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#34709 From: "Cheryl Guttman" <cguttman@...>
Date: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:54 pm
Subject: New Petitions & Urgent Phone Parties For Real Health Care Reform!
cguttman
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Hi all,

The vote to decide whether to even begin debating  the Senate health reform bill
is happening Sat. 8pm.  This version of the bill has a public option, saves
billions from the deficit, gets rid of the over restrictive language on abortion
the House bill has (and Obama indicated he will make sure is not in the final
bill) and covers most Americans.  There are some Dem "conservatives" that might
vote against even debating this bill and Reid mayl say he was forced to create a
weaker bill without a public option which will mean less savings and less people
fully covered.  We can't let that happen!

There are phone parties all over the country where people are calling people who
already support health care reform w/public option but need to be called to ask
them to call their Senators who are need to be pushed.  This is really easy to
do and can even be fun!

You can SIGN UP FOR PHONE PARTIES ANYWHERE IN US HERE
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/ofavolunteer?source=www_navbar

but IF YOU ARE IN NYC I have a list of current ones BELOW THESE PETITIONS (the
NYC phone parties start Sat. afternoon and there other ones during the week and
you can sign up for other ones coming up.  Thanks, Cheryl

This is a good petition
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/lieberman_po/?r_by=-222685-zGTzMrx&rc=confem\
ail1

This is petition Harry Reid, the Senate leader himself wants you to sign to show
Dems in Senate how popular public option is.
http://www.harryreid.com/ee/index.php/publicoption

These are phone parties in NYC

Saturday, November 21 from 4pm - 8pm
Manhattan Phone Bank - Social Bar & Grill at 795 8th Ave (between 48th and 49th)
Join volunteers with Organizing for America as we call CT residents and urge
them to call Senator Lieberman and urge him to let a Senate health care reform
bill come to a final vote on the floor of the Senate.
Details and RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpczbd

Saturday November 21, 12 – 5 PM
Queens County for Change weekly phone bank for health care
14-06 Merrick Blvd. RSVP to Bonty, bontyd@...

Monday, Nov. 23rd, 6-9 PM

Manhattan Phonebank
Committee of Interns and Residents, 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1200, at 37th St.
Reach out to progressive doctors in key states and encourage them to contact
their Senators. RSVP to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpcz95 or
pfry@...

Tuesday, Nov. 24th, 6-9 PM

Manhattan Phonebank
Committee of Interns and Residents, 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1200, at 37th St.
Reach out to progressive doctors in key states and encourage them to contact
their Senators. RSVP to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpcz97 or
pfry@...

Monday, Nov. 30th, 4- 9 PM
Manhattan Phonebank
Committee of Interns and Residents, 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1200, at 37th St.
Reach out to progressive doctors in key states and encourage them to contact
their Senators. RSVP to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpcz2d or
pfry@...


Join nycforchange's listserv by clicking here;
http://nycforchange.org/Events.html

check out all events here
http://nycforchange.org/Events.html

Please forward this email to a friend.

#34708 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:11 pm
Subject: ~~~ How the bakers hijacked the economy and what we can do about it
fernwoods7
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What exactly is going on with the economy? Stocks are up and big bonuses are back, but while they're throwing parties on Wall Street, there's pain on Main Street.

NOW gets answers and insight from Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who's been heading up the congressional panel overseeing how the bailout money is being spent. How did we got to this point, and where do we go from here.
 
Video at:
 
===
How the banker cartel and Wall Street hijacked of the economy 
Video at:
http://www.infowars.com/catherine-austin-fitts-on-alex-jones-tv/

 Catherine Austin Fitts is the former managing director and member of the
board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. and
commissioner to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first
Bush Administration. She talks about the hijacking of the economy by the
banker cartel and Wall Street.
 
===  
Actions....
 
  A Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) would provide a critical check on deceptive or unfair consumer practices, such as those that led to the foreclosure epidemic and ultimately to the economic crisis we are all experiencing today.

Tell our Members of Congress to support this common sense approach at:

http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/s/pacfpa

===

A bill to make the Treasury secretary identify too-big-to-fail financial giants and break them up picked up support.  "When it comes to understanding the real economy and the struggles of ordinary Americans, Bernie Sanders always seems to be ahead of the curve," The Nation said.  Bernie's bill "makes a lot of sense" to Rachel Maddow.  To read more from the editor of The Nation, click here.  To watch Rachel, click here. 

Sign the petition at:

http://aiss.enews.senate.gov/t/83494/3539683/2355/0/

===

 The House just froze rate hikes on credit card balances, and gave you new protections starting Dec. 1 . 

Now we need the Senate to do the same!

The credit card companies are taking advantage of the delay by hiking interest rates, adding new fees and doubling  minimum payments.

Tell the Senate needs to make this law effective immediately at:

www.creditcardreform.org

===

Restore Glass-Steagall protections | MichaelMoore.com

Ten years ago, a little known Depression-era law known as the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed. On Wall Street, the titans of capitalism cheered while it went unnoticed by most Americans that an important guard against financial instability and conflict of interest had been wiped away.

The Glass-Steagall Act had a simple premise: America’s banking sectors and investment houses need to remain separate to prevent banks from gambling on the stock market with our savings.

In the coming weeks, I will introduce a modernized and updated version of the Glass-Steagall Act.

Entire article at:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/must-read/restore-glass-steagall-protections

 (There aren't any easy actions yet, but learn about this important protection and ask your Senators to support restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act.)

===

Send other important actions to me directly at fernwoods@... and I will share them with others.


#34707 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:08 am
Subject: ~~~ What a Billion Muslims Really Think & other News Clips
fernwoods7
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Trailer to PBS documentary and schedule.
 
 
Comprehensive six-year study undertaken by the Gallup World Poll that
represents 90% (or one billion) of the worlds Muslims shows
the most frequent responses to what they admire most about Western society
were "their technology" and "liberty and democracy." 
 
They wanted a good job and good education for their children.
 
Most valued freedom of speech.
 
===
 
FDA HID RESEARCH THAT DAMNED ASPARTAME
Fatal Studies Should Have Blocked NutraSweet Approval
 
 
 ===
 Crop Circles - Crossover From Another Dimension - Part 1 of 2 
http://www.viddler.com/explore/ConspiracyFact/videos/259
 
Crop Circles - Crossover From Another Dimension - Part 2 of 2
http://www.viddler.com/explore/conspiracyfact/videos/258
 
Crop Circles
http://CropCircles.net
 
===
The newest virus circulating is the UPS/Fed Ex Delivery Failure. You will receive an email from UPS/Fed Ex Service along with a packet number.. It will say that they were unable to deliver a package sent to you. It then asks you to print out the invoice copy attached. DON'T TRY TO PRINT THIS. IT LAUNCHES THE VIRUS!
Snopes confirms that it is real:
 
====
President Kennedy’s UFO involvement led to assassination order -
alleged leaked CIA document also suggests that Oswald was trained by the CIA
 
On November 12, 1963, President John F. Kennedy had reached broad agreement with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on joint space missions and sharing classified UFO files. This required both leaders instructing their respective UFO working groups to share information.
 
In responding to Kennedy’s request, Angleton followed a Top Secret/MJ-12 set of directives. One of the secret directives, revealed in a leaked partially burned Top Secret/MJ-12 document forensically dated to the early 1960s, was a cryptic assassination directive.
 
An alleged leaked CIA document also suggests that Oswald was trained by the CIA in 1957 for Soviet assignments. At the very least, as an American defector, Oswald was the responsibility of CIA counterintelligence headed by Angleton.....Oswald’s subsequent association with a number of CIA assets including Clay Shaw provided opportunities for Angleton’s counterintelligence to not only monitor, but to manipulate Oswald. Ensuring Oswald’s participation in the Kennedy assassination, no matter how minimal, provided a powerful rationale for preventing a thorough investigation of the Kennedy assassination. As a former communist defector, Angleton and the CIA could persuasively argue that Oswald’s involvement directly implicated the USSR. This allowed the CIA to successfully argue to the Warren Commission, through Allen Dulles who was a member, that a thorough investigation was too dangerous due to the risk of nuclear war.
 
 

#34706 From: arif uk <arif1964uk@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:10 pm
Subject: Blair told before invasion Iraq WMD were dismantled
arif1964uk
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Tony Blair received intelligence that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction had been “dismantled” 10 days before Britain invaded Iraq, the inquiry into the 2003 war has been told.





A Search for Truth

The Iraq war was a contentious decision that requires scrutiny. To dismiss Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry in advance as a whitewash is irrationalism and fanaticism




Iraq war inquiry: Britain heard US drumbeat for invasion before 9/11

Evidence given on opening day suggests Blair's government initially dismissed plan to topple Saddam Hussein as unlawful




Iraq inquiry day one: No sound, no fury of war. Just very agreeable

Even the surroundings of Sir John Chilcot's inquiry seemed conducive to a lowering of the temperature



We want Blair's head. But Chilcot won't give it to us

Simon Jenkins: The parliament that approved the war now bays for his blood. This inquiry is a way of getting MPs off the hook







#34705 From: "sue4thebillofrights" <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:30 pm
Subject: 'THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER' a Feature Length Documentary
sue4thebillo...
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http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS147334+28-Oct-2009+PRN20091028
'THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER' a Feature Length Documentary
Presented by NAFTC Studios
DETROIT, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER
is based on the book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder"by Vincent
Bugliosi (Vanguard Press), a New York Times hardcover bestseller.

Mr. Bugliosi and GWB, LLC formed a production company to produce the
documentary of his book. The film is Directed by David J. Burke, Produced by
Kip and Kern Konwiser and Executive Produced by Peter Miller.

IT IS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN FEBRUARY, 2010.

TODAY, NAFTC STUDIOS PRESENTS AN APPROX. 9 MINUTE EXTENDED TRAILER
ATwww.indiegogo.com/bush  Please be kind enough to forward to friends &
colleagues.

In the spirit of grassroots political campaigns, THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W.
BUSH FOR MURDER team is starting this week on www.indiegogo.com/bush to raise
money from the public in small donations to help market this historic film.

The film is not only about the monumental crime committed by George W. Bush
and members of his administration in taking America to war in Iraq under false
pretenses (as Vince Bugliosi makes a strong case for in his book and the
movie).  It is equally about deterring future Presidents and their
administrations from knowingly going to war on a lie, because a Bush
prosecution will tell them that the law will be enforced and there will be
legal consequences. No one is above the law.

ABOUT VINCENT BUGLIOSI

Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964. In his career at the L.A.
County District Attorney's office, he successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106
felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. His
most famous trial, the Charles Manson case, became the basis of his classic,
"Helter Skelter," the biggest selling true crime book in publishing history.
Two of Bugliosi's other books--"And the Sea Will Tell" and "Outrage"--also
reached #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. No other American
true-crime writer has ever had more than one book that achieved this ranking.
His latest book, "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F.
Kennedy," has been heralded as "epic" and "a book for the ages." Tom Hanks'
Playtone Productions is producing an 8 hour HBO mini-series on the book.

Bugliosi has uncommonly attained success in two separate and distinct fields,
as an author and a lawyer.  His excellence as a trial lawyer is best captured
in the judgment of his peers. "Bugliosi is as good a prosecutor as there ever
was," says renowned attorney and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. F. Lee
Bailey calls Bugliosi "the quintessential prosecutor." "There is only one
Vince Bugliosi. He's the best," says Robert Tanenbaum, for years the top
homicide prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.'s office. Most telling is the
comment by Gerry Spence, who squared off against Bugliosi in a twenty-one-hour
televised, scriptless "docu-trial" of Lee Harvey Oswald, in which the original
key witnesses to the Kennedy assassination testified and were cross-examined.
After the Dallas jury returned a guilty verdict in Bugliosi's favor, Spence
said, "No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this
case."

NAFTC STUDIOS is a Michigan based company with a new multimedia production
facility being built in Windsor/Essex County, Ontario, Canada.
www.naftcstudios.com




SOURCE  NAFTC Studios

Jim Shaban of NAFTC Studios, +1-519-739-3912, jim_shaban@...

#34704 From: "Cheryl Guttman" <cguttman@...>
Date: Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:28 am
Subject: Urgent: Help Senate Majority To Save Real Health Reform!
cguttman
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Hi all,

Happy Thanksgiving!  Now if you want a happy health care future for yourself and
other Americans, please sign at least one petition (the first one, if you
haven't already signed it  http://action.firedoglake.com/reconciliation, and you
can bookmark the others if you want to sign them later), and if you can, please
participate easy phone event to supporters in vulnerable states, and mark
calendar for Dec. 8th Move On Health Care Rallies all around the country. 
Thanks and please spread the word (by forwarding, etc.), Cheryl

Because of current Senate rules, a few corrupt Democrats can thwart the will of
the majority, because it takes 60 votes (out of a hundred) to stop a Republican
filibuster.

Senate majority leader Reid can (1) use a procedure called "reconciliation" to 
have a majority vote on the public option; (2) reduce the number of votes
requiring stopping a filibuster to 55.; and, of course,(3) Reid can use the
stick of taking away chairmanships to get people in line to vote for cloture
(ending a filibuster).  Here are petitions for these three maneuvers.

If you ONLY have TIME FOR ONE PETITION, PLEASE JUST DO THE FIRST ONE (you can
also BOOKMARK the other two and do them later)--there is a space for COMMENTS,
you could MENTION THE TWO OTHER IDEAS OR WHATEVER ELSE IN THIS SPACE.

but if you don't have time, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WRITE ANYTHING EXTRA!
(1) Reconciliation http://action.firedoglake.com/reconciliation

if you have TIME FOR A SECOND PETITION, PLEASE DO THIS ONE
(2) Reducing the number of votes to stop a filibuster to 55 (I believe we have
56 votes for health care reform w/public option now, and this number has been
changed before, once it was 67 before it was reduced to 60
http://stopsenatestalling.com/

and if you have TIME FOR A THIRD YOU CAN DO THIS ONE
(3) Punishing members by taking away chairmanships, etc
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/lieberman_po/?r_by=-222685-zGTzMrx&rc=confem\
ail1

(4) Also, urgent easy CALLS need to be made to supporters in the states of
Senators who have threatened to not stop a Republican filibuster.

YOU CAN JUST DROP IN FOR A SHORT TIME, you can arrive late and leave early, for
example for an hour, half hour, whatever...

Please make sure, no matter what the script says that you tell them that the
Senator they call should support the current health care reform bill with public
option and current language about abortion.

If you are not in NYC. try this link to sign up.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/user/login?

If you are in NYC or know someone who is, here is a list for upcoming phone
events

This week's NYC phone bank--from Sat. on and Move On Rallies Dec. 8th (and
instructions on bottom to sign up for more after this) or click here
http://nycforchange.org/Events.html

Sat. Nov. 28th:  Fight For Healthcare Reform Phonebank
11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club at 304 West 231st
Street (between Tibbett and Irwin). Bring your cell phone & charger, your energy
and your enthusiasm. RSVP Gene at Bruisevane@.... Sponsored by Northwest
Bronx for Change.
Mon. Nov 30th:  Manhattan Phonebank
4-9 PM. 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1200, NY, NY 10018. Coordinated by Committee of
Interns and Residents.
Reach out to progressive doctors in key states and encourage them to contact
their Senators. RSVP MyBO
Mon. Nov 30th:  UWS Phonebank
6-8 PM. Home of Arlene Geiger, 240 West 98th Street Apt 7E. RSVP Arlene at
Ageiger3@...
Wed. Dec. 2: Lobby in DC
Meet with Members of Congress in Washington, D.C. to lobby against the Stupak
amendment with Raising Women's Voices. To sign up, email Eesha at
eesha@...
Saturday, Dec. 5: Manhattan OFA Volunteer Training
11 AM - 3 PM. Dixon Place Theatre, 161A Chrystie Street. Join OFA's effort to
help change the way politics is done in America. This four hour volunteer
training session will be facilitated by staff and volunteer leaders. For
experienced and new volunteers. RSVP to
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpc8y2
Sunday, Dec. 6: Brooklyn OFA Volunteer Training
10 AM - 2 PM, St. Francis College, 180 Remsen St. Classrooms 4303 and 4304. RSVP
to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpczbp
Save the Date: December 8th rallies

MOVE ON IS SPONSORING VIGILS to shine a spotlight on Americans who can't afford
to pay their medical bills and are being forced into bankruptcy. Come show the
Senate that we can't afford to wait for change -- and the pressure is on them to
pass health care reform with a robust national public option this year.

If you are NOT in NYC, please check for rallies around the country on Dec 8th at
http://www.moveon.org/ (check this link closer to the date for into about the
rallies)

Manhattan, 6 PM, Times Square, Broadway & 46th St; nycforchange's Tim Foley to
speak. Sign Up: http://pol.moveon.org/event/costofdelay/99753

Bronx, 5:30 PM, Bronx County Court Bldg, 851 Grand Concourse (161 St.); Sign Up:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/costofdelay/99760

Brooklyn, 5 PM, Clinton St & 280 Cadman Plaza West; Sign Up:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/costofdelay/99782

Queens, 6 PM, Outside shopping areas on 8801 Queens Blvd., Elmhurst; Sign Up:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/costofdelay/99773

Staten Island, 6 PM, SI Borough Hall steps-Richmond Terrace; Sign Up:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/costofdelay/99764

   Join nycforchange's listserv by clicking here:
http://nycforchange.org/Contact_Us.html ; check out all events here
http://nycforchange.org/Events.html

(I often send this stuff out late and new stuff comes up so it's worth signing
up or checking the events page when you get a chance rather than just relying on
me--thanks, Cheryl)

THANKS AND PLEASE FORWARD OR SPREAD THE WORD IN SOME OTHER WAY!


  ,

#34703 From: Susan Serpa <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Thu Oct 8, 2009 2:46 am
Subject: "Afghan Marshall Plan" available for TV stations to download
sue4thebillo...
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Click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_access_stations_%28United_States%29 to find Station contact and phone numbers.
 
FORWARD THE EMAIL BELOW TO YOU PUBLIC ACCESS TV STATION MANAGER.  CALL HIM/HER TO MAKE SURE THEY SEE IT AND RUN THE FILM.
 
Dear War-Stoppers,
 
Pegmedia.org is a website that caters to public access TV stations, making films available in easily downloadable form in a format they can use right away (mpeg2).  We are rushing out DVDs of "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs Not Guns" as fast as we can, so you can get it to your local public access TV stations, but you may want to let them know that the full download is also now available at http:pegmedia.org  which station managers are probably familiar with.  This could cut down the time to get it on the air, as station managers can view a 10 minute preview here (full online version at http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4  )  and decide to air it on the spot.  We will still mail out your DVDs to take personally to the station as a community broadcast request. 
 
You can always just forward this email to the station manager followed by a personal call as a heads-up.
 
LINK TO PEGMEDIA DOWNLOAD PAGE FOR FILM (FREE) "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs Not Guns":
http://www.pegmedia.org/index.php?q=msvr/showall/253/detail
 
To find your public access TV station:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_access_stations_%28United_States%29
 
Film description and press release for local newpaper (increases viewership):
 
PRESS RELEASE
 
SUBJECT: Public Access TV station to Air Afghan Documentary
 
"On [time, date] community access [TV channel] will broadcast "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs Not Guns."  In the midst of the superheated debate over the course of the war in Afghanistan, independent film-makers Ralph Lopez and Najim Dost, the latter an Afghan citizen, release this provocative look at the underside of an insurgency. In a country with 40% unemployment, they talk to those whose voices have been missing: ordinary Afghans.  See and hear them up close in the squares where they gather by the thousands looking for work, and struggle to feed their families.  Ranked as the fourth poorest nation in the world, many have never even heard of 9/11, nor the Twin Towers.   But someone is always hiring at a good daily wage: the Taliban.  Exposing the false choice between simply more troops or fewer, they talk to the people who matter most, who could hold the key to victory.  The documentary reveals that an economic solution would cost but a small fraction of the present occupation. (26 minutes)"
 
LINK TO DOCUMENTARY FOR ONLINE VIEWING
http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4
 
LINK TO BOSTON GLOBE/BALTIMORE SUN OP-ED "We Can Win With Jobs Not Guns in Afghanistan"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.afghanistan16aug16,0,4671831.story
 
LINK TO "An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan" by Ralph Lopez
http://jobsforafghans.org/exitstrategy.html
 
LINK TO FILM WEBSITE:
http://jobsforafghans.org
 
LINK TO PRINTABLE PUBLICITY POSTER (FOR COMMUNITY LIBRARY BULLETIN BOARDS ETC.)
http://jobsforafghans.org/poster.pdf
 
 
 
 
 

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

#34702 From: Susan Serpa <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:21 pm
Subject: 10 Public Access TV stations airing "Afghan Marshall Plan"! Add yours!
sue4thebillo...
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
War-stoppers, 

We are happy to report that at least 10 TV public access TV stations across the country are airing the film that will force Obama to abandon the troop escalation in Afghanistan, "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs not Guns."  Please keep this number growing, it only takes an email to your local public access TV station manager, which you can look up here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_access_stations_%28United_States%29#Massachusetts

CUT AND PASTE BELOW INTO AN EMAIL TO THE STATION MANAGER.  THEY CAN DO THE REST.  THEY WILL CONTACT YOU WITH RUN DATES AND AIR TIMES.
-------------------------------
Hi,
I would like to request that you broadcast an interesting and timely
community-produced documentary, "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With
Jobs Not Guns" which was filmed in Kabul this summer (26 minutes.)  It
is easily downloadable at Pegmedia.org , the site for public access TV
managers to find quality, community-produced content (free, in mpeg2
format ready to burn to DVD.)   Please contact me with the run-time
and date if you can run this as a community service.

Thank you!
(YOUR NAME)
Community Television Fan


FILM CONTENT DESCRIPTION: "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs Not
Guns" (filmed in Kabul)

"In the midst of the superheated debate over the course of the war in
Afghanistan, independent film-makers Ralph Lopez and Najim Dost, the
latter an Afghan citizen, release this provocative look at the
underside of an insurgency. In a country with 40% unemployment, they
talk to those whose voices have been missing: ordinary Afghans.  See
and hear them up close in the squares where they gather by the
thousands looking for work, and struggle to feed their families.
Ranked as the fourth poorest nation in the world, many have never even
heard of 9/11, nor the Twin Towers.   But someone is always hiring at
a good daily wage: the Taliban.  Exposing the false choice between
simply more troops or fewer, they talk to the people who matter most,
who could hold the key to victory.  The documentary reveals that an
economic solution would cost but a small fraction of the present
occupation. (26 minutes)"

LINK TO PEGMEDIA DOWNLOAD PAGE FOR FILM (MPEG2 file) "Afghan Marshall
Plan: Winning With Jobs Not Guns":
http://www.pegmedia.org/index.php?q=msvr/showall/253/detail

LINK TO DOCUMENTARY FOR ONLINE VIEWING BEFORE DOWNLOADING (compressed MP4)
http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4

MORE BACKGROUND LINKS ON SUBJECT:

LINK TO BOSTON GLOBE/BALTIMORE SUN OP-ED "We Can Win With Jobs Not
Guns in Afghanistan"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.afghanistan16aug16,0,4671831.story

LINK TO "An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan" by Ralph Lopez
http://jobsforafghans.org/exitstrategy.html

LINK TO FILM WEBSITE:
http://jobsforafghans.org

LINK TO PRINTABLE PUBLICITY POSTER (FOR COMMUNITY LIBRARY BULLETIN BOARDS ETC.)
http://jobsforafghans.org/poster.pdf



#34701 From: "Cheryl Guttman" <cguttman@...>
Date: Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:23 am
Subject: Quick, please sign this easy new petition for health care reform & other reform actions
cguttman
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Anthony Weiner just linked the insurance companies threatening to raise prices
if we pass health care reform, to proving the need for a robust public option to
keep the costs to the consumer and govt. of health care insurance low!  Please
do AT LEAST ONE of these actions (at least THE FIRST ONE, which is the easiest
and very important) and forward, thanks, Cheryl

--PLEASE QUICKLY SIGN THIS (easy sign up, just name, email and zip)
http://boldprogressives.org/majorityvote/p-fb-typ

This is a great idea! We have 60 Democrat Senators. All we need is all 60 to not
allow a Republican fillibuster of a strong progressive health care reform. Then
all we need is a majority--51--to pass it. What is the point of being a Democrat
if you can't even repulse a Republican fillibuster? Otherwise, strip them of
leadership and vote them out! It's time we started playing hardball to give
Americans what they deserve!
http://boldprogressives.org/majorityvote/p-fb-typ

--IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR A SECOND PETITION to help progresives continue to push
for a public option
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/213-the-progressive-block-stands-u\
nited

--You also might want to go to one of these PHONE BANKING OR RALLY events near
you
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple

--Move On is also having RALLIES Wed, the 13th
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=191

I know of this one in NYC
Union Square - SW Corner, 14th Street & Broadway - SW Corner (Map)
New York, NY 10001
Wednesday, October 14th, 4:30 PM
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=99042&id=&t=3&id=17489-71\
45949-WrVRCZx&t=2

--Would you or a friend like to WIN A CONTEST ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM for Obama
http://my.barackobama.com/VideoChallenge

Thanks,
Cheryl

#34700 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:18 pm
Subject: * * * Easy Actions to protect consumers, stop bailout, investigate torture
fernwoods7
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 This week, a House committee holds an important vote on Rep. Barney Frank's (D-Mass.) bill to create a watchdog agency for us. Help us urge lawmakers to pass the strongest possible Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act (H.R. 3126) on Wednesday!
 
===
===
 
Bank of America plans to send Ken Lewis out the door with a $53.3 million pension on top of the hundreds of millions he's already made during his failed tenure as CEO.

We're the ones paying billions in tax dollars to bail out Bank of America for the mistakes Ken Lewis made.

Will you tell the pay czar to stop payment on the Ken Lewis bailout? http://seiu.org/stoppayment 

=== 
 
Millions of votes in American elections are still not verifiable. We need to ensure that all voting systems in America provide a reliable voter-verified paper record.

House bill is HR 2894 and the Senate bill S.1431 will phase out all direct-recording electronic voting machines by 2014, and ensure that America's votes are cast on the most reliable form of voter-verified paper record: the paper ballot.

Please fill out the form to send the letter to your Representative urging support for HR 2894.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27619

 
===
 
Eli Lilly is now the sole manufacturer of rBGH – the artificial hormone given to dairy cows that may increase people’s risk of cancer. Eli Lilly also manufactures breast cancer treatment drugs as well as a pill that “reduces the risk” of breast cancer. It really is as outrageous as it sounds. Eli Lilly is milking cancer. Tell them to stop making rBGH.
 
===
 
 Call on A.G. Holder to Launch a Full-Scale Investigation of the "Torture Memos"
 
 
 Don't let the Senate write a blank check for war in Afghanistan. Any further funding should be contingent on an exit strategy and timetable to end the occupation of Afghanistan.
 
===
 
Watch this new video from the Rodale Institute's Demand Organic campaign and learn how, if the world’s 3.5 billion tillable acres were transitioned to organic agriculture, organic farms could sequester 40% of yearly carbon emissions. Then, tell Congress: Organic Is the Answer to Climate Change!
 
===
 
They said single-payer was off the table. In the next two weeks there will be a floor vote on HR 676 in the House. We need to get a big majority of Democrats to vote for the Weiner amendment –Medicare for All, HR 676–when it comes to a vote.

We need you to make as many calls as possible into your member’s office. Let’s make single payer a reality! Tell your member of Congress to support both the Weiner and Kucinich amendments!

http://tools.advomatic.com/35/hc-n/

===

Don't let the nuclear industry buy the climate bill!  

 Some Senators are trying to add tens of billions of taxpayer dollars for the nuclear industry to the bill. We can stop them if we all act. I hope you'll join me and send them a letter from this link: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/t/5846/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2137

Also, call your Senators, with the same message: no taxpayer subsidies for the nuclear industry.
It's easy to do: just call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator's office.
 
===
 

Protect Our Health from Toxic Chemicals

There are 82,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., yet only about 200 have been assessed for safety. “Hazardous Chemicals in Health Care: A Snapshot of Chemicals in Doctors and Nurses,” revealed toxic chemicals present in the bodies of twenty doctors and nurses from across America.

Evidence of widespread contamination of human beings makes it clear that the nation’s outdated and ineffective chemical management system must be reformed.

Tell your Representative and your Senators that we must protect our health from toxic chemicals.

Take Action

===

Take Action Today to End this War!

Call the White House today (202-456-1111), or go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. Tell President Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan, to withdraw our troops and to promote a diplomatic settlement.   Join the virtual Facebook vigil on the White House.

Call your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and ask him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 3699, introduced last week by Barbara Lee and 21 other Members of Congress, which will prohibit funding for any increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.  

Join the days of protest in October or organize a vigil in your community. Stand with the 61 people who were arrested at the White House on October 5!

Show the movie Rethink Afghanistan at a house party or your local library. Order a copy and use the discussion guides.

Sign the petition against escalation.  Write letters to the editor.


#34699 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:40 pm
Subject: ~~~ STOP Paying to Bribe Congress through your Healthcare Insurance
fernwoods7
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Those who have been trusted to insure American's Healthcare have been murdering the public at the rate of 45,000 per year in order to increase their private Profits.  
 
 Hidden within the Premiums paid for every Health Insurance Policy are these:  an involuntary Tax on every Policyholder to pay for Bribing Congress;  20% for Bureaucratic Overhead to deny as many claims as possible;  25% for profits to pay Executive salary&bonuses, and dividends to Shareholders.  
 
 People in the United States pay on average more than twice as much for their Healthcare than other people in countries like Canada and Germany, yet people in other wealthy countries enjoy longer life expectancies. http://www.truthout.org/1012098
 
 A key to success is the Healthcare Mafia placing their moles in critical Congressional Support Staff Positions, and moving Congressional Staffers onto Healthcare Mafia Payrolls: the infamous Washington Revolving Door.  Read much more here:  http://www.truthout.org/101109A  
 
 
Michael Moore's  Capitalism: A Love Story.  You must see this movie ASAP, to understand how defeating Healthcare Reform fits into a larger ongoing scenario to wreck everything America stands for.  Astoundingly complete and accurate description of where we are, and how we got here.  Do NOT miss this movie!  Click here to find where it's playing near you. 
 
Untold Billions have been spent by the Healthcare Mafia on Bribing Congress, hiring outrageously expensive Lobbyists, creating deceptive TV Ads, and paying Media Pundits to lie to our citizens.  
 
Health Insurance Premiums paid by Americans are financing destruction of their own Healthcare Reform.
.
There is ONLY one cure for Healthcare in America:  Radical Surgery to remove the malignant, cancerous Healthcare Mafia once and for all.
________________________________________
 
Fortunately, just such a successful cure is readily available.
 
Universal Single Payer Healthcare costs less, provides more, and cuts out the Healthcare Mafia Cancer.  Insurance Companies will still be there. You can still buy whatever Insurance you want from them.  If you want insurance that says you will be treated instantly in a swanky private hospital suite by 6 doctors, you can buy it, just like now.  
 
But EVERY American will have basic Healthcare, just for being an American. 
 
Meaning this:  you cannot be overcharged, forced into higher co-pays or higher premiums, gouged for pills, or forced to pay wasteful bureaucratic overhead at Hospitals.  You walk into a Doctor's Office, Clinic or Hospital, hand them your card.  That's it.  You and your Doctor deal ONLY with what will help you become well, not buried under paperwork that will deny payment for your Healthcare.
 
All of this Freedom is easily paid for by this combination:  1)  Forever end Healthcare Mafia Profits, thereby reducing Healthcare costs by as much as half;  2) Take back the undeserved Bush Tax Cut made to those who never needed it, producing a huge dedicated revenue stream;  and 3)  Collect full taxes on all Corporations operating in America, producing revenue paying for all their worker's Healthcare, while significantly reducing the tax burden on ordinary tax-payers.  
 
 
Universal Single Payer Healthcare is the cure America is seeking, waiting in Congress to be passed, in the form of 2 similar Bills,  HR 676 and  S 703
 
Tell your 2 Senators and 1 Representative -- !EVERY DAY! -- that you want them to provide EVERY American with Universal Single Payer Healthcare. Don't assume they're UNchangeable.  Everything is in play now!   
 
 
Tell them that negotiating with sociopathic murders of the Healthcare Mafia is a fool's gambit, guaranteed to fail.  The only way to win is to surgically remove the for-profit Healthcare Mafia from power, and to pass Universal Single Payer Healthcare for all Americans. Read it here: http://www.pnhp.org/docs/nhi_bill_final1.pdf
 
It's time to forget about botched and mangled Bills coming out of Congressional Committees.  The only Healthcare Option available for us ordinary citizens is this: read HR 676: Single Payer Universal Healthcare for ALL Americans 
 
Go here to call for free! It's easy, knows your Representatives, provides a simple call script, and is toll-free. Or, call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  Calling this week is super important!
 
__________________________
 
 

#34698 From: "Cheryl Guttman" <cguttman@...>
Date: Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:54 pm
Subject: Save Public Option: Easy Way To Contact Blue Dogs on Finance Committee
cguttman
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http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt2

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the Public Option tomorrow.
Without the Public Option, healthcare reform is little more than a huge give
away to the insurance industry

Keystone Progress has created a simple tool that will allow you to fax EVERY
member of the Finance Committee with one click of your mouse.
http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt2

[If you don't want to send to all of them by checking all the boxes at least
check on the key blue dog dems that Robert Reich lays out, Baucus, Menendez,
Carper, Nelson,Conrad, along w/Snow]
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/28/reich/

Please click here to send this simple message:  "Vote yes on the Public Option."

http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt2

That's all they need to read from us.  But if you want to write more, you can
write your own statement on  our site.

Please take two minutes to write to any or all of the Finance Committee NOW! 
Then forward this to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.

http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt2

Together, we can win!

Michael Morrill
Follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/keystoneprogres

#34697 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Thu Oct 1, 2009 11:33 am
Subject: * * * Call for release of names of SOA/ WHINSEC graduates - trained assassins
fernwoods7
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Today is the day that you can join SOA Watch activists around the country in taking a big step closer to closing the SOA/ WHINSEC -- by urging Senator Levin to release the names of the graduates and instructors of the SOA/ WHINSEC.

This June, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to require the release of the names, lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding the school. The joint House-Senate conference committee is meeting over the next few days to decide whether the amendment language is included in the final version of the bill that will be signed into law.

Your voice on the phone today will mean so much. By calling Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, you can help ensure the success of this amendment. We can make real progress towards closing the SOA/ WHINSEC!

It takes just a few minutes of your time. Here's what you can do:

 

  1. Call Senator Levin by calling his DC Senate office at 202-224-6221, or call the Capitol Hill Switchboard toll free at 1-800-473-6711 and ask to be transferred to Senator Levin's office.
  2. We expect the volume of calls to overwhelm their office, so you may receive a busy signal. Keep trying. Stagger your calls (and follow up calls) throughout the day.
  3. Here is the message to convey:

    "Senator Levin, I strongly urge you to include the WHINSEC amendment (the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA)-Lewis (GA) amendment) language in the final version of the Defense Authorization bill."


Additional Talking Points You Can Use:

  • This amendment would require the release of the names for graduates and instructors at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly named the School of the Americas.
  • This is the second year in a row that the House of Representatives has passed this bipartisan amendment also supported by Chairman Ike Skelton of the House Armed Services Committee.
  • This amendment asks for nothing more than the same categories of information that have been released to human rights organizations from 1946 to 2004.
  • Arguments opposing this amendment are undocumented assertions and nothing more, because opponents have no concrete examples to back up their arguments.


Forward this email widely: to your friends, family, community members, coworkers, peace and justice groups, and listservs. Post the information on Facebook, Tweet about it, and get it onto your blog today!

It's an exciting day, and I'll keep you posted on our success. Thank you for all your hard work!

Peace and Struggle,

Pam Bowman
Legislative Coordinator, SOA Watch

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is the SOA?    SOA Watch

The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.


Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.


#34696 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Mon Oct 5, 2009 9:57 pm
Subject: * * * Easy Actions - Stop spending on uneeded C -17, reform Patriot Act ...
fernwoods7
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Despite opposition from President Obama and the Pentagon, Congress is on track to spend $2.5 billion on additional C-17 transport planes we don't need.2 A final vote could come as soon as tomorrow, so it's now or never.3

Tell your Senators to oppose spending on extra C-17s we don't need and can't afford.

 

===

 
Please contact your members of Congress right now and tell them it is high time to reform the PATRIOT Act and do away with overbearing surveillance policies.
 
It’s time for Congress to reassert its role as a check on executive power. Without state secrets legislation, we’ll only have more secrecy and less accountability.
American Civil Liberties Union:
 
===
 
Tell Your Representative to Co-sponsor Fair Elections at:

 The bipartisan Fair Elections Now Act would free our elected officials from the fundraising treadmill, and allow them to focus on doing the people’s business.

Sponsored by Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), the Fair Elections Now Act would allow qualified congressional candidates to run for elected office using a mixture of small home-state donations and limited public financing. Candidates would agree to not take any large contributions from wealthy interests.

===

In September 2009, the Center for Food Safety gained a federal court ruling against genetically engineered sugar beets. Despite the ruling, American Crystal, the nation’s largest sugar beet processor, is apparently still planning on using Monsanto's GE sugar beets.

Tell American Crystal that you're joining the boycott. Avoid Monsanto's GE sugar by buying certified organic food (GE is banned from organic) and boycotting all non-organic brands that refuse to take a GMO-free stand.

Learn more and take action here: www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7031.cfm

===

 Tell the EPA: Regulate Dirty Coal Ash

Coal ash is some of the dirtiest, most toxic stuff on the planet. This grimy, arsenic-filled waste product is sitting in over 600 "ponds" across the nation. And yet no federal regulations exist to control these poison vats.

In Tennessee last year, a coal ash dam broke, releasing 150 million cubic feet of ash into the environment, burying houses and spreading lead, thallium and other dirty chemicals. It was called the largest environmental disaster of its kind in the history of the United States.


Ask EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to implement strict regulations on this dirty, poisonous substance at:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/coal_coalash/?r_by=6212-448425-yjLn.Bx&rc=paste1

 


#34695 From: Susan Serpa <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Sun Oct 4, 2009 4:25 am
Subject: Lopez: The Film That Can Stop the War, How to Put it on Your Community Access TV Station
sue4thebillo...
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It's do or die time for the peace movement, as the Obama administration heads for granting all or part of an additional troop request in Afghanistan.  We've seen it happen before.  Lots of calls for timelines in Congress, lots of calls for exit strategies, then the Pentagon gets everything it wants anyway, as a result of spineless congressmen unwilling to challenge the military-industrial complex.  Many Americans, disapproving of the war but not directly affected by deployments in their own families, will go along, as they struggle with their own problems with the economy.  Many do not see the direct relationship between this and the enormous cost of war. 

Although the peace movement has slowed the momentum for a troop escalation drastically, a critical tipping point in awareness among the general public is needed.  What is missing is an understanding of what drives the insurgency, and how it can be addressed.  The amazing fact is, despite repeat acknowledgments by the Obama administration that there is no military  solution, the administration pursues - what? - a military solution:

"In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, there is no purely military solution, to state the obvious.  The guts of our policy, in my view, must be to win the allegiance of the Afghan people to a better future and to help their government connect with the people and deliver on that future." - Vice President Joe Biden on Feb. 25, 2008

The new 26 minute documentary "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs, Not Guns" was created to provide an understanding of the insurgency among the general public which will cause all remaining polled support to collapse.  Only this will force the politicians into a new posture. 

You can watch it online here: http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4

Any member of a community can have his or her public access channel broadcast the program upon request, usually by filling out a standardized form on the channel's website.  Please help us broadcast this far and wide, to drive the final nail in the coffin of the foreboding tragedy of the proposed troop escalation, which will result in needless deaths, a further strained economy, and a foreign policy debacle.  Following are the few easy steps to have this broadcast in your community.

MEDIA KIT

1. Fill out the broadcast request form at your community access TV (CATV) channel's website.  If you don't know who your CATV is, you can find it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_access_stations_(United_States)

2. We will mail you the DVD (broadcast quality) of the show upon request.  You can throw us a few bucks to cover postage if you want, or a self-addressed stamped envelope, but if you don't have it don't worry about it.  We'll get it to you.  Respond to this email address or contact:

Sue Serpa
10 Cascade Rd.
Worcester, MA 01602
617-599-5195

3.  Once you have a run-time and date, send or bring the following short blurb to your local newspaper right away so they can run it in the community announcements section.  Viewership skyrockets with a newspaper announcement.  Follow up with a call to the editor of the paper to make sure they received it.  You can also send the editor a link to the online version of the documentary at
http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4

If they would like a picture to run with the announcement, one is attached below. 

4. Have a viewing party with your friends!  Start the discussion.  Then everyone call their congressman to say "No more troops, save our economy from further massive war debt by winning with jobs, not guns in Afghanistan."

FOR LOCAL NEWSPAPER:
"On [time, date] community access [TV channel] will broadcast "Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs Not Guns."  In the midst of the superheated debate over the course of the war in Afghanistan, independent film-makers Ralph Lopez and Najim Dost, the latter an Afghan citizen, release this provocative look at the underside of an insurgency. In a country with 40% unemployment, they talk to those whose voices have been missing: ordinary Afghans.  See and hear them up close in the squares where they gather by the thousands looking for work, and struggle to feed their families.  Ranked as the fourth poorest nation in the world, many have never even heard of 9/11, nor the Twin Towers.   But someone is always hiring at a good daily wage: the Taliban.  Exposing the false choice between simply more troops or fewer, they talk to the people who matter most, who could hold the key to victory.  The documentary reveals that an economic solution would cost but a small fraction of the present occupation. (26 minutes)"

LINK TO DOCUMENTARY FOR ONLINE VIEWING
http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4

LINK TO BOSTON GLOBE/BALTIMORE SUN OP-ED "We Can Win With Jobs Not Guns in Afghanistan"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.afghanistan16aug16,0,4671831.story

LINK TO "An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan" by Ralph Lopez
http://jobsforafghans.org/exitstrategy.html

LINK TO FILM WEBSITE:
http://jobsforafghans.org






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#34694 From: Susan Serpa <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Fri Oct 2, 2009 2:10 am
Subject: New film from Jobs For Afghans - a revelation about what's really going on and how YOU can help
sue4thebillo...
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Click on the link below to see the film (you'll need quicktime to view it).
 
Put this on your local Community Access channel. (If you're not sure how to go about it, it's easy - we'll walk you through it.)
 
This information will lead to peace and stability - the solution isn't military, not cut and run, but reparations toward stability.  Far, far less costly than staying the course with the path the war has taken while the Taliban has resurged due to poverty in the region. For $4-10 ad day per able bodied Afghan rebuilding their own infrastructure we'l siphone off at least 70% of the Taliban recruitment (and cut into the power of the War/Drug lords and al qaeda) for just 5-10% of our current budget in the region.  For draft legislation and more information see: http://jobsforafghans.org (donations accepted http://jobsforafghans.org/appeal.html,)
 
Show this film far and wide.  We will send you a free dvd.
 
Jobs For Afghans
10 Cascade Road
Worcester, MA 01602 
phone 617- 412-9438
 
 

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

#34693 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:13 pm
Subject: ~~~ Interesting News the Media doesn't Cover - 9-23
fernwoods7
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Senate Studies Cell Phone Cancer Risks - brain tumors, and increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia. 
 
Finally, more than a decade after a test funded by the cell phone industry showed a possible link between cell phones and cancer, the Senate held hearings on the question, while engaging in various contortions to avoid offending the industry's powerful lobbyists.
 
“Exposure to cellphone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled," said Lloyd Morgan, lead author and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society. "Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cellphones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia. The public must be informed.”

Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/09/cell_phone_cancer.html#ixzz0RQlHHSQw
 
===
Best (least radiation) and Worst (most radiation) Phones at:
 
 
Sign up to learn more about cell phones at:
 
===
 10 min. video 
The testimony of a US Marine Vet about his experiences in Iraq.  
 
If everyone in America would watch this, I think the war would end.
 
===
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/wendell-potter-public-opt_n_287733.html  
       
Wendell Potter: Public Option Essential, Baucus Plan An "Absolute Gift" To Health Insurance Industry (VIDEO)

Former health insurance industry executive-turned-whistleblower Wendell Potter warned that if Congress "fails to create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, the bill it sends to the president might as well be called the Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act."

Potter also struck back against one of the key arguments made against the public option: that it would have an unfair competitive advantage over private insurers.

'Contrary to the misinformation being disseminated by the health insurance industry and its allies, the public insurance option would not have a competitive advantage over private plans," Potter told the committee. "It would have to meet the same benefit requirements and comply with the same insurance market reforms as private plans. "
 
Potter, who was previously a vice president of communication at Cigna, also sharply criticized Democratic Senator Max Baucus' health care reform bill in a conversation with reporters Monday, calling the plan an "absolute gift to the industry."

More on Potter's statements on the Baucus plan, via Politico.  http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0909/Former_Cigna_exec_Baucus_plan_absolute_gift_to_industry.html

 Here is video of his opening statements.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/wendell-potter-public-opt_n_287733.html

===
 

The person credited with inventing the "death panels" claim about health care reform worked with tobacco giant Phillip Morris to railroad health care reform in the Clinton administration, Rolling Stone magazine reports.

 
===
 
Canadian Health Care, Even With Queues, Bests U.S.

Deaths considered preventable through health care are less frequent in Canada than in the U.S., according to a January 2008 report in the journal Health Affairs.
 
"There is an image of Canadians flooding across the border to get care, "That's just not the case. The public in Canada is far more satisfied with the system than they are in the U.S."
 
Canada's system of universal health coverage provides care as good as in the U.S., at a cost 87 percent less for each person.
Canadians live two to three years longer than Americans and are as likely to survive heart attacks, childhood leukemia, and breast and cervical cancer, according to the OECD, the Paris-based coalition of 30 industrialized nations.
 
The Canadian mortality rate from asthma is one quarter of the U.S.'s, and the infant mortality rate is 34 percent lower, OECD data show. People in Canada are also 21 percent more apt to survive five years after a liver transplant.
 
Private-insurance administrative costs in the U.S. are 12.7 cents of a dollar, and as high as 18 cents for some companies. Government plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, spend 5.8 cents excluding costs of private drug plans, she said. In Canada 4.2 cents is spent on administration.
"If we lowered our administrative costs to that of the lowest three countries with mixed public-private health-care systems, we could save $50 billion a year," Davis said. "This would go a long way toward financing coverage for the uninsured."
 
The U.S. spent $7,290 on health care for each person in 2007, according to the latest OECD data. Canada came in at $3,895.

Entire article at:
 
 
Monsanto executives described a world with 100 percent of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. “The hope of the industry is that over time, the market is so flooded that there’s nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender.”

To implement their strategy, the biotech companies needed to control the seeds—so they went on a buying spree, taking possession of about 23 percent of the world’s seed companies. Monsanto did achieve the dominant position, capturing 91 percent of the GM food market. 

U.S. exports of genetically modified corn and soy are down, and hungry African nations won’t even accept the crops as food aid.

It was industry influence, not sound science, which allowed these foods onto the market. Moreover, Overwhelming scientific research suggests that the foods should never have been approved

 ===
Bush's thoughts about the bailout:
"We can't even defend our own proposal?" the president asked. "Why did we propose it, then?" 
 
Matt Latimer worked as one of Dubya's speechwriters during the president's final twenty-two months in office. He was there as we pretended that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. And he was there to see a president who failed to grasp his own $700 billion bailout package-even as he was pitching it to the American public on live TV. A disillusioned insider reveals for the first time just how messy things got
 
(Proves that the presidents are just puppets)
 
===
 
Obama Warned By Ex-CIA Directors On Justice Probe of Detainee Interrogators 18 Sep 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to order a review of the controversial interrogation techniques used by Central Intelligence Agency employees on high-value terrorist detainees during the prior administration has drawn a cautionary letter to President Barack Obama from seven former CIA directors.                                                        http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
 
===
 
US signed agreements for 68% of the global weapons sales
 
Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a new Congressional study.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/703.html
 
===

Has Osama Bin Laden been dead for seven years - and are the U.S. and Britain covering it up to continue war on terror?
September 11, 2009, Daily Mail (One of the UK's largest-circulation newspapers)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212851/Has-Osama-Bin-Laden-dead...

 What if everything we have seen or heard of him on video and audio tapes since the early days after 9/11 is a fake - and that he is being kept 'alive' by the Western allies to stir up support for the war on terror? Incredibly, this is the breathtaking theory that is gaining credence among political commentators, respected academics and even terror experts. Still more questions have been raised with the publication in America and Britain of a book called Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?

Note: Hundreds of scholars, officials and professionals have raised questions about bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and other aspects of the official conspiracy about the events of 9/11. Click here and here to read their concerns.

===

Under Senator Baucus's plan, insurers would be permitted to charge older people five times more for their health insurance premiums than younger people.
 
Yesterday I wrote in some detail about how the insurance companies stand to gain from the Baucus bill (their stocks immediately jumped upon release of his proposal, which has no public option):
It doesn't take Einstein to figure out why the Baucus bill is great for the insurance industry: If there's no public alternative to compete with private insurance companies, guess where all those people will have to go to buy their government-mandated insurance?
 
===
 
In 1980's a bill was passed that allowed private corporations to run prisons for profit.
 
Of all the people imprisoned in the world 25% are in a US jail or prison.

Prisons are paid $30,000 to $50,000 for each person they keep. The inmates can be used
as property and made to work for the profit of the prison.
 
Stock value of prisons is based on the number of people in their jail.
 
The United States non-violent prison population is larger than the combined populations
of Wyoming and Alaska.
 
If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated one of every 20 Americans can be expected to serve time in prison during their lifetime.

Video:  http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/709.html
 
===
 
 
Subject: Peace in the Heart

 
 
 

#34692 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:22 am
Subject: * * * Easy actions - Net Neutrality, End war in Afghnaistan, Label GM Food
fernwoods7
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 
Tell Congress: Pass Net Neutrality Now!
The phone and cable companies are scrambling to kill Net Neutrality so they can inspect and filter content, and overcharge you for using the Web in ways they don't like. Over the past six months alone, these companies have hired 500 lobbyists in Washington to try to stop this bill from becoming law.

It's up to you to tell your members of Congress to side with the public -- not with the corporate lobbyists -- and take a final stand for an open Internet by supporting the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 3458).

 
Also, call your Representative and urge them to support Net Neutrality.
 
===
 
With the ES&S takeover of Diebold/Premier, their nearest competitor, the privately-run election Goliath now has an un-overseeable lock on virtually every election in the United States of America.

Take a look at these two startling maps --- showing control of U.S. elections, before and after the takeover. http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7413

Contact the DoJ with an immediate anti-trust complaint: JUST CLICK HERE.

===

Petition to President Obama to Support Mandatory Labeling of GM Foods

Labeling Petition - Institute for Responsible Technology

If you don't know about the dangers, watch this Video

               Everything you HAVE TO KNOW
         about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods
 
===
 
 
===
 
By clicking this link, you can send a message to President Tom Buchanan telling him that it is not only the people in Wyoming, but the people throughout the country, who are outraged that Dick Cheney would have a center for international students named after him at the University of Wyoming.
 ===

Is the solution to E. coli contamination in spinach a scorched earth policy that only the biggest farms can follow?  We don't think so, but that's just what corporate agribusiness is suggesting.  Food safety is serious, and while we need real policy, it shouldn't be written to promote industrial farming.  Can you sign a petition to stop the produce industry from writing its own food safety rules?

===

Sign up for Media Matters action alerts so you can be on the cutting edge of the fight against misinformation: http://mediamatters.org/action/fightfox/

===

If you aren't inspired to try to stop the wars, PLEASE, watch this 10 min. video. of a US Marine Iraq Vet telling about his experience:    Winter Soldier - Just Another Tuesday 

===

Monday October 5: Protest at the White House against Obama's Wars, Washington DC
10:00 am McPherson Square Rally; March to White House where a variety of non-violent civil resistance actions are planned.  Cindy Sheehan, War Resisters League, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Witness Against Torture.  World Can't Wait will display & perform the Bush Regime Torture Museum as a way of showing the press and public the techniques authorized by the torture team.  Come, be visible in the streets, to the press, and in front of the White House!

Tuesday October 6: Day of Resistance to Military Recruiters  in High Schools, Nationwide  Students can wear orange bandanas, show films, invite veterans in to speak, challenge the recruiters in their school, or after school.

===

Afghanistan - A Petition to Take Action Against the War

Tom Hayden and other anti war activists have initiated an online petition to organize the 57% public opinion that opposes the war in Afghanistan to prevent a new escalation of troops. 

===
 A lesson in politics. The Kucinich Prediction for healthcare: Here's what's going to happen ...
  1. House will make a big deal about keeping/putting a public option in HR3200 because it competes with insurance companies and will keep insurance rates low.
  2. The White House will refer to the President's speech last week where he spoke favorably of the public option.
  3. The Senate will kill the competitive public option in favor of non-competitive "co-ops". Senate leaders like Kent Conrad have said the votes to pass a public option were never there in the Senate.
  4. The bill will come to a House-Senate Conference Committee without the public option.
  5. House Democrats will be told to support the conference report on the legislation to support the President.
  6. The bill will pass, not with a "public option" but with a private mandate requiring 30 million uninsured to buy private health insurance (if one doesn't already have it). If you are broke, you may get a subsidy. If you are not broke, you will get a fine if you do not purchase insurance.

    The bill that Congress passes may pale in comparison to the bill that millions of Americans will get every month/year for having or not having private health insurance.

    It will take four years for the new legislation to go into effect. During that time we are going to build a constituency of millions in support of real health care, a constituency which will be recognized and a cause which is right and just: Health Care as a Civil Right.

    Join our efforts for single payer healthcare. Sign the petition. Contribute.
===
 
Senator Max Baucus released his health care bill yesterday - the final bill to be taken up by a committee before the House and Senate vote on health reform - and the verdict is clear:

It doesn't work.

Click here to call your Senator and demand that the Baucus bill be fixed.

The Baucus bill will not provide you and me with good quality, affordable health care. It fails to ask employers to share responsibility and provide health care to their workers. And it does not keep the insurance companies honest because it lacks the choice of a national public health insurance option.

It does one thing, however. It gives the insurance industry a monopoly and millions of new, captive customers.

The Baucus bill is the insurance company bill. Need proof? After the bill was released, the Congressional Budget Office said that the bill will not provide competition to the insurance companies.1

The bill works for them, but not for you. It must be fixed.

Click here to call your Senator and demand that the Baucus bill be fixed so that it works for you and not the insurance companies.

 Baucus has received more campaign donations from the health industry than any elected federal official except President Barack Obama and three other senators.

 


#34691 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:54 pm
Subject: ~~~ Interesting News the Media doesn't Cover 9-17
fernwoods7
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
With the ES&S takeover of Diebold/Premier, their nearest competitor, the privately-run election Goliath now has an un-overseeable lock on virtually every election in the United States of America.

Take a look at these two startling maps --- showing control of U.S. elections, before and after the takeover.    http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7413

Contact the DoJ with an immediate anti-trust complaint: JUST CLICK HERE.

===

"Today I am free again but my home is still a prison," he told reporters shortly after his release, a swipe at the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq six and a half years after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
 
"The occupation forces invaded us under the pretext of liberation. They divided brothers, neighbours, they made our houses endless funeral tents and our streets cemeteries," he said.
 
===
 
The day after Obama's healthcare speech, the second richest man in America, Warren Buffet, spoke with a Senate Committee, telling them this:  Rich people are not paying enough taxes. http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/58129-buffett-to-meet-with-senate-dems
.
Buffett told lawmakers that because of the cuts to the capital gains tax passed under former President George W. Bush, he pays taxes at a lower rate than some of his company’s employees.

It is an argument the investor has made before. Buffett said he paid a 16.5 percent tax rate on all his income because the tax rate on investment dividends and long-term capital gains is only 15 percent.

By contrast, a single employee at Buffet’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, who earns between $33,000 and $83,000 must pay a 25 percent federal income tax rate.
 
===
 
The 9/11 Commission Rejects own Report as Based on Government Lies - Salem-News.Com The 9/11 Commission now tells us that the official version of 9/11 was based on false testimony and documents and is almost entirely untrue. The details of this massive cover-up are carefully outlined in a book by John Farmer, who was the Senior Counsel for the 9/11 Commission.
 
...“at some level of the government, at some point in time…there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened... I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described …. The [Norad air defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years. This is not spin.”
 
===
 
If you are against single payer and public option, watch this:
 
The Health Insurance Racket
 
Forward this video to your friends and watch
all the videos at  www.sickforprofit.com
 
===
 
Whistleblower's comments on healthcare plans at:
 
HR 3200 would truly benefit average Americans with a strong public
option to provide true choice to consumers.
 
The Baucus plan insures a huge new stream of revenue for insurance
companies, paid for by tax payers.  With the Baucus plan, the
insurance companies win, the people loose. It creates a government
subsidized monopoly for the purchase of bare bones, high deductible 
policies that would truly benefit big insurance.
 
===
A Year After a Cataclysm, Little Change on Wall St.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/business/12change.html
Only a handful of big hedge funds have closed. Pay is already returning to precrash levels, topped by the 30,000 employees of Goldman Sachs, who are on track to earn an average of $700,000 this year.

===

YouTube - 9/11: Total Proof That Bombs Were Planted In The Buildings!  

Evidence that the world trade center buildings were brought down by controlled demolition, in 7 min. video: YouTube - Richard Gage on KMPH Fox 26 in Fresno, CA

===

 
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth --- Check out more info at: http://www.AE911Truth.org/
FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was finally allowed to speak about much of what the Bush Administration spent years trying to keep her from discussing publicly on the record. Twice gagged by the Bush Dept. of Justice's invocation of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege," Edmonds has been attempting to tell her story, about the crimes she became aware of while working for the FBI, for years.

Thanks to a subpoena issued by the campaign of Ohio's 2nd District Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate David Krikorian, her remarkable allegations of blackmail, bribery, espionage, infiltration, and criminal conspiracy by current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials, and agents of the government of Turkey are seen and heard here, in full, for the first time, in her under-oath deposition.
 
Continued at:
 
 
To learn about courageous translator Sibel Edmonds, who finally managed to legally evade the gag order placed on her for years, click here. Sibel has held clear evidence of fraud and manipulation regarding 9/11 by top U.S. politicians for years, yet a gag order was placed to keep her from revealing this incriminating evidence for reasons of "national security." For summaries of major media articles on her excellent work, click here. And her engaging blog is available here.
===
 
Despite promises during the campaign that he would review certain of the most intrusive portions of the PATRIOT Act, President Barack Obama’s Justice Department today is calling for Congress to extend all three expiring provisions, though they were “willing to consider” civil rights protections “as long as they don’t weaken” the president’s powers under the act.
 
===
 
A beautiful message...
 
 I wish all these things for YOU. 
 
 

#34690 From: "lilgeorgiehas2go" <lilgeorgiehas2go@...>
Date: Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:58 am
Subject: Private Health Insurance Companies: End Them
lilgeorgieha...
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Private Health Insurance Companies Increase Healthcare Costs and Reduce Care: End Them

 
By Meg White
 
August 27, 2009
 
This is a fascinating piece from our recent archives about PBS censorship:

From the BuzzFlash archives from April 2009 -- PBS Censored NYT Reporter Who Asserted that For-Profit Health Insurance Costs are a Leading Cause of Bloated Healthcare Pricetag. He Ended Up Withdrawing from the Program. Why Did PBS Censor Him? Good Question. Could It be Due to Corporate Underwriting, Which Amounts to "Soft" Advertising? Good Question. -- BuzzFlash News Analysis

http://blog.buzzflash.com/analysis/700



Private Health Insurance Companies Increase Healthcare Costs and Reduce Care: End Them

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

In the coming months, we will see the development of a new healthcare system in Washington. Concessions will be made on all sides and everyone is nervous about what those concessions might be.

While many of us hope for single-payer, universal healthcare, the fact is that the political will might not exist for it. However, no matter what the Obama Administration decides to call the final product, private health insurance companies need to disappear from the equation.

It seems the Obama Administration, and most congressional Democrats, are afraid of single-payer's association with socialized medicine. But doctors don't have to work for the government for this healthcare reform initiative to be successful. According to Washington Post correspondent T.R. Reid, private health insurance companies -- not private doctors -- need to go.

Reid's book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, will be published this summer. Reid has been traveling the world learning about other countries' healthcare systems, while keeping in mind the idiosyncrasies of American patients and doctors, to try and figure out what will work best here.
Reid found that, while advances in healthcare are driving up costs all over the world, the astronomically high prices in this country originate with insurance companies.

Not only do insurance companies allow the pharmaceutical industry to charge Americans many times the prices others pay for the same medicine, but also internal costs take a big chunk of change as well. Administrative costs for public insurance systems hover around 3 percent, while private insurance companies spent 25-31 percent on such costs. Overhead among private insurers in the U.S. is nine times that of Canada's single-payer system.
U.S. health insurance companies have also institutionalized a reduction in quality of care. A lot of those extra administrative costs are spent on hiring people to try and deny coverage and claims.

But even these relatively moderate views on healthcare reform are being pushed aside by the health insurance industry and the media. Reid, who has done one documentary for PBS' "Frontline" accompanying his international reporting on five foreign healthcare regimes called Sick Around the World, was again commissioned by PBS to do a similar documentary called Sick Around America. But Frontline so skewed Reid's reporting that he refused to appear in the final product and says he won't work with Frontline in the future.

The Sick Around America producers invited the president of the leading health insurance lobbyist group onto the program and essentially agreed with her statements on the need to keep the insurance companies in charge and force every American to sign up with them as a reform measure. (An interesting look at how this proposal works for and is being pushed by the health insurance lobby, check out this recent L.A. Times business column.)
page 2:
 
 
 
 
 

#34689 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Tue Sep 1, 2009 10:40 pm
Subject: ~~~ Complete catalog of online videos censored by US news
fernwoods7
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You can subscribe to get links to videos about
 the other side of the news, the side the US news
media relentlessly waters down, distorts, and even
outright censors at:  http://www.BrasscheckTV.com 
 
Here are a few to consider:
 
Dying for Free Elections - The Solutions the Politicians Did Not Want
 
 
The deep roots of the US propaganda system
 
 
Pharmaceutical manufacturers pushing drugs
 
 
World Bank Scam
 

#34688 From: "sue.jonez" <sue.jonez@...>
Date: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:09 pm
Subject: Insanely fast clean energy needed
sue.jonez
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Adding a gigawatt a day will keep the climate crisis at bay

You'd think that after all the press coverage that global warming has received that the public would be pretty well educated on exactly how fast we need to install clean power to avert an irreversible climate disaster. But the public has no clue.

As far as I know, only one member of the press has asked the right questions to figure it out: Joshua Green, a senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly. Green wrote a great piece in the current issue entitled "The Elusive Green Economy." It's long but it's a great read. Green points out that the IPCC set 450ppm as a level we shouldn't exceed because otherwise climate change becomes both irreversible and catastrophic. But at the very end of his article is the real gem. He points out that we need to develop 13,000 GWe of carbon-free power (within the next 25 years) if we're to limit atmospheric carbon concentration to 450 ppm. Australian climate scientist Barry Brook was kind enough to double check the math and came up with a similar figure. I also ran it by a top scientist at DOE and he didn't even raise an eyebrow when I quoted that figure. It is also about the same as the 11,500 GWe that Saul Griffith derived. Green next points out that current global solar-power production today is only 10 GWe. In fact, in 2008, the peak solar capacity was 13.4GWe, but the average powered delivered was only 2 GWe. Yikes!

Compare that 2 GWe to the 13,000 GWe we need and you get a sense for the magnitude of the task ahead of us. The point is this: after decades of installing renewable power, we are nowhere close to making a small dent in the problem. In other words, if we think we are going to make the goal from solar, wind, and other renewables alone, we must be smoking something. And even if we added the big elephant of clean power, nuclear power, which can be installed in huge capacities relatively quickly when the political winds are blowing in the right direction, this is still an almost insurmountable goal. That's why at the Aspen Energy Forum held earlier this year, all of the renewable experts agreed that every clean power technology, including nuclear, has to play a role in solving the climate crisis.

I'd like to give you a sense for what that 13,000 GWe figure means. Let's be generous and assume we have 30 years to install the 13 GWe of power we need. If we were to build a large nuclear plant every single day for the next 30 years, that would still not be enough to avert the 450ppm limit.

Without nuclear as part of the mix, it's even harder and it's also a lot more expensive to meet the goal. We would have to be installing more than 1,500 large (2 MW, with enormous 100m diameter blades) wind turbines every day for 30 years. If we used desert-based concentrated solar thermal (which is much more efficient than solar photovoltaic), we'd have to install 80,000 huge 37 foot diameter dishes covering over 100 square miles every day for 30 years. Or some combination of those two. And then we'd have to cost effectively store a lot of that power and deliver it when it is needed so you have reliable base load power all without generating any CO2 emissions. Storage is less of a problem with wind if you have a huge geographic area (which we have in the US), you massively overbuild to account for the unpredictability of wind, and you have a national transmission grid so you can move huge amounts of power when and where it is needed (which we don't have). And even with all of that in place, it's still not a guarantee that you won't have power outages when the wind is particularly low. With solar, to supply base load power, you'd need something like what Ausra is doing where they store power for up to 16 hours. Andasol uses such a thermal storage system and its electricity will cost 38 cents per kWh to produce, which makes it nearly 10 times more expensive than nuclear or coal.

We aren't anywhere close to installing clean power of any type that fast. Not only are we not doing it, but we aren't even close to just talking about the need to install power that fast!

Furthermore, our best nuclear technology, according to a multi-year multi-national study commissioned by the DOE, is the technology Clinton cancelled in 1994. This design (the Integral Fast Reactor) remains on the shelf today, collecting dust, despite the fact that it can produce power cheaper than coal, is 100 times more efficient than today's nuclear technology, and can consume our nuclear waste and generate power from it (virtually solving our nuclear waste problem). Other countries want to build that design because it is safer, cheaper, and more proliferation resistant than the nuclear plants they have now (and because it gets rid of their nuclear waste). But we won't let them. Where is our sense of urgency?

Doesn't anyone get it?!?!

Have you ever in your life heard any politician mention how insanely fast we need to install new clean power on the planet to meet the 450ppm goal? I sure haven't. And none of the environmental groups will tell you that. They don't give you any numbers at all. Al Gore never mentioned it either.

The best job of public truth telling on how aggressively we have to build clean power that I've seen so far doesn't come from an environmental group at all.

Saul Griffith's Wattzon Game Plan does a great job of giving concrete examples of how fast we need to move to save the planet. Just watch the last 14 minutes of his highly entertaining Scarcity and Abundance video.

The "Climate Change" page of the upcoming State of the World Forum also does a great job of laying out the need to act a lot more aggressively than our political leaders would have us believe. Here are a couple of excerpts from their climate change page:

It is for these and other reasons that when he accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Head of the IPCC, said "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." Thousands of scientists around the world agree. Lester Brown states bluntly that we are facing the demise of human civilization itself if we do not take action now.

Even more troubling is that reality that even if the governments are successful reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, this accomplishment would be essentially irrelevant to dealing with global warming in any meaningful way. A recent study by MIT states that if all the governments completely fulfill their current promises, which essentially are pointed toward reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, we will have reached over 600 ppm of CO2 by then and global temperatures will have risen at least 4 degrees Celsius.

This contradiction between what the governments are negotiating and what the science says is the most crucial fact in the climate change crisis today.

We do not have until 2050 to reduce our carbon emissions by 80%. We need to do this by 2020 and we only have until 2012 to make perhaps the most obvious decision in human history. Yet not a single government in the world is willing to recognize the obvious.  Dr. Pachauri recently stated that the governments are engaging in "tragic inaction."  Never before has there been a such a dearth of imagination, courage and leadership.

We believe that the world must mobilize around what is scientifically urgent, not around what is politically expedient.

What our governments are negotiating for 2050 must be accomplished by 2020. 

So let me be real clear. Here are five key things that I think every American should know about the climate crisis:

1. If we are to have any hope of avoiding a climate crisis, we have to be installing about 1 GW of new clean power somewhere in the world every single day for the next 30 years.

2. We are nowhere close to that rate today.

3. All options for clean power have to be on the table.

4. Based on today's technologies and costs, our best chance of getting anywhere close to that rate (and at a cost we can afford) is to aggressively install lots of nuclear power as the centerpiece of that strategy.

5. Our single best clean power technology, the Integral Fast Reactor, remains sitting on the shelf in a government research lab in Idaho, collecting dust. Ray Hunter, the former Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology at DOE is furious about this, by the way.

The sooner we realize the magnitude of the solution and start acting on it, the better our chances of saving the planet.

It's time to stop putting our head in the sand thinking that cap and trade and the House energy bill is going to solve the climate crisis. It's not going to make much of a dent. In fact, because it allows existing coal plants to continue operating, it actually makes things worse, not better. In Japan when they adopted cap and trade: their emissions have continued to increase. Canada adopted a straightforward carbon tax and its working. Yet our Congress thinks it is better for the country to adopt a system that hasn't worked anywhere in the world for reducing CO2 emissions than to copy a system that works. Go figure.

Senator Lamar Alexander is the member of Congress who is the closest to advocating what is needed. He's advocating building 100 new nuclear power plants in the US over the next 20 years. That's still not nearly enough, but it would be a good start. Nobody else in Congress is advocating anything close to that.

I'm waiting for a member of Congress to tell Senator Alexander that he's seriously underestimating the magnitude of the problem; that there are over 1,500 coal power plants in America and we need to put the pedal to the metal and install at least 1,000 new nuclear power plants in the US over the next 20 years, not 100. When that happens, we'll have a chance.

Today, we have complacency where we should be having a sense of urgency. After all, even if we deploy all the King's soldiers and and all the King's men, it's not clear at all we can run fast enough to save the planet.

One thing's for sure: we are never ever going to get there at the snail's pace we are on now.

Who will be the first one to tell America the truth about how fast we need to be installing clean power to save our planet?



#34687 From: "Cheryl Guttman" <cguttman@...>
Date: Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:54 am
Subject: It's Not Too Late To Save Public Option! Send letter from this forward now!
cguttman
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Please sign and forward.  Don't let the crazies and greedy insurance creeps take
away our public option!  Obama's just testing the waters and we have to say "no!
we won't take it"  --try to put a few of your own words in it, including subject
line.  Thanks, Cheryl!
http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt

Friend:

Meaningful healthcare reform is on the ropes! And it's partially our fault. The
insurance industry and their supporters are organizing effectively, sending huge
numbers of
letters and emails to Congress, and sending people to town hall meetings to
stifle other voices.

The result? Our elected officials are running for cover on the public option.

Polls show that we are still in the majority on public option, but as the old
saying goes "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."  Right now our opponents are
squeakier.  We can't let them defeat meaningful healthcare reform simply by
being louder.

We can still win a public option, but it will take serious work on our part. 
Will you renew your commitment to this effort by taking action right now?

First, click here to send emails to your U.S. Senators and Representative that
we need to have a public option as the minimum for meaningful healthcare reform.
http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/papubopt

It takes less than a minute if you use the draft letter we've provided for you
on the site.

Then, forward this e-mail to everyone you know and ask them to take action too.
We need to be "Fired up and ready to go!" for healthcare.  I am.  Are you?

In Solidarity,
Michael Morrill
Keystone Progress
www.keystoneprogress.org

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/keystoneprogres

#34686 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:24 am
Subject: Obama on Drugs: 98% Cheney?
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Obama on Drugs: 98% Cheney?


by Greg Palast
Thursday, August 13, 2009


For The Huffington Post


Eighty billion dollars of WHAT?

I searched all over the newspapers and TV transcripts and no one asked the President what is probably the most important question of what passes for debate on the issue of health care reform: $80 billion of WHAT?

On June 22, President Obama said he'd reached agreement with big drug companies to cut the price of medicine by $80 billion. He extended his gratitude to Big Pharma for the deal that would, "reduce the punishing inflation in health care costs."

Hey, in my neighborhood, people think $80 billion is a lot of money. But is it?

I checked out the government's health stats (at HHS.gov), put fresh batteries in my calculator and toted up US spending on prescription drugs projected by the government for the next ten years. It added up to $3.6 trillion.

In other words, Obama's big deal with Big Pharma saves $80 billion out of a total $3.6 trillion. That's 2%.

Hey thanks, Barack! You really stuck it to the big boys. You saved America from these drug lords robbing us blind. Two percent. Cool!

For perspective: Imagine you are in a Wal-Mart and there's a sign over a flat screen TV, "BIG SAVINGS!" So, you break every promise you made never to buy from that union-busting big box - and snatch up the $500 television. And when you're caught by your spouse, you say, "But, honey, look at the deal I got! It was TWO-PERCENT OFF! I saved us $10!"

But 2% is better than nothing, I suppose. Or is it?

The Big Pharma kingpins did not actually agree to cut their prices. Their promise with Obama is something a little oilier: they apparently promised that, over ten years, they will reduce the amount at which they would otherwise raise drug prices. Got that? In other words, the Obama deal locks in a doubling of drug costs, projected to rise over the period of "savings" from a quarter trillion dollars a year to half a trillion dollars a year. Minus that 2%.

We'll still get the shaft from Big Pharma, but Obama will have circumcised the increase.

And what did Obama give up in return for $80 billion? Chief drug lobbyist Billy Tauzin crowed that Obama agreed to dump his campaign pledge to bargain down prices for Medicare purchases. Furthermore, Obama's promise that we could buy cheap drugs from Canada simply went pffft!

What did that cost us? The New England Journal of Medicine notes that 13 European nations successfully regulate the price of drugs, reducing the average cost of name-brand prescription medicines by 35% to 55%. Obama gave that up for his 2%.

The Veterans Administration is able to push down the price it pays for patent medicine by 40% through bargaining power. George Bush stopped Medicare from bargaining for similar discounts, an insane ban that Obama said he'd overturn. But, once within Tauzin's hypnotic gaze, Obama agreed to lock in Bush's crazy and costly no-bargaining ban for the next decade.

What else went down in Obama's drug deal? To find out, I called C-SPAN to get a copy of the videotape of the meeting with the drug companies. I was surprised to find they didn't have such a tape despite the President's campaign promise, right there on CNN in January 2008, "These negotiations will be on C-SPAN."

This puzzled me. When Dick Cheney was caught having secret meetings with oil companies to discuss Bush's Energy Bill, we denounced the hugger-muggers as a case of foxes in the henhouse.

Cheney's secret meetings with lobbyists and industry bigshots were creepy and nasty and evil.

But the Obama crew's secret meetings with lobbyists and industry bigshots were, the President assures us, in the public interest.

We know Cheney's secret confabs were shady and corrupt because Cheney scowled out the side of his mouth.

Obama grins in your face.

See the difference?

The difference is 2%.

*******

Palast studied healthcare economics at the Center for Hospital Administration Studies at the University of Chicago.

Greg Palast's investigative reports can be seen on BBC Television's Newsnight and, in print, at www.GregPalast.com.

New: Subscribe to Palast's podcasts (iTunes required)

#34685 From: Susan Serpa <sue4thebillofrights@...>
Date: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:26 pm
Subject: Please Help Spread Message to Soldiers: Troops Out, Jobs In.
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Please Help Spread Message to Soldiers: Troops Out, Jobs In.
 
    As a number of important events converge to possibly make this
the year we end the wars and restore the Constitution, we must
continue the organizing, message-spreading, and linking up of the many
citizens' constituencies which will drive real "change," which always
happens from the ground up.   A combination of increasing soldier
resistance to deployment and increasing awareness that the war in
Afghanistan is all but U.S.-created is forcing policy-makers to
consider options other than that preferred by Military-Industrial
Complex: more war.  More escalations, more casualties on both sides.
 
    Jobs for Afghans is seeking to travel to Ft. Hood, Texas, to link
up with the growing war resister community.  Ft. Hood, Texas played a
critical role in ending the Vietnam War.  War resister Sgt. Victor
Agosto has refused to deploy to Afghanistan.  He has said, "I have
concluded that the wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan] are not going to be
ended by politicians or people at the top. They are not responsive to
the people.  They are responsive to corporate America."  This is why
three years into a clear Democratic majority, our troops are still
dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, as are Iraqi and Afghan civilians..
 
    The solutions to the problems in Afghanistan are economic.  With
over 40% unemployment, we are losing the hearts and minds of the
Afghan people.  Given the alternative of cash for a day's work, we
could siphon off 70% of Taliban recruitment. The dirty little secret
is this may be the most unnecessary war in history (if there is such a
thing as a "necessary" war.)  For a mere one-tenth of the cost of
military operations for a year we could pay for a cash-for-work jobs
program which would pay a base wage of $7 a day, to compete with the
Taliban, which pays about that.  This is something many people don't
know.  Most of the Taliban, in the words of General Karl Eikenberry,
former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, is:
 
"drawn from the ranks of unemployed men looking for wages to support
their families."
 
   In a country with no jobs, 36% of Afghans are malnourished
according to the UN.  It is the employer of last resort.  Why does
this go on?  These conditions which are a recipe for war?  The answer
is clear: war is profitable.
 
   We have an interest in a stable Afghanistan.  The problem is, the
presence of troops gives the Taliban leadership targets which provide
the opportunity to organize attacks, bond fighters in a common cause,
and improve tactics which have already given Afghanistan the name of
"the graveyard of empires."
 
    The Taliban is widely reviled as it ruled strictly by force in
the past.  But men need to feed their families.  Stability can not
come to Afghanistan until hunger is addressed, as well as other
appalling conditions which are inexcusable after nine years of
occupation.  As a result of malnutrition and preventable water-borne
disease, the infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world.
 One out of five children dies before the age of five.  Our Jobs for
Afghans solution, which we call "The 10% Solution," will bring
stability so the U.S. can begin to withdraw.  It does so by allocating
less than 10%  - about $4 billion out the $50 billion we are now
spending annually on military operations -  on an expansion of the
hugely successful, but small-scale, cash-for-work projects that are
now making a difference in some Afghans lives, often for a mere $4 per
day of work.   But the longer the conflict goes on, the less amenable
it will be to an economic solution.
 
    It will require a continual strengthening, building, and coming
together of the diverse citizens' movements we now see rising, from
families of soldiers against the wars, to movements for the
prosecution of those responsible for starting the war in Iraq and
bungling the one in Afghanistan.  From torture to war to violation of
the U.S. Constitution, voices for accountability and peace are
growing.
 
    We are setting a goal of $2500 to cover travel and living
expenses for Jobs for Afghans co-founder Ralph Lopez to travel to
Killeen, Texas.  This is where the war resister sanctuary Under the
Hood Cafe is located, just outside of Ft. Hood, the nation's largest
and most-deployed military base.  He will engage that community in a
discussion of the Jobs for Afghans solution.  Jobs for Afghans will
spearhead a congressional lobbying campaign, emanating from the
soldiers, to bring an early end to this war.  The free speech rights
of soldiers are widely misunderstood.  A soldier can espouse a
political position as long as he or she is off-duty, not in uniform,
or acting as a representative of the United States.  Yes, those who
fight for free speech rights have them too.
 
    Without a draft, it is the soldiers paying the highest price who
are the strongest advocates.
 
    Please help send the Jobs for Afghans message to Ft. Hood and
other American military bases.   For details of the recent
fact-finding mission to Kabul and on our program, please go to
http://jobsforafghans.org

TROOPS OUT, JOBS IN!

Thank you!
Susan Serpa
Coordinator, Jobs for Afghans
http://jobsforafghans.org
 
P.S.. Contribute $150 or more and get a free Afghan hat, made of pure
wool.  One size.  Click here to see image of the style of hat (brown,
chocolate brown, cream, or black):
 
Be sure to put shipping address in comments section of Paypal.
PAYPAL DONATION LINK:
http://jobsforafghans.org/appeal.html
-----------
DRAFT OF LEGISLATION, JOBS FOR AFGHANS

H.R.  [number to be assigned by Clerk]
One Hundred Eleventh Congress  of the  United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on [DATE]
 
An Act
 
Making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.
 
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following
sums are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for
other purposes, namely:
 
Title: Afghanistan Stability Act of 2009
 
I.  For an additional amount for `Afghanistan Stability Fund'
$3,700,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2010, for:
 
a) Contributions to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund of the
World Bank for publics works projects qualified by the Afghan Ministry
of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, in conjunction with the
Community Development Councils, which can be defined as "cash for
work."  Cash-for-work projects shall be defined as those which hire
exclusively Afghan labor, with small exceptions for consultative
overhead, which utilize labor-intensive methods for an overall rate of
70% of total project funding allocated to wages for line workers.
 
b)  Funding to be administered through USAID for cash-for-work
projects in zones deemed by ISAF to be relatively secure, to obviate
the need for high security overheads for project managers and
inspectors.  Priority shall be given to projects involving roads,
canalization water, irrigation, sanitation, and trash collection and
disposal.
 
c)   Cash-for-work projects shall have in place, at a minimum, a basic
audit trail for cash payments consisting of worker punch cards, which
included photos of workers, and field master lists of workers, signed
as a guarantee of receipt.
 
II.  This Act shall supersede previous legislation governing the
Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) and allow blocks grants
of $100,000 denominated only in Afghanis to be available to US
commanders for cash-for-work projects meeting a no more than 10%
overhead threshold, measured as 90% of funds allocated to meeting
Afghan line worker payroll.
 
III.. Projects funded by block grants authorized under the proposed
legislation shall participate in the new ARTF Incentive  program,
(established SY1387 (March 2009)), which will reward Afghan government
through additional financing for progress against annual benchmarks.
The benchmark in this case should be percentage of hiring goals
accomplished relative to targets.
 
IV.  No project funded by the Afghanistan Stability Act shall include
as a condition for participation that contractors be required to
participate in “post-battlefield clean-up.”


1 of 1 File(s)


#34684 From: "sue.jonez" <sue.jonez@...>
Date: Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:51 am
Subject: Something Worth Forwarding on Healthcare Reform To: Full-Time Prof
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Subject: Fwd: Something Worth Forwarding on Healthcare Reform
To: Full-Time Professors

Dear Colleagues,

Because this issue pertains to a debate about pending legislation that
goes beyond partisan politics (or should, anyway), I think it
appropriate to forward this for whatever interest it may have to many
of you.

Of course, critics of the President's health care reform proposals
should feel equally free to forward their views.

But in view of the astonishingly malicious lies and myths that have
been spread about this pending legislation, I think a special burden
falls upon law professors to propagate responsible and truthful debate
about this proposal -- surely one of the most important pieces of
proposed federal legislation in the past 50 years -- and a proposal in
which millions of Americans have a very profound interest.

Best,


---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Friend,

This is probably one of the longest emails I've ever sent, but it
could be the most important.

Across the country we are seeing vigorous debate about health
insurance reform. Unfortunately, some of the old tactics we know so
well are back — even the viral emails that fly unchecked and under the
radar, spreading all sorts of lies and distortions.

As President Obama said at the town hall in New Hampshire, "where we
do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild
misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that's
actually been proposed."

So let's start a chain email of our own. At the end of my email,
you'll find a lot of information about health insurance reform,
distilled into 8 ways reform provides security and stability to those
with or without coverage, 8 common myths about reform and 8 reasons we
need health insurance reform now.

Right now, someone you know probably has a question about reform that
could be answered by what's below. So what are you waiting for?
Forward this email.

Thanks,
David

David Axelrod
Senior Adviser to the President

P.S. We launched www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck this week to knock
down the rumors and lies that are floating around the internet. You
can find the information below, and much more, there. For example,
we've just added a video of Nancy-Ann DeParle from our Health Reform
Office tackling a viral email head on. Check it out:


8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage:

Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies
will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical
history.

Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays:
Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they
can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully
cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you
prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for
diabetics.

Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will
be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for
those who become seriously ill.

Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited
from charging you more because of your gender.

Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be
prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you
receive.

Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be
eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to
renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in
full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because
someone became sick.

Learn more and get details:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-insurance-consumer-protections/?e=11&ref=hicp

8 common myths about health insurance reform

Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It's a myth that
reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to
"rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of
rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

We can't afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It's a
myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President
has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs
by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health
programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing
efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining
paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that
will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.

Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It's a malicious
myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for
seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and
physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover
these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with
these personal and difficult family decisions.

Vets' health care is safe and sound: It's a myth that health insurance
reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the
contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under
the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously
excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for
all eligible veterans.

Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It's a myth that
health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary,
reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits
to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing
field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on
average.

Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It's myth that Health
Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To
the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of
Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary
subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare
"doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for
seniors.

You can keep your own insurance: It's myth that reform will force you
out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To
the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an
absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts.
Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier
and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose.
Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by
traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will
be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up
to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all
other electronic payments that people make.

Learn more and get details:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/?e=11&ref=myth1

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq/?e=11&ref=myth1

8 Reasons We Need Health Insurance Reform Now

Coverage Denied to Millions: A recent national survey estimated that
12.6 million non-elderly adults – 36 percent of those who tried to
purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the
individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against
because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years or
dropped from coverage when they became seriously ill. Learn
more:http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html

Less Care for More Costs: With each passing year, Americans are paying
more for health care coverage. Employer-sponsored health insurance
premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster
than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased
through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a
full-time minimum wage job.  Americans pay more than ever for health
insurance, but get less coverage. Learn more:
http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hiddencosts/index.html

Roadblocks to Care for Women: Women's reproductive health requires
more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly pap
smears, mammograms, and obstetric care. Women are also more likely to
report fair or poor health than men (9.5% versus 9.0%). While rates of
chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are
similar to men, women are twice as likely to suffer from headaches and
are more likely to experience joint, back or neck pain. These chronic
conditions often require regular and frequent treatment and follow-up
care. Learn more:http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html

Hard Times in the Heartland: Throughout rural America, there are
nearly 50 million people who face challenges in accessing health care.
The past several decades have consistently shown higher rates of
poverty, mortality, uninsurance, and limited access to a primary
health care provider in rural areas. With the recent economic
downturn, there is potential for an increase in many of the health
disparities and access concerns that are already elevated in rural
communities. Learn more:
http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes/

Small Businesses Struggle to Provide Health Coverage: Nearly one-third
of the uninsured – 13 million people – are employees of firms with
less than 100 workers. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of
non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell
from 66% to 61%. Much of this decline stems from small business. The
percentage of small businesses offering coverage dropped from 68% to
59%, while large firms held stable at 99%. About a third of such
workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees obtain insurance through
a spouse. Learn
more:http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline/

The Tragedies are Personal: Half of all personal bankruptcies are at
least partly the result of medical expenses. The typical elderly
couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not
covered by Medicare alone. Learn
more:http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/
Diminishing Access to Care: From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of
non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell
from 66% to 61%. An estimated 87 million people - one in every three
Americans under the age of 65 - were uninsured at some point in 2007
and 2008. More than 80% of the uninsured are in working families.
Learn more:http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/diminishing/index.html

The Trends are Troubling: Without reform, health care costs will
continue to skyrocket unabated, putting unbearable strain on families,
businesses, and state and federal government budgets. Perhaps the most
visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million
Americans currently without health insurance - projections suggest
that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence
of reform. Learn
more:http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf?e=11&\
ref=report

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111
  Reply
  Forward

Reply

show details 7:30 PM (6 hours ago)
Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It must be added that one especially poisonous and outrageous
falsehood being spread about the President's health reform proposal --
one spread, astonishingly, by a person with the stature of 2008
Vice-Presidential Nominee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- is
that the proposal would somehow harm or deny care to disabled children
(such as Gov. Palin's Down Syndrome baby).

One of my own nephews (my first cousin's son) is a Down Syndrome
child. The idea of someone using the plight of Down Syndrome children
as a political weapon to falsely and maliciously attack a serious
legislative proposal -- and to maliciously defame the President of the
United States -- angers and amazes me. Gov. Palin should be deeply
ashamed.

Call me naive, but I never thought American politics would reach the
point of such malicious, sinister, and irresponsible attacks and
claims.

The truth (of course) is that the President's health reform proposal
would greatly BENEFIT and PROTECT Down Syndrome and other disabled
children. Among other things, it would guarantee the right to purchase
and retain health insurance without discrimination based upon
pre-existing conditions (which include many childhood disabilities).
And it would vastly expand access to insurance for millions of
Americans, especially helpful to Americans, young and old, with
disabilities of various kinds.

Just say no to malicious lies which degrade the political discourse of
our nation.

#34683 From: "sue.jonez" <sue.jonez@...>
Date: Thu Aug 6, 2009 9:32 pm
Subject: Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder by JEREMY SCAHILL August 4, 2009 Email
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Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder
by JEREMY SCAHILL

August 4, 2009

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A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security
operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn
statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim
that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the
murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities
investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views
himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic
faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the
destruction of Iraqi life."
Share this article


RELATED
ALSO BY
Blackwater or Murder, Inc.? BLACKWATER
COUNTDOWN : Between the illegal weapons, explosive ammunition and the
possibility that Blackwater operatives killed civilians as practice, the picture
of the military contractor gets darker by the day.
Will Blackwater Founder Face Charges? BLACKWATER
GRIT TV : Erik Prince has been implicated in murder, viewed himself as a
Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims from the globe and his
company smuggled weapons into Iraq.
Blackwater's Dark Deeds Exposed BLACKWATER
COUNTDOWN : The Nation's Jeremy Scahill on his explosive revelation that
Blackwater's founder has been accused, in sworn depositions from two former
employees, of murder.
» More
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons
into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting
"illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes.
They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed
incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived
the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two
individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.
These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn
affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in
the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by lawyers for
Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct.
Susan Burke, a private attorney working in conjunction with the Center for
Constitutional Rights, is suing Blackwater in five separate civil cases filed in
the Washington, DC, area. They were recently consolidated before Judge T.S.
Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia for pretrial motions. Burke filed
the August 3 motion in response to Blackwater's motion to dismiss the case.
Blackwater asserts that Prince and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing
and that they were professionally performing their duties on behalf of their
employer, the US State Department.
The former employee, identified in the court documents as "John Doe #2," is a
former member of Blackwater's management team, according to a source close to
the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information
provided to him by former colleagues, "it appears that Mr. Prince and his
employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided
information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal
authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." John Doe #2 says he worked at
Blackwater for four years; his identity is concealed in the sworn declaration
because he "fear[s] violence against me in retaliation for submitting this
Declaration." He also alleges, "On several occasions after my departure from Mr.
Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death
and violence."
In a separate sworn statement, the former US marine who worked for Blackwater in
Iraq alleges that he has "learned from my Blackwater colleagues and former
colleagues that one or more persons who have provided information, or who were
planning to provide information about Erik Prince and Blackwater have been
killed in suspicious circumstances." Identified as "John Doe #1," he says he
"joined Blackwater and deployed to Iraq to guard State Department and other
American government personnel." It is not clear if Doe #1 is still working with
the company as he states he is "scheduled to deploy in the immediate future to
Iraq." Like Doe #2, he states that he fears "violence" against him for
"submitting this Declaration." No further details on the alleged murder(s) are
provided.
"Mr. Prince feared, and continues to fear, that the federal authorities will
detect and prosecute his various criminal deeds," states Doe #2. "On more than
one occasion, Mr. Prince and his top managers gave orders to destroy emails and
other documents. Many incriminating videotapes, documents and emails have been
shredded and destroyed."
The Nation cannot independently verify the identities of the two individuals,
their roles at Blackwater or what motivated them to provide sworn testimony in
these civil cases. Both individuals state that they have previously cooperated
with federal prosecutors conducting a criminal inquiry into Blackwater.
"It's a pending investigation, so we cannot comment on any matters in front of a
Grand Jury or if a Grand Jury even exists on these matters," John Roth, the
spokesperson for the US Attorney's office in the District of Columbia, told The
Nation. "It would be a crime if we did that." Asked specifically about whether
there is a criminal investigation into Prince regarding the murder allegations
and other charges, Roth said: "We would not be able to comment on what we are or
are not doing in regards to any possible investigation involving an uncharged
individual."
The Nation repeatedly attempted to contact spokespeople for Prince or his
companies at numerous email addresses and telephone numbers. When a company
representative was reached by phone and asked to comment, she said,
"Unfortunately no one can help you in that area." The representative then said
that she would pass along The Nation's request. As this article goes to press,
no company representative has responded further to The Nation.
Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information
contained in his statement "in grand jury proceedings convened by the United
States Department of Justice." Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the
aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, which
left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees are awaiting trial on
several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded
guilty to manslaughter and attempting to commit manslaughter and is cooperating
with prosecutors. It is not clear whether Doe #2 testified in front of the
Nisour Square grand jury or in front of a separate grand jury.
The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of
devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of companies,
which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among those leveled by
Doe #2 is that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with
eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe":
To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared
his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every
available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based
on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.
Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the
destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly
speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq
to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees
openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other
Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis."
Among the additional allegations made by Doe #1 is that "Blackwater was
smuggling weapons into Iraq." He states that he personally witnessed weapons
being "pulled out" from dog food bags. Doe #2 alleges that "Prince and his
employees arranged for the weapons to be polywrapped and smuggled into Iraq on
Mr. Prince's private planes, which operated under the name Presidential
Airlines," adding that Prince "generated substantial revenues from participating
in the illegal arms trade."
Doe #2 states: "Using his various companies, [Prince] procured and distributed
various weapons, including unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic
machine guns with silencers, through unlawful channels of distribution."
Blackwater "was not abiding by the terms of the contract with the State
Department and was deceiving the State Department," according to Doe #1.
This is not the first time an allegation has surfaced that Blackwater used dog
food bags to smuggle weapons into Iraq. ABC News's Brian Ross reported in
November 2008 that a "federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating
allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped
assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food."
Another former Blackwater employee has also confirmed this information to The
Nation.
Both individuals allege that Prince and Blackwater deployed individuals to Iraq
who, in the words of Doe #1, "were not properly vetted and cleared by the State
Department." Doe #2 adds that "Prince ignored the advice and pleas from certain
employees, who sought to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent Iraqis." Doe
#2 further states that some Blackwater officials overseas refused to deploy
"unfit men" and sent them back to the US. Among the reasons cited by Doe #2 were
"the men making statements about wanting to deploy to Iraq to 'kill ragheads' or
achieve 'kills' or 'body counts,'" as well as "excessive drinking" and "steroid
use." However, when the men returned to the US, according to Doe #2, "Prince and
his executives would send them back to be deployed in Iraq with an express
instruction to the concerned employees located overseas that they needed to
'stop costing the company money.'"
Doe #2 also says Prince "repeatedly ignored the assessments done by mental
health professionals, and instead terminated those mental health professionals
who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men." He says Prince and
then-company president Gary Jackson "hid from Department of State the fact that
they were deploying men to Iraq over the objections of mental health
professionals and security professionals in the field," saying they "knew the
men being deployed were not suitable candidates for carrying lethal weaponry,
but did not care because deployments meant more money."
Doe #1 states that "Blackwater knew that certain of its personnel intentionally
used excessive and unjustified deadly force, and in some instances used
unauthorized weapons, to kill or seriously injure innocent Iraqi civilians." He
concludes, "Blackwater did nothing to stop this misconduct." Doe #1 states that
he "personally observed multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally
using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force." He then cites
several specific examples of Blackwater personnel firing at civilians, killing
or "seriously" wounding them, and then failing to report the incidents to the
State Department.
Doe #1 also alleges that "all of these incidents of excessive force were
initially videotaped and voice recorded," but that "Immediately after the day
concluded, we would watch the video in a session called a 'hot wash.'
Immediately after the hotwashing, the video was erased to prevent anyone other
than Blackwater personnel seeing what had actually occurred." Blackwater, he
says, "did not provide the video to the State Department."
Doe #2 expands on the issue of unconventional weapons, alleging Prince "made
available to his employees in Iraq various weapons not authorized by the United
States contracting authorities, such as hand grenades and hand grenade
launchers. Mr. Prince's employees repeatedly used this illegal weaponry in Iraq,
unnecessarily killing scores of innocent Iraqis." Specifically, he alleges that
Prince "obtained illegal ammunition from an American company called LeMas. This
company sold ammunition designed to explode after penetrating within the human
body. Mr. Prince's employees repeatedly used this illegal ammunition in Iraq to
inflict maximum damage on Iraqis."
Blackwater has gone through an intricate rebranding process in the twelve years
it has been in business, changing its name and logo several times. Prince also
has created more than a dozen affiliate companies, some of which are registered
offshore and whose operations are shrouded in secrecy. According to Doe #2,
"Prince created and operated this web of companies in order to obscure
wrongdoing, fraud and other crimes."
"For example, Mr. Prince transferred funds from one company (Blackwater) to
another (Greystone) whenever necessary to avoid detection of his money
laundering and tax evasion schemes." He added: "Mr. Prince contributed his
personal wealth to fund the operations of the Prince companies whenever he
deemed such funding necessary. Likewise, Mr. Prince took funds out of the Prince
companies and placed the funds in his personal accounts at will."
Briefed on the substance of these allegations by The Nation, Congressman Dennis
Kucinich replied, "If these allegations are true, Blackwater has been a criminal
enterprise defrauding taxpayers and murdering innocent civilians." Kucinich is
on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and has been
investigating Prince and Blackwater since 2004.
"Blackwater is a law unto itself, both internationally and domestically. The
question is why they operated with impunity. In addition to Blackwater, we
should be questioning their patrons in the previous administration who funded
and employed this organization. Blackwater wouldn't exist without federal
patronage; these allegations should be thoroughly investigated," Kucinich said.
A hearing before Judge Ellis in the civil cases against Blackwater is scheduled
for August 7.
Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.
About Jeremy Scahill
Jeremy Scahill, a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, is
the author of the bestselling Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful
Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books. He is an award-winning investigative
journalist and correspondent for the national radio and TV program Democracy
Now!. more...

#34682 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Sat Aug 1, 2009 10:07 pm
Subject: ~~~ Interesting Unreported News Clips - 8-1
fernwoods7
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Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news 
Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute.

Corporate and political influence on newsrooms, along with the conflation of news and entertainment, has created what Rather called “the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news.”

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/135834

==== 

 Local fisherman drive the dolphins to that cove, an area that's protected from the prying eyes of outsiders by high fences and razor wire.  Then trainers, who have flown in from seaquariums all over the world, line up and take their pick of the candidates for $150,000 per animal. Finally, those dolphins not selected as future performers are simply butchered as part of a clandestine market for dolphin meat, so secret that even most Japanese don't know of it.

Article and video at: http://www.truthout.org/080109C?n

  ===

The annual U.S. military budget is almost $1 trillion — about $1.9 million every minute. Imagine what just one minute’s worth of military spending could do if it were used for peace. 
 
If you make $50,000 last year, approximately $2,440 of the taxes you paid went toward military spending.
If you made $35,000, you spent $1,473 for the military.
If you made $100,000, you spent $7,729 for the military.
 
It is estimated that 43.4 percent of your 2008 tax dollars were spent on the military, both for current military programs and past military spending.
 
 

===

Bailout Watch-Dog Elizabeth Warren on Reigning in the Banksters (VIDEO)
The Consumer Financial Product Protection Agency would shield consumers against exotic mortgages and confusing credit card offers.

===

Bill Moyers: Dangerous Alliance of Health Industry and Right-Wingers Will Stop at Nothing to Derail Progressive Reforms

Video and transcript at:   Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS

===

 
 "Today, you can be blown up multiple times and go right back into the fight."
 
Soldiers said they shot random cars, killing civilians.
 
 Taxi drivers got shot for no reason. Guys got kidnapped and taken to the bridge and interrogated and dropped off."
 
 Post-traumatic stress disorder is like a roadside bomb.

The symptoms can remain hidden for months, then explode.

  "After being in Iraq, it feels like everyone is the enemy," he said. "You feel like you need a gun so they don't come to get you."

 He carried a pistol constantly, he said, even when he went to church.

 "Most of these guys were ordinary people put in really shitty situations - the side effect is you turn good people into ravenous beasts."

Soldiers say the torture and killing of Iraqi civilians lurked in the ranks. And when these soldiers came home to Colorado Springs suffering the emotional wounds of combat, soldiers say, some were ignored, some were neglected, some were thrown away and some were punished.

 Some kept killing - this time in Colorado Springs.

Entire article at:  http://www.truthout.org/072709B?n

===

Like many other Afghans, I risked my life during the dark years of Taliban rule to teach at underground schools for girls. Today the situation of women is as bad as ever. Victims of abuse and rape find no justice because the judiciary is dominated by fundamentalists. A growing number of women, seeing no way out of the suffering in their lives, have taken to suicide by self-immolation (burning).   This week, US vice-president Joe Biden asserted that "more loss of life [is] inevitable" in Afghanistan, and that the ongoing occupation is in the "national interests" of both the US and the UK.

See a new 10 min. video of Rethinking Afghanistan by Robert Greenwald on women in Afghanistan.

===

Guantánamo Bay: the inside story - Times Online

 This was the site of the first scenes from Guantánamo, where men sweltered in kennel-like cages. These were the cages themselves: about 50, each about 8ftx12ft, an aisle down the centre for guards to move in, a slab of corrugated iron on top of each cell, and a pipe with a funnel at groin level, in which to urinate; open to the elements; no walls, no true shade. Concrete floors. There had been buckets for defaecation, MC1 Dwight told us; but the prisoners had thrown the faeces at the guards. There was a communal shower, now crumbling — but the prisoners had not liked to shower in groups, naked.

The scene was being reclaimed by nature: vines and brambles were swallowing the wire, twisting around the doors. At 10am the humidity was so intense that sweat was pouring down our faces. The temperature was close to 40C. I went into a cell; grinding heat, drenching humidity, pure exposure to the sun. It was as if you were being cooked in a man-sized convection oven. “Look out!” shouted Petty Officer Dwight. “Banana rats!”

Entire article at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6725411.ece

===

Obama's new war

8 min. video at:  http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/677.html

Why it is possible for part-time researchers to scoop the New York Times over and over again?

Because the Times is not a news source. It's a disinformation bureau and they have other things in their minds.

Their current project: Erasing public memory of the fact that the US trained and armed the Taliban, the same people who are slaughtering our troops in Afghanistan right now.

Read his full commentary here:

The Time the Times forgot

===

A beluga whale saved a drowning diver by hoisting her to the surface, carrying her leg in its mouth.

===

Video: Eliot Spitzer Takes On The Fed - What the Fed doesn't want you to know
 
The Federal Reserve is a “Ponzi scheme” that created “bubble after bubble” in the US economy and needs to be held accountable , says Eliot Spitzer, the former governor and attorney-general of New York.

===

Private Prisons Turn a Handsome Profit

While the nation’s economy flounders, business is booming for The GEO Group Inc., a private prison firm that is paid millions by the U.S. government to detain undocumented immigrants and other federal inmates. In the last year and a half, GEO announced plans to add a total of at least 3,925 new beds to immigration lockups in five locations.  GEO reported impressive quarterly earnings of $20 million on February 12, 2009, along with an annual income of $61 million for 2008—up from $38 million the year before.  Behind the financial success and expansion of the for-profit prison firm, there are increasing charges of negligence, civil rights violations, abuse and even death.

====

Don't Worry, Be Happy, America! (Ten Reasons Why) by Mike Adams the Health Ranger

===

9/11 FAMILIES, FIRST RESPONDERS AND SURVIVORS TO TAKE NEW YORK CITY TO COURT OVER NYC CAN PETITION

SEVENTY THOUSAND New Yorkers signed the NYC CAN petition, raising their voices in support of NYC CAN’s demand for accountability. They have chosen to place the decision to create a new 9/11 investigation – a REAL 9/11 investigation – exactly where it belongs: before the voters of New York City this November. The voices of SEVENTY THOUSAND Americans who believe in democracy and believe that government exists to serve the people – and not the other way around – have been GAGGED by ONE so-called “PUBLIC SERVANT” – The New York City Clerk – who denied the petition and the voice of the people.

Welcome to America. Democracy denied.

Did you REALLY expect those in halls of power to honor the WILL OF THE PEOPLE? Did you expect this demand for accountability to go uncontested by those who have forgotten the very meaning of the word? Perhaps this obstruction of democracy would go unchallenged in THEIR America. Not in OUR America.

9/11 family members, first responders and survivors expected nothing less than business as usual and ARE NOT HAVING IT. They are preparing to take the City of New York to court to challenge the wrongful denial of our right to decide on the creation of a new 9/11 investigation.

Friends, your determination and generosity have brought us to this crucial moment. TRUTH IS AT THE CROSSROADS, DEMOCRACY UNDER FIRE AND THE DEFINING MOMENT IN THE QUEST FOR ACCOUNTABILITY IS UPON US. This is YOUR movement and nothing may bring you closer to attaining truth than NYC CAN. Stand in the light and demand ANSWERS, not in the shadows of those who would deny you such answers.

THE BIG NEWS: the most experienced election lawyer in New York City stands ready to represent the 9/11 families, first responders and survivors in court in an HISTORIC FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY AND TRUTH. BUT WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. This is your chance – your ONE chance – to stand with the 9/11 families, first responders and survivors, and demand accountability. THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE WORKED FOR, AND WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE IF WE STAND TOGETHER NOW.

Donate over $25 and we’ll mail you a free NYC CAN button. Donate over $50 and you will receive a free NYC CAN button and a well-made NYC CAN t-shirt.

ACT RIGHT NOW. Go to – http://nyccan.org/donate.php – and donate whatever you can to bring the quest for answers to the biggest stage it has ever had: THE NEW YORK CITY BALLOT



"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Theodore Parker
 
 
===
 

Banks Paid $32.6 Billion in Bonuses Amid U.S. Bailout 30 Jul 2009 Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and seven other U.S. banks paid $32.6 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving $175 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a report by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The state analyzed 2008 bonuses at nine banks that received financing under the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. New York-based Citigroup and Merrill, which has since taken over by Bank of America Corp., received tax dollars totaling $55 billion, Cuomo said.


#34681 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:23 am
Subject: ~~ Truth about "Single Payer" - Watch SICKO & other videos online
fernwoods7
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Single payer healthcare is a form of healthcare in which all reimbursements for treatment come from a central fund. Many nations have some form of single payer healthcare, ranging from systems like the British National Health Service to American Medicare. Advocates for this system argue that it is efficient and highly cost effective
 
 
Watch a video of the interview, or read the transcript at:
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform.
 
===
 
  Rep. Anthony Weiner will move to amend the TriCommittee Bill to essentially replace it with HR 676.  Obviously this is a huge step and a BIG PUSH is needed urgently.  Read about it here.  Send a fax to Congress NOW.


We have now sent over 205 thousand faxes supporting single payer Medicare For All to Congress.  So don't stop now.  keep up the pressure.

Here is a list of faxes you can send to your legislators, all free, all easy to edit and easy to send.

For an activist vacation in our nation's capital, go to DC on July 30 to help celebrate the birthday of Medicare and to demand Medicare For All.  Click Here to read about it.

And don't forget to tie a Blue Ribbon for the Health Care Blues.
Go to DC on July 30 to Celebrate Medicare's Birthday
 
===

Single-Payer Advocates Must Seize this Opening

Take Action: Tell Congress "Medicare for All Is the Solution."


#34680 From: Fernwoods@...
Date: Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:17 pm
Subject: Whistleblower, Top Insurance Executive, Speaks Out Against Health Care Industry
fernwoods7
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With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform.
 
Watch a video of the interview, or read the transcript at:
 
===
 
Actions for Single-Payer:
 
 AfterDowningStreet.org

We're on Facebook and Youtube and Twitter

Call Now for Single-Payer Healthcare Vote

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.) has introduced an amendment in the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would replace the convoluted please-the-public-and-the-insurance-companies-at-the-same-time healthcare bill with the single-payer plan found in HR 676 and backed by 86 members of Congress. The vote has been delayed beyond Wednesday, support for the measure is growing, people are phoning in constantly, and a whip count is being kept online.

Please help make a few phone calls now:
http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip

An amendment introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D, Ohio) was passed last week by the House Education and Labor Committee that will allow states to create single-payer systems if the federal government does not. So, if Weiner's amendment fails, we could still achieve single-payer state by state, and eventually nationally, if we are able to persuade congressional leadership not to strip Kucinich's amendment out behind the closed doors of a conference committee.

But it is entirely possible that Weiner's amendment will pass, and even if it does not pass the support it musters will nonetheless serve to improve the bill and maintain a useful public option. Weiner is a supporter of the existing bill and the public option, but clearly sees a value in pushing for something better both as a bargaining position and as an attempt to achieve a solution that we can be more confident would really solve our healthcare crisis. Weiner's column in the Politico today is worth reading in its entirety. After reading that, please come back here and watch this video of Weiner addressing the concerns of Republicans in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

While Weiner doesn't say this, I will: Everybody now knows that Republicans will oppose any healthcare bill. Worsening a bill in order to win over a few of them provides not a single person with better healthcare. Republicans are not needed and have nothing to add. But of course to pass healthcare reform you do have to win over all of the Democrats. And are you more likely to do that with a bill that wastes public dollars on an inefficient for-profit system, or with a bill like HR 676 that guarantees significant savings? While HR 676 is an approach that forces congress members to go against the wishes of health insurance and drug companies, the mixed-bad approach allows legitimate criticism of wasting money, and the insurance and drug companies still hate it.

Whichever approach you favor, we're going to be better off with a significant show of support for single-payer. With it, a useful public option becomes a compromise. Without it, the compromise to win over the worst Democrats has to begin with the current bill and move down from there. So keep the phones ringing.

Please help make a few phone calls now:
http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip

Americans consistently tell pollsters that they want single-payer. And this is true in Blue Dog districts and Republican districts too. Single-payer is not a tough sell with the public, only with certain Congress members.

Other nations that have public health coverage (government spending on private or public healthcare) provide their people with better care. The U.S. system is ranked 37th by the World Health Organization. The United States is 24th in life expectancy and 29th in reducing infant mortality. Infants who do not survive the U.S. system do not get a chance to enjoy the free market and glory in the absence of socialism.

A single-payer system would cover everyone at all times with no exceptions, allow completely free choice of doctors, invest in preventive care, allow patients and doctors to make their own decisions free of insurance company restrictions, reduce the 30 percent waste in the current system to the 3 percent overhead in Medicare, and create a net gain of 2.6 million jobs, $317 billion in business revenue, and $100 billion in wages. Single-payer is a real economic stimulus, something Washington has been looking for in all the wrong places. Imagine being able to make that argument. We can if we pass Congressman Weiner's amendment.


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