Beth Angel forwarded this email that explains why “Ryan-Wyden Medicare Plan Like A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing”

What was Ron Wyden thinking when he signed onto this? Is he setting himself up for a career in the insurance industry after he leaves the Senate?

Now a little something for your musical enjoyment.

Thanks to MaureenD and GusS for bringing this to my attention.

The article Obama: No options off table on Iran shows the view from Iran.

US President Barack Obama has once again said that Washington would take “no options off the table” in its effort to stop Iran’s nuclear program while reiterating US commitment to Israel’s security.
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The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never pointed to any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

There is one option that President Obama seems to have taken off the table.  That is telling the truth about the nonexistence of evidence against Iran.

There also doesn’t seem to be any skid marks as evidence of Obama even dragging his feet in his being pulled ever rightward in all his actions.

Thanks to Hassan Moradi in my Google+ political circle for pointing me to this article.

The Economist published the article Small wonder: A new model of microfinance for the very poor is spreading.

CARE International, a charity, began a novel scheme in Niger in 1991 to help the poor save—a basic form of banking called a village savings and loans association. This is based on savings rather than debt and managed by members of the community rather than professionals.

Maybe capitalism on a small scale is the way to avoid the problems of large scale capitalism.  Some would call it socialism, but we aren’t allowed to use The ‘S’ Word.

The Nation of Change has the brief article Fragile and Unbalanced in 2012 by Nouriel Roubini.

The outlook for the global economy in 2012 is clear, but it isn’t pretty: recession in Europe, anemic growth at best in the United States, and a sharp slowdown in China and in most emerging-market economies.

Since Nouriel Roubini has already earned the sobriquet “Dr. Doom”, he has no need to sugar-coat what he says.  He is free to point out weaknesses in all economies from The United State, Great Britain, other Eurozone countries, to even China.

What are the chances that the politicians have the technical expertise to understand what has to be done?  Of the number who have a chance of understanding, how many have the courage to do it?  Of the remaining few who meet both criteria, how many have the public support in their countries for the steps that are necessary?  Divide that number by 6 billion people on the earth and you have some idea of the probability of everything turning out fine.

Despite all of that, I am still fully invested in stocks of high quality companies.  Am I a fool or some sort of  cock-eyed optimist?

It seems like I might have to dedicate a good portion of this blog to this topic until they come and take me away.

Truth Out has this scary article Is the Use of the Military Designed for the Occupy Movement?

…Ray McGovern, a retired 27 year veteran of the CIA, who provided the morning intelligence briefing to multiple presidents and security advisers, said that he thought the provisions allowing domestic use of the military and military detention were being added because of fear of civil unrest at home.

I have been thinking of trying to line up a group of dedicated protesters who would spring into action if the government suddenly disappeared me because the 1% were terrified by this blog.

The lame stream media won’t do it, so we have to depend on Jon Stewart of The Daily Show (Comedy Central), The Real News, and Aljazeera (US anti-terrorism bill: Liberty vs security).

If the following video does not play for you, try the link to Arrested Development.

If the second part of the video below does not play for you, try the link to Arrested Development – One-Way Train to Gitmo.

Sometimes, only the court jester can finally get through to people.

Go sign the petition at Bill Of Rights RIP.

Need I say more?

The Real News posting Inside Story Americas – US anti-terrorism bill: Liberty vs security provided access to the video below. (Do not forget The Real News fund drive.)

Note the typical argument in favor of giving up our civil liberties. The defender of these extraordinary powers goes on and on in a breathless tirade about the severe dangers we face from the present set of terrorists. People who argue in this way don’t want any body else to get a word in edgewise, because someone might ask, “These terrorists may be as big a threat as you suggest, but is it possible that there is even a bigger threat than what these terrorists pose? What about the threat of giving up our civil rights to the great powers within our own country who might choose to end our democracy in favor of a dictatorship?”

You even hear the answer to this implied question in this video. The people who dismiss the need for our constitutional protections cannot see any immediate danger if we eliminate the constitutional protections. Of course, to even say they do not see the threat in the present circumstances is an implicit admission that such a threat is conceivable in distant future under different circumstances. In those circumstances it would be too late to claw back the protections we are giving up today.

Our citizens who demanded the addition of the Bill Of Rights to the Constitution written by our founding politicians, saw the possibilities. They wanted written protection because they knew that they could not depend indefinitely on an unwritten social contract.

As any good lawyer will advise, “If you want behavior from a contractor, you had better put it in writing. Do not depend on oral contracts.”

Now is the time to sign the petition presented in my previous post, Bill Of Rights RIP.

I suggest people look ahead for people who might use these new powers badly, because I know that many people’s memories don’t reach back to the far distant past of three years ago. Imagine if Dick Cheney had clear legal authority to do some of the awful things that his administration did. Without even the tiniest worry about the legal consequences of his actions, there is no telling what he might have done. It shouldn’t be that hard to imagine it, though.