DeRosaWorld

"And if California slides into the ocean... Like the mystics and statistics say it will... I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill." - Warren Zevon

"That is a signal of the fault weakening; you only have to push a little bit and the fault fails."

We're fucked.

The major 2004 earthquake in Sumatra may have weakened the San Andreas fault, 8,000km away in California.

What Have Republicans Done To Us? Good God.

There are some things I just don't understand.

Human behavior can be fascinating, frustrating, wonderful and horrible. We are both fragile creatures and incredibly durable. The contradictions are magnificent and... what make us human. That is who we are.

But this..? What the fuck?

Profiles In Courage: Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) just put it out there. The Republican Party Health Care Plan for America.

The right wing, the media and the Republicans are aghast.

At least some Democrats are fighting the good fight.

Swing And A Miss... Strike One

"After an intense debate that captured the essence of the national struggle over health care, a pivotal Senate committee on Tuesday rejected two Democratic proposals to create a government insurance plan to compete with private insurers."

I don't think our esteemed Senators realize how out of step they are with their constituents on this issue.

I predict big changes in the Senate over the next few elections... maybe get some young'ens in there.

What Writers Are Reading

The Daily Beast's BOOK BAG is a fun and informative place to see what your favorite writers are reading...and why.

Here is Margaret Drabble's Book Bag, with links to other authors.

James O’Keefe May Be Young Enough To Forgive His Naiveté, But He’s Not Too Young For a Beat Down.

In the early 90s, right after Clinton's election, I met some young folks who were working for Rush Limbaugh and snickering about the destruction of Bill Clinton... and this was 1993. I didn't understand their motive then and still don't. What did they expect to achieve?

Where they happy with the Bush, Jr. Administration?

Do they have health care?

Now we have the likes of James O'Keefe. What is he doing? ... and why?

Any film student worth his or her salt would beat the crap out of him and video tape it for posting on all the social networking sites.

In a world led by Democrats and Progressive policies, the young generation of 20-somethings growing up today may still have a chance at a real, fulfilling American Dream. It will be difficult, the adults who have been running America for the past 30 years have pretty much ruined any hope there is for your future on so many levels.

Actions have consequences, and O'Keefe's videos have had some devastating ones. If his success continues, someday that young filmmaker may see a world in which America is really a dream... a dream remembered as an experiment that failed because of greed and hate and fear. His videos are more than unkind and unfair. They are propagating a lie that will see this country come crashing down around his generation's future.

Sunday Morning Music: Jo Stafford - Manhattan Serenade

The seasons are changing back East. Leaves in New York City are turning the trees orange and yellow and clouds over Philadelphia are bringing chilly Fall winds. This time of year has always been the beginning of a new year for my internal clock. Here is Jo Stafford with the Tom Dorsey Orchestra performing Manhattan Serenade.

Saturday Musings: 'What If They Gave A Summit And Everyone Came' Edition

This is not a snarky or facetious question… Why was it better that banks that we were told were too big to fail receive billions of tax payer dollars… no questions asked… so they could put money bank into the lending pool… as opposed to them failing.

They failed in opening up lines of credit with the money.

Where is the corporate media and birther, teabag outrage at TARP?

Can some one convince me that Bush, JR. didn’t simply loot the U.S. Treasury at the end of his term?

And convince me that President Obama didn’t know any better and his advisers were bankers, so instead of being FDR… he may end up being Herbert Hoover?

I would like to hear the President (Obama or Bush, Jr.) explain TARP to me again…where the bailout money came from and where it went and why.

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Our news cycle if quick and this morning’s news is yesterday’s news… but I would like to go back a few weeks to President Obama’s State of the Union speech… yeah the one where a Republican Congressman shouted ‘you lie!’

Obama took a swipe at the left wing blogs… not sure why… maybe he thought it would prevent Republican Congressmen from interrupting his speech… but I have this to say… and it is a bold statement… can anyone, including President Obama imagine him winning the election without the progressive blogosphere?

What would the Democratic message have been…after being filtered through the corporate, Republican media?

If it weren’t for the progressive blogosphere…maybe doing noting more that yelling ‘you lie’ to the media, then we probably would be living under a McCain/Palin Administration.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

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TV’s new season sucks. Teenage vampires and fuck-buddies with no parental supervision, retard-reality shows plus some wise-ass sitcoms where all characters snark with the same voice. (Sons of Anarchy excluded).

Whatever happened to shows written with the wit of The Mary Tyler Moore Show?

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Hey, finally Gordon Brown was allowed to speak at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh. You know Brown being all working class, miners dust and Pittsburgh being all…all former steel and working class and stuff. Workers of the World, Unite! If you dare.

American Workers Should Be Looking To Pittsburgh

What will the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh mean for American workers? One thing most Americans don't understand is that there is a larger world out there and that the American Century has come to a close. The World has finally gotten back on its feet after World War Two. We need to think and act globally. This will be a hard sell to America.

Here is a video produced by the BBC about the Pittsburgh G20 conference. This video is interesting because unlike American media, this video shows American working class folks, members of the Democratic Party, looking towards President Obama to lead America forward and hopefully create jobs, jobs, jobs.

These people are not the teabaggers, these people are not right-wing or Republican at all. These people are pro American government. These are the people who voted for President Obama in 2008.

The Last Time A President Thought Like This...We Shot Him

When a Democratic President actually takes steps to win a war by defeating the enemy and coming home, that usually means that he will have a one term or less Presidency.

So here is Vice President Biden stirring up a mess of realpolitik and the President hasn't got his domestic agenda off the ground, yet.

What would we do if we actually won and won quickly and decisively in Afghanistan?

"President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday...

Among the alternatives being presented to Mr. Obama is Mr. Biden’s suggestion to revamp the strategy altogether. Instead of increasing troops, officials said, Mr. Biden proposed scaling back the overall American military presence. Rather than trying to protect the Afghan population from the Taliban, American forces would concentrate on strikes against Qaeda cells, primarily in Pakistan, using special forces, Predator missile attacks and other surgical tactics.

The Americans would accelerate training of Afghan forces and provide support as they took the lead against the Taliban. But the emphasis would shift to Pakistan. Mr. Biden has often said that the United States spends something like $30 in Afghanistan for every $1 in Pakistan, even though in his view the main threat to American national security interests is in Pakistan...

A shift from a counterinsurgency strategy to a focus on counterterrorism would turn the administration’s current theory on its head. The strategy Mr. Obama adopted in March concluded that to defeat Al Qaeda, the United States needed to keep the Taliban from returning to power in Afghanistan and making it a haven once again for Osama bin Laden’s network. Mr. Biden’s position questions that assumption..."