Übergeek 바둑이: Who stated the quotes?
I think O'Donnell being blissfully unaware of the contents of the First Amendment, and the video of here exposing that gaffe, cost her.........Angle was a gift to Reid..........the fun is about to begin, as Tea Party and Republican winners try and co exist, not to mention the Republican primary debates with Palin.Up until now Republicans have shyed away from challanging her, just wait till they face her in debates

In the race for the Senate, Democrats won 51 seats. Republicans won 46 seats. 3 seats are still open. With 51 seats the Democrats have a majority in the Senate. Some Republicans are accusing Tea Party candiadates for losing the Senate race:

In Nevada:
"Republicans originally backed former state party chairwoman Sue Lowden for the race, but Angle beat her this summer in a surprise primary win. Angle ran a conservative campaign that caused many detractors to characterize her as an extremist -- and Reid used this image to his advantage. Reid labeled Angle "crazy," "dangerous," and "extreme" in his ads, and by his own account, the strategy of persistently pushing Angle's image as a fringe figure worked."

Senate majority leader Reid was re-elected in this one. I suppose that the rather extreme right wing views of Sharon Angle disenchanted many voters who opted for Reid. Angle suggested that the US should withdraw from the United Nations. The US should ban same-sex marriage. Abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape and incest because those children are part of God's plan. She opposes the separation of church and state in the US Constitution. She believes that healthcare should be completely privatized and supported a bill that would exempt insusrers for paying for mammograms and colonoscopies. She believes that the Social Security system should be "transitioned out". She does not believe in Global Warming and completely rejects the belief that man-made pollution is a cause for any climatic shanges. She wanted to repeal regulations that ban offshore drilling and drilling in Alaska, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sharon Angle wants the border with Canada clamped down citing that it was through Canada that the 9-11 terrorists entered the US, this in spite of the fact that both the FBI and the CIA have rpoven that none of the terrorists came through Canada but directly from third countires with visas issued by American embassies.

Her views were a bit too much for many people, and it is not surprising that Reid would win in spite of his being unpopular. I suppose it was better to vote for an unpopular man than for somebody with extreme right-wing views.

In Delaware:
"... to the detriment of the GOP's fortunes in the general election. Republicans wanted former Rep. Mike Castle, an established statewide GOP leader, to vie for the open Senate seat. But tea party candidate Christine O'Donnell took the primary in an upset and went on to lose handily in Tuesday's election."

O'Donnell's case was something else too. Things and comments she did during her youth really hurt her chances. As a young girl she dabbled in "witchcraft" and her opponents seized on that to try to shatter her image as a good Christian. Her comments on masturbation were held to riducule and many of her views were rather extreme, as was the case of Sharon Angle. For example, O'Donnell proposed bringing biblical principles into law-making and government policy, thereby ending the separation of church and state. She opposed abortion and sex education in schools. She also opposed teaching the Theory of Evolution in schools and replacing it with creationism. Her oponents also used her financial troubles and misuse of campaign funds against her. According to polls, in July of this year she was ahead of Chirs Coons by 41 to 39%. By August she was trailing by 10 points, and by September she was trailing by 15 points. The final result favored Coon with 57% of the vote while O'Donnell had 40% of the vote. I suppose her opponents capitalized on her past and some of her extreme views. In this case Coons was clearly the more popular of the two candidates, even though O'Donnell seemed to have more media attention focused on her.

In Colorado Ken Buck lost. He called global warming a hoax, took a homophobic stance and opposed abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Mr. Buck also made sexist remarks that later allienated women Republican voters. Democrat Michael Bennet won that race.

Alaska seems to be still up in the air. The election was too close to call. Joe Miller (Tea Party favorite) was leading the polls until mid-October when his staff detained and handcuffed a journalist illegally. The journalist asked Miller about his being disciplined while working as a lawyer for the Fairbanks North Star Borough (county). Miller's supporters and security guards detained the journalist and handcuffed him. Miller refused to address publicly the issue of his problems with the Fairbanks North Star Borough and that probably hurt him. Miller also held some extreme views such as eliminating the federal minimum wage, unemployment benefits and farm subsidies. He also said that the Berlin Wall was an example of how a nation could deal effectively with problems of illegal immigration. Another Republican, Lisa Murkowski, mounted a write-in campaign. At this point it seems that Murkowski might be ahead with 41% of the vote, Miller with 34% and McAdams (Democrat) with 24%. Hnad-counting of the ballots will start on Nov. 18, so it might be a while before official results come out.

The race for the House of Representatives was entirely a different matter. Republicans have officially won 240 seats (218 required for a majority). Democratx have officially won 184 seats. 21 seats are still under review. It is here where the Republicans won big and where the Democrats will have a hard time passing laws. Many laws will probably go to the Senate, and Obam's administration will have a really difficult time getting anything done now.

In the governor races the Republicans won 28 governor seats, the Democrats 15, 1 independent and 6 still under review. Probably 3 more states will have Democrat governors, and 2 more will have Republican governors. The Republicans won big in here too.

In seeing this, I suspect that there will be finger pointing and some Republicans will probably blame Tea Party candidates for splitting the vote in the Senate race. It seems that people did reject the more notorious far right-wing candidates. This is interesting for Sarah Palin because those were some of the people that she supported publicly. It will give her a hint of how to chose a better strategy for the 2012 presidential election.

Artful Dodger: Too bad it won't be bye bye Reid

seemingly a 15% swing....that should make a difference shouldn't it?

rod03801:

....."....pretty much only helps with the MOST basic things, as in a reasonable co-pay for routine visits to your primary care physician, and reasonable co-pays on prescriptions. If I need anything "special", I pay for it all, until I reach $3000 of money spent out of my pocket...."

That's it!!!! O.M.G!!

(V): Well, you MAY have a point with this statement : "Because they know you'll blame the government rather than the old system first."

BUT, what I DO know, is my policy would not have gone up 89% this year, if the Anointed One had not put his horrible plan into action.

I am not going to get out the information on my old policy and list features. It's not necessary. It was an "ok" policy. Not covering every little thing, but yet still covering the most used, most important things.

My new one, pretty much only helps with the MOST basic things, as in a reasonable co-pay for routine visits to your primary care physician, and reasonable co-pays on prescriptions. If I need anything "special", I pay for it all, until I reach $3000 of money spent out of my pocket. Sure, fine, whatever, but it's STILL almost 50% higher than my old "half way decent" plan was!

If this jerk was not president, with his silly disciples in Congress, it would not have happened. I'd still have my old "half way decent" insurance, with the usual smaller yearly increase.

Can't wait for 2012 when we can get rid of HIM, too.

rod03801: I have answered.. PROFIT!!!!

Certain practices (if you read the 2011 implementations, etc) cut the ability of the health insurers to rip you off, and to stop them ripping off the government.

... semi decent????.. what do you get for what you pay?

Artful Dodger: So it's like death panels is it?? A human life is only worth so much!! So you agree with those companies cancelling child health plans on grounds such as "you had leukaemia before you started the policy" ... "well it wasn't manifesting.. I didn't know" is ok?

As for the increases.. Sure.. some maybe due to insurers having to actually properly cover children and adults. But the majority I doubt is.. the companies, etc just thought it would be a good idea to hike the prices to make you angry.

... Because they know you'll blame the government rather than the old system first.

Ferris Bueller: wouldnt have happened withOUT obamacare though.

rod03801:  Most of Obamacare does not take effect until 2013.  Your rediculous rate increase likely has more to do with your greedy, unregulated insurance companies arbitrarily hiking up your policy and raising your deductable for an outrageous profit.  Obamacare is an easy smoke screen to cover their inexcusable greed.  

I can't wait for TUESDAY!!!!! And even more.. .I can't wait to see all the bummed out dems on Wednesday!

THOUGH, they better do a better job than they did before. Hopefully they have the message loud n clear of what most people want.

(V): You don't address the REAL LIFE story I have mentioned at least twice. I guess it isn't convenient to your argument?

MY health insurance went up EIGHTY NINE percent. WELL above any increase in ANY other year.
I am now forced to have an absolute horrible policy that doesn't cover any major tests until I meet my $3000 deductible. And THIS horrible policy is close to a FIFTY PERCENT INCREASE over my old semi decent policy.

And how does the American right wingers here stand on that sevral of USA health insurers are withdrawing child only health policies. How do you feel that Asthma is treated as a pre existing condition...


... how do you feel that this is a response to Children having a bill of rights which prevents health insurers refusing them treatment through pre-existing conditions?

Artful Dodger: It seems insurance rates have been going up for years above inflation. It appears looking there is more than just "Obamacare" being responsible.. maybe it's profit margins.. or that in the future the health companies can claim money from the government regarding rates.

As for private enterprise keeping prices down... why is it then the cost of getting to wind tunnel tests of the American version of Concorde cost via private contractors £1.5 billion.. yet the UK and French government built Concorde for £1.5 billion??

And (as you probably read) the running costs of the USA current system is giving you less actual care per dollar than our *cough* socialist (actually it's a mix of NHS/Private/Charitable) run system.

But such points you do not tend to address.

Artful Dodger: .... ????? All the talk regarding the new healthcare system is that of the 40 million uninsured is that they will be able to have affordable insurance, so yes they WILL be able to contribute and by law (see 2014 new rules) WILL have to through state insurance exchanges or by paying a tax.

Also that right wing speech you posted neglects to talk about the practice of rescission that is in practice a "cancel coverage when you get sick" system.

... Did you not hear about Wellpoint and how they actively targetted women with breast cancer to find a way (via the small print) to cancel their health coverage?

Artful Dodger: ... The health care providers in the USA already think like this...

"If you add 30 million more people into a system with fewer resources how could you possibly avoid rationing?"

... everyone paying into the system.

"This will only further decrease the quality of healthcare when the 30 million more people enter the system."

.. so it's a case of lets leave 30 million without the same quality of healthcare as we get...... sounds like nimby talk!! A class system.

BP have been in the news again over the cement used to line the drill hole... Claims have been made through testing that the cement used was not upto standard and that both BP and Haliburton knew it. Also that certain tests to confirm the stability of said cement once in place were not done.

... The test is a basic safety test laid down in the "how to drill safely" manual.

Pedro Martínez: The policeman is still suspended till the inquiry next year.

Yet.... there is a matter of forensics... some weird stuff going on this subject.

.... some a bit suspicious ....

Artful Dodger: I imagine the same way some Conservatives fill their head with nonsense.

(V): Good!

SL-Mark: Yes it is beautiful, and Magnetic Island is Magnetic LOL....on account it draws you back over and over.....It was so named by Capt. Cook because as he sailed past his compasses went awry (according to historians)
It is a very hot/wet place in the summer and dry and hot in the winter. Gardens all die in the winter because of the dry winds and the heat ;(

SL-Mark: I was speaking about the intelligence officer as an example of how despite claims to the otherwise.. freedom of speech is an abstract idea. I still by my word till the day I die, am obliged not to divulged info regarding a project I worked on several years back through signing the Official secrets Act....

... even though by all accounts the sensitivity of any info I remember is almost obsolete by the nature of technical advances.

Bernice: Townsville? It looks beautiful.
Is Magnetic Island really magnetic?

Pedro Martínez: lots.

Has there been any update on the investigation into the murder of that guy who was walking home and was attacked by the police for no reason?

SL-Mark: Julian Assange is from the city where I live...a very clever person when it comes to IT.

(V): That is quite specific! The guy? Who are you referring to? Julian Assange perhaps?

Is there really a prosecution against him? Who is prosecuting, the US or the UK? If indeed there is any prosecution, it should be against the intelligence officer that leaked the material in the first place.

SL-Mark: The guy who released the video of the reporters being killed in Iraq via a Apache gunship.

It seems real freedom of speech is an illusion.

(V): To what case are your specifically referring?

Civil rights and freedom of speech vary widely across the world, and indeed only imply a right.

Governments may have a very different interpretation of your rights under the banner of national interests.

Im just asking and not wanting the "know it alls " to pounce on me

The Col: now I don't know too much if anything about "that" side of the world.....but isn't that an Iranian news station, and wouldnt they be a bit biased?
But on the other hand they could be doing the world a favour.

Freedom of speech is a civil right?? So why those involved in releasing video of war crimes facing prosecution????

Infact, one might postulate that the right is the defender of civil liberties, whilst the left is the defender of civil rights.

Artful Dodger: Yes, and the 'left' as Tuesday calls them, is violating your civil liberties in the name of civil rights.

Tuesday: Huh? Freedom of speech is a civil right.

Artful Dodger: Free Speech is treasured here.....
as long as it doesnt offend,insult,persecute,and is considered politically correct.

Artful Dodger: now go get me a beer sugar

Artful Dodger: you're cute when you get all freedom of speechy

Bernice: The heat has been turned up on both sides by commentators on cable news, in my opinion.You have me stumped regarding the last part of your response.The incident sickens me,the headline of the post was intended to be sarcastic

WikiLeaks Documents Confirm Pentagon Knew of Civilian Death Toll and Torture in Iraq

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/wikileaks-documents-confirm-pentagon-knew-

"I mean, the reality is that what the WikiLeaks documents show about Blackwater is that the State Department knew that Blackwater was killing civilians while guarding U.S. government personnel, and actually didn`t do anything to discipline them or punish them because, according to an internal document, the State Department believed that it would hurt morale of Blackwater.

What about hurting morale of the Iraqi people that were being targeted by these people? So Hamid Karzai is under the misimpression that he is in charge here. The U.S. is calling the shots and that means that Blackwater stays.

OLBERMANN: Let`s work backwards on some of this. Based on the reporting at the time, many of us believe that the Bush administration was lying about the situation on the ground in Iraq daily, repeatedly, in manifold ways. Is there criminality involved in what we know about this, what`s been confirmed about this so far?

SCAHILL: Well, first of all, the entirely operation was a criminal enterprise because it was a war based on lies. There were scores of war crimes that have gone unprosecuted. But it goes much further than just lying or misleading. Donald Rumsfeld, when he was secretary of defense, beginning in 2005, implemented a policy in Iraq known as the Salvador Option, named after the dirty wars in El Salvador that the U.S. fueled in the 1980s. And What Rumsfeld and his cohorts were doing was supporting what were effectively Shiite death squads, known by the names Wolf Brigade, Scorpion Brigade.

What they did was ethnically cleanse Baghdad. They targeted the Sunnis. So when they talk about the surge being a success, what actually happened is that Rumsfeld and his cronies had supported death squad activity that essentially Balkanized Baghdad. And so when the surge troops came in, they didn`t even go to Anbar Province, which was the heart of the violence. They went to Baghdad.

The entire thing is a lie, but the criminality here is that the U.S., under Rumsfeld, was supporting and creating death squads, Keith."

The Col: BULL---T, what has news commentators got to do with wankers beating the living daylight out of someone, especially a female. What if it was your wife or GF? How would you feel then? Oh I forgot.......that wouldn't happen.

Bernice: Another good example of why news commentators need to tone down the discourse a few notches

The Col: ****I'm sure there is a valid excuse ****

there sure is.....THEY ARE GUTLESS MORONS