CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF DOJ GOES AFTER PRISONER ABUSE

Yet another case of justice for inmates who have been abused by employees of a correctional facility. This is federal, it is my hope the DOJ will start to look at what is going on at the state level.

Former Kentucky Jail Supervisor Sentenced on Charges Related to Abuse of Detainees
WASHINGTON—Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, announced today that Kristine Lafoe, a former lieutenant and supervisor at the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center (FCDC), was sentenced in federal court for her role in covering up systematic detainee abuse. Lafoe was sentenced in Lexington, Ken., by Federal Judge Karen K. Caldwell, to serve one year in prison and two years of supervised release.
Lafoe pleaded guilty on May 14, 2009, to a charge of conspiring to obstruct justice for her role in concealing abuses at FCDC. According to the plea proceeding and documents filed in court, Lafoe, who supervised the midnight intake shift at the FCDC, admitted that between January and October 2006, she instructed officers under her command to falsify reports by using inaccurate language to describe uses of force, so that the physical abuse of detainees would sound innocuous and justifiable. As a supervisor, Lafoe then reviewed these false reports and submitted them to her supervisors, knowing that the reports would conceal and cover up detainee abuse and would obstruct any federal investigations of the abuse. Lafoe admitted that her actions allowed officers under her command to continue abusing detainees with impunity.

Here in Alaska they also disapear the grievances filed by inmates about abuse, lack of healthcare, and violations of civil rights. They also will not put out grievance forms, especially if someone like me is around. Now, in those reports about inmates here in Alaska what terminology is used to describe chaining mentally ill inmates to the floor because you abruptly stopped their medication and they could not control their behavior? Oh, what do you call that wooded thingy that you put over the doors of cells of mentally ill inmates who are angry because you would not let them take a shower for several days or lied to them about their court heartings? What do they call these things? Remember that inmate accross from me? When you told her she could not have a shower and said it was not because she was black, even though the white inmates were getting showers. You said it was because your supervisor would not allow it and she said, "Linda, Linda, Linda, let me talk to your supervisor Linda, because the little people, they just can't get anything done." Remember that, she said it over and over for hours? This was a nurse, not a corrections officer who did this.


“Law enforcement officers who abuse their power undermine public safety and the public trust, and they make the work of law enforcement all the more difficult,” said Assistant Attorney General Perez. “As we’ve shown in this case, we will vigorously prosecute officers who engage in acts of criminal misconduct.”

Their abuse also causes psychological damage to inmates which in many cases is permanent. Changing the wording to make situations sound different or to blame inmates to justify abuse is not an unusual practice. They lie to protect themselves. Corrections officers need to be supervised very closely. It is well known that people given power over others can become very abusive, especially if a group is involved. It is especially bad on night shift when less supervisors are around. I have worked in prisons and I know the corrections officers can start acting like a bunch of junior high school kids and when confronted will come up with very illogical reasons for their abuse. I also know many of them think of the inmates as not being human and don't care if they are harmed. I am very outspoken and very familiar with the eighth amendment and when I was wrongfully imprisoned many of them were absolutely unmerciful to not only myself, but the mentally ill inmates. There is no way to communicate to anyone higher up because the grievances go directly to the officer who is on and they disappear. I never had one hearing about a grievance and I was continually writing them. The only response I ever got was that I used the wrong form because they hid the regular ones. When I said none were available they called me a liar. They would threaten me when they read them and tell me they would just say I was lying and their supervisor would believe them over me. They also would step up their harsh treatment and psychological abuse in retaliation to my grievance writing. I once had a corrections officer go get a large stack of grievance forms and throw them at me. It did not stop me, I kept writing them. I realized I was dealing with a heartless and mindless group of unsupervised bullies.

The defendant’s conviction resulted from the investigative work of the FBI’s Louisville Division and the Civil Rights Division. The case was prosecuted by division attorneys Jared Fishman and Benjamin Hawk.
 http://louisville.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/lo111809b.htm


A message from Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez

(He is over the civil rights division)

From the time of our nation’s founding, Americans have cherished above all else the promise of equal opportunity and equal justice under the law. The Civil Rights Division is the conscience of our country, enforcing laws designed to give meaning to that enduring promise.


Attorney General Eric Holder has called the Civil Rights Division the “crown jewel” of the Department of Justice. Indeed, the Division has a long and distinguished history of combating discrimination in all its shapes and forms. I am honored to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Division, and will work tirelessly with the dedicated career staff to restore the luster to this crown jewel, and ensure that the Division is the nation’s preeminent civil rights law enforcement agency.

I had the privilege of serving as a career prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division for many years. I am proud of the work the Division performed during those years, and I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the strong commitment to aggressive, even-handed, nonpartisan law enforcement. This ethic is critical to the Division’s success.


America has come a long way in the battle against bigotry, but we are all too frequently reminded that, in the words of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, civil rights remains the unfinished business of America. The Civil Rights Division has a critical role to play in addressing this unfinished business.


Many civil rights challenges have regrettably endured for decades, while new challenges continue to emerge. The Civil Rights Division must address both. We will use all of the tools in our arsenal to enforce the laws of the land so that everyone has access to equal justice, and the opportunity to reach for the American Dream. We will work in partnership with sister agencies at a federal, state and local level, as well as other stakeholders. We will reach out to communities so that we can prevent discrimination and violence from occurring in the first place.

Our nations vivid, storied and sometimes heartbreaking past has led to much progress. We should allow that progress to inspire us to continue the fight that was started centuries ago, and to continue to pursue America’s promise of equal opportunity for all.
http://www.justice.gov/crt/aag_page.php

No inmate in the United States should be mistreated physically or mentally. No inmate should be denied healthcare. These unbelievable abuses happen all the time.

”Harshest of all is the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President Clinton. Among other things it requires prisoners to exhaust a prison's ‘administrative remedies’ for mistreatment before they can sue. They may have as little as five days to do that; they may not know how, and they may face retaliation if they complain. If they fail that barrier, they have waived their rights.”

Charles Graner was the ringleader on nights at Abu Ghraib. His abusive skills were honed in an American gulag.

Charles was just filled with the glee of opportunity to go over there, because he said as we're walking down the corridor, "I can't wait to go kill some sand niggers." That smile he showed, he showed best when he was getting some prisoner to lose it, to snap, to lose his mind and scream at Charles. He loved it. – Former death row inmate Nicholas Yarris, recalling to CNN his memories of prison guard Charles Graner, later charged with abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Nicholas Yarris was exonerated, I believe he was wrongfully imprisoned about twenty years.
http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking2/CNN-AbuGharaib.html

JUDGE SIDES WITH NEW ORLEANS VICTIMS OF KATRINA IN LAWSUIT AGAINST CORP OF ENGINEERS FOR NEGLIGENCE.

Justice is starting to trickle back into our country a little bit at the time. Perhaps someday it will cause an overwhelming flood that runs through our courts and into the prison systems washing out the lies, abuse and prejudice.

NEW ORLEANS – A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could make the federal government vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims.


U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval sided with six residents and one business who argued the Army Corps' shoddy oversight of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the flooding of New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish. He said, however, the corps couldn't be held liable for the flooding of eastern New Orleans, where two of the plaintiffs lived.

This channel was not the only design flaw in the levee system. We know for one thing the levee was not built high enough.

Duval awarded the plaintiffs $720,000, but the government could eventually be forced to pay much more in damages. The ruling should give more than 100,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities a better shot at claiming billions of dollars in damages.


The ruling is also emotionally resonant for south Louisiana. Many in New Orleans have argued that the flooding in the aftermath of Katrina, which struck the region Aug. 29, 2005, was a manmade disaster caused by the Army Corps' failure to maintain the levee system protecting the city.

The Bush regime knew this was going to happened and did not take action to prevent it, kind of like the information they had about 9/11 and did nothing.

"Total devastation could possibly have been avoided if something had been done," said Tanya Smith, one of the plaintiffs. "A lot of this stuff was preventable and they turned a deaf ear to it."

There was a man who had educated the country about the problems with not only the levee, but the damage that had been done to the wetlands around New Orleans from the oil companies. He told the government and lot of other people there would be a disaster, they ignored him. I had read about what he was saying and assumed logically the government had taken steps to decrease the dangers. They had not.

Greg Palast wrote this piece for Crooks and Liars.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009


There's another floater. Four years on, there's another victim face down in the waters of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Ivor van Heerden.


I don't get to use the word "heroic" very often. Van Heerden is heroic. The Deputy Director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, it was van Heerden who told me, on camera, something so horrible, so frightening, that, if it weren't for his international stature, it would have been hard to believe:

"By midnight on Monday the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breached. Nobody."


On the night of August 29, 2005, van Heerden was shut in at the state emergency center in Baton Rouge, providing technical advice to the rescue effort. As Hurricane Katrina came ashore, van Heerden and the State Police there were high-fiving it: Katrina missed the city of New Orleans, turning east.


What they did not know was that the levees had cracked. For crucial hours, the White House knew, but withheld the information that the levees of New Orleans had broken and that the city was about to drown. Bush's boys did not notify the State of the flood to come which would have allowed police to launch an emergency hunt for the thousands that remained stranded.


"Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line," said van Heerden.

I don’t have a degree in law, but this sounds like manslaughter to me. To withhold information knowing people will be harmed and killed is a heinous crime. There are a lot of people who have died since due to disease caused by stress and poverty.

He shouldn't have told me that. The professor was already in trouble for saying, publicly, that the levees around New Orleans were no good, too short, by 18". They couldn't stand up to a storm like Katrina. He said it months before Katrina hit - in a call to the White House, and later in the press.


So, even before Katrina, even before our interview, the professor was in hot water. Van Heerden was told by University officials that his complaints jeopardized funding from the Bush Administration. They tried to gag him. He didn't care: he ripped off the gag and spoke out.
http://crooksandliars.com/greg-palast/katrina-four-years-later-expert-fired

As far as I am concerned he is an American hero and a role model for all scientists who have been gagged by threats from the tyrants who were running our country.

The 36-year-old registered nurse anesthetist lived in Chalmette close to the channel when Katrina hit. She was awarded $317,000 in property damages, the most of any of the plaintiffs.


Duval referred to the corps' approach to maintaining the channel as "monumental negligence."


During trial testimony, government lawyers and experts argued the levee system was overwhelmed by the massive storm, and levee breaches couldn't solely be blamed on the shipping channel dug in the 1960s as a short-cut between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans.

The corps had also unsuccessfully argued that it is immune from liability because the channel is part of New Orleans' flood control system.


In his 156-page ruling, Duval said he was "utterly convinced" that the corps' failure to shore up the channel "doomed the channel to grow to two to three times its design width" and that "created a more forceful frontal wave attack on the levee" that protected St. Bernard and the Lower 9th Ward.


"The Corps had an opportunity to take a myriad of actions to alleviate this deterioration or rehabilitate this deterioration and failed to do so," Duval said. "Clearly the expression 'talk is cheap' applies here."

The corps has been sued before over levee failures and flooding, but it had always walked away untouched. That included after Hurricane Betsy in 1965 over alleged flooding by the outlet. Ahead of Duval's ruling, experts had said it would likely have consequences for the way the Army Corps does business nationwide.


Pierce O'Donnell, another lead plaintiffs lawyer, said the ruling was the "first time ever the Army Corps has been held liable for damages for a major catastrophe that it caused."


The plaintiffs lawyers would like Congress to set up a compensation fund to speed up payments to the thousands of other claimants, whose claims must still be heard in court.


The lawsuit was the first major case against the federal government over Katrina flooding to go to trial. A decision rested with Duval because a jury cannot try a case against the federal government.

Despite its statements in court, the corps has acknowledged the area's flood risk and closed the channel with rocks. It is also building a $1.3 billion floodgate to stop surge entering the city from the direction of the channel and Lake Borgne.

It is my hope the people of New Orleans who were devastated will get the help they need to rebuild their lives because I know there are many who are still having problems. It is nice to once again live in a country where science is being advanced and children are being encouraged to work hard in school so they can go to college.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091119/

AG ERIC HOLDER BRINGS THE JUSTICE SYSTEM BACK INTO THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTING CIVIL RIGHTS

The lawyer for former Rep. Pete Kott said in court Tuesday that federal prosecutors might have knowingly used perjured testimony to send Kott to prison on corruption charges.
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/kott/story/1016683.html

You know these crooked politicians in Alaska don’t care if the citizens in Alaska are convicted using perjury. They also don’t care if people are wrongly charged or imprisoned, but they sure do scream loud when it happens to them(That‘s if it is even true). In Alaska we don’t get anyone from the justice department to look into the allegations. We get ignored, we get politicians saying it is the judicial branch and they have nothing to do with it. We get Richard Svobodney saying the DOJ or department of law will not do anything about the prosecutor that maliciously prosecuted us and slam the phone down in our ears.

No defendant of any kind should have perjured evidence used against them. You would think it would be obvious and quite ridiculous for me to say so, but apparently this is not known in Alaska. Justice is not what many prosecutors are looking for. They decide who they “want” for a crime and they shape the evidence to fit that person. They talk people into changing their testimony, knowingly use the lies of sociopaths(their testimony should be inadmissible), hold evidence back which would help the defense, and lie themselves. They are not held accountable as far as I can tell in the state of Alaska. In my case they even went so far as to give false information to the newspaper and printed something false in the department of law’s own newsletter about me. Does anyone care about that? No, of course not.

Now Kott has a federal public defender, well he better hope they gave him a sober one instead of one like the chronic inebriate I got. Then when she went to rehab I got another gem who lied to me to get me to take a plea when I wanted a trial. Then her office did not tell me about a hearing, nor did one of them go and the judge issued a warrant based on false evidence the Texas born and bred assistant ADA gave him. Public defender #2 left the agency(her boss then blamed the problems on her), then public defender #3 a very recently former prosecutor from you’ll never guess, Texas lied to me again to manipulate me and prevented evidence I had gathered myself from being used. I tried like hell to put the case together, however they were never going to allow the truth to come out about what had really happened. All the while Quinlan Steiner their boss was informed by me every step of the way what the problems were and ignore me. After I was wrongfully imprisoned I had to go through the commissioner’s office to get him to return phone calls. They lie on both sides. Now, I know the state does not give much funding to the public defender agency, but that is not an excuse for what has happened.

I happen to know not all attorneys lie as I know some from other states. Many of them believe very strongly in our justice system. They believe in truth and due process. I do also that is why I have been outspoken about this. At one point I wrote a letter to Judge Esch and told him I thought Nome had broken off of Alaska and floated over to Russia. Of all the things we have lost in this country the one that has angered me the most is the loss of our justice system to dishonest, unethical lawyers.

We have had a reversal of the corruption in the federal legal system with the actions of Attorney General Eric Holder. He believes in our constitution and so far has demonstrated that he intends to conduct his investigations and prosecutions with the highest regard for due process, civil rights, and ethics. It has been a beautiful thing to watch.

This is one of my favorite prosecutions so far because it sends a strong message about the abuse in our prison systems:

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bexar County, Texas, Corrections Officer Indicted on Civil Rights Charges


WASHINGTON – Daniel Melgoza, a Bexar County, Texas, Corrections Officer, was charged today in a four-count federal indictment with violating the civil rights of two detainees and obstructing justice. The charges stem from two December 2004 incidents in which Melgoza, 54, of San Antonio, allegedly assaulted inmates at the Bexar County Detention Center by kicking and striking them. The indictment also charges Melgoza with obstructing justice by providing false statements about the assaults.


An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If convicted, the defendant faces maximum penalties of 10 years imprisonment on each of the civil rights charges and 20 years imprisonment on each of the obstruction charges.


This case was investigated by Special Agent Mirella Rodriguez of the San Antonio Division of the FBI with assistance from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Christopher Lomax and Special Litigation Counsel Jeffrey Blumberg.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/November/09-crt-1244.html

Hello eighth amendment, nice to have you back in the United States! I really hope you will be visiting the courts and prisons in Alaska soon.

RUSHDOONY PROMOTED CHRISTIAN DISHONESTY, I GUESS PALIN STUDIED HIS TEACHINGS

ED Pilkington wrote this for the Guardian:

Anyone seeking clues as to whether Sarah Palin plans to run for US president in 2012 should consider the quotation from her father, Charles Heath, that she uses to introduce the final chapter of her new book, Going Rogue. "She's not retreating," he says. "She's reloading!"


This week America will resound to the deafening roar of automatic rifle fire being discharged by Palin across its airwaves. The first volley was let off today in the form of an hour-long interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Tomorrow morning will open with a round of sniper fire that will rattle on through the week: a multi-part conversation with the doyenne of television interviewers, ABC News's Barbara Walters.


Then, on Thursday the heavy artillery will be rolled on to the battlefields of small-town America when Palin takes her campaign bus – correction: book tour – to such iconic heartland destinations as Grand Rapids, Michigan; Noblesville, Indiana; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

That's a great deal of munitions for someone content to rest on her laurels at home in Wasilla, Alaska (population 9,000)

Wouldn't it be nice if she was drowned out by the sound of gun fire, fingernails being dragged on a blackboard, Yoko Ono's singing, or the sound of several caterwauling cats? I think I will do a lot of reading this week and leave the TV off.

She is getting kind of boring to me, seen one sociopath, seen em' all. The interesting part of the story is how stupid her followers are. She tells one unbelievably obvious lie after another and they can't see even one of them.  From Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal: "There is no requirement for Christians to be truthful "in acts of war", Rushdoony wrote, "spying is legitimate, as are deceptive tactics."'

RADICAL RELIGIOUS VIEWS ARE HIGH RISK FOR MURDER/SUICIDE FOR ALL RELIGIONS

Doctor of Mind freaked out after the Fort Hood shooting and sounded all racist and paranoid, talking about why do we import foreign doctors. Dr. Hasan of course is an American doctor. He was just in shock as he loves the military. I knew that, so I told him my theory about what happened and he told me it was a good assessment. Four days ago he posted this video.




He doesn't even mention the bullying or the Christian mafia in the army which I think was a huge contributor. This is typical of mental health professionals. It is not widely understood. Antidepressants can cause an increased risk of suicidal behavior, but I had discounted it because I thought the army would have had records of it. He could have been treating himself because he did not want the army to know due to the harassment he was getting already, psychiatrists usually don't seek help, and the army does not promote those who have mental health issues. As I have said before this situation was predictable and the military has some really bad dysfunctions that are causing the problems. All radical religious views are high risk for murder/suicide. One form of this would be car bombings. This high risk group includes the right wing Christian Mafia. We were told by Dr. Hasan's family he had moderate views. The PTSD could have caused him to loose his original faith and change to a more radical type of belief system. We still do not know if this had anything to do with the shootings for sure. The same thing can happen to the victims of the wars in other countries. They get PTSD also and then keep getting re-traumatized over and over. We create the radical religious fanatics with our imperialistic wars based on lies. People are harmed on both sides. The psychological trauma causes permanent brain changes and a lot of anger. The world has been put in a great deal of danger because of the presidency of George W. Bush. He and his accomplices should be put on trial for war crimes. I think some justice would help us all.

"PENTACOSTALGON" AKA DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

First Hasan was dead, then alive. First there were two other shooters under arrest, then just one shooter. Then a white female cop who got shot herself was the cop who took Hasan down, now it's a black cop. The stories from MSM are compartmentalized. Are they causing this themselves or is it because they are being fed information in this manner so it keeps them from being able to get at the truth? These "unnamed informants" may be shills from the military-industrial complex which wants to fuel the war on terror. Follow the money. If the war machine is turned down they stand to loose a lot of money. They could be behind the lies being fed to the media.

Is this horrific incident at Fort Hood being used as a second 9/11 situation by the military and other organizations in this country to make militaristic action in the middle east more popular? Creating fear in the people and demonizing the enemy is one of the first steps to war. Did they know if they pushed Dr. Hasan he would break and possibly become violent? Really, do you think they are as incompetent as the picture that is being painted? I don't.

Some in the media have reported that Hasan put Islam before the US? There are a lot of religions that teach people to put their religion first before country or even family, this is not an exclusive Muslim belief. This belief is especially strong among Christians. The news media is so easily manipulated that they will fall for almost anything.

On this weekend's "State of Belief," The Interfaith Alliance Foundation's show on Air America Radio, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy examines the influence of evangelical Christians within the Department of Defense. Last week, six senior Pentagon officials were reprimanded for wearing their uniforms when they gave testimonials on a video by a group called Christian Embassy. Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, tells Rev. Gaddy that evangelical Christian organizations have established groups at each of the U.S. military's nearly 400 bases around the globe. Weinstein uses the term "Pentecostalgon" to describe the headquarters of the Department of Defense.
http://www.interfaithalliance.org/news/93-how-the-defense-department-puts-god-before-country

Mikey Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been nominated for a 2010 Nobel Peace prize.

Weinstein's group has exposed the meteoric rise of fundamentalist Christianity within the US military and has called attention to the fact that military personnel have sought to cast the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as a crusade between Christianity and Islam.

Weinstein, an honor graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, former White House counsel during the Reagan administration and former General Counsel to H. Ross Perot, said religious intolerance within the military is widespread and continues to get worse.


Weinstein noted that MRFF has about 18 active cases at Fort Hood involving soldiers who allege they have been subjected to non-stop fundamentalist Christian proselytization.


"Fort Hood is one of our worst hot spots of the nearly 1,000 US military installations scattered around the world in approximately 132 countries," Weinstein said. "We've had a particular problem with the public elementary school that's actually situated on the installation where children of soldiers have been continuously proselytized to."
http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/truthout_hood.html

Another shooting occurred at the post Sept. 8, 2008. In that incident, Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan, 22, of Eagle River, Ala., who was scheduled to soon be discharged, fatally shot 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, of Jensen Beach, Fla. When Killeen police arrived, they fired shots at Wirawan. He responded by shooting himself, Fort Hood officials told The Associated Press at the time. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/sharedgen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/11/05/shooting_is_second_in_a_little.html

Fort Hood houses the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program. It has been in the news over the years due to a spate of suicides and several murders. In October 2005, a Fort Hood soldier shot himself and another hung himself in separate incidents over a single weekend.

As if PTSD can be reset, it causes permanent brain changes. Some of the effects don't go away.


Last month, police were called to an apartment in Killeen and witnessed a Fort Hood Army specialist shoot his lieutenant. The officers then returned fire, and the specialist shot himself in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.


According to Pentagon figures, Fort Hood has the highest suicide rate than any Army base in the country, with 75 soldiers taking their own lives since 2003.


The San Antonio News-Express reported last August that the number of suicides at Fort Hood "has been 26 per 100,000 people from 2006 to 2008, far above the civilian rate of 14.06 per 100,000."


"The problem isn't new, but three of the Army's busiest posts have seen a sharp increase in suicides over the past four years. Fort Hood, Fort Campbell, Ky., and Fort Bragg, N.C., logged 125 suicides in that period, and 183 since 2003," the newspaper reported.


An undated column written by Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, III Corps, Fort Hood Commander, that was posted on the website of Suicide and Mental Health International said:


III Corps has lost another soldier: not to a car accident, not to an RPG attack in Iraq, but to suicide. Since January, nine Fort Hood soldiers have taken their own lives, and six of those since May. Everyone should pause and realize that we have lost six soldiers to suicide in a little over two months! We have lost more soldiers to suicide in the past six months than were lost all last year. I am alarmed and distraught by these soldiers' deaths. Every soldier, every friend and every leader should realize his obligation to help end this horrible and sad trend. Don't discount the severity of this trend. While over 40,000 soldiers call Fort Hood home, the eight soldiers who committed suicide this year represent only a small portion of the problem. Already this year at Fort Hood, 32 other soldiers have attempted to take their lives, but thankfully they were unsuccessful, and 106 other soldiers have somehow demonstrated a desire to commit suicide. Who knows how many other soldiers or leaders within III Corps have demonstrated suicidal behavior. And would we know the warning signs
http://www.truthout.org/topstories/110509vh09

After several years of putting up with the harassment by these evangelical military Christian radicals I can imagine there are a lot of people in the military right now about to have a meltdown. Add other stressors such as PTSD and it will generate more and more suicides and shootings. I don’t care what they tell people this type of bullying makes people very ill. It causes psychological injury, PTSD, and results in violence and suicide. It is being sanctioned by the department of defense.

LIES, INCONSISTENCIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS, WE CALL IT NEWS

Whew, I’m dizzy. Sometimes the room starts to spin when I read or watch the news, it’s from the spin they put on everything.


From NPR:

Starting in the spring of 2008, key officials from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences held a series of meetings and conversations, in part about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others last week during a shooting spree at Fort Hood. One of the questions they pondered: Was Hasan psychotic?

I really find it hard to believe they would have allowed a psychotic man to continue to practice medicine. They make these meetings sound as if they were specially called. They were the usual and regular evaluations that are done on all doctors in the program he was in.

This really got to me: His supervisors at Walter Reed had even reprimanded him for telling at least one patient that "Islam can save your soul." I think I may have heard something similar to that somewhere, let me think, Oh yes, Jesus can save your soul. Of course it should be inappropriate for either of those two statements to be used in the workplace, but we all know the military is full of dominionist evangelical right wing radicals who say that crap all the time. Are they reprimanded? Does that mean they are unstable too or possibly psychotic? I once had a doctor who by the way was psychotic tell a Jewish woman who was dying to get herself right with Jesus. It did not go over well as you can imagine. Fortunately I was close and heard it. I promptly said, “Why would you say that to a Jewish woman, you idiot”. He was immediately fired from her case. We wrote him up until there was a clear picture he needed help and he left to get it.

Their story about wondering if he was psychotic and not doing anything is a load of crap. There is no way a psychotic person could have held up to perform at all in the program he was in. This information that they thought he was psychotic is really insane in light of the fact they had decided to deploy him. This could be an indication that his commanding officer was psychotic also.   How would that conversation have gone? I think he’s psychotic, but once the trauma sets in on the battlefield and the soldiers start having psychotic symptoms from the PTSD he’ll fit in with them, it should work out, no one will probably notice. Oh, I believe he was deteriorating slowly over a long period of time and may have become psychotic at the end, but I smell a cover up and planted informants. This is Walter Reed Army Medical Center for heavens sake, come on. The only other explanation for deploying a doctor that they thought was psychotic would be they wanted to completely shatter the man. If that was the plan, it worked.

The media is really starting to get on my nerves. Their illogical uneducated assumptions to try and sensationalize are unbelievable. On MSNBC’s website today they had an article with this paragraph which comes from the above NPR piece.

The sources told NPR that both fellow students and faculty were deeply troubled by Hasan's behavior, which they variously described as disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent and "schizoid."

I doubt this reporter or the person supplying this so called information knows what schizoid even means. He just thought it sounded like a really crazy person. I am assuming they are referring to schizoid personality disorder and they are not evil people as the writer of this article seems to be saying. I once had a schizoid patient who found out he would be confined in a psychiatric hospital the rest of his life walk into a lake and dround himself because he couldn't stand all the people. This informant sounds like someone with little experience and I would find it hard to believe it is a psychiatrist. If the information we have so far that has been verified by more than one source about Hasan is true there is no way he has schizoid personality disorder. We all have characteristics of personality disorders. I have a lot of traits of obsessive compulsive personality disorder which is often found in very highly successful people, but I don’t have enough characteristics for a complete diagnosis of obsessive compulsive PD. The paranoid factor was probably hypervigilence from PTSD which is simply a normal protective mechanism which is very primitive. Those who do not understand it may interpret it as paranoia.


Schizoid Personality Disorder

Know that people with schizoid personality disorder show little or no desire for social involvement. They are sometimes referred to as "loners" and have few, if any, friends. The detachment from social relationships and activities begins in early adulthood.

There are many diagnoses who are considered loners and have few friends. There has recently been some research that shows it is actually a normal variant in the population to be a loner. Schizoid Personality Disorder is one of the options I thought of as I heard trickles of information about Dr. Hasan. I rejected it almost immediately for several reasons. I originally thought I had Schizoid Personality Disorder when I was young. I asked several psychiatrists and psychologists about it because it did not really fit, but I had characteristics of it. They all thought it was funny that I thought I had it because 1) a Schizoid would never think there was anything abnormal about themselves and 2) would not be working in a psychiatric hospital like I was. Dr. Hasan was looking for a wife, most schizoids don‘t marry or have a desire to have sex(with other people), nor would they be working intensely with people. The desire to have a wife and not being able to figure out how to get one is indicative of poor social skills, but not probably not Schizoid PD.

We do not know if Dr. Hasan knew he was having issues or if he knew why. We did know he desperately tried to get out of the military. He went to medical school and then he picked the most social specialty. A schizoid MD would pick pathology, radiology, or surgery so they would not have as much social interaction. But, I really think it would be rare indeed that one of them would want to go to medical school to begin with. Schizoids tend to pick a niche where they can do their own thing, alone, no other people, by themselves, if you get my point.

Realize that people with schizoid personality disorder often function well in their daily lives and can even work well in a job setting. Individuals with this personality disorder often excel in jobs where they are left alone to complete a task.

Recognize that people with schizoid personality disorder do not have a desire to form meaningful relationships with others. There is a lack of interest or desire for sexual intimacy with others.

Dr. Hasan was looking for a wife, although he did not seem to have relationships with others. Having a close relationship with only first degree relatives could be a sign of schizoid personality disorder. He had a close relationship with his parents and seemed to deteriorate when they died, but that happens to a lot of people. He also seemed to have relationships with non-first degree relatives in at least an email or phone way and even visited some in the middle east.The Telegraph has a post up that Dr. Hasan was witnessed a few times at a pole dancing club, that doesn't sound very schizoid to me(if it is true).  Being isolated can also be a symptom of PTSD due to not trusting people.

Understand that the people with this disorder may seem cold or aloof as evidenced by their lack of genuine feelings for others and their indifference to criticism or praise. People with the disorder often form attachments with pets and avoid meaningful human interactions.

A schizoid would probably not be calling their relatives and expressing anguish over the horrible things he was seeing or hearing. Patients have come forward and said he helped them a lot. At least one member of the staff called him an asset. He would also not be very upset about a poor job evaluation or the harassment about his religion. The concern about a conflict with middle eastern individuals in combat in the middle east also does not indicate Schizoid PD.

NPR and MSM are your sources simply made up or are you talking to some technician, social worker, or a new grad nurse? I would find it very difficult to believe this would come from a psychiatrist, as it makes no sense at all. There is a reason why it takes a long time to become a psychiatrist. Psychiatry can be quite complicated.

There is a diagnosis that seems to fit here, but I do not have enough evidence yet to clearly propose that one as the probable issue because Dr. Hasan's situation is very complex. Much information is needed. I am reluctant to mention it because of all the misinformation flowing through the news media. I don’t want people thinking they are violent because they are not. This diagnosis I am thinking of is not a mental illness. There are lots of psychologists who have it, some psychiatrists, actually lots of doctors and other health professionals. They also make good professors, engineers, and scientists. They are often bullied starting in childhood and it often continues into adulthood causing PTSD. They have problems with social interactions and missing nonverbal clues from people. They have a high suicide rate especially with the bullying. A high percentage of them are very intelligent. They like to do research like Dr. Hasan did and talk incessantly about their favorite obsession or obsessions which irritates some people. They have routines which can be ritualistic and often eat the same foods everyday. Dr. Hasan went to the same place everyday and had hash browns for breakfast. They would freak out because of these routines if they were pulled out of their living situation. Dr. Hasan had recently been moved and then was about to be deployed. Certain people feel threatened by someone with this disorder because the person would be blunt, factual, and possibly argumentative, this makes them feel stupid, but it is not what was intended. It would be difficult to win an argument with him because he would always have more information than anyone else. He would be interpreted as arrogant by some because of this, but that is not his intention. They are physically awkward and uncoordinated. These people have the same feelings as others, but can have a difficult time expressing them. They are usually very mild mannered, but can have issues with anger due to frustrations with miscommunications and bullying. Rather than not be affected by criticism like Schizoid PD they get very upset about criticism. They spend a great deal of time on the internet because they do better communicating that way, less non-verbal clues and they love to constantly do research. They have a very strong sense of justice and may be described as not being a team player. They can have relationships and successful marriages. They usually have a witty or odd sense of humor. The medical community thinks this disorder is rare, but it is widespread, just rarely diagnosed. It used to be misdiagnosed frequently as Schizoid Personality Disorder. It is misdiagnosed as a multitude of things now, especially if PTSD is in the mix.

...Walter Reed and most medical institutions have a cumbersome and lengthy process for expelling doctors, involving hearings and potential legal battles. As a result, sources say, key decision-makers decided it would be too difficult, if not unfeasible, to put Hasan on probation and possibly expel him from the program.

I'm sorry, but this is BS. Many doctors are removed from institutions, yes there might be paperwork and hearings, but the army thinking it is just too much trouble is total BS. If they had evidence of incompetence or other issues it would have not been that difficult.  The man had been trying for a long period of time to get them to release him, he offered to pay them back for his education if only they would let him leave. He hired an attorney to fight for his release and they just would not allow it. Why? Why? Why did you not let him leave. If he had the gay you would have bounced his ass out in a second.


I think the real story here is Army psychiatrists who should be the world experts on PTSD failed to recognize a case of most likely complex PTSD and get one of their own the help he needed. The result was disasterous. This would explain a lot about the lack of treatment for veterans with PTSD. No wonder they want it covered up. Notice all of these people who they get information from are unnamed sources.

WE'RE #2 IN ALASKA. LOUISIANA BEAT US FOR THE #1 SPOT

CBS News has done a five month investigation into rape kit testing which included Anchorage Alaska. I wish they had checked on the rural areas.

Now, a five-month CBS News investigation of 24 cities and states has found more than 6,000 rape kits from active investigations waiting months, even years to be tested.

On average, six months in Rhode Island, Alabama and Illinois. It can take nearly a year in Missouri. Up to three years in Anchorage, Alaska. One state, Louisiana, has rape kits dating as far back as 2001 waiting to be tested.(1)

We're number two second only to Louisiana. I can only imagine the jealousy in the leadership of law enforcement and  the leadership at the department of law in Alaska over Louisiana flaunting their  incompetence and corruption skills so shamelessly. Maybe if we check how long it takes to test the kits in the rural areas we could beat them?

Wonder why the number of rapes is so high here in Alaska? Not testing rape kits is a huge contributor. In the villages I found out if the woman does not want to press charges the state does not prosecute. We know it is common for women who are in a domestic violence situation to not want to prosecute out of fear of retaliation. At least 1/3 of women raped know the man who assaults them. The women also face some pressure from family and neighbors not to prosecute in small close knit communities. Most states have laws that if there is a domestic violence incident someone gets arrested. This is also done to diffuse the situation. If there is evidence of a rape the state should be investigating the evidence even if the victim does not want them to just like arresting and prosecuting someone for domestic violence when their partner does not want them arrested.

"It's absolutely astounding," said Sarah Tofte, Research Director at Human Rights Watch. "What's the point of sending a rape kit to a crime lab for testing if you can't get to it for say, eight years?"(1)

Here in Alaska we had a female Mayor in Wailla, Sarah Palin who charged women who had been raped for the rape kits which sends the message that the crime of rape is not taken seriously(4). If you want justice you have to pay for it yourself. Crimes against women have a history of being put on the back burner or not taken very seriously. We know this from many serial rape cases and serial murder cases where poor, minorities, or prostitutes are not given attention until the numbers of missing, murdered. or raped are very large. I was raped over thirty years ago by eight men in another state and because the owner of the home it happened in was the son of a prominent man in California the police would not even investigate. This incident did change the course of my life. If I could have gotten justice or counseling it would have helped me heal faster. I have to say that here in Alaska I have encountered trauma much worse than that rape and injustice of hugely incompetent and corrupt proportions.

Not only does Alaska have the responsibility to women who were already raped they have the responsibility to protect those who potentially will be raped by a serial perpetrator. There is also a responsibility to catch rapists at early stages because some of them can be rehabilitated. The more times they rape the less their potential for finding a way to stop and the high recidivism rate is made worse because of this. I believe catching them early by educating the public on the importance of reporting any and all rapes is important. This can be done by letting women know they will be supported by not only the state, but their families, and communities. I do not mean to ignore male rape victims, this is all just as important for them.

The other side of the coin is there are many cases of men in prison for rapes they did not commit based on crap science. We know eye witnesses are a very poor source of evidence and are very often wrong or influenced by investigators. The way line ups are done in Alaska has come under scrutiny. The department of law is finally allowing a case in which DNA testing can be done in the Gregory Marino murder case.   DNA evidence could also be used in rape cases to exonerate men falsely accused of rape and/or find the real perpetrator.

These situations are horrible because people are in prison who are innocent and the guilty party can be continuing to rape. I believe these mistakes in prosecution are the reasons they blocked DNA testing to exonerate men from convictions and they also know it is going to cost a lot of money. On the other hand if the conviction was correct use the DNA testing to prove it beyond a doubt. I would also like to see the statistics on how many rape kits are from rapes on native women and then the number which are not tested due to the women not wanting to prosecute as compared to other reasons.

Alaska is one of three states in the U.S. that doesn’t have a DNA access law, along with Massachusetts and Oklahoma. Representative Bob Lynn (R-Anchorage) has a bill currently in the legislature that would allow for post-conviction DNA testing, if the applicant can show that the results could establish a reasonable doubt as to the applicant’s guilt of the crime he or she was convicted of.(2)

Alaska is always one of the top holdouts for justice. Since 1989 two-hundred-forty-five cases in this country have been exonerated using DNA(5), that should be proof enough that there could be prosecution errors in Alaska. Can you imagine being in prison for years and be innocent, saying you are innocent, not believed, or even abused by prison guards for saying it. I can because it happened to me for a short amount of time compared to their stories.

This is why Bob Lynn had to write this law and I think it says it all about the DOL:

Lawyers for the state were thrilled with the ruling. Had it gone the other way, states could have been forced to hold onto evidence forever, on the chance that new tests would materialize down the road, said Richard Svobodny, Alaska deputy attorney general over criminal matters.(3)

That is the same Richard Svobodny who told me they would never do anything about my wrongful prosecution and imprisonment caused by ADA John Earthman and the lies told about me to news media.

"Even though we don't have a specific DNA statute, what we have is perfectly adequate. More than adequate," said Ken Rosenstein, the lead lawyer for the state in the Osborne appeal.

Still, they acknowledge no Alaska convict has ever had DNA testing of evidence after a conviction. A court ruled in favor of one convict, but by the time the test was attempted, the evidence had been destroyed(of course).(3)

No convict has ever had DNA testing, The DOL believes what we have is perfectly adequate for the pitiful lack of due process in Alaska.

Senator Hollis French (D-Anchorage) has a related bill that would enforce preservation of evidence, particularly biological evidence that would need to be kept in sufficient quantities and proper conditions to allow future DNA testing. According to French’s office, the bill is supported by the Departments of Law and Public Safety, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. It’s expected the bill will pass in the upcoming legislative session.(2)

This bill and the one Representative Lynn wrote may be why the DOL finally agreed to have DNA testing done on a post conviction case and I am thankful someone cares enough about fair justice in Alaska to write them. I am very surprised considering their history that the DOL is supporting it. I guess justice can only be forced on them. I know from my own personal experience they care little about facts and there are huge due process problems with the judicial system as evidenced by the William Osborne case. The Supreme Court ruled that an inmate had no right to post conviction testing of DNA stating that the states post conviction relief procedures are adequate. That is a huge load of very smelly manure otherwise the department of law would not be blocking the testing of the DNA in his case to begin with. The very fact that no one has been allowed to have DNA testing and he had to go to the Supreme Court to begin with makes it clear.


(1)http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/10/cbsnews_investigates/main5603492.shtml?tag=stack

(2)http://www.anchoragepress.com/articles/2009/10/30/news/doc4adf7ec9e7c75511769557.txt

(3)http://www.adn.com/front/story/836388.html

(4)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

(5)http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/351.php

THE RIGHT WING EVANGELICALS ARE INVADING EUROPE

The Guardian in the UK had this piece in their paper this weekend. So far it looks like the Evangelicals are in the beginning stages of their take over. We know they have a plan to infiltrate the world. At least the French are an educated people and can fight back. In Africa they have caused horrible problems with the torturing of “witch children” in populations of the poor and uneducated people. I feel for the French people, as we know one of their goals is to get into the political system to further their theocratic agenda. I hope the French look at what is going on in the United States with the Dominionists and do what they can to block them. They have been trying to influence the laws of several countries with regard to home schooling, L/G/B/Ts, scientific research, and cult laws.  

As evangelical services go, this gathering on a rainy Sunday is nothing unusual. In countless churches across the US and many countries, it would be a staple means of Christian worship.


But this is not the American Bible Belt. It is the Church of Paris-Bastille, and this congregation is one of a growing number of evangelical communities spreading through France and prospering in spite of its secular - and Catholic - traditions.


From a postwar population of about 50,000, French evangelicals are now estimated to number 450,000 to 500,000. According to the Evangelical Federation of France, the number of churches has risen from 800 in 1970 to more than 2200 today.


Last week, the boom made headlines when thousands of evangelicals descended on Strasbourg to turn the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth into a huge media-covered event.


On paper, France would seem one of the least likely places for this branch of Christianity to gain a foothold. For centuries, Protestantism was the embattled minority in a country Catholics liked to call the ''eldest daughter of the church'' because of its strong ties to Rome. That minority still makes up just 3 per cent of the population.


More importantly, ever since France wrote a separation of church and state into the constitution, the country has worshipped at the altar of laicite - the concept of a secular state.


So the emergence of evangelicals as a force has raised eyebrows, with some critics questioning whether their beliefs are compatible with the values of a secular republic. They are associated in many minds with the politically powerful movement of the US religious right.


Jean-Francois Colosimo, a writer and religious historian, provoked a furious backlash from evangelicals when, after it emerged that France's intelligence services had launched a ''census'' of the domestic population, he said: ''Everything in France would seem to ban a politico-religious mixture. But laicite is fragile and temptations are present'' - a direct reference to the evangelicals.


These arguments are rejected as irrelevant by French believers. Just because they have the same faith as the Americans and a similar style of worship, they say, it does not mean they share the same politics. But Henri Tincq, a religious commentator, said issues such as abortion and homosexuality were creeping up the agenda.

HEALTHCARE REFORM ISN'T JUST ABOUT HEALTHCARE

Having just been through a health problem myself I have been thinking about those who have no insurance at all and what would happen to them in my situation.  I have a painful condition in my face and jaws which flares up sometimes. I can usually manage it with OTCs and ice as it is a mild form of Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia. I realized I had a dental infection, but no dental insurance. I thought I got rid of the infection three times. I use certain foods and dental hygiene techniques to do this. It finally got bad and I was in excruciating pain. I had to have antibiotics. I am on Medicare and the doctors in Alaska often refuse us so I had quit looking for one a while back. I got lucky and a clinic two blocks away takes Medicare. The doctor also impressed me as he is really intelligent. He even knew all about workplace bullying and even knows the tactics the hospitals use on nurses. What are the chances of me finding him? I had to see a dentist and it will end up costing over $2000 in the end. They will let me pay it off, but good grief. I was in a lot of pain even after the root canal. The dentist was not happy to have a TGN patient. We have pain when most dental patients don't because it is a nerve condition. The pain is almost gone now. I had thought I was feeling bad because I had my PTSD triggered, it was mainly just the infection. The dental problems started after the wrongful imprisonment, I have never had these problems before.


I am in recovery from prescription pain medication addiction(many would say it is not addiction because I have real pain, but I think that is BS), but every few years I am confronted with a situation in which I have to take pain pills. This was one of them. I generally do everything I know to keep from taking them. I know in great detail what narcotics do to our bodies. They change the personality, stop stem cells from migrating to the brain to form memories(that is why people on drugs get stupid), lower the pain threshold and more. Since I am already addicted it takes only a few days of pain pills and I go into withdrawal when I stop taking them. I have to weigh the amount of pain I am in with the pain of having to go through withdrawal from the narcotics. So, I am now in withdrawal and know all the things to do to get through it. It is a mild withdrawl so it is mainly just unpleasant. I got an email today from a woman with TGN who had some teeth pulled and the dentist would not give her pain meds because she was not suppose to have pain. I told her to go to the ER or her regular doctor and told her all my pain control tricks which include some foods, but she really needed immediate relief. Dentists need to learn about TGN or refer the patient to their MD.

This health care bill is not what I wanted, but it has come to be a symbol of hope for me. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao went against his party and voted for the bill because the people in his district in Louisiana need it. I am sure the people in that district are happy to have him. A republican who makes decisions for the people he is working for instead of some other agenda, now that is something to give us all hope. I have been in mourning for single payer healthcare. I watched our healthcare system ruined by insurance companies, drug companies, and healthcare companies. Even now in Alaska the hospitals are fighting to keep on requiring nurses to work overtime. Forced overtime is unsafe. They are also using a workplace bullying tactic of writing bad evaluations for those who call in sick, like when they have the flu and then get rid of nurses who call in sick more than the allotted amount. That is being done down here on the Peninsula you know where someone went into a hospital and shot his supervisors. I don't know of a bigger clue of a problem than that. Can you imagine catching one virus after another because in your job you are exposed to everything that goes around and then getting fired for being sick? When people are bullied they start to call in sick as bullying does decrease the effectiveness of the immune system. They know this of course, they know exactly what they are doing.

I know that the political conditions coupled with the hold the corporations have on our country prevents a sweeping reform of healthcare. That is why Senator Weiner withdrew his bill. Hopefully he can try again at a later time. At least now more people can get some help. Our government is really controlled by corporations. They are the invisible government. Even this bill is a miracle. A lot of legislators fought tooth and nail to try and get as much covered, as many covered as possible, and take as much control as possible from the insurance companies, drug companies, and other leachy health care industries. The problem is we will still be at the mercy of the insurance companies and they are gaining a ton of new customers. How convenient for them. It also will set back women's rights if it passes the Senate. They had to eliminate elective abortions to get it passed.

I am seeing the process more as a beginning of the changes in our country, not just for health care, but for many areas we need to change. It tells me the tide is being turned in this country. With all that we have lost from Ronald Reagan until George W. Bush, the loss of our humanity seems to be the least talked about. The human cost in suffering is immeasurable. The mentally ill forced into the streets and prisons, millions without health care, military veterans denied care for health problems caused by their service, our civil rights eroded, prisons filled with people who in many cases should have never been arrested(their civil rights denied in many ways including lack of health care), the quality of education decreasing, lies told to us by corporations because our regulatory agencies were owned by them, the Geneva Convention being ignored so people could be tortured in our name, the decrease in research which would have advanced our society, and lies told to us to get us to follow like sheep are just a few examples of the results of allowing corporations to control our government. Getting this bill passed as watered down as it is, is about taking the control of our resources and our liberties back from corporations just as much as it is about getting all Americans access to health care.

Hell, we have allowed them to control our prison system, that is insane. We have allowed them to influence what we eat to the point of mass obesity. The government should start the process of getting the cost of fruits and vegetables low. If they have to put taxes on junk food products like soda so be it. Do it and do it now. That and some other changes will help reduce health care costs.

Sarah Palin in a pathetic move invokes the "death panels" again. Yea Sarah, like you or your ghost writer read the bill. Her Facebook commenters are stocking up on supplies for the revolution and still don't have spell check.

Michele Bachmann wearing that lei to tell a story of people who flew from Hawaii to come to Washington D.C. to complain about the "government take over of health care" is hilarious. I guess that says it all doesn't it? Does she know Hawaii has a state law that all employers have to supply their employees with health care? Do these people from Hawaii even know this? Teabaggers, they don't surprise me anymore. Aloha.