Healthcare Still on Agenda

After leaving office, Bush still may be able to invoke Executive Privilege to block subpoenas for himself, former aides or career governmental officials.

When a Congressional committee subpoenaed Harry S. Truman in 1953, nearly a year after he left office, he made a startling claim: Even though he was no longer president, the Constitution still empowered him to block subpoenas.

“If the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the presidency is to have any validity at all, it must be equally applicable to a president after his term of office has expired,” Truman wrote to the committee.

Congress backed down, establishing a precedent suggesting that former presidents wield lingering powers to keep matters from their administration secret. Now, as Congressional Democrats prepare to move forward with investigations of the Bush administration, they wonder whether that claim may be invoked again.

Bush can resort to lawsuits if the new administration tries to release documents or if former officials might testify.

...Mr. Obama decides to release information about his predecessor’s tenure, Mr. Bush could try to invoke executive privilege by filing a lawsuit... [snip]...
In that case, an injunction would most likely be sought ordering the Obama administration not to release the Bush administration’s papers or enjoining Mr. Bush’s former aides from testifying. The dispute would probably go to the Supreme Court, Mr. Shane said.

Bush, Out of Office, Could Oppose Inquiries

On healthcare, I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately and in a fundamental way, and here is why: one of the reasons that US manufacturers are at a disadvantage with foreign companies is that our companies have to pay for healthcare for their employees, while manufacturers from countries that enjoy some sort of national health insurance do not have to carry that cost. This hurts the competitiveness of US industry.

On the individual level, if we agree that all sick people deserve care, then the fairest way to spread that burden is to increase the pool of people paying in so that it includes the whole population, and then spread the risk of paying out as widely as possible. If I was really good, I could express that in a mathematical, or actuarial, way. But I can't, so instead I'll just click "submit".

Chuch in Houston

Alaska Senate Race Separated by 3 Votes With Begich in Lead

Chuck

Seriously, healthcare is something that both GM/Ford and UAW agree on! It's that desperate.

Over here in South Korea, the system is as f'd up as the US system. However, there IS a government insurer that will enroll any Korean (and eligible foreigner) who wants insurance but can't get it in the private sector. It's not great, but at least it's an option.

Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan

Two men on a motorcycle used water pistols to spray acid on girls walking to school Wednesday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, blinding at least two of them, military spokesmen said.

...[snip]...
...The men escaped after the attack, and no one claimed responsibility for it, but Arab-language network Al-Jazeera said Taliban militants were suspected to be responsible.
...[snip]...
Kandahar government spokesman Parwaz Ayoubi gave different figures on the number of girls injured, saying six were burned, one of them severely. He called the attackers "enemies of education."

Girls were forbidden to attend school under the Taliban, which ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, when U.S.-led forces removed them from power.
Girls were forbidden to attend school under the Taliban, which ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, when U.S.-led forces removed them from power.

Senate Banking. Housing & Urban Affairs Committee is holding hearings on use & oversight of bailout funds. Can be seen on C-SPAN 1

This just in:

Dear TEDizens,

We urge you to take a moment to watch a short video that went live on the web today. Beautifully filmed and edited by TEDster Jesse Dylan and his team at Form TV, it might just be the most inspiring thing you see this week.

That video, and this website mark the launch of an inspiring global endeavor to celebrate compassion and to promote a new collaboration between the world's religions. What we're doing, starting today, is to begin writing the Charter for Compassion that Karen Armstrong called for earlier this year when she made her TED Prize wish. And the exhilarating twist here is that the writing won't be done behind closed doors. It will be done by you... and perhaps millions of others around the world. Because we're using special collaborative web tools created by the geniuses at Kluster to enable this be truly a charter "created by the world for the world".

Later this week millions of Muslims, Christians, and Jews will be sent an email inviting them to come to the site and offer their choice of words, in their own language, to help create a charter capable of inspiring the world to focus on what the great religions share, as opposed to what divides them. Already people are responding to this amazing idea with passion and excitement. The goal is to obtain all input from global participants within the next four weeks, select the best contributions with the help of a council of religious "sages", and conduct a major launch of the finished document in 2009.

We'd love you, the TED community, who saw the birth of this idea in March, to be among the first to contribute.

The two things you can do to help now:

1. Help us write the Charter! The first writing phase begins now with the Preamble, a concise explanation of why the Charter is necessary and urgent.

2. Send out the ask to everyone in your network. We want this to be a truly global and diverse document that represents all of our voices.

A very exciting day for the TED Prize. We are honored to have you on this journey with us.

Thank you to all of you who have helped get us this far! And a special thank you to Kluster who have put so much into building this site.

Very best wishes,

Chris Anderson
TED Curator

Amy Novogratz
TED Prize Director

THE VIDEO: http://charterforcompassion.com/

Background:

At TED2008 in March of this year, TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong was granted a wish to change the world. This is what she asked for:

"I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect."

Since then support for idea has built among numerous religious groups, spiritual leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, and Britain's first female Rabbi Julia Neuberger have joined a special Council to oversee the Charter, and Kluster, a collaborative decision making platform, has built a groundbreaking site that will allow anyone to contribute to the Charter.

www.CharterforCompassion.org

Karen,
Follow-up to your thread:
It's STILL the Torture, Stupid...

The work of Dr. Davis and colleagues has born fruit:

Psychology and Torture

In late September, the American Psychological Association reversed a longstanding policy by voting to ban its members from participating in interrogations at United States detention centers, including Guantanamo Bay. Just a year earlier, the association had declined to take this action, but did pass a resolution listing a number of methods of interrogation -– sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, exploitation of phobias, loud music, harsh lights and mock executions were examples –- with which psychologists should not be involved.

What the association did this September brought it into line with the positions of the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, which declared in a May 2006 statement that “No psychiatrist should participate directly in the interrogation of person held by military or civilian investigative or law enforcement authorities.”

Obama's plans for probing Bush torture

With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an unprecedented "blanket pardon" for people involved in his administration's brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under Bush.

The Obama plan, first revealed by Salon in August, would emphasize fact-finding investigation over prosecution. It is gaining currency in Washington as Obama advisors begin to coordinate with Democrats in Congress on the proposal. The plan would not rule out future prosecutions, but would delay a decision on that matter until all essential facts can be unearthed...

ummm...
Second paragraph above should be included in blockquote

continuing Obama's plans for probing Bush torture

On the one hand, a blanket pardon for anyone involved in the interrogations could be viewed by the public as a tacit admission of colossal wrongdoing -- after years of public denial -- which would do nothing to help Bush's tarnished legacy. Yet, if the administration fears an investigation will follow Bush out the door in January, they may not want to leave officials exposed to potentially revealing criminal proceedings. Bush might seek to frame a blanket pardon as a preemptive strike against wrongheaded, partisan retribution.

Constitutional scholars say a pardon of this kind would be an unprecedented move -- the prospective pardon of not just individuals but entire categories of people, perhaps numbering in the thousands, for carrying out the president's orders , which the White House has argued all along were legal.

Those scholars agree, however, that Article II of the Constitution gives Bush much latitude: There is no authority that can stop the president from doing so if he wishes, and there is no outside check or balance to revisit such a decision, however controversial it may be. "The president can do with pardoning power whatever he wants," explained University of Wisconsin Law School professor Stanley Kutler. "It is complete and plenary unto itself."

A blanket pardon from Bush could cover, for example, anyone who participated in, had knowledge of, or received information about Bush's interrogation program during the so-called war on terror. Not only are there potentially too many people to name without risking missing somebody, but some of the names are presumably classified.

"The classic pardon is an identifiable individual; here you are talking about potentially thousands of people involved in illegal activities," explained Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington Law School. A blanket pardon of this variety, Turley said, "would allow a president to engage in massive illegality and generally pardon the world for any involvement in unlawful activity."

aimzz,
thanks for pointing that APA shift out. I'll be seeing Dr. Davis tomorrow night!

abqjohn said:
Hey Kangaroo

I am order some and will get one out to you. E-mail me to make sure I have your correct addy.

abq

Thank You abqjohn, your a sweetheart, much appreciated. Can't even get them at the American Con.

Sorry I cannot email you, do not have your addy

abqjohn you can leave a message at
http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/
http://rossiannsretreat.blogspot.com/ I will get you there.

Off-topic but this really gets me PO'd.

A Catholic priest in South Carolina says if you voted for pro-abortion Obama, you will NOT get a communion from him.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/obama_catholics;_ylt=Alu5dmYKloKt1OV8RSDd31TZa7gF

Somebody ought to lose tax-exempt status over this.

I'm more determined than ever to dump my BMW when I get home. BMW not only funds the Roman Catholic Church (which also funded Prop 8 in California), but it is the most important foreign investor in South Carolina. And I do believe that this priest is in the same area as the BMW plant.

BTW... it's 2AM in Seoul on Saturday the 15th but I have trouble sleeping.

Actually I have trouble sleeping, whenever I have a road trip coming up. And sure enough, in ten hours, I am starting one - my first-ever in South Korea, or anywhere on the Eurasian landmass for that matter.

If I don't show up as much over the next week, you now know why. I'll be too busy sightseeing and driving.

Ally
I'm glad you're getting a chance to see the country. Kick back & have a great trip :)

I'm sorry I haven't been posting .. my mom (age 79) got married a couple of months ago to a guy her age that she'd known and liked for some time. They had plans to travel and were fixing up his place, which is like a museum. She had kept her apartment though. They had a couple of those recliner chairs and a Bos sound system and Sirius satellite music as well as about 10 player pianos with over 3000 piano rolls. They would listen to Big Band music. They were sending for scooter parts, assembling them and selling them to the locals.

Then he (Bob) was abruptly diagnosed with terminal cancer in his lungs, which had already metastasized to his liver. Two days ago he died. So my mom is moving some stuff back over to her apartment, the funeral is Monday and she is playing for it (Big Band music, not hymns.) The same guy who officiated at their wedding will do the funeral as well.

I think Brooks make some good points today about the auto industry and the role of government. Bail out workers, not failed corporate executives and management structures.

November 14, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Bailout to Nowhere
By DAVID BROOKS

Not so long ago, corporate giants with names like PanAm, ITT and Montgomery Ward roamed the earth. They faded and were replaced by new companies with names like Microsoft, Southwest Airlines and Target. The U.S. became famous for this pattern of decay and new growth. Over time, American government built a bigger safety net so workers could survive the vicissitudes of this creative destruction — with unemployment insurance and soon, one hopes, health care security. But the government has generally not interfered in the dynamic process itself, which is the source of the country’s prosperity.

But this, apparently, is about to change. Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want to grant immortality to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. They have decided to follow an earlier $25 billion loan with a $50 billion bailout, which would inevitably be followed by more billions later, because if these companies are not permitted to go bankrupt now, they never will be.

This is a different sort of endeavor than the $750 billion bailout of Wall Street. That money was used to save the financial system itself. It was used to save the capital markets on which the process of creative destruction depends.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/opinion/14brooks.html

slugbug
I'm so sad to hear about your mom. Give her an extra hug for me.

Obama to YouTube weekly address

Will be on YouTube & www.change.gov

Matthew
I've been wondering the same thing... have had the audacity to post MHO to "Share Your Vision" on www.change.gov (hey, why not???)

here's MHO:
An alternative to propping up GM, Ford & Chrysler:
The corporate executives at GM, Ford & Chrysler have created a hostage situation: the government has to save us or we'll everybody else down with us. Instead of a bailout, we could use the funds for the employees who would be hurt. If the corporations are not viable, help the employees with support & training for work in businesses that will carry us into the new economy.

The auto industry as a whole is not in crisis. These people engineered their own demise. Sure. Honda & Toyota are foreign-owned but their plants are here, they hire us & they pay taxes, which is more than can be said for many US companies...

If we must bailout GM, Ford & Chrysler, make sure it becomes an opportunity to advance Obama's agenda. Any financial aid must be contingent on changes conducive to advancing Obama's agenda for energy independence, the environment and job growth.

hmmm... left out some words & used others repetitively, but I guess the thought comes through...

slugbug, that is such a happy and sad story and a sad and happy ending. If your mum is playing at her husband's farewell, then she is doing just great with her loss and grief. Good for her. Thanks for letting us know about it. My thoughts are with you.

My mother had three loves of her life - and all three of them had lives that revolved around music, as did hers.

My father was in the drum and bugle corps, then the Army band in the Pacific in WW2, then in a Big Band (Glenn Miller type) on saxophone, then a school music teacher. His passions were music and history.

Awhile after he died (of Parkinson's), my mother was reunited with her elementary school best friend (male), by his mother who was elderly. She sent him music tapes (he was a musician and retired elecrician.) He few out to meet her after that, from Arizona (he was widowed) and got blizzarded in at her place. She was later diagnosed with breast cancer and after her mastectomy, she flew to Arizona to spend time with him and to recover. (I visited them there.) Then she went home to ND until he became ill, and she went back to AZ and took care of him until he died (in his own home.)

After that, she moved back to ND and for quite a few years, this third guy (Bob) would call her every night. He did have kind of a girlfriend who cooked him dinner every night (and then would go home to her own place) but then he would call my mother. They would talk mostly about music. She would also come over and play his player pianos but she would keep some distance, because of the girlfriend. Then last year, Bob and the other woman broke up. My mother started spending more time there, and on Mother's Day, we couldn't find her (by phone) - it turned out Bob had gone to the hospital with a broken shoulder (he fell) and had called her from the hospital. If she didn't help him out, they wouldn't let him go home.

I think maybe they both knew his health was frail, but he gave her a diamond ring last summer and proposed to her. They made big plans to travel and to visit all their kids and they started having fun and doing whatever they wanted (though he was sick alot and they kept showing up at the emergency room.) They didn't worry about money. Then there was talk about moving him into a nursing home and she fought it. I think she knew he was not long for this world (though she didn't expect him to go this quickly) and he wanted to die in his own home.

It's kind of amazing to me and I kind of feel like I should go back there but they are already having ice storms. I think my mother wants me to wait til spring, though she may travel around and see some of us.

More about my mother - she once pulled a tooth herself with the pliers. When she couldn't afford new dentures, she relined them herself. After she had her mastectomy, she didn't want any of us to come back and help her. There was a time about five years ago when she lost the ability to walk at all because her knees got very arthritic.

She found an old cane and an old wheelchair and managed to get around her house. She refused to take medications for arthritis, beliving that pharmaceutical drugs were more dangerous than the arthritis. She tried a series of natural remedies and forced herself to try to walk and exercise, til she regained the ability to walk again.

The other thing is that she had very severe breast cancer. She did take Tamoxifan for five years but she refused radiation and chemotherapy. She said that they had killed everyone she knew who had tried them. She wasn't supposed to last very long and now she has been alive for at least ten years without a recurrance.

Do I take after her? I hope so. All I know is that I have had the same job for ten years and I realized the other day that I have never taken a "sick day." I was in private practice for ten years before that and also never took a "sick day." Nor did I ever, that I remember, not even in elementary school! That is not to say I never got a cold or anything, but I would not stay home.

The other thing is money - I was raised not to live beyond my means or on credit. Like others who lived in the upper midwest (who are still my friends), none of us will take on debt. My parents never bought a car until they saved up enough and that is how we do it too. The only loan we ever had was for our house and it was laughable now ($70,000) and we insisted on paying it off in half of the time the contract was for.

There is something to be said for the values of people who grew up in the Depression, and that is my family (both sides.) I think that people will have to learn those lessons again. Our mutual funds have lost 40% of their value and our house is losing value too, but to me, it's kind of meaningless because that money was only on paper. It wasn't liquid.

What counts is health, family, friends. I would rather have nothing at all than be in debt to a bank or God forbid, some company that I have no idea about (such as CountryWide Mortgage - do they even exist any more?) I know people half my age who have houses five times as big as ours. I have no idea how they justify it or why it is pleasant or satisfying. To me, it would be a ball and chain.

slugbug I agree entirely. I see those huge houses and I see housework. Nothing beautiful about housework. I don't want to do five times more than I need.

This is a beautiful tribute to your mother. She's a strong and independent woman whose love for music will always keep her shining. Thanks for this small glimpse. I'd like to meet her but my last overseas trip next month will be in the opposite direction.

November 14, 2008, 10:00 pm
The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla

Electronic devices dislike me. There is never a day when something isn’t ailing. Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days.

Now something has gone wrong with all three television sets. They will only get Sarah Palin.

I can play a kind of Alaskan roulette. Any random channel clicked on by the remote brings up that eager face, with its continuing assaults on the English Lang.

- more -

http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/the-wild-wordsmith-of-wasilla/

Matthew
Now I see why I killed my television in 1991!! There is all too much of she-who-shall-not-be-named on the internet, so what I've done is just lampoon her. I have even been called a "sexist ass," in one instance, which is laughable. If I were to get into the contradictions of her ilk calling themselves "feminist" or "pro" anything, it would be a very long essay.

Matthew!
My Republican Uncle just sent me .. "The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla!"

She is the laughingstock of America!

Here is a minute or so of tv worth watching - KUCINICH ON FIRE!

Alaskan roulette may just come up Begich

Obama adds video to the weekly Presidential Address...

Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect

Wow-- full screen is almost like sitting across the desk listening to him...

He urges action in Congress next week, but also reframes the economic situation as an opportunity to move forward while also looking to neglected concerns like infrastructure.

Not just Southern... not just rural...

Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

Just back from Volunteer Park, Seattle - anti Prop 8 rally - will hop on the bus & catch the rest of it downtown

http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

Here the hate crimes are out-numbered. They are part of a backlash. I don't know yet how many voted here, or for Obama, but in landslide elections of the past, it was over 80%.

I saw solid Obama bumper stickers and signs all the way to, at and form the rally. We are SOLID here and we will FIGHT. We are headed toward the Englightenment, not back to the Dark Ages. We hold the urban and power centers and also the moderate and independent voters as well as the liberals.

As Kos said, the more Libertarian wing of the Republican party, the more fiscally conservative - they will NOT uphold, nor do they even believe in the social conservative issues that are held in rural outposts, suburbs where people moved to get away from the city but actually can't (because of mass media, because of actual reality), because the US is not an island!

They will be marginalized. I get all their viral emails and mailings - I subscribe so I can monitor. They are running scared. It is a post-millennial backlash and know what? Other repressive regimes and places where church/state don't separate are running on empty too. It's just a matter of time.

Unless electricity is outlawed and the digital age is somehow bombed back to the stone age, young people all over the world are programmed to DEMAND that which insures their survival and it is NOT reactionary thought. Unless we were to return to being a hunter-gatherer or primitive meat-killing society (like the Palins), and barefoot/pregnant (ha - this she dares call "feminism") - which would require giving up computers, cars, telephones, televisions, refridgeration, modern medicine etc. etc. - we would NEVER again return to the ancient past.

These people are living in a dream world. Through some fluke (Atwater/Rove/Gingrich), the neocons harnessed the social conservatives but now they have FUCKED UP THE WORLD and they are toast. We must insure it.

I read this in THE STRANGER, one of our weeklies, and it made me tear up:

Around the world, Americans are often ridiculed for their naiveté, for their ignorance of the grim power of history to cut idealism down off its pedestal. And indeed, mixed with ignorance and incompetence, our naiveté is deadly, as we have come to see in Iraq. But there is a reason that people from all over the world look at us differently now than they did on November 3. Because in our endless innocence we once again took the risk of believing.

From David Byrne (dedicated to Chris & also Chuck)

11.05.2008: Yes, We Can

I stayed in as the election results came in. Checked the TV now and then as Obama pulled ahead.

Steven says he was on St. Mark’s Place and the street was closed and filled with people; Paul said the Lower East Side was like a huge party; Ray was in Times Square and Rockefeller Center and said it was just a wonderful heartening feeling to see all kinds of people of all races and nationalities out there celebrating; Graham was in Harlem at Sylvia’s and, needless to say, there were celebrations up there big time; and Kaïssa’s mom in Cameroon got up at 5 a.m. to follow the election progress.

As one might expect, much of the rest of the world, even those who traditionally are critical of the US, are heartened and overjoyed at Obama’s victory. It renews their faith in the myth of a country where miracles can happen and where a child of immigrants can be elected president. Not just his person and his history, and what that represents, but his policies and voting record have instantly turned the Empire into a less belligerent and bossy world power and a little more the beacon of democracy, possibility, and equality that is always espoused.

There might even be a return of some respect, maybe, though years of work by Bush and his cronies did an amazing job of trashing that around the whole globe. People do want the hope and possibility that the US stands for and sometimes even offers. It’s amazing how so quickly the US might regain that, in the hearts of its own people and of those watching around the world. Yes, we can.

Not to put a sour note on the celebrations, but I can’t help wonder at what will happen to race relations in the US now. I suspect a lot of folks will feel that if a black man can be elected president, from a single parent household and with not a whole lot of connections and help, then why should other black folks deserve help and assistance? There may be a feeling that if Obama can do it, why can’t the rest of you out there pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps? There might be a feeling that, “Hey, how can anyone claim that there is discrimination now? So why are we spending all this money to help folks?” Well, the US is still largely a racist country that discriminates — that isn’t going to change in one night. But the election definitely does give one hope that most of the country can put that aside and inch a little bit closer to being colorblind.

http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com - excerpts from the blog of David Byrne, formerly of Talking Heads

slugbug
Thanks for posting the pics & the excerpt of David Byrne's comments. About the last paragraph, I've wondered the the same thing... have heard people say it means there's no longer any need for Affirmative Action.

I'm hoping the presence of the Obamas works from within so it begins to come true... maybe over time, as people see Obama doing the things presidents do, as they see the everyday life of the First Family... maybe we can move of. Maybe the election has damaged my ability for healthy cynicism...

Same as it ever was....
maybe not

But there's still a long way to go. (see above)

This is from Sebastien in Paris, and even though the rest of the world here can't vote in the booth, they CAN vote with their money, with their pens, with their affiliation.

The rightwing is now completely isolated and the fight has just begun. The youngest voters voted their hearts, minds and souls and research shows that their voting patterns are likely to persist fairly robustly. This country is wending its way back toward sanity and it can not necessarily be stopped.

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. We said it four years ago and it was true then and it's even more true now.

The video above had French subtitles - most of the Colbert, Jon Stewart, Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Michael Moore stuff I get is from overseas, from people young enough to be my kids because as I have had said a thousand times, I do not watch and do not intend to watch regular tv any more, 1991 til infinity.

There is still plenty of racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia in America as well as classism and basic willful ignorance. All of the above are on the decline though - we need to keep moving forward.

I guess we were off-line for a while due to a technical problem.

Welcome back!

Back at last!!! Missed being able to chat during 60 Minutes...

Obama... WOW!
Barack & Michelle... priceless

Finally, a President who doesn't pause when asked what he's reading ;)

Watch CBS Videos Online

hmmmmmm...

Obama interview embed isn't working for me. Just in case, here's the direct link:
Obama On Economic Crisis, Transition-- 60 Minutes Interview

UPDATE
What does he mean by Change?

Obama's Transition site change.gov has been updated. There's a revised Agenda section that includes many more issues with more extensive & specific plans for addressing them. In addition, each section has a box labeled 'Submit Your Ideas"

When the site first went up, much of the info was taken from the campaign site, but now we have a chance to see how things are shaping up...

slugbug

Sorry to hear about your mom's partner. :( May he rest in peace - and my thoughts are with your mom in the meantime.

aimzzz

I am completely in agreement with you when we say that the employees and UAW need to be given alternative places to work for. The management of the American automakers leave a lot to be desired. The US domestic models do not offer me what I need, unless I am willing to guzzle gas and put up with lousy handling (AKA buy an SUV).

However, I will never buy a Toyota product again, not even the Prius, because of its key role in the elevation of John Roberts to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. For similar reasons, I am not only boycotting BMW as well, but selling my existing BMW, when I return to America.

I continue to travel through South Korea, in a rental Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai chose to let its engineers and customers take charge, as opposed to the marketing department; the result is that Hyundai's cars are far superior to their predecessors from a decade ago. It doesn't hurt that Hyundai is a mega-corporation, known for shipbuilding and construction as well, that can afford to rack up short-term losses in its automotive division for long-term gain, but nevertheless, GM, Ford, and Chrysler must study Hyundai's rise and apply it to themselves.

Ford has managed to already sell me a crappy car and lose me as a customer, and now Hyundai's about to gain me as its newest customer. (Though that also has to do with Toyota and BMW being bad corporate citizens as well.) A few more customers like that, and Ford will surely be irrelevant - a sad end to its once-proud legacy. Ford is already irrelevant in Southern California, where I hail from, anyway.

Greetings from an ancient city that was a capital for a thousand years! I am in Gyeongju (Kyongju), 4 hours' drive away from Seoul.

I'm really glad to be on the road - a chance to soak up South Korea's automotive culture. While I've constantly been given horror stories about the recklessness of the Korean drivers, and that certainly holds true to some degree, the stories are way overrated. I certainly do not recommend arriving at Incheon Airport and immediately starting off in a rental car; I recommend learning some "traffic Korean" and getting the hang of things first.

But it actually does make sense to drive around South Korea, though mass transit continues to make much more sense in Seoul and other major cities. I do love having choices, and it's great to see that South Korea's successive governments have provided their subjects with many of them - express buses, trains, mass transit, taxicabs, and private automobiles. And all choices are good. Expressways here in South Korea, like the rail network and the buses, are superior to their US counterparts, if I dare to say so; I love having full-service (lots of great food choices, not fast food crap - plus gasoline and auto repairs) rest stops at most 25 miles apart, unthinkable back in California.

Though I must add a disclaimer that as there are only 3,000 kilometers of expressways here - nevertheless more than enough to crisscross just about the entire country - maintaining them and providing services is much easier than in the US. The 3,000 kilometers still add up to one of the ten largest national expressway networks in the world, and the system continues to be expanded aggressively. The only thing I hate is the requirement to pay tolls to drive, but the tolls are quite reasonable, and a passenger car will rarely have to pay over $10 US, and most likely much less, to get anywhere in the nation.

Here's something that I must share with you. Over in Germany, the Autobahn concept was one of the few positive legacies of the horrors of the Nazi era, as it contributed greatly to West Germany's postwar rise. South Korea's own fascist dictator, visiting West Germany in 1964, was so inspired after his ride on the Autobahn, that he decided to build a 260-mile expressway of his own, to improve supply routes for the industries. Problem was, neither funding nor technology existed. He decided to go ahead anyway, using conscripted military labor and the cheapest, quickest methods. There were massive opposition protests, both from opposition politicians and from the people, calling the expressway a toy for the rich, as you had to be very rich to own a car back then. But the project went ahead, consuming 25% of the national economy at that time. It only took two years to build the entire stretch, with four lanes all the way, and set a world record for the cheapest-ever construction cost per kilometer, which still stands today.

Because the expressway was built so cheaply, with emphasis on putting it into service as soon as possible to help those industries grow, it started falling apart immediately, and required constant repairs. Eventually, it had to be re-paved and re-built twice before it was really serviceable. But by then, the industries certainly benefited, and so did the masses - first, by being able to ride anywhere in the nation quickly in the newfangled express buses, then by being able to drive their own cars on the expressways later on.

Normal national highways and the rail system have also suffered because so much funding had to go into the expressways. But that's being rectified today too, and South Korea now runs the French TGV bullet trains. Moral of the story: the expressway did its job of helping the economy grow, the fascists did one thing right after all, and when the economy grew and more democratic governments took over, all the deficiencies were eventually addressed.

I'll continue to enjoy my drive - and my sightseeing - as much as I can.

One more thing that I forgot to mention...

Before the first expressway was built, it took 12 hours to drive from Seoul to Busan, a distance of 260 miles.

With the expressway, you could make that drive in under five hours in 1970.

Now, it probably takes 6 hours, but only because there are so many cars around that traffic congestion is likely somewhere. Fortunately, much of the expressway is now 6 or 8 lanes instead of 4, and many alternate expressway routes also exist.

Of course, since 2004, you can also bypass the whole thing, and take a bullet train and save even more time. Current run time on the Seoul-Busan route, where the last 70 miles must still use conventional tracks, is 2 hours and 43 minutes, though when the entire route goes high speed, it'll be around 2 hours.

Honestly, I'd love it if I can take a train at Los Angeles Union Station and gamble on the Las Vegas strip under 3 hours later, but that won't happen in my lifetime. :(

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

Hi folks.

Ok. So I'm going to be a little swamped and stressed until Thursday night this week. So if anyone wants to write some posts and email me then I can post them quickly.

(If you don't have my email let me know and I'll try to pop in at the chat room to share it with you.)

Ally
You seem to be able to get online all over the place. Is it wireless or do you get on at motels or other...?

Take care Sparrow! Remember to relax now & then.

About 23 million young people, an increase of 3.4 million over 2004, accounted for almost two-thirds of the overall 5.4 million increase in voter turnout. Their participation increased at a rate greater than older generations. As a result, young voters increased their overall share of the vote from 17 percent in 2004 to 18 percent in 2008. In contrast to previous recent presidential elections, a majority of young people voted in 2008 (53%), and in the competitive battleground states, youth turnout was even higher (59%). This was significantly above the 1996 (37%), 2000 (41%), and 2004 (48%) levels. In the earlier elections, "young people" were primarily members of Generation X, an alienated and socially uninvolved cohort; by contrast, the young voters of 2008 were mostly members of the civic-oriented Millennial Generation.

Their unified support for Barack Obama combined with their high turnout made the Millennial Generation the decisive force in his victory. Young voters accounted for about seven million of Obama's almost nine million national popular vote margin over John McCain. Had young people not voted, Obama would have led McCain by only about 1.5 percentage points instead of seven. Republican Internet guru Patrick Ruffini pointed out that without Millennials, Obama would not have won the combined 73 electoral votes of Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina. While he may still have won in 2008 without young voters, Obama's margin and his political mandate would have been far narrower.

SB:

What does the civic-oriented Millennial Generation want? I guess these are the kids of the famous/infamous "boomers" (whatever that meant). I am a bit ashamed to admit it but my first vote -- in 1980 -- was for Reagan! He was the change candidate and my dad hated him....

Chuck in Houston

PS: That was the one and only year I pulled the lever for the GOP (though I sat 1988 out).

My dad, for the record, was a "Great Generation" New Deal Democrat (as is my mom).

Dear All:

Maybe it's just me, but this past electoral cycle seems like such a wasted opportunity. There are big issues out there we could have discussed: US energy policy, the proper role of the state in a capitalist economy, how to have sustainable growth (or what even constitutes sustainable growth), the US role in supporting (or not) democracy and markets (of which, US health-care issues are probably a sub-set and the Mortgage or Detroit bail-outs simply after thoughts), how capital markets should be regulated....

The list seems endless to me. But rather than that we spent two years (and probably two billion dollars all told -- Obama alone probabaly spent closer to one billion than not) on personality or drama politics. We (and by that I mean the American electorate) explored the narcissism of small differences as deeply as possible, it seems to me, but never brought principle issues into the spotlight of public discourse. For example, Iraq or Afghanistan barely entered into the equation.

Anyway, SB, that is why I am curious as to what the civic mindedness of this Millennial Generation (or any like-minded invividuals of other age-cohorts) actually constitutes.

Here I am, as a Yellow Dog Democrat (except that one 1980 lapse as noted above), with my party fully in control of our government, and I don't really understand what our plan is. I know I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but all the same, I didn't get the message during the election cycle, and I am probably not alone in that.

Chuck in Houston

Interesting article-- includes maps showing rally sites & crowd sizes

Face Time Turned Red States Blue

...from Oct. 4 through Nov. 3, Obama visited 45 counties in 12 states. These included 20 counties that President Bush won in 2004 -- including some, like Greene, Mo., centered on Springfield, that voted overwhelmingly Republican that year. Of the 12 states that Obama visited in October and early November, only Pennsylvania and New Hampshire voted for John Kerry four years ago.

store in Utah covering up all Obama mags like they are porn

http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/11/a-grocery-in-utah-is-covering-up-all-the-obama-magazines.html

Apropos (sp?) nothing, I suppose, but I had this great Simon and Garfunkel (sp?) song going though my head:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6K8wfyzAJQ&feature=related

Chuck in Houston

Ally:

Also, I am curious, as you drive through South Korea, what do people want out of the new US administration? Would they like us to withdraw all our troops? Increase? Decrease? What do they think about the possibility of North Korea getting the bomb? What, if anything, do they think the US ought to do in that respect? What do they think about their other powerful neighbors -- China, Russia and Japan? What do they think about globalization and free trade?

Chuck in Houston

SB:

Well, I am glad that my video-phone isn't the only one that records poorly -- but what was that in Utah? I couldn't tell from the recording.

Chuck in Houston

SB:

Also, what are Obama magazines? And why would a store in Utah want to cover them up? I would suppose they would want to sell them; if not I suppose they simply would not stock them. I am missing the connection with porn: i.e., people may want to buy it anonymously -- is that the connection with Utahans, or however you spell that, and Obama? Do people in Utah really want to read about Obama but are afraid their neighbors will find out? Is that the point? If so, what are the neighbors uptight about?

Chuck in Houston

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like election happened months ago
o_O

slugbug - thanks for posting the Alice Walker letter. I can't say how it makes me feel. Overwhelmed mostly.

aimzzz

South Korea is the most wired nation in the world. I have no problems accessing the Internet. I was using a neighbor's wireless router in Seoul, and here in Gyeongju, I am at the Hilton, which has free broadband for guests.

Chuck

The Obama administration holds the following potentials for South Koreans:
- Strike a balance between free enterprise and reasonable government regulations, so that the US economy comes back to life, and that South Korean businesses can once again sell well in the US.
- While at it, also prove the current conservative Seoul government wrong, as it is busy trying to copy Reaganomics to the letter.
- Put an end to W's cowboy diplomacy, which pretty much had shown no respect for South Korea's sovereignty.
- Amicably come to a conclusion when it comes to continued US military presence in South Korea. While the "appropriate" level of US military presence depends on who you ask (liberals want less to none, conservatives want more), almost all agree that when a wayward American GI breaks the law, he/she must be prosecuted like any other foreigner. Currently, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), dating back to the 1950s when South Korea was a pathetic Third World economy ruled by a reactionary Korean-American dictator, lets US military personnel get away with just about everything.
- And most importantly, South Korea has always loved the US as a beacon of democracy and hope, but has been very disappointed in W severely damaging that reputation. If Obama sticks to his words, that alone will go a LONG way toward restoring America's good face.

What was all that bullshit again about 'Change we can believe in'...?

Obama advisers: Bush era war criminals will walk

Even as President-elect Obama vowed "to regain America's moral stature in the world" during Sunday's 60 Minutes appearance, two of his senior advisers confessed there is no intent to pursue those in the Bush administration who engaged in torture, a war crime.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_admin_wont_prosecure_Bush_war_1117.html

Yes, Yes. I know. Someone inevitably here will tell me it is ok, see, cause, selling big chunks of our soul is not really like selling ALL of it.

Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same. But, then again I knew he was going to let them go as soon as powell reared up his ugly head and was treated like all our favorite son.

And so, once again, only our victims are to be punished. The war criminals will still walk among us, head held high, with bundles of blood loot they stole from their victims, their fellow countrymen. They will all get plum jobs and their murderous ways will be 'proof' of their 'patriotism'. And we will all twitter and be awed when they speak, and we will pretend somehow it is ok, see, because they only took big pieces of our soul, not all of it.

YES WE CAN! Torture and get away with it.

YES WE CAN! Murder over a million people for lies!

YES WE CAN! Let war criminals loot us.

YES WE CAN!YES WE CAN!YES WE CAN!

I would just like to add... f*ck Barack Obama.

And f*ck all of Obamas people who are too chickenshit to go after war criminals because it will obviously mean prosecuting people who show up at their houses for little cocktail weenie parties.

And f*ck george w bush and the ENTIRE bush cabal.

And while I am at it, f*ck the US military who should never have agreed to illegal or immoral orders, but did anyway. F*ck the FBI, the CIA and the Department of Homeland Insecurity.

Oh, and f*ck the SCOTUS too, and all the corporations they put above human beings. F*ck everyone who believes some men can be above the law, and that is just hunky dory. F*ck the entire US Congress who are as useful as screendoors on submarines.

And a most special f*ck you goes out to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, two of the biggest cowards I have ever had the trouble of observing.

Yes, yes, I know, this post will most likely be censored or erased, in the name of a political correctness that never was actually CORRECT... But whomever does it, just remember... you can erase or censor these words, but the sentiment will still remain.

Christy

You need to join me here in South Korea.

If anyone needs to be f*cked, for messing with the US, it's the Moonies and the South Korean "pro-American" government that actually do everything to destroy American values.

Asia Has awesome Highway systems, absolutely right Ally. Rest stops with quality restaurants, full service stations, fruit stands, some have mini hotels...about every hour of driving on the main arteries, closer together on the smaller roadways. And the roads themselves are very high quality, they use crushed granite to stabalize the road surface...in some areas you can just open the car up and race around...its like living in California back in the early 70's...very cool.

George W Bush will be forever remembered in the same sentence as Hoover..History will not judge him well, and the best service president Bush provided is the collapse of the GOP for at least a few years.

Long Live President Obama.

'Long Live' is a tribute to a KING.

Not a president.

toolmaker

I'm very surprised at the quality of the expressways in South Korea.

Common wisdom has always been that Germany and California have the best roads in the world, but California certainly no longer does, as its road budget took a huge hit due to the Reaganian tax revolts, and its roads are overflowing with people who ought to never be given driver's licenses, but drive anyway, because there is no other choice.

And all of Asia is working on an international network of "Asian Highways" much like the E-routes in Europe. There are two Asian Highway routes going through South Korea. One runs from Tokyo, Japan, to the Turkish-Bulgarian border, while the other runs from Busan to the Russian-Belarusian border (where it picks up Europe's E30 and continues to Amsterdam and London). I'd love to drive either one in the future - once North Korea opens up and becomes saner, anyway.

The cars here are pretty good too. Sure, just like back in the US, you can insist on renting a Chrysler Sebring sedan, if you want to. But you are paying at least twice as much, for a car that's worse than a comparable Hyundai, just for the cachet of driving an import. Speaking of Hyundai cars, the new Genesis has me drooling - and it will certainly replace my BMW when I return home.

Christy

America has a king. His name is Reverend Moon.

I am pretty sure even the Democrats are sucking up to him. He is so powerful, and has a few strategic Democratic allies, that the Democrats just can't go all out on him just yet.

November 18, 2008
On Washington
The Great Bailout Debate
By DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — In the headlong rush here this week to devise a way to keep the Big Three automakers alive, it might be worth pausing for a moment to ask what this latest bailout exercise is intended to accomplish.

Are we trying to save General Motors, Ford and Chrysler? Have Americans given up on the companies themselves, but want to preserve as many jobs as possible for their workers and suppliers? Or are we simply trying to forestall the shock of huge bankruptcies and layoffs at a moment when the economy cannot take another hit?

So far, all three goals have been jumbled together. But as the chiefs of the carmakers begin two days of congressional testimony today — with most attention on Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of G.M., the most imperiled of the automakers — it is possible to imagine very different kinds of bailouts, from those that simply buy time to those that might force the industry to make the kinds of changes that a generation of competition with the Japanese have failed, remarkably, to bring about.

“The problem right now is that everyone is trying to accomplish in a few days something that no one has been able to get the auto industry to do in a few decades,” Mickey Kantor, a former United States trade representative, who was a central player in the Big Three’s negotiations with the Clinton administration in 1992, which also vowed to help Detroit and preserve jobs. “You are not going to protect everyone, find new leadership for the car companies, force innovation — and get Congress home for Thanksgiving.”

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/us/politics/18web-sanger.html?hp

Christy
I don't think you could say anything that would get deleted here... unless you start waving around a gun or something ;0

I'm angry too. I want to be sure first-- the reports come from unnamed 'advisers'. We need verification. It's hard to imagine that the Obama admin would decide before seeing evidence or before Bush does his pardons.

This article (below), also based on unnamed advisers, describes a plan for an investigative commission which is far more extensive than reported in yesterday's AP story.

It's maddening because of legal complexities that should not exist. Also Bush & his admin did extensive ass-covering to make it even harder for legal actions to stand up in court. On top of legalities is the fact that the economic crisis will consume most of Obama's time & energy for the indefinite future. The cynical side of me wonders if Bush fueled this crisis as a smokescreen so he can slink out without being held accountable for his crimes.

Obama's plans for probing Bush torture

The plan would not rule out future prosecutions, but would delay a decision on that matter until all essential facts can be unearthed. Between the time necessary for the investigative process and the daunting array of policy problems Obama will face upon taking office, any decision on prosecutions probably would not come until a second Obama presidential term, should there be one.

snip

The proposed commission... would examine a broad scope of activities, including detention, torture and extraordinary rendition, the practice of snatching suspected terrorists off the street and whisking them off to a third country for abusive interrogations.

snip

A common view among those involved with the talks is that any early effort to prosecute Bush administration officials would likely devolve quickly into ugly and fruitless partisan warfare.

snip

In Obama's camp, there is a sense among some that such a commission would essentially mean letting Bush get away with crimes. "People have called for criminal investigations," one person familiar with the talks told me this summer as plans got under way.

snip

But few think prosecutions are realistic, given the formidable legal hurdles and the huge policy problems competing for Obama's attention. Among them is the complicated task of closing down the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, which Obama advisors say is a priority.

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