jim's op/ed

The Dirty Fucking Hippies WERE RIGHT !

2012-01-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Fuckin' New Year !!!

The Empire Strikes Back

2011-12-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

From a fledgling democracy the US government has morphed into one of the most heinous violators of human rights at home and abroad.
This "Empire" only fears one thing, transparency.

If the US government wasn't so corrupted and if the foreign policy hadn't become so diabolical there wouldn't be a need to choose coverups over transparency.

These highly illegal foreign occupations are one of the most humiliating aspects of being an American. It is difficult to watch our elected representatives ignore the rule of law and the oath of office by funding these fiascoes year after year and passing legislation that deprives the citizens of civil liberties as well as other blatant violations of our constitution. Knowing that they can go to bed at night while soldiers and civilians are maimed and/or killed day after day is very disturbing.

Our current Commander-in-Chief promised hope & change on the campaign trail but President Obama seems to have forgotten the promises of campaigning Obama.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers in 2 years than were charged in the previous 40 years.
Whistleblowers, yeah the people that come forward to expose fraud, abuse and other crimes. You know, people trying to do the RIGHT thing.
So let's be clear, the DoJ hasn't pursued the Bush Administration for any war crimes or anyone on Wall Street for fraud or any of the other apparent RICO violations but they will prosecute whistleblowers.

Bradley Manning and the Miscarriage of Justice/Trevor Timm
"Alleged WikiLeaker faces life in prison despite US admissions that the disclosures caused no national security damage."

It appears Manning was perhaps having a breakdown of sorts shortly after being deployed to Iraq. A crisis of sexuality & identity was then fueled by a crisis of conscience as he witnessed the atrocities of war. Troubled by the blatant war crimes being committed in Iraq this troubled soldier reached out to Wikileaks to expose the atrocities of war as a whisleblower. By not following the military's protocols Manning's rights & freedoms were put in jeopardy and also placed Wikileaks and Assange square in the sights of US governments demented "War on Terror". Where the "if you're not with us you're against us" mantra still breathes fire fueled by paranoia & secrecy.

as of 12/22/11...from Wikileaks on Twitter

#Assange: 380 days detained without charge; #WikiLeaks: 383 days of US banking blockade; #Manning: 577 days in jail. wlfriends.org

OBAMA: "We’re a nation of laws! We don’t let individuals make their own decisions about how the laws operate. He broke the law."That's a direct quote from the Hypocrite-in-Chief... Wow !

"Obama gave Manning verdict first, trial later" - Ellsberg

Guilty until proven innocent ?... Ass backwards...

from RT... Whistleblowers being demonized

Bradley Manning the last American whistleblower

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Newer stuff from the Electronics Frontier Foundation/Trevor Timm
2011 in Review: The Year Secrecy Jumped the Shark
"The government has been using its secrecy system in absurd ways for decades, but 2011 was particularly egregious..."

Are You Tired of the Debates Yet ?

2011-11-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

...Or are you just tired of the lunacy served up by this parade of circus freaks ?

I have to admit these "candidates" provide great material for comedians. While I don't know what it smells like up on stage and behind the podium, I do know there has been no shortage of brain farts.
Michele Bachmann usually leads the way making statements that are devoid of facts but she faces some heavy competition from Perry & Cain.
Gingrich will probably edge Romney out in the battle of flip-floppin' super egos.

The poll numbers that ultimately determine who is viable and then invited to pontificate with the collective have been all over the place. Just ask Gary Johnson & Buddy Roemer who have yet to get an invite to pontificate.
You would think every candidate would get invited to participate so early in the process.

Rick Perry threw his cowboy hat in the ring and his poll numbers took the lead. After some debate brain farts and one strange event where Perry became giddy after receiving some maple syrup his poll numbers fell and Cain took the lead. But that won't last. Mr "9,9,9" & "U-beki beki beki beki stan stan" is self destructive enough when left alone.

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This Herman Cain ad is so effin creepy.
His Chief of Staff Mark Block talks shit and smokes a cigarette.
At the end Cain looks absolutely demonic.

http://youtu.be/lwawPMSJins
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Ron Paul still has a strong following which I don't completely understand. I agree with him about auditing the Fed, stop the foreign occupations and playing "World Police", reign in foreign aid (especially Israel, emphasis mine) but he maintains his libertarian batshit ideas of free markets, deregulate and privatize damn near everything that reduces the size and role of government period. Grandpaw must be nuts.

There are still some 12 or 15 or whatever, too many more of these throwing cow chip events for me... Oy...
We still desperately need more than two parties, more than a choice of the lesser of two evils and a really strong progressive leader to make the changes required to get this country straightened out and back on track. Fingers crossed.

Do You Understand the OWS Protests ?

2011-11-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Occupy Wall Street protests have spread from city to city and are beginning to show up on campuses where the students are protesting debt incurred from the high cost of education as well as the shared concerns of the 99%... IE- bank fraud w/o prosecution, health care for all, corrupted political systems, etc...

Some of the talking heads of MSM are playing dumb by repeating the same tired questions,
"What are the OWS protestors demands and what are they actually protesting ?"

Occupy Wall Street Simplified

How Did We Get Here ?

2011-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

There appears to be an awakening in progress and this is a good sign.
People around the world coming together and standing up to repressive regimes.
The Arabian Spring brought people out into the street, standing up to brutal dictatorships that have deprived them of basic human rights for decades. In Europe protesters rioted over austerity measures that clearly screwed people already struggling as they watched banks get a helping hand.
Here in America a broken system of government so corrupted by greed and corporate interests has driven a race to the bottom for 99% of the population.
Occupy Wall Street has morphed into an occupation movement of peaceful protesters across the US. No longer on just Wall Street "we the people" have come together in solidarity on a mission demanding the attention the 99% deserve and some real change.

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Here Thom Hartman explains the way it used to be and how we got here...

Would You Like To Hear The Truth ?

2011-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

I have tried, oh lord how I have tried to follow these so-called debates but it's really hard. I can't just sit and listen to all the bullshit. Some of theses idiots are so divorced from facts it becomes really difficult to take them seriously. Well, as a rule I don't. Repeating the same tired ass talking points might fuel the gross stupidity of their base but it does absolutely nothing to produce real solutions for real problems.

Here's the best thing I've seen all week that addresses some of the lies with a big dose of some truth. And it's refreshing...
Robert Reich's 7 Lies...

White Water, Black Gold

2011-10-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the trailer for the movie White Water, Black Gold...
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This tar sands project ( the Keystone XL Pipeline ) is an environmental disaster.
From Care2..."Three (More) Reasons to Oppose the XL Pipeline"

1. Lobbying As Usual

A series of emails requested by the NGO Friends of the Earth under the Freedom of Information Act shows a warm relationship between Trans Canada’s lobbyist and State Department officials. The New York Times reports that an official at State Department gave “Fourth of July party invitations, subtle coaching and cheerleading, and inside information about Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s meetings” to the Trans Canada lobbyist in Washington. An FOE spokesman claims the emails show “an absolute bias and complicity between the State Department and TransCanada, a company they are supposed to be acting as a regulator and an independent investigator on.”

2. State Department Hires Firm with Trans Canada Connections

The State Department was responsible for conducting Environmental Impact Statements and public hearings in the states where the pipeline would be built to gather public comment. The firm that State hired to conduct the environmental impact process, Cardno Entrix, lists Trans Canada as a client.

3. The Oil Isn’t Staying Here

The State Department is involved in the pipeline approval process because the project is ostensibly a matter of national security. Yet a new report from Oil Change International states that the oil from the pipeline, after being pumped 1,700 miles across North America, would be refined in the U.S. and sold abroad and will do nothing to wean Americans off foreign oil dependence; its primary purpose is to give the Canadian producers easier access to overseas markets via a tax-free trade zone in Port Arthur, Texas. Oil Change International Executive Director Steven Kretzmann states, “An honest assessment shows that rather than serving U.S. interests, Keystone XL serves only the interests of tar sands producers and shippers, and a few Gulf Coast refiners aiming to export the oil.”

U.S. national security depends on weaning the US and other countries off fossil fuel dependence. Caving in to the interests of businesses like Trans Canada and oil refineries is merely delaying the inevitable shock of peak oil and diverting time and resources from the search for truly sustainable energy.

Don't delay call the White House and tell the State Department that you too oppose the XL Pipeline.
Comments: 202-456-1111...Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Do You Really Support the Troops?

2011-09-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Another broken campaign promise...
" I will promise you this, if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do, I will get our troops home, we will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." Oct.27, 2007

Well that hasn't happened. Instead Obama sent more than 30k troops to Afghanistan.
Call it a surge or an escalation whatever, people are going to die.
He also promised to "end all combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2011" but that has also been changed to the end of this year. 50k troops will remain behind to keep an eye on things and protect our interests.
I wonder how many Xe/Blackwater mercs will remain?

If you really want to support the troops than stop waving your flag, pull the yellow ribbon sticker off your car and call the White House.
Tell them to BRING THE TROOPS HOME !

Afghanistan is another of those "those that forget or ignore history are doomed to repeat it" scenarios. Ten years, trillions of dollars, soldiers & civilian casualties, all for what?
Was anybody paying attention to what happened to Russia in Afghanistan?
Apparently not.

Would anyone pay attention if the troops wanted out?
IVAW- Iraq Veterans Against the War...

Fraud, Waste & Abuse

2011-08-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

Dick Cheney has a book coming out. It seems like every one of the sociopaths from BushCo ( Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice ) has published a book since BushCo piloted this country into a downward spiral. You may have noticed, I don't like Cheney, I think he's evil and I won't be happy until the smug prick is in a real nasty prison or he drops dead.

John Dean comments on Cheney's book "In My Time".
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Pentagon Wasted Billions, Missing Trillions !!!

Let's not forget that it was Dick Cheney as Defense Secretary began "no-bid" contracts for KBR/Halliburton which led to billions in fraud & abuse. There were multiple deaths of our soldiers because of KBR's shoddy contractors.
But would Congress do the responsible thing and pull the plug on their financing? Hell No !

The US government is currently suing Halliburton/KBR for $100 million because of fraud and over spending.

Here is one problem with our stinkin' budget and the deficit that wasn't brought up during the standoff by the posers.
All they talked about was entitilements and that MediCare, MedicAid & Social Security was on the table but that was just a diversion..
It's all Bullshit & Lies !!!

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From Mother Jones' David Corn..
"When it comes to the Bush administration’s signature scandal, the ex-veep is an unreliable source."
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Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert explain "Zombies Stalking the World"...
>>>with more about Cheney

How Did I Miss This ?

2011-08-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, I feel as if I missed on the boat on the whole Canadian Tar Sands project/assault on the environment. I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about the deforestation of the boreal forests but I had no idea this bullshit has been growing since the late 60's, one mine after another.
I began looking for a timeline for the Keystone XL project and found the horrible truth in Wikipedia.The best parallel here in the US is the way coal companies have been allowed to destroy mountain ranges and shit on the landscape with slurry ponds all the while destroying the water table. Apparently this bitumen is also in Venezuela and here in the US. Oy...

It is difficult to grasp the amoral mindset that pursues the dirtiest oil on the planet and sacrifices a pristine territory, the best carbon scrubbers and clean water.
Once upon a time I got the impression Canada was a better steward than we here in the US but this crap is inexcusable. Put this right up there with asbestos mines and blatant exports that ignore the health risks. Call me stupid but I don't get it.

Tar Sands Oil Extraction- The Dirty Truth

More Oil Spills

2011-08-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

How much oil spilled into the ocean is enough?

How much of the food supply is be to sacrificed and how many critters have to die to feed this obsession with oil?

When will the rational & logical people of the world take control and say "We've had too many offshore oil spills and we've had too many pipeline leaks"?

>In China ConocoPhillips has failed to stop a leak that started in June.
>In Britain Royal Dutch Shell & Exxon/Mobil have a pipeline leaking..."Oil leaked into the sea off the coast of Scotland for a seventh day..."
>"After 12 Oil Spills in One Year, TransCanada says Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Will Be Safest in U.S."... BULLSHIT!!!

People are going to Washington DC to protest the Keystone XL pipeline.
They will be trying to get Obama's attention (good luck w/that).

"A watershed moment for Obama on climate change..."
"The issue is simple: We want the president to block construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta down to the Gulf of Mexico. We have, not surprisingly, concerns about potential spills and environmental degradation from construction of the pipeline. But those tar sands are also the second-largest pool of carbon in the atmosphere, behind only the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. If we tap into them in a big way, NASA climatologist James Hansen explained in a paper issued this summer, the emissions would mean it’s “essentially game over” for the climate. "

Stop the Pipeline!
"From August 20th – September 3rd we’re planning a peaceful protest in Washington DC to defuse the largest carbon bomb in North America."

No Pipeline, No Tankers, No Tar Sands
This one on the BC coast.

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Can we expect reason to be employed in the decision to stop the Keystone XL pipeline or will the decision be perverted by corrupted cronyism?

This from Mother Jones...
"Several environmental groups have recently raised concerns about the ties between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the lead lobbyist for the international oil services company TransCanada.

Friends of the Earth, Corporate Ethics International, and the Center for International Environmental Law are seeking a record of all communication between Clinton's office and that of Paul Elliott, who served as the national deputy director in her 2008 campaign and now serves as the director of government relations at TransCanada. The initial Freedom of Information Act request was denied. A new request was submitted in late January.

Clinton raised ire among environmental groups and some senators last fall when she indicated that the pipeline was likely be approved despite the fact that the evaluation of the environmental impact of the proposal is still underway."

The Circus Came To Town

2011-08-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Let's get ready to rumble!
Foxed hosted the first of what will surely be a series of circus events ( they are called debates but whether it's really a debate is debatable ) that will provide ample fodder for pundits & comedians. This is a who's who of Republicans seeking the presidency and stranger yet on the campus of Iowa State University, a bunch of cheering students.
I don't know what the criteria for candidates are but some of these people are polling at about 1% or less. A fine group of... well the terms disingenuous posers, crazy and histrionic neocons comes to mind.
The rhetoric is as well rehearsed as any stand-up routine. The mods ask a question and sometimes the candidates actually answer that question.
Common words and phrases - cutting taxes, ObamaCare, opposed raising the debt ceiling, cut cap & balance, reform SS, Medicaid, Medicare...
>link to debate

The players...

Mitt Romney (disingenuous poser)

Michele Bachmann (batshit crazy)

Herman Cain (pro business book tour)

Ron Paul (the wacky Libertarian)

Tim Pawlenty (kinda weak )

Newt Gingrich (the only Speaker of the House to have been disciplined for ethics violations)

Rick Santorum (twisted religious freak)

Jon Huntsman ( also kinda weak and a butt kisser)

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UPDATE

Tim Pawlenty drops out after Iowa straw poll.
Some think he may have conceded too soon.... Nah..

Great Picture

2011-08-13T06:08:00.001-07:00

Michelle Bachmann eats a foot-long corndog .. Oy this is priceless...

"as visions of sugarplums dance in my head"

I'm bad, I know...

"You Progressives"

2011-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a news flash, Obama ain't progressive... Big surprise, right?
He's touting some "big deal" he and the pretenders are working on, all in this budget deficit, debt crisis, debt ceiling bullshit session. Of course he will have to negotiate (capitulate, cave, fold) to the repugs demands to cut SS, Medicare & Medicaid. You can be sure they won't hold hands in some bipartisan effort that gets us out of these foreign occupations, brings the troops home and repeals the Bush tax cuts. No, that would be responsible AND logical.

"The problem is that You Progressives see the glass as half empty."
And here's your sign...

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"Now what this would do to seniors on Social Security -- we already understate inflation, and seniors haven't gotten a COLA for the last two years.
Tell me the price of prescription drugs and medical care hasn't gone up over the last two years. "

The Problem with Mitt

2011-07-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

This ad from 1994 explains some things.
In the 2008 election a lot of candidates changed positions as they moved from state to state or from one audience to another. McCain & Romney were two of the worst. What they said last year, last week or even yesterday was subject to change. Which ever way the wind blows.

Hypocrite...

Once upon a time Romney was pro-choice, now not so much.
>Personally against abortion, but pro-choice as governor. (Mar 2002)
>FactCheck: TV ad ignores recency of conversion to pro-life. (Dec 2007)
>GovWatch: 2002: “preserve & protect” right to choose. (Feb 2008)

Once upon a time as governor of Massachusetts he set up universal coverage in his state. .
> State universal coverage plan is national test case. (Apr 2006)
>Single accomplishment as Governor is MA insurance reform. (Mar 2007)
> MA health plan insures all without taxes or socialization. (May 2007)
> FactCheck: MA plan works, but Romney not proposing it for US. (Oct 2007)
> FactCheck: Romney plan virtually identical to Obama plan. (Jun 2007)

Confused yet?

We Need a Strong 3rd Party, NOW!

2011-07-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

The republicans are doing what they do best which is to hold up the legislative process with chaos & fear while attempting to deconstruct any progressive corrections made to a broken system.
Obama is once again taking his favorite position which is to capitulate to all demands.
We have got to get a strong 3rd party going with real progressive leadership before this two party systems implodes from ignorance & corruption.

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Civil liberties under Obama - Glenn Greenwald from International Socialist on Vimeo.

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more later..

Less Secret Bullshit and More Transparency

2011-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

What we don't need is more secrecy & coverups.
What we don't need is a shadow government wrought with corruption & collusion.
What we don't need is a government that fears transparency and persecutes whistleblowers.

Transparency is good... WikiLeaks is good...

Brilliant Mastercard Commercial Parody

More like this please...

NO MORE NUCLEAR POWER!!!

2011-06-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

NEW STUFF>>>6/23/11

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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There are problems at a Nebraska nuclear power plant!
The Missouri River has flooded the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station.

This report is from June 6. Where in the hell has the MSM been?
Oh that's right, most of them have been following a Weiner.
but...
(Reuters) -" The Fort Calhoun nuclear power station in Nebraska remains shut down due to Missouri River flooding, "

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UPDATE>>>There is another nuclear power station on alert because of the flooding... RE: Omaha World- Herald "Operators of the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownsville said they are optimistic that floodwaters will not force the plant to shut down — at least in the next few days."
And...
"The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, 20 miles north of Omaha, has been shut down since April for refueling. It has not been restarted because of the flooding."
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Call the White House and demand that Obama follow Germany's example and begin to phase out nuclear power plants immediately. I don't care how much money Exelon gave Obama's campaign, this is insane. Take the money already in the budget for expanding nuclear power and make a sane investment in solar.
Call The White House NOW!...
Comments: 202-456-1111...Switchboard: 202-456-1414

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Fukushima: It's much worse than you think!

The Weiner Dilemma

2011-06-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

The MSM (main stream media ) has a real tasty Weiner to chew on. It is amazing what holds peoples attention in a 24/7 media cycle. The more sensational the better. Right up there with reality shows. Really really significant stuff.

So what happened to Rep. Anthony Weiner?
What happened to the lion of congress?
Well apparently he has lost his goddamn mind. The poor guy must have cracked.
One basic thing we all should be aware of that apparently the Weiner forgot is that there is no expectation of privacy on the internet with Twitter, Facebook or email, none of it.
Instead of sending a private message via Twitter Weiner accidentally sent one out to all his followers and then Andrew Breitbart came forward with a picture. Mr Weiner denied everything saying that his Twitter account must have been "hacked". As if things weren't bad enough Weiner got in front of every camera that was put in front of him denying all of it. Days turned into weeks and more shit floated to the surface. More Twitter pics of Weiner and his boehner. A bunch lewd communications from Weiner to girls, porn chicks and a single mother.
"Lookin' for love in all the wrong places"... yeah yeah yeah...
Really, the guy needs his head examined. As immature as all his activities were, even more troubling is his obsession with photographing himself and his penis.
I don't know if he can survive this. As inappropriate are the activities of a married man and a congressman there is the issue of lying out his ass over & over again on camera. It will greatly diminish his credibility. We desperately need more strong progressive voices that are willing to fight the good fight in government but what we don't are more self absorbed, out of control, narcissistic bordering on delusional power hungry maniacs. There's plenty of them in the Senate.

All that being said Mr. Weiner has broken no laws and even though wildly inappropriate not necessarily even an ethics violation. So now comes a tsunami of opinion. Some people say he should resign and some say since no laws were broken that he should get some help but stay in office.
I have to address the hypocrites in politics that want Weiner to leave. People in both houses calling for Weiner to resign but they didn't run Larry Craig out of town for blowing guys in airport bathrooms or John Ensign's pursuit of his staffer and a bribe to cover up the affair. The icing on this proverbial cake may be that David Vitter is still in the Senate even after being exposed for patronizing prostitutes. No justice here.

Even Nancy freakin' Pelosi wants Weiner gone. That hypocritical fucking bitch who watched as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & Rice were given a pass for war crimes. When asked about prosecuting these miscreants, she said "that impeachment was off the table".
Pelosi should be run out town for her dereliction of duty and Weiner should stand his ground unless Vitter is removed or if for some reason he determines this circus puts too much stress on his pregnant wife.

Dumb & Dumber

2011-06-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Open mouth, insert foot. Politicians spend so much time talking and so little time making sense. All too common but it's the flip-floppers that get all the laughs. This is nothing new but it's encouraging to see them get more coverage and rub their noses in it. Some candidates will say anything depending on the crowd they are addressing and change their tune as soon as the crowd changes. Disingenuous at best. After being elected they tend to be a little more reckless and flat out lie when necessary. You've probably seen quite a bunch of liars in action talking about the deficit, medicare, social security, global warming, etc...
This is great stuff when they change their position on an issue kinda like 'which ever way the wind blows' and it's recorded.

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You have to wonder are they that clueless or just plain stupid?
Well here's a big serving of stupid.

The Problem with Santorum

2011-05-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

First you should Google "Santorum". In response to Santorum's homophobia columnist Dan Savage has created a present for the LGBT community in the form of a Santorum joke.
"Santorum -1. The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex.
2. Senator Rick Santorum."

You must understand that Santorum is a very twisted religious freak.
This from WaPo..Father First, Senator Second..

" In his Senate office, on a shelf next to an autographed baseball, Sen. Rick Santorum keeps a framed photo of his son Gabriel Michael, the fourth of his seven children. Named for two archangels, Gabriel Michael was born prematurely, at 20 weeks, on Oct. 11, 1996, and lived two hours outside the womb.
Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass. "

Yes that's right, Rick and the Mrs. took their dead baby home from the hosptial to play dress up with the rest of their kids.
Santorum is card carrying evangelical nutjob.. He is a freak and one disturbed SOB. A prime example why you DON'T allow religion into the political theater. The delusions of religious fanatics should NOT be allowed to legislate their disturbing idea of morality.

The not-so intelligent Santorum wants schools to teach "intelligent design"... Oy!

Dan Savage explains... "psycho, murderer, bigot, assholes"

The Problem with Newt

2011-05-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

Face it, the Republican choices suck.

The Nine Lives of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

President Obama addressed the nation late in the evening Sunday May 1st.
"...the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden..."

I would ask, 10 years after 9/11 Bin Laden is reported killed not captured and then buried at sea?
This raises a lot of questions.
Why now? Is this just a perversion of political theater?

Over the years there have been reports of OBL on dialysis, living in a cave and even murdered.
In 2001 Bush rejected an offer from the Taliban to hand over Osama if the US would stop bombing Afghanistan. I guess that would have been too easy.
In 2002 in an interview with Alex Jones, Steve Pieczenick stated that Osama had died of kidney disease.
Benazir Bhutto claimed Osama had been killed in 2007.
Christiane Amanpour stated that a woman told her that Osama was in living in a villa in Pakistan on Real Time with Bill Maher in 2008.

The threat of OBL seemed immensely exaggerated. Seemed more like hyperbole used to beat the war drums. Bad guy, sure. Evil genius, not so much. There was a lot of misinformation regurgitated from the talking heads and I'm sure there will be plenty more trying to provoke fear of future terrorism.

The crowds formed in the night and every yahoo with a flag came out screaming "USA, USA!"
This seemed more like a victory lap after a sporting event rather than the death of a terrorist.
It didn't seem appropriate, kind of uncouth. A lot of students were taking part in this celebration, students that were children in 2001. Hard to believe the Bush administration had that much impact on young minds. Brainwashed perhaps.

One thing that must be remembered is Osama was but one Arab that resented the US presence in his country so much that it started a movement.
This is called blowback. When US foreign policy is so invasive, so overreaching there will be consequences.

420

2011-04-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is enjoying a true 420 celebration. I'm envious...

Unfortunately today is the anniversary of largest oil spill in the Gulf in recent history.
200 million gallons of oil and 2 million gallons of Corexit, the Gulf never had a chance.
It is also hard to believe there hasn't been more problems in the Gulf with some 27,000 oil & gas wells haunting the seafloor. BP has been reported to be dragging their feet in settling the claims of victims.
The seafloor is dead, the seafood is poisoned and there is a mountain of dead birds, fish, turtles, whales and lately even baby dolphins. When will they learn?
More info @the Center for Biological Diversity.

The last note is that it is also the anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School.
Crazy stuff, hard to wrap your head around.

Kinda makes you want to burn one and savor the moment... I only wish that I could...
Peace...

The Budget vs the Deficit

2011-04-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a problem getting a budget approved and yes I mean this years budget. You need a budget or the government will shutdown.
That would mean no government or military paychecks, tax refunds, etc... Well of course everybody paid by the government except congress. They never miss a paycheck, never miss a raise, always have health care and never go to bed hungry.
If things were run more smoothly, you know like a business, that would have been on last years calendar. Oh yeah, the dems controlled things last year.
Add one more missed opportunity to the score board.
Man do we need more choices other than this broke ass two party system?

Back in February the Republicans set the stage demanding $32 billion in spending cuts.
The media had a countdown to a shutdown in the crazy 24 hour what passes for news cycle.
Friday night; rather than have to come back and work the weekend; the Democrats caved to $38.5 billion in spending cuts. That's right; in February the Republicans wanted $32b but when they whined, changed their mind and upped the amount; the democrats had to do what they do best and that is to cave.

Here comes Paul Ryan with his Austerity Budget Plan for 2012... Oy! The MSM is embracing Paul Ryan's budget with hugs & kisses. Some go as far as calling Ryan courageous, other say "it may be genius" and the "adult plan"...
It is truly amazing the ignorance displayed by media pundits. Like so many of the Republican efforts this plan cuts taxes for the wealthy & corporations and puts all the sacrifice on a vanishing middle class and those that are already poor.
Ryan's plan will not reduce the deficit, it would add to it. His plan also include measures to "transform"(privatize) Medicare into a voucher program that will surely cost more in the long run. They can't really sell this crap when there are no facts to back up their predictions.
Medicare like Social Security is an insurance plan that is paid into with each paycheck and those that try repeal these social programs usually refer to them as "entitlements".
Although Medicare is ripe with fraud & abuse and in need of a serious overhaul it would NOT be better if it was turned into a voucher program with insurance coming from the private sector.

What we really need is some progressive policy changes and a budget that levels the playing field with equal taxation across the board. No special interest exemptions to big oil & gas and no loopholes. Oh wait, here's something... A progressive caucus, what's up with that and why isn't the media getting behind this kind of stuff?

Radical Change For Our Broken Government

2011-03-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some truths and some radical solutions to a broken system of government that is fraught with fraud & abuse. We need more of this... "Blog that"...
This audio clip is incomplete, I only wish we had the whole thing or at least a transcript but it is "good stuff" none the less.

h/t- The Daily Bail
from (not verified) comments @theDailyBail...
"The voice you hear is of Robert Steele, former clandestine services case officer with the CIA.
Steele is also former Marine Intelligence prior to CIA."

Mr. Steele makes some excellent points.
BTW - Steele's rant refers to events during Dubya's reign of terror.

>"War is a racket"

>"...sharing at all levels, not top down control. We are about to bury rule by secrecy."

>"I could eliminate all income taxes tomorrow and have more than enough money to fund the government by using some other guys bright idea to tax the federal reserve at .0006%, this doubles our money until we decide to put them out of business permanently because we certainly should not have central banks."

>"It may be time to literally dump Congress on it's ass and start over."

>"I can tell you the price to buy back the US government, it's $500 million a year.
In the early 90's Newt Gingrich and the republicans got together... and concluded they could buy the US government from school board to state house to White House for $300 million a year and by golly they did."

"....we lost sight of our government and we allowed the corporations to buy the government. The United States of America no longer represents "we the people".

The Shit Has Hit The Fan

2011-03-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

The Japanese people have been inundated with disaster.
On Friday March 11 Mother Nature hit 'em with a 8.9 magnitude earthquake. The quake was followed by a city leveling tsunami. Thousands of people are dead with an estimated 10,000 missing. The power is out, the people have been devastated, cities are gone and on top of everything there are six potential nuclear disasters.

Link to Yahoo for donating to multiple organizations supplying aid to Japan.

There are six nuclear reactors in Fukushima.
Three reactors were offline for maintenance and three were shut down during the quake. All of them contain spent fuel rods. All of them in danger. The power has been off & on and as a result the water that cools the rods is not being circulated and some are even dry.
The reactor buildings are in bad shape, hydrogen has built up and caused explosions. Some are already leaking radiation. It's bad, it's real bad.

BTW...
RT's Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert have reported that documents have surfaced stating that in 1972 three nuclear scientists that worked on the Japanese plant resigned because this reactor built by GE was so unsafe.
The US government and the Dept of Energy was also aware of this but chose to ignore the warnings because that would essentially make the nuclear industry extinct.
**********
For decades scientists and environmentalists have warned that nuclear power was expensive, dirty & dangerous.
Our government subsidizes nuclear power because the private sector won' t because it's a bad investment.
It is absolutely insane to keep using nuclear power and even more insane to build any more.
The byproduct of this failed science experiment is referred to as 'radioactive toxic waste' and that is a big problem. A bigger problem is when governments (any government, ours, yours, theirs) take more caution to cover things up and control the flow of information rather than keep the people informed or actually take steps to remove nuclear power and the threats.
Here's Your Sign!

>>>>>>>>>>One Week Later, Fri. Mar/18, 2011

Approximately
6900 killed
10750 missing
440,000 evacuated & homeless
850,000 no power
1.5 million no water
over 6k buildings destroyed

It is snowing and the temperature is near freezing.

>>>>>>>>>>March 26, 2011
Japan is struggling to control the radiation from the damaged reactors. Radiation levels have spiked in the air, the ground water and the sea water. Workers in the #3 reactor stepped in a pool of water that burned their skin and then tested as 10,000 times higher than normal.
This should be a shared concern by the entire world. Once the radiation hits the air & water it becomes a threat that is shared by all.
This is another nuclear wake up call.
What does it take before logic takes over and a policy of NO NUKES becomes the norm?

Taking Back Democracy

2011-03-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

Corporations have taken over. We need some new rules.
The Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United v. FEC reflects just how bought & broken politics and the rule of law has become.

Over $300 million spent in the last election by corporate donors. The epitome of corporate malfeasance may well be the Koch brothers. They build fake grass roots movements to manipulate the flow information, control elections and rape the environment.
Some dirty industries will provide false data about the effects of pollution on the environment, climate change, etc...

The bottom line is that corporations are not entitled to the same rights as people.

Keiser Report: Middle Class Misery (E125)

2011-03-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

If you need some clarity to understand financial issues may I suggest the Max Keiser Report on RT tv.
On YouTube and on your tv...
Part of what I like is that Max is a nutty guy and I enjoy his perspective & opinion.
We need better journalism not the milk toast you get from CNN or the raging lunatics from Fox Noise spewing propaganda.

Protesters & Revolutionaries

2011-02-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

There's something in the air. Civil unrest here at home and revolutions on the other side of the world.
People appear to be sick & tired of being sick & tired.
Dictators & despots beware, here's your sign.

What was once a democracy has morphed into something that resembles a fascist state of corpocracy here in the US. Others in the Mideast and Africa are fighting decades of oppressive dictators. The corruption and abuse has brought people out in the street.

After decades of abuse and fixed elections the people of Tunisia started a revolution that took a month of protests to remove the despot Ben Ali from power.
It took 18 days of continuous protests in Egypt to get Mubarak to step down. Just days after Mubarak stepped down the people of Libya started a rebellion but Qaddafi has unleashed brutal military force and hundreds have died.

There apparently is a way to conduct a "nonviolent revolution" .
Me thinks we need to study this.

The people of Wisconsin elected a new governor (Scott Walker) but now there's a problem. He is trying to break up the unions and there also appears to be some collusion between Walker and governors of other states with a shared agenda. It should be noted these are republican governors with a shared agenda, a secret plan sometimes referred to as a cabal.

Rachel Maddow has an explanation of the Wisconsin Governor's power grab...

**********

And there is more...

**********

Here is another that exposes the cabal with a crank phone call...Good Stuff...

Selling Out HuffPo

2011-02-13T05:18:00.000-08:00

Liberal bloggers were aghast when Arianna Huffington announced the sale of Huffington Post to multi-media giant AOL. The general consensus was that she had sold out and that made for hurt feelings of betrayal. A lot of indie writers/bloggers had contributed to HuffPo over the years making it successful.
Initially I found HuffPo to be an interesting assortment of news & opinion but over the last few years it had morphed into a more superficial format that embraced the sensational stories like you find in magazines in the checkout line of a grocery store. Politics seemed to take a back seat to celebrity TMZ style reports and even a section for divorce. They do have a great section under "Big News" that follows BP's Gulf Oil Disaster.

The truth is that Arianna is a celebrity and often one of the featured talking heads you might find on Sunday morning in a political round table.
You might ask where did she come from and is she a lefty, liberal, progressive like many of the writers at HuffPo?
The answer is no, not even close.

this from consortiumnews...

"As Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank noted, Huffington used almost the same words when she changed her political colorations a decade ago. In 2000, she told Fox News, "The old distinctions of right and left, Democrat, Republican, are pretty obsolete."

Milbank wrote: “Anybody who expects her to continue as a reliable voice of the left is a poor student of Huffington history. I first came across Huffington in 1995, when she was working at [Newt] Gingrich's Progress and Freedom Foundation, preaching social consciousness to fellow conservatives.

“She railed against ‘big government’ and pronounced: ‘We do our part and God meets us halfway. That's why I'm a conservative.’ That version of Huffington called for strict immigration restrictions. She favored Bill Clinton's resignation and floated the rumor that a former ambassador had been buried in Arlington because Clinton had slept with his wife.”

She thrived as a rightist talking-head during the height of the Clinton-bashing in the 1990s, decrying his marital infidelity even as her own marriage to Rep. Michael Huffington, R-California, had the look of a political arrangement. She divorced the multimillionaire Huffington in 1997, shortly before he disclosed that he was bisexual."