Fables of the reconstruction

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Center City Tonight 6-9 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10th
6 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Center City
Center City DL meets from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every Tuesday in the Triumph Brewing Co. upstairs bar, located at 117 Chestnut St. (between Front and 2nd Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. There are $3 beers, $4 wine, $5 well drinks all night as well as happy hour food specials including half-price burgers.

Triumph Brewery is conveniently SEPTA-accessible via the Market-Frankford El (2nd Street station), all the buses that turn around at or near Penn's Landing (12, 17, 21, 33, 42, 48), and a few other buses that pass nearby (5, 25, 47, 57). Driving directions are here.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Six Words in the Whole Song

Local Programming: SEPTA Strike Ends

Apparently.

Everything will be running in the morning. Not that people who need to know that will know, because once again, things happen in the middle of the night.

I have no idea who won or lost in this battle. Whatever.

Trader Joe's Ongoing Nutrition Mislabeling Problem

Two otherwise identical packages of a product available at Trader Joe's in Center City Philadelphia:

 

With wildly different nutrition information on the back:

 

Based on comparison to similar products, I believe the label with the higher calories is correct. This is not the first time I have encountered this problem with Trader Joe's brand items. It's happened to others, too. If you shop there and read labels, watch out.

"A Shitty Bill Passed, And It's a Miracle"

Booman:

There is no way anyone could pass a single-payer system through this Congress, even if we won oodles of new seats. It just won't happen. It's not a matter of leadership. Why does the entire South oppose even this lukewarm reform? Look at how far we had to go to get to the point that we could pass something with no support from Republicans and almost no support from Southern Democrats? We just did it, and it's a minor miracle. A shitty bill passed, and it's a miracle.

We could have gone all out for single payer and we'd never even have gotten ... this. We'd have gotten nothing for another 15 years.

As it is, what the fuck is wrong with southern Democrats? Are they really that pathetic?

Health Care Reform Passes on the Backs of Women

Cheers on the floor of the House from Democrats as HR3962, the fucked-up, stupid, compromised health care reform bill passes. This moment brought to you by the assholes in the United States Catholic Church, who demanded that the plan punish poor women who need abortions. Motherfuckers.

Joseph Cao of Louisiana the sole Republican who gives a shit about Americans.

Revoke these motherfuckers tax exemption right now:

The representatives of the nation’s bishops made clear they would fight the bill if there were not restrictions on abortion. In an extraordinary effort over the last 10 days, the bishops conference told priests across the country to talk about the legislation in church, mobilizing parishioners to contact Congress and to pray for the success of anti-abortion amendments.

The bishops sent out information to be “announced at all Masses” and included in parish bulletins, and urged priests and parishioners to tell House members: “Please support the Stupak Amendment that addresses essential pro-life concerns.” They added: “If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed.”

Catholic Church Waging War on Women and Gays

Vote on the Stupak Anti-Abortion Amendment at 7:15 p.m.; Please Call Your Rep

If you haven't heard, Democratic member of Congress Bart Stupak has introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill which will not only prevent the public option plan from covering abortion, but will require any health insurance plan that participates in the exchange to not cover it, either.  Most health insurance plans now cover abortion, and this amendment would have the effect of eliminating that benefit for everyone, whether you buy insurance through the exchange or not.

The vote for the amendment is scheduled for around 6 7:15 p.m. Please see here for a list of members of Congress who need to be called to get them to vote no on the amendment.

Also, send Rep. Stupak a postcard here.

10:08: 34 Dems vote for Stupak amendment. Per Chris Bowers's math, that's not enough.

10:09: Goddamnit. Up to 44 now.

10:26: Amendment passes with a big chunk of Democratic votes (>60). Unfuckingbelievable. Question now becomes if it survives conference, and in what form.

A lot of men hate women.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Football and Mt. Airy Coffee Tomorrow

Sunday, November 8th
12:30 p.m.
Drinking (Coffee) Liberally Mt. Airy
Mt. Airy Drinking Liberally meets every Sunday at Infusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.), from 12:30 until 2:30 PM.

8:00 p.m.
Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
It's the Eagles v. Dallas in Sunday night football. DL Center City regulars been having a good time watching the Eagles on Sunday afternoons; this will be the first evening game. Come out and be liberal football fans with us in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 8:00 p.m., kickoff is at 8:20 p.m.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Way to Go, Habibi

According to witnesses, Hasan shouted "Allāhu Akbar" before opening fire.

Sergeant Kimberly Munley shot Hasan four times. He is paralyzed and on a vent. He shot her once; the round passed through both her legs. She is stable and well enough to call her friends.

Half the wounded have been operated on and are in stable condition.

Some of the victims may have been shot accidentally by responding police officers. (This initially struck me as likely, because I was trying to figure how someone shot 41 people with handguns while under fire himself.) It would be really stupid for the Army to cover up another friendly fire incident, so I am glad it's come out so quickly. However, base officials say Sgt. Munley was the first armed person on the scene and she put Hasan down, so (assuming that's true) unless her shots also hit others, it seems less likely there was friendly fire.

Also, I have seen the ridiculous argument that friendly fire is somehow a data point in favor of gun control. It's not, unless you're suggesting the police officers who respond to shootings should be unarmed. (The non-police soldiers in the room were not armed, per the commanding officer.) When gunfights break out, even trained shooters miss.

Mortification

Regrets, now you have more than a few:

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old man accused of Thursday’s mass shooting at Fort Hood, Tex., started having second thoughts about his military career a few years ago after other soldiers harassed him for being a Muslim, he told relatives in Virginia.

He had also more recently expressed deep concerns about being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Having counseled scores of returning soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, first at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and more recently at Fort Hood, he knew all too well the terrifying realities of war, said a cousin, Nader Hasan.

“He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,” Mr. Hasan said. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.”

I doubt this is intentional wordplay, but the original meaning of the root of "mortify" is "put to death." I believe both that Hasan was harassed and that he was deeply affected by the soldiers he had to treat. I understand not wanting to deploy, although "tough shit, they paid for your medical degree" is also an acceptable answer. But assuming you don't want to go to war, how do you get from there to shooting scores of people? Probably he was just flipped out and not thinking straight. But I can't rule out the possibility that he connected the dots between being harassed for being Muslim and what he was afraid of in Iraq and decided he needed to kill some soldiers, intending to go out guns blazing. In effect, he decided to take up arms against his country, albeit in a half-assed way. 

For these reasons, I think his commanding officer's remark that Hasan's "death is not imminent" is both a statement of fact and a prediction of mortification to come. The U.S. military has not had an execution for some time, but has several men on death row, including Sgt. Akbar - who also claimed harassment and then fragged his officers while in Kuwait. I think Maj. Hasan is destined to join them.

Hasan is Alive and in Custody

Per press briefing by Ft. Hood CO. "His death is not imminent," he said, in reply to a question about Hasan's condition.

A female, civilian Department of Defense police officer who had been wounded by Hasan shot him and stopped the attack.

Hasan Didn't Want to Go to Iraq; Total Dead is 13

Says MSNBC:

Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment orders.

The Associated Press, quoting military officials, said Hasan received a poor performance evaluation at Walter Reed. The officials would reveal no further details, citing the confidentiality of military records.

A 12th victim has died, bringing the total dead to 13.

Hoof It: SEPTA Stays on Strike

Rendell met with the head of the transport workers' union and nothing came of it. Strike day 4 tomorrow.

Shooting at Ft. Hood

The radio tells me that U.S. Army Col. Maj. Malik Hassan Hasan and two accomplices have killed 12 10 soldiers and a civilian contractor. Hassan was shot and killed by MPs. The others have been apprehended.

Update: Hasan is said to have used pistols, which suggests a lack of a plan. Also, this: "Fort Hood is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which is designed to help soldiers overcome combat stress issues." It doesn't say if Col. Hasan had seen combat. This could be a PTSD-related incident, if the accomplices prove to be innocent.

On TV, CNN says that there is also known gang activity at Hood.

Update 6:08: Sen. Hutchinson went out of her way on CNN to note that the troops killed were on their way to Iraq. Let the politicization begin!

Update 6:19: Hasan was a doctor.

Update 6:23: Suspected accomplices have been cleared and released. I say PTSD.

Update 6:30: Hasan was a psychiatrist licensed in Virginia.

Update 6:50: Hasan worked at the stress management center.

Update I quit: CNN is interviewing some dude from Facebook. "Are there memorial pages that have been set up?" Um, okay, news over.

Former NM Chief Justice Dies Giving a Speech to One Ls

Imagine the judge's poor wife (who was in attendance) and students who had to go through this:

Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gene Franchini died Wednesday afternoon while addressing first-year law students at the University of New Mexico. 

... Franchini was giving his annual speech on ethics and the role of a judge Wednesday evening when he collapsed.

Faculty members said Franchini apparently suffered a heart attack. Students tried to perform CPR until emergency crews arrived.

Local Programming: Meet Death Row Exoneree Harold Wilson This Afternoon

Thursday, November 5th

4:30-6:00 p.m.
Meet Death Row Exoneree Harold Wilson at Temple Law
Meet Harold Wilson, who was wrongly sentenced to death for murder and then subsequently exonerated. The event is sponsored by the American Constitution Society, Witness to Innocence, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The program will be held at Temple University Beasley School of Law, 1719 North Broad St. (southeast corner of Broad and Montgomery Ave.), Philadelphia, PA 19122, Room K2B, from 4:30-6 p.m. Contact Chris Wickman for more information.

Can't Blame Black People For Gay-Rights Defeat This Time

Maine voters decisively rejected same-sex marriage yesterday, 53% to 47%. Last November, when California voters overturned gay marriage there, the exit polls indicated that out of the Obama constituencies, overwhelming opposition from African-American (and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic) voters helped tip the balance. This was controversial, to put it mildly. Well, Maine is 97% white, and Obama won it in a landslide, 58%-42%. 

Something else I hadn't realized: the Christie win in New Jersey means the gay marriage bill expected to have come out of the legislature soon is now dead.

Fear wins again.

Local Programming: Philly for Change Monthly Meeting Tonight at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 4th

7 p.m.
Philly for Change Monthly Meetup at Tritone
Come out to the Philly for Change monthly meeting at Tritone, 1508 South St.. If you can volunteer for PFC's election-day canvass, email Sam Durso at samuel.durso@gmail.com or call 267-307-8821. At the meetup, proud progressive State Rep of North/Northeast Philly's 202nd District Mark Cohen will discuss House Bill 1393, which would legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Say Goodnight

Dems lose in VA and NJ governor's race, maybe pick up that weird NY congressional seat, probably win lose on gay rights in Maine. Good time for me to go to bed.

Philly: Go Vote

Polls open at 7. Please see Michele Grant on who to vote for.

Philly Surprise: SEPTA On Strike

The radio tells me that SEPTA operators of buses, trolleys, subways and the El are on strike. Regional rail is running. 

This move is sure to endear them to commuters and parents of private school kids, given that they went out without warning at 3 a.m.  Public schools are closed today, so at least those parents aren't totally hosed.

Good luck.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Center City Tonight 6-9 p.m.

Tuesday, November 3rd
6 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Center City
Center City DL meets from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every Tuesday in the Triumph Brewing Co. upstairs bar, located at 117 Chestnut St. (between Front and 2nd Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. There are $3 beers, $4 wine, $5 well drinks all night as well as happy hour food specials including half-price burgers.

Triumph Brewery is conveniently SEPTA-accessible via the Market-Frankford El (2nd Street station), all the buses that turn around at or near Penn's Landing (12, 17, 21, 33, 42, 48), and a few other buses that pass nearby (5, 25, 47, 57). Driving directions are here.

Help Us Promote DL

Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us

Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Football or Coffee

Sunday, November 1st
12:30 p.m.
Drinking (Coffee) Liberally Mt. Airy
Mt. Airy Drinking Liberally meets every Sunday at Infusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.), from 12:30 until 2:30 PM.

1:00 p.m.
Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
Giants v. Eagles! Come out and be liberal while watching another turnpike matchup. We'll be in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 12:30, kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.

Upcoming Events
Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission October Community Meetings and Online Survey
The Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission is working on creating a new zoning code for Philadelphia. Several community meetings have been scheduled starting October 22nd to discuss the issue with Philadelphians. Go here for the schedule. Also, the Commission has an online survey up where you can give your input. For the backstory, see here.

Thursday, November 12th
Fundraiser for The Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Arcadia University in Glenside, PA will stage a performance of The Exonerated on Thursday, November 12th at 7:30 pm to benefit the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Tickets for this special benefit performance can be reserved with a minimum donation of $100 each and can be purchased using a major credit card. Seating is limited, and tickets are expected to sell out, so please purchase tickets soon!

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

Things to Do On Facebook When You're Dead

Here:

We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it's important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized.

Obama as Prof. Xavier

I perked up when I saw this headline over at the Heritage Foundation's blog:

Pelosi Plan Would Give Health Czar Super Powers

I'm thinking, "Telepathy, that's what that official needs! No, not telepathy -- a superhuman capacity to put up with bullshit." Because it turns out there are no mutant powers, it's just Heritage being total whackjobs again. Anyone who has even read the smallest part about what they're referring to will understand they're nuts. Or lying. Or both.

House Health Care Reform Bill

I don't want to get into a lot of detail describing a moving target, but I want to note some key features of the House bill that caught my eye:

• The public option and the exchange kick in during 2013. Individuals will then be required to have insurance. Subsidies provided up to 400% of poverty level.
• Ends unwarranted rescission immediately.
• Limits pre-existing condition look-back to 30 days immediately. Eliminates pre-existing in 2013.
• Eliminates lifetime benefit caps immediately.
• Allows parents to keep children on their policies until age 26 immediately.
• COBRA is extended until the exchange with a public option is running.
• Creates a $5 billion fund immediately to subsidize people who can't get health insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
• Creates a long-term care insurance public option immediately.
• Requires the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices starting in 2011.

These are all great things. The health insurance public option gets all the attention, but the last two items impress me just as much.

I think people underestimate how important long-term care insurance is. People carry life insurance as a matter of course, but you have a much greater chance in any given year of becoming permanently disabled than dying. Many people have disability insurance through their employers, but that only guarantees (a percentage of) your pay, which presumably covers your current expenses. It doesn't address the additional costs you will face if you need in-home care. Without long-term care insurance, someone will have to stay home with you, depriving the household of their income. But long-term care insurance is expensive. Bottom line: This is a great benefit.

The government negotiating drug prices will also have positive society-wide effects. Prescription medications are one of the main cost drivers of the health care system. I would bet that this change will result in more cost savings in the long run than covering the uninsured through the public option.

As I said though, we'll see how much of this gets enacted.

(Via Big Baby Blue Blogspot Blog.)

A Small Change for the Better

Bush never went to Dover.

Local Programming: Philly Media + Delaware Drinking Liberally

Thursday, October 29th
6 p.m.
The Future of News Media in Philly
Young Involved Philadelphia hosts a forum on The Future of News Media in Philly from 6-7:30 p.m. at the WHYY Civic Space, 150 N. 6th St. (at Arch St.), Philadelphia, PA 19106. The forum will be moderated by Chris Satullo of WHYY. Panelists include Matt Golas (Managing Editor, PlanPhilly), Bruce Schimmel (Founder, Philadelphia City Paper), Joey Sweeney (Editor & Founder, Philebrity.com), and Sandra Shea (Editorial Page Editor, Daily News). Go harass the people who buy ink by the barrel! RSVP here.

7 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Delaware
It's Delaware Drinking Liberally at 7 p.m. at the Homegrown Cafe, 126 East Main Street, Newark, DE 19711. Delaware DL will be holding a costume contest, to be judged by their very own Death Panel. Sign up for the Delaware DL mailing list here.

Upcoming Events
Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission October Community Meetings and Online Survey
The Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission is working on creating a new zoning code for Philadelphia. Several community meetings have been scheduled starting October 22nd to discuss the issue with Philadelphians. Go here for the schedule. Also, the Commission has an online survey up where you can give your input. For the backstory, see here.

Thursday, November 12th
Fundraiser for The Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Arcadia University in Glenside, PA will stage a performance of The Exonerated on Thursday, November 12th at 7:30 pm to benefit the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Tickets for this special benefit performance can be reserved with a minimum donation of $100 each and can be purchased using a major credit card. Seating is limited, and tickets are expected to sell out, so please purchase tickets soon!

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

Imagine The Scene If They Win It All Again

I took this the night the Phillies won the pennant and forgot to post it (because I was drunk), but it serves pretty well to illustrate how the fans feel tonight.

I Hope That Made You Feel Better

A Yankees fan reacts as Chase Utley's second home run of the night lands in the bleachers:

Screengrab from TV.