Monthly Archives: March 2009
Sticky situation…
All photos are posted with the artist’s express permission to TheZoo.
Bent Objects.
Senator Conrad Rejects Obama’s Plan to Cut Millionaire’s Subsidy
Obama’s budget plan is partially hinged on Global Warming Protection which is being undermined by Big Agri as usual. To say I’m extremely disappointed in Senator Conrad’s (D-ND) decision is an understatement, and this is why.
Senate Budget committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) announced yesterday he would reject President Obama’s plan to cut billions in crop subsidy payments that flow mostly to large profitable farm operations and wealthy landowners.
This is part of Obama’s plan calls for a three-year phase-out of direct payments to grain, cotton, and soybean growers who have more than $500,000 a year in sales. Needless to say, the National Farmers Union opposes this.
Delegates at the NFU convention in suburban Washington adopted language opposing any change in the 2008 farm law, still being implemented, and asking Congress to oppose cuts in direct payments.
Created in 2002, direct payments total $5.2 billion a year and are made regardless of prices. There are 126,000 farms in the category.
Conrad’s solution is to cut back on programs that would be beneficial to the environment.
Instead, according to a March 24 report by Charles Abbott of Reuters news service, Conrad said he would slash several other programs, among them, two conservation programs that are critical to winning the fight against global warming.
The conservation programs on Conrad’s chopping block help farmers reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and also engage in practices that take carbon out of the air and store it in the soil. Moreover, these programs help farmers protect their land and the environment from the more frequent floods, droughts, and severe weather blamed on global warming.
Palin, stay in Alaska
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World
5thstate on Fighting the Good Fight
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I am nominating 5thstate, a regular reader and commenter at TheZoo, for having the most pithy and well written comment I have seen in quite a long time.
Yesterday, we reported that Chuck Todd, an uber Washington elitist, and total Villager, had the audacity to ask what specific sacrifices Obama was going to ask of the American people. As if many Americans’ now living in tent cities across the nation isn’t enough, as if insurance isn’t pricing people out of things like eating wasn’t enough.
5thstate thought that I should have included Ed Henry in my original post on Chuck Todd because Mr. Henry decided to write a little self-serving piece at his CNN home. Here is what 5thstate had to say.
Ed Henry, (who looks like the lead contralto of a Glee Club) was the one who asked Obama why it had taken him two days to comment on the AIG bonuses (of about 10 days ago?) to which Obama replied “Because I like to know what I’m talking about before I say anything”.
Despite being bitchslapped by one of the most popular presidents in US history, Ed seems to think he just earned a campaign medal and he’s just written a breathless movie treatment of his ‘story’ for the CNN website:
HENRY [article]: “I was heading into this event with the same strategy: make news on something unexpected (I won’t tell you which topics I was working on cause it would ruin the surprise for a future presser or interview with the president).”
(Great preamble, Ed! So your mission, your duty as a reporter, was to, make news? And your strategy is to compile what you think are relevant questions about week-old news? The old “element of surprise” gambit, eh? )
AS HENRY IMAGINES IT:
The Corps was nervous, cigarettes were shared as a silent bond, each man knowing it might be his last.
We had our orders, but as wet behind the ears Lieutenant I was eager to make my mark if HQ’s strategy didn’t pan out.
I had some plans of my own, but I kept them under my hat…er… helmet hoping to God and Betty Grable I wouldn’t have to use them.
A dog barked in the foggy distance. The low nervous chatter was silenced, the only noises now were the sounds of final weapons checks and last minute twitters and e-mails being pounded out on Blackberries. And then I just waited, for the signal I though would never come…—
HENRY [article]: “The pressure was on now because the president had called on me. Someone handed me a microphone, millions were watching, and it’s scary to think about changing topic in a split second because you might get flustered and screw up.”
(OMG! OMG! I can’t believe it! He’s right there! OMG!)
AS ED HENRY IMAGINES IT:
Continue reading
Hooverville Dubyaville
BBC reporting, not our own So-Called Liberal Media.
Think it can’t happen to any of us? Think again…
UPDATE: This post was written more than a year ago (as you will notice from the comments below). No one in the US was covering this at the time, only those from overseas. We have moved this back to the front page because this is now starting to get more press. See this and this. MsJoanne
Leverage Me Tender
Thursday Open Thread, There is Nothing New Under The Sun
View of the Monastery from the Solarium
Believe it or not, this image was photographed in 1910. The techniques used to produce this image are here.
For a gallery of images look here.
These are color renditions from Tsarist Russia and some are more detailed then modern photographs. There are even images from WWI.
Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport
So, do you like to fly? (MsJoanne, I had you in mind..) Doesn’t sound like Prague is a great place to fly into if you are traveling around the world…
Does anyone remember CNN’s Bobbi Batista? She was one of CNN’s main anchors during the 1980s and 1990s. She’s now anchoring at The Onion News Network!
GOP Fuming Over Budget Reconciliation
Several Republican Senators are threatening to go Nuclear! You ever notice it’s okay if they use the Budget Reconciliation, but if the Democrats want to do the same thing, they want to grind the Senate to a halt?
Scottish Scientists To Create Blood
British scientists are planning a ground-breaking research project to create synthetic human blood from embryonic stem cells, it has been disclosed.
The results could provide an unlimited supply of blood for emergency transfusions free of the risk of infection.
It could revolutionize blood transfusion services, which currently rely on a network of human donors to provide a constant supply of fresh blood.
Chuck Todd: Arrogant Washington Elitist
When I was watching Obama speak last night, the first second* question presented to the president was by Chuck Todd, the White House Correspondent from NBC.
For those who cannot watch video’s, this was Chuck’s question:
Some have compared this financial crisis to a war and in times of war past Presidents have called for some form of sacrifice. Some of your programs whether main street or Wall Street have actually cushioned the blow for those that were irresponsible during this economic period of prosperity, supposed prosperity that you were talking about. Why, given this new era of responsibility that you’re asking for why haven’t you asked for something specific that the public should be sacrificing to participate in this economic recovery?
I thought I had heard him wrong. No, I thought I had to have heard him wrong! Alas, I heard what I thought I had heard.
When the president responded by pointing all of the many ways in which Americans are already sacrificing in the midst of an economic crisis, Todd wasn’t satisfied. In a follow up, the NBC White House correspondent asked why Obama has called on “specific” sacrifices from Americans. And again, the president explained, “[T]he American people are making a host of sacrifices in their individual lives.”
I’d write my own response to this, but since John Amato said said exactly what I was thinking, I will use his outrage instead:
Typical Villager question. No normal person would ask for the American people to suffer and make additional sacrifices through a period where their wages have declined, job losses are skyrocketing and health-care costs are astronomical. These inside-the-Beltway pundits seem to talk to each other rather than for us. It’s like we don’t exist to them. They all seem to live in Broder’s universe, and we’re mice in a cage waiting for some scraps. I’d like to know what the press corps would sacrifice if the president asked them for one.
American’s are sacrificing in every aspect of our being every day of our lives. Unless you’re an American who lives in Chuck Todd’s world.
*Correction. Todd was the 2nd person to ask a question of Obama last night.
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Obama’s Teleprompter: Is this all the right has?
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The favorite right-wing meme of late is that President Obama is incapable of speaking without a teleprompter. Are they trying to say Obama is too stupid to speak without one? A Harvard graduate who was editor of The Law Review (a highly acclaimed honor only bestowed upon the brightest and best at one of the best ivy league institutions in the world), a man who authored two books and has spoken across this great land, in Town Hall fashion, taking questions outside of The Bubble, this man is unable to speak on his own? Seriously?
Let’s take a look and unpack this a little, shall we? It’s fun, honest. Click that Keep Reading link and…
We’re Toast…
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Jack Ohman, Portland Oregonian
Hidden agenda…
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist and Animation Artist.
For Nick’s animations, visit Nick Anderson: Animation Archives.
For Nick’s cartoons, visit Nick Anderson.
Newt Gingrich Criticizes Obama On Anti-Catholic Values…Please!
David Schuster mocks Newt Gingrich on his segment “Hypocrisy Watch” for a statement that he ‘Twittered’. Newt Gingrich said, “It is sad to see Notre Dame invite President Obama to give the commencement address since his policies are so anti-Catholic values.”
Newt lecturing on Catholic values, a man who isn’t even Catholic yet, a man who is on his third marriage and has committed adultery, as if he is some kind of moral compass..
Olbermann: Amanda Terkel Stalked By Bill O’Reilly’s Crew
Keith talks to Think Progress’ Amanda Terkel about her Bill-O stalking incident where he sent his henchman Jesse Waters and cameraman to stalk her.
Wednesday Open Thread: What’s on Your Mind?
So, what’s on your mind today? Let us know here and in the threads below.
DNC Fires Back at GOP’s “Obama Doing Too Much” Approach
Steve Benen reports today:
For a while, one of the principal criticisms from President Obama’s detractors was that he’s trying to take on too many policy challenges at once.
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The argument has, apparently, evolved into a new-but-related criticism:The chief spokesperson for GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell just said in an interview that leading Republicans are going to ratchet up their criticism of the Obama administration for releasing too many big plans on the economy — with too little sense of how they mesh with or impact each other.
The comments from McConnell spokesperson Don Stewart amount to a preview of what we’ll likely be hearing from Senate Republicans and other Republican leaders in the days ahead.
“We can’t help but notice the numerous and sundry plans that seem to come out at a rate of one a week without any clear picture of how they interact and whether they interact well or not,” Stewart told me. “That’s a very real concern among Senate Republicans.”
In response:
Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan — who uncorked some of the more colorfully hard-hitting quotes of the 2008 campaign — emails over a response amplifying the “party of no ideas” attack that Dems have been waging on the GOP:
“I guess when you have no new ideas, anything more than zero must seem overwhelming.”
Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Harry Reid, chimes in:
If Republicans would have done a little planning of their own over the last eight years, perhaps we still wouldn’t have 138,000 troops in Iraq. Perhaps with a little planning they wouldn’t have stranded countless Americans in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps a little planning would have helped stave off the collapse of the housing sector. I know it must be hard for them to comprehend, but one day they’ll come to realize that competent proactive planning isn’t such a bad thing.
Indeed. From the Party of No to the Party of No Ideas.
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This Saga is a Real Turkey
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Jeff Danziger, Syndicated Political Cartoonist
From an undisclosed lair location
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Healthcare Insurers Offer to Stop Screwing Us
Well, bully for them.
In the letter, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association say they are willing to “phase out the practice of varying premiums based on health status in the individual market” if all Americans are required to get coverage.
Which is a nice way of saying that if it is mandated that every American has to pay them premiums, they will not overcharge people who need the coverage most, while they continue to refuse coverage. Nifty little scam that is!
Sorry, we are soooooooooooooooo over you. We were never that into you to begin with.
I feel like the abused partner in a woefully one-sided relationship, a relationship where I give and they take. I pay more and more every year while they say no, no and nope every time I actually need to use that supposed coverage I am paying for.
I say no more private healthcare – at all. Period.
No more multi-million dollar bonuses for CEO’s (meaning our premiums go into their pockets while we see more rejection letters). No more bonuses to the cold hearted people whose jobs entail canceling premiums, often mid-treatment. No more profits in exchange for death and suffering. Enough!
It’s nice to see that the insurance companies see the writing on the wall, enough so that they are now willing to not hold the sick in this country hostage to their ultra-despicable profits-above-everything philosophy – but only if every American pays them their ransom. Their greed will be their death. Unfortunately, the insurance companies are escalating the cost of premiums before taking that final Kamikaze dive into history.
Check out this timeline of healthcare in America over the last 100 years (pay attention to the Reagan years. It is sometimes easy to forget the extent of raping and pillaging that Reaganomics wrought upon this nation).
Until which time we all have access to affordable healthcare, something which can only take place with a negotiating body the size of the US government, along with premiums paid to that same negotiating body, those fortunate enough to still have healthcare continue to pay for those who are uninsured, while the insurance companies continue to reap profits. There is no free lunch and the cost of that lunch is on each of us – with the net margin and tips going into the pockets of the insurance industry.
There can never be real healthcare when profits are involved in life and death decision making. Until which time Congress gets off the American tax-payer teat of having the best healthcare available, while the rest of us suffer through the profit scheme that is called our healthcare system, it remains to be seen whether Americans will actually get the kind of healthcare which every other industrialized nation on the planet already has.
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Stick Your Damn Hand In It: 20th Birthday of the Exxon Valdez Lie
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
by Greg Palast
“Gail, Please! Stick your hand in it!”
The petite Eskimo-Chugach woman gave me that you-dumb-ass-white-boy look.
“Gail, Gail. STICK YOUR GOODDAMN HAND IN IT!”
She stuck it in, under the gravel of the beach at Sleepy Bay, her village’s fishing ground. Gail’s hand came up dripping with black, sickening goo. It could make you vomit. Oil from the Exxon Valdez.
It was already two years after the spill and Exxon had crowed that Mother Nature had happily cleaned up their stinking oil mess for them. It was a lie. But the media wouldn’t question the bald-faced bullshit. And who the hell was going to investigate Exxon’s claim way out in some godforsaken Native village in the Prince William Sound?
So I convinced the Natives to fly the lazy-ass reporters out to Sleepy Bay on rented float planes to see the oil that Exxon said wasn’t there.
Even GOP Hates Cheney, Begs Him To Go Back Into Hiding!
It is nice to see a glimmer of common sense among the GOP. They even want Cheney to go hide under a rock in a undisclosed location, sounds like an excellent idea to me. If I never see his face again, all the better. So it gave me a chuckle when I read the headline from The Hill, that the GOP is begging Cheney to hide.
Since Cheney’s approval ratings are even lower than George Bush, which are getting close to subterranean, they are worried he is hurting their efforts to rebuild the party. As one lawmaker put it:
Cheney did “House Republicans no favors,” the lawmaker said, adding, “I could never understand him anyway.”
Another House Republican lawmaker who requested anonymity said he wasn’t surprised that Cheney has strongly criticized Obama early in his term, but argued that it’s not helping the GOP cause.
If they are so worried about their reputation building, they need to quit allowing Rush Limbaugh to be their cheerleader, as well. They should abhor not only the misdeeds of Cheney’s lies and treachery but also, the falsehoods spewed across the airwaves that some believe to be based in facts.
Turley: Obama gets low grade on prosecuting Cheney
On 60 Minutes, the president fired back at comments made by former Vice President Cheney about his foreign policies. He even repudiated Bush/Cheney torture policies and Guantanamo Bay.
Did Obama do enough? Rachel Maddow is joined by George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley.
Turley just can’t say it any clearer than this. There is NO need for a “Truth Commission”. Congress has ALL the evidence necessary to call for a criminal investigation into war crimes for the Bush/Cheney torture programs. There is no question, no debate or ambiguity here.
Turley: “This would be the shortest investigation in history”.
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