http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113444258
Caipirinhas all around, my treat. Yeay!

More polling information about health care (from actually reputable sources):

Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option (published originally in the New England Journal of Medicine)

Obama job approval on the rise

NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds 76% support public option

And a de-spun ABC/Washington Post poll shows 76% support a public option if it's reserved for those unable to get health insurance now -- which is the way it would work in all the drafts of legislation being considered.

Mostly though, there's one trend I've seen in all the polls, and a professional poll-watcher like Nate Silver backs me up on this, but the more specificity you provide, the more support for the package rises.

It's something I noticed during the election too -- the more information people got about Obama and his platform, the more support for him rose. Same thing is happening with health care.

JWB is also the preferred whiskey among the Indian parliament and aristocracy.

Cancelled

Yeah, but why waste rounds when you can gang-abuse them:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4857417

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
Oh they're just full of creative ideas...

http://people.howstuffworks.com/riot-control3.htm

In reply to this comment by Rotty:
Just made it up. But I'm sure they're working on it in the labs.

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
What's "crowd control"? Some kind of nasty non-lethal round?

In reply to this comment by Rotty:
No Stormtrooper ensemble is complete without a taser, nightstick and Glock packed with crowd control!

>> ^PostMortem:
I fear that the US will never get a better system that takes care of everyone, I think the big insurance companies have just too much power.


I have to agree, only I think it's even worse. It's not just big insurance companies that have a lot to loose, and too much sway over Washington. The same is true of hospitals, physicians and pharmaceutical companies. All of the sectors within health care reap at least some of the outrageous cost of our system.

I honestly don't know how in our current political system you could challenge the profit of so many big money interests, merely for the good of the people. Spin is too effective, and even if there is a popular up swelling of anger, those with the power will just placate us by slightly repackaging the current system and declaring it fixed.

I just heard a great interview on this topic today. I'd sift it if there was any video.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106470889

As far as I understand, the term "Late Term" is patently absurd when referring to a fetus. Doctors never use it. Because a "term" technically (in a medical [not o'reilly] context refers to the birth itself (or, rather, when the actual pregnant stage is ending). Thus "late term" would suggest a moment after the birth. Therefor, no such thing as a "late term fetus."

Ergo, fuck off and die, Billo.

[Edit]: for more info, check out "Abortion Terminology Analyzed" on the NPR website...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105218261

NPR
From 'Doom' to Gloom: The Story of a Video Game Flop
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4803167

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=14987

III!!! Congraaaaaatsz
>> ^lucky760:
With any luck we'll make it to year number 4 and every one of you fine folks will still be here with us then.
Of course we'll be lucky with you on board;) As we're now talking internet institutions (dag: "I'd like to thank all of the Sifters - past and present who have made our community the amazing institution it is. (3 years that qualifies us as an institution in internet time, right?)") we need to look beyond a "one year ahead" frame of reference and think about ways to keep VideoSift a quality community for exchanging videos/ideas (facts and opinions) for many years to come..

VideoSift is currently dealing with an overload of videos/ideas and users, which has decreased immensely our shared experience of videos/ideas contributed to the community and of our co-users..only 24/7 users can keep up with the pace..to improve this sense of community there are many ideas waiting to be implemented (e.g. a neighbour system (cf. last.fm), channel search, decrease the max. of unsifted videos from 6 to 4? and 3 to 2?, maximum unsifted queue size (100?) etc.)

Once upon a time - when everybody saw each others videos - MLX posted
http://web.archive.org/web/20060315170206/www.videosift.com/story.php?id=670
the following:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Funkentelechy-vs-The-Placebo-Syndrome



More funk:)))

Salient points that apply to the Middle East policy as a whole.

I agree that the US has done a poor job of reading the human terrain of Iraq and Afghanistan because the mission was always formulated as force elimination not reconstruction.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5366677

I remember reading several books on Iraq and one thread passed through all of them, US troops would complain that higher command did not give them the information about culture necessary to interact with the populace, or when it was given it was hopelessly racist and based on works from the early 20th century. One common misrepresentation was that Arabs all wished only for death and are all habitual liars. Not a great framework to work off when invading a whole nation.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
Katrina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8az4CfEDpw
Prison abuse: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1875191
Economic downturn: http://ca.news.finance.yah
oo.com/s/01122008/2/biz-finance-bush-apologizes-financial-crisis-says-economy-recover.html
To a certain extent even the Iraq War: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/story?id=6354012&page=1


I'm going to respond a little out of order.

On the economic collapse (downturn?!), you'll note that what he said was, "I'm sorry it's happening...." That's like saying, "I'm sorry your dog died." Of course he's sorry, but that is not the same as taking responsibility or apologizing.

I saw neither an apology nor any acceptance of responsibility for the failures in intelligence gathering about Iraq and WMDs (in the link you provide or anywhere else). In particular, much of the intelligence that was fed to the public and Congress before the war was cherry picked and outright manipulated from within the White House. AFAIK, he's never even acknowledged this, much less taken responsibility for it.

The utter incompetence of the federal (and local) response to the devastation in New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita makes me almost too angry to respond. Suffice it to say that to this day, people are still fighting to get help that was promised. Completely insincere, and as such, not a real apology. (Even the words he uses in that clip are kind of weasely.)

On the prison abuse at Abu Ghraib. I might actually grant you this one. And I only asked for one verifiable quote. I was unaware that he had ever actually apologized to the people of Iraq, or specifically to the people that were abused and their families.
But again, it's somewhat insincere, because the very same practices were continued at Guantanamo for years after that. Another analogy - it's like saying to your neighbor, "I'm sorry my son beat up your son at school today," and then raping your other neighbor's wife later that night.

I can think of only one time when Bush ever came close to an admitting he was wrong and/or apologizing - the spy plane incident in China. Initially, he whipped out his dick for a pissing contest, risking an escalation of tensions to an unthinkable outcome. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed (Rice and Powell), and we got our people and plane back. But generally speaking, despite any expressions of remorse, Bush never publicly admitted when he was wrong. And he essentially never changed his policies, no matter how wrong they were shown to be.

Don't get me wrong - I won't apologize for Obama. The appointment of Geitner to Treasury and Lynn to Defense are inexcusable. That Killefer and Daschle have been forced to step aside, though, shows a willingness to admit when he's wrong. That gives me some hope that when he does make more serious mistakes in the future (which he surely will), he will be willing to change direction if it's warranted. And if I read them right, I think that's the basic sentiment of many of the preceding comments.

Name one thing (other than failing to dismantle Social Security) for which he apologized and quote a verifiable source.
Katrina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8az4CfEDpw
Prison abuse: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1875191
Economic downturn: http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/01122008/2/biz-finance-bush-apologizes-financial-crisis-says-economy-recover.html
To a certain extent even the Iraq War: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/story?id=6354012&page=1

But I could list a billion Bush apologies and it wouldn't matter jack to Obama-zombies. Just keep splooging on each other over Obama's 'apology' for something he had nothing to do with. And please quit apologizing for it. Just accept it. You've sold out logic, reason, and even common sense in the name of blind partisan fanboism. You're Obama-whipped. Just admit it. If Obama took out a gun on national TV and started shooting puppies you'd thank him for ending the 'future rabid dog menace'.

>> ^arsenault185:
I say pull fort Bliss out of there and let it all go to hell. Give it back to Mexico. El Paso is giant shit hole. By far the worst city I have ever lived in. And if you want to be nice about the whole thing and protect it, hell, Fort Bliss now has a SHITLOAD of combat power just chilling out. Plant 'em on our border and shoot anyone who comes to close Done. I'm sorry, but I could give two fucks about Mexico falling into collapse, when my own country has enough of its own problems..


omg thank you for solving such complicated situatuon that easily. Shoot them. why didn't I think of that?

I say you better start to 'give a fuck' about Mexico's situation, because if there is a collapse, where do you think many of those people will go to? Guatemala on the south border, or the U.S? or what, are the affected Mexican families also included in your 'shoot anyone' splendid solution too? furthermore, what do you think the war is about? hmm i dont know, like a drug war? oh yeah who buys most of it? the U.S. hmm now what are some of the ways those drugs plus the U.S made weapons the cartels buy get from one side of the border to another? could it be that U.S border patrol officers can be bribed? *gasp*

The U.S shares responsibility in this situation, therefore, it is one of its many problems even if it is not entirely its own one. So you have to give a fuck.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99401743

http://www.videosift.pl/story.php?id=24470