Clipmarks | ddillard's clips

Debunking Right-Wing Email About Healthcare Plan

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:41:54 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.charlestoncitypaper.com

There is a nasty and misleading right-wing chain email going around. Some of you may have gotten it forwarded to you by family and friends.

The email pretends to go through the "itemized contents of the Health Care Reform Bill," pulling out outrageous claims like, "Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!"

The insurance industry is funding these emails through hired shills and, of course, these claims are universally false. So we want to arm you with the tools to fight back against these smears.

Tags: politics, health care

Important Negotiation Tactic

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:29:13 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: blogs.harvardbusiness.org

My partner John Hamel always reminds me that the uber golden rule of negotiation is to always let someone else walk away.

Tags: negotiation

View on Professor Gates Incident

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:28:10 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: blogs.harvardbusiness.org

I found the single most interesting statement from President Obama's press conference not the one that's gotten all the attention (about the police acting "stupidly,") but rather his preceding comment that "any of us would be pretty angry." This reflects his context and, I suspect, explains why such a normally measured speaker would make a comment that grated on so many others. He assumed we would all operate from the context that "any of us would be pretty angry."

Tags: gates

More on Birther Controversy

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:45:46 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.starbulletin.com

The state Department of Health no longer issues copies of paper birth certificates as was done in the past, said spokeswoman Janice Okubo.

The department only issues "certifications" of live births, and that is the "official birth certificate" issued by the state of Hawaii, she said.

Tags: politics, obama

The Rich Get Richer...

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:38:34 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Between 1979 and 2006, the inflation-adjusted after-tax income of the richest 1 percent of households increased by 256 percent, compared to 21 percent for families in the middle income quintile. Despite these numbers, Democratic leaders, “bowing to unease among lawmakers and governors in their own party,” are reconsidering the House Ways and Means committee’s proposal to implement a surtax on the richest one percent of Americans as a way of financing a portion of health care reform. The Wonk Room has more.

Tags: politics, compensation

Peggy Noonan on Sarah Palin

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:34:59 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.

Tags: politics, palin

The Man Who Crashed the World

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:31:59 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.vanityfair.com

For while they disagreed on this and that, they all were fairly certain that if it hadn’t been for A.I.G. F.P. the subprime-mortgage machine might never have been built, and the financial crisis might never have happened.

Tags: politics

Ethics Complains Against Palin

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:23:15 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.adn.com

A listing of known ethics complaints filed against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

Tags: palin, politics

Republican Voter Fraud

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:24:05 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday evening that Mark Anthony Jacoby, owner of a for-profit group called Young Political Majors (YPM), pled guilty to voter registration fraud in Los Angeles. Brad Freidman of the BradBlog has been keeping tabs on Jacoby for months, and wrote yesterday:

Tags: politics

Oil Industry Pushed for Iraq "Solution"

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:37:58 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: pubrecord.org

That April 2001 report, "Strategic Policy Challenges for the 21st Century," was prepared by the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations at the request of then-Vice President Dick Cheney.

In retrospect, it appears that the report helped focus administration thinking on why it made geopolitical sense to oust Hussein, whose country sat on the world's second largest oil reserves.

The report recommended Cheney move swiftly to integrate energy and national security policy as a means to stop ''manipulations of markets by any state" and suggested that his task force include "representation from the Department of Defense."

Two years after the Baker report, the United States - along with Great Britain and other allies - invaded Iraq. Now, more than six years after that, the U.S. oil industry finally appears to be in a strong position relative to Iraq's oil riches.

Tags: politics, iraq

People Seek to Reinforce Own Ideas

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:41:25 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

The researchers found that people are about twice as likely to select information that supports their own point of view (67 percent) as to consider an opposing idea (33 percent). Certain individuals, those with close-minded personalities, are even more reluctant to expose themselves to differing perspectives, Albarracín said. They will opt for the information that corresponds to their views nearly 75 percent of the time.

Tags: psychology, politics

CIA Killed Prisoners

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:44:27 GMT

clipped by: ddillard

Clip Source: www.newyorker.com

No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program, despite the fact that at least three prisoners interrogated by agency personnel died as the result of mistreatment.

In the second case, an Iraqi prisoner named Manadel al-Jamadi died on November 4, 2003, while being interrogated by the C.I.A. at Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad. A forensic examiner found that he had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs.

Tags: torture, politics

Jefferson's Bible

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:34:37 GMT

clipped by: ddillard
clipper's remarks: How Thomas Jefferson viewed the Bible and religion.

Clip Source: articles.latimes.com

Making good on a promise to a friend to summarize his views on Christianity, Thomas Jefferson set to work with scissors, snipping out every miracle and inconsistency he could find in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Then, relying on a cut-and-paste technique, he reassembled the excerpts into what he believed was a more coherent narrative and pasted them onto blank paper -- alongside translations in French, Greek and Latin.

Tags: religion, politics