OBAMA’S SMILE – SOLID AS A ROCK

If only Obama’s health care reform were as clear and constant as his smile!  Eric Spielgelman took official State Department photos and ran them together to create irrefutable evidence of Obama’s ET roots.

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Now, watch it again and this time look for the few shots where Michelle’s smile is left in the frame.  Could she too be gifted with the stationary smile?

ORIGINAL STILLS

MICHAEL'S "SMILE"

Art at Maître D’s

"Suburban Housewife in the Garden of Eden" - Acrylic painting by Hajime Hirose

Flamboyant flowers in shocking blue and red acryl, melancholy bronze intaglio prints,  subtle blue hues of  jade-like Ru ware ceramics – an unlikely mix of art forms for any gallery showing, but these divergent styles manage to coexist comfortably even in the intimate space at Maître D’s Gallery in Tennodai.

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"Waiting for the Train" Intaglio print by Koike

The artists, all local craftsmen, have built a camaraderie that  bridges their divergent media.

Detail of Ru ware ceramic by Onodera

The exhibit will continue through September 30th.

Insurance Related Deaths: Execs Admit Corporate “Death Panels”

Remember Denis Kucinich, the short guy with the pointy ears who was laughed out of the Democratic primaries last year for refusing, in a “Gotcha” interview, to deny the possibility that extraterrestrial life might exist? Well, the Ohio congressman may have lost the party’s nomination, but he is still their most focused and forceful fighter in congress.

In a house oversight committee hearing yesterday he asked six health insurance corporate executives a simple question and demanded a simple, direct response.

Rep. Kucinich: “Do you believe that a health insurer’s refusal to pay for a cancer patient’s treatment can directly or indirectly cause harm or death to that patient?”

Richard Collins, United Health Care Group: “Yes.”

Brian Sassi, Wellpoint, Inc.: “Yes.”

Patricia Farrell, Aetna, Inc.: “Yes.”

James Bloem, Human, Inc.: “Yes.”

Thomas Richards, Product CIGNA Healthcare: “…..Yes.”

Colleen Reitan, Health Care Service Corp.: “Yes.”

With one exception, they did not even try to obscure their guilt. Their chillingly calm response to a charge of such heinous practices demonstrates just how confident they are that they are acting in full compliance with the law of the land.

Click the title below to read more in the Huffington Post article.

In Health Care, Number Of Claims Denied Remains A Mystery

IRAN’S PROTESTERS – SHEER GUTS

Protesters march for Moussavi - 17 September, 2009 Click image for more photos from Facebook

In spite of merciless government reprisals for the tens of thousands who protested the June election fraud, Iranian men and women, young and old again take the to streets in several cities. Friday, thousands marched and chanted anti-Ahmadinejad slogans as they co-opted the government sponsored Al-Qud anti-Israel event. This time they act with even less hope of success and greater knowledge of the brutal consequences.  Even opposition leaders Moussavi and Khatami were not safe from attacks by pro-Ahmadinejad supporters.

We have really got to admire their guts.

Clashes in Tehran as opposition defies regime warnings – TimesOnline UK

SUSAN BOYLE BACK IN THE SADDLE

Five months ago we were swept up by the Susan Boyle drama; chronicling the surprise, the controversy, and the pure musical pleasure. My last words regarding Miss Boyle were, “I am sure the world will hear much more from the Scottish songbird.”

And so we have. Tuesday night she stole the show on America’s Got Talent Final with her powerful rendering of the Stone’s classic Wild Horses.  Not being a fan of the  Rolling Stones or Andrew Lloyd Weber, I was once again won over by the voice and not the melody.

As for the ongoing A Star Is Born melodrama – I’ll leave that to the tabloids – her music is quite enough for me.

The Rolling Stones recent resurrection of Wild Horses

SUSANBOYLEMUSIC.COM

SUSAN’S OWN PAGE AT HUFFINGTON POST

WE AIN’T GREEDY, WE’RE SCARED!

HEALTH CARE DEBATE EXPLAINED TO THE JAPANESE

Dane: So Yuji, what’s with this yuai thing Hatoyama keeps talking about?

Yuji: Who knows? I ‘m not interested in Japanese politics. It’s boring.

Dane: Usually I’d agree with you, but this time it looks like it’s getting interesting.

Yuji: Yeah, maybe so. I might have an answer for you in a week or so. Right now I’m really interested in what’s going on in your country.

Dane: Oh, you mean Ichiro!

Yuji: Ichiro? Forget-about-it! I know all I need to know about the Mariner slugger. What I don’t understand is this crazy stuff about health care. What’s going on with that?

Dane: Obama is trying to improve it.

Yuji: What’s wrong with it?

Dane: It’s one of the worst of all the advanced countries. W.H.O. ranked the U.S. No. 37.

Yuji: I thought America had the best medical treatment in the world.

Dane: They do. The rich get the best treatment in the world, the insured get decent service, but the poor and uninsured are lucky to get any treatment.

Yuji: So what’s wrong with the system?

Dane: It’s pretty confusing.

Yuji: Make it simple for me. What is health care reform?

Dane: Very simply, it’s a plan to make medical care available to all Americans.

Yuji: What kind of health insurance do Americans have now?

Dane: Private insurance companies, mostly through their work place.

Yuji: What’s wrong with that?

Dane: If they lose their job, they lose their insurance and they can’t get health care.

Yuji: Can’t they buy it on their own?

Dane: Yes, if they’re rich enough.

Yuji: But people who have insurance are OK, aren’t they?

Dane: No. The insurance companies charge a lot and they cut payments.

Yuji: What do you mean, cut payments?

Dane: They have something called “pre-existing conditions”.

Yuji: What’s that?

Dane: They won’t pay for anything you had before.

Yuji: What are you talking about?

Dane: For example; If you had a serious cough when you were a kid, and now you get pneumonia they refuse to pay for your treatment.

Yuji: How do they know you had it before?

Dane: They have lots of investigators who look everywhere for that information.

Yuji: If they don’t find anything they pay, don’t they?

Dane: It depends. They only pay what they think it should cost, not what the hospital actually charges.

Yuji: Who pays the rest?

Dane: The patient. And… they can stop payment any time they think your treatment is getting too expensive.

Yuji: What happens if you can’t pay?

Dane: You die. And that’s the situation for people who have insurance!

Yuji: How many people don’t have it?

Dane: Forty-seven million.

Yuji: 47,000,000? Since when?

Dane: Since forever. Several presidents since Teddy Roosevelt have been trying to make a law guaranteeing medical coverage for everyone.

Yuji: Since World War Two?

Dane: Not that Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt, in 1912.

Yuji: Good God, that’s a hundred years! So what’s the problem?

Dane: Every time they try to make a new law, congress kills it.

Yuji: What kind of monsters would be against health care?

Dane: The insurance and medical industries, the Republican party and the Rednecks.

Yuji: Who are the Rednecks?

Dane: Low income, white, radical Christians, mostly in the countryside.

Yuji: Most of the people I saw protesting on TV sure looked like Rednecks.

Dane: Yes, those are the Town Hall Meeting mobs.

Yuji: What’s a Town Hall Meeting.

Dane: During the summer, congressmen go to their home districts and meet the people at town halls. This year they’re explaining Health Care Reform.

Yuji: Why would poor people be against it?

Dane: What do you think?

Yuji: Cost? They don’t want to pay more taxes.

Dane: Yes, that’s one reason.

Yuji: But if they’re poor they don’t pay much tax anyway. I can maybe understand why the rich people would be against it; but these guys?

Dane: Yeah, that’s the crazy part.

Yuji: And what are all those slogans?

“Down with Big Government”?

Dane: They don’t like big government. But they do support a large military.

Yuji: “Don’t Mess With My Health Care”?

Dane: They don’t trust the government to do a good job. Quality will go down.

Yuji: Pictures of Obama dressed like Hitler or Stalin?

Dane: Obama is trying to take away their freedom with health care reform.

Yuji: “Stop Socialism”? What’s wrong with socialism?

Dane: In America socialism and communism are the two great anti-Christian evils – like Islamic Jihad.

Yuji: What’s Health Care Reform got to do with socialism?

Dane: They agree that government police, firefighters and military are all democratic institutions, but for some reason they believe government health care is socialist.

Yuji: “We Won’t Support Slackers”?

Dane: Hard working taxpayers (whites) would have to pay for lazy welfare people (blacks).

Yuji: “Terrorist in the White House”?

Dane: Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim.

Yuji: Pictures of Kim Jong Il?

Dane: First government health care, then something else, and then one day America will be just like North Korea.

Yuji: “You lie!”?

Dane: That’s what a redneck congressman yelled out in congress when Obama said there would be no health care for illegal aliens. Heckling the president in congress is a big taboo.

Yuji: “Obama Baby Killer”?

Dane: They say Christians would be taxed to pay for abortions.

Yuji: “Death Panels”?

Dane: Obama wants insurance to pay to consult with the doctor when a patient is near death.

Yuji: So, what’s wrong with that?

Dane: They say he wants to decide who can live and who must die.

Yuji: But that’s all crazy talk! Except for maybe the government not doing a very good job.

Dane: Exactly!

Yuji: How many Americans are against reform?

Dane: Probably about half. 45.6% of voters chose McCain.

Yuji: Do you think Obama can get it into law?

Dane: Not unless he stops trying to reason with madmen.

Yuji: Are your boys OK? Do they have medical insurance?

Dane: No, but they have a good ambulance system that guarantees them affordable health care.

Yuji: Ambulance? What kind of ambulance?

Dane: A 747 Jumbo jet that will fly them straight to Japan if they ever get sick.

© Dane Degenhardt, Monde Dane, 2009

“WE’RE NO. 37″ UPDATED

Paul sent his official lyrics that are now up in the original post.

Sorry for the mistakes in the first posting.  Monde Dane

BROOKLYN’S WEST INDIES PARADE

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Washington is awash in Rednecks, Tehran prepares for another Green Day, but in Brooklyn beautiful brown bodies are bathed in the brilliant colors of the islands. Anrei jumps right into their midst to capture it all in vivid digital detail.  Browse his pix and you will wonder how he could keep his camera steady surrounded by all that voluptuous rhythm.

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“THIS DAY” FOR IRAN

Iran, we have not forgotten you.  The excitement of the election aftermath has given way to the fear of official reprisals but  James McConnell brings us a reprise of those brave moments with his inspiring music.