These are all the Blogs posted today: Friday, 9, 2008.
Corporate welfare
44 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/352 David Cay Johnston Speaks on the Free Lunch Given to America's Corporations and the WealthySubmitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 05/09/2008 - 6:07pm. Alerts On Sunday, March 9, 2008, BuzzFlash sponsored an afternoon talk with David Cay Johnston, who discussed his latest book: “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill).” BuzzFlash taped the presentation -- and on this page, BuzzFlash is offering his remarks to our readers as You-Tube segments. (****Youtube segments are on the website posted above. You will definitely want to see these segments.) And we complain about welfare for the poor? At least they can claim justification for it due to poverty or low income jobs and dead end jobs or homelessness. Read more | 0 comments
EVER WONDER WHAT IT IS LIKE TO OWN A 'BURGER JOINT' IN BAGHDAD?
DEJA VU: NEW YORK TIMES HYPES US PROPAGANDA AND WAR WITH IRAN
CASUALTY REPORT FROM WARS WITH VIVID DETAILS
The Haas Case - The Government is Broken
47 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog On May 5, 2008, the Appeals Court of the Federal Circuit issued a 2 to 1 decision overturning the victory by Commander Haas at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). For those who don't know, the case was about the idea that Navy Veterans of Vietnam whose ships often were close to the shores of Vietnam were sprayed with Agent Orange (herbicides) and deserved to be included in the presumptive clause of the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The Department of Veterans Affairs in promulgating the rules for presumption changed their interpretation between 1991 and 1997 and drew a line that did not include naval veterans in the act, requiring instead a "boots on the ground" caveat for presumption. Without going in to the whys and wherefores of the case and the majority and dissenting opinions, I would like instead to point out that the real result of the decision is that it makes it very clear that our government is severely broken and we as Americans and Veterans must do something now. It is not about political agendas, philosophies, or parties, and here is why. In the decision, the majority decision states that there are portions of the case the Court would not rule on, because it was a matter for the Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs and portions for which the Court reaffirmed the authority of the Department to promulgate rules with deferrence. So in essence, the court says the legislative branch of government must through legislation and oversight, insure that laws are not only correctly interpreted as to intent, but also that oversight by the Congress of an executive branch Department should be used to insure compliance with the laws. For all those that have been following the VCS case in San Francisco, the case has clearly done much to show the total failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify, react to, and resolve issues concerning PTSD, TBI, mental health issues and suicides. It is also clear that this is not a new issue, there were a great many Vietnam vets who also committed suicide, as I am sure there have been from Bosnia-Herzokovina, and the first Gulf war; however, the Department has continually failed to provide the needed assistance with urgency or prompt action. In point of fact, Representative Filner, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Senator Akaka, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and Senator Murray all demanded Dr. Kussman and Katz's resignation, which was promptly ignored by Secretary Peake. Additionally, one must consider the fact that the Department told Representative Mitchell, who chairs the House Oversight Committee for Veterans Affairs, to submit an FOIA request for data he requested for his Committee. So as absurd, inept, dishonest, and dysfunctional as the executive branches Department may be, the Secretary may thumb his nose at the oversight attempts of the legislative branch to correct a situation, whether it be mental health issues or Haas. While it is not certain, the decision by the Federal Circuit Appeals Court to side with the executive branch, portends the possibility that Judge Conti may take a like stance with the failure of the Department to address issues raised in the case, despite it being made apparent by witnesses that the mental health program is little more than a very bad joke, and rule that the Department has the right to address the problem as they see fit. Of course, the only conclusion one may come to in this exercise is that Veterans have no recourse through either the executive or judicial branches of government, and that the legislative branch is without authority to make them do anything, without the long and ardous process of writing exacting legislation (which is not common), getting it passed through both chambers, and signed by the President. I ask you all, doesn't this sound like the system is irreparably broken to you? Read more | 1 comments
America Betrayed: Will Progressives Take the Fall?
45 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/75646/?comments=view&cID=824012&pID=823939 Excerpted from this article: As we enter this crucial election year, progressives need to be wary that our greatest strength, our longstanding opposition to the debacle in Iraq, could become our greatest weakness. A trap has been set to clamp down on progressives when the apparent progress from the "surge" inevitably unravels into a new round of intense violence. Are we going to sit idly by while right-wing millionaires and billionaires fund campaigns like Freedom's Watch, with its plans to spend $250 million this year to smear progressive leaders as betrayers? We need to set the terms of the debate before the barrage of deceptions issue forth. At this critical time in our nation's history, the consequences of inaction and complacency could not be more dire. The truth is that we have been betrayed by an extremist right-wing ideology that currently goes by the name "conservative." Its well-funded message machine lulled the public into a false confidence that led to the most devastating abuse of our military for private gain in this country's history. Contrary to the arguments of many critics, this is not simply a botched policy or misguided approach. An exceptional story A trap has been set for progressives, and it comes in the form of a story. The betrayal has been made possible by the conservative take on the Myth of American Exceptionalism. This belief that we are the Great Nation, whose military endeavors always side with the Good, has set in motion a vicious cycle. It is the belief that our country is inherently good and our military strength is unrivaled. Consistency requires that our "enemy" must be evil and is always the lesser foe. Failure is impossible in a fair contest. If we lose, it must be a failure from within. We must have been betrayed. Kevin Baker, in a Harper's article published in 2006, distilled this tale of betrayal into a political formula used by conservatives:
(The betrayal story is also discussed on Alternet and in the Atlantic Monthly.) The stage has been set for laying the blame on us. In the runup to the escalation, these phrases were repeated far and wide by unknowing journalists:
Often innocently quoted from interviews with conservatives, these phrases reinforce associations in people's brains between peace activists and the disaster in Iraq. The debate has been framed against us. Our brains have been conditioned through repetitive accusations that opponents of the Iraq occupation are "emboldening the enemy" with their "defeatism" until the only thing that makes sense is the betrayal of America by war-hating peace mongers. Talk about a twisted role reversal. Tell a different story Conservatives have spread a virus, incubating their ideas in our brains with the hope that they would replicate across the country. They have planted seeds of conservative thought to be born by a media that doesn't realize it is complicit in propagating the Betrayal Myth. Our responsibility as citizens is to get the truth out there ahead of the next round of lies. We can take away its capacity to influence our thinking by becoming sensitized to the hidden meaning of these words. Presenting the facts without changing the story will not be enough. Flesh-and-blood human beings just don't all reason to rational conclusions. We have to pre-empt the trap by revealing the true betrayal of America -- the deceptive conservative agenda and its anti-democratic goals.
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OUR MEDIA HAS BEEN WRONG FOR SO LONG ABOUT IRAQ
CNN REPORTS US MILITARY SKEPTICAL OF IRAQI CLAIMS CAPTURED TOP AL QAEDA LEADER
Veterans vs Amnesty
43 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog Veterans vs Amnesty
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_pat_smit_080508_veterans_vs_amnesty.htm See how normal Democrats welcome a good non-racist article on a Democratic web-site from a (gasp) Republican? Read more | 0 comments
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