Aetna thinks it’s better for their company not to pay for an anesthetist/anasthesiologist’s service during a colonoscopy — and while colon cancer mortality rates have dropped over the past 4-5 years, colonoscopies are the only way of catching this killer early. Can you imagine  Read more 

First Blackwater attacks Air Force Officers. Next, they lie about “returning fire” in Iraq. Then, they lie about what kind of money they’re making undermining the US Military abroad. From a Dkos Diary on Prince’s testimony, Tennessee Congressman John Duncan reveals the escalation in costs of Blackwater’s services during the past three fiscal years:

“Our committee memorandum says using Blackwater instead of U.S. troops to protect embassy officials is expensive.

That’s putting it lightly; Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day for the services of a private military contractor. This is equivalent to $445,000 per year - over 6 times more than the cost of an equivalent U.S. soldier.

This war has produced some of the most lavish, most fiscally excessive, most exorbitantly profitable contracts in the history of the world. And it seems to me that fiscal conservatives should be under no, feel no obligation to defend this type of contract.

In fact, it seems to me that fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by this. And I notice in the table that Blackwater’s contracting has gone from 25 million in 2003 to 48 million 2004, to 593 million in 2006.

If we are going to be there another 10 years, as some have said, I surely hope that we’re not going to continue to see these types of ridiculously excessive increases in the contracts that are being handed out.”

Yeah, Duncan’s a Republican (as opposed to, at least in this instance, a GOP shill). He goes on:

“I also notice that Blackwater is a subsidiary of the Prince Group, of Prince Group Holdings, and that another one of the holdings of that firm is Presidential Airways, an aviation company that has held a contract with the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command. Mr. Prince, can you tell me what percentage of Prince Group Holdings comes from federal contracts of all or any types?”

Prince asks him to repeat the question.

Rep. John Duncan: “Can you tell me…I don’t know what all companies are in…I don’t know all the companies that are in your Prince Group Holdings. Apparently, there is a Presidential Airways. I don’t know how many other companies there are. What I’m wondering about is how much of Prince Group Holdings comes from federal contracts of any and all types.”

Prince: Most of Prince Group Holdings come from federal contracts. blather blather blather

Rep. John Duncan: When you said most; does that mean 100%? Rough guess: what percentage?

Prince: Rough guess? 90%  Read more 

Stolen from Atrios’s place, where he posted a link to Open Left:

( - promoted by Matt Stoller)

I just got word from the ACLU that a new and bad FISA bill is about to be unveiled tomorrow at 1:30pm by Steny Hoyer in a press-only briefing. Telecom immunity is not in the bill, but the Senate is pressing hard for that to be included.

The dynamic in the House is really odd. Hoyer and Emanuel seem to be pushing for a FISA capitulation to ’protect the freshmen’, even though the freshmen understand their constituents don’t want a FISA capitulation. No one will go on the record on any of this, and Emanuel and Hoyer aren’t voting for the capitulation, only orchestrating its passage.

This is not a surprise, though it is amusing that Pelosi’s promises to ’fix’ the temporary FISA bill passed in August are as worthless  Read more 

Clear Channel Communications strikes again, censoring Iraq veteran Brian McGough’s voice in an ad that VoteVets PAID to run during Rush Limbaugh’s show: WJNO AM in Palm Beach, Florida  Read more 

This one has flown over more than a few atrocities, too.

He includes photographs of soldiers who served with him in Iraq.  Read more 

Prohibition drives up prices.
Oil is a finite, and dwindling, resource.

Afghanistan’s poppy production now leads the world.  Read more 

CBS owned 41% of broadcast media, in clear violation of Federal law, in 2000. CNN sat at the crossroads of a merger AOL and Time Warner wanted, for profits; but the Clinton FTC didn’t let it happen. Along comes W, promising less regulation, and the stage was set. Suddenly all the media had a bottom-line motive for scuttling any political opponent of W. Not just “mainstream media” but the ENTIRE news industry: W promised them PROFIT$.

First, go read McCamy Taylor at Democratic Underground’s excellent backstory on this. Then tell me why Bush hasn’t been impeached yet.  Read more 

From Reuters comes this story of just how much more credibility the right-wing “security” theatre gives to authoritarians it finds sympathetic: Catholic pilgrims to Lourdes (remember “The Song of Bernadette”?) aren’t allowed to bring back holy water from the spring. But the Church can plant some in every seat on the plane.  Read more 

Why isn’t this man in jail for killing nine coal miners who died in the Crandall Canyon mine (so far this month)?

Perhaps because he’s a heavy contributor to the GOP?
More details are at TexasKaos.  Read more 

WSJ “Opinion Journal” today:
“Democrats and Cannibals
The Kos kids try but fail to devour party moderates.”
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Friday, August 17, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
And what else do we know ’bout good ol’ Henry Cuellar?  Read more 

[Welcome, Alternate Brain readers! Welcome Wonkette readers!]

It’s no secret Mitt Romney advocated doubling the size of Guantanamo’s torture camp, nor that he tied his dog to the roof of his car for a twelve hour drive [until a “brown liquid” flowed down the back window—Lambert]. But he’s also tight with Mel Sembler in Florida (Romney press release), and if that name, Mel Sembler, sounds familiar, it’s cause he’s the guy who used to run Straight, Inc., the place teens and addicts were sent for behavior modification, by torture.  Read more 

Hat tip to DailyKos, where the diarist “Free Exchange On Campus” provided the quotes below:  Read more 

Two of Buckley’s recent opinions on NRO are illuminating, and disturbing.  Read more