Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/r5wo3_C4YFE/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Chris Christie?s Christmas
When the Christmas Snowpocalypse hit, Mayor Booker ran himself into the ground trying to singlehandedly dig out everyone in Newark. Governor Christie went to Disney World.
Leading RNC Candidate?s Law Firm Supports Obamacare: Says It?s Constitutional
This ought to go over well with the conservative base…
If you thought the fact that RNC Chair candidate, Maria Cino, was an Obamacare lobbyist was outrageous wait until you hear the latest…
The leading candidate in the race – Reince Priebus’s law firm supports Obamacare and says its constitutional!
Yes, you read that correctly.
Reince Priebus’s law firm [...]
If you thought the fact that RNC Chair candidate, Maria Cino, was an Obamacare lobbyist was outrageous wait until you hear the latest…
The leading candidate in the race – Reince Priebus’s law firm supports Obamacare and says its constitutional!
Yes, you read that correctly.
Reince Priebus’s law firm [...]
Mariana van Zeller's Top Documentaries of 2010
Exit Through the Gift Shop is one of the most controversial documentaries of the year -- and one of Mariana van Zeller's top must-sees.
Source: http://current.com/items/92872046_mariana-van-zellers-top-documentary-films-from-2010.htm
Rep.-Elect Walsh Joins Just Four Other Republicans In Forgoing Government Health Care For Themselves
Responding to Rep.-elect Andy Harris? (R-MD) hypocritical demand for government-sponsored health coverage last month, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) circulated a letter among his colleagues calling on Harris and other members of Congress who want to repeal President Obama’s health care law to forgo their own government health care plans. At least four GOP congressmen have [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/27/walsh-gov-health-care/
Dec. 30, 1924: Hubble Reveals We Are Not Alone
1924: Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that the spiral nebula Andromeda is actually a galaxy and that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies in the universe.
Before Copernicus and Galileo, humans thought our world was the center of creation. Then (except for a few notable stragglers) we learned that the sun and planets did not revolve around the Earth, and we discovered that our sun — though the center of our solar system and vitally important to us — was not the center of the universe or even a major star in our galaxy.
But we still grandiosely thought our own dear Milky Way contained all or most of the stars in existence. We were about to be knocked off our egotistical little pedestal once again.
Edwin Hubble was born in Missouri in 1889 and moved to Chicago in 1898. In high school, he broke the state record in the high jump, and went on to play basketball for the University of Chicago. He won a Rhodes scholarship and studied law at Oxford. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy, but practiced law in Kentucky. After serving in World War I and rising to the rank of major, he got bored with law and returned to astronomy.
He trained the powerful new 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson in Southern California on spiral nebulae. These fuzzy patches of light in the sky were generally thought to be clouds of gas or dust within our galaxy, which was presumed to include everything in the universe except the Magellanic Clouds. Some nebulae seemed to contain a few stars, but nothing like the multitudes of the Milky Way.
Hubble not only found a number of stars in Andromeda, he found Cepheid variable stars. These stars vary from bright to dim, and a very smart Harvard computationist named Henrietta Leavitt had discovered in 1912 that you could measure distance with them. Given the brightness of the star and its period — the length of time it takes to go from bright to dim and back again — you could determine how far away it is.
Hubble used Leavitt’s formula to calculate that Andromeda was approximately 860,000 light years away. That’s more than eight times the distance to the farthest stars in the Milky Way. This conclusively proved that the nebulae are separate star systems and that our galaxy is not the universe.
Cosmic though it was, the news did not make the front page of The New York Times. The paper did notice the following Feb. 25 that Hubble and a public health researcher split a $1,000 prize ($12,500 in today’s money) from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Hubble went on to discover another couple of dozen galaxies. Before the 1920s were over, he added another astronomical achievement to his reputation. By analyzing the Doppler effect on the spectroscopic signals of receding stars, he established that their red shift was proportional to their distance.
When the 200-inch Mount Palomar telescope was completed in January 1949, Hubble was honored to be the first astronomer to use it. He died in 1953. NASA named its space telescope after him.
http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/12/1230hubble-first-galaxy-outside-milky...
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pjacobs51
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Source: http://current.com/news/92893354_dec-30-1924-hubble-reveals-we-are-not-alone.htm?xid=RSSfeed
Wikileaks ~ A Swedish Documentary Film
What was the best album of 2010?
Rolling Stone has counted down their top albums of 2010, and so has Current's resident curmudgeon Ben Hoffman. But what albums made it onto your playlist this past year? What stood out as the best?
Take a look back at the best of 2010 with Current: tune into infoMania’s Retrospectacular (check out our schedule page for the next show!) or head over to Current’s Best of 2010 for more.
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sgwhites
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Source: http://current.com/bfd/92890205_what-was-the-best-album-of-2010.htm?xid=RSSfeed
Thursday, December 30, 2010
WaPo Columnist: The Constitution is Impossible to Understand Because It?s Over 100 Years Old
Indecipherable to the most brilliant liberal scholars
New molecules
Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger asked for help with his view of the fourth estate’s separation (outside the U.S.) into three sub-estates: legacy media, public media, our media (my wording). My response:
Pardon my metaphors:
I had a bunch of public broadcasters from Sweden at my school last week. They’re quite successful?audience is up; marketshare is up?and so [...]
Pardon my metaphors:
I had a bunch of public broadcasters from Sweden at my school last week. They’re quite successful?audience is up; marketshare is up?and so [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/buzzmachine/~3/k0NAFp9s8_Q/
President Recess Appoints Six, Including Deputy AG
During the recess for the elections, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid struck a deal where pro forma sessions prevented the President from making any recess appointments. It was assumed that would become the new normal, but such an accommodation was not made for the end of the session, enabling President Obama to make six recess appointments.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/V6Y0aa0YNcs/
Pop Quiz
This is a pretty depressing news quiz by Pew. What's depressing is how easy it is. For the record, I got 12 out of 12, though I think a person who describes themselves as well-informed on current events could be forgiven for missing maybe 2 or 3, maybe even 4. But 4% of those who took the quiz got 0 right. And it looks like 30% of respondents got 3 or fewer right.
But yes, democracy is enriched when everybody votes!
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256069/pop-quiz-jonah-goldberg
The BiNO Wednesday Memorial Open Thread.
“BiNO” being “Bunny in Name Only.”
(pause)
Sorry, but that was the best metaphor that I could come up with on short notice.
H/T Ace of Spades.
Open thread.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2010/12/29/the-bino-wednesday-memorial-open-thread/
The quintessential example of media bias for the 2010 election cycle
Over the next few days, various news networks, newspapers, magazines, and others will present a retrospective on 2010: what the media got right, what the media got wrong, best moments, worst moments, etc.
Let me present what has to be the quintessential example of media bias in coverage of the 2010 elections.
The candidate was the upstart upset. With the state’s political players all lined up in the primary for the other guy ? including the party chairman, the congressional delegation, EVERYBODY ? the candidate beat the establishment pick, upset the apple cart, had people crying foul, and went on to be annihilated in the general election.
That candidate was not Christine O’Donnell, though you’d think so given the facts as I presented them. Certainly that was her story too. And the media covered the heck out of Christine O’Donnell.
But I’m talking about Alvin Greene. Remember him? I’m sure you do, though not if any major news outlet had anything to do with it.
The media was quite titillated at the idea that Alvin Greene was a Republican dirty trick. They clung to Congressman Jim Clyburn’s every word when he made those accusations. There was a great “whodunit” story the media circulated. But an investigation discovered Alvin Greene saved his money, paid his fee, and won fair and square.
Then the media went silent on Alvin Greene, only pulsing when the drumbeat of YouTube clips turned into a roaring din of the absurb. Otherwise, the media pretended Alvin Greene did not exist. They only wanted to cover Christine O’Donnell.
There were two candidates who rocked the boat, shocked everyone, and caused unforeseen upsets. I don’t know whether it was because of his party, his skin color, his IQ, or what, but the media willfully ignored Alvin Greene.
Instead, they gave such over the top coverage to Christine O’Donnell many Democrats were left venting that other candidates escaped the media pat down. That’s also why Christine O’Donnell is my big hero for the 2010 election cycle. Because she so distracted the media, others had a chance to win they might not have gotten.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Morning Briefing for December 28, 2010
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
We’re back! Hope you had a great and Merry Christmas. I’ll be sending out the Morning Briefing all this week, including New Year’s Eve.
God bless,
? Erick
1. Senate Democrats Poised for Power Grab
2. President Meets With Union Bosses to Discuss Government-Union ?Partnership?
3. Read Biden?s Lips: new taxes in 2013!
4. Carole Shea-Porter? BROUGHT DOWN BY THE PRC?
5. The Public-Pension Plague Persists: Tony Soprano Pays a Visit to Sweet Home Alabama
6. The *true* John Conyers scandal.
1. Senate Democrats Poised for Power Grab
Senate Democrats are presently working over the Christmas break to deliver a lump of coal to the American people in the form of a radical changing of the Senate?s rules. This is a naked power grab by liberals in the Senate pure and simple.
The National Journal reports that Senate Democrats are laying the groundwork to chip away at the filibuster on January 5, 2011. They are going to push the idea that a simple majority of the Senate can abolish the filibuster rules, or radically change the rules, in a new Congress.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. President Meets With Union Bosses to Discuss Government-Union ?Partnership?
The U.S. Department of Labor, which has become akin to the Ministry of Workers? Councils, regularly issues a newsletter via e-mail and posts it on the Ministry?s website. This week, among other items touted, was this little gem on union bosses meeting with President Obama to discuss growing the economy and the government-union partnership.
It?s funny that the administration still refuses to admit that unions are the antithesis of private-sector job creation. In fact, it seems the only way unions create jobs is to buy politicians who steal other people?s money, then reward the union bosses with taxpayer dollars and government-approved discrimination.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Read Biden?s Lips: new taxes in 2013!
Vice President Joe Biden, bless his heart, is promising that there?s going to be a tax hike (including one on small businesses) in 2013. This, despite the fact that that the Republicans used their 58/42 minority in the Senate and 256/179 minority in the House to somehow prevent the current ruling party from moving ahead on the promised tax hikes: no doubt the President will make a speech and shine the light of his countenance upon the 112th Congress, thus causing them to tremble and flee the righteous Hope-and-Change of the Lightworker. Or the President will pout, which will probably have roughly the same effect.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Carole Shea-Porter? BROUGHT DOWN BY THE PRC?
That?s the implication, at least: Soon to be former Congresswoman Shea-Porter is going around telling people that the reason that she lost was because of all that dirty, dirty (and apparently foreign) special interest money. The quote: ?They?re in the halls of Congress everywhere, and it means, for example, that you sit on a committee and you say something about concern about Chinese influence or something, you don?t even know if in the next election, somehow or another, they manage to send some money to some group that now doesn?t even have to say where they got it.?
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. The Public-Pension Plague Persists: Tony Soprano Pays a Visit to Sweet Home Alabama
It is hard to imagine a more diverse pair of places that have been overrun by the infestation of public-sector pension problems than Prichard, Alabama and the withering Garden State of New Jersey. One might expect the problems in the Garden State of New Jersey, which is home to such luminaries as Grover Cleveland, Thomas Edison, Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, and (the fictitious mob boss) Tony Soprano, and where a senator-turned-governor sleeps with a union boss and still nearly wins re-election. However, unlike New Jersey, Prichard, Alabama is hardly an example union bosses run amok?in fact, as a Right-to-Work state, 12 percent of Alabama?s workforce is unionized. Nevertheless, both are the latest examples in a string of bad news stories involving public-sector pensions.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. The *true* John Conyers scandal.
Background: back over Thanksgiving weekend John Conyers III (the son of Rep. John Conyers) reported a theft of computers and concert tickets from the car that he was using. The problem? John Conyers III was using the car unlawfully: it was leased to his father?s Congressional office as an official vehicle, and Conyers was not using it in an official capacity. And it wasn?t anything like an one-time event, either: John Conyers III also got a speeding ticket on the car back in September. The behavior was so egregious that Rep. Conyers isn?t even trying to fight it: he?s just swiftly reimbursing the government as comprehensively as possible before the 112th Congress gets sworn in.
None of this is the true scandal. The true scandal is that we?re only hearing about this now. Rep. Conyers - who is, by the way, still the JUDICIARY CHAIR - has a history of abusing official resources. His wife is in jail for bribery. There is thus zero excuse for the media not to jump on this with both feet? and if the man had an R after his name, they would have. Then again, if Rep. Conyers had had an R after his name the media would have destroyed him years ago.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/12/28/morning-briefing-for-december-28-2010/
Georgia Bill Would Force State Taxpayers To Pay Only In Gold Or Silver
Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) loves to introduce far-right reactionary bills. Among his greatest hits are an assault of Georgia’s authority to vaccinate its citizens, an unconstitutional bill declaring Roe v. Wade a “nullity,” and, of course, a bill eliminating income taxes. Yet Franklin may have outdone himself with his “Constitutional Tender Act,” which [...]
Who says our way is the right way?
As I sit on the board of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, I have been thinking about the different ways people learn. RFB&D gives students the tools to learn by listening. We call that a disability. I think it may soon be seen as an advantage.
A group of Danish academics say we are [...]
A group of Danish academics say we are [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/buzzmachine/~3/Xfb_0A-AYR8/
Those ?Death Panels?? Bush?s Fault
**Written by Doug Powers There was probably a five-hour meeting at the White House on how to spin this, which culminated in somebody throwing his hands in the air and saying “Let’s just do what we always do and blame Bush — everybody okay with that? Good.” From The Hill: The Obama administration is trying [...]
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Banksy?s latest project . . .
An army of graffiti artists participate in an art exhibition to open a London street as all the members of the public are invited to take part in Banksy’s latest project.
http://allfromweb.net/street-painting-art.html
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Source: http://current.com/news/92889243_banksy-s-latest-project.htm?xid=RSSfeed
Robert Samuelson Commits Rationality in Public
Tired of holiday fantasy? Sick of Frosty the Snowman? Had it with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Ready to question the existence of Santa (perhaps because the presents suggest naughty and you believed you were nice)? Step right up, we give you Robert Samuelson in today’s Washington Post:
There has been much brave talk recently, from Republicans and Democrats alike, about reducing budget deficits and controlling government spending. The trouble is that hardly anyone admits that accomplishing these goals must include making significant cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits for baby boomers.
On Medicare and Social Security, be unfair to the boomers
If we don't, we will be condemned to some combination of inferior policies.
Yes, he said it. When you have a spending problem, fix it. When the spending problem comes from entitlements, fix entitlements. When the entitlements are driven by the baby-boom generation, admit it. As a matter of mental health, it’s probably good Congress and the president were not in town for this outburst of plainspoken logic as the basic rationality is so radical that it would likely leave them dazed and confused. And when they return, don’t expect immediate embrace of the facts.
As Samuelson acknowledges “Confession: I've written columns like this for years. Little has changed.” It will be a tough battle. After all the baby-boom generation is notable not only for being a large demographic event. It is the largest ego event in history. The self-absorbed boomers have been catered to their entire existence. Think just about music. Without the boomers, we’d never have to hear Grace Slick screeching “Somebody to Love” again. Without the boomers, would Hewlett-Packard really use Melanie’s “Brand New Key” to sell web-accessible printers? Without boomers, who cares that the Beatles are on iTunes?
Time for my confession: I was born in 1958 and am technically the trailing edge of the baby boom and I owned all the Melanie albums. So I am committing heresy by admitting the logic of Samuelson’s position. But seriously, if we choose to grandfather the baby-boomers, then we have grandfathered the problem. For that reason alone I have argued for years that the bumper sticker for entitlement reform should be “Get Doug Holtz-Eakin.”
And that would be fair. After all, the greatest injustice is that which is being perpetrated on the next generations. Catering one more time to the baby boomers means we risk leaving to them an economy in tatters and a diminished standard of living, a weakened America no longer able to project its values around the globe, an indebted Nation that is no longer free to ignore the demands of its foreign bankers, and the obligation to pay off our largesse. All without the ability to cast a single vote against this folly. Nothing could be less fair.
Happy Holidays. Enjoy the annual festivities. But save your Washington Post and pray that on January 2 rationality enters the debate over what is fair when fixing the budget.
-- Douglas Holtz-Eakin is president of the American Action Forum.
In Memoriam Harvey Sicherman
Harvey Sicherman, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) passed away on Christmas day. He was always the very picture of health, so his passing has left all of us who knew him in shock. He will be missed.
Ours was primarily a professional relationship but a warm one nonetheless. Harvey invited me to become a senior fellow of FPRI several years ago and I was honored when he asked me to become the editor of Orbis, FPRI’s quarterly journal, in 2008. Unfortunately, I only got to see him during my editorial meetings in Philadelphia every few weeks or so, or during periodic FPRI events in Washington, D.C. or Philadelphia. But he always left an impression.
The first thing one noticed about Harvey was his impressive physical presence. He stood 6’2” and carried himself like an athlete. He dressed impeccably, often carried a walking stick, smoked cigars, and drank single-malt scotches. He was a “character” who looked like he was visiting from a more refined era.
Harvey was a true gentleman of the old school: funny, charming, amiable, and generous, “an unforgettable raconteur and jokester” in the words of another of his colleagues, who could bring down the house with his one-liners. He was a graceful and elegant speaker and writer, skills that served him well as a speech writer and senior adviser to three secretaries of state -- Alexander Haig, George Schultz, and James Baker -- during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and as the public face of FPRI.
No one surpassed him as a serious student of diplomacy and national security. His analysis of serious issues was always nothing short of brilliant. He held strong views and, relying on sharp analytical precision, advocated them in a very forthright manner. However, as another friend of his noted, he never “personalized” his disagreements with others over foreign policy.
After his stellar service in Washington during the Reagan and Bush administrations, Harvey returned to Philadelphia in the early 1990s to become president of FPRI, an organization then facing a great deal of adversity. Under Harvey’s guidance, the ship was righted and FPRI reestablished its status as an influential source of incisive thinking about national security affairs as well as education about the topic.
Thanks to Harvey’s initiatives, FPRI now sponsors policy-oriented scholarship and conferences on grand strategy, politico-military issues, and regional affairs, as well as an innovative history program for high school teachers. In addition to Orbis, FPRI distributes “e-notes” designed to address policy issues in a timely manner.
It is hard to believe that Harvey is gone from among us. He left us far too soon. It doesn’t ease the mournful burden borne by Harvey’s family and friends to observe that his legacy will long outlive him. He was truly sui generis. R.I.P.
--- Mackubin Thomas Owens is professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College in Newport, RI and editor of Orbis, the quarterly journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Philadelphia.
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256011/iin-memoriami-harvey-sicherman-mackubin-thomas-owens
From Magic Wands to Tanks in Afghanistan: The Military's Worst Ideas of 2010
In which erstwhile Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan hands out his awards for dubious distinction to news stories and newsmakers.
http://www.fpif.org/blog/the_2010_are_you_serious_awards
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myfastweb
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For Your Hot Chocolate Drinking
It was well-earned, I suspect, after snow shoveling or making hot chocolate for someone who was. (I'm in the incapacitated, the-snow-is-over-my-knees portion of the northeast at the moment).
A Miranda Lambert appreciation. (Julianne Hough does make an appearance.) I know some of you are country-music fans.
Merry Christmas Monday.
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255952/your-hot-chocolate-drinking-kathryn-jean-lopez
Maine Tea Party Gov.-Elect Hires His Own Daughter For $41,000 A Year Job
With the strong backing of the tea party movement, Maine Gov.-elect Paul LePage (R) rode a wave of discontent over bull semen taxes to a surprising victory last month, telling President Obama to “go to to hell” and warning a reporter that he would punch him in the face. On the campaign trail, LePage raged [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/26/lepage-hires-daughter/
Monday, December 27, 2010
Congressional Review Act Is the First Line of Defense Against Obama?s Regulatory Power Grabs
The November 2nd election results caused in Democrats several strains of mental illness – bouts of depression, delusion, deep-seated rage and others were all exhibited in various Donkey quarters.
But going forward, the Obama Administration will exhibit a strategic psychosis ? policy schizophrenia.
For public consumption – with the perpetual assistance of his servile media – there [...]
But going forward, the Obama Administration will exhibit a strategic psychosis ? policy schizophrenia.
For public consumption – with the perpetual assistance of his servile media – there [...]
The Visalia Monologues: Why Would the Teamsters Attempt to Sabotage 200 Jobs?
As hard as it is to believe, there are unions that would rather see people unemployed than have them work at a company that the union doesn’t like. The Teamsters is apparently one of those unions.
In Visalia, California, a company would like to build 500,000 square-foot medical products distribution center in an industrial park. The company had reached an agreement with the City to build the DC in 2009. It is properly zoned, so that is not a question. However, none of this matters to the Teamsters’ union, which is trying a last-ditch attempt to block the project.
Although California’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation at about 12.4%, Visalia’s unemployment is actually higher than the state’s average with�nearly 16% of Visalia and the surrounding area unemployed. So, one would think that a union like the Teamsters would welcome the 200 jobs that would be created by adding a 500,000 square-foot DC in the area.
After all, building a 500,000 sq. ft DC would employ concrete workers, cement-truck drivers, laborers, carpenters, electricians, drywallers, painters, and more?not to mention the hundred or so lift operators, warehouse and office workers and managers that would be employed at the DC after it is built.�You would think the Teamsters would want all those people to have jobs, right?
Apparently, that’s not the case:
The Teamsters union says city officials should be careful about a company that wants to build a 500,000-square-foot medical-products distribution center in northwest Visalia.
The Teamsters, which has about 700 members living in the Visalia area, told the Visalia City Council this week that the company could bring negative environmental and worker-safety implications.
[snip]
“This is a matter of the public’s right to know,” said Doug Bloch, political director of San Francisco-based Teamsters Joint Council No. 7. “We ask that the city of Visalia find out more about a facility of this size, and how it affects the environment, worker safety and air quality.”
So, the Teamsters want the City Council to ‘be careful’ about the Company and how it affects the ‘environment, worker safety and air quality.’ To that end, the Teamsters were so generous to have paid (with their members’ money, of course) to have a report prepared two days before the City Council’s meeting.
Matt Hagemann, a Santa Monica-based environmental engineer, provided a report for the Teamsters. His report, dated Dec. 20, stated that such a 500,000-square-foot facility “has the potential to generate emissions of oxides of nitrogen at levels above the 10 tons/year threshold that has been established by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.” [Emphasis added.]
A distribution center that has the potential…Um…yeah…okay. [There are FBI agents who believe there is a potential to find Hoffa alive and well (in Brazil)...but that's for a different post.]
It seems obvious the Teamsters don’t want the DC built but, as is usually the case, it’s not for altruistic reasons. So, what gives? What is the Teamsters’ ulterior motive?
A quick search of the company’s name, VWR International, shows that it is owned by a private-equity firm called Madison Dearborn Partners?a company that, according to the Teamsters, has reversed “more than 50 years of productive and cooperative relations with workers and their union.”
In other words, there is a potential that the Teamsters doesn’t like VWR’s parent company and, therefore, the union will do all that it can to prevent the company from building a new facility?especially, since it looks like the new facility may be replacing an existing union DC with non-union workers. Of course, that’s just a potential.
So, with unemployment at near 16%, the Teamsters appear ready to kill a 500,000 sq. ft DC in Visalia that would employ?and it bears repeating here?concrete workers, cement-truck drivers, laborers, carpenters, electricians, drywallers, painters, and more (many of them likely union construction tradesmen)?not to mention the hundred or so lift operators, warehouse and office workers and managers that would be employed at the DC�after it is built, because of a fight with the parent company.
Hopefully, the City of Visalia isn’t taking the Teamsters’ “concern” too seriously.
_________________
?I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.? Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
Rep.-Elect Walsh Joins Just Four Other Republicans In Forgoing Government Health Care For Themselves
Responding to Rep.-elect Andy Harris? (R-MD) hypocritical demand for government-sponsored health coverage last month, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) circulated a letter among his colleagues calling on Harris and other members of Congress who want to repeal President Obama’s health care law to forgo their own government health care plans. At least four GOP congressmen have [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/27/walsh-gov-health-care/
FDL?s Merged Version of Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Now Available
We here at FDL headquarters have spent a productive holiday season putting together data banks of information relevant to the Wikileaks-Bradley Manning- Adrian Lamo story. It feels like "Plame II, Electric Boogaloo," because not since Scooter Libby has a story been so full of holes, contradictions and completely implausible events. And the journalism involved (if that's what you want to call it) makes Judy Miller look like I.F. Stone.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/bCnvbaZxlQQ/
re: Merry Christmas
I know I wasn't alone in praying this Christmas morning for those of you who are overseas today. Thank you, to all who serve, who sacrifice, for the rest of us.
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255941/re-merry-christmas-kathryn-jean-lopez
The kids are all right
Yesterday, I held a session on privacy and publicness as part of a news literacy event held at Baruch’s journalism school, intending to exploit these young people by interviewing them — rather than lecturing them — for my book on publicness and privacy. I came away greatly heartened about the wisdom and savvy of the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/buzzmachine/~3/PSNxuhYP5Gs/
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Advocate of indigenous people and the Amazon receives Right Livelihood Award
Bishop Erwin Kräutler has just received the Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize. "Dom Erwin", as he is known in Brazil, is Bishop of the Xingu, the largest diocese in the country and President of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) of the Catholic Church. Krautler been an unwavering ally of indigenous peoples and social movements opposed to the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River for over two decades. He was honored at an awards ceremony at the Swedish Parliament yesterday “for a lifetime of work for the human and environmental rights of indigenous peoples and for his tireless efforts to save the Amazon forest from destruction.”
Here are a few quotes from Bishop Krautler's speech at the awards ceremony:
I accept the Right Livelihood Award in the name of those who fight with me today, on behalf of the indigenous peoples, Amazonia and human rights. I accept it also in the name of the dozens of people who have given their lives, whose blood has been spilled and who were brutally assassinated because they opposed the systemized destruction of Amazonia.
There is a lack of public policy that encourages the preservation of Amazonia, this gigantic biome. Amazonia is “unique,” its biodiversity is “exceptional”! Nothing in the whole world exists that is comparable to this region, the marvel of God`s creation. Brazil is responsible for the largest part of this biome of Amazonia.
The Belo Monte project appears to be sacrosanct, unquestionable and assumes the air of being a veritable historical subject. Human beings, families and communities are no longer protagonists of their own history. They were not heard, they were silenced before the project was planned and elaborated in Brasilia, a project that never took into consideration the legitimate rights and preoccupations of the population of the Xingu. All those who are quoting this project are immediately labeled as 'enemies of progress', or 'against development'.
I am honoured with the award at a moment, when our struggle on behalf of the indigenous people, dignity and human rights are taking on new dimensions and greater importance in the face of the development projects that threaten Amazonia. Those anti-ecological projects of enterprise will have a huge and destructive impact on everyone sitting here in Stockholm this evening, on all people living on earth.
Read the entire acceptance speech
The Right Livelihood Award going to Bishop Krautler is a victory for popular human rights struggles throughout the Amazon in the face of authoritarian and destructive mega-projects such as Belo Monte.
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JanforGore
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ANNOUNCEMENT Pigford
Click here for complete list of
Pigford Investigation Resources
For all Pigford whistleblowers, tips, media requests and other inquiries, please contact us at pigford@breitbart.com
Pigford Investigation Resources
For all Pigford whistleblowers, tips, media requests and other inquiries, please contact us at pigford@breitbart.com
Source: http://biggovernment.com/admin/2010/12/24/announcement-pigford/
Merry Christmas!
More later, but I want to catch those going offline: Merry Christmas! Thank you for reading, for your support, for your loyalty, so many of you. May the peace that is truly what Christmas is about be yours.
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255918/merry-christmas-kathryn-jean-lopez
Confirmation Of Obama?s Nobel Prize-Winning Fed Nominee May Hinge On Senate Filibuster Reform
As productive as the 111th Congress was at passing large, important pieces of legislation, it was also a Congress that witnessed “more procedural obstruction under both parties than at any previous time in the past century.” One of the greatest victims of Republican obstruction has been the nominations process. A whole host of President Obama’s [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/24/peter-diamond-renominated/
It?s Christmas in Congress
In the grand spirit of Christmas, Congress has seen fit to shower themselves with gifts from us. In continuing with their Holiday enthusiasm, and following in the footsteps of such great Christmas poetry like “‘Twas The Lame Duck Before Christmas,” I have assembled a video that you can share with your friends and family so that they know what they got their benevolent Congress, President & local governments on this joyous occasion.
Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!
Source: http://www.redstate.com/aglanon/2010/12/23/its-christmas-in-congress/
A reply to the ?Brights?
Some people who aren’t religious are content to leave it at that. Others feel the need to attack religion aggressively. Those people tend to get pretty egotistical, to the point that there’s a whole movement of them that calls themselves “Brights.” Because they’re smarter than you. Get it?
One of the “Bright” activists is Richard Dawkins, a mediocre popular science writer who promotes unfalsifiable theories of macroevolution. One “Bright” project he’s helped fund is the Atheist Bus, an ad campaign on buses in England. The ads read “THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.”
When I saw these ads, I thought they didn’t go far enough. If we want people to stop worrying, we should let them stop worrying about other critical issues.
Here’s my expansion of the project:
Here’s a PDF version if anyone wants it.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2010/12/23/a-reply-to-the-brights/
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Rick Scott?s Economic Advisers Manipulate Research To Claim Unemployed Are Lazy And Don?t Try To Find Jobs
Rick Scott, the corrupt and fraudulent former health care executive who is soon to be Florida’s next Governor, received a report from his economic transition team this week that recommended he needs to crack down on the unemployed. Scott’s economic team, headed by the state’s most affluent business leaders, quoted research by former Obama administration [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/25/rick-scott-unemployed-lazy/
START Ratification Exposes Heritage?s Impotence
The hard-right Heritage Foundation, one of the pillars of the conservative movement, made defeating START one of its top institutional priorities. Yet 13 Republican Senators ended up bucking Heritage and voted to ratify the START treaty. Heritage ended up so far to the right that it was unable to convince any significant number of Republicans [...]
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/23/start-ratification-exposes-heritage%e2%80%99s-impotence/
Oprah: Americans Too Smart to Elect Palin President
Oprah Winfrey thinks Sarah Palin would be a better TV star than presidential candidate.
In an interview with Parade, Winfrey said that Palin running for president “does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public.”
But she also had kind words to say about Palin’s TV presence in Sarah Palin’s Alaska, commenting that “America’s going to fall in love with her.”
“When I saw that first episode,” Winfrey added, “I went, ‘Whoa! She is charming and very likable.’”
In 2008, Winfrey, who had endorsed Barack Obama, announced that she would not have Palin or any other political candidates on the show until after the election. In late 2009, Palin appeared on Winfrey’s show for an interview.
Coming Soon: ?Democrats? ? A Steven Spielberg Production
**Written by Doug Powers Consistent with the claim that Democrat setbacks have been a problem with messaging rather than voters rejecting their policies, it’s being reported that Nancy Pelosi is turning to Hollywood for (more) help: Midway through Philip Rucker and Paul Kane’s story about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s transition to minority leader [...]
Source: http://michellemalkin.com/2010/12/22/coming-soon-democrats-a-steven-spielberg-production/
Friday, December 24, 2010
Re-Thinking the Filibuster
President Obama and Senate Democrats have recently floated the idea that it’s time to get rid of the filibuster. So the argument goes, the filibuster is an anti-democratic obstacle that prevents good government and rule by the will of the people.
It’s a valid point.
Come to think of it, the Senate is chock-full of anti-democratic anachronisms. First off, two senators represent each state, regardless of population. What happened to one person, one vote?
And six-year, staggered terms: what’s up with that? It’s another feature that seems designed to make the Senate independent of the will of the people.
So, what do you have if you take the Senate and strip away its anachronistic anti-democratic features? The filibuster, staggered six-year terms, and disproportionate representation?
You have the House of Representatives.
The voters have spoken. Republicans will control the next House by 242-193.
If that proportion translated to the Senate, Republicans would have an advantage of 56-44.
Democrats owe their current majority in the Senate to those anachronistic features that put some difference between the body and the will of the people.
The bottom line is this: the Senate was never intended to be a democratic body, a reflection of one man, one vote. It is a deliberative body, and a consensus-building body. The filibuster has an important role to play in making that possible.
[In case you missed it, Brian Darling took a good look at the Democrats' hypocrisy on the issue here. Although, in fairness, I think Sen. Robert Byrd had the integrity and the respect for the traditions of the body that he would have supported the filibuster despite his party's short-term self-interest.]
Source: http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2010/12/22/maybe-its-time-to-re-think-the-filibuster/
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