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Henry Paulson: Good Businessman or Very Bad Communist?
Is Paulson looking to socialize risk and privatize gain? The answer could be the difference between economic disaster and recovery
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Desperate Republicans Have No Intention Of Going Down To Defeat With Either Dignit...
It has finally dawned on Republican Party leaders that they are in the middle of Desperationland. Easy enough to sneer and say they earned it-- and more-- but desperation is leading them down some unhealthy paths, unhealthy for all of us.
Republican office holders are aware that McCain's coattails are not just negative, but positively toxic. The three special election House candidates he campaigned for-- all in very Republican districts-- all lost in upset elections. GOP strategists are starting to whisper the word "landslide," and they mean a Democratic one that could leave the Republicans with impotent rump caucuses in both houses of Congress.
Everywhere, Party leaders are starting to finally realize the trouble they're in. Asked if McCain could win Wisconsin, former Republican Governor and McCain friend Tommy Thompson claimed it isn't impossible but when he was asked if he's happy with his friend's campaign, he said "No; I don't know who he is." And that's a feeling that people all over the country are having about McCain, who has tried to do everything he could to make Americans feel that he's someone they know and trust-- no one does-- and that Obama is "not one of us" and scary and different and unknown. It's almost funny when it comes from Sarah Palin who no one but Alaskans and a few religious extremists ever heard of before a month and a half ago. It has finally dawned on Republican Party leaders that they are in the middle of Desperationland. Easy enough to sneer and say they ea... more -
Is McCain A Lot Sicker Than We Know?
In the crucial final weeks of the campaign John McCain is mostly doing only one event a day. This is the man of whom his primary care physician at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, said to journalists in a conference call last May 23: “At the present time, Sen. McCain enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy.” He looked tired and sick in the second debate in Nashville. As Sarah Palin rabble-rouses the crowds with calls for Obama to be forthright, she may be wondering, “how forthright has John McCain been with me? If he wins on November 4, will I be president in six months or a year?”
But if McCain’s battle with melanoma has suddenly turned critical, wouldn’t his doctors feel compelled to divulge their knowledge about the candidate? The answer is No. The legal penalties under HIPPA (the medical privacy act) for disclosure of protected health information, without that patient’s consent, are extremely serious.
No one is more under day-to-day scrutiny than the President. When Reagan ran for re-election he already knew he had colon cancer and that was kept quiet until after he won. In health matters, secrecy often wins out in the political crunch. What follows are the essentials of a story by Fred Gardner and myself in the latest issue of our CounterPunch newsletter.
In the past fifteen years, John McCain has had four melanomas removed. The most dangerous was the one taken from his temple in 2000, classified by his doctors as an invasive melanoma, stage IIA, on a standard scale that makes stage IV the most serious.
The 2000 surgery left McCain not only with a puffy jaw but also with a scar down his neck. Dr Eckstein’s public statement, released May 24 of this year, stated: In the crucial final weeks of the campaign John McCain is mostly doing only one event a day. This is the man of whom his primary care ... more -
From Gitmo to the U.S.: How 17 Uighur Prisoners Could Be Let Into the United State...
The story behind last week's stunning ruling on the fate of 17 Uighur prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
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The One Issue All the Candidates Are Wrong On
Palin and McCain have always been for it. Joe Biden was sort of against it before he was for it and Barack Obama embraces it.
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Why It's Not that Fun to Laugh at Sarah Palin Anymore
Now that Sarah Palin is playing the role of pit-bull with lipstick, it has taken all the fun out of this election.
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Station bans train death artwork
An artwork depicting a person falling to their death in front of a train will not be displayed at London's St Pancras Station.
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'US missiles' hit Pakistan town
At least four people have died in a suspected US missile attack on a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, local officials say. At least four people have died in a suspected US missile attack on a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, local officials s... more
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India gets its first woman saint
A Catholic nun, Sister Alphonsa, has been made India's first female saint, at an event presided over by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. A Catholic nun, Sister Alphonsa, has been made India's first female saint, at an event presided over by Pope Benedict XVI at the ... more
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Who really are these "Undecided Voters"?
This is a comedic report, but i believe it has a grain of truth in it.
I however wasn't able to confirm the NBC 'undecided voter' poll. This is a comedic report, but i believe it has a grain of truth in it. ... more -
McCain and the Mob Mentality
Barack Obama has become a metaphor for those who are considered culturally different. Disturbingly, we have been down this road of hatred and divisiveness before. Who can forget the chilling memories of America's civil rights leaders being slain, segregation being fostered, synagogues being burned, black citizens being lynched, and law-abiding Muslims being shot and killed after 9/11?
This is the dark side of America that I'd rather forget, but once again has reared its ugly head through the campaign discourse of John McCain and Sarah Palin. McCain and Palin’s campaign rhetoric directed against Barack Obama has fueled the basest instincts of many misguided Americans.
McCain's effort to link Obama to a terrorist Muslim script is rooted in the most despicable form of hatred and bigotry. The fire has been stoked, and now his supporters are cheering McCain and Palin with chants of… "Obama is a terrorist, kill him!" Having crossed that ugly line, even the candidates themselves have been unable to stave off the damage they have wrought.
This pattern of inflaming the bigotry of the masses through divisiveness and venom is frighteningly reminiscent of the Nazi regime during World War II. Adolf Hitler and the German Nazis, under the elitism of white Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, sought and successfully slaughtered those who they perceived as ethnically and racially different. As Germany fell on hard economic times during the global depression, they looked for scapegoats to explain their financial decline. It wasn’t long ago that the Jews, those associated with Jews, Russians, the mentally ill, the physically disabled, artists, and the intelligentsia were sent to concentration camps and murdered. The mob mentality had worked and "cleansed" Germany of those who were perceived as funny looking and different.
John McCain and Sarah Palin have sought out the politics of personal destruction. They have willingly tried to demonize Barack Obama by painting him as an evil outsider who is a threat to the security of our democracy. Amazingly, some Christians have made this a personal vendetta by suggesting that Obama is the anti-Christ. On the other hand, other so-called God-fearing Christians have suggested that he portrays himself as a messianic figure. Barack Obama has become a metaphor for those who are considered culturally different. Disturbingly, we have been down this road of hat... more -
BA flight makes emergency landing
A British Airways flight has made an emergency landing at a German airport after an electrical fault in its in-flight entertainment system. A British Airways flight has made an emergency landing at a German airport after an electrical fault in its in-flight entertainment sy... more
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Percentage of uninsured under 65 high in Florida
In the Livingston-Averill home, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol go untreated.
Without insurance, only a catastrophic event such as a heart attack or a stroke can draw medical attention.
"It's horrible," Debbie Livingston-Averill of Port Orange said of the stress of knowing her husband has these conditions that could mean tragedy around the corner -- and the medicine that could avert it is out of reach.
The Census Bureau released figures Thursday that show Florida residents suffer that stress more than most. Twenty-four percent of Floridians younger than 65 are without insurance, compared to the 17.2 percent nationwide. The survey also shows that blacks and Hispanics are without insurance even more: 26.7 percent of Florida blacks younger than 65 don't have it, and neither do 38.6 percent of Florida Hispanics.
Locally, the number without insurance in Flagler County is slightly higher than the state average: 24.4 percent of residents younger than 65. In Volusia County, that number is 21 percent.
Nationwide, only Texas and New Mexico had a higher percentage of uninsured people younger than 65. Minnesota, Hawaii and Wisconsin have the lowest percentage of people in that category.
How these numbers compare with the Census Bureau's 2000 survey is unclear because the categories of ages were not separated the same way. But Patrick Johnson, Flagler County Health Department administrator, said the health insurance status of Flagler County residents doesn't appear to be improving.
Not only does Johnson see the number of people seeking assistance increasing. He also has noticed a change in the job market. In the Livingston-Averill home, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol go untreated. ... more -
US Game Designer Blasts Into Space With DNA Cargo
US game designer blasts into space with DNA cargo, fulfilling childhood dream.
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All is forgiven; McCain returning to Letterman
David Letterman and Sen. John McCain will get a chance to make up.
The Republican presidential candidate is scheduled to appear on Letterman's "Late Show" on Thursday.
It will be McCain's 13th visit to the CBS program but his first since he angered Letterman by canceling last month.
Letterman was unhappy when McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric instead of him on Sept. 24.
At the time he said he first felt like a "patriot" to let McCain off his commitment to deal with the economy but "now I'm feeling like an ugly date."
A McCain spokeswoman said at the time that because of the economic crisis, the campaign "felt this wasn't a night for comedy." David Letterman and Sen. John McCain will get a chance to make up. ... more -
The Browns' Derek Anderson does his part for furry friends: Animals in the Ne...
Derek Anderson and Browns mascot Trapper play with a chocolate Labrador at the Cleveland Animal Protective League.
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Animal Protective League limits services after cat virus outbreak
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Animal Protective League has suspended taking in cats and kittens for two weeks because of an outbreak at the shelter of panleukopenia, a contagious virus that often kills unvaccinated cats. CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Animal Protective League has suspended taking in cats and kittens for two weeks because of an outbreak at t... more
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IT'S MISERY IN MISSOURI FOR MCCAIN
ST. LOUIS - That Missouri is in such play for Barack Obama this year spells deep trouble for John McCain's White House bid.
Always skeptical of grand politicians with big promises, Show Me State voters usually side with the candidate they would rather have a beer with while bowling.
They rejected Al Gore in 2000 for President Bush by a slim margin.
The insufferably patrician John Kerry fared even worse. As weakened as Bush was in 2004, he widened his lead to 10 percentage points here for re-election.
It's a state where a plain-spoken war hero like McCain should be doing very well.
His argument for less government usually carries the day in this state with the loosest drinking and smoking laws in the land.
How could anyone here be looking for change?
McCain's advantage should be especially strong running against a guy with an exotic name who flopped badly in the bowling alley during the Democratic primary.
"Obama should keep bowling," observed Jean Carnahan, an early supporter from one of the state's most influential Democratic families.
Strike up a conversation with people here, and they'll tell you they feel a little under assault by outsiders.
They'll tell you about their most cherished icon - Budweiser - being bought by a foreign company.
And they'll tell you about their beloved International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame being closed and moved to Texas.
This is no small matter in a city proud of its bowling tradition and featuring some of the country's best preserved and most unusual bowling lanes.
They're tucked in people's homes, beneath hidden hatches in a speakeasy's flooring and even eight lanes in the fellowship hall of Epiphany Catholic Church.
Bowling and religion? You'd think these people would be dying to express their love of John McCain.
But the polls show McCain's lead - once at better than 7 points - has vanished, and just this week Obama has taken the lead. ST. LOUIS - That Missouri is in such play for Barack Obama this year spells deep trouble for John McCain's White House bid. ... more -
'GOV. RUDY' RUMBLE LOOMS FOR BLOOMY
Mayor Bloomberg's bombshell decision to seek a third term in office may lead to a furious battle with his predecessor and sometime antagonist, Rudy Giuliani, according to an intriguing scenario being discussed in high-level political circles Mayor Bloomberg's bombshell decision to seek a third term in office may lead to a furious battle with his predecessor and sometim... more
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LET OUR BATTERED CITY BLOOM AGAIN
OVER the past 15 years, I've often been called "the last of the three-term mayors." I hope that will not be the case for much longer. OVER the past 15 years, I've often been called "the last of the three-term mayors." I hope that will not be the case fo... more
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