News
Clinton and Obama-era diplomat, Richard Holbrooke Dead at Age 69 Today
He was most recently serving as special envoy to the Af-pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) region in the Obama administration when he suffered a torn aorta which he unfortunately succumbed to today despite undergoing 20 hours of intensive surgery this weekend. Holbrooke is best known for shepherding the Dayton Peace Accord that ended for conflict in Bosnia of the early 90’s to signing.
Am i doing the nerd equivalent of listening to a rapper’s entire catalog when they die if I put Holbrooke’s To End A War book on my request list at the library?
Read more about Richard Holbrooke via The New York Times then ht the jump to watch a 5-track playlist of Richard Holbrooke being interviewed on Times Talks about Afghanistan & Pakistan.
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GOP Shame: 9/11 Health Bill Blocked in Senate by the Republicans
When are Americans gonna get it through their heads that the GOP does not care about them?!
“Republican senators blocked Democratic legislation on Thursday that sought to provide medical care to rescue workers and others who became ill as a result of breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke at the site of the World Trade Center attack in 2001.
The 9/11 health bill, a version of which was approved by the House of Representatives in September, was among several initiatives that Senate Democrats had hoped to approve before the close of the 111th Congress. Supporters believe this was their last real opportunity to have the bill passed.
The action by the Senate created huge uncertainty over the bill’s future. Its proponents were working on Thursday to salvage the legislation, with one possibility being to have it inserted into a large tax-cut bill that Republicans and Democrats are trying to pass before Congress ends its current session.”
Read the full article at The New York Times.
Hit the jump for a couple of video of Democrat Anthony Weiner doing the RIGHT THING and fighting the good fight on this issue! (more…)
Crooks and Liars on the 10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts
“In a rare moment of candor last week, the third-ranking Republican in the House admitted the failure of the Bush tax cuts. “You know, I think it’s fair to say, if the current tax rates were enough to create jobs and generate economic growth we’d have a growing economy,” Mike Pence acknowledged, adding, “It’s not working now.” Given that the Bush years produced the worst economic growth in the past 50 years, Pence is sadly correct. But sadder still is the dismal performance of the Bush economy across almost every indicator that counts. From moribund job creation and sinking household incomes to skyrocketing deficits and record income inequality, Republican economic stewardship over the past decade has been a disaster. Here, then, are the 10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts…”
Read the post with the full Top 10 list via Crooks & Liars….
[via Hip Hop is Read]
Bernie Madoff Son Found Dead in New York Apartment
This story is LOONEY TUNES:
“Two years to the day, and almost the precise hour and minute, of his father’s arrest by the FBI, Mark Madoff, son of the disgraced Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, was found hanged inside his Manhattan apartment, an apparent suicide according to police. He left behind a short email message to his wife, Stephanie, but no explanation of why he chose to take his life. Upon receiving the email, Stephanie, who reportedly was in Florida with at least one of the couple’s other children, contacted her father, who came to the apartment and found his son-in-law hanged in the living room around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. His two-year-old was sleeping peacefully in a bedroom nearby, police sources said.”
CLICK HERE to read the full article from ABC News.