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Bring it home!

Welcome to the new thread.

Made it

Congress Passes Landmark Credit Card Reform; House Passes GOP Amendment To Allow Guns In National Parks

The House of Representatives passed sweeping credit card reform legislation Wednesday aimed at limiting abusive and deceptive credit card practices. The measure passed with a resounding 361-64 vote and now heads to the president's desk.

A Republican amendment to allow guns in National Parks also passed, 279-147. House Democratic leaders had decided to split the bill into two parts so as not to force liberal members to vote in favor of the gun rule.

The overwhelming vote is a signal of how far the country's politics have shifted as a result of the financial crisis. Despite popularity in the 90-percent range, the bill never had a chance of passing in previous years.

"I've been in Washington twenty years. For the first nineteen we couldn't even get a committee vote on credit card reform despite these practices," remarked PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/14/cramdown-versus-credit-ca_n_203...

and Richard Wolf.

We still have spineless Dems in the Senate that are afraid of their own shadow and have been so beaten down by the Repubs with this, "Be afraid of the terrorists".

I am sick to death of many of the Senators!

...

The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) is considering partly funding health care reform with a booze tax. And while one of my Wonk Room colleagues calls the idea “plain bunk” because he is a “poor blogger,” my other colleague Matt Yglesias is a long-time booze tax enthusiast:

But what if we could raise some revenue by taxing something else? Like, say, cigarettes. Or soda. Or booze. Well, then the case for doing the taxing remains similar—you can fund useful programs with it. But the case against looks a lot weaker, since reducing consumption of cigarettes or soda is not so bad. You introducing a little bit of allocative distortion into the economy, but not a huge amount, and you’re improving public health which is going to be beneficial.

Indeed, the costs of alcohol use far exceed the revenue from existing alcohol taxes. In 2005, the federal government “pulled in about $8.9 billion from alcohol excise taxes.” By comparison, the economic and social costs of drinking burden “society with an estimated $184 billion per year in health care, criminal justice, social services, property damage, and loss of productivity expenses.” According to the Marin Institute, “annual health care expenditures for alcohol-related problems amount to $22.5 billion. The total cost of alcohol problems is $175.9 billion a year (compared to $114.2 billion for other drug problems and $137 billion for smoking)”:

- In comparison to moderate and non-drinkers, individuals with a history of heavy drinking have higher health care costs.

- Untreated alcohol problems waste an estimated $184.6 billion dollars per year in health care, business and criminal justice costs, and cause more than 100,000 deaths.

- Health care costs related to alcohol abuse are not limited to the user. Children of alcoholics who are admitted to the hospital average 62 percent more hospital days and 29 percent longer stays.

Currently, tax rates differ depending on the type of alcoholic beverage. This particular proposal would simplify the tax code by imposing “a rate of $16 per proof gallon on all alcoholic beverages.” As a result, “beer taxes would go up by 48 cents a six-pack, wine taxes would rise by 49 cents per bottle, and the tax on hard liquor would increase by 40 cents per fifth.”

How much revenue would this raise? Not enough to fully fund health care. According to a 2008 Congressional Budget Office report, “modestly increasing and reforming federal alcohol taxes could generate more than $28 billion in new revenue over five years. Resulting reductions in problem drinking would produce further significant savings in health care expenditures (for both the drinker and affected family members), and decreased law enforcement and other alcohol-related costs.”

Funding health care reform will require a mix of different revenue streams, but if the booze tax is seriously considered “poor bloggers” shouldn’t worry. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, since 80 percent of all alcohol consumers are moderate drinkers, they will pay “a negligible amount of alcohol taxes.” “Heavy and addicted drinkers, for instance – who account for most of the alcohol consumption in the U.S. – rightly pay most in taxes since their drinking imposes the greatest costs on society.” Here are the estimates:

- 35 percent of adults pay nothing at all.
- 80 percent of drinkers pay at most $26.50 per year, about 7¢ per day.
- Half of beer drinkers pay at most a penny a day.
- The heaviest drinkers (top 5%), who average some 11 beers per day, pay on average $215 a year, about 60¢ per day.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/20/why-poor-bloggers-shouldnt-...

YEA SAM SEDER!!! POW! POW! POW!!

& yea edna ellen poe on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 7:59pm.
great graphics ... ;)

--------

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 8:13pm.
I think Keith is right
------

Yep ToniD, I saw it. I' so disgusted.

Study: Employers Have Increased Use Of ‘Coercive And Punitive Tactics’ To Discourage Unionization

ap080818029458According to a report today in Politico, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) “is trying to resurrect the Employee Free Choice Act by reaching out to a group of Democrats looking for cover on the politically treacherous bill”:

Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Jim Webb of Virginia, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Dianne Feinstein of California are participating in preliminary talks to modify the “card check” bill, according to lobbyists and aides. Aides say Harkin is holding daily, closed-door conversations with interested lawmakers, business groups and labor unions.

This is good news. Lost in much of the the EFCA debate, which mostly centered on the kerfuffle over “the secret ballot,” is the simple fact that labor reform is still necessary and has a good chance of getting through Congress. Various methods for reforming the union election process have been floated, including a proposal from Feinstein that would allow workers to mail in their ballots directly to the National Labor Relations Board. Other key provisions — including arbitration to ensure that workers who vote to form a union actually get a contract — are still being negotiated.

Plus, it’s not like the problems that EFCA is meant to address have gone anywhere. In fact, a new study out today from the Economic Policy Institute found that over the last 20 years “employer opposition [to unionization] has intensified…and the nature of campaigns has changed so that the focus is on more coercive and punitive tactics designed to intensely monitor and punish union activity”:

Although the use of management consultants, captive audience meetings, and supervisor one-on-ones has remained fairly constant, there has been an increase in more coercive and retaliatory tactics (“sticks”) such as plant closing threats and actual plant closings, discharges, harassment and other discipline, surveillance, and alteration of benefits and conditions.

The study found that “employers threatened to close plants in 57 percent of the campaigns and threatened to cut wages and benefits in 47 percent,” while firing pro-union workers 34 percent of the time.

Of course, the business lobby has already committed itself to opposing any compromise on EFCA. “Let us be clear and frank on this matter; there can be no acceptable ‘compromise’ on any issue of labor law reform due to the very real threat posed by EFCA,” wrote the Coalition for a Democratic Workforce, a front group composed of the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, among others.

Pressure from the business community has also led some senators, such as Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), to try to avoid the issue. Harkin, however, is threatening to bring the original bill to the floor. “We’re trying to get the necessary compromises made to get this through,” Harkin said, but if a compromise cannot be found, “it is my intent that we will put the original bill on the floor and make people vote on it.”

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/20/efca-study/

Repowering America’s Defense: Energy And The Risks To National Security »

Our guest blogger is Alexandra Kougentakis, a Center for American Progress Action Fund Fellows Assistant.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the single largest consumer of energy in the United States. A new report by the Military Advisory Board (MAB) of the Center for Naval Analysis, “Powering America’s Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security,” describes the significant security threats the energy status quo poses to US military missions and the country:

General Charles F. “Chuck” Wald, the chairman of the MAB, laid bare the conclusions of the report in his opening remarks at the panel discussion to launch the report, held at the Newseum on Monday. Describing the oil crisis as a serious and urgent threat to national security, General Wald noted that not only does the military’s inefficient use of oil “reduce combat effectiveness,” but that American dependence on oil has a major impact on foreign policy. Significantly, he noted that the problem was “dependence on oil, and not just foreign oil.” The US has less than two percent of global oil reserves, making it dependent on foreign sources for current consumption levels.

The panel explained that US’s exposure to volatile international oil markets also poses a significant financial threat:

– The US military consumes over 300,000 barrels of oil per day, leading to a bill of $20 billion in FY 2008.

– Skyrocketing oil prices in 2008 led to a more than 50 percent increase from the $13 billion paid for oil in FY 2007.

General Wald warned that the current status quo on oil was part of the reason for the current global financial crisis. Even worse, unless urgent action is taken to overhaul energy use in the US, a future financial crisis “could dwarf this one.”

Calling efficiency the “hat trick” of energy, the panel experts described efficient energy use as essential to protecting American troops and saving lives. As General Ronald F. Keys, a retired US Air Force commander pointed out:

When you’re being shot at, of course that’s important for folks who are out there in harm’s way.

In Afghanistan, 70 percent of the convoys are used for carrying fuel and water. In Iraq, where the majority of fuel delivery is for generators that provide for tent air-conditioning, the military tried insulating tents with foam, reducing energy consumption by a remarkable 45 percent. Cutting the energy use not only saves money but also cuts the number of dangerous convoy runs. More »

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/20/repowering-americas-defense...

(carried over from the previous 'old testament' thread)

kevin - your mother's a virgin... cool
crank - upon your head i shall build a church
chubby - can you turn lawn into grass
ghettodefender - show me where the nails went in
bob - i'm a muslim
cent - he thinks he's better than me
mmr - i ate a cheezel that looked just like you
mullet - what have you done with the hogs
and star vox, who will betray him

[sorry for the blanks (there should be 12) - but i'm running out of steam, running out of time, and i'm in the middle of starting an open mic to be used to direct war-mullet, the bush quoting hagiographer, for when he becomes overbearing]

then i gotta make tracks

you bolded the blog

I unbolded it!

Are Wall Street speculators driving up gasoline prices?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/68552.html

Too bad. Their actions made me hopeful.

http://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/Spanish-lawmakers-move-to-cu...

[excerpt]

Spanish lawmakers move to curb foreign human rights probes
The resolution passed in parliament Tuesday with the support of lawmakers of the ruling Socialists and the conservative opposition calls for an "urgent reform" of the application of this principle to "limit and clarify its reach."
Madrid -- Spanish lawmakers voted Tuesday in favour of a resolution calling for limits be placed on the scope that the country's judges have to probe alleged human rights crimes in other countries.

Under the principle of "universal jurisdiction" which Spain has observed since 2005, Spanish judges have opened probes into genocide and human rights abuses in nations ranging from China to Israel, causing diplomatic headaches.

The resolution passed in parliament Tuesday with the support of lawmakers of the ruling Socialists and the conservative opposition calls for an "urgent reform" of the application of this principle to "limit and clarify its reach."

It recommends that the principle only apply to cases where the alleged perpetrators of a crime are in Spain or the victims are Spanish.

Spanish judges would also not be allowed to open a probe if the authorities in the country where the alleged events took place are already investigating it themselves under the proposed changes made in the resolution.

[end excerpt]

toni

: )

MN governor nixes DNC chair’s plea to help end Senate battle

tate’s lone U.S. senator: Minnesota suffers without second seat; Pawlenty: No can do

Tim Kaine, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, has sent a letter to the governor of Minnesota imploring him to put his foot down in the seemingly endless wrestling match between Al Franken and Norm Coleman for the U.S. Senate.

Kaine, a former governor himself, urged Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) in the letter “to convince Coleman to end his protracted legal battle.”

Should that fail, Kaine asks that Pawlenty “commit to signing an election certificate for the rightful winner” as soon as the state’s high court makes a decision.

Minnesotans, Kaine points out, have been without a second senator for six months, even though legal proceedings have favored Franken.

“No one will deny that the race was incredibly close,” writes Kaine, “but after an official recount, an extensive legal process and a clear and definitive ruling by the three judge panel, it is all but indisputable that Democrat Al Franken won and will be the next Senator from Minnesota.”

Says Kaine to Pawlenty, “I urge you to do everything within your power and influence to bring this process to an end.”

Amy Klobuchar feels his pain.

As the Gopher State’s sole current representative in the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar has had to handle an ever-growing workload on her own. Klobuchar is only two years into her first term in the Senate.

More here:

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/20/dnc-chair-urges-mn-governor-help-...

Top Powell aide says Congress is most ’spineless’ he’s seen in 65 years

The former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell — who of late has been supportive of more liberal positions — launched a stunning broadside against the Democratic-controlled Congress Wednesday, asserting that it’s been “spineless” when it comes to oversight and the most feckless he’s seen in 65 years.

Former Powell aide Col. Lawrence Wilkerson said he agrees with Democrats who say the CIA isn’t known for telling the truth. But he also launched a salvo at Congress for its alleged failure to investigate abuses of power.

“We could have less feckless leadership in the Congress in terms of oversight,” Wilkerson said. “And I’m not just talking about the Select Committees in the House and the Senate for Intelligence. I’m talking about the leadership in the Congress.

“This has been the most feckless Congress ever since 2000 that I’ve seen in my 65 years,” Wilkerson added. “I just don’t think there’s leadership over there. It’s spineless, it lacks courage, lacks political will.

He continued: “I shudder for the fact that we’ve got to face these economic and financial challenges we’ve got to face — Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and other things — and we don’t have a Congress that has any leadership.”

Wilkerson also told CNN’s Kiran Chetry that the CIA regularly didn’t tell the whole truth in briefings. “The leadership of the CIA does not have a stellar record about telling the full and unequivocal truth about its covert operations,” he said.

But Wilkerson doesn’t think that an investigation into the CIA’s practices would bear fruit. “I doubt very seriously if [Speaker Nancy Pelosi] has the kind of power — and I mean this seriously — to cause evidence to come forward from the CIA that would be self-incriminating. I just don’t think that’s going to happen.”

This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast May 20, 2009.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/20/wilkerson-cia-truth/

FBI chief undermines Obama on Guantanamo closure

FBI chief Robert Mueller Wednesday undermined President Barack Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by warning that detainees could fuel terrorism if transferred to US soil.

"The concerns we have about individuals who may support terrorism being in the United States run from concerns about providing financing to terrorists, radicalizing others," Mueller told a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.

The threat of Guantanamo detainees "radicalizing" others would apply even if they were held in maximum-security prisons on the US mainland, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicated.

Obama wants to shutter the prison camp located at a US naval base on Cuba by early 2010. But his Democratic Senate allies Tuesday moved to deny the president 80 million dollars in funding for the proposal.

Obama is due to defend his approach in a speech Thursday.

But the Democrats joined Republicans who have warned for weeks that Obama lacks a plan for dealing with the facility's 240 detainees from 30 countries, and argued against imprisoning, trying or freeing any of them on US soil.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/FBI_chief_undermines_Obama_on_Guant_0520200...

Ah, holidays are for profiteering. Especially Memorial Day. (Profits coming and going on that one.)

Pay to get there to eat those so-called hot dogs...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/68552.html

[excerpt]

Are Wall Street speculators driving up gasoline prices?

By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Oil and gasoline prices are rising fast as Memorial Day weekend approaches, but not because supplies are tight or demand is high.

U.S. crude-oil inventories are at their highest levels in almost two decades, and demand has fallen to a 10-year low, but crude oil prices have climbed more than 70 percent since mid-January to a six-month high of $62.04 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, although refiners are operating at less than 85 percent of capacity, which leaves them plenty of room to churn out more gasoline if demand rises during the summer driving season, the price of gasoline at the pump has climbed 28 cents a gallon from a month earlier to $2.33.

This time, Wall Street speculators — some of them recipients of billions of dollars in taxpayers' bailout money — may be to blame.

[end excerpt]

Why is toniD being so pleasant to air-ono?

Does she like him like him? Normally one would expect to see nothing but a red spot and the rubber off the bottoms of his shoes by now.

Ghettodefender got here first with the gas prices news.

I told him to STFU on the last thread, but you know ono!

Ah sto dialo vre ono. Scase se parakalo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeoCrvSCiV4

Texas Senate OKs guns at colleges

Senate measure would allow loaded guns in national parks

By Dave Montgomery | The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
AUSTIN — The Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to legislation that would allow concealed handguns at colleges and universities,...

The measure would apply to all colleges and universities, but private institutions, such as Texas Christian University and Texas Wesleyan University, could opt out of the requirements and ban handguns. State-supported institutions, such as the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas in Denton, would be required to comply.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/254/story/68495.html

(other news about Texas: The only states that officially observe Confederate Memorial Day are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
Texas--January 19 Confederate Heroes Day combines Robert E. Lee's Birthday and Jefferson Davis's Birthday, into one official holiday. Also coincides with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_Memorial_Day

Gonzales approved ‘borderline torture’ months before ‘torture memos’ issued: report

Months before the first “torture memo” was issued by Bush administration lawyers in 2002, Alberto Gonzales – then White House counsel – personally approved “borderline torture” techniques used on Abu Zubaydah, according to a new report.

An anonymous source told NPR that in April and May of 2002 CIA contractor James Mitchell sought approval on a daily basis for so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” via top-secret cables to the CIA’s counterterrorism center. The CIA forwarded those cables to the White House, according to National Public Radio, and Gonzales would approve the technique, thus granting a legal basis for Mitchell’s actions – in theory at least.

Yesterday, the CIA sent the ACLU a document that corroborates the source’s account. The document shows that during the spring and summer of 2002 many top-secret cables went from Zubaydah’s black site prison to CIA headquarters every day.

Zubaydah was taken into CIA custody on March 28, 2002. The first “torture memo” was issued by the Office of Legal Counsel on August 1 of that year.

Last week, former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan told Congress that CIA contractors “had to keep requesting authorization to use harsher and harsher methods.” Zubaydah, Soufan said, was subjected to nudity, sleep deprivation, loud noise and extreme temperatures during Mitchell’s interrogations. Soufan called the methods “borderline torture.”

Soufan has said that “no actionable intelligence” was gained from Zubaydah using “enhanced interrogation techniques” that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics. (For a detailed account and timeline of Zubaydah interrogations, read this Raw Story article.)

“The use of ‘borderline torture’ against Zubaydah months before the first Justice Department memo authorizing harsh interrogations raises the question of whether Mitchell had legal permission to use abusive techniques,” NPR’s Ari Shapiro reported. The CIA maintains he did.

But the White House does not ordinarily provide advice to anyone outside the White House, according to Bradford Berenson, who worked in the White House counsel’s office under President Bush. “These were highly unusual and extraordinary times after 9/11,” Berenson said.

Another former official familiar with top officials’ discussions about the legal basis for “War on Terror” detainee interrogations believes that any approval that may have been given by Gonzales could not have provided a sufficient legal basis for Mitchell’s actions.

“I can’t believe the CIA would have settled for a piece of paper from the counsel to the president,” the former government official told NPR. “If that were true,” says the former official, “then the whole legal and policy review process from April through August would have been a complete charade.”

Gonzales didn’t respond to the report’s allegations.

Spencer Ackerman, writing for the Washington Independent, notes that at the time of these early Zubaydah interrogations Gonzales wasn’t “the chief legal official for the government.”

“He was the president’s lawyer, powerless to bless the actions of a federal agency like the CIA,” Ackerman writes.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/20/gonzales-torture-cable/

you really are a nice person toniD.

Why didn't you insist he not have a Vodka enema before posting his illuminating comment?

I'm just glad someone else actually read the story.

Ex-CIA agent: When did questioning the CIA become anti-American?

Since Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggested that the CIA misled her in 2002 concerning its use of waterboarding, the Republican Party has been attempting to paint her claims as outrageous.

Former CIA special agent and radio host Jack Rice finds the Republicans’ outrage unconvincing. He told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, “What’s extraordinary here is the idea that if you would ever question the CIA, now all of a sudden somehow it’s anti-American.”

“What’s extraordinary to me is that I’ve seen the Republicans do this over and over,” Rice explained. “They will wrap something in the flag … and they will put a little lapel pin on it that says ‘national security.’ And if you ask a question about it, somehow you’re anti-American. And that’s what they’ve been trying to do to Nancy Pelosi for about six years.”

Rice has no illusions about the CIA’s vulnerability to pressure during the Bush administration. “Anybody who believes that an administration can’t push the Agency to do something is really missing the point,” he told Olbermann. “The fact that they can push the Agency and say, ‘This is what I’m looking for’ … will drive them to do certain things that may or may not be true — and that’s a big part of the problem that we’re facing right now.”

Rice believes, however, that Pelosi may yet have the last laugh. “I think in some ways she should be laughing, because in a way this is what she wanted,” he stated. “She wants the government to look at what the Agency did and didn’t do. It’s never been about her. It’s about us.”

This video is from MSNBC’s Countdown, broadcast May 19, 2009.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/20/cia-briefing-mistakes/

I'll never forget how I felt about President Obama when he endorsed Joe Lieberman instead of Ned Lamont.

Fallible! Much!

maybe not letting the blog spill over into page-2 would be more fun

now on a lighter note...

//Ah sto dialo vre ono//

i love it when toni curses me in greek

it roughly translates into "go to the devil"

: )

ok, i'm going, i'm going

but before i do, please direct mullet's sketchy memory to...

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4792

Texas Senate OKs guns at colleges

Senate measure would allow loaded guns in national parks

Why would u need a gun in a National Park or for that
matter a WildLife Refuge??
Oh that's right to KILL things - Mother Fuckers
It was tacked on to the Credit Card Bill.
What a bunch of pussy's (Democrats)

overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors

When did President's start thinking that choosing to investigate an obvious crime was a subjective matter? Was that George Bush or Barack Obama? If Bush committed the crime can we say is was arrogant of him to not investigate his action? I think that would fall under obstructionism not arrogance.

Maybe Barack Obama is as arrogant as people say?

I will not vote for him again if prosecutions of the Bush Administration crime cabal isn't pursued.

they're the social liberal muppet branch of...

THE ONE CORPORATE PARTY

CLOSE YOUR TAG

(dumby)

I found on TPM re this article:

Off Track: Senate Democrats Block Funding To Close GITMO After White House Left Them High And Dry

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/off-track-senate-democrats-bl...

Comment:
Excuses, excuses. Republicans went, "Terrorists! Boo!", and Senate Dems folded like a bunch of cheap suits. Simple as that.
Posted by Forsythe

:)

Talk about spineless!

How They Roll in Washington

Wow, Wolf Blitzer just told us how President Obama is on the ropes on his counter terror policies and has to steel himself for his big confrontation with DIck Cheney.

Here's the video.

--Josh Marshall

http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/?id=2560674&ref=fpblg

LOS ANGELES - Ailing Natalie Cole now has a new kidney.

The 59-year-old singer underwent successful kidney transplant surgery “and is resting comfortably,” publicist Maureen O’Connor said Wednesday. Cole will postpone her summer tour, which was set to begin June 5 and run through November, as she recovers.

Cole had been receiving dialysis three times a week since September. She still continued to perform, even overseas, in support of her latest album, the Grammy-winning “Still Unforgettable,”

The kidney dialysis is unrelated to Cole’s struggle with hepatitis C, a liver disease spread through contact with infected blood. She announced her hepatitis diagnosis last year and said that the disease was likely caused by her drug use years ago.

Cole received painful chemotherapy to treat the hepatitis and “within four months, I had kidney failure,” she told Larry King on his CNN show last month. Without a donor, she would need dialysis for the rest of her life, she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30852169

Ona MOVE!

Update: Eddie Africa was denied parole for TWO more years despite recommendation from his prison! Former Philly Mayor Wilson Goode who dropped the bomb on MOVE in 1985 is now a "minister." Goode called Eddie's mother to apologize and ask how to make amends for the bombing. Eddie told his mother to tell Goode to get the MOVE 9 released. Goode called the parole board and relayed that the continuing reason for their denial is because they believe "young violent militants" will be drawn to MOVE. Firstly, that's true! But they know as well as MOVE does that MOVE isn't violent and would discourage gang activity. They also know that MOVE would redirect that energy towards fighting the system, which exposes their TRUE fear. This is ILLEGAL and shows the fear and incompetence of the parole board. Use this info as you write letters to the editor and call20in on radio shows. We cannot allow these people to use any excuse they want to incarcerate our freedom fighters. Their only authority is what we grant them. Don't accept NOTHING from them!
Now is the time to pull together and support the MOVE 9 and their upcoming parole hearings. We are implementing a weekly call campaign every Wednesday to the parole board chairman and board members demanding parole for MOVE political prisoners. A lot of work and support is needed at this crucial time. We need this info to be put on: websites, MySpace pages, Facebook pages, and general e-lists to help spread the word.

The MOVE 9 are members of the MOVE Organization who have been unjustly imprisoned for the murder of police officer James Ramp during the 8/8/78 attack on MOVE headquarters. As Linn Washington stated in20the Cohort Media "MOVE" documentary, there is ample proof and knowledge that police "friendly fire" killed Ramp and not MOVE as the system wants people to believe.
There is no reason why MOVE people should not receive parole. They have excellent prison records, have kept down racial and gang violence in prison, helped inmates fight drug addiction, helped mothers and fathers establish relationships with their children on the outside, and have been an overall positive influence on the prison population, both staff and inmates. These points can be used when you speak to Chairwoman McVey. So call this Wednesday and every Wednesday. Let's tie up the phone lines in support of the MOVE 9!

Since the prison system insists on having DIN numbers, make sure to have them on hand when you call or write.
Charles Simms Africa #AM4975
SCI Graterford, Box 244, Graterford PA 19426
Debbie Sims Africa #006307
451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238
Delbert Orr Africa #AM4985
SCI Dallas Drawer K, Dallas, PA 18612
Edward Goodman Africa #AM4974
301 Morea Road, Frackville, PA 17932
Janet Holloway Africa #006308
451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238
Janine Phillips Africa #006309
451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238
Michael Davis Africa #AM4973
SCI Graterford, Box 244, Graterford, PA 19426-0244
William Phillips Africa #AM4984
SCI Dallas Drawer K, Dallas, PA 18612

People can call the lists of Parole Board members here at (717) 787-5699, most importantly Chairwoman Katherine McVey.
Chairwoman Katherine McVey
Charles Fox
Michael L. Green
Jeffry R. Imboden
Matthew T. Mangino
Benjamin A. Martinez
Gerald N. Massaro
Judy Viglione
Lloyd A. White

It is best for individuals to personally send a letter to Chairman McVey, and if folks have the resources, to also send a copy to each of the other eight board members, at the same address.
[name of Board member]
Board of Probation=2 0and Parole
Attn: Inmate Inquiry
1101 South Front Street, Suite 5300
Harrisburg, PA 17104

(717) 787-5699
Make sure to have a paper and pen handy when you call, so you can write down who you spoke with and what their response was. This info can be sent to the MOVE Organization: onamovellja@aol.com. If you write to the Board, send a copy of your letter to the email above or:
The MOVE Organization
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143

If you are a Facebook member blog about who you speak to and the response on the Cause page for Free the MOVE 9 (and join the cause!). This way we can keep track of the lies these people tell and coordinate our response. Network on other sites, such as MySpace, as well.

Join the international call for the release of the MOVE 9. Sign the petition at: www.ipetitions.com/petition/move9parole

Keep yourself informed at
http://onamove.com/www.move9parole.blogspot.com or call 215 387 4107

__._,_.___

Well, well, well who you gonna vote for if you don't vote for the black democrat? You gonna vote for the white guy? The old white republican? Obama owns you! Gitmo, FISA, NSA wiretaps, Iraq, Afghanistan he does just whatever he wants and you bend down and kiss his ass. Pucker up buttercup!

"I believe all these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."

George W. Bush

Submitted by Incubus on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 1:29pm.
...What a PITA. Fortunately the crack team (on crack) consulted the appropriate crackheads using the Crackberry API and got this crap sorted. And you can continue to use the TinyMCE editor.
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I love it when you talk über-techy to me.

..even the crack of dawn has to watch out.

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 2:38am.
anyone who['s] changed their core beliefs?

anybody?
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Me, from Catholic altar boy to something unholy and unspeakable to the superstitious among us.

Me, from a youthful viewpoint that the U.S. government fucks everything up (thanks to the Vietnam war and L.B.J. and Watergate, etc.), to a not-so-youthful viewpoint that the U.S. government does more good than bad (and could do a lot better in the future).

I have several other flip-flops in my personal history if you are interested.

Kucinich/Ventura '012

re: Incubus Makes Me Swoon
Submitted by Crank Bait on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:02pm.
... ;)

You became Macbeth?

Beetlejuice? (Oops.)

Chac?

What have I missed ?
**
No backbone Democrats ?

Blog screwed up ? (Thanks Chubbs for info)

Backing up files to a External Hard Drive is Mindnumbing ? Yes !
Help me I've fallen & can't get up !

**

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Wolf Blitzer is an insipid coward. He's afraid of Cheney.
Submitted by toniD on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 9:26pm
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Oh I don't think it's fear. I think he admires Cheney. After all, Cheney has expressed unshakable support of Israel. As you are probably aware, Blitzer use to be the editor of the very conservative Jerusalem Post. The extreme low down is- he is a Mossad agent or a plant of Operation Mockingbird. The above is a clip of a debate he had in 1989 with Norman Finkelstein. Frankly, he should be removed from the airwaves.

:)

comments@cnn.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

* New Yorker Correspondent Jane Mayer and British Attorney Philippe Sands on Bush Administration Torture and How Obama Should Address It *

We spend the hour on the latest news around the US torture of foreign prisoners with two guests who have helped expose many of its facets: New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, and British attorney Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. Mayer and Sands discuss the Obama administration's recent decisions to block the release of photographs showing the abuse of prisoners at overseas CIA and military jails and revive the military tribunal system; the scrutiny of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's role in attending torture briefings; Spanish efforts to investigate torture allegations at Guantanamo Bay; Democratic-led resistance to funding the Obama administration's plan to close Guantanamo; and more.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/20/torture

Submitted by nora on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 6:34pm.
...Hey, Crank B. Any chance you can explain the illogic of the Reps claiming torture is illegal when they want to ensnare Speaker Pelosi, while at the same time these same Reps claim Bush-Cheney 'enhanced interrogation' is NOT illegal?...
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First, plenty of journalists have exposed the hypocrisy, spin, cognitive dissonance and/or partisan political sniping of which you speak.

Second, if I were to add my own redundancy on this blog, I would be preaching to an already well-informed choir.

Third, polls have pretty much proved that 21% to 30% of the polled electorate approve of George Bush, his war, his party and hardcore Conservatism while the same percentages disapprove of Barack Obama, Democrats and anyone they define as Progressive or The Left. I expect a knee-jerk response from them and I (or anyone who pays attention) can predict it. There is no reason to believe that valid logic supports their efforts to bamboozle casual observers who comprise The Center.

Fourth, "The Left" (or whatever you choose to call participants of this blog) do not march in lockstep. It is The Left's greatest weakness even as it is The Left's greatest strength. It is a weakness because it is not the way to win the political game. It is a strength because people like me do not hesitate to disagree with people like you, which forces both of us to think and rethink instead of following instructions on how to think.

That's great news!

My tenant moved out today and I just got my keys back. She left my townhouse relatively in shape. I was so impressed because my other tenants have left it in shambles. It cost me nearly $20k to get it clean and fixed up last time. I miss her already.

Now the work begins again.

By Amy Goodman

...
John Sifton is a human-rights investigator who recently wrote a piece titled “The Bush Administration Homicides.” He concludes that “an estimated 100 detainees have died during interrogations, some who were clearly tortured to death.” He told me: “These aggressive techniques were not just limited to the high-value detainee program in the CIA. They spread to the military with disastrous results. They led to the deaths of human beings ... when there’s a dead body involved, you can’t
...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090520_yoos_views_make_philly_news...

this whole god damn "bring your guns to your local National Park"
thing is just plain crazy...
I am really pissed about this.

Why in the world would u want to go to a N.P. when there could
be someone next to that has a loaded fucking weapon.?
What about the wildlife. Like some mother fucking idiot won't
kill or take a pot shot at some poor critter.

That is exactly what I was thinking,
when Uncle Mike said that. It's a penis extension
for those who r not that well endowed.

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Thanks MMRules for the link. However, I've sent so many emails to CNN about Blitzer.

Organizing for Health Care.

President Obama has announced three bedrock requirements for real health care reform. It must:

Reduce Costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals and families and they must be brought under control

Guarantee Choice — Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have, or to select a new doctor or health care plan if they choose

Ensure Quality Care for All — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care
Now we have to show Congress where the American people stand.

Please Read - Take Action - Thank You

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I really posted it for other folks so
the can see how easy it is to email these Boneheads..

Volume works....IMHO.. :)

**

Now if I could just find me TV Remote I would be happy ! ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:54pm.
this whole god damn "bring your guns to your local National Park"
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I agree smcgee43. A few right wing groups are still running the show. It is up to us- to let them know- to shut the phucc up and get the hell out.

Submitted by nora on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 7:52pm.
...He has a way of trying to cut me out of the herd and brand me, though, at which point I feel I'd be a pushover if I did not say something in reply...
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I don't like intemperate statements that lack substantive support or lack the disclaimer "in my opinion" (which implies subjective intuition, at the least).

When I read or hear anything that reminds me of Rush Limbaugh's style, I immediately become suspicious and raise my guard.

I believe that emotional rants and name-calling and loose supposition harm the cause of The Left, regardless of which cause it is and regardless of how many people on The Left support the cause.

I understand that my distaste for that style will never make it go away, but I don't have to let it steamroll by without comment.

You and I disagree on some very key points but we are never going to be able to exchange ideas while you are screaming about Corporatist Authoritarians as if screaming about the stranglehold by corporations on U.S. government/society and screaming about the inculcation of authoritarian mindsets in American children is going to solve our problems.

You can scream and repeat the obvious as long and as much as you choose. If you believe that you are educating people, more power to you, but I suggest that you do your educating some place where your readers are not already pretty damned educated about corporations and authoritarianism.

I have written on this blog, several times, my thoughts on child rearing and the pervasive continuation of authoritarianism in U.S. society by the "spare the rod" folks. One generation does unto the next much the same way that it was done unto. Societies change by changing the mindset imbued in the next generations.

I have also written about corporations and all of the nasty things that have evolved since they became part of the American fabric. In my opinion, it's a tougher nut to crack than changing the way that the next generation thinks because money talks louder than anything else.

Whining about both, by you OR me, isn't getting the job done.

www.marcmaronrules.blogspot.com
&
www.bartcop.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 8:19pm.
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/20/why-poor-bloggers-shouldnt-...

...By comparison, the economic and social costs of drinking burden “society with an estimated $184 billion per year in health care, criminal justice, social services, property damage, and loss of productivity expenses.”...
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The criminal justice costs are a canard. If we outlaw dancing (for instance), the cost of outlawing dancing will include the criminal justice costs.

Same as outlawing murder.

Same as outlawing prostitution.

Same as outlawing pot.

Same as outlawing anything.

If we don't want to pay the criminal justice price, we probably shouldn't be passing laws prohibiting the activity.

Because I can.. ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Hey you socialists! I'm gonna tell your parents!

http://www.ifc.com/videos/wkuk-bus-backseat-season-3.php

A Sick Joke?

Obama Calls for Demilitarized PA "State"

By Jerusalem Post Staff

May 20, 2009 " Jerusalem Post" -- Amid much speculation over US President Barack Obama's upcoming address to the Muslim world, reports published on Wednesday outlined the details of his Middle East peace plan, which are said to include a demilitarized Palestinian state.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22666.htm

Senator Feinstein,Pelosi,Congress Woman Davis,Please read..

http://marcmaronrules.blogspot.com/2009/05/email-to-usually-spineless.html

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

May 19, 2009 "DailyFinance" -- May 14, 2009 -- If this were the 1950s, I'd be about to be put on every blackball list in town. Because I'm cuckoo for those Socialist cocoa puffs after reading this piece on Norway's success with the "cradle-to-grave welfare state."

Bring on the 12-month paid maternity leaves, the all-access-pass to nationalized health care. Because while capitalism was showing America who's your daddy (in our country, he who has the least morals and the most hunger, laughs all the way to his weekend house in the Hamptons), Norway's socialist finance minister was smugly buying our companies' depressed stock. The country has a cushy 11% budget surplus, zero national debt, and an economy that grew 3% last year while Uncle Sam was dancing a jig into a 12.9% deficit, $11 trillion in debt, and the Recession we now all know and love.

These statistics have me turning red with socialist envy.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22652.htm

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4793

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

WOW!

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“The U.S. and the U.K. have no sense of guilt,” said Anders Aslund, an expert on Scandinavia at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “But in Norway, there is instead a sense of virtue. If you are given a lot, you have a responsibility.”

---

“This is an oil-for-leisure program,” said Knut Anton Mork, an economist at Handelsbanken in Oslo. A recent study, he pointed out, found that Norwegians work the fewest hours of the citizens of any industrial democracy.

“We have become complacent,” Mr. Mork added. “More and more vacation houses are being built. We have more holidays than most countries and extremely generous benefits and sick leave policies. Some day the dream will end.”

But that day is far off. For now, the air is clear, work is plentiful and the government’s helping hand is omnipresent — even for those on the margins.

Just around the corner from Norway’s central bank, for instance, Paul Bruum takes a needle full of amphetamines and jabs it into his muscular arm. His scabs and sores betray many years as a heroin addict. He says that the $1,500 he gets from the government each month is enough to keep him well-fed and supplied with drugs.

Mr. Bruum, 32, says he has never had a job, and he admits he is no position to find one. “I don’t blame anyone,” he said. “The Norwegian government has provided for me the best they can.”

To Ms. Halvorsen, the finance minister, even the underside of the Norwegian dream looks pretty good compared to the economic nightmares elsewhere.

“As a socialist, I have always said that the market can’t regulate itself,” she said. “But even I was surprised how strong the failure was.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/business/global/14frugal.html?_r=3&em

From a few threads ago...
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx

(Wonder how Marc & Sam score on this one! Should their "score" not align with their religious dogma, would they throw off said dogma or defend it?)

MY SCORE:
1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Theravada Buddhism (94%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
4. Liberal Quakers (89%)
5. Nontheist (78%)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20. Islam (32%)
21. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (32%)
22. Orthodox Judaism (32%)
23. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (31%)
24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (30%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (22%)
26. Roman Catholic (22%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (18%)

Notice how low I score (and many here who posted their results) on the "traditional" religions, the same ones who vie for power globally. These same religions are the ones who DEMAND your UNEQUIVOCAL release of your "spirit" to their backwards "conservative" "teachings" and dogma. There's NO ROOM for INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT. It's no wonder our country and world is so screwed up: People believe more in some fictional spirit than their own hearts and minds and ability, what my bro would characterize as "pre-destiny" (he's been in AA for 30+ yrs). In short, a crutch, so that you can "sin" all your life BUT be "absolved of all sin" upon the coming of DEATH, whether that's dying in a hospital from a disease or becoming a "jihadist" strapping explosives on your body.
/mini-rant

Your local recovering Roman Catholic,
-fsr

: : : : :

nora and CB: As Spock would say, "fascinating". (yeah I'm several threads behind, as usual.) I generally fall on the side of TWO SIDES of the SAME COIN, aka Dems=Reps=Global Elite=Bankers (IMF, WB & WTO)+"Industrialists". History is ripe with examples of exploitation of The Poor and Defenseless and The Earth's natural resources. The Ayn Rand/neo-liberal group-think continues, regardless of D or R denomination. I don't think it's a (DAH DUM) CONSPIRACY so much as it's a narrow-minded group-think shared by BOTH "parties" who subscribe to the same free-market economic policies, fueled by a belief in ever-expanding markets with NO governmental (We The Peeps) restrictions. This belief is spread and reinforced by our "liberal" CorporoMedia and the range of discussion is very limited, controlled and focused on this falsehood.

Watch Our Dream is Not a Dream: A World Without IFIS! The fight against the global elite and financial/environmental destruction is happening all over the world.

One man's Terrorist is another's Freedom Fighter.

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4801

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."