Cancer doc (left) tops bureaucrat (right) on cancer recs (WUSA).

HHS Head Sibelius Says, Ignore Panel, Get Checked

Michael Collins

"The (task force) recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years." U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, Nov. 17, 2009

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions, and make the decision that is right for you."  Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary,  Nov. 18.

Talk about a short news cycle.  A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appointed "best practices" task force dismissed the value of "routine" mammograms as a cancer prevention technique for women 40 to 49 years on Tuesday, November 17.

A day later, Wednesday, Nov. 18, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement dismissing the committee recommendations.

Triumph of the Money Party

Michael Collins

Do you know what the "public option" does or who it covers?  If you've had trouble finding out, it's not your fault.  Reading corporate media coverage provides little or no clue.  It's hardly ever defined.  There's a very good reason for the lack of clarity and definition.  But first, a brief summary of the public debate that characterizes just about every public debate we have on critical issues.

If you think that the current version of the public option will provide a choice for a government administered health program, you're right.  If you think that this option was designed for the general public, then you're wrong.  It will apply to only some of the uninsured, possibly as few as six million citizens.  It's a kind of public option.

A Censored Headline and why it Matters:

German High Court Outlaws Electronic Voting

Justices of the German Federal Constitutional Court.  Image

Michael Collins

(DailyCensored.Com)  The justices above are clearly the most rational group of high level functionaries in the industrialized world.  They did what no other court would do in Europe or the United States.  They effectively outlawed electronic voting.  On March 3, 2009, the German Federal Constitutional Court declared that the electronic voting machines used in the 2005 Bundestag elections for the German national parliament were outside of the bounds of the German Constitution.

Absurdity upon Absurdity

Michael Collins

The health care debate and general political climate compound absurdity upon absurdity.

First we're told that our health care is only worth the time and effort if the remedy has no negative impact on the budget.  No deficits allowed.  The deficit risk defines your chances for health and longevity.

At the same time, we see that Wall Street failures and the overseas war effort are not held to the same standard on deficits spending.

The Sleeping Giant of Health Reform

Michael Collins

If you work for yourself, you are literally screwed out of large sums of money every year for health insurance.  There are few differences in cost based on region or state regulation.  Ultimately, plans in Salt Lake City and Boston cost the same, about $17,000 a year (premiums plus deductibles).  Despite the costs, many self employed are grateful to just have insurance since without it a major acute or chronic illness can bankrupt a family and the absence of care can be fatal.

The Forgotten Question in the Health Care Debate

Rationed care.   Image

Do you deserve to die?

Do your friends and family?

Michael Collins

Which major figures on either side of the debate address universal health care as a life or death issue?

Who among the advocates of rationing are without health insurance?

Who among them are unable to afford or obtain their own critical care or the same for their loved ones?

ENABLING ACTS
FOR AN ERA OF GREED

The Money Party at Work

Michael Collins

Huge majorities in both houses of Congress voted for legislation to allow the biggest bank heist of all time.   But this time, it was the banks pulling the heist.

Murder Trumps Torture Says Bugliosi

2003 State of the Union, Jan. 29, 2003. WikiCommons

Bush Crimes

"If we prosecute those in America who only commit one murder, under what theory don't we prosecute a president who is criminally responsible for over four thousand murders?"  Vincent Bugliosi

Michael Collins

Former Accused Iraqi Agent
Susan Lindauer, Secret Charges and

The Patriot Act in Action

The Executioner and Justice - John Heartfield

Susan Lindauer Interviewed by Michael Collins

'Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Herman Goering, Interview at Nuremburg Trials, April 14, 1946

"The Patriot Act was used against me in total contradiction to its stated purpose. Or perhaps it was the most logical use of the law, since it establishes a legal framework to crush free thinking and interrupt individual questioning of the government. It is the beginning of all dictatorship in America." Susan Lindauer, March 9, 2009

By Michael Collins

In March, 2004 Susan Lindauer was arrested for allegedly acting as an "unregistered agent" for prewar Iraq.  She challenged the government's assertion and sought the right to prove at Trial that she'd been a United States intelligence asset covering Iraq and Libya from the early 1990's through 2003 (see articles).

Former Accused Iraqi Agent
Susan Lindauer, Secret Charges and

The Executioner and Justice - John Heartfield

Susan Lindauer Interviewed by Michael Collins

'Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Herman Goering, Interview at Nuremburg Trials, April 14, 1946

"The Patriot Act was used against me in total contradiction to its stated purpose. Or perhaps it was the most logical use of the law, since it establishes a legal framework to crush free thinking and interrupt individual questioning of the government. It is the beginning of all dictatorship in America." Susan Lindauer, March 9, 2009

Too Little Too Late?

The Money Party at Work

By Michael Collins

Wash. DC, Feb. 19 -- President Obama announced a $75 billion assistance package to address home foreclosures yesterday.  He also promised a $200 billion infusion into Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the nation's underlying lenders.  That's exactly $275 billion more dollars than the previous administration committed to citizens to help ease their very human crises surrounding foreclosure.

Is this enough to stem the tide for those losing their homes?  Will those "who have played by the rules," as Obama calls them, be salvaged the indignities and financial oblivion that begin in earnest if they're thrown onto the street?  Or will those who broke all the rules profit immeasurably?

Economic Disaster

Are You Next?

Michael Collins

There's a rational, reasonably immediate solution to a good part of the economic disaster.  The banks won't like it but you will.   But first the sad facts.

Fractured Priorities

USA Gets a D in Infrastructure

kodama cc

Civil Engineers Deliver the Bad News

Michael Collins

"The overall grade for the nation's infrastructure is again a D and the cost to bring it up to good condition has risen to $2.2 trillion. In more than a decade, the United States has made no measurable progress in improving either the condition or performance of our roads, bridges, water systems or other vital infrastructure when viewed in aggregate."

American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009 Report Card on U.S. Infrastructure

Read it and weep.  This the nation's infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. We're not doing too well.  Maybe our fearless leaders of the last 40 years forgot their glasses or got into some of that Indian Hemp that George Washington talked about.   Without any doubt, they were not paying attention to the fundamentals.

"the Government has determined that continued prosecution of this case as to LINDAUER would not be in the interests of justice."

Michael Collins

"Scoop" Independent News

(Jan. 16, Wash. DC) The Department of Justice entered a motion to drop all charges against Susan Lindauer yesterday morning, Jan. 15, 2009.  The filing at the federal district court in lower Manhattan ends the government's attempt to prosecute her for allegedly acting as an "unregistered agent" for Iraq.  Since her arrest in early 2004, she has repeatedly asked for a trial to present evidence that she had been a United States intelligence asset since the early 1990's.

By filing this order, the government surrendered forever its ability to prosecute Lindauer as an "Iraqi foreign agent" and for lesser charges contained in the indictment, including a one week trip to Baghdad in March, 2002.

End Presidential Pardons and Clemency

An Amendment -

The president shall not have the right to
grant pardons or clemency.

Michael Collins

The prospect of the criminal in chief, George W. Bush, issuing pardons to his co-conspirators is repugnant to all citizens who've paid any degree of attention over the last eight years.

He neglected his duty prior to 911 resulting in a devastating attack on the nation.

He started an illegal war based on lies that caused injury and death to tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers and the deaths of over 1.2 million Iraqi civilians.

He ordered the illegal wire tapping of citizens, a clear violation of law.

He stopped scientific research causing the suffering unto death of those with illness and injury that could have been healed during his term.

GM, Ford - Won't Pledge to Buy American

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D, OH) asking GM, Ford, and Crysler,
'Will you buy American if we give you taxpayer dollars?'

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  The CEO's of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were in the Capitol  Thursday asking for $34 billion dollars to stay in business for the next few months.  The three companies are now at the top of the corporate "dead pool," with a bankruptcy for GM possible by the end of the year.  They appeared before the Senate Committee o Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D, OH) provided one of the most telling moments when he asked the three chiefs to commit to continued purchasing from United States automotive suppliers at the same or increased levels in return for federal bailout funds.

Suppliers for GM, Ford and Chrysler are located across the country.  A GM bankruptcy would resonate through the aftermarket, original equipment (for new cars), and heavy duty parts suppliers creating broad based economic hardship.

Unfinished Business

What's so funny?   It must be an inside joke.   Image cc

Tasks Ignored During the Bush Reign of Horror

Michael Collins
"Scoop" Independent News

The last eight years can best be described as the illegitimate rule of deviant forces bent on enriching the few at the expense of the many.  Poverty is up, real income is flat for the majority of citizens while the elite have "super sized" their holdings with a callous disregard for the nation and economic realities.

The phantom "Yellow Brick Road" has come to an abrupt end through an expression of will by the people.  President-elect Obama won by a wide margin in the popular vote and an even wider margin in the Electoral College.  He is their choice.

AP Poll - Setup for a Stolen Election?

AP Poll "Tightens" Race to a Point

Michael Collins

The Associated press came out with a remarkable poll Thursday.  It claimed that the presidential race had tightened from the consistent leads Obama has shown over the past weeks to become one of those "too close to call" national elections.  Their poll, conducted by German polling firm GfK, showed 44% for Obama and 43% for McCain.

How could this be?  In the Real Clear Politics average of major national polls, Oct 24, Obama's average lead is 7.5%.  The four national polls conducted on the same days as the AP poll show an average 9.2% Obama lead.  The polls after the AP "tightening" effort shows an 8.7% Obama lead.  Clearly the AP-GfK poll is an exception or outlier, as those are called.

Yet the AP presents this as news, not opinion

Voter Fraud - The Dog that Didn't Bark

Michael Collins
Also published at the ACLU Blog of Rights

We're having our quadrennial encounter with the menace of voter fraud.  We are to believe that gangs of undocumented aliens and the unemployed will vote illegally or, if registered, on multiple occasions.  They'll do this to capitalize on the fraudulent registrations secured by paid operatives who can't make money in any other way.  We're told that this alleged pattern is a menace to democracy.

This is not a new part of the political dialog.  The charges have been around for decades.  They've been revived with real vigor over the past eight years.

SNAP!  "White Shift" for Obama in Virginia,
North Carolina, and Florida

Obama on the way to a standing room only speech to thousands at
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia   Image cc

A 900,000 Vote Shift to Obama

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  An amazing political and social event is under way in three critical swing states.  Virginia and North Carolina show a major shift by white voters benefiting Sen. Barack Obama.  Florida whites are also moving but at a somewhat slower rate.  The total number of white votes shifting from McCain to Obama is around 900,000 currently.  That number will vary depending on turnout and campaign events.  The exact size of the vote shift is important but it's not nearly as significant as the "white shift" phenomena.