Peace on Earth, Good Will to All

So Now Killing Me Slowly Becomes Harder?

The Environmental Protection Agency released far-reaching air pollution regulations Wednesday, 21 years after they were first mandated by Congress and six days after they were signed by the agency.

Mercury

And Now These Seasonal Tidbits

Environmental problems are now to the point that the supply of Frankincense may cease to exist. Is the Second Coming threatened as a result? And not withstanding that finding Frakincense will be hard enough, now where the heck are we going to find THREE wise men?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16270759

 

Frankincense may gain in popularity if certain properties get widely known: As of May 2008 FASEB Journal announced that Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have determined that frankincense smoke is a psychoactive drug that relieves depression and anxiety in mice.^[11] The researchers found that the chemical compound incensole acetate^[12] is responsible for the effects.^[11]

 

Exactly how does a researcher determine if a mouse is depressed? 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankincense

 

Myrrh, on the other hand, is now farmed and is doing alright. It has uses in modern medicine. perfumes, incense, and religious rituals of all sorts, including Catholic, Pagan, and Magick ceremonies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrrh

Pat Robertson is Upset But I think It's a Great Sermon

One Percenter Groups Attacking Republican Candidates From Within

From the AP:

Last week alone, anti-Gingrich ads from a Romney ally outspent Gingrich by an 8-to-1 margin on television.

The powers behind the thrones of the GOP, often referred to as the One Percent, are suddenly not happy with Gingrich as the front runner. He serves them well delivering their message of "Greed and corruption, good! Working for the good of the middle class, bad!" Newt is a wonderful attack dog savaging anyone with rational ideas that might lift America as a whole on the pretense that it shouldn't cost the rich and powerful even the slightest increase in taxes to run the government which serves mainly the rich and powerful. After all it is the crumbs that fall from their tables that will have to feed the rest of us and Gingrich is too obviously flawed to stand in the spotlight by himself and would be a walk over in the general election should he win the GOP nomination. Let's face it, even Republicans don't like the guy in spite of his being their toadiest of toads. This sideshow illustrates what the Occupy movement has been pointing out. Our political process with unlimited money being used to mislead the public has given rise to a political class that serves the corporatocracy and no one else. A political figure who fails to serve the One Percent effectively will be destroyed in the voter's mind by a barrage of negative campaign advertising that blots out the sun and any message to the contrary. Amazingly coming from the very puppet masters of the GOP that Newt has become wealthy serving, the public will hear two sides of the issue..."Newt Gingrich is not good" and also, "Newt Gingrich is bad".

As our national media continues to intentionally miss the point of the Occupy movement, we get this very strong evidence that the Occupy folks are dead right about what is wrong with our country. We have no real democracy at this point in time. It's all about corporations and CEO's buying the public opinions that best serve their own narrow interests and America as a whole be damned. We're watching the attempted assassination of E Pluribus Unum by the One Percent even as they cannibalize their own. Can we stop this? And I mean by that the destruction of "Government Of the People, By the People, and For the People...Yes!

Will we?

Courage,

Steve

Quote of the Day From Possum Drop HQ

“They are Southern gentlemen dressed up as Southern ladies,” he said. “I don’t like it to be wrote up as men in drag...

That comes from the organizer of the New Year's Eve Possum Drop in North Carolina, where a possum is traditionally lowered from a tall pole at the stroke of midnight. Peta is doing their usual thing saying:

...the opossum “suffers through a barrage of terrifying stimuli” such as fireworks and gunfire. “Ignorance of the law is not a defense, and cruelty to animals is indefensible,” PETA director Delcianna Winders said in a written statement. “Using a captive opossum as the centerpiece of a raucous party is cruel and illegal.”

Let's make sure nobody tells these folks about the Kentucky Derby.

Quote of the Day...Bill Moyers

America has a long record of conflict with corporations. Wealth acquired under capitalism is in and of itself no enemy to democracy, but wealth armed with political power — power to choke off opportunities for others to rise, power to subvert public purposes and deny public needs — is a proven danger to the “general welfare” proclaimed in the Preamble to the Constitution as one of the justifications for America’s existence.

Bill Moyers

Red State Update

"Hell, I'd rather vote for Larry the Cable Guy than Newt Gingrich." "Well we all would, Jackie, but Larry the Cable Guy ain't running."

Season's Greeting?

Courage is a Wispy Thing Compared to Fear

Newt Gingrich just called taking credit for everything that happened in America since 1981, when Ronnie Reagan initiated the downward spiral of this once great country. After he called Barack Obama a long list of negative meaningless buzzwords, he told me that I should stay on the line and speak with his assistant which I decided would be fun, so I did. His assistant turned out to be a nice sounding lady who told me she was glad I supported conservative values so much that I was willing to talk with her. "I just wanted to ask you some questions, actually." says I. "What do you mean?" "Well I just wonder what kind of person would be the assistant for a man who would cram so many lies and misrepresentations into a two minute robo call? I mean, what kind of person can speak to me as if we both didn't know that everything Newt just said was a lie?" "I don't know sir, I didn't listen to it," Newt's assistant said. "I'm amazed but not surprised. How can you support someone who is nothing but a tool for international corporations and rich people? Newt was a two bit history teacher at a junior college when he decided the way to get rich was to start 'Lyin' for the Man' and you're helping him. You know he was kicked out of the most powerful job in Congress for corruption? You're supporting a really creepy and corrupt politician who doesn't have your best interests anywhere near his heart. How can you do that?" "It's a job, sir. Thank y..." "Wal Mart's hiring and as lousy as they pay I'll bet it's as much as you're getting paid by Newt and you wouldn't be helping to destroy your country quite so much. did you listen to what he said?" "I don't know, sir. I didn't listen to the message." "Well, Newt is trying to be the one who leads the charge to destroy working people in this country. Why are you doing that to yourself? You sound like a decent person. Find another job that you can hold your head up and be proud of doing. Quit helping these people." "I need this job, sir. Thank you for calling. Good bye." When Newt calls, I don't think any of us should hang up. Think of it as a ministry amongst the heathens. Courage, Steve

Quote of the Day: Newt, Please Don't Peak Too Soon!

I do worry that Gingrich is peaking far too soon. The number of knives that are going to be out for this fellow, just among members of his own party, is going to be something to behold. I think we'd all rather they hold off on their Brutus moments for a bit longer, so that we can get maximum enjoyment from the Republicans being so hard up for serious candidates that even Newt Gingrich, of all people, is now being considered presidential material.

Hunter

From Our "Now Can We Move Onto Something Else?" Department...

Quote of the day:

Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern has proven unfounded that repeal would undermine the war effort. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.

Times Free Press

It's Official...Whites Creek is a Miley Fan

Miley Cyrus releases a song supporting Occupy!

Black Friday Quote of the Day...

When I die, I want to be real old, real sick, or doing something worth dying for.  I do not want “innocent bystander” anywhere in my obituary.

"Breezily Inflicted Discipline"

Customer Review

678 of 684 people found the following review helpful:

Accept no substitutes when casually repressing students, November 21, 2011

By 

D-bag of Liberty

This review is from: Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray (Misc.)

Whenever I need to breezily inflict discipline on unruly citizens, I know I can trust Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray to get the job done! The power of reason is no match for Defense Technology's superior repression power. When I reach for my can of Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray, I know that even the mighty First Amendment doesn't stand a chance against its many scovil units of civil rights suppression.

When I feel threatened by students, no matter how unarmed, peaceful and seated they may be, I know that Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray has got my back as I casually spray away at point blank range.

The Review and comments at Amazon

Told Ya So!

Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict “Occupy” protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night’s 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.

I'm calling my county commissioner and asking him to get me, in writing, the chain of command for our local Homeland security. Are local tax funds being used to fund a program that can be snatched away from local control on orders from Wall Street, as happened in 18 cities across America? Rick Ellis at Examiner.com Six Questions

I Stand With the Occupy Patriots and I Ask: Who is Pulling the Strings In America?

Just this morning I posted the question, "Who is pulling the strings in America right now?" That was because I was seeing news reports of mayors having cops forcibly evict and arrest Occupy Patriots, even going against judges orders to do so. Something looked odd that all of a sudden the same mayors across the country had come to the same conclusion about how to proceed against their own citizens. Now I find out via Newscoma that in fact that the mayors are coordinating with each other. (We find it out from the BBC, by the way, not our American media) But someone has to be telling them what to do. Who is it?

I Want A Senator Just Like Her

From Our "Now I Get It" Department

The earliest sacrificial offering to God appears to have been made by Cain and was all veggies. The Old Testament has a long list of the particular items that were to be offered up to God depending on the sin committed. Everything that God did not consume was to be given to the priests, who apparently had quite a taste for Flambe.

From the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia

Occupy WhitesCreek

Read and Quote

There is sometimes a piece written that is so good almost every line is a worthy quote...

Bush and Cheney proved once and for all that tax cuts for the wealthy produce only two things: "lower growth and greater inequality."

 ...what little expansion there was under Bush culminated in the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. "The wreckage was left by Dick Cheney, Grover Norquist and the gang," says [Lincoln] Chafee. "This was their doing."

This is one of them.

And  a commentary on that piece that is worthy of its own quotables...

We have quite literally gotten to the point where day-to-day government functions are put in jeopardy with regularity, all so that demanded handouts to the uppermost classes can continue. The prime duty of government—to effectively govern—is considered anathema, and the GOP in particular competes within itself to see who can best disrupt it. Not because of deficits (which ballooned, under GOP rule) or small government (government got no smaller, during the years they controlled it) but because it is now presumed that the only legitimate question government may contemplate is just how well it can cater to the desires of the richest of the rich.

There...You have your reading assignment for the day. For extra credit figure out how we can get this information through the boneheaded skulls of people who still think Obama is a socialist and that David Koch has only their best interests at heart. Steve I am reminded of this song by Tim Hardin. (You probably think Rod Stewart wrote it) If I listened long enough to you I'd find a way to believe that it's all true Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else Someone like you makes it easy to give never think about myself If I gave you time to change my mind I'd find a way just to leave the past behind Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe

"The Park is the Spark"

Make It So!

Progressives can take heart at what went down yesterday in a fabulous day at the polls.

Personhood for zygotes was resoundingly defeated in Mississippi...Mississippi!

The author of the anti-immigration law and President of the Senate in Arizona was resoundingly kicked out of office...Arizona!

Governor Kasich's anti-collective bargaining bill was resoundingly defeated in Ohio...Ohio!

In Knoxville, TN a REAL Democrat resoundingly defeated a fake Democrat...Tennessee!

At least five women who claim they were harrassed/groped/fondled by Herman Cain will stand fast together in a press conference.

Real Democrats...Pay attention to this! Remember that Benjamin Franklin quote about hanging together? If we hang together they cannot hang us separately. Democrats have the issues that resound in people's minds. Wall street and Banks must be reigned in (Over $50 million was withdrawn from banks on Saturday alone, BTW). Public education must be protected. The rights of workers to collectively bargain must be protected. The right of every American to peaceably assemble and petition our government for the redress of wrongs must not only be protected but encouraged. Our First Amendment rights to a free press representing the citizens and not the corporations must be reinstated. Persons are persons and money is not speech. We must make it so!

Steve

Do All Zygotes Go to Heaven, or is That Just in Mississippi?

Mississippi is on the verge of passing a law that says all fertilized eggs have a soul. That raises serious questions about the zygote soul, personhood, and the amount of guilt and or sorrow women should feel when they dispose of a tampon. Does 26 chromosomes a soul make? Since it has 52 chromosomes does a duck billed platypus have TWO souls? Since they split a zygote, do identical twins have a half soul each?

Link

Headlines (My Version)

Yard Eats Man (Getting newspaper far more dangerous than believed)

People Don't Like Rick Perry But Only Those Who Have Met Him (Cain Leads in Texas)

Herman Cain, "I did not have sex with that woman those women." (No need to type anything in here)

Ghadaffi: Getting Killed Pain in the A## (OK, don't click on this one, please)

Bernie Madoff's Wife and Son Will Never Forgive Him (Have you noticed that Wall Streeters only go to jail if they steal from RICH people?)

Global Warming Skeptic Changes Mind (Announces Energy Cartel Money Not Enough to Cheer Death of Planet)

Chesapeake Bay Island And Way of Life Going Away

Link if Embed isn't working

Thank You Clay Bennett

See it full size:   Clay Bennett at the Times Free Press

US Health Care System Most Costly, Care Substandard

As we've been saying, Americans pay the most for healthcare and get crappy service to boot. Where's my public option?

Sharply rising costs are putting both access and budgets at risk. Health care spending per person in the U.S. is double that in several other major industrialized countries, and costs in the U.S. continue to rise faster than income. We are headed toward spending $1 of every $5 of national income on health care. We should expect a better return on this investment.

Lowering insurance administrative costs to benchmark country rates could alone save up to $114 billion a year, or $55 billion if such costs were lowered to the level in countries with a mixed private–public insurance system, like the U.S. has.

Report

Science...The Search for Truth, and Those Who Love It

It's a sane position to think that science should answer to science and not religion. How many times have we watched some religious leader make fools of his congregation when the world didn't end at the appointed moment of his biblical calculations? Religion is a dismal failure at predicting scientific events, but a master at the destruction of rational thoughts that contradict its teachings. I think the church still holds a grudge against Galileo. Science asks questions, posits answers, and ruthlessly tests each component of those answers to determine if any of them belong to the body of work dedicated to the search for truth. Religion has no such scruple.

In a similar manner ti follows that science should answer to science and not some commercial venture dedicated to the generation of confusion and blather aimed at supporting a forgone point or position. In today's world we call these commercial ventures "Think Tanks". They are basically public relations machines but have massive sway over public opinion. In a just society they wouldn't. 

Here is today's must read (Well maybe should read is more like it. Massimo goes all professorial at times but there's great stuff in here) :

...intellectuals have a duty to be so engaged with society because often their vantage point is the result of a privileged position granted them by society, most obviously in the case of academic intellectuals (but also journalists, some artists, and assorted others), who are somewhat shielded from most direct political influence or financial constraints, and whose professional ethos requires intellectual honesty and rigor.

(Gee, wouldn't it be nice if journalists were all intellectually honest and rigorous?)

Science by Think Tank
The Rise of Think Tanks and
the Decline of Public Intellectuals

by Massimo Pigliucci

Uber Christian Mike Huckabee Advocates Dirty Tricks

So Republicans only care about Democratic voter fraud, not theirs:

Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has some advice for people who support the anti-union law passed in Ohio that faces a statewide repeal vote on November 8: Find out who's voting to repeal the bill and block them from ballot box. The onetime Arkansas governor suggested deflating tires and giving these voters the wrong election date. "That's up to you, how you creatively get the job done," Huckabee quipped.

 Read the whole thing
You know, I think that is Un-American. Huckabee is a traitor to the democratic process.

Cain Kills in TN

I am stunned at the reception GOP Leading presidential candidate Herman Cain got in Tennessee. If he had said he's going to raise taxes on poor people and the middle class, end Social Security, and raise Sales tax to 18% in Tennessee, the crowd would have cheered...Oh, wait...That is exactly what he said!

The U.S. should secure its border with Mexico by building a 20-foot, barbed-wire, electrified fence, Cain said (with) signs, in English and Spanish, saying “it will kill you,’” 

 “No, I’m not going to change” the 9-9-9 plan, Cain said in Cookesville today. “I’m not going to back down.

 “He is ultra conservative and that’s what I like,” said Stevens, a spokesman for the Humphreys County Tea Party, which helped organize the event. “We don’t want moderates or Republicans in name only.”

The Bloomberg Story

Cain's plan would financially destroy the middle class and immediately bankrupt the US. Rich people would have their taxes slashed. It's like Republican candidates are defending the deregulation and tax cuts for the rich that have gotten America into near financial default and killed our jobs by claiming that the reason their plan to hit us in the head with a hammer hasn't worked so far is because that Obama won't let them hit us hard enough.

Note to the GOP: A successful parasite does not kill off its host.

So how does Cain keep going with so little money and no organization? The Tea Puppets look like they've been given their marching orders:

Long Ties to Koch Brothers Key to Cain Campaign

Elizabeth Warren

Must Read Post of the Day, or Week or whatever for that matter

Thanks to Newscoma for the link on this writer. This is good stuff and you better read the whole thing, or else...

I understand you don’t care about me. I understand that because I am not a corporation, because I have a uterus, because I don’t make $250,000 a year or more that I am not now, nor will I ever be, important to you. I get it. All I have is my vote. So I understand that even if you were to read this, you would ignore it. I understand that even if I were standing in front of you reading this, you’d act as if you were listening, pat me on my head, and send me on my way. But I’m going to keep going. Because I foolishly believe that my vote counts. That my voice counts. And that if I keep yelling, maybe one day you will pay attention.

An Open Letter to Congress

Banks Failed the Public Trust So Why Not Public Option In Banks?

Today's must read:

[T]he demand isn't simply to make a public bank, but is to treat the banks generally as a public utility, just as you treat electric companies as a public utility.... Just as there was pressure for a public option in health care, there should be a public option in banking. There should be a government bank that offers credit card rates without punitive 30% interest rates, without penalties, without raising the rate if you don't pay your electric bill. This is how America got strong in the 19th and early 20th century, by essentially having public infrastructure, just like you'd have roads and bridges.... The idea of public infrastructure was to lower the cost of living and to lower the cost of doing business.

People scream about taxes but what's the difference between taxes and fees? Isn't the fee on using a debit card to access your own money actually a tax levied by industry instead of government? There is no value provided by the bank that is any way equal to the fee charged. It is simply a tax levied by private industry the use of which the people have no vote on.

An analysis

Also read Krugman

Quote of the Day: Naomi Klein Speaking to Occupy Wall Street

An excerpt from today's must read...

We pointed out that the deregulation behind the frenzy came at a price. It was damaging to labor standards. It was damaging to environmental standards. Corporations were becoming more powerful than governments and that was damaging to our democracies. But to be honest with you, while the good times rolled, taking on an economic system based on greed was a tough sell, at least in rich countries.
Ten years later, it seems as if there aren't any more rich countries. Just a whole lot of rich people. People who got rich looting the public wealth and exhausting natural resources around the world.

The rest from Shock Doctrine author, Naomi Klein

Even Republicans Don't Like Republicans

The echo chamber blather this morning is all about Romney backing into first place in the Gallup poll for GOP presidential nomination, mainly because Rick Perry is a Christian and Romney belongs to the Mormon cult. Here are the numbers:


Romney: 20 (24)
Cain: 18 (5)
Perry: 15 (31)
Paul: 8 (13)
Gingrich: 7 (5)
Bachmann: 5 (5)
Santorum: 3 (2)
Huntsman: 2 (1)
Other: 1 (4)
Undecided: 20 (10)

Morning Joe puts these up without the former rankings (in parentheses) and without the last line. With the additional info in place you can plainly see that Romney, far from advancing into first place, has actually lost support. Perry is getting his ass handed to him as people learn what he's really like and two candidates have benefited as a result., Herman Cain, who has moved from fifth place into second, and Undecided, moving from fourth place into first.

 At the end of the day I predict that Undecided will trounce Herman Cain.

Watch This Now!

Quote of the Day (The Protests are NOT about Hating the Wealthy...They Don't Hate Steve Jobs)

The legions in New York and across the country do not protest wealth; they do not hate success. Rather, they object to those who extract value through predation rather than contribute value through innovation and creativity.

"You don't earn a hundred million dollars...You steal a hundred million dollars"... Annie Liebowitz talking about CEO salary

Why Occupy? Here's Why...

This should disgust and anger everyone except Wall Street Bankers. "What? We don't see a problem here," says Wall Street.

Earth A Lujah!

I've been thinking... We need a new religion.

The ones we have now aren't working. I suppose we shouldn't expect all that much from current religions when the Big Three all have the same Eden myth. You know, the one where Adam and Eve get kicked out of paradise for getting smart and becoming aware of their genitals because they were talked into eating a magic apple by a talking snake. How do you learn to think when our current religions want us to believe that  knowledge is the root of all evils and understanding is the greatest of all heresies.  From that common beginning each of the big three spirals off into dysfunctional unreality in its own way but with the apparent purpose of providing most of the benefit to the top of the food chain. The acolytes wind up worshiping the ideology while ignoring the resulting misery it brings to the boots on the ground. Can we have a "Hey, wait a minute" moment here? I say we form a committee to rewrite religion based on taking care of sheep and wolves and grass all at the same time with fairness and justice to all. Nobody wins big, nobody loses big and the goal will be rebuilding Eden and getting back inside.

So let's start a new religion that benefits the 99%.  All religions have commandments so let's start with a few. We can pick and choose and rewrite from the commandments that are already out there as a way to get going. Moses, Paul, Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and L. Ron Hubbard did it so why can't we? Let's see...

Let's change the one about having no other gods before me to, "You shall tolerate no ideology that brings not the greatest good to the greatest number of people." I realize this will not sit well with the right wing but if properly applied there won't be a right wing.

We can keep "Thy shalt not bear false witness". It's probably the most violated of all the current commandments but I believe it's a worthy goal. It hasn't worked well standing alone, however, so let's make it stronger by adding another one:

"Thou shall cast out falsehood, adhere to the scientific method, critical thinking, and seek facts and truths." Our current religions tend to execute heretics rather than honor truth. The church may have accepted Galileo but they are still attacking Charles Darwin and Al Gore. That has to stop.

Let's change "Thou shalt not kill" to: "You must have near unanimous agreement to commit murder." or something of the sort. Nobody really believes in the absolute of "not killing" but a just society should tolerate it only in extreme circumstances. War and capital punishment should be very very difficult to enact.

How about, "Care for your planet at all costs." It dies, we die. Why is this so hard? I have trouble articulating into a commandment this corollary: "Actions that affect others must be carefully considered and may not be justified because someone makes money."  Help me work on this will you?

We're just getting started here so remember this is a work in progress. The inevitable religious war can come later, as long as later is fairly soon. I'm pretty flexible and open on all this except for the bottom line of maximum happiness benefit for maximum people and generating a fact based society. One more thing I think is absolutely necessary is something many other religions outlaw at great peril to happiness...The last commandment:

"You shall sing and dance as often as you can, with as many people as you can." Someone beat me to it but we can call it "Joining the Earthalujah Chorus."

Can I get an Amen?

Steve

ps: I plan to work on this and hope everyone will contribute. Check back often.

Thank You, Clay Bennett

"Where's Jesus When You Really Need Him", or "The Zombie Theme Seems To Be Big This Year"

We had nuclear zombies at the TVA Board meeting and now we have money grubbing corporate zombies on Wall Street. At least the media is grudgingly admitting that something is going on even if it's two and a half weeks late to the party.

Can America toss the money changers out of the temple?

"At this point, we don't anticipate wider unrest," said ... an FBI spokesman in New York, "but should it occur the city, including the NYPD and the FBI, will deploy any and all resources necessary to control any developments."

Wall Street Protests

From Our Hank Williams Jr. is a Jerk and We'll Never Listen To Him Again Dept:

ESPN drops Hank Jr after he compares Obama to Hitler

Well, Ok...I dropped Hank Jr long ago but this just justifies me in a strong way.

Hank...You suck as a human being!

Everything Nice I ever Said About Belmont U...I take it Back!

Alberto Gonzales Named 'Distinguished Chair of Law' By Belmont University

Gonzales was the AG who authorized torture and forever tarnished the moral worth of the United States of America. What are you people thinking?

Today's Top Story Not Mass Uprising against Wall Street

So hundreds of people have been arrested for peaceful protests on Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down by thousands of people who want government to be "Of, By, and For The People" instead of the Wall Street financial interests. Protesters were roughed up and a police supervisor walked over and maced several women who were standing on the sidewalk leaving them blind and screaming as he turned and walked away. In  the last days of the Bush Administration America bailed out Wall Street to the tune of a trillion dollars or so and they haven't even said thank you and continue to send American jobs overseas and generally run our country into the ground. You would think that a spontaneous uprising against America's financial sector by thousands of people would make headline news but the number one story on NBC this morning was an Italian murder appeal court proceeding. 

OccupyWallStreet.org

Thank you, Clay Bennett

Quote of the Day

When taxes are raised on the rich, oh sure – that’s class warfare. But when libraries are closed and national parks left to rot so rich people can have more money, that’s trickle-down economics.

As usual we get the truth, not from our politicians, from our comedians, Will Durst.

Conservatives on Supreme Court Tell Georgia It's OK to Execute Innocent Man

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia writes that there is nothing constitutionally wrong with executing an innocent man. Justice Clarence Thomas agrees. These are the people that conservatives appoint to the highest court in America. Liberals are outraged at the statement. So in the next presidential election we will see if pro-lifers are really pro-lifers or if they are merely forced birthers.

This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent.  Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable.

more 

Why!

 In 1784 Kant wrote, “There will never be a Newton for the blade of grass.” What he meant was that physical science could never explain anything with a purpose, whether it be human thought or a flower’s bending toward the sun. That would have made everything special about living things — and especially us — safe from a purely scientific understanding. It would have kept questions about humanity the preserve of religion, mythmaking and the humanities.
Only 25 years or so later, the Newton of the blade of grass was born to the Darwin family in Shropshire, England.

Today's must read... 

Face It...Republicans Kill Jobs

We should not fight the deficit with spending cuts. We've done that and look what it got us. Fight the deficit the same way Bill Clinton and Al Gore did by spending money in the right way to grow jobs. More people working equals more people paying taxes equals more revenue equals a lowered deficit. Republicans hate the idea of a country that works to the benefit of all its people. That's why they have diverted the war on the jobless rate to a war on the deficit. Government spending is the fertilizer that will grow the jobs we need to pay the taxes we need to pay down our debt. A vote for a Republican is a vote to kill jobs...Rinse...Repeat...

Alter News

If you have a strong stomach for outrage, this should be one of your daily reads:

Alternet News of the Day

Time to get Real

http://climaterealityproject.org/

Why We Were So Easily Mislead After 9-11

Bumper Sticker?

Herownself

Quote of the Day

...what we can’t do – what I won’t do – is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.  I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety.  I reject the argument that says for the economy to grow, we have to roll back protections that ban hidden fees by credit card companies, or rules that keep our kids from being exposed to mercury, or laws that prevent the health insurance industry from shortchanging patients.  I reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy.  We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom, where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollution standards.  America should be in a race to the top.  And I believe that’s a race we can win. 

President Barack Obama

Labor Rainy Day Picnic...Good!

A great appreciation to Senator Andy Berke who stood and delivered a great message to the East TN Labor Day Picnic. 

"Republicans don't want to climb mountains, they want to blow up mountains!"

The crowd was well in excess of the torrential expectations and several local notables came out and heard things they don't normally get to listen to in their regular circle.

Roane County Commissioner Steve Kelly led the cooking effort in a constant driving rain. Nobody left hungry.

Senator Berke spoke with everyone and took time to answer all questions.

The theme of this year's picnic was "Honoring Teachers". Reba Luttrell spoke for the Tennessee Education Association supporting those politicians who support teachers, and vowing to vote politicians who work against teachers and education out of office. Great speech, Reba!

Thank You, Senator Berke! What we wouldn't give to have you representing Roane County.

Labor Day Special...Tea Party GOPers Kill Economy

Mission accomplished: Tea party Republicans took the economy hostage and killed job growth:

Quote of the Day: "Dear Mr. President"

...if you cannot bring yourself to fight for us, if you do not have the stomach for a battle, that is understandable. But step aside and give your base an opportunity to elect the champion we so desperately need.

We will always love you, Mr. President, but your base is weary. Lift us up.

Susan

Quote of the Day: Lisa Jackson Smacks Down EPA Haters

Some in Washington are working to weaken safeguards and undermine laws that protect our families from pollution that causes asthma, cancer and other illnesses, especially in children. Big polluters are lobbying Congress for loopholes to use our air and water as dumping grounds. The result won't be more jobs; it will be more mercury in our air and water and more health threats to our kids. As a senior official from the Bush EPA recently wrote, "Abolishing the EPA will not cause a revival of America's economy, but it will certainly result in a major decline in public health and our quality of life."

... Lisa Jackson Director Environmental Protection Agency

There's no short version that carries the impact of the full message from Lisa Jackson. Read the whole thing, particularly YOU, Republicans.

TVA Environmental Impact Statement for Bellafonte

Odd that this is the source that showed up on my Google Alerts but here it is.

Science Guy Confuses Fox Viewers With Facts and Stuff Like That

This is too weird but true.

Republican Officials Who Don't Support Workers Can't March in Labor Day Parade

Well. duh!

"It should come as no surprise that organizers choose not to invite elected officials who have openly attacked worker's rights or stood idly by while their political party fought to strip public workers of their right to collectively bargain," Radtke said. "It is a time for working families to come together to celebrate their hard work and a time where we recognize the labor movement for all they have given us -- the weekend, the 40 hour work week, child labor protection, a safe work environment."

Quote of the Day

"We don't have a deficit problem. We have a jobs problem."...Richard Trumka

From the one man in America who makes the most sense...

From Our "Ya know, if I lived in Virginia right now, I’d be looking for some tar and feathers" Department

Eric Cantor's state had an earthquake, is about to have a hurricane, and he thinks FEMA is a four letter word?

Idiot!

Why Taxing the Rich is Right

Exactly:

The very rich benefit most from national security, government-funded research, infrastructure, and property laws. Defending the country benefits the rich more, because they have more to defend.

Why the Rich Should Pay More

Anybody who thinks we are in Afghanistan and Iraq because poor people and the middle class needed us to "Fight 'em over there, so we won't have to fight 'em over here" is delusional. It's about oil and the rich people who own oil companies. Let the rich pay for the Defense Department budget and things would be a little more just.

What Group Ranks Lower Than Atheists and Muslims in America?...The Tea Party

Actually, there is more than one group that ranks lower than Atheists and Muslims...Americans don't much like the Christian Right, either.

Name one thing that is good that TeaHadists have done for people?

Quote of the Day

Intimidation, deception, subterfuge and basic spelling errors will not intimidate us nor will it chill a free press rooted in comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

If You'll Quit Posting Photoshops of My President, I'll Quit Posting Actual Photos of Your Candidate

I'm not saying Rick Perry is dumb...Wait...That is exactly what I'm saying. Perry got a C minus in animal husbandry at Texas A&M. He would have made a much better grade but there were two goats in the class and they must have crashed the curve.

Sunday Reader: What Do You Call a Cult With Puppetmasters instead of a Leader?

This piece is very well done. I plan to refer to it often:

In this latest incarnation, this new rebranding of the same conservative ideologies has been renamed the "Tea Party". It was largely started and funded by the lobbyist/corporate wing of the GOP, and promoted by Fox News to such an extent that it was beginning to look like a national sport. The premise was "average citizens" who just happened to be against raising taxes on rich people or regulating what corporations could do to the rest of the country (what are the odds, right?) and who were simply "not going to take it any more."

The Tea Party as the Conspiracy Wing of the Republican Party

Today's Must Read: Democrats Need a Platform and a Plan

Democrats pledge that if you vote for them they will fight for you. Democrats will make the wealthy pay their fair share. We will end Republican tax policy that sends American jobs abroad. We will run government like it should be run, for all the people and not just for business, special interests, or the wealthy. We will protect your right to organize and fight for a fair wage and safe workplace. We will fight for your right to a good and free public education and higher education at an affordable price. We will continue to fight for your right to a place to live and a good doctor or hospital when you need one. We will fight for safe streets, safe food, and clean air and water. We will fight for you to get back what you pay for in Social Security and Medicare. You paid for it; you are entitled to it.

A Plan

Thank You, Tea Party!

Just ten years ago this country was running huge surpluses and paying off its debt. But then we elected Obama and all hell broke loose. Oh, wait...

Today's must read:

Just ten years ago we were paying off debt at a rate that would have completely paid it all off by now. But under George W. Bush we cut taxes for the rich and more than doubled military spending. We deregulated and stopped enforcing laws. We let the big corporations run rampant. Our federal budget turned from huge surpluses to massive deficits, and Bush said it was "incredibly positive news" because it would lead to a debt crisis they could use to shock people into letting the corporate right privatize and thereby profit.

And then, under and because of Bush, our economy collapsed.

Quote of the Day

“Mark my words on this: we became the greatest country on earth because we made better decisions than any other nation,” he continued. “And we made better decisions because we used shared consciousness, shared reality, rule of reason, best evidence, democratic discourse, free debate to figure out what’s more likely than not to be the best decision here. It didn’t always work, but it worked a hell of a lot better. Since we adopted this new system we are making catastrophic decisions that have massive consequences..."...Al Gore

Sunday Reader

If you only read one thing today make it this.

What do you get when you cross a long drug habit, a quick temper and a gun? The answer is two life terms for murder, earliest release date 2026. On the other hand, what do you get when you cross two nation states, a large corporation, three tons of poison and 8,000 dead human beings? The answer is, retirement with full pay and benefits.

And then read this

Stock Market

Republican Corruption...But then I repeat Myself

Apparently desperate in Wisconsin, Republican operatives working for the Koch brothers funded group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) have been caught sending absentee ballots to Democrats with instructions to return the ballots after the election date.


From the Examiner

From Our "Bradlee Dean is a Dick" Department

I wish for every parent moments when you are more than just proud of your children. One of these came for me when I got a call from my son from inside Roane County High School saying he and his brother had walked out of the Bradlee Dean "concert" in the gym during school hours because of its overt racist and homophobic message. They were with about twenty other students who rose up in protest and went to one of their teacher's rooms. The principal was eventually reassigned as parents swarmed the school board meeting afterwards. It's my personal opinion that he was moved, not because the school board actually understood the issue of using school attendance to force a radical religious message onto other people's children, but because this was not the principal's first foray into such things as when he was told not to continue public address system prayers at football games.

Bradlee Dean's message is indefensible and full of hate justified by the worst possible interpretation of a snippet in the old testament. When on his radio show he recently praised Muslims for executing homosexuals, Rachel Maddow accused him of calling for the killing of homosexuals. Since reading his statements one sees that as the only possible interpretation of Dean's statements, Maddow was totally justified in her opinion. Bradlee Dean responded with a defamation lawsuit for hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination ... If America won't enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that."

Ignoring the grammatical errors and logical nonsense, I read that as praise for executing homosexuals and derision for America not doing the same. These people seize on valid criticism of their hateful message in order to play the victim and gain the publicity the need in order to feed on their fearful listeners. One has to ask how many of these homophobic right wing hatemongers are in fact homosexual, unable to face their own reality?

When my kids called from school I couldn't have been more proud, not just for their courage but they also told me that they could handle things without me. Of the 22 kids who walked out in protest there are a couple who have since come out. Twenty times that number of gay kids stayed in the room listening to a message that  could only lead them to self loathing. What a mean thing to force other people's children to endure.

The TPM Story

By the way...Bradlee doesn't look like that hair band picture any more. Think pudgy tattooed has been and you'll be more accurate.

A Sane Republican?

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

Here's the complete must read article.

Coal news

Local Roane County citizens were up in arms when they thought our county fathers were going to allow TVA to dump coal ash into the Midtown landfill. I wonder how they'll feel when they find out that their new Teahadist Congressman Scott DesJarlias is in favor of allowing coal to be classified the same a kitchen garbage and, yes, going into the Midtown landfill?

The Midtown landfill is currently inoperable. It is supposed to have a composite liner that the county paid for but somehow never got installed.

It is well documented that coal kills at both ends of its cycle. Being a coal miner is even more dangerous than being a farmer, both of which are three times more dangerous than being a cop just to put things in perspective. The Attorney General of North Carolina proved in court that TVA coal fired generating plants were responsible for killing about 150 North Carolinians every single year and sickening 3000 or so. I keep wondering why, now that the US Supreme Court has declared corporations to be persons, we can't try one for murder? I pick Massey Coal to start with.

In the most amazing good news of the day:


New York mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg announced a game-changing gift to the Sierra Club -- a $50 million commitment over four years to the Beyond Coal Campaign .

This is a huge deal! The problem is that we all breathe the same air, rich, poor, middle class, or richer than rich like Bloomberg.

Thank You, sir!

The Sunday Reader: ALEC Pushes For the End to "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"

The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, is working overtime and with huge cash infusions to become America's shadow government. The recent rash of anti teacher, public school, union, environment, regulation, tax, etc. legislation all hails from ALEC's legion of hired legal hit men run by Shook, Hardy, and Bacon, the law firm representing big tobacco and big coal and big TVA in their respective lawsuits from the American citizens harmed in the course of doing business. After the last election cycle and before the start of the legislative sessions, ALEC held an indoctrination for Tea Party candidates in Washington to introduce its agenda.  In Tennessee we had this rubbed full in our faces as our representatives and senators were allowed to expense off the week long junket to taxpayers. It takes a lot of damned gall to use a teacher's tax money to pay for your entertainment and brainwashing and then work to eliminate her job.

The curtain is being drawn back on ALEC and the man behind the curtain is particularly ugly. Now, the threat that ALEC poses to the American people has so frightened ALEC staffers that some of them have funneled insider documents to the media detailing the plans for destruction of the American way...You know, that tired old "Truth and Justice" thing.

A quick overview can be found here. Then bookmark the site, ALEC Exposed, to keep score on the shadow revolution being waged against the citizens of America. Here's The Nation Article.

Keep foremost in your mind that all the hot button issues, guns, gays, god, abortion, communists in the basement, and those evil old unions who actually speak up for working people, are nothing but false canards aimed at distracting the very people who will be forever enslaved if ALEC's mission to destroy the power of the middle class is successful.

We have a fight to fight, people!

Are you ready?

Steve

This Story Should End Our Wars...Why hasn't it?

...At one point, soldiers in 3rd Platoon talked about throwing candy out of a Stryker vehicle as they drove through a village and shooting the children who came running to pick up the sweets.

 Where are the prosecutions of Americans for war crimes? Why isn't this on the news? Why are we turning our troops into monsters?

This is very disturbing and you will see pictures that will blister your memory. This is the face of America that Afghanistan sees.

Rolling Stone

Olbermann Speaks to the Stone

Rolling Stone lets Keith talk.

Architecture as Sustainable Art

We Don't Have a Deficit Problem...We Have a Republican Problem

Republicans Good For Corporations...Humans and Other Living Things Not So Much

Congressional Budget Office and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services did the math: Republicans will double the out of pocket cost of health care for older Americans. For Tennesseans it will more than double.

Da Facts

They're laughing at us and they're sad for us at the same time

Listen While You Work

AS I observe four traitor Democrats support the Republican standoff to preserve the billions of tax dollars we give to big oil even in the face of massive big oil profits and high gas prices, I get upset and frustrated at ever changing things for the better in this once great nation.

AS evidence witness Newt Gingrich, bless his black little heart and soul if he has one, being publicly scorned and shamed by his own Republican party because he has actually spoken some truth to them...not much but some. He told them the Ryan budget was a monumental mistake. Apparently the rest of his party is not into actually thinking about things or they would already know this. What they are into is taking orders from the Koch Brothers and their ilk. It's like they come out at the base of the giant Easter Island head, shake their witch doctor and say...

"Behold! Destroying Medicare and Social Security will give much treasure to Wall Street and the insurance industry. This will be good for the people who used to be in the Middle Class. If a person points out the lunacy in this, he is evil and must be destroyed. The Koch Brothers have spoken!"

The Koch brothers have decided that they can now take over the USA and turn it into their own personal oligarchy, truth, facts, and common decency not withstanding. Newt's "Liberal media" are now showing clips of his own people ripping his figurative entrails out on national TV.

Watching the excoriation of Newt Gingrich by his own kind shows just how extreme and radical the Republican party has become. Any Republican who tries to stake out a moderate position will be destroyed as we can plainly see.

Remember as we watch this beggar's opera that the positions Newt is speaking of are actually the same positions staked out by all of America except for the rabid 30% on the right who still think W and Dick Cheney are saints who shouldn't have to wait until Saturday to get beamed up in the rapture.

Think about all this when you hear the obvious lies spewing from the right...

"Ending wars will help the terrorists."
"Raising taxes on the filthy rich will hurt the economy and kill jobs."
"The economy can only be improved by cutting government spending."
and on and on and on...

AS for me...I think as opposed to believe.

Cheer up. There is much theater in watching them eat their own.

Steve


"I'm going to keep living and I'm going to live well, in spite of what's happening now."

Listening for the open minded

Can We AS an Exceptional Nation Read Simple Things?

http://images2.dailykos.com/i/user/6/jpg-2.png

Even more of the obvious

"I'm Not a Very Good American...I Do My Own Thinking"

Congressman, Why Do You Hate Women?

Roane County, TN, is split by Congressional districts and therefore has to suffer the pain and disgrace of having TWO Tea Party Republicans in Congress. Rep.s Fleischman and DesJarlais have taken the rapists side in the battle against women's health. While their brothers in the Senate filibuster job creation in America, Joe and Scott are busy making sure rapists get what they want in having their victims bear rapists children. Scott DesJarlais's psychological instability is well documented and apparently makes him more attractive to the Tea Party, not less. I Mean is anybody sane who who can claim they are pro-life while forcing the 130 million Americans who want their tax money used for women's health to instead pay for the Iraq war?

Sarah Jones thinks "anti-woman" should be treated exactly the same as Michelle Bachman's "anti-American. Bachman called for an inquisition against anybody who is not Republican to see if they held anti-American ideas. Ms. Jones think this is a fine model for investigating Congressmen who hate women and might be rapists as well...

How many of those who voted YES on this (HR3) are guilty of taking advantage of a woman or girl at some point? Since 1 out 6 women have been the victim of rape or attempted rape, who is doing all of the raping? Every two minutes, a woman is sexually assaulted and 60 percent of those rapes go unreported. Since 15 out of 16 rapists will not go to jail, we know the rapists are still out there. Rapists are more likely to be serial criminals than serial rapists, which leads to the logical question, how many of them are in congress?

Sarah Jones

Who Has Abortions In America?

Our Politicians are Jokes...We Get truth From Comedians

To See Ourselves as Others See Us

Watch. It is enlightening...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13323060

Aftermath of the Raid...What's Left of Top Secret Helicopter Remain in Pakistani Hands

An interesting side note to the daring raid that got Osama Bin laden...Pakistan has so far refused to return the remains of the stealth helicopter left in Bin Laden's compound. The Navy Seal team destroyed the  main body of the disabled chopper with thermite grenades but the tail section remains mostly intact. Pakistan is currently working with China on a new fighter jet and there are serious concerns that the chopper remains could wind up in Chinese hands. This could give China a major helping hand in their own stealth technology development program.

If Pakistan refuses to return the helicopter remains to the USA it could turn into a major diplomatic rift at a time when there are already questions about continuing US aid to Pakistan.

The India Times story

More on the helicopter itself.

Gun Lobby Claims: For the Crazy, We Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

"All firearms owner, all hunters, all Tea Partiers, all conservatives should be demanding of the House Republicans to know why promises made are not promises kept. They should also be sternly reminded that votes in 2010 do not necessarily equal repeat votes in 2012."


I'm having trouble thinking that they can find any crazier people who can still get elected. There is a limit to the nutzoid, even here in Tennessee. All firearms owners, hunters, and Tea Partiers are NOT gun crazies. I personally meet two of the three criteria and do not want Judges and school teachers packing heat. Nor, as a business owner who has been through the deranged employee experience, do I want the state to say I have to allow guns on my property, even if it is only the parking lot. Hot heads do not need quick and ready access to firearms.

The Tennessee Firearms Association may believe more guns is the answer but that's their religion, not mine. They do not represent all hunters and gun owners, as this vote in the Legislature shows. Reason may prevail after all.

The Long Strange Trip to Osama Bin Laden's Nonexistence

I wonder if we will ever know the true relationship between George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden?

It was Salem Bin Laden who gave W the nickname of "Shrub".

Salem set W up in the oil business in a company called Arbuto, meaning shrub.

Osama Bin Laden traveled with his older brother and met W.

The neo-conservative organization, Project for a New American Century (PNAC), called for a "Pearl Harbor like incident" to be used to attack Iraq and take over the oil fields and pipelines.

PNAC  membership included Dick Cheney, and a number of prominent conservatives with dual American Israeli citizenship including William Krystal, and Bush administration officials, Paul Bremer who ran the disastrous Iraq occupation, and Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense who mongered for the Iraq war.

I should not have to remind anyone that the Bush administration was nothing if not asleep at the wheel on 9-11 even though they had been given intelligence reports warning them that Bin laden was determined to attack inside the United States using airplanes.

Other Bush administration officials who hold dual Israeli citizenship are John Bolton, Ari Fleisher, James Schlesenger, and Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff who took a bullet for him for outing a CIA agent (Valerie Plame). The list also includes W's campaign manager, Ken Melman and many others.

Immediately after 9-11 members of the Bin Laden family were flown out of the USA by the Bush Administration while there was a no fly order on all aviation in this country for three days.

For seven years Bush ceremoniously chased Osama Bin Laden around Afghanistan with amazing inability to catch him, including the imfamous Tora Bora incident.

Now, eight years to the day the Bush stood in his ill fitting flight suit and proclaimed "Mission Accomplished", the Obama Administration has actually ended that particular mission by ending Osama Bin Laden's life with a gun shot to the head. A spectacularly successful attack into a compound in Pakistan by US navy Seals lasted 40 minutes, lost no American lives, harmed no civilians, and retrieved Bin laden's body for DNA testing and ignominious burial at sea in accordance with Islamic principles.

Let us step back from the visceral rush of the moment and remember that Osama Bin Laden was not so much at war with the United States as he was at war with the conscienceless capital markets of Wall Street. Bin Laden let his religious zealotry destroy not only himself but any chance of actually accomplishing his goal, that of ending outside financial interests ability to retool the organs of a nation to their own profit at the expense of that nation's obligations to its own citizens and their quality of life. This is a goal 80 percent of Americans could have shared had Osama chosen methods other than a spectacular act of destruction aimed at who he perceived as the enemy, the World Trade Center which housed the offices of multinational financial houses, the Pentagon which served as protector for those financial interests around the globe, and probably the White House which had sold its soul to those same financial interests.

Had Bin Laden chosen to uses his wealth to wage a war of ideas would he have had a better chance of success? As the Bush administration was sunsetting, those hated financial entities threatened the shutdown of the global financial network unless they were given trillions of dollars. It was a sick parody of the Black Sheriff in Blazing Saddles  holding a gun to his own head  and demanding that Congress and Bush do what he says, "Or the N****R gets it!"  As a result, trillions of US dollars flowed out of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank in secret loans. Republican members of the House of Representatives blocked an audit of the Fed which would have found out how much was given away and who got it. had Osama Bin laden declared an information jihad instead of one of destruction and death, would Goldman Sach's and all the others have been able to steal America's piggy bank and continue to prop up the actions in the Middle East that drove Bin Laden to extremism in the first place?

Jihadist terror will not end because Bin Laden is dead, but I am gladdened by his future nonexistence even though I share an enemy of his. Like Bin Laden should have chosen to do, Americans must fight an ideological war against neo-conservative extremism in which the Neocons own the playing field, the referees, and are buying up most of the players after the Citizen's United decision allowing unlimited Corporate money into political campaigns. If America is to be run for the benefit of "We, the People" we have to learn the deeper lesson of Osama Bin Laden's misguided and destructive life.

Courage,

Steve

Best Opposition Web Site Ever!

JaneCorwin.org

And the real candidate site:
janecorwin.com

The Best Stand Up

As We Send Our Wishes and Our donations to Tornado Victims...

Somehow the GOP will manage to blame President Obama for not getting Federal aid to the tornado stricken areas fast enough. They will not want us to remember that under law FEMA aid must first be requested by the Republican Governors of those states and that Republicans have a standing resolution to slash FEMA's budget by half. Let's remember who the bad guys are, shall we?

Why? Disaster Capitalism. If the Federal Government is restrained from helping its citizens, disaster profiteers stand to make billions while still leaving the people with destroyed lives and little hope of being made whole. Think about those toxic trailers that were sold to the Feds that were never occupied and the money never recovered.

 Unfathomable as it is to decent people, there are always vultures who prey on those with the least ability to fend for themselves. It is the role of government to protect good citizens from bad citizens. This is the one quality of government "Of, By and For the People" the Republicans most diligently work to destroy. 

Steve

The American Red Cross

The Salvation Army

TEMA Photos of Damage in TN