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July 05 Economists Point to Rising Debt as Next Crisis
Yanina Manolova / AP The soaring national debt is recorded on the National Debt Clock in New York. The national debt was $11,518,472,742,288 on Wednesday, according to the Treasury Department, but could actually be as high as $184,000, explained below.
WASHINGTON - The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It's the national debt. The country first got into debt to help pay for the Revolutionary War. Growing ever since, the debt stands today at a staggering $11.4 trillion — equivalent to about $37,000 for each and every American. And it's expanding by over $1 trillion a year. The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn. "Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently told Congress. Higher taxes, or reduced federal benefits and services — or a combination of both — may be the inevitable consequences. The debt is complicating efforts by President Barack Obama and Congress to cope with the worst recession in decades as stimulus and bailout spending combine with lower tax revenues to widen the gap. Interest payments on the debt alone cost $452 billion last year — the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense. It's quickly crowding out all other government spending. And the Treasury is finding it harder to find new lenders. U.S. has been debt-free only once, in 1834-35 Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary, said, "A national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." Some blessing. Since then, the nation has only been free of debt once, in 1834-1835. The national debt has expanded during times of war and usually contracted in times of peace, while staying on a generally upward trajectory. Over the past several decades, it has climbed sharply — except for a respite from 1998 to 2000, when there were annual budget surpluses, reflecting in large part what turned out to be an overheated economy. Middle East wars helped 'break' the debt clock The odometer-style "debt clock" near Times Square — put in place in 1989 when the debt was a mere $2.7 trillion — ran out of numbers and had to be shut down when the debt surged past $10 trillion in 2008. The clock has since been refurbished so higher numbers fit. There are several debt clocks on Web sites maintained by public interest groups that let you watch hundreds, thousands, millions zip by in a matter of seconds. The debt gap is "something that keeps me awake at night," Obama says. He pledged to cut the budget "deficit" roughly in half by the end of his first term. But "deficit" just means the difference between government receipts and spending in a single budget year. This year's deficit is now estimated at about $1.85 trillion. Deficits don't reflect holdover indebtedness from previous years. Some spending items — such as emergency appropriations bills and receipts in the Social Security program — aren't included, either, although they are part of the national debt. The national debt is a broader, and more telling, way to look at the government's balance sheets than glancing at deficits. U.S. is more than $11 trillion in debt The overall debt is now slightly over 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product. By historical standards, it's not proportionately as high as during World War II, when it briefly rose to 120 percent of GDP. But it's still a huge liability. Also, the United States is not the only nation struggling under a huge national debt. Among major countries, Japan, Italy, India, France, Germany and Canada have comparable debts as percentages of their GDPs. Where does the government borrow all this money from? Treasury securities still seen as safe investments That's one of the rare upsides of U.S. government borrowing. Treasury securities are suitable for individual investors and popular with other countries, especially China, Japan and the Persian Gulf oil exporters, the three top foreign holders of U.S. debt. But as the U.S. spends trillions to stabilize the recession-wracked economy, helping to force down the value of the dollar, the securities become less attractive as investments. Some major foreign lenders are already paring back on their purchases of U.S. bonds and other securities. And if major holders of U.S. debt were to flee, it would send shock waves through the global economy — and sharply force up U.S. interest rates. As time goes by, demographics suggest things will get worse before they get better, even after the recession ends, as more baby boomers retire and begin collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits. Public concerned about debt's effects on future If things can't be turned around, including establishing a more efficient health care system (which is generally not considered the one being crammed down American’s throat now by the Democrats and the Obama administration) "We are on an utterly unsustainable fiscal course," said the White House budget director, Peter Orszag. Some budget-restraint activists claim even the debt understates the nation's true liabilities. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figures does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments. That would put the nation's full obligations (now) at $56 trillion, or roughly $184,000 per American, according to this calculation. Passing and accepting either the Cap-and-Trade or the Obama Health Care Plan in its present form, both being ramroded down American’s throats without knowing what they are getting and without their representatives being given time to read the plans or bills, would only worsen the present situation and increase the level of debt even more. Cap-and-Trade is a political power grab that wouldl interject government into every aspect of American life and would tax every American into the poor farm with virtually no affect on global warming (or climate change as it is now called), on which humans questionably have had any or little affect. And although healthcare reform including Medicare is vital, the government involved plan is the wrong path. Cap-and-Trade is a no go… just look at Spain and other countries who have taken the “Green” route. We will lose not gain jobs; we will interject government control into all areas of our lives; and the cost of energy and everything else will skyrocket, including taxes. We need to incentivize the private sector to develop clean and efficient energy along with allowing more drilling and nuclear development as well as revisiting present restrictions and releasing patents that have been bought up by Big Oil, the Auto Industry and Unions. ObamaCare is also a no go… Just read the stats of countries with socialized or nationalized medicine and the records of Canadians who have testified before the Senate about their care… and why they come to the U.S. if they are really sick. Again, we need to incentivize the private sector, work with or legislate change through the AMA, Big Pharma and private health insurance companies to workout a better and more affordable system and allow creative programs as well as including natural alternatives to be used and considered. We need reform not a government run system. Medicare, Social Security, Veteran’s Benefits and the Post Office are examples of government run programs. Need we say more? Let the Obama Administration fix those 4-programs first, before taking on another program that won’t work and will cost us more money for worse care for everyone while still leaving people without healthcare. And while President Obama feels he has a good connection with the Arab World he should use it to negotiate with OPEC… Lower priced oil would made drastic a difference in our economy and debt. Perhaps we should also ask what happened to Obama’s campaign promise of going through the budget line by line as well as reviewing government programs and jobs and streamling? He promised to cut out the fat, lower the cost of government and complete transparency… and well as no tax increases of any kind for anyone making under $250,000 a year. He also promised to used his power of line item veto. None of this has happened, spending is rampant and indirect taxes as well as huge increases for Cap-and-Trade and Healthcare are in the works. Start calling, writing, faxing and emailing your U.S Congressperson,Senator and the White House… “NO” on Cap-and-Trade and “NO” on nationalized healthcare or any healthcare program that includes a government or single payer option… or our children and grandchildren will never dig out from the debt!! You have the power... 2010 and 2012 elections are right around the corner, in political terms, and there are grassroots movements springing up everywhere. Remember the National Debt Clock… tick tock, tick tock, tick tock… Ask Marion~ “Taxes can be reversed, stimulus debt can eventually be repaid but if we let Cap-and-Trade and government option health care pass, the United States as we know it will be changed negatively forever!” …Dick Morris on Hannity. Source: Knowledge Creates Power Posted: Marion’s Place Related Resources:
July 04 Michael Jackson set to be embalmed at the O2 Centre after missing the deadline for cryogenic freezingMichael Jackson will live on as a 'plastinated' creature preserved by German doctor Gunther von Hagens.Von Hagens has caused controversy with everyone from the Pope to the chief rabbi in Israel with his practice of embalming corpses with preserving polyurethane. Yesterday, he declared: 'An agreement is in place to plastinate the King of Pop.'
'An agreement is in place': German doctor Gunther von Hagens says he is to preserve the King of Pop with polyurethane
Michael Jackson with his Chimpanzee Bubbles in 1991: Bubbles currently resides at the Body Worlds exhibit at the O2 Centre in London Von Hagens said that he spoke with representatives of the Jackson family 'many months ago' and it was agreed that his body will be plastinated and placed next to Bubbles, his late pet monkey who was plastinated a number of years ago and is exhibited at The Body Worlds & Mirror Of Time exhibition at the O2 Centre in London. Von Hagens also confirmed it was one of Michael's final requests to be reunited with Bubbles. 'There is no better place than to do this at the venue where Jackson was due to perform his world record 50-date tour,' said a spokesman for Von Hagens. He added: 'Von Hagens has hinted that a moonwalk pose would naturally be favoured. 'It is hoped the exhibit will be unveiled towards the end of July.' It was widely believed that the singer, who died yesterday from a heart attack, was interested in having his body frozen in the hope he could later be brought back to life. However, it is now too late for his wish to be granted as the freezing process - cryonics - must be initiated almost immediately after death but an autopsy on Jackson's body still needs to be carried out.
Cryonic freezing: Michael Jackson would need to have been put in a supercooled chamber very soon after his death for it to be effective Cryonics is the cooling of legally dead people to liquid nitrogen temperature where physical decay essentially stops, with the idea that technology developed in the future will be able to revive them. No-one has ever been revived using this process although it is a popular subject in science fiction films such as Forever Young featuring Mel Gibson. Despite this, cryogenic freezing has become more popular over time. Media mogul Simon Cowell caused headlines recently after he said that he wanted to undergo the process. 'Medical science is bound to work out a way of bringing us back to life in the next century or so, and I want to be available when they do,' he said. How cryonics works The medical process is a complicated one. Immediately after a cryonic patient's death certificate is signed by a doctor, a cryonics team restores the heartbeat and respiration using a machine to help keep cells in organs and tissues alive. The patient's body is then cooled from body temperature (37C) to 10C as quickly as possible using ice.
Mel Gibson played a character from the 1930s who was frozen for 60 years in the 1992 film Forever Young Medication is added to their bloodstream to help preserve the body. Blood is then removed from the body and replaced with a saline-like solution that stops the shrinking or swelling of cells and tissues. Anti-freeze agents are added to the blood vessels and the body is placed in a special cooling box where it is cooled to between -120C and -196C and stored away. However, for this process to have any chance of working, the cryonic process must be started just minutes after 'legal death' is verified by doctors. This is because a dead person's brain will start to experience a build-up of lactic acid at room temperature. Within 24 hours it will have virtually dissolved. So with an autopsy on Michael Jackson expected 24 hours after his death, it's already too late for the Peter Pan of pop who never wanted to grow up. Posted: Marion’s Place Related Article: July 03 Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama
(CNSNews.com) - Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press. “Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try. “What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.” Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran. “When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said. “I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.” Gibbs then had an exchange involving Reid and Thomas that went as follows: Gibbs: “… But, again, let's--How about we do this? I promise we will interrupt the AP's tradition of asking the first question. I will let you [Chip Reid] ask me a question tomorrow as to whether you thought the questions at the town hall meeting that the President conducted in Annandale—“ Chip Reid: “I'm perfectly happy to—” Helen Thomas: “That's not his point. The point is the control—” Reid: “Exactly.” Thomas: “We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some, but not-- This White House.” Gibbs: “Yes, I was going to say, I'll let you amend her question.” Thomas: “I'm amazed. I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—” Gibbs: “Helen, you haven't even heard the questions.” Reid: “It doesn't matter. It's the process.” Thomas: “You have left open—” Reid: “Even if there's a tough question, it's a question coming from somebody who was invited or was screened, or the question was screened.” Thomas: “It's shocking. It's really shocking.” Gibbs: “Chip, let's have this discussion at the conclusion of the town hall meeting. How about that?” Reid: “Okay.” Gibbs: “I think—“ Gibbs: “Well, I'd be happy to have it now.” Thomas: “It's a pattern.” Gibbs: “Which question did you object to at the town hall meeting, Helen?” Thomas: “It's a pattern. It isn't the question—” Gibbs: “What's a pattern?” Thomas: “It's a pattern of controlling the press.” Gibbs: “How so? Is there any evidence currently going on that I'm controlling the press--poorly, I might add.” Thomas: “Your formal engagements are pre-packaged.” Gibbs: “How so?” Reid: “Well, and controlling the public—” Thomas: “How so? By calling reporters the night before to tell them they're going to be called on. That is shocking.” Gibbs: “We had this discussion ad nauseam and—” Thomas: “Of course you would, because you don't have any answers.” Gibbs: “Well, because I didn't know you were going to ask a question, Helen. Thomas: “Well, you should have.” Reporter: Thank you for your support. Gibbs: “That's good. Have you e-mailed your question today?” Thomas: “I don't have to e-mail it. I can tell you right now what I want to ask.” Gibbs: “I don't doubt that at all, Helen. I don't doubt that at all.” Wednesday, July 01, 2009 ------- Krauthammer: Press 'Stupor' on Obama 'Lifting Slightly'; Hume: Reporters Were Tired of Criticism
Earlier in the program, Brit Hume declared “the head over heals phase of the honeymoon with the press is over” and he speculated: “I think the reporters down there were tired of being criticized for being soft on Obama.” Krauthammer's observation during the panel segment on the Tuesday, June 23 Special Report with Bret Baier:
Related Articles: Posted: Marion’s Place Welcome To Obamacare Theater
The White House sure likes to put on a show. Fresh off its joint stage production with ABC News, the Obama administration broadcast another health-care propaganda play this week under the guise of a citizen "town hall." Chicago consigliere and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett managed the floor and human props for Obama. In a telling moment as the event kicked off, she protested a wee bit much: "I want to emphasize that the president has not seen the questions ahead of time." The audience responded with polite laughter. But the denials of pre-planning and stacked decks deserve nothing but derisive mockery. Obama's town hall was filled with backroom players and a supporting cast of socialized medicine activists and ideologues. One of the three lucky audience members whom Obama chose for questioning was Jason Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum works for the Washington, D.C.-based Health Care for America Now (HCAN). That's the same K Street Astroturf outfit I reported on last week -- the one with a $40 million budget to lobby for government-run health care. The one inextricably linked to left-wing billionaire George Soros. Let's look at who else miraculously drew a golden ticket. Another one of the three softball-tossing citizen questioners at the White House forum identified herself as a member of the Service Employees International Union. That's the same SEIU whose president, Andy Stern, boasted of spending nearly $61 million in members' dues to elect Barack Obama. It's the same union that produced Patrick Gaspard, former SEIU health-care lobbyist and now White House director of the Office of Political Affairs. But the Obama health-care town hall's climactic moment came when the consoler in chief plucked Debby Smith from the crowd to tell her personal health-care horror story. She choked back tears as she talked of her battle with kidney cancer, her joblessness and her lack of insurance. Obama hugged the trembling woman and dubbed her "Exhibit A" for his massive entitlement program. Debby Smith, however, is no ordinary patient. While she may be "unemployed," she has been rather busy working for the Obama campaign -- as a volunteer for Organizing for America. It's the old Obama for Change political machine now housed under the Democratic National Committee. Smith has also identified herself as a worker for the Virginia Organizing Project, which has been coordinating lobbying trips and health-care forums with HCAN. Yes, that same HCAN. In December, Smith moderated "a community discussion on health care issues" in Appalachia, Va., and told her local paper that the meeting "would be reported back to former Sen. Tom Daschle, who has been directed by President-elect Barack Obama to form a committee to report on health-care issues." Daschle may be out of the spotlight since his Health and Human Services Cabinet-nomination fiasco. But he is in constant contact with Team Obama. As he told The Associated Press earlier this week in a media meeting on health-care reform, "We interact with them daily." No doubt. Veteran liberal journalist Helen Thomas earned some accolades for challenging the tightly controlled White House events. But where was she back in March, when Team Obama pulled the same stunt? At a health-care event in the East Room, the questioners included an Obama donor, a Democratic National Committee member, a former Democratic candidate for the Virginia statehouse who had publicly endorsed Obama and a member of the SEIU. Yes, that SEIU. The growing irritation of the once-smitten Beltway media is better late than never, I suppose. But one wonders what took so long for the sedatives to wear off the watchdogs. Team Obama has screamed "kabuki" from day one.
By: Michelle Malkin - Blogger, author of the forthcoming "Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies" (Regnery 2009), and contributor to Creators Syndicate, Inc. Source: GOPUSA.com Posted: Marion’s Place Related Resources:
The 2012 GOP Presidential Race Has BegunDuring this week leading up to America’s 233rd Birthday Weekend, two Republican candidates appear to have dropped their gauntlets… however indirectly. The 2012 Race has begun~ Publically Mitt Romney has been saying he’s not considering another presidential campaign, even as recently as last Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Then later in the week Romney said on a Fox News interview that he ‘had the fire to run for president again’ he just hoped that the people would be warmed by it. And although he has not officially opened his campaign his Team is ready and waiting for the announcement. (Photo: AP) Many of Mitt Romney's loyalists have expected another presidential bid and have remained at the ready for 2012. Then today Sarah Palin shocked everyone by announcing that she was not running for a 2nd term as Governor of Alaska and rather than staying on as a lame duck, she was Of course the immediate speculation after the surprise Palin announcement has been that Governor Palin has quit to focus on a bid for the 2012 Republican nomination for president. Others have speculated that she might have decided to put her political career on hold to spend some time with her family or even to turn her back on politics altogether. There are of course many others who will toss their hats into the ring as the race gets closer and as Obama and his policies continue to drop in popularity. In recent polls Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney occupy the top spots for possible 2012 GOP candidates… other possibles include Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and who knows who else; even Jeb Bush has been mentioned. And whoever thought of Barack Obama as a presidential candidate for 2008 back in July of 2005, let alone Sarah Palin for VP? There have also already been rumblings of a Romney-Palin ticket. Whatever the future holds for the GOP… it will be interesting! By Marion Algier/ Ask Marion Posted: Marion’s Place Related Posts: Palin Quits as Alaska GovernorAlaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she is stepping down at the end of the month, setting up a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
Palin made the surprise announcement from her home in Wasilla, flanked by her husband, Todd, and family and state commissioners. "I never believed that I nor anyone else needs a title to do this, to make a difference," she said. "I'm determined to take the right path for Alaska, even though it is unconventional and it's not so comfortable." Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks at the end of the month, Palin said. The announcement came on the same week that one of her top public health officials says she was forced out of office because Palin felt she wasn't in step on social issues. Palin's decision now allows her to avoid the difficult task of running for president while serving as governor. Todd Palin told FOX News that his wife will concentrate on "doing the things for Alaska and the country" that she is passionate about and can not do as governor with the limitation and constant opposition she deals with within the state. Palin, who defeated incumbent Gov. Murkowski in a primary in 2006,.gained national prominence when GOP presidential candidate John McCain picked her as his running mate last year. But her approval ratings in the state have skidded in recent months. Palin has been dogged in recent months by ethics inquiries. Her office last month announced the 15th dismissal of an ethics complaint against her or one of her staff. On Wednesday, Beverly Wooley, who has worked more than 20 years in public health in Alaska, most of it with the municipality of Anchorage, ended her stint as state public health director. She's the second top health official to leave within days. The state's chief medical officer, Jay Butler, left in late June after declining to take on Wooley's job along with his own. He now is in Atlanta, overseeing a U.S. Centers for Disease Control task force on a vaccine to protect against the H1N1 flu virus. FOX News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Posted: Marion’s Place Building collapses in one piece… Future of our Manufactured Goods?Remember… If Cap and Trade Passes, this is the country where most of America’s manufacturing is moving too…
Source: Archinect.com / Knowledge Creates Power Posted: Marion’s Place Related Resources:
Czarred And Feathered |
- updated 11:31 a.m. PT, Sat., July 4, 2009
President Obama is introduced before taking questions during a discussion on health care, July 1, 2009, at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale , Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Columnist Charles Krauthammer noted on FNC's Special Report that while “there wasn't exactly aggressiveness on the part of the press with a couple of exceptions” during the afternoon presidential press conference, “it looked as if the stupor that the press has been in for the last six months is lifting slightly.” Krauthammer quipped: “I say that as a psychiatrist who has a lot of experience in watching these things.”
Press.” But many of his loyal followers expect one. Mitt did admit that he would consider using some of his own money to fund his campaign again, if he had to. Mitt, in the opinion of many, may be the right man for the race with his strong economic background.
 | Dr. Mercola's Comments: |
Health care reform is finally on the table, but there’s little agreement about the cure for the current system. And, if you ask me, it appears that what the public really wants, and what the government is willing to consider are two different animals.
Health care as a cash cow may simply be too deeply entrenched in the consciousness of the industry and their paid lackeys to be able to provide what people want: healthier and more inexpensive options, and the freedom to choose; to have alternatives to dangerous prescription drugs and unnecessary surgeries.
In the video above, Congressman Ron Paul, who is also an M.D., gives his perspective on the past and future of medicine in the U.S., and the effects of government and special interests on quality, costs and access.
Big Pharma, Big Business, Big Disaster
One of the problems in our current system, he says, is the lack of competition, partly due to too much government intervention.
I would agree with that sentiment, and add that not only do we lack competition within the allopathic field, but we also lack true competition between the allopathic and alternative medicine fields. True competition will only occur once alternative medicine is embraced and fully allowed to BE an officially viable alternative to conventional treatments.
As it stands now, recent media coverage has shown you just how dire your situation can get if you dare refuse conventional medical treatment and opt for other less dangerous alternatives.
A recent slew of articles also indicate there might be an organized campaign underway to undermine the validity and effectiveness of alternative medicine in the mind of the public.
And doctors are intimidated beyond reason to fall in line with pharmaceutical cartels’ agenda.
Is it any wonder that we’re fighting an uphill battle?
Not really, because as I’ll show you a bit later in this article, Big Pharma is at the very core of this mess, and so far no one is addressing the underlying paradigm that is the crux of our current health care problem.
Why are U.S. Health Care Costs so High?
If you didn’t already know this, American medical care is the most expensive in the world. The U.S. spends more than twice as much on each person for health care as most other industrialized countries. And yet it has fallen to last place among those countries in preventing avoidable deaths through use of timely and effective medical care.
That the system is fatally flawed and in need of a radical overhaul is self-evident.
According to a 2008 report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 90 percent of Americans believe our medical system should be “completely rebuilt” or that “fundamental changes” are required.
A recent article on the WIP.net web site points out numerous reasons why health care costs have run amok. One major problem that is inflating costs is the staggering number of medically unwarranted surgeries being performed each year.
Topping the list of the most over-utilized surgeries in the U.S. are cesarean sections and hysterectomies.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 31 percent of the 4.3 million births in 2006 were surgical, at a price tag of anywhere between $2,000 and $200,000 each. Planned cesarean births cost an average 76 percent more than a vaginal birth, according to a 2007 report published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
And the rate of hysterectomies in America is nothing short of appalling.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one-third of American women have had their female organs removed by the age of 60.
By the age of 65, HALF of all women have had a hysterectomy!
But that’s not the most shocking part of the statistics. In her WIP article, Nora Coffey states:
“Findings from more than 850,000 counseling sessions at the HERS Foundation in Philadelphia puts the percentage of hysterectomies that could be avoided with conservative treatment (or no treatment at all) at about98 percent.”
More than $17 billion a year is spent on direct doctor and hospital charges for hysterectomies – most of which are completely unnecessary!
Clearly, unwarranted surgical interventions are costing tax payers billions of dollars each year, in the form of Medicare/Medicaid payouts or higher insurance premiums.
Who benefits?
Doctors and hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies, of course.
Are YOU Ready to Root Out the Driving Force Behind Skyrocketing Costs and Falling Health Statistics?
The truth is that the terrible health statistics of the U.S. are primarily caused by the drug cartel and the food industry. Worse yet, it’s not by accident, nor by ignorant oversight, which is why no politician will likely ever be able to fix it.
The drug industry has been able to manipulate and control the U.S. Congress to pass just about any and every law they need to increase their profits. Once you understand how they control the government, you realize how they are diverting hundreds of billions of dollars for their hyperinflated drug prices. This money goes into their own pockets and has nothing to do with making you healthier.
There is NO PILL that can make you healthier! They can only mask symptoms, and more often than not cause additional health problems.
It is this diversion of funding that is the primary reason why American health is so poor. If these funds were spent wisely and not used for products that don’t work and that aren’t safe, there is no doubt in my mind the United States would lead the world in health stats.
So, the question I ask myself when I watch this ongoing drama with politicians squabbling over private- versus government-funded health care insurance plans is:
Will Any Of The Options On The Table Fix The Underlying Problem?
Will a government-sponsored health plan reduce the number of unnecessary prescriptions? Will there be fewer unwarranted surgeries? Will it reduce costs by focusing on prevention, and offering less dangerous and more inexpensive alternatives?
I believe the answer is no.
The focus is still on allopathic medicine; the ability for everyone to afford its conventional therapies and treatment protocols.
So whether a public health care plan is a good idea or not is almost beside the point, because what we REALLY need is a radical change in consciousness about what health and health care really is.
As long as the focus of our health care is on drugs and surgical interventions, we will never see the fundamental changes that are so desperately needed.
No politician will be able to accomplish this feat, so sitting around waiting for it is futile. It can only be done by YOU changing how you think about health care and your health.
It can only be accomplished one person at a time, until so many people refuse the unnecessarily dangerous and counterproductive solutions currently offered by conventional medicine that there will be no option left but for the system to change to your will.
But we cannot dawdle too long.
Some are already blowing their warning trumpets, showing why, when it comes to demanding health care insurance coverage for all, you should be careful what you ask for.
A Natural Health Line article by Peter Chowka reads:
“… we have a date for the official end of alternative medicine, and for the medical freedom on which alternative medicine is based: October 2009.
On June 12, 2009, the U.S. press reported that President Obama wants a universal health care bill on his desk by next October. The Democrats in Congress are promising to give it to him. Not only will such legislation unalterably change the practice of medicine (including exponentially expanding the role of the anti-alt med federal government), it will force all Americans to carry conventional allopathic medical insurance, whether they want it or not.
Now, consider that alternative medicine has been able to grow and thrive in recent decades because people have had the ability and choice to pay for it themselves, almost exclusively out of their own pockets. Many people who are of independent mind and who are better educated have chosen not to invest in conventional medicine, including bloated insurance for medical care they don’t want.
Instead, they often direct their personal resources to healthy lifestyles and primary prevention (such as organic food, nutritional supplements, etc.) and to non-toxic, traditional, unconventional, or alternative treatments.
When all Americans (except those who can prove poverty to a government apparatchik) will be required to pay thousands of dollars annually for allopathic insurance, the ability to choose alternatives will be severely if not totally impaired.”
This scenario may become the unfortunate reality for many, and makes universal health care coverage part of the problem, not part of the solution.
I agree with Congressman Ron Paul in that health insurance should be for major emergencies only. It doesn’t need to be the sole route for every problem, which is turning out to be a financial catastrophe.
If You Demand It, They Will Follow
Doctors, that is.
It’s very easy to cast blame on doctors. After all, medical errors are the leading cause of death in the U.S.
However, whether or not doctors succeed in upholding the Hippocratic Oath – the promise to Do No Harm – is not always entirely in their own hands.
The conventional medical system is simply not designed to give them that freedom. It’s VITAL that you understand that regardless of their personal opinions, many times they’re simply not allowed to offer you any other alternatives than what the “standard protocol” demands.
Unfortunately, that does place a certain amount of responsibility onto you, the patient. Because although there may be much safer means to help with your ailment, if you go to a conventional physician, he or she is likely not going to tell you about them unless you ask, and ask in an appropriate way. This previous article highlights this issue and offers guidance on how you can best work WITH your doctor to get the best care.
Medical Doctors are Leaving the Profession in Droves
The fact that many American doctors are as fed up with (and victims of) the system as you are, is evident by the fact that:
- One U.S. physician commits suicide each day. On the average, death by suicide is about 70 percent more likely among male physicians than among other professionals, and 250 percent to 400 percent higher among female physicians
- Half of all physicians want to quit practicing three years after receiving their degrees
Why do so many doctors want out?
One major factor is “factory medicine” and the subsequent loss of autonomy to make the best decisions for each patient on a case-by-case basis, as discussed by Dr. Pamela Wible in the July issue of Spirituality & Health Magazine.
Based on her own frustration with the system, followed by depression and wanting to quit, she developed a brand new community-based health care clinic that includes what her community said they wanted from “the clinic of their dreams.” (To read more about this pioneering doctor, who took matters into her own hands rather than giving up, please see her website.)
She believes many doctors are literally dying to be allowed to truly care for their patients in a space of cooperation and trust.
Nearly every available index shows that the current multitrillion dollar investment in disease-care is a miserable failure.
Isn’t it time to realize that some of the best ways to improve your health are very inexpensive? Some are even free. And leave major medical insurance for actual emergencies.
Senator Inhofe Calls for Inquiry Into 'Suppressed' Climate Change Report
Administration Buried Report Questioning Global Warming
Republicans are raising questions about why the EPA apparently dismissed an analyst's report questioning the science behind global warming.
EPA analyst Alan Carlin raised questions about the impact of global warming on areas like Greenland. Shown here is an iceberg off Ammassalik Island, Greenland. (AP Photo)
A top Republican senator has ordered an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's alleged suppression of a report that questioned the science behind global warming.
The 98-page report, co-authored by EPA analyst Alan Carlin, pushed back on the prospect of regulating gases like carbon dioxide as a way to reduce global warming. Carlin's report argued that the information the EPA was using was out of date, and that even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased, global temperatures have declined.
"He came out with the truth. They don't want the truth at the EPA," Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., a global warming skeptic, told FOX News, saying he's ordered an investigation. "We're going to expose it."
The controversy comes after the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, one that Inhofe said will be "dead on arrival" in the Senate despite President Obama's energy adviser voicing confidence in the measure.
According to internal e-mails that have been made public by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Carlin's boss told him in March that his material would not be incorporated into a broader EPA finding and ordered Carlin to stop working on the climate change issue. The draft EPA finding released in April lists six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, that the EPA says threaten public health and welfare.
An EPA official told FOXNews.com on Monday that Carlin, who is an economist -- not a scientist -- included "no original research" in his report. The official said that Carlin "has not been muzzled in the agency at all," but stressed that his report was entirely "unsolicited."
"It was something that he did on his own," the official said. "Though he was not qualified, his manager indulged him and allowed him on agency time to draft up ... a set of comments."
Despite the EPA official's remarks, Carlin told FOXNews.com on Monday that his boss, National Center for Environmental Economics Director Al McGartland, appeared to be pressured into reassigning him.
Carlin said he doesn't know whether the White House intervened to suppress his report but claimed it's clear "they would not be happy about it if they knew about it," and that McGartland seemed to be feeling pressure from somewhere up the chain of command.
Carlin said McGartland told him he had to pull him off the climate change issue.
"It was reassigning you or losing my job, and I didn't want to lose my job," Carlin said, paraphrasing what he claimed were McGartland's comments to him. "My inference (was) that he was receiving some sort of higher-level pressure."
Carlin said he personally does not think there is a need to regulate carbon dioxide, since "global temperatures are going down." He said his report expressed a "good bit of doubt" on the connection between the two.
Specifically, the report noted that global temperatures were on a downward trend over the past 11 years, that scientists do not necessarily believe that storms will become more frequent or more intense due to global warming, and that the theory that temperatures will cause Greenland ice to rapidly melt has been "greatly diminished."
Carlin, in a March 16 e-mail, argued that his comments are "valid, significant" and would be critical to the EPA finding.
McGartland, though, wrote back the next day saying he had decided not to forward his comments.
"The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision," he wrote, according to the e-mails released by CEI. "I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office."
He later wrote an e-mail urging Carlin to "move on to other issues and subjects."
"I don't want you to spend any additional EPA time on climate change. No papers, no research, etc., at least until we see what EPA is going to do with climate," McGartland wrote.
The EPA said in a written statement that Carlin's opinions were in fact considered, and that he was not even part of the working group dealing with climate change in the first place.
"Claims that this individual's opinions were not considered or studied are entirely false. This administration and this EPA administrator are fully committed to openness, transparency and science-based decision making," the statement said. "The individual in question is not a scientist and was not part of the working group dealing with this issue. Nevertheless the document he submitted was reviewed by his peers and agency scientists, and information from that report was submitted by his manager to those responsible for developing the proposed endangerment finding. In fact, some ideas from that document are included and addressed in the endangerment finding."
The e-mail exchanges and suggestions of political interference sparked a backlash from Republicans in Congress.
Reps. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also wrote a letter last week to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the agency to reopen its comment period on the finding. The EPA has since denied the request.
Citing the internal e-mails, the Republican congressmen wrote that the EPA was exhibiting an "agency culture set in a predetermined course."
"It documents at least one instance in which the public was denied access to significant scientific literature and raises substantial questions about what additional evidence may have been suppressed," they wrote.
In a written statement, Issa said the administration is "actively seeking to withhold new data in order to justify a political conclusion."
"I'm sure it was very inconvenient for the EPA to consider a study that contradicted the findings it wanted to reach," Sensenbrenner said in a statement, adding that the "repression" of Carlin's report casts doubt on the entire finding.
Carlin said he's concerned that he's seeing "science being decided at the presidential level."
"Now Mr. Obama is in effect directly or indirectly saying that CO2 causes global temperatures to rise and that we have to do something about it. ... That's normally a scientific judgment and he's in effect judging what the science says," he said. "We need to look at it harder."
The controversy is similar to one under the Bush administration -- only the administration was taking the opposite stance. In that case, scientist James Hansen claimed the administration was trying to keep him from speaking out and calling for reductions in greenhousegases.
By Judson Berger - FOXNews.com
Click here to read Carlin's report.
FOX News' Major Garrett contributed to this report
Posted: Daily Thought Pad
Related Resources:
- Energy Czar Has Not Read Climate Bill Either & Boehner Say Bill Is Pile of S__t!
- 8 GOP Votes Pave Way For Cap-and-Trade
- Pelosi Pushes Carbon Tax Vote Today
- The 8 Cap-and-Tax Republicans and 44 Dems Who Voted No
- House Passes Milestone Energy, Climate Change Bill
- WSJ: Cap-And-Tax a great deal… if you don’t Measure the Costs
- Congressman Requests Moment of Silence for Jobs Lot From Cap…
- Stifling Science To ‘Fight Warming
- Video: Obama: My Cap-and-Trade Plan Will Make Electricity Rates 'Skyrocket' | The FOX Nation"’
- Green Hell
Tighten Your Belts America While Michelle Obama enjoys Paris Privilege barred to millions in France: Sunday Shopping
Rossignol/Reuters - U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (C) waves as she leaves a clothing store after she and her daughters went shopping in Paris June 7, 2009.
Related ARTICLES
PARIS - Michelle Obama and her girls enjoyed a special Sunday shopping trip in Paris this month thanks to friends in high places who bent France's Sunday store-closing rules.
President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that calls were made to open a swanky children's boutique, usually closed by law on Sundays, where the First Lady and her two daughters perused racks of $200 summer dresses and $100 sweaters.
"Is it normal that on a Sunday when Madame Obama wants to go to the Paris shops with her daughters, that I have to make phone calls to have them open?" said Sarkozy, who is pushing to change the law.
"Who is going to explain to them why France is the only country where shops are closed on Sundays?"
It was actually the U.S. Embassy that arranged for opening of the shop, Bonpoint, a store spokeswoman said.
But presumably the boutique won't have to worry about paying hefty fines for shops that buck a 1906 law banning most Sunday shopping.
There was no immediate comment from the First Lady's White House office or the State Department.
After a private lunch on June 7 with Sarkozy and his wife, Carla, the First Lady's entourage headed to the upscale St.-Germain-des-Près neighborhood so Obama and her daughters could enjoy a private trip to Bonpoint, a branch of the upscale French chain.
The Obamas arrived in a small group and stayed for about an hour, a store spokeswoman said.
She wouldn't confirm what the party bought, but a hot-pink linen dress, ideal for 8-year-old Sasha, goes for $212. A simple white cotton version, perfect for 10-year-old Malia, costs $255.
Add $102 for a coordinating navy cardigan. President Obama, in France for the June 6 D-Day anniversary, brought along his family - and a 30-car motorcade -- for a whirlwind weekend visit that shut down parts of Paris.
Even the French finance minister was forced off her bike while the First Family navigated the capital's famous boulevards.
The President left at midday Sunday, leaving his wife and daughters to enjoy another day in Paris before they moved on to London.
Unlike in the U.S. and Great Britain, most of France's 62 million people have do their shopping Monday to Saturday - and not during lunchtime when many stores close.
There are exceptions for shops selling food, or those deemed to have a "recreational" or "cultural" value, mostly in tourist areas.
Stores like Virgin mega store and Ikea that buck the law have been slapped with huge fines. Sarkozy is moving to expand the tourist zones as part of his push to get France to "work more, earn more."
Polls show two-thirds of French support changing the law.
But small retailers say they can't afford the provision that requires employees to be paid double-time on Sundays.
If Michelle Obama has timed her trip for the twice-annual sales, which began last week, her Bonpoint outing would have been much cheaper, with items marked down up to 50%.
Related Resources:
- Michelle Obama Wants More Influence on the President’s Agenda
- Michelle Obama is Building Her Boot Camps For Radicals with Tax-Payer Money
- What’s Behind Obama’s Sudden Attempt to Fire the AmeriCorps Inspector General??
- Michelle Obama’s Early Militant Racism Revealed
- Michelle Obama Thesis Was On Racial Divide
- Michelle Obama As Our First Lady???
- President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care… For His Family, What About Yours?
Source: Fox Nation/Posted Daily Thought Pad
Posted: Marion’s Place
Alice in Medical Care
Let's start at square one. Why is there alarm about American medical care? The most usual reason given is because its cost is high and rising.
That is certainly true. We were not spending nearly as much on high-tech medical procedures in the past because there were not nearly as many of them, and we were not spending anything at all on some of the new pharmaceutical drugs because they didn't exist.
This general pattern is not peculiar to medical care. Cars didn't cost nearly as much in the past, when they didn't have air-conditioning, power steering and high-tech safety features. Homes were cheaper when they were smaller, had fewer bathrooms and lacked such conveniences as built-in microwave ovens.
We would like to have all these things without the rising costs that come with them. But only with medical care is such wishful thinking taken seriously, with government regarded as a sort of fairy godmother who will give us the benefits without the costs.
A cynic is said to be someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. If so, then it is political cynicism to point to other countries that spend less on medical care, including some countries where there is "universal health care" provided "free" by their governments.
Just as medical care, houses and cars were all cheaper when they lacked things that they have today, so medical care in other countries is cheaper when they lack many things that are more readily available in the United States.
There are more than four times as many Magnetic Resonance Imaging units (MRIs) per capita in the United States as in Britain or Canada, where there are government-run medical systems. There are more than twice as many CT scanners per capita in the United States as in Canada and more than four times as many per capita as in Britain.
Is it surprising that such things cost money?
The cost of developing a new pharmaceutical drug is now about a billion dollars. Neither political rhetoric nor government bureaucracies will make those costs go away.
We can, of course, refuse to pay these and other medical costs, just as we can refuse to buy air-conditioned homes with built-in microwave ovens. But that just means we pay attention only to prices and not to the value of what we get for those prices.
We can even refuse to pay for so many doctors. But that just means that we will have to wait longer to see a doctor-- as people do in countries with government-run medical systems.
In Canada, 27 percent of the people who have surgery wait four months or more. In Britain, 38 percent wait that long. But only 5 percent of Americans wait that long for surgery.
Surgery may well cost less in countries with government-run medical systems-- if you count only the money cost, and not the time the patients have to endure the ailments that require surgery, or the fact that some conditions become worse, or even fatal, while waiting.
A recent report from the Fraser Institute in Canada shows that patients there wait an average of ten weeks to get an MRI, just to find out what is wrong with them. A lot of bad things can happen in 10 weeks, ranging from suffering to death.
Politicians may talk about "bringing down the cost of medical care," but they seldom even attempt to bring down the costs. What they bring down is the price-- which is to say, they refuse to pay the costs.
Anybody can refuse to pay any cost. But don't be surprised if you get less when you pay less. None of this is rocket science. But it does require us to stop and think before jumping on a bandwagon.
The great haste with which the latest government expansion into medical care is being rushed through Congress suggests that the politicians don't want us to stop and think. That makes sense, from their point of view, but not from ours.
By Thomas Sowell - Copyright 2009, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Source: Real Clear Politics
Posted: Marion’s Place
Obama supporters shut down Atlanta tea party
A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA - Obama supporters shut down Atlanta tea party
Wait until days before event to object to 'political' nature
President Obama may restrict his reaction to the nationwide tea party movement whereby tens of thousands of people are objecting to the spending spree on which the U.S. government has embarked under his leadership, but some of his supporters are taking more direct action: using an easement agreement to cancel a July 4th event scheduled on private property in Atlanta.
There, organizers had been working since March with officials to set up the tea party event in a parking lot of an old Macy's building at Gwinnett Place Mall, owned by Simon Properties Group.
Then only days ago, mall officials objected, giving organizers no opportunity to find a replacement location and no choice but to cancel.
"It is unfortunate the event had to be canceled," said Julianne Thompson, event co-organizer.
She continued, "The old Macy's building is on private property, and not owned by Simon Malls, however the mall manager asked the property owner and [me] to come in the office on Thursday of this week, and told us Simon does not want political events on its property. They were also concerned about the fact we were using the term 'protest.' Although the event was on private property, the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to reciprocal property easement agreements."
Event co-chair Debbie Dooley stated, "Our Atlanta Tea Party team tried for the next day and a half to find an alternative location large enough for the event, and with the proper layout for our vendors, children's activities, and fireworks show, but we could not find anything suitable that would have been available on July 4th."
Added Lee, "With just a few days left until the Fourth of July Tea Parties begin, this is very unfortunate timing! One wonders why Simon Property Group waited until now to interfere."
But he also connected the dots for those who really wonder:
- Gwinnett Place Mall shut down the Atlanta Tea Party.
- Simon Property Group owns Gwinnett Place Mall.
- Melvin Simon (a Forbes 400 billionaire) is co-chairman of Simon Property Group, Inc.
- Melvin Simon has provided large political contributions to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, John Edwards, the DNC and many other Democrats and Democrat organizations.
- Melvin Simon was a major contributor to Barack Obama's inaugural committee and has given at least $1 million to the William J. Clinton foundation.
- Melvin's wife, Bren, personally donated almost $100,000 to various political candidates, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and contributed to President Obama's inaugural committee.
According to Bob Owens at Pajamas Media, the evidence of the motive also was clear.
"The apparent plot was uncovered when blogger and radio talk show host Andrea Shea King noticed an unusual amount of traffic coming to her site earlier this month," he wrote.
"On June 16, Andrea Shea King e-mailed me, questioning a heavy burst of Sitemeter traffic coming from Simon.com. She included screencaps of the traffic," he wrote.
One screen shot has been embedded, revealing extended visits from Simon.com:
Owens said the computer readouts showed the Simon.com visitors were looking at anywhere from 20-44 pages on King's site and remained there 22-55 minutes.
"Obviously, they were very interested," he wrote.
He said King reached out to him because one of the pages the Simon.com visitors were watching on her site was a March 1 commentary that linked to one of his own – a story about the shortage of certain firearms and ammunition in the U.S.
Among his closing comments there was, "An increasing number of people are openly expressing that the reason they are stocking up on ammunition is that they fear the actions of our federal government. These are people who have never been radicals, most could generally care less about politics, and many have never even dreamed of owning guns until now.
"And while it will no doubt come as a surprise to those who would like to perpetrate the stereotype of gun owners as rural and uneducated — the kind that bitterly cling to their guns and Bibles as someone once scornfully said — anecdotal evidence suggests many new gun owners are minorities, and all social classes are purchasing firearms and ammunition," he said.
"While we seem to have a tea party movement growing nationwide as people voice their dissatisfaction with our power-mad, spending-crazed government by calling on the symbolism of the acts of Patriots in Boston Harbor more than two hundred years ago, I suspect those protests are hiding a deeper resentment and fears about the competency and goals of our federal leaders."
After the first round of tea party events, on Tax Day April 15, Obama displayed indifference toward those concerned about spending, as shown in this YouTube video:
He referenced "folks waving tea bags around" and said, "Let's not play games and pretend the reason is because of the Recovery Act (federal spending plan)."
Kim Priestap at the Wizbangblog wasn't convinced that he was as aloof as he tried to appear.
"When you watch the video, pay close attention to the tension in his face and the tone of his voice when he talks about the tea party protesters and 'certain news channels.' This massive tea party protest really got in his craw. Don't believe it when others say he didn't know about the protests. He knew. And he didn't like it one bit," Priestap wrote.
On a blog forum page, a participant wrote: "It is again a very scary example of the lengths the left will go to silence the voices that don't agree with the people in power. Be very afraid of your government. I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to light that the owners are personal friends of someONE."
At FaultlineUSA, Jim Simpson wrote, "Please urge everyone you know to participate in this boycott. Please contact Simon Properties to express your outrage and urge those of your friends who care about freedom to do the same. Following is the contact information for Gwinnett Place Mall and a form letter you can use in whole or in part if you wish."
Les Morris, a spokesman for Gwinnett Place, released the following statement to WND about the plans for adjacent private property:
"Gwinnett Place Mall is not public property, but is privately owned. In order to preserve the shopping experience for all guests, it is our standing policy not to permit political protests or rallies on mall property. To clarify the timing of our decision, mall management was not notified of the event or contacted for approval on event plans until just last week."
Posted: June 26, 200912:00 am Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
WND readers have been sending information on upcoming tea parties. Tea Party Patriots lists events by state on its website. Most of more than 400 following protests are planned by national organizer Amy Kremer and her Tea Party Patriots team. Or go to World Net Daily for full listings.
Source: Fox Nation
Posted: Marion’s Place
'National Sovereignty Day' in Iraq as U.S. Completed Pullout of Combat Forces From Iraq Cities
BAGHDAD — Iraq officially took control of its fate Tuesday as the U.S. pulled its combat troops out of Baghdad and other cities and towns, handing over security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.
The withdrawal completed the Status of Forces agreement signed last November, and touched off celebrations in Baghdad and other cities.
"It is a day when Iraqis celebrate as they continue to move towards exercising their full sovereignty," U.S. Commanding General Ray Odierno told FOX News. "The Iraqi people should be very proud of the dedication, progress, and sacrifice of the Iraqi security forces and the government of Iraq."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared Tuesday to be "National Sovereignty Day," complete with a military parade to display to Iraqis — and a still stubborn insurgency — its ability to maintain order in a nation ravaged by six years of war.
"This day, which we consider a national celebration, is an achievement made by all Iraqis," al-Maliki said in a televised speech.
"Our incomplete sovereignty and the presence of foreign troops is the most serious legacy we have inherited (from Saddam). Those who think that Iraqis are unable to defend their country are committing a fatal mistake," he said.
But the dangers facing Iraq were brought into stark focus after a car bomb exploded on Tuesday, killing at least 24 people in the city of Kirkuk. On Monday U.S. military officials reported that four American soldiers were killed in combat on the eve of the withdrawal.
But these violent incidents do not diminish the achievements in Iraq, according to the White House.
"General Odierno's confident in (the Iraqis') ability to move forward. He's said it's not surprising we've seen high-profile incidents in which seek to kill innocent civilians to convince followers that what's happening today is result of their actions, which it's not," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who called the U.S. troop removal "a step forward."
Officials said the four soldiers killed on Monday served with the Multi-National Division-Baghdad, but did not provide further details pending notification of their families. The soldiers died as a "result of combat related injuries," officials said.
AP - June 30: Iraqi security forces patrol in central Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities on Tuesday.
The withdrawal that was completed late Monday is part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.
President Jalal Talabani said the day could not have happened without the help of the United States, which invaded Iraq in 2003 with the aim of ousting Saddam Hussein — who was later convicted by an Iraqi court and executed in Dec. 2006.
"While we celebrate this day, we express our thanks and gratitude to our friends in the coalition forces who faced risks and responsibilities and sustained casualties and damage while helping Iraq to get rid from the ugliest dictatorship and during the joint effort to impose security and stability," Talabani said.
Describing June 30 as a "glorious page" in Iraq's history, Talabani warned that "security will not be achieved completely without proper political environment and without a real national unity and reconciliation."
Iraq marked the day with an overnight display of fireworks, while thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs.
The midnight handover to Iraqi forces filled many citizens with pride but also trepidation that government forces are not ready and that violence will rise. Shiites fear more bombings by Sunni militants; Sunnis fear that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces will give them little protection.
If the Iraqis can hold down violence in the coming months, it will show the country is finally on the road to stability. If they fail, it will pose a challenge to Obama's pledge to end a war that has claimed the lives of more than 4,300 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqis.
Despite Tuesday's formal pullback, some U.S. troops will remain in the cities to train and advise Iraqi forces. U.S. troops will return to the cities only if asked. The U.S. military will continue combat operations in rural areas and near the border, but only with the Iraqi government's permission.
Gen. Odierno told FOX News, "Our combat forces partnering with the Iraqi security forces will secure the belts and borders in an attempt to eliminate safe havens and sanctuaries, and to limit freedom of movement of insurgents and prevent the facilitation of foreign fighters through the borders."
The U.S. has not said how many troops will be in the cities in advisory roles, but the vast majority of the more than 130,000 U.S. forces remaining in the country will be in large bases scattered outside cities.
There have been some worries that the 650,000-member Iraqi military is not ready to maintain stability and deal with a stubborn insurgency.
Privately, many U.S. officers worry the Iraqis will be overwhelmed if violence surges, having relied for years on the Americans for nearly everything.
The Associated Press, Reuters and Time contributed to this report
Related Posts:
Source: Fox Nation – Who thanked Our Troops and President George W. Bush for moving forward with the surge.
Posted: Marion’s Place
Money Mischief – Financial Intelligence Report
Friedman
Predicted the Destruction of the Dollar
The late, great Milton Friedman in his classic book prophetically revealed how Obama's reckless monetary policies will cause hyperinflation and destroy our nation
Everything Barack Obama, the Federal Reserve, and Congress are doing was predicted in startling detail almost two decades ago by a famous Nobel Prize-winning economist.
His name was Milton Friedman.
Though he passed away in 2006, in his prophetic book, Friedman showed how, facing massive deficits, the U.S. government would dramatically increase the money supply; why foreign countries would stop buying our debt; how the Fed would start buying our Treasury bills; and why this would call cause massive inflation.
He even predicted that our officials would claim inflation was no problem at all.
Amazingly all of this is coming to pass!
Make no mistake about it — the Obama administration is embracing massive inflationary deficit spending.
In just 100 days, Barrack Obama has more than doubled the U.S. money supply . . . committed the government to at least $7 trillion in new spending . . . and warned the American people to expect trillion-dollar deficits for the foreseeable future.
While the media has been falling over itself to praise Obama's "bold initiatives," the question no one has been asking is, "Where is all of this money coming from?"
Decades ago, Milton Friedman answered these questions clearly and precisely in his insightful — and very topical — book, Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History.
In Money Mischief, Friedman even warned that the coming inflation could "destroy" our country.
Here's what he wrote: "Inflation is a disease, a dangerous and sometimes fatal disease that, if not checked in time, can destroy a society." (Money Mischief, Page 191)
You see the end result of that process in countries like Zimbabwe today, where prices double every day, and it now takes a $10 billion Zimbabwe note to buy a single loaf of bread - assuming you can find one.
Could America suffer the same fate? Friedman wrote ominously,"The fate of a country is inseparable from the fate of its currency."
Even Warren Buffett recently admitted on CNBC that the only way for the U.S. to solve its woes was to inflate the currency.
There is little doubt that Obama's massive deficit spending will doom the dollar and our economy.
You need to find out what is really happening to our economy and your wealth and get a copy of Milton Friedman's path-breaking book, Money Mischief.
Its insights are so relevant and shocking — it reads like it was just published for our times!
Other must reads for understanding and dealing with our times:
Predicted the Destruction of the DollarAs one giant white elephant is born - government health care, another is being dismantled by the private sector
Could your post office be closing?
As one giant white elephant is born - government health care, another is being dismantled by the private sector
As mail volume declines, the US Postal Service could shutter up to 3,200 post offices and retail outlets. Most people say they understand -- unless it's their post office
A rallying cry can be heard across the country, from the swanky streets of New York's SoHo to the tiny town of Randolph, Kan.: "Save our post office!
As the United States Postal Service, weighed down by a crippling multibillion-dollar deficit, shrinks its operations, post offices across the country are on the chopping block. Each year, hundreds of postal operations shutter, but this coming fall could be the single biggest consolidation in Postal Service history.
Over the next three months, more than 3,200 post offices and retail outlets -- out of 34,000 -- will be reviewed for possible closure or consolidation
Downsizing is a business imperative, says Linda Welch, acting vice president of delivery and post office operations at the Postal Service. "Revenues have declined, and mail volume continues to decline," she says.
Not only have e-mail and electronic bill paying made for a skinnier mail stream, but the recession has caused a sharp pullback in advertising mail that has hurt the Postal Service even more. In March, Postmaster General John Potter asked Congress for the right to reduce the mail week from six days to five, for a savings of $3.5 billion.
Shutting down post offices will have similar cost-saving effects. And most Americans say they're OK with the cutbacks, as long as they don't have to pay more to send mail. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that more Americans would rather the Postal Service curtail services than seek a bailout or raise stamp prices.
At least, that's what everyone says -- until it's their beloved post office at stake. For various reasons, people tend to react with great fervor when their local offices are endangered.
Consider the case of the Hawleyville Post Office. After years of negotiations, the Postal Service in January notified the Connecticut community that its 166-year-old post office would close Feb. 14. An article in the local newspaper poignantly noted, "The long love affair between the Hawleyville post office and its loyal customers will come to an end on, of all days, Valentine's Day."
Its post office was rickety, but the community embraced it as a gathering place. One resident told the Newtown Bee, "The Hawleyville Post Office is like Cheers in Hawleyville
In fear of losing its precious haunt, the community mobilized. A Web site and online petition drive were created. Members got Congress involved. And low and behold, the community won approval for a new post office, to be opened this summer.
Every time a post office is slated for closure or consolidation, the Postal Service is legally obligated to inform its customers well in advance. "There's a very long process that they have to go through," says Mario Principe, the post office continuance consultant at the National League of Postmasters. That gives the communities plenty of time, usually at least two months, to stage a rescue.
Anatomy Of A Closure
The Postal Service will typically send out a survey or host a town hall meeting before an endangered office closes. Perhaps the closing of a post office means too many lost jobs for an already-hurting community. The office might house the bulletin board that posts important community announcements. Or the next-closest post office may be really far away. If customers alert officials to such concerns, there's a better chance that their office will be spared. Appealing the closure decision to the Postal Regulatory Commission often works, too, though it's a step many communities don't know to take.
It's also important to check out why a post office is on the chopping block in the first place. Those under review this summer are mostly metropolitan branches or stations. But in the case of small post offices, federal law states that the reason can't be just that the office isn't bringing in enough revenue. If that's the only explanation given, then the Postal Service can't legally shut it down.
Oftentimes, post offices face closure because their leases expire. That's the case in Deer Harbor, Wash. After attempts to find a new location for the post office failed, the community decided "in desperation" to buy the property just to keep it in business. If the community can raise the $250,000 purchase price by the June 30, the Postal Service says it will continue operations there. The Postal Service seems willing to negotiate, and it's not really bothered by the protests. "It actually it makes us very proud to know that we are a valuable member of the community," says Welch. She says that the Postal Service appreciates the great lengths that some communities will go to just to ensure that their services continue.What the Postal Service would appreciate even more: If those people would show their appreciation by taking the simple step of sending more mail. Oddly enough, that seems to be the unthinkable last resort.
This article was reported by Caitlin McDevitt for The Big Money.
Some comments and suggestions:
- SATURDAYS delivery could be cut out ----- We can wait another couple days for BILLS to arrive.
- One USA post office in my neighborhood is located in a very tiny shop that sells lottery tickets and greeting cards and has Safety Deposit Boxes. Maybe that's what they'll all be coming to instead of these state-of-the-art huge buildings with several PO's in just one town. They'll only need one large building to sort mail and distribute it per county.
- This country has just too many of everything----Malls---car dealers---grocery stores and none can make a decent profit unless they charge the customers more.
- If they expect greater volume for holidays, they could do what the private sector does and hire seasonal workers.
- Rural delivery probably needs to be subsidized, at least until a new generation comes along that will be satisfied with electronic delivery... many years out. For God sake, we are subsidizing tons of things that are a lot less important.
One Letter to the Editor:
If mail delivery were to be taken over by private enterprise, get ready for some major changes. First mail delivery to many rural locations would stop and those people living in more rural and isolated locations would have to go to a central post office to pick up their mail. If you are disabled or there is nasty weather (like a foot of snow in the winter), tough. If you want your mail, you will have to go pick it up. Mail delivery to urban and suburban locations would still continue, but I suspect that in many inner city neighborhoods, they will also be restricted.
Forget about Saturday mail delivery. That would cease if a private company took over the mail delivery. Of course there may be competition between private companies and there may be one that will offer Saturday delivery or will deliver to rural addresses, but you will have to pay extra for that privilege.
Expect changes in postal rates if private enterprise takes over mail delivery. You might see some postage rates lowered for mail being sent locally or short distances, but if you want to send something across the country, it will cost more. I also suspect that if you are mailing something to a rural location, that may cost more also.
Would service be better at local post offices if the postal workers were paid Wally World wages? I don't think so. There would be higher turnover and in general the quality of employee (and service) would plummet. I can just see a letter carrier saying that going out in 95 degree heat in the middle of the day delivering mail isn't worth what he is being paid if they are paid Wally World wages. The same goes for having to go out in below zero wind chills in winter.
Should the postal system be taken over by private enterprise, expect to see many smaller post offices closed. This would also include many post offices located in cities since they could consolidate services in one big post office. So what if it is inconvenient to get to and there are long lines, that is business efficiency. Also many small rural post offices will also close and those people might have to drive a little longer distances to get their mail since it would no longer be delivered to their house (unless they want to pay extra for it).
Oh yes, don't forget the US Postal Inspection Service. That has been regarded as the best law enforcement agency in the country and among the best in the world. We don't hear a lot about them, but they are the oldest federal law enforcement agency and they don't make headlines like the FBI does. But they are the primary law enforcement agency fighting child pornography and fraud. They are very effective in what they do and their agents are trained along side FBI agents. The USPIS investigates more white collar crime than any other law enforcement agency and when they make an arrest, they obtain a conviction in more than 90% of their cases.
No, the government does a great job of handling the mail and i do not want to see that "privatized". You could also substitute "corrupted" in place of "privatized" since I am sure that the executives of any private enterprise that would handle the mail would pay themselves obscene salaries and bonuses while paying out millions in lobbying congress to keep their gravy train running. If "government health care" were run as well as the post office, we would have a system that is highly efficient and costs far less.
As with everything else that is going on in these crazy times… It is something to think about and then to either stand up over, offer and campaign for your suggestions or let go. But, this is definitely a time to be and get involved. Had we done so all along, the United States would not be in this position. Ask Marion/Marion’s Place~
Posted: Marion’s Place
Lisa Marie Presley Says Ex-Husband Michael Jackson Knew He Would 'End Up' Like Her Dad, Elvis
Saturday, June 27, 2009
FILE: Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson, who were married from 1994-1996. Presley says Jackson often thought about death.
Michael Jackson's first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, says her ex-husband often thought about death, even comparing himself to her ill-fated father.
Presley wrote Friday on her MySpace blog that Jackson once said during an emotional conversation, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like [Elvis Presley], the way he did."
"I promptly tried to deter him from the idea," Presley wrote, "at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that."
Lisa Marie Presley is rock 'n' roll pioneer Elvis Presley's only child. Presley died in 1977 at the age of 42 of a heart attack thought to be brought on by chronic drug use.
Presley and Jackson were married from 1994 to 1996.
Presley said in her blog that she "became very ill and emotionally/spiritually exhausted in my quest to save [Jackson] from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him." Presley, 41, did not go into particulars about Jackson's self-destructive behavior.
Presley wrote that Jackson "loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much," adding that she hoped her former husband is "relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now. He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be."
The following is the full text of Presley's blog post:
Friday, June 26, 2009
He Knew.
Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.
I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death.
At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did."
I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.
14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.
A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened.
The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.
All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.
I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.
Our relationship was not "a sham" as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.
I wanted to "save him" I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened.
His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.
At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.
He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.
When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.
Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.
I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.
I was in over my head while trying.
I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.
The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.
After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.
Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.
At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.
As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.
Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.
He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.
I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.
He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.
I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.
The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.
I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening.
~LMP
Posted: Marion’s PlaceThe 8 cap-and-tax Republicans…and the 44 Democrats who voted no
Introducing the GOP’s Cap-And-Tax 8…
Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti
I listed them earlier tonight, but am breaking out a separate post to spotlight them again.
The 8 cap-and-tax Republican turncoats again are:
Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385 (And he’s seriously considering running for Senate!)
Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765
(Phone numbers h/t commenter rightwingmom)
Congrats, congresspeople, you helped the Democrats pass a junk science-based, massive national energy tax. Headed to Disney World now?
We still want to know: What were your payoffs/earmarks?
***
Stacy McCain’s message to the NRCC: Not one red cent.
***
In case you were wondering, here are the 44 Democrat NAY votes:
Altmire
Arcuri
Barrow
Berry
Boren
Bright
Carney
Childers
Costa
Costello
Dahlkemper
Davis (AL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
Donnelly (IN)
Edwards (TX)
Ellsworth
Foster
Griffith
Herseth Sandlin
Holden
Kirkpatrick (AZ)
Kissell
Kucinich
Marshall
Massa
Matheson
McIntyre
Melancon
Minnick
Mitchell
Mollohan
Nye
Ortiz
Pomeroy
Rahall
Rodriguez
Ross
Salazar
Stark
Tanner
Taylor
Visclosky
Wilson (OH)
Reminder: The two Republicans who didn’t vote: Jeff Flake (AZ) and John Sullivan (OK).
Here’s why: Flake had a “family conflict” (his daughter is reportedly in a beauty pageant in Alabama tomorrow) and Sullivan is undergoing alcohol treatment. As I noted earlier today, Dem. Rep. Patrick Kennedy was pulled out of rehab to cast his vote.
And another reminder that the full roll call vote is here.
Thanks to Michelle Malkin for her hard work!! -
The 8 cap-and-tax Republicans…and the 44 Democrats who voted no - By Michelle Malkin • June 26, 2009 10:52 PM
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Tea Party Watch: Protesting the cap-and-tax cramdown
By Michelle Malkin • June 27, 2009 09:55 AM
Photoshop: Leo Alberti
It’s not just what’s in the bill. It’s the way they rammed it through the House.
Just like the porkulus: Under-handed, transparency-defying, and stuffed with earmark payoffs and bribes concocted in middle-of-the night, backroom deals.
Taxpayers are mad again. And they’re not going to sit still.
Impromptu flash protests are taking place today at state capitols and federal buildings across the country.
See what others have said:
- Cap and Trade Passes Despite Changing Climate on Climate Change | The Great Illuminator
- Time To Sound The Alarm: Call Your Representative and Senators–Cap and Trade Bill to be Voted in U.S. House on Friday–Kill The Cap and Trade Energy Tax Today! UPDATED « Pronk Palisades
- Cap and Trade GOP Eight; The Sellouts of America « VotingFemale Speaks!
- Saturday morning Linkgasms for everyone! EXCEPT sell-out RINOS! They can go “F” themselves! « The Daley Gator
- Kansas City Cap And Tax Protest/Olathe Picnic And Straw Poll « Nice Deb
- Tea Party Day: July 4th, 2009 «
- Crap and Tax protests for Saturday! | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Cap-and-Trade Passes in House: And Exactly Why Do These Eight Reps Call Themselves Republicans? « Quick Daily Hits — Politics and Such
- Tea Party Action On Cap And Tax « Justbkuz
- Don’t let Congress turn 2009 into 1984 – Stop the Global Warming Massive Energy Tax « Jim Blazsik
- Republican Betrayal « NEOAVATARA
- Saturday, June 27, 2009: Daily Handpicked Headlines :: Daily Uprising
- Obama Birth Certificate – Ahmadinejad Is Upset – Israel Can’t Count on America – John Bolton Article – Atlas Shrugs – Tea Parties – Michelle Malkin – The BOPAC Report « “The BOPAC Report” &
- Jeremiah Films
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