I Am Overcome – Looking Back on 9/11

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I still remember being jolted awake by the phone that morning. A friend calling hysterical, crying, emphatic for me to turn on the television. Groggily trying to figure out what could have her so very upset so very early in the morning. Very little surprises me in life. What we witnessed that morning surprised me greatly. Probably the most so in my life. It, quite frankly, also scared the Hell out of me. What was happening? Who was responsible? Why were they doing this? How could this happen within our borders?

None of those thoughts really matter anymore. As I reflect back on the time that has passed I have several thoughts I’d like to share. That can come later however, as those may be topics that generate disagreement. Today we need to remember that spirit of country, of family we had in the weeks following these horrific attacks on our United States. Today we need to remember that despite what is sometimes a number of differences we are one country, free & united together.

Take a moment of silence today for the over 3,000 of our family members, our men & women who were senselessly taken from us that day. We need to remember our neighbors and our loved ones and honor those fallen heroes who put their own lives on the line to save a few of their fellow citizens.  Creed, race, nationality & other meaningless surface differences need to be ignored. We were all attacked that day. We all suffered that day.  Let’s not forget we are all Americans regardless of our differences.

– “Left of Center”

A Quick Thought on 9-11

Image by Brendan Loy via Flickr

Just to make a brief statement here, nothing fancy.  Let’s take a few seconds of silence is not too much to ask for today, as well as few seconds to think about how your world has changed, and how America has changed since 10 years ago.

Touchy subject for some, but an unignorable part of any person who has seen that event, and those who have been directly affected by the event.  We’ll talk about how things have progress/regressed after 09/11 has past, and no earlier.

– Classic Liberal

Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Forces in Pakistan

Image by martin_kalfatovic via Flickr

President Barack Obama announced in a press conference shortly after 11:30pm EST on 05-01-11 that US forces had killed Osama bin Laden and taken custody of his body.  Reports are that this occurred several days if not a week ago, but announcement was held pending confirmation of a DNA test result.

May the families who lost loved ones in 9-11 finally begin to find some peace and be able to put that horrible day behind them. May the country find again and keep the spirit of patriotism and togetherness that we remembered we had in the weeks and months following the tragedy.

– “Left of Center”

Related Articles

• White House: Osama Bin Laden is Dead (benzinga.com)
• News Of Osama Bin Laden’s Death Spreads Like Wildfire On Twitter (techcrunch.com)

More Details On the Republican's Destructive Budget Plan

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The House Republicans unveiled a budget plan to slash countless dollars of Federal spending, a topic I covered last week in the two part “Defundapalooza” posts (here and here).  Unfortunately there’s more to say on the issue.  Several other very detrimental effects have been found in this proposed budget.

• Moody Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi says that these cuts could potentially lower GDP by half a percent and result in 700,000 less jobs being added to the economy.
  Source: Washington Post
• End Federal funding for NPR and PBS.  The only news outlet remaining in the US that is not rife with editorialized content and punditry (factual content level aside) would be no more.  Worse yet, educational programs like Sesame Street and Nova would no longer be produced.
  Source: Washington Independent
  
• Pell grants for low income college students would be cut by up to 15%
• Loss of $1 billion in funding to the Head Start program, resulting in loss of the jobs of over 50,000 teachers and 200,000 children losing access to pre-school.  This would put an extra unnecessary financial and emotional burden on families where both parents have to work to make ends meet.
• Raise the risk of food-borne illness by eliminating $100 million in funding to the United States Department of Agriculture, which would result in fewer inspectors.  In a time when we hear more and more reports of e-coli and salmonella contamination in packaged food products, this is especially concerning.
  Source: The New Republic
• $27 million less in funding for the Poison Control Center, which would potentially cause the most harm to children as most incidents of accidental poisoning occurs with young children.  No longer would parents have the Poison Control hotline to call for assistance in these situations
  Source: Think Progress
• Huge cuts to Planned Parenthood, to which I have commented previously on here.
  Source: The Wall Street Journal
  
• Potentially put thousands of veterans on the street by ending low-cost housing assistance.  These men and women have fought for our freedom and in many cases suffered mental or physical damage as a result.
  Source: Think Progress

Let your voice be heard that these cuts are unacceptable.  These cuts do not represent the direction that we should be moving in and that making the poor and under-priviledged pay for the entitlement of the wealthy is not what America is about.

– “Left of Center”

— Sign the Petition —

Catching Up, Part IX – The Lies Against Planned Parenthood

Just when one thought the Republican controlled House of Representatives could go no further, this happens.  Someone tries to pull off a fake “sting” undercover video inside Planned Parenthood like they did at ACORN.  No truth, substance or merit to the allegations being levied.  No verification yet if the “video evidence” was creatively edited together as was so shamefully done in the ACORN case.  Yet what do Republicans do?  Denounce the fact that it’s become okay to throw together a clearly biased and almost certainly false or exaggerated hit piece against an organization that does so much good?  No, Republicans instead moved right to calls for immediately ceasing all Federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

Why?  Of course, the false clarion call of abortion.  A battle they already legislated and lost decades ago, but one they’ve continued to fight regardless.  Despite the reality that the “video evidence” is a mockery of investigative journalism at best and despite the fact that there is no actual evidence of any crime having been committed.  Going on nothing more than thin and uncorroborated circumstantial evidence they want to immediately remove the primary source of funding for one of the organizations most crucial to the health care assistance of poor and under-privileged women and children in the country.

Planned Parenthood is funded via Title X of the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 which is itself an amendment to the Public Health Service Act of 1944.  Yes, it’s true that the organization assists women in getting abortions.  However, that is only a small part of their operation.  Attacking them for one out of the many necessary and useful services they provide is just another notch on the Republicans belt in their war against women and anyone who isn’t white and rich.

In over 800 clinics across the country, Planned Parenthood provides low cost health care services to poor women, children and families.  These services include providing breast, cervical and testicular cancer screenings, pregnancy screenings and counseling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, sex education, menopause treatments, vasectomies and other reproductive system surgeries and yes abortions.  All to Americans who would potentially not be able to afford these services, some of which could potentially save their lives.

So, the fact that Republicans want to effectively bring an end to the organization’s ability to operate in this country over a minor portion of the services they provide is positively repugnant.  Where would these Americans go for these essential health services if the Republicans succeed? Private insurance?  No, because many of them don’t have that option because they can’t afford it.

So the Republicans would leave these  only remaining options are (as very appropriately said by former Florida Rep Alan Grayson) – Don’t get sick or if you do, die quickly.  That’s not the America I want.  It’s not the America that any American should want.  It’s not the America that we should be aspiring to.   It’s most certainly not the America the Founding Fathers envisioned.  Stand with the logical, the rational, the just and support an America that does it’s best to help those less fortunate — Sign the petition —

– “Left of Center”

Related Articles:

• http://crooksandliars.com/2008/09/25/thanks-sarah-planned-parenthood-gets-upsurge-in-donations
• http://crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/299,1586
• http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/mike-pence-rails-against-planned-parenthoo
• http://crooksandliars.com/breaking-news/house-votes-de-fund-planned-parentho

Weekend Special Edition: Florida Judge Stays Own HCR Decision

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Florida District Court Judge Roger Vinson has issued a preliminary stay on his own original ruling. Previously he had ruled in February that the Individual Mandate portion of the Democratic party’s Affordable Care Act was Unconstitutional because it exceeded the power of the Congress under the Commerce Clause.

Because this temporary injunction carries with it a requirement that the Department of Justice file it’s appeal to the 11th Circuit or with the Supreme Court within 7 days, this move looks less like a reconsideration of his opinion and more like a tactic meant to accelerate the final decision on the matter.

Some state governors and attorneys general had taken Judge Vinson’s decision as final and interpreted it to mean that the entire HCR law had been stricken and would not proceed. That is not the case.  Unfortunately some people don’t (or don’t want to) understand that that is not how the judicial system works in the United States.

To clarify, no decision by any lower court is final until the entire appeals process has completed. This includes a potential decision by the Supreme Court.  Therefore regardless of any lower court ruling, states must comply with the details in the bill and begin implementing the programs that make up the law.

This decision sets the record at 2-1-1 for the Affordable Care Act in front of the judicial branch of our government.  Two judges have ruled that the Individual Mandate is legal.  One judge, Vinson, decided that because of the Individual Mandate’s illegality, the entire bill must be voied.

A third judge ruled that while the mandate was illegal, the remainder of the bill was “severable”.  This, in legal terms, means that the portion of the bill deemed in violation of the Constitution can be removed without invalidating the remainder of the law.

This battle is not over. We must all look at the Affordable Care Act not as victory, but as a starting point. It’s not perfect. It’s a starting point.  A ground-breaking of sorts, and something that must be built on and improved.

Starting over is going backwards and would be damaging to the economy and the middle class.  America doesn’t move backwards.  We move forward. We take what may be imperfect and work to make it better.  I think a lot of Americans seem to have forgotten that in the last few decades…

– “Left of Center”

The Conservative "Icon" on Collective Bargaining Rights

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“They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are fobidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it would disappear everywhere in the world… “ – Ronald Reagan

Can someone please let Scott Walker and all the other Conservatives know that their demi-god would have been to the left of them on this issue?

– “Left of Center”

Police Allowed to Clear Wisconsin Statehouse At Night

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This afternoon (03-03-11), a Judge ruled that while the Wisconsin capitol building must remain open and accessible to demonstrators during normal business hours, it is now acceptable for police to clear the building after hours.  Protesters will no longer be able to stay inside the building over night.

As much as I am a supporter of the Pro-Union demonstrations that have been going on for more than week, I feel that this decision is both correct and fair.  Wisconsin’s State Constitution (Article I, Section 4) states that the Capitol building must remain open and accessible to the public during business hours only.

I understand that people were staying in the building overnight because of bad weather and to stage a sort of old-fashioned sit-in unending protest.  While I applaud the determination, I think it was unreasonable to expect that anyone would be or should be granted access to the building after hours.

There’s almost no chance that this will have any lasting effect on the protesters though.  Even if they now have to go home and then come back in the morning.  This is a serious issue and the Pro-Union side is absolutely on the correct side of history in this debate.

I encourage the protesters to remain vigilant despite this decision that they may perceive as a setback.  Keep up the good work in bringing attention to the growing battle against the middle class by the Conservatives and the ultra-rich.

– “Left of Center”

Catching Up, Part III – Congress (sort of) Repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Dateline December 18th, 2010

After 17 years it’s finally happened.  Congress has repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the law that allowed for gay & lesbian Americans to be forced out of the armed services regardless of their record has been stricken down.  Well, sort of.  Repeal, though passed by both the House and the Senate, still hinges on the top brass of all branches of the US Armed Forces to actually move forward on the matter.

Certainly this is a step in the correct direction but it could be months or years before this is actually carried out.  Until then, LGBT Americans are still subject to dismissal even if they are heroes simply because of what they do in their private lives that should be nobody’s damn business.

American society has always been behind the curve on societal changes regarding those whom we deem different that “make people uncomfortable”.  Slowly, but surely, we do eventually come around.  It took over 100 years to properly implement equality and civil rights into law for African Americans and other minorities.  LGBT rights are the new legal civil rights battle for the 21st century and I know we’ll get there in time.  Unfortunately while we drag our feet we look ridiculous and backwards to the rest of the world.

– “Left of Center”

Catching Up, Part I – Wikileaks & Conservative Hypocrisy

Dateline December 12th, 2010

This issue is simple.  Julian Assange is not a terrorist.  He is also not guilty of traitor and cannot be legally convicted of treason against the United States because he’s not a US citizen! The Conservative reaction in the USA was filled with some very anti-American and clearly Unconstitutional ideas.  Rather than repeat what has already been said, here’s a video clip from Cenk Ungyar of The Young Turks that lays it down simply and logically.