Barack The Casaba!

Apparently it wasn't will.i.am that started singing for Obama:

DN's Nichols Confuses The President For Congress Over 9/11 First Responder Funding

Adam Nichols of the NY Daily News wrote a story about 9/11 first responders' quest to protest for adequate funding for their illnesses. For the most part the account consisted of interviews with those that were injured due to their heroic actions after the WTC fell. He included statements from family members of those that were killed. That wasn't the problem, it was his confusion over what the White House looks like and Capitol Hill.

Here is the troubling part:

"We want to implore our new President to make 9/11 health care an issue," said John Feal, a Ground Zero volunteer whose foot was crushed by an 8-ton steel beam.

His FealGood Foundation, set up to draw attention to the health problems of Ground Zero workers, organized the trip after Congress cut health care funding by 77%.

Only $25 million has been budgeted for 2009, down from $108 million this year, he said.

Um no, it wasn't Congress that cut the budget by 77 percent, it was the White House. In fact, the New York delegation advocated for fully funding the program at over $200 million dollars. Then the President took the advice and spit in the face of our heroes.

I agree that the protesters need to talk to members of Congress to ensure that the program gets fully funded. Though if there is anyone that needs waving signs and chants in front of their office or home, its President Bush.

Lieberman Joins The Pro-Torture Ranks

Holy Joe has made it official, he's endorsed the practice of waterboarding, where the captors hold down their victim and pour water over them to simulate drowning. This is where the water is forced into your lungs and the burning sensation triggers an adrenaline rush that would make a blindfolded man want to bolt out of the predicament. According to Lieberman, a self-purported torture expert, this isn't as bad as "putting burning coals on someone's body." Yep, he actually said that.

From ThinkProgress:

Yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “reluctantly acknowledged” that he doesn’t believe waterboarding is torture. According to the Connecticut Post, Lieberman downplayed the severity of the waterboarding because it doesn’t inflict permanent physical damage:

In the worst case scenario — when there is an imminent threat of a nuclear attack on American soil — Lieberman said that the president should be able to certify the use of waterboarding on a detainee suspected of knowing vital details of the plot.

“You want to be able to use emergency tech to try to get the information out of that person,” Lieberman said. […]

“It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological,” Lieberman said.

So messing with someone's brain isn't as bad physically burning them? Why doesn't he tell that to our troops who come home in the thousands afflicted by PTSD? I'd love to see him defend that statement. Absolutely love it.

GOP: No. You. Can't.

Oh yeah? Well watch what we will accomplish this November.

It's Easy.....And Beneficial Being Green

Do you wish for unimaginable things like swimming in the Hudson River without contracting some sort of disease? It sounds far-fetched but placing parks strategically around the city can help make that possible. Not only will more of those "green streets" make avenues look nicer, they'll be helping the environment in a big way.

From Streetsblog:

One of the more unsung PlaNYC initiatives aims to drastically reduce CSO, in part by managing streets more wisely. Certain traffic calming measures, it turns out, can not only make streets more ped-friendly, but also help make the city's rivers clean enough to swim in. To accomplish this, PlaNYC calls for retooling the Parks Department's Greenstreets program, and we are starting to see the results.

At their best, Greenstreets -- the pint-sized green spaces that Parks began planting in 1996 -- have served as modest traffic-calming measures, displacing asphalt with patches of greenery that send cues to slow down. The new breed goes a few steps further: They combine advanced stormwater capture techniques with more overt traffic-calming devices, like neckdowns and bulb-outs.[...]

Stormwater is captured by a drainage pipe on the north side of the blockbuster (right), where it is channeled under the sidewalk and into the soil of the planting bed. Any excess is stored in a chamber beneath the soil, where the plants can soak it up in times of drought.

"That's less water that our sewer system has to deal with," says Bram Gunther, the head of Forestry and Horticulture at Parks, who has been instrumental in implementing the new Greenstreets. He points out that by storing the water for later use, this Greenstreet won't require Parks to send a water truck out on the street to keep it maintained. "Anytime you get to recycle water, that's a good thing."

That is definitely a good thing, and despite some neighborhoods complaints, we need to build more of them. Treating our rivers like/with crap is wrong. Wrong for the wildlife that lives in the river and the overall ecology of the Hudson. Something so simple as a park can help solve that, and to me, that is a no brainer. See how easy it is to be green?

"Boston" Leader Rejects Huckabee

Every campaign has a song list for their events in order to pump up the crowd. Mike Huckabee's list includes "More than a feeling" by the 70s rock band "Boston." In fact, one short-term member of the band even shows up at his events, but to the original Boston leader Tom Scholz, Huckabee's use of the song is entirely uncool.

From RawStory:

In a letter to the Republican presidential hopeful, Tom Scholz complains that Huckabee is using his 1970s smash hit song "More Than a Feeling" without his permission. A former member of the band, Barry Goudreau, has appeared with Huckabee at campaign events, and they have played the song with Huckabee's band, Capitol Offense.

Scholz, who said Goudreau left the band more than 25 years ago after a three-year stint, objects to the implication that the band and one of its members has endorsed Huckabee's candidacy.

"Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and will all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for," wrote Scholz, adding that he is supporting Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. "By using my song, and my band's name Boston, you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I've been ripped off, dude!"

Huckabee ripped off Scholz and he's trying to rip us all off with his Christian theocracy bullshit. Although I thoroughly despise McCain, I'm also glad that the Huckster is pretty much out of the race, especially with Romney endorsing the Arizona Senator.

And by the way, why is it always Republican candidates that seem to rip off songs of musicians?

Obama Responds To Hillary's Negative Ad

I think this spot pretty much explains itself:

Aubertine Stands Up To Barclay

Not too long ago Darrel Aubertine ran an ad against Will Barclay in their race for the State Senate in district 48. The ad accused Mr. Barclay and his family of shutting down public access to a river and a local fisherman testified to it in the ad. Now Barclay wants Aubertine to declare the ad untrue for very nefarious reasons. When they met at the Jefferson Community College debate Wednesday night, what do you think our man Darrel did?

From WWNY-TV:

Barclay asked Aubertine to apologize for Aubertine's 'A River Runs Thru' It' ad.
Aubertine declined.

Here's what each man said on the subject.

Barclay:
"You're attacking my family, you're attacking me, now it turns ourt this commercial is a complete fabrication. Will you apologize to me?"

Aubertine:
"There's nothing in the ad that's not true. So, no, I'm not going to apologize."

Thats right, there is nothing to apologize for. Barclay and his family perfectly play the role of business goons in this part of upstate New York and Will deserves everything coming to him, including a loss in the special election a week from this coming Tuesday. There are plenty of reasons to vote for Aubertine if you live up in SD-48, just listen to Darrel himself to find out why.

Hillary's Mark Penn Hearts Exelon

In the last couple debates Hillary has tried unsuccessfully to tie Obama to a nuclear company called Exelon. Now Obama notes that this is not a direct connection and the Baltimore Sun backed him up on what the connection meant to Obama's campaign promise to not go the route of nuclear energy. Now those words Hillary used are coming around to bite her from behind.

From The Huffington Post:

This past week, Burson Marsteller, Penn's powerhouse consulting agency, was paid more than $230,000 by Exelon to help renew a nuclear energy license in New Jersey, the Huffington Post has learned. The payment was for work that took place over several months, and Burson is still employed by the company.

"They did some work for us in New Jersey between June and November," said Craig Nesbit, vice president of communications for Exelon Generation, a subsidiary. "That bill was invoiced on December 12 and it just took that long to pay these things... We still are paying them a little bit but it is ramping down."

It has been public knowledge that Exelon is a client of Burson. But news of the recent payment comes less than two weeks after the Clinton campaign, and Penn himself, took Obama to task for what they implied was preferential treatment for the company.

Some people (i.e. Penn/Clinton) really need to watch what they say when trying to trash their opponent. Since this work occurred in New Jersey, I wonder how the Clinton campaign will try and spin their way into saying that it doesn't matter, since New Jersey didn't caucus and went for Hillary?

Happy Valentine's Day To John And George

Dear John and George,

I hope you guys have a great Valentine's Day. Please, please keep those values you share (endless war, misappropriated tax cuts, etc etc.) between the two of you and leave the country alone, democracy is suffering too much as a result.

Thanks,
Me

Republicans Literally Walkout From Accountability!

In an un-Democratic Party way, the leadership in the House of Representatives stood up and demanded accountability from White House personnel that disregarded Congressional subpoenas. After several long months of House Democrats hemming and hawing, they finally brought the resolution to the floor that held Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt of Congress. Well one bold act deserves another, and Republicans did just that.

From RawStory:

On a vote of 223-to-32 House Democrats succeeded in passing the contempt charges against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers, after Republicans walked out in protest.

House Republicans staged a walk-out Thursday afternoon to protest the contempt vote and the failure by the chamber's majority members to bow to President Bush's demands on a controversial spying law.

"We will not stand here and watch this floor be abused for pure political grandstanding at the expense of our national security. ... Let's just get up and leave," Republican Leader John Boehner advised his colleagues as they dramatically left the floor Thursday afternoon.

When faced with the dilemma of participating in holding members their own party accountable, they act like five year olds and walkout. Truly pathetic!

Forget about Boehner and company though, the true test is to see whether the Attorney General will actually follow the rules set forth in the Constitution and have this matter adjudicated. So far I have little hope in Mukasey, but time will tell I guess.

Bloomberg The Environmentalist Opposes Electronics Recycling Fine

If I can recall correctly, Mayor Bloomberg prides himself on being New York's premier environmentalist. The PlaNYC was a hit last year, presented with precision timing on Earth Day. He regularly bashes all the Presidential candidates for not being strident enough on environmental policies while refusing to enter the race and take some heat. Now his opposition to mandatory electronics recycling in the city is raising some eyebrows in the green community.

From The NY Times:

New York City is a step closer to adopting one of the toughest electronics recycling laws in the nation, despite strong objections from manufacturers and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The City Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would impose a $100 fine on anyone who throws an old computer, printer or other electronic gadget into the trash. Recycling the electronic waste will become mandatory, and manufacturers will be required to take back their own products as well as those made by companies that have gone out of business.

The Council estimated that New Yorkers purchase more than 90,000 tons of electronic products every year. The gadgets contain hazards like lead and mercury, and most end up in the trash.

Bloomie wants to keep the recycling problem voluntary but here in New York, if you want something done it usually has to be done with a push. The City Council is heavily in favor of it and can easily override a veto if the Mayor decides to go that route.

The legislation is a fair deal, even if the Mayor and manufacturers think its unconstitutional. We need to get serious about preserving the environment and this is a great step in doing so. Read the rest of the article at the above link and decide for yourself.