Link Led Zeppelin, the biggest group in the history of music, strikes again. About 80,000 fans per minute are trying to register for tickets at the www.ahmettribute.com website, said Internet service provider Pipex. Demand for the $250 tickets  crashed the O2 Arena website. Other groups wish they were Zeppelin. Nobody is/was better than the Zep.

Wednesday  July 20,  2005 - marrying Tommy Lee again Since then - married Kid Monkey Rock 15 times. Now - engaged to Rick Soloman, the scumbag who betrayed Paris Hilton with the camera. I wouldn't give her troubles to a monkey in Iraq.

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by Michael Dare Oh yeah, it's safe to say I was there and you weren't. If I'd known accepting the job of editor of the Los Angeles Free Press included attending a Republican convention, I'd still be in Seattle, basking in the mist, instead of valiantly stumbling into enemy territory for your amusement. It was about 9AM, Saturday morning, September 8, when I was dropped off in front of this. Water in the Desert As soon as you enter the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, you walk down a grand staircase to a grand lobby where you discover the California Republican Party is to your left, which is just wrong. Maybe I was supposed to go down the stairs backwards. Republican Swag Like most conventions, it consists of lots of tables with people hawking their wares, everything from political candidates to software for political candidates, neatly arranged, a super little "Candidates Row" where you could pick up literature on Rudy, Mitt, Ron, Fred, and John. Someone smarter than me has got to explain the thinking behind Fred Thompson giving out jaw breakers and Dum-Dums, a decision both symbolically and calorically bankrupt. I skip the munchies and the chance to bid on a framed collection of autographed photos of every Republican president since Nixon and head straight to the press room where they mysteriously give me credentials to wander where I choose. The room is full of tables for the press to do our work, but it's empty so I presume there's somewhere else I must be. I bypass the bagels and cream cheese (Jewish Republicans?) and head out into enemy territory. I'm GOP shy and truly hope I don't have to talk to anyone. The Autographs of Every President Since Nixon Except for Carter and Clinton The schedule says at 9:30 there's a workshop called "Meet the Press" in the Emerald 6, which I go in search of. Turns out it's in another building, necessitating a long walk outside in the desert heat past all the swimming pools and restaurants. Good for me in my khakis and sport shirt, bad for the suited male and layered Barbara Bush wannabe Republicans who sweat up a storm, complaining in a huff that OTHER conventions are all in the same building and THEY don't make you walk outside in the withering heat past all these naked bodies. Sidewalk of Death "Meet the Press" turns out to be a seminar with some mainstream daily reporters on how news is covered. I never felt so much like a cornerstone when the first words out of anyone's mouth were "the cornerstone of democracy is a free press," a cornerstone I wanted to drop on his head when he referred to CNN as the Clinton News Network. It was a barrage of information: you've got to engage the whole stream of media, talk to everybody, print vs. internet, everything's changing and no one knows how it's going to play out. Media is in competition for our time and everybody screens out everything that contradicts what they already think. I already think objectivity is impossible and got a good chortle when someone from the San Francisco Chronicle said "We in the mainstream media have no cause and aren't even supposed to cheer our team from the press box when covering sports." They don't print anything that's not "provable to the standards of responsible journalism." The Chronicle just laid off 80 reporters, 25% of its staff, despite the fact that "readers benefit from multiple points of view," so we'll see how that goes. It's all surprisingly rational as they discuss the difference between "reporting" and "journalism" while delivering the bombshell news that polls are suffering from the dropping number of telephonic landlines. Nobody on cell phones is ever polled, which is definitely skewing the numbers towards technophobes and illiterates. Poll results are entirely dependent upon the technology used. Conduct a poll using nothing but text messaging and Ron Paul is the clear Republican winner, not necessarily because he's the top choice but because McCain supporters haven't figured out how to text message yet. They discussed the Democratic candidates and seemed resigned to Hillary who is running a "flawless campaign" while Obama doesn't have enough ground troops. What's the difference between Dems and Repugs? "Democrats like all their choices, but Republicans think the one they like can't win and the ones that can win they don't like," whatever that means. The first question from the audience is a doozy. "We don't buy your newspapers because we don't trust you." Major applause. "How come reporters don't stand up when we recite the pledge of allegiance?" "We certainly do pledge our allegiance to the flag," came the indignant reply. Apparently we can disagree as long as we're not disagreeable. I'm nothing if not disagreeable. I walked up to the host afterwards and introduced myself. "I'm glad we had a weapons check at the door," I was told. Interesting. There WAS no weapons check at the door. Republican humor. Har dee har har. I had a question. According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, in 2002 the Republican Party blanketed the county with voter registration tables in front of supermarkets and K-Marts. The registrars were paid $5 for every Republican registered, and every Democratic registration was simply thrown away. Hundreds of Democrats showed up at polling places on election day only to discover they couldn't vote because they weren't registered. Does the Republican Party plan on using this tactic again in the 2008 election? It went unasked because I'm attached to my skin. Repug Books (Yes, that's Help! Mom! There's a Liberal Under My Bed) I had an hour to blow before the big luncheon with John McCain so I headed back to the press room. All the bagels were gone. Shit. Trying to find some cheap food at the Renaissance Esmeralda is like trying to find another male with a ponytail. My only hope is to weasel my way into some private function with a buffet, like "the Hospitality Suite of Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, hosted by Fresno County's Gals of the Party," which promises the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, & Sammy Davis Jr., with a "full bar and more." Will there be cheese dip at the reception for "Republican Women Interested in a Career in Politics?" Dare I miss the 5th Annual Ice Cream Social presented by the Asian American Republican Council of California? Will they serve Steven Colbert's Americone Dream? I opt for The Lincoln Club of Coachella Valley and the Desert Republican Coordinating Council and their special guest Mary Bono who's flyer cordially invites me to "A taste of our Southern California Heritage," but it's not till 5. What to do till then? I walk back through the beating sun to the other building, taking a good look at the opulence of the resort, noticing for the first time the artificial waterfall behind the bar surrounded by the swimming pool, sending a mist across the pool that would sure feel good if I took off my clothes and swam to it. It was, at the very least, a picture, but there was something missing. There was nothing about it that screamed "Republican." I needed Fred Thompson in a thong lying on one of the empty lounges. I looked around and spotted a Ron Paul sign leaning against a wall. Perfect. I set it up under a palm tree and took my shot. Walking past the waterfall on the sidewalk of death "Hey, what are you doing with our sign?" shouted some people sitting in the outdoor patio of the restaurant facing the pools. I explained and they agreed the sign looked better where I put it. I looked at their oversized Bloody Marys. I looked at the convention hall. I looked back towards the lobby. "You guys mind if I join you?" I asked. And so I spent a lovely hour schmoozing with the Ron Paul brigade. Can words contain the amazement I felt at the stunning discovery we agreed on absolutely every issue we discussed? I don't think so. What would the old readers of the Free Press, the ultimate bastion of the left wing liberal press, think about my actually considering supporting a Republican for president? Here's a good old-fashioned civil libertarian who wants to abolish the IRS and the DEA, cancel the Patriot Act, opposes NAFTA, has never voted to raise Congressional pay or increase the power of the executive branch, never taken a government-paid junket, and is against regulating the internet. His Iraqi withdrawal policy? We leave. Tomorrow. What's not to like except the rest of his party, who treat people with Ron Paul buttons like they've got the plague. Schmoozing with the Ron Paul Brigade (Drew Alexander, Tavia Cantarini, Kevin Brondie, & Michael Dare) We had a jolly time making fun of the sweaty people walking by while discussing the intricacies of Paul's philosophy. Paul sees medical marijuana as a states rights issue, but there's a catch. He's devoted to reducing the size of the federal government and feels there's nothing wrong with California's drug laws so the feds should just butt out, but similarly he believes that if Idaho wants to make abortion illegal, there's nothing wrong with that too and the feds should butt out. It would seem that according to Paul, if you're against drug prohibition, you've also got to be against Roe v. Wade. If you see everything as a state's rights issue, step one is getting the federal government out of the issue altogether, then letting the states do what they want. As a firm believer in women's, or anybody's right to choose the specifics of their health care, I've got to admire anybody with the brainpower to get me to reconsider Roe v. Wade even momentarily. Am I willing to trade patient's rights in California for patient's rights in North Dakota? It would seem so because I can't imagine any other candidate so devoted to personal freedom. Freedom of the person is even more important than freedom of the press. I did not want to watch John McCain give a speech, especially if he was right in front of me, but if I didn't, the story would have been how I ignored my duties to party with sane people. I skedaddled to the luncheon, hung in the lobby a bit, then walked to the door. "Press? Not here. Next door." I walked to the next door. "Press? Not here. Next door." The Press Table 10 laptop computers and one journal I headed down a hallway, turned a corner, and saw another hallway full of closed doors. I picked one and was led to the press table in back. Was I the only one without a laptop, taking notes in a paperback journal? You could say that if you were devoted to the truth, no matter how ridiculous it made you look. Holy crap, these are the rightest of the right. I'm in the corner seat, the one with the greatest perspective other than about two feet off the ground. I mean you tell me which shot to use. Probably the one where I was told "Please, sir, don't stand on the furniture." And that's why I still hate Republicans, because of their intolerant attitude towards artistic expression. Other than that they're cool, especially the ones who share their food and drink with the press in back, of whom there are none. Speaker after speaker, lists of names of contributors, applause, more names, a prayer, an amen, someone simply says the word McCain and gets applause. Everyone in the press types away while I scribble. Another guy walks by with a pad. Someone else who takes notes. I'm astonished. He's just returned from the front where he actually watched John McCain shove food in his mouth. "When the Senator eats the rubber chicken, you know the candidate is in trouble," he tells me. Chicken? They're eating chicken? If there's something to be said about skipping breakfast and sitting in the back of a room watching hundreds of people eat chicken while worrying about whether you've got enough food stamps to feed your kid till the end of the month, I'm sure I'll think of it. The lights went down and now was the time, the Pledge of Allegiance, everyone stood, yes, even the entire row of press, but there was this one Oriental guy who did NOT put his hand over his heart nor make a pledge to anything but his Blackberry. With liberty and justice for all, we were treated to a documentary on the life of John McCain, and like him or not, he's got a compelling tale, full of courage, faith in God, bayonetings, prison, explosions on flight decks, devotion to duty, the Hanoi Hilton, the guard who loosened his ropes because he was a fellow Christian, a thoroughly professional piece of political propaganda, a fanfare, the lights come up, the crowd applauds, a man steps to the podium, the crowd almost stands till they realize it's not John McCain but a guy introducing him (which is something the film did just fine, so John, baby, forget the shlub from now on and come out right after the film, okay?). And somebody walks in front of the press table giving us all copies of the speech we're about to hear. Oh good, I can leave, but I don't. View from the starving press in back He stands in front of 10 American flags. He begins with "preliminary" remarks that aren't on the page. An amusing anecdote about his mother, who is 95. It seems she was visiting somewhere just yesterday and they wouldn't rent her a car because she was too old, so she bought one. This hideous slice of conspicuous consumption made me want to retch but it brought the house down. Har dee har har. How clever of her to have thought of just buying a car in that situation. Why I would have done the same thing. Somewhere in his first paragraph McCain called the man he considers to be the current president "a good and decent man," and he lost me now and forever. They must have rewritten the dictionary since I last looked. I've seen good. I've experienced decent. But not from the White House in the Bush years. Oh Christ he's only finished the second paragraph and there are three pages of fear pushing, warmongering rhetoric left that they're eating up like, well, chicken. He mentions Reagan, the man who set the loonies free and single-handedly created the entire homeless problem in Los Angeles, and they act like Oprah just gave them a car. I sat through an entire John McCain speech. Guess which one of us deserves a medal. I hung out and watched the crowd dissipate till a lady with a clipboard came up to me and said "Sir, would you like to attend the press conference?" I looked around and noticed the rest of the press had split. Silly me. Sure. Press conference. Why not? I was led down a hall to a door to another hall where McCain stood surrounded by a dozen video cameramen and reporters and photographers who had cameras looking quite different from my tacky Fujifilm QuickSnap. The closer I got to the Senator, the more disapproving glares I got from what I can only assume were Secret Service honchos and suddenly I was sweating, boy did they have their eyes on me. I felt like a gang banger driving through Beverly Hills, paranoia rising, my radar alarms at four, hands, where are your hands, keep 'em showing, no sudden moves, Christ, my right hand is holding what is clearly a cheap drugstore camera but my left, shit, my left is in my pocket, the security cameras must be zooming in on it right now so I slowly, ever so slowly take my hand out of my pocket and put it on my chest, clearly empty, there, you see, just a hand, no reason to get excited, you can let me escape the room whose size is rapidly decreasing, pulse pounding, why did I agree to do this. I snapped this shot and split back to the press room but all the bagels were gone, which is another reason I hate Republicans, they're closet Jews who hide all the cream cheese that is the birthright of my race. The press room was sort of creepy - the place where the politicos chum it up with their minions in the press, planting stories, everyone's pals, they know the same people. I was totally distressed till they brought in food. I stuffed myself till I could hear my mother's voice saying "You're filling up on chips and dip?" So I mingled some more, finding not only the Minutemen and Californians for a Fair Gambling Policy but the mysterious presence of the Armenian National Committee and the California League of Off-Road Voters, who should definitely join forces as Serbs on Quads. One vender who worked both sides of the fence told me "the Republican conventions are all plaques and jewelry while the Democratic conventions were all T-shirts and bumperstickers." I no longer had to keep reminding myself this was hell. It was five and time to eat with Mary Bono, a premiere putz I've proudly voted against at every opportunity. The Crystal Room, a Mexican duo, harp and guitar, not enough chairs, an open bar with a long line, quesadilla, mozzarella balls, dozens of pickalittletalkalittle ladies just thrilled as Mary entered the room and smiled at me, skinnier than I thought, almost frail, all in white, sandals, no ass, good looking, highlights in her hair, surrounded by admirers, shiny foreheads, too much jewelry, red polo shirts, blue coats, then she stepped to the mike and unloaded a steaming heap of garbage that made Ann Coulter look like Hillary Clinton. I wrapped some quesadilla in a napkin for my son, stuck it in my complimentary California Republican Party bag and I was out of there. Oh no, Bono! Not knowing how long I'd be waiting for a bus, I headed to the bathroom first. In keeping with Republican tradition, I offered to blow a black guy at the urinal next to mine. He turned out to be Secret Service so all I got was a good frisking that made me glad I left my portobong at home. It felt good to have a man's hands on my body. Hey, you get your thrills where you can.

Howie, Perhaps you could clarify something for me.  Recently on Glenn Beck's show you said: KURTZ: I think the argument that I've heard Olbermann make in the past about Fox News -- it's not an argument that I embrace -- is that, because it poses as a news organization and puts out dangerous misinformation --and is -- is a cheerleader for the Bush administration, that it's misinforming our society. But you know what? They're entitled to do that. Did you really mean to say that a NEWS organization is entitled to put out misinformation and misinform our society?  What kind of a standard is that? You are a media critic and yet you see no problem with a NEWS organization puting out misinformation and misinforming its viewers.  Surely you can't be saying what it appears you are saying. Say it ain't so!!! thank you, stevie g

You don't want an honest debate, mother(effer). ha ha You want to hear tough-talk at the top of the approved DNC ticket. That's your sole motivation. I have your number dialed in now, you fucking hawk. Looks like somebody has their panties all bunched up. In truth, you should be wearing a pink tu-tu, because you support the war hawks of both parties. You have been wrong all along to suggest that the Democrats were weak or stymied. In truth they support Bush, but they need to make a show for the peaceniks in the party. Dig? So, you're in the fewer-nukes = more wars camp? You are truly stupid if you think the basic agenda about controlling the sale of oil and maintaining the petro-dollar hegemony is not first and foremost on both the Republican and Democratic plates. No telling what you meant to say, but we need oil until we have something to replace it. Fuck you, Bart (or whoever you are). Actually I'm Judy, a Jewish lesbian postal worker from Tacoma. Your "BFEE" only accounts for half of the equation. The Democrats are complicit with the big plan up to their ears, but you are too stupid to recognize it. You have it all figured out - why not create a blog and impress people? But thanks for the lightweight cartoons. Richard Richard, why do you read stupid people's blogs?

 Link Fred Thompson said Thursday that President Bush's signature education program isn't working and that he would provide federal education money with fewer strings attached.

"We've been spending increasing amounts of federal money for decades, with increasing rules, increasing mandates, increasing regulations," Thompson said. "It's not working."

He added that there are problems with Bush's No Child Left Behind program, which requires annual testing and punishes schools that don't make progress. "No Child Left Behind — good concept, I'm all for testing — but it seems like now some of these states are teaching to the test and kind of making it so that everybody does well on the test — you can't really tell that everybody's doing that well. And it's not objective," Thompson said.

 

Whom The Gods Would Destroy... By Ernest Stewart Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. ~~ Euripides "In politics stupidity is not a handicap." ~~~ Napoleon Bonaparte "In America, anyone can become president. That's one of the risks you take." ~~~ Adlai Stevenson 

I'm sorry, but I've lost track of why we're continuing to commit mass murder in Iraq. I think this week it has to do with Bush being Osama's stooge once again? The cover story keeps changing on a weekly basis. It's gone from non-existent WMD's to creating democracy to Osama wants us to but it always comes down to the real reason we're there, i.e., to steal all that lovely oil and have permanent bases in Iraq so as to control all of the middle-east's oil.As the Fuhrer said of Iraq to reporters at Sydney airport, "We're Kicking Ass." Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it? You can tell that our west Taxus prairie monkey is Yale and Harvard educated, can't you? Just goes to show what degrees from Yale and Harvard are really worth!

Bush continued making us proud by thinking and saying that he was addressing an OPEC summit instead of the APEC summit. He thanked the Austrian army for providing security. Yes, of course, it was the Australians who provided the security in Australia not the Austrians. He got lost on stage and couldn't find his way off and couldn't pronounce the name of Myanmar's democratic opposition leader; all grade A Bush material for late night comics everywhere.I think my favorite quote from the APEC summit was this one. Please don't choke to death when you hear it... "If you truly care about greenhouse gases, then you'll support nuclear power. If you believe that greenhouse gases are a priority, like a lot of us, if you take the issue seriously, like I do and John (Howard) does, then you'll be supportive of nuclear power." "if you take the issue seriously, like I do and John (Howard) does."If that didn't make you beat your head against a wall how about this quote?"We'll continue to work with nations like Russia to advance our shared interests while encouraging Russia's leaders to respect the checks and balances that are essential to democracy."The checks and balances? Where to begin about that last statement? Love him, or hate him, you've got to admit W's got balls, not a brain in his head but balls!Then after Osama's new video surfaced, just in time for "Surge week" in Congress, Smirky said... "If al-Qaeda bothers to mention Iraq it's because they want to achieve their objectives in Iraq, which is to drive us out and to develop a safe haven," he said. "And the reason they want a safe haven is to launch attacks against America or any other ally." The real reason is, of course, that Osama (see also the CIA) wants us there is to destroy our army, our equipment, not to mention our treasury! Meanwhile, Osama uses us, the Great Satan, and our war crimes against the Afghanis and Iraqis as a way to recruit new members and cash. You now, just like he did just before the 2004 selection to help keep Bush in power so the cycles could continue and continue they have! So the Bush/bin Laden circus rolls on and on leaving mass destruction, millions of dead and wounded in its wake. So whom would the gods destroy? Go and look into the mirror, America! In Other NewsPeople often ask me if it's hard coming up with a new "winner" for the Vidkun Quisling Award for treason every week? Actually the trouble comes from choosing between the many outstanding candidates in any given week. This week General Betrayus won, but just barely, over House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri and Rethuglican California Con-gressman Duncan Hunter. There were many more this week but these are ones that stood out of the pack!Ike, you may recall, was the ringmaster of that little act of treason preformed by Betrayus at the bidding of his master, and ours, our beloved emperor Smirkus Maximus in that little two-ring circus down in "foggy bottom!" Ike was kept busy by having the police throw out and arrest anyone who dared to question the general including Issues & Alibis contributor Ray McGovern who dared to ask that the general be sworn in under oath which caused the Rethuglican traitors who were hot to protect General Betrayus from any questions concerning who wrote that little piece of treason that the general read to go absolutely berserk. These chicken-hawks were led by the well-known traitor and top Rethuglican, ranking Armed Services Committee member Duncan Hunter. Then the next day over in the Senate we had old "tail-gunner Joe" Lieberman, I-Israel, asking Betrayus if he were prepared to invade Iran because of some trumped up charges that Cheney and the boys have made up against Iran. Surprisingly enough, the general declined Joe's offer and said that we had better keep focused on Iraq. You can bet that the general isn't going to keep his four stars, two of which Bush gave him for following ze orders, with talk like that! To make a long story short, in the end it didn't matter as the fix was in well before the General and Crocker left Iraq with Bush's script in hand. As I've noted many times before, there is nothing you can do about it, America. In fact, I dare you to do something about it, America! "Go ahead, make my day!" ***** And finally, there are warnings in the air; much mischief is afoot that should be noted this week. You are, of course, hip, at least you are if you read my column on a regular basis, that someone has placed a billion dollar bet that the stock markets will crash before September 21st, a bet insiders are calling "Bin Laden Trades." Smart money doesn't bet a billion dollars unless they know what's going down. If something does happen they stand to make as much as $4 1/2 billion dollars! A similar but smaller bet, i.e., a put option, was placed on American and United Airlines stock just before the 911 false flag attack occurred and paid off to the tune of $50 million dollars. Whoever had the inside info on the 9-11 bet has never been named; ask yourself why that wasn't pursued by the 911 committee. These "Bin Laden Trades" would raise suspicion by themselves but now we hear this news from our air force. It seems Air Force Command boss Gen. Ronald Keys has ordered a complete stand down for the 14th of September because of the August 30 "nuclear incident" at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in which six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads were loaded onto a B-52H and then flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., without anyone on the ground or bomber realizing the nuclear weapons were on the plane. So General Ronnie will ground not only the bomber fleet but the fighter wings that protect America, too. Oh, and just for good measure, he announced these facts to everyone including all of our enemies, both foreign and domestic. If something were to happen on the 14th what do you suppose those rat bastards in the White House would do? If you said declare Martial Law you win a cookie. And since America was been declared a war zone by our beloved Fuhrer they could get away with it. How are you fixed for bottled water, food and ammo America? Of course the air force stand down could just be a coincidence. Perhaps instead China might decide to sell its dollars and call in our trillion-dollar debt. The effects would be the same on the stock market. In any event, something wicked this way comes, America, so like a Boy Scout, you'd better be prepared! ***** January 5, 1917 ~~~ September 10, 2007 R.I.P. Sweetie *****The new "W" theatre trailer is up along with the new movie poster and screen shots from the film. They are all available at the all-new "W" movie site: http://wthemovie.com. Both trailers are on site and may be downloaded; the new trailer can be seen with Flash on site. You can download in either PC or Mac formats. I'm in the new trailer as myself but don't blink or you'll miss me! Also the W theatre trailer can be seen on You Tube. ********************************************So how do you like the 2nd coup d'etat so far? And more importantly, what are you planning on doing about it? Until the next time, Peace Y'all! (c) 2007 Ernest Stewart a.k.a. Uncle Ernie is an unabashed radical, author, stand-up comic, DJ, actor, political pundit and for the last 6 years managing editor and publisher of Issues And Alibis magazine. In his spare time he is an actor, writer and an associate producer for the new motion picture "W." XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

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Oil prices finished above $80 a barrel for the first time Thursday and gasoline prices rose as refiners reported production problems after Hurricane Humberto hit Texas. Bart Says: Do the math - $80 a barrel, 5M barrels a day = $400M per day for Bush.  Bart's Law #2  Any time a person or entity makes a "mistake" that puts extra money (or power) in their pocket,   expect them to make that "mistake" again and again and again.  That's why refineries have fires hurricanes now and then, because a fire allows them to scream "unexpected shortage" so they can gouge us on the price of gas.  Next up: $100 a barrel which meanbs $100 fill ups, $160 for SUVs

Well, Ah-Nold is getting ready to screw California voters once again. Just as he vetoed single-payer last year, Arnold is showing his true colors again as he prepares to veto the latest comprehensive health care reform passed by the California legislature

Here's some detailed information from the AFL-CIO blog:

The bill addresses several parts of California’s struggling health care system—including expanding coverage to millions of residents and requiring employers and the government to join workers in paying for care.

The legislation requires employers to spend 7.5 percent of their payroll on health care. An employer that does not provide health care coverage for workers is required to put that same 7.5 percent of payroll into a state coverage purchasing pool.

The bill also provides subsidies for low- and moderate-income families to purchase health insurance and limits premiums and out-of-pocket costs for workers and their families. In addition, it requires insurance companies to provide coverage to all individuals regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, eliminating the practice of “cherry-picking” the healthiest pool of workers to insure.

Proponents estimate the bill will help some 3 million uninsured Californians to obtain coverage. About 6.7 million people in the state lack health coverage.

The California Labor Federation backs the bill, calling it “meaningful health care reform.” Says Art Pulaski, executive secretary treasurer:

This legislation will protect working families from excessive health care costs…and helps even the competitive playing field for responsible employers that already provide health care coverage.

While A.B. 8 won broad support from many groups, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) says it doesn’t go far enough and called for more extensive reform.

Health care reform must end “insurance industry profiteering,” CNA/NNOC President Deborah Burger says, adding: A flawed approach failing to solve the fundamental problems of our health care system is not reform. Our patients and our families need guaranteed health care.

Schwarzenegger has pledged to veto the bill because he says it places an unfair burden on employers. He is expected to call for a special legislative session to deal with health care and to offer his own plan, which would shift more costs to workers and away from employers.

Ah-Nold, the governor who makes sure that his very own dialysis machine is nearby to take care of him if need be, shows his true colors. Like EVERY OTHER REPUBLICAN, Ah-nold is bought off by Billy The Pimp Tauzin's PhARMachine! But, don't worry, Ah-Nold has his own secret plan to bring health care to the masses, a plan no doubt formulated by Billy the Pimp. Yes, Arnold wants health insurance to be mandated, EVERYONE in California will be required to buy health inurance. Arnold says this is the solution. Someon should remind the old steroid sniffer that mandating insurance doesn't work, since California already mandates that every driver carry autoinsurance, yet surveys indicate that 25% of California drivers don't have the mandatory insurance because they cannot afford it! I sure hope Oprah and Jay Leno sleep well at night knowing that their support of Governor Sock In a Jock has denied million.

You can read more at the AFL-CIO's blog, you can link to.

From Joe Bageant:

But country music has got to be the supreme example. People work like dogs, have few or no educational opportunities, live surly lives of struggle just trying to get by, get their cods shot off for the amusement of Cheney and Condi, yet, the country music industry sells even that identity back to the very people who are being screwed and should be pissed as hell about it but aren't because of the cultural ghetto we poor whites are raised in. As the old Johnny Russell song says, "There's no place I'd rather be than right here, with my red neck and white socks and blue ribbon beer." And so the nine-buck-an-hour skidder operator with the double hernia and no health insurance listens to the song and says to himself: "Hey! That's my life! And he's a star and he's singing a hit about it, so other people must be satisfied with it. I reckon there's no place I rather be than right here! That was true in 1973 when Johnny Russell won a Grammy for the song and it's still true. It's a damned good song. I'm still playing it. The country music industry helped sell the heartland working mook on the virtues of dying in Iraq. The skidder operator's wife sits inputting billing data at the local hospital for $6.00 an hour, listening to a song about dead soldier's cherried out car sitting in the garage, waiting for his son to become old enough to drive it with reverence under a heroic sky. In country music everybody is made hero. Truck drivers are bigger than life figures, hemorrhoids, stress and all. It's much the same as some rap music mythologizing pointless street violence. Take a truly fucked situation and sell it back as bigger than life. And so the production people at dreary workplaces listen to country music all day, and the truck driver is hearing the same songs 3,000 miles away, and the house painter has it playing on his paint spattered portable radio, and identity is further hardened among millions of Americans: "I might be dumb, uneducated, and worked to death -- but I am a hero. I AM America. More American than anyone who is not the same as me." So anyone who listens to classical music is less American by inference. " . . . and besides, I am willing to die in Iraq, just like the hometown boys in the songs. There is no better proof than that!"

Cheney has said he will not RUN for President. It's a terrible thought, but is it possible he plans a different route to the presidency? It's hard to believe that this madman will quietly give up his drive for absolute power and world domination when his term expires. Could this be what's behind those scarey executive orders?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070820/us_nm/religion_course_homemaking_dc;_ylt=ArNFQr2cl6TOtnnX4ajpCqI7Xs8F In yet another example of the divide between religious fundamentalism and reality, Soutwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson claimed that those who belive that it is economically necessary for women to work outside the home are "ignorant." The statement comes as part of an interview with Reuter's about the Bachelor of Arts degree in Home Making that is now available at one of the Baptist colleges. True to standard Southern Baptist form, the course is open only to women and has a goal of readying a woman "intellectually and in her basic skills" to accept a life of domestic servitude. Patterson further displays his near-schizophrenic disconnection with modern society when he tries to tie divorce and domestic abuse to a lack of housekeeping skills. Several of the requirements of the degree program, such as years of Latin and classical Greek, have no practical application in the real world and even less of one when confined barefoot and pregnant in the house. It's decisions like the one to offer this degree program that exemplify why I am a former fundamentalist. Sure, it was bad enough to be seen as a second-class citizen because of my gender, but the idea of turning an institution of higher learning into a place of indoctrination into one's inferiority is an unconscionable travesty.

According to today's USA Today (Page 7E) Eldrick is tops in hitting the greens, but he is ranked 134th for driving accuracy in 2007. Poor guy, maybe he'd be better with practice?

Russia tests Super Bomb:  http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1155952320070911 Some Speculation about Missing Nuclear Weapon 6 shipped 5 arrive:  http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread302187/pg1 Putin Dissolves Russian Govt:  http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2954274.ece Links re Israel & Syria regarding Nuclear Weapons: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3448829,00.html http://ma.gnolia.com/vropastak http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Syria/10151798.html