Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Dailyshow with Jon Stewart Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended I love it!!!.













Saturday, August 22, 2009

server info for CPR

Sitehttp://www.cprights.org Last rebootunknown Uptime graph
Domaincprights.org Netblock ownerLocal Launch
IP address72.32.147.161 Site rank266969
Country US Nameserverdns1.stabletransit.com
Date first seenAugust 2002 DNS adminipadmin@stabletransit.com
Domain Registryunknown Reverse DNSunknown
Organisationunknown Nameserver OrganisationClick And Name, 9725 Datapoint Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, 78229, United States
http://www.cprights.org Last rebootunknown Uptime graph
Domaincprights.org Netblock ownerLocal Launch
IP address72.32.147.161 Site rank266969
Country US Nameserverdns1.stabletransit.com
Date first seenAugust 2002 DNS adminipadmin@stabletransit.com
Domain Registryunknown Reverse DNSunknown
Organisationunknown Nameserver OrganisationClick And Name, 9725 Datapoint Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, 78229, United States
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Conservatives for Patients' Rights

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Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR) is a health care pressure group founded by Rick Scott, a lawyer by trade, in February 2009. Scott has stated that CPR is intended to put pressure on U.S. Democrats to enact health care legislation based on free-market principles.[1] CPR opposes the broad outlines of President Obama's health care reform plan, and has hired Creative Response Concepts, a public relations firm which previously worked with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.[2] Scott has been accused of using swiftboating tactics in an attempt to defeat Obama's health care reform plan.[3][4]

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Funding sources

As of March, 2009, Rick Scott had given about $5 million for a planned $20 million advertising campaign by CPR.[1] CPS does not identify any of its funding sources on its website and it is unknown where the balance comes from.[5]

Scott founded the Columbia Hospital Corporation in 1987, but was ousted by the company's board of directors in 1997 in the midst of the nation's biggest health care fraud scandal, which involved Medicaid and Medicare fraud.[6] Canadian physician and private insurance advocate, Dr. Brian Day, appears in an advertisement running on television for CPR, although in a situation reminiscent of the Columbia/HCA fraud case involving Scott, Day's private surgical clinic in British Columbia is currently under investigation by the B.C. government for illegal billing practices.[7]

Parallels have been drawn with the Harry and Louise campaign funded by the insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital industries against health care in the early Clinton years when the last attempt was made to get significant heath care reform.[8] This time around, with US health spending already at 17.6% of GPD, and predicted to be at 20.3% in 2018,[9] the health care industry may not want to be visibly associated with this campaign. CPR is often mentioned in conversations surrounding lobbying against health-care reform.

[edit] Campaign

The American public seems more ready for health care reform now than ever,[10] with many actually without health care at all.[11] Conservatives for Patients' Rights assert themselves as advocates for better health care. Their plan is described as the pillars of health care reform:"choice, competition, accountability and personal responsibility."[6][12]

The CPR campaign for competition suggests a release of "burdensome regulations" against private companies in allowance of unfettered "competition" across the states. [12] Scott said at that time of the CPR launch, "[When] the government gets involved, you run out of money and health care gets rationed."[1] Scott has created and starred in a series of commercials advocating against greater government involvement in health care. One CPR tactic against the President's plan is to protest at town hall meetings on the issue. They have provided a list of local town hall meetings on the issue which the group urge their supporters to attend and have provided video footage on how previous people have handled the situation. [13] [14]

[edit] Opposition to the campaign

The Service Employees International Union suggests that the CPR promoted "interruption" strategy at town hall meetings are essentially diverting any attention away from productive dialogue. [15] Robert Gibbs says that groups like CPR are right-winged investments in the "status quo". Chuck Schumer calls them a "'small fringe group' who want to 'monopolize conversation'"[16][17] White House Democrats are claiming that the rowdy protests are orchestrated by lobbyists and the right wing.[18]

"'This mob activity is straight from the playbook of high-level Republican political operatives,' the Democratic National Committee says in a new Web video. 'They have no plan for moving our country forward, so they've called out the mob.'"[19]

Health policy analysts disagree with Scott's assertion that the Obama plan is "socialized medicine."[20][21]

A nonprofit news organization from Washington DC, points out that CPR campaigning supports false allegations against the Presiden't plan: The CPR presents commercials of how health-care reform will "sqeeze" Americans: "higher taxes, an inflated deficit, skyrocketing premiums and lousy public health coverage."

In May 2009, the group Health Care for America Now (HCAN) started broadcasting an advertisement in the Washington, D.C. area and in Scott's home town of Naples, Florida, highlighting the Columbia/HCA fraud case and the millions made by Scott with that company.[22] HCAN said of Scott: "He and his insurance-company friends make millions from the broken system we have now."[23] Some conservative health care policy experts[who?] also questioned Scott's involvement on grounds that Obama's health care plan had yet to be made public, or on grounds that the insurance industry is willing to consider a compromise which would allow greater government involvement in health care. Other conservative groups[who?] have been more welcoming. The director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance indicated a willingness to work with Scott, saying: "He's bringing a lot of money to the table."[6]

In August 2009, Katie Brickell and Kate Spall, two British woman who featured in a CPR commercial attacking the National Health Service, said they were "duped" and the commercial misrepresents them because in reality they strongly support state-funded health care. Both told The Times newspaper that they had been told they were being interviewed for a documentary examining healthcare reform, and neither knew the footage would be used for such a commercial. [24]

[edit] Claims made by CPR

Claim #1: Health reform "could raise taxes by $600 billion—even taxing soda." The ad cites a July 10 Associated Press article in Newsday reporting that House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-NY., "has said his committee needs to come up with $600 billion in new taxes to deliver on Obama's goal of sweeping changes to bring down costs and cover the 50 million uninsured." The ad doesn't note that the $600 billion is a figure over 10 years. Holahan says that number could turn out to be right, but it likely will be less. "There are all kinds of proposals out there, and [the cost] depends on the design choices, including how generous it is in terms of benefits and subsidies, what savings they can get out of Medicare and Medicaid and whether there's a public plan." And, a soda tax is just one of many proposed revenue-raisers, including a cap on the tax deductibility of insurance premiums, a tax on the wealthy and an alcohol tax.

Claim #2: Health reform "could add a trillion to the federal deficit." For this one, the CPR cites a commentary from Fortune. The Congressional Budget Office did score the House tri-committee bill as having a total cost of around $1 trillion, but doesn't mention that could accumulate over a ten year period, not in a single year. Holahan points out that an increase in the federal deficit means spending money without raising taxes. "It's almost impossible to both say that you're going to raise taxes by $600 billion and increase the deficit by $1 trillion—that means there's no savings at all anywhere. That can't be right."

Claim #3: Health reform "could hike your health insurance premiums 95 percent." This number comes from a study by The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, an advocacy group for insurance carriers in the individual, small group, HSA and senior markets. The CAHI study looked at what would happen if a health care overhaul banned insurance plans from determining premiums based on a potential customer's risk factors, such as age and any "pre-existing conditions."

The study finds that even with an individual mandate, eliminating all risk assessment would increase premiums by around 95% but does not include an explanation of how the numbers were derived. But Holahan says that, in the absence of health reform, premiums are "almost guaranteed" to grow 95% over a 10 year period.

Claim #4: "You still might end up on their government-run health plan." The CPR cites a study from The Lewin Group. Republican lawmakers often quote the study as saying that a public plan would cause 119 million Americans to drop their private health insurance. But that was only under a scenario in which the public plan is open to everyone and paid providers at Medicare rates. Under other scenarios, the same study found that as few as 10.2 million Americans would drop out of private plans." [25]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Mullins, Brody; Kilman, Scott (February 26, 2009). "Lobbyists Line Up to Torpedo Speech Proposals". Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561083268377547.html.
  2. ^ Conservative PR Firm That Repped Swift Boat Vets Now Helping Fight Sotomayor, The Washington Post
  3. ^ Swift Boating Rick Scott Lies About HCAN, Health Care for America Now
  4. ^ Rick Scott's 30-Minute Lie, SEIU
  5. ^ http://www.cprights.org/ Conservatives for Patients' Rights website
  6. ^ a b c Rutenberg, Jim (April 1, 2009). "Health Critic Brings a Past and a Wallet". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/politics/02scott.html.
  7. ^ Listen to Canadians, not Brian Day and his for-profit friends, Physicians for a National Health Program
  8. ^ Ex-Hospital CEO Battles Reform Effort from the Washington Post
  9. ^ California HealthCare Foundation: "California Health Care Almanac", http://www.chcf.org/topics/download.cfm?pg=insurance&fn=HealthCareCosts09%2Epdf&pid=512019&itemid=133630, April, 2009
  10. ^ In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health from The New York Times 4/5/09
  11. ^ Number of U.S. Uninsured Census Bureau
  12. ^ a b The Plans from the CPR website
  13. ^ [Congressional Town Hall Meetings] from the CPR website.
  14. ^ [Fox News Coverage on Town Hall Meeting]
  15. ^ Your Guide to Corporate Astroturfing: Lobbyist-Run Groups Orchestrating... from the SEIU website
  16. ^ White House Jumps Into the Battle Over Town Hall Eruptions from The Plum Line
  17. ^ The Town Hall Mob from The New York Times
  18. ^ Activists to Keep Heat on With Health Protests from The New York Times
  19. ^ Activists to Keep Heat on With Health Protests from The New York Times
  20. ^ Socialized Medicine Belittled on Campaign Trail from NPR.
  21. ^ Health Care Realities from The New York Times
  22. ^ New TV Ad Exposes Health Reform Critic’s Shady Past, Health Care for America Now
  23. ^ Dan Eggen (May 11, 2009). "Ex-Hospital CEO Battles Reform Effort". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/05/10/ST2009051002320.html.
  24. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6795466.ece
  25. ^ Ad Audit... From Kaiser Health News

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links



Netcraft Site Report Gadget

Friday, August 21, 2009

Good news! . Charkaoui case error.


MONTREAL – The federal government admitted Thursday if they had to do it all over again, they would not have detained Montrealer Adil Charkaoui for suspected terrorist ties due to lack of sufficient evidence.

According to a report filed by La Presse, the federal ministries of immigration and public safety wrote in a court document dated July 31, 2009, they pulled evidence from the file that led to Charkaoui’s arrest.

The federal government said although it suspected Charkaoui, a landed immigrant from Morocco, it could not disclose information to his defence because it posed a threat to national security.

The charges might, therefore, be dropped.

Since his arrest, Charkaoui has faced deportation under a federal government security certificate.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Abdihakim Mohammed, a 25-year-old Somalian-Canadian, has been stuck in Kenya for three years, s Minister Lawrence Cannon MIA!

2nd Canadian stranded in Kenya

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | 7:42 PM ET Comments118Recommend50

Members of Canada's Somalian community say their relationship with the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya, is strained following a second case of disputed identity.

Abdihakim Mohammed, a 25-year-old Somalian-Canadian, has been stuck in Kenya for three years, accused by Canadian diplomatic officials of being an imposter.

Mohammed is autistic. His mother took him to Somalia five years ago because doctors believed being around extended family could help him.

After leaving Mohammed in Somalia with his grandmother, his mother returned to Canada.

However, when she tried to bring him back to Canada three years ago, she was told the person travelling with her was not her son because he didn't look like his passport photo.

The case remains unresolved despite offers by Mohammed's mother to undergo DNA testing.

"I was upset with them, the Canadian Embassy, they didn't want to give me my passport, my Canadian passport — I don't know why," Abdihakim Mohammed told CBC News.

Mohammed Dalmar, a family friend and a manager at Ottawa's Catholic Immigration Centre, said the federal government has a problem at the High Commission in Nairobi.

"The relationship between the Somali community and the High Commission in Nairobi is damaged and we need to repair it," Dalmar said.

No embassy

Canada has no embassy in Somalia, so people from that country must travel to Nairobi for consular services.

Dalmar said people travelling to Somalia through Kenya are targeted by corrupt Kenyan border agents.

"If you go through the airport, they will target you," he said. "They will say you have to pay some money as a bribe. Otherwise, they make life difficult for you."

When bribes aren't paid, the traveller can be accused of using a false passport. Now in at least two cases, it seems Canadian consular officials have sided with the Kenyans when this has happened.

Not drawing conclusions

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon isn't willing to draw any conclusions yet, but he said senior officials are looking into what happened.

"We're not looking for anything else than the truth," Cannon said.

In an earlier case of disputed identity, Suaad Hagi Mohamud, 31, who was visiting her mother in Kenya, had been unable to leave the country since May, when local authorities said her lips did not look the way they did in her four-year-old passport photo.

Canadian consular officials called her an impostor, voided her passport and urged Kenyan officials to prosecute her, even after Mohamud handed over numerous pieces of identification, offered fingerprints and finally demanded that her DNA be tested. She was charged on May 28 with identity fraud.

After a DNA test proved Mohamud was who she said she was, a Kenyan judge agreed to drop the charges, which included using another person's passport and being in Kenya illegally. Mohamud returned to Toronto and was reunited with her 12-year-old son on Saturday.

The Canada Border Services Agency has also launched an internal investigation into how the case was handled.

Monday, August 17, 2009

This is what happens when you think you're a king.

The last time I checked, I wasn't in Victorian England but you'd think Canada was in Victorian times where Mr. Harper is concerned. The Prime Minister of Canada and several agencies of the crown were ordered by the Federal Court of Appeals on Friday, August 14, 2009 to ask for the eventual release of Omar Khadr from U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Our government had argued unsuccessfully that there was an ongoing U.S. legal process and did not want to interfere. They could have asked the American for his return but chose not to. All we are talking about here is asking - doesn't mean we are going to get him. This is now the second time the government of Canada has lost it's argument of non-interference in the legal process of another country. The court found that there were clear Charter of Rights and Freedoms violations and on that basis is forcing the government to act in defence of Khadr to protect his rights. The response so far from the Prime Ministers office has been that they will study the decision. If they choose to appeal the case will be going to the Supreme Court of Canada. If the Supreme Court chooses to accept the case, it be more legal limbo for Omar Khadr while waiting for the ruling.

One of the things Harper is complaining about is that the Federal Court of Appeal ruling encroaches on the powers of the Prime Minister. If Harper had not changed the long-standing policy of Foreign Affairs from automatically seeking the repatriation of Canadian citizens held abroad to hearings on a case by case basis, the Federal Court of Appeals would not have had to direct him on two separate occasions (for Mr. Khadr) to properly represent Canadian citizens in foreign countries. Thus, he would not be stuck with the possible legal precedent of having to do something that he is dead set against, interfering in the legal process of a sovereign state. At this point, he should be realizing he is not a King. Just because you don't like to do something doesn't mean you don't have to do it. Just like your mother told you! He is not qualified to make the statement that such a ruling encroaches on any Prime Ministerial powers as he did not train to be a lawyer. He trained to be an economist. His Justice Minister is a lawyer and perhaps he should have consulted with him before making that statement.

Full disclosure, I am not a lawyer either. I look at these legal issues as a hobby. As always, I may be wrong in my legal assessments but I stick to general principles. Some lawyers have claimed that this is the first time in history that the Federal Court of Appeals, or any court for that matter, has directed foreign policy in a ruling. Technically, this is incorrect as the Federal Court of Canada made a ruling on Khadr's behalf last year, the government appealed and this is the result of the appeal, making it the second time. Now we will have to wait and see if Ottawa wants to fight this case in the Supreme Court of Canada. For Omar's sake, I hope this does not happen.

msdoogfood@hotmail.com

Sunday, August 16, 2009

If you get in trouble abroad, don't expect this Canadian government to help you. You may be prosecuted instead.

Bravo Mr. Harper. You have yet another investigation about how you run one of your cabinet departments. In this case, Foreign Affairs. This time around it is a case of a woman by the name of Suaad Hagi Mohamud who was finally allowed to leave Kenya and return to Canada but only after fingerprint verification, document verification and genetic verification of her identity. It has also emerged in the last little while that a Canadian Press outlet, I am still trying to find out which one, obtained an email, apparently through Access To Information, that indicated that after the Canadian government declared her an imposter, Foreign Affairs offered their assistance in the prosecution of Suaad Hagi Mohamud by the Kenyans. Because her identity was eventually verified, such an email is going to make civil litigation much easier for the victim and a whole lot more difficult for the government to defend itself against. In the last 24 hours, Suaad Hagi Mohamud has declared her intent to sue the Canadian government due to her treatment. That email will probably be exhibit A.

This kind of treatment of Canadians by this Canadian government is starting to become a pattern. Another recent case comes to mind, that of Abdul Razik arrested in the Sudan and eventually returned home to Canada only after two court rulings which forced Foreign Affairs to shut up and get out of the way. And then there is the most famouse case of all, Omar Khadr (sp?), who just this past week won part of his case against the government of Canada. It will be interesting to see how the ministers involved in these cases can defend themselves. Jason Kenney may be a little uncomfortable as well as Lawrence Cannon and Peter Van Loan. It will be interesting to see how the litigation in all these cases turns out. On a strictly personal level, I hope the government gets sued into the ground. Maybe they won't screw up again if this ever happens to another Canadian citizen in a foreign country.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Mina öppet brev till premiärminister i Kanada på Resehandling ändra Tjeckien och Mexiko

Kära Statsministern

Due to the recent policy change, you have offended two countries. På grund av den senaste tidens politiska förändringar, du har kränkt två länder. In retaliation, the Czech Republic has put forward a proposal to the EU for all 27 nations to require a visa from Canadian citizens. I repressalier den Tjeckien har lagt fram ett förslag till EU för alla 27 länder att kräva visum av kanadensiska medborgare. Thanks to your new policy in dealing with Roma refugees, you have made it more difficult for Canadian citizens to travel in Europe. Tack vare den nya politiken i samband med romska flyktingar, du har gjort det svårare för kanadensiska medborgare att resa i Europa. I can imagine that processing so many Roma refugees is difficult but you could have changed the criteria of how you handle a refugee instead of making a blanket change in travel document requirements. Jag kan föreställa mig att behandlingen så många romska flyktingar är svårt men du hade kunnat ändra kriterierna för hur du hanterar en flykting i stället för att göra en generell förändring i resehandlingen krav. This tends to annoy many countries and will interfere with trade as business executives from Eastern Europe will have to get additional documentation. Detta tenderar att irritera många länder och skulle påverka handeln som företagsledare från Östeuropa kommer att få ytterligare dokumentation. More broadly, what were your policy advisers thinking when they recommended you make this switch in the middle of the summer travel season? Mer generellt, vad har ni för policy rådgivare tänker när de rekommenderar dig att göra denna växel i mitten av sommaren resor säsong? As I'm sure you are aware, the biggest industry in the world is the travel and leisure industry. Eftersom jag är säker på att du vet, den största industrin i världen är för resor och fritid industrin. You have now given them a black eye because other than cancellation fees, they will not make very much money and bleed a lot of profits due to the decrease in sales. Du har nu gett dem ett svart öga eftersom andra än avbeställningsavgifter kommer de inte att göra mycket pengar och blöder en hel del vinster på grund av en minskad försäljning. This decision will be NO HELP TO OUR ECONOMY. Detta beslut kommer att bli någon hjälp för vår ekonomi. September would have been better for the change. September skulle ha varit bättre för förändring.

As for Mexico, I am not aware of any refugee crisis. När det gäller Mexiko, Jag känner inte till någon flyktingkrisen. Did I miss something? Har jag missat något?

In closing, internationally this could be considered discrimination and within Canada it could lead the citizens to consider the Conservative Party of Canada to be racist in its nature. Avslutningsvis, internationellt detta kunde anses diskriminering och inom Kanada kan det leda till att medborgare att överväga det konservativa partiet i Kanada för att vara rasistiska till sin natur. As you have not made a compelling security or economic reason for the sudden policy change. Eftersom du inte har gjort en övertygande säkerhet eller ekonomiska skäl till den plötsliga politiska förändringar. Because you removed the visa require for the Czech Republic and Mexico two years ago and then have chosen to reimpose it, that in itself shows evidence of possible discrimination. Eftersom du bort visum krävs för Tjeckien och Mexiko för två år sedan och sedan har valt att återinföra det, som i sig visar tecken på eventuell diskriminering. If that was not your intent, work on your communication strategy as soon as possible. Om det inte var din avsikt, arbeta på din kommunikationsstrategi så snart som möjligt. Another consequence of the perception issues I have just mentioned, Canadians of Mexican or Czech heritage may not vote for you in the next election. En annan konsekvens av den uppfattning som jag nyss nämnde, kanadensare med mexikanskt eller tjeckiska kulturarvet får inte rösta på er i nästa val. Bye bye majority. Bye bye majoritet.

A Canadian citizen that was hoping to travel in Europe without requiring as many visas. En kanadensisk medborgare som hade hoppats att resa i Europa utan att kräva så många visum.

Thank you Mr. Harper Tack Mr Harper