It's Thursday morning. That is all.
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Keeping an eye on the Anthony Sowell story - not much to report - they did find his step mother alive and well in a nursing home. Police are asking for DNA samples from relatives of missing women so they can test for matches. I'm sure the usual suspects (O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, Beck) are going nuts over the story, but the comments are often quite civil over at the Plain Dealer website. There were quite a few replies to someone who scoffed at the idea that Sowell's public defender proposed that Sowell should be allowed out on bail because he had a pacemaker. They all pointed out that she was just doing her job. Judge's decision: Held without bail. Good idea. He's far safer inside than outside.
Some unreality over at the orange. I don't think some people grasp the reality of the situation. DeWine(R) has already launched an attack on Ohio's Governor Strickland and the election is almost a year away. DeWine's choice of issues? The Economy.
Anyone surprised? Parent
I was in Cleveland once briefly for a couple days on business about 20 years ago, and I really, really liked the city a lot from what little I saw. Parent
Cleveland is having very hard times now, for a whole range of reasons. When my mother was battling the urban deer invasion on the East Side, we brain stormed ideas but tossed any that required direct intervention by any government agency. "With all the problems they are dealing with, who will come out just to deal with deer?".
I keep track of news from that area. From the elderly lady who was convicted and fined for killing a fawn in her garden, to the organized crime ring that turned to real estate fraud to make money and now, to the final resting place of at least eleven missing women. May their families find peace and comfort. Parent
Democrats on Capitol Hill began a nervous debate Wednesday about the course President Obama has set for their party, with some questioning whether they should emphasize job creation over some of the more ambitious items on the president's agenda.
Link
These people are so out of touch. Why can't we pay them what they are worth, and put them on the health care reform plan they are trying to force feed to us?
That we need to slap the politicians upside the head to get them to understand the country and what their jobs are supposed to be is frightening. They are not there by appointment, fer goodness sake! They are supposed to work for US. I suppose we could just elect a president, let him appoint his 12 apostles and terminate congress, though. Parent
A mysterious force inextricably binds thousands of other DC-Dems and prevents them from tackling more than one issue at a time. Parent
The dog is really hamming it up to boot (unawares of course).
Fox lying about it isn't new. By now, neither is the painful sight of TeamO leaping into action to defend the image as quickly as they slink away and hide when it's time for Obama to show some affirmative leadership and create change.
("Make me" doesn't count.)
Some prosecutions are political, but this case seems very straightforward. The allegations are that CIA employees came onto Italian soil without authorization and did some bad things. No question we'd have the right to prosecute if some foreign country carried out an illegal covert operation on U.S. soil. So what's the big deal, I wonder? As a matter of foreign policy and James Bond type stuff it's an interesting story, but as a legal matter it strikes me as a totally unremarkable prosecution. Parent
I am more interested in the procedural aspects, as the defendants were not before the court in Italy. Parent
The local health department has H1N1 vaccine but under federal guidelines cannot use it on people older than 64.
Looks like the death panel got here a little quicker than we thought.
Business Week
and
The Business Insider site
Update: To be clear, Goldman confirms that all these decisions are made by the CDC, and that the vaccine only goes to specified high-risk individuals. In addition, as noted by the above BusinessWeek report, 29 companies including Time Warner and others have also been selected as vaccine distribution.
AP Parent
Your bias is showing. Parent
I just checked and was told, contrary to my belief, they were talking about a seasonal flu shot and not the H1N1 vaccine, so I was wrong about that.
In any event, CBS is reporting that the Wall Street firms got their shots from the city health department, pursuant to a regular program that all businesses are able to participate in.
The article implies, although it's not clear that it's the case, that only the employees of these companies who are in the high-risk categories were eligible to get the vaccine at this time. I guess if that turned out not to be the case, that would bug me. Parent
Bottom line is that my state, based on population, is supposed to get almost 600,000 injections/mists -- about the population of our largest city. And so far, it is supposed to have gotten more than 100,000 of those.
But the actual numbers received here? 13,000.
And the flu is raging here. The CDC data say so. More deaths here every day. And I have students hospitalized -- and worry because I haven't heard back from some in days. I have students who had to drop out because they missed so much class, I have students emailing, like another just last night, that they have been verified with H1N1 and are isolation in dorms waiting for parents to come for them -- students who were coughing close to me a couple of days ago.
And I have a high-risk condition but as yet those of us with same have not been able to get the few priority injections/mists available here, all going -- correctly -- to health workers and caretakers of infants and pregnant women and such priorities. But I'll tell ya, if one of my students dies, I may start going ballistic about the screwups on this. . . . Parent
But don't act surprised when the person being denied health care feels that a death panel is at work.
You have before you the logical end of what removing $500 billion from the Medicare program will do.
How did it go???
"I said nothing when they came for....." Parent
By this logic there is no problem saying nothing when they came for the people who can't afford care. Parent
This is against a group (discrimination against the aged?) and is government policy.
Big difference. Parent
Obama's planS, in case you didn't have the Internet on that planet, is not a single payer plan and will result in exactly this. Parent
And it does not matter why. Rationing is rationing. In this case Obama has been too busy talking on TV and flying around the world to see that enough H1N1 vaccine was produced. Perhaps if he had been studying that instead of the Olympics or having a beer to smooth over his gaffe.
And if he takes $500 billion out of Medicare we will have shortages and rationing and call it what you will, for many it will be a Death Panel. Parent
The scientific facts are here. The data finds that the highest incidence of hospitalization for H1N1 involves children under 4 years, and the highest incidence of infection is among people aged 5-24. In contrast to the seasonal flu - which tends to hit elderly people the hardest - hospitalizations and infections for H1N1 are much lower for the 65+ age group than for younger folks. This is consistent with a study which found that 33% of people age 65+ have natural antibodies against H1N1, as compared to a mere 6-9% of people aged 18-64, and apparently even less than that among younger folks. All of this is in the link I just provided.
Accordingly, the CDC recommends - it's not a requirement - as follows: "Expanding vaccination recommendations to include adults aged ≥65 years is recommended only after assessment of vaccine availability and demand at the local level. Once demand for vaccine among younger age groups is being met, vaccination should be expanded to all persons aged ≥65 years."
I'm glad the government commissioned this vaccine and I'm glad they're using science to ensure that the limited supply gets allocated to the people who face the greatest risk in the first instance. You can call it a death panel if you like, but it's a pretty unimpressive argument. Parent
Of course my friend has a serious chronic illness and has sees the end of time.
Guess taking care of the sick and elderly isn't important in the age of Government controlled health care. Parent
Tell me, why do you want small children to contract H1N1 and die? Parent
You might as well ask why the government gets to decide that children should go to school, instead of bored retirees. Parent
"some of the people most likely to spread flu (i.e., children) would be last in line to get vaccine. " Right, cause children don't get vaccines not provided by governments.
"You might as well ask why the government gets to decide that children should go to school, instead of bored retirees." At least bored retirees are less likely to be intimidated and children wouldn't be taught to conform in order to be successful from age 6.
No the question is why do all property owners have to fund public education when the objective results show that americans are getting dumber and dumber. Parent
Ignoring the morals of it, just considering effect, it seems to me more likely that allowing the same institution to determine the level of necessity of a vaccine and allocate other people's non-donated entirely unconditional money could lead to a scenario where lobbyist can make their pharma employers money by asking government to distort the severity of the issue.
Not that a free market solution is simple but it's certainly less prone to corruption as the money - including charitable donations - is highly conditional thus creating a real burden of proof for the vaccine makers. Parent
What????? Parent
Whenever the government creates a product and distributes it for "free" that product become less profitable. Parent
I love that since you don't want to get sick you think people should be forced to have a new vaccine injected into their bodies. And I mean loooove. Parent
I find it kind of sad that the fact that government simply is better at handling certain things - like public health emergencies - forces you to resort to these paranoid fantasies about how the H1N1 virus is a government scare tactic to line the pockets of lobbyists. Holding a faith-based believe that an unfettered free market would solve everything sure is a lot easier than actually having to think about difficult questions. Parent
Ofcourse science is the best way to determine this allocation but you still cannot force someone to take a new vaccine.
No mention of utopia...it doesn't exist...the people who don't forfeit decision making to enlightened central authorities seem more prone to utopian ideals to you...ever heard of free healthcare for all?
I don't understand how relying on the ability of individuals to make their own life decisions is more "faith based" than believing a central authority exists which has places your interests above their own and knows enough about every subject to make these decisions. Belief in government is belief in god. Belief in the free market just ain't. Parent
Jeeez. How would a vaccine get allocated in a true free market? Hmmm. I'm not really sure. Somewhat like food i suppose, though I don't know. Whereas people being malnurished doesn't increase the likelihood of nurished people getting sick - it is different with a vaccinations for sure.
I'm sure that people such as yourself would recognize that the science indicates that children being vaccinated would lower overall cases. In this free society you could take all the money that isn't spent on the military and buy that sweet sweet vaccine up for the kids.
Wait...maybe, oh no this is crazy...people will have preemptively setup charitable entities that receive donations and are run by scientists rather than beurocrats and therefore are much more likely to draw conclusions purely on the science.
Does that seems totally crazy to you? Also - you're kind of my favorite person on this site. No joke. Some of your response are hilarious (and i mean intentionally - not like oh i disagree thats so funny he thinks that).
Can we skype it up somehow? Parent
If we had a famine or something and there wasn't enough bread for everyone, I sure hope the government would help ensure kids and the elderly got fed, even if it means guys like me and Chris Christie have to eat smaller portions. That the thing here. It's a public health emergency.
I think you may have been misled by my snark in another thread about death panels. I think it would be silly to make the H1N1 vaccine mandatory when there aren't even enough doses for the people who voluntarily want one. I appreciate the compliment about my writing though!
(PS: I went to public high school, public college, public law school! :P) Parent
Could you please please listen to the "school sucks podcast" and tell me what you think? Parent
Maybe that's what happened with Katrina. Bush was just thinking "don't want to crowd out all the private charities who will surely handle this situation..." Parent
See where I'm going?
I had an interesting chat with my local Health Department Dr in Charge of H1N1.... She had no idea of how many doses they started with.... no idea of how many had been used.... and had no idea at what point the local non-qualified would become qualified... but she (at least) knew "that decision hasn't been made...." So let's say you start with 5000... use 3500 to meet the demand of the qual'd.... And trash the remaining 1500..
Now that makes a lot of sense. Parent
Federal guidelines are only guidelines, not "restrictions," and they specifially include people of any age with complicating health issues, which primarily means lung problems. Parent
So on the ground, the clinics are enforcing the "guidelines" as restrictions -- and understandably so, with the incredible shortages in some parts of the country, like mine (see comment above). Parent
I have no objection to prioritizing on the vaccine.
The vaccine shortage here in VT -- both seasonal and H1N1 -- is horrendous. What little H1N1 there is is being distributed first to the schools. Whatever is available after that is being given to people on the honor system as far as age, health status, etc. Seasonal flu vaccine is almost nonexistent. There's currently not one -- not one -- public seasonal flu clinic scheduled in the state, the one public clinic for H1N1 was overwhelmed and had to turn away hundreds, and not another one scheduled until the end of the month, in case some more doses come in. Parent
CDC
It looks like 99.7% H1N1.
I also heard, but no link, that the seasonal flu is expected to start later. Parent
Also, they're not testing everyone, only a small sampling of most likely cases. They're assuming most flu, mild and severe, right now is H1N1 because ... (wait for it)... the seasonal flu season hasn't kicked in yet, so H1N1 is the only thing it could be.
It's to be grateful that we don't have H1N1 and an unusually early onset of seasonal flu at the same time. Parent
Does your buddy mind going back to 6th grade for a spell Jim? Thats one way to get it:) Parent
The media spin over the past decade has made a percentage of the population skeptical over what might really be behind these various "scare" tactics.
There is not enough vaccine to go around! They need to be focused on making sure the high risk groups know who they are and have enough information to make a truly informed decision on whether or not to get the shot. Parent
b) Or we have proven again that centrally managed anythings are subject to huge screw ups. Parent
Aside from that, there's a lot of "bad" info out there many are basing their decision on. Parent
The one girl they stuck last week, whose mom did not consent, was just waiting on a reco from her pediatrician on what to do since the girl was on meds for epilepsy...that was the girl who had the allergic reaction and had to be rushed to the hospital.
It's not an easy call by any means... Parent
I think NYC parents are more than capable of taking care of their children's health. Parent
A friend of mine that I spend a lot of time with said something like 75% of her office is out sick, although I'm not sure with what. Since then, we've both started coming down with something. Feels like a bad chest cough, although not too bad yet, it just started, and we're pretty much the prime demographic except not in a school setting surrounded by others in that range. I really can't afford to get sick right now...
The data show that most of the flu around now is swine flu. Maybe not all, but then the other flus around, including a sort of H1N1 "unspecific" (so maybe morphing), are coming awfully early at this level. The regular flu season started just last week. Parent
Republican organizers are planning for activists to go into the House office buildings and the U.S. Capitol and confront members directly after a press conference at noon. ... "I think that will absolutely scare these members of Congress so much that Pelosi will not get the votes and it will kill the bill. I think it could be dead for 10 years. Why won't we? Why won't we go for broke?"
...
"I think that will absolutely scare these members of Congress so much that Pelosi will not get the votes and it will kill the bill. I think it could be dead for 10 years. Why won't we? Why won't we go for broke?"
Yes, let's totally scare our democratically elected Congress into doing nothing. That's a great idea!
I just don't get it.
That's not fascism, that's voicing grievances. Fascism would be only letting lobbyists roam the halls, and locking regular Joes and Janes out of the building. Parent
And 9 members of Code Pink were arrested inside the Hart Senate building. Parent
One sign read: "Obama takes his orders from the Rothchilds," a reference to theories of Jewish world dominance centered around the prominent Jewish family of Rothschilds.
Party leaders put their best face on Tuesday's results. Pelosi, pointing to Democratic House victories in special elections in New York and California, said: "We won last night." The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid circulated an analysis arguing that "gubernatorial races are primarily about local issues," and that it's therefore "hard to draw any direct comparisons between what happened in New Jersey and Virginia and what will happen in Congress." But some Democrats weren't buying the spin. "We got walloped," said Sen. Mark Warner, the junior Democrat from Virginia. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the results in New Jersey and Virginia represented a referendum on President Barack Obama. To the contrary, he argued that the results meant that Democrats should redouble their efforts to "make sure we deliver on the promises of the last election." But if Tuesday's results leave red-state Democrats nervous about health care reform, a climate change bill and regulatory reform, it's going to be harder -- not easier -- for Van Hollen and his leadership colleagues to develop that record of legislative accomplishment. And that's certainly where things seemed to be headed Wednesday. As Pelosi's office ordered members to stay in town for a possible Saturday night House vote on health care, other Democrats were suggesting that it's time to take the foot off the gas.
Pelosi, pointing to Democratic House victories in special elections in New York and California, said: "We won last night."
The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid circulated an analysis arguing that "gubernatorial races are primarily about local issues," and that it's therefore "hard to draw any direct comparisons between what happened in New Jersey and Virginia and what will happen in Congress."
But some Democrats weren't buying the spin.
"We got walloped," said Sen. Mark Warner, the junior Democrat from Virginia.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the results in New Jersey and Virginia represented a referendum on President Barack Obama. To the contrary, he argued that the results meant that Democrats should redouble their efforts to "make sure we deliver on the promises of the last election."
But if Tuesday's results leave red-state Democrats nervous about health care reform, a climate change bill and regulatory reform, it's going to be harder -- not easier -- for Van Hollen and his leadership colleagues to develop that record of legislative accomplishment.
And that's certainly where things seemed to be headed Wednesday. As Pelosi's office ordered members to stay in town for a possible Saturday night House vote on health care, other Democrats were suggesting that it's time to take the foot off the gas.
Talk about spin. Parent
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's economic recovery program saved 935 jobs at the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, an impressive success story for the stimulus plan. Trouble is, only 508 people work there. The Georgia nonprofit's inflated job count is among persisting errors in the government's latest effort to measure the effect of the $787 billion stimulus plan despite White House promises last week that the new data would undergo an "extensive review" to root out errors discovered in an earlier report. About two-thirds of the 14,506 jobs claimed to be saved under one federal office, the Administration for Children and Families at Health and Human Services, actually weren't saved at all, according to a review of the latest data by The Associated Press. Instead, that figure includes more than 9,300 existing employees in hundreds of local agencies who received pay raises and benefits and whose jobs weren't saved. That type of accounting was found in an earlier AP review of stimulus jobs, which the Obama administration said was misleading because most of the government's job-counting errors were being fixed in the new data. The administration now acknowledges overcounting in the new numbers for the HHS program. Elizabeth Oxhorn, a spokeswoman for the White House recovery office, said the Obama administration was reviewing the Head Start data "to determine how and if it will be counted." But officials defended the practice of counting raises as saved jobs. "If I give you a raise, it is going to save a portion of your job," HHS spokesman Luis Rosero said.
The Georgia nonprofit's inflated job count is among persisting errors in the government's latest effort to measure the effect of the $787 billion stimulus plan despite White House promises last week that the new data would undergo an "extensive review" to root out errors discovered in an earlier report.
About two-thirds of the 14,506 jobs claimed to be saved under one federal office, the Administration for Children and Families at Health and Human Services, actually weren't saved at all, according to a review of the latest data by The Associated Press. Instead, that figure includes more than 9,300 existing employees in hundreds of local agencies who received pay raises and benefits and whose jobs weren't saved.
That type of accounting was found in an earlier AP review of stimulus jobs, which the Obama administration said was misleading because most of the government's job-counting errors were being fixed in the new data.
The administration now acknowledges overcounting in the new numbers for the HHS program. Elizabeth Oxhorn, a spokeswoman for the White House recovery office, said the Obama administration was reviewing the Head Start data "to determine how and if it will be counted."
But officials defended the practice of counting raises as saved jobs.
"If I give you a raise, it is going to save a portion of your job," HHS spokesman Luis Rosero said.
Huh?
Every day, what with the feds' flu vaccine claims as well as their stimulus claims, I read more and more that tells me that neither we nor the president are being well-served by so many lies -- or at least so much confusion and incompetence in their claims. Parent
Waiting for television talking heads to spout rampant speculation and "t" word. Someone else will have to watch for me. Parent
Or are you teasing without the snark tag? Parent
At least 12 people were killed and 31 others were wounded in a mass shooting incident Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, military officials said. The shooter was shot to death, they said. More shots were reported later in the afternoon, reported NBC affiliate KCEN-TV of Waco, which said no further details were immediately available. A senior administration official told NBC News analyst Roger Cressey that the suspect who was in custody was an Army major with an Arabic-sounding name. The official said the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
More shots were reported later in the afternoon, reported NBC affiliate KCEN-TV of Waco, which said no further details were immediately available.
A senior administration official told NBC News analyst Roger Cressey that the suspect who was in custody was an Army major with an Arabic-sounding name. The official said the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
The rank is a bit of a shock. Parent
Fort Lewis, WA spokesperson said this was being treated as an isolated incident and that they would not be making any security changes here. They certainly know something if that's the case (I hope). Parent
Fortunately the star-telegram omitted that piece of tripe. Parent
Maybe the same one who said Congressman Weiner should have manned up and run against Bloomberg? Parent
As it turns out, the man's name does appear to be Arabic. OTOH, I'm not familiar enough with naming practices to say confidently it's an Arabic name. Perhaps you are?
In any case, I fail to see a problem.
"Arabic-looking" is another thing altogether. But "Arabic-sounding name" seems to me entirely legitimate. Parent
It's that kind of BS that drives me up a wall. If you have information, share it. An Arabic-sounding name isn't useful information and it just serves to drive speculation. Parent
Can you do that in 24 hours? Parent
One police officer dead - 4 SWAT team members injured Parent
Not that it matters - still horrible.
And 4 SWAT members injured. Parent
The local papers tend to have the best coverage. In the Sowell case, reading the Plain Dealer on line was best. Parent
I just hope she's ready to get pimped out by every pro-life group in America...they're gonna love her. Parent
Hard to tell when that happens if it's sincerity that drives a person or crass opportunism. Parent
"I'm not doing this to judge anyone," she said. "My goodness, I have participated in the abortion industry for eight years. I'm just here as a resource and telling my story ... and maybe somebody will be touched by it."
I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she's made a sincere choice not to be party to abortion, and wants to urge others to do the same...you can be anti-abortion personally and still be against its prohibition...I guess we'll see, if and when she pops up again, if she starts judgin' others choices. Joinin' a pro-life group isn't a good sign though...I hear ya. Parent