Thursday, April 26, 2012

Headlines - Thursday April 26

I'll be gone for 3 weeks. Carry on!
 
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"So everyone is in a big uproar because Obama once ate dog meat. At least he didn't eat a bowl of stupid every day like the last president."
 
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Tea Party folk hero USMC Sgt. Gary Stein has been discharged from the military for public declarations that he would refuse orders from his "unlawful" commander in chief, President Obama.
Brig. Gen. Daniel Yoo announced Wednesday that Stein will be separated from the service under other than honorable conditions. Stein, 26, a Temecula resident, ran afoul of Marine Corps and Pentagon regulations restricting troop political activity by calling for Obama's ouster and making statements that the president was the "enemy" and that he would not follow his orders unless he considered them lawful. Stein, who could not be reached for immediate comment, was informed of the decision Wednesday morning, according to one of his attorneys, Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation. "He is very disappointed," Kreep said. "His grandmother died last night and then this hit him." Stein will now fight for reinstatement through Marine Corps legal channels and continue pressing a court case, Kreep said. Earlier this month, he unsuccessfully sought to persuade a federal court to issue a restraining order or preliminary injunction to stop the separation.
Stein is being backed by the ACLU, who says that his Facebook postings and birther-related political activism falls under freedom of speech protections. The "Patriots For Sgt. Stein" group on Facebook has over 8000 members.
 
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The nation's fourth-ever case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been found in California.
 
Eat veggie burgers.
 
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The president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, criticized the media during an appearance on the American Family Association's radio program today because they have allegedly marginalized Right Wing cranks who still insist President Obama wasn't born in this country. Perkins considers this a "legitimate issue."

PERKINS: [The media] have attempted to marginalize anyone who challenges this administration on those principles and that driving ideology. You know, it goes back to what they did to those that questioned the issue of his birth certificate. Look, I don't know about all that, but I will tell you this, it's a legitimate issue from the standpoint of what the Constitution says.

And I think what we've done is we've done great harm to foundation of our government by marginalizing and attacking anyone who brings up a legitimate issue.

How dare we treat racist nutjobs like the racist nutjobs they are.

The obvious, and easily substantiated, rebuttal is that questioning the legitimacy of the president's citizenship on the basis of his skin color and name has done more harm to the foundation of our government than the media's dubious-at-best rejection of dog-whistle politics.

Much of the opposition to the president is easily traceable to questions of his legitimacy, not his ideology, and even the opposition to his ideology is primarily informed by dog-whistle politics.

It's unlikely those questions will dissipate until the president either leaves office or spontaneously turns white and changes his name to John Smith.

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Are there no workhouses? Are there no orphan trains? The House tea-publican majority would rather kick 280,000 children off the school lunch program than risk asking millionaires to pony over even a cent more in taxes. Which makes us wonder if they realize that the beginnings of the school lunch program are rooted in national security...so many young men who showed up to volunteer for service in WW II were malnourished and had to be turned away that Truman signed the School Lunch Act immediately following WW II, calling it a matter of national security.
 
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The White House has given the CIA and the Pentagon "greater leeway to target suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen with drones, responding to worries a new haven is being established from which to mount attacks on the West."
 
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Koch Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) — who is deeply indebted to Koch Industries for more than $100,000 in donations — is outspoken against clean energy investment. Recently, he celebrated when the Senate failed to extend the wind energy tax credit in a 49-49 vote. However, he is celebrating the threat to 37,000 jobs in the relatively young industry, when the production tax credit is set to expire at the end of the year.

Even as the oil industry enjoys $4 billion in subsidies a year, Pompeo lamented the cost of the production tax credit, claiming the wind industry would be fine on its own:

"The program has been around an awfully long time and it's time to let that industry stand on its own two feet. And I'm confident that they'll do it," he said. "There's great, creative engineers and innovators in the alternative energy field, and I'm confident they'll be successful."

It now costs the government more than $1 billion a year to hand out 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of wind power — and enough is enough, says Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.).

"We've been subsidizing some of these industries with tax credits for multiple decades, and every time they get to the end of the line, they get within a year, they say, 'If you just give me' — fill in the blank — 'one more year, four more years, that's all I want. Just a little more time,'" said Pompeo, who is leading a charge against the PTC and other energy subsidies.

"What history would demonstrate is they would continue to come back to the federal trough and ask for more time yet again at the end," he added.

History has shown that the three times the production tax credit expired, wind investments dropped. Meanwhile, Big Oil has benefited from 100 years of consistent tax breaks, even though the industry had a record-high year of $137 billion profits. And Pompeo, who benefits from these profits, has made clean energy his punching bag.

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This is so f***ed up.

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Attention-whoring nematode Antonin Scalia would like to take a regularly scheduled opportunity to remind America that his is a lifetime appointment and professionalism be damned, on this the occasion of the national attention being paid to the SCOTUS hearing on the constitutionality of Arizona's "Let's have a Mexican-hunting party" SB 1070 law, and therefore let you know that illegal immigrants are somewhat like bank robbers. Seems about right, what with how illegal immigrants are constantly stealing money for a living, by working for it at below-market wages.

From TPM:

"What's wrong about the states enforcing federal law?" Scalia said during his aggressive questioning of U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli. "There is a federal law against robbing federal banks. Can it be made a state crime to rob those banks? I think it is."

The Reagan-appointed justice mocked the Obama administration's argument that S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally forces the federal government to re-prioritize its enforcement resources and go after undocumented people who are not dangerous.

"But does the attorney general come in and say, you know, we might really only want to go after the professional bank robbers?" Scalia said. "If it's just an amateur bank robber, you know, we're going to let it go. And the state's interfering with our whole scheme here because it's prosecuting all these bank robbers."

The line drew uncomfortable laughter and some gasps in the courtroom.

What is an "amateur bank robber?" Oh right, it is the kind that sneaks into your bank and washes the dishes in the employee lounge instead of breaking open the vault. Makes sense now. [TPM]

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Tennessee Rep.: Bullied Gay Children Who Killed Themselves Didn't Have 'Proper Principles'

Not even kidding: R-Cocke County

Oh, yeah, Tennessee state Rep. Jeremy Faison is VERY VERY SORRY about the awful thing he said, about the gay children who killed themselves in his state after they had been bullied for being so very queer. Just how stupid is fat fuckface up there?

We can't continue to legislate everything. We've had some horrible things happen in America and in our state, and there's children that have actually committed suicide, but I will submit to you today that they did not commit suicide because of somebody bullying them. They committed suicide because they were not instilled the proper principles of where their self-esteem came from at home."

O RLY?

RLY. The "proper principles" like probably not being such fags, we guess. But it's not like he's a big expert on homo stuff, 'cause he is godfearing ("attended" Clearwater Christian College and Northland Baptist Bible College) and has four children who doubtless HAVE been raised with proper principles of where their self-esteem comes from (not being fags), so you could see why this well-meaning fellow would accidentally make a gaffe in his pants. Nope, most of his bills pertain to goin' offroadin' and making sure funds are not allocated to implement enforcement of new child labor regulations. But it's true we can't continue to "legislate everything," except when it comes to uteruses and men's bottoms. THIS GUY!

Anyway, Faison represents Cocke County, for serious, so haha? Oh, Tennessee, never change. (Kidding, kidding, you're horrible just the way you are!) [Tennessean]

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Headlines - Wednesday April 25

Report: Mitt Romney Even Flip-Flopped on Missionary Position - By Don Davis

"ACCORDING TO REPORTS FROM COLLEAGUES WHO SERVED AS MORMON MISSIONARIES WITH MITT ROMNEY, THEY CLAIM HE SOMETIMES FAVORED THE DOGGY POSITION, PARTICULARLY ON THE ROOFS OF CARS."

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Women's Prayer Group Praying That the Women at MRFF All Get Incurable Breast Cancer

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Mighty white of you, Ann!

"And then she stepped ON the ball!"

Romney alluded to the fact that not all women can stay at home saying, "I love the fact that there are women out there who don't have a choice and they must go to work and they still have to raise the kids. Thank goodness that we value those people too. And sometimes life isn't easy for any of us."

Romney went on to say, "I mean, who would brush my hair for me in the morning, turn down my sheets at night, and raise my children while I'm out riding my dressage ponies?"

"Work? Ah-hahahahaha!"

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Global Fire Ministries claims that God herself rained down pieces of "manna" during a revival in Wisconsin. Looks like oyster crackers to me, but keep sending your money in, nutjobs! And WTF is going on at 0:25??

FYI: If you're already shopping for Xmas, Global Fire also sells $19.99 instructional DVDs on how to raise the dead,

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Bill O'Reilly says gay marriage could lead to turtle marriage. Rick Santorum says it could lead to dog marriage. And now Missouri Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst says it could lead to goat marriage.

Sponsors of legislation in Missouri that would eliminate discussions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in public schools and prohibit teachers from addressing bullying based on sexual orientation told the Huffington Post that they "do not want the homosexual agenda taught in the schools." Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst (R), a co-sponsor of the so-called Don't Say Gay bill, argued that sexual orientation issues "should be taught by parents, clergy and physician" and warned that teaching about LGBT issues would lead to other discussions. "There is no need to talk about Billy wanting to marry a goat," he said.

While I'm sure Representative Scharnhorst's ardent supporters in the heartland of Missouri have some wild desires, that doesn't mean they're shared by everyone!

By the way, why on earth would you want to prohibit teachers from addressing bullying regardless of the rationale behind it? Why would you want to codify and officially condone bullying?

This could potentially become state law, and the result would be that a generation of young adults in Missouri will have learned that hate-crimes are protected speech.

You have to be a very miserable person to sponsor this kind of legislation.

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By now I'm sure you're aware that Steve Doocy added extra words to a quote from President Obama: "Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth." Doocy added the "unlike some people" in order to make it seem as if the president was aiming the line at Mitt Romney. He wasn't.

So Doocy evidently clarified the remark this morning, but it's too damn late. The fabrication is already out there and people who love, love, love Fox & Friends already believe the president was talking about super-rich Mitt Romney. This is how Fox News operates. They fabricate quotes and selectively edit video, then, when it's too late, they issue a half-hearted clarification.

What's that Mark Twain quote? A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes? The Fox News Channel slogan.

And Election 2012 gets more stupid by the day — and FNC is right in the middle of it.

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The 2012 Social Security Trustees Report was issued the other day and — surprise — Social Security isn't bankrupt like everyone in the press and in the Republican Party (and Democratic Party in some cases) are telling you.

The most important take-away points from the 2012 Trustees Report will be that Social Security has a large and growing surplus; that without any Congressional action, Social Security will continue to pay benefits to America's eligible working families for decades; and that with modest legislated increases in revenue, it will continue to pay those benefits for the next century and beyond.

Atrios noted that Mark Warner (D-VA) is lying about the Trustees Report, suggesting that it says the fund "runs dry" by 2033.

Wrong!

After 2033, if nothing is done to increase revenue (Congress will do something), Social Security will still be able to pay out 75-80 percent of benefits — calculated based on 2033 money, which is actually more than people are being paid in benefits right now. And that's if NOTHING is done to increase revenue before then. In other words SOCIAL SECURITY IS RUNNING A SURPLUS AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE JUST FINE!!!11!!1

Don't believe the myths. And for heaven's sake, vote against anyone who wants to privatize the system.

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Israel military chief: Iran not pursuing nuclear weapon

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The U.S. Justice Department has made the first arrest in connection with the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, charging a former engineer with destroying evidence relating to the amount of oil gushing from BP's stricken well. Read More 

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Please sign and share this petition to the USDA stating we don't want agent orange crops.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Headlines - Tuesday April 24

 
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I Have Friends That Eat Rice and Beans

There are many gems in the history of Sean Hannity quotes, but this may be the best of the best. A diamond in the rough.

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Mexican immigration into the U.S. is so slow it may now be in reverse. A new study from the Pew Hispanic Center finds that, "In the five years from 2005 to 2010, about 1.4m Mexicans immigrated to the US – exactly the same number of Mexican immigrants and their US-born children who quit America and moved back or were deported to Mexico."

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Despite pious promises of an earmark ban, 65 House Republican freshman have requested bringing back a form of earmarks — pushing for a loophole to allow them to bring home the same pork for their own districts most decried in their 2010 campaigns.

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Romney Spokesman Under Fire For Tweets Also Edits His Own Wikipedia Page | Last week, we noted that Mitt Romney's new foreign policy spokesman Richard Grenell had a colorful life on Twitter, often dispensing biting comments about political opponents, and women in particular. Grennell has since scrubbed much of his online presence, deleting over 800 tweets and taking down his person website. Now, Buzz Feed's Andrew Kaczynski points out (on Twitter) that Grenell edits his own Wikipedia page. The edit page shows that most of the edits have to basic biographical information, such as his job history. But the editing suggest someone concerned about their public perception online, and thus someone who should probably have known better than, or saw nothing wrong with, making derogatory comments about MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's femininity, for example.

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ConocoPhillips is the first of the Big Five oil companies to report quarterly profits, taking $2.9 billion in profits for the first few months of 2012.

Beginning May 1, 2012, the oil giant is splitting into two companies, and it has sold billions in assets over the past few years. As Conoco prepares for a major overhaul, it continues to finance the campaigns of mostly-Republican politicians, helping ensure billions in tax breaks.

Here are the major takeaways from Conoco's profits:

Conoco made a $2.9 billion profit this quarter, compared to $3 billion it made Q1 in 2011. Reuters reports this is due to decreased output after a spill in China and the company selling off assets for the upcoming split.

Conoco paid an 18 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, and an average 27 percent between 2008-2010.

The company spent 66 percent of its Q1 profits — or $1.9 billion — buying back its own stock, which enriches the largest shareholders and executives.

Conoco is sitting on $3.7 billion in cash reserves.

Conoco spent $20,557,043 on lobbying in 2011, making it the sixth-largest overall spender in 2011 and the top oil and gas company.

The company has donated over $300,000 to federal candidates for the 2012 cycle, 91 percent going to Republicans. Its PAC has spent $60,000 since January. Recipients include Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), Sen. John Barasso (R-WY), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).

The outgoing CEO James Mulva received a $27.7 million salary, a 55 percent jump in 2011. Mulva has contributed at least $20,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and to Minority Leader Mitch (R-KY) McConnell and Senate Finance Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Conoco uses its billions in profits to protect its tax breaks and finance policies benefiting the oil industry, primarily aimed at Republican players. Conoco and its CEO — who received an $8.5 million raise — are doing quite well, even as Americans struggle to pay higher gas costs.

ExxonMobil and Shell are the next companies to report their profits this Thursday.

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Here is a very important regional political update that you will not want to miss: famous dingbat and U.S. Senate candidate Orly Taitz has been snubbed for the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly. Orly Taitz has considered all the reasons why this might be the case, and Republican racism against white people is the obvious culprit. This mostly irrelevant wingnut endorsement has gone to some guy "Al Ramirez," see. So let Orly Taitz, speaker of Spanish, go ahead and translate the taco talk for you: "Ramirez" is a Hispanic name. CONSPIRACY. READ MORE »

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"Surfin' Congressman" Dana Rohrabacher is apparently up to his old tricks, just cold bashin' Afghanistan and explaining why Hamid Karzai needs to let more warlords help him run their gubmint, and Karzai, he is not pleased by this, and he will not let Rohrabacher into the country! Hey, Ol' Clown Shoes can't get no respect!

But did you know poor Rohrabacher — much loved in Orange County, California, for being hilariously drunk all the time, including almost sliding from his barstool one night at the same time your editrix had the rare privilege of speaking the never-before uttered words, "Congressman Rohrabacher, this is Jan from the Vandals" — is also a huge Taliban lover and has been writing odes on their beauty forever? Did you know he once said of the Taliban "These gentlemen are the equivalent of America's founding fathers"? Cause yeah, he totally did that. READ MORE »

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The 2012 Social Security Trustees Report was issued the other day and — surprise — Social Security isn't bankrupt like everyone in the press and in the Republican Party (and Democratic Party in some cases) are telling you.

The most important take-away points from the 2012 Trustees Report will be that Social Security has a large and growing surplus; that without any Congressional action, Social Security will continue to pay benefits to America's eligible working families for decades; and that with modest legislated increases in revenue, it will continue to pay those benefits for the next century and beyond.

Atrios noted that Mark Warner (D-VA) is lying about the Trustees Report, suggesting that it says the fund "runs dry" by 2033.

Wrong!

After 2033, if nothing is done to increase revenue (Congress will do something), Social Security will still be able to pay out 75-80 percent of benefits — calculated based on 2033 money, which is actually more than people are being paid in benefits right now. And that's if NOTHING is done to increase revenue before then. In other words SOCIAL SECURITY IS RUNNING A SURPLUS AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE JUST FINE!!!11!!1

Don't believe the myths. And for heaven's sake, vote against anyone who wants to privatize the system.

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Sanford, Florida police chief Bill Lee resigned today for his handling of the investigation, or a lack thereof, of the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, however the city council has rejected his resignation.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Headlines - Monday April 24

 
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How civilized nations deal with criminal corporations 

Anthony Gucciardi at Truthout:

In a major victory for public health and what will hopefully lead to other nations taking action, a French court decided today that GMO crops monster Monsanto is guilty of chemically poisoning a French farmer. The grain grower, Paul Francois, says he developed neurological problems such as memory loss and headaches after being exposed to Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller back in 2004. The monumental case paves the way for legal action against Monsanto's Roundup and other harmful herbicides and pesticides made by other manufacturers.

In a ruling given by a court in Lyon (southeast France), Francois says that Monsanto failed to provide proper warnings on the product label. The court ordered an expert opinion to determine the sum of the damages, and to verify the link between Lasso and the reported illnesses. The case is extremely important, as previous legal action taken against Monsanto by farmers has failed due to the challenge of properly linking pesticide exposure with the experienced side effects.

When contacted by Reuters, Monsanto's lawyers declined to comment.

SNIP

Francois, whose life was damaged by Monsanto's products, has now set the powerful precedent in the defense of farmers.

"I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this," Francois, 47, told Reuters.

It is also important to note that Monsanto's Lasso pesticide was actually banned in France back in 2007 following a European Union directive that came after the ban of the product in other nations.

No word on what criminal sanctions Monsanto will suffer, but I hope "criminally poisoning" carries more than a fine.

By contrast, here is how American judges deal with Monsanto's criminal attacks on farmers:

Her ruling to dismiss the case brought against Monsanto on behalf of organic farmers, seed growers and agricultural organizations representing farmers and citizens was met with great disappointment by the plaintiffs.

Plaintiff lead attorney Daniel Ravicher said, "While I have great respect for Judge Buchwald, her decision to deny farmers the right to seek legal protection from one of the world's foremost patent bullies is gravely disappointing. Her belief that farmers are acting unreasonable when they stop growing certain crops to avoid being sued by Monsanto for patent infringement should their crops become contaminated maligns the intelligence and integrity of those farmers."


To the injury of contaminating the world's food supply with Frankenfood genes, and eliminating the ability of farmers to grow new crops from saved seed, Monsanto is adding the insult of suing farmers who object to to Monsanto stealing their livelihood.

And the Constitutional abomination of American judges who take Monsanto's side.

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Common Dreams: Arctic Methane in Vicious Cycle of Global Warming

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Krugman: The Amnesia Candidate

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The Keystone XL pipeline, for which Willard Romney has said he will personally begin digging the ditch any day now, is back in the news this morning. Trans-Canada, the company that is proposing the project, which is designed to bring the world's dirtiest carbon-based fuel from the ecological wastelands that are the tar-sands of Alberta to the ecological slaughter-pens that are the refineries of Texas, has come up with a new route for the pipeline, shifting its track eastward in Nebraska so as to avoid the environmentally delicate Sandhills region and, Trans-Canada hopes, placating the environmental community that raised such holy hell over the thing last year that the administration stalled on giving Trans-Canada a permit to start building it. As you can see from the map, the folks in Antelope, Boone, and Nance counties will now be blessed with having this dubious goo pumped through their backyards. Those of you inclined not to believe in coincidence will note that the new route was unveiled one day after Governor Dave Heineman — who's been caught between being, you know, a Republican, and wanting to get re-elected some day — signed a bill that would provide for an expedited local review process. The problem with the new route is that, while it does avoid most of the Sandhills, it still runs in dangerous proximity to our old pal, the Oglalla Aquifer. The thing to keep an eye on is whether or not this new route is sold to the country, and to the administration, as some kind of "compromise" by Trans-Canada. If that happens, then you'll know the skids are, well, greased.

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Taming the Tea monster: The monsters:

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1943 soldiers killed in Afghanistan; 4486 in Iraq.

For every U.S. soldier who dies in battle this year, 25 will die by their own hands.

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...... Since 1976, more than 1/3rd of all executions that took place in our country happened in Texas. Since 1976, Texas has executed 481 people. Truth Progress Why does Texas continue to execute people when many experts assert that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime? Continue reading 'Don't Mess with Texas' Executions'

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Jesus (c. 30 CE):

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Catholic diocese of Peoria, Illinois (2012 CE) who obviously missed the above Jesus quote in his many readings on his way to becoming a bishop.

For 2,000 years the enemies of Christ have certainly tried their best. But think about it. The Church survived and even flourished during centuries of terrible persecution, during the days of the Roman Empire.

The Church survived barbarian invasions. The Church survived wave after wave of Jihads. The Church survived the age of revolution. The Church survived Nazism and Communism. And in the power of the resurrection, the Church will survive the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry.

The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate.

In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work – like that very first apostolic generation – we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.

Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like those first disciples before the Resurrection locked together in the Upper Room.

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, President Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Is there anything this President does which is not viewed as "radical" or "extreme" by the right?

And here's Jenky sounding every bit Santorumish as he pours it on as thick and ugly as any politician with an agenda and an audience.

This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries — only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down.

Yes, that's it. Obama the anti-Christ hard at work on shutting down every Catholic institution across the land.

It's going to be one very long, very ugly election season.

Discussion on the Church and other such institutions with tax-exempt status prohibited under federal law from electioneering here.

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It's a fracking ponzi scheme



 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Headlines - Sunday April 22

 
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Macho shithead rocker Ted Nugent agrees to pay a $10,000 fine and accept two years probation for illegally killing an Alaskan black bear during the filming of an episode for his hunting reality show. He also has to film a PSA about hunting. 

Perhaps he can also do an anti-pedophilia public service announcement about not having sexual relations with underage girls (even if you adopt them for that purpose while you're still married).

And one about not threatening the President.

Or shooting an arrow at the likeness of a "scrotumless" sitting female Governor.

Or messing your drawers for a week to avoid military service.

It could be a whole series.

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Charles W. Colson, who as a political saboteur for President Richard M. Nixon masterminded some of the dirty tricks that led to the president's downfall, then emerged from prison to become an important evangelical leader, saying he had been "born again," died on Saturday. He was 80…

 
Mr. Colson was sent to prison after pleading guilty to obstructing justice in one of the criminal plots that undid the Nixon administration. After having what he called his religious awakening behind bars, he spent much of the rest of his life ministering to prisoners, preaching the Gospels and forging a coalition of Republican politicians, evangelical church leaders and Roman Catholic conservatives that has had a pronounced influence on American politics…

Few played political hardball more fiercely than Mr. Colson. When a deluded janitor from Milwaukee shot Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama on the presidential campaign trail in Maryland in May 1972, Nixon asked about the suspect's politics. Mr. Colson replied, "Well, he's going to be a left-winger by the time we get through." He proposed a political frame-up: planting leftist pamphlets in the would-be killer's apartment. "Good," the president said, as recorded on a White House tape. "Keep at that." ...

In 2000, Mr. Colson was a resident of Florida when Gov. Jeb Bush restored his rights to practice law, vote and serve on a jury — all of them having been lost with his federal felony conviction. "I think it's time to move on," Mr. Bush said at the time. "I know him. He's a great guy."

With that, Mr. Colson re-entered the political arena. In January 2001, six days after President George W. Bush's inauguration, a Wall Street Journal editorial praised Mr. Colson's prison work as "a model for Bush's ideas about faith-based funding."...

Colson was the co-author of the Manhattan Declaration, a landmark anti-gay document whose Christian signers pledge to willfully disobey laws regarding same-sex marriage.
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Citigroup Revolt: Just Say No (Finally) to Obscene Pay
 
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If you make assassination threats against the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, you should probably expect that you won't be invited to perform for the military.

After catching the Secret Service's attention with some inflammatory remarks about President Barack Obama, Ted Nugent has been removed from a concert lineup at a prominent military base.

Fort Knox's June 23rd concert was originally scheduled to have Nugent as the headliner. On Tuesday, Nugent said that he would be "dead or in jail by this time next year" if President Barack Obama is re-elected." Forty-eight hours later, changes to the concert lineup were in the works.

And regarding this context, it doesn't hurt to point out how Ted Nugent avoided the Vietnam draft. Hint: it involves meth and poop.

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No one is donating to Mitt Romney.


The unitemized donations are donations made by people like you and I who typically give anywhere from 5 to 25 dollars at a time, and they only account for roughly 13 percent of Romney's haul.

The Obama campaign had $102 million on hand at the end of March. The Romney campaign had $10 million.

One reason, among many, for the discrepancy in total cash on-hand is the amount of money that is being poured into Karl Rove's Crossroad PAC.

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Earlier this week Jerry Falwell's Liberty University announced that Mitt Romney would speak at this year's commencement and, just as predicted, students at the arch-Christian academy are not unanimously in favor of the idea because they don't consider Mormons to be "real" Christians.

Liberty University students and alumni are accusing the Christian school of violating its own teachings by asking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose adherents are called Mormons, to deliver its 2012 commencement address.

By Friday morning, more than 700 comments had been posted on the school's Facebook page about the Thursday announcement – a majority of them decidedly against the Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.'s invitation, citing that the school had taught them Mormonism isn't part of the Christian faith.

"I can't support Romney and I am happy I decided not to walk (in the commencement) this year," wrote student Josh Bergmann. "Liberty University should have gotten a Christian to speak not someone who practices a cult. Shame on you Liberty University."

Janet Loeffler, a 53-year-old freshman at Liberty, expressed her anger at the decision when contacted by CNN. She also sent a copy of the page of the freshman textbook "The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics" which includes the passage, "Mormon doctrine stands in stark contrast to Jewish and Christian monotheism, which teaches that there is only one true God and that every other 'God' is a false god."

This is the part where the aspiring Christians of Liberty University realize that they've been played by their elders who are not at all concerned about Romney's religion.

They're only concerned with money and power, and Mitt Romney is perhaps better suited than anyone to deliver the gospel of free-markets and white privilege. To pervert religion for the purposes of attaining more money and power.

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30 of the Fortune 500 companies paid no taxes from 2008-2010

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Sen. Oral Snatch (R-UT) will now face a Republican primary in his bid for a seventh term, following a vote of delegates at the state GOP convention, after having received a majority that fell just short of the 60 percent needed to win his nomination outright.

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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Headlines - Saturday April 21

"He's talking about him, that Ted himself will either be dead or in jail. Now, how does that relate to the president? I have a real hard time putting that together."-- Lying Jim Imhofe (R-Pissquik) Link 

I've never seen someone so stupid that acted even more stupid.
 
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Jesus' General: Cat Scratch Romance
 
We hear a lot about the proudly white, righteously heterosupremacist, and warriorly aspects of Ted Nugent's personality, but seldom does anyone write about his soft, tender, romantic side--the side that wins the hearts of sweet young 12-year-old future rock goddesses.
It was 1976. Ted was 28 and in Love--in little Courtney Love's mouth to be specific. But, alas, Love was fleeting. With a spit and a moan, Ted lost his Love to the hard work of growing breasts and the fast paced world of Girl Scout cookie merchandising.

Ted
found romance again two years later. Her name was Pele Massa, a high school student from Hawaii. Ted loved his teenage goddess dearly. No doubt she was the "teenage queen...lookin' so clean, especi'lly down in between" from that paean to romantic love, "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang," he wrote around the same time.

Unfortunately, their love was beset with obstacles, the most daunting of which were laws against statutory rape. But love will find a way. In Ted and Pele's case, the way was a combination of adoption and the lax incest laws of the Seventies.

Heartwarming, isn't it. I bet the Romneys discuss Ted's love stories during
Family Home Evening.
 
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President Obama's top 50 accomplishments
 
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Why would he do this?

Does he not realize this sort of self-serving statement is just going to infuriate everyone? Better yet, does his lawyer not understand this will just infuriate everyone:

A Florida judge Friday set a $150,000 bond for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot an unarmed black teenager and touched off a firestorm of controversy about race and the American justice system.

Zimmerman, 28, appeared in court in a dark suit and gray tie, and, in a surprising move, took the stand. There, in a voice verging on meek, he apologized to the family of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old he admits he shot—but only, he says, in self-defense.

"I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son," he said to the parents, who attended the hearing in the central Florida city of Sanford, where the shooting took place. "I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am, and I did not know if he was armed or not."

What a load of nonsense. This wasn't an apology, it was excuse making and playing to the prospective jury pool.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your son."They didn't lose him. They didn't misplace him. He didn't run away or die of leukemia or vanish into thin air. You fucking shot him to death for the crime of walking while black in your neighborhood.

"I did not know how old he was."Who cares? Is there some sort of catch and release program down in Florida? Unarmed black minors are off limits, but unarmed black adults are fair game for cowboy wanna-be cops who want to play with their guns?

"I thought he was a little bit younger than I am, and I did not know if he was armed or not."Again, just more bullshit. If you didn't know whether he was armed or not, why did you confront him, against the expressed rules of Neighborhood Watch and the directions of the 911 dispatcher? Why were you carrying a gun, again against the explicit rules of Neighborhood Watch?

I can't wait to hear this idiot testify under oath.

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Coulter: 'Negroes' need more guns because of 'Democratic KKK'

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Tennessee House Passes Bill To Allow Criminal Prosecution For Harming Embryos

 

 

Friday, April 20, 2012

Headlines - Friday April 20

Your tax dollars at work
 
In disturbing, never-before-seen undercover video footage leaked to PETA, instructors with a company called Tier 1 Group, which was hired by the U.S. Coast Guard, are seen breaking and cutting off the limbs of live goats with tree trimmers, stabbing the animals, and pulling out their internal organs
 
Exactly why this is no surprise:
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A U.S. congressional panel approved about $33 billion in cuts over 10 years from food stamp benefits, in a largely symbolic and highly partisan vote opposed by committee Democrats and by anti-poverty groups.

CUT FOOD for the poor, raise spending for the military to blow people up, and give tax cuts to the rich – lol @ republicans calling themselves "Christians" – you are literally the polar opposite to everything Jesus stood for, everything. You are Anti-Christs.

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The Vatican has appointed an American bishop to rein in the largest and most influential group of Catholic nuns in the United States, saying that an investigation found that the group had "serious doctrinal problems."… "I'm stunned," said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by sisters. Her group was also cited in the Vatican document, along with the Leadership Conference, for focusing its work too much on poverty and economic injustice, while keeping "silent" on abortion and same-sex marriage.

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Chicago Cardinal refuses to condemn comparison of Obama to Hitler, Stalin

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Romney to give commencement speech at Falwell's Liberty U

Romney 2002: "I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard."

Romney 2012: "I believe people understand that I'm firmly pro-life," he said in a debate that same month.

Keep in mind that this isn't just a speech. It's the commencement address. Meaning, you get a speaker that you know clicks with your values. And Mitt Romney does not click with any of the values held by the Jerry Falwell crowd.

Now sure, the Mormon leadership clicks quite well with the Falwell crowd - both are extreme agents of intolerance. So on a basic hate level, the religious right and the Mormons have a lot in common. But not only is Mitt Romney untrue to the religious right, he hasn't exactly toed the Mormon line on gay rights or abortion over the years (which is typical Romney trying to have it both ways). Sure, he does toe the line now that's he's trying to win the nomination of a political party over-run by extreme conservatives. But historically Romney has been uber pro-gay and pro-choice.

Then what the heck is he doing speaking at Liberty University?

The answer is in the invite. The religious right is about as true to Christianity (and their own professed values) as Mitt Romney is to any of his previously professed beliefs. The very fact that the Falwell crowd would invite Mitt Romney, an arch liberal who shares none of their values, a man who once claimed to be more pro-gay then Ted Kennedy, to give a speech only given by those who share their values, shows why in the end Romney and the religious right are really the perfect fit.

Both are family values posers.

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Is There Any Evil That Goldman Sachs Did Not Profit From?

It doesn't seem like it, since Goldman Sachs was sitting on the board of a company that makes money from running a website that is the leading website for human trafficking in the U.S.A.

Goldman Sachs owed about 15% of Village Voice Media, which owned the website. Even though they knew about the human trafficking for at least two years, Goldman did nothing until they were scorched by Nicholas Kristof's initial column. That's when Goldman sold off its interest in VVM as fast as it could.

Goldman Sachs made their money and then cut and ran when the heat was turned on. Rather than try to do something positive, such as pushing VVM to shut down the fucking website (remember, Goldman had a seat on the board of figureheads directors), they just cashed out and ran away.

By this point in time, would anybody be surprised if it were alleged that Goldman Sachs had an investment in the
Sinaloa Cartel?
 
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Ted Nugent is being hauled before the Secret Service today to answer questions about statements he made that many interpreted as threats to assassinate President Obama. Not surprisingly, Christian outpost World Net Daily thinks that's OK. Check out their petition.

Whereas, Nugent faces an investigation by the Secret Service for allegedly threatening the commander in chief even though he was only using metaphors to accentuate his irrefutable message: America is in deep trouble, and its citizens must act;

Whereas, he, nevertheless, has stood by his remarks and further condemned "power-abusing, corrupt monsters in our federal government that despise" him because he has the "audacity to speak the truth";

Whereas, Nugent has brought attention to the gravity of this moment in American history by provocatively stating that if Obama remains in the White House he "will either be dead or in jail by this time next year";

We, the undersigned, wholeheartedly stand behind Ted Nugent and urge all Americans to follow his example and use their own gifts, resources and unique platforms to help ensure that Barack Obama is not given the opportunity to destroy the world's greatest nation.

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The Tennessee state senate has unanimously passed a bill that outlaws preventing students from expressing religious beliefs in class. Critics say the bill is a transparent attempt to crowbar Christian indoctrination into public schools.

The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Kerry Roberts of Springfield was approved 29-0 on Wednesday. The companion bill is awaiting a vote on the House floor. Roberts says the proposal requires school districts to treat a student's religious expression the same as they would a secular viewpoint. Students would also have access to school facilities to organize student prayer groups or other religious gatherings. Democratic Sen. Beverly Marrero of Memphis, who abstained from voting, questioned whether the bill is "trying to make schools similar to Sunday schools."

RELATED: Last month the Tennessee senate approved a bill that will allow teachers to advocate for creationism and against climate change.

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Meet the Conservative White Men

How much longer into the future can these shows last if they continue to target only the 65 and older, conservative demographic?

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Mitt Romney gave a speech at a shuttered factory in Ohio today wherein he blamed President Obama for failing to reopen the factory.

The only problem is the factory closed under Bush in 2008.

LORAIN, Ohio — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has visited a factory in suburban Cleveland that closed in 2008 when George W. Bush was still in the White House, and blamed President Barack Obama for failing to reopen it in more than three years in office. [...]

Now the vast plant stands nearly empty, and Romney said that's evidence of the failure of the president's policies to get the country working again.

Of course we all know the Obama presidency actually started in 2007 at the beginning of the recession and everything is his fault. At least that's what the Right Wing wants you to believe.

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Allen West is a war criminal and a disgrace to the uniform he once wore and the Officers Oath he once took, but we won't allude to his criminal past by comparing him to a rabid dog and we won't say that rabid dogs ought to be gunned down in the street and their corpses incinerated to stop the spread of the fatal virus they carry, and by the way it's your own fault for not shooting that rabid dog if it comes into your house and pisses on your couch. That would be wrong. And bad. Even if it would be okay under his interpretation of the First Amendment. So we're not saying any of that.

Speaking of Allen West -- he isn't backing off of calling us commies (fucker was in the military -- we dare him to find a more socialist institution in the US of A, sez the one of us who gets free healthcare already and thinks you should, too). Instead he's doubling down and standing by his assertion, but he still won't name names. He may be a ridiculous shitbag and a piss-poor excuse for a human being, but he's not stupid enough to court a censure, unfortunately. 

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At a campaign fundraiser last week, Tea Party Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) warned attendees that President Obama would commit treason if reelected in November.

Fitzpatrick was listing the reasons why voters should not support the President, and for reason number three, he told the audience that President Obama would have no qualms auctioning off state secrets to foreign countries.

The Huffington Post flagged Fitzpatrick's comments, which were distributed by the progressive advocacy group Credo SuperPAC: "When he left the microphone on in Russia, we all heard what he said … left unrestrained, without the inhibitions of the next election — he'd have flexibility, he said, flexibility to do what he wants to do. Whether it's trade away … the secrets of our national intelligence, to, what he could do to the United States Supreme Court in the next four years."

Selling state secrets is treason — a capital offense, punishable by death. Accusing the president of conspiring to commit treason is a stretch, even by Tea Party standards. Fitzpatrick was extrapolating wildly from an off-the-cuff remark made by President Obama to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that was captured by a TV network's microphone.

Ironically, it's Fitzgerald who has run into some constitutional hot water. He and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) failed to be sworn into office last January before casting votes on the house floor, a move that Republicans had to scramble to fix by passing a resolution.

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Romney Firm Too Busy Firing People For Not Being Mormon To Create Those Jobs He Keeps Talking About

panty clause

What kind of underwear do you have on? Are they magical? No? Outta here! Bain Capital, a job creating powerhouse established by America's number one job creator Mitt Romney, is being sued by a group of people that claim they were fired for not being part of the Mormon church (LDS). This rogue group of secular sweat hogs were threatening the very foundation of ethics and morals Bain was built on. It was time to call out Romney Rooter and snake out these infiltrators of normalcy and make sure that the pains in Bain go mainly down the drain.

Curtis Toone and Mike Scott are two of Bain's most elite 'cleaners.' The dynamic duo were dispatched to the scene where the 52- to 62-year-old non-Mormon terrorists were running amok converting everyone they touched to free-balling philanderers. Ex-employee David McCurdy is one of the tribal warriors set on destroying the job creation power station. His four disciples follow closely behind waving their litigious wands, casting spells and wearing boxer briefs. Luckily for Bain, they were caught and expelled before they could do anymore harm, but these employees already established their litigation lair and are ready to have the ultimate battle between good and evil.

So why are they suing exactly?

"SCP partners, in particular Curtis Toone and Mike Scott, made comments about religion and questioned the beliefs of Plaintiffs and other employees."

The five ex-employees of Bain are asking for $5.35 million in damages for breach of oral contract, discrimination, promissory estoppel and retaliation and $5 million more for "mental and emotional distress." The plaintiffs claim they had an oral agreement for a five year employment contract with raises over time. Bain claims, 'nuh uh'. Seven months into their alleged five year contract, the plaintiffs were released from their duties with the explanation that Bain would no longer be making investments in the senior housing industry. One of Bain's golden rules to making profits is to hire people four years and five months longer than their assigned task. The plaintiffs are represented by Ann Foster, with Dunn Carney Allen Higgins & Tongue, of Portland. Everyone knows when it comes to anything oral, Tongue is the best. [Courthouse News]

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Pope Yells at Nuns For Acting Too Much Like Jesus, Not Enough Like Pope

Nothing but top-notch poping from your Nazi Pope.