NotesRev. Jesse Lee Peterson, a tea party activist thatâs appeared several times on Fox News, and founder of an organization where Sean Hannity serves as an advisory board member, said in a sermon recently published to YouTube that Americaâs greatest mistake was allowing women the right to vote, adding that back in âthe good old days, men knew that women are crazy and they knew how to deal with them.âUnfurl
NotesStations haven't been playing "Mrs. Robinson" for 32 years just because everyone likes Simon & Garfunkel (although I really do love them!). It's because 80% of stations' playlists match all across the country. So much for thinking that media exposes us to new and different ideas, eh?Unfurl
NotesMitt Romney has said, in effect, âIâm rich and I donât apologize for it.â Nobody wants you to, Mitt. What some of us wantâthose who arenât blinded by a lot of bullshit persiflage thrown up to mask the idea that rich folks want to keep their damn moneyâis for you to acknowledge that you couldnât have made it in America without America.FeedUnfurl
NotesIn 2006, the Bush White House and Congress whacked the post office with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act â an incredible piece of ugliness requiring the agency to PRE-PAY the health care benefits not only of current employees, but also of all employees who'll retire during the next 75 years. Yes, that includes employees who're not yet born! Unfurl
NotesWhat we are saying is that Mr. Limbaugh has abused his unique position within the conservative media to smear and vilify a citizen engaged in the exercise of her First Amendment rights, and in the process he debased a national political discourse that needs no further debasing. This is not the way a decent citizen behaves, much less a citizen who wields significant de facto power in a major political party. While Republican leaders owe no apology for Mr. Limbaughâs comments, they do have a responsibility to repudiate them â and him. Unfurl
NotesThe right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he's a wimp. Andrew Sullivan on how the president may just end up outsmarting them all. Unfurl
NotesIn 1979, McDonaldâs introduced the Happy Meal.
Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception.FeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesThe federal government has been paying lip service to the idea that it wants to encourage new businesses and startups in the US. And this is truly important to the economy, as studies have shown that almost all of the net job growth in this country is coming from internet startups. Thankfully some politicians recognize this, but the federal government seems to be going in the other direction. With the JotForm situation unfolding, where the US government shut down an entire website with no notice or explanation, people are beginning to recognize that the US is not safe for internet startups. FeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesWill Republicans accede to a sweeping drawdown of US nuclear might? Beyond the knee-jerk emotions on top national security issues, there's an awful lot of defense porkânot just missiles, but also bombers, submarines, and scientific researchâbound up in our nuclear program. That makes the most dramatic reduction scenarios highly unlikely to pass muster in Congress. But if the White House and Pentagon push one of their more modest proposalsâcutting the number of bombs to, say, 700 or 1,000âthat could represent a reasonable compromise that still offers compelling financial savings and progress toward greater global stability. Faced with a plan like that, resistant congressmen might end up looking like just a bunch of Dr. Strangeloves.FeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesTo sum up, Komen is perfectly content with accepting millions from an entity under investigation for fraud across the country but when it comes to dispensing a portion of those and other funds to an entity that saves lives but that's facing a sham of an investigation, Komen draws the line.Unfurl
NotesTo sum up, Komen is perfectly content with accepting millions from an entity under investigation for fraud across the country but when it comes to dispensing a portion of those and other funds to an entity that saves lives but that's facing a sham of an investigation, Komen draws the line.Unfurl
NotesGOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape during an interview Friday, saying that women who face such circumstances should "make the best out of a bad situation."Unfurl
Notes So yes, debt matters. But right now, other things matter more. We need more, not less, government spending to get us out of our unemployment trap. And the wrongheaded, ill-informed obsession with debt is standing in the way. Unfurl
NotesBachmann is a national clown and a global embarrassment, an extremist so foul that she poses nearly as much of a threat to Republican legislators as to Democratic ones. She's a Republican bomb-thrower who forgets the throwing part. Both parties will certainly be glad to be rid of her. But Bachmann's repose only means the absence of the messenger, not the absence of those who paid for the message.Unfurl
Notes A broad interpretation of SOPA's anti-circumvention language would sweep even more broadly than Tor. Software such as VPNs, used by security-conscious businesses, can also "bypass" a SOPA-established blockade. So could DNS software. And even the humble "/etc/hosts" file, part of every major operating system including OS X, Linux, and Windows, can be pressed into service as a SOPA-bypasser as well. FeedUnfurl
NotesBut whether John McCain or House Republicans have done or are doing more damage to the Republican Party isn't something that most people care about. What they care about is making sure that Congress doesn't raise their taxes while the economy is still in recovery. And if Republicans cared more about that, we wouldn't be facing this stalemate now. The American public would be better off, and so would the GOP.Unfurl
NotesIf allegations surrounding Koch, who is married, are true, she would become in the eyes of many a prime example of the double standard surrounding the heated marriage amendment battle.Unfurl
Notes How much has it cost the entertainment industry to convince Rep Lamar Smith to introduce and ram through SOPA, which will cost the American economy billions, which will nuke the games, microprocessor, search, and other high tech companies in his Texas district? A mere $50K a year for 10 years. You know, it's one thing to be a sellout; but to sell out so cheaply -- man, have some self-respect. (via /.) Unfurl
NotesSo it was as proponents of the Hollywood-funded bill curmudgeonly shot down all but two amendments proposed by its opponents, who fought to dramatically alter the document to preserve security and free speech on the net. But the chilling takeaway of this whole debacle was the irrefutable air of anti-intellectualism; that inescapable absurdity that we have members of Congress voting on a technical bill who do not posses any technical knowledge on the subject and do not find it imperative to recognize those who do.Unfurl
NotesThe six children of Walmart's founders, Sam and James "Bud" Walton, had the same net worth in 2007 as the entire bottom 30 percent of American earners, according to an analysis from Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist at University of California-Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics. Unfurl
NotesThis is the true âbombâ contained in Obamacare and the one item that will have more impact on the future of how medical care is paid for in this country than anything weâve seen in quite some time. Indeed, it is this aspect of the law that represents the true âdeath panelâ found in Obamacareâbut not one that is going to lead to the death of American consumers. Rather, the medical loss ratio will, ultimately, lead to the death of large parts of the private, for-profit health insurance industry.
...
If you believe that the end of private, for-profit health insurance is some type of nefarious step towards a socialist society, then you might want to attend church this Sunday to mourn the loss of health insurers being able to worm out of covering the bills of a cancer patient because she forgot to write down on her application that she had skin acne for three months when she was a teenager.FeedUnfurl
NotesLater, Boehner came around to admit that an extension would help boost the economy. To help Boehner out, several actual economists have said that letting the cut expire would, in fact, hurt growth and destroy jobs. According to Macroeconomic Advisers, allowing it to lapse âwould reduce GDP growth by 0.5 percent and cost the economy 400,000 jobs.â An analyst at Barclayâs estimated that letting the cut expire would knock 1.5 percent off of first quarter growth next year.Unfurl
NotesIn a time of legislative gridlock, the Stop Online Piracy Act looked like a rare bipartisan breakthrough. The bill, known as SOPA, promised a brave new Internetâone cleansed of ârogue websitesâ that hawk pirated songs and movies as well as counterfeit goods. For Congress, the legislationâs goals...Unfurl
NotesMoney talks, but not loud enough for the 99%. By circulating dollar bills stamped with fact-based infographics, Occupy George informs the public of America's daunting economic disparity one bill at a time. Because money knowledge is power.Unfurl
NotesâI have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world. I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottomâs annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have,â Mayor Bloomberg said.Unfurl
NotesNewt Gingrich is currently the leader of the Republican field of presidential candidates. So itâs only fitting that the quotes come out of the skeleton closet. Here are more than a dozen quotes from Newt Gingrich that reveal his lies, his arrogance, his hatred, and his hypocrisy and disqualify him from ever being President.Unfurl
NotesWhen a series of crackdowns on the Occupy camps suddenly occurred in, more or less, the same week, many observers wondered if perhaps the attacks had been coordinated at a national level. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan confirmed that suspicion during an appearance on the BBC - excerpted on The Takeaway radio program - when she casually mentioned taking part in a conference call with the leaders of 18 US cities right before the raids.Unfurl
NotesOver the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict âOccupyâ protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last nightâs move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.Unfurl
NotesSo, when you connect the dots, properly understood, what happened this week is the first battle in a civil war; a civil war in which, for now, only one side is choosing violence. It is a battle in which members of Congress, with the collusion of the American president, sent violent, organised suppression against the people they are supposed to represent. Occupy has touched the third rail: personal congressional profits streams. Even though they are, as yet, unaware of what the implications of their movement are, those threatened by the stirrings of their dreams of reform are not. Unfurl
NotesIt was a sorry sight. Only 1,273 books - a third of the stock - were returned to them, they said, and around a third of those were damaged beyond repair. Only about 800 are still usable. About 2,900 books are still unaccounted for.âFeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesIf we know anything about the recent income and accumulated assets of the now notorious 1%, it is that much of this wealth, by any rational standard, is undeserved. This applies especially to the Wall Street bankers who looted the global economy with sleazy tactics and, sadly, also with impunity.
That is why, if I was the editor in charge of any news organisation, I would flatly ban the use of the word "earned", when "profited" or "made" (as in money) would be much more accurate, or at least neutral. I would not try to say who "deserved" profits; only that profits were made.Unfurl
NotesAmerica's position of influence over the Internet economy is a valuable form of "soft power." If the US government uses this power judiciously, it can ensure that the Internet evolves in ways that serve US interests.
Instead, American policymakers are rapidly squandering this soft power by giving US law enforcement agenciesâand, under SOPA, even private copyright holdersâfree rein to exercise this power with minimal judicial oversight. The US is home to many of the world's leading search engines, advertising networks, and credit card payment networks. These firms not only serve the US market, they are also widely used overseas. If the US begins to use them as pawns in its war against file-sharing, foreigners and their governments will become more reluctant to rely on them.Unfurl
NotesThat is not a healthy thing for children, it's not a healthy thing for society ... Suffering, if you're a Christian, suffering is a part of life. And it's not a bad thing, it is an essential thing in life ... There are all different ways to suffer. One way to suffer is through lack of food and shelter and there's another way to suffer which is lack of dignity and hope and there's all sorts of ways that people suffer and it's not just tangible, it's also intangible and we have to consider both.Unfurl
NotesDan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who donât watch any news at all." Unfurl
NotesWhat happened at UC Davis was the inevitable result of our failure to make sure our government stayed in the business of defending our principles. When we stopped insisting on that relationship with our government, they became something separate from us.Unfurl
NotesNo, both sides aren't to blame for failure. That goes entirely to the Republicans. Maybe we should actually be giving credit to them for their refusal to accept the gutted sacred cows Democrats offered up on a silver platter. At this point you almost have to be grateful to Grover Norquist for keeping the Republicans in line and saving entitlement programs, this round.Unfurl
Notes Another truth co-exists. At least since the Republican National Convention of 2004, our police have grown accustomed to forcibly penning, arresting, and sometimes spraying and whacking protesters and reporters. On Monday, The New York Times and 12 other organizations sent a letter of protest to the Police Department. âThe police actions of last week,â the authors said, âhave been more hostile to the press than any other event in recent memory.â Unfurl
NotesWhy New York's Zuccotti Park is filled with people is no mystery. Reporters keep scratching their heads and asking: "Why are you here?" But it's clear they are occupying Wall Street because Wall Street has occupied the country. And that's why in public places across the country workaday Americans are standing up in solidarity. Did you see the sign a woman was carrying at a fraternal march in Iowa the other day? It read: "I can't afford to buy a politician so I bought this sign."Unfurl
NotesBut if Rove thinks Occupy doesnât present a clear message, why is he spending millions of dollars to attack them? Similarly, CLGC staffers are political professionals with many Wall Street clients, and the memo shows how seriously they consider the threat presented to powerful financial firms by the Occupy protests.FeedUnfurl
NotesIs the United States sliding toward theocracy? Thatâs what Republican presidential candidates have told us for more than a year. Radical Islam, theyâve argued, is on the verge of taking over our country through Sharia law. But this weekend, at an Iowa forum sparsely covered by the press, the candidates made clear that they donât mind theocracyâin fact, theyâd like to impose itâas long as itâs Christian.Unfurl
NotesMany of us have been wondering why the raids on Occupy camps across the country have had such a coordinated feel. If only the official response to real social ills could have been as timely and widespread as the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators expressing their freedom of speech, assembly, and the press covering their protest. An article at Examiner.com was understandably derided as being under-sourced for a charge as serious as a national DHS crackdown on non-violent protests. However, we have now received confirmation via Amy Goodman's interview on the 11/17 episode of Democracy Now! with PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler that this private NGO coordinated high-level conference calls amongst 40 police chiefs, distinct from the mayoral "therapy session" referred to by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, in order to broadcast advice and documentation about cracking down on the Occupy social movement.Unfurl
NotesMSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" broke the story today of a memo by Washington D.C. lobbyists to the American Bankers Association on how to go about discrediting the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is evidently perceived as a powerful threat to the interests of the financial industry.Unfurl
Notes$16,000,000,000,000.00 had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the worldâs banks, corporations, and governments. The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious - the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs.Unfurl
NotesSan Francisco, California: The US State Department is once again undermining its own Internet Freedom Initiative - this time by giving the green light to a copyright bill that will adversely affect online free speech around the world.FeedUnfurl
NotesHouse Republicans donât have time to address the jobs crisis, but they do have time for proposed constitutional amendments that would make the jobs crisis worse.Unfurl
Notes This afternoon the House will vote on another pointless, partisan, finger-pointing bill, but at least this one doesn't directly attack women, so there's that. Today it's the Balanced Budget Amendment, just about the worst idea for the economy as a whole they could come up with. Really. Unfurl
Daily Kos: Newt Gingrich is a lousy human being
slacktivist Âť The âbiblical viewâ thatâs younger than the Happy Meal
Congrats, US Government: You're Scaring Web Businesses Into Moving Out Of The US | Techdirt
Obama May Ditch Most US Nukes | Mother Jones
Rick Santorum On Opposition To Abortion In Cases Of Rape: 'Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation'
How SOPA's 'circumvention' ban could put a target on Tor | Privacy Inc. - CNET News
Daily Kos: John McCain is worried House Republicans are making the entire Republican Party look bad
The Bomb Buried In Obamacare Explodes Today-Hallelujah! - Forbes
The Rise of the Geek Lobby
Occupy George
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy | Naomi Wolf | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
OccupyYourBrain - Bloomberg the Book Burner - Bloomberg the Book Burner
Occupy language: the struggle over meaning | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Why SOPA endangers America's Internet leadership
America Occupies Wall Street Because Wall Street Occupies America
Memo Reveals How Seriously Powerful Interests Take OWS | The Nation
Christian theocracy: How Newt Gingrich and the GOP would abolish courts and legislate morality. - Slate Magazine
The Silver Bear Cafe
US State Department not for internet freedom - Opinion - Al Jazeera English