Last Respects: President Obama attends the dignified transfer of U.S. Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin shortly before four in the morning at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Griffin is one of 18 U.S. personnel who died Monday in Afghanistan and returned to the U.S. on board an Air Force C-17 military transport plane.
Romney, the Cheneys and other Republicans have criticized Obama for not rubber stamping McChrystals request for 40K more troops for Afghanistan. Its important to remember: the people who supported George W. Bush (who denied Afghanistan troop increase requests and started another war in Iraq that drew focus and resources away from Afghanistan) are the same people saying Obama should give General McChrystal whatever he wants.
“I just asked you a simple question. What is the answer?” persisted Conyers.
Goodell replied by saying a medical expert could give a better answer than he could. But some House members complained later that Dr. Ira Casson, chairman of the NFL’s committee on concussions, had not testified.
Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez gave Casson some exposure anyway, playing a clip of a TV interview in which he denied evidence of a link between multiple head injuries in NFL players with brain disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Sanchez said that reminded her of tobacco companies denying a link between smoking and health damage in the 1990s.
Goodell testified alongside new NFL Players Association leader DeMaurice Smith, who said the union “has not done its best in this area. We will do better.” Both men did agree to turn over players’ medical records to the committee.
In addition, Conyers wants information on head injuries from the NCAA, high schools and medical researchers to better understand football’s health risks.
Still, several Republicans questioned the point of the hearing. Rep. Ted Poe said Congress’ involvement in football would mean the end of the sport.
“We’d all be playing touch football,” he said.
Rep. Maxine Waters, whose husband played in the NFL, asked Goodell how the league was addressing the welfare of retired players during current collective bargaining negotiations.
Cliff Lee, Phillies pitcher is a monster. I want to be Cliff for Halloween.
“Not nervous at all,” Lee insisted when asked if he was just joking around about not being nervous. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been nervous playing this game. It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
See, that Chicago crime stuff? Small time to Rio thugs.
Yes the IOC has their work cut out for them. Much like the FIFA world cup being in the Republic of South Africa, it isn’t the country best suited to host a games that gets the bid. The international bodies actually do care about promoting athletics around the world:
The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination or any kind, in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
Oh yeah! It was when Oprah told the world what The Secret was all about! Thanks for letting us in on it Oprah! Master people cooker James Arthur Ray knows how you can be a smashing success!
Oprah Supports cooking people. (Shh. It's the Secret)
“They couldn’t come back into their bodies because their bodies weren’t alive” -Beverly Bunn, Sweat Lodge Survivor. Yes she said that. She really said that. Want to know how gung ho James Arthur Ray was about “self help”:
“I can’t get her to move. I can’t get her to wake up,” Bunn recalled hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray’s response: “Leave her alone, she’ll be dealt with in the next round.”
Loose lips sink ships. Keep that secret to yourselves. I hope they can charge and convict this quack and get these people some real help. One can hope can’t he?
Or their fantasy football lineup. Or the back of their eyelids. All this while I have to turn my laptop WiFi and mobile phone off? Damn that. Passengers revolt: hell no, my cell won’t go!.
The airline is happy to let their pilots slide with a suspension and/or license revocation for being negligent while trying to avoid further public relations nightmare that would be associated with pilots being too tired, hungover and/or drunk to stay awake while flying a plane full of people.
the crew could be pretty bad pilots, got lost and tried to regain their bearings without contacting the control tower and admitting they screwed up?
or airline work schedules are so damn complicated they take two pilots and an hour and a half to review
Either way, these seem like two dunces. I am sure the flight recorder, debit card receipts and their mobile phone records will be reviewed to see what these two stooges actually did before they screwed up at 30,000 feet.
Nightline’s Martin Bashir investigates Scientology. The head of their celebrity center Tommy Davis does them no favors.
Bashir: But with the greatest respect Mr. Davis, Tom Cruise is an actor. He’s not a medical academic, he’s not a clinician. Do you really think he’s qualified to denounce an entire field of medicine?
Davis: Well I think your comments, right there, are actually quite degrading of actors and artists.
When Bashir asks about the efficacy of “auditing” e-meter machines, that have ever been tested objectively, Davis says: “I don’t know why it would be suggested to random clinical trials.” and says his proof is the improvements seen among his fellow Scientologists. This is the same My son is my proof rationale Jenny McCarthy gives when asked on how she knows vaccines cause autism and that it can be cured with a schedule of homeopathic quackery. Continue reading
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Monday that the bill he will bring to the Senate floor will include a public health insurance option that individual states could decline to participate in.
“I’ve concluded –with the support of the White House, Senators Dodd and Baucus — that the best way to move forward is to include a public option with the opt-out provision for states,” said Reid, referring to the Senate health and finance committee representatives, respectively, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). “The public option, with an opt-out, is the one that’s fair.”
Chicago’s Mayor wants to lease that city’s water system to a private company to boost city revenue. (h/t Eschaton)
The new boss could charge whatever they want for water, CBS 2s Roseanne Tellez reports. Could it happen here in Chicago? It already has nearby. Homer Glen in Will County relies on Lake Michigan water, but the supply comes from a German-owned firm. Locals say theres a lot more than water going down the drain. Its a vital resource you cant live without. But in Homer Glen, the question is can you afford water. Residents say rates are breaking the bank. Homer Glen resident Lillie Gajda said her family has tried to cut back to offset high rates.
[…]
CBS 2 made repeated calls to Illinois-American Water, with no luck. Mayor Daley didn’t want to talk, either. And Water Commissioner John Spatz did not return calls.
According to the mayor’s 2010 budget, the city expects to bring in $453 million from water sales next year. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to what a private firm would get.
Yes, the private company would earn much more and find ways to give much less for a higher price. That is what private companies do. Maximize profit.
I don’t see this turning out well for the people of Chicago. Private, unregulated companies, not utilities, in charge of vital resources means less vital resources for people who can’t pay for it. Remember private fire companies? They ended up resulting in protection scams, were primarily concerned with saving property rather than saving lives and would take advantage of property owners whose building’s had been ravaged by fire by offering them “money now” to sign a deed over. This money was actually a smaller piece of their insurance benefits (which would be subject to reductions by a claims adjuster).
If you want to lease city parking and meters to a private company that is fine with me. I don’t need cheap meters to live. Chicago has already done that. It was a great way to reduce congestion and raise revenue from cars which are not the best modes of transportation for every person who wishes to get around the city.
New World Water make the tide rise high
Come inland and make your house go “Bye” (My house!)
Fools done upset the Old Man River
Made him carry slave ships and fed him dead nigga
Now his belly full and he about to flood somethin
So I’ma throw a rope that ain’t tied to nothin
Tell your crew use the H2 in wise amounts since
it’s the New World Water; and every drop counts
You can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna
But it don’t rain for four weeks some summers
And it’s about to get real wild in the half
You be buying Evian just to take a fuckin bath
Mos Def, New World Water, Black on Both Sides (1999)
Except when he didn’t. Good Ol’ Kerik, even when caught red handed, can’t help being a straight up scumbag.
Bernard Kerik became the first NYPD commissioner to land in jail Tuesday after a judge revoked his bail for trying to taint the jury pool in his upcoming corruption trial.
Late last night Kerik was taken from White Plains Federal Court to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. His lawyers vowed a prompt appeal to try and get him out.
A furious Judge Stephen Robinson threw Kerik in the clink after prosecutors said the former top cop and the head of his legal defense fund engaged in a subversive campaign to sway potential jurors.
Jane Hall doesn’t think MSNBC has any conservatives on. Of course Howard Kurtz doesn’t disagree.
HALL: No, I didn’t. The reason I left was in part because they’ve had less debates than they used to. It is a fair point to say how much debate is there on MSNBC? How many Republican strategists? We have a bifurcation of the media.
Yes, CNN’s Lou Dobbs is so bad that a sensationalist hack like Geraldo Rivera is calling him out for being over the top, and some of Rivera’s points are dead on. Only some. Rivera insists on injecting stupidity and hypocrisy into his critique of Dobbs.
He says Dobbs is responsible for anti-immigration sentiment (he’s complicit, not responsible). This is rich after Rivera works for Fox News whose pundits mostly disagree with him regarding immigration law and reform. Riveras colleagues and Dobbs all support the jail first law enforcement tactics employed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, vigilante Minutemen, useless border walls and unnecessarily restrictive INS policies regarding work visas that discourage law abiding foreign students and skilled professionals from attempting to come to the US. Rivera believes CNN has to answer for Dobb’s views when he works for the network where these dangerous views find a welcome home at any hour of the day. Continue reading
Are most Hawaii workplaces open most Fridays? If the answer is yes, I am not sure if is this is the best idea to have kids out of school with their primary caretakers busy keeping food on the table. If this helps push a sea change in the states workplaces towards more flexible work hour plans for parents, then I am all for it. It will be interesting to see what happens. Hawaii Schools to Close on Most Fridays | Mother Jones
News channel chyrons keep telling me that Dick Cheney’s opinions matter. Cheney’s views on Afghanistan are relevant in one regard: they are based on the Bush/Cheney strategy that was firmly rejected by voters in the 2008 Presidential elections. Its good to hear Joe Biden affirm this: Continue reading
It’s an irrational faith in natural foods and yoga as all we need to protect against viral infection. He’s had this faith for a while. In 2005:
Bill Maher has again discussed his anti-vaccination views, this time on Larry King. Among other claims, Maher says that polio was wiped out due to better sanitation, and that getting the flu shot increases your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Orac has more detail on the claims and the dubious source of the “Alzheimer’s/flu shot” link. I wonder how Maher would explain the decrease in African measles that’s followed an increase in measles vaccination there?
I had a Spanish teacher in high school whose leg was ravaged by polio and a friends father who was missing a leg from the knee down due to his bout with polio as a child. No one my age had polio, we all had vaccines, I would venture to guess not all of us ate healthy food.
Franken challenges Hudson Institute’s Dr. Furchtgott-Roth to compare bankruptcies due to health care cost in the US vs. other western countries.
She tries to say “I’ll get that number to you later” congressional hearing dodge move.” He gives her the answer (Sweden – 0, Germany – 0, etc) and she tries to make a hollow tangential point about cancer survival rate studies while never addressing Franken’s issue.
