September 4, 2009
Sexting FAIL / Single Payer INSURGENTS
NEW CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/ThePunkPatriot
BLOG: http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com (that's here)
STORE: http://punkpatriot.etsy.com
LINKS FROM THE VIDEO:
PUBLIC CITIZEN:
http://www.citizen.org
SINGLE PAYER ACTION
http://www.singlepayeraction.org
HEALTHCARE NOW
http://www.healthcare-now.org
MAD AS HELL DOCTORS:
http://www.madashelldoctors.com
MoveOn.org PHOTOPETITION:
http://pol.moveon.org/cantwait/?id=16978-1712649-vyKddNx&t=1
MY BLOG ABOUT IT:
http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com/2009/08/moveon.html
ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA:
http://www.barackobama.com
DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/
Army Strong
This was originally posted on Cindy Sheehans channel. It is re- poster here by request and with full permission. http://www.youtube.com/cindyforcongress Visit her channel and tell her I sent you!
September 1, 2009
August 28, 2009
IT'S PICKLE TIME!!!
IT'S PICKLE TIME!
But really, when ISN'T it pickle time?
Pickles are awesome. For $10, you can be too.
Yes, that's right, wearing this t-shirt makes you awesome.
************
On Green Only, choice between dark and light green.
Please specify your size, or you're getting whatever I have laying around.
But really, when ISN'T it pickle time?
Pickles are awesome. For $10, you can be too.
Yes, that's right, wearing this t-shirt makes you awesome.
************
On Green Only, choice between dark and light green.
Please specify your size, or you're getting whatever I have laying around.
August 27, 2009
August 26, 2009
Hey Davis Fleetwood, Nice Shirt You've Got There!
Top Rated YouTube Political Personality Davis Fleetwood is wearing a rather dashing t-shirt from punkpatriot.etsy.com
And so can you!
August 25, 2009
SINGLE PAYER IS GAINING STEAM!!
CBS has a report about the exchange between Rep Weiner and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC about single payer health care.
"A Single-Payer Plan Makes So Much Sense Even Joe Scarborough Can't Argue With It"
SWEET. Thank GOD that Single Payer voices are starting to be heard in the mainstream.
Be sure to keep the pressure on by pushing for Single Payer in MoveOn.org's photo petition
Read the full article after the jump.
See the video of the exchange described here below:
"A Single-Payer Plan Makes So Much Sense Even Joe Scarborough Can't Argue With It"
SWEET. Thank GOD that Single Payer voices are starting to be heard in the mainstream.
Be sure to keep the pressure on by pushing for Single Payer in MoveOn.org's photo petition
Read the full article after the jump.
See the video of the exchange described here below:
Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts
"Trying to get there incrementally is like trying to cross a chasm in two steps."
"This is a time for courage and it's not a moment to take tiny steps."
Hey, MoveOn... Move OVER!
MoveOn.org is hosting a photo petition where they want you to use their materials.
Ever the wimps, and always taking their marching orders from the DNC, their photo petition is in support of the public option.
I say we hijack it, and use their photo petition for SINGLE PAYER.
Here's the photo that I submit:
So here's the plan-- contact all the people on your lists, and ask them to do the same.
MoveOn.org is supposedly keeping the DNC honest. (HAHAHA!) Let's keep MoveOn.org honest.
PS: You can totally use the MoveOn.org sign that they have for you to print out:
Ever the wimps, and always taking their marching orders from the DNC, their photo petition is in support of the public option.
I say we hijack it, and use their photo petition for SINGLE PAYER.
Here's the photo that I submit:
So here's the plan-- contact all the people on your lists, and ask them to do the same.
MoveOn.org is supposedly keeping the DNC honest. (HAHAHA!) Let's keep MoveOn.org honest.
PS: You can totally use the MoveOn.org sign that they have for you to print out:
August 20, 2009
August 19, 2009
The Onion: Congress divided over how to best deny Americans health care
"WASHINGTON—After months of committee meetings and hundreds of hours of heated debate, the United States Congress remained deadlocked this week over the best possible way to deny Americans health care.
"Both parties understand that the current system is broken," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday. "But what we can't seem to agree upon is how to best keep it broken, while still ensuring that no elected official takes any political risk whatsoever. It’s a very complicated issue."
"Ultimately, though, it's our responsibility as lawmakers to put these differences aside and focus on refusing Americans the health care they deserve," Pelosi added.
The legislative stalemate largely stems from competing ideologies deeply rooted along party lines. Democrats want to create a government-run system for not providing health care, while Republicans say coverage is best denied by allowing private insurers to make it unaffordable for as many citizens as possible.
"We have over 40 million people without insurance in this country today, and that is unacceptable," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said. "If we would just quit squabbling so much, we could get that number up to 50 or even 100 million. Why, there's no reason we can't work together to deny health care to everyone but the richest 1 percent of the population."
"That's what America is all about," he added."
[More after the jump.]
President Obama is taking Questions on Healthcare
CLICK HERE TO ASK A QUESTION
Here's what I'm asking:
"Since Single Payer is the best option when it comes to reducing costs, increasing the quality of care, and covering 100% of the population, will you call on the American people to lobby congress in support of HR 676?"
Here's what I'm asking:
"Since Single Payer is the best option when it comes to reducing costs, increasing the quality of care, and covering 100% of the population, will you call on the American people to lobby congress in support of HR 676?"
August 18, 2009
Citizens lobby for HR 676 in Washington DC
If you watch the mainstream press, you will hear that a single-payer health care plan will not be seriously considered by lawmakers crafting reform of the US health care system. Advocates of HR 676, the single-payer health care plan in the House of Representatives, beg to differ. This video follows their efforts at a rally in Upper Senate Park.
August 11, 2009
The Punk Patriot * How to Vote like a Pro
The Punk Patriot becomes preachy, and then bores you with math.
And you can still buy offensive t-shirts that I make here:
http://punkpatriot.etsy.com
August 6, 2009
Erik Prince, Blackwater CEO, allegedly MURDERED WITNESSES helping with Federal Investigation
from Care2.com
Two former employees of Blackwater - the notorious military mercenary corporation, now known as XE - have filed sworn statements in federal court making shocking allegations.
One of the most explosive allegations is that Erik Prince, founder and former CEO of Blackwater, murdered or facilitated the murder of people who were cooperating in a federal investigation of the company.
Read Jeremy Scahill's article that broke this story in The Nation.
These allegations are too disturbing to ignore. In addition to murder, these sworn statements allege:
* Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating emails, documents and videos;
* Blackwater management threatened potential whistleblowers with violence and death;
* Blackwater smuggled illegal and unlawful weapons into Iraq - sometimes in then CEO Prince's private planes, sometimes in dogfood bags, using Blackwater's canine division as cover for this crime; and
* CEO Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe."
The Iraqi government banned Blackwater from Iraq in January of this year, due to its violence toward Iraqis and repeated criminal acts. Yet the U.S. State Department still has other contracts with this company.
Two former employees of Blackwater - the notorious military mercenary corporation, now known as XE - have filed sworn statements in federal court making shocking allegations.
One of the most explosive allegations is that Erik Prince, founder and former CEO of Blackwater, murdered or facilitated the murder of people who were cooperating in a federal investigation of the company.
These allegations are too disturbing to ignore. In addition to murder, these sworn statements allege:
* Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating emails, documents and videos;
* Blackwater management threatened potential whistleblowers with violence and death;
* Blackwater smuggled illegal and unlawful weapons into Iraq - sometimes in then CEO Prince's private planes, sometimes in dogfood bags, using Blackwater's canine division as cover for this crime; and
* CEO Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe."
The Iraqi government banned Blackwater from Iraq in January of this year, due to its violence toward Iraqis and repeated criminal acts. Yet the U.S. State Department still has other contracts with this company.
July 28, 2009
July 23, 2009
Punk Patriot * This week in News 7/16/9 - 7/23/9
Read the dumb shit I write:
punkpatriot.blogspot.com
Buy the dumb shit I make:
punkpatriot.etsy.com
Is the GOP racist?: VP of the Young Republicans, Audra Shay, fucks up real bad on Facebook
Wall Street: Goldman Sachs exceeds earnings expectations
More Wall Street: Morgan Stanley's "new" financial product
Greenwashing Beer: German Beer Brewers claim to have made Beer "good for the environment"
Corporate Douche-Baggery: Exxon sabotages their own wells and pollutes like a mother fucker
Nominal Things Obama is doing to make things suck slightly less: Obama wants to get rid of the Terror Alert Color Coded System
Wal*Mart: Wal*Mart supports employer mandate because they would gain an edge on the competition
July 21, 2009
July 18th Healthcare Rally in Portland, ME
League of Young Voters, SEIU, UVAW, Maine People's Alliance, and other organizers held a rally and march in Portland Maine on July 18th in support of health care reform.
Hundreds of people from all across the state were in attendance, in what was described by the press as the largest rally yet on the issue of healthcare.
July 20, 2009
CIA Torture option," Put him in a cell filled with cadavers..."
From RawStory
Two of the key designers of the Bush administration’s torture program ended up in a “tug of war” with their superiors about how far to go when coercing information out of suspects, says a new article in the Washington Post.
The article, published Sunday, provides graphic descriptions of some of the techniques contemplated when the torture program was just beginning, in the months after 9/11. Faced with the interrogation of Abu Zubaida, the Al Qaeda operative who had become the CIA’s first “star witness” in the “war on terror,” the CIA contemplated some disturbing options:
Put him in a cell filled with cadavers, was one suggestion, according to a former U.S. official with knowledge of the brainstorming sessions. Surround him with naked women, was another. Jolt him with electric shocks to the teeth, was a third.
[ of course, this begs the question... where did they plan on getting the cadavers from?-PunkPatriot ]
Full Article here:
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/19/report-interrogators-threatened-to-quit-over-waterboarding/
July 16, 2009
Fmr Health Insurance worker: "Private Health Insurance KILLS PEOPLE"
From TruthDig
Read the rest of this outstanding article.
Wendell Potter is the health insurance industry’s worst nightmare. He’s a whistle-blower. Potter, the former chief spokesperson for insurance giant CIGNA, recently testified before Congress, “I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick—all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors.”
Potter was deeply involved in CIGNA and industrywide strategies for maintaining their profitable grip on U.S. health care. He told me: “The thing they fear most is a single-payer plan. They fear even the public insurance option being proposed; they’ll pull out all the stops they can to defeat that to try to scare people into thinking that embracing a public health insurance option would lead down the slippery slope toward socialism ... putting a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. They’ve used those talking points for years, and they’ve always worked.”
In 2007, CIGNA denied a California teenager, Nataline Sarkisyan, coverage for a liver transplant. Her family went to the media. The California Nurses Association joined in. Under mounting pressure, CIGNA finally granted coverage for the procedure. But it was too late. Two hours later, Nataline died.
Read the rest of this outstanding article.
July 15, 2009
July 14, 2009
Century of Self- Happiness Machines
This should be required viewing.
A history of Public Relations, or as it's inventor, Edward Bernaise called it at the time "Propaganda."
July 13, 2009
Anti-War Jesus Freaks Disrupt Military Training Excersizes
Full Story
The quartet of Christians plan to hide in the 30,000 square kilometres of the Shoalwater Bay military training area near Rockhampton to disrupt joint exercises by the Australian and US armies, navies and air forces, involving about 24,000 troops.
[...]
In the early hours of this morning, the group, calling themselves the Bonhoeffer Four, stole onto the base, knowing that the exercise cannot go ahead while they are loose. They are aligned with a larger Christian group, the Martin Luther King Junior House Church, which is loosely connected with the wider Peace Convergence protest.
The group's namesake, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was a great German theologian who was hanged in 1945 for supporting a plot to assassinate Hitler. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd identified Bonhoeffer as his inspiration in a major essay in The Monthly in 2006.
"Our faith is calling us to this," Mr Moyle said. "We have committed our lives to taking seriously Jesus' call not just to be peace lovers but peace makers, and to love our enemies."
He said he didn't know how many groups would try to hide. They had to signal that they were there, with balloons and beacons, which made it harder, but their hiding spot is the size of Belgium.
[...]
"The military are doing invasion training. They have built a model city inside the base with a mosque in the middle, which the Australians are defending against the Americans," he said.
[more at link]
The quartet of Christians plan to hide in the 30,000 square kilometres of the Shoalwater Bay military training area near Rockhampton to disrupt joint exercises by the Australian and US armies, navies and air forces, involving about 24,000 troops.
[...]
In the early hours of this morning, the group, calling themselves the Bonhoeffer Four, stole onto the base, knowing that the exercise cannot go ahead while they are loose. They are aligned with a larger Christian group, the Martin Luther King Junior House Church, which is loosely connected with the wider Peace Convergence protest.
The group's namesake, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was a great German theologian who was hanged in 1945 for supporting a plot to assassinate Hitler. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd identified Bonhoeffer as his inspiration in a major essay in The Monthly in 2006.
"Our faith is calling us to this," Mr Moyle said. "We have committed our lives to taking seriously Jesus' call not just to be peace lovers but peace makers, and to love our enemies."
He said he didn't know how many groups would try to hide. They had to signal that they were there, with balloons and beacons, which made it harder, but their hiding spot is the size of Belgium.
[...]
"The military are doing invasion training. They have built a model city inside the base with a mosque in the middle, which the Australians are defending against the Americans," he said.
[more at link]
July 11, 2009
Etsy: The Saving Grace of Capitalism SALE! ONLY $5
WEAR IT WITH PRIDE!
Small is the new "too big to fail."
Handmade goods by real people are the shit, and you know it.
This particular version is slanted silver text on fuscia (or pink, I guess) background. You can have any color combo you want if you just email me at
punkpatriot411 [at] gmail [dot] com
BUY THIS SHIRT!
!!! SPECIAL SALE!!!
Only $5! Cheap!
July 10, 2009
LET'S GET OFFENSIVE- Abu Grahib American Flag T-Shirt Now for sale over at the Etsy shop!
Are you the badass who's got the balls to wear this shirt to a 4th of July party?
Think this shirt is offensive? Dude-- TORTURE is offensive.
We're America, and like it or not, we tortured people.
As a matter of policy, we tortured. No matter how many times politicians say we didn't, we did, and we did it on purpose.
Red, White and Blue Acrylic on Grey. Men's medium. Also available in other sizes and on other background colors. Email me at punkpatriot411[at]gmail[dot]com to make a custom order.
Ah yes, America and Torture, they go together like Apple Pie and Cyanide.
Click the image to go to the store, or head to punkpatriot.etsy.com
July 9, 2009
Punk Patriot * The Sarah Haskins Song
Sarah Haskins hosts Target Women on Current.com, a show that offers tongue-in-cheek analysis of advertising psychology.
June 30, 2009
June 29, 2009
June 22, 2009
June 19, 2009
June 15, 2009
I am Afraid and Therefore Unquestioningly Obedient
Vaclav Havel is a wise man. In an extended interview, released as the book "Disturbing the Peace" he made this observation about the reason most people behave submissively in the face of oppression.
You can purchase this wisdom in T-Shirt form for only TEN BUCKS at Etsy.com, your source for handmade stuff by real people.
June 12, 2009
Kucinich Grills Bank Of America CEO, Ken Lewis
Former Bank of America CEO, Ken Lewis, testified June 11, 2009 to congress about the BOAs merger with Merrill Lynch. During the hearing Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, challenged Lewis to be more forthcoming about his dealings with the Federal Reserve during the merger. Specifically Kucinich cited emails from Fed officials saying Lewis had asked government officials to provide a letter saying that they had in fact ordered Lewis to merge with the struggling financial firm, Merrill Lynch, because Lewis feared lawsuits from company shareholders if the merger led to company losses. Lewis said he did not recall asking for such a letter. After the hearing Kucinich told reporters that Lewis testimony could put the former CEO in legal jeopardy.
June 11, 2009
Punk Patriot * Jesus Gave Me A Wet Willy
Remember: if you don't buy the T-shirt, it's like it never happened!
http://punkpatriot.etsy.com
Check out more videos at the Blog:
PunkPatriot.Blogspot.Com
I'm taking a break from serious political talking for a bit.
Suck it.
June 9, 2009
June 3, 2009
Buy Things!
I have just opened an Etsy shop over at Etsy.com!!
As you know, nothing really happens in life, unless you buy the T-Shirt.
I have just the remedy-- T-shirts!
The first three I have listed are as follows, and more are on the way:
As you know, nothing really happens in life, unless you buy the T-Shirt.
I have just the remedy-- T-shirts!
The first three I have listed are as follows, and more are on the way:
May 28, 2009
May 27, 2009
Kucinich on The Ed Show
Kucinich on The Ed Show: discusses torture photos and legislation to create national policy stating that the maintenance of steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping is vital to our national economic security and our national defense.
May 23, 2009
May 22, 2009
New Boss same as The Old Boss?
Obama proposed a new system of Indefinite Preventive Detention yesterday in his National Security speech that is stunning in its illegality.
Obama is proposing we keep people locked up not for the crimes they have committed and we prove they committed in a court of law, but on the chance that they might commit crimes in the future. There will be no trial, for no crime exists to be charged. There is only the nebulous threat of "future acts" to justify depriving people of their liberty potentially indefinitely.
Is this justice? Leave a comment.
May 21, 2009
Pew Poll Notes Rise In Independent Voters
From All Things Considered May 21, 2009
For the past two years, centrism has dominated Americans' political views. That's the conclusion of the latest survey, released Thursday, from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Pew President Andy Kohut says the number of people reporting that they are political independents reached a 70-year high, but there was little movement regarding people's values. That's even though President Obama's election marked a watershed moment for the United States.
"Even though it was a big Democratic win and the Republicans are in free-fall, there's no sign of an ideological shift," Kohut tells NPR's Melissa Block. "Values are pretty much the same. It's not like the mid-'90s, when we were showing the public becoming more conservative, or the beginning of this decade, showing the public was more partisan. Public remains pretty much where it was two years ago on very basic values."
Of the independents surveyed, more described themselves as "leaning" Democratic than Republican (17 percent vs. 12 percent.) But in surveys conducted this year, 33 percent of independents described their views as conservative, up from 28 percent in 2007 and 26 percent in 2005, according to Pew.
More after the jump
For the past two years, centrism has dominated Americans' political views. That's the conclusion of the latest survey, released Thursday, from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Pew President Andy Kohut says the number of people reporting that they are political independents reached a 70-year high, but there was little movement regarding people's values. That's even though President Obama's election marked a watershed moment for the United States.
"Even though it was a big Democratic win and the Republicans are in free-fall, there's no sign of an ideological shift," Kohut tells NPR's Melissa Block. "Values are pretty much the same. It's not like the mid-'90s, when we were showing the public becoming more conservative, or the beginning of this decade, showing the public was more partisan. Public remains pretty much where it was two years ago on very basic values."
Of the independents surveyed, more described themselves as "leaning" Democratic than Republican (17 percent vs. 12 percent.) But in surveys conducted this year, 33 percent of independents described their views as conservative, up from 28 percent in 2007 and 26 percent in 2005, according to Pew.
More after the jump
May 20, 2009
May 14, 2009
May 4, 2009
PELOSI DEMANDS $94.2 BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT FOR THE WAR
House Democrats seek $94.2 billion in emergency funds
From Current.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek passage in coming weeks of $94.2 billion in emergency money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other programs, including $2 billion more to prepare for an influenza pandemic.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, outlining the legislation for reporters, also said the legislation would include $2.2 billion to fund some C-17 airplanes for the Pentagon. But it will not address future purchases of a refueling tanker airplane sought by the Air Force.
Obey said $80 million to close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, would not be included in the bill because no details were provided by the administration on how that move would be carried out.
Last month, President Barack Obama asked Congress to give him $83.4 billion more to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is hoping to use the money to begin phasing out combat operations in Iraq while building up U.S. forces in Afghanistan where al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are gaining strength.
The Pentagon wants the U.S. Congress to approve the money promptly, before a congressional recess that is scheduled to start at the end of May.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED TO SUPPORT CINDY SHEEHAN.
We have until 2010 to raise $2 million dollars. WE CAN DO IT!
Click here and DONATE to her campaign today!
$5, $10, $23, $230, $2300, whatever you can afford! It will all go to good use!
The more money we can raise, the more accountable congress will be!
April 29, 2009
SWINE FLU! OMG!
Do you have swine flu yet?
Has anybody else but me noticed or realized that this fancy "Swine Flu" is just a new strain of the same goddamn fucking flu that we get every goddamn fucking year?
They're just calling it a different name... Seriously! WTF is the big deal? It's the fucking FLU!
From MedicalEcology.com:
What's the next big news item they're going to try to scare us with?
Rhinovirus? HOLY SHIT! THE COMMON COLD HAS REACHED PANDEMIC LEVELS! SOME PEOPLE with auto-immune defficincies, previous poor health or chronic illness, and/or no access to clean drinking water MIGHT DIE FROM THIS DISEASE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!
AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAUGH!!!
UPDATE!
I just saw on the news that there are two reported cases of "swine flu" in Maine now. They're both in Kennebunk.
Guess what-- you're probably going to get the flu. You'll be sick for a couple days, and it will suck, and then you'll get over it.
Unless you're super old, or have existing auto-immune issues, you're not going to die. It's just the fucking FLU.
Has anybody else but me noticed or realized that this fancy "Swine Flu" is just a new strain of the same goddamn fucking flu that we get every goddamn fucking year?
They're just calling it a different name... Seriously! WTF is the big deal? It's the fucking FLU!
From MedicalEcology.com:
People have suffered from influenza for thousands of years. Viruses identical or closely related to the human form of the infection can be isolated from ducks, turkeys, swine, horses, and many other species of warm-blooded vertebrates, as well. It is hypothesized that humans probably acquired influenza when domestication of animals first began. The development of agriculture and the establishment of permanent settlements provided sufficient numbers of potential hosts to create an epidemic.
What's the next big news item they're going to try to scare us with?
Rhinovirus? HOLY SHIT! THE COMMON COLD HAS REACHED PANDEMIC LEVELS! SOME PEOPLE with auto-immune defficincies, previous poor health or chronic illness, and/or no access to clean drinking water MIGHT DIE FROM THIS DISEASE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!
AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAUGH!!!
UPDATE!
I just saw on the news that there are two reported cases of "swine flu" in Maine now. They're both in Kennebunk.
Guess what-- you're probably going to get the flu. You'll be sick for a couple days, and it will suck, and then you'll get over it.
Unless you're super old, or have existing auto-immune issues, you're not going to die. It's just the fucking FLU.
April 1, 2009
March 24, 2009
Obama: Get FISA RIGHT!
So my friends over at "Get FISA RIGHT!" sent me this:
Sure thing Jon!
How to vote:
Just find the Community Matters thing and click on the green thumb to vote that issue up. There are lots of great issues being asked about on this website, including one close to my heart, universal single payer health care.
"http://get-fisa-right.wetpaint.com/page/Ask+the+President
We're at +132, only about 20 or so votes out of the top 10
Democrats.com's special prosecutor question is hanging tough in 3rd, despite a lot of negative votes
>http://www.democrats.com/ask-president-obama-to-appoint-a-special-prosecutor
Get FISA Right is also on the list at the #p2 ("progressives 2.0") wiki at http://p2pt0.wetpaint.com/page/Ask+the+President along with other a bunch of other good ideas. You can vote for as many as you want, no login required.
Obama's press conference is at 8 PM tonight. So please help get the word out!
jon"
Sure thing Jon!
How to vote:
Just find the Community Matters thing and click on the green thumb to vote that issue up. There are lots of great issues being asked about on this website, including one close to my heart, universal single payer health care.
March 14, 2009
Did the Daily Show rip me off?
Here is a parody news article I wrote back in June of 2008. [link]
I sent the copy from this article into the Daily Show at their internship application email address.
Then on October 8th, 2008, this segment aired:
eerily similar are they not?
what do you think?
I sent the copy from this article into the Daily Show at their internship application email address.
Then on October 8th, 2008, this segment aired:
eerily similar are they not?
what do you think?
February 23, 2009
Everything is AMAZING, and nobody is happy...
I'm a bit of a Luddite (he said on his internet blog), so this hit a soft spot with me.
Obama tries to kill Bush e-mail retrieval
By PETE YOST
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails.
Two advocacy groups suing the Executive Office of the President say that large amounts of White House e-mail documenting Bush's eight years in office may still be missing, and that the government must undertake an extensive recovery effort. They expressed disappointment that Obama's Justice Department is continuing the Bush administration's bid to get the lawsuits dismissed.
During its first term, the Bush White House failed to install electronic record-keeping for e-mail when it switched to a new system, resulting in millions of messages that could not be found.
The Bush White House discovered the problem in 2005 and rejected a proposed solution.
Recently, the Bush White House said it had located 14 million e-mails that were misplaced and that the White House had restored hundreds of thousands of other e-mails from computer backup tapes.
The steps the White House took are inadequate, one of the two groups, the National Security Archive, told a federal judge in court papers filed Friday.
"We do not know how many more e-mails could be restored but have not been, because defendants have not looked," the National Security Archive said in the court papers.
"The new administration seems no more eager than the last" to deal with the issue, said Anne Weismann, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the other group that sued the EOP.
The Executive Office of the President includes the president's immediate staff and many White House offices and agencies.
Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, noted that President Barack Obama on his first full day in office called for greater transparency in government.
The Justice Department "apparently never got the message" from Obama, Blanton said.
The department defends the government when it is sued.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails.
Two advocacy groups suing the Executive Office of the President say that large amounts of White House e-mail documenting Bush's eight years in office may still be missing, and that the government must undertake an extensive recovery effort. They expressed disappointment that Obama's Justice Department is continuing the Bush administration's bid to get the lawsuits dismissed.
During its first term, the Bush White House failed to install electronic record-keeping for e-mail when it switched to a new system, resulting in millions of messages that could not be found.
The Bush White House discovered the problem in 2005 and rejected a proposed solution.
Recently, the Bush White House said it had located 14 million e-mails that were misplaced and that the White House had restored hundreds of thousands of other e-mails from computer backup tapes.
The steps the White House took are inadequate, one of the two groups, the National Security Archive, told a federal judge in court papers filed Friday.
"We do not know how many more e-mails could be restored but have not been, because defendants have not looked," the National Security Archive said in the court papers.
"The new administration seems no more eager than the last" to deal with the issue, said Anne Weismann, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the other group that sued the EOP.
The Executive Office of the President includes the president's immediate staff and many White House offices and agencies.
Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, noted that President Barack Obama on his first full day in office called for greater transparency in government.
The Justice Department "apparently never got the message" from Obama, Blanton said.
The department defends the government when it is sued.
February 22, 2009
February 20, 2009
February 15, 2009
Obama's campaign promise to bomb Pakistan? Check!
Well this is cheerful... The New York Times reports that the US is firing missiles in Pakistan, keeping true to Obama's promise that we would "take action within Pakistan's borders, even without their permission."
"Missile attacks in Pakistan by remotely piloted aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency have generally been aimed at foreign Qaeda fighters and Taliban guerrillas from Afghanistan, who take shelter in Pakistan between raids into their country to fight American and NATO soldiers."
[...]
"During his visit, Mr. Holbrooke heard a litany of complaints about drone strikes, some of which have inadvertently killed civilians, making it harder for the country’s shaky government to win support for its own military operations against the Taliban."
[...]
"“As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base,” Ms. Feinstein said during a hearing. The drone attacks, especially in the last six months, have increased anti-American sentiment in Pakistan to very high levels, and Ms. Feinstein’s statement is likely to further inflame the protests over them. Her statement was prominently covered by the Pakistani press on Saturday."
[...]
"In 2008, the American drones carried out more than 30 missile attacks against Qaeda and Taliban targets in the tribal areas, according to a report by the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington. Two missile attacks just days after Mr. Obama was inaugurated indicated that his administration, at least for now, planned to continue the policy of the Bush administration."
Way to go guys. You really learned from the Bush Administration how to win the hearts and minds of the people we bomb...
"Missile attacks in Pakistan by remotely piloted aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency have generally been aimed at foreign Qaeda fighters and Taliban guerrillas from Afghanistan, who take shelter in Pakistan between raids into their country to fight American and NATO soldiers."
[...]
"During his visit, Mr. Holbrooke heard a litany of complaints about drone strikes, some of which have inadvertently killed civilians, making it harder for the country’s shaky government to win support for its own military operations against the Taliban."
[...]
"“As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base,” Ms. Feinstein said during a hearing. The drone attacks, especially in the last six months, have increased anti-American sentiment in Pakistan to very high levels, and Ms. Feinstein’s statement is likely to further inflame the protests over them. Her statement was prominently covered by the Pakistani press on Saturday."
[...]
"In 2008, the American drones carried out more than 30 missile attacks against Qaeda and Taliban targets in the tribal areas, according to a report by the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington. Two missile attacks just days after Mr. Obama was inaugurated indicated that his administration, at least for now, planned to continue the policy of the Bush administration."
Way to go guys. You really learned from the Bush Administration how to win the hearts and minds of the people we bomb...
February 11, 2009
Congressman Explains Hijacking of the US Economy by the Federal Reserve & Treasury
“On Thursday Sept 15, 2008 at roughly 11 AM The Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous draw down of money market accounts in the USA to the tune of $550 Billion dollars in a matter of an hour or two... Money was being removed electronically. The treasury tried to help with $150 Billion... But could not stem the tide...It was an electronic run on the banks...The treasury intervened but had they not closed down the accounts they estimated that by 2 PM that afternoon. Within 3 hours. $5.5 Trillion would have been withdrawn and collapsed and within 24 hours the world economy....
Somebody threw us in the middle of the Atlantic without a life raft and we're trying to figure out which shore is the closest to swim to...
Don't Let them get away with it!
Right now the Bush administration are slinking off into the night, and the Democratic party leadership hasn't been willing to hold them accountable for the past TWO YEARS.
It's time to tell Nancy Pelosi who's boss! The American People!
Donate to CindyForCongress.org
All donations will go to Cindy Sheehan's 2010 campaign.
Download your copy of the posters here
It's time to tell Nancy Pelosi who's boss! The American People!
Donate to CindyForCongress.org
All donations will go to Cindy Sheehan's 2010 campaign.
Download your copy of the posters here
February 6, 2009
February 2, 2009
Obama to continue with Bush's illegal kidnapping aka "Extreme Rendition"
The Chicago Tribune has the full article.
Under executive orders issued by Obama last week, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, or the secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the U.S.
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the rendition program is poised to play an expanded role because it is the main remaining mechanism—aside from Predator missile strikes—for taking suspected terrorists off the street.
The rendition program became a source of embarrassment for the CIA, and a target of international scorn, as details emerged in recent years of botched captures, mistaken identities and allegations that prisoners were turned over to countries where they were tortured.
The European Parliament condemned renditions as an "illegal instrument used by the United States." Prisoners swept up in the program have sued the CIA as well as a subsidiary of Boeing Corp., which is accused of working with the agency on dozens of rendition flights.
But the Obama administration appears to have determined that the rendition program was one component of the Bush administration's war on terrorism that it could not afford to discard.
The decision underscores the fact that the battle with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups is far from over and that even if the U.S. is shutting down the prisons, it is not done taking prisoners.
"Obviously you need to preserve some tools, you still have to go after the bad guys," said an Obama administration official
[...]
"One provision in one of Obama's orders appears to preserve the CIA's ability to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects as long as they are not held long-term. The little-noticed provision states that the instructions to close the CIA's secret prison sites "do not refer to facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."
Obama's decision to preserve the program did not draw major protests, even among human-rights groups. Leaders of such organizations said that reflects a sense, even among advocates, that the United States and other nations need certain tools to combat terrorism.
"Under limited circumstances, there is a legitimate place" for renditions, said Tom Malinowski, the Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "What I heard loud and clear from the president's order was that they want to design a system that doesn't result in people being sent to foreign dungeons to be tortured."
In his executive order on lawful interrogations, Obama created a task force to re-examine renditions to make sure that they "do not result in the transfer of individuals to other nations to face torture" or otherwise circumvent human-rights laws and treaties.
Well, it would seem the more things change, the more they stay the same...
Under executive orders issued by Obama last week, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, or the secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the U.S.Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the rendition program is poised to play an expanded role because it is the main remaining mechanism—aside from Predator missile strikes—for taking suspected terrorists off the street.
The rendition program became a source of embarrassment for the CIA, and a target of international scorn, as details emerged in recent years of botched captures, mistaken identities and allegations that prisoners were turned over to countries where they were tortured.
The European Parliament condemned renditions as an "illegal instrument used by the United States." Prisoners swept up in the program have sued the CIA as well as a subsidiary of Boeing Corp., which is accused of working with the agency on dozens of rendition flights.
But the Obama administration appears to have determined that the rendition program was one component of the Bush administration's war on terrorism that it could not afford to discard.
The decision underscores the fact that the battle with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups is far from over and that even if the U.S. is shutting down the prisons, it is not done taking prisoners.
"Obviously you need to preserve some tools, you still have to go after the bad guys," said an Obama administration official
[...]
"One provision in one of Obama's orders appears to preserve the CIA's ability to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects as long as they are not held long-term. The little-noticed provision states that the instructions to close the CIA's secret prison sites "do not refer to facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."
Obama's decision to preserve the program did not draw major protests, even among human-rights groups. Leaders of such organizations said that reflects a sense, even among advocates, that the United States and other nations need certain tools to combat terrorism.
"Under limited circumstances, there is a legitimate place" for renditions, said Tom Malinowski, the Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "What I heard loud and clear from the president's order was that they want to design a system that doesn't result in people being sent to foreign dungeons to be tortured."
In his executive order on lawful interrogations, Obama created a task force to re-examine renditions to make sure that they "do not result in the transfer of individuals to other nations to face torture" or otherwise circumvent human-rights laws and treaties.
Well, it would seem the more things change, the more they stay the same...
January 31, 2009
January 24, 2009
January 16, 2009
I need your help!
So, with the help of friends, I have put together a news segment about Health Insurance for Current.com, which you can view here:
What is Current.com?
Current.com is this great interactive web community and television station where YOU get to influence what you see on TV by voting on what stories you want to see.
You can also create your own news stories, like I've done.
Okay, but why do you need help?
Since everything in Current.com is voted on, I need your help to vote this news story to the top of the Viewer Created Content leaderboard.
If it reaches #1, it will be aired on Current TV, and Al Gore (who owns current.com and current TV) will cut me and my crew a check for $1,000 for the intellectual property rights, which we will invest into making even better news segments on issues that don't get covered by the nightly news.
How can I help?
In order to vote, you need to have a profile on Current.com, but don't worry! It's easy to sign up!
You'll be sent an email to confirm your account, and after confirming you can vote on this story, and thousands of others, connect with other members of the community, recommend news stories, clip news headlines from the web (which if selected are read by Vicky, the ROBOT VOICE OF NEWS on current TV), or even record and make your own news segments yourself, like me and my crew have!
After you sign up and vote yourself, please be sure to spread the word by sharing this note!
Thanks so much!
Peace!
Asher, Jaz, & Corey
Congress Watch News
What is Current.com?
Current.com is this great interactive web community and television station where YOU get to influence what you see on TV by voting on what stories you want to see.
You can also create your own news stories, like I've done.
Okay, but why do you need help?
Since everything in Current.com is voted on, I need your help to vote this news story to the top of the Viewer Created Content leaderboard.
If it reaches #1, it will be aired on Current TV, and Al Gore (who owns current.com and current TV) will cut me and my crew a check for $1,000 for the intellectual property rights, which we will invest into making even better news segments on issues that don't get covered by the nightly news.
How can I help?
In order to vote, you need to have a profile on Current.com, but don't worry! It's easy to sign up!
You'll be sent an email to confirm your account, and after confirming you can vote on this story, and thousands of others, connect with other members of the community, recommend news stories, clip news headlines from the web (which if selected are read by Vicky, the ROBOT VOICE OF NEWS on current TV), or even record and make your own news segments yourself, like me and my crew have!
After you sign up and vote yourself, please be sure to spread the word by sharing this note!
Thanks so much!
Peace!
Asher, Jaz, & Corey
Congress Watch News
From Israel With Love
A Series of Photos from the war with Southern Lebanon, showing Israeli children writing messages on bombs to be dropped on children their own age.
And where those bombs ended up:
January 15, 2009
January 14, 2009
Meme Warriors, Generation O
Ashley Saunders, formerly of the Ralph Nader for President 2008 campaign hits the nail on the head back over at Operation itch.
Check it
Check it
January 4, 2009
January 3, 2009
December 31, 2008
HR 676-- the Single Payer Healthcare Solution
Parts 1-4
Do something!
November5.orgDo something!
November5.orgDo something!
November5.orgDo something!
November5.orgDecember 22, 2008
December 21, 2008
The Dark Harvest
218 million Americans live near toxic polluted water.
part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The Dark Harvest
part 1
Part 2
Part 3
December 20, 2008
December 18, 2008
October 31, 2008
October 30, 2008
Cindy Sheehan VS Pelosi: THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN THE USA
You want REAL CHANGE in Washington DC?!
Forget about the Presidential race!
The President only signs bills that congress writes. The President has zero power to legislate (well at least not according to the US Constitution.) Truth is, your vote for the president will affect policy in the US much less than who you end up electing (or NOT electing) to Congress.
And what seat in congress could be more important than the Speaker of the House?!
Nancy Pelosi seen here scolding the American people
Unfortunately, you don't elect the speaker of the house, they are elected by congress. The Speaker of the House has HUGE power withing the congress-- with the ability to give and take away chairmanships and other positions of power, the Speaker of the House has many tools in their grasp to punish fellow party members that stray from the party line.
Currently, the Democrats hold the Congress, and the Democratic Party line seems to be:
*DON'T Impeach the President
*DON'T End the War in Iraq
*DON'T put an end to the war profiteering by companies like Haliburton
*DON'T protect the Constitution
*DON'T fight back against executive power grabs
*DON'T protect the privacy of the American people against warentless searches and seizure
SO, what is a progressive/constitutionally minded citizen to do?
You can't vote against Nancy Pelosi unless you live in California's 8th district.
But you can DONATE against Nancy Pelosi. But, it just so happens that there is an amazing candidate running against Nancy Pelosi.
Cindy Sheehan is a Peace Activist, founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, defender of Liberty, and an all around testament to the Human Spirit. If you live outside the 8th district, and you support Cindy Sheehan's efforts to bring accountability to government, to end US Imperialism, and so much more, DONATE TODAY!
But you can't help her win on your own.
There are people out there that don't know that Cindy Sheehan is running against Nancy Pelsoi, or they know about it, but don't know how they can help out.
There are people all acrossed America who support Cindy Sheehan:
Get your copy of the poster here:
Thumbnail! Click the image to get an 8x11 photo. Print it off, and make copies!
If you have access to a video camera, get a friend to help you put up posters, film yourselves, and put the video up on YouTube!
Don't like the poster? Make your own! Get creative, but most importantly, GET THE WORD OUT!
Money is the only language that the Corporate MEDIA and the Corporate CANDIDATES speak.
AMERICA! let's pull together and use our money to send a message LOUD AND CLEAR to Speaker Pelosi and the Corporate Media:
"WE ARE SICK OF PEACE, LIBERTY, AND THE CONSTITUTION BEING 'OFF THE TABLE!'"
If you are reposting this, please link back to this article here:
http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com/2008/08/cindy-sheehan-vs-pelosi-most-important.html
Forget about the Presidential race!
The President only signs bills that congress writes. The President has zero power to legislate (well at least not according to the US Constitution.) Truth is, your vote for the president will affect policy in the US much less than who you end up electing (or NOT electing) to Congress.
And what seat in congress could be more important than the Speaker of the House?!
Nancy Pelosi seen here scolding the American people
for wanting accountability in government.
Unfortunately, you don't elect the speaker of the house, they are elected by congress. The Speaker of the House has HUGE power withing the congress-- with the ability to give and take away chairmanships and other positions of power, the Speaker of the House has many tools in their grasp to punish fellow party members that stray from the party line.
Currently, the Democrats hold the Congress, and the Democratic Party line seems to be:
*DON'T Impeach the President
*DON'T End the War in Iraq
*DON'T put an end to the war profiteering by companies like Haliburton
*DON'T protect the Constitution
*DON'T fight back against executive power grabs
*DON'T protect the privacy of the American people against warentless searches and seizure
SO, what is a progressive/constitutionally minded citizen to do?
You can't vote against Nancy Pelosi unless you live in California's 8th district.
But you can DONATE against Nancy Pelosi. But, it just so happens that there is an amazing candidate running against Nancy Pelosi.
Cindy Sheehan, seen here speaking Truth to Power
Cindy Sheehan is a Peace Activist, founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, defender of Liberty, and an all around testament to the Human Spirit. If you live outside the 8th district, and you support Cindy Sheehan's efforts to bring accountability to government, to end US Imperialism, and so much more, DONATE TODAY!
But you can't help her win on your own.
There are people out there that don't know that Cindy Sheehan is running against Nancy Pelsoi, or they know about it, but don't know how they can help out.
There are people all acrossed America who support Cindy Sheehan:
Get your copy of the poster here:
Thumbnail! Click the image to get an 8x11 photo. Print it off, and make copies!
If you have access to a video camera, get a friend to help you put up posters, film yourselves, and put the video up on YouTube!
Don't like the poster? Make your own! Get creative, but most importantly, GET THE WORD OUT!
Money is the only language that the Corporate MEDIA and the Corporate CANDIDATES speak.
AMERICA! let's pull together and use our money to send a message LOUD AND CLEAR to Speaker Pelosi and the Corporate Media:
"WE ARE SICK OF PEACE, LIBERTY, AND THE CONSTITUTION BEING 'OFF THE TABLE!'"
If you are reposting this, please link back to this article here:
http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com/2008/08/cindy-sheehan-vs-pelosi-most-important.html
October 18, 2008
Barack Obama's team is briefed by Bush staff on after warnings about a terrorist attack
I smell a false flag operation.
Original Story at Telegraph.co.uk
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 9:26PM BST 18 Oct 2008
Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election.
For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.
Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and are concerned that Russia or Iran could use the 77 days of paralysis between the election and the inauguration on January 20 for acts of international brinkmanship, like the invasion of Georgia.
An official involved in the transition discussions told The Sunday Telegraph: "There has been no specific threat but the assessment is that someone will try something.
"It could be a terrorist attack on US assets overseas. It could be the leader of a rogue state chancing his arm. Putin and Ahmadinejad have form."
The transition of power in the US is a chaotic process. More than 1,100 political appointees in senior posts have to be approved by the Senate, a process that can take months.
On Wednesday the current White House chief of staff, Josh Bolten, chaired a meeting of senior White House staff and representatives of both Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.
President Bush's creation of this Presidential Transition Coordinating Council, the earliest ever, is designed to avoid a repeat of the situation on September 11 2001, when only one third of his national security appointees had been approved by the Senate, nine months into his presidency.
Martha Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an independent group that advises the transition teams of both campaigns, told The Sunday Telegraph: "The times of changing of power are soft times, times of vulnerability. Just look at what has happened around the world, including in Great Britain.
"You had the failed bombings in London and then the attack at Glasgow airport three days after Gordon Brown took office. In Spain the Madrid bombings were three days before the presidential election."
There have been particularly intensive efforts to make sure Mr Obama has his national security team in place, not just because he is widely expected to win the election on November 4, but because intelligence analysts believe America's enemies are more likely to try to take advantage of Mr Obama's international inexperience than they would of Mr McCain.
A senior official in the Obama camp, whose name has been submitted for FBI vetting, said: "We will be ready and we will be seen to be ready."
He said that Mr Obama is close to finalising plans for his first 100 days in power - which will include major moves on the economy, healthcare and Iraq in his first week, designed to make his priorities clear to Americans.
He is planning a series of early interventions to stamp his authority on the economic crisis. This will include legislation proposing a $300bn stimulus package which would be published before President Bush has even left the White House, so that it can be passed as soon as he takes power.
Mr Obama is also planning executive orders that do not require legislation on his first day in office, which could include plans to promote renewable energy resources and create jobs.
His transition team, which is reportedly much more extensive and active than Mr McCain's, features 10 working groups in different policy areas to convert campaign promises into concrete legislation. It is chaired by John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff who runs the Centre for American Progress, a think tank long seen as a Democratic administration in exile.
Mr Podesta is working closely with Michael Signer, a former foreign policy aide to John Edwards in charge of homeland security affairs. Mr Podesta and Jason Furman, one of Mr Obama's two most influential economic advisers, have already held talks with sceptical conservative Democrats to line up the votes to pass a stimulus package.
Mr Obama has also worked to cultivate a close relationship with the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, and personally asked him to help out during the transition, sparking speculation that he might keep Mr Paulson in post for the first year of his presidency.
Ms Kumar said: "There are things that a president can do immediately that establish his brand of leadership and help establish with the public what the priorities are.
"Reagan issued executive orders at the luncheon following the inauguration. He didn't even wait to get to the White House. He wanted to show how seriously he took the issue of the economy."
FBI vetting is also under way on 100 people from both campaigns, including Susan Rice, expected to be made the second successive black woman national security adviser after Condoleezza Rice; Greg Craig, a Washington lawyer tipped to become Mr Obama's chief White House counsel and his likely White House chief of staff; and the former senator and campaign chairman Tom Daschle. If Daschle prefers to become Health Secretary, Obama's current chief of staff Pete Rouse, nicknamed the 101st Senator for his connections on Capitol Hill, would take the job.
Other key national security officials will include Denis McDonough, chief foreign affairs adviser to the campaign and Richard Danzig, a secretary of the Navy under Clinton.
John Kerry, the Democratic candidate four years ago, and his fellow senator Chris Dodd, a failed candidate this year, are vying to become Secretary of State.
Mr Kerry, an Army veteran, is also a contender to take control of the Pentagon, but many expect that post to go to a Republican, perhaps the maverick senator Chuck Hagel. Colin Powell, a former secretary of state and chairman of the joint chiefs could return to government if he endorses Obama, as many expect. The veteran Democratic Senator Sam Nunn's name is also in the frame.
Original Story at Telegraph.co.uk
Senior aides to Barack Obama have been meeting George W.Bush's staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power.
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 9:26PM BST 18 Oct 2008
Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election.
For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.
Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and are concerned that Russia or Iran could use the 77 days of paralysis between the election and the inauguration on January 20 for acts of international brinkmanship, like the invasion of Georgia.
An official involved in the transition discussions told The Sunday Telegraph: "There has been no specific threat but the assessment is that someone will try something.
"It could be a terrorist attack on US assets overseas. It could be the leader of a rogue state chancing his arm. Putin and Ahmadinejad have form."
The transition of power in the US is a chaotic process. More than 1,100 political appointees in senior posts have to be approved by the Senate, a process that can take months.
On Wednesday the current White House chief of staff, Josh Bolten, chaired a meeting of senior White House staff and representatives of both Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.
President Bush's creation of this Presidential Transition Coordinating Council, the earliest ever, is designed to avoid a repeat of the situation on September 11 2001, when only one third of his national security appointees had been approved by the Senate, nine months into his presidency.
Martha Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an independent group that advises the transition teams of both campaigns, told The Sunday Telegraph: "The times of changing of power are soft times, times of vulnerability. Just look at what has happened around the world, including in Great Britain.
"You had the failed bombings in London and then the attack at Glasgow airport three days after Gordon Brown took office. In Spain the Madrid bombings were three days before the presidential election."
There have been particularly intensive efforts to make sure Mr Obama has his national security team in place, not just because he is widely expected to win the election on November 4, but because intelligence analysts believe America's enemies are more likely to try to take advantage of Mr Obama's international inexperience than they would of Mr McCain.
A senior official in the Obama camp, whose name has been submitted for FBI vetting, said: "We will be ready and we will be seen to be ready."
He said that Mr Obama is close to finalising plans for his first 100 days in power - which will include major moves on the economy, healthcare and Iraq in his first week, designed to make his priorities clear to Americans.
He is planning a series of early interventions to stamp his authority on the economic crisis. This will include legislation proposing a $300bn stimulus package which would be published before President Bush has even left the White House, so that it can be passed as soon as he takes power.
Mr Obama is also planning executive orders that do not require legislation on his first day in office, which could include plans to promote renewable energy resources and create jobs.
His transition team, which is reportedly much more extensive and active than Mr McCain's, features 10 working groups in different policy areas to convert campaign promises into concrete legislation. It is chaired by John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff who runs the Centre for American Progress, a think tank long seen as a Democratic administration in exile.
Mr Podesta is working closely with Michael Signer, a former foreign policy aide to John Edwards in charge of homeland security affairs. Mr Podesta and Jason Furman, one of Mr Obama's two most influential economic advisers, have already held talks with sceptical conservative Democrats to line up the votes to pass a stimulus package.
Mr Obama has also worked to cultivate a close relationship with the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, and personally asked him to help out during the transition, sparking speculation that he might keep Mr Paulson in post for the first year of his presidency.
Ms Kumar said: "There are things that a president can do immediately that establish his brand of leadership and help establish with the public what the priorities are.
"Reagan issued executive orders at the luncheon following the inauguration. He didn't even wait to get to the White House. He wanted to show how seriously he took the issue of the economy."
FBI vetting is also under way on 100 people from both campaigns, including Susan Rice, expected to be made the second successive black woman national security adviser after Condoleezza Rice; Greg Craig, a Washington lawyer tipped to become Mr Obama's chief White House counsel and his likely White House chief of staff; and the former senator and campaign chairman Tom Daschle. If Daschle prefers to become Health Secretary, Obama's current chief of staff Pete Rouse, nicknamed the 101st Senator for his connections on Capitol Hill, would take the job.
Other key national security officials will include Denis McDonough, chief foreign affairs adviser to the campaign and Richard Danzig, a secretary of the Navy under Clinton.
John Kerry, the Democratic candidate four years ago, and his fellow senator Chris Dodd, a failed candidate this year, are vying to become Secretary of State.
Mr Kerry, an Army veteran, is also a contender to take control of the Pentagon, but many expect that post to go to a Republican, perhaps the maverick senator Chuck Hagel. Colin Powell, a former secretary of state and chairman of the joint chiefs could return to government if he endorses Obama, as many expect. The veteran Democratic Senator Sam Nunn's name is also in the frame.
October 13, 2008
October 12, 2008
October 1, 2008
Help Kick PELOSI OUT! Phonebank for Cindy Sheehan!
From: Action Jackson
Date: 01 Oct 2008, 04:13
The time for peace and freedom in America is now.
We have established a national phone bank for Cindy Sheehan's Congressional Campaign in which anyone, anywhere can participate.
If you feel you owe it to yourself, your family, your friends and
their children to act now, then send us an email immediately:
(Jackson@cindyforcongress.org) and tell us you want to help. Or call 415-621-5027 and say "I want
to help fix this country!"
The campaign to elect peace mom Cindy Sheehan to the United States
Congress and unseat corporate warmonger Nancy Pelosi is going strong
and the rush to the finish is on.
We'll give you a list by email of a select group of voters and their
phone numbers. You call them during the free hours of your cell or
home phone service.
People all over the United States feel that Cindy Sheehan represents
their own beliefs better than candidates on the hometown ballot. Many
have elected to help the person who actually represents them.
If you feel you owe it to yourself, your family, your friends and
their children to act now, then send us an email immediately:
(Jackson@cindyforcongress.org) and tell us you want to help. Or call 415-621-5027 and say "I want
to help fix this country!"
We will provide you with a list to call, a helpful script and will
help you in any way we can.
Thank you,
Cindy for Sheehan Phone Banking Team
Date: 01 Oct 2008, 04:13
The time for peace and freedom in America is now.
We have established a national phone bank for Cindy Sheehan's Congressional Campaign in which anyone, anywhere can participate.
If you feel you owe it to yourself, your family, your friends and
their children to act now, then send us an email immediately:
(Jackson@cindyforcongress.org) and tell us you want to help. Or call 415-621-5027 and say "I want
to help fix this country!"
The campaign to elect peace mom Cindy Sheehan to the United States
Congress and unseat corporate warmonger Nancy Pelosi is going strong
and the rush to the finish is on.
We'll give you a list by email of a select group of voters and their
phone numbers. You call them during the free hours of your cell or
home phone service.
People all over the United States feel that Cindy Sheehan represents
their own beliefs better than candidates on the hometown ballot. Many
have elected to help the person who actually represents them.
If you feel you owe it to yourself, your family, your friends and
their children to act now, then send us an email immediately:
(Jackson@cindyforcongress.org) and tell us you want to help. Or call 415-621-5027 and say "I want
to help fix this country!"
We will provide you with a list to call, a helpful script and will
help you in any way we can.
Thank you,
Cindy for Sheehan Phone Banking Team
September 19, 2008
September 8, 2008
US Troops Are Protesting-- Where are you?
From: DJ LENA (IntegrityNow.org)
Date: 08 Sep 2008, 11:47
THIS FELLOW AMERICANS IS THE REAL NEWS AND HOW THE VETS REALLY FEEL!
Democracy Now! is an alternative media that airs on most cable companies lineups (check for your local listings on their site)...
http://www. democracynow. org/
PART 1: Iraq Veterans Protest at the Democratic National Convention
PART 2: Iraq Veterans Protest at the Democratic National Convention
Date: 08 Sep 2008, 11:47
THIS FELLOW AMERICANS IS THE REAL NEWS AND HOW THE VETS REALLY FEEL!
Democracy Now! is an alternative media that airs on most cable companies lineups (check for your local listings on their site)...
http://www. democracynow. org/
PART 1: Iraq Veterans Protest at the Democratic National Convention
PART 2: Iraq Veterans Protest at the Democratic National Convention
September 1, 2008
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