NPR citation.

The 50% if America that do not have our heads in the sand know why:
Hussein Pointed to Iranian Threat: Specter of Arms Allowed Him to Appear Strong, He Told U.S.
FBI interviews detail Saddam Hussein’s fear of Iran, WMD bluff

Captured documents confirmed that the weapons were long gone by the time we invaded.

Some of us also failed to accept that Saddam was running a credible nuclear weapons program out of the back of a couple of fertilizer trucks, as Bush claimed.

Perhaps you can explain how:

The ISG releases its final report and chief inspector Charles Duelfer testifies before congress about his team’s findings. After 16 months of investigation, Duelfer concludes that Saddam Hussein had no chemical weapons, no biological weapons and no capacity to make nuclear weapons. This effectively ends the hunt for WMD.

(your pbs citation) translates into:

Saddam Hussein had WMD’s

Good luck with that.

We may never repair all the damage Bush43 and the republicans did to this country. Just today, ABC uncovers another Bush torture facility - this time in Lithuania.

The far-right is actively fueling the recession instead of working to repair it. They fully embrace and endorse three of the four fundamental problems eroding the US economy. If a republican is elected to the White House, the GOP will lead us inevitably - and probably immediately - into another Great Depression. I still have trouble believing that they can be as anti-worker as they are.

One wonders if Newsweek will have a swimsuit issue next summer. The best thing I can say about their cover is that the flag is not touching the floor. Why GQ would put a head shot of anyone on the cover is beyond me. It makes his face seem so in my face. I’m with you, Mr. Wow, two thumbs down. :-(

The Ft. Hood shooter fits the Rightwing Extremism Threat Assessment profile that the right-wingers objected to as an insult to our troops. It looks like the threat was real after all.

If we knew how he voted, I would question whether we still had secret ballot voting.

We have not placed any radicals in the White House, we voted them out. It is the fear-mongers and extremists driving the GOP that worry me the most.

Why do conservatives always get the numbers wrong by a factor of 10, or 100, or 1000? The entire debt is about $11.5T, half of which belongs to GWB alone.

It seems like it should work that way, but it does not. Remember how “Heart” had their music used over their express objections? Welcome to commercial media.

I have heard so many conflicting, confusing, fearful, and biased reports and comments that I had to go to the source:

Badly worded. Keep in mind that these are recommendations, not mandates. This has nothing to do with health care reform or government control of anything.

The task force is composed of 16 health care experts, none of whom are oncologists. The group reviews medical data and bases recommendations on effectiveness and risks involved.

“All we are saying is, at age 40, a woman should make an appointment with her doctor and have a conversation about the benefits and harms of having a mammography now versus waiting to age 50,” said Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chair of the task force.

CNN: Task force opposes routine mammograms for women age 40-49

What is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)?
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which was convened by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984 and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) since 1998, is the leading independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care.

The USPSTF conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of a broad range of clinical preventive services, including screening, counseling, and preventive medications. Its recommendations are considered the “gold standard” for clinical preventive services.

Who nominates U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) members?
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) solicits nominations for members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) through an open process announced in the Federal Register, an official Government publication for notices from Federal agencies and organizations. Anyone can nominate a candidate for the Task Force. Self-nominations are also accepted. Members of the Task Force are selected based on recognized expertise in prevention, evidence-based medicine, and primary care.

Members of the USPSTF
The USPSTF comprises primary care clinicians (e.g., internists, pediatricians, family physicians, gynecologists/obstetricians, and nurses). Individual members’ interests include: decision modeling and evaluation; effectiveness in clinical preventive medicine; clinical epidemiology; the prevention of high-risk behaviors in adolescents; geriatrics; and the prevention of disability in the elderly.

Current members of the Task Force are listed below. They have recognized expertise in prevention, evidence-based medicine, and primary care.

Bruce N. Calonge, M.D., M.P.H.(Chair)
Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO

Diana B. Petitti, M.D., M.P.H.(Vice Chair)
Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Fulton School of Engineering
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Susan Curry, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Public Health
Distinguished Professor
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Allen J. Dietrich, M.D.
Professor, Community and Family Medicine
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH

Thomas G. DeWitt, M.D.
Carl Weihl Professor of Pediatrics
Director of the Division of General and Community Pediatrics
Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Kimberly D. Gregory, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Women’s Health Services Research
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

David Grossman, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director, Preventive Care and Senior Investigator, Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative
Professor of Health Services and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics
University of Washington, Seattle, WA

George Isham, M.D., M.S.
Medical Director and Chief Health Officer
HealthPartners, Minneapolis, MN

Michael L. LeFevre, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine
University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

Rosanne Leipzig, M.D., Ph.D
Professor, Geriatrics and Adult Development, Medicine, Health Policy
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

Lucy N. Marion, Ph.D., R.N.
Dean and Professor, School of Nursing
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA

Joy Melnikow, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine
Associate Director, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA

Bernadette Melnyk, Ph.D., R.N., C.P.N.P./N.P.P.
Dean and Distinguished Foundation Professor in Nursing
College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ

Wanda Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

J. Sanford (Sandy) Schwartz, M.D.
Leon Hess Professor of Medicine, Health Management, and Economics
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA

Timothy Wilt, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Department of Medicine, Minneapolis VA Medical Center
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

LOL! Excellent answer!

Thanks Patricia - and Tara. I enjoy subtlety, and I love when people catch it. 8-D

Dear Margo, I am sure she does love her country - I’m just not sure what her idea of “country” is. Some say that the Alaskan mindset is independent of the country as a whole. She frequently refered to the rest of the country as the “lower 48” - does she know that Hawaii joined the Union? Does she respect that liberals and moderates are legal citizens too? Somehow, I do not see “her” America including all of America.

PS - for all the fact checking going on, I have not heard much about what in her book is actually true. Do you have any feel for how much is true and how much is pointing fingers and making excuses?

Moderate??? In what way is she moderate? She was brought in to appeal to the far right because McCain did not.

I am no socialist, True Git, that’s just the prejudice talking. I have never taken a penny from the government that I have not earned (such as tax refunds) and less than I have been entitled to. I have always paid my way without public assistance. I am a registered Republican who stuck to my principles when control of the party shifted to the far right and made it totalitarian and theocratic. I understand your need to demonize those you disagree with, it is easier and more satisfying than self-reflection.

Much as I prefer capitalism, I still remember that it is an economic model - not a form of government. Under capitalism, businesses bear no responsibility to society or loyalty to country that is not expressly required by law. Here in Minnesota we have a law banning the sale of imported American flags. How pathetic is a country that cannot be troubled to manufacture it’s own symbols of patriotism because domestically produced ones are not cheap enough? What would happen to our national security if businesses were allowed to sell our best military technology to anyone? There is no intrinsic patriotism in capitalism.

A country is more than it’s economic model, and capitalism cannot supply, or be trusted with, or even address, all the needs of a country - nor is it expected to (except by the far right).

Consider Hawaii. In a pure free market, native Hawaiians could not afford to compete with mainland millionaires for real estate. As affordable housing disappeared, so would the workers. No hotel workers, no restaurants, no bus drivers, no airport workers, no port workers, no police, no fire, no tourism, no pineapples, no sugar cane, no state. Complete failure.

Now consider NYC without rent control. Consider Alaska without taxes on oil revenues. The entire state would not be economically viable.

Now let’s try a scenario that is not so hypothetical. Medical students are graduating with enormous debt. They are moving toward specialist and large metro practices because that is where the money is. Individually, not a problem. Overall, it heralds the decline of rural medicine and the family practice. Rural communities have already had to go to considerable effort to attract doctors, but eventually the cost will become prohibitive. How long will rural America last without proper health care? How long could this country last without the rural community?

Capitalism has it’s limitations, and only a fool would ignore them.

“Its just a matter of time before the insurance companies start sending us abroad for cheaper medical procedures.”

Try searching for “Medical tourism” - there is already an entire industry for this.

Your eldest son knows what he is talking about.