Strange Threats!

This is highly peculiar, Don't ya think?

N.Y. man arrested after threatening Sotomayor

Posted: 09:00 AM ET

From CNN's Kiran Khalid

NEW YORK (CNN) – Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor isn't just facing tough scrutiny, she's the target of some peculiar death threats, too.

According to a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney's office, John Zaubler "called 911 and
stated that he was going to kill Judge Sonia Sotomayor by blowing her up."

The bizarre complaint charging Zaubler with one count of making a terrorist threat also says that his motive for the assassination was "because he did not want his girlfriend to have to go to prison," although it provides no further detail.

The complaint also states that Zaubler threatened to blow up President Barack Obama.

The 48-year-old New York resident allegedly made the call just after 10:30 p.m. on May 30. Zaubler was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday via videoconference from the courtroom at Bellevue Hospital where he was being held, according to a report in Newsday.com.

He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Calls to Zaubler's attorney were not immediately returned.

Filed under: Sonia Sotomayor

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Let The Sun Shine In......

Big Pharma And the Insurance Industry...Our current known enemy.

 Another Must Read! 

Again it is the G--damned, huge-salary-sucking corporate bigwigs with whom we are in a life or death struggle. Seems to me the insurance industry and big pharma have had years to clean up their act. Now it is time for the people, whom they have used and abused for years, to act. If we cannot get the cost of medications under control, not to mention health insurance cost, this coming Bill will be the end of any real reform in this country. 

Let them call it socialism! Who the hell cares what they call it? People have been suffering from lack of health care in this country for far too long and the only excuse is greed. If you think you aren't already paying for the health care of people without insurance, you have not been in an E.R. lately.

How Pharma and Insurance Intend to Kill the Public Option, And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do

I've poked around Washington today, talking with friends on the Hill who confirm the worst: Big Pharma and Big Insurance are gaining ground in their campaign to kill the public option in the emerging health care bill.

You know why, of course. They don't want a public option that would compete with private insurers and use its bargaining power to negotiate better rates with drug companies. They argue that would be unfair. Unfair? Unfair to give more people better health care at lower cost? To Pharma and Insurance, "unfair" is anything that undermines their profits.

So they're pulling out all the stops -- pushing Democrats and a handful of so-called "moderate" Republicans who say they're in favor of a public option to support legislation that would include it in name only. One of their proposals is to break up the public option into small pieces under multiple regional third-party administrators that would have little or no bargaining leverage. A second is to give the public option to the states where Big Pharma and Big Insurance can easily buy off legislators and officials, as they've been doing for years. A third is bind the public plan to the same rules private insurers have already wangled, thereby making it impossible for the public plan to put competitive pressure on the insurers.

Max Baucus, Chair of Senate Finance (now exactly why does the Senate Finance Committee have so much say over health care?) hasn't shown his cards but staffers tell me he's more than happy to sign on to any one of these. But Baucus is waiting for more support from his colleagues, and none of the three proposals has emerged as the leading candidate for those who want to kill the public option without showing they're killing it. Meanwhile, Ted Kennedy and his staff are still pushing for a full public option, but with Kennedy ailing, he might not be able to round up the votes. (Kennedy's health committee released a draft of a bill today, which contains the full public option.)

Enter Olympia Snowe. Her move is important, not because she's Republican (the Senate needs only 51 votes to pass this) but because she's well-respected and considered non-partisan, and therefore offers some cover to Democrats who may need it. Last night Snowe hosted a private meeting between members and staffers about a new proposal Pharma and Insurance are floating, and apparently she's already gained the tentative support of several Democrats (including Ron Wyden and Thomas Carper). Under Snowe's proposal, the public option would kick in years from now, but it would be triggered only if insurance companies fail to bring down healthcare costs and expand coverage in he meantime.

What's the catch? First, these conditions are likely to be achieved by other pieces of the emerging legislation; for example, computerized records will bring down costs a tad, and a mandate requiring everyone to have coverage will automatically expand coverage. If it ever comes to it, Pharma and Insurance can argue that their mere participation fulfills their part of the bargain, so no public option will need to be triggered. Second, as Pharma and Insurance well know, "years from now" in legislative terms means never. There will never be a better time than now to enact a public option. If it's not included, in a few years the public's attention will be elsewhere.

Much the same dynamic is occurring in the House. Two members who had originally supported single payer told me that Pharma and Insurance have launched the same strategy there, and many House members are looking to see what happens in the Senate. Snowe's "trigger" is already buzzing among members.

All this will be decided within days or weeks. And once those who want to kill the public option without their fingerprints on the murder weapon begin to agree on a proposal -- Snowe's "trigger" or any other -- the public option will be very hard to revive. The White House must now insist on a genuine public option. And you, dear reader, must insist as well.

This is it, folks. The concrete is being mixed and about to be poured. And after it's poured and hardens, universal health care will be with us for years to come in whatever form it now takes. Let your representative and senators know you want a public option without conditions or triggers -- one that gives the public insurer bargaining leverage over drug companies, and pushes insurers to do what they've promised to do. Don't wait until the concrete hardens and we've lost this battle.
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Let The Sun Shine In......

So, What Can We, The People, Do About The Economic Crisis?

 This is important and a must read ! 

I cannot imagine anything more dangerous to a Democracy than corporate power engaging with governmental power thus becoming one entity; one elected, the other not elected and, apparently, not accountable to anyone for anything they have done and/or continue to do to drive the economy over a cliff. 

Seems our government may well be too corrupt to take on the corporate lobbyists. So, if that is the case, the people have to act to survive and bring about real change that cannot be undone by the next corporation sucking president and congress.

Facism = corporatism; so saith Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism.

 

If We Don't Stop Wall Street's Colossal Theft Now, Where Will This Country Be Next Year?

By Tiffiniy Cheng, AlterNet
 

Posted on June 5, 2009, Printed on June 8, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/140490/

We have the most fundamental fight over power ahead of us -- either the banks get bigger and richer and more powerful, or we take away some of their political power for ourselves and our businesses.

Why does this fight matter? Because we have trillions of dollars in deficit, and the financial sector is winning policy after policy and will continue to squeeze tax breaks, loose rules and dollars out of government. The financial sector is stopping our country from getting out of the crisis, it is to blame for our troubles. If we don't stop it, where will our country be by the end of this year?

But do you feel like you don't understand big finance, while you feel less financially secure? Wall Street has been getting away with taxpayer dollars, corruption and risky practices, and a massive market failure. It's because it wants us to believe that "ordinary people can't understand finance and economics." Let's get together and understand why the economic crisis happened and what is being done now.

To beat Wall Street at its game, we need to learn about what it's doing and then loudly refuse its way of doing business. A New Way Forward is launching a way we can do the first part to stop bad practices on Wall Street -- volunteers around the country are hosting economic crisis video screenings and town hall forums starting this Monday through Friday, some Webcasted live.

So, feel like you want a chance to learn more? Come enjoy yourselves and talk about where your money belongs. Find one near you or plan one of your own (New York City's is on Monday).

You can see the ANWF Economic Crisis 2009 video or bookmark this link to watch any of the live Webcasts on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. You can host your own screening using just this link: livestream.com/anewwayforward

These town halls are educational, local, citizen, community, rallying with former IMF Chairman Simon Johnson and author and progressive consultant Mike Lux on Captiol HIll. There will be a lively debate at the NYC event, with business leader Leo Hindery debating author Les Leopold and history professor Alice Kessler-Harris. In San Francisco, author Doug Rushkoff and economist Ernesto Dal Bo.

A New Way Forward is a pact we're making as citizens to not continue to let Wall Street act like our masters. The point is that winning the battle with the banks can change politics as usual. I truly believe this is a fight that can reset our political process, restoring it for the public.

So, A New Way Forward is a new group that is open and participatory and crosses party lines -- it's easy to be a part of this important movement, just sign up and we'll win.
ANWF is organized via the Web by local teams that want to take back the power of the ordinary citizen to affect our economic structure. As the banking industry continues secret lobbying in Washington, A New Way Forward is trying to begin a serious discussion at the grassroots level. Getting together this week is a start to fighting the big players in the financial sector.

You can find the full listings on A New Way Forward's site -- but here's a short list of town halls:

Bethelehem, Pa., June 9, 7 p.m., with Tom Hyclak, professor of economics, at Public Library
Bellingham, Wa., June 10, 4 p.m., street corner forum with Kristi Laguzzi, downtown Federal Building
San Diego, June 10, 6 p.m., with Jeeni Criscenzo at University of San Diego
San Francisco, June 10, 6:30 p.m., with Ernesto Dal Bo, Doug Rucskoff, Donald Goldmacher at Mechanic Library, Webcast
New York, June 8, 7 p.m., with Leo Hindery, Les Leopold, Alice Kessler-Harris at the Tank, Webcast
New York, June 10, 7 p.m., video screening with Danny Shechter at Le Poisson Rouge
Washington, June 11, 9 a.m., with Simon Johnson, John Taylor, Nancy Cleeland, Mike Lux at Capitol Hill, Webcast

Video Screenings:
June 8, 6 p.m., Berkeley, Hillside Club
June 9, 6 p.m., Austin, Texas, Carver Library
June 10, 5 p.m., Fontana, Calif., Fontana Lewis Library
June 10, 5:30 p.m., Nogales, Ariz., Nogales Public Library
June 10, 7 p.m., Santa Monica, Calif., Public Library -- Community Room
June 10, 7 p.m., Decatur, Ga., Push Push Theater
June 10, 7 p.m., East Lansing, Mich., Ramona's Home in Hawk Nest
June 10, 7 p.m., Paterson, N.J., Robert A. Roe Federal Building
June 10, 7 p.m., McMurray, Pa., Our Home
June 10, 7:30 p.m., Jamaica Plain, Mass., First Church Unitarian Universalist
June 11, 1 a.m., Durham, N.C., Durham Downtown Plaza
June 11, 7 p.m., Boulder, Colo., Colorado University -- Humanities 150
June 15, 7 p.m., Princeton, N.J., my house and patio
June 17, 7:30 p.m., Hyattsville, Md., Paint Branch Unitarian Church
Tiffiniy Cheng is co-founder of A New Way Forward.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/140490/

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Let The Sun Shine In......