March 29, 2014

Where do you think President Obama stands in terms of being progressive vs. centrist/conservative?

March 28, 2014

Isn't it time to shift the discussion to something like alternative medicine, E-cigarettes, porn,

circumcision or at what age children must no longer sleep with their parents -- Then we can put the current ugly arguments aside for awhile

March 28, 2014

What are your true feelings about supporting the Democratic Party of today?

March 27, 2014

Was the U.S. Invading Iraq and Russia invading Crimea morally equivalent?

March 20, 2014

Have you ever known personally of a dog dying soon after being spayed?

I know all surgeries whether on people or animals carry some risk - but I didn't expect this to happen.

I happen to live in a place that is awash with stray dogs and a lack of programs to deal with them other than the municipal dog catchers whose only job is to catch and euthanize. There is only one veterinary clinic within hundreds of miles and I suspect this lack of competition leads to some price gouging. Although I don't honestly know what normal veterinary service prices are these days.

Anyway I already have a very nice 80 pound mixed breed male dog who has lived a pretty happy life with me for the past year and a half. But a number of strays come around looking for some food and actually some companionship. They are the friendliest strays you will ever find. A little native female dog had been coming around to my back porch for several months. I had been feeding her and occasionally allowing her to stay inside especially if it was raining. But knowing that spaying, inoculating and de-worming was sure to cost me a minimum of $1000 to $1400 I had kind of held off.

But last week I actually saw that she was in heat and actually saw her mating with a male dog. Well, not wanting to have a half a dozen unwanted puppies on my back porch and knowing that it was about time I got her some basic veterinary treatment anyway - I decided not to wait any longer. So I brought her in on Monday to have her checkup along with some basic shots and treatments and to schedule a spaying surgery for Tuesday. The vet did tell me that the little dog did have a number of worms, parasites and other common dog illnesses along with inflamed and possibly cystic ovaries. But when I called Tuesday afternoon the surgery was over and it appeared to go just fine - I could pick the dog up to bring home. Of course the poor little thing acted sluggish and somewhat in pain - but, I assumed that was normal. But the following day, Wednesday the little dog would still not eat and seemed to be feeling sick and in pain. So, I took the little dog back to the veterinary clinic when things had not improved by Wednesday afternoon. The vet felt that the dog might be experiencing some typical post surgical pain - but all the essential signs remained positive. He even called me in the early evening to let me know that they had taken the dog for a walk and she was wagging her tail and looking well and no longer reacted to palpating the abdominal area. He could see no reason why I shouldn't be able to pick up the dog in the afternoon the following day.

Then to my shock when I called back this morning the vet very somberly told me, "I'm very sorry, but we lost the dog last night." He was fine when they checked her at about 7:30 pm. Two hours later when they did a routine check - she had already died. The vet's only explanation is that the dogs underlining illnesses from worms and parasites to tick disease to cystic ovaries were just too much. There was absolutely no bleeding in the surgical area - but apparently the dog went into pancreatitis with DIC and simply died of other internal bleeding.

Of course neutering and spaying is very important. But in the future I would be inclined to deal with any underlining illnesses first.

March 17, 2014

Do you believe the United States of America is currently primarily a force for good in the world or

primarily a force for bad in the world?

March 14, 2014

A GREAT MAN DIED TODAY IN GREAT BRITAIN

Born Lord Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), 2nd Viscount of Stansgate. He renounced his hereditary titles as well as his position of class and privilege and swore his heart, mind and soul to the working class and the cause of democratic socialism. He was a was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 50 years and a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.

Here Michael Moore interviews him a few years ago

March 14, 2014

Michael Moore Interviews Tony Benn (Tony Benn, veteran Labour politician, dies aged 88)

see this thread in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014754927

March 14, 2014

Tony Benn, veteran Labour politician, dies aged 88

Source: The Guardian


Benn was a divisive figure within the Labour party because of his steadfast support for traditional socialism. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Tributes poured in for one the country's most extraordinary and controversial MPs, who, in what he described as the blazing autumn of his career outside Westminster, came to be regarded as an anti-establishment voice for democracy.

Although he said self-deprecatingly in one of his later interviews: "All political careers end in failure; mine just happened to end earlier than most," many regarded his final decades outside Westminster with greatest affection.

In a statement his children Stephen, Hilary, Melissa and Joshua said: "It is with great sadness that we announce that our father Tony Benn died peacefully early this morning at his home in west London surrounded by his family.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/14/tony-benn-dies-aged-88-labour-politiican?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

---

Formerly Lord Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 50 years and a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.

Benn's campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963.[2] In the Labour Government of 1964–1970 he served first as Postmaster General, where he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, and later as a notably "technocratic" Minister of Technology. In the period when the Labour Party was in Opposition, for a year he was the Chairman of the Labour Party. In the Labour Government of 1974–1979 he returned to the Cabinet, initially as Secretary of State for Industry, before being made Secretary of State for Energy, retaining his post when James Callaghan replaced Wilson as Prime Minister. During the Labour Party's time in Opposition during the 1980s, he was seen as the party's prominent figure on the left, and the term "Bennite" has come to be used in Britain for someone of a more radical left-wing position.[3]

Benn topped several polls as the most popular politician in Britain.[4] He has been described as "one of the few UK politicians to have become more left-wing after holding ministerial office."[5] After leaving Parliament, Benn became involved in the grass-roots politics of demonstrations and meetings, and was the President of the Stop the War Coalition for the last decade. He was a vegetarian from the 1970s until his death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Benn

March 13, 2014

The term "Corporatist" or "Pro-Corporate Democrats" are utterly naive terms.

Because in a corporate dominated capitalist society especially one as corporate dominated and capitalistic as the United States - of course the political class are Pro-corporatist and have been at least since the rise to power of the modern corporation. It is hardly a secret that the entire campaign system and lobbying system are overwhelmingly dominated by corporations and that is true whether the Democrats or Republicans are in power. Come on!! No one can possibly be so naive to not know that. FDR and LBJ were Pro-corporatist Democrats just as much as Clinton and Obama. The difference is LBJ and FDR were Presidents during an era when the unions were a lot more powerful and alternatives to corporate dominated capitalist society were still being espoused in rather mainstream debate.

To not be Pro-corporatist would require politicians who would NOT take their money and who would build their political influence from other sources than the corporate lobbying industrial complex. How many politicians are like that? I suppose Bernie Sanders and no more than half a dozen others.