Saturday, January 13, 2007

Should the Government Negotiate Drug Prices?

Comment: The White House & President said they would veto such a measure because they claim it would raise prices for everyone. Excuse me while I cough “Bull Shit”. The Government already has programs that pay for prescription drugs for some Americans. Negotiated for lower prices will increase competition and in no way increase prices anywhere. Competition lowers prices, basic economics.

I’ll tell you what this is, Big Pharmaceutical Money influencing the White House under the leadership of G.W. Bush once again.

I pray Congress would overturn the President’s veto.

NPR Report:
January 12, 2007 · The House passes a bill that would require the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate with drug makers for lower prices for Medicare patients. The vote was 255-170 in favor of the bill, including some two dozen Republicans. Those supporting the measure ignored a veto threat from President Bush.

The administration contends that government price negotiations — which are currently barred by law — would ultimately threaten the availability of drugs for seniors, and could raise, rather than lower, prices. But polls have shown the public is strongly behind the idea of government negotiation.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6837624

And this week, a key Democratic backer of the existing Medicare drug program, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, said he now supports eliminating the ban on government negotiation.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Bush Wants More Money for Iraq

Mr. President,

"Read my lips" No more money and no more troops for Iraq!

Please notice the word "for". Many people are discussing the fact that BILLIONS of Taxpayer dollars are being used "for" Iraqi citizens when it should be being used "for" the needs of U.S. citizens.

While the Republicans are whining and leaking their wounds after suffering a crushing political defeat the “do something” Democratic Congress are busy writing legislation that will hopefully end this War in Iraq this year.

-Yoda

(Comments welcome)

NPR Report of Bush's Plan:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6781375

CIA chief's lawyer quits case

Political

CIA chief's lawyer quits case, had hoped for political solution

Source: Associated Press Newswires 01/09/2007

MILAN, Italy (AP) - A lawyer for a former CIA station chief accused of involvement in the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect withdrew from the case Tuesday, saying statements by Italian spymasters implicating U.S. agents had undermined her attempts to head off a criminal trial.

Daria Pesce, representing former Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady, walked out of court as a judge began hearing arguments on whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence officials on criminal charges.

A trial would be the first criminal prosecution involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which terror suspects are secretly transferred to third countries where critics say they may face torture.

No decision on indictments was made Tuesday and further hearings were set for Jan. 29 into mid-February.

"Robert Seldon Lady says that this case should have had a political solution and not a judicial solution," Pesce said. "The Italian government could have decided it was a state secret -- remember, this was a terror suspect. It would have been possible if the Italian government had had the courage to reach an agreement with the U.S. government."

Instead, she said, statements that amounted to confessions from two Italians were so damaging they made it politically impossible for her to seek diplomatic immunity for her client.

"No one expected the secret services to talk," she told The Associated Press in an interview.
She was referring to statements by several Italians cooperating with Milan prosecutors that described Lady's alleged involvement with the Feb. 17, 2003, abduction of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street.

Prosecutors say the operation was a breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised their own anti-terrorism efforts. None of the defendants attended the hearing.

Asked whether he thought Pesce's withdrawal signaled the CIA's attempt to dissociate itself from the case, prosecutor Armando Spataro, who requested the indictments, said her statements were reminiscent of an era when terrorist groups tried to discredit Italian justice.

"I heard the same thing from the Red Brigades during the terror trials in the 1970s," Spataro said.

Pesce, who met with Seldon Lady four or five times in the United States, most recently in September, said the court had already appointed a new lawyer for him.

All but one of the Americans have been identified by the prosecution as CIA agents, including former station chiefs in Rome and Milan; the other is a U.S. Air Force officer who was stationed at the time at Aviano air base near Venice. The Italians include the former head of the Italian military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari.

In Italy, defendants are not required to attend preliminary hearings, or even trials. Spataro has asked Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government to seek the extradition of the American suspects, but there has been no response.

The previous prime minister, conservative Silvio Berlusconi, who was a close ally of President Bush, refused.

Pollari's defense lawyers said Tuesday they intend in the next session to try to have both Prodi and Berlusconi take the witness stand, as well as their respective defense ministers.
Even if a request is made for the Americans' extradition -- a move bound to irritate U.S.-Italian relations -- it was unlikely that the CIA agents would be turned over for trial abroad.
The CIA has refused to comment on the case.
------
Associated Press Writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Someone Said "The Children Are Our Future"

"Source: USA Today 01/02/2007

I f you're anything like me, 2006 has left you in an exhausted heap, distressed and depressed that America has been swallowed up in its own star-spangled stew of bitterness and scandal -- from the relentless political infighting and ceaseless clamor on talk radio to the pantyless Britney Spears.

And don't even get me started on Kramer.
But as the curtain rises on 2007, we do have a lot to smile about. I discovered this by conducting my own little experiment in optimism: Combing through a backlog of e-mails and clipped articles, I noticed that I'd been focusing my energy primarily on hot-button issues -- from stem cells to the Iraq War. I suppose this is natural. After all, nothing gets the blood pumping like a good fight, and there are plenty of those to go around lately.

Still, what about those stories that carry a whiff of (dare I say it) hope? Cultural watchdogs like to say that the media focus only on the bad stuff, but in truth, the good news is always out there -- you just have to look for it.

Here are a few items that, to me at least, make the New Year not only palatable, but maybe even something to celebrate:

Keeping hope alive. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis has achieved a 90% survival rate in its treatment of kids with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer. This is not a small thing. When entertainer Danny Thomas opened the doors to St. Jude in 1962, that survival rate was less than 4% -- all but guaranteeing the death of the child. Now, lives are being saved. Meanwhile, St. Jude stands by its founding promise - - that no child will be turned away for a family's inability to pay. In a nation in which 9 million kids are uninsured, that's not just good news. It's a blessing.

The kids are all right. Not every teen is loitering in the electronic hallways of MySpace or zombied out in front of MTV's Pimp My Ride. Last year, I received a letter from USA TODAY reader Tom Marshall of Laytonsville, Md., responding to a column I had written about teen activism. Tom proudly noted that his 17-year-old daughter, Kathleen (and her friend Charlene Thomas), had devoted the previous summer ("590 hours in all") to organizing a walk-a-thon that generated more than $10,000 for the AIDS Research Alliance. It was the largest fundraising effort by a high school in ARA's history. This single act of charity, says dad, so inspired Kathleen that she subsequently traveled to Africa to lend a hand to AIDS victims in hospitals, clinics and orphanages in Botswana.

Kathleen is in good company: According to a report by the Corporation for National & Community Service, teen volunteerism (ages 16 to 19) has more than doubled since 1989, thanks in large part to such organizations as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and 4- H. (Oh, yeah -- some more good news: Girl Scout cookies now have zero trans fats. But that's another story.)
The Pied Piper of pennies. Speaking of active youth, would you believe that children have raised more money for victims of Hurricane Katrina than most of the country's cash-fat corporations? Credit Anne Ginther of Dallas, whose non-profit organization Random Kid has raked in more than $10 million for Americans left homeless by the hurricane's devastation. In 2005, Ginther became captivated by the news-making efforts of a 10-year-old neighbor, Talia Leman, who had convinced a grocery chain to support her trick-or-trick campaign for Katrina relief dollars. Having already built her own kids' coin crusade on the Internet, Ginther joined forces with Talia, and they soon began marshalling a nationwide army of pint- sized fundraisers into the fold -- kids who collect coins in buckets, sell lemonade on street corners and hector business bigwigs with all the self-assurance of a D.C. lobbyist. The money then flows to relief organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Bush- Clinton Katrina Fund and Oprah's Angel Network.
But to Ginther, it always comes back to the kids. "The amazing thing about children," she told me, "is that they don't see politics as an obstacle, they don't take no for an answer, and they do take sheer joy in everything they do. It's such a kick to see just how powerful a child can be."
Are there any disadvantages to working with kids seven days a week? Says Ginther, "Well, they tend to get up early ... ."

Special deliveries. While the rest of the country was fighting over the war in Iraq, Californian Carolyn Blashek was busy packing boxes. So began the 2006 holiday drive for her beloved brainchild, Operation Gratitude, which since 2003 has provided our servicemen and women overseas with regular care packages from home, brimming with donated items -- from DVDs and sunflower seeds to baseball caps and Beanie Babies. This past year, more than 60,000 holiday packages found their way to American troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, bringing Op Gratitude's grand total to more than 200,000. "The idea is to let every servicemember who's been deployed know that someone cares about them," Blashek told me during a rare break from the assembly line. "After more than three years, I feel like a mom to these people. Every one of them is in my blood now."

Although Blashek doesn't like to play favorites, she admits that the most unusual item donated to Op Gratitude was a car. Postage must've been brutal.

So that's what jazzes me these days. If none of the above gives you reason to head into 2007 with even an ounce of cheer, you can always fall back on another little thought -- one that's guaranteed to perk up even the terminally dour: It ain't 2006.
Bruce Kluger, a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors, also writes for National Public Radio and Parenting magazine. "

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Jesus or Buddha?


The eyes of humanity will truly be opened when it remembers the dying words of Jesus Christ “forgive them father, for they know not what they do”.

Rather you believe in God, a higher power, Buddha, science or your inner self the truth of the matter is that men are a far ways from being socially or intellectually evolved.

We murder each other over our man made values. Such as religion, statues, faith, land, power, wealth, and money. All values which in the end will have no worth.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Price of Gas


The Price of Gas

I find it ironic that now after the Congressional elections the price of gas is going right back up. Damn “blue-eyed devils” in charge of the oil companies in cahoots with George W. Bush. [God bless freedon of speech].

Corporations today seem to have no regard for the common good. Why do the CEO’s find it necessary to drive these exorbitant profits draining the pockets of people needing that money for other things. (That’s a statement, not a question).

All you rich folk will say there aren’t many people in that boat, well I sure as hell am.

If I met the President of Exxon I would slap him across the face!

Economic Divide in America

Lets remember all the littlle boys and girls that Santa forgot this holiday season.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Marines Charged in Haditha Case



CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- Eight Marines were charged Thursday in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians last year during a bloody, door-to-door sweep in the town of Haditha that came after one of their comrades was killed by a roadside bomb.

In the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war, four of the Marines -- all enlisted men -- were charged with unpremeditated murder.

The other four were officers who were not there during the killings but were accused of failures in investigating and reporting the deaths.

The most serious charges were brought against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, a 26-year-old squad leader accused of murdering 12 civilians and ordering the murders of six more inside a house cleared by his squad. He was accused of telling his men to "shoot first and ask questions later," according to court papers released by his attorney.

The highest-ranking defendant was Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, 42. He was accused of failing to obey an order or regulation, encompassing dereliction of duty.

At a news conference to announce the charges, military officials would not say what they believe prompted the killings. But investigators have raised the possibility that the men went on a rampage in a fury over the roadside bombing that killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, Texas, and wounded two other Marines.

Defense attorneys have disputed that, saying their clients were doing what they had been trained to do: responding to a perceived threat with legitimate force.
Terrazas' father denounced the charges, saying his son was murdered by insurgents. "What they are doing to our troops ...it's just wrong," Martin Terrazas said in Texas. "I feel for their families. They are in my prayers."

Wuterich and two comrades charged with murder could get life in prison. The military is not seeking the death penalty. The other men face shorter prison sentences.
The Marine Corps initially reported that 15 Iraqis died in a roadside bomb blast and that Marines killed eight insurgents in an ensuing firefight. That account was widely discredited, and later reports put the number of dead Iraqis at 24.

A criminal probe was launched after Time magazine reported in March, citing survivor accounts and human rights groups, that innocent people were killed.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of the Marine Corps Central Command, said Thursday that the Corps' initial news release, which stated that the civilians in Haditha had been killed by an improvised explosive device, was incorrect.

"We now know with certainty that the press release was incorrect, and that none of the civilians were killed by the IED explosion," Mattis said.
As word spread that charges were imminent, some Iraqis said Thursday that American troops should face justice in Iraq.

"They committed a horrible crime against innocents," Naji al-Ani, a 36-year-old laborer, said by telephone from Haditha.

Other residents of Haditha agreed.
"Are they terrorists or are they fighting terrorism?" said Jamal al-Obaidi, a 40-year-old teacher. "The trial is not fair
because it is taking place in America. Executing them is the minimum penalty."
Besides Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, 24, was accused of the unpremeditated murders of five people and making a false statement. Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 22, of Carbondale, Pa., was charged with the unpremeditated murder of three Iraqis. Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, 25, of Edmond, Okla., was accused of the unpremeditated murders of two Iraqis, negligent homicide of four Iraqis and assault.

The other officers charged were 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, 25, Capt. Lucas McConnell, 31, and Capt. Randy Stone, 34, a military attorney.

The men are not being locked up for now because they are unlikely to flee and are not a danger to themselves or others, said Col. Stewart Navarre, a Corps spokesman.
In Meriden, Conn., Frank Wuterich's father, Dave, said his son was out Christmas shopping. The father said family members believe his son's version of events.

"He says they followed the rules of engagement," Dave Wuterich said. "They were taking small arms fire. They did what they had to do."

Thursday, December 07, 2006

We need Clinton back in the West Wing




Thursday, December 07, 2006
Hillary leads the presidential pack
from Alexander Mooney-->

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new poll shows Democrats favor Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, as their presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The survey was conducted by the Marist Poll for WNBC-TV in New York.

Question: "If the 2008 Democratic presidential primary were held today, whom would you support if the candidates are:

Clinton: 33%
Edwards: 14%
Gore: 13%
Obama: 12%
Kerry: 5%
Biden: 3%
Undecided: 16%

Sample Size: 327 DemocratsMargin of error: +/-4.5%Polling Dates November 27 -- December 3, 2006

Comments: This poll is clearly baloney. Clinton will be the next President. Kerry & Edwards should not even be considered, they blew thier shot big. I will protest the DEM Convention if Kerry or Edwards are even options.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The Next President (s)

The Democratic Party has fallen into a routine of putting up weak candidates. I wonder if the leaders of the party in Florida and D.C. are being paid by the GOP to choose such candidates as John Kerry and Jim Davis.

Everyone in Florida could have told you Charlie Crist was going to beat Jim Davis from the start ,as member of the DEMS I am frustrated that we continue to waist our time & money on such campaigns.

Kerry & Davis were weak on the issues, that took stances on nothing, and did nothing significant in there time in Washington.

There are now 2 politicians that have records and statements on what they believe.

We need to run candidates like them.

Hilary R. Clinton and Barrack Obama.