The Trailer For SICKO

I can't wait to see this movie:

9/11 Claims More Victims

The death toll was recently upped by one after officials determined that Felicia Dunn-Jones died as the result of the collapse of the World Trade Towers. She had been consumed by the smoke and debris that poured through the streets of Manhattan. Physically she came out of that fateful day but the damage done was internal. A few months later she died of sarcoidosis, which inflammed the heart muscle due to damaged lungs. So what does this case mean? A whole lot.

From The New York Times:

By making a formal connection between Mrs. Dunn-Jones’s death and her relatively brief exposure to the dust, the medical examiner’s decision could have a wide impact on how the city deals with the growing number of illnesses and deaths linked in some way to ground zero.

The city is already under pressure to re-examine the deaths of people like James Zadroga, 34, a New York police detective who worked at the debris pile in the months after the towers fell. Although a New Jersey pathologist who conducted an autopsy last year concluded that Detective Zadroga’s death was linked to trade center dust, city officials have not accepted that finding.

“The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.

I am proud to say that Carolyn Maloney is my Congresswoman. She is speaking truth that the city still refuses to accept. Many more than Dunn-Jones and Zadroga succumbed to the effects of the dust. There are countless more that are sick and possibly dying. Meanwhile the city and especially then EPA chief Christine Whitman want to deny the reality. By doing that they can escape blame for not adequately protecting the rescue workers from the toxic air.

New York City and the entire nation deserves more than this. It is time for the various responsible factions of our government stand up and take responsibility for their negligence. And if they try to avoid it, they will be pulled into the glare of the spotlight so everyone can see their callous disregard for the brave men and women that helped rescue survivors and begin to repair Lower Manhattan.

A Gay Linguist Is Still A Linguist

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" must be one of most idiotic policies in the armed forces concerning their personnel since the days of segregation. Homophobic morons claim that knowing there is a gay individual amongst the ranks reduces moral or some crap like that and it actually got passed into law. The reality is that many people do not care and those that do can generally be convinced by example that gay people are pretty much like the rest of us and can serve their country just as well as someone who is straight.

One of the examples brought into question in recent years is the number of Arabic linguists who have been discharged from their service because of their sexual orientation. In all, 58 have been let go. That means over a thousand hours a week is lost when we could have been deciphering information from Al Qaeda and other nefarious sorts all over the Middle East. One ex-linguist recently gave an interview to give his side of the story.

From the AP:

Former Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Benjamin said his supervisor tried to keep him on the job and urged him to sign a statement saying he was not gay. Benjamin said his lawyer advised against signing because the statement could be used against him later if other evidence surfaced.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Benjamin said he was caught improperly using the military's secret level computer system to send messages to his roommate, who was serving in Iraq. In those messages, he said, he may have referred to being gay or going on a date.

"I'd always had been out since the day I started working there," Benjamin said. "We had conversations about being gay in the military and what it was like. There were no issues with unit cohesion. I never caused divisiveness or ever experienced slurs," said Benjamin, who was in the Navy for nearly four years.

"I'd always had been out since the day I started working there," Benjamin said. "We had conversations about being gay in the military and what it was like. There were no issues with unit cohesion. I never caused divisiveness or ever experienced slurs," said Benjamin, who was in the Navy for nearly four years.

Benjamin's story blows holes in the current law on the books, the one the Pentagon vows to follow, despite all of the evidence that shows the law is a failure. Thankfully outgoing Rep. Marty Meehan is taking up the issue and trying to force a change.

"At a time when our military is stretched to the limit and our cultural knowledge of the Middle East is dangerously deficient, I just can't believe that kicking out able, competent Arabic linguists is making our country any safer," Meehan said.

Meehan has organized a letter signed by 40 other members of the House to seek an investigation on the sanity of letting all of those linguists go. It isn't a repeal of the law, but it is a start. The issue is just one small piece of the picture that shows the policy is a sham and that we need to treat all of our soldiers equally, no matter who they want to sleep with.

Jesus & George

This clip is a bit twisted at the end but overall pretty funny. Check out Jesus visiting George in the White House followed by Cheney's brutal interrogation techniques.

Hillary's Aide Is A Fool

A memo just leaked out of Team Hillary suggests that one adviser thinks that Mrs. Clinton should focus on other states and avoid Iowa. This is because Clinton is lagging in the crucial Hawkeye state, currently in 3rd place while John Edwards sits on the top of the heap. Conserving resources is great for the environment, but when it comes to Presidential politics, you give it your all in Iowa.

From the AP:

NEW YORK — Warning that her campaign needs "a new approach to winning," Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass next year's Iowa caucuses to focus time and money on states where she's faring better.

Her advisers fearing backlash from Iowa Democrats who cast the first votes of the 2008 presidential race, Clinton denounced the memo hours after it leaked from her headquarters and played down an internal debate over campaign strategy. "I am unalterably committed to competing in Iowa," she told The Associated Press.

The memo from Mike Henry emerged days after a Des Moines Sunday Register poll of likely caucus-goers showed Clinton trailing rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama in Iowa, which is to hold its caucuses Jan. 14, 2008.

Thankfully for Clinton's sake she denounced the memo (and the guy should be fired IMHO) because Iowa is worth whatever it takes. It wasn't long ago that the new Democrat on the block Wesley Clark saw his star fade fast after ditching the Democratic faithful in Iowa.

What Clinton's real problem now is her vote on the war. She's a hawk trying to put on sheep's clothing, but it just ain't working. She says she's against the war, but wouldn't come out and denounce the new "compromise" bill that gives Bush everything he wants without any actual compromise. If she wants to win in the Democratic primary, she better start listening to the people about Iraq.

Bush Threatens Veto To Protect Oil Companies From Gouging Consumers

It isn't just about the war that the President opposes Democrats, he tries to stop the majority party from protecting consumers as well. The one thing many Americans need to get around is gasoline. Price fluctuations in the last few years have been devastating to average people that can barely afford $3 or more gas. So when the Democratic Congress wants to impose criminal penalties on oil executives that take advantage of regular people, Bush sides with the criminals.

From Dow Jones:

The vote comes as lawmakers weigh a number of measures in the face of soaring gasoline prices. The House ignored a veto threat Tuesday to overwhelmingly pass legislation that would allow the Justice Department to sue members of the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, under U.S. antitrust laws.

Democrats defended the anti-gouging package, saying it provides safeguards aimed at protecting small businesses and taking account of supply disruptions created by natural disasters and other problems.

Republicans are "asking this congress to wait until a more perfect time ... to help the American consumer out," said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "The American people are suffering right now and they are demanding this Congress take action right now. There can never be a more perfect time for this Congress to take action."

Of course I didn't expect anything different from the President. The only silver lining here is that at least we get the Republicans on record for supporting rich oil executives instead of their constituents who take the hit in the pocketbook. Now if Republicans were smart, they would support the Democratic bill so that we can override the President's veto....I won't be holding my breath.

More Of Goodling's Goodies

She sounds like a scared and confused little girl on the stand. Whereas Alberto kept saying "I can't recall," legislators investigating Goodling got all sorts of interesting things to come out of Monica's mouth today. And no, it has nothing to do with cigars.

Markowitz Gets Tough On Atlantic Yards Opponents

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is usually known as a comedic and affable guy that parades around Kings County. However the stunt he pulled yesterday against the leaders of Community Board 6 was far from funny. The Board was one of Atlantic Yards' most vocal critics, citing the massive building project would over tax streets, sewers and schools. Their condemnation of the development didn't have any teeth because it was a state operation, but Markowitz did not care for their opinions. So he let them go from their positions on the board.

From The New York Times:

In the case of Atlantic Yards, Community Board 6’s resolution last September, though strongly critical, was almost purely symbolic: the project is being managed by a state agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, and is exempt from the city land-use process.

But Celia Cacace, who has been on the board since the early 1980s — long before Mr. Markowitz was elected — said that he took her aside at a community event a few months ago to criticize her and her colleagues.

“He said, ‘I’m going to get rid of everybody on the board that voted for this,’ ” according to Ms. Cacace, 71, whose term expires next year. “He says, ‘Remember, you are my appointee.’ Every time I tried to say something he totally lambasted me.”

Treating an old lady like that is terrible and so is letting her go from her position. Despite the obvious pro-business bent that Marty has over the citizens of the area, there is no excuse to lambast anyone that volunteers time to help make their neighborhoods a better place to live in.

Although passionate civic leaders will try to fight to the end, it seems that stopping the project is a lost cause. There are lawsuits still pending on the matter, but I don't see any change in momentum to be very likely. The city wants the revenue that Atlantic Yards will create and has the state to back them up. Unfortunately it seems that the people have lost out on this one.

Pleading The Fifth Is The New Trend

The hot thing to do these days is to escape self-incrimination, especially if you happen to work with or in the Bush Administration. Monica Goodling has been plastered all over the news (to some degree) but she has competition now from Rove's ex-underling Susan Ralston. As one that worked closely with Bush's Brain, she was privy to a lot of important information and evidently by taking the fifth, criminal activity as well.

From RawStory:

Susan Ralston, the former executive assistant to top White House adviser Karl Rove, invoked her rights against self-incrimination while she was being asked to answer questions by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Committee's Chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, announced in a memo Tuesday. The deposition for which she sat concerned contacts between convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Rove, as well as the White House more broadly.

"The subjects this morning that she will be unable to testify to...are the subjects of the relationship between Jack Abramoff and his associates and White House officials, including Ms. Ralston, and the subject of the use by White House officials of political e-mail accounts at the RNC," Ralston's lawyer, Bradford Berenson said, during the May 10 deposition. "She has material, useful information about both of those subjects."

With a grant of immunity, Ms. Ralston just may provide the goods to finger Karl Rove as the evil mastermind of the White House. It is far past the time for this man to be forced out of the Executive branch. Since George would never kick out a loyal partner such as Rove (nor Alberto as well), someone else will have to do it for him. Now if Congress could take the next step past issuing subpoenas and physically remove him from office, we can truly start to get somewhere.

Goodling Gives Up Gonzales

Words can't describe my joy to hear Monica Goodling squeezed by Rep. Artur Davis to admit that Gonzales gave 'inaccurate testimony' to the Congress while under oath.

Can Flamingos Go To Hell?

According to the religious right, homosexuality is a moral sin and the practitioners of it will be damned by God...or something like that. So the news out of Bristol, England poses the question, can flamingos go to hell? Another serious moral question is, should gay flamingos allowed to adopted children? If you think I'm kidding, you might want to read the news from the animal kingdom.

From Yahoo News:

LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday.

Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol.

But their egg-sitting prowess made them the top choice for taking an unhatched egg under their wings when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned.

Jane Waghorn, the facility's spokeswoman mentioned that the couple have tried to steal eggs from other flamingos in the past, but to no avail. Now that they have have found the chick, their family can truly begin. She also noted that couples like Carlos and Fernando are not uncommon for flamingos either. So now that Falwell is unable to bash the same-sex couple in the U.K., will Dobson and Pat Robertson step up to battle the gay flamingo community?

Falwell Funeral Missing An Obvious Few

Jerry Falwell is known in politics as the man that brought religion into the voting booth. He helped spur millions of evangelicals to support Republicans like Ronald Reagan and George Bush. In the last few years however, he was increasingly seen as a fringe religious nut by many on the left and the right. So when none of the current GOP Presidential hopefuls showed up to honor his death, it wasn't much of a surprise.

From the AP:

Some Republican figures were expected for the funeral, but none of the party's presidential candidates said they could attend. The White House was sending a midlevel aide. Among the Virginia Republican leaders attending was Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

Falwell, 73, died a week ago after collapsing in his office at Liberty University. His physician said Falwell had a heart condition and presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality.

Despite the absence of the Presidential contenders, there were approximately 10,000 that showed up for the funeral. Those who attended were quite diverse, including a mid-level White House aide, leaders of the religious right, students of Falwell's Liberty University and protesters of course. One person that thankfully didn't attend was Mark David Uhl, who is currently in jail for planning to bomb the funeral. Despite the long list of terrible things Falwell did with his life, there is no excuse for that type of crap.