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Dylan Ratigan: Health Care: Let's Liberate the Masses Top
I work for the General Electric Company. It is, at least at NBC Universal, a very nice place to work and I am very lucky to work there. You meet lots of interesting and accomplished people, there are lights and cameras and action. And GE is a good company, with well-established systems to hire, transfer, promote and sometimes fire the hundreds of thousands of people that make up the business. One perk of being a GE employee is that you get special access to a GE product store where you can buy things like stoves and other GE Appliances at discounted employee rates. A nice perk, especially if you need a well-crafted stove. But if you decide you want to buy your appliance someplace else, no problem, the GE Appliance Store is there if you want it at any time, but there is certainly no obligation to buy there. And they certainly don't pay me in expensive GE stoves, because I would much rather have actual money that I could then go and use it to buy any stove I want, maybe even a smaller, cheaper one since I live in New York City. Or if I didn't need a new stove, I could just use the money for something I did need. The same is true for all of the non-health insurance I have. They have nothing to do with where I work, so I can change my homeowners insurance and car insurance at any time, and the insurers are forced to compete based on my preferences. And yet that is exactly the opposite of how the Employer-based Health Care model works: they decide your choices, and if you don't like their limited selection, you end up having to forgo their entire subsidy and pay for the plan you want completely out of pocket. It would be like getting partially paid in stoves that you need and can't sell. However, when you compare my predicament to the 47 million people without health insurance, I couldn't seem more whiny. The fact is that GE does provide me with excellent health insurance, so this really has nothing to do with benefiting me personally. But the cost of health insurance in this country is out of control, and it is not only keeping millions from accessing proper medical care, but it is also hobbling our large companies in the global marketplace and strangling at birth many of the small businesses we need so desperately to get job growth going. Meanwhile, innovative health care programs like the Mayo Clinic are out of reach of most of the 174 million Americans currently on Employer-based health care, protecting the majority of insurers from competing against the Mayo Clinic's amazing advances. This in turn prevents the smarter, less-expensive large scale health care companies from growing large enough to cover the currently uninsured. As it stands now, being forced into an Employer-based health care system encourages the exorbitant spending that is bankrupting our country. Imagine, if you will, that you are going out to nice steakhouse tonight with every person that you work with. Now imagine that everyone in advance knows the total bill will just be split up equally at the end, no matter how much each of you orders. How many people do you think will order just a salad when they know that they will be paying for part of your double filet? Now imagine that half the bill will be paid by your company, except with the caveat that they get to pick the restaurant. Would this system ever work for a group lunch at your company? So why would we use it for something as important as health care? So as we all watch this bill make its way with 564 Proposed Amendments on its first day, pay close attention to the employer voucher option being offered by Ron Wyden , which seeks to directly address this massive flaw. And once again, we must ask if our government really does work for the taxpayers and the well-intentioned doctors and hospitals who care for them? Or do they work for the entrenched insurers, employers that wish to stifle employee competition, employee benefit Management companies and unions that make billions or wield their power based on the current broken system and are lobbying hard to keep it that way? This will be yet another litmus test. More on Health Care
 
John Farr: In A World Starved For Great Comedy, Why Not Revisit Some Stellar Sellers? Top
Earlier this month the British actor/comedian Peter Sellers, best known to the world as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” series, would have turned 84. Wouldn’t life be brighter if this comic genius hadn’t left us so soon? As it was, we lost him close to thirty years ago, due to a weak heart further compromised by the stress of work, celebrity, and various personal upheavals.  I confess I’ve never seen Geoffrey Rush’s portrayal of him in “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” (2004) , but gather this biopic affirms much of what I’d already read about the man: that he was indulged by a doting mother; that he grew up knowing that he preferred pretending to be other characters than to explore and develop who he really was, and that this  led both to a stunning career as funny-man, character actor, and star, but also a personal life beset by demons of restlessness, loneliness, and yes- insecurity.  From the outset of his career his compulsion was to work, work, work. After earning initial notoriety in the early fifties as a prominent member of “The Goons”, Spike Milligan’s groundbreaking comedy troupe, Sellers made a successful transition to films, unlike Milligan himself. By the early sixties, he was burning on all cylinders, completing over ten films between 1962-1964, before his first serious heart attack literally forced him to take a break. But he always came back as soon as possible to that place he felt most comfortable: playing expertly in someone else’s skin, in front of a camera.  As to his signature Clouseau pictures, I consider the earliest two entries: “The Pink Panther” (1963) and “A Shot In The Dark” (1964) his finest portrayals of the French detective. When Sellers and director Blake Edwards shrewdly decided to reprise the series in the seventies, the movies were much broader, reflected in Sellers’ more pronounced French accent (“Who is this on the phuuuunne?” and “Does your duug baaate?”). Of these later entries, I think the best is “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” (1978).  Still, to accurately reflect the breadth of this actor’s film legacy means going well beyond the much beloved Inspector. So with that in mind, here’s some more stellar Sellers.   The Ladykillers (1955)- Criminal mastermind Professor Marcus ( Alec Guinness) and his motley crew of thieves are planning a daring robbery of a London bank. To provide suitable cover as they prepare, they masquerade as a musical group and take lodgings at the home of kindly old Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson), who lives nearby. The Professor assumes the aged landlady will remain unobtrusive and clueless to their machinations, but alas, he misjudges her. Alexander Mackendrick's peerless black comedy benefits from William Rose's ingenious story and the finest ensemble playing a comedy could hope for: Guinness's Marcus is the essence of smarmy charm, and Johnson projects a steely will cloaked in Victorian gentility. The gang are an inspired bunch of misfits, including a stuttering Cecil Parker, a portly, dim Sellers, and a menacing Herbert Lom (the latter two actors would reunite years later for the “Panther” series, with Lom providing the ideal foil for Sellers as the emotionally disintegrating Chief Inspector Dreyfus). Don’t confuse this British gem with the inferior Tom Hanks re-make.   I’m All Right, Jack (1959)- John Boulton’s deft labor relations satire is at once subtle, multi-layered and consistently amusing. Notably, “Jack” also sheds piercing light on the perpetual struggle between management and labor in England, and by extension, the yawning gulf inherent in Britain’s class structure. This inspired yarn centers around one Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael), a naïve patrician who fails at every white collar job he tries. His Uncle Bertram (Dennis Price), owner of a missile company, soon devises an inspired plan: get Stanley to start at the bottom rung of his firm, and manipulate his unwitting, out-of-place nephew to cause labor unrest and ultimately, a strike. Then a lucrative arms deal will go to chummy competitor Sidney deVere Cox (Richard Attenborough), who will raise the deal price. The premium would then get split among all interested parties. Sellers unforgettably plays Fred Kite, the head of the company’s labor committee, a well-meaning, precise working man who falls for management’s ploy. What noone counts on is how Stanley himself will respond to the strike, supported by his wealthy, adoring Aunt Dolly (Margaret Rutherford). Assorted machinations and developments lead to divine comic complications for all involved, except of course, Stanley, the presumed pawn in the scheme. Terry-Thomas is also memorable as the company’s slick personnel director, but through it all, it’s Sellers’s Kite that flies highest.   Lolita (1962)- After renting a room from lonely American widow Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters), middle-aged professor Humbert Humbert (James Mason) becomes obsessed with her nubile 15-year-old daughter, Lolita (Sue Lyon). So smitten is the worldly, intellectual Humbert that he agrees to marry brash Charlotte in order to maintain contact with the coquettish virgin. A dark turn of events brings Humbert even closer to Lolita, with humiliating and tragic results. A brilliant adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel penned by the author himself, Kubrick's "Lolita" satirizes the vulgar desires and warped intellect of Humbert, magnificently played by Mason. Upgrading Lolita's age to make the film palatable to audiences in 1962, Kubrick emphasized the farcical aspects of the source material, drawing an extraordinary performance from Sellers, who plays Humbert's lecherous (and oft-disguised) writer friend Clare Quilty. Winters is by turns perky and melancholic as the unwitting Charlotte. You'll fall hard for the daring "Lolita."   Doctor Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (1964)-   In this satirical doomsday thriller, a U.S. bomber receives a signal to release its nuclear payload on Russia. When the unfortunate Captain Mandrake (Sellers) seeks out Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) to learn why he ordered the drop, and why he's placed his Air Force base on lockdown, it's quickly evident the general has lost his marbles. Meanwhile, President Muffley (Sellers again) meets with senior advisers, including  hawkish General “Buck” Turgidson (George C. Scott) and the oddly sinister nuclear scientist Dr. Strangelove (Sellers), to review their limited options to save the planet.  Perhaps the most inspired Cold War farce ever and certainly one of the screen's supreme black comedies, Kubrick's "Strangelove" confronted jittery audiences in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and not long after the advent of the H bomb. With Kubrick's twisted genius as director and screenwriter in full bloom, and peerless performances by Sellers in three roles, not to mention the buffoonish Scott and unhinged Hayden, the film is unbearably funny, but somewhat disturbing as well, which helps account for its enduring cult status.   The World of Henry Orient (1964)- Two New York City private school girls befriend each other, then develop a mutual crush on the title character, second-rate orchestra conductor and third-rate ladies' man, Henry Orient (Sellers). They then decide to stalk the poor fellow, foiling all his meticulously planned assignations. When Orient finally identifies who they are and calls on one of their parents, the plot takes a darker, more dramatic turn. Sellers is in rare form as the perpetually randy, eternally mediocre fraud (don’t miss his delivery of the movie’s last line!). The two girls who pursue him (Merrie Spaeth and Tippy Walker) give refreshingly natural performances for the time. Then there’s Paula Prentiss, screamingly funny as one of Orient's nervous paramours, and the incomparable Angela Lansbury, who injects a cold note of evil as one girl's mother. George Roy Hill’s too-often overlooked film also features beautiful on-location scenery of Manhattan's Upper East Side. More than ever, this is one “World” worth entering.   The Party (1967)- A fat-cat Hollywood producer decides to throw a splashy dinner party ("Anyone who's anyone will be there!"), and as bad luck would have it, Indian-born actor Hrundi Bakshi (Sellers) mistakenly makes it onto the guest list. Though Bakshi knows few of his fellow guests, they’ll certainly get to know him before the night is over. Here Sellers inhabits yet another accident-prone character in his continuing partnership with Blake Edwards. Bakshi is a gentle person, but his innocent curiosity about his surroundings (or is it bewilderment?) manages to wreak havoc most everywhere he goes. Though the breathless comic momentum flags a bit by picture's end, Sellers's brilliant characterization and some sublime set-pieces make this worthy viewing. In particular, that dinner scene remains one of the funniest sequences on film. French actress Claudine Longet is adorable as the party's prettiest guest, who befriends the sweet but clumsy Bakshi. Don’t miss this wild and woolly sixties bash!   Being There (1979)- Sellers's second-to-last film proved to himself and the world that when called upon, he could be a superb serious actor. This ingenious tale, originally penned by Jerzy Kosinski, concerns Chance, a middle-aged (though strangely child-like) gardener in Washington, D.C., whose only education has come through television. Through a twist of fate after his old employer dies, Chance (re-dubbed Chauncey Gardner) lands in the home of powerful wheeler-dealer Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Douglas) and his younger wife Eve (Shirley MacLaine). Rand discerns genius in Chauncey's simple pronouncements, and soon the humble gardener has the ear of some even more powerful people. Adapted by Kosinski himself, and helmed by top 70's director Hal Ashby, the movie’s a triumph, due to Sellers' bravura lead turn and top-notch performances from acting veteran Douglas (who netted an Oscar), MacLaine, and a gravelly Jack Warden as the President. Witty, sharp, and thought-provoking, this feature's enduring poignancy comes from the fact that Sellers had only a year to live when he made it. If you love the work of Peter Sellers, you'll love "Being There".  For over 2,000 outstanding titles on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com . To see John’s weekly movie recommendations on video, go to www.reel13.org .
 
Barney Frank On Leno Calls Out Rush Limbaugh's Addiction To Painkillers (VIDEO) Top
It's a safe bet that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rush Limbaugh don't have any dinner plans. Frank called out the conservative radio host for his addiction to painkillers during an appearance Monday evening on The Jay Leno Show. Jay Leno asked Frank whom--if he had to chose-- he'd rather have dinner with: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or Anne Coulter? Frank's reply? Limbaugh: I guess of the three, I would take Rush Limbaugh, because it would be very painful and he would come with the painkillers, which he always has. WATCH: More on Glenn Beck
 
Philip N. Cohen: Teaching to the Choir on Marriage Top
In addition to their other beliefs, most Christian Evangelicals hold two unyielding moral positions: vehement opposition to pre-marital sex, and vehement opposition to real sex education (as opposed to preaching against premarital sex). In recent years, they have been much more successful at realizing their goals with regard to the second position. Achieving "abstinence only" sex non-education is as simple as convincing local, like-minded adults to change school policy; putting an end to premarital sex requires a swift swim against a much stronger tide. When you're successful at blocking sex education, but fail to prevent sex, the result is -- spoiler alert -- pregnancy and, often, birth. New research shows that states with more religious populations have higher teenage birth rates -- which are not accounted for by the lower income or lower abortion rates in those states. In the U.S., surveys that identify highly "religious" people mostly count Christian Evangelicals -- the largest group of people who tell survey-takers things like they are "absolutely certain" God exists, that their holy book is the literal word of God, that God answers their prayers regularly, and that their religion is the only "true" faith. This constellation of dogmatic attitudes (no offense -- that's what they're called ) -- when brewed with American conservative politics and combined with adolescent sexual urges -- produces interesting combinations of human behavior. For example, virginity pledges. According to a recent study in the journal Pediatrics , these promises to abstain from sex (don't get too technical here) seem to have no effect on the rate of achieving non-virginity -- or the total number of sexual partners-in-crime -- but they do effectively prevent teenagers from using contraception while they are achieving it. (The same study reported found that 82% of those who told the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that they had taken a virginity pledge denied it five years later. An intrepid social scientist might suspect that something in the education they're getting might also contribute to problems with honesty -- or memory -- but that's another story.) There are serious problems to address. Research into the well-being of children born to teenage parents finds that they are more likely to have tougher lives -- and not just because of the poorer backgrounds of their parents. In fact, however, a recent rebound notwithstanding, teen parenthood remains down by almost a third since the early 1990s. Despite the best efforts of non-sex educators, near-universal premarital sex has not been accompanied by similarly high rates of single or teen parenthood. Most of these sex-crazed young people use birth control, or have abortions, to prevent births. But opposing sex is such a losing battle that some advocates are proposing, if not an actual retreat, at least an advance in a new direction. Maybe, they suggest, the real problem is not children having children -- it's unmarried children having children. That's an exaggeration, but I'm referring to the Christian sociologist Mark Regnerus , who thinks the situation would be better if more of these young people were married (in their early twenties), like they were Back Then - instead of "postponing their adolescence" with all this freedom. He has been promoting the idea that Christians should focus on promoting marriage rather than trying to deny sex. Now, having your articles packaged with a downloadable companion Bible study isn't the quickest way onto the podium at the American Sociological Association. He has suffered criticism, some of it very reasonable , for pursuing this higher cause. So I do not doubt Regnerus is genuinely motivated by his interpretation of Christian principles. But I'm befuddled about why. Christians and conservatives , and lots of other people, have been promoting marriage. They even took millions of dollars from the pockets of welfare recipients to promote marriage. Regnerus offers anecdotes of parents and peers advising young lovers to hold off on marriage. Many people do know that those who marry very young are most likely to divorce. And the cultural shift toward accepting later marriage has probably touched even Evangelicals. But as a matter of policy and doctrine, I see no real evidence for a recent slackening on the pro-marriage front. So in this case I think the academic is teaching to the choir. Despite the pro-marriage movement, there are plenty of barriers to marriage , mostly among the poor. But I believe the truth is that, across the board -- even among Christians, the poor, and poor Christians -- the standards for marriage have increased as it has become less necessary for survival. I think that's why people marry later and divorce more than they used to, but see no reason to postpone sex. Regnerus's attempt to lower the bar for marriage -- "weddings may be beautiful, but marriages become beautiful" -- is probably futile. More on Marriage
 
Robert Fuller: Unrequited Love: Is There Ever an Upside? Top
For years, poet William Butler Yeats famously courted Maude Gonne -- in vain. As part of his suit, he wrote When You Are Old , in which he chides his beloved: When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. Yeats's attempt to draw Maude Gonne to him by conjuring up a regretful old age for her was no more successful than are most self-serving admonitions. Yet it produced a diamond of unrequited love. In Words , another poem written long after his failed suit, Yeats asks himself how it would have affected his life if his court had succeeded. By this time, he'd "come into [his] strength" as a poet, "and words obey[ed his] call" (though Maude Gonne did not): That had she done so who can say, What would have shaken from the sieve? I might have thrown poor words away, And been content to live. When life won't oblige us, we too can draw inspiration from those who refuse our call and crush our hopes. No suitor wants to admit it, but those who don't return our love often give us something as valuable as those who do. Like Yeats, novelist Henry James saw an upside in the failure of love, remarking stoically that he'd had to "give up life to be conscious of it." We tend to discount our unrequited loves. But not having our way with someone is often as important to the narrative of our lives as the outcome we so ardently desire. The next time you raise a glass to love, consider a silent toast to love unrequited.
 
Lee Schneider: Stock Picks and Fake Smiles Top
What if I told you there's a way to pick stocks that is so reliable you'll do better than the experts? But in order for it to work, you'd have to give up something: Your access to information. Ignorance is power. In 2000, an investment magazine held a stock picking contest. More than 10,000 people submitted portfolios, some of them professionals with access to loads of data. One portfolio in the contest stood out: it was based on collective ignorance. Researchers asked fifty people to pick stocks based solely on whether they recognized the name of the company. What happened? The stocks picked by people who knew little gained in value by 2.5 percent. The stocks picked by the editor in chief of the magazine, who knew a lot, lost 18.5 percent. Experts like Jim Cramer are ready to help you become a market expert. Will you make any money? Well, too much information (and too much Jim Cramer) can be a bad thing. "There's a limit to the information a human mind can digest, a limit that often corresponds to the magical number seven, plus or minus two, the capacity of short term memory." -- Gut Feelings , by Gerd Gigerenzer Your short term memory is good for about seven things. You've experienced this in Whole Foods if you attempt to shop without a shopping list. You wind up standing in front of the cheese display trying to remember the eighth thing you meant to buy. If you go with intuition, on the other hand, you tap into something much deeper. Many believe that intuition comes from higher powers. If you listen to it, you will be guided by God, by a universal energy source, or if you are trying to pick stocks, by Warren Buffett. That may be true, but scientists are learning that intuition accesses the unconscious mind, and that part of the mind is really smart. A research study has suggested that gamblers who trust their gut instincts are more likely to pick up subtle visual cues from the dealer and other players. To make winning decisions they let the unconscious drive for a while. Less information turns out to be more - especially when things turn unpredictable. When you are working with an unstable system, like the stock market or a gun battle or both ("How was work today, honey?") having too much on your mind will slow you down. The noise between your ears blocks the wisdom of the subconscious. This was explored in Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink . If a police officer in jeopardy has to think too much, the bad guy shoots him first. If a baseball player performs differential equations in his head to calculate the trajectory and velocity of an incoming fly ball, he'd never catch it. (I think this is the Mets' problem.) "Woman's intuition, as everyone knows, is a true faculty that most women possess in a form far more highly developed than anything the random male ever acquires." - Ashley Montagu, The Natural Superiority of Women Women are good at intuition and men are bad at it. You think so? Not so. In another study , Dr. Richard Wiseman showed 50,000 people photographs of a person smiling. Only one was of a real smile. The other was of a fake smile. Using their intuition, men were able to guess which smile was real 72 percent of the time. The women guessed right 71 percent of the time. I'm going to sell some stock soon, but I think I'll wait until Warren Buffett is smiling. More on Jim Cramer
 
FDIC May Ask Banks For Bailout Top
WASHINGTON -- Tired of the government bailing out banks? Get ready for this: officials may soon ask banks to bail out the government. Senior regulators say they are seriously considering a plan to have the nation's healthy banks lend billions of dollars to rescue the insurance fund that protects bank depositors. More on Banks
 
Nikolas Kozloff: Joe Wilson's Immigration Hypocrisy Top
If Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina is so concerned about illegal immigration and the possibility that migrants might buy government sponsored health insurance then he should stop pushing for free trade agreements in Latin America. It's an important point which has been lost on Wilson's narrow-minded GOP followers who admire the legislator for confronting President Obama during the latter's recent address to a joint session of Congress. For the xenophobic Republican fringe, Wilson is a hero for calling out "you lie!" when Obama denied that his insurance plan would provide free coverage to illegal immigrants. Those same fanatical right wingers however never pause to consider why so many migrants are coming to the U.S. in the first place. Many come from troubled nations in Central America, a region plagued by ever worsening poverty. If the U.S. is truly serious about stanching the flow of migrants from such countries as El Salvador and Nicaragua then it must provide serious financial aid and poverty relief. Instead however Washington has pushed for relentless corporately-friendly free trade, a policy which has exacerbated poverty and led to more migration to the United States. A political hypocrite, Joe Wilson supports U.S. free trade while opportunistically exploiting racist fears. In 2005, he voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement or CAFTA which eliminated all tariffs on 80 percent of U.S. manufactured goods. The agreement was not limited to manufactured goods but covered virtually every type of trade and commercial exchange between Central American countries and the United States. CAFTA formed part of the failed "neo-liberal" corporate agenda in Latin America which resulted in a race to the bottom in labor and environmental standards. As a result, the agreement faced intense opposition from many labor and civil society organizations in the U.S. Disregarding such critics, the Bush administration lobbied extensively for CAFTA passage. In the House of Representatives the vote was held open longer than permitted until it finally passed in July, 2005. If Wilson had opposed CAFTA the initiative would have stalled -- the free trade agreement passed by only a single vote. A pernicious agreement, CAFTA has displaced the rural poor in Central America and led to migration to the United States. A recent report by the Stop CAFTA coalition comprised of progressive U.S. organizations in solidarity with Central America points out that inequality and poverty have worsened under CAFTA and thousands upon thousands of workers are forced to migrate to Mexico and the United States because farming is no longer profitable. In Central America, farmers are frequently unable to access the international market in large part owing to weak infrastructure and their inability to compete with large corporate farms which have access to the capital necessary to succeed in the new CAFTA economy. Take for example the case of El Salvador where rural unemployment increased after CAFTA came into effect and emigration increased to the United States. In the long term, CAFTA stands to undermine poor rice, corn, and dairy producers. That's because under the new regime, the U.S. may sell these staples to El Salvador in large quantities. In Nicaragua meanwhile things are not much better: small farmers who have been unable to compete with agribusiness have been forced out of the market and people are obliged to migrate out of economic necessity. All of this is of apparently little consequence to Joe Wilson -- even as he supports free trade he takes strong anti-immigrant positions on Capitol Hill. Wilson for example supported the Secure Fence Act, a bill which authorized the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico while granting the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to take necessary steps to stop unlawful entry of immigrants into the U.S. Wilson also voted for one particularly mean-spirited bill, the Undocumented Immigrant Emergency Medical Assistance Act, which would have prohibited federal reimbursement of funds to hospitals providing emergency services to undocumented immigrants unless the hospital provided the Secretary of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records. The measure, which was co-sponsored by far right Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, fortunately went down to defeat in the House. To pseudo-populists such as CNN's Lou Dobbs, Joe Wilson is a hero for adopting anti-immigrant positions. Yet Dobbs and his audience haven't asked themselves the crucial question of why Latinos immigrate to the U.S. in the first place, nor have they examined the role of corporate free trade in Central America. No, that would require some more subtle thinking and analysis -- a quality sorely lacking within today's right wing fringe. More on Immigration
 
Steven Hill: To Succeed, Obama Needs to Channel His Inner LBJ Top
Following President Barack Obama's speech on healthcare, several pundits said it was a performance worthy of Harry "Give 'em Hell" Truman. After his election, he was likened to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. But for the coming battle over healthcare reform, Mr Obama needs to step into the shoes of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Especially when it comes to lining up votes from recalcitrant members of his own party, LBJ's brawling, southern style of trench politics is the one best suited for the current challenge. LBJ has been one of America's most underrated presidents. He held the office for most of the 1960s, a tumultuous decade when the nation was torn by race riots and the struggle for civil rights. Despite the obstacles of backward attitudes and stubbornly discriminatory institutions, the hardnosed southerner was able to deliver more on the civil rights agenda than his predecessor, President John F. Kennedy, an Irish Catholic from Massachusetts, ever could have done. Stories of LBJ's toughness are legendary. He was willing to twist arms and step on the toes of narrowly tribal colleagues in the south. He knew how to stare down former Senate associates, calling them into his office, rolling up his sleeves, poking them in the chest and getting eyeball to eyeball. He could curse, bully and hound like a redneck thug when he needed to. But he could sweet-talk and horse-trade too, using all the tools of legal bribery and persuasion that a president possesses. It wasn't pretty, but it sure was effective. LBJ got the job done by having a clear compass on what could be bargained away while still maintaining his objectives. What resulted was the greatest civil rights legislation since the abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which significantly reduced discrimination and set America on the path that ultimately led to the election of the first black president. Mr Obama needs to let the Blue Dog Democrats such as senators Max Baucus, Ben Nelson and Kent Conrad know who is in charge. Besides channelling his internal LBJ, Mr Obama needs to tear a page from the playbook of two other southerners who knew how to use the brass knuckles. Former Republican operatives Karl Rove and Tom DeLay made it clear that any representatives of the Grand Old Party who crossed their agenda would face a well-funded conservative opponent in their next primary. That sent a shiver through the ranks and the backbenchers fell in line. Mr Obama should let any Democratic foot-draggers know that if they do not get with the programme, he will un-elect them and put in Democrats more in tune with his priorities. The threat would be credible, as he is one of the great campaigners of modern political history. Mr Obama still enjoys popularity--though it is dwindling--among the broad coalition that mobilised to elect him. He could convincingly threaten to fund candidates to run against uncooperative senators in Democratic primaries, and to campaign on behalf of his slate of candidates. But to make that threat, Mr Obama has to mean it. He has to show a quality that the nation has not seen in him since the presidential election ended last November. Some glimpses of it were present in his powerful healthcare speech, but now he needs to show that a new LBJ is in town. Johnson made mistakes---the escalation in Vietnam being his gravest (Obama take note). But more than any president in the last half-century, he passed landmark legislation that made the US a better place. He did it fighting the same forces that Obama now faces--outdated attitudes, fear of change and vested interests, not only across the nation but within the Senate and his own party. Like civil rights in the 1960s, healthcare reform is one of the defining policy debates of our time. The US remains the only advanced economy that has failed to figure out how to provide affordable healthcare for all its people. To win this battle, Mr Obama needs to retire the photos of Lincoln and FDR into his desk drawer in the Oval Office and hang on his wall a large portrait of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Texas brawler who knew how to drag his former Senate colleagues across the finish line. This article was published in the Financial Times on September 17, 2009 More on Max Baucus
 
Andy Borowitz: Chicken-F*ckers 'Not Amused' Top
New York anchorman Ernie Anastos' now-infamous verbal slip, "Keep fucking that chicken," has raised the ire of one group who thinks it's no laughing matter: America's chicken-fuckers. Tracy Klugian, a prominent chicken-fucker who heads a watchdog group that monitors the portrayal of chicken-fuckers in the media, says that his group is "not at all amused" by the recent spate of jokes that use Mr. Anastos' on-air blooper as a punchline. "Our message is a simple one: chicken-fuckers have feelings, too," he said. Mr. Klugian said that the explosion of chicken-fucking jokes on late-night TV and on the Internet are "insensitive and hurtful." "Once again, we chicken-fuckers are being stereotyped and belittled," he said. "We need to get the message out that the act of love between a man and a chicken, when consensual, is a beautiful thing." More here .
 
Tom Delay Dancing With The Stars VIDEO: Dances The Cha Cha With Cheryl Burke Top
Tom Delay made his debut tonight with partner Cheryl Burke on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and it was a jarring sight, to say the least, to see the man whose nickname in Congress was 'the Hammer' dancing the cha cha, shaking his behind to "Wild Thing." Perhaps one of the judges, Bruno, said it best: "You're crazier than Sarah Palin!" WATCH: Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Video
 
Sal Nunziato: Compact Reviews Of This Week's Compact Discs, For Those Who Still Care #4 Top
BEASTIE BOYS- HELLO NASTY (DELUXE) The Beasties' reissue campaign continues with an expanded, 2 CD version of their 1998 hit "Hello Nasty," now featuring an additional disc with 21 remixes and b-sides, including 7 unreleased songs. HARRY CONNICK JR.- YOUR SONGS So much more than just a romantic crooner and actor, Connick's New Orleans' roots and James Booker tutelage makes him one of America's finest piano players. Unfortunately, this record is a collection of fan favorites and oft-requested concert tunes and shows little of Connick's impressive ivory-tickling. Not bad, if you like this sort of stuff. EDDIE & THE HOT RODS- SINGLES COLLECTION First ever collection from the almost legendary pub-rockers, covering all the key tracks from both their Island & EMI output. A bit short, but solid. Here's the lot: 1. Writing On The Wall 2. Wooly Bully 3. Get Out Of Denver 4. Teenage Depression 5. I Might Be Lying 6. Hard Drivin Man 7. Do Anything You Wanna Do 8. Till The Night Is Gone 9. Quit This Town 10. Life On The Line 11. Media Messiahs 12. Power & The Glory 13. At Night 14. Wide Eyed Kids DAVID GRAY- DRAW THE LINE First studio release in 5 years from the British singer-songwriter, "Draw The Line," features duets with Annie Lennox and Jolie Holland. I also never realized just how much Gray sounds like Loudon Wainwright III . Good stuff. I like Loudon better. MANASSAS- PIECES "Pieces" combines leftover tracks from both Manassas' self-titled release and "Down The Road." Amazing unreleased material featuring early versions of Stills' classics like ''Sugar Babe,'' ''Word Game'' and ''Do You Remember The Americans'' MONSTERS OF FOLK- MONSTERS OF FOLK "Monsters of Folk" is the collaboration of Conor Oberst , Jim James , M. Ward - three of this generations most critically acclaimed voices." Really? I've always thought these "Monsters" were three somewhat talented, but insanely over-hyped singer-songwriters. Yet together, the M.O.F. create a unique and quite pleasurable listening experience that seems to include the most accessible tunes this trio has ever offered. PEARL JAM- BACKSPACER Eddie Vedder and the boys are back with a vengeance. "BACKSPACER" is one kick-ass ride from the word GO! Could be the best record since their seminal debut, "Ten." Clocking in at under 40 minutes, Pearl Jam not only gets old school with the three-minute rocker, but offers some of the most tuneful songs of their career. (Shows ya what hanging around Neil Finn wll do for you.) V/A- WHERE THE ACTION IS: LOS ANGELES NUGGETS, 1965-1968 Yet another brilliant package from the good people at Rhino Records , "Nuggets 3," focuses on the L.A. scene, with songs by The Byrds, Love, The Doors, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, The Mamas & The Papas, Lowell George, Iron Butterfly, The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, and of course, The Everpresent Fullness. V/A- LET THEM KNOW: THE STORY OF YOUTH BRIGADE AND BYO RECORDS BYO Records, the seminal So-Cal punk label, celebrates its 25th anniversary with this fantastic 31 track collection of punk rock's best covering songs from the BYO roster. Punk icons such as the Dropkick Murphys, Leatherface, Subhumans, Bouncing Souls and NoFx covering their faves by 7 Seconds, Upright Citizens, Adolescents, Unseen and more. This is a smart tribute to an important roster of artists. Please check out my blog, BURNING WOOD , for more on this week's releases, as well as a week's worth of quick bites and music samples.
 
Virginia M. Moncrieff: What's Your Name? Dunce? Bong? Bum? Top
The news theme pounded out. Bing and Precious announced that Noynoy was going to run for President. The tape rolled, and there was Noynoy Aquino standing on a platform surrounded by his sisters, Ballsy and Pinky. After the political news, Precious turned to the lighter side of life, and the recent activities of Ding Dong. Ding Dong Dantes is a major star. He was once named one of the world's sexiest men. His peers include Bangs, someone called Boots and bringing up the rear, a woman named Pops. This is not a drag queen's tea party. Precious Hipolito Castelo and Bing Formento are serious news readers on IBC13 television in the Philippines. Noynoy is the late President Aquino's son. His sisters, who seem like perfectly respectable middle aged women, really are called Ballsy and Pinky. In this country, everyone seems to have some kind of all-purpose nickname that long ago rendered their real name obsolete. Politicians with names like Joker, Boy, Butch and Ping are commonplace and no one, least of all them, seems to care that they sound like characters from a Mario Puzo novel. Excuse me for being old fashioned but is Joker the kind of nickname an ambitious politician would really want? Apparently, yes. The President has, it seems, gotten off lightly. She is known to all and sundry by her initials, GMA. Her husband is making up for her lack of flair -- he is called Mike the Big Boy. The Big Boy has been accused of money laundering by a politician named Ping. Ping in turn has been linked with the murder of a political publicist called Bubby. (Did I just mention Mario Puzo?) GMA's predecessor, the notoriously thuggish and allegedly corrupt Joseph Estrada is named Erap -- "pare" spelled backwards, which means "pal". Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos have a son named Bong Bong. Filipinos have a penchant for the too-cute double name. Men and women alike are called Bam Bam, Cha Cha, Chi Chi, Pee Pee, Rap Rap, Bum Bum, Don Don, Mak Mak, Dum Dum, Bo Bo. It's like living in a country populated by those exotic Pandas flown in from China that you have to pay extra to see at the zoo. No name is beyond shortening or changing. A personal favorite is Jejomar -- for Jesus Joseph Mary. Even in this intensely devout Catholic country, nothing it seems is too scared to mess with. I have been served by name tagged assistants called Bum, Cherries, Dunce, Queenly, Fi Fe, and Dinky. And then there is the mysterious use of the letter "h", after the first letter of your nickname. So we get Bhoy, Rhandy, Ghirl, Bhaby, Jhohnny and Jhoy. Of course none of this even gets close to explaining the usual Filipino greeting of "M'am Sir", (pronounced as one word -- mamsir). M'am Sir is not a variation on the term lady boy, but the catch all for any customer or client, male or female. Such is its ubiquity it now doesn't make me question my sexual identity when I am cheerily greeted with "hello mamsir" ten times a day. I have yet to be given a nickname -- well not to my face anyway. I do believe it's up to each individual to find the one that suits and go with that. I'm not sure I can find one that fits, though Ballsy does have a certain appeal. Maybe I'll try it out. A role in Filippino politics can't be too far away.
 
News Anchors Can't Stop Laughing Watching Paris Model Fall Twice On Runway (VIDEO) Top
These anchors at Channel 4 News in Washington D.C. couldn't stop laughing as they showed a video of a model falling not once but twice on the runway at a Paris fashion show. They looked like they were going to be able to hold it together, until they started showing the second fall in slow motion, again and again. To be fair, the slow motion transforms the second fall into something pretty incredible. WATCH: Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Video
 
Lynda Resnick: Finding the Voice of Truth Amid the Noise of Old and New Media Top
We're facing a crisis in our nation, and I'm not talking about the economy (which is indeed grim), or our healthcare system (even more grim), or Kanye West's lack of manners (annoyingly grim). I'm talking about the state of journalism, that once-great bastion of integrity crumbling around us. A recent Pew Poll entitled "Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two-Decade Low" states that "Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.... In 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate." The media world is in a free fall. The drop in combined ad pages and digital buys for newspapers was the biggest since the Depression . According to TNS Media Intelligence, magazine ad pages for 2008 were the lowest full-year counts of the decade, with 2009 year-to-date numbers already 20 percent below that. The thinner a newspaper or magazine is -- due to reduced revenue from advertising dollars -- the less editorial content because of the standard ad-to-editorial ratio, and the less money there is to support investigative journalism. With the rush for ratings dominating broadcast content, what used to be news has become rants from one side or the other that appeal to the basest emotions. The publishing world is teetering as it tries to find its relevance in the digital landscape. But it is the fate of journalism -- no matter who serves it up -- that keeps me up at night. Since the advent of the Internet -- more recently compounded by blogging -- everyone can be a published voice. Any cowardly, anonymous anger-monger can have an audience of thousands. That doesn't make them a journalist any more than my throwing an onion and a few carrots into a pot of boiling water makes me Julia Child. Somewhere in this new century, it was forgotten that journalism was once considered a noble profession, one that strove to uphold the ideals spelled out by the Society of Professional Journalists in its code of ethics . Today, it has become increasingly apparent that too many television and online "writers" fail to realize what William Bernbach of Doyle Dane Bernbach stated so eloquently back in 1989, before the first blog was ever dreamed of: "All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level." Today's media pundits seem more interested in seeking sensationalism than the truth. The desire to be the first to report a story now outweighs the desire to maintain integrity by performing even the most basic research of the facts. Where there was once a hard and fast standard that had to be met before an article was published, online readers often are unaware of such standards. Sensationalist stories are now "retweeted" before many take the time to read, contemplate, and research the content. The pixel has proved more powerful than the pen, giving authors the ability to attract and amass readership -- and perceived credibility -- with a rapidity that should frighten any discerning reader. Many of these bloggers/writers and pundits have big-name corporations (and even previous administrations) backing their less-than-scholarly works, allowing them to work under the guise of professional journalists. Worst of all, many readers are so quick to believe or be tickled by the negativity of just about any piece of content that comes through their inbox that they're apt to disseminate it to their friends before they can verify credibility. With so many voices to choose from, who can we trust? The voice I've chosen to turn to is that of NPR . With a reputation for some of the finest journalism in the country, the nonprofit organization is renowned for its unbiased stance -- to the point that it's been accused of being both conservative and liberal . The fact that it both satisfies and angers both sides is a true indication of its journalistic integrity. This is why it saddened me to learn that less than 9 percent of National Public Radio's audience actually pays to support it. Contrary to popular belief, the organization is not a government entity, meaning it is not backed by federal funding. I urge all of you -- especially those listeners who have listened for free all these years -- to put your money where your ear is by making a donation . If you can't do that, at least honor its ideals by doing your own fact-checking before retweeting/reposting/adding to Digg, etc. And I call upon the bloggers, web writers, and other partisan tastemakers to look to NPR as their touchstone for integrity. Before you click that publish button, ask yourself if your post upholds the standards stated above by the Society of Professional Journalists, or that of CyberJournalist.net's Bloggers' Code of Ethics (which was based upon that of SPJ). If you need a shorter credo to adhere to, you can use as a guidepost the words of Joseph Pulitzer , which ring as true today as they did a century ago. "Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light." Lynda Resnick is the author of the bestselling marketing book Rubies in the Orchard . You can read Lynda's business advice in her columns "Ruby Tuesday" and "Ask Lynda," as well as ask your own business questions on her personal website. More on NPR
 

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