February 2012
Jim Crow For The Poor | Media Matters for America →
February 28, 2012 4:03 pm ET by Simon Maloy
I refuse to believe that this is real, and that someone is actually arguing this as a serious proposal, and that said proposal was deemed serious enough for publication by a secondary party, but it seems too earnestly argued to be parody, and nowhere is it identified as such.
A columnist at the Daily Caller writes today that people receiving...
“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress.”
– Alan Dlugash, a partner at accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP in New York who specializes in financial planning for the wealthy. (via officialssay)
Exclusive: Homeland Security Kept Tabs on Occupy... →
As Occupy Wall Street spread across the nation last fall, sparking protests in more than 70 cities, the Department of Homeland Security began keeping tabs on the movement. An internal DHS report entitled “SPECIAL COVERAGE: Occupy Wall Street,” dated October of last year, opens with the observation that “mass gatherings associated with public protest movements can have disruptive...
Goodbye, First Amendment: ‘Trespass Bill’ will... →
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Under current law, White House trespassers are prosecuted under a local ordinance, a Washington, DC legislation that can bring misdemeanor charges for anyone trying to get close to the president without authorization. Under H.R. 347, a federal law will formally be applied to such instances, but will also allow the government to bring charges to protesters, demonstrators and activists...
Va. Senate approves contentious ultrasound bill -... →
By Anita Kumar, Updated: Tuesday, February 28, 3:00 PM
RICHMOND — The Virginia Senate voted Tuesday for a scaled-back version of a contentious proposal that would require women to undergo external ultrasounds before abortions, but not the transvaginal ones.
The 21-19 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate — mostly along party lines — came Monday after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell asked...
Wall Street greed fueling high gas prices -... →
Editor’s note: Bernie Sandersis an independent senator from Vermont. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives and is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.
(CNN) — Gas prices approaching $4 a gallon on average are causing severe economic pain for millions of Americans. Pump prices spiked 5%...
WikiLeaks Emails: Coca Cola Probe Reveals Secret... →
NYPD Uses White House Money to Spy on Muslim... →
Millions of dollars used by the New York City Police Department to put entire Muslim communities under surveillance came directly from the White House, although it was allocated to fight drug crimes. The White House on Monday said it has no opinion about how the money was spent, as if support for blatantly unconstitutional spying programs on huge numbers of innocent people is not something they...
Santorum: Obama 'A Snob' For Wanting Everyone To... →
UPDATE: Santorum supported making it easier to go to college in 2006.
TROY, MICHIGAN — Rick Santorum is working hard in Michigan to try and cast himself as the candidate of the working class. At a speech before a tea party audience here Saturday, he made his case by accusing President Obama of trying to turn America’s youth into liberal drones by sending them to college.
The idea...
Ohio man given choice of Facebook apology or jail... →
CINCINNATI—A man who was threatened with jail time for posting comments about his estranged wife on his personal Facebook page unless he posted daily apologies for a month says the court ruling violates his freedom of speech.
Mark Byron, who is making the apology to avoid 60 days in jail, said Friday night that he believes it’s too late for him to appeal the domestic relations court ...
U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build... →
Reporting from Washington—
As U.S. and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: U.S. intelligence agencies don’t believe Iran is actively trying to build an atomic bomb. A highly classified U.S. intelligence assessment circulated to policymakers early last year largely affirms that view,...
Report: Debt will swell under top GOP hopefuls’... →
On the president as alien - The Washington Post →
By E.J. Dionne Jr., Published: February 22
They say that President Obama is a Muslim, but if he isn’t, he’s a secularist who is waging war on religion. On some days he’s a Nazi, but on most others he’s merely a socialist. His especially creative opponents see him as having a “Kenyan anti-colonial worldview,” while the less adventurous say that he’s an elitist who spent too much time in ...
The big spenders behind the super PACs - The... →
Super PAC donors revealed: Who are the power... →
Simmons is part of a rarefied group of millionaires and billionaires acting as kingmakers in the GOP contest, often helping to decide, with a simple transfer of money, which candidate might survive another day.
Although many of these mega-donors have long participated in politics, none were able to wield the kind of influence now possible under loosened campaign finance regulations, which allow...
Colorado woman must turn over computer password -... →
Sophisticated encryption software has become so readily available and so effective, it’s surpassed the federal government’s ability to seize computers and gather evidence in criminal cases.
That development has raised questions in a mortgage and real estate fraud criminal case in U.S. District Court in Denver about whether turning over a computer password amounts to a violation of the...
Does AIPAC Want War? Lieberman "Capability" Red... →
Crisis and the creeping militarization of American... →
Earlier this month, Congress passed House Resolution 658, the “Federal Aviation Administration Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act,” which President Obama is expected to sign. One of the over 1,000 sections of H.R. 658 authorizes domestic use of aerial spy drones by the U.S. government.
This is but the latest case of the increased militarization of U.S. police forces....
US Expands Afghan Prison It Promised to Hand Over... →
Israel to US: Talk of Avoiding War Helps Iran --... →
Israeli officials on Monday complained that U.S. officials speaking publicly about their reluctance to start a war with Iran ”served Iran’s interests.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other senior officials lambasted U.S. national security adviser Tom Donilon, who has been in Israel this week, saying any criticism of Israel’s impending attack on Iran...
Rick Santorum could take Republicans down with him... →
At times, it seems as if Santorum is running to become theologian in chief. He made the bizarre allegation Saturday that Obama’s actions are motivated by “some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible.” On Sunday, he said by way of clarification that he understands Obama is a Christian, but that the president was somehow misinterpreting God’s truth — as revealed to Rick Santorum —...
Santorum Takes Climate Change Denial To A Biblical... →
Climate change denial has become a litmus test for modern Republicans, but Rick Santorum, in his fondness for melding faith and government, has become one of the precious few to cite the Bible as evidence that the science-accepting crowd has it all wrong — and apparently the first to bring that thinking to the presidential stage.
“We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion...
The Imperial Way: American Decline in Perspective,... →
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The regime is doubtless a serious threat to much of its own population — and regrettably, is hardly unique on that score. But the primary threat to the U.S. and Israel is that Iran might deter their free exercise of violence. A further threat is that the Iranians clearly seek to extend their influence to neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, and beyond as well. Those...
Why China’s Political Model Is Superior -... →
So I was having my morning coffee, perusing the headlines as I am wont to do, when lo! I came across this interesting bit of incitement titled, get this, Why China’s Political Model IS Superior. Now hold on right here, ‘merica. IS superior? WTF?! Oh and then you are going to explain WHY it IS, not if it is, or might be, no no no no no, you go on and explain in simple enough...
Daily Kos: Darrell Issa refuses to let woman speak... →
Because Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s hearing “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?” is a very serious matter that is all about religious freedom and not at all about birth control, no siree, it can only feature the testimony of very serious religious persons whose freedom is ...
“At ease, Christian soldiers. There is no “war on religion,” no assault on the...”
– EUGENE ROBINSON, “Drumming Up A Phony War on Religion,” in today’s Washington Post (via inothernews)
WatchBy defeating the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena, they became the first team in League history to win 21 straight games on home ice in one season.
“We’re thrilled this has happened for our team,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I think it’s really good for our logo, it’s really good for our ownership, our team. I’m proud of the...
Mitt Advocates Taking Healthcare from Retirees to... →
Lt. Col. Davis’s ‘Manufacturing Consent’ «... →
Over the weekend, Rolling Stone magazine published a full copy of the unclassified report that Lt. Col. Daniel Davis submitted to Congress. Davis is of course the army whistleblower who has written and spoken out against the “rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground” in Afghanistan, which he claims bear “no resemblance” to the truth.
Unlike other recent...
Last week I mocked the very notion that Iran could successfully attack America and still openly do. Seriously? If, 11 years later our Fatherland >ahem!< Homeland Security is so porous as to allow an Iranian operative into the nation, our tax dollars have been wasted.
Around that time or maybe even before it, the UKs Guardian ran this article that I only stumbled upon a few days ago, which...
Russia and China were never going to let pass a security resolution regarding Syria because of America’s militarism, combined with their view that the Western European nations (read as: NATO) is merely a lap dog for the United States. Russia and China have had bad blood between them for decades (if not centuries) yet both nations seem to have put all that past them as they seek to be a sort...