details are emerging from the obama-netanyahu meeting. anonymous sources are leaking part of the conversation, here is a fragment:
Obama: Benjamin how are you?
Benjamin: Good Barrack and thanks for backing off the settlement thing.
Obama: Hmm about that. Yes we have backed off, but we've decide to back off the whole thing.
B: Excuse me, you no longer care about Middle East peace?
O: Oh no I care deeply about it, but it is clear you do not and I'm not convinced the Palestinians are all that into it either. So rather than inserting ourselves where we are not wanted we are stopping.
B Stopping?
O: Yes stopping, stopping our interference and stopping our aid to both sides. You want to kill each other off you are going to have to do it on your own dimes and without our help.
B: AIPAC is going to come after you for this.
O: Yea, well it's time they realized, as well, they were not elected to run this country and it's foreign policy. Dinner?
B: I've seemed to have lost my appetite.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Just like I thought, CBS News' report that Obama is going to send 40,000 troops to Afghanistan is WRONG.
Washington (CNN) -- White House National Security Adviser retired Gen. Jim Jones issued a rare public statement Monday vehemently denying media reports that suggest President Obama has privately decided to send close to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
"Reports that President Obama has made a decision about Afghanistan are absolutely false," Jones, who has a low public profile, said in a statement. "He has not received final options for his consideration, he has not reviewed those options with his national security team, and he has not made any decisions about resources. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue and come from uninformed sources."
The statement was issued shortly after CBS News' veteran Pentagon correspondent David Martin reported that Obama has "tentatively decided" to send four more combat brigades to Afghanistan and thousands more support troops starting early next year. That would bring the total number of new troops to close to the 40,000 more troops originally requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/09/afghanis... -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just like I expected, so called progressives/liberals bloggers, who are so quick to believe anything negative about PBO, freaked out, started writing dissertations and hysterical posts about this news. All. For. Nothing. For example, at JJP, one of the moderators posted the CBS News article from Daily Kos. When an JJPer posted that the report was wrong, instead of editing the post with an "Update" stipulation, the article with the correct info is buried after the "break". So, when you look at the post, the reader sees no indication that the CBS report was wrong.
This is the second time CBS Evening News aired a story about the WH that was false. Just a few weeks ago, CBS News correspondent, Chip Reid, reported that the WH purposely excluded Fox News from an interview pool with pay czar, Ken Feinberg, and as a result the major networks protested by refusing to interview Feinberg. It was later determined that this DID NOT happen.
So the question is: When will liberals/progressive bloggers learn not to trust everything this media says?? Believing everything the media says is like being on a baseball team, and instead of listening to your coach/manager, you listen to the opposing team's coach/manager! SNAP OUT OF IT!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
"So the question is: When will liberals/progressive bloggers learn not to trust everything this media says??"
Good damn question...most likely never. You know it is just awful how liberal/fauxprogressives can't stand on principle behind POTUS. It is sickening. The very fact that they call themselves progressives tells you they lack the conviction to stand up for anything, they are already cowered into a progressive label, cause they believe being a liberal is so disdainful and has such a rotten name! They think they can hide from the conservative scorn by switching to calling themselves progressives. Progressives my ass, these folks are nothing but PUMA's! And they would have only stood behind Hill because they would have defended her record based on her being a female and a non-POC.
The 'progressive' whiners are getting on my last nerve. They run with EVERY SINGLE negative spin on this administration....and what really gets me is just where the hell do they think it is better? Are they going to go GOP for their 'progressive values' Where the hell they going...are they going independent?
Just sooooo tired of this nonsense and the deceit and fair weather fan attitude.
Val
· 1 month ago
lol Sepia we called it didn't Wee?
grain of salt and earplugs. Wee were ready.
Muzikal203
· 1 month ago
WTF@ this bullshit:
Following genealogist Megan Smolenyak findings on Michelle Obama's family tree, which revealed that the first lady's great-great-great-grandmother Melvinia Shields was a slave from South Carolina, "Inside Edition" is broadcasting an interview on Monday night with a woman who says she is Michelle Obama's fourth cousin.
From the press release:
INSIDE EDITION EXCLUSIVE: MEET FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA'S WHITE RELATIVES
To be broadcast Monday, November 9, 2009
New York, NY - November 9, 2009 - Professional genealogist Megan Smolenyak made headlines recently when the New York Times reported her findings that the First Lady's great, great, grandmother was a slave named Melvinia, but Inside Edition has now uncovered another part of the story that hasn't been reported - the white side of her family.
With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Debbie Shields looks nothing like First Lady Michelle Obama - but they actually share a common bond - they're related. Debbie's great, great grandfather is also Michelle Obama's great, great, great Grandfather. When Melvina was just 6-years-old, she was sent to a 200 acre farm in Rex, Georgia. At 15, she was impregnated by a white man, presumed to be Charles Marion Shields. Melvina's name from the 1870 census is listed as "Shields" as are her four children. Story continues below advertisement
Debbie Shields tells INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent that when she first learned of her relation to the first lady she said, "Awesome."
Les Trent: "Did you believe it?"
Debbie Shields: "Not at first. I thought it was a joke."
She tells Inside Edition that it fills her with "pride" to be related to the First Lady and she hopes her family gets to meet the First Family one day. So does her son, 17-year-old son Brandon who now finds himself absorbing the remarkable information that he is Michelle Obama's 4th cousin.
Brandon Shields: "I think it is incredible. The history of it. To go from slavery to the White House in a few generations."
INSIDE EDITION is produced daily at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corp.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Can we have NOTHING? They had to go and dig up Michelle's white 4th cousins (who she probably otherwise would have never met and wouldn't have cared to meet her)? It's not such a shock, I'm sure most Black people whose families have been around since slavery have distant white family somewhere.
Texas_Girl_in_LA
· 1 month ago
"When Melvina was just 6-years-old, she was sent to a 200 acre farm in Rex, Georgia. At 15, she was impregnated by a white man, presumed to be Charles Marion Shields."
It's called rape, Debbie Shields....
What about apologizing on behalf of your great, great, great Grandfather, as the first step
gosh!
Miranda
· 1 month ago
Oh no remember the loving relationship between 28 year old Strom Thurmond and the 15 year old black housekeeper?? Yeah, it was all so wonderfully romantic! It wasn't rape..it was virtually a disneyesqe type Cinderella story...without the magic slipper part....or the prince part....or the fairy godmother part......or the consent part............hmmmm....maybe not as much like Cinderella as i was led to believe.
Val
· 1 month ago
loved your comment Miranda. I'm going to steal it. lol have to post this on some other sites. Hope you don't mind. laughing my butt off as I read it.
Brilliant! lolololol
Here is another comment I found that tickled me . . . .
"You should consider teaching a class on "Why Michelle Obama Can't Embrace Slavery?" as a follow up to your introductory course on "What's The Big Deal About The Holocaust?"
Another that was pretty good "This story reminds me of the unjust burden placed on black Americans (and to an even greater extent on Native Americans) to be OK with our country's rape-fueled, genocidal past.
Descendants of these subjugated people are expected to welcome with open arms and open hearts their tortured history and the white "relatives" who have descended from their historical rapists/butchers and continue to benefit from their inherited wealth earned by the blood sweat and tears of the enslaved.
While blacks and Native Americans are painted as angry, ungrateful, and unpatriotic if they DARE to voice anything but the most altruistic feelings toward America's "progress" on the backs and at the costs of their ancestors' lives.
Sometimes I wonder why blacks and Native Americans are not MORE angry."
Miranda
· 1 month ago
on that last line.........i so wonder too!
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Word. Cuz we definitely got a right to be hostile.
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
I heard the promo for this while driving to work this morning. My eyes rolled so far back I almost caused an accident.
What cracks me up is how the mainstream media is shocked, shocked I tell you, that FLOTUS has white people in her family tree. Do white people honestly think we came off the boat with all these different shades, grades of hair, etc.? What's more how much you wanna bet that if it was just Michelle Obama, attorney at law, that Ms. Debbie wouldn't be so quick to claim blood. I'm cynical like that.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
ITA, MsKitty.
White folks have been in denial about Ol' Massa creeping to the slave quarters for so long. Now they want to get all Shock and Awe.
Oh, and "impregnated by a white man" is Caucasianese for "the young Black girl was raped by the white guy".
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
"impregnated by a white man"
I KNOW IT!! doesn't that euphemism just piss you OFF! Own UP to what you heathens did!! Let the world know what kind of beasts you are descendants of...people so cruel they enslaved their own flesh&blood!!
Let the nation know the truth about the 'southern way of life'
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Girl, let me tell you: When Katie Couric was still on The Today Show, all of the co-hosts traced their family tree and presented the results on the show. Well, Missy Katie's family has a plot of land down south (forgot which state) where her ancestors are buried. On this same plot of land, Black enslaved people are buried. No doubt Katie's ancestors enslaved them. But wouldn't own up to that, instead referring to them as "servants". Yeah, OK Katie.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
"But wouldn't own up to that, instead referring to them as "servants". Yeah, OK Katie."
GET OUT!!! I did not see that. Someone needs to do an expose..on that!
We need to take a page from the gay community and start OUTING this folks. LouisGates needs to get on the job and start tracing these public faces family trees back to their American Negro branch.
And then doing a show on it. It they don't wanna claim it..NAME 'EM!
Let the nation know they all got a black side...heheheheheh! Start calling them OUT.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Own up to it? Please, these folks aint gonna do anything unless it is self-serving.
Truth is WEE know what the heathens did. WEE are everywhere. There is NO escaping us WEE are ALL peoples.....
WEESeeYou, Debbie Sheilds!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
It is coming to the light Shanti...cause they want to grab on to the greatest. You know these folks are first class usurpers, of anything done by others, they re-write history...which is what this is all ABOUT.
You watch we are going to have books like Brandon said 'up from slavery to the WH in a few generations'
Mark my words! That is going to foster the 'american' way of life and how even though folks were enslaved they could still be somebody and they all gone be proud to claim their african side from the plantation!!
carolinagirl
· 1 month ago
Do white people honestly think we came off the boat with all these different shades, grades of hair, etc.?
I really think they do. They dismiss slavery and tell folks to get over it like half the horrible shit that went down (i.e. slaveowners raping their female slaves and then selling the biracial offspring to another slaveowner) never happened. SMH.
Don't get me started on this today....
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
This is all about claiming the Obama's for the country. Only black success they gone let us claim is MLK...and I would not be surprised if some geneaologist doesn't unearth his white relatives.
The descendants of slave owners and sharecroppers are claiming the offspring their parents raped, enslaved and brutalized.
This is America trying to heal the racial divide!!
Don't pewk sick as it makes you...this is their first step towards owning up to America's centuries of chattel slavery.
This may be what it takes for white children to leave about the heathens they are descendants of in 4th and 5th grade, instead of only reading about the Nazi's and AnnFrank. It is time this nation recoginized the wrongs of their ancestors and stop trying to act like they did not produce the American Negro. Cause you heard that Brandon talking about from slavery to the WH in a few generations...completely discounting the 12 generations of slavery in this country.
Um yeah, it will be nauseating along the way.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Healing the racial divide? Nah. Homegirl just caught The Vapors. *does The Biz Markie*
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
LMAO! WEESee the "Beckies."
carolinagirl
· 1 month ago
No.you.didn't.
*dead*
Miranda
· 1 month ago
Yes. she. did. LMAO
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Tell it, LaRapierWit.
Here's the nauseating part right chere:
"With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Debbie Shields looks nothing like First Lady Michelle Obama - but they actually share a common bond - they're related."
"Miss Beckie" gonna try and get as close to Barack as she can. Even if she's got to claim she's cousins with the darling dark, and luscious wife Michelle....
WEESeeYou, Debbie Shields.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
I hear you Shanti especially bout
Common bond.
...suuure...and I suppose what just makes me cringe is how they always wanna bring up that genetic mutation ass blondhair/blue eye thing!! The contrast is clear...we are the standard of beauty..but lookee lookeee what we got in our tree!! Ain't you glad we mutants see we got the look that is weak and mutant..but we the shyt
White Americans always want to claim the greatest of any culture. After all, don't everybody know Egypt ain't in Africa? (snark) Cause you know then the pyramids belong to the Africans!! Can't have that...same with the Mayan ruins the white American has raped and plundered the world's cultures, while creating nothing himself and laying claiming to all other ethnic groups achievements. Hell the biggest library was in Spain too, developed by the Moors, up out ofAfrica. I am so tired of this nonsense.
Now Barack Obama is beloved by the world and they are going to lay claim to his wife as an AmericanNegro from their ancestors so that Malia and Sasha will always have to claim their historical WHITE ancestors.
DebbieShields salivating just thinking about visiting the WH and taking a picture for her grandchildren...UGH!!!
Miranda
· 1 month ago
I heard the promo yesterday and just laughed at the silliness of it all.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
ROTFLMBAO!!! Me too, Miranda. WEESeeYou, Debbie Sheilds.
Val
· 1 month ago
Brandon Shields: "I think it is incredible. The history of it. To go from slavery to the White House in a few generations."
r.a.o.t.f.l.m.a.o
PBomb
· 1 month ago
This is one of the best comments I have seen. It woke up a lot of people eyes on the site I got this from:
Hi there. I'm an Australian and I've really appreciated this blog for helping me to understand the cut-and-thrust of American politics as HCR has been unfolding. The comment threads have been just as enlightening...if a little scary at times.
I thought I might share the perspective of an (somewhat-ignorant) outsider.
Australia is one of those nations caught in your orbit. We had troops in Iraq and we have troops in Afghanistan, we were affected by the GFC, we've suffered civilian casualties due to Muslim extremists in Indonesia (and you know they were made bold by 9/11) and your culture pervades ours.
All this means that I celebrated when Obama won the election, like most of the world did. I can understand why he won the Nobel Peace Prize and I can understand it being dubbed the "He's not Bush Award". Because from the perspective of most of us, Bush would have been laughable if he hadn't have been so disastrous for us all.
I love that Obama has changed the tone of US Foreign Relations. But I also love that he's trying to change the tone of US politics. Because the world needs you guys to get your shit together.
But at the end of the day, Obama is a politician who must do politics. He is the most gifted politician I have ever seen. 6 years ago he was a state senator. He was a black man with an muslim-sounding name. He was facing the Hilary juggernaut with few powerful allies. And now he's President. So why do progressives suddenly think he's cracked under the pressure of the office and wimped out?
In 9 months - 9 months! - he's reversed significant anti-American sentiment around the world, achieved significant change (or signalled serious intent to change) in key areas of policy and has somehow managed to get HCR on the table and through Congress. And yet he's being sniped by his own 'supporters'!
With all that in mind...Stranahan, what are you on? Even from halfway around the world, it's obvious that the bill you wanted to see would never pass a congress and senate so beholden to lobbyists and craven self-interest. You can't really think that the President talking big and tough could overcome that, do you?
So, following your advice, Obama would consume masses of political capital and credibility to urge the impossible? Wasn't a lack of political capital and credibility Carter's downfall? Is earning all those progressive brownie-points worth Obama going down that track?
And all this talk about insurers getting stronger and richer...do you think they can buy any more politicians then they've already got? Can they buy your vote? Yes, they are fat, rich and evil. So attack them instead of Obama. And attack those that have been bought.
Everybody knows that what sort of bill you wanted to see. But you didn't get it and you won't get it. You're entitled to state your case, but you've been heard now so it's time to move on.
You want a better bill? Well, get a better senate and a better congress...you won't get a better President in your life time and you know that's true. Especially if this one gets shot down and neutered by his own party-base.
How do you get better representation? Well, I reckon it's through all those votes the insurance industry can't buy. The millions of uninsured, under-insured, pre-existing condition-suffering potential voters who suddenly have access to something more. The millions of people who know there are better more robust options possible for a fearless majority. Rally them with the shocking fact that this bill is the best you can expect and that it is not good enough. Then in 2010, 2012, 2014 and as long as it takes demand better candidates and elect better representatives until the situation changes.
Stop caring so much about being right and put all your influence, intelligence and passion into MAKING things right. Deal with how things are, not how you want them to be.
To use 2 of my least-favourite cliches: stop talking about kool-aid and start making lemonade.
Thanks for listening.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
"You want a better bill? Well, get a better senate and a better congress...you won't get a better President in your life time and you know that's true. Especially if this one gets shot down and neutered by his own party-base."
Put another shrimp on the Bar-B, Love this Aussie!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
Yes, that was very well said. It is amazing how trying to talk sense to these faux progressives is so difficult..yet they claim to understand Congress and legislation. Since when is the POTUS the scapegoat for a bought and sold Congress?
Webb
· 1 month ago
[Y]ou won't get a better President in your lifetime and you know that's true. Especially if this one gets shot down and neutered by his own party-base.
THANK YOU!
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Aint that something. It appears every one except for Americans, can SEE what the fuck is going on.
Webb
· 1 month ago
The funny thing about it all is that PBO has faith in the American People...in ALL of US (otherwise he would have never gotten elected)...He is undeterred by the bullshyt that is flying around in the MSM, and I don't blame him.
Even if WEE couldn't see him, I'm am convinced that the majority of Americans realize we "won't get a better President in our lifetimes."
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
You're so right about POTUS having faith in the American People. I hope enough of us can stay awake...
Webb
· 1 month ago
We will be awake with crystal-clear 20/20 vision.
SDG
· 1 month ago
I agree Webb. He is going about the American people's business as well he should. I hope he remains undeterred because there is still alot of work to be done. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he is our best hope for a better world and I support him fully.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
"Stop caring so much about being right and put all your influence, intelligence and passion into MAKING things right. Deal with how things are, not how you want them to be."
Awesome. Great post...thanks for posting this PBomb...it was very uplifting.
SDG
· 1 month ago
Fantastic post. With distance (literal) comes perspective. We never appreciate what we have. PBO is our best hope for a better American and a better world. I'm tired of this stupid, follish shortsightedness from so called progressives. They all need to grow the hell up and deal in reality.
Val
· 1 month ago
Infighting regarding the - Boycott of the DNC and the President
Stephan says: Let me begin by saying that we are on the same side perhaps with distinct visions, but certainly aligned in goals. I am in agreement with many of the specifics that you cite, just not the way forward.
This is a BAD IDEA and here's why: We have just had 8 Years of Bush and most of it with the GOP. What did they do for Gays? Nothing. What would they Ever Do for gays? Again Nothing.
Alienating the entire Democratic Party in a Blanketed Manner, which currently has The Most Supportive and Vocal Leader that (on gay issues) we have Ever Seen, because he has not made complete reversals in the Law during less than the first 25% of his term, and against tough opposition I might add, is in my estimation, very foolish, unrealistic, and essentially equates to taking off the life vest and throwing it away in the storm. Is a boycott supposed to make Democratic Leaders Feel Good about Gays? I think not and I will not do this.
At a minimum, Obama has placed our faces out there, beginning in his Campaign and in his Inaugural speech, to the rest of the nation for consideration. We are now the focus of widespread conversation. This One Step gives us Credibility that we have never had due to being hidden away in shame and never talked about or even considered as having needs. What other President or Presidential Candidate even has ever had the courage or character to do this for us? None that I can remember. Let's not forget our history.
We are not the only issue. To act as if we are would be selfish and not appreciative. The President does not Make Laws Alone. He must work with the Congress and Senate, and not just on Gay issues, but on a variety of issues. Do we expect to have greater speed than Healthcare for example?
If we condemn the Democratic Party As a Whole then where do you think you will go for support, I mean to what political party? Not the Republicans. They will Never Support Gays, Never. This is Exactly the type of dissent that Republicans/your opponents want.
Might I suggest that we express dissatisfaction toward PARTICULAR Party Members as they vote or do not in our favor? I am not going to abandon ship (and swim), just because the rudder needs adjusting. There are No Other Boats Coming Along friends, and I do not like swimming in sharky water.
A Better Plan......... Might I also suggest that rather than attacking our Allies, those who, while perhaps not perfect, Are Inclined to defend our Rights, But Rather That we Do Boycott, watch and provide successful argument Against Our Clear Enemies, and here is a great place to start:
I appreciate sincerely the Efforts of anyone promoting our rights, but I do strongly believe that we need to work effectively toward those goals. Let's be very careful to Identify both Friend and Foe accurately. Even at a “pause”, one can be certain that our Opponents are not pausing. This is not a wise Political Move. As bad ad it may hurt, I would be Very Happy if Obama ended DOMA in his Second term; again History?? Let’s just hope that, despite your misdirected efforts, he can manage to actually Have a second term.
So Dear Bloggers, and this is a sincere question, Exactly what Positive and Equally as Prominent Proclamations have you made recently in an effort to Gain Support by Rallying Donations FOR Groups that are SUPPORTIVE of Gays?
Well said! I particularly liked the part about credibility. This particular group is on the verge of squandering this credibility with this boycott. As it is now, folks are looking at this boycott with the SEOD (tm CG) because several of the organizers have said and/or done things that are questionable.
Miranda
· 1 month ago
HE. DID. THAT.
Val
· 1 month ago
well they weren't hearing none of that.
bottom line . . . those mofos are crazy. And they are unfairly throwing lgbts under the bus. I don't get it. Finally they have a President who is willing to make sure they get equal representation under the law and they are gnawing at his ankles and are blocking their own progress. . .I wouldn't have believed it until I read it for myself. And they like the birthers, tea baggers are drowning out the folks who are working hard, talking to folks in communities and churches drumming up support.
"This is just like slavery. This is a civil rights issue and 10 months is long enough."
I don't get it.
Miranda
· 1 month ago
"This is just like slavery. This is a civil rights issue and 10 months is long enough."
Yeah because that 10 months of slavery was hell. I can just imagine the slaves sitting around whining about how long it was taking for that damn emancipation proclamation - but then after those harrowing 10 months, it was all sunshine and rose petals!
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
"This is just like slavery. This is a civil rights issue and 10 months is long enough."
Wow. Do these people actually listen to themselves? My 7 y.o. nephew has more composure than these whiny brats. SMH.
Val
· 1 month ago
Did you all realize there is actually a President Obama Promise Meter?
Politifact documented 513 promises the President made and they are tracking it.
Here is ObamaScorecard on Promises: The Obameter Scorecard
Promise Kept 53 Compromise 14 Promise Broken 7 Stalled 15 In the Works 139 Not yet rated 285
When I think of John Allen Muhammad, who is scheduled to die today for one of the most eerie killing sprees in the nation's history, the word pathology comes to mind.
Not so much in the sense that he was convicted of killing 10 people in the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks, which terrorized the Washington area for about a month. And not so much in the sense that he brought in to his employ a young, impressionable teenaged Lee Boyd Malvo as a sort of twisted Robin to his vicious Batman. And not even in that a nation still reeling from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and more locally, the Pentagon, was placed in more fear from a seemingly uncatchable gunman.
The real pathology is that our nation, our culture, seems to constantly produce people like this and makes me wonder which is crazier: the pathological gunman or the society that produces him.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
It is the individual. When you look at the sheer numbers of the population vs. the numbers of socio-paths...it is unique to the individual. This nutcase Muhammad had plenty of other reasons simply based on race to snap...he chose to do so based on child custody and killing his spouse. Did you see that interview on LarryKing with the biological son, along with the ex-wife and her fiancee? That was really crazy.
Barry Miles
· 1 month ago
Abdul-Jabbar Goes Public With Leukemia Fight In addition to his signature sky hook and a legacy of winning at every level, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known for his stamina and fitness. During a 20-year N.B.A. career that included six championships and six Most Valuable Player awards, Abdul-Jabbar had one serious injury, a broken wrist. Other than that had enjoyed a healthy career.
So the news Monday that the 62-year-old star athlete turned writer and coach was battling leukemia came as a stunning revelation.
“Imagine how I felt,” he said in an interview in Manhattan. “It was frightening. You hear the word leukemia and it’s something that really affects you.”
Especially when there is a history of cancer in the family. Abdul-Jabbar had a grandfather and an uncle who died from the disease. “And my father almost died,” he said, “so it’s something that really got me going.”
The first person Abdul-Jabbar thought about after learning he had the disease was a close friend who died of leukemia. He remembered talking to his friend just before the end. “He was weak, his voice was fading, his blood vessels deteriorated — it was really horrific,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
“He got diagnosed one day and within four weeks he was dead,” he added. “I thought I was on that same path. I don’t have that type of leukemia. You just say the word leukemia, you’ve got reason to be scared.”
Abdul-Jabbar learned last December that he has chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow in which the body produces cancerous white blood cells. Chronic describes a relatively slow-growing cancer that may take years to progress. Myeloid refers to the type of white blood cell being overproduced.
“It’s been almost a year now since I’ve been diagnosed,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “My first reaction was to deal with it, make that fight for my life.”
Like many patients found to have this particular strain of leukemia, Abdul-Jabbar learned he had the disease while it was in its early phase.
“In order to really deal with this situation, you have to find a specialist and follow their instructions,” he said. “You have to take your medication; you have to get your blood checked regularly so that you can be monitored.”
For the last 11 months he has kept a brisk regimen: coaching with the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a documentary about the all-black Harlem Rens teams and writing a children’s book.
“It’s something that can be managed,” he said of his disease. “You can continue to live a productive life without changing your lifestyle that much. It does not have to be a death sentence.”
SDG
· 1 month ago
I'm glad he can manage this. My heart is with Kareem. He's a class act and I've always respected him.
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
Sorry to hear about that, will definitely keep him in my prayers. I've always admired him because of his character and integrity. Good to know he's still going strong in spite of the disease. One of the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jason Blake, was diagnosed with the same type of leukemia a couple of years ago and it's been managed well enough to this point that he's still playing.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
I always liked Jabbar, his game and the way he carried himself with dignity.
Glad to hear his prognosis is good.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
He was just on GMA. Wow. My prayers are with him.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
NBA Great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Diagnosed With Leukemia Hall of Famer Abdul-Jabbar Told 'GMA' That His Prognosis Is Good
I'm sorry, but Ed did a terrible job in that interview. He clearly had his talking points and was bound and damned determined to stick to them, no matter WHAT Frank had to say.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
I agree. That's what has turned me off to Ed.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
Who is Ken Fineman..Barney kept bringing him up...I am not familiar with that guy or his role in the TARP distribution.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Bill Clinton to Give Senate Pep Talk by BooMan Tue Nov 10th, 2009 at 09:03:56 AM EST
TPMDC reports that the Senate Democratic Caucus is having lunch with former president Bill Clinton today to discuss health care reform. It could be like asking Bob Shrum to run your presidential campaign, or it could be a valuable wake-up call of what it's like to lose power in Congress a mere two years into a new Democratic president's term. An interesting feature of the debate is that the most reluctant members of the Dem Caucus have a lot to lose if the Republicans regain power. Mary Landrieu would probably have to hand her gavel on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship over to Diaper Dave Vitter. I know that would be a bitter pill. Blanche Lincoln just won the chairmanship of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Saxby Chambliss would take over for her. Kent Conrad chairs the Committee on the Budget. I wonder how he'd like to take orders from Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Joe Lieberman cherishes his chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Of the most likely hold-outs, only Ben Nelson doesn't stand to lose a full committee chair if the Republicans make a comeback.
But, even if they retain their chairs, their power will be diminished if the Dems lose seats. They'll never achieve cloture without winning over Republicans. And, a Republican House would cause them all kinds of nightmares. It's still unlikely that the Republicans can regain either house in just one election cycle, but you never know. Why risk it?
President Clinton had two years to make sweeping progress. He spent the next six years playing defense. I hope he can convince wavering Democrats that they don't want to repeat that history.
Does the Senate Democratic Caucus even respect WJC enough to give 2 cents about what he has to say? What Democratic Senators respect Bill after what he did? Bill is the reason that Bush was able to steal the election. WJC's actions are at the fundamental core of what happened to this nation for 8 years.
I do not think those Senators respect Bill at all. I wouldn't. They may want to keep their chairmanships, but I do not think Bill is the right person to deliver the message simply because he is the REASON the message has to be delivered.
WJC caused a lot of damage to the Democratic party...it is one think to lie, cheat and steal for politics, it is quite enough to embroil your whole damn political party in some sleazy, tawdry ass sex scandal while you PRESIDENT of the USA.
Val
· 1 month ago
" I hope he can convince wavering Democrats that they don't want to repeat that history. "
Wasn't it Booman who wrote just this past weekend about just how disappointed he was that President Obama is running a "Clintonesqe White House" or something to that effect?
Sepia
· 1 month ago
I don't recall Booman saying that. I know that he thinks it was a bad idea to trust Reid when he said that he had the votes for the Senate HCR bill.
PBomb
· 1 month ago
I don't remember Booman saying that either.
Val
· 1 month ago
I know I wasn't crazy. I read it right here on weeseeyou.
Sun Nov 8th, 2009 at 10:06:35 AM EST "I'm disappointed that President Obama's actions in office has been closer to those of former President Clinton and, with respect to our civil liberties, often closer to former President Bush, than to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
Oh, I remember reading that. Booman didn't write that. Steve D., one of the bloggers at Booman Tribune, wrote it.
Val
· 1 month ago
oh ok. thnx.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
So is anyone else following this Hasan story?
Now, initial reports were all about how devout he was going to the mosque and all, and how he gave a presentation for his final at WalterReed which was suppose to be on any medical topic of his choosing. Well Hasan chose to talk about suicide bombers and how the Army should let go muslims due to the war increasingly aboutmuslims as that should be a concscienous objection. That presentation should have had his superiors taking action...for the life of me I do not understand why they FAILED too. We paid for this man to go to Undergrad AND medical school..yet when he stands up talking about conscientious objection on the basis of religion no one sounded an alarm?
"warned a roomful of senior Army physicians a year and a half ago that to avoid "adverse events," the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims...snip "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," he said in the presentation....snip The last bullet point on that page reads simply: "We love death more then [sic] you love life!" Under the "Conclusions" page, Hasan wrote that "Fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by force, is condoned by the Islam," and that "Muslim Soldiers should not serve in any capacity that renders them at risk to hurting/killing believers unjustly -- will vary!" ." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
Anywhoo, then they ALSO said he wouldn't pictures at his mosque with women..yada yada...well now comes the complexity.
Less than a quarter of mile from the mosque where he went to pray daily was a strip club and the manager has told the media, Hasan visited several times a week,,,that he stayed for 5-7 hours and would pay to have lap dances in private rooms.
So, let's see here..his faith was so devout he couldn't take pictures with females nor consider killing other muslims...but he could pay for lap dances and sit in a strip club for hours not far from the mosque where he worshipped daily.
HmmmmHUH.
WEE SEE YOU Hasan....I hope they try you and court marshall your ass.
Especially, since even though you are awake and all you do not want to talk to investigators...guess you must of been really shocked to wake up and learn you got to deal with your actions, that you will be held accountable...bet you thought you were going out like a real hero.
Conscientious objector, my ass...why didn't you just kill your own damn self? Naw, you had to attack INNOCENT people and bring grief to 30 other families who loss loved ones or were wounded.
I hope your ass is courtmartialed and it is TElevised...and I don't wanna hear nothing about you feel you can't get a fair trial...cause you didn't give 2 cents about being fair when it came to shooting all those innocent people...if you deserve a fair trial they deserved to live and thrive...you took life and death into your own hands and acted like you were GOD...while shouting God Is GREAT!!
Fry, mofo fry!!
Can't stand your type of religious hypocrisy!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
This mess with Fox is getting uglier and uglier...now Murdoch saying Beck was RIGHT when he called Obama a racist! O lordgodinheavenmother of maryJesus H. CHRIST!!
He fails to tell what the statement was though!!!
"After a summer of silence, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch has piped up to say that his newest Fox News star, Glenn Beck, "was right" when he called President Obama a racist in July even if he was wrong to say it.
"On the racist thing, that caused a [unintelligible]," Murdoch said in an interview with his Sky News Australia over the weekend. "But [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above. And that was something which perhaps shouldn't have been said about the President, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, [Beck] was right."
The Sundance award-winning, critically acclaimed adaptation of the 1996 book "Push" opened to an outstanding $1.8 million at just 18 theaters in four cities this weekend. Its average take of $100,000 is the highest ever for a movie at more than six locations. The indie studio achieved the remarkable debut with a hybrid strategy of playing theaters that targeted affluent moviegoers likely drawn by the movie's rave reviews and theaters in African American communities, where endorsements from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry likely helped.
A little more than 50% of ticket buyers were African American, and a much more lopsided 68% were female, according to exit polls. Moviegoers gave it an average grade of A, a sign that it will have excellent word-of-mouth.
With any independent movie, however, it's never guaranteed that niche appeal, no matter how strong, will carry over to a more mainstream audience. Last November, for instance, Fox Searchlight debuted "Slumdog Millionaire" to $360,000 at 10 theaters, a solid opening but well below that of "Precious." It went on to gross more than $141 million, helped by a best-picture Oscar, a prize that many think is a possibility for "Precious." But many other movies, like "Melinda and Melinda," "Lust, Caution" and "The Aristocrats" started very strong in limited release but ultimately grossed less than $10 million.
I saw the movie this weekend and it was excellent. I'm an indie buff and was happy it did so well this weekend. (don't regret paying $12.50 - matinee) I thought I was in the wrong theater when I saw so many white faces; to the point I went out and asked the attendant, if I was in the right place. But the article said that part of the strategy was to release it in certain areas...
Some of them didn't get the jokes. One lady was like...umm...I don't get it. While I was cracking up.
The movie is raw with a little added comic relief. It holds no punches. Everyone did a fantastic job. Even Mariah Carey ( now I can forgive her for "Glitter"). Lenny Kravitz is pure hotness and Monique she did the damn thing
I highly recommend it!
Webb
· 1 month ago
I saw "Precious" too. I agree that the performances are excellent, but I would also advise folks NOT to expect to add this film to their list of favorite AA films of all time.
It's definitely about the performances and I certainly expect to see some Academy-Award hardware for Monique among others.
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
O Goodness...here come the white female bitchassness...here...
"out in California: Carly Fiorina, the businesswoman who hopes to be the GOP challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer next year, has unveiled a new attack line:
She’s faulting Boxer for wanting to be called “Senator,” not “ma’am,” hitting Boxer with a new Web ad and a new Website devoted entirely to this criticism.
It’s a reference to a widely-noted exchange Boxer had earlier this year with a Brigadier General at a hearing. After he called her “ma’am,” Boxer rejoined: “Do me a favor, could you say `Senator,’ instead of `ma’am’? It’s just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title."
Now one would think Fiorina would grasp why a woman does not want to be called ma'am...instead she is trying to make out that demanding to be called Senator...is somehow arrogant?
Please...we are going to be treated to some serious BeckyBitchiness watching this campaign..Fiorina has out a ad now where she claims ...why can't she just be called BARBARA?
C'mONnnnnnnnnnnn!
These are HillGirls for sure...we are getting ready to watch statewide cat fight..meowing scractching and clawing.
carolinagirl
· 1 month ago
Good afternoon WSY peeps. W.E.E. Peeps Tuesday Link Sweep is up.
Miranda
· 1 month ago
errrrrrr........throwing used condoms on this woman's lawn?? these are some really twisted folks y'all.
Blake Hall, Idaho GOP Leader, Quits RNC After Stalking Conviction
Blake Hall, a leading figure in Idaho and national politics for 25 years, was fired Monday as a deputy prosecuting attorney in eastern Idaho and has resigned from the Republican National Committee.
Hall, a former member of the state Board of Education, pleaded guilty Friday to stalking a former girlfriend and is serving a 15-day jail sentence. He also was sentenced to a year of supervised probation. A six-month jail sentence was suspended.
Idaho Falls police reported that witnesses said Hall disposed of used condoms on the lawn of the woman's house. Nineteen condoms were turned over to police, collected on 10 different dates, according to a police report. Both Hall and his lawyer acknowledged the condoms belonged to him, according to a police report.
Also, between March and August, Hall repeatedly followed the woman to restaurants, the movies and her home, and he ignored her repeated requests that he leave her alone, according to police and court records.
The victim testified Friday that Hall once followed her to a Walmart and took her car keys and would not return them until she agreed to "hear him out" concerning her marriage, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.
"I was so tired of being victimized," the woman said. "It is unimaginable that a 56-year-old would be so deviant."
Isn't Larry Craig from Idaho too? Between the toilet stalls and used condoms, they should rename the state, "I-BE-A-HO."
Dayum, why I gotz to hate on a whole state?
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
BWA HA HA!!! Yeah, Craig's from Idao, but he got stalled in the ST. Paul/Minneapolis Airport.
LMBAO, every time I go the airport and head for the ladies room, you should see the men walking towards men's room. Their heads are doing a 360. ROTFLMBAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Webb
· 1 month ago
Oh, dat incident went down in Minneapolis, lmao--s c a r y.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Yep; dude was tap dancing in the stall.
PBomb
· 1 month ago
Tee-hee!!
Miranda
· 1 month ago
*dead*
PBomb
· 1 month ago
Yep, I would have to say that he wins the "Nasty Bastard of the Year" award.
Nasty bastard!
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
What I found especially disturbing is that the woman, while she is his ex-GF, is married.
ain't that a mess?!
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
Traditional family values at its best, ladies and gentlemen.
Miranda
· 1 month ago
"In a news release, Lookabaugh suggested Hall was singled out because of his notoriety."
Seriously?? So throwing 19 USED condoms all over this woman's front yard probably didnt' have anything to do with it? He was singled out? Do they have roving gangs of condom discarders in Idaho Falls? Is this some sort of wierd hobby that men like to go to yards and throw their used condoms all over the place like leaves? Is this the equivalent of toilet papering a house on Halloween?? I really wanna know how he was "singled out".
Val
· 1 month ago
"So throwing 19 USED condoms all over this woman's front yard probably didnt' have anything to do with it? He was singled out? Do they have roving gangs of condom discarders in Idaho Falls? ".
Go ahead Miranda. You are on a roll today. lolol
PBomb
· 1 month ago
LMAO!
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
*Dead*
Val
· 1 month ago
lolol Ya'll I was blocked from commenting at the Ameriblog site. lolol
Ya think it had something to do with my last comment? "How old are you people? 3?
Here is my wish for you. That you get everything you deserve. Everything. Especially since you all worked so hard and you have earned it.
One last word. . . Maine"
Miranda
· 1 month ago
It amazes me how so many people were finally listening and understanding the issues the gay community wanted addressed..........and how the same people are now going "to hell with their melodramatic asses then"...............honestly, I saw firsthand how then Candidate Obama was able to actually foster some understanding from people who could have given less than a damn about gay rights. I was impressed with how many in the black church were actually listening and seeing it as civil rights and not a conflict with their personal religious beliefs to SEE it as a civil rights issue..well let me tell you something...those people are done. They are SO done. I listen to talk radio here each evening going home and I promise you...they are sick and tired of the hissy fits and temper tantrums and REALLY sick and tired of the comparison to the history of black folks in this country. Those folks are back to square one. I hope the LBGT community is happy.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Exactly. Speaking of the Black church, here's what John and nem need to understand: The Black community will not take too kindly to a bunch of white folks trying to destroy the first Black President's presidency. And having Pam Spaulding in their group ain't gonna help them.
Since Daily Kos is sponsoring this boycott, what does Black Daily Kos have to say?
Miranda
· 1 month ago
The Black community will not take too kindly to a bunch of white folks trying to destroy the first Black President's presidency.
chile...that is an UNDERstatement if there ever was one..they betta recognize.
Val
· 1 month ago
you are right Miranda because I was one of those folks remember? And I started taking these conversations to my own church.
Now I'm like. . . whatever.
Miranda
· 1 month ago
You and me both. My younger sister is as liberal as liberal can get, I dont even understand how she could have been born and raised in the deep south...you'd think she lived her whole life in San Francisco or Berkley...and the other night she plainly said "I'm sick of their shit."
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Jasmyne Cannick, a black lesbian blogger/writer/activist, had to chin check the gay community on their bs.
I was reading some of the comments over there. They're very irrational. Honestly, I think they're being used by John et al. This is about gaining more attention for themselves, not gay rights.
Val
· 1 month ago
" This is about gaining more attention for themselves, not gay rights."
How in the heck can they not see that? I couldn't believe it. Then I thought . . this can't possibly be grown folks willingly cutting off their noses to spite their faces even when confronted with facts.
They have got to be paid or have an agenda to derail the lgbt progress. Got to. No rational person can read that drivel and not go . . . aaahhhh something smells up in here.
Well hopefully my last comment I was allowed to post will slap some sense into them. Because if they don't reign it in and come up with a strategy to include folks who are not lgbt or who do not agree with the current approach but genuinely support the push for equal rights well . . . they are SOL and unfortunately other states may suffer the same fate.
PBomb
· 1 month ago
I read the comments over there too. They are crazy and severely irrational.
One of them got mad an African-American commenter, and stated that they wish they could say what they really want to say. I was thinking to myself, "What do you really want to say?"
Craziness.
I commented to someone, some of the things that Obama has done, and you know what that idiot said, those were all gestures.
Gestures? WTF?
Okay, well then why don't name some gestures that you have gotten over the past 16 years?
Let's see if he answers that one.
Val
· 1 month ago
lololol careful PBomb. You might get blocked too.
Craziness is right. It's like most of the posters enjoyed wallowing in perpetual ignorance and no amount of facts or rational reasoning was going to change their minds.
Oh well. You get what you get.
PBomb
· 1 month ago
Someone else said that Obama stated he would start overturning DADT from day 1? I don't remember him saying that at all.
Maybe it was said in an alternative parallel universe where unicornS piss rainbows and children eat cotton candy on top of chocolate covered trees. ????
Val
· 1 month ago
"Maybe it was said in an alternative parallel universe where unicornS piss rainbows and children eat cotton candy on top of chocolate covered trees. ????"
RAOTFLMAO. lolololol you may be right PBomb
Miranda
· 1 month ago
*dead*
Sepia
· 1 month ago
LOL!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
I was blocked too Val!!
Val
· 1 month ago
lolol
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
WEE Got to give a shoutout to SG2. Her computer is in the hospital, and she'll be offline for a bit.
Can we send some love and well wishes to one of the hardest working bloggers in the WEE Family, please? Thanks y'all.
SG2, WEE miss you and looking forward to you dropping in real soon!
Love ya, Shanti! :-)))
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Get back soon, SG2! :-)
MsKitty
· 1 month ago
Hopefully your hard drive is just having same-day surgery ;-) Come back soon.
Audiegrl
· 1 month ago
Come back SG2! Wee miss you :-)
Webb
· 1 month ago
Hurry Back SG2--We MISS YOU! Love Webb!
PBomb
· 1 month ago
Hurry Back SG2!! We will miss you!!!
laRapierWit
· 1 month ago
SG2 you got to hurry up and get back here..I need my getyourassup Morning jams!!
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Et, tu Cafferty?
CNN insinuates that the WH is lying about the CBS News report:
White House vs. CBS on Afghanistan troop increase? Posted: 02:43 PM ET
Call it CBS News versus the White House.
CBS reports that President Obama intends to give General Stanley McChrystal most - if not all - of the 40,000 troops he's asking for in Afghanistan. They say the president has tentatively decided to send four combat brigades plus thousands of more support troops.
General Stanley McChrystal is the U.S. Military commander in Afghanistan. According to CBS, the troop buildup would last for about four years - until the Afghan military doubles in size. This surge would mean the number of U.S. troops would grow from the current 68,000 to about 100,000 by the end of the president's first term.
But the White House insists the CBS story is false. They call reports that the president has made a decision about Afghanistan "absolutely false." They say Mr. Obama still hasn't received or reviewed "final options" with his national security team.
So - who's telling the truth here? It comes down to the word of the Obama White House against the network of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.
Of course... CBS News also saw Dan Rather step down in 2005 after apologizing for a report that questioned President George W. Bush's National Guard service. Rather said the report was based on false documents.
Meanwhile the Associated Press seems to support the CBS story, saying President Obama is nearing a decision to add tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan - but not the 40,000 that McChrystal wants.
Some officials dub that likely troop increase McChrystal Light since it would fall short of the general's request.
Here’s my question to you: CBS News says nearly 40,000 additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan. The White House says the story is false. Whom do you believe?
You should've heard Wolf Blitzer swear up and down how much of a legit news reporter David Martin is. This media is sickening.
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
***Breaking News*****
VICK GETS A BREAK Court RULES he can KEEP $16M
A federal appeals court on Tuesday backed the judge who ruled against the NFL and let quarterback Michael Vick keep more than $16 million in roster bonuses from the Atlanta Falcons.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed Judge David Doty's order saying Vick had already earned the bonuses before his dogfighting conviction, so the money wasn't subject to forfeiture.
Vick served 18 months in prison and is now with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Doty has long handled matters arising from the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. After Doty ruled in the Vick bonus case, the NFL accused him of bias and sought to end his oversight of its contract with the players union.
The appeals court said the contract should remain under Doty's oversight.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not say whether the league planned a further appeal, but he said the 8th Circuit upheld Doty's ruling on Vick's bonuses in large part because it found the contract's forfeiture language ambiguous.
"That is something that we will seek to change at the bargaining table to ensure that bonus payments are paid to players who comply with their contracts and perform on the field," Aiello said.
Vick, a former Atlanta Falcons star, was released from federal custody July 20 after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring in Surry County, Va. The Eagles signed Vick to a $1.6 million contract for 2009, with a team option for the second year at $5.2 million, but he has not played much.
Webb
· 1 month ago
LoL, he might get the money, but he still has many creditors chasing him.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
What, You mean Vick can't outrun them? LMAO!
Webb
· 1 month ago
LoL, he could try--I think he declared bankruptcy already, but the way that they are describing how all of these payments are retroactive...seems like a bankruptcy attorney's dream.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
I'm jut happy Vick's out of the pokey and playing the game...
Webb
· 1 month ago
Me Too! Go EAGLES!
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
Well this is not good news. Anita Dunn stepping down from WH communications team. She was the one that developed the aggressive communication of calling people out and going after Fox. Hmmmmmmm
"The White House on Tuesday shuffled its communications team, with Anita Dunn stepping down as expected and her deputy taking over day-to-day management of President Barack Obama's vaunted messaging machine."
Miranda
· 1 month ago
She was always the "interim" Communications Director though...she didnt want to work in the White House because of the time constraints it would have on her family. The right is trying to spin this as something it isn't...their faces will be cracked when they find the guy who is now taking the position is just as quick to call out Faux News as she was.
Sepia
· 1 month ago
Yep. This is a non-story, but the right, fauxgressives and PUMAs will be in rare form, so... *hands out ear plugs*
Webb
· 1 month ago
I always thought she came back to support the "Healthcare" messaging. At a minimum, you know she'll be back for Obama2.0 in 2012.
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
And no doubt she will be welcomed back. You are right about the HCR messaging. During the campaign she also help shape his outreach to female voters. She will be missed.
"Administration officials say Dunn's organization helped steer Obama through a bumpy summer that saw conservatives mobilize against his health care proposals and the daily clamor for the president's time. Officials credit her with shaping the administration's message as the health care proposals inched closer to congressional passage."
PBomb
· 1 month ago
Plus she is not entirely going away. She will apparently be an outside advisor to the President.
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
Dodd unveils sweeping Financial Banking Reforms....hmmmm...why is Barney Frank not on board with this? Personally, I am not comfortable with the stripping of the FDIC's role as bank examiners. Can't tell if this is a good thing or not. I haven't ever agreed with Sen Shelby from Alabama about much of anything.
"Specifically, Dodd's bill takes away the Fed's regulatory power in some key areas. "I really want the Federal Reserve to get back to its core enterprises," Dodd said. "We saw over the last number of years when they took on consumer protection responsibilities and the regulation of bank holding companies, it was an abysmal failure. So the idea that we're going to go back and expand those roles and functions at the expense of the vitality of the core functions that they're designed to perform is going in the wrong way.
The bill would also end the practice of allowing banks to select the directors of the regional Federal Reserve banks. That was a last-minute addition that came after the committee's top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, said he wanted to end the conflict of interest.
Dodd said the bill would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate such things as credit cards and home mortgages. Banks that are "too big to fail" would, as a final resort, be required to reduce their size and consequently the risk they pose to the financial structure if regulators demanded it. A single banking regulator would be created from the patchwork system that currently allows banks to shop for the fattest and laziest cop.
The bill would create a single bank regulator, responsible for all of the nation's 8,200 banks. The plan takes bank supervision away from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the 50 state banking supervisors, and combines the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (which regulates national banks like Citibank and Bank of America) and Office of Thrift Supervision (which regulated failed lenders Washington Mutual and IndyMac) to create this new agency."
whiterosebuddy
· 1 month ago
Looks like we headed for, as POTUS would say, silly season.
"A Marine reservist armed with a tire iron beat and chased a man he thought was an Arab terrorist and even called 911 to say he was detaining the man, police said.
But the man he assaulted was actually a Greek Orthodox priest visiting from overseas who spoke limited English, police said.
Instead of offering help, Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron, police said."
"Imagine you had been told five years ago that a huge economic crisis would erupt, prominently featuring irresponsible financiers, and that governments would come to the rescue of firms and families. You would probably have predicted that, politically, the right (the party of bankers) would do badly and the left (the party of bureaucrats) would do well. You would have been wrong. It's not just the Republicans who came out ahead. Last month a conservative coalition swept into power in Germany. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy's party has considerable public support. In Britain, conservatives are poised to win their first national election in 17 years. Even in Denmark and Sweden, where social democrats usually win, the right is in power. In fact, across continental Europe, only one major country, Spain, has a left-wing ruling party.
Why? Part of the answer is that despite the economic turmoil, few people seriously believe the answer is a turn to socialism. But it is also worth looking at the conservative parties that are thriving. Britain's Tory leader, David Cameron, calls himself a "progressive conservative." Sarkozy argues passionately for tight regulation of the financial industry, with pay caps on executive bonuses and more. Angela Merkel staunchly defends the German social market system. In Europe, the right is firmly at the center.
snip
Barack Obama's handling of the financial crisis has mostly been marked by such intelligent centrism. He es-chewed calls from the left to nationalize banks, ignored criticism from scholars that the stimulus was too small, and has largely avoided business bashing. In all these areas, the left wing of his party is dissatisfied.
On health care, however, the story looks different. There are two great health-care crises in America—one in-volving coverage and the other cost. The Obama plan appears likely to tackle the first but not the second. This is bad economics but also bad politics: the crisis of cost affects 85 percent of Americans, while the crisis of coverage affects about 15 percent. Obama's message to the country appears to be "We have a dysfunctional health-care system with out-of-control costs, and let's add 45 million people to it."
Americans see a health-care bill that has been produced by the old Democratic machine rather than the new Democratic technocrats—more Lyndon Johnson than Larry Summers. That might please the party's base but it will dismay independents. Were costs to rocket over the next few years, the Democrats will have squandered a reputation for economic competence that was hard won."
CVS pays $875,000 for selling expired food and medicine
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York officials say they've reached an $875,000 settlement with CVS Pharmacy to stop sales of expired products — including food, medicine and baby formula. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who announced the agreement Tuesday, sued after investigators bought expired goods in 60% of CVS (CVS) stores they canvassed across the state. The settlement ends a lawsuit that the state filed after it said CVS breached a prior agreement to halt expired sales.
A CVS spokesman says the company is committed to keeping expired products off the shelves and that the settlement doesn't include any admission of wrongdoing. Cuomo reached a similar settlement with Rite Aid in 2008. CVS has about 432 New York stores.
CNN's Larry King carried the Muhammad execution live.....
No, I did NOT watch it.
Webb
· 1 month ago
How did they do it? They had a reporter on the scene?
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Yes. He had reporters getting eyewitness accounts from the victim's families....
Webb
· 1 month ago
Maybe if more citizens saw these executions on TV, there would be fewer executions.
If Pro-Lifers can prevent their tax money from being spent on abortions, then why can't death-penalty aboliitionists (like myself) prevent our money from being spent on executions?
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
Aint that the truth. I don't believe in the death penalty either, and would be curious to know how much of my tax dollars go towards it.
Pro-lifers scream about life, but don't give a flying fuck about what happens to you, once you pop out of the womb.
It's the sam thing with war. Basically these mickey ficks preach life and death; fuck your quality of life.
Webb
· 1 month ago
LoL, they cling to Jesus, but Jesus is most definitely NOT clinging to them.
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
LOL! Jesus got something for those folks when they try to enter the gates of heaven.... A F*#cking trap door!
Webb
· 1 month ago
LoL, St. Peter is going to give them the SEOHeeL...Thanks CG!
Shanti2
· 1 month ago
LMAO!
WordSmith
· 1 month ago
A fucking trap door! Oh, just for that I might start praying again to stand at the gates of heaven to watch those doors.
All Comments
Obama: Benjamin how are you?
Benjamin: Good Barrack and thanks for backing off the settlement thing.
Obama: Hmm about that. Yes we have backed off, but we've decide to back off the whole thing.
B: Excuse me, you no longer care about Middle East peace?
O: Oh no I care deeply about it, but it is clear you do not and I'm not convinced the Palestinians are all that into it either. So rather than inserting ourselves where we are not wanted we are stopping.
B Stopping?
O: Yes stopping, stopping our interference and stopping our aid to both sides. You want to kill each other off you are going to have to do it on your own dimes and without our help.
B: AIPAC is going to come after you for this.
O: Yea, well it's time they realized, as well, they were not elected to run this country and it's foreign policy. Dinner?
B: I've seemed to have lost my appetite.
Washington (CNN) -- White House National Security Adviser retired Gen. Jim Jones issued a rare public statement Monday vehemently denying media reports that suggest President Obama has privately decided to send close to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
"Reports that President Obama has made a decision about Afghanistan are absolutely false," Jones, who has a low public profile, said in a statement. "He has not received final options for his consideration, he has not reviewed those options with his national security team, and he has not made any decisions about resources. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue and come from uninformed sources."
The statement was issued shortly after CBS News' veteran Pentagon correspondent David Martin reported that Obama has "tentatively decided" to send four more combat brigades to Afghanistan and thousands more support troops starting early next year. That would bring the total number of new troops to close to the 40,000 more troops originally requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/09/afghanis...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just like I expected, so called progressives/liberals bloggers, who are so quick to believe anything negative about PBO, freaked out, started writing dissertations and hysterical posts about this news. All. For. Nothing. For example, at JJP, one of the moderators posted the CBS News article from Daily Kos. When an JJPer posted that the report was wrong, instead of editing the post with an "Update" stipulation, the article with the correct info is buried after the "break". So, when you look at the post, the reader sees no indication that the CBS report was wrong.
This is the second time CBS Evening News aired a story about the WH that was false. Just a few weeks ago, CBS News correspondent, Chip Reid, reported that the WH purposely excluded Fox News from an interview pool with pay czar, Ken Feinberg, and as a result the major networks protested by refusing to interview Feinberg. It was later determined that this DID NOT happen.
So the question is: When will liberals/progressive bloggers learn not to trust everything this media says?? Believing everything the media says is like being on a baseball team, and instead of listening to your coach/manager, you listen to the opposing team's coach/manager! SNAP OUT OF IT!
Good damn question...most likely never. You know it is just awful how liberal/fauxprogressives can't stand on principle behind POTUS. It is sickening. The very fact that they call themselves progressives tells you they lack the conviction to stand up for anything, they are already cowered into a progressive label, cause they believe being a liberal is so disdainful and has such a rotten name! They think they can hide from the conservative scorn by switching to calling themselves progressives. Progressives my ass, these folks are nothing but PUMA's! And they would have only stood behind Hill because they would have defended her record based on her being a female and a non-POC.
The 'progressive' whiners are getting on my last nerve. They run with EVERY SINGLE negative spin on this administration....and what really gets me is just where the hell do they think it is better? Are they going to go GOP for their 'progressive values' Where the hell they going...are they going independent?
Just sooooo tired of this nonsense and the deceit and fair weather fan attitude.
grain of salt and earplugs. Wee were ready.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Can we have NOTHING? They had to go and dig up Michelle's white 4th cousins (who she probably otherwise would have never met and wouldn't have cared to meet her)? It's not such a shock, I'm sure most Black people whose families have been around since slavery have distant white family somewhere.
It's called rape, Debbie Shields....
What about apologizing on behalf of your great, great, great Grandfather, as the first step
gosh!
Brilliant! lolololol
Here is another comment I found that tickled me . . . .
"You should consider teaching a class on "Why Michelle Obama Can't Embrace Slavery?" as a follow up to your introductory course on "What's The Big Deal About The Holocaust?"
Another that was pretty good
"This story reminds me of the unjust burden placed on black Americans (and to an even greater extent on Native Americans) to be OK with our country's rape-fueled, genocidal past.
Descendants of these subjugated people are expected to welcome with open arms and open hearts their tortured history and the white "relatives" who have descended from their historical rapists/butchers and continue to benefit from their inherited wealth earned by the blood sweat and tears of the enslaved.
While blacks and Native Americans are painted as angry, ungrateful, and unpatriotic if they DARE to voice anything but the most altruistic feelings toward America's "progress" on the backs and at the costs of their ancestors' lives.
Sometimes I wonder why blacks and Native Americans are not MORE angry."
What cracks me up is how the mainstream media is shocked, shocked I tell you, that FLOTUS has white people in her family tree. Do white people honestly think we came off the boat with all these different shades, grades of hair, etc.? What's more how much you wanna bet that if it was just Michelle Obama, attorney at law, that Ms. Debbie wouldn't be so quick to claim blood. I'm cynical like that.
White folks have been in denial about Ol' Massa creeping to the slave quarters for so long. Now they want to get all Shock and Awe.
Oh, and "impregnated by a white man" is Caucasianese for "the young Black girl was raped by the white guy".
I KNOW IT!! doesn't that euphemism just piss you OFF! Own UP to what you heathens did!! Let the world know what kind of beasts you are descendants of...people so cruel they enslaved their own flesh&blood!!
Let the nation know the truth about the 'southern way of life'
GET OUT!!! I did not see that. Someone needs to do an expose..on that!
We need to take a page from the gay community and start OUTING this folks. LouisGates needs to get on the job and start tracing these public faces family trees back to their American Negro branch.
And then doing a show on it. It they don't wanna claim it..NAME 'EM!
Let the nation know they all got a black side...heheheheheh! Start calling them OUT.
Truth is WEE know what the heathens did. WEE are everywhere. There is NO escaping us WEE are ALL peoples.....
WEESeeYou, Debbie Sheilds!
You watch we are going to have books like Brandon said 'up from slavery to the WH in a few generations'
Mark my words! That is going to foster the 'american' way of life and how even though folks were enslaved they could still be somebody and they all gone be proud to claim their african side from the plantation!!
I really think they do. They dismiss slavery and tell folks to get over it like half the horrible shit that went down (i.e. slaveowners raping their female slaves and then selling the biracial offspring to another slaveowner) never happened. SMH.
Don't get me started on this today....
The descendants of slave owners and sharecroppers are claiming the offspring their parents raped, enslaved and brutalized.
This is America trying to heal the racial divide!!
Don't pewk sick as it makes you...this is their first step towards owning up to America's centuries of chattel slavery.
This may be what it takes for white children to leave about the heathens they are descendants of in 4th and 5th grade, instead of only reading about the Nazi's and AnnFrank. It is time this nation recoginized the wrongs of their ancestors and stop trying to act like they did not produce the American Negro. Cause you heard that Brandon talking about from slavery to the WH in a few generations...completely discounting the 12 generations of slavery in this country.
Um yeah, it will be nauseating along the way.
*dead*
Here's the nauseating part right chere:
"With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Debbie Shields looks nothing like First Lady Michelle Obama - but they actually share a common bond - they're related."
"Miss Beckie" gonna try and get as close to Barack as she can. Even if she's got to claim she's cousins with the darling dark, and luscious wife Michelle....
WEESeeYou, Debbie Shields.
Common bond.
...suuure...and I suppose what just makes me cringe is how they always wanna bring up that genetic mutation ass blondhair/blue eye thing!! The contrast is clear...we are the standard of beauty..but lookee lookeee what we got in our tree!! Ain't you glad we mutants see we got the look that is weak and mutant..but we the shyt
White Americans always want to claim the greatest of any culture. After all, don't everybody know Egypt ain't in Africa? (snark) Cause you know then the pyramids belong to the Africans!! Can't have that...same with the Mayan ruins the white American has raped and plundered the world's cultures, while creating nothing himself and laying claiming to all other ethnic groups achievements. Hell the biggest library was in Spain too, developed by the Moors, up out ofAfrica. I am so tired of this nonsense.
Now Barack Obama is beloved by the world and they are going to lay claim to his wife as an AmericanNegro from their ancestors so that Malia and Sasha will always have to claim their historical WHITE ancestors.
DebbieShields salivating just thinking about visiting the WH and taking a picture for her grandchildren...UGH!!!
r.a.o.t.f.l.m.a.o
Hi there. I'm an Australian and I've really appreciated this blog for helping me to understand the cut-and-thrust of American politics as HCR has been unfolding. The comment threads have been just as enlightening...if a little scary at times.
I thought I might share the perspective of an (somewhat-ignorant) outsider.
Australia is one of those nations caught in your orbit. We had troops in Iraq and we have troops in Afghanistan, we were affected by the GFC, we've suffered civilian casualties due to Muslim extremists in Indonesia (and you know they were made bold by 9/11) and your culture pervades ours.
All this means that I celebrated when Obama won the election, like most of the world did. I can understand why he won the Nobel Peace Prize and I can understand it being dubbed the "He's not Bush Award". Because from the perspective of most of us, Bush would have been laughable if he hadn't have been so disastrous for us all.
I love that Obama has changed the tone of US Foreign Relations. But I also love that he's trying to change the tone of US politics. Because the world needs you guys to get your shit together.
But at the end of the day, Obama is a politician who must do politics. He is the most gifted politician I have ever seen. 6 years ago he was a state senator. He was a black man with an muslim-sounding name. He was facing the Hilary juggernaut with few powerful allies. And now he's President. So why do progressives suddenly think he's cracked under the pressure of the office and wimped out?
In 9 months - 9 months! - he's reversed significant anti-American sentiment around the world, achieved significant change (or signalled serious intent to change) in key areas of policy and has somehow managed to get HCR on the table and through Congress. And yet he's being sniped by his own 'supporters'!
With all that in mind...Stranahan, what are you on? Even from halfway around the world, it's obvious that the bill you wanted to see would never pass a congress and senate so beholden to lobbyists and craven self-interest. You can't really think that the President talking big and tough could overcome that, do you?
So, following your advice, Obama would consume masses of political capital and credibility to urge the impossible? Wasn't a lack of political capital and credibility Carter's downfall? Is earning all those progressive brownie-points worth Obama going down that track?
And all this talk about insurers getting stronger and richer...do you think they can buy any more politicians then they've already got? Can they buy your vote? Yes, they are fat, rich and evil. So attack them instead of Obama. And attack those that have been bought.
Everybody knows that what sort of bill you wanted to see. But you didn't get it and you won't get it. You're entitled to state your case, but you've been heard now so it's time to move on.
You want a better bill? Well, get a better senate and a better congress...you won't get a better President in your life time and you know that's true. Especially if this one gets shot down and neutered by his own party-base.
How do you get better representation? Well, I reckon it's through all those votes the insurance industry can't buy. The millions of uninsured, under-insured, pre-existing condition-suffering potential voters who suddenly have access to something more. The millions of people who know there are better more robust options possible for a fearless majority. Rally them with the shocking fact that this bill is the best you can expect and that it is not good enough. Then in 2010, 2012, 2014 and as long as it takes demand better candidates and elect better representatives until the situation changes.
Stop caring so much about being right and put all your influence, intelligence and passion into MAKING things right. Deal with how things are, not how you want them to be.
To use 2 of my least-favourite cliches: stop talking about kool-aid and start making lemonade.
Thanks for listening.
Put another shrimp on the Bar-B, Love this Aussie!
THANK YOU!
Even if WEE couldn't see him, I'm am convinced that the majority of Americans realize we "won't get a better President in our lifetimes."
enough of us can stay awake...
Awesome. Great post...thanks for posting this PBomb...it was very uplifting.
Stephan says: Let me begin by saying that we are on the same side perhaps with distinct visions, but certainly aligned in goals. I am in agreement with many of the specifics that you cite, just not the way forward.
This is a BAD IDEA and here's why:
We have just had 8 Years of Bush and most of it with the GOP. What did they do for Gays? Nothing. What would they Ever Do for gays? Again Nothing.
Alienating the entire Democratic Party in a Blanketed Manner, which currently has The Most Supportive and Vocal Leader that (on gay issues) we have Ever Seen, because he has not made complete reversals in the Law during less than the first 25% of his term, and against tough opposition I might add, is in my estimation, very foolish, unrealistic, and essentially equates to taking off the life vest and throwing it away in the storm. Is a boycott supposed to make Democratic Leaders Feel Good about Gays? I think not and I will not do this.
At a minimum, Obama has placed our faces out there, beginning in his Campaign and in his Inaugural speech, to the rest of the nation for consideration. We are now the focus of widespread conversation. This One Step gives us Credibility that we have never had due to being hidden away in shame and never talked about or even considered as having needs. What other President or Presidential Candidate even has ever had the courage or character to do this for us? None that I can remember. Let's not forget our history.
We are not the only issue. To act as if we are would be selfish and not appreciative. The President does not Make Laws Alone. He must work with the Congress and Senate, and not just on Gay issues, but on a variety of issues. Do we expect to have greater speed than Healthcare for example?
If we condemn the Democratic Party As a Whole then where do you think you will go for support, I mean to what political party? Not the Republicans. They will Never Support Gays, Never. This is Exactly the type of dissent that Republicans/your opponents want.
Might I suggest that we express dissatisfaction toward PARTICULAR Party Members as they vote or do not in our favor?
I am not going to abandon ship (and swim), just because the rudder needs adjusting. There are No Other Boats Coming
Along friends, and I do not like swimming in sharky water.
A Better Plan.........
Might I also suggest that rather than attacking our Allies, those who, while perhaps not perfect, Are Inclined to defend our Rights, But Rather That we Do Boycott, watch and provide successful argument Against Our Clear Enemies, and here is a great place to start:
http://www.valuesvotersummit.org/speakers
I appreciate sincerely the Efforts of anyone promoting our rights, but I do strongly believe that we need to work effectively toward those goals. Let's be very careful to Identify both Friend and Foe accurately. Even at a “pause”, one can be certain that our Opponents are not pausing. This is not a wise Political Move.
As bad ad it may hurt, I would be Very Happy if Obama ended DOMA in his Second term; again History?? Let’s just hope that, despite your misdirected efforts, he can manage to actually Have a second term.
So Dear Bloggers, and this is a sincere question, Exactly what Positive and Equally as Prominent Proclamations have you made recently in an effort to Gain Support by Rallying Donations FOR Groups that are SUPPORTIVE of Gays?
http://gay.americablog.com/2009/11/dont-ask-don...
bottom line . . . those mofos are crazy. And they are unfairly throwing lgbts under the bus. I don't get it. Finally they have a President who is willing to make sure they get equal representation under the law and they are gnawing at his ankles and are blocking their own progress. . .I wouldn't have believed it until I read it for myself. And they like the birthers, tea baggers are drowning out the folks who are working hard, talking to folks in communities and churches drumming up support.
"This is just like slavery. This is a civil rights issue and 10 months is long enough."
I don't get it.
Yeah because that 10 months of slavery was hell. I can just imagine the slaves sitting around whining about how long it was taking for that damn emancipation proclamation - but then after those harrowing 10 months, it was all sunshine and rose petals!
Wow. Do these people actually listen to themselves? My 7 y.o. nephew has more composure than these whiny brats. SMH.
Politifact documented 513 promises the President made and they are tracking it.
Here is ObamaScorecard on Promises:
The Obameter Scorecard
Promise Kept 53
Compromise 14
Promise Broken 7
Stalled 15
In the Works 139
Not yet rated 285
source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/
In the words of the Clarke Sisters:
NO! OF COURSE NOT!
When I think of John Allen Muhammad, who is scheduled to die today for one of the most eerie killing sprees in the nation's history, the word pathology comes to mind.
Not so much in the sense that he was convicted of killing 10 people in the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks, which terrorized the Washington area for about a month. And not so much in the sense that he brought in to his employ a young, impressionable teenaged Lee Boyd Malvo as a sort of twisted Robin to his vicious Batman. And not even in that a nation still reeling from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and more locally, the Pentagon, was placed in more fear from a seemingly uncatchable gunman.
The real pathology is that our nation, our culture, seems to constantly produce people like this and makes me wonder which is crazier: the pathological gunman or the society that produces him.
In addition to his signature sky hook and a legacy of winning at every level, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known for his stamina and fitness. During a 20-year N.B.A. career that included six championships and six Most Valuable Player awards, Abdul-Jabbar had one serious injury, a broken wrist. Other than that had enjoyed a healthy career.
So the news Monday that the 62-year-old star athlete turned writer and coach was battling leukemia came as a stunning revelation.
“Imagine how I felt,” he said in an interview in Manhattan. “It was frightening. You hear the word leukemia and it’s something that really affects you.”
Especially when there is a history of cancer in the family. Abdul-Jabbar had a grandfather and an uncle who died from the disease. “And my father almost died,” he said, “so it’s something that really got me going.”
The first person Abdul-Jabbar thought about after learning he had the disease was a close friend who died of leukemia. He remembered talking to his friend just before the end. “He was weak, his voice was fading, his blood vessels deteriorated — it was really horrific,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
“He got diagnosed one day and within four weeks he was dead,” he added. “I thought I was on that same path. I don’t have that type of leukemia. You just say the word leukemia, you’ve got reason to be scared.”
Abdul-Jabbar learned last December that he has chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow in which the body produces cancerous white blood cells. Chronic describes a relatively slow-growing cancer that may take years to progress. Myeloid refers to the type of white blood cell being overproduced.
“It’s been almost a year now since I’ve been diagnosed,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “My first reaction was to deal with it, make that fight for my life.”
Like many patients found to have this particular strain of leukemia, Abdul-Jabbar learned he had the disease while it was in its early phase.
“In order to really deal with this situation, you have to find a specialist and follow their instructions,” he said. “You have to take your medication; you have to get your blood checked regularly so that you can be monitored.”
For the last 11 months he has kept a brisk regimen: coaching with the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a documentary about the all-black Harlem Rens teams and writing a children’s book.
“It’s something that can be managed,” he said of his disease. “You can continue to live a productive life without changing your lifestyle that much. It does not have to be a death sentence.”
Glad to hear his prognosis is good.
Hall of Famer Abdul-Jabbar Told 'GMA' That His Prognosis Is Good
Video
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9041728
Blessings to Mr. Kareem Abdul-Jababar.
by BooMan
Tue Nov 10th, 2009 at 09:03:56 AM EST
TPMDC reports that the Senate Democratic Caucus is having lunch with former president Bill Clinton today to discuss health care reform. It could be like asking Bob Shrum to run your presidential campaign, or it could be a valuable wake-up call of what it's like to lose power in Congress a mere two years into a new Democratic president's term. An interesting feature of the debate is that the most reluctant members of the Dem Caucus have a lot to lose if the Republicans regain power. Mary Landrieu would probably have to hand her gavel on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship over to Diaper Dave Vitter. I know that would be a bitter pill. Blanche Lincoln just won the chairmanship of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Saxby Chambliss would take over for her. Kent Conrad chairs the Committee on the Budget. I wonder how he'd like to take orders from Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Joe Lieberman cherishes his chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Of the most likely hold-outs, only Ben Nelson doesn't stand to lose a full committee chair if the Republicans make a comeback.
But, even if they retain their chairs, their power will be diminished if the Dems lose seats. They'll never achieve cloture without winning over Republicans. And, a Republican House would cause them all kinds of nightmares. It's still unlikely that the Republicans can regain either house in just one election cycle, but you never know. Why risk it?
President Clinton had two years to make sweeping progress. He spent the next six years playing defense. I hope he can convince wavering Democrats that they don't want to repeat that history.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/10/8...
I do not think those Senators respect Bill at all. I wouldn't. They may want to keep their chairmanships, but I do not think Bill is the right person to deliver the message simply because he is the REASON the message has to be delivered.
WJC caused a lot of damage to the Democratic party...it is one think to lie, cheat and steal for politics, it is quite enough to embroil your whole damn political party in some sleazy, tawdry ass sex scandal while you PRESIDENT of the USA.
Wasn't it Booman who wrote just this past weekend about just how disappointed he was that President Obama is running a "Clintonesqe White House" or something to that effect?
Sun Nov 8th, 2009 at 10:06:35 AM EST
"I'm disappointed that President Obama's actions in office has been closer to those of former President Clinton and, with respect to our civil liberties, often closer to former President Bush, than to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/8/10...
Now, initial reports were all about how devout he was going to the mosque and all, and how he gave a presentation for his final at WalterReed which was suppose to be on any medical topic of his choosing. Well Hasan chose to talk about suicide bombers and how the Army should let go muslims due to the war increasingly aboutmuslims as that should be a concscienous objection. That presentation should have had his superiors taking action...for the life of me I do not understand why they FAILED too. We paid for this man to go to Undergrad AND medical school..yet when he stands up talking about conscientious objection on the basis of religion no one sounded an alarm?
"warned a roomful of senior Army physicians a year and a half ago that to avoid "adverse events," the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims...snip "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," he said in the presentation....snip The last bullet point on that page reads simply: "We love death more then [sic] you love life!"
Under the "Conclusions" page, Hasan wrote that "Fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by force, is condoned by the Islam," and that "Muslim Soldiers should not serve in any capacity that renders them at risk to hurting/killing believers unjustly -- will vary!" ."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
Anywhoo, then they ALSO said he wouldn't pictures at his mosque with women..yada yada...well now comes the complexity.
Less than a quarter of mile from the mosque where he went to pray daily was a strip club and the manager has told the media, Hasan visited several times a week,,,that he stayed for 5-7 hours and would pay to have lap dances in private rooms.
So, let's see here..his faith was so devout he couldn't take pictures with females nor consider killing other muslims...but he could pay for lap dances and sit in a strip club for hours not far from the mosque where he worshipped daily.
HmmmmHUH.
WEE SEE YOU Hasan....I hope they try you and court marshall your ass.
Especially, since even though you are awake and all you do not want to talk to investigators...guess you must of been really shocked to wake up and learn you got to deal with your actions, that you will be held accountable...bet you thought you were going out like a real hero.
Conscientious objector, my ass...why didn't you just kill your own damn self? Naw, you had to attack INNOCENT people and bring grief to 30 other families who loss loved ones or were wounded.
I hope your ass is courtmartialed and it is TElevised...and I don't wanna hear nothing about you feel you can't get a fair trial...cause you didn't give 2 cents about being fair when it came to shooting all those innocent people...if you deserve a fair trial they deserved to live and thrive...you took life and death into your own hands and acted like you were GOD...while shouting God Is GREAT!!
Fry, mofo fry!!
Can't stand your type of religious hypocrisy!
He fails to tell what the statement was though!!!
"After a summer of silence, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch has piped up to say that his newest Fox News star, Glenn Beck, "was right" when he called President Obama a racist in July even if he was wrong to say it.
"On the racist thing, that caused a [unintelligible]," Murdoch said in an interview with his Sky News Australia over the weekend. "But [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above. And that was something which perhaps shouldn't have been said about the President, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, [Beck] was right."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/10/murdoc...
The Sundance award-winning, critically acclaimed adaptation of the 1996 book "Push" opened to an outstanding $1.8 million at just 18 theaters in four cities this weekend. Its average take of $100,000 is the highest ever for a movie at more than six locations. The indie studio achieved the remarkable debut with a hybrid strategy of playing theaters that targeted affluent moviegoers likely drawn by the movie's rave reviews and theaters in African American communities, where endorsements from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry likely helped.
A little more than 50% of ticket buyers were African American, and a much more lopsided 68% were female, according to exit polls. Moviegoers gave it an average grade of A, a sign that it will have excellent word-of-mouth.
With any independent movie, however, it's never guaranteed that niche appeal, no matter how strong, will carry over to a more mainstream audience. Last November, for instance, Fox Searchlight debuted "Slumdog Millionaire" to $360,000 at 10 theaters, a solid opening but well below that of "Precious." It went on to gross more than $141 million, helped by a best-picture Oscar, a prize that many think is a possibility for "Precious." But many other movies, like "Melinda and Melinda," "Lust, Caution" and "The Aristocrats" started very strong in limited release but ultimately grossed less than $10 million.
I saw the movie this weekend and it was excellent. I'm an indie buff and was happy it did so well this weekend. (don't regret paying $12.50 - matinee) I thought I was in the wrong theater when I saw so many white faces; to the point I went out and asked the attendant, if I was in the right place. But the article said that part of the strategy was to release it in certain areas...
Some of them didn't get the jokes. One lady was like...umm...I don't get it. While I was cracking up.
The movie is raw with a little added comic relief. It holds no punches. Everyone did a fantastic job. Even Mariah Carey ( now I can forgive her for "Glitter"). Lenny Kravitz is pure hotness and Monique she did the damn thing
I highly recommend it!
It's definitely about the performances and I certainly expect to see some Academy-Award hardware for Monique among others.
"out in California: Carly Fiorina, the businesswoman who hopes to be the GOP challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer next year, has unveiled a new attack line:
She’s faulting Boxer for wanting to be called “Senator,” not “ma’am,” hitting Boxer with a new Web ad and a new Website devoted entirely to this criticism.
It’s a reference to a widely-noted exchange Boxer had earlier this year with a Brigadier General at a hearing. After he called her “ma’am,” Boxer rejoined: “Do me a favor, could you say `Senator,’ instead of `ma’am’? It’s just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title."
Now one would think Fiorina would grasp why a woman does not want to be called ma'am...instead she is trying to make out that demanding to be called Senator...is somehow arrogant?
Please...we are going to be treated to some serious BeckyBitchiness watching this campaign..Fiorina has out a ad now where she claims ...why can't she just be called BARBARA?
C'mONnnnnnnnnnnn!
These are HillGirls for sure...we are getting ready to watch statewide cat fight..meowing scractching and clawing.
Blake Hall, Idaho GOP Leader, Quits RNC After Stalking Conviction
Blake Hall, a leading figure in Idaho and national politics for 25 years, was fired Monday as a deputy prosecuting attorney in eastern Idaho and has resigned from the Republican National Committee.
Hall, a former member of the state Board of Education, pleaded guilty Friday to stalking a former girlfriend and is serving a 15-day jail sentence. He also was sentenced to a year of supervised probation. A six-month jail sentence was suspended.
Idaho Falls police reported that witnesses said Hall disposed of used condoms on the lawn of the woman's house. Nineteen condoms were turned over to police, collected on 10 different dates, according to a police report. Both Hall and his lawyer acknowledged the condoms belonged to him, according to a police report.
Also, between March and August, Hall repeatedly followed the woman to restaurants, the movies and her home, and he ignored her repeated requests that he leave her alone, according to police and court records.
The victim testified Friday that Hall once followed her to a Walmart and took her car keys and would not return them until she agreed to "hear him out" concerning her marriage, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.
"I was so tired of being victimized," the woman said. "It is unimaginable that a 56-year-old would be so deviant."
Full Story: http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story...
Dayum, why I gotz to hate on a whole state?
LMBAO, every time I go the airport and head for the ladies room, you should see the men walking towards men's room. Their heads are doing a 360. ROTFLMBAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nasty bastard!
ain't that a mess?!
Seriously?? So throwing 19 USED condoms all over this woman's front yard probably didnt' have anything to do with it? He was singled out? Do they have roving gangs of condom discarders in Idaho Falls? Is this some sort of wierd hobby that men like to go to yards and throw their used condoms all over the place like leaves? Is this the equivalent of toilet papering a house on Halloween?? I really wanna know how he was "singled out".
Go ahead Miranda. You are on a roll today. lolol
Ya think it had something to do with my last comment?
"How old are you people? 3?
Here is my wish for you. That you get everything you deserve. Everything. Especially since you all worked so hard and you have earned it.
One last word. . . Maine"
Since Daily Kos is sponsoring this boycott, what does Black Daily Kos have to say?
chile...that is an UNDERstatement if there ever was one..they betta recognize.
Now I'm like. . . whatever.
No-on-8's White Bias: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-canni...
White Gays Guide To Dealing With The Black Community: http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?cat=87
http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=3298
I was reading some of the comments over there. They're very irrational. Honestly, I think they're being used by John et al. This is about gaining more attention for themselves, not gay rights.
How in the heck can they not see that? I couldn't believe it. Then I thought . . this can't possibly be grown folks willingly cutting off their noses to spite their faces even when confronted with facts.
They have got to be paid or have an agenda to derail the lgbt progress. Got to. No rational person can read that drivel and not go . . . aaahhhh something smells up in here.
Well hopefully my last comment I was allowed to post will slap some sense into them. Because if they don't reign it in and come up with a strategy to include folks who are not lgbt or who do not agree with the current approach but genuinely support the push for equal rights well . . . they are SOL and unfortunately other states may suffer the same fate.
One of them got mad an African-American commenter, and stated that they wish they could say what they really want to say. I was thinking to myself, "What do you really want to say?"
Craziness.
I commented to someone, some of the things that Obama has done, and you know what that idiot said, those were all gestures.
Gestures? WTF?
Okay, well then why don't name some gestures that you have gotten over the past 16 years?
Let's see if he answers that one.
Craziness is right. It's like most of the posters enjoyed wallowing in perpetual ignorance and no amount of facts or rational reasoning was going to change their minds.
Oh well. You get what you get.
Maybe it was said in an alternative parallel universe where unicornS piss rainbows and children eat cotton candy on top of chocolate covered trees. ????
RAOTFLMAO. lolololol you may be right PBomb
Can we send some love and well wishes to one of the hardest working bloggers in the WEE Family, please? Thanks y'all.
SG2, WEE miss you and looking forward to you dropping in real soon!
Love ya, Shanti! :-)))
CNN insinuates that the WH is lying about the CBS News report:
White House vs. CBS on Afghanistan troop increase?
Posted: 02:43 PM ET
Call it CBS News versus the White House.
CBS reports that President Obama intends to give General Stanley McChrystal most - if not all - of the 40,000 troops he's asking for in Afghanistan. They say the president has tentatively decided to send four combat brigades plus thousands of more support troops.
General Stanley McChrystal is the U.S. Military commander in Afghanistan.
According to CBS, the troop buildup would last for about four years - until the Afghan military doubles in size. This surge would mean the number of U.S. troops would grow from the current 68,000 to about 100,000 by the end of the president's first term.
But the White House insists the CBS story is false. They call reports that the president has made a decision about Afghanistan "absolutely false." They say Mr. Obama still hasn't received or reviewed "final options" with his national security team.
So - who's telling the truth here? It comes down to the word of the Obama White House against the network of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.
Of course... CBS News also saw Dan Rather step down in 2005 after apologizing for a report that questioned President George W. Bush's National Guard service. Rather said the report was based on false documents.
Meanwhile the Associated Press seems to support the CBS story, saying President Obama is nearing a decision to add tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan - but not the 40,000 that McChrystal wants.
Some officials dub that likely troop increase McChrystal Light since it would fall short of the general's request.
Here’s my question to you: CBS News says nearly 40,000 additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan. The White House says the story is false. Whom do you believe?
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/10/40...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You should've heard Wolf Blitzer swear up and down how much of a legit news reporter David Martin is. This media is sickening.
VICK GETS A BREAK Court RULES he can KEEP $16M
A federal appeals court on Tuesday backed the judge who ruled against the NFL and let quarterback Michael Vick keep more than $16 million in roster bonuses from the Atlanta Falcons.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed Judge David Doty's order saying Vick had already earned the bonuses before his dogfighting conviction, so the money wasn't subject to forfeiture.
Vick served 18 months in prison and is now with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Doty has long handled matters arising from the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. After Doty ruled in the Vick bonus case, the NFL accused him of bias and sought to end his oversight of its contract with the players union.
The appeals court said the contract should remain under Doty's oversight.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not say whether the league planned a further appeal, but he said the 8th Circuit upheld Doty's ruling on Vick's bonuses in large part because it found the contract's forfeiture language ambiguous.
"That is something that we will seek to change at the bargaining table to ensure that bonus payments are paid to players who comply with their contracts and perform on the field," Aiello said.
Vick, a former Atlanta Falcons star, was released from federal custody July 20 after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring in Surry County, Va. The Eagles signed Vick to a $1.6 million contract for 2009, with a team option for the second year at $5.2 million, but he has not played much.
She was the one that developed the aggressive communication of calling people out and going after Fox. Hmmmmmmm
"The White House on Tuesday shuffled its communications team, with Anita Dunn stepping down as expected and her deputy taking over day-to-day management of President Barack Obama's vaunted messaging machine."
"Administration officials say Dunn's organization helped steer Obama through a bumpy summer that saw conservatives mobilize against his health care proposals and the daily clamor for the president's time. Officials credit her with shaping the administration's message as the health care proposals inched closer to congressional passage."
"Specifically, Dodd's bill takes away the Fed's regulatory power in some key areas. "I really want the Federal Reserve to get back to its core enterprises," Dodd said. "We saw over the last number of years when they took on consumer protection responsibilities and the regulation of bank holding companies, it was an abysmal failure. So the idea that we're going to go back and expand those roles and functions at the expense of the vitality of the core functions that they're designed to perform is going in the wrong way.
The bill would also end the practice of allowing banks to select the directors of the regional Federal Reserve banks. That was a last-minute addition that came after the committee's top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, said he wanted to end the conflict of interest.
Dodd said the bill would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate such things as credit cards and home mortgages. Banks that are "too big to fail" would, as a final resort, be required to reduce their size and consequently the risk they pose to the financial structure if regulators demanded it. A single banking regulator would be created from the patchwork system that currently allows banks to shop for the fattest and laziest cop.
The bill would create a single bank regulator, responsible for all of the nation's 8,200 banks. The plan takes bank supervision away from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the 50 state banking supervisors, and combines the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (which regulates national banks like Citibank and Bank of America) and Office of Thrift Supervision (which regulated failed lenders Washington Mutual and IndyMac) to create this new agency."
"A Marine reservist armed with a tire iron beat and chased a man he thought was an Arab terrorist and even called 911 to say he was detaining the man, police said.
But the man he assaulted was actually a Greek Orthodox priest visiting from overseas who spoke limited English, police said.
Instead of offering help, Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron, police said."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime...
Here he is in all of his strapping manly glory.
http://madabouttheboys.blogspot.com/2008/10/jas...
"Imagine you had been told five years ago that a huge economic crisis would erupt, prominently featuring irresponsible financiers, and that governments would come to the rescue of firms and families. You would probably have predicted that, politically, the right (the party of bankers) would do badly and the left (the party of bureaucrats) would do well. You would have been wrong. It's not just the Republicans who came out ahead. Last month a conservative coalition swept into power in Germany. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy's party has considerable public support. In Britain, conservatives are poised to win their first national election in 17 years. Even in Denmark and Sweden, where social democrats usually win, the right is in power. In fact, across continental Europe, only one major country, Spain, has a left-wing ruling party.
Why? Part of the answer is that despite the economic turmoil, few people seriously believe the answer is a turn to socialism. But it is also worth looking at the conservative parties that are thriving. Britain's Tory leader, David Cameron, calls himself a "progressive conservative." Sarkozy argues passionately for tight regulation of the financial industry, with pay caps on executive bonuses and more. Angela Merkel staunchly defends the German social market system. In Europe, the right is firmly at the center.
snip
Barack Obama's handling of the financial crisis has mostly been marked by such intelligent centrism. He es-chewed calls from the left to nationalize banks, ignored criticism from scholars that the stimulus was too small, and has largely avoided business bashing. In all these areas, the left wing of his party is dissatisfied.
On health care, however, the story looks different. There are two great health-care crises in America—one in-volving coverage and the other cost. The Obama plan appears likely to tackle the first but not the second. This is bad economics but also bad politics: the crisis of cost affects 85 percent of Americans, while the crisis of coverage affects about 15 percent. Obama's message to the country appears to be "We have a dysfunctional health-care system with out-of-control costs, and let's add 45 million people to it."
Americans see a health-care bill that has been produced by the old Democratic machine rather than the new Democratic technocrats—more Lyndon Johnson than Larry Summers. That might please the party's base but it will dismay independents. Were costs to rocket over the next few years, the Democrats will have squandered a reputation for economic competence that was hard won."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/221611/output/print
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York officials say they've reached an $875,000 settlement with CVS Pharmacy to stop sales of expired products — including food, medicine and baby formula.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who announced the agreement Tuesday, sued after investigators bought expired goods in 60% of CVS (CVS) stores they canvassed across the state.
The settlement ends a lawsuit that the state filed after it said CVS breached a prior agreement to halt expired sales.
A CVS spokesman says the company is committed to keeping expired products off the shelves and that the settlement doesn't include any admission of wrongdoing.
Cuomo reached a similar settlement with Rite Aid in 2008.
CVS has about 432 New York stores.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2009-11...
No, I did NOT watch it.
families....
If Pro-Lifers can prevent their tax money from being spent on abortions, then why can't death-penalty aboliitionists (like myself) prevent our money from being spent on executions?
be curious to know how much of my tax dollars go towards it.
Pro-lifers scream about life, but don't give a flying fuck about what
happens to you, once you pop out of the womb.
It's the sam thing with war. Basically these mickey ficks preach life and
death; fuck your quality of life.
of heaven.... A F*#cking trap door!