Caught Red Handed

"Caught red handed," is a cliche' that refers to a killer found with blood on their hands. Recent revelations that the Republican Party ( GOP ) employees have been eligible for elective abortions under their Health Care Insurance policies are a perfect example of that cliche'. Which is all the more relevant as the House of Representatives has sent a Health Care Reform Bill to the Senate. A Bill that is being hotly debated on the issue of publicly funded, elective abortions.

Consider that this insurance policy has been in effect since George Bush Sr. was President, and that Democrat politicians ( including the current President ) have been criticised in every election since then by a party seemingly aligned with a political faction that was named back then, "The Moral Majority". Many Christian Americans, and most Fundamentalist Christian Americans where drawn to the Republican Party on this major issue alone.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele;

"Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," Steele said in a statement late Thursday after learning of the abortion coverage from a news report. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled."

Steele is the new face of the GOP, appointed immediately after their defeat in the last election. Can he move the GOP away from this blatant hypocrisy fast enough to dodge the accusations that will no doubt be made by the opposition in the Senate debate?

Another issue is the survivability of the GOP itself. Ben Smith, writing at Politico has a few sharp words, some great quotes on this issue of, "Do as I say, not as I do."

"...In order for the RNC to regain the trust of their donors, they must disclose the names of all people involved in any way of the selection of their health care plan. And those people must be summarily fired. No severance packages, no golden parachutes; fired. For cause.

No pro-lifer in good conscience can give them a dime until this happens...more..."

The GOP has enjoyed the financial support directed to them by the pulpit, but they require only the votes from that right wing of their rank and file. Their finances depend on lobbyists from Big Business...like the Insurance Industry that is obviously behind the opposition to Health Care Reform.

There's an election coming up, and many GOP Senators will have to decide between the Truth, and lies. Republican voters will be facing the same choice. Fundamentalist Christians have always embraced the contradiction between The Right to Life and the realities of business, it's known as The Puritan Dilemma. Or, as my Grandmother would say;

"If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?"

About the title of this post. It refers to the blood of the innocents sacrificed on the altar of profit.

Facebook has a backdoor to Friendfeed

Though she may be the proud Mother of Invention, Necessity is none the less a Bitch. Yesterday presented a problem, I could not access my friendfeed account! All I could get was a page that said something like, "Go away, this page has either moved, been removed or you are just not welcome."

Realizing that my facebook account had a friendfeed application, I did a thorough search of the application settings at facebook. And guess what I found down at the bottom of the friend feed application page...a unique link to my friendfeed account that worked! It's called; Regular FriendFeed Interface.

I have no idea why my friendfeed account was blocked, maybe it was hacked. I don't know. But, if you enjoy friendfeed it would behove you to sign-up at facebook just in case you get locked out. Then get the friendfeed application. I have no idea why a link on facebook works but other links don't, but it does.

Oh, did I mention that Facebook now owns Friendfeed? Bitches, I might just close both accounts.

Nov 7 Digest This

Fort Hood

US Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a military mental health doctor facing deployment killed 13 people and wounded at least 31 others. Dr Hassan had been working closely with soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was wounded but not fatally.

Dr Stephen Diamond ( psychologytoday.com ) asks some serious questions concerning 'Murder and Mayhem';

"...Should Dr. Hasan, given his apparently passionate religious and political beliefs, have been working with such patients in the first place?...more..."

Moscow

Russia may back sanctions against Iran, depending on whether they present a 'constructive position' in regards to an international plan to diminish their stockpiles of enriched uranium. The IAEA has suggested that Turkey may hold the solution to the impasse in negotiations.

“...It should work,” ElBaradei said in an interview Saturday on Public Broadcasting TV, as reported by Bloomberg. “Iran has a lot of trust in Turkey.” The Obama administration would agree to this proposal because the United States is “very comfortable with Turkey.” ...more..."

4 Nov Digest This

Tegucigalpa

President Mel Zelaya is ready to step aside as interim President, and allow the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord address the question of his reinstatement up to Congress...Hondurans are set to go the polls Nov. 29 to choose Zelaya’s successor, but most foreign governments have said they will not recognize the process as legitimate unless the deposed head of state is reinstated beforehand.

The Organization of American States ( OAS ) has been effective as a mediator in this crisis that affects many nations in Latin America.

Moscow

Two members of Russian National Unity have been arrested in connection with the deaths of Mr. Markelov, and Ms. Baburova last January. The RNU is a a paramilitary organization founded in 1990 by Aleksandr Barkashov, their lawyers claim the two are innocent.

Solidarity is an dissadent organization, a political movement and a cry for justice in what remains of the old USSR. Garry Kasparov and other political activists use words to battle guns. With elections looming in Russia, it will be interesting to see which strategy is more effective.

Near Cyprus

Israeli Navy commandoes captured a ship loaded with "hundreds of tons" of weapons headed for Syria.

This is the largest seizure of arms in Israel's history. Some believe it to be just a 'tip of the iceberg'.