
http://www.slate.com/id/2137793/
Rumsfeld was asked about the Zogby poll reporting that 72 percent of American troops serving in Iraq think the United States should pull out within a year. He replied that he hadn't examined the poll, that he'd only read about it in the newspapers, and that he didn't believe it anyway, because every soldier he's talked with over there is enthusiastic about the mission.
Two reasonable follow-up questions that no senator bothered to pose:
- Do you really think, given the way you've hounded generals and colonels who dare disagree with you, that some enlisted man or woman is going to tell you we should get out?
- Maybe the poll is flawed, but don't you even want to take a look at the thing? If it really does reflect the thinking of a majority of troops, shouldn't you be aware of that?
civil war in iraq?
(at yesterday's senate hearings)
In one of the few interesting bits, the U.S.'s top general for the Mideast testified that the "sectarian violence is a greater concern for us security-wise right now than the insurgency."so it's not the insurgency any more, it's called sectarian violence. got that?
Quote of the Day
How is it that lying over a DNA-stained blue dress is an impeachable offense while lying over war, torture, gross malfeasance, cronyism, bribery, corruption and secret spying is worthy of little more than a few shrugged shoulders?attribution
— Dan Drasheff, Cedar Rapids.
Letter of the WeeQ
and we have a winner:
The Register’s March 1 article, “Oh, Homey! Simpsons More Known Than Rights,” describing constitutional knowledge is an eye-opener as to what we’re teaching about our country’s history and a sad testimonial to our lack of knowledge.attribution
Makes one wonder just exactly what the 535 congressional representatives know about the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and amendments to the Constitution.
These are the 535 who have usurped more power and authority than ever envisioned by our Founding Fathers.
The same 535 who have no problem seeing Martha Stewart or Enron and MCI executives thrown in jail for wrongdoing, yet have no problem creating between $50 trillion and $70 trillion of unfunded federal promises to buy votes to either enter or maintain membership in the club.
The same 535 who have no practical accountability other than the remote possibility of being voted out of office, leaving with their pockets stuffed with cash.
Remember, this select group takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. If a surprise test were given to this group as to what the Declaration, Constitution and its amendments say, they would do no better than the folks surveyed.
These club members should, at a minimum, have some knowledge as to what they take an oath to uphold.
Passing a basic constitutional test before one can enter the race might even lead to more common-sense legislation.
— J. Robert Hopson, Altoona.
Letter Of The Day
it looks like there's a real contest today, but today's winner is:
I am outraged that Officer Stewart Drake was given special privileges (“Officer Drives 99 mph, Isn’t Cited,” Mar. 3). I was arrested eight years ago for an OWI. I had to spend the night in jail, complete two days in the OWI treatment class, pay about $4,000 or $5,000 in fines, lost my license for six months, was placed on probation for one year, had to pay for and complete the Employee and Family Resources evaluation and have the Interlock device put in my vehicle.attribution
Not to mention the civil penalty with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the cost of the work permit. It was my first offense. He’s complaining about a two-day suspension without pay?
I am so angry. It’s time for an internal investigation. The way this was handled was unprofessional. It teaches the next generation that being a cop is a good idea not because you get to help the community but because you don’t have to worry about getting into trouble.
I want my record wiped clean, too, and all the money paid back that I had to dish out. This just proves they don’t practice what they preach.
— Tiffini Shepard, Des Moines.
and no thanks to our own senator grassley
from today's des moines register, who endorsed grassley last election, and now they're bitching about what he's doing. what hypocrites.
Don't take seriously the reports that Congress is finally standing up to President Bush.--source
Those reports are based on congressional opposition to the Dubai ports deal — an easy pandering to public sentiment that requires no political courage whatsoever.
On a more difficult question, which involves a threat to the Constitution itself, Congress has, as usual, caved in to pressure from the White House and shirked a clear duty.
Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have decided not to investigate whether the president violated the law when he ordered government agents to wiretap Americans without obtaining warrants.
Instead, the committee said it would increase "oversight" of the wiretapping by asking the president to inform, in secret, a few more members of Congress about the program than he currently does. In essence, Congress will be content with selected members being told what Bush chooses to tell them. The committee will make no attempt to gather information on its own.
That's not oversight. It's abetting a cover-up.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
to hell with what the people want
The House approved a bill Wednesday night that would wipe out state laws on safety labeling of food, overriding tough rules passed by California voters two decades ago that require food producers to warn consumers about cancer-causing ingredients.
--source
every time i watch highway to heaven
and see that ford LTD II, i'm reminded of the time i had back in the late 70's. it was a car i had inherited from this guy who picked me up hitchhiking in california. he just disappeared in hollywood, and *poof* i had a car on my hands. so i managed to keep it for another 6-8 months until one night in kansas city, it got towed. see, it was a stolen vehicle from texas. i'm only glad they didn't stop me driving the thing. i may not be writing this had that happened. but every time i see it on highway to heaven, and i watch that show every day jon tvland (a whole 'nother story), i always think about the good ol' days when i drove the hell out of that car. man those were the days.
another reason it'll take years to recover from the bushites
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed a new rule that would let tax preparers sell or share a client's tax-return information with third parties, as long as they got the client's consent.--source
so forget the constitution
the president can do whatever the hell he pleases.
that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.
that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.
Yesterday, the NYT reported: "G.O.P. SENATORS SAY ACCORD IS SET ON WIRETAPPING." The niggling details the Times buried: The GOP blocked an investigation of the program while, as TP noted, the "accord" would let the no-warrant-needed poking around to continue. Or as the NYT puts it this morning, "PLAN WOULD ALLOW LONG-TERM SPYING WITHOUT WARRANTS
so forget the constitution
the president can do whatever the hell he pleases.
that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.
that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.
Yesterday, the NYT reported: "G.O.P. SENATORS SAY ACCORD IS SET ON WIRETAPPING." The niggling details the Times buried: The GOP blocked an investigation of the program while, as TP noted, the "accord" would let the no-warrant-needed poking around to continue. Or as the NYT puts it this morning, "PLAN WOULD ALLOW LONG-TERM SPYING WITHOUT WARRANTS
they don't want you to know the truth
The WP goes Page One with an unnamed Health Ministry official saying an unnamed Shiite politician ordered government hospitals and morgues to exclude execution-style killings from its death counts. A mere 30 paragraphs down we learned that when "contacted a second time" the "ministry official refused to speak further, saying, 'Forget what I told you.' " Queasy or questionable source aside, it's worth knowing that, according to the Post, the Health Ministry is currently under the control of a party loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr.are they trying to hide a civil war?
The lengthy health ministry piece, by Bureau Chief Ellen Knickmeyer, amounts to a detailed defense of the paper's report last week that 1,300 people had been killed in the recent sectarian violence, a far higher number than other outlets have reported. Summarizing its series of reports last week, today's WP cites four sources: There's the original one who's now ID'd as a Baghdad "morgue worker" and then later three backups who all put the figure at about 1,000: a "Health Ministry official, an official with the Interior Ministry and an international official in Baghdad." Last week, the Post actually cited a named source, a Gen. Ali Shamarri. Other papers haven't been able to find him; Iraqi officials say they have no record of such a general. And curiously, he's not mentioned in today's Post.
something else that's been bothering me lately
is all the nameless sources we're seeing. people are afraid to give their names to newspapers any more. why? because of retribution tactics used by the bushites that can be very bad for careers and just a downer on life in general.
from today's papers
a daily read.
Everybody mentions that the State Department's just-released human-rights report said Iraqi police activities include "intimidation, beatings, and suspension by the arms or legs, as well as the reported use of electric drills and cords and the application of electric shocks."golly gee, where ever on earth did they learn THAT from?
couldn't have said it better myself
and i'm a howard dean fan, er used to be. i dont know what happened to him, but he seems to have been melded into the woodwork like all other democrats before him. anyway, what i wanted to say, but didn't have the words to do it, comes from slate:
Since assuming their positions, the three of them have shown themselves to be somewhere between useless and disastrous as party leaders. Individually, they lack substance and policy smarts (Pelosi); coherence and force (Reid); and steadiness and mainstream appeal (Dean). Collectively, they convey an image of liberal elitism, disarray, and crabbiness
Letter of the WeeQ
Since many children may soon be riding the MTA, will we next restrict all sex offenders from using public transportation?attribution
— Toni Ford, West Des Moines.
Letter Of The Day
The Feb. 26 letter from Robert Zeis Jr. (“Israel Has Worked for Peace”) was racist in its claim that Palestinians are a “politically created race of people that never existed until the 20th century.”attribution
This racist lie has been repeatedly debunked by numerous Israelis such as Benny Morris and Tom Segev, and by American Jews such as Norman G. Finkelstein and Albert Einstein.
The Romans named this region “Palestinia” and the people of the region “Palestinians” in the time of Herod (39 B.C.).
It was referred to as Palestine for centuries earlier than this.
A fitting retort to this lie is that the Palestinians are the only direct descendants of the 12 apostles.
— John Hauptman, Ames.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
from the GOOD NEWS file
The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds more than 4 in 10 Americans strongly disapproving of the job George W. Bush is doing as president. His support among core supporters (Republicans and conservatives) is as weak as it has been. Only 40% of Americans believe Bush can manage the government effectively, the worst rating he has received on this measure of his presidency. Other measures of Bush's personal characteristics are also at or near their lowest points.--source
When Americans were asked a follow-up of whether they strongly approve or disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove (44%) as say they strongly approve (22%) of Bush. The strong disapproval rating is the highest Gallup has measured for Bush by a percentage point, and is the highest for any president since Richard Nixon during the Watergate era.
we need a regime change
starting with the house of (mis)representatives. now we can say republicans don't care about the children.
Washington) Using a procedural maneuver Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee chopped an amendment to the Children's Safety and Violent Crimes Reduction Act that would have included gays, lesbians and the transgendered in federal hate crime laws.
The amendment was passed by the House last September on a 223 to 199 vote with 30 Republicans casting their votes in support of the measure.
"The United States Congress is not a card game. You can't just keep re-shuffling the deck if you don't like the first hand the majority deals you," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
"The House has already passed hate crimes legislation by a clear majority. To callously disregard that vote signals how far out of step House leadership is with both the majority of Congress and the American people."
A Senate version of the bill is currently before the chamber.
--source
gotta luv them hooters
scooter's hooters are a hoot. did you know:
you do now! so get on with that swanson boycott, and i'll lead the way (i really hate those tv dinners)
that MSNBC flunky Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson's father, Richard Carlson (oh, great - another Dick in a bowtie), is Libby's Defense Fundraiser go-to guy. A tiny fact that both MSNBC and Tucker Carlson either didn't think was important to disclose, or they were too busy to remember. On a sub-Hooter #2 note, Tucker's mom is the Swanson's Frozen Food heiress. The boycott will now commence.
you do now! so get on with that swanson boycott, and i'll lead the way (i really hate those tv dinners)
the brownshirt brigade is hard at work in california
Elizabeth Dole sent out an NRSC fundraiser intentionally disguised as a "Return" and sent to "U.S. Individual Resident". Upon a quick second look I did see that the return address had the American Eagle and Elizabeth Dole's name at the top of the envelope. Someone else might honestly think that this was an official notification from the government. Especially, an elderly person or a new registrant who hasn't been politically active in the past.links to the document in question. pretty scary tactics if you ask me.
israel making threats again
If the U.N. Security Council is incapable of taking action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself, Israel's defense minister said on Wednesday.--source
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was asked whether Israel was ready to use military action if the Security Council proved unable to act against what Israel and the West believe is a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program.
"My answer to this question is that the state of Israel has the right give all the security that is needed to the people in Israel. We have to defend ourselves," Mofaz told Reuters after a meeting with his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung.
i think i posted a while back about israel gearing up to hit iran, and that plans were in the oven for a strike on iran's nuclear facilities.
talk about provocation.
from the GOOD NEWS file
NEWFANE, Vt. -- In five Vermont communities, a centuries-old tradition of residents gathering in town halls to conduct local business became a vehicle to send a message to Washington: Impeach the president.--source
An impeachment article, approved by a paper ballot 121-29 in Newfane Tuesday, calls on Vermont's lone member of the U.S. House, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against President Bush, alleging he misled the nation into the Iraq war and engaged in illegal domestic spying.
At least four other Vermont towns, spurred by publicity about Newfane's resolution, endorsed similar resolutions during Tuesday's meetings: Brookfield, Dummerston, Marlboro and Putney.
california republicans caught defrauding the government
The California Republican Party has suspended its fee-based voter registration program while prosecutors in San Bernardino and Orange counties investigate possible registration fraud connected to private firms hired by the party, GOP officials said.--source
The suspension came after election officials in the two counties discovered thousands of flawed registration forms and received complaints from residents who said they had been improperly registered as Republicans.
seems the name sproul is connected here too. from dailykos:
Searching for information on the voter registration fraud stories breaking tonight in Nevada and Oregon, I kept coming across the same name: Nathan Sproul of Sproul & Associates in Phoenix, Arizona.
Nathan Sproul is the former head of the Arizona Republican Party and of the Arizona Christian Coalition (ah, the irony... a Christian).
Sproul is connected with the Republican National Committee-funded voter registration organization, Voter Outreach, Inc., a group that used paid registrars to register voters in a number of states including Nevada, Oregon, Arizona and perhaps more, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine and Missouri. (Others states pending, particularly swing states.) Sproul's organization also recruited registrars by fraudulently telling recruits that they would be working for America Votes, a legitimate nonpartisan GOTV operation!
HYPOCRISY ALERT
The White House rejected as provocative Iran's statement's that the United States could feel "harm and pain" if the U.N. Security Council took up the issue of Tehran's nuclear research.--source
when bolton warned iran of painful consequences if they didn't bend down in homage to the fuhrer
god these people (sic) make me sick.
one has to wonder why bush is of the status of a saint
if you can't wear t-shirts emblazoned with pictures of the monkey with floppy ears, or speak about him in terms of his nazi-ness in class, without retribution.... these are things that are done in countries with dictators in charge.
Teacher who compared Bush and Hitler put on leave
Teacher who compared Bush and Hitler put on leave
BUSH TO CONGRESS: DON'T YOU DARE INVESTIGATE ME
The Post goes inside with and Knight Ridder highlights the Republican-controlled Senate intel committee voting down a proposed investigation of the warrantless spying.
FARPOINT.FACTOID
The Journal does the budget numbers and concludes that U.S. spending for the Iraq war is still heading north and currently running $5.9 billion per month. The administration has requested $117.6 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq for this fiscal year, 18 percent more than last year. It's all done outside the normal budget and in "emergency" appropriations.
Quote of the Day
"The current militarization of many of the nation's intelligence functions and responsibilities will be viewed as a major mistake in the very near future,"attribution
--John O. Brennan, a 25-year C.I.A. officer who headed the National Counterterrorism Center (before retiring last year)
the encroachment of the military industratial complex is growing rapidly. eisenhower must be turning in his grave.
in fact, the WP and LAT has been covering the same program for years.
Letter Of The Day
If the information published in a Feb. 26 article is correct, then Waterloo Principal Mary Meier has some serious apologizing to do to the students suspended from her school for distributing a flier that she evidently took personal offense to ("Students Suspended for Inappropriate Fliers").attribution
The U.S. Constitution makes the right of the punished students very clear. If as Meier states the fliers contained no threats, then "inappropriate," as judged by Meier, is no justification for violating those rights. What kind of an example is Meier setting in a public educational institution when students can be seriously rebuked for disagreeing with a political position taken by a governmental entity?
"Inappropriate" ideas may fly in the face of Meier's personal definition of political correctness or perhaps the Waterloo school board's philosophies, but they are not illegal. Meier's actions may well be.
— Travis Gregory, Ames.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
the numbers
The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, conducted Feb 28 to March 1, finds the Democrats holding a substantial lead over the Republicans as the party more registered voters currently support in this fall's elections for Congress. More than half of registered voters (53%) favor the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in their district; only 39% favor the Republican.
--gallup
our next president?
from the ny daily news:
America's mayor is America's hottest politician, according to a new poll.
Rudy Giuliani topped Quinnipiac University's national "Thermometer" survey of 1,900 voters, far outpacing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who came in eighth.
New York's feisty former mayor also wiped the floor with President Bush and Vice President Cheney, who are so unpopular these days they didn't even make the top 10.
"The first Thermometer of American Leaders is a cold shower for President Bush, Vice President Cheney - and for Sen. Clinton," said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.
FARPOINT.FACTOID
A front-page piece in USAT tallies 2,154 flights on corporate jets taken by "members of Congress" and "aides to President Bush's re-election campaign." As has been mentioned before, these folks get a fairly reasonable deal; they have to pay the equivalent of first class. The most generous provider of trips: U.S. tobacco.
Quote of the Day
"It came from a need to destroy al-Qaeda, which we thought the Marines might have been able to do," said one tribal chief. "We were wrong, since these armed men became stronger and raped other cities."--source
like all things repuke, it'll backfire
the new law in SD that bans abortion and will take effect in july is actually making pro-choice groups giddy. as noted in the LAT:
If abortion-rights groups play it right, said one such advocate, "this might be the best thing that ever happened to the pro-choice movement."
Joke Of The Day
Iraq is "going very, very well, from everything you look at,"
--Gen. Peter Pace
--source
Monday, March 06, 2006
do you see what's wrong with this picture
the picture has been scribbed from the larimar county GOP's website. hm, could they be feeling the heat of lawlessness?
http://www.larimergop.org/photos/LincolnDay/LD2/LD2006.html
plus, they took down any photo that had a marine in it. and maybe you'll notice something else. NO BLACKS. NO HISPANICS. NO CHINESE. NO JAPANESE.. what a klansman's dream.
crackpot of the day
Merrill Keiser, Jr., is a trucker by trade, and he's hoping his next journey takes him all the way to Washington. His goal is a seat in the US Senate, but first he has to make it through the primary that will determine which Ohio Democrat will be the November ballot.--source
The Fremont man is causing some controversy with one of his beliefs. He tells News 11 homosexuality should be a felony, punishable by death. "Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs -- we should have laws against immoral conduct," Keiser says.
they're all corrupt sons of bitches if ya ask me
"Gov. Jeb Bush's office is refusing to release documents or answer questions about a $400,000 tax credit awarded to MZM Inc., whose former chief executive pleaded guilty last week to bribery and illegal campaign contributions."
--source
like i say, all things repuke backfire
and on the parental notification idea that repukes think will stem abortions? ha, look at this:
in Tennessee, for example, the abortion rate went up after the law went into effect. One reason—parents often push their pregnant daughters to get abortions.also from today's papers
FARPOINT.FACTOID
from today's papers:
Compounding the (mental health) problem is the exodus of educated Iraqis since 2003, which has left a total of 75 psychiatrists—including zero child psychiatrists—in the entire country.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
dubai congroversy
is being headed by yale grads.
one outta figure out where are all the yale grads from bush's age.
one outta figure out where are all the yale grads from bush's age.
no wonder bush looked into his eyes and saw his soul
from today's papers:
Ramzan Kadyrov, 29, (the newly appointed prime minister) the son of an assassinated Chechen president, has been accused of corruption, torture, and ordering kidnappings. Vladimir Putin awarded him the Hero of Russia medal in 2004.
no iraq war in 2008?
just in time for elections. kinda makes ya wonder if the war was even anything more than a political ploy to extract revenge on saddam.
Two British papers, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Mirror, report that the U.S. and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007. No American paper picks up the story, which is based on quotes from unnamed sources in the British defense ministry.
Details of Some Guantanamo Hearings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060304/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guantanamo_detainees_names_4
Quote of the WeeQ
regarding this (mis)administration's penchant for serious journalists.
"There's a tone of gleeful relish in the way they talk about dragging reporters before grand juries, their appetite for withholding information, and the hints that reporters who look too hard into the public's business risk being branded traitors," said New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, in a statement responding to questions from The Washington Post. "I don't know how far action will follow rhetoric, but some days it sounds like the administration is declaring war at home on the values it professes to be promoting abroad."--washington post
Letter Of The Year
by all counts, this one's the winner.
After two months and thousands of prescriptions having been filled under the Medicare Part D plans, pharmacists have yet to see one truly discounted prescription offered to a senior citizen.attribution
When I say a truly discounted prescription, I mean the final price that the senior citizen is charged against the program’s $2,250 maximum allowance.
Every single prescription that we are filling is at 100 percent of the drug manufacturers’ cost to any pharmacy. The total prescription price that is being charged to that maximum benefit is not discounted to the senior citizen in any way.
For the past two years, there were discounted manufacturer programs that took $100 prescriptions and had patients pay only a fraction of that price. The manufacturer, through the program, rebated money back to cover the total cost.
I am sure that rebated money is still flowing back to all the insurance companies that have a Medicare D drug program. But it appears that any and all of those millions of dollars of rebate money are stopping at the insurance company.
With every dollar that is coming off the $2,250 cap in benefits, the share that is coming from the insurance plan is 0 percent. They may be receiving that same $20, $30, $50 or $100 rebate, but they are charging against the senior citizens’ benefits at 100 percent.
There is no transparency as to how much money is being rebated back to private insurance companies through these programs, and that is an outrage.
We are seeing patients pay full price for prescriptions that we know, based on the previous manufacturer discount programs, cost the insurance company only a fraction of that amount. Seniors may be seeing lower prescription prices, but that is all coming out of reduced profit margins that the insurance plan allows the pharmacy.
We have seen manufacturers raise the wholesale cost of drugs 5 to 8 percent since Jan. 1. The drug companies are winners because they continue to raise prices to cover the amount of rebate they are giving.
The insurance company wins because they have all those new premium payers and this new huge pool of rebate money.
The senior citizen pays an additional premium to get the crumbs that are left over. If the plan is to buy the drugs for less money, then the plan’s clients — seniors — should be getting that reduced price.
Somebody needs to start asking why they are not, and just where all
this rebate money is going.
— Mark Richards, Richards Pharmacy, Des Moines.
Letter Of The Year
by all counts, this one's the winner.
After two months and thousands of prescriptions having been filled under the Medicare Part D plans, pharmacists have yet to see one truly discounted prescription offered to a senior citizen.attribution
When I say a truly discounted prescription, I mean the final price that the senior citizen is charged against the program’s $2,250 maximum allowance.
Every single prescription that we are filling is at 100 percent of the drug manufacturers’ cost to any pharmacy. The total prescription price that is being charged to that maximum benefit is not discounted to the senior citizen in any way.
For the past two years, there were discounted manufacturer programs that took $100 prescriptions and had patients pay only a fraction of that price. The manufacturer, through the program, rebated money back to cover the total cost.
I am sure that rebated money is still flowing back to all the insurance companies that have a Medicare D drug program. But it appears that any and all of those millions of dollars of rebate money are stopping at the insurance company.
With every dollar that is coming off the $2,250 cap in benefits, the share that is coming from the insurance plan is 0 percent. They may be receiving that same $20, $30, $50 or $100 rebate, but they are charging against the senior citizens’ benefits at 100 percent.
There is no transparency as to how much money is being rebated back to private insurance companies through these programs, and that is an outrage.
We are seeing patients pay full price for prescriptions that we know, based on the previous manufacturer discount programs, cost the insurance company only a fraction of that amount. Seniors may be seeing lower prescription prices, but that is all coming out of reduced profit margins that the insurance plan allows the pharmacy.
We have seen manufacturers raise the wholesale cost of drugs 5 to 8 percent since Jan. 1. The drug companies are winners because they continue to raise prices to cover the amount of rebate they are giving.
The insurance company wins because they have all those new premium payers and this new huge pool of rebate money.
The senior citizen pays an additional premium to get the crumbs that are left over. If the plan is to buy the drugs for less money, then the plan’s clients — seniors — should be getting that reduced price.
Somebody needs to start asking why they are not, and just where all
this rebate money is going.
— Mark Richards, Richards Pharmacy, Des Moines.
Story of the Day
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060305/OPINION01/603050319/1035/OPINION
on gitmo:
on gitmo:
Hegland pored over the court files of 132 detainees. She then spent Christmas vacation with her family in Ames, studying the redacted transcripts of another 314 cases that had been heard by military tribunals.
The files show most of the detainees were not captured in Afghanistan, and most are not accused of any hostile acts. They are accused of "associating" with terrorists, often based on implausible accusations from fellow inmates or on admissions of having done things such as sleeping in a Taliban house or seeing Osama bin Ladin on television.
Some of the prisoners were captured by Pakistani or Afghan warlords, who were paid large bounties for each "terrorist" turned over. Attorney Thomas Wilner, writing in the Los Angeles Times, described one of his clients as a young Kuwaiti who was teaching in Pakistan. He and four other Kuwaitis were invited to dinner by a Pakistani tribal leader, then sold into captivity.
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