Stop the Honor Killings by US Insurers

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Wednesday October 21, 2009 · 9:12 AM PDT

2009/10/21 · 09:12

The health insurance companies have a stranglehold on the insured and women in particular have been garroted just for being female. (For women who are uninsured, fuggedaboutit.) Whether women are being told to get sterilized in order to obtain health insurance, or having their policies canceled after they get breast cancer, or denied insurance altogether due to a "pre-existing condition" of having been beaten by their husbands, it feels like insurance companies are misogynistic fat cats from Hell.

YesBiscuit

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Thursday October 08, 2009 · 6:14 AM PDT

2009/10/08 · 06:14

Both of South Carolina's Senators voted against the Franken amendment to allow rape victims to have their day in court, even if they work for a government contractor. It passed anyway.

YesBiscuit

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Wednesday June 17, 2009 · 6:28 AM PDT

2009/06/17 · 06:28

I have been following the Iran Election aftermath with intense interest. We've all seen the horrific videos and pictures of protesters being beaten by Mad Max style, 2 to a motorcycle, baton wielding thugs and even some masked men dressed completely in black. There have been shootings documented as well - the victims leaving pools of blood as they are carried away by fellow protesters.

And yet, the people keep protesting.

I have been watching all this and asking myself what I would do in a similar situation. Impossible to know of course but in theory, I wonder if the support I feel so strongly in my heart for the peaceful protesters of Iran would cross over to actual boots-on-the-ground support if I found myself in similar circumstances.

YesBiscuit

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Tuesday November 25, 2008 · 7:40 AM PST

2008/11/25 · 07:40

We can't possibly donate to every worthy cause we come across. In this economy, many of us can't donate to any worthy causes. For those who can, I'd like to offer the following for consideration:

YesBiscuit

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Wednesday November 19, 2008 · 6:22 AM PST

2008/11/19 · 06:22

A new report ranks the states in their efforts to fund smoking prevention programs using the money from the gigantor tobacco settlement. Out of the 50 states, South Carolina is ranked 51st. *Shakes fist at pesky District of Columbia*

So to what do we owe the honor? A little history:

The tobacco settlement was reached a decade ago so states could recoup some of costs of treating smoking-related illnesses, with total payments estimated at $246 billion over the first 25 years, according to the report. South Carolina has gotten $912 million in settlement funds so far.

The settlement proceeds were split into four trust funds, one of which was to be spent on health concerns. In 2003, lawmakers withdrew $100 million from the health fund to help offset a budget deficit then, according to the report, and to help with Medicaid. The other funds were designated for economic development, aid for tobacco farmers and water and sewer projects. [emphasis added]

YesBiscuit

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Friday November 14, 2008 · 5:16 AM PST

2008/11/14 · 05:16

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the mass murder-suicide in Guyana. Where were you when you heard the news? I was sleeping over my cousin Kathy's house. Her Dad had a couple of extra phones which were not in use and we used to play with them. I was usually getting calls from Andy Gibb (What? I was 10!) and Kathy was always on with Shaun Cassidy. (I'm sure Leif Garrett got through on occasion too.) We were listening to the radio when they cut in with the news of hundreds dead at the Peoples Temple in Jonestown. Our mutual reaction: That is so weird.

YesBiscuit

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Thursday November 13, 2008 · 6:21 AM PST

2008/11/13 · 06:21

You know T. Boone ~~Swiftboat~~Pickens and his campaign to get the US off foreign oil and on to wind and natural gas? Well apparently Pickens only thinks his idea is good if it can put more coins in his coffee cans:

Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is delaying his massive Texas wind project, citing a drop in natural gas prices and the tightening credit market.

[...]

But natural gas prices have fallen from over $12 per million British thermal units last summer to current levels of around $6.

The fall in natural gas prices makes switching to wind power a less certain bet, as utilities would be reluctant to replace natural gas with wind now that natural gas prices are so low.

Pickens said Tuesday that natural gas prices need to be about $9/Btu in order for wind power to be competitive.

And by "competitive", I'm assuming he means profitable for T. Boone Pickens.

YesBiscuit

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Wednesday November 12, 2008 · 4:18 AM PST

2008/11/12 · 04:18

Gov. Mark Sanford (R- SC) has a post-election analysis piece up on CNN.com:

Beyond the presidential race, it goes without saying the Republican Party took a shellacking nationally. Some on the left will say our electoral losses are a repudiation of our principles of lower taxes, smaller government and individual liberty. But Tuesday was not in fact a rejection of those principles -- it was a rejection of Republicans' failure to live up to those principles.

I'm listening. [Gov. Sanford Making Sense Alert Button on standby]

America didn't turn away from conservatism, they turned away from many who faked it.

Sanford cites Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) as an example. O sure, pick on the convicted felon.

YesBiscuit

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Friday November 07, 2008 · 7:47 AM PST

2008/11/07 · 07:47

Remember earlier this year when CNN reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief Julie Myers tried to hide photos of herself posing at an ICE Halloween 2007 costume party with a white lawyer wearing skin darkening makeup, dreadlocks and prison stripes? Of course the public only found out about it after the fact, well after Myers was confirmed by the Senate.

Well sometime around Halloween 2008, somebody leaked to the press that Obama's Aunt was living in the US illegally. Which US voters handed the award for Lamest October Surprise on November 4. So who is that somebody? According to the AP:

Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official.

YesBiscuit

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Wednesday November 05, 2008 · 2:13 PM PST

2008/11/05 · 14:13

I work in a black area of Columbia, SC. The business owner is black, as is most of the staff and nearly all the patients. Today we had two white women (besides myself) working for us. They are on-again, off-again part-timers and I don't know either of them well. But knowing the rest of the staff, I thought it would be nice to bring in a bottle of sparkling grape juice for a toast to Obama's win. Everyone assembled and we were just waiting on the Doctor to join us. I sensed some tension when I overheard the younger temp asking two, then three times, "What are we toasting?" and each time, the older temp answering her, "The new President." It quickly became clear that neither of the women were Obama supporters. The older woman muttered, "He's President and there's nothing we can do about it" as a conciliatory gesture toward the younger woman. But she wouldn't have any of it. She refused to toast with us or even to partake of any of the sparkling juice. I felt the air going out of my hope balloon.

YesBiscuit

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Friday October 31, 2008 · 4:02 PM PDT

2008/10/31 · 16:02

In these final few days of the campaign, I am reminded of the excitement we all felt right before Bill Clinton was elected when we kept asking each other, "Is this for real?" And yet, this is a different kind of excitement, one bolstered by enthusiasm and the notion of voting FOR someone I believe in, and tempered by resolve to not let this slip through our fingers on November 4. And so, here is resolve, my enthusiasm, and my heart. Please feel welcome to share some of your own in the comments.

YesBiscuit

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Thursday October 30, 2008 · 6:11 AM PDT

2008/10/30 · 06:11

Start with the basics: Visit GoVote to learn when to vote, where to vote and what to bring with you to your polling place.

Be prepared: Voter Empowerment Cards are provided by the ACLU for every state in the US. Each state's card contains:

...information on registration, student voting, voting with a disability, early voting, felon enfranchisement, ACLU affiliate chapters, and state election officials.

Print out your state card and stash it in your glove box in case you run into a problem on November 4. Offer copies to friends, family, and co-workers who don't have internet access.

(For my South Carolina friends: Voter Empowerment Card for SC (PDF) can be downloaded here.)

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Stop the Honor Killings by US Insurers

Action Alert: SC Senators Vote Against Constitutional Rights of Rape Victims

How Far Would You Go to Stand Up for Democracy?

"Follow your dreams. Don't let anything stop you." - Brenden Foster

SC: The Butt of Another Joke

Jonestown Massacre - Where Were You?

Economy Oops News - Thursday Morning Edition

Gov. Sanford on Republican Losers and Fakers

Julie Myers and Her Halloween Stunts

Someone Won

"If"... on Election Day

November 4: People Have the Power