http://www.alternet.org/economy/14-reasons-why-house-and-senate-republicans-have-declared-economic-war-average-americans?akid=12917.294211.1kW_ZP&rd=1&src=newsletter1033595&t=9
The GOP-controlled House and Senate budgets not only drastically cut
spending on education, retirement, environment, road and bridges,
climate change, immigration, job creation, Obamacare, food stamps, and
other social welfare programs; but it gives the Pentagon a blank check,
and includes tax cuts for the rich and corporations while raising taxes
for lower-income Americans. That’s the analysis by the National Priorities Project (NPP), not just Krugman, and they make an even more disturbing point.
In
almost every one of these budget areas, nationwide polls show that a
majority of Americans strongly oppose what the GOP is proposing. In
other words, the Republicans are not delivering the kind of federal
government that Americans want; they are declaring economic war on
average Americans by reshaping government to serve the upper classes and
biggest businesses.
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Saturday, March 21, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Jon Stewart compares coverage of Ferguson and Benghazi - Very Good
http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/humor/watch-what-happens-when-jon-stewart-compares-foxs-coverage-of-ferguson-and-benghazi-an-epic-takedown/
Fans of The Daily Show are somewhat used to Jon Stewart and company skewering the Fox News Channel on a regular basis. But, this one is special.
Stewart goes after the right wing for its glaring double-standard when it comes to covering their political interests vs. when it does not. He uses Fox’s own coverage of Benghazi and compares it to their host’s recent and constant whining about “hands up – don’t shoot” – turning out to be more legend than fact.
He also points out their refusals to admit that the Benghazi report exonerated the Administration including their two favorite targets, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and of course President Obama. They do this while constantly complaining about “hands up – don’t shoot” being “a false narrative” that was peddled by everyone Fox doesn’t like. Fox, of course, demands reparations for anything to do with Ferguson while at the same time ignoring the Benghazi report, even when one of its authors is on Fox News.
Fans of The Daily Show are somewhat used to Jon Stewart and company skewering the Fox News Channel on a regular basis. But, this one is special.
Stewart goes after the right wing for its glaring double-standard when it comes to covering their political interests vs. when it does not. He uses Fox’s own coverage of Benghazi and compares it to their host’s recent and constant whining about “hands up – don’t shoot” – turning out to be more legend than fact.
He also points out their refusals to admit that the Benghazi report exonerated the Administration including their two favorite targets, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and of course President Obama. They do this while constantly complaining about “hands up – don’t shoot” being “a false narrative” that was peddled by everyone Fox doesn’t like. Fox, of course, demands reparations for anything to do with Ferguson while at the same time ignoring the Benghazi report, even when one of its authors is on Fox News.
40% fresh water shorfall in 15 years according to the UN
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/20/1372113/-U-N-Warns-Of-40-Fresh-Water-Shortfall-By-2030?detail=facebook_sf
At the same time, the Republicans are insisting that every Zygote be born. We need to start taking our environment and our resources seriously.
Shortages of fresh water for human consumption and farming could reach crisis proportions in just 15 years, with a stunning 40% shortfall in fresh (including drinkable) water by 2030, according to a UN Report released today:
At the same time, the Republicans are insisting that every Zygote be born. We need to start taking our environment and our resources seriously.
Shortages of fresh water for human consumption and farming could reach crisis proportions in just 15 years, with a stunning 40% shortfall in fresh (including drinkable) water by 2030, according to a UN Report released today:
Many underground water reserves are already running low, while rainfall patterns are predicted to become more erratic with climate change. As the world's population grows to an expected 9 billion by 2050, more groundwater will be needed for farming, industry and personal consumption. The report predicts global water demand will increase 55 percent by 2050, while reserves dwindle. If current usage trends don't change, the world will have only 60 percent of the water it needs in 2030, it said.The United Nations World Water Development Report (.pdf here) is a comprehensive review of the condition of the world's freshwater supplies. Its purpose is to provide those countries with intelligent and forward-thinking leadership the tools necessary to plan for the implementation of sustainable water usage:
THE CIA declassified the Report about Why We Went into Iraq. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR GOING IN - wow.
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-cia-has-just-now-declassified.html
Courtesy of Vice:
For the first time, the public can now read the hastily drafted CIA document that led Congress to pass a joint resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, a costly war launched March 20, 2003 that was predicated on "disarming" Iraq of its (non-existent) WMD, overthrowing Saddam Hussein, and "freeing" the Iraqi people.
A report issued by the government funded think-tank RAND Corporation last December titled "Blinders, Blunders and Wars" said the NIE "contained several qualifiers that were dropped…. As the draft NIE went up the intelligence chain of command, the conclusions were treated increasingly definitively."
An example of that: According to the newly declassified NIE, the intelligence community concluded that Iraq "probably has renovated a [vaccine] production plant" to manufacture biological weapons "but we are unable to determine whether [biological weapons] agent research has resumed." The NIE also said Hussein did not have "sufficient material" to manufacture any nuclear weapons. But in an October 7, 2002 speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, then-President George W. Bush simply said Iraq, "possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons" and "the evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program."
Courtesy of Vice:
For the first time, the public can now read the hastily drafted CIA document that led Congress to pass a joint resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, a costly war launched March 20, 2003 that was predicated on "disarming" Iraq of its (non-existent) WMD, overthrowing Saddam Hussein, and "freeing" the Iraqi people.
A report issued by the government funded think-tank RAND Corporation last December titled "Blinders, Blunders and Wars" said the NIE "contained several qualifiers that were dropped…. As the draft NIE went up the intelligence chain of command, the conclusions were treated increasingly definitively."
An example of that: According to the newly declassified NIE, the intelligence community concluded that Iraq "probably has renovated a [vaccine] production plant" to manufacture biological weapons "but we are unable to determine whether [biological weapons] agent research has resumed." The NIE also said Hussein did not have "sufficient material" to manufacture any nuclear weapons. But in an October 7, 2002 speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, then-President George W. Bush simply said Iraq, "possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons" and "the evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program."
Paul Krugman has a must read story today: TRANSFER OF WEALTH TO RICHEST.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/20/1372134/-Paul-Krugman-is-a-Must-Read-Today-Again?detail=facebook_sf
One of the reasons Paul Krugman is routinely marginalized by those with the power to do so is that he has a bad (for them) habit of putting into words what 'polite' people do not want to trouble their beautiful minds with, such as the monstrous con-job the current GOP budget is. When Krugman calls them Trillion Dollar Fraudsters, he's being restrained, if anything. What he's pointing out should be front page news and the lead story on the TeeVee machine news shows.
Jim - Cleveland 4 hours ago Why is this column the only place in this newspaper where this honest appraisal of Republican dishonesty appears?
One of the reasons Paul Krugman is routinely marginalized by those with the power to do so is that he has a bad (for them) habit of putting into words what 'polite' people do not want to trouble their beautiful minds with, such as the monstrous con-job the current GOP budget is. When Krugman calls them Trillion Dollar Fraudsters, he's being restrained, if anything. What he's pointing out should be front page news and the lead story on the TeeVee machine news shows.
...outrageous fiscal mendacity is neither historically normal nor bipartisan. It’s a modern Republican thing. And the question we should ask is why. ....I’m partial to a more cynical explanation. Think about what these budgets would do if you ignore the mysterious trillions in unspecified spending cuts and revenue enhancements. What you’re left with is huge transfers of income from the poor and the working class, who would see severe benefit cuts, to the rich, who would see big tax cuts. And the simplest way to understand these budgets is surely to suppose that they are intended to do what they would, in fact, actually do: make the rich richer and ordinary families poorer.emphasis added If you look at the comments on Krugman's editorial, the recs on the most popular comments are shooting up faster than you can click on them to agree, as people see the editorial this morning. The one currently at the top of the list is this one:
Jim - Cleveland 4 hours ago Why is this column the only place in this newspaper where this honest appraisal of Republican dishonesty appears?
John Boehner going to Israel to sabotage the Iran Negotiations. Treason continues.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/20/john-boehner-israel-sabotage-obama-nuclear-agreement-iran.html
Republicans are opening a new front in their
campaign to undercut the Commander In Chief. Speaker of the House John
Boehner will be going to Israel to meet with Netanyahu around the same
time that the White House expects an agreement to be reached on Iran’s
nuclear program.
Boehner spokesman Kevin
Smith confirmed the visit, which will take place during the Easter
recess and marks Boehner’s first trip to the nation since becoming
Speaker. His last visit was in 2008.
“The Speaker will visit Israel during the next
district work period. He looks forward to visiting the country,
discussing our shared priorities for peace and security in the region,
and further strengthening the bond between the United States and
Israel,” Smith said.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the
speaker’s trip will begin March 31, and he’ll be leading a congressional
delegation of Republican lawmakers.
President Obama Calls Netanyahu to Congratulate and tell him the US believes in a Palistinian State.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/18/1371810/-Obama-stands-strong-He-doesn-t-congratulate-Netanyahu-rather-he-rebukes-him?detail=email
Not only has President Obama not called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his apparent victory in yesterday's Israeli election, he has instead explicitly rebuked him:
Not only has President Obama not called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his apparent victory in yesterday's Israeli election, he has instead explicitly rebuked him:
Obama’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, reaffirmed the president’s belief in the two-state solution, and strongly condemned Netanyahu’s decision to rally support with incendiary remarks about a high turnout among Israeli Arab voters. Netanyahu used a 28-second video on election day to warn that Israeli Arabs were being bussed to the polls “in droves”. “The United States and this administration is deeply concerned about rhetoric that seeks to marginalise Arab Israeli citizens,” Earnest said. “It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.”Netanyahu, of course, rallied to his surprise plurality win not only with his overt racism against Israel's minority Arab citizens, but he also finally came clean and admitted what everyone has known all along: he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state. So unless he plans on allowing Palestinian residents of Gaza and the West Bank to become Israeli citizens, and thus demographically overwhelm Jewish Israelis, or unless he plans to try to send them to other countries, his active intent is to make them permanently stateless, and effective permanent prisoners, just for having been born Palestinian Arabs.
He added: “Rhetoric that seeks to marginalise one segment of their population is deeply concerning, it is divisive, and I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.”
Why the GOP hate the Modern American State explained:
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/republicans-private-terror-why-they-despise-modern-american-state-and-embrace?akid=12910.294211.9vDZct&rd=1&src=newsletter1033541&t=14
The Iran letter said more about the GOP than Tom Cotton and company ever intended. Here's their demented logic.
21st century Republicans are also following in the footsteps of their late 20th century brethren, who, for example, didn’t just oppose and defame Bill Clinton — they impeached him. So while it’s undoubtedly true that some Republicans despise Obama, their behavior as a party seems driven by something other than purely personal motives. Difficult as it may be for many Americans to realize, politics is really about something more than personalities. It’s about, er, politics, and the recent behavior of Republicans must be seen in that light to be fully understood. Their latest escapades merely extend the logic of the party’s evolution since the early 1960s. They may hate Barack Obama, but what they really hate is the modern American state.
extending over at least the Obama presidency but with roots as far back, perhaps, as the Clinton impeachment. It involves the readiness of Republicans to violate long-standing norms of institutional conduct in order to advance a highly divisive, intensely partisan agenda. Impeachment and the threat of impeachment; the use of primaries to defeat Republican incumbents judged to be insufficiently “conservative”; a willingness to default on the debt or shutdown the government; the indiscriminate use of the filibuster to require super-majorities in the Senate on virtually every issue— this pattern of increasingly radical behavior may certainly be associated, in any given case, with the anger or pique of particular politicians. But its deepest source is in the political attitudes of an increasingly radical party.
Also relevant is the entrepreneurial environment GOP politicians inhabit nowadays. The proliferation of media outlets, PACs, and “policy” centers on the right has changed the calculus for many of its office-holders. They know an alternate career path is out there, one potentially more lucrative and less burdensome than government employment. A conservative politician who is fast on his or her feet, looks good in a suit, and adheres closely enough to right-wing dogma can trade public service for the private sector and make out like a bandit. The pioneer here, of course, is Sarah Palin, who ditched the governorship of Alaska for media celebrity after her ride on the Straight Talk Express in 2008. Her example is surely not lost on the likes of Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. As such people grow more and more detached from actual governing, the norms that enable and define successful governance matter less and less to them.
The Iran letter said more about the GOP than Tom Cotton and company ever intended. Here's their demented logic.
21st century Republicans are also following in the footsteps of their late 20th century brethren, who, for example, didn’t just oppose and defame Bill Clinton — they impeached him. So while it’s undoubtedly true that some Republicans despise Obama, their behavior as a party seems driven by something other than purely personal motives. Difficult as it may be for many Americans to realize, politics is really about something more than personalities. It’s about, er, politics, and the recent behavior of Republicans must be seen in that light to be fully understood. Their latest escapades merely extend the logic of the party’s evolution since the early 1960s. They may hate Barack Obama, but what they really hate is the modern American state.
extending over at least the Obama presidency but with roots as far back, perhaps, as the Clinton impeachment. It involves the readiness of Republicans to violate long-standing norms of institutional conduct in order to advance a highly divisive, intensely partisan agenda. Impeachment and the threat of impeachment; the use of primaries to defeat Republican incumbents judged to be insufficiently “conservative”; a willingness to default on the debt or shutdown the government; the indiscriminate use of the filibuster to require super-majorities in the Senate on virtually every issue— this pattern of increasingly radical behavior may certainly be associated, in any given case, with the anger or pique of particular politicians. But its deepest source is in the political attitudes of an increasingly radical party.
Also relevant is the entrepreneurial environment GOP politicians inhabit nowadays. The proliferation of media outlets, PACs, and “policy” centers on the right has changed the calculus for many of its office-holders. They know an alternate career path is out there, one potentially more lucrative and less burdensome than government employment. A conservative politician who is fast on his or her feet, looks good in a suit, and adheres closely enough to right-wing dogma can trade public service for the private sector and make out like a bandit. The pioneer here, of course, is Sarah Palin, who ditched the governorship of Alaska for media celebrity after her ride on the Straight Talk Express in 2008. Her example is surely not lost on the likes of Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. As such people grow more and more detached from actual governing, the norms that enable and define successful governance matter less and less to them.
How Americans are Brainwashed to Fear the Wrong Things.
http://www.alternet.org/investigations/how-americans-are-brainwashed-fear-exactly-wrong-things?akid=12910.294211.9vDZct&rd=1&src=newsletter1033541&t=2
Hyped threats and propaganda promote fears, some real and most fake.
What is a bigger threat to most Americans: big government or big business?
In December 2013, the Gallup poll found that nearly three out of four people feared “big government” more than “big business” or “big labor.” After President Obama took office in 2009, 55 percent feared Big Brother. By late 2013, the last time Gallup asked, the government-fearing figure was 72 percent, the highest in 50 years.
Only 21 percent of Americans said that big business was a bigger threat.
“For conservatives, democracy is about the liberty to do what you want to do to anybody and meet no public responsibility,” he said. “With progressives, people care about each other and work through the government to provide public resources so that private life can function and private business can function… The whole idea of public resources for well being and freedom isn’t there for conservatives.”
Hyped threats and propaganda promote fears, some real and most fake.
What is a bigger threat to most Americans: big government or big business?
In December 2013, the Gallup poll found that nearly three out of four people feared “big government” more than “big business” or “big labor.” After President Obama took office in 2009, 55 percent feared Big Brother. By late 2013, the last time Gallup asked, the government-fearing figure was 72 percent, the highest in 50 years.
Only 21 percent of Americans said that big business was a bigger threat.
“For conservatives, democracy is about the liberty to do what you want to do to anybody and meet no public responsibility,” he said. “With progressives, people care about each other and work through the government to provide public resources so that private life can function and private business can function… The whole idea of public resources for well being and freedom isn’t there for conservatives.”
Thursday, March 19, 2015
A Gun Store that tells owners about the killing history of the gun they want to buy
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/19/find-out-why-this-nyc-gun-store-has-the-nra-up-in-arms-video/
Customers at a new “gun store” on the Lower East Side of New York City were shocked when they saw what the proprietors were selling. While they were treated to an impressive array of handguns and assault weapons, what they learned changed their views forever.
When customers inspected their potential weapons purchases, the clerk helpfully told them all about the firearm — including people that type of weapon has killed. The store, of course, was a front for an educational social experiment created by States United To Prevent Gun Violence.
“This revolver, it’s the easiest gun we have to use. It’s our most popular one. It’s a 22-caliber, six-inch revolver,” the clerk tells one couple. “It’s also a gun that a five-year-old found in his parents’ bedroom, went down and shot his nine-month-old baby brother with it.”
“Collectors love this one,” the clerk tells another man. “Adam Lanza’s mom had one in her collection, too — Until he took this and several other guns and killed her, then went down to Sandy Hook, [and] killed six teachers and twenty innocent children. Twenty little kids — gone.
While they may have wanted to buy a gun, “customers” changed their minds after hearing firsthand the very real dangers presented by firearms. “It is one of our rights,” one woman said, “but my opinion has definitely changed. I don’t feel safe with a gun.”
Customers at a new “gun store” on the Lower East Side of New York City were shocked when they saw what the proprietors were selling. While they were treated to an impressive array of handguns and assault weapons, what they learned changed their views forever.
When customers inspected their potential weapons purchases, the clerk helpfully told them all about the firearm — including people that type of weapon has killed. The store, of course, was a front for an educational social experiment created by States United To Prevent Gun Violence.
“This revolver, it’s the easiest gun we have to use. It’s our most popular one. It’s a 22-caliber, six-inch revolver,” the clerk tells one couple. “It’s also a gun that a five-year-old found in his parents’ bedroom, went down and shot his nine-month-old baby brother with it.”
“Collectors love this one,” the clerk tells another man. “Adam Lanza’s mom had one in her collection, too — Until he took this and several other guns and killed her, then went down to Sandy Hook, [and] killed six teachers and twenty innocent children. Twenty little kids — gone.
While they may have wanted to buy a gun, “customers” changed their minds after hearing firsthand the very real dangers presented by firearms. “It is one of our rights,” one woman said, “but my opinion has definitely changed. I don’t feel safe with a gun.”
12 Charts that show that US Politics are broken
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/19/8253775/charts-worry-about-politics
1) Congress is less popular than Richard Nixon was during Watergate, or than the banks were during the financial crisis
2) In the 2010 election, 0.26 percent of the population gave 68 percent of the money
3) Congress is more polarized than at any time since Reconstruction
4) Many states are trying to make it harder for Americans to vote
5) Democratic and Republican voters are more polarized than ever
AZ Sheriff Arpaio quietly pleads guilty to stay out of court - Victime say NO WAY!!!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/19/1371893/-Sheriff-Arpaio-admits-to-crimes-in-order-to-avoid-trial-Victims-This-won-t-fly?detail=facebook_sf
Very quietly this week, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's attorneys filed papers admitting that the blowhard and his deputies committed a crime, several in fact.
Mary Rose Wilcox was one of several county supervisors, essentially
the sheriff's bosses, who criticized his police state tactics,
especially during the time Arpaio, Senate President Russell Pearce and
County Attorney Andrew Thomas were enacting and approving laws that
sanctioned Arpaio's discriminatory policies. Because she spoke out
Wilcox was targeted; she eventually sued the sheriff for "his systematic campaign of intimidation, abuse and malfeasance," and was awarded $975,000.
Very quietly this week, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's attorneys filed papers admitting that the blowhard and his deputies committed a crime, several in fact.
Arpaio admitted he violated federal court orders that stem from a racial profiling case filed last year. Lawyers for the sheriff want to call off upcoming hearings to examine the violations, but activists strongly disagree.Unlike the typical Arpaio blustering press conference, there were no TV cameras to capture this latest stunt. Instead, Arpaio's office filed the papers without comment, hoping the sheriff's admission will keep him off the witness stand in a contempt of court hearing Judge Murray Snow ordered for April 21. Victims of Arpaio's racial profiling and other harassments are having none of it.
"Sheriff, this won't fly. Nobody will accept it. You will go to court ... and you will have to stand trial for what you've done," said former county supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.Why it "won't fly" over the bump.
President Obama FactChecks Republicans: Quite Good
http://egbertowillies.com/2015/03/19/president-obama-forces-gop-politicians-to-eat-crow-video/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Deborah%20Montesano/thepoliticali&utm_content=President%20Obama%20forces%20GOP%20politicians%20to%20eat%20crow%20%28VIDEO%29
President Obama continues his new stride as he chides Republicans for their failed prognostications. Democratic politicians encouraged his silence during the 2014 elections. Imagine what could have been if Americans had realized they had something to vote for. Imagine if Americans had believed that those pushing a relatively progressive agenda believed in that agenda and was willing to fight for that agenda.
Back in January President Obama chided Republicans for their new found love for the American poor and the American middle class. On Wednesday he did more than that. He pointed out how off base Republican willful deceptive prognostication of his policies were.
President Obama continues his new stride as he chides Republicans for their failed prognostications. Democratic politicians encouraged his silence during the 2014 elections. Imagine what could have been if Americans had realized they had something to vote for. Imagine if Americans had believed that those pushing a relatively progressive agenda believed in that agenda and was willing to fight for that agenda.
Back in January President Obama chided Republicans for their new found love for the American poor and the American middle class. On Wednesday he did more than that. He pointed out how off base Republican willful deceptive prognostication of his policies were.
Now, I want to return to the issue of the debate that we were having then because it bears on the debate we’re having now. It’s important to note that at every step that we’ve taken over the past six years we were told our goals were misguided; they were too ambitious; that my administration’s policies would crush jobs and explode deficits, and destroy the economy forever. Remember that? Because sometimes we don’t do the instant replay, we don’t run the tape back, and then we end up having the same argument going forward.The president then reminded America what specific Republicans said his economic policies would do to destroy the American economy.
Pentagon says they may have lost 500 million in military weapons to Al-Qaeda
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/19/1371828/-The-Pentagon-Admits-It-May-Have-Lost-500-Million-in-U-S-Weaponry-To-Al-Qaeda?detail=facebook_sf#
Ever wonder where your where your tax money goes?:
Ever wonder where your where your tax money goes?:
The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials. With Yemen in turmoil and its government splintering, the Defense Department has lost its ability to monitor the whereabouts of small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies donated by the United States....[.]The tragicomedy of the apparent loss of these weapons has shined a light on our counterterrorism policy in now-collapsing Yemen, a subject few in our media care about, judging from the lack of coverage compared to, for example, burning questions about Hillary Clinton's email server. Our supposedly representative Congress held "closed-door" meetings with DOD officials last week, asking the Pentagon to account for all of this hardware. The Pentagon brass essentially shrugged its shoulders:
In recent weeks, members of Congress have held closed-door meetings with U.S. military officials to press for an accounting of the arms and equipment. Pentagon officials have said that they have little information to go on and that there is little they can do at this point to prevent the weapons and gear from falling into the wrong hands.
Jon Stewart: Netanyahu win in Israel
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/19/stewart_blasts_netanyahu_over_racist_fear_mongering_that%E2%80%99s_our_thing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection, Fox News commentators all seem to have one burning question: “How long is it going to take President Obama to call Netanyahu?”
John Stewart slammed the Fox News team for this misguided line of inquiry: “You find it interesting that a foreign country’s prime minister — who came to Congress against the White House’s wishes and shits on a nuclear deal the president spent years working on — wouldn’t receive an immediate post-election ‘atta boy?’” Stewart asked.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook video Tuesday, Netanyahu claimed that foreign governments were importing “huge amounts of Arabs” to sway the election. In that video he cited polling statistics from the previous year, stating at 11 a.m. that morning that “10 percent of Israeli Arabs had voted, as opposed to 3 percent at the same time in the last election
Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection, Fox News commentators all seem to have one burning question: “How long is it going to take President Obama to call Netanyahu?”
John Stewart slammed the Fox News team for this misguided line of inquiry: “You find it interesting that a foreign country’s prime minister — who came to Congress against the White House’s wishes and shits on a nuclear deal the president spent years working on — wouldn’t receive an immediate post-election ‘atta boy?’” Stewart asked.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook video Tuesday, Netanyahu claimed that foreign governments were importing “huge amounts of Arabs” to sway the election. In that video he cited polling statistics from the previous year, stating at 11 a.m. that morning that “10 percent of Israeli Arabs had voted, as opposed to 3 percent at the same time in the last election
Bernie Sanders blasts the GOP budget
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/19/sanders-blasts-gop-budgets
'To summarize: the rich get much richer, and the Republicans think they need more help. The middle class and working families of this country become poorer, and the Republicans think we need to cut programs they desperately need.'
At a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasted as large a hole in the newly-released Republican budget as he could muster, declaring it an attack on low- and middle-income Americans, a fiesta of deregulation and subsidies for Wall Street and Big Business, and a plan to further enrich the nation's wealthiest and most powerful while ignoring the perils of climate change and the interwoven crises of inequality, personal debt, and unemployment that is ravaging the health of the economy and destroying the dreams and prosperity of millions.
"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, the Republicans apparently believe that the richest people in America need to be made even richer," said Sanders, ranking member of the committe. "It is apparently not good enough that 99 percent of all new income today is going to the top 1 percent. That’s apparently not enough."
'To summarize: the rich get much richer, and the Republicans think they need more help. The middle class and working families of this country become poorer, and the Republicans think we need to cut programs they desperately need.'
At a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasted as large a hole in the newly-released Republican budget as he could muster, declaring it an attack on low- and middle-income Americans, a fiesta of deregulation and subsidies for Wall Street and Big Business, and a plan to further enrich the nation's wealthiest and most powerful while ignoring the perils of climate change and the interwoven crises of inequality, personal debt, and unemployment that is ravaging the health of the economy and destroying the dreams and prosperity of millions.
"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, the Republicans apparently believe that the richest people in America need to be made even richer," said Sanders, ranking member of the committe. "It is apparently not good enough that 99 percent of all new income today is going to the top 1 percent. That’s apparently not enough."
Prosperity Gospel: Turning Jesus into a money making scam - Larry Wilmore
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/larry-wilmore-destroys-prosperity-gospel-megachurches-for-turning-jesus-into-a-money-making-scam/
On Wednesday’s Nightly Show, host Larry Wilmore and his panel attacked “prosperity gospel” preachers like Creflo Dollar for exploiting their congregations in the name of Jesus Christ.
The “prosperity gospel” is the fastest growing Protestant group according to religious scholar Reza Aslan. It argues that God rewards the righteous with material wealth, and that it is their duty to flaunt it by conspicuously consuming as much as they can afford.
Or, as Wilmore put it, “When did Jesus start a hip-hop label?”
“Have megachurches gone too far?” he asked. “Let me put it this way — when your church sounds like an evil Transformer, you’ve gone too far.”
After a clip discussing Creflo Dollar’s appeal to parishioners for help buying a $65 million Gulfstream jet, Wilmore said, “I don’t know if I should be more shocked at a new jet or that his name is ‘Creflo Dollar.’ It just seems so on the nose — like a serial killer named ‘Jack Knife,’ or a bank robber named ‘Phillip Z. Bag.’”
On Wednesday’s Nightly Show, host Larry Wilmore and his panel attacked “prosperity gospel” preachers like Creflo Dollar for exploiting their congregations in the name of Jesus Christ.
The “prosperity gospel” is the fastest growing Protestant group according to religious scholar Reza Aslan. It argues that God rewards the righteous with material wealth, and that it is their duty to flaunt it by conspicuously consuming as much as they can afford.
Or, as Wilmore put it, “When did Jesus start a hip-hop label?”
“Have megachurches gone too far?” he asked. “Let me put it this way — when your church sounds like an evil Transformer, you’ve gone too far.”
After a clip discussing Creflo Dollar’s appeal to parishioners for help buying a $65 million Gulfstream jet, Wilmore said, “I don’t know if I should be more shocked at a new jet or that his name is ‘Creflo Dollar.’ It just seems so on the nose — like a serial killer named ‘Jack Knife,’ or a bank robber named ‘Phillip Z. Bag.’”
Christian Right Dominates the GOP - Is there any end in sight.
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/christian-right-still-dominates-gop-there-any-end-sight?akid=12905.294211.-kt5V6&rd=1&src=newsletter1033476&t=6
Say what, said any reader who has cracked a newspaper, the New York Times or otherwise, in the past four decades. Making the Republican Party beholden to the Christian right is like making the sky blue or making cats stubborn. Can you really make something be what it already is?
That the evangelical right already controls the GOP shouldn’t really be in dispute. Not only do the Republicans do exactly as the Christian right tells them on every social issue, such as reproductive rights or gay rights, but Republicans also pay fealty to the Christian right by targeting Muslim countries with their hawkish posturing or using Christian language to rationalize slashing the social safety net. If you were trying to come up with a quick-and-dirty description of the Republican Party, “coalition of corporate and patriarchal religious interests” would be it.
Say what, said any reader who has cracked a newspaper, the New York Times or otherwise, in the past four decades. Making the Republican Party beholden to the Christian right is like making the sky blue or making cats stubborn. Can you really make something be what it already is?
That the evangelical right already controls the GOP shouldn’t really be in dispute. Not only do the Republicans do exactly as the Christian right tells them on every social issue, such as reproductive rights or gay rights, but Republicans also pay fealty to the Christian right by targeting Muslim countries with their hawkish posturing or using Christian language to rationalize slashing the social safety net. If you were trying to come up with a quick-and-dirty description of the Republican Party, “coalition of corporate and patriarchal religious interests” would be it.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Bullshit is the ONLY thing that Trickles Down.
http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2015/03/the-only-thing-that-trickles-down-is-bullshit/
For most of America’s largest corporations, the recession ended years ago, and they’re back to setting records with regards to their yearly profits. And if trickle down economics has taught us anything, its that putting more money into the hands of the wealthy will mean more cash flow for the rest of the country. But trickle down doesn’t work, and the massive cash hoards that corporations are sitting upon are just being funneled back into the company.
Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this with Bryce Covert, the economic policy editor of Think Progress.
For most of America’s largest corporations, the recession ended years ago, and they’re back to setting records with regards to their yearly profits. And if trickle down economics has taught us anything, its that putting more money into the hands of the wealthy will mean more cash flow for the rest of the country. But trickle down doesn’t work, and the massive cash hoards that corporations are sitting upon are just being funneled back into the company.
Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this with Bryce Covert, the economic policy editor of Think Progress.
The Republican Budget is Gimmicks - Smoke and Mirrors only
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/18/3635394/republican-budget-gimmicks/
This Republican Budget is smoke and mirrors.
On Monday, House Republicans unveiled their latest budget proposal. It promises to cut spending by $5.5 trillion, balance the budget in less than a decade, and still do so without “tax increases or true austerity measures, or a loss of confidence in America’s creditworthiness.”
The proposal put forth by House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) also promises not to “let rhetoric take the place of real results,” and to that end says, “Real results means we do not rely on gimmicks or creative accounting tricks to balance our budget.” Yet there are at least five pieces of the budget proposal that look suspiciously like gimmicks.
Unusual accounting tricks
The budget reports that even with no extra revenue raised, it would
increase the deficit by $18 billion within the first two years but then
wind up with an actual surplus of $83 billion by 2025. To arrive at
these numbers, it uses estimates that take into account “the positive
impact of its overall deficit-reducing fiscal policy” to report an extra
$147 in deficit reduction from “positive economic feedback effects,”
such as an assumed increase in economic growth of 6.5 percent by 2040
thanks to reducing federal debt. This estimate uses what is called dynamic scoring:
the inclusion of assumptions about changes in the economy and workforce
that result from legislation when estimating its fiscal impact. This
means relying on macroeconomic forecasts to come up with figures, which
are incredibly uncertain
and often necessitate making assumptions that can be politically
charged, such as the idea that tax increases will boost growth.
The Republican budget assumes the economy won’t just benefit from its promised deficit reduction, but also from “fundamental tax reform, increasing domestic energy production, and the restoration of incentives for people to work, save, and invest,” while not necessarily outlining the details of those promises.
Unspecified spending cuts
The budget also gets to its deficit reduction by promising big savings through spending cuts on mandatory programs, the largest of which are Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (which it repeals and therefore counts as savings without taking into account increased deficits if the law were done away with). But other than the assumed savings from repealing Obamacare, the next largest savings in mandatory spending from a category simply called “Other Mandatory,” which it claims would be reduced by over $1 trillion by 2025. This category includes programs like food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and disability payments for veterans. The budget proposal’s cuts aren’t spelled out, and it’s not clear how these programs could be reduced by such a large number, but they’re a big chunk of the promised $5.5 trillion in promised savings.
This Republican Budget is smoke and mirrors.
On Monday, House Republicans unveiled their latest budget proposal. It promises to cut spending by $5.5 trillion, balance the budget in less than a decade, and still do so without “tax increases or true austerity measures, or a loss of confidence in America’s creditworthiness.”
The proposal put forth by House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) also promises not to “let rhetoric take the place of real results,” and to that end says, “Real results means we do not rely on gimmicks or creative accounting tricks to balance our budget.” Yet there are at least five pieces of the budget proposal that look suspiciously like gimmicks.
Unusual accounting tricks
The Republican budget assumes the economy won’t just benefit from its promised deficit reduction, but also from “fundamental tax reform, increasing domestic energy production, and the restoration of incentives for people to work, save, and invest,” while not necessarily outlining the details of those promises.
Unspecified spending cuts
The budget also gets to its deficit reduction by promising big savings through spending cuts on mandatory programs, the largest of which are Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (which it repeals and therefore counts as savings without taking into account increased deficits if the law were done away with). But other than the assumed savings from repealing Obamacare, the next largest savings in mandatory spending from a category simply called “Other Mandatory,” which it claims would be reduced by over $1 trillion by 2025. This category includes programs like food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and disability payments for veterans. The budget proposal’s cuts aren’t spelled out, and it’s not clear how these programs could be reduced by such a large number, but they’re a big chunk of the promised $5.5 trillion in promised savings.
Marijuana 100X less toxic than alcohol - New Study
http://www.herbs-info.com/blog/new-study-finds-marijuana-100x-less-toxic-than-alcohol-safer-than-tobacco/?c=d
But is marijuana use as dangerous as the law makes it out to be? The intoxicating effects of marijuana, although different, are not thought more severe than that of mild to moderate alcohol intake – a substance that is not illegal anywhere in the United States, or most countries all over the world. A study published in January 2015 by Lechenmeier and Rehm [6] assessed the comparative risk between different “mind-altering” substances, specifically alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other illicit drugs like heroin. Surprisingly, the study revealed that cannabis was the least risky substance, belonging to the other end of the spectrum. Do you know what substance was revealed the most risky? Alcohol.
How is this possible? The study used an approach called the Margin of Exposure (MOE) which is drastically different from other studies that simply attempted to find causational relationship between two factors – (1) substance use/abuse and (2) mortality. MOE is different; it’s a ratio between the estimated (average) human intake and the benchmark dose (or toxicological threshold). Basically, it’s a ratio between how much humans typically intake and the dose at which the substance becomes dangerous – which is a better judge of how risky a substance can be. The higher the MOE is, the higher its spot on the list.
The results of the study were conclusive: The highest spot belonged to alcohol, while the succeeding spots were filled by heroin, cocaine, nicotine, MDMA, methamphetamine, methadone, amphetamine, diazepam, and THC (or marijuana). With marijuana in the lowest spot (over 100 times less toxic than alcohol), it can be surmised that its effects on health and society have been largely overestimated. If there was a plant that couldn’t be more misunderstood – or was it perhaps intentionally maligned – it has to be marijuana.
But is marijuana use as dangerous as the law makes it out to be? The intoxicating effects of marijuana, although different, are not thought more severe than that of mild to moderate alcohol intake – a substance that is not illegal anywhere in the United States, or most countries all over the world. A study published in January 2015 by Lechenmeier and Rehm [6] assessed the comparative risk between different “mind-altering” substances, specifically alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other illicit drugs like heroin. Surprisingly, the study revealed that cannabis was the least risky substance, belonging to the other end of the spectrum. Do you know what substance was revealed the most risky? Alcohol.
How is this possible? The study used an approach called the Margin of Exposure (MOE) which is drastically different from other studies that simply attempted to find causational relationship between two factors – (1) substance use/abuse and (2) mortality. MOE is different; it’s a ratio between the estimated (average) human intake and the benchmark dose (or toxicological threshold). Basically, it’s a ratio between how much humans typically intake and the dose at which the substance becomes dangerous – which is a better judge of how risky a substance can be. The higher the MOE is, the higher its spot on the list.
The results of the study were conclusive: The highest spot belonged to alcohol, while the succeeding spots were filled by heroin, cocaine, nicotine, MDMA, methamphetamine, methadone, amphetamine, diazepam, and THC (or marijuana). With marijuana in the lowest spot (over 100 times less toxic than alcohol), it can be surmised that its effects on health and society have been largely overestimated. If there was a plant that couldn’t be more misunderstood – or was it perhaps intentionally maligned – it has to be marijuana.
GW Bush GETS $300,000+ MORE PER YEAR IN BENEFITS than President Clinton
http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/the-media-is-attacking-bill-clinton-for-his-ex-pres-benefits-wait-till-you-see-what-gwb-gets/
Both receive a pension of $201,000. Both receive personnel compensation, which is designed to help run their post-presidency office, of $96,000. Clinton receives $61,000 in personnel benefits and Bush, $88,000. Clinton’s health benefits are cheaper than Bush’s and they both charge very similar amounts for office space – Clinton to help run his foundation and Bush – to paint feet?
Bush spends $102,000 on telephones while Clinton spends just $9,000. Bush has Clinton beat with nearly everything else for a total of $950,000 a year for Clinton and $1,287,000 a year for Bush. Yes, Clinton has collected more, but only because he’s been out of office eight years longer.
Both receive a pension of $201,000. Both receive personnel compensation, which is designed to help run their post-presidency office, of $96,000. Clinton receives $61,000 in personnel benefits and Bush, $88,000. Clinton’s health benefits are cheaper than Bush’s and they both charge very similar amounts for office space – Clinton to help run his foundation and Bush – to paint feet?
Bush spends $102,000 on telephones while Clinton spends just $9,000. Bush has Clinton beat with nearly everything else for a total of $950,000 a year for Clinton and $1,287,000 a year for Bush. Yes, Clinton has collected more, but only because he’s been out of office eight years longer.
A hover car from Volkswagen - Interesting, no wheels
http://higherperspectives.com/hover-car/
Volkswagen, as far as car companies go, is fairly forward thinking. They invited their customers to come up with new design ideas, and the customers delivered.
This concept, the “Hover Car,” has impressed the company so much that they decided to make a short YouTube video, featuring CGI, that shows how it would potentially function in real life.
It begins with the VW zipping through the Chinese capital of Beijing, elevated just a few feet above the ground. The car’s power comes from minerals underground and was designed by a young Chinese woman who responded to the carmaker’s call for innovation.
Of course, easier CGI’d than done. The car would require electromagnetic strips embedded into the roads below it in order to work. But as a prize, the girl’s parents got to “test drive” the car in the simulated video. According to Creativity Online, VW received 119,000 ideas and got 33 million hits on its website.
Volkswagen, as far as car companies go, is fairly forward thinking. They invited their customers to come up with new design ideas, and the customers delivered.
This concept, the “Hover Car,” has impressed the company so much that they decided to make a short YouTube video, featuring CGI, that shows how it would potentially function in real life.
It begins with the VW zipping through the Chinese capital of Beijing, elevated just a few feet above the ground. The car’s power comes from minerals underground and was designed by a young Chinese woman who responded to the carmaker’s call for innovation.
Of course, easier CGI’d than done. The car would require electromagnetic strips embedded into the roads below it in order to work. But as a prize, the girl’s parents got to “test drive” the car in the simulated video. According to Creativity Online, VW received 119,000 ideas and got 33 million hits on its website.
James O'Keefe tried to get protestors to kill cops says a former employee
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/18/former-employee-james-okeefe-tried-to-get-protesters-to-kill-some-cops/
There is plenty of anti- police sentiment around America right now, particularly in communities of color, and with good reason. Thankfully, there are many brave people speaking out against murderous cops and other unjust forms of policing. However, as with any high-profile social justice movement, there will always be someone who tries to take advantage of the situation to suit their own ends.
According to a former employee, that person is, at the moment in the center of the protests against police, none other than conservative activist James O’Keefe, leader of right-wing non-profit Project Veritas. O’Keefe’s former Director of Operations, Richard Valdes, O’Keefe attempted to have another employee, an unidentified Muslim man, infiltrate a protest group, and, speaking on script, try to goad the protesters to a point where they would, quote, “kill some cops.” Valdes says the man was asked to say the following after successfully infiltrating the unidentified group:
There is plenty of anti- police sentiment around America right now, particularly in communities of color, and with good reason. Thankfully, there are many brave people speaking out against murderous cops and other unjust forms of policing. However, as with any high-profile social justice movement, there will always be someone who tries to take advantage of the situation to suit their own ends.
According to a former employee, that person is, at the moment in the center of the protests against police, none other than conservative activist James O’Keefe, leader of right-wing non-profit Project Veritas. O’Keefe’s former Director of Operations, Richard Valdes, O’Keefe attempted to have another employee, an unidentified Muslim man, infiltrate a protest group, and, speaking on script, try to goad the protesters to a point where they would, quote, “kill some cops.” Valdes says the man was asked to say the following after successfully infiltrating the unidentified group:
Increases in Population will outstrip our drinking water: NEW STUDY
http://news.yahoo.com/global-population-growth-threatens-outstrip-fresh-water-supply-172911881--sector.html
ROME (Thomson
Reuters Foundation) - Global demand for fresh water is set to outstrip
supply as a result of population growth by the middle of this century if
current levels of consumption continue, a study said.
Fears of water shortages could intensify although this is
not the first time in history that demand is poised to outpace supply,
Tony Parolari, the study's lead author, said on Wednesday.
"Global water consumption per capita has been declining
since 1980 which means efficiency is increasing," Parolari, a researcher
at Duke University, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"But if population growth trends continue, water use will have to decline more substantially."
Climate Change: There is a point of no return - President Obama
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/18/3635504/obama-vice-interview/
In an interview with VICE founder Shane Smith, President Obama called climate change an example of one of the hardest problems to solve, warning that there eventually comes a point of no return.
“You have to make sure that you get at this thing quick enough and with enough force to be able to make a difference,” Obama said, noting that climate change is an especially difficult problem to tackle because it requires immediate sacrifices for a long term payoff.
In the 18-minute interview, Obama dedicated the first six minutes to climate change, saying that he wanted the country to think of climate change as an immediate and serious problem, a shift in national conscience that could be difficult considering that more than half of Congressional Republicans question or deny the science associated with human-caused climate change, according to research conducted by the CAP Action Fund.
In an interview with VICE founder Shane Smith, President Obama called climate change an example of one of the hardest problems to solve, warning that there eventually comes a point of no return.
“You have to make sure that you get at this thing quick enough and with enough force to be able to make a difference,” Obama said, noting that climate change is an especially difficult problem to tackle because it requires immediate sacrifices for a long term payoff.
In the 18-minute interview, Obama dedicated the first six minutes to climate change, saying that he wanted the country to think of climate change as an immediate and serious problem, a shift in national conscience that could be difficult considering that more than half of Congressional Republicans question or deny the science associated with human-caused climate change, according to research conducted by the CAP Action Fund.
Global Warming just got a whole lot worse: 10 Foot of sea rise is possible
http://reverbpress.com/discovery/science/climate-change-just-got-whole-lot-worse/
Climate change, for those of us who are paying attention, may be the single greatest existential threat out there. This week we learned that it could be worse than we have ever imagined. Scientists have been researching the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica, and their findings are grim:
Climate change, for those of us who are paying attention, may be the single greatest existential threat out there. This week we learned that it could be worse than we have ever imagined. Scientists have been researching the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica, and their findings are grim:
The floating ice shelf of the Totten Glacier covers an area of 90 miles by 22 miles. It it is losing an amount of ice “equivalent to 100 times the volume of Sydney Harbour every year,” notes the Australian Antarctic Division. That’s alarming, because the glacier holds back a much more vast catchment of ice that, were its vulnerable parts to flow into the ocean, could produce a sea level rise of more than 11 feet — which is comparable to the impact from a loss of the West Antarctica ice sheet. And that’s “a conservative lower limit,” says lead study author Jamin Greenbaum, a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin.Think of the Totten Glacier as a cork in the bottle that is the ice sheet of East Antarctica. Remove that cork, which the rapid thinning of the glacier threatens to do, and we have a problem. Given that last year saw the discovery that the ice sheet of West Antarctica is, due to climate change, shrinking at a faster than expected rate, then the problem becomes very big indeed. The collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, thought to be one of the least stable ice sheets, could cause a sea level rise of 11 feet. Now we see that the East Antarctic sheet is potentially just as unstable, and will produce a comparable sea level rise.
Jon Stewart on the Stupidity of Congress and IT IS GETTING WORSE!!!
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/jon-stewart-loses-it-stupid-congress/
To say Jon Stewart was on fire last night would be an understatement. Stewart was as snarky and intense as I’ve seen him in quite some time while discussing the current shenanigans going on in the Senate over a bill aimed at curbing human trafficking.
For those of you who might not know, currently there’s an anti-human trafficking bill being held up in the Senate because Republicans are trying to add an unrelated anti-abortion amendment to the bill. What the GOP is trying to do is strip all federal funds away from any institution that performs abortions, claiming that “taxpayers don’t want their money to go to funding abortions.” But what they’re really doing is trying to strip funding away from centers that provide women with an array of health care services.
It’s just another one of their many attacks on women’s rights. Since Republicans can’t place an outright ban on abortion, they’re trying to do anything they possibly can to make it next to impossible for a woman to get one. After all, what good are abortion rights if a woman can’t find any place to legally have one?
I know this news is shocking to all of you. Republicans playing petty partisan politics by trying to force through a right-wing amendment concerning something that’s completely unrelated to the bill at hand – that never happens.
Oh, wait, yeah it does… all the time.
To say Jon Stewart was on fire last night would be an understatement. Stewart was as snarky and intense as I’ve seen him in quite some time while discussing the current shenanigans going on in the Senate over a bill aimed at curbing human trafficking.
For those of you who might not know, currently there’s an anti-human trafficking bill being held up in the Senate because Republicans are trying to add an unrelated anti-abortion amendment to the bill. What the GOP is trying to do is strip all federal funds away from any institution that performs abortions, claiming that “taxpayers don’t want their money to go to funding abortions.” But what they’re really doing is trying to strip funding away from centers that provide women with an array of health care services.
It’s just another one of their many attacks on women’s rights. Since Republicans can’t place an outright ban on abortion, they’re trying to do anything they possibly can to make it next to impossible for a woman to get one. After all, what good are abortion rights if a woman can’t find any place to legally have one?
I know this news is shocking to all of you. Republicans playing petty partisan politics by trying to force through a right-wing amendment concerning something that’s completely unrelated to the bill at hand – that never happens.
Oh, wait, yeah it does… all the time.
Massive Antarctica Ice Sheet Thinning From below: Global Warming is happening
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/17/1371505/-Significant-News-Massive-East-Antartica-Ice-Sheet-Thinning-Increasing-Due-to-Climate-Change?detail=facebook_sf
Yesterday, Pakalolo posted an important diary about the recently discovered acceleration in melting underneath the floating ice shelf ice sheet which supports the massive East Antarctica glacial field known as the Totten Glacier.
Yesterday, Pakalolo posted an important diary about the recently discovered acceleration in melting underneath the floating ice shelf ice sheet which supports the massive East Antarctica glacial field known as the Totten Glacier.
The findings about East Antarctica emerge from a new paper just out in Nature Geoscience by an international team of scientists representing the United States, Britain, France and Australia. They flew a number of research flights over the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica — the fastest-thinning sector of the world’s largest ice sheet — and took a variety of measurements to try to figure out the reasons behind its retreat. And the news wasn’t good: It appears that Totten, too, is losing ice because warm ocean water is getting underneath it. [...] The floating ice shelf of the Totten Glacier covers an area of 90 miles by 22 miles.The Totten glacier already releases the most water of any glacier in Antarctica with an yearly amount of ice melt "equivalent to 100 times the volume of Sydney Harbour every year." As Pakaloo's diary noted yesterday NASA and the University of Texas published a study in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience that "shows shows the discovery of 2 seafloor troughs that bring in warm ocean water to the base of the Totten Glacier."
Vulnerable GOP Senators who signed the letter go DOWN in polling
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/17/1371397/-Tom-Cotton-s-open-letter-to-Iran-hounds-the-GOP-s-most-vulnerable-senators-back-home?detail=facebook_sf#
Washington Post readers were even less impressed, with an unscientific poll of more than 330,000 respondents finding that 90 percent thought Republicans had gone too far.
Washington Post readers were even less impressed, with an unscientific poll of more than 330,000 respondents finding that 90 percent thought Republicans had gone too far.
Obama creates 500,000 high paying jobs in spite of GOP obstruction
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/18/countering-gop-obstruction-obama-initiative-creates-500000-high-paying-jobs.html
Yesterday after House Republicans released their
draconian budget assault on the majority of the population while
enriching the wealthy, Wall Street, and the military industrial complex,
President Obama stated the obvious about the Koch brothers’ vision for
America.
He said, “What
we’re seeing right now is a failure to invest in education,
infrastructure, research and national defense. All the things that we
need to grow, need to create jobs, stay at the forefront of innovation
and to keep our country safe… It’s not a budget that is going to help
ensure that middle-class families are able to maintain security and
stability and that people who are trying to get into the middle class
are going to have the rungs on the ladder to get into the middle class.”
No sane human being expected any Republican budget
to help economic growth, infrastructure, job creation, or stay at the
forefront of innovation much less help sustain or grow the middle class;
that is not now, and has never been any part of any Republican budget.
In fact, last year Mitch McConnell laid out the Republican plan to
“help” the American people “thrive and prosper” after the Kochs bought
control of Congress when he addressed the annual Koch billionaire confab
titled, “American Courage: Our Commitment to a Free Society,”
POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND PRIVATIZATION: Will US democracy survive.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/can-american-democracy-survive-against-rising-political-corruption-and?akid=12900.294211.TaJnB8&rd=1&src=newsletter1033428&t=11
America is becoming more like the illiberal pseudo-democracies and kleptocracies.
In 1932, on the eve of FDR’s presidency, Benito Mussolini proclaimed, “The liberal state is destined to perish.” He added, all too accurately, “All the political experiments of our day are anti-liberal.”
The democracies were doomed, Il Duce declared, because they could not solve crucial problems. Unlike the dictatorships, which were willing to forcefully use a strong state, the democracies could not fix their broken economies. Parliamentary systems were hamstrung politically. The democracies were also war-weary, conflict-averse, and ill-prepared to fight. The fascists, unlike the democracies, had solved the problem of who was part of the community.
America is becoming more like the illiberal pseudo-democracies and kleptocracies.
In 1932, on the eve of FDR’s presidency, Benito Mussolini proclaimed, “The liberal state is destined to perish.” He added, all too accurately, “All the political experiments of our day are anti-liberal.”
The democracies were doomed, Il Duce declared, because they could not solve crucial problems. Unlike the dictatorships, which were willing to forcefully use a strong state, the democracies could not fix their broken economies. Parliamentary systems were hamstrung politically. The democracies were also war-weary, conflict-averse, and ill-prepared to fight. The fascists, unlike the democracies, had solved the problem of who was part of the community.
Kansas GOP Governor forcing women to have their unwanted babies to grow the economy
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-gov-forcing-women-have-babies-part-pro-economic-growth-agenda-kansas?akid=12900.294211.TaJnB8&rd=1&src=newsletter1033428&t=21
"If you’re not forming a family unit, you are also slowing your economic performance,” he said.
This is what you get when you elect a Republican. The stupidity is mind bogling.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) suggested over the weekend that preventing women from having abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy was part of his state’s recipe for economic growth.
On Friday’s Washington Watch broadcast, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins ignored the economic disaster in Kansas, and praised Brownback for showing “Washington a thing or two” about improving the economy.
“It’s working,” Brownback agreed. “What we want Kansas to be is the best place in America to do two things: raise a family, grow a small business.”
"If you’re not forming a family unit, you are also slowing your economic performance,” he said.
This is what you get when you elect a Republican. The stupidity is mind bogling.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) suggested over the weekend that preventing women from having abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy was part of his state’s recipe for economic growth.
On Friday’s Washington Watch broadcast, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins ignored the economic disaster in Kansas, and praised Brownback for showing “Washington a thing or two” about improving the economy.
“It’s working,” Brownback agreed. “What we want Kansas to be is the best place in America to do two things: raise a family, grow a small business.”
Boehner supports the Republican Budget with information which does not add up.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/18/john-boehners-defense-gop-budget-pure-fiction-lies-called-pure.html
John Boehner has done it again, defending the Republican budget by making a Bartonian foray into speculative fiction.
But Boehner makes several claims that are not backed up by the facts. First a little background (inflation adjusted figures from the White House Office of Management and Budget):
John Boehner has done it again, defending the Republican budget by making a Bartonian foray into speculative fiction.
But Boehner makes several claims that are not backed up by the facts. First a little background (inflation adjusted figures from the White House Office of Management and Budget):
- The United States had budget deficits from 1970 through 1997;
- This period includes deficits under Republicans presidents: 5 out of 6 years of the Nixon presidency, the entire Gerald R. Ford presidency, every year of both terms of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and George H.W. Bush’s entire four year term in office;
- In 1998, under President Bill Clinton, the United States experienced a surplus of +100.58 billion;
- With Clinton still as president, this was followed by surpluses in 1999, 2000, and 2001 (+178.41, +325.17, +170.19 billion);
- With Republican George W. Bush in office, the United States experienced a budget deficit in 2002 and every year of his presidency that followed;
- In 2008, Bush followed his tax breaks and expensive wars by destroying the American economy, and that of the world;
- From 2009 till 2012 the U.S. had large deficits as a direct consequence of the 2008 Crash;
- In 2013, the deficit was half of what it was in 2012 (-691.06 vs. -1134.02 billion);
- In September 2014, Obama truthfully points out he has cut the deficit by more than half;
- In October 2014, the Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget announced that the 2014 deficit as a percentage of GDP has reached its smallest point since 2007 at $483 billion, which also happens to be below the average deficit of the last 40 years.
- In 2014, the deficit was -492 billion, almost a third of 2012’s deficit;
- In February 2015, Obama told Republicans, truthfully as can be seen, “Since I took office, we’ve cut the deficit by about two-thirds.”
Corporations pay $1.00 for Lobbying and get $760.00 back in benefits. You and I pay.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-16/words-greatest-investment-every-dollar-spent-influencing-us-politics-corporations-ge
It's not a "Republican" issue, nor a "Democrat" issue - it is a "Political" issue. Worse, it is a "Democracy" issue. Or lack thereof.Do political donors get something in return for what they give?
Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested the answer to that question was no. Corporate spending to influence federal elections would not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption,” the majority wrote in the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision.
Sunlight decided to test that premise by examining influence and its potential results on federal decision makers over six years, three before the 2010 Citizens United decision and three after.
We focused on the records of 200 for-profit corporations, all of which had active political action committees and lobbyists in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 election cycles — and were among the top donors to campaign committees registered with the Federal Election Commission. Their investment in politics was enormous. There were 20,500 paying lobbying clients over the six years we examined; the 200 companies we tracked accounted for a whopping 26 percent of the total spent. On average, their PACs, employees and their family members made campaign contributions to 144 sitting members of Congress each cycle.
After examining 14 million records, including data on campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures, federal budget allocations and spending, we found that, on average, for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s most politically active corporations received $760 from the government. The $4.4 trillion total represents two-thirds of the $6.5 trillion that individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury.
Welcome to the world of "Fixed Fortunes," a seemingly closed universe where the most persistent and savvy political players not so mysteriously have the ability to attract federal dollars regardless of who is running Washington.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Dismantling Public Education: Poor Reporting and Right Wing Education Experts: Misinformation is destroying Public Schools.
http://www.alternet.org/education/how-bad-journalism-driving-collapse-our-once-great-public-education-system?akid=12898.294211.InkFhU&rd=1&src=newsletter1033376&t=7
Over all cable news channels, only 9 percent of guests in education segments were educators. This would be like CNBC reporting on the stock market and hardly ever consulting with experts on finance and investing or the CEOs of publically traded companies.
Print and online news outlets aren't much better. Tone recently came across a study that found "education experts" often cited in print and online news stories "may have little expertise in education policy." The study found that the "experts" who are cited the most often are neither career educators nor scholars who've published and achieved advanced degrees; rather, they tend to be individuals from influential right-wing think tanks, with little to no scholarly work or graduate-level degree work in education.
Tone links to a write up of the study in ScienceDaily that explains the researchers found so-called education experts associated with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, DC, “were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be cited” than were career educators and education scholars. In the online world, experts affiliated with AEI and the libertarian group Cato Institute were, respectively, 1.5 to 1.78 times more likely to be mentioned in blogs.
The authors conclude their findings are "cause for concern because some prominent interest groups are promoting reform agendas and striving to influence policymakers and public opinion using individuals who have substantial media relations skills but little or no expertise in education research."
In some sense, then, the Economist is following a pattern of reporting – one that tends to spread misinformation and promote shallow opinion on very important issues.
"Good schools, however constituted, have good teachers, inspiring principals and respond to their surroundings,” the article states. “Some of these things are easier to achieve in private schools."
The writer does not substantiate this conclusion with any links to research studies, citations from any research literature, or interviews with acknowledged research experts.
Yet had the Economistdone its homework, it likely would have come to a very different conclusion.
Warnings Out of Milwaukee
In fact, there is substantial research evidence that while voucher programs like the one operating in Milwaukee may help a few students and their families, generally, they damage the well-being of students overall.
For years, Julie Mead, a University of Wisconsin education professor and expert on K-12 policy, has warned that school vouchers "undermine public schools." Mead contends that statewide plans for vouchers in Wisconsin will put more than $210 million in tax dollars meant for public education into the pockets of private and charter schools – schools that "would not face the same scrutiny as traditional public schools."
Mead's fears are reflected in a recent report by author, journalist, and education scholar Barbara Miner. In an op-ed in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sentinel-Journal, Miner explains,
Further, a research study conducted by Duke University economics professor Helen Ladd examined the results of voucher and parent choice programs. Ladd found vouchers tend to create a "hierarchy of schools" where students with the lowest ability, from families with the lowest income (two factors that are always strongly correlated) end up in schools at the lowest level of the performance hierarchy.
Schools that are outliers – those private and charter schools that excel at educating the most disadvantaged children – tend to reach their vaunted status because of how they control the characteristics of students they serve, either by cherry-picking better performing students or having high student attrition rates. As a result, their year-to-year performance looks good, as struggling learners are winnowed out.
So for all the "good schools" the Economist believes are produced by vouchers, there remain lots of "bad ones" left in the wake. Vouchers, essentially, are no more than a glorified sorting system -- one that continues to expand inequities and further harm the schools that serve the highest-need children.
Over and over, we are delivered delirious pronouncements about "innovations" like vouchers and "choice," rather than keen insights from experts who can explain the strong evidence base for real improvements -- like class size reduction, early childhood education, and rich learning environments that include the arts and music and well stocked libraries.
What we're left with is a grand echo chamber of garbage, spewing out myth and misinformation that misdirects us from what would really be best for children and families.
And that really is scary.
Over all cable news channels, only 9 percent of guests in education segments were educators. This would be like CNBC reporting on the stock market and hardly ever consulting with experts on finance and investing or the CEOs of publically traded companies.
Print and online news outlets aren't much better. Tone recently came across a study that found "education experts" often cited in print and online news stories "may have little expertise in education policy." The study found that the "experts" who are cited the most often are neither career educators nor scholars who've published and achieved advanced degrees; rather, they tend to be individuals from influential right-wing think tanks, with little to no scholarly work or graduate-level degree work in education.
Tone links to a write up of the study in ScienceDaily that explains the researchers found so-called education experts associated with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, DC, “were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be cited” than were career educators and education scholars. In the online world, experts affiliated with AEI and the libertarian group Cato Institute were, respectively, 1.5 to 1.78 times more likely to be mentioned in blogs.
The authors conclude their findings are "cause for concern because some prominent interest groups are promoting reform agendas and striving to influence policymakers and public opinion using individuals who have substantial media relations skills but little or no expertise in education research."
In some sense, then, the Economist is following a pattern of reporting – one that tends to spread misinformation and promote shallow opinion on very important issues.
"Good schools, however constituted, have good teachers, inspiring principals and respond to their surroundings,” the article states. “Some of these things are easier to achieve in private schools."
The writer does not substantiate this conclusion with any links to research studies, citations from any research literature, or interviews with acknowledged research experts.
Yet had the Economistdone its homework, it likely would have come to a very different conclusion.
Warnings Out of Milwaukee
In fact, there is substantial research evidence that while voucher programs like the one operating in Milwaukee may help a few students and their families, generally, they damage the well-being of students overall.
For years, Julie Mead, a University of Wisconsin education professor and expert on K-12 policy, has warned that school vouchers "undermine public schools." Mead contends that statewide plans for vouchers in Wisconsin will put more than $210 million in tax dollars meant for public education into the pockets of private and charter schools – schools that "would not face the same scrutiny as traditional public schools."
Mead's fears are reflected in a recent report by author, journalist, and education scholar Barbara Miner. In an op-ed in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sentinel-Journal, Miner explains,
"For those who worry about taxation without representation, vouchers should send shivers down your spine… Voucher schools do not have to abide by basic accountability measures such as releasing their test scores to the public or providing data on teacher pay. They also can ignore basic democratic safeguards such as open meetings and records laws or due process rights for expelled students."
Further, a research study conducted by Duke University economics professor Helen Ladd examined the results of voucher and parent choice programs. Ladd found vouchers tend to create a "hierarchy of schools" where students with the lowest ability, from families with the lowest income (two factors that are always strongly correlated) end up in schools at the lowest level of the performance hierarchy.
Schools that are outliers – those private and charter schools that excel at educating the most disadvantaged children – tend to reach their vaunted status because of how they control the characteristics of students they serve, either by cherry-picking better performing students or having high student attrition rates. As a result, their year-to-year performance looks good, as struggling learners are winnowed out.
So for all the "good schools" the Economist believes are produced by vouchers, there remain lots of "bad ones" left in the wake. Vouchers, essentially, are no more than a glorified sorting system -- one that continues to expand inequities and further harm the schools that serve the highest-need children.
Over and over, we are delivered delirious pronouncements about "innovations" like vouchers and "choice," rather than keen insights from experts who can explain the strong evidence base for real improvements -- like class size reduction, early childhood education, and rich learning environments that include the arts and music and well stocked libraries.
What we're left with is a grand echo chamber of garbage, spewing out myth and misinformation that misdirects us from what would really be best for children and families.
And that really is scary.
The Budget Fight is Significant and will affect the Middle Class and Poor Most. Rich will make money
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/4-ways-next-fight-over-spending-washington-could-seriously-affect-your-life?akid=12898.294211.InkFhU&rd=1&src=newsletter1033376&t=19
1. Republicans will try to keep us focused on a fake deficit crisis instead of the real need – sustainable growth and good-paying jobs.
Truth is, we’ve already reduced federal deficits too far, too fast – at the behest of a bipartisan austerity mania. That is a key reason the U.S. economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office, last year was running $723 billion below its potential. In the context of a $17 trillion economy, that’s a big deal – it’s jobs that weren’t created, money that did not end up in the pockets of workers, economic opportunities that did not materialize.
2. We will continue to shortchange the investments we need for sustainable growth.
One of the most tangible things Congress could do this year to support long-term economic growth is to pass a robust surface transportation reauthorization bill. No one disputes the fact that the country spends too little to maintain its roads, bridges and public transportation, and Congress faces a deadline of later this year.
But Republican leaders have shown no willingness to propose solutions that match the scope of the problem and rally support for those solutions.
3. The health care assault is about to get real.
The repeated and ineffectual votes to “repeal Obamacare” by congressional Republicans remain a source of ridicule, but what they will try to do to Medicare and Medicaid is no laughing matter.
It’s been a long-time vision of conservatives to convert Medicaid into a block-grant program that states would manage – or turn their backs on, as many right-wing states did by refusing to set up health-care exchanges.
4. We’re going to see upside-down tax policies on steroids, with the rich paying less and the poor paying more – even as conservatives keep pursuing the folly of a “balanced budget.”
Republicans have made it clear that one of their top policy goals is to lower top-end and corporate tax rates – the lower the better. What they won’t talk about – but we must – is who would end up paying for those tax cuts.
The coming budget debate is about more than numbers and political scorecards. Perhaps even more so than previous years, this is a debate over whether America will be an even more hostile place for working-class people or a country that takes seriously the challenge of making its economy and politics work for everyone
1. Republicans will try to keep us focused on a fake deficit crisis instead of the real need – sustainable growth and good-paying jobs.
Truth is, we’ve already reduced federal deficits too far, too fast – at the behest of a bipartisan austerity mania. That is a key reason the U.S. economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office, last year was running $723 billion below its potential. In the context of a $17 trillion economy, that’s a big deal – it’s jobs that weren’t created, money that did not end up in the pockets of workers, economic opportunities that did not materialize.
2. We will continue to shortchange the investments we need for sustainable growth.
One of the most tangible things Congress could do this year to support long-term economic growth is to pass a robust surface transportation reauthorization bill. No one disputes the fact that the country spends too little to maintain its roads, bridges and public transportation, and Congress faces a deadline of later this year.
But Republican leaders have shown no willingness to propose solutions that match the scope of the problem and rally support for those solutions.
3. The health care assault is about to get real.
The repeated and ineffectual votes to “repeal Obamacare” by congressional Republicans remain a source of ridicule, but what they will try to do to Medicare and Medicaid is no laughing matter.
It’s been a long-time vision of conservatives to convert Medicaid into a block-grant program that states would manage – or turn their backs on, as many right-wing states did by refusing to set up health-care exchanges.
4. We’re going to see upside-down tax policies on steroids, with the rich paying less and the poor paying more – even as conservatives keep pursuing the folly of a “balanced budget.”
Republicans have made it clear that one of their top policy goals is to lower top-end and corporate tax rates – the lower the better. What they won’t talk about – but we must – is who would end up paying for those tax cuts.
The coming budget debate is about more than numbers and political scorecards. Perhaps even more so than previous years, this is a debate over whether America will be an even more hostile place for working-class people or a country that takes seriously the challenge of making its economy and politics work for everyone
The Country that is the Number 1 Threat to Peace in the World: THE USA
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/1-threat-peace-world-guess-who-its-us?akid=12898.294211.InkFhU&rd=1&src=newsletter1033376&t=3
World polling is unanimous on this point: The US is behind an arc of violence stretching from Latin America to the Middle East.
the rest of the globe thinks the United States is the biggest threat to peace. In early 2014, Gallup International/WIN released its annual global survey based on research conducted the previous year. The most striking statistic was that 24 percent of people around the world believe that the U.S. poses the greatest threat to peace. The runners-up were far behind: eight percent of respondents thought Pakistan was the greatest threat, while six percent thought it was China. And only five percent of those surveyed thought Iran was a threat to world peace. The numbers are based on interviews with 1,000 people in 65 different nations.
World polling is unanimous on this point: The US is behind an arc of violence stretching from Latin America to the Middle East.
the rest of the globe thinks the United States is the biggest threat to peace. In early 2014, Gallup International/WIN released its annual global survey based on research conducted the previous year. The most striking statistic was that 24 percent of people around the world believe that the U.S. poses the greatest threat to peace. The runners-up were far behind: eight percent of respondents thought Pakistan was the greatest threat, while six percent thought it was China. And only five percent of those surveyed thought Iran was a threat to world peace. The numbers are based on interviews with 1,000 people in 65 different nations.
Democracy for sale: Corporations spend $1.00 on Politicians and get back $7.50. Good Deal
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-16/words-greatest-investment-every-dollar-spent-influencing-us-politics-corporations-ge
But nothing could prepare us for this.
According to the foundation's analysis, between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion (with a B) on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. What they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion (with a T) in federal business and support.
Putting that in context, the $4.4 trillion total represents two-thirds of the $6.5 trillion that individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury. Said otherwise, by "spending: a paltry $6 billion to bribe the US government, or just a little more than what GM will spend on stock buybacks alone, US corporations are getting the direct benefit of two-thirds of US taxpayers' labor!
And here is the visual representation of this stunning finding: for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s
most politically active corporations received $760 from the government.
But nothing could prepare us for this.
According to the foundation's analysis, between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion (with a B) on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. What they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion (with a T) in federal business and support.
Putting that in context, the $4.4 trillion total represents two-thirds of the $6.5 trillion that individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury. Said otherwise, by "spending: a paltry $6 billion to bribe the US government, or just a little more than what GM will spend on stock buybacks alone, US corporations are getting the direct benefit of two-thirds of US taxpayers' labor!
And here is the visual representation of this stunning finding: for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s
most politically active corporations received $760 from the government.
people will believe any lie about President Obama - Jimmy Kimmel
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/watch-this-video-proves-americans-will-believe-any-lie-about-obama/
The Obama lies are constant: Jimmy Kimmel shows how people will believe anything about President Obama. Kind of crazy really
The Obama lies are constant: Jimmy Kimmel shows how people will believe anything about President Obama. Kind of crazy really
The lies about Iran to get us into a war with Iran; Cink Unger
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/16/cenk-uygur-blasts-republican-and-defense-company-whores-for-trying-to-start-war-with-iran-video/
The War Machine companies funded an ad to scare the crap out of people to get us to stop negotiations just like Netanyahu wants.
The War Machine companies funded an ad to scare the crap out of people to get us to stop negotiations just like Netanyahu wants.
Monday, March 16, 2015
How did weed killer get to be a normal part of our food? Monsanto - The Movie exposes them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6_DbVdVo-k
It is over an hour long but very informative.
It is over an hour long but very informative.
Monsanto is
protected by the US government. The farmers who have their livelihood
ruined by Monsanto crops corrupting their GMO free crops, have no
protection. They are usually sued by Monsanto after their crops have
been corrupted by Monsanto crops in nearby farms.
Republican NEOCONS PUSHING FOR WAR WITH IRAN
http://prospect.org/waldman/neocons-strike-back
We'll destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities from the air in a series of precision strikes that leave their targets in rubble and produce no collateral damage. The people of Iran will cheer the American warplanes, then take the opportunity to overthrow the regime that has oppressed them for so long. With the Iranian problem solved, Israel will be safe and all the conflicts of the region will quiet, fade, and then disappear. Democracy and freedom will spread, for real this time. And everyone will look to the neocon hawks with admiration in their eyes and say, "You were right. You were right all along."
That is their dream. And it will be easier to realize than you may think—at least up until the point where the bombs start falling. Spend the next year and a half sowing the seeds, writing the op-eds, going on television, giving the speeches, making the dark predictions of cataclysm should we fail to muster the courage to act. If the Iranians walk away from negotiations, declare that we now have no choice but to use force; if there is an agreement, declare that its weakness is precisely why we have no choice but to use force. Condemn those who disagree as weaklings who refuse to stand up to the ayatollahs and their plan to destroy Israel and then the United States. Pressure the Republican presidential candidates to take the most hawkish position possible, as they compete to see who's the toughest and strongest. If next November brings the blessed return of a Republican to the White House, with a Republican Congress behind him, the war will be all but begun.
Yes, the neocon moment may be at hand once again. Aren't you excited?
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Obamacare results: 16+ Million more people now have insurance
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/obamacare-uninsured_n_6877656.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013
More than 16 million Americans gained health coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, mainly via the law's health insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion, according to an analysis published Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The government estimate is consistent with numerous surveys taken over the past two years. The Health and Human Services report issued Monday is based in part on findings from the polling company Gallup, which found the uninsured rate has fallen from 20.3 percent in October 2013, when Obamacare sign-ups began, to 12.3 percent during the first quarter of this year.
The latest figures stand as more evidence that Obamacare is achieving one of its core goals of reducing the number of uninsured Americans, even as the Affordable Care Act remains embattled in Congress and faces an uncertain future at the Supreme Court.
More than 16 million Americans gained health coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, mainly via the law's health insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion, according to an analysis published Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The government estimate is consistent with numerous surveys taken over the past two years. The Health and Human Services report issued Monday is based in part on findings from the polling company Gallup, which found the uninsured rate has fallen from 20.3 percent in October 2013, when Obamacare sign-ups began, to 12.3 percent during the first quarter of this year.
The latest figures stand as more evidence that Obamacare is achieving one of its core goals of reducing the number of uninsured Americans, even as the Affordable Care Act remains embattled in Congress and faces an uncertain future at the Supreme Court.
Even the Rich think the Middle Class are getting screwed
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/03/chart-day-even-rich-think-middle-class-getting-screwed
A couple of weeks ago Pew did a poll about government policies during the recession, but I've been too sick to blog about it. However, it's stayed safely in my Saved Stuff folder awaiting my recovery, so here it is today. It's really two charts. Here's the first one:
Nothing too surprising about this. Generally speaking, people think the government did a lot to help out banks (bingo!), large corporations, and the wealthy. The poor and the middle class pretty much got nada. Since any poll like this is going to be dominated by the sheer number of poor and middle class respondents compared to wealthy respondents, this is about what you'd expect.
But now take a look at this table:
This is amazing.
A couple of weeks ago Pew did a poll about government policies during the recession, but I've been too sick to blog about it. However, it's stayed safely in my Saved Stuff folder awaiting my recovery, so here it is today. It's really two charts. Here's the first one:
Nothing too surprising about this. Generally speaking, people think the government did a lot to help out banks (bingo!), large corporations, and the wealthy. The poor and the middle class pretty much got nada. Since any poll like this is going to be dominated by the sheer number of poor and middle class respondents compared to wealthy respondents, this is about what you'd expect.
But now take a look at this table:
This is amazing.
Income Inequality in Israel is bringing down Netanyahu. BIBI needed the speech to stay in office, but it did not go well.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-exposes-real-reason-netanyahus-iran-speech-and-why-israelis-might-give-him-boot
In Israel:
In Israel:
Consider what has happened at either end of the spectrum — the growth in poverty, on one side, and extreme wealth, on the other.
According to Luxembourg Income Study data,
the share of Israel’s population living on less than half the country’s
median income — a widely accepted definition of relative poverty — more
than doubled, to 20.5 percent from 10.2 percent, between 1992 and 2010.
The share of children in poverty almost quadrupled, to 27.4 percent
from 7.8 percent. Both numbers are the worst in the advanced world, by a
large margin.
4 numbers that show the US is deeply messed up
http://www.alternet.org/economy/4-numbers-prove-america-deeply-messed-place?akid=12895.294211.ctoed0&rd=1&src=newsletter1033316&t=9
1.138,000 Kids Were Homeless while 115,000 Households Were Each Making $10 Million Per Year
2. The Average U.S. Household Pays $400 to Feed and Clothe Walmart, McDonalds, and Other Low-Wage Workers
3. As $30 Trillion in New Wealth was being Created, the Number of Kids on Food Stamps Increased 70%
4. Despite the Decline in Food Security, the Food Stamp Program was Cut by $8.6 Billion and the Money Paid to Corporate Agriculture
The 2014 farm bill cut $8.6 billion (over the next ten years) from the food stamp program, of which nearly half of all participants are children. Meanwhile, $14 billion is annually paid out to the largest 10 percent of farm operators.
1.138,000 Kids Were Homeless while 115,000 Households Were Each Making $10 Million Per Year
2. The Average U.S. Household Pays $400 to Feed and Clothe Walmart, McDonalds, and Other Low-Wage Workers
3. As $30 Trillion in New Wealth was being Created, the Number of Kids on Food Stamps Increased 70%
4. Despite the Decline in Food Security, the Food Stamp Program was Cut by $8.6 Billion and the Money Paid to Corporate Agriculture
The 2014 farm bill cut $8.6 billion (over the next ten years) from the food stamp program, of which nearly half of all participants are children. Meanwhile, $14 billion is annually paid out to the largest 10 percent of farm operators.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Republicans: Who are these people? They are not working for us anymore.
http://www.blue-route.org/blog/blog/domestic-issues/republicans-who-are-these-people/
In recent days the Republicans have claimed the letter written by the majority of the Republican senators was not a crime. They have claimed it was a joke. They try to use Nancy Pelosi’s going to Syria as a dishonest deflection, conveniently forgetting John McCain went to Syria during President Obama’s Administration. Even if all their disingenuous claims were correct, and they are not, the Republicans made a horrible mistake.
Who knows what they were thinking, or if they were thinking, but in their efforts to please the far right of their party they have insulted some of our staunchest allies. President Obama was not the only one negotiating this agreement, and these senators didn’t think about the insult they were showing these other nations. They have diminished the standing of the USA in the world. Playing politics during such important negotiations has proven that Republicans can not be trusted with foreign policy now or in the future.
Senators are supposed to be the adults in the room, putting the security of this country before all else, and making sure the American people and this country’s needs are full filled. What other mistakes have Republicans made? Can they be trusted? I doubt it.
In recent days the Republicans have claimed the letter written by the majority of the Republican senators was not a crime. They have claimed it was a joke. They try to use Nancy Pelosi’s going to Syria as a dishonest deflection, conveniently forgetting John McCain went to Syria during President Obama’s Administration. Even if all their disingenuous claims were correct, and they are not, the Republicans made a horrible mistake.
Who knows what they were thinking, or if they were thinking, but in their efforts to please the far right of their party they have insulted some of our staunchest allies. President Obama was not the only one negotiating this agreement, and these senators didn’t think about the insult they were showing these other nations. They have diminished the standing of the USA in the world. Playing politics during such important negotiations has proven that Republicans can not be trusted with foreign policy now or in the future.
Senators are supposed to be the adults in the room, putting the security of this country before all else, and making sure the American people and this country’s needs are full filled. What other mistakes have Republicans made? Can they be trusted? I doubt it.
Rachel Maddow: About the letter - Republicans talking it back
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/gop-scrambles-to-control-iran-letter-damage-413096515576
The Republicans have screwed up this letter big time.
The Republicans have screwed up this letter big time.
The oceans are heating so fast they are always breaking scientists charts
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/jan/22/oceans-warming-so-fast-they-keep-breaking-scientists-charts
Wow, was this a bad year for those who deny the reality and the significance of human-induced climate change. Of course, there were the recent flurry of reports that 2014 surface temperatures had hit their hottest values ever recorded. The 2014 record was first called on this blog in December and the final results were reported as well, here. All of this happened in a year that the denialists told us would not be very hot.
But those denialists are having a tough time now as they look around the planet for ANY evidence that climate change is not happening. The problem is, they’ve been striking out.
And just recently, perhaps the most important bit of information came out about 2014 – how much the Earth actually warmed. What we find is that the warming is so great, NOAA literally has to remake its graphs.
Wow, was this a bad year for those who deny the reality and the significance of human-induced climate change. Of course, there were the recent flurry of reports that 2014 surface temperatures had hit their hottest values ever recorded. The 2014 record was first called on this blog in December and the final results were reported as well, here. All of this happened in a year that the denialists told us would not be very hot.
But those denialists are having a tough time now as they look around the planet for ANY evidence that climate change is not happening. The problem is, they’ve been striking out.
And just recently, perhaps the most important bit of information came out about 2014 – how much the Earth actually warmed. What we find is that the warming is so great, NOAA literally has to remake its graphs.
President Obama's approval rating swells to 19 month high
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/01/26/president-obamas-approval-rating-swells-19-month-high-gallup-poll.html
Even Gallup’s polling is showing President Obama’s
growing momentum. According to the Gallup Daily Tracking poll, President
Obama’s job approval rating has risen to a nineteen month high. By
margin of 50%-45%, those surveyed approve of the job that President
Obama is doing.
Obama job approval chart via Gallup:
Princeton Study: US no longer a Democracy. Speech is money so a single vote means less and less
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy
Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power.
Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or even against the will of the majority of voters.
TPM Interview: Scholar Behind Viral 'Oligarchy' Study Tells You What It Means
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy," they write, "while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power.
Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or even against the will of the majority of voters.
TPM Interview: Scholar Behind Viral 'Oligarchy' Study Tells You What It Means
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy," they write, "while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
Don't Buy Koch Products: Sign the Pledge
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/01/1288957/-Sign-the-pledge-Don-t-buy-these-Koch-products?detail=email
Sign the pledge: Don't buy Koch products
Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive—their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use, greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.
With an interest in almost everything and status as the number two privately held company in the country–behind Cargill—Koch industries is a behemoth that is hard to avoid.
But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can become informed purchasers and refuse to support their political agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.
The internet is a wonderful place, full of handy resources. Start by memorizing and avoiding the brand logos listed, which are commonly found throughout our daily lives. Download the Buycott app on your phone and use it while you shop. Buycott has an interesting connection to the netroots you can read about here.
Tue Apr 01, 2014 at 02:55 PM PDT
Sign the pledge: Don't buy these Koch products
Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive—their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use, greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.
With an interest in almost everything and status as the number two privately held company in the country–behind Cargill—Koch industries is a behemoth that is hard to avoid.
But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can become informed purchasers and refuse to support their political agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.
The internet is a wonderful place, full of handy resources. Start by memorizing and avoiding the brand logos listed, which are commonly found throughout our daily lives. Download the Buycott app on your phone and use it while you shop. Buycott has an interesting connection to the netroots you can read about here.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
4 Letters from Iran to Tom Cotton, (Satire)
http://reverbpress.com/news/4-best-satirical-takedowns-tom-cottons-letter-iran-ranked/
The best way is just to make fun of stupidity. There are 4 good ones here. (Sadly, stupidity like this could get us in another needless war)
3. An Open Letter From Iran to Sen. Tom Cotton
This is the most personal attack of the bunch, and picks on Cotton from a military perspective. It comes from the Duffel Blog, a gem that most civilians are probably unaware of. The blog pokes satirical fun at the military with a crew of writers who clearly are all too familiar with the military. With gags ranging from mundane army procedure to national issues, it features headlines like, “Philosopher NCO Poses Age-Old Logical Paradox: ‘Are You Calling Me a Liar?’” and “Army Replaces Air Assault Badge With Sexual Assault Badge.” In this article, the comedian impugns Cotton’s military service in light of his apparent disloyalty to the US.
The ‘letter’ begins,
The best way is just to make fun of stupidity. There are 4 good ones here. (Sadly, stupidity like this could get us in another needless war)
3. An Open Letter From Iran to Sen. Tom Cotton
This is the most personal attack of the bunch, and picks on Cotton from a military perspective. It comes from the Duffel Blog, a gem that most civilians are probably unaware of. The blog pokes satirical fun at the military with a crew of writers who clearly are all too familiar with the military. With gags ranging from mundane army procedure to national issues, it features headlines like, “Philosopher NCO Poses Age-Old Logical Paradox: ‘Are You Calling Me a Liar?’” and “Army Replaces Air Assault Badge With Sexual Assault Badge.” In this article, the comedian impugns Cotton’s military service in light of his apparent disloyalty to the US.
The ‘letter’ begins,
“We received your letter from March 5. Our English is not the best, but we believe we understand your main points. Thank you for your interest in joining the Revolutionary Guard. We know you appreciate the many exciting opportunities the Guard provides to fight the Zionist-Crusader alliance while awaiting the coming of the blessed Mahdi, while also earning you money for college.”
Arctic Cap near a record winter low
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/12/1369968/-Arctic-ice-cap-near-all-time-winter-low?detail=facebook_sf
Most reports of Arctic ice cover concern the minimum recorded at the end of each summer. But there's another important measurement that occurs around this time of year: the maximum reached at the end of the winter. And 2015 is shaping up for a record "low" maximum:
Alaskan ski areas shut down because of a lack of snow.
Alaska is the canary in the mine and it is dying.
As Alaska melts, pockets of methane get released from the previously frozen grounds and it has more Carbon released than regular carbon, thus speeding up global warming.
California was just told they have 1 year of water supply left because of a lack of snow and ice.
Salt Lake mountains do not have much snow and they will probably not have water through the summer of 2015. Global warming is harming people and people die without drinking water.
Most reports of Arctic ice cover concern the minimum recorded at the end of each summer. But there's another important measurement that occurs around this time of year: the maximum reached at the end of the winter. And 2015 is shaping up for a record "low" maximum:
Sea ice in the Arctic is near its all-time minimum for the end of winter and could break the previous record within the next two weeks if it fails to grow, according to the latest satellite data. The area of the Arctic covered by floating sea ice is already the lowest for this time of year, highlighting the long-term warming trend experienced by the region in both winter and summer months. ... Sea ice in summer has shrunk by 30 per cent on average over the past 30 years while average temperatures in the Arctic have risen by about 4C – more than 3C warmer than the global average.
Alaskan ski areas shut down because of a lack of snow.
Alaska is the canary in the mine and it is dying.
As Alaska melts, pockets of methane get released from the previously frozen grounds and it has more Carbon released than regular carbon, thus speeding up global warming.
California was just told they have 1 year of water supply left because of a lack of snow and ice.
Salt Lake mountains do not have much snow and they will probably not have water through the summer of 2015. Global warming is harming people and people die without drinking water.
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