A History Quiz for our Political Wonks.

A little history lesson. If you don't know the answer make your best guess. Answer all the questions before looking at the answers. Who said it? 1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." A. Karl Marx B. Adolph Hitler C. Joseph Stalin D. None of the above 2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...... And to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity." A. Lenin B. Mussolini C. Idi Amin D. None of the Above 3) "(We) ...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people." A. Nikita Khrushev B. Josef Goebbels C. Boris Yeltsin D. None of the above 4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground." A. Mao Tse Dung B. Hugo Chavez C. Kim Jong Il D. None of the above 5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed." A. Karl Marx B. Lenin C. Molotov D. None of the above 6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched." A. Pinochet B. Milosevic C. Saddam Hussein D. None of the above Scroll down for answers Answers(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007(3) D. None of th e above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007 (5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005Be afraid, Be very afraid!

Dana Walsh speaks to Marin Club Wed., Oct. 24

At today's Marin Club luncheon at 4 Points Sheraton, San Rafael, guest speaker Dana Walsh (R), SF, presented her platform. She is running against Nancy Pelosi (D) for Congress, CD 8.

In a city where Republicans are outnumbered (40,000 Republicans; 200,000 Democrats), Dana is certainly Danoodle's Woman of the Year. Kudos to her for taking time out of her life to get out the Republican message! She is starting early, and is energetically elucidating her platform of Low Taxes, Winning the War on Terrorism, Less Government, and Stopping Illegal Immigration.


Did you know:

-Nancy Pelosi has never held a job other than bureaucrat?

-San Francisco has been so gerrymandered CD 8 that a large swath of Republicans are excluded from voting in that Congressional District? See map at http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/cngplan/PDF_CD_ATLAS/CD08_NEW_SF.PDF

-SF is the fifth largest media market in the U.S.?

-Not only is Dana running against Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, but also Cindy Sheehan, Independent?

-Dana has run her own business in SF for 25 years?

-So far, Dana is unopposed for the Republican nomination in SF?

-The Statewide Direct Primary Election is held June 3, 2008?
-The Presidential General Election is held November 4, 2008?

Pls help Dana get out her (and our) Republican message by contributing today to her campaign. Send your check to:

DANA WALSH
Candidate for House of Representatives. CD 8, San Francisco
1592 Union street, #52
San Francisco, Ca. 94123
(FEC #C00436154)

Dana can be reached at:
Tel: 415 -749-1942.
Email: dana@danawalshforcongress.com
http://www.danawalshforcongress.com/

Also, Dana will be accepting contributions via her website beginning next week.

Dana has an experienced Campaign Manager, Mike DeNunzio, SF, who ran against Lynn Woolsey last year. His blog is at http://www.speakingclearly.org/.

I've posted Dana's Press Releases on www.danoodle.com.

Go, Dana!

Marin Club Officers for 2008

The Marin Club (MRWF) announced in their October Newsletter their slate of officers for 2008: President - Faye Bourret 1st VP/Programs -Judith Walker 2nd VP/Membership - Cindy Eisenhower 3rd VP/Events - Kitty Forde Treasurer - Anne Brenneis Secretary - Pat Derenzo They will be voted on at their November meeting.

The Economy's The Thing, Stupid

This week’s Economist has a good article about the Republicans' waning support among the wealthy. The Rich Republican stereotype, which hasn’t always been accurate anyway, is apparently no more:

“A YouGov/Polimetrix poll for The Economist finds that only 44% of those earning more than $150,000 plan to vote Republican."

For people living in wealthy and very Democrat San Francisco, this won’t be particularly surprising. And the Republican’s poor fiscal management in the past 8 years is enough to turn any businessperson off. But it’s hard to imagine them turning to the Democrats if money is their top priority – for 2008, Democrats are banking on a protectionist, anti-globalization ideology. Obama has promised to fight the trade-pact with South Korea (in defense of the American worker), and Hillary wants to review all free-trade agreements every five years. There has been a revival of animosity toward globalization recently. One of their top pundits (and #11 on the list of world’s top public intellectuals (which I would argue is slightly contradictory – what does “popular” have to do with “intellectual”, and aren't they inherently antithetical?)), Naomi Klein, has a new book about the devious nature of global capitalism. Sure to be a rallying cry for G8 and World Bank protestor types, this polemic is a follow-up to her seminal text No Logo, and seems to exist not to convince, but to preach to the converted. The Shock Doctrine is basically the book equivalent of a Michael Moore film – stretching facts to suit pseudo-conspiracies (this time in the form of Milton Friedman’s students). The FT has a good review. There is not enough space here to explain why globalization is good, but I would refer you to a Forbes article on the subject. Globalization has improved the quality of life of many people across the world, and not just because you can get a Frappachino in the Forbidden City (actually, apparently you can’t anymore. But you could this summer.) But the anti-globalization rhetoric we are starting to see on the campaign trail is one of the worst forms of populism to infiltrate US politics in some time. Never mind that we are currently in our 50th consecutive month of job growth, and that since August 2003 the US has created 8.1 million new jobs. Obama and Hillary talk about the evils of outsourcing and free trade. And what are the Republicans doing about it? While our candidates couldn’t be bothered to attend CA’s Republican convention in Palm Springs last month (we’re only the world’s 7th largest economy…), they all found time to pay homage to the Family-Values crowd at this weekend’s Value Voter Summit. Why Giuliani bothered to show up at all is a surprise. In a straw poll, he only got 107 votes out of 5,776. As the only pro-choice candidate on the roster, this was not his audience, and perhaps he missed an opportunity to snub the minority that for too long has hijacked the Republican agenda away from its tried-and-true business roots. The Economist cogently writes:

“The shrill voices of religious conservatives have driven away many pragmatic Republicans who feel that banning abortion and gay marriage are not the most pressing issues confronting America… Rather than building a pragmatic centre-right alternative to Hillary Clinton, the conservative movement is stuck with God, gays and guns… As long as the business of the Republican Party seems not to be business, it can hardly complain if businesspeople look elsewhere.”

MRP Chairwoman's Edict. My Reply.

Email from MRP Chairman Morgan Kelley Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:51 PM Subject: Blog Barbara, A while ago you asked me for a list of people who had volunteered by way of the Web Site and I went laboriously through all my records and gave you that list for the purpose of contacting Republicans for the Round Table. We have had complaints that you are sending them your blog and they did not give out their email address for that purpose. I would kindly ask you to cease using the list that I gave you and destroy any copies that you might have. The other complaint is that there is no obvious way to opt out of your blog, which I understand is required by law. You did ask us to quit using your logo (although I was not aware that it had been copywritten ) which we did. I would very much appreciate your cooperation in this matter so that I can assure those people that they will not be getting your blog anymore unless they personally request it. Sincerely Morgan Kelley Chairman Marin Republican Party My Reply sent 10/18/07:

Morgan, You only sent me 5 Volunteer names in the past, none of whom are on my E-List.

In case you have forgotten, I have organized people in Marin since 1996, starting with my United Conservatives group, on through the Russ Weiner campaign, and later, so I have quite an extensive E-List of my own.

You obviously don't know that much about blogs. There is an RSS feed that people can subscribe to if they wish. They can also unsubscribe if they wish. I do not automatically subscribe anyone to the feed. Each person must do that on their own.

I send out a reminder to my E-List when Danoodle or the Danoodle blog is updated appreciably. Anyone on my E-List who doesn't wish to get that email can email me directly at howeybarb@danoodle.com to be removed. So far, I've gotten 2 requests to be removed from my e-list. If you encounter complainers, refer them to me, and I will happily remove them.

As far as the logo is concerned, my daughter made the Bridge Logo for me as a gift. As MRP Webmaster, I used it on the MRP site. Since I am no longer webmaster, there is no need for the MRP to use that particular Logo. And yes, it is copyrighted, and no, you and the MRP do not have my permission to use it. I appreciate your taking it down in a timely manner.

Barbara Howey

MRP Central Committee Member, District 1

Novato Club Officers, 2008

The Novato Club (NRWF) announced their slate of officers for 2008 at their luncheon this past Tuesday: Mary Raub, President (2nd term) Rosemary Garvey, 1st VP, (2nd term) (with assistance from Sue Campbell) Nina Tychin and Donna Mani, 2nd VP's Charlotte Urban, Treasurer (Woman of the Year for 2007) Marty Wickenhauser, Secretary Elise Vitale, Membership

California Dream ... up in smoke.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California has a reputation as a land of opportunity but residents face such steep costs that even a modest lifestyle is far out of reach for many, a report released on Wednesday said. "For many Californians, just making ends meet is a struggle," the California Budget Project, a liberal advocacy center, said in its report. "Many families live paycheck to paycheck, juggling rent or a mortgage payment with child care, food, and emergencies such as unexpected car repairs." Because of the Golden State's extraordinarily high living costs, even middle-class families must pinch pennies and cut corners to get by, according to the report. Raising a family and maintaining a modest living standard requires incomes much higher than the state's $7.50 an hour minimum wage provides -- and in many cases much more than even a median wage, the report said. In addition to some of the highest home prices in the nation, Californians face high costs from property and income taxes, insurance, home repairs, child care, transportation, food and health care -- each contributing to making the state one of priciest places to live in the United States. The center's report said its gauge for household budgeting included basic expenses and provided for more than a bare-bones existence but allowed little to no money left over for college savings, vacations or emergencies. The center estimated that to support a modest living standard in California, a single adult must earn $28,336 per year and a single-parent family must have an annual income of $59,732. A family with two working parents would need to earn $72,343 annually. Famed cities in the state such as San Francisco and Los Angeles are especially expensive. A minimum wage worker in California earns $15,600 annually.

Congrats to Minutemen at GG Bridge

From Joe Reich, Interim President of the North Bay Minutemen: "We didn't do too badly. We had an escort of 5 HP Officers. So people in the cars were looking at the Officers and, of course, couldn't help but see us with our decorative signs. 55 people participated in the march. We had a great get together at Rodeo Beach afterwards. It was our first real action as North Bay Minutemen since we first started meeting in July." See 10/13/07 photos at www.northbayminutemen.com.

Steroids & Genetically Modified Foods

Hmmm...perhaps we should look at steroid use among our atheletes as stoking their bodies in order to compete at a higher level...improving the body's mechanism...sort of like genetically modified foods. Through science, we are improving foods to resist pests and other maladies to which unmodified foods succumb. Therefore, the GM foods become superior. Do the atheletes bodies become like GM foods - superior - through science??

A Road Trip

by Mary Anne Gilles, Novato Club (NRWF)

At 6am, Thursday, September 27th, I got in my silver fox and headed to Palm Springs to attend the National Convention for the GOP Women. I arrived at the Wyndham Hotel at 4pm to find the registration had been re-scheduled for Friday at 11am. So, off I went to the California Suite to drop off the case of wine I was donating, but was unable to do that. I finally got to my condo in Palm Springs, and off to the famous Thursday Night Market on Palm Canyon Drive.

Friday morning, my goal was to register and check out the vendors, and find out what was on the agenda and who the speakers would be. It turned out that the speakers were not very good at best. I strongly felt that the overall management of the Convention was rather lame, so I did not attend the workshops; I scoped out the convention center, and went to lunch.

After a nice few hours by the pool in the lovely Palm Springs sunshine, I got dressed in my silver and black and went to the Gala. The Gala was probably the best event of the entire convention - Follow the Stars to Palm Springs, a fashion show was presented by David Hayes, a wonderful review of Hollywood Revisted was given with a tribute to Costume Design from old Hollywood. Rhonda Fleming gave a brief address, and I did meet her after the show, a lovely GOP Lady.

I spent all day on Saturday at the general session, sitting in the alternate voting section for our State, heard Rudy Giuliani give a thirty minute speech, heard a wonderful speaker, Connie Podesta, regarding women power. The vote to raise the national dues passed for $3.00 per member. The new slate of officers was voted on and several officers found a vote was needed for the decision of who would serve. The lunch speaker was Mary Bono, the local Congresswoman, who supports Rudy Giuliani.

I worked as a volunteer for a workshop on Saturday afternoon, and spent the evening at the Ohio and California Suites. I did find someone to give my case of wine to, and they were so thankful that I truly felt good about giving the California wine to the California Suite. I had a nice visit with fellow Californians including a fellow retired military spouse, the Chair for the Convention, Diane McGlinchey.

The Sunday general session was called to order by President Beverly Davis, Utah. By the end of the day, the new President, Shirley Sadler, Ohio, closed the meeting. The speaker at the closing luncheon was Gregg Jackson, who spoke about conservative comebacks to liberal lies. The food at this lunch was very good; the food at the gala was not good at all.

Sunday afternoon found me at the Palm Springs Museum where I did my field work for my Master's in Cultural Anthropology. I love that museum for all the wonderful Native American artifacts.

Sunday evening was spent with Novato members at an outdoor restaurant.

Monday morning was a quick tour of the Stars Homes of the Valley, and then on to Solvang for an overnight stop to get my fix of Danish food and check out the shops. Got home around 7pm after a very long, tiring drive. Why don't I fly? Next Time! Speaking of next time, I loved the Nashville Convention in 2005, not too pleased with this one in 2007, therefore time will tell if I will "fly" to the 2009 Convention in Orlando, FL.

I do plan to go back to Palm Springs this winter and just enjoy!

Oct. 13 Minutemen Rally, SF

The North Bay Minutemen will march across the Golden Gate Bridge Sat., Oct. 13. They will meet on the SF side of the Bridge, in the parking lot, at 10:00 am. All supporters are welcome! www.northbayminutemen.com. From their Press Release, Oct. 11: RALLY: SATURDAY OCT. 13TH 10AM TO NOON We will gather at the SOUTH END OF THE BRIDGE, PARKING BEHIND TOLL OFFICE BUILDING. WALKING ON THE BRIDGE TO ASK OUR GOVERNMENT TO DO ITS JOB! AFTER THE WALK WE DEPART AT NOON. We pledge to maintain the sovereignty of the United States of America, to secure the borders, and to insure that the rights and privileges of U. S. citizenship be reserved for American citizens and legal immigrants. We pledge to work with local, state and national governmental agencies to require that immigration laws are enforced at every level, and that persons found to be in the country illegally are deported immediately. We pledge to work for the election of officials that support Americans and the rule of law. We support local police detainment of illegals and aid to federal agencies with enforcement. We pledge to educate citizens on the meaning of American’s birthright. The schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, government buildings and government services are bought and paid for by many generations of American citizens. This is your birthright, it is not an abstract idea, and it is all around you and is diluted and overwhelmed with every new illegal immigrant that is allowed in the country. We pledge to refuse to allow other nations to dump their unemployment, healthcare and education problems on the United States taxpayers. We pledge to refuse to surrender our national sovereignty to Mexico. We pledge to confront all politicians that are silent or outright selling your citizenship birthright to Mexico or any other country.

Oct. 17 rally - Berkeley Recruiting Station

From http://www.moveamericaforward.org/: On Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time - we will hold a large patriotic, pro-troop, pro-veteran rally in front of the Berkely, CA., Marine Recruiting Center (located at 64 Shattuck Square, Berkeley, CA. 94704). We're going to respond with a positive, pro-military, patriotic rally and we need you to be there! We're inviting the media to come out and cover this pushback so we need a really great crowd to be on hand!! Details at http://www.moveamericaforward.org/.

A Happy Report - from the UN ??!!

To Gillian, Danoodler at UN: Are they smoking something at the UN?? "...So imagine how shocked I was to learn, officially, that we're not doomed after all. A new United Nations report called "State of the Future" concludes: "People around the world are becoming healthier, wealthier, better educated, more peaceful, more connected, and they are living longer." Per Stephen Moore's 10/5/07 WSJ article, "Clear-Eyed Optimists."

Hillary is SO sincere...her laugh so true....Right !!! Watch these three youtube posts.

John Stewart who is a liberal version of our own Dennis Miller does some nice homework here previewing "sincerity" as acted out laughingly by Hillary on a Sunday morning talk show jog. If we have to live with this "sincerity" for four years...some will surely lose it. Here are three examples worthy of study:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72Cq7AgjSQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPcqy0pvdsI&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmajocHPU_U&mode=related&search=

Nov. 13 NHRWC Mtg, SF, speaker: Melanie Morgan

Melanie Morgan, KSFO, will speak to the Nob Hill Republican Women's Club at their Nov. 13 noon luncheon meeting, held at the Waterfront Restaurant, SF. Cost is $42. If you want to make a donation to Melanie's organization, http://www.moveamericaforward.org/, you can include that in your luncheon check also. Pls indicate Stuffed Chicken Breast, or Grilled Salmon on your check, and mail your check to NHRWF, PO Box 26115, SF 94126. For info: pbonocore@bonocore.com, or 415-924-9991.

The Coming Geriatric Tsunami

Mike DeNunzio is former chairman of the SF Republican Party, who ran against Lynn Woolsey last election cycle. He has his own blog, http://www.speakingclearly.org/. Mike is a member of the California Commission on Aging, the principle advisory body to the Governor and the Legislature on issues for Elder Californians. He was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in January 2007 and serves on the Advocacy-Policy Committee.

He is also Campaign Manager for Dana Walsh, the energetic SF woman who is running against Nancy Pelosi for Congress.

Oct. 24 Marin Club speaker: Dana Walsh

Dana Walsh, the brave SF Republican who is running against Nancy Pelosi, will be speaking at the Marin Republican Women Federated's Oct. 24 luncheon. Lunch is $22.00. Checks are payable to MRWF. Social Hour begins at 11:30am, and lunch meeting begins at 12 noon. Rsvp to 472-7956 by Oct. 19.



See Dana's latest press release at http://speakingclearly.org/index.html.


Go Dana!

Eleven Inconvenient Lies

Court Identifies Eleven Inaccuracies in Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ By Noel Sheppard October 9, 2007 - 00:55 ET Here's something American media are virtually guaranteed to not report: a British court has determined that Al Gore's schlockumentary "An Inconvenient Truth" contains at least eleven material falsehoods. It seems a safe bet Matt Lauer and Diane Sawyer won't be discussing this Tuesday morning, wouldn't you agree? For those that haven't been following this case, a British truck driver filed a lawsuit to prevent the airing of Gore's alarmist detritus in England's public schools. According to the website of the political party the plaintiff, Stewart Dimmock, belongs to (ecstatic emphasis added throughout, h/t Marc Morano): In order for the film to be shown, the Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that 1.) The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2.) If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3.) Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children. How marvelous. And what are those inaccuracies? The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government's expert was forced to concede that this is not correct. The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years. The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that it was "not possible" to attribute one-off events to global warming. The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that this was not the case. The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm. The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility. The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim. The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia. The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting, the evidence was that it is in fact increasing. The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration. The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim. In the end, a climate change skeptic in the States must hope that an American truck driver files such a lawsuit here so that a U.S. judge can make similar determinations. Of course, even if one could find such an impartial jurist, our media wouldn't find it newsworthy, would they? —Noel Sheppard is an economist, business owner, and Associate Editor of NewsBusters. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/10/09/court-identifies-eleven-inaccuracies-al-gore-s-inconvenient-truth

From $4.9b to $23.2b - Congress Hard at Work

From Wall St Journal OPINION Mon 10-8-07: ..."When Congress got around to authorizing the $4.9 billion in such civil works that the Corps [US Army Corps of Engineers] identified, here is what happened: The Senate passed a bill that cost roughly $14 billion, and the House a different bill at $15 billion. Then they got together in conference and compromised -- at $23.2 billion.... ..."Mr. Bush will probably veto this monstrosity, but there's little doubt he'll be overridden. Most Republicans seem content to go along; the conference report moved out of the House 381-40 and the Senate 81-12. They're selling out twice. Democrats included GOP pork to ensure an override, weakening the Administration for the fall budget fights...."

Oops, I missed this story

33 Senators Voted Against English as America's Official Language June 6, 2007: Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Wants to be President? Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Clinton (D-NY) Wants to be President? Dayton (D-MN) Dodd (D-CT) Wants to be President? Domenici (R-NM) protecting his Senate seat... Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Not unusual for him Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Wanted to be President Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (D-CT) Disappointment here..... Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Obama (D-IL) Wants to be President? Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Senate Majority Leader Salazar (D-CO) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-M) Full story...

Novato Club Brouhaha

Rumor has it that the Novato Republican Women Federated Club is trying to recruit Sue Campbell (Marin Club) to its Board for next year. They would be mighty lucky to have this hard-working, and uber-volunteer on their side. I'm not so sure it's a good deal for Sue, however, as the Novato Club Board seems to auto-rotate the same people in different jobs every year, so not much room for advancement.

Healthcare, Hospitals, and Me

Having just been released from a 3-day "vacation" in the Hospital, I have a few things to say! Actually, since this is the first day I've felt decent in 2 weeks, I'm itching to blog. First, the Doctors and Nurses are angels, no doubt about that. But...the hospital bed is a torture chamber designed to make one feel worse than when admitted. In one of my "feeling better" moments, I had a good conversation with the Doc on duty. (Turns out he spent 4 years in my hometown of Birmingham, and loves it!) I could not resist asking him about the state of healthcare, and I paraphrase what he said: He doesn't think Americans will stand for a full, socialized system in this country. His prognosis: We will eventually go to a system that covers all Americans with very basic healthcare, and then tiered healthcare according to one's ability to pay. We already have private-payer clinics that are doing well. The #1 reason hospitals are going broke is that they must protect themselves from lawsuits, so he (the Doc) performs 4 unnecessary tests on a person, vs 1 test that most probably would suffice. The #2 reason is that hospitals must service all people, including uninsured. They are not allowed, by law, to ask the person's status, legal or illegal. (My note: having spent 6 hrs. in the Emergency Room, listening to all around me, I just don't believe that a hospital ER would turn anyone away who was injured, regardless of status. Just call me Pollyanna?) The Doc sees fewer Americans entering medicine, and more foreign doctors coming to America to fill vacancies. Best fix for our healthcare system: TORT REFORM.

News from Nashville

Thank you, Barbara, for inviting me to add some snippets about life here in Nashville (Al Gore country). As a Marinite recently relocated here I thought y'all would be interested in the progress of the green movement here in his hometown. Observation: Although Gore is revered as God-like in the SF Bay Area (and Marin particularly), he's not all that popular here. He's still trying to get the town of Belle Meade (Nashville's equivalent to Ross) to give him permission to install solar panels in his 10,000+ sq. ft house. Much to Gore's probable chagrin, Nashville residents love their SUV's. The focus seems to be on buying the largest SUV one can find (Hummers, Suburbans, and those huge Cadillacs are very popular), driving the SUV as frequently as possible (even one block to school), and leaving it running for as long as possible with the A/C on, even up to 45 minutes while waiting in the car line to pick up kids. On the plus side, at least we don't have Cool the Earth taking over our childrens’ education...

Well, duh.

Sometime last week, I awoke to this statement on NPR (speaking about the new Supreme Court session):

"The conservative majority will continue to close the door to civil rights cases, but this should be welcome to business interest groups who are tired of lawsuits."

The implication, of course, is that conservatives don't care about minorities or civil rights, and are only agents out to further the ruthless march of capitalism. (They also like to beat up homeless people and kill baby seals). While we are used to the simplifications and easy dichotomies of lazy journalism, statements such as these dangerously limit public discourse. They are spoken in passing, in the tone of "well, everyone knows..." They creep into otherwise reasoned analysis, and by their off-handedness seek to create fact and consensus. Just like how all liberals hate capitalism. See? I call this the "duh" statement, and it is a powerful, if dishonest, rhetorical tool. It isolates the listener by breezing over unsubstantiated facts. It's so obvious, it doesn't need to be explained. But it robs issues of subtlety and nuance, and seeks to discredit any opponents through the use of sweeping generalizations. This type of remark seems to be increasingly common, and it's difficult to argue with. You either seem petty for squabbling about one measly sentence, or you have to be extremely well-read about the subject because it shifts the burden of proof onto you. So while this gave me a much-needed laugh at 7am, this genre of rhetoric can be a powerful persuasive tool.

Who is keeping the DEA busy - click here

I found this site remarkable. DEA's most wanted. Just click the title above or copy and paste this link: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/fugitives/fuglist.htm

The universal "profiling" of the men of color here should have the ACLU howling. I am not sure the DEA is aware of the rules with regards to discrimination but the ACLU should remind them that in America "all people are created equal" and, therefore, all races, sex and sexual orientation needs to be represented not only in the work place but also in being targetted for prosecution. Sadly, it seems they only seem to be picking on men of color who happen to speak Spanish across the country and thats discrimination...again, according to the liberal mindset, there should be equal representation throughout. Whats good for the goose should be good for the gander I thought because we have been told thats why our fearless liberal thinkers put all of these anti discrimination laws on the books. So, here it is .... clear racism executed by our federal government....will someone please call the lawyers??