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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jun 18, 2010 - 03:43pm PT
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I'm home from work because I feel my other tonsil 'twitching'. I was listening to a conservative station on the radio...Sean Hannity is the epitomy of an ideological, unintelligent, illogical, and unoriginal idiot.
My wife says, "So why do you watch him?". (on Tv). I say because he has good guests, usually.
It's painfull to watch/hear him....
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apogee
climber
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Jun 18, 2010 - 03:44pm PT
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"Dense as concrete and as substantial as beer foam."
Quote of the day!
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jun 18, 2010 - 03:45pm PT
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Is that quote based on my pointing out the facts of the ACORN scandal????
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apogee
climber
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Jun 18, 2010 - 04:11pm PT
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"If we really want enter into a discussion of the politics of the run up to the war in Iraq I'm game, but that's well traveled ground for me and I wouldn't really care if we just moved past that."
True, that is well-trodden ground, but then, what political topic hasn't been beaten to a pulp on this thread? Repetitive, circular arguments by entrenched ideologues are the norm here, no matter how long ago the issue occurred.
I'm simply trying to understand John's logic in regards to the shenanigans that took place around the HR bill- he genuinely seems dismayed that the CBO's findings were distorted or misrepresented for political purposes. I find that dismay somewhat disingenuous, as it was well known that those findings had been spun and cherry-picked for political purposes.
That's politics!
And in comparison to the shenanigans that the Shrub administration employed to achieve their neocon chickenhawk Iraq debacle, the HR-CBO game is small potatoes. Get some perspective, man!
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jun 18, 2010 - 04:15pm PT
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Do you fools still wanna talk about Iraq? Really?
They'll be fine now...let it go. How about Asscrapistan?
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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Jun 18, 2010 - 04:28pm PT
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bluering said How about Asscrapistan?
Is that your new nickname for California?
Anyway, let's talk about Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sure they're both all Obama's fault. He never should have decided to invade Afghanistan, not pressured Pakistan to clean house and then pulled out early to invade Iraq.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
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Jun 18, 2010 - 04:52pm PT
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that acorn thing is really funny. the republican that ran that scam is in jail for fraud. a different case.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Jun 18, 2010 - 05:09pm PT
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Funny Frummy.
The kid that EXPOSED Acorn. got 100 hrs community service for what was effectively a trespassing beef on an unrelated sting he was trying to work.
Don't worry though Erik Holder has Acorn and the Black Panthers back. No criminal charges to worry about there.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jun 19, 2010 - 01:56am PT
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Apogee,
My issue on the CBO/Health care issue is with the press, not the politicians. The run-up to Iraq was based on intelligence information unavailable to the press. I can't blame them for failing to report more ex ante. The CBO forecast, and its underlying detail contradicting the claim that the bill would lower either the deficit or health care costs, was there in plain view. They should have reported it ex ante not ex post.
Politicians will always spin, slant and obfuscate. Journalists tell us they know better and don't do that. That's how they justify paying to read them rather than just getting information off the net. The reporting prior to the health care vote was all about counting votes and polling data. It should have been about costs and benefits.
John
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Jun 19, 2010 - 05:54am PT
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Any healthcare 'plan' that doesn't involve universal coverage and a single payer is just shuffling the deck chairs. Obama the candidate made it crystal clear he was against substantive healthcare reform and that's why the bill that passed represents little more than a few minor tweaks to the existing system.
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apogee
climber
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Jun 19, 2010 - 12:50pm PT
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"My issue on the CBO/Health care issue is with the press, not the politicians."
"Politicians will always spin, slant and obfuscate. Journalists tell us they know better and don't do that."
Obfuscate, indeed- these days, the lines between journalism and political operatives are pretty blurry. While it is arguable (in my book) that the media didn't focus enough of a spotlight on the economic impacts of the HR bill, there wasn't nearly enough focus on rational discussions of any aspect of the problem- instead, the spotlight was trained on the latest teaparty rage-fest, calls of socialism and fascism, and other such diversions.
Still, the CBO's information was readily available, as were plenty of other clear facts about the problem of healthcare in the US. Given that contemporary journalism habits are not likely to change anytime soon (as long as people keep watching/reading the latest hyperbolic rant), it is up to the individuals to sift through the muck to find the best information they can, and decide accordingly.
I do believe, though, that if the facts of this problem had been objectively and rationally available via quality journalism, that the outcome would have been much more progressive (a la a true public option) than what we wound up with. When one places the directly tangible impact of healthcare alongside the destructive, intangible costs of war, I'm sure the priorities of the citizens would dictate a far different direction than we keep receiving from our political leaders.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jun 19, 2010 - 01:19pm PT
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It would appear then, apogee, that we agree on the general lack of competent journalism. What would you recommend doing about it?
John
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apogee
climber
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Jun 19, 2010 - 01:33pm PT
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"It would appear then, that we agree on the general lack of competent journalism."
Yes, we do. I'm not sure what the solution is, though, because I think that journalism, like art, reflects life. Journalism panders to the interests of the readership, and when the readership (or viewership) regularly chooses hyperbolic rantings over rational discussion, they respond accordingly. And it seems that there are far more people interested in shallow, emotionally-driven ravings than those who are seeking thoughtful exploration of issues.
Some argue that journalism has a responsibility to lead via example, and I think that's true to a degree- but in the end, it is our choices as individuals that shape the world around us- not the other way around. I can't make Fox News, KPFK, or any other number of ranting ideologues go away, but I can choose to not listen to them, and focus my attentions where they challenge and educate me. I guess that's about the best anyone can do.
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jstan
climber
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Jun 19, 2010 - 01:52pm PT
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L.A.-San Francisco Bullet-Train Bidding May Begin Next Year
By Alan Ohnsman and Chris Cooper
June 18 (Bloomberg) -- California, the top recipient of funds from President Barack Obama’s high-speed rail program, expects to issue a tender for a bullet-train line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco by late 2011.
The state expects bids from about 10 trainmakers and construction may start as early as the first half of 2012, Quentin Kopp, a California High Speed Rail Authority board member, said in an interview in Los Angeles yesterday. The train will whisk passengers between the two cities, 432 miles apart, in less than 2 hours 40 minutes, according to the state-backed group’s website.
California’s push for high-speed rail, backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, comes as the most populous U.S. state targets cuts in congestion and greenhouse gas emissions from cars and airplanes. The Obama administration in January awarded $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, causing companies such as Alstom SA, Siemens AG, East Japan Railway Co., China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. to boost sales efforts.
“A high-speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco makes sense given their large populations and the distance between them,” said Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive officer of Fukoku Capital Management Inc., which manages about $8.3 billion. “There might be some companies trying to sell their technologies even if they don’t make a profit, so they can make a name for themselves.”
When fully completed the state anticipates an 800-mile high-speed rail network running from San Francisco to San Diego, near the U.S.-Mexico border. The total cost for the system will be more than $40 billion.
Construction From 2012
California won a $2.3 billion federal grant to help build the high-speed link, which is due to enter service in 2020. That’s in addition to a $10 billion bond sale the state approved in 2008 to fund the rail line. The state has until September 2011 to complete an environmental review, Kopp said.
“Allow four months for the conclusion of proposals and bids, and I estimate conservatively that construction will begin by the first part of 2012,” said Kopp, who was at a U.S. High Speed Rail Association conference in Los Angeles.
Schwarzenegger has proposed running high-speed trains on existing conventional tracks between Los Angeles and San Diego as early as November to spur interest in high-speed rail. Kopp said he doubted whether that timeframe would be met.
“Will that happen in the time variant in the governor’s recent proposal?” Kopp said. “ I don’t think so,” he said without elaboration.
Amtrak Trains
Trains operated by Amtrak, the U.S. long-distance passenger railroad, currently don’t run directly between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Travel between Los Angeles and Oakland, which neighbors San Francisco, on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight line takes about 12 hours or twice as long as traveling by car.
Air travel between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area takes about an hour.
“The airlines will certainly lose some of their business,” said Fukoku Capital’s Sakurai. “If you add up the time spent traveling to airports, security checks and delays it makes sense to take the train.”
U.S. Transport Secretary Ray LaHood last month visited Japan, where he tried out a JR East bullet train and rode Central Japan Railway Co.’s magnetic-levitation railway. He also encouraged Japanese trainmakers to compete for U.S. contracts and to set up plants in the country. Japan’s Transport Minister Seiji Maehara is planning a second visit to the U.S. this year to help stoke interest in bullet trains.
320 kmh Train
JR East will introduce a bullet train next year that can reach speeds of 320 kmh (199 miles per hour). The fastest train in the U.S., Amtrak’s Acela Express, which is built by Alstom and Bombardier Inc., is capable of running at up to 150 mph.
Japanese trainmakers have previously won overseas deals. Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. made the trains for Taiwan’s $15 billion high-speed line that started operating three years ago between suburban Taipei and Kaohsiung in the south. Hitachi Ltd. built high-speed trains running between London and the south- east of the U.K.
China’s Ministry of Railways has teamed up with General Electric Co. in a bid to win U.S. contracts. The two in November agreed a partnership to manufacture equipment for high-speed rail projects.
Japan, which started the world’s first bullet-train services in 1964, carried 308 million people by high-speed train in the year ended March 2009, more than triple the number of passengers on domestic airline routes. Amtrak’s Acela Express carried 3.4 million passengers in fiscal 2008.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 18, 2010 04:37 EDT
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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Jun 19, 2010 - 01:52pm PT
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Fatty said Just read my comments in the Contra Costa Times, they're hard hitting and on point.
OK I laughed.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Jun 19, 2010 - 04:16pm PT
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BHO may be the best thing to happen to America!
Barack Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in the last 100 years. Truly, he is the savior of America's future. He is the best thing ever.
Despite the fact that he has some of the lowest approval ratings among recent presidents, history will see Barack Obama as the source of America's resurrection. Barack Obama has plunged the country into levels of debt that we could not have previously imagined; his efforts to nationalize health care have been met with fierce resistance nationwide; TARP bailouts and stimulus spending have shown little positive effect on the national economy; unemployment is unacceptably high and looks to remain that way for most of a decade; legacy entitlement programs have ballooned to unsustainable levels, and there is a seething anger in the populace.
That's why Barack Obama is such a good thing for America.
Obama is the symbol of a creeping liberalism that has infected our society like a cancer for the last 100 years. Just as Hitler is the face of fascism, Obama will go down in history as the face of unchecked liberalism. The cancer metastasized to the point where it could no longer be ignored.
Average Americans who have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips — they've gotten off the fence. They've woken up. There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.
Think of the crap we've slowly learned to tolerate over the past 50 years as liberalism sought to re-structure the America that was the symbol of freedom and liberty to all the people of the world. Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion. Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility, the fracturing of families, and a cycle of generations of dependency. Debt was regarded as a tonic to lubricate the economy. Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy. Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms. Productive members of society have been penalized with a heavy burden of taxes in order to support legions of do-nothings who loll around, reveling in their addictions, obesity, indolence, ignorance and “disabilities.” Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again. Lawyers routinely extort fortunes from doctors, contractors and business people with dubious torts.
We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.
But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.
In the time of Barack Obama, Black Panther members stand outside polling places in black commando uniforms, slapping truncheons into their palms. ACORN — a taxpayer-supported organization — is given a role in taking the census, even after its members were caught on tape offering advice to set up child prostitution rings. A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers' union — whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense — is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.
I don't know about you, but the other day I was at the courthouse doing some business, and I stepped into the court clerk's office and changed my voter affiliation from “Independent” to “Republican.” I am under no illusion that the Republican party is perfect, but at least they're starting to awaken to the fact that we cannot sustain massive levels of debt; we cannot afford to hand out billions of dollars in corporate subsidies; we have to somehow trim our massive entitlement programs; we can no longer be the world's policeman and dole out billions in aid to countries whose citizens seek to harm us.
Literally millions of Americans have had enough. They're organizing, they're studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, they're reading history and case law, they're showing up at rallies and meetings, and a slew of conservative candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Is there a revolution brewing? Yes, in the sense that there is a keen awareness that our priorities and sensibilities must be radically re-structured. Will it be a violent revolution? No. It will be done through the interpretation of the original document that has guided us for 220 years — the Constitution. Just as the pendulum swung to embrace political correctness and liberalism, there will be a backlash, a complete repudiation of a hundred years of nonsense. A hundred years from now, history will perceive the year 2010 as the time when America got back on the right track. And for that, we can thank Barack Hussein Obama.
Gary Hubbell is a hunter, rancher, and former hunting and fly-fishing guide. Column in the Aspen Times
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apogee
climber
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Jun 19, 2010 - 04:20pm PT
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Jeebus, TGT, you are one angry man.
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apogee
climber
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Jun 19, 2010 - 04:22pm PT
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Fiorina's former company benefits from stimulus
By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Writer Judy Lin, Fri Jun 18, 3:44 pm ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is kicking off her general election campaign against Democrat Barbara Boxer by criticizing the $862 billion federal stimulus package as doing little for private businesses.
Yet there was at least one California business that benefited from the stimulus plan, one close to Fiorina's personal story.
Federal data analyzed by The Associated Press show that Hewlett-Packard Co., where Fiorina was chief executive from 1999 to 2005, has been paid $22.5 million so far in stimulus money distributed to cities, school districts, hospitals and universities across the country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100618/ap_on_re_us/us_california_senate_hp_stimulus_3
Boy, Fiorina's political strategist better work harder at spinning if they she has any hope of taking Boxer's seat....
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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Jun 19, 2010 - 04:26pm PT
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apogee: TGT doesn't bother writing his own posts most of the time so you shouldn't waste your time either. You should just go back and copy/paste the TGT anti "Bush Basher" posts from the 7th and 8th years of the Bush Administration.
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