Headlines - Tuesday October 25

 

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Bachmann: Uninsured Americans Can Rely On 'Charitable Organizations' For Health Care

Of course, the "charitable" US tax payers will continue to pay for hers.

 

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I met a fairy today who said she would grant me one wish.  

"I want to live forever," I said. 

"Sorry" said the fairy, "I'm not allowed to grant wishes like that!"  

"Fine," I said, "I want to die after the Republicans get their heads out of their asses!"  

"You crafty bastard," said the fairy. 

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Protecting America, one vibrator at a time.

"Just unpacked my suitcase and found this note from TSA," tweets writer and attorney Jill Filipovic of Feministe. "Guess they discovered a 'personal item' in my bag. Wow."

It was a standard-issue we got all up in your baggagebusiness Transportation Security Administration Notice of Inspection (NOI), but with these handwritten words in pen, overlaid: "GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL."

Of course, finding a gun is much too difficult to locate, once again.

 

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Charles Pierce - 'The Ranks of the Poor' Are Not to Blame

Sooner or later, the bell tolls for us all.

None of these people did anything wrong. None of these people as nearly as we can tell broke any rules. None of these people necessarily believed that things would always get better for them, but none of them believed that things could get this bad. The great vacancy at the heart of the sales pitch for the American Dream is not that, as it turns out, we won't all be millionaires; it is that there is so much opportunity to be had that none of will be — or should be — paupers. That's the sharp edge of the blade — that if, in this land of opportunity and plenty, if you end up in the shelter, you did something wrong. You betrayed your birthright. You let all the rest of us down, even those trust-fund strivers and the casino sharpers on Wall Street. This is America, dammit. What's wrong with you?

This particular barefaced non-fact was the basis for the pitch for the golden era of globalization. Yes, you might have two or three jobs in the course of your life but, what the hell, life is for experimentation and growth. You should be able to build Cadillacs and stock the produce aisle. A multiplicity of skills is important in the new economy.

It was all a shuck, and now we're seeing the results. How you read this story determines who you are. If you are disgusted that situations like this occur in the richest country in the world (TM Bank Of America), then you're probably sleeping in a bag in a park right now. If you're impressed by the number of church-based charitable services that are available to the people here, then you're probably running for president as a Republican. And, of course, if you're impressed by the moral witness provided by people waiting in line for soup, you're David Fking Brooks.

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The attacks against #OWS protesters have started, and as per usual the violence is coming from the right "Occupy Maine protesters say Sunday morning's attack with a chemical explosive has left them with a mixture of anxiety and resolve. ... "We are more motivated to keep doing what we're doing," said Stephanie Wilburn, of Portland, who was sitting near where the chemical mixture in a Gatorade bottle was tossed at 4 a.m. Sunday. "They have heard us and we're making a difference." ... Wilburn said she was startled and briefly lost hearing in her left ear when the device exploded beneath a table about 10 feet away. Wilburn's hearing returned and police said no injuries were reported. ... Portland police Sgt. Glen McGary said the bomb was thrown into the camp's kitchen, a tarped area where food is cooked and served. Protest organizers said the explosion lifted a large table about a foot off the ground." (It's worth remembering here that Larry Kudlow an his know-nothing Greek Chorus of ideoligical nincompoopery have been projecting like mad and sporting tremendous woodies at the thought of violence from the protesters so they could unleash their hatred and wrath as they openly pine for a bloodbath.)

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BP PLC profits more than doubled in a year, raking in a total of $97.59 billion. The sharp increase is due to the $7.66 pre-tax charge BP paid for the Gulf spill in the third quarter of 2010, and BP has made "regulatory progress in resuming drilling in the Gulf of Mexico."

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Taxpayer-Funded 'Crisis Pregnancy Centers' Tell Jewish Woman To Convert To Christianity Or Go To Hell

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Police arrest protesters, tear down Occupy Oakland tent city

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

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