Open Thread: Happy Birthday, Ruby Bridges
2 weeks ago
An NFL football coach once said - "if you're gonna talk the talk, you better walk the walk." This blog is nothing more than the rantings of a proud military vet and pissed off liberal who's had enough of the right-wing bullshit that is tarnishing America's image not only at home but around the world. Time to fight back and tell the conservative assholes exactly where they can shove their plans for an un-democratic America!

Wonk Room recently obtained an email written by Kris Kobach, a lawyer at the Immigration Reform Law Institute — the group which credits itself with writing the bill — to Arizona state Sen. Russell Pierce (R), urging him to include language that will allow police to use city ordinance violations such as “cars on blocks in the yard” as an excuse to “initiate queries” in light of the “lawful contact” deletion:
By Eric Zimmermann - 04/29/10 01:23 PM ET
Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) ripped into the new Arizona immigration law today, comparing it to Nazi Germany.
"This law of 'frontier justice' – where law enforcement officials are required to stop anyone based on 'reasonable suspicion' that they may be in the country illegally – is reminiscent of a time during World War II when the Gestapo in Germany stopped people on the street and asked for their papers without probable cause," Mack said in a statement.
(Reuters) - A huge oil spill will hit the southern coast on Friday, the Coast Guard said on Thursday, and the military offered to help BP Plc contain the slick that threatens four states.
The spill was "of national significance," Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told a news conference, adding the government will push BP to conduct the strongest possible effort to clean it up.
The state of Louisiana declared a state of emergency due to the accident, which the Coast Guard said late on Wednesday was spilling five times more oil than previously estimated.

It's nearly official: Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) will bolt the GOP and run for Senate as an independent, the St. Petersburg Times and Fox News each report. This much-expected event will drastically shake up a top Senate race in this perennial swing state, which has become more intriguing than anybody could have imagined a year ago.
The St. Petersburg Times reports that Crist has notified key financial backers of his decision. Crist has already announced that he will make his as-yet undisclosed decision official tomorrow, one day before the April 30 filing deadline.


(Reuters) - One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled. First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles. Later, Robin Beaton, a registered nurse from Texas. And then, most recently, there was Patricia Relling, a successful art gallery owner and interior designer from Louisville, Kentucky.
None of the women knew about the others. But besides their similar narratives, they had something else in common: Their health insurance carriers were subsidiaries of WellPoint, which has 33.7 million policyholders -- more than any other health insurance company in the United States.
The women all paid their premiums on time. Before they fell ill, none had any problems with their insurance. Initially, they believed their policies had been canceled by mistake.
They had no idea that WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators.
Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information. WellPoint declined to comment on the women's specific cases without a signed waiver from them, citing privacy laws.

Last month, AFA bloggers wrote that federal employees “can be shot” for passing health reform, which they termed a “MussoliniCare bill.” While the views of the AFA are certainly fringe, the influence AFA enjoys within the Republican Party is widespread. During the health reform debate, Republican lawmakers joined with AFA representatives for a “Prayercast” to kill the bill. Top Republican legislators, from both the House and Senate, often appear on AFA affiliated radio to attack President Obama and concoct conspiracies about his agenda.

At the House hearing, state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Kennesaw), who is shouldering the legislation in the House, spoke earnestly for better than a half hour on microchips as a literal invasion of privacy.
He was followed by a hefty woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County. “I’m also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip,” the woman said. Slowly, she began to lead the assembled lawmakers down a path they didn’t want to take.
Microchips, the woman began, “infringe on issues that are fundamental to our very existence. Our rights to privacy, our rights to bodily integrity, the right to say no to foreign objects being put in our body.”
She spoke of the “right to work without being tortured by co-workers who are activating these microchips by using their cell phones and other electronic devices.”
She continued. “Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission,” she said.
It was not funny, and no one laughed.
“Ma’am, did you say you have a microchip?” asked state Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold).
“Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area,” she replied. Setzler, the sponsoring lawmaker, sat next to the witness – his head bowed.
“You’re saying this was involuntary?” Weldon continued.
The woman said she had been pushing a court case through the system for the last eight years to have the device removed.
Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, picked up the questioning.
“Who implanted this in you?” he asked.
“Researchers with the federal government,” she said.
“And who in the federal government implanted it?” Willard asked.
“The Department of Defense.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”