Where’s the Outrage?

Okay, by now, everyone should have heard about the man with TB who flew to France then flew to Canada and crossed the border into the US. Our President has repeatedly told us that we are safer. Now, this is an episode of The Agency. Several things - Since SARS, why don’t we have a plan to deal with airborne diseases that could be lethal? The plan can’t be to tell all of the networks to publish a flight itinerary. Next, how does the CDC (Not the FBI or the CIA) put someone on the no fly list? Thirdly, where was the coordination between agencies that we heard so much about. Because he was on the No Fly List should he be barred from re-entering the country?

Could budget cuts have hampered the CDC’s effort?

BTW, I was suppose to be a Drinking Liberally tonight. Every time that I go I have a good time. After a week of nights and a week of days, I was beat. I’m starting to get a cold (NO, it is not TB.) More blogging this weekend.

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From WaPo: The government is investigating how a globe-trotting tuberculosis patient drove back into the country even after his name was put on a no-fly list provided to border guards. The failure exposed a major gap in a system that is supposed to keep the direst of diseases from crossing borders.

But the communications breakdown at a U.S.-Canada border crossing was only one of a series of missed opportunities to catch the Atlanta man and his wife who seemed determined to elude health officials. (more…)

 

 What Border Security? [3:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Border Security, Healthcare by ecthompson
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Did the fighting there ever stop?  What are they fighting over?  BTW, who killed that moderate leader a year or so ago?

 

 Lebonon continues to fight [2:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Lebanon by ecthompson
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I was listening to Run DMC in my car a few weeks back while ordering something from the drive-up window of a well-known coffee chain. The young man at the window heard the music and said I might enjoy A Tribe Called Quest.

Since the young man at the drive-up window did well with my tea, I took his advice and purchased a greatest hits CD of A Tribe Called Quest.

In one of the songs on that CD, reference is made to the base running speed of former St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Lou Brock. [Read more →]

Tags: Music, Sports by Texas Liberal
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Update: Think Progress has a great post on this subject.   The US Ambassador to Sudan tells us that the purpose of these sanctions isn’t to punish Sudan but instead to send a message.

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How about too little too late? Yes, almost anything is better than nothing but the Bush administration has been giving lip service to Sadan for several years now while thousands continue to die. If the Bush administration really wanted to liberate a group of people who really would have greeted us a liberators they would have gone to Sadan and stopped the ethnic killings.

Don Cheadle and George Clooney just threw a party at the Cannes film festival and raised something like $9 million for the victims of Darfur.

 

 Bush talks about Darfur [2:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Sudan by ecthompson
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This is an interesting story.  If you don’t believe in the Bible, then should you have to take an oath on the Bible?

 

 Quran in Courtroom [2:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Civil Rights, Religion by ecthompson
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If immigrant (economic refugees) were the only thing that Healthcare had to worry about then we would be sitting pretty.  This short segment doesn’t begin to touch the problem.  Individual large hospitals are doing between $10 - $100 million of free care per year.  This care that they can’t collect on.  Economic refugees are just another added burden. 

My good friend, John Porter, is a star in this clip!

(BTW, how to tackle any subject “In Depth” in 2:38?)

 

 Immigration's toll on Healthcare [2:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Border Security, Healthcare, Immigration by ecthompson
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Cindy Sheehan.  Ms. Sheehan was the first.  She was the first one to challenge the Bush Administation, to challenge a popular president, to feel the venom of the Right and the Left.  She was the one who forced us to look at Iraq.  She expressed her disappointment with a system that is corrupt.

I’m not sure why we, in America, can not discuss a problem without turning someone into a villian.  We have got to take our country back. 

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From CNN.com:

Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who became an anti-war leader after her son was killed in Iraq, declared Monday she was walking away from the peace movement.

She said her son died “for nothing.”

Sheehan achieved national attention when she camped outside President Bush’s home in Crawford, Texas, throughout August 2005 to demand a meeting with the president over her son’s death.

While Bush ignored her, the vigil made her one of the most prominent figures among opponents of the war.  (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Iraq by ecthompson
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It seems that Paul Wolfowitz didn’t get the memo. The media is back. They aren’t going to back down just because you have called them a name.

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From MSNBC:

Departing World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz in a radio interview broadcast Monday blamed an overheated atmosphere at the bank and in the media for forcing him to resign.

Wolfowitz, who has announced he will step down June 30, denied suggestions that his decision to leave was influenced by an apparent lack of support from the bank’s employees.

“I think it tells us more about the media than about the bank and I’ll leave it at that,” he told the British Broadcasting Corp. “People were reacting to a whole string of inaccurate statements and by the time we got to anything approximating accuracy the passions were around the bend.” (more…)

Tags: Foreign Affairs, General by ecthompson
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Tags: General by ecthompson
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Ideally, I’d vote for the most liberal Democratic Presidential candidate in the 2008 Texas primary. Regretfully though, that candidate in 2008 is likely to be the same person it was in 2004—Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

I like Representative Kucinich well enough. I wish he were my Congressperson instead of the one I have. And yet–I can’t take Dennis seriously as standard-bearer for my views on the national stage. 

My first vote for President was for Jesse Jackson in the 1988 Ohio Democratic Primary. I knew Jesse would not win the nomination, but he made it to the convention and he made his case with a strong speech.

The late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota considered running for President in 2000. He did not make the race in part due to severe back pain. Wellstone was the real thing and I think he would have done a great job carrying the banner as a serious candidate of the left.        

Dennis Kucinich is no Paul Wellstone. I know some folks get excited over the Kucinich’s push to impeach Vice President Cheney. To me, whatever I think of Mr. Cheney, that stuff is a waste of time. It marks Mr. Kucinich as a candidate of narrow segment of the left and not a candidate who can carry the message to a larger audience. 

Reverend Jackson and Senator Wellstone were men with a more broad appeal than Mr. Kucinich. Mr. Kucinich won 3.8% of all Democratic primary votes in 2004. Compare that low number against the 29.1% of primary voters Reverend Jackson won in 1988. 

It’s not all about the numbers. Beliefs count as well. But anyway you figure it, Dennis is not the man in 2008.      

Tags: Domestic Issues, Election 2008 by Texas Liberal
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We all need to stop and remember.

 

 Memorial Day [1:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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What a concept? Talking with your enemy. Man, I wish someone would have suggested this earlier.

From WaPo:

The United States intends to lay out a comprehensive account of Iran’s growing military role in Iraq — including the array of arms provided to both Shiite and Sunni militias — during critical talks between U.S. and Iranian diplomats scheduled for tomorrow in Baghdad, according to senior U.S. officials.

Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, will also outline steps Iran could take to help stabilize war-ravaged Iraq, both politically and militarily. Any subsequent meeting will depend on the quality of the dialogue and Iran’s cooperation in the coming weeks, the sources added. (more…)

 

 Talking with Iran plus War in Iraq [2:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Iran by ecthompson
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Just because something is complex does not mean it’s not understandable. The US Attorney scandal is confusing. The question is, what’s going on? Well, in order to figure out everything that’s going on there must be investigations. Some folks on Capitol Hill are calling the current investigations a witch hunt and “political theater.”

Question B if a policeman sees someone walking down the street with a large plasma TV should he be curious? So he asks the guy, “What are you doing with that TV?” He replies, “I’m fixing it for Ms. Smith.” “Ms. Smith? There’s no Ms. Smith that lives on this street.” “Did I say fixing it? I meant delivering it to Mr. Jones.” I think that everyone would assume that this situation deserves further investigation.

The same type of thing has happened with the Justice Department. Eight US attorneys were fired out of the blue. All of these attorneys were Republicans. The initial explanation was that they were fired for performance reasons. Several reporters were able to obtain performance evaluations on several of these attorneys and they were excellent. The next explanation was that some of the attorneys did not prosecute enough immigration cases. This explanation did not hold up to investigation either. Finally, Alberto Gonzales, the US Attorney General, stated that these US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. Therefore, the president can fire them at any time for any reason. Well, this is sort of true. It is true that the president has the power to hire and fire US attorneys. But, and this is important, the President cannot fire at a US attorney to influence a particular case or to halt a particular investigation or for political reasons.

For the last several months we’ve had several officials from the Justice Department testify on Capitol Hill. Each of these officials from Kyle Sampson to Alberto Gonzales to Monica Goodling have related interesting tales. Many of the witnesses have contradicted one another. There has also been tens of thousands of e-mails that have been released from the Justice Department and they also tell a tale which is partial and incomplete. The question is, what are the facts? H. E. “Bud” Cummins was removed in Arkansas in order to make room for a Karl Rove protégé. It appears that David Iglesias, from New Mexico, was probably removed because he did not pursue a voter fraud investigation in which he thought there was not enough evidence against a Democrat before the 2006 election. His decision angered New Mexico Republican Senator Pete Domenici. There appears to have been a phone call both from Pete Domenici and from New Mexico Republican Representative Heather Wilson. (Calling a US Attorney and inquiring about an ongoing investigation is illegal.) Iglesias testified in front the Senate Judiciary committee that he felt pressured, again it is illegal to influence or pressure a US Attorney. [Read more →]

Tags: Bush Administration, US Attorneys by ecthompson
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As long as I have the Way Back Machine open then why not pull out Blondie.

 

 Blondie - Rapture [4:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Music by ecthompson
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Yep, I cranked open the Way Back-machine.  Sister Sledge.  This video may explain why there was only one great hit.  There is no energy in this video but then again, this was what 1979?  Way before MTV became popular.

 

 Sister Sledge [3:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Music by ecthompson
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Wonderful show.  You know the housework that your mom does is worth over $130,000/yr.  I’m sure that you already knew that.  We speak with Brian Katulis from the Center for American Progress about the situation in Iraq.  Eric Boehlert from Media Matters (his book Lapdogs is a must read) discuss how the press focuses on non-stories - John Edwards haircut and miss huge stories - the Downing Street memo.

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 5-5-07 [52:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Iraq, Media, Podcasts by ecthompson
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In event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster, President Bush has signed an executive order (much of which is classified) which gives him the authority to declare Marshall Law. Yep, really.  So, if for example our government is incompetent and Osama Bin Laden himself comes to the US and blows something up, then George who was the source of the incompetence can ride in and save the day.  Oh, that sounds like a problem to me.
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From The Progressive:

With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.

In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”

Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”

He laid this all out in a document entitled “National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51″ and “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20.”

The White House released it on May 9.

Other than a discussion on Daily Kos led off by a posting by Leo Fender, and a pro-forma notice in a couple of mainstream newspapers, this document has gone unremarked upon.

The subject of the document is entitled “National Continuity Policy.” (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Civil Rights by ecthompson
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Finally a vehicle that should be able to withstand powerful IED’s.  Finally.

 

 A Vehicle that can withstand an IED [3:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Iraq, Military by ecthompson
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This is from the movie, Ray.  Enjoy.

 

 What'd I Say [2:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Music by ecthompson
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Now, I don’t condone tearing up a perfectly good car but this is a nice tune anyway.

 

 Carrie Underwood - Before he cheats [3:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Music by ecthompson
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