The Senate has jockeyed and maneuvered and paid off the necessary politicians to move the health care reform bill along its way to becoming law. The anti-abortion Democrat got something for his state, but abandoned his principles–for the first time, abortion will be federally paid. The anti-government option Independent got what he wanted and caved in–ever though there will certainly be a de facto government option.
After “debating” the bill for several days, it was dumped in the trash and replaced with a “manager’s amendment,” a complete re-do that no one knew exactly what it really contained. Then the cloture vote at 1:00 AM to move the bill along its way.
There is actually language in the bill that prohibits it from being changed and dropped by future Congresses. In other words, the Congress is taking over 1/6 of the US economy with bill that no one has read and will prohibit any changes to it in the future. It’s cast in concrete, chiseled in stone. I just think Harry Reid is afraid that since this entire fiasco of a law is so unpopular with the nation’s citizens, he is trying to protect it from being repealed after the people vote the power-grabbing Democrats out of office as soon as they have a chance.
On December 19, 1972, Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the Moon, returned to Earth.
Gene Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt spent 3 days 3 hours on the Moon’s surface. They spend more than 22 hours exploring. They returned 110 pounds of lunar rocks. These were all records. Ronald E. Evans was the Command Module pilot and set the record for the longest time in lunar orbit.
Cernan was the last man to walk on the Moon. Just before returning to the LEM he said, “As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record — that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.”
Apollo 17 was the first night time Apollo launch. While traveling to the Moon, they took the “Blue Marble” photo of the Earth from 18,000 miles away.
Are Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats rushing the health care reform bill to a pre-Christmas recess vote because they know how unpopular it is with the American public?
With each new public opinion poll, the support for health care reform is dropping further and further. If the members of Congress go home and honestly listen to their constituents, I think with would return with the firm knowledge that voting for this health care reform bill is a poison pill. The people don’t want it passed. It is as simple as that.
I chose the picture at the top of this post for a good reason. The claim of “Open Government” is quite ironic. The drafting of the current Senate version of the reform bill has been done completely behind closed doors–tightly closed doors. No one really knows what is in it or how it will affect the nation. No ‘Open Government’ here. It’s just another case of “My way or the highway” politics.
Hopefully, all the Republicans will hang tight and at least one or two Democrats will be statesman-like enough to stop the cloture vote. That will end, at least for now, the foolish rush to pass the unknown health care reform bill.
Geologist On Trial For Causing Earthquakes While Searching For Clean Energy
Swiss geologist Markus Haering is being tried for deliberately damaging properties as a result of deep drilling he conducted in Basel, Switzerland that caused a series of earthquakes in 2006, the Guardian reports.
The aim of Haering’s project was to shoot cold water three miles underground, where naturally occurring rocks would turn it into steam. Using a steam turbine, the project was expected to generate clean energyto power 10,000 households and heat 2,700.
Unfortunately, the drilling was done on top of a fault line, in the middle of a city, causing a number of earthquakes, one of which had a 3.4 magnitude and resulted in Geopower Basel, the project leader, coughing up 9 million Swiss francs in property damages.
The project was suspended immediately after the quake and shut down last week. Haering could face up to five years in prison.
HAYWARD, Calif.—A 13-year-old teen was probably in hot water with his father after running up a cell phone bill of nearly $22,000. Ted Estarija said he was expecting his bill to be higher this month after adding his son to his plan, but wasn’t expecting a bill of $21,917 in data usage charges. The Hayward man said his Verizon Wireless bill soared after his son apparently downloaded about 1.4 million kilobytes of data last month.His plan didn’t cover data usage, so he was charged by the megabyte.
Estarija said after the first media reports, Verizon said they would credit his account for the entire amount.
He has also suspended his son’s account.
A spokeswoman for Verizon said the company investigates cases with exceptionally large bills.
In honor of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, I post the current chill map of the United States. It’s a good thing that they changed the name of Global Warming to Climate Change. Maybe one of these days clear thought and non-political science with return to this arena.
“But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples along. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.”
President Obama delivered these words as part of his acceptance speech when he received the Nobel Peace Prize today. Let’s hope he really believes them.
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded. Until September 11, 2001, it was the worst attack on America. It marked the entry of the United States into World War II.
The United States is again at war, but most people don’t think of it as such. In World War II, we were asked to “Remember Pearl Harbor.” Immediately after 9/11, there were signs and posters stating “We’ll Never Forget.”
We entered World War II with the will to win it. The “exit strategy” was victory. Now, we have announced in the same sentence that we are going to increase troop strength in Afghanistan, but will start withdrawing them in 18 months. No mention of victory, just “exit.”
Fascism was evil and a real threat in the 1930’s and ’40’s. Extremism Islamic fundamentalism is evil and a real threat today. It’s too bad that we don’t have the same will to win today as our nation had during WW2. Too bad that our exit strategy is victory today.
I’ve been asked to update my blog. That’s a good idea. However, I been too occupied with other things to organize the random thoughts going through my head.
Perhaps a comment about Tiger Woods’ situation. Perhaps a thought or two about how our president’s schizophrenic decision to quickly build up troop strength in Afghanistan while already deciding when they will be withdrawn. [Just a quick side note: why talk about a withdrawal strategy instead of a victory?] Perhaps a comment about Climategate and the folly of the upcoming summit in Copenhagen. Or maybe a tardy post about Thanksgiving and gratitude.
Add Attorney General Eric Holder to the list of those who don’t get it. It’s scary to think that he is the top law enforcement official in the government. He testified before a Senate committee yesterday. Check out part of his exchange with Senator Lindsey Graham.
