EDGE.i.e Hillary Chasing Whiskey Shots with Beer

It's so refreshing to see people acting so naturally and taking their guard down, especially when they could be the future President!!! Check out Hillary doing shots of whiskey and chasing them down with a mug of Beer. Apparently, she does this all the time with her campaign team in the evenings. I like her even more now!!! Team Hillary!!!

Thoughts on Stop-Loss

Call it a breach of contract, involuntary servitude, or a backdoor draft, whatever way you look at it, soldiers are forced to put their lives in danger against their will. The movie Stop-Loss, had failed at the box office, attracting only vets to relive the frightful memories. But it succeeded at telling a real-life story of not only hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were stop-lossed, but of millions suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result of this horrendous and pointless war.

Stop-Loss, a term applied to contracts across many fields. But in military terms, it means:

“Orders that authorize the military to suspend nearly all discharges, transfers, and retirements, and to retain soldiers at Army’s disposal. As troop strength is strained by activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of active-duty soldiers and reservists are forced to remain in uniform after fulfilling the terms of their contracts. Many could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for second or third tours of combat.” – Boston Globe

Three days after September 11th, and 11 times since, President Bush charged numerous troops back to duty, to avoid an unpopular draft. Either way, Bush is damned if he did, damned that he didn’t.

“The stop-loss policy is wrong; it runs contrary to the concept of the volunteer military set up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.” – NYTimes

Voice of America (VoA) states that “during the Vietnam War, a soldier only had to do one tour of duty. Soldiers today are sometimes sent back for three or four tours. So they're subjected to multiple threats to their livelihood.”

Something that the movie describes all too well, is the state of the soldiers returning from deployment, adjusting to civilian life, starting life from scratch because their services don’t translate well to cubicle environment. Some continue to sleep with their fan on, as they did in the bunkers to muffle the noise of bombs and helicopters, some react as drastically as they were taught, kill or be killed, and some lose perception of reality altogether.

VoA also adds that as a result of PTSD we’ll “see an explosion of domestic violence, homelessness, substance abuse, because there are no resources to take care of these soldiers when they come home. It's just not there."

Anyway, check out the movie Stop-Loss and see if you agree with the reviews:

Rolling Stone
Here's the first major movie of the new year that touches greatness, and damn if there isn't a curse hanging over it.

TIME Magazine
As a nation, we owe them more than they owe us -- as this painfully necessary and heartfelt movie makes abundantly clear.

Detroit News
There's a keen and ugly sense of anguish to Stop-Loss, a caged sense of powerlessness beyond political outrage that makes this film far and away the most effective effort yet at capturing the frustration of the war in Iraq.

New Yorker
Stop-Loss is not a great movie, but it’s forceful, effective, and alive, with the raw, mixed-up emotions produced by an endless war -- a time when the patriotism of military families is in danger of being exploited beyond endurance.

NEWS.i.e. Let there be cellphones - Cuba

To everyone's surprise, Raul Castro of Cuba, is not as harsh as he was presumed to be. He's so cool, that he's letting his citizens to have the right to have a cellphone, if they can afford it. Not only that, but now you're allowed to have a microwave, DVD player, computers, and the right to stay at tourist hotels on the island. On a salary that averages $20 a month, I'm not sure how it's possible to afford such necessary products. However, it's the first step of loosening the tight restrictions, that makes people see the light at the end of the tunnel and welcome the change. It will take a whole lot more to fix Cuba, then a lift on a microwave.

"Cuba's government had previously forbidden the sale of consumer products under the argument that they consumed too much electricity." -CNN

Here are the opinions on this subject from major commentators:

The Miami Herald - Carlos Alberto Montaner

“Raúl understands the importance of material incentives” to make people work harder. But he will still “fail as a leader.” Brother Fidel just exercised his “permanent veto” over a “minor” proposal to facilitate Cuban travel abroad, and he will use it on other “sensible” reforms, too. The larger problem, though, is that Cuba’s economic system is “intrinsically unproductive.”

Investor’s Business Daily

Cellphones and toasters aren’t going to give Cubans what they really need. They need “real economic freedom.” Even poor people in India and Indonesia have access to “consumer technology,” because they have the “economic liberty” to earn real cash. Dangling generally unaffordable “consumer offerings” before the people is merely the act of “a new dictator seeking to win some popularity.”

The Atlantic - Matthew Yglesias

Allowing cellphones and other goods is "hardly the last word in fixing Cuba’s screwed-up economic system,” said . But it’s “certainly a step in the right direction.” In order to “alleviate the sorry conditions of the Cuban people,” however, the U.S. will have to “take a step in the right direction of our own” and lift at least part of our “draconian” embargo.

via TheWeek

NEWS.i.e. Late Show Hosts on Spitzer

Everyone and their mother has something to say about Spitzer. Myself including. But I just knew the late show hosts were going to have a ball with this one. Here's what they have to say:

• Stephen Colbert remained deadpan on his Comedy Central Colbert Report, saying of Spitzer, “I sat next to the guy three times and I didn’t pick up on any of this, and I usually have excellent whore-dar.”

• Spitzer, who was accused of being Client 9 for the call-girl ring, was even topic one with Late Night host Conan O’Brien, who joked, “Not surprisingly, clients 1 through 8 were Charlie Sheen.”

• Finally, The View co-host Joy Behar opined, “Aren’t you sick of men? Viagra is destroying our government.”

• “They’re talking about impeaching Eliot Spitzer if he doesn’t step down,” said Late Show’s David Letterman, “and I’m thinking, ‘Whoa, a Democrat being impeached for extramarital sex. Well, happy days are here again!’ ” And adding, “Client 9 will soon be looking for wife No. 2”.

Letterman's Top 10 Spitzer Excuses: (Video for the Top 10)
10. “Oh come on, like you were never involved in a prostitution ring.”
9. “Hookers is fun.”
8. “Just trying to help the economy.”
7. “Have you ever been to Albany?”
6. “It’s part of my new MTV prank show, ‘Spitz’d.’”
5. “Haven’t been myself since Roy Scheider died.”
4. “Uh, tainted beef?”
3. “Whether it’s a hooker or your wife, you’re always paying for – you married fellas know what I’m talking about.”
2. “Wanted to be known as the Charlie Sheen of politics.”
1. “I thought Bill Clinton legalized this years ago.”

(via ICYDK)