It’s tornado season. I have spent the past several hours glued to CNN who is covering the live tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas. These things are ferocious and are causing a tremendous amount of damage.
How do people live like this? One minute you have a house. the next minute you don’t–that’s assuming you live through the storm.
I would be terrified if I saw something like this coming at me! I would expect to get hit with a tractor trailer or a farm animal. I would definitely relocate the first time I was in one of these horrible tornadoes. The reporters are speaking of it as though it were alive.
Who here has been in a tornado?
Steve’s Tornado
70% of adoptive parents were targeted for audits by the IRS: http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/userfiles/file/Full-Report/Most-Serious-Problems-Adoption-Credit-Delays.pdf
Reached for comment, an IRS executive said “hell yes we audit adoptive parents; you’re supposed to abort them, not adopt them.”
Moon and Cargo, according to her lawyer, Lerner pleaded the 5th because she had to- she was accused of a crime by the committee chairman (Issa) previous to her testimony. Makes sense to me…
And Wolverine- yeah, you might say Lerner was a “key honcho” in this situation. She blew the whistle on the wrongdoing!
Middleman — If she was a whistleblower in this thing, she obviously didn’t blow hard enough in the context of a Presidential election.
Oh, Lord, word just in that the Skagit River Bridge on I-5 north of Seattle has collapsed. Vehicles and people reported in the water.
This is the second bridge in 5 years or so. OUr infrastructure is in horrible shape. This is the second wake up call. Congress must act. It is a matter of public safety. It won’t hurt to put America back to work repairing said infrastructure also.
I have sure been over that bridge more than once. Shudder.
There are some real scary bridges in that state. I have a fear of bridges anyway, especially if they are high.
@middleman
Once you begin to testify, which she did..you waive that right. Furthermore, unless she thinks that she is going to incriminate herself, why plead? She was adamant that she was innocent of any wrong doing. But then, refused to answer questions.
Sez who? That is a congressional hearing, not a court of law. Congressmen make up stuff.
i am not for her or against her. I don’t know that much about her. Frankly, I have tired of her subject.
I would plead the fifth if I were she. She felt they were looking for a fall guy and she didnt want to incriminate herself. Doesn’t mean she was wrong. Means the sharks are circling.
Then..if it was a Congressional hearing and not a court of law…why plead the 5th…especially if she’s innocent.
Fall guy? If she’s not the one at fault, what did she do and who told her to do it?
When the sharks circle, its smart to keep your mouth shut.
Tell Scooter Libby about the 5th.
Actually, Cargo, according to two legal experts I have heard from, involuntarily waiving your right to not testify is a high hurdle, and making a statement as she did does not constitute waiving your rights.
I’m no legal scholar, but it makes sense to me that when the chairman of a congressional committee, which has many of the same legal powers as a regular court, makes a conclusion that you’re guilty of a crime before he even hears evidence, you would want to plead the 5th in that kangaroo court.
Cargo : She used the fifth amendment because that is her Constitutional right. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I love hearing the cicadas. Its just a peaceful, easy, safe sound.
Well, Ok. She pled the fifth.
I guess we’ll have to subponea her, charge her, arrest her, and throw her in jail. She can post bond.
OR she can tell us what she and her associates did that did not break the law.
Judge: Ariz. sheriff’s office profiles Latinos
JACQUES BILLEAUD and WALTER BERRY 31 minutes ago
SocietyPoliticsRacial profilingImmigration
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up years of allegations from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s critics who say his officers violate the constitutional rights of Latinos in relying on race in their immigration enforcement.
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-ariz-sheriffs-office-profiles-latinos-225627617.html
Th Sherriff needs to respect our nstion’s constitution.
THE FIX
How the IRS scandal helped immigration reform
Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan
May 24, 6:30 AM
On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would comprehensively overhaul the country’s immigration system. It was a major step for a Congress that has shown an inability to do just about anything over the past few years. You probably missed it.
The immigration bill’s forward progress — it now heads to a full floor debate next month — was entirely drowned out by a series of House and Senate committee hearings on the IRS’ acknowledged targeting of conservative groups. That drowning out, however, was, quite simply, the best thing that could have possibly happened for the immigration bill. In fact, without it, the immigration legislation’s path out of committee might not have been so smooth.
The simple fact is that political Washington really can’t pay attention to two big stories at once. Or, more accurately, it can’t fight two battles simultaneously. It can’t walk and chew gum.
Hurricane names for 2013
Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy.
I know too many people with those names. Its going to be a rough year!!!
Dr. Douglas Karpen of Houston, Texas. Stay tuned.
Who is this person?
Kermit Gosnell redux.
So what’s the point? there are doctors who are incompetent and who do illegal things. Probably a few dentists and shrinks out there also who fit the same bill.
I need to come back to this issue. There is some incorrect assuming that the pro choice community would try to hide back alley abortionists. Nothing is further from the truth. The operative word here is SAFE. Keep abortion SAFE and legal. These people like Gosnell are not safe and they endanger their patients.
These kinds of criminal doctors generally pop up in areas where there is a lot of poverty and they are greedy.
If he has done what he is accused of, by all means put him in jail. However, I wouldn’t take Operation Rescue’s word for much of anything. Unless they have changed a great deal from back when I had to deal with them, many of their members lied…you know, all in the name of their own agenda.
How are we doing at taking out some of these pill pushing doctors while we are at it? How about the cosmetic surgery butchers? Hopefully the same attention is being paid to them.
CS (#8): the Fifth Amendment is particularly honed to protect the rights of the innocent. This doesn’t mean that the guilty don’t sometimes hide behind it, but it is there to protect those who have done nothing wrong, and to preempt efforts by the government to use its monopoly on lawful violence against those accused and suspected. It is a very good thing to have in our founding documents.
BTW: How did we get here from tornadoes?
Good question. You know what happens.
Open thread, Scout.
Incompetent, illegal, and utterly sickening. And once again it seems that a state medical board ignored it until they no longer could.
I was saddened to read about the death of Haynes Johnson. He was a formidable reporter. He was also a wonderful member of the “Wasington Week in Review” panel.
Straight reporting, thoughful comments, humorous with a glint in his eyes.
David Broder was another, and he is gone. These two went out and, as we say, felt the pulse of the people.
Remember devouring Johnson’s book “Sleepwalking throught History” about the Reagan years. / I don’t see any reporters like those two coming along. E.J. Dionne is promising.
@Cato the Elder
That is simply a lie. You know it and I know it.
Is this the part where I tell you to keep it in your pants and you wont have to worry about abortion.
I find what you wrote contemptible. Any justification for politics as usual.
@Wolverine
ARe you as concerned over all types of medical abuse and malpractice or do you just concentrate on abortion?
Has the man been charged?
I wouldn’t take Operation Rescue’s word for anything.
If the man is guilty of malpractice, he should be stripped of his medical license and prosecuted.
On the other hand, if he is not, it wouldn’t be the first time Operation Rescue cried wolf and lied.
The Republicans have expanded their agenda. Added to God, Guns, Gays is Gynecology.
Moon — I am absolutely concerned about all sorts of medical abuse and malpractice. Why wouldn’t I be? The problem I see with the Gosnell case and those five Michigan cases previously cited, and now the Karpen case in Texas, is that each one seems to have been attributable to the laxity and, in my personal opinion, the criminal negligence of state medical organizations which are tasked (or should be tasked) to ride herd over the safety of all medical care. If people were doing the jobs they are sworn to do and for which they are paid, then groups like Operation Rescue wouldn’t have to make such a noise about a case. The current noise, in my view, exists largely because the state medical board did not respond to previous complaints. My question is: Why? We now know the answer to that in the Gosnell case.
The state is now investigating the Karpen case (he owns three abortion clinics in Houston). We will see whether Operation Rescue is calling wolf or not. But the three women now acccusing Karpen on public video all claim to be his former employees who participated in the abortions, one of them, as I recall, for 15 years. It appears that they responded to the OR rewards program for whistleblowers; but, nevertheless, if those gals are engaging in slander and defamation, they could be looking at some serious court time on that count. OR has no power of immunity. I anticipate that they will have to put their testimony on record with the state now and possibly later in a criminal court a la the Gosnell case.
Censored — Feel free at any time to step in and help with the effort to keep these scofflaws from filling their bank accounts by endangering women and killing babies who survived late-term abortions.
The fact that there is a $25,000 reward should disqualify them from testifying.
Operation Rescue wants to stop all abortions for any reason, at any gestational fetal age. Many in OR even oppose contraception.
Maryland seems to have more responsible laws than many other states. Unfortunately, Virginia’s laws don’t do anything to protect women. Again, it is to reduce the incidence of abortion or, force the closure of the clinics because they cannot afford to retrofit the architecture. That is disguised harassment.
There is a lot I would do to beef up all medical clinics. Redesigning the architecture isn’t it. Let’s face it, the medical community should be the ones regulating the standards, not the politicians.
I am very suspicious of cosmetic surgions. Many prey on women and their vanity. Much of it is greed.
Attempts to smear Dr. Carhart failed. He is well respected as an abortion provider. So was Dr. Tiller.
@Wolverine
Why don’t you see that the State Medical Board investigates all scofflaws – in all specialities in medicine? My sister has testified before them before – in cases of elder abuse. Crappy doctors exist in all specialties and in all states. Why don’t you concentrate on those who specialize in something other than women’s vaginas? Do you want to over-regulate Virginia’s clinics to the point that women have to resort to back-alley abortions? I remember those. A co-worker of mine was the victim of a hack during the 1960s.
Are we back to the paternalistic “I know what’s best for you, little woman”? MYOB.
You bring up a critical point, Censored. Doctors like Gosnell exist when women cannot find legitimate physicians. The more abortion is restricted, the more Gosnell-types will pop up. There is little difference in a Gosnell and the old pre-Roe days. He was providing, simply put, back alley abortions.
There is still a great deal of paternalism involved. You and I are both old enough to go eye-ball to eye ball with those who think they can tell us what to do about these matters. I do get a chuckle when some 30 year old kid tries to tell me about motherhood. BWAaaahahahahahahaha. It makes me want to smack their heinies for their insulence.
Censored — What are you talking about? I am discussing specific failures by state medical boards in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and now Texas to stop illegal activity; and you divert as usual. And this “paternalistic” crap is ridiculous. I repeat, if you want to keep women from getting badly hurt and late-term babies born alive from have their spinal cords cut with scissors, join the effort to put all these butchers out of business instead of griping about my gender.
Wolverine, both Censored and I do work to get back-alley abortionists out of circulation as do the organizations we belong to.
Part of our efforts involve working to have available contraception for all sexally active people. We are both members of organizations that have nothing but distain for abortion providers who do harm to women.
I don’t know how do say it any louder or clearer.
The problem is, the attack on reproductive rights is myopic and simply doesn’t look at other areas of medicine. One bad apple creates legislation that attacks everyone who is an abortion provider. The efforts are very transparent.
I’m perplexed by the logic of your arguments. Are you implying that because I had a lousy dentist who pulled my wisdom teeth instead of discovering that my jaw pain was caused by an abutting tooth that needed a root canal that a war on dentists should ensue? I had to go under anesthesia and pay for unneccessary work. Should we now ban or over-regulate dentists in Oregon?
@Wolverine
Censored– That’s a ridiculous response. Get real. Gosnell just got sent to prison for life.
@Wolverine
What’s your fixation about doctors who provide abortions? Don’t you want all crappy doctors removed from practice or either retrained, rehabilitated, or prosecuted? Why is the right fixated on abortion doctors? Was the topic of gun control getting too dicey and the “Congress who cried scandal” tactic not gaining enough traction or sympathy or belief. It looks as though you guys are resorting to “Look, there’s a squirrel (crappy abortion doctor)!” to divert attention away from bigger issues. Yes, those docs you mentioned should be prosecuted and so should those who remove the wrong appendage or leave implements in their patients or refuse to sign their elderly patients into the hospital when they need to go. But those doctors generally go uncommented on – except when they’re indicted for selling drugs.
Arguments about the gender of a poster and even the issue of abortion per se are immaterial here. Gosnell was convicted of, inter alia, three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. He got three life terms without parole. The central charge was murder plain and simple.
The failure of the state and the state medical board to intervene allowed Gosnell to conduct his ghoulish practice for 17 years. They in a sense abetted Gosnell’s deeds; and it was made clear in the courtroom by testimony from the state itself that this failure to inspect and even to respond to complaints was instigated by political views concerning the availability of abortion. I posit that even the strongest favorable beliefs concerning the issue of abortion should not be an acceptable excuse for ignoring one’s duty concerning the commission of criminal acts.
Maybe, Censored, YOU should acqure a fixation about abortion docs who do illegal late-term abortions and then kill the infants who survive. I tell you what — If your dentist ever starts cutting the spinal cords of his young patients, I promise I’ll go after him too. But now we are diverting into guns and Washington scandals and squirrels. Is the topic of murder in the abortion clinic getting too “dicey” perhaps?
Please don’t insult Censored. Both of us have spoken out against illegal activities. You really have no right to talk to her that way.
Bad medicine is bad medicine and can have life altering consequences.
Obviously the closer to term one gets, the more repugnant abortion becomes. However, I will defend the rights of women to exercise their rights as outlined in Roe v Wade. The state has every right during the third trimester to regulate abortion.The state also has the right to take the license of any practitioner for malpractice.
It sounds to me like all the gears are in place. However, the anti choice people need to pull in their horns and stop trying to cause problems for abortion providers who practice good medicine.
I think we can all agree that people like Gosnell need to be stopped and punished. Unfortunately, the anti choice people want to shut down everyone.
Sarcastic volley for sarcastic volley, I’d say.
I am not really sure why it is being discussed. The guy has not been arrested yet I don’t think. If he has done something illegal he should go to jail. I don’t think any of us disagree with that, do we?
I am unapologetically pro choice. That is my political stance. I have never discussed my personal views here. They don’t matter. My personal views shouldn’t be codified.
What this blog isn’t going to become is a bully pulpit for anti choice crusading. I won’t change your mind and you won’t change my mind on our personal feelings.