Shackled Howie Hawkins appears in Syracuse City Court

Hawkins was arrested around 1 p.m. Wednesday by Syracuse police outside the office of National Government Services at 400 S. Salina St., which houses the care claims office of Wellpoint Inc., a large health insurer. Hawkins said he was trying to enter the building to deliver a letter to the CEO of Wellpoint Inc. demanding that the CEO’s salary be cut and put into healthcare. ...

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The Mad As Hell Doctors in DC

I was late to the rally, I came in while the Raging Grannies were singing. Given that it had been raining, there was a decent crowd, I would guess 100 people. The Progressive Democrats of America were there wearing hospital gowns over their clothes with signs in the front that said "health insurance is like a hospital gown" with a sign in back that said "You are not really covered." They were wearing false fannies for full effect. It was pretty funny. Then the doctor's spoke. They told all the stories we have heard about how they cannot practice medicine the way they were taught in a for profit system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had accepted a Bank of America plan to pay a mere $33 million fine, but Federal Judge in the case isn't going along with the Merrill Lynch bonus hijinks any more than he will the AIG jiggery-pokery.

Giving voice to the anger and frustration of many ordinary Americans, Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued a scathing ruling on one of the watershed moments of the financial crisis: the star-crossed takeover of Merrill Lynch by the now-struggling Bank of America.

Judge Rakoff refused to approve a $33 million deal that would have settled a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the Bank of America. The lawsuit alleged that the bank failed to adequately disclose the bonuses that were paid by Merrill before the merger, which was completed in January at regulators’ behest as Merrill foundered.

He accused the S.E.C. of failing in its role as Wall Street’s top cop by going too easy on one of the biggest banks it regulates. And he accused executives of the Bank of America of failing to take responsibility for actions that blindsided its shareholders and the taxpayers who bailed out the bank at the height of the crisis.

It would appear Judge Rakoff is not alone in his disdain for the Wall Street moguls' hijinks.
I Do Like What He Said about Monster stock-option back-dater James Treacy's behavior: "disgusting."

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff called Treacy’s conduct, which prosecutors said earned him at least $14.5 million, “appalling.”

“It is disgusting that this practice went on,” Rakoff said at a Sept. 3 hearing in Manhattan.

Judges are also demanding more accountability from regulators and are urging rule changes to punish wrongdoers.

Rakoff last month refused to sign off on Bank of America Corp.’s $33 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over bonus disclosures. After an initial explanation that the executives in question relied on lawyers’ advice in not disclosing bonus information, Rakoff demanded a fuller explanation of the deal by Sept. 9.

Other federal judges lately annoyed

(Hat tip to 4legs good at Plush Life) -- more at National Geographic News.

I know we're supposed to be all health care all the time here, but the current national conservative effort to stop the President from being able to give a fifteen minute speech on the importance of staying in school, making good grades, graduating, as building a foundation for a successful professional life, just blows.

His commentary echoes that of the founders of Habitat for Humanity, as do some of his methods: those low-income home buyers for whom he builds must put in their own labor during construction. Other than that, though, Huntsville's Dan Phillips, creator of Phoenix Commotion, has taken low-income housing to new edges of green sourcing and affordability.

The materials in homes he's built range from recycled (as in, shattered) tile, mirrors, and shingles to ... cattle bones, and Osage orange (bois d'arc) wood slabs. He portholes his homes with Pyrex lids and crystal platters, and one of his ceilings looks eerily like a picture framer's display (because it's made of discarded sample corners).

To be fair to the Obama administration, it's clear their top priority is saving corporate profits so it's not "technically" a FAIL from their point of view.

Some of these folks have done some really extraordinary things.

Nancy Goodman Brinker

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So, there's this garbage Orly Taitz's cult dreamed up about how in 1961 in a hospital in Hawaii, the son of a Caucasian woman and a Kenyan man couldn't possibly be a citizen, and therefore couldn't possibly be legitimately elected President. The GOP gleefully latched on. Happens this year's the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's becoming a state, so a Congressman introduced a congratulatory resolution. Michelle Bachmann blocked the resolution with an objection that there's no quorum, but the whole House passed it anyhow.

According to a local TV station as late as last night there were 45 signatories to the petition, whose creator is quoted by the Avalanche-Journal thusly:

The petition protesting Gonzales' appointment as a visiting professor in political science isn't a secret from the college's chancellor. Not surprisingly, Texas Tech University Chancellor Kent Hance has said he'll go ahead with the appointment. Hance, Tech's third chancellor and the first alumnus to serve the university in that position is a lawyer and a veteran politician. .
The A-J gives some more details on Schaller's petition and position regarding Gonzales:

The petition cites two main reasons for opposing Gonzales' hire: because the chancellor should not hire faculty and because Gonzales' record is questionable. The attorney general resigned from his post amid controversy in 2007.

"It is unclear what Gonzales has done that makes him deserving of employment at Texas Tech. Does he have a noteworthy academic record? Does he have a record of publishing in law reviews? Was his service to his country particularly distinguished?," the petition reads.

Hance's hiring of a "good friend" is in conflict with Tech's "Statement of Ethical Principles," according to the petition, which calls the chancellor's involvement in selecting faculty and the "celebrity hire" as "troubling."

The document goes on to list Gonzales "ethical failings," including: frequently misleading Congress and the American people; rejecting the Geneva Conventions; denying the constitutional right of habeas corpus; and showing more loyalty to President George W. Bush than to the Constitution.

"I tried to document all of the charges against Gonzales," Schaller said, citing a 2008 Department of Justice report and a 2009 Inspector Generals' report investigating Gonzales' surveillance programs as his information sources.

Once the signature gathering process is finished, Schaller said the petition will be delivered to the chancellor's office.

Since Gonzales has already been hired, Schaller said he does not expect Hance to withdraw his offer or the former attorney general to decline the appointment.

"Since Hance said Gonzales may have an opportunity to stay on beyond the first year, I think it's important that faculty raise their voice now," he said.

Guns Up, Professor Schaller!! I hope more members of the faculty with join you and others who find this objectionable will not just speak up with their voices but with their pocketbooks (curtail donations to TTU).

The wingnuts are screaming tonight, because the President's nominee isn't skinny, isn't white, isn't male, and isn't old.

She's changing the face of health care.

In Texarkana's environs a youngster slipped into an abandoned well, and a cowboy from a neighboring ranch stepped up to provide a rescue with his lasso. (hat tip: bringiton)

Here in Lubbock a Boy Scout has created 70 backpacks with basic necessities for disbursement to local homeless people.
Happy Father's Day weekend, everybody.

_{(First Lady Michelle Obama hosts the Bancroft Elementary School for the garden harvest of the White House in
Washington, Tuesday, June 16, 2009. Offical White House Photographer Samantha Appleton)}
According to the White House website:
More than 90 pounds of produce has been harvested so far. Some of it has been used for meals at the White House, but much of it has gone to area soup kitchens. While fresh fruits and vegetables are delicious, unfortunately they are not easily accessible to everyone, especially those in low-income areas. As the First Lady explained, for those Americans who live in areas where healthy food is out of reach, a healthy future is also out of reach. This is why community gardens are so exciting. They provide the opportunity to make healthy, affordable food readily available while bringing communities together. People are learning the benefits of community gardening -- over 1 million community gardens are flourishing right now, many in underserved urban communities. These gardens are bringing neighbors together to create a healthier community and a healthier future for the kids.

Yesterday, Ms. Obama welcomed Bancroft Elementary students back to enjoy the fruits of their labors -- you'll recall that in March they were instrumental in helping plant the White House garden.

But I want to just welcome everybody here in the First Lady's Garden at the White House, and I just wanted to say a few words to make sure that we all really understand why we're here and what we've accomplished, because today is really the culmination of a lot of hard work. I mean, we -- I'm really proud of you all, you kids, all the Bancroft kids, for sticking with this process and for joining us here today at the harvest party. This is our reward for all that hard work, and we -- and I want the media here to give these kids a round of applause. Put your pens down! (Applause.) We're really proud of you guys for sticking with us.

The end of the DC school year and (another) gathering of organic produce coincided yesterday. Among other duties, the First Lady shelled peas.

Maybe this is the crack in the dam that will change things at the US Department of Justice. Instrumental in a variety of cases including that against Richard Scrushy, Martin took a plea bargain from Eric Rudolph (the abortion-clinic bomber whose flamboyant attack on the Olympics was wrongly blamed on Richard Jewel, wrecking Jewel's life, and who famously spent years on the run as a "folk hero").   Read more…

Way better news from Cape Canaveral than we might have had, this morning.

Endeavour didn't launch as scheduled -- and yes, that's a good thing.

Challenger launched in bad weather.

Columbia never arrived home.

Another shuttle mission ending as those two did would give the people who hate the space program all the incentive they need to shut it down, finally and fatally.

A Google poll: I entered the search terms "congress letter email fax phone effective". All right, it's mostly boring, but if you're trying to avoid activist's remorse, it may be worth a look. Also, see if you can find the hidden snark cookie! Here's a summary from the top links; the short version seems to be that the more effort a contact costs you, the more likely the Congressperson's staff is to take it seriously:

Office visits: this is the gold standard of constituent influence. A well-prepared group meeting with the legislator or the staffer responsible for your issue is said to be the most effective contact.

Stephen Colbert is on a USO tour in Iraq.

The Colbert Report visited the troops at Camp Victory Friday. Colbert gave up his hair at the behest of President Obama. Three more shows to be broadcast this week will originate from the Persian Gulf, where Colbert is entertaining US troops in a forgotten theatre.

Shortly after the inauguration, though, he began talking to a fellow board member at Donorschoose about the troops in Iraq.

There was a general feeling among soldiers there, the board member said, that Americans had largely tuned the war out, that the economy had vacuumed up all the attention even though there are around 135,000 troops still here and still doing dangerous work.

“There’s a thesis statement there, which is something for my character to hang on to,” he said. “My character thinks the war is over because he doesn’t hear about it anymore. He’s like a child. A ball rolls behind the couch and he thinks it’s gone forever.”

Soldiers here are all too aware of America’s attention span about this war, several of them at the taping said. So the visit of Mr. Colbert, postmodern or not, was an unexpectedly high-caliber event among the recent string of retired baseball managers (Tommy Lasorda actually), wrestlers, cheerleaders and actors whose names require a little Googling.

“I’m surprised that anybody comes here,” said 27-year-old Lt. Travis Klempan of the Navy, from Lafayette, Colo. “I mean we had the guy from the Allstate commercial. It’s like: that’s nice.”

We still have more than 140,000 GIs in harm's way. More than 4,300 have died since w started this war of choice in March 2003.

The comedian who masquerades as a journalist on Comedy Central and whose stock-in-trade is a satirical "conservative" outlook on the news and the subjects of his interviews puts his money where his mouth is for a number of worthy causes -- and not least of these is his genuine support for the men and women in uniform.

For openers, U.S. President Barack Obama appeared by video to thank the troops. "You're welcome," the mock pundit answered.

"I wasn't talking to you," the president deadpanned.

To the roaring approval of hundreds of troops at Camp Victory, on the western edge of Baghdad, Colbert taped the first of four episodes of The Colbert Report, in which he plays a pompous, blustering conservative TV host.

His first guest was the towering, bald Gen. Ray Odierno. When Obama and the U.S. commander suggested Colbert had to look like a soldier in order to be a soldier, the general took an electric razor to Colbert's perfectly parted cable-news coif.

The four shows being taped in the domed marble hall at Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace are to air this week starting Monday on Comedy Central. The Colbert Report airs on CTV and the Comedy Network in Canada.

Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks, but only vaguely because the military urged caution. Instead, the pundit introduced segments with a jaunty theme: "Where in the World and When in Time is Stephen Colbert Going to Be in the Persian Gulf?"

At Camp Victory, Colbert was in typical, cluelessly egotistical form. He showed a clip pretending that he himself didn't know his destination until he got off the plane and somebody threw a shoe at him.

Colbert also made some serious points during his monologue -- in typical 'unserious' fashion.

laiming the war must be over because nobody's talking about it anymore, Colbert invoked the power of cable television to "officially declare we won the Iraq war."

He offered a list of successes and commentary to bolster his point.

They included weapons of mass destruction, which was deemed "easier than we thought," and telling the troops that President Barack Obama should deploy them to the struggling General Motors.

However, his first guest, Odierno, disagreed the war has ended.

"We're not quite ready to declare victory," he said. "Things are moving forward but again, it's about bringing long-term stability."

Colbert, who sat at a desk propped up by sandbags painted to simulate an American flag, responded by asking Odierno if he can bring long-term stability to the United States when he's done in Iraq.

Like anything, the USO tour has had its setbacks as a result of the impact of reality on plans.   Read more…

So the elder of my two sons is grilling dinner for us all tonight. This is one of the advantages of living through the stage that comes after the kid quits being cute.
You do anything special this weekend?

I know I promised y'all I'd follow up on the road trip.

_{Crossing into Texas on 180 -- South of Carlsbad}
It looks as though the next one will be to Dallas, in about two weeks, if I get to go. So for now, a few photos from West Texas, where today (sigh) again it's chilly and damp. (What is it with weekends and cold fronts?)

_{El Capitan, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, from US 180}

The man famous for instituting same-sex marriages at City Hall wants to spread San Francisco's policies, including its money-saving UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, across the state, as well as change policy on schools. Go check out his video and announcement.

Please, go over to the Daily Kos site and read Meteor Blades' account of the Ridenhour awards (not just this year's winners, but follow his links to get the history of the awards themselves and the remarkable US GI for whom they were named, please).
More like this, please!!

at the White House site -- thought I'd share with y'all:

Looks like maybe the squash won't become weapons of mass destruction this summer. Those of you who have successfully raised more than two zucchini plants at a time will know what I'm talking about.

It's springtime in DC. Michelle Obama and the Bancroft Elementary School students are busy:

_{Daily Mail Photos}

The London Daily Mail takes note:
"First lady Michelle Obama got her hands dirty has she planted the first fruit and vegetable seedlings in the new White House garden.
She pulled on brown gloves and a red waterproof and trainers and got down on her knees to help plant alongside a group of 25 eager fifth-graders from a local school.
And she said the Obamas could be enjoying salads fresh from the garden within weeks.
Designed as a year-round kitchen garden, the L-shaped plot on the South Lawn will produce herbs such as oregano, sage and rosemary, vegetables including lettuce, chard and peas, and blueberries and raspberries."  Read more…

Protesters Rally Outside Health Forum

Supporters of a single-payer system of health care used a special White House forum to send a message to the man in the Oval Office.

"Barack Obama said it at an AFL-CIO meeting in 2003 that he was an advocate of the single-payer health care system," said Dr. Deb Richter, who helped organize the protest. "He said we had to take back the White House and take back the Senate and take back the House, which they've done. Now it's time to get the single-payer bill he promised."