Corporate pathology

Have to be at the poll by 5 AM so of course I couldn't sleep thinking I'd wake up late.

I'll be a basket case later today.

Election day in Illinois, Primary!

toniD's Ya Think?

is this for the november 2010 elections already?

polling place..
Nothing but teabaggers or potential teabaggers at my site,usually..

Keep up he good work..Hang in There,Toni.. :)

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

MMRules

had a spine and followed through on its promises too.

Wish in one hand and crap in the other. See which one gets full faster.

**

Woody Guthrie and Sonny Terry - All You Fascists Bound To Lose

http://hypem.com/#/track/1028243/Woody+Guthrie+and+Sonny+Terry-All+You+F...

**

Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land

http://hypem.com/#/track/1028242/Woody+Guthrie-This+Land+is+Your+Land

**
Link to some words by Woody Guthrie:

http://eceu.tumblr.com/post/366535734/songs-are-a-high-art-because-singi...

**

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

MMRules

A funny & interesting article about Music & Hype..

http://hesawhore.blogspot.com/2010/02/cirque-de-grammy.html

**

And,a link to just listen to song,not to download..
*I like Pink..

Pink - Glitter In The Air (live at the 2010 Grammy Awards)

http://hypem.com/#/track/1027766/Pink+-+Glitter+In+The+Air+live+at+the+2...

**

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

MMRules

Big box retailer Target has already won accolades from greens for being out front in stocking sustainable fashion and phasing out toxic PVC plastics from products. Now, the Minnesota-based company has announced that it has eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen and smoked seafood offerings in its stores nationwide.
This announcement includes Target-owned brands -- Archer Farms and Market Pantry -- as well as national brands. According to a press release, all salmon sold under Target-owned brands will now be wild-caught Alaskan salmon. Sushi featuring farm-raised salmon will be wild-caught salmon by the end of 2010. "In consultation with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Target is taking this important step to ensure that its salmon offerings are sourced in a sustainable way that helps to preserve abundance, species health and doesn't harm local habitats," according to the release.

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/target-farmed-sal...

Bomb power author...on the Scar right now very interesting.

It was good...Garry Wills: Bomb Power

It's good to see that Joe "Stunningly superficial" Scarborough has learned not to pontificate to li'l old perfessers (at least not to their faces) since Zbigniew handed him his Stetson.

"this machine kills fascists"

Very awesome ----

Forget the Geek Squad, here comes the Grow Squad. Are these the Best Buys of the future?

Scroll on down all the way to the bottom - then view the
video..... sorry I couldn't get the goddamn video
to embed, & I'm not in the mood to fuck with it..

Obama better not "heed" their warnings
FUCK CHINA!Who in the fuck do they think
they r (besides owning us financially)

China has warned that ties with the US would be undermined if US President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama.
There is speculation that Mr Obama will meet the Tibetan spiritual leader in Washington later this month, but no date has been confirmed.
Communist Party official Zhu Weiqun said such a meeting would "threaten trust and co-operation" between Beijing and Washington.
The dispute is the latest of several strains on the countries' relations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8492608.stm

Blast kills 54 in Iraq, shaking faith in security forces
Female bomber attacks Shi’ites on pilgrimage:

BAGHDAD - A woman who veiled her explosives in a black robe struck a column of Shi’ite pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad yesterday in a suicide attack that Iraqi officials had predicted but could not stop.
Police and hospital officials said 54 people, including 18 women and 12 children, were killed and 117 were wounded, the Associated Press reported. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2010/02/02/blast_ki...

Cool huh!? I saw a nooz segment about it late last week! It's like a Home de-Pot ;)

Here's something for YOU...and well, everyone... Mars and a Colorful Lunar Fog Bow

"this machine kills fascists"

a couple of threads back

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123209339

I like the Home de-Pot. Nice ;)

there is almost always a cow, goat, dog, or horse on the highway somewhere....

the Modesto Bee made a lil mistake:

http://www.modbee.com/sports/story/1032047-p3.html

ROLLER HOCKEY <----- ugh

SEASON OPENER -- High Country Mountain Derby Girls presents the High Country Hellcats vs. the Atomic Assault of Fresno, Feb. 20 at High Country Sports Arena in Sonora (18960 Waylon Way). Doors open at 6:30 p.m., bout starts at 8 p.m. Tri-tip, beer garden, live music featuring Sonora's Wreckless. Presale tickets are $10 or $12 at the door. Limited VIP tickets are $20. Visit www.mountainderbygirls.org for more information.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/sports/story/1032047-p3.html#ixzz0eOTMs7Qn

A secret meeting between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta and Israeli officials has reportedly centered on Iran's nuclear program.
In a secret flying visit to Israel on Thursday, the head of the CIA reportedly discussed Iran's nuclear issue in a sit-down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Mossad Chief Meir Dagan.
The trip, which was originally scheduled to take place in May, follows a recent wave of developments in the Middle East that strongly imply preparations for a possible new military conflict in the region.
Israel has allegedly increased the scope of its undercover operations in the region, particularly against Lebanon, Iran, Syria and the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117579&sectionid=351020202

hope you didn't pay for that...if you did, maybe you can get the next one for free.

Still, it must be exciting for you, to see the name of your team in the local paper and all...opening nite just about two weeks away...you getting all tingly yet?

PUTRID.

Nearly every morning on the radio news from the central valley
new
Submitted by Alice on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:41am.

It is exciting...Is it normal that when you aren't going to actually play to start saying "their first bout" instead of "our first bout"....I just cannot believe after that year of practice I haven't been able to play yet... :(

I get all uptight thinking of poor animal in the road and all the dorks on the road who could not care less..

The Cuban medical mission in Haiti has assisted to date more than 50.000 people after the devastating earthquake and is expanding its areas of operations, while professionals from other countries that arrived after the disaster are preparing to leave.

Of the patients assisted by the Cuban doctors, more than 3,000 were operated on and 1,500 of them underwent highly complex surgeries, including over 1,000 unavoidable amputations.

In statements to the Cuban media, Cuban health brigade coordinatin office member, doctor Carlos Alberto Garcia pointed out that the strategy is to render as much integral assistance as possible to those affected.

He explained that they are working based on the concept that the emergency is not over, because respiratory infections, diarrheas and other common anomalies in the complex panorama prevail.

According to the physician, the integral attention that Cubans are rendering to victims includes health promotion actions, cures and rehabilitation

The Cuban doctors are currently rendering these services at 13 health insitutions in Port au Prince and four field hospitals.

...

http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15...

I sincerely hope the one reason I chose Obama over Hillary (Iran) does not turn out to be betrayed...like pretty much everything else...

we seem to be moving, inevitably, toward a proxy war with China over Iran...Obama needs to stop this...Israel chomping at the bit and with Hillary having a total hardon for Iran, does not instill confidence.

it is still your team...you will still be there keeping score, handing out water bottles and tightening trucks, right?... it is YOUR bout too. :)

"We don't need health insurance for more, we need health care for all."
--John Marty, Democratic-Farm-Labor Party Candidate for Minnesota Governor

http://www.johnmarty.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Democratic%E2%80%93Farmer%E2%80%9...

http://www.am950ktnf.com/

...Mr. Marty uses it in his commercial being run on the Minnesota progressive station.

on the road or colse by on the side of the road,
I (unfortunately) have seen animals get hit. It's
horrible. Sometimes people hit them on purpose. I
have also seen that. Fucking asshles.

yea cent - it's kinda scary. It's kinda like Bush
Moron having a hard on for Iraq. & Israel - well
don't even get me started about that government.
There all war mongers.

e U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is a radical undermining of our sovereign self-governance. It ushers in government of, for, and by the Corporations. The ruling leaves ordinary citizens little power to keep corporate influence out of democratic decision-making.
Citizens United is merely the last straw in a haystack of successful corporate attempts to extend corporate constitutional "rights" to corporate persons. The U.S. Supreme Court first blurred the distinction between "natural persons," or real living human beings, and "artificial persons,” or corporations, in 1886. Since then, the high court has doled out a number of constitutional rights for corporations, leading up to Citizens United.
Wielding human rights and legal protections that real people don’t share, corporations have steadily amassed enormous wealth and power, creating a democracy crisis. This democracy crisis lies at the heart of the climate crisis, economic meltdown, campaign finance abuse, globalization and other societal ills that undermine our sovereign self-governance. Human rights are being trumped by corporate rights and privilege.

http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/supreme-outrage-a-call-for-ame...

Submitted by 60th Street on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 12:34am.
I thought you wanted the President's Q & A at last Friday's Republican Retreat, too...didn't know you meant today's Youtube Q &A with WTP...
--------------
And THAT, Grasshopper, was the crux of the biscuit. Or part of the crux of half of the biscuit.

Including the keyword "YouTube" for a YouTube event is a little like including the keyword "Google" for a history of Google: The ambiguities are endless. Including the keywords "Obama Q and A" when two Obama-Q-and-A's are recent events is another ambiguity.

The weirdest two parts of yesterday's clusterfuck were these:

1) While the YouTube Q and A was in progress and while I was on (I think?) the correct YouTube page with a dead screen, there was a hot link at the top of the page that said something like "Obama live now!" which took me back to the same page with the same dead screen and the same hot link at the top. I was trapped in a fourth dimension loop.

2.) When I Googled (or YouTube searched) keywords that sometimes included the date, the algorithm gave me video or news article choices but did not include the YouTube/Obama event that was in progress at that very moment. It was as if the present is not an Internet option (which is an existential quandry of its own).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2FT4FprxDg&feature=related

(The Animals: Please don't let me be misunderstood.)

-Submitted by cent on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 11:22am.-

I like that answer, thank you.. :)

Ebert tweets and links to the comment I made here about him yesterday.

Whoa.

(I'll spend the rest of the day wondering what he Googled to find that)

"this machine kills fascists"

C-Span 3 - now

http://action.change-congress.org/page/s/amendpetition

Well, didja?

:)

Close the gap between the rhetoric,
and the reality.- President Obama, 01-29-10
The World Needs More SEDER!!!

We MISS U!

Beef 'n Bean Burrito here with a side o' rice.

So good to see you!

...thanks for the npr link on quants
Submitted by dan on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:12am.
--------
I'm glad you heard it. I'd like to read the book.

I intentionally avoided being too wordy with the recommendation. The most interesting part of the interview (to me) is Ed Thorp explaining that constant adjustments to the math are necessary to adapt for the widespread use of the math by other investment schemes.

There is a term in science which escapes me. It represents the phenomenon whereby the presence of the observer affects the observed. Thorp understands that his probability analysis, when applied by people other than himself, must be rerun to account for the influence of the use of the previous analysis. (He also understands that random events, like an earthquake or a bombing, are risks that need mathematical consideration.)

My math sucks. I have a word-dependent brain. After I read "Bringing Down The House" by Ben Mezrich, the concept of card counting in Blackjack was more clear to me.

The concept of math to hedge an investment strategy is far more complex and it has the added element of feedback loops created with computer speed. Card-counting at a Blackjack table doesn't change when other players are also card counting (if anything, it would make the actions of other players predictable). The remaining deck is the entire set of probabilites without regard to the strategies of the other players.

Card-counting at the Wall Street table is an entirely different ball game.

I want to thank Tony for posting President Obamas Q & A with the Rethugs.
I thought he held his own quite well.
During the State of the Union:
Did I imagine things, or didn't President Obama mention something about his disagreement with the SCOTUS decision, and his ability to block that with an executive order, in the same breath?

Close the gap between the rhetoric,
and the reality.- President Obama, 01-29-10
The World Needs More SEDER!!!

When I was 14 years old and learning to drive in my father's field the gas pedal got stuck all the way down and I was really frightened. Luckily I got stuck in some heavy mud and ended up in a hedge row. The car had push button automatic shifting which I couldn't get into neutral. I was able to turn the key off and ran away terrified. My wise old neighbor saw my perdicament and said" lets get that car unstuck and you back behind the wheel' Julius continued"if you don't do this now you will never learn to drive" . I will never foget that panicked feeling and I always think a step a head ready to stop my car and abandon "ship" if necessary.
There was a time a few years ago when I got caught in a heavy spring snow.I was on the Taconic In New York and in a white out with frozen roads. On my way back after 24 inches of snow I tried some back country roads which ran along side of some lakes.If I drove over 15 miles an hour I lost control. I unfastened my seat belt and was seconds away from ending up in the lake.I was just able to keep the van out of the lake. I flashed back to my teenage panic when the gas pedal was stuck and I knew I was getting out of this jam
alive.
Thanks Julius for teaching me to hang in there and stay in control of my destiny.

without looking it up its either heisenberg or schrodinger and i tend towards the 1st.

As I've mentioned before, I'm putting the finishing touches on my new book, American Taliban, which catalogues the ways in which modern-day conservatives share the same agenda as radical Jihadists in the Islamic world. But I found myself making certain claims about Republicans that I didn't know if they could be backed up. So I thought, "why don't we ask them directly?" And so, this massive poll, by non-partisan independent pollster Research 2000 of over 2,000 self-identified Republicans, was born.

The results are nothing short of startling.

The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans

Heisenberg developed a method to dislodge an object causing choking.

Schrodinger is a Peanuts character.

Schroderer's kittehs:
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=comic&id=5441

Cyriak's kittehs:
http://cyriak.co.uk/blog/

Calvin's kitteh creator:
http://www.cleveland.com/living/index.ssf/2010/02/bill_watterson_creator...

Got the repub judges eating out of my hands. Funny thing is they are both environmentalists but they are still voting repub. The younger one said he splits his ballot on the general elections, tending more to independent now.

I'm the only woman and they are treating me well.

Not real busy but busier than I thought. Votes leaning more repub at this time and too many people using the computer to vote, like it is a novelty. Low information voters, or they wouldn't use the computer. More repubs than Dems using it.

My area moving smoothly. I've got everything wrapped up so we won't take long after the polls close.

toniD's Ya Think?

(the cat came back!)

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/27652/the_cat_came_back/

I did ya.

"Lunch break
Got the repub judges eating out of my hands."

Don't feed them too well. They might follow you home!

Hiya, Jim :)
Prrfect video.

In Pakistan, five jailed US citizens say they’ve been tortured since their arrest on terror charges nearly two months ago.

The five young men are accused of seeking to join militant groups to fight US troops in Afghanistan.

They were arrested after their families reported them missing in northern Virginia. Earlier today, one of the five handed a note to reporters at a Pakistani court room.

The note read, “Since our arrest, the US FBI and Pakistani police have tortured us. They are trying to set us up… Help us.”

One defense lawyer said one of the prisoners had been given electric shocks and was told to keep silent about the abuse. The US embassy in Pakistan has denied the allegations.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/2/headlines

Whether it was to do research or check out the latest Dr. Seuss book, a deer broke through a back-door window and into the library at Graham A. Barden Elementary School Tuesday morning.

Custodian Kelvin Becton discovered the broken window in the library around 6:50 a.m. Assistant principal Christine Covert called Havelock police thinking that someone had broken into the school.

As Becton went to close the front door to the library, he happened to see the back end of a small deer that was perhaps 3 1/2-feet tall run into the library office.

“He said he didn’t see the deer’s head,” Covert said of Becton. “He saw the back of it, and he was a small.”

In a few minutes, the deer checked out of the library, running out the same way it had come in.

“The door opens into a little garden area the students maintain for vegetables,” Covert said. “We also have an acorn tree out there, and it is pretty obvious that he was interested in the acorns.”

The deer’s collision with the door sent glass flying about 30 feet into the library.

“I’ve looked real closely at the glass,” Principal Joan Bjork said. “We don’t see any blood or anything on the glass. Other than having a bad headache, I think he’s going to be OK.”

The only damage was to the glass pane at the bottom of the doorway. There appeared to be no damage to anything in the library. Caution tape sealed off most of the library to students at the school.

“We were afraid he was going to tear up the books, but he didn’t,” Covert said.

Not surprisingly, administrators plan to use the incident to educate students.

“We’re going to use this as a way of teaching children about deer and the loss of habitat and the impact that humans have on wildlife,” Covert said.

http://www.havenews.com/news/library-6655-school-deer.html

Submitted by Cat Chew on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 1:55pm.
"Lunch break
Got the repub judges eating out of my hands."
--------
A cute Leftie is a weapon of mass destruction.

59 Coronet! You mean the giant beast with the huge fins and lamps in the rear that looked like rocket engines? Those are beauty cars dude! Was it a two tone?

I keep re-reading your post, "abandon ship" hits me like the time when Kirk had to throw the Enterprise into a planets atmosphere to escape in one of the last movies.

I bet you didn't dent a fender in that monster car. Do you have any pictures of it?

So I'm on the phone with the insurance asshole, which I must do twice per year so my car remains registered when I think, "Why do I have to do this bullshit twice per year? Why is this company's longest program extension 6 months?"

Then, of course, as many of you people have probably thought (and I as well-- but much more so when the insurance expires)
since fucking WHEN DO I *MUST* negotiate with a PRIVATE INSURANCE company to drive on the goddamn government's (read: our) roads?
The government keeps track of our finances and even major transactions (re: Elliott Spitzer). It can't determine who can or can't pay for a major accident in the event that it might occur?
Fuck this system, man.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

smooch!

- Repthug tells you he's going to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

and in other Rethug news: Swamp Whore complains about Prick's vagina mandate - Dallas News

Submitted by Fernando on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 2:41pm.

You described it well. I bought it for $ 5 dollars because it had no papers. It was a two tone but mostly a dull faded black and yellow? My neighbors hated seeing that car in the field and burned it one day when I was in school.
It served me well as a trainer car and I had a hell of a good time tearing around in the field. Once it was a burned up the Township got on my Dad and it was taken away. My next purchase was a$100 volvo 544 "humpBack" with a six volt battery. . On my first big road trip I went with a 53 Plymouth Cranbrook flat head six to Madison WI and then to Nashville. I traded a racing bike for that car. I rode it for hours with out a water pump. I just made through the Holland tunnel on the way back to Long Island. Those were the daize
(days)

...to overturn SCOTUS Ruling

"WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland introduced today a constitutional amendment bill to overturn the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing unlimited corporate money in elections. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is a co-sponsor of the amendment bill.

A coalition of public interest organizations and independent business advocates praised the Congresswoman’s action. The groups, Voter Action, Public Citizen, the Center for Corporate Policy, and the American Independent Business Alliance, say the Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC poses a serious and direct threat to democracy. Immediately following the Court's ruling on January 21, 2010, the groups launched a constitutional amendment campaign at www.freespeechforpeople.org to correct the judiciary's creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades."

"this machine kills fascists"

so perry was actually for vaccinating and the swamp whore is against it? seems backwards.

i know many will disagree with me, but as a believer in better living thru chemistry i think the vaccine is a good idea, although the notion of a mandate does seem to take that good idea and corrupt it for the benefit of the corporations.

If you had one of the D-501 Hemi's in that thing, it would be worth a ton of money today. I like most 59's. That was a total pimp mobile. You got a bargain! Can't believe someone would do that to your car. What a shame.

Yes dan, I agree. I told my daughter about that vaccine when it came out and strongly urged her as a young teen to get it. She did take that vaccine with zero complaints. You have to remember, nothing is "normal" in these parts of the woods. The big pharma paid him to dictate the mandate. That sounded dirty.

Sorry,I didn't see your post above,60th..
But,Sign The Petition is a the bottom here.. :)

**

http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/

To correct the damage the Supreme Court has done to the First Amendment, we need to pass a constitutional amendment of our own that puts people ahead of corporations.

Below is our resolution in support of the Free Speech for People Amendment.

http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/the-solution

**

NOW HEREBY BE IT RESOLVED THAT WE THE UNDERSIGNED VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES CALL UPON THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS AND SEND TO THE STATES FOR RATIFICATION A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO RESTORE THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FAIR ELECTIONS TO THE PEOPLE.

Sign our Petition

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

MMRules

I did not like how the information came out during this new mexican swine flu that started up last year. Many professionals also thought that there was misinformation and were against this N1HI "new Flu" hysteria.. I post what is current and many countries and American Doctors aren't happy with the New Pandemic and how it was handled. I am not against all vaccines nor are the New York Doctors I have talked to. The general response is that "fear" was used to sell lots of unproven vaccine around the world. I am not coming from a paranoid place all worried about Mercury or untested adjuvants.

At least there weren't a lot of bad reactions to the Swine Flu shot so far. My mother got sick from some Flu shot a few years ago and her Doctor told her not to take anymore. I will continue to post on this and maybe people will change their minds when the data is collected in two years. I read very carefully what is printed and you have to be a Lawyer to get the true meaning from the various articles. One thing for sure the European Governments are not to pleased esp in Germany.France and England. From some people's perspective there was fraud. These Institutions and governments don't like to admit they were hustled and couch what they say in vague ambiguities.
Anyway I can get you all that you need for $18 a hit.

from last night ..... very good show.
I have been in some kinda weird mood lately.
Just not wanting to do a goddamn thing,
not even listening to the radio (internet)

Obama Will Do Another Q&A -- This One With Democrats

"Less than a week after his electrifying parley with House Republicans, President Obama will be doing another televised question-and-answer session tomorrow morning -- this one with the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Staffers from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office and White House aides tell the Huffington Post that the president will meet with the caucus at the Newseum, where the senators will be assembled for an issues conference to discuss policy, strategy and message for the coming year. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m."

"this machine kills fascists"

Don't waste your political capital with them.

China warns Obama not to meet Dalai Lama
Submitted by smcgee43 on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 9:24am.

..don't delude yourself into thinking a the small handful of Congress Critters not in same corporate pants as the SCOTUS 5 will be able to pull this off. It's going to take 38 states this time around.

Newsflash: Dateline Chicago - Noted blogger 60th Street tried to vote in the Illinois primary but couldn't. He couldn't stuff his ballot in the box because it was full of money.

Spurred on by the so-called “Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife,” anti-wolf legislators are expected to pass a bill as early as this week that would allow state officials to remove any wolves that migrate back to their historic range in Utah.
Defenders of Wildlife’s resources are stretched thin with the increasing human threats to these long persecuted animals, but we’re fighting hard to block this outrageous anti-wolf bill.
Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is the very same group whose Idaho chapter has been holding wolf-killing derbies to raise funds for anti-wolf litigation.
We can’t let these extremists win. Please help us stop this bill, save the lives of our wolves and other imperiled animals in the wild.
Working with our allies on the ground, Defenders of Wildlife is fighting hard to block this anti-wolf bill in Utah and to restore federal protections for these magnificent animals.
Wolves once roamed freely in Utah, playing an important part in balanced ecosystems in the state. But aggressive hunting, trapping and poisoning exterminated these important animals from the state during the last century.
Now there is hope as more wolves migrate from the Greater Yellowstone region into states like Utah. We won’t allow these wolves to be met by a hail of bullets.

The Most Dangerous Man in America
by Bob Edwards

Daniel Ellsberg graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, but interrupted his doctoral studies to enlist in the Marine Corps. Today he says being a company commander was the most satisfying job he ever had. Back in civilian life, Ellsberg went to work for the Pentagon and the Rand Corporation, eagerly participating in the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. On a visit to Vietnam, he actually went on patrol and fought with Marine units. But it was also on this visit that Ellsberg learned the true nature of the Vietnamese insurgency—concluded that the war could not be won—and that American officials were lying about the prospects for success. When the Pentagon commissioned the Rand Corporation to compile a history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Ellsberg tried to share it with the doves in Congress. He got a cool reception from Congressional members nervous about having access to classified information. So Ellsberg gave the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and disappeared for a couple of weeks. He became the most prominent whistle-blower in American history and the consequences of his action reached far beyond the war. The Nixon Administration obtained a restraining order halting Times stories about the papers, so Ellsberg sent a copy to the Washington Post. When the Post was restrained, Ellsberg gave a copy to the Boston Globe, then Newsday, and so on. The papers fought the restraining orders all the way to the Supreme Court, resulting in the most important First Amendment decision ever. The court ruled that prior restraint of the press’s right to publish was unconstitutional. Ellsberg himself was charged with multiple violations of the Espionage Act, but the government bungled the case and charges were dropped when it was revealed that the presiding judge had been offered the job of FBI director
http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/

CREW Files Ethics and IRS Complaints Against Rep. Steve Buyer

On January 25, CREW filed complaints with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) and his so-called charity, the Frontier Foundation. Frontier claims its central mission is to provide Indiana students with scholarships to attend college, but it has not awarded a single scholarship in six years of existence. Rather, the organization serves as a platform for Rep. Buyer to attend expensive golf outings with corporate representatives with business before Congress seeking to curry the congressman's favor.
In one example, the pharmaceutical trade group PhRMA donated $200,000 to Frontier and hired Rep. Buyer's son right out of college. Rep. Buyer later helped defeat a proposed three-year ban on advertising new drugs, a big win for PhRMA and its members.
A few days after CREW filed its complaints, Rep. Buyer announced he will retire from Congress after the end of this term. Nevertheless, the IRS still should determine whether Frontier has violated federal tax law by failing to operate for its stated purpose of sending students to college. Surely, at least one needy student could have gone to college for the price of Rep. Buyer's golf events.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/43950

I didn't know that Bob Edwards has a show.
Is that the same Bob Edwards from NPR???

Fox News Takes Out Ad Touting 'Most Trusted Name in News'

By Kevin Allocca on Feb 01, 2010 02:09 PM

Fox News took out a full-page ad in yesterday's Washington Post emblazoned with the title "The Most Trusted Name in News," a slogan long used by rival network CNN. The ad cites a Public Policy Polling study as a source (the results can be found after the jump.) It also appeared in today's Wall Street Journal and in MediaWeek.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fox_news_takes_out_ad_touting_mo...

...and no integrity.

Check out this website.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/

Are you aware of the current escallation of tension between the US and China? LM just got permission to sell $6.4 BILLION of weapons to Taiwan. I don't think worrying about Tibet's fortune matters.

Deaths in Pakistan 'drone' attack

Missiles fired by suspected US drones have killed at least 17 people and wounded many more in Pakistan, residents and security officials say.

"Seventeen people have been reported killed. However, there is mounting fear that the death toll could be at least over two dozen or even cross 30."

Locals were digging dead and wounded out of the debris.

Similar attacks

At least nine people were killed in a suspected US drone attack in the same area on Friday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022151350906994.html

f*ck china they don't know a good thing until it bites them is the ass ets .

THE DALAI LAMA IS ALL GOOD AND THE CHINESE ARE TRYING TO BE BAD ASS CORPORATISTS LIKE THE USA WHICH IS GOING TO DEFAULT ON IT'S DEBTS ANYWAY! Read what the Dalai has written and ask yourself is this guy a fanatic extremist like the ego driven chinese power people think?

Maybe Obama is giving them a little hastle in Taiwan to keep them in check up north?

is she suffering an allergic reaction or did she have bad surgery? She's on Hardball at the moment.

yea, I posted a couple articles about it last week.
one called 'the future of war' this is battle between Lockeed Martin/Rayethon/Boieng and Walmart.
Walmart lost, because Barack is more obligated to Lockeed Martin than Walmart. If Hillary had won, the deal wouldn't happen. Walmart would have won that one. I doubt in the end the deal will happen anyway-- Geithner could hardly want it.

I'll be shocked if Barack actually meets the Dali Lama. He cowardly passed on the chance earlier. Perhaps, now he thinks he might be throwing the Left a bone by meeting with him. I doubt it will happen, but if he does, he could throw the Left a whole bags of bones, by giving the Dali Lama his Peace Prize.

I think so. I listen to him on XM 133 instead of S. Miller fart show.
Two years ago he had Billy Bragg on.
Three years ago he had Yusuf Islam on by phone.

and entrenched interests. It makes no sense to expect anything else ghettodefender. Nor would the public allow that to continue.

It would be fair to give the Dali Lama the prize but guess what, life isn't fair.

Yep, cast my vote for the illuminati, tri-lateral commission endorsed, Kenyo-terrorist sympathizing league-of-extraordinary-oligarch-gentlemen (with crypto-laser eyez) today!

No money in the ballot box in my neck of the woods...

Looked for the anarchists on the ballot but ended up having to write em in...

(I hope they don't mind)

"this machine kills fascists"

The guy who tried to explode the flight that was headed for Detroit during Christmas day, Abdulmutallab, is singing again.
Goddamn those faggot-ass Democratic pansies and their humane ways.
When will they realize that dragging those fuckers out of their homes without justification then torturing them to within an inch of their lives

is the best way to preserve freedom and decency in this country?

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

If it isnn't you or Nora or Alice testing the status quo I would fall asleep very early. for fun everyone start from the position thaty anything you get over the M$M is propoganda! Believe what you can tolerate I am full . good night from the east coast.

Japan anger over Russia clash

Japanese officials have lodged a formal protest after Russian coast guards fired on two Japanese fishing boats close to a group of disputed islands.

The boats were fishing near to an island chain known to the Russians as the Southern Kuril islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories.

According to Russian officials coast guards first fired warning shots from a helicopter and then shot directly at the boats when the fishermen failed to stop as they entered waters off Kunashir island.

Japan's foreign ministry has said the Russian action was "extremely inappropriate" and could have resulted in loss of life.

The ministry said the two Japanese trawlers later returned to their home port with what appeared to be up to 20 bullet marks on their hulls.

In 2006, a Japanese fisherman on a crab fishing boat was killed by a stray bullet fired as a warning by Russian border guards.

The President is focused on "the economy." That is, anyone who makes more than 500k per year. At this point, outside the world of CNBC, the other economy-- our economy-- is strictly underground. That is, unless "the economy" needs a loan-- or a blood donation.

Anyway, what a tangled web the corps have woven:

China warns Obama over Dalai Lama

......Business risk

China's threats however have raised questions over whether Beijing could impose sanctions without undermining its own aviation industries.

The government has not said what sanctions it might impose to penalise the companies involved in building the arms for Taiwan. But the roster of potential targets is predominantly American defence contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Boeing makes the Harpoon Block II missiles included in the sale to Taiwan, but it also has massive sales to China's commercial airlines.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a unit of United Technologies, is to supply 60 Black Hawk helicopters. Lockheed Martin Corp. has the contract to provide 263 PAC-3 air defense missiles, and Raytheon will supply a Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the island.

All could face a backlash over the Taiwan arms sales, which are handled through the Foreign Military Sales section of the US Defence Department.

But some of the companies have relatively little business with China, while others - Boeing in particular - have important market positions that analysts say China may not want to upset with sweeping sanctions or boycotts.

The heightened tensions over the arms sale come amid a recent deterioration of Sino-US relations, attributed to a range of disputes including Google's revelations last month that China had been hacking into accounts of the company and human rights activists.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/20102244842784361...

Submitted by 60th Street on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 8:11pm.
Yep, cast my vote for the illuminati, tri-lateral commission endorsed, Kenyo-terrorist sympathizing league-of-extraordinary-oligarch-gentlemen today!
--------
Egg-sell-ant, comrade. Your Armani suit and quilted pajamas are en route.

The neo-Bircher-liberals will never know what hit them.

Im going to see avatar tommorow :)

'Henrietta Lacks': A Donor's Immortal Legacy
February 2, 2010
In 1951, an African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She was treated at Johns Hopkins University, where a doctor named George Gey snipped cells from her cervix without telling her. Gey discovered that Lacks' cells could not only be kept alive, but would also grow indefinitely.

For the past 60 years Lacks' cells have been cultured and used in experiments ranging from determining the long-term effects of radiation to testing the live polio vaccine. Her cells were commercialized and have generated millions of dollars in profit for the medical researchers who patented her tissue.

Lacks' family, however, didn't know the cell cultures existed until more than 20 years after her death. Medical writer Rebecca Skloot examines the legacy of Lacks' contribution to science — and effect that has had on her family — in her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Book excerpt at this link
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331&ps=cprs

Exclusive: Israeli commander: 'We rewrote the rules of war for Gaza'

Civilians 'put at greater risk to save military lives' in winter attack - revelations that will pile pressure on Netanyahu to set up full inquiry

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

A high-ranking officer has acknowledged for the first time that the Israeli army went beyond its previous rules of engagement on the protection of civilian lives in order to minimise military casualties during last year's Gaza war, The Independent can reveal.

The officer, who served as a commander during Operation Cast Lead, made it clear that he did not regard the longstanding principle of military conduct known as "means and intentions" – whereby a targeted suspect must have a weapon and show signs of intending to use it before being fired upon – as being applicable before calling in fire from drones and helicopters in Gaza last winter.....

The officers' revelations will pile more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set up an independent inquiry into the war, as demanded in the UN-commissioned Goldstone Report, which harshly criticised the conduct of both Israel and Hamas. One of Israel's most prominent human rights lawyers, Michael Sfard, said last night that the senior commander's acknowledgement – if accurate – was "a smoking gun"....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-israeli-co...

makes me so angry. I remember debating with conservative assholes who were defending its use.

that is satanic. evil.

Home and exhausted. Going to bed and may sleep in tomorrow morning.

Dems outnumbered the repubs 85/77 with 2 green ballots.

The is unheard of in DuPage County!

Local Elections coming in now.

Alexi Gianoulias is leading for Senate seat for Dems. Mark Kirk ahead for GOP

Close race for Governor. Quinn/Hines. Dillard ahead but not by much for the GOP.

That's all I have for tonight. Too tired to check.

toniD's Ya Think?

THANK YOU!!!!

Admin. official: Nigerian family persuaded Christmas Day bomber suspect to co-operate in probe
By: Matt Apuzzo,Pete Yost, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - FBI agents flew to Nigeria in the days after a failed Christmas Day terror attack and got the alleged bomber's family to help them persuade him to co-operate.

It worked. A senior Obama administration official says the FBI and family members have been talking to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for a week, and he has provided fresh intelligence for FBI terrorism investigations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the continuing investigation.

The Obama administration has drawn criticism for its handling of the Christmas Day attack. Republicans say it showed terror suspects cannot be treated like criminals.

http://www.kbsradio.ca/news/56/1062792

...Cheney must be turning over in his cave.

Cheney's not in his cave at these hours.

Obama rips GOP as 'opportunists,' touts loan plan

Source: Associated Press

NASHUA, N.H. – President Barack Obama branded Republicans on Tuesday as electoral opportunists more concerned about their own interests than the people's, taking a political risk by escalating criticism of the very lawmakers he's urging to work with him.

The newly combative approach is a double-edged sword for Obama.

Fearful of losses in the November congressional and gubernatorial elections, Democrats have been urging Obama to throw tougher punches at Republicans. Those calls grew louder after the Democrats' stunning loss two weeks ago of a Senate seat in Massachusetts, seen as an indictment of Democratic control over Congress and the White House.

The president complied on Tuesday, choosing to do so in a state where two House seats and a Senate are in play this fall.

Citing examples, he took Republicans to task for switching positions on important issues just to score points with voters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100203/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama

toniD's Ya Think?

60 plus many other minutes :) * So Very Nice * kewl {w/ memories} :):(

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by Fernando on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:12pm.

The House Will Vote to Eliminate Health Insurance’s Anti-Trust Exemption Next Week Updated at 10:15 PM

Source: Firedoglake

The House Will Vote to Eliminate Health Insurance’s Anti-Trust Exemption Next Week
By: emptywheel Tuesday February 2, 2010 1:56 pm

I just got off a conference call with Speaker Pelosi. While she had a lot of optimistic things to say about the passage of a Senate plus sidecar bill, the big piece of news is that the House will pass (meaning, I presume she has the votes) a bill eliminating the anti-trust exemption for insurers and medical malpractice companies next week.

As she pointed out, the insurers have had this exemption for 65 years, and “the result has not been good” for consumers. And the only other industry that has been given such an exemption is major league baseball.

She said that, among other things, eliminating the exemption will allow the federal government to investigation collusion and price-fixing among insurers.

I presume this is one of those bills designed to force Republicans to vote to protect the insurance industry–and as such, it is good politics. I’d be even happier if there were any prospect of it getting passed in the Senate, which I doubt. It would be nice to have on more piece of leverage to exercise with the insurance industry.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/02/02/the-house-will-eliminate-he...

toniD's Ya Think?

Rep. John Murtha
hospitalized, in intensive care

Rep. John Murtha has been hospitalized in intensive care stemming from complications related to gallbladder surgery.

LINK

toniD's Ya Think?

Landmark Trial About Patenting Humans Begins Today
NEW YORK - February 2 - The American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge of patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer goes to trial here today.

Around 20 percent of the human genome has been patented by private interests. The trial, which begins today, seeks a ruling on whether such patents violate the Patent Act and the Constitution. The defendant, Myriad Genetics, holds the patents to two human genes and charges $3,000 for its tests to determine whether the genes are present in individuals. These patents prevent other researchers from exploring connections between these genes and breast and ovarian cancer, or to come up with more effective and affordable tests.

Eric Hoffman, genetic engineering policy campaigner for Friends of the Earth, praised the ACLU for bringing the case to trial.

“Genetic material is the basis for all life. It has existed since the beginning of the living world,” Hoffman said. “The human genome is shared by all human beings, varying by only a fraction of a percent between people. This makes human genetic material a common good. Scientists are only beginning to understand the complexity of the human genome and by granting ownership over genes, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has limited the ability of scientists and health researchers to learn more about our bodies. This limits progress in fields that have the potential to benefit the health of all people.”

The trial beginning today is just one challenge confronting the corporations that are patenting human genes. Federal legislation, the “Genomic Research and Accessibility Act,” is soon expected to be introduced by Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA). This bill prohibits the patenting of naturally occurring genes (nucleotide sequences), their functions, and their naturally occurring products, which the United States Patent and Trade Office has permitted since 1994.

“The Patent Office has erred in allowing corporations to patent parts of our bodies. We welcome Representative Becerra’s efforts to change this,” Hoffman said..###
Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/02/02

GOP turnout was weaker than the Dems in DuPage Cty?!

How was turnout at your polling place overall?

"this machine kills fascists"

No time to parse, really, but can see that it MIGHT be interesting to someone who does.

Start here

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2010/02/stopping_an_isra...

Follow the links.

On spat between neocons and "realists" on the issue.

Reminds me of my Scotty Terror Toto Terrier chasing and playing with the many ex-Ferals, then to cuddle and sleep with the many meows... awwwwwwwwww {Love&Hugs&Kisses} awwwwwww ;)

Crank, sorry in advance but I could not resist.....
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:18pm.
---------
Oh, yeah, sure. The judge is down for the count but she somehow manages to drag herself to the keyboard for one more kitty kidney punch to Bait.

out of 1404 voters in my precinct, 161 voted. So it was down opposed to a general election but it shocked me that we had more Dems. It was minimal but still it is a Red county. I hope the Repubs are finally losing their hold. More Dems running against them where before there was no competition at all. It is a primary but more Dems showed up to vote.

toniD's Ya Think?

Hoffman just conceded!

Now he goes against GOP Mark Kirk, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL): I Told China Not To Believe U.S. Budget Numbers ...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/rep-mark-kirk-r-il-i-told-chi...

toniD's Ya Think?

Published on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 by GRITtv

Hijinks or Undercover Ops?
by Laura Flanders

If four politically-motivated young men with left-wing (or Muslim), rather than right-wing ties, broke into the office of a senior Senate Homeland Security Committee member and gained access to her computer files — do you think we’d be hearing less about hijinks and more about Guantanamo?

The story of the break-in at Senator Landrieu’s office gets weirder and weirder by the day.

For those who were distracted by the State of the Union, last week, federal officials arrested four young men and charged them with plotting to tamper with the telephone system, after they were caught impersonating telephone repairmen in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu.

The mainstream media account of the story has it that the four were neo-Conservative pranksters gone overboard in an attempt to uncover possibly damaging information related to the Democratic senator and a voter registration drive or the health-care bill, or both. One of the men was a conservative activist who gained fame – or infamy – last year by posing as a pimp and secretly recording members of the community group ACORN giving him advice on how to set up a brothel.

Read the alternative media and the story points away from pranks and towards undercover operations. The group of arrestees, it seems, not only had ties to conservative campus think tanks, but may also be linked to the US intelligence community.

Lindsay Beyerstein is alleging that one of those arrested, Stan Dai, is an Assistant Director at the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence at Trinity University in DC.

Curious about the ICCAE ? David Price over at Counterpunch happens to be reporting in depth on the group. According to Price, the ICCAE (aptly pronounced “ICKY”) is just one of a handful of programs started on US campuses after 9-11 to “sneak unidentified students with undisclosed links to intelligence agencies into university classrooms.” The Trinity program, according to its website, “received a $250,000 renewable grant from the US intelligence Community” upon launching in 2004.

“Hijinks to Handcuffs for Landrieu Provocateurs,” so ran the New York Times story by Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Roberston January 31.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/us/politics/31landrieu.html?scp=1&sq=l...

“Silent Coup” is the headline of David Price’s piece in Counterpunch.
http://www.counterpunch.org/

Connecting the two is Raw Story’s “Landrieu Phone Plot: Men Arrested have Links to Intelligence Community.”
http://rawstory.com/2010/01/men-charged-attempting-bug-landrieus-office-...

Whatever the truth, and however this story pans out, thank heavens for independent media. Left in establishment journalists’ hands, this story might not have gone anywhere. Thanks to inquisitive independent media, the dots are out there, just crying to be linked up.

The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/02-7

Alexi Gianoulias has won the Primary for the Senate seat
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:58pm.

... Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL): "I Told China Not To Believe U.S. Budget Numbers" - Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Vote Alexi Gianoulias for U.S. Senate

Esp.

1. Cutesie story name (see below on thick irony).

2. From 3:44 on about hcr where no cutting of thick irony occurs with whatever the appropriate instrument is to cut thick irony which I forget and too fluish to Google.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#35209633

http://majikthise.typepad.com/

She used to blog here for a minute...

Obama has reinvented the state in more ways than you can imagine.

by John B. Judis

These days, liberals don’t know whether to feel betrayed by or merely disappointed with Barack Obama. They have gone from decrying his willingness to remove the public option from his health care plan to worrying that, in the wake of Democrat Martha Coakley’s defeat in Massachusetts, he won’t get any plan through Congress. On other subjects, too, from Afghanistan to Wall Street, Obama has thoroughly let down his party’s left flank.

Yet there is one extremely consequential area where Obama has done just about everything a liberal could ask for--but done it so quietly that almost no one, including most liberals, has noticed. Obama’s three Republican predecessors were all committed to weakening or even destroying the country’s regulatory apparatus: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the other agencies that are supposed to protect workers and consumers by regulating business practices. Now Obama is seeking to rebuild these battered institutions. In doing so, he isn’t simply improving the effectiveness of various government offices or making scattered progress on a few issues; he is resuscitating an entire philosophy of government with roots in the Progressive era of the early twentieth century. Taken as a whole, Obama’s revival of these agencies is arguably the most significant accomplishment of his first year in office.

The regulatory agencies, most of which date from one of the three great reform periods (1901–1914, 1932–1938, and 1961–1972) of the last century, were intended to smooth out the rough edges (the “externalities,” in economic jargon) of modern capitalism--from dirty air to dangerous workplaces to defective merchandise to financial corruption. With wide latitude in writing and enforcing regulations, they have been described as a “fourth branch of government.”

That wide latitude could invite abuses of power, but the old-time progressives who fashioned the regulatory state rested their hopes on what could be called “scientific administration.” Louis Brandeis and Herbert Croly--to name two of the foremost turn-of-the-century progressives--believed that the agencies, staffed by experts schooled in social and natural science and employing the scientific method in their decision-making, could rise above partisanship and interest-group pressure. Brandeis’s famous concept of states as “laboratories of democracy” comes out of his defense of state regulation of industry and was meant to conjure an image of states basing their regulatory activities on the scientific method. For his part, Croly often made the progressive case for disinterested expertise. The success of the regulatory agencies, he wrote, depended upon “a sufficient popular confidence in the ability of enlightened and trained individuals … and the actual existence for their use of a body of sufficiently authentic social knowledge.”

Many of the last century’s presidents--from Theodore Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton--subscribed to this progressive ideal of regulation based on expertise. But, beginning in the 1980s and culminating in the presidency of George W. Bush, the notion of scientific administration came under attack from Republicans and their allies. They began to subvert the agencies by bringing in business executives, corporate lawyers, and lobbyists--the very opposite of the impartial experts envisioned by Brandeis and Croly.

Reagan chose Thorne Auchter, the vice president of a construction firm, to head OSHA. Bush appointed a mining company executive to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration and a trucking company executive to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. To lead OSHA, he named Edwin G. Foulke Jr., a longtime foe of the agency who had advised companies on how to block union organization.

Some of the Republican appointees weren’t business types, but ideologues or hacks who were utterly unqualified for their positions. Anne Gorsuch, whom Reagan nominated to head the EPA, was a rising member of the Colorado House of Representatives, where she was part of a conservative group known as the “House crazies.” Michael Brown, whom Bush appointed to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), had previously been commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association.
...

Page 1 of 4

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-quiet-revolution?page=0,0

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Metro Transit Police staged their largest anti-terrorism sweep ever during Tuesday morning's rush hour, as about 50 officers -- some toting M-4 rifles and others guiding bomb-sniffing dogs -- took up position in Union Station in a new initiative aimed at discouraging attacks.

In coming months, they plan to hold similar drills for the effort, dubbed Blue TIDE (Terrorism Identification and Deterrence Effort).

Robert Rotz, 50, did a double take when he ran into two officers wearing body armor and shouldering rifles.

"This will make people think twice if they are trying to do something," said Rotz, a computer specialist who commutes from Shady Grove.

A delegation of senior Indian police officers observed Tuesday's drill. "They are very interested in the technology used in the United States to help prevent attacks," said Deputy Chief Erhart M. Olson of the Metro Transit Police.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR201002...

Video

Barf me out, Rachel, seriously...
Submitted by gloryoski on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 11:48pm.
---------
Take 400 milligrams of ibuprofen. The fever is making you delirious.

Trees growing at fastest
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 5:40am.
Trees growing at fastest rate in 200 years
by Chris in Paris on 2/02/2010 03:46:00 AM
It's probably a result of climate change. If not that, then it's another man made problem. But who really needs to pay attention to the environment anyway?

The trees appear to have accelerated growth rates due to longer growing seasons and higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have documented the changes to the growth of 55 plots of mixed hardwood forest over a period of 22 years, and have concluded that they are probably growing faster now than they have done at any time in the past 225 years – the age of the oldest trees in the study.

Geoffrey Parker, a forest ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre in Edgewater, Maryland, said that the increase in the rate of growth was unexpected and might be matched to the higher temperatures and longer growing seasons documented in the region. The growth may also be influenced by the significant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, he said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/global-warming-m...

===============================

That's what it looks like to me. The Planet responding. NOW is the the time to take advantage of this and institute REFORESTATION PROGRAMS. But where are they?

Some things stand out when it comes to our planetary problem:

o Rapid deforestation and resultant soil depletion
o Introduction of polluting SYNTHETIC chemical compounds (not one of which is necessary for Life on Earth)
o Introduction of manmade radiowaves and electrical fields
o Introduction of manmade nuclear fission (even the stars use nuclear fusion) and resultant deadly radiation and radioactive wastes

The LEAST we can do is work rapidly to take advantage of this window of opportunity and REFOREST the Planet.

More Corporate Ghoulishness...
Submitted by CeeCee on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:27pm.
Landmark Trial About Patenting Humans Begins Today
NEW YORK - February 2 - The American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge of patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer goes to trial here today.

Around 20 percent of the human genome has been patented by private interests. The trial, which begins today, seeks a ruling on whether such patents violate the Patent Act and the Constitution. The defendant, Myriad Genetics, holds the patents to two human genes and charges $3,000 for its tests to determine whether the genes are present in individuals. These patents prevent other researchers from exploring connections between these genes and breast and ovarian cancer, or to come up with more effective and affordable tests.

Eric Hoffman, genetic engineering policy campaigner for Friends of the Earth, praised the ACLU for bringing the case to trial.

....
====================

It's class warfare, alright! And THE CRIMINAL CLASS is winning!

I sure hope this case is successful, and gives these criminals a setback.

this is wrong in so many ways but it is the ultimate result of unrestrained capitalism.

i think a more workable approach is that research and at least initial development of medicines and other basic human needs like energy belong to the commons and aren't there to be exploited for personal gain.

consider the following from a bloomberg story about the budget:

The budget is a “small step” toward putting the government’s books in order, Moody’s Investors Service said in a note today. It called a proposed freeze in non-defense discretionary spending a “positive step from a rating perspective.”

Yet without additional steps or a stronger-than-expected economic recovery, “the federal financial picture as presented in the projections for the next decade will at some point put pressure on the Aaa government bond rating,” the note said.

===

don't forget that moodys belongs to the same group of basterds who failed to properly rate mortgage securities and the credit swaps lead to the destruction of the economy and the collapse of housing. its just a minor detail that they pocketed huge sums of money for their efforts.

with an AP news story. Seems the Chicago Tribune is dying.

Ill. Gov. Quinn declares victory in Dem gubernatorial primary, but Hynes says fight isn't over

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois primary election that was supposed to set the stage for a high-stakes political showdown in President Barack Obama's home state instead produced intense confusion: virtual ties in the Democratic and Republican races for governor.

Gov. Pat Quinn held a tiny lead Wednesday over Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Democratic primary. The margin of less than 1 percent was enough for Quinn to claim victory, but Hynes insisted the fight was not over.

Three Republicans were in a near deadlock. State Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, along with businessman Andy McKenna, were within about a percentage point of one another.

Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary did decide the field in the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Obama until his presidential victory. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer and a basketball buddy of the president, will face five-term U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk.

Republicans hope to win the Senate seat and the governor's mansion in November by exploiting Democratic turmoil and scandal, including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's ouster over corruption charges that include the allegation he tried to sell Obama's seat. The victories in an increasingly Democratic-leaning state would be another blow to Obama, already stinging from the Republican victory in a Massachusetts special election for Edward Kennedy's former Senate seat.

The inconclusive results in the governor's races postpones the GOP push to retake the governor's office. Republicans don't know who will ultimately be their nominee or their opponent.

Brady, a legislator from Bloomington, was not among the leaders in most pre-election polls but benefited from being the only downstate candidate in a crowded field. "You had five or six other guys from the Chicago area. It left the door open for us," he said.

Quinn insisted he was the Democratic winner in the governor's race. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, he led Hynes by 7,202 votes out of more than 896,000 cast.

"It was a close election, but one more than the other guy is a landslide in my book," Quinn said.

He said the remaining votes were from Chicago precincts friendly to him, leaving Hynes with no way to make up the gap.

The Hynes camp said that with absentee ballots, tens of thousands of votes remained to be counted.

"If democracy means anything, it means we need to count all the votes," Hynes said. "All the votes."

One or both of the governor races could wind up going to a re-count. Illinois law doesn't require re-counts in close races, so the candidates would have to decide whether to request one and cover the costs.

Two months ago, it appeared Quinn would easily win the Democratic nomination. But he was weighed down by the baggage of his two campaigns with Blagojevich, his support for a major tax increase and a botched program that granted early release to some violent prison inmates.

The Blagojevich scandal could play a role in the Senate race as well.

The incumbent, Roland Burris, chose not to run because Blagojevich appointed him to the seat, sullying his reputation so badly he could find little political support. Obama, who cast an absentee ballot, tried to recruit some big-name Democrats but came up empty.

The Democrats who did get in the race had their own troubles. Giannoulias' only previous job was working for a family bank that is now in financial trouble, and a treasurer's office investment program lost millions of dollars for families saving for college.

Kirk is likely to question Giannoulias' judgment while linking him to larger Democratic troubles.

"We know that one political party cannot hold all the answers and that one political party should never hold all the power," Kirk said.

Republican leaders rallied around Kirk as their choice for the party nomination, despite complaints from some GOP activists that his support of gun control and abortion rights makes him too liberal.

Giannoulias signaled he will go on the offensive.

"As we saw in Massachusetts, voters are angry," Giannoulias said. "For the past decade, Congressman Kirk has been a huge part of the problem."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-illinois-primary,0...

toniD's Ya Think?

GAIA knows the lungs of the Planet need to regenerate NOW
Submitted by nora on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 12:37am.
...READ ABOUT ONES EARTH!... ... ...
{This has only been written & spoken about during late 60s through 1980s! ... Time for WE WT(good)P to get some GRRR On} ;)

Dodd Calls Obama's Proposed Banking Regulations Too Grand

Dodd Calls Obama Plan Too Grand
By SEWELL CHAN

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee warned on Tuesday that the Obama administration’s new proposals to rein in Wall Street firms ran the risk of derailing months of delicate negotiations over overhauling financial regulations.

“It’s not a movable feast,” the chairman, Christopher J. Dodd, told Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, who has become an influential outside adviser to President Obama. “It’s adding to the problems of trying to get a bill done,” he said at the end of a hearing on the proposals, after all the other committee members had already left.

Mr. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, added that the administration was “getting precariously close” to excessive ambition for the legislation. “I don’t want to be in a position where we end up doing nothing because we tried to do too much,” he said.

The hearing was the first formal Capitol Hill discussion of Mr. Obama’s two proposals. One would ban banks that use federal deposit insurance and the Federal Reserve’s discount window from engaging in proprietary trading — making market bets using their own money. They also would not be able to own hedge funds and private equity funds. The other would seek to bar further consolidation among financial institutions by capping the future size of any firm.

Both ideas have factored into a debate over how to prevent banks from becoming so large and interconnected that they are too big to fail, posing systemic risk to the financial system and requiring a government bailout if they falter.

Mr. Volcker, who led the Fed from 1979 to 1987, used a vivid metaphor in calling for the establishment of a “resolution authority,” an idea that has attracted widespread bipartisan support.

“The idea is that, with procedural safeguards, a designated agency be provided authority to intervene and take control of a major financial institution on the brink of failure,” he testified. more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/business/03regulate.html?partner=rss&e...

toniD's Ya Think?

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-1-2010/q---o

toniD's Ya Think?

It's an open thread coz Sam, like us, has nothin...

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5636#comment-393271

toniD's Ya Think?

today changed from a Democrat to a Green... Were trying to get a Green, David Curtis, on the Nevada ballot for the governors race. We need 250 registered voters by tomorrow to make the deadline. So far here in rural, and I do mean rural, Douglas Co. I turned in a total of 7 signatures to the county register of Voters today! Not bad for cattle country! Vegas will have to pick up the slack...