CHEDDARBOMB

"They're trying to take our jobs," yelled Haven King, a 65-year-old retired coal miner from Hazard, Ky. "We have to stand up."

Coal miners rally against Obama administration

Hundreds of coal miners rallied on Capitol Hill Wednesday against the Obama administration's attempts to rein in mountaintop removal mining, accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of trying to wipe out the coal industry.

"This administration is trying to shut down coal and fire all of you," claimed Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., adding that the EPA was practicing "strangulation by regulation."

The industry-backed group Faces of Coal paid for most of the travel and lodging expenses for the coal miners, who came from West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Speakers included politicians from both parties and country music singer Stella Parton. A rival rally was planned later in the day by opponents of mountaintop removal, featuring country music performer Big Kenny.

The coal industry has filed a lawsuit against the EPA's new policy which tightened water quality standards for valley fills at surface coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Tennessee. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said the goal is a standard so strict that few, if any, permits would be issued for valley fills.

Ralliers wore blue Faces of Coal T-shirts, and some sported hard hats. They hoisted signs that said, "Coal Keeps the Lights on," and "Coal Miners 'Dig' Their Jobs."

When an opening prayer was given, it included thanks to God for natural resources such as coal....

The state's senior senator, Democrat Jay Rockefeller, said that Jackson "doesn't understand the sensitivities economically of what unemployment means. Her job is relatively simple: clean everything up, keep it clean, don't do anything to disturb perfection. Well, you can't do coal and do that at the same time. God didn't make coal to be an easy thing to work with."

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Next January, the EPA plans to start regulating greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming, another cause of alarm for the coal miners. Rockefeller has sponsored legislation to suspend that for two years.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., urged support for Rockefeller's measure.

"We are not going to let the EPA regulate coal out of business," he said....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9267013

blue dog cheese Chucky cheese Schumer, My NY Senator. I bet he doesnt want to stop the tax cuts for the rich.

I think Showing up and being counted is more effective but if you got money to give and no time to spare
It is better than nothing.

Tea Party Republican opens clear lead in Florida

Republican candidate Marco Rubio has opened a clear lead in a Florida Senate race, becoming the latest "Tea Party" favorite to benefit from voter anger at Washington, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Wednesday.

Six weeks ahead of November 2 congressional elections, Rubio leads state Governor Charlie Crist, an independent, by 40 percent to 26 percent among likely voters, the poll found. Democrat Kendrick Meek trails at 21 percent.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68E55P20100915

Purging the progressives and pissing on the base for decades is about to mercifully end the Democratic party. Meanwhile, the Rethug party can now proudly and openly campaign on its true fascist principles. The Tea party candidates may be ignorant and crazy, but they're not cowards. Periods of crisis favor the bold-- even the reckless. Most of the Tea party candidates will win.

to any Sam Seder Fan club member who shows up oct 2nd For the One Nation march In D.C.

Made from Organic Valley Wisconsin cheese( russ would approve) and the best bread you ever ate
http://www.blackroosterfood.com/balticRye.html

available at Fairway and the ferbotten Whole Paycheck I mean Whole Foods in your neighborhood.

CODEPINK Citizen Arrest of Karl Rove in DC

On September 14, Karl Rove was speaking in Washington DC at a luncheon for the American College of Cardiology. When Rove started his speech, CODEPINK burst into the luncheon room. With handcuffs raised, they called for a citizen's arrest and read the charges against him.
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2010/09/15-3

actors march to washington to save the S.A.G. union benefits.

the bold and the reckless can get flu shots for free at the Republicans for a Whiter World
meeting in your neighborhood.

http://www.jewfaq.org/etrog.htm
snip
The etrog is a medium-sized citrus fruit, with a color, scent and taste similar to a lemon. It is also known in English as the citron, though there is apparently more than one variety of citron. This variety is identified in scientific literature as the etrog citron. The etrog is used in the waving rituals of the festival of Sukkot, where the etrog is said to represent the heart (because of its shape), and also said to represent the ideal kind of Jews, who have both knowledge of Torah and good deeds (because it has both a pleasant scent and a pleasant taste). One midrash suggests that the etrog, not the apple, was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Why, then, does the Western world think that the fruit was the apple? Perhaps because the ancient Greeks called this fruit the Persian apple, Median apple or golden apple.
---------
Hello leah !

16 Sept 2010
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger continues his examination of the effect of 'extreme corporatism' - money - on sport. He contrasts the last of the great sporting stars who were not celebrities in the modern sense with the enrichment of Rupert Murdoch and the corruption of sports like cricket

....It seems that no idea, no event, no talent, no personality, no resource of nature has value unless it is owned and branded. When the public water supply of Bolivia’s second city, Cochabamba, was sold off to a foreign consortium, rainwater was included. The clouds became the property of multinationals – until the people fought back, and won.

The pursuit of profit in sport seems unrelenting. Having said goodbye to foreign sports writers and their platitudinous eulogies for the “rainbow nation”, the South African treasury reckons it put $5 billion into the World Cup while corporate sponsors took home more than $4 billion in tax-free profits. All those corporate parties, free tickets, kickbacks and other “gifts” merely indulged a post-apartheid elite which presides over the most inequitable society on earth. Since 2008, during the feverish building of stadiums, several of them unnecessary, more than a million people lost their jobs. In the wake of the World Cup, 1.3 million public sector workers have struck for a living wage. The South African police now have paramilitary powers comparable with the apartheid era. A new Protection of Information Bill before parliament will conceal the corruption of the ruling African National Congress “wabenzi” (identifiable by their large silver Mercedes). “If journalists have to be fired [or go to prison], because they don’t contribute to the South Africa we want,” said the ANC spokesman, “let it be.”......
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=587

NaturalNews) The World Health Organization is at it again trying to push mass vaccinations, this time on the people of China. But its efforts to "eradicate measles" by vaccinating 100 million Chinese children have fueled widespread protest by Chinese citizens who not only distrust their own government's health recommendations, but also believe that the vaccines are dangerous.

According to the Boston Globe, the Chinese government recently announced a ten-day measles immunization drive that sparked an outcry from concerned citizens over the safety of the vaccines. According to reports, internet bulletin boards have been overflowing with chatter about the campaign, and countless text messages continue to be exchanged among citizenry about potential dangers from getting the vaccine.

The Chinese government has been working in overdrive to quell the public's concerns, but efforts have been futile. The totalitarian government already has a poor reputation for lying to and deceiving its citizens over things like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak back in 2003, and the milk contamination fiasco that sickened roughly 300,000 babies and killed at least six a couple years ago.

"The lack of trust toward our food and health products was not formed in one day," explains a piece in the Global Times. "Repairing the damage and building credibility will take a very long time. The public health departments need to take immediate action on all fronts."

But adjusting rhetoric and designing new public relations campaigns will hardly pull the wool over the eyes of the millions of Chinese who know good and well what their government is up to.

Back in March, four children were killed and dozens injured from vaccines for encephalitis, hepatitis B and several other diseases. The Chinese health ministry denied that the illnesses and deaths were related to the vaccines while simultaneously admitting that they were improperly stored.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.boston.com/news/health/a...

this story came from
http://www.naturalnews.com/029739_chinese_opposition_mass_vaccination.ht...
+++++++++++
some other opinions
http://www.whale.to/v/measles_deaths.html

CDC Admits to Inaccurate and Misleading Flu Stats
by Aaron Turpen, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) Every year, right about this time, the Centers for Disease Control publishes its annual report indicating the need for vaccination against the flu (influenza). The number of "36,000" is the number of deaths the CDC usually promotes as the reason behind the need for mass vaccination against the seasonal flu. In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC has now admitted that the number of flu deaths has been exaggerated and is probably off by at least 1/3. This is mostly because the oft-touted 36,000 number comes from estimates from 1990-1999 when, the CDC admits, more severe strains of influenza A (H3N2) viruses were in circulation.2

Of course, as Mike Adams recently pointed out, the "seasonal" flu is not "seasonal" and the vaccine for it is usually not even for the right strain (let alone effective).1

Even the new number is misleading, however. The 24,000 number being given now still includes deaths caused by pneumonia and other respiratory ailments only loosely associated with the flu. In fact, the vast majority of the CDC's estimates are these non-flu infections. The real number of flu-only deaths is harder to obtain, but seems to be in the 300 range (by CDC numbers).

Then consider that even the CDC's own numbers show that the vast majority (nearly 90%) of all flu-related deaths (including pneumonia) occur in those over age 65 and that less than 1% occur in those under the age of 19 (including children). Since no accounting of the health status of those who contract and ultimately die from flu-related symptoms is included in the analysis, we have to assume that the reason for most of the deaths occurring in the elderly is because those people are more likely, statistically, to be in poor health.

Then the obvious question should also be asked: why would the CDC revise these numbers down now, when the hype for flu vaccination is higher than it has been before?

The answer lies in the bonus materials of the MMWR. Included in these flu infection and death estimates, the CDC also makes sure to include the Swine Flu (H1N1) death estimates for 2009.3 This year, the usual flu shot includes, in many areas, the Swine Flu vaccine as well. This is the reason that vaccinations have been stopped in several countries, such as Australia, as numerous complications and even deaths have occurred after the double-dose vaccine is administered.4

Now the light begins to shine a little more brightly. Vast stocks of H1N1 vaccines were amassed during the World Health Organization's Swine Flu Scare of 2009 (soon to be re-visited on a TV station near you, no doubt). Those stocks were then, for the most part, likely flushed since the vaccines have a short shelf life. But Big Pharma still has the formulas and they've figured out how to combine the two flu vaccines together. Given that the CDC and many other governmental organizations were such good customers last year, they can likely peddle them again this year.

The 2010 Flu Season Extravaganza is about to begin and the release of the CDC's new numbers is usually the pre-show musical accompaniment as the curtain begins to rise. Grab the popcorn, sit back, and watch as the morbid comedy unfolds.

Resources:
1 - Evidence-based vaccinations: A scientific look at the missing science behind flu season vaccines by Mike Adams, NaturalNews

2 - Estimates of Deaths Associated with Seasonal Influenza --- United States, 1976--2007 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Aug. 27, 2010, Centers for Disease Control

3 - 2009 H1N1 death estimates Centers for Disease Control

4 - Flu vaccine push already underway; first batch causes seizures in children by Mike Adams, NaturalNews

That spoonful of “guaranteed pure” sweetness may be hiding a bitter secret. Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment.

CSE's Pollution Monitoring Laboratory tested 12 leading brands of honey sold in Delhi, including those made by Indian companies such as Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Khadi as well as by two foreign companies based in Switzerland and Australia. Scientists found high levels of six harmful antibiotics in 11 samples, with only the Indian Hitkari brand coming out clean.

The contamination is the end result of a murky chain, which begins when antibiotics are fed to bees to prevent disease, promote growth and increase honey production to meet commercial targets. When they make their way into your daily spoonful of honey, these substances could damage the blood, kidneys, liver, bones and teeth. More importantly, they create resistance in the body to prescribed antibiotics when you really do fall ill, says the CSE report.
(continues)
http://www.thehindu.com/health/medicine-and-research/article669335.ece?h...

Dissident Northern Ireland republican group warns it will step up campaign of violence with bankers seen as new target.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/09/2010915112756408739.htm...

Jean Paul Sartre was a militant atheist most of his life. In fact he and his lover, Simone de Beauvoir, became two of the 20th century's foremost atheists. Though de Beauvoir remained an atheist until the very end, Sartre appears to have come to the realization that he had been wrong -- to the shock and dismay of all his followers and admirers.

The one who revealed Sartre’s astonishing change was his friend and ex-Maoist, Pierre Victor (A.k.a. Benny Levy), who spent much of his time with the dying Sartre and interviewed him on several of his views. According to Victor, Sartre had a drastic change of mind about the existence of God and started gravitating toward Messianic Judaism. This is Sartre’s before-death profession, according to Pierre Victor: “I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God.”

This statement effectively closes Sartre’s existential phase to the consternation of his followers and his lover, Simone de Beauvoir, in particular. During Sartre’s funeral, De Beauvoir reportedly behaved like a bereaved widow, but later became quite critical of Sartre in her “Cérémonie Des Adieux.” Later on, she revealed her anger at his change of mind by stating, “How should one explain this senile act of a turncoat? All my friends, all the Sartreans, and the editorial team of Les Temps Modernes supported me in my consternation.”
Further evidence that supports Sartre’s move toward belief in God is found in an unlikely source, “theinfidels.org.” This fanatical atheist web site, tells us that in 1980, about a month before Sartre's death, he was interviewed by one of his assistants, Benny Lévy, and within these interviews he expressed interest in Messianic Judaism. The web site again adds that Sartre was only interested in the “metaphysical” aspects of Judaism, but that he continued to reject the idea of an existing God.

By LYNN ELBER, AP

LOS ANGELES — The first online auditions for "American Idol" are open.

To mark the Fox TV show's 10th anniversary, hopeful pop stars have the chance to submit an audition video at MySpace through Oct. 6.

The entries must be no longer than 40 seconds and chosen from a list of songs posted online, along with other audition guidelines, Fox said Wednesday. Contestants for the show must be between the ages of 15 and 28.

The song possibilities include Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," Keith Urban's "Kiss a Girl" and Barry Manilow's "Copacabana."

A "select number" of people will move on to a tryout in Los Angeles, the network said, but didn't specify how many.

In 2007, "American Idol" staged its first online contest, this one for songwriters.

Auditions held this summer in cities including Nashville, Tenn., and Austin, Texas, drew tens of thousands of people. Another tryout was added for Sept. 22 in Los Angeles.

The show's next season starts in January and will feature a revamped judging panel. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are the front-runners to join Randy Jackson after the departures of Ellen DeGeneres, Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi.

Both Fox and MySpace are owned by media giant News Corp. Although "American Idol" hopes to stem a ratings dip to remain TV's top-rated series, the crossover could be more valuable for the flagging social networking site: MySpace has seen its advertising revenues drop.

____

Driving Another Nail Into the Coffin of the New Deal

By ALAN NASSER

In Cleveland, Ohio last Wednesday and a White House press conference two days later president Obama opted full throttle for Richard Nixon’s Big Lie strategy: when you preside over a worsening disaster look your constituency straight in the eye and tell them that black is white. Don’t flinch, don’t shift your eyes. Just lie. Lie big. Then cross your fingers they won’t believe you could have the audacity.

All of the White House’s current pronouncements aim to avert large Democratic losses in the November elections, and to cover the administration’s ass in the face of economic conditions that are already worse and asymptotically approaching the worst. Wednesday’s talk touted an allegedly new plan that would address more effectively the dreadful unemployment situation: 30 million workers either can’t find jobs or are forced to accept part-time work. Friday’s press conference restated the message with an added vigorous renunciation of capitalism-with-a-human-face politics.

Obama acknowledged the train wreck but sought, as per liberal boilerplate, to shift blame to the Republicans, specifically to the “governing philosophy” of the Bush years, which Obama described as “Cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires. Cut regulations for special interests. The idea was that if we had blind faith in the market; if we let corporations play by their own rules; if we left everyone else to fend for themselves, America would grow and prosper.”

Well excuse us, but weren’t these policies given their big pre-crisis push by the Republican Democrat, Bill Clinton? They exhibit one of the president’s favorite ideals, bipartisanship. Both Parties had cut taxes for the rich and endorsed deregulation; Clinton merely baptized them and passed them on to Bush, who dutifully handed them over to Obama. And about leaving working people to “fend for themselves”: is Obama’s audience to have deluded itself that the 30 million under- and unemployed have somehow managed to miss out on the benefits that Obama, Summers, Bernanke and Geithner have lavished on working people? Back in Jesuit school we used to snickeringly refer to the medieval philosopher Robert Grosseteste as “Bobby BigBalls”. The old scholastic had nothing on Obama.

The president proposed $50 billion to fund transportation development, mainly for rail lines, roads and airports. This merely extends the February 2009 original stimulus package funding of $71.76 billion for construction projects, much of which has not yet been spent and which is scheduled to expire. All this comes to a very small fraction of the $2.2 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers shows is required to rehabilitate the country’s crumbling infrastructure. And the “infrastructure bank” Obama has concocted is yet another barely disguised subsidy to private companies; it is intended primarily as an inducement to private investment in public projects.

Obama expects us to miss that the “new jobs plan” is nothing new. It’s just a reaffirmation of Obama’s trickle-down corporate tax breaks with added perks. Firms would now be allowed an additional deduction for the full value of new capital investments and for outlays for research and development. And the latter deductions are to be made permanent. As if firms are not adding to capacity because taxes are too high! They are not investing because consumption demand is at record lows, due to unemployment, flatlined-since-1973 wages, debt deleveraging and increased savings for the upcoming rainy days predicted by the administration itself to last at least until 2012. Only a fool or a liar could think that firms will invest or banks lend under these circumstances, and Obama is no fool.
http://www.counterpunch.org/nasser09152010.html

Oil and gas companies forced to plug old wells
BySheila McNulty in Houston
Published: September 15 2010 23:01 | Last updated: September 15 2010 23:01
The US government is requiring oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico to promptly set permanent plugs in nearly 3,500 non-producing wells.

Under the new rules announced on Wednesday, the companies also must dismantle about 650 oil and gas production platforms if they are no longer being used for exploration or production.

more
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ed82c35a-c10b-11df-afe0-00144feab49a.html

It's been a good year for climate skeptics. Not, mind you, because they've been vindicated at all on the merits. Quite the opposite: 2010 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record, Arctic sea ice continues to thin out, heat waves have been torching Russia, and nearly one-fifth of Pakistan has been submerged underwater. The science on global warming is still overwhelming. But politically, skepticism is at its zenith.

Consider: During the sweatiest U.S. summer in recorded history, and in the midst of a major oil catastrophe in the Gulf, the Senate didn't even bother to take a vote on a bill to limit carbon emissions. Skeptics managed to inflate the Climategate non-scandal into a breathless media event and launched a high-profile attack on the IPCC over—what was it again?—a minor misstatement about Himalayan glaciers. Republicans and coal-state Democrats are now trying to chip away at the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases, and in California, coal and gas companies are making a major push to repeal the state's sweeping climate law, AB32.
snip

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129876253

This article is excerpted from Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy, recently published by Inner Traditions. The book presents the shamanic and genealogical principles the author discovered to create a healing therapy that could use the power of dreams, art, and theater to empower individuals to heal wounds that in some cases had traveled through generations. The following is an interview conducted by Gilles Farce

http://www.realitysandwich.com/magic_act

http://www.healthfreedomportal.org/

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on ending a debate on a bill that it says will aid small businesses and result in the creation of 500,000 jobs.
Lawmakers will then vote on its final approval, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.
According to a summary of the Senate bill, the measure would also authorize the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets.
The idea is that community banks do the lion's share of lending to small businesses, and pumping capital into them will get money in the hands of Main Street businesses.
On Wednesday, President Obama slammed GOP congressional leaders for trying to block the bill.
Flanked by his economic team at the White House, the president specifically thanked GOP Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and George LeMieux of Florida for breaking with the Republican leadership on the small business bill.
The two senators helped the $42 billion measure clear a key procedural hurdle on Tuesday, setting it up for final passage.
They understand we don't have time to play games anymore, Obama said.
Small-business owners have been postponing plans to hire more workers, he said.
Obama said he is grateful that Congress is on the verge of passing the bill -- which had been stalled until the two senators broke from GOP leaders -- but he added that it "should not have taken this long."
Washington (CNN) -- The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on ending a debate on a bill that it says will aid small businesses and result in the creation of 500,000 jobs.
Lawmakers will then vote on its final approval, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.
According to a summary of the Senate bill, the measure would also authorize the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets.
The idea is that community banks do the lion's share of lending to small businesses, and pumping capital into them will get money in the hands of Main Street businesses.
On Wednesday, President Obama slammed GOP congressional leaders for trying to block the bill.
Flanked by his economic team at the White House, the president specifically thanked GOP Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and George LeMieux of Florida for breaking with the Republican leadership on the small business bill.
The two senators helped the $42 billion measure clear a key procedural hurdle on Tuesday, setting it up for final passage.
They understand we don't have time to play games anymore, Obama said.
Small-business owners have been postponing plans to hire more workers, he said.
Obama said he is grateful that Congress is on the verge of passing the bill -- which had been stalled until the two senators broke from GOP leaders -- but he added that it "should not have taken this long."

Peter Bohmer,
Faculty in Economics and Political Economy
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, Washington, United States
Delivered in Thessaloniki, Greece, September 9, 2010 at the A-Fest, Festival of the Anti-Authoritarians

Thank you for inviting me. I am honored to be with you in Greece at the festival in Thessaloniki put on by the anti-authoritarians. . Although you are suffering severe economic hardship, you are providing hope for those around the world fighting back against unemployment, against cutbacks in social programs and poverty and who are committed to creating a better world where the dignity of all people is its organizing principle. I hope my talk will provide some useful insights into alternatives.

Capitalism is a failing and destructive system as can be so clearly seen from the global crisis in general and the crisis in Greece in particular. However, it will not collapse on its own and if does, the alternative is unlikely to be liberatory unless we have developed in theory and practice some real alternatives to it, and movements powerful enough to transform and revolutionize society.

To criticize and resist capitalism and the many problems it causes is necessary but without an alternative is insufficient. We, radicals, have spent too much time on developing excellent analyses of its exploitative and oppressive nature, of the limits in reforming it but not enough on what we want and how to get there. Developing alternatives are necessary for revolutionary change as of course are strategies to connect our critique of capitalism to our vision of an alternative. I will focus mainly on what we want and need although I will include some comments on strategy.
http://www.zcommunications.org/participatory-socialism-there-is-an-alter...

http://www.capitalism.org/faq/capitalism.htm

depends on your greed score.

The news that author Nicholas Evans needs a kidney transplant after eating deadly mushrooms hasn't done much for the reputation of our wild fungi. But it would be a crying shame if we stopped eating them
snip

But the season has one thing going for it: mushrooms. This is when woods and meadows fill with boletes and parasols and blewitts and wax caps, and only a fool would head into the countryside without a bag or a basket. As I live in said countryside, and I like a walk, I've been picking most days for a fortnight now. A week ago I came home with four or five kilos of ceps, those squat, chunky affairs sometimes known as penny buns because of their shiny brown caps. They looked and smelled as good as they tasted.
I ate a few that evening, slicing the remainder and putting them to dry above a radiator. I've now got 12 litres of mushrooms preserved in jars in my kitchen. That's enough to supply a deli, so I'll be giving a lot away. Dried fungi cost a fortune, so everyone's delighted to get them.
Except this year. This year a lot of people are saying thanks, but no thanks. Their reasons vary, but as far as I can tell they're afraid I'll poison them. I've been doing this for years, and never given myself so much as indigestion, but suddenly everyone's telling me to be very, very careful about what I collect. Wouldn't it be safer to leave it to the professionals, they ask.
It seems cruel to point the finger at someone who has suffered, but it's at least partly Nicholas Evans's fault. In 2008 the Horse Whisperer author went for a stroll in the Moray countryside and filled a basket where he expected to find ceps or luscious yellow chanterelles. Evans had picked wild mushrooms before, with no ill effects, but this time it was different. What he had harvested was Cortinarius speciosissimus, better known as the deadly webcap. He, his wife and his brother- and sister-in-law shared half a kilo or so for lunch, fried with a little parsley. Within three days, they were in hospital, their kidneys being destroyed by the chemical orellanin. They were lucky not to die, and luckier still that their children opted out of the feast. As it is, the adults were sick for months. Two years on, the Evanses and their brother-in-law have almost no kidney function. Every other day, they spend hours plugged into dialysis machines, having been on the waiting list for a transplant since early 2009. "I do not pee at all," Evans said in a recent interview. "But I dream about it – wonderful peeing dreams when I think I am cured. When I wake up and find it isn't true, it takes me a while to disbelieve it."
more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/16/wild-mushroom-picking

If you have the millions to spare and the derring-do, your chances of being strapped in and launched to the international space station improved markedly Wednesday when two major companies agreed to join forces to make space travel significantly more available.

The Boeing aerospace company announced an agreement with Space Adventures Ltd. of Vienna, Va., to establish a space taxi system that will launch its passengers into low Earth orbit.

Boeing has been developing a capsule and has years of experience building rockets, while Space Adventures has organized seven trips to the space station aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz. The obstacles remain high, but the two companies say they think they can begin their service by the end of 2015.
more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/15/AR201009...

i care enough to read it all like i started out here doing.

i figgered out pretty quick that that everyone had their voice

and what was lacking was a guarenteed listener.

i tell ya the perceptions gained were worth it.

i figger something like 2 million comments so far

amazing diversity, startling revelations

the search for truth and giggles

tea Cheers soon ... or a cup o' Red Mwah HaHa
;)

*poof*

Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168–1253), Bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, was one of the most prominent and remarkable figures in thirteenth-century English intellectual life. He was a man of many talents: commentator and translator of Aristotle and Greek patristic thinkers, philosopher, theologian, and student of nature. He was heavily influenced by Augustine, whose thought permeates his writings and from whom he drew a Neoplatonic outlook. But he was also one of the first to make extensive use of the thought of Aristotle, Avicenna and Averroes. He developed a highly original and imaginative account of the generation and fundamental nature of the physical world in terms of the action of light, and composed a number of short works regarding optics and other natural phenomena, as well as works of philosophy and theology. As bishop, he was an important figure in English ecclesiastical life, focusing his energies on rooting out abuses of the pastoral care, which in later life he traced to the papacy itself. He made a powerful impression on his contemporaries and subsequent thinkers at Oxford, and has been hailed as an inspiration to scientific developments in fourteenth-century Oxford.

and this guy isn't my dad, I'm four half-sisters larger now...That makes two half brothers and five half sisters...That's probably all of us.

One half-sister wrote back to me..

Apparently he told her about me when I called him 1999. I don't have any idea what he told her exactly yet though... I just wrote this whole freaking story out for her.. that was weird... to write out...

We'll see what happens from here...

Hi SJ...! :)

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Anyone listening to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show Tuesday could be forgiven for thinking that Judge Roger Vinson has the federal government dead in his sights.

Gary McCracken/Pensacola News Journal
Judge Roger Vinson (not Davy Crockett).
Mr. Limbaugh spent some time profiling Judge Vinson, a senior judge on the Federal District Court in Pensacola, who had just announced he would allow a legal challenge to the new health care law to advance to a full hearing. The conservative radio host informed his listeners that the judge was an avid hunter and amateur taxidermist who once killed three brown bears and mounted their heads over his courtroom door to “instill the fear of God into the accused.”

“This,” Mr. Limbaugh said, “would not be good news” for liberal supporters of the health law.

But, in fact, Judge Vinson has never shot anything other than a water moccasin (last Saturday, at his weekend cabin), is not a taxidermist and, as president of the American Camellia Society, is far more familiar with Camellia reticulata than with Ursus arctos.

Apparently, Mr. Limbaugh had fallen prey to an Internet hoax.

On Sunday night, and again Monday morning, someone identified only as “Pensacolian” edited Judge Vinson’s Wikipedia entry to include the invented material. The prankster footnoted the entry to a supposed story in The Pensacola News Journal. The article — like its stated publication date of June 31, 2003 — does not exist. The same person who posted the information removed it on Tuesday afternoon, Wikipedia logs show.

As calls flooded in about Mr. Limbaugh’s depiction, Judge Vinson, 70, took it all in stride. “I’ve never killed a bear,” he said Wednesday, “and I’m not Davy Crockett.”

His wife, Ellen, was less amused. “It offended me,” she said, “because I don’t think you should be able to broadcast something nationally if you can’t verify it.”

Kit Carson, a spokesman for Mr. Limbaugh, said a staff researcher had found the information in an article on the Pensacola newspaper’s Web site, and not on Wikipedia. But Ginny Graybiel, the paper’s managing editor, said it had never published such material.

Ms. Vinson acknowledged that she had bought two stuffed animal trophies — a deer and a goat — at a garage sale to decorate their cabin. But she said the portrait of her husband’s ferocity was comical.

“Can you imagine the president of the American Camellia Society having three stuffed bears in the courthouse?” she asked.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin in Virginia in the trial of two former defence contractors charged with the deaths of two Afghan nationals.

The trial of Justin Cannon of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Christopher Drotleff of Virginia Beach begins on Tuesday in US District Court in Norfolk. It's expected to last two to three weeks.

The former contractors for Blackwater Worldwide are accused in the shooting deaths of two Afghan nationals in Kabul in May 2009. Drotleff and Cannon have said they opened fire on a vehicle when it sped toward them.

Cannon and Drotleff were arrested by FBI agents in January, and face a 13-count indictment.

The defendants were in the country to train the Afghan National Army. Drotleff and Cannon face up to life in prison if convicted. North Carolina-based Blackwater is now known as Xe Services.

Drotleff served three years in the marines and left with an other-than-honourable discharge in 2001. His military record included offences for unauthorised absences, assault and falsely altering a military ID card. Cannon was discharged from the army after going AWOL and testing positive for cocaine. He later succeeded to have his military records officially changed to an honourable discharge.

But even before President Barack Obama announced the end of the US combat mission in Iraq, contractors outnumbered uniformed personnel

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/2010914165214379579.h...

THE EVIL MEN DO: INDUS RIVER BANK BREACHED, FLOODING MILLIONS, TO SAVE A SECRET DRONE BASE IN PAKISTAN - Democracy Now

http://www.opednews.com/articles/THE-EVIL-MEN-DO-INDUS-RIV-by-Press-Rele...

The Republican Tea Party is celebrating their victories in yesterday’s primaries, but Progressives should be celebrating as well. This Tea Party is pushing the GOP even further to the right, which could mean that moderates and RINOs are left with only one place to go – The Democratic Party. Mike Papantonio appears on The Ed Show to talk about why the Republican Tea Party is a good thing for progressives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1a2ZkjOAas&feature=player_embedded

The gruff but lovable broadcaster, who relished life, language and levity, has passed away at the ripe old age of 91. I always enjoyed his bits on Saturday Night Live, but probably not as much as he enjoyed doing them. Here's the famously stone-faced newsman back in 1978 interviewing rock superstars KISS, in a report that is practically a blueprint for the classic mockumentary

Kissology Volume 2 Disc 1 - Land Of Hype And Glory with Edwin Newman January 10, 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-sOLug8fPc&feature=player_embedded

*****

http://mepearl.com/category/prophecies/

US drones prowl Mexico bicentennial

As Mexicans celebrate the 200th anniversary of their independence from Spain, evoking a history of resistance against colonialism, a disturbing development unfolds on the country’s northern border: a fleet of US Predator B drones has been deployed on constant patrol...

Controversial for their use in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, drones on the border cruise an area that, ironically, had previously belonged to Mexico.

Lies of war

Long before George W Bush beat the drums of war, stoking fears of Iraq's non-existent weapons of mass destruction, James K Polk, America's former president, claimed in 1846 that Mexico "invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil".

It wasn't true, but no matter. The lie justified a war, ending with the US annexing California, Arizona, New Mexico as well as other territory from its southern neighbour, the same 2000 mile strip of land subject to the current drive towards militarisation.

...The drones on the US-Mexico border are to be used for surveillance, not targeted killings, but the Predator B model can be equipped with weapons capability.

"As a privately held company, we don't do a lot of interviews," a General Atomics Aeronautical spokeswoman said, in refusing to comment on the company’s expanded border business.

The spokeswoman did, however, pass on advice to contact "the customer", but the recommended spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to interview requests.

From Mexico to the Middle East

In his book Empire's Workshop, the historian Greg Grandin argues that many US military policies used today in the Middle East - invented threats, targeted killings, and covert support for death squads - were perfected during dirty wars in Latin America against democratically elected leftist governments.

In the drone case however, Mexican economic migrants are facing technology developed to deal with insurgent fighters based in the conflict zones of the Middle East and Central and South Asia...

Latino 'threats'

Samuel Huntington, the Harvard academic and the architect of the "clash of civilisations" theory – a concept claiming that the Islamic world and the religious ideologies that support it are incompatible with western concepts of liberal democracy - also has some views about Latino migrants and "the cultural and linguistic threats" they pose to America.

Latino migrants, those who are being fenced out of land taken by force during the Mexican-American war, constitute: "The single most immediate and most serious challenge to America's traditional identity", according to Huntington......
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/09/201091517574426389...

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5983#comment-415617

Great post taozen.I missed that democracy now but had always,in the back of my mind,thought that there was more to the pakistan flooding than we were being told.(spike Lee's documentary on New Orleans with testimony of loud explosions going off right before the levees broke comes to mind)

The thought that the usa would flood out millions in pakistan, on purpose, to protect a small drone base,which exists,it seems,to kill innocent pakistani civilians is beyond evil.

Why is the pakistani government allowing the us to do this?

The world at large should come together and kick out ALL american military and their bases and do it all at once.that would be a good start.I'm not holding my breath.

Taozen,Thanks for all the great posts and keep up the great work

p.s. where's nora been lately?

...and move you downstairs into storage B..."

Obama Prepares to Sort of Appoint Elizabeth Warren to Something
by John Nichols

...Obama is avoiding a fight that he should be waging.

By failing to formally install Warren in the position that economists and activists say she is uniquely prepared to fill, Obama is missing one of the most important opportunities of his presidency.

Warren should not be reporting to Geithner, whose subservience to Wall Street has done severe damage to the administration's ability not just to the correct the course of the economy but to crystallize financial issues that continue to play an essential role in our politics.

Indeed, if Obama were serious about tipping the balance away from Wall Street and toward Main Street, he would replace Geithner with Warren.

That's too much to ask of this administration.

But it should not be too much to ask that Warren be given the job she conceived and campaigned to create.

The president could have appointed Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and dared the Senate to reject a woman who has become the face of the fight to hold big banks, credit card companies and speculators to account. If Republicans threatened to block her appointment, they would have clarified the question of which party is working for Wall Street and which party is on the side of Main Street....
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/16-8

"Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners."

Number of Americans living in poverty 'increases by 4m'
The number of Americans with health insurance declined, forcing many to line up at free clinics One in seven Americans was living in poverty in 2009 with the level of working-age poor the highest since the 1960s, the US Census Bureau says.

The number of people in poverty increased by nearly 4m - to 43.6m - between 2008 and 2009, officials said....

The official US poverty rate in 2009 rose to 14.3% from 13.2% in 2008. In 2009, 43.6 million Americans lived in poverty, up from 39.8 million the year before, the third consecutive increase, the bureau said....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11332635

"An oligarchy of private capital cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society because under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information."
Albert Einstein

snip
But there is still strong opposition from the polluters who will be forced to clean up decades of their coal ash mess. They, too, appeared in DC, Denver, Dallas, Charlotte and today in Chicago to testify at EPA public hearings. Their message spreads misinformation and doomsday predictions about what strong protections will do for their bottom line. They are throwing millions of dollars to high-paid lobbyists to pressure the EPA and Congress to pull back any attempt to finally clean up the coal ash mess.

Just like Uncle Albert Einstein said (good quote ghettodefender had to use it straight away)

"An oligarchy of private capital cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society because under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information."
Albert Einstein

http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/blog/2010-september/new-report—coal-ash-linked-cancer-and-other-maladies

Robot warfare: campaigners call for tighter controls of deadly drones

Conferences will raise concerns over unpiloted aircraft and ground machines that choose their own targets

The rapid proliferation of military drone planes and armed robots should be subject to international legal controls, conferences in London and Berlin will argue this month.

Public awareness of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as Reapers and Predators, in Afghanistan and Pakistan has grown but less is known of the evolution of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

Two conferences – Drone Wars in London on 18 September and a three-day workshop organised by the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) in Berlin on 20-22 September – will hear calls for bans and for tighter regulation under international arms treaties.

British academics and policy experts, Red Cross representatives, peace activists, military advisers, human rights lawyers and those opposed to the arms trade are participating in the German meeting..........

The development of what is known as "autonomous targeting" – where unmanned planes and military ground vehicles are engineered to lock automatically on to what their onboard computers assume is the enemy – has heightened concern....

...For many scientists the future potential is most alarming. David Webb, a professor of engineering at Leeds Metropolitan University, vice-chair of CND and an expert on the militarisation of space, will address the Drone Wars conference in London. "We are only just starting to become aware of the wider issues," he said. "Robots are [being developed] to make some decisions for themselves. If they kill somebody by mistake do you put the robot on trial? The idea of having networked UAVs that work in swarms and could be armed has all sorts of implications."..........
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/sep/16/robot-warfare-conferenc...

by Lawrence Feingold, STD, STL
Assistant Professor, Institute of Pastoral Theology

The Association of Hebrew Catholics is offering a Fall and Spring lecture series on various themes within The Mystery of Israel and the Church. They have been held, at no cost, on Wednesdays from 7-9 pm in Boland Hall of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.

Each series of 12 lectures treats an overall motif. In many lectures, Dr. Feingold highlights the unique role and positive contribution of the Jewish people.

Each Lecture Series link below takes you to a page where the lectures are available for online listening or downloading to your computer. Eventually, the text for these lectures will also be made available. All rights are reserved. These lectures may not be modified or sold. However, you are free to make and distribute copies of these lectures.

FATHER ROBERT SPITZER, S.J., PH.D.
Why would a preeminent physicist make the claim that “the universe can come from nothing?”

This is precisely what Dr. Stephen Hawking has done in his new book, The Grand Design, when he notes, "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist."

This statement betrays Hawking's fundamental assumption about the universe, namely that it came from nothing. But why would a preeminent physicist assume that the universe came from nothing? Presumably, because he believes that there are reasons for thinking that the universe had a beginning.

Let me put it in reverse: If one believes that there is significant evidence for a beginning of the universe then one is confronted with the question, "what was the universe before the beginning?" If the beginning is truly a point at which the universe came into existence then one is confronted by the fact that prior to the beginning, the whole physical universe was nothing.

What's my point? If Dr. Hawking does not believe that there is any reason to think that the universe had a beginning (from physics or philosophy), then why does he even bother to speculate about how the universe could spontaneously create itself from nothing? I am left to assume that Dr. Hawking does believe there are reasons for thinking the universe had a beginning – otherwise his contention about "the universe coming from nothing" makes no sense.
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0119.htm

Ari Berman
September 15, 2010

Last night belonged to the Tea Party and Palinites, who celebrated, ever so briefly, Christine O’Donnell’s upset victory in Delaware. But the professional left, so lovingly characterized by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, isn’t dead yet, either. In an open Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional district, progressive candidate Ann McLane Kuster handily defeated self-styled Blue Dog Katrina Swett, who co-chaired Joe Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign. Kuster, a lawyer, community activist and women’s health expert, had the support of progressive groups like MoveOn, Democracy for America, Progressive Campaign Change Committee and EMILY’s List. Swett ran hard to Kuster’s right and tried to paint Kuster’s progressive supporters as an electoral liability.

"Annie, you have cast yourself as the very, very progressive candidate and have been warmly supported by the far-left progressive movement," Swett, the daughter of Congressman Tom Lantos and wife of former Congressman Dick Swett, said in the last debate. "In a year when everyone understands that the country is moving back toward the center and away from the more left, progressive point of view, if you were to become the nominee, would you try to distance yourself from your own positions?"

"Actually Katrina, I think it's your views that are out-of-step with the voters of the 2nd Congressional District," replied Kuster, pointing to Swett’s support for the Bush tax cuts, war in Iraq and escalation in Afghanistan, not to mention her vociferous support of Lieberman in 2004 and 2006. (See Howie Klein for much more on Swett's background.)

Kuster easily got the best of that argument, defeating Swett by a whopping 42 points last night. She’ll now face GOP nominee Charlie Bass, who held the seat for six terms before losing in ’06 to Paul Hodes, who’s now running for the Senate. Kuster’s big win proves that much of the progressive coalition that unsuccessfully backed Bill Halter in Arkansas still has some juice left. The PCCC lent Kuster staff, donated over $100,000 to her campaign (the average PCCC member donation was $10) and developed her online strategy. EMILY’s List dispatched volunteers to New Hampshire and made thousands of calls on her behalf. DFA and others blasted out emails urging their members to back Kuster. As a result, she’s outraised Bass three to one and is in a much stronger position to win the general election. Kuster, unlike O’Donnell in Delaware, is a polished, capable candidate, not a flaky, scandal-plagued insurgent. (Progressives didn't fare as well in Massachussets, where incumbent Rep. Stephen Lynch, who inexplicably voted against the healthcare bill despite representing a reliability Democratic seat in Boston, beat back a challenge from labor organizer Mac D'Alessandro.)
http://www.thenation.com/blog/154735/professional-left-isnt-dead-yet?rel...

Eva Golinger

As election time approaches in Venezuela, international media increase negative coverage of the South American nation. CNN applauds terrorism against Venezuela, while Fox News accuses the Chavez government of terrorism

...With sensationalist headlines and slanted reports, mass media try to condition public opinion to believe any action or aggression against Venezuela will be necessary to remove the “evil” Chavez from power.

According to The Economist, “Venezuela has the worst economy in the world”, despite the fact the data cited by the financial magazine doesn’t match up. The New York Times, which sets the news standard for press worldwide, erroneously and dangerously headlined two weeks ago, “Venezuela is more lethal than Iraq”.

“Venezuela has the highest homicide rate in the hemisphere”, claimed Newsweek, falsely adding, “Chavez’s popularity has fallen off a cliff”.

To these media, it doesn’t matter that Venezuela’s economy is actually on an upward rise, despite the world financial crisis, or that while Caracas certainly has crime – and homicides – there is absolutely no comparison to the millions killed in Iraq at the hands of the US war machine.

And if a 54% popularity rate (per the latest national polls) means President Chavez’s popularity has “fallen off a cliff”, well then, where does that put President Obama’s “best” rate at 47%?

Regarding coverage of Venezuela, television is even worse. Two weeks ago, CNN International premiered a docu-report titled “The Guardians of Chavez”, during which the international network falsely associated armed groups, criminals, terrorists and paramilitary........
http://www.chavezcode.com/2010/09/us-media-intensifies-campaign-against....

Never Forget: Bad Wars Aren't Possible Unless Good People Back Them
by Michael Moore

...I blame the New York Times more for this war than Bush. I expected Bush and Cheney to try and get away with what they did. But the Times -- and the rest of the press -- was supposed to STOP them by doing their job: Be a relentless watchdog of government and business -- and then inform the public so we can take action....
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/16-0

Dear Friend,

We only have a few days to keep the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from approving genetically engineered (GMO) salmon as the first animal manufactured for human consumption.

The scientific community has sounded the alarm, saying that GMO salmon could render wild salmon extinct in only 40 generations if they escape into the wild. And the consequences to our health and the environment are not yet known. So what happens to people when they eat this stuff? At this point, no one really knows, but the FDA is on the verge of approving GMO salmon.

Join me and Food Democracy Now! to keep these mutant fish off our plates. Click below to stop the FDA from approving GMO salmon.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_gmo_salmon_today/?referring...

Thank you!

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

MMRules

to see if he is as "perfect" as he damns * The Good = The Left
(the bad & ugly = rethugs)
{gotta "brew", Mwah HaHa} *poof*

But if any one preach the Jewish law923923 Literally, “Judaism.” unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who has been circumcised, than to Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either of such persons do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are in my judgment but as monuments and sepulchres of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men. Flee therefore the wicked devices and snares of the prince

of this world, lest at any time being conquered924924 Literally, “oppressed.” by his artifices,925925 Or, “will.” ye grow weak in your love. But be ye all joined together926926 Some render, “come together into the same place.” with an undivided heart. And I thank my God that I have a good conscience in respect to you, and that no one has it in his power to boast, either privately or publicly, that I have burdened927927 Apparently by attempting to impose the yoke of Judaism. any one either in much or in little. And I wish for all among whom I have spoken, that they may not possess that for a testimony against them.

one page of info on salmon, and a brief bit on Enviropig the next GMO animal for your dinner plate.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100914/pdf/467259a.pdf

Fired researcher’s allegations of misconduct prompt university to investigate vaccine trial.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100915/pdf/467260a.pdf

Pope Benedict XVI's visit: six miracles reported to CrowdMap

Readers add information to Guardian's online database recording the pontiff's trip

At least six miracles were reported during the first day of the papal visit on the Guardian's CrowdMap today as readers from all over the country were asked to add any information they see or hear to an online database recording the trip. However, one picture of a man spraying sun-withered grass which was miraculously turning green was more likely to be down to paint than any divine intervention.

The picture was one of thousands of contributions from bloggers, tweeters and citizen journalists who scrutinised every dimension of Benedict XVI's visit online....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/pope-benedict-visit-six-mira...

Pope Benedict XVI goes to war with 'atheist extremism'

Pope uses visit to argue Nazi desire to eradicate God led to the Holocaust and Britain should respect its Christian foundations

Benedict XVI used the first papal state visit to Britain today to launch a blistering attack on "atheist extremism" and "aggressive secularism", and to rue the damage that "the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life" had done in the last century.

The leader of the Roman Catholic church concluded a speech, made before the Queen and assembled dignitaries at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, with the argument that the Nazi desire to eradicate God had led to the Holocaust and a plea for 21st-century Britain to respect its Christian foundations.

"Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society," he said. "In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms; and may that patrimony, which has always served the nation well, constantly inform the example your government and people set before the two billion members of the Commonwealth and the great family of English-speaking nations throughout the world."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/pope-benedict-xvi-atheist-ex...

Well, I gotta get back to masturbating.

he has funny eyes and doesnt get enough sun.he sounds off his rocker.I am guessing that the "scam" over the people has run it's course and he has (is) lost. If I offend ardent believers blame my "Simpsons" attitude. .

Onward Christian Soldiers , atheists are getting in the way with the war on Muslims.Aggressive Secularist?

The Situation in Queens and Brooklyn is very rough. The Long Island Railroad is not running out of Penn Station. Lots of people are stuck on the Grand Central parkway

I was lucky to walk in my building just as it was passing over the city but many people are still stuck at 10:30PM

Forest Hills and Middle Village got hit hard. Many people are stuck in their cars still.

I usually go on my roof to watch the storms but the lightning and thunder was so heavy I knew it was too dangerous.

the good news people will make money cleaning up tomorrow. One death which is sad.
tomorrow the amount of damage will be easier to see. It was very fast moving and
I feel for the people who havent gotten home yet. hundreds if not thousands of trees
are heavily damaged.

About Warren's appointment as assistant to the president and senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury Department to head up the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-johnson/elizabeth-warren-right-appoi...

"...(Elizabeth Warren)might not technically have as much authority as if she were the Senate confirmed Director, but thanks to precedents set into common law by the Bush Crime Family, Ms Warren could run her own death squad if the President so authorizes. The big advantage this new agency has is that it comes with no imbedded Republicans and since Ms Warren works directly for the President, she has no other boss in the bureaucracy and can staff the agency as she sees fit. Republicans and their Wall Street masters are livid and that is good news indeed."
www.prairie2.com

...and we'll see who President Obama really is because this is on him.

The Public’s Quiet Savior From Harmful Medicines
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey is 96 now, nearly deaf and barely mobile, as modest as her faded house in this Washington suburb. And though her story is nearly forgotten, she was once America’s most admired civil servant — celebrated for her dual role in saving thousands of newborns from the perils of the drug thalidomide and in serving as midwife to modern pharmaceutical regulation.

On Wednesday, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, will honor Dr. Kelsey with the first Kelsey award. It will be given to a F.D.A. staff member annually. The award will come 50 years after Dr. Kelsey, then a new medical officer at the agency, first sat down to consider an application from the William S. Merrell Company of Cincinnati to sell a sedative named Kevadon, which was widely prescribed in Europe for morning sickness in pregnancy.

As it turned out, the drug (better known by its generic name, thalidomide) would cause thousands of children in Europe to be born limbless or with flipperlike arms and legs. With her probing analysis of Merrell’s application and her insistence on scientific rigor, Dr. Kelsey ensured that the effects in the United States were far more limited.

The thalidomide disaster led Congress to pass legislation giving the F.D.A. authority to demand that drug makers prove their products safe and effective. Moreover, Dr. Kelsey helped write the rules that now govern nearly every clinical trial in the industrialized world, and was the first official to oversee them.

“She had a huge effect on the science that we all take for granted today,” said Daniel Carpenter, a professor of government at Harvard and the author of “Reputation and Power” (Princeton, 2010), a definitive history of the F.D.A.

The inauguration of the Kelsey award may also be a telling sign of where Dr. Hamburg stands in a series of internal agency struggles. For much of the past two decades, the F.D.A. has emphasized speed over certainty in its decisions — an industry-friendly stance that plays down safety concerns in favor of getting potential cures to the market as swiftly as possible.

But a series of drug, medical-device and food-safety controversies have led some agency medical officers to insist on better information before approving products and to lobby internally for risky products to be pulled from the market, putting the speed-oriented old guard on the defensive. A celebration of Dr. Kelsey, the patron saint of the agency’s safety-first faction, is bound to cheer those calling for greater caution.

Dr. Kelsey might never have reached the F.D.A. in the first place if her first name hadn’t sounded like a man’s.

Born in 1914 in British Columbia, Frances Kathleen Oldham was sent to a private boys’ school because her parents expected her to become as educated as her older brother. She was hired sight unseen by Dr. Eugene Geiling, a renowned pharmacology professor at the University of Chicago, because he read her name as Francis. When she got the acceptance letter, in 1936, she realized his mistake and asked a professor at McGill University whether she could accept the job.

“When a woman took a job in those days, she was made to feel as if she was depriving a man of the ability to support his wife and child,” Dr. Kelsey said in an interview at her home. “But my professor said: ‘Don’t be stupid. Accept the job, sign your name and put “Miss” in brackets afterward.’ ”

She was soon put to work helping Dr. Geiling establish the toxicity of elixir of sulfanilamide, a medicine that would be linked with scores of deaths because it contained a deadly industrial solvent. The scandal led Congress to strengthen drug regulations, giving her a role in two of the three seminal events in F.D.A.’s history.

While at Chicago, Miss Oldham earned a Ph.D. and soon became enamored of a fellow member of the pharmacology faculty, Fremont Ellis Kelsey. About that time, she tried an experimental malaria drug and turned entirely yellow. She was asked to provide urine samples every 24 hours, and one of the collection times coincided with a play to which he had invited her.

“So I had my little jar with a tight sealing top and a paper sack, and during intermission, I went to the toilet,” Dr. Kelsey said with a smile. “And then I got panic-stricken. Could I get to my seat without dropping this thing?

“So I walked out the bathroom door, and there was my future husband, who relieved me of the bag. I thought it was the most thoughtful thing he could do. He knew I would be worried.”

She arrived at the F.D.A. in 1960 as part of a new cadre of scientists who had begun insisting that drugs show clear evidence of effectiveness as a condition for approval, even though Congress had yet to grant the agency explicit authority to enforce that. Drugs could be sold 60 days after their makers filed information with the agency as long as it did not object; companies routinely sent new remedies to doctors and asked them to try the medicine in patients. Such testing was uncontrolled and entirely anecdotal.

Dr. Kelsey demanded better tests for thalidomide. She also distrusted Merrell, a company that had a history of confrontations with the F.D.A. She soon discovered that Kevadon had been linked in Europe with reports of nerve damage — reports the company had failed to provide her.

“I had the feeling throughout the day,” she wrote after a meeting with company executives, “that they were at no time being wholly frank with me and that this attitude has obtained in all our conferences, etc., regarding this drug.”

Company officials complained about Dr. Kelsey to her superiors, who supported her. When evidence became irrefutable that Kevadon caused horrendous birth defects, the company quietly withdrew its application.

Merrell executives had been insisting that “I was depriving people of this thing,” she said in the recent interview. “And then when it happened, I was so relieved to get them off my back. Amazing.”

Dr. Kelsey’s role in the saga would have remained little known if not for a front-page article in The Washington Post — which, in turn, led to legislation giving the F.D.A. far more power over the drug industry. President John F. Kennedy gave Dr. Kelsey the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, and a picture of her accepting the award wearing a black dress, holding a white purse and looking demure but competent became the iconic image of the agency.

With the F.D.A. given far more power, Dr. Kelsey set about with others at the agency to write rules for medical testing that created three distinct phases for human trials and strengthened rules for human protections and conflicts of interest. These rules have since been adopted worldwide. As the historian Dr. Carpenter put it:

“She and the F.D.A. had a huge role in determining the terms and sequence of what is now modern clinical science.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/health/14kelsey.html

I was in synagogue on Kol Nidre, the holiest night in the Jewish calendar, atoning for - among other things - according to the prayer book, not being open to the plight of the poor and hungry among us. I don't know if Mr. Schwarzman was at services on Yom Kippur, but if he was, he must have been selfishly oblivious.

Come out and play-ay.

Divers Stumble Over Fox Crime's Corpse in Spain
Known for Its Elaborate Stunts
Agency Bungalow 25 Scares Up Quite a Campaign for TV Network
Posted by Valentina Vescovi and Aixa Rocca on 09.16.10 @ 11:14 AM

MADRID (AdAge.com) -- Spaniards who just returned from their summer vacations less relaxed than usual can blame the new Fox Crime TV channel, whose launch strategy for Spain was to make their holidays as scary as possible. That included sinking a fake dead body -- a mannequin wrapped in a black cloth and bound with chains -- at the bottom of the ocean at popular scuba diving spot El Cabo Negro along the coast of Alicante.

Fox Crime TV channel sunk a fake dead body at the bottom of the ocean at a popular scuba diving spot in Spain. Bungalow 25, the Madrid-based independent agency that masterminded the "Crimes of Summer" scare campaign also planted a camera underwater to record the reactions of horrified scuba divers who thought they had stumbled across a murder victim. The video was sent to bloggers to spread virally and posted on YouTube. Seen up close, it's clear the mannequin's feet are cemented into a box that says "New channel. Fox Crime. Discover It."

"This isn't just a simple ambient idea," said Julio Gálvez, executive creative director and one of three founding partners at seven-year-old Bungalow 25. "We aimed to find a new advertising channel. Their reactions were spectacular. The whole situation became so realistic that more than once we had to dissuade people from calling the police."

The corpse and the whole "Crimes of Summer" campaign for the thematic crime channel featuring shows like "Law and Order," "NCIS" and "Dexter" turned lighthearted summer fun into potentially deadly activities. For instance, napkins at some beach hotels were imprinted with the message: "Fox Crime sponsors the egg and mayonnaise sandwich of the refreshment stall next door," implying imminent food poising in the summer heat. Fox even sponsored this year's "La Tomatina," an annual tomato-throwing street party held near Valencia, where people were given more than 120 tons of tomatoes to throw at each other to leave on the streets "the print of the bloodiest party ever."

"I think this is the smartest way of selling a brand: finding it in the least expected places," said Pablo Pérez-Solero, Bungalow 25's president. "Places that are in some way related to the message that the advertiser seeks to communicate but are not regularly used in advertising."
Continued here:
http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=145919

Sorry, Pablo, I am not buying it. And people who think this is an appropriate way to advertise a product are not wired properly or the environmental pollution has turned their brains to mush.

and get on Erik Princes' list:
(6 pages)

Disney, Chevron and Monsanto Contracted with Blackwater for Intelligence, Training and Security Services
One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups.

...One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm.......
http://www.alternet.org/investigations/148202/disney%2C_chevron_and_mons...

...Critical response to Palestine Peace Not Apartheid has been mixed...Some critics, including several leaders of the Democratic Party and of American Jewish organizations, have interpreted the subtitle as an allegation of Israeli apartheid, which they believe to be inflammatory and unsubstantiated."[8][9][10] Former President Bill Clinton wrote a brief letter to the chairman of the American Jewish Committee, thanking him for articles criticizing the book and citing his agreement with Dennis Ross's attempts to "straighten ... out" Carter's information and conclusions about Clinton’s own summer 2000 Camp David peace proposal.[11][12] The book led to 15 resignations from among the more than 200-member Board of Councilors of the Carter Center.......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Peace_Not_Apartheid

Watch: As Israel Slides Toward Fascism, Citizens and Supporters Swear Their Loyalty
Swearing a loyalty oath to Israel as an ethnic state is gaining legitimacy; a video produced by the authors shows the willingness of Israeli residents to pledge allegiance.
http://www.alternet.org/news/148201/watch%3A_as_israel_slides_toward_fas...

Papal visit: Pope Benedict in London

Pope Benedict XVI warned that there were some people who wanted to see "the voice of religion be silenced".

He called on those in attendance to seek ways to promote faith "at every level of national life".

BBC correspondent Peter Hunt described the speech as "a rallying call, and a plea - for religion not to be squeezed out by secular society".

In his speech, the Pope said: "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance.

"There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere.

"There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none."

The Pope then visited Westminster Abbey for a celebration of evening prayer....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11347073

CQ POLITICS NEWS
Sept. 16, 2010 – 11:24 p.m.

Tea Party Puts GOP on Road to Disaster
By Morton M. Kondracke, Roll Call Executive Editor

With tea party-, Sarah Palin - and Jim DeMint -backed candidates winning Republican primaries all over the country, it’s hard not to conclude that the GOP is committing suicide.

Or, as one GOP insider put it Wednesday, “we’re going to hell in a tea caddy.”

In the short term, victories by former fringe candidates Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada diminish — but do not eliminate — GOP chances of taking control of the Senate in November.

But, worse, the growing strength of right-wing ideologues threatens to shove the GOP into territory occupied by Democrats: out of the mainstream of U.S. opinion.

And, even worse than that, a harder-right GOP contingent in the House and Senate — whether in the majority or not — will make it harder to solve any of America’s huge problems, which will require compromise with President Barack Obama .
http://www.readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/72-72/3339-t...

Right now, the “establishment

I dont believe that big business like Monsanto would hire Blackwater XE to infiltrate activist groups.

I KNOW IT IN MY 'SOUL' THAT GREED AND POWER WILL MAKE PEOPLE POISON THEIR OWN CHILDREN.

"The republican war on science" a book by Chris mooney is a fine example of lieing scientists and Doctors and drug companies sabotaging the health of our fellow citizens and animals.

Class warefare ,M$M Bernaysing, MIC ,Medical Industrial Complex, white supremacy, religious manipulations are institutionalized into the diseased culture we live in today.

If " we " dont feel sad and angry and over powered by these dark forces there is something wrong with U.S.

My sister in the "Revolution to Return to Normalcy " Sweet Nora and all of the rest of you must have a terrible stomach ache. I miss her but I understand that many have retired to heal themselves.
I understand the frustrations that drive people to take control back by force.

My inner voice warns me not to act out violently and begging others to march on Gandhi's birthday is
all that I have to offer anymore.

I am tired of trying to educate and unite people to stand up and resist. I am just trying to live life like a Dr bronners label. I am afraid that there arent enough people who see things this way. This fear comes and goes when I am busy living my life but lately the feeling lingers too long and I waste my energy.

The economic stress from class warfare has eaten away my ability to make as much art or music or enjoy a clean environment with birds and animals as I thought I would be doing at this stage in my life.

But I gave away jobs to go to DC on oct 2nd and if any of you kindred spirits have a better suggestion
I am all ears.

That is the offical declaration of what happened in NY yesterday

It seems that voting in Paladino on the rethug/tea bagger party ticket has angered the weather gods.

A Tough Cop on the Wall Street Beat

We Win
Bernie applauded President Obama for tapping consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren to oversee creation of a new financial consumer protection bureau. At the White House today, Obama announced that the Harvard professor will be an assistant to the president and a special advisor to the Treasury secretary on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Bernie was among the first to back her in a July 19 letter that called her the best choice to stand up to the big banks and Wall Street. Nearly 14,000 of you signed Bernie’s petition supporting Warren. Thanks for your support. You made a difference.

Bernie Calls Warren ‘Smart’ and ‘Tough’
“I've known Elizabeth for many years. She's smart. She's tough. She's prepared to take on Wall Street,” he told MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan. “At a time when the working families of this country are profoundly disgusted by the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street, I applaud President Obama for putting her in charge of setting up the new Financial Consumer Protection Bureau. The American people are tired of being ripped off by large banks and financial institutions. In Professor Warren, they finally will have someone in a position of power who can protect their interests.”

About the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau
The new bureau created by the Wall Street reform law could have more impact on ordinary Americans than any other provision in the law. The bureau will write and enforce rules for mortgages, credit cards, student loans and debt collection. Warren wrote in a post on the White House blog that the purpose of the bureau is to ensure that people should be able to read their credit card and mortgage contracts and "know the deal."

‘Know the Deal’
“The new consumer bureau is based on a pretty simple idea: people ought to be able to read their credit card and mortgage contracts and know the deal,” Elizabeth Warren wrote about her assignment. “They shouldn’t learn about an unfair rule or practice only when it bites them—way too late for them to do anything about it. The new law creates a chance to put a tough cop on the beat and provide real accountability and oversight of the consumer credit market.”

A Defender of the Middle Class
“The American middle class is being threatened by the increasing costs of housing, health care and the loss of well-paying jobs,” Warren said at a 2008 town meeting that Bernie hosted in Montpelier, Vt. Even before the recession, Warren’s research showed that Americans were no longer able to save and were spending 150 percent more on their mortgages and 63 percent more for less health coverage.

About Professor Warren
The 61-year-old Harvard University professor describes herself as "not a Washington person." She has been in charge of monitoring the Treasury Department's handling of the $700 billion bank-bailout fund called the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Her grandmother, Hannie Reed, was 16 years old when she drove a wagon in the Oklahoma land rush. “When I was growing up,” Elizabeth recalled, “she talked about life on the prairie, about marrying my grandfather and making a living building one-room schoolhouses, about getting wiped out in the Great Depression. She was hit with hard challenges throughout her life, but the moral of her stories was always the same: she would solve her problems one at a time by pulling up her socks and getting to work.”

edited for easier posting
More links if you go to
http://sanders.senate.gov

With Senate "leader" Harry Reid trying to push through S.510 using "cloture" to cut-off debate, we say, wait for the New Congress (without, no doubt, Mr. Reid in the Senate!) and allow open debate on the forced industrialization of our local food supplies; stop the criminalization of food production...
S.3767, New Companion Bill to S. 510 Introduces Severe Criminal Penalties
For "Adulterating" Food, Which To FDA Means... Selling Supplements!
Food Fascism Battle is Far From Over
1. Must Take Revised Action Item Each Day; CLICK THE LINK RIGHT HERE:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY...
2. Must send viral! Please forward this item, urging contacts to take th
Action Item and then send it to their contact with the same request.
3. Check http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm to Find Your Senators' Phone Numbers.
Call Your Senators and Leave a Strongly Worded Message Like This One, Two, Three, Four:
1. S.510 is a CONTROVERSIAL BILL, adding criminal penalties to it through S.3767 is more controversial --
2. Please, Senator, put a HOLD on ALL "FOOD SAFETY" bills!
3. Senator, don't let it be pushed through the Senate immediately by parliamentary means as a non-controversial bill.
4. The bill can be reintroduced in January when hearings can held to allow groups which are opposed to the bill to tell how it will affect them and the American food supply.
Response to a Skeptic on S.510... Are we really "way out of propotion?"
Full response at: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=6690
"It is critical, when reading proposed statutory language, to see it in context. Our legislators are masters of the use of what we used to call Aesopian language when analyzing, for example, the propaganda of the unlamented former Soviet Union.
The same sort of analysis reveals the true legislative intent. You must read between the lines…
Thus, while the word "whether" is used in the Codex harmonization language, it is paired with the word "how" - and both have to be seen in the context of the FDA's Policy Statement published in the October 11, 1995 Federal Register (60 FR 53078) that it is US policy to "harmonize" with international regulations, even before they are finalized.
Couple that with Section 404: "Nothing in this Act… shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with… any …treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party."
And you have a carefully constructed road map to implementation of Codex.
Read more here: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=6690
For a sample letter to send to any group or person supporting S. 510 and S. 3767, click here:
http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=6652 and make free use of the material there.
More information, including video and bullet points: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=6269
Index

Leah on Fri, 09/17/2010 - 7:51pm.... & regarding Saint Phil{ip}
"...so funny i 4got 2 laugh..." tea hee

taozen on Fri, 09/17/2010 - 2:05pm. ...ahhh you would hate what I heard that Ghandi said to his son... :) ...but i like your post ...

Boo ... I need tea 2 brew ;) *poof*

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article695118.ece?homep...

powerful statement - since at that time i was running E.F.L.A. {& Southern Ca}.

Gandhi's son was a warrior, then to protecting Gandhi.

I've only known how he also was battered by the DEMS, especially then...

"Tomorrow's guests on HSRP.. @KarlFrisch from Media matters
and Janeane Garofolo! 11-1CST on WCPT &
chicagosprogressivetalk.com"
-Hal Sparks
about 10 hours ago via Twittelator

Hal, it's alo, not olo.

Posted on Fri, Sep. 17, 2010
Fox News sues Carnahan campaign over attack ad
By STEVE KRASKE
The Kansas City Star
Fox News Channel has sued Robin Carnahan’s Senate campaign, alleging the unauthorized use of a televised interview featuring rival candidate Roy Blunt that appears in a new Carnahan ad.

Carnahan’s campaign used footage from a “Fox News Sunday” interview with Blunt and the network’s Chris Wallace in early 2006. The footage makes up almost the entire 30-second Carnahan ad, which began running last Friday.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday in federal court in Kansas City, contends that the “smear ad” makes it appear that Fox and Wallace are endorsing Carnahan’s campaign. The ad uses Wallace’s image for monetary gain without his permission, violates copyright law and amounts to an invasion of privacy by “misappropriation of likeness,” according to the suit.

“The Carnahan ad is designed to make it appear as if Wallace — a trusted journalist — is instead speaking as a campaign operative,” the lawsuit stated.

Wallace is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Carnahan’s campaign said Thursday that the ad is still being broadcast statewide, although YouTube has removed the ad from its website. That, in turn, resulted in the video coming down on the Carnahan campaign website because the video operation there is linked to YouTube.

“We stand behind our ad,” Carnahan campaign spokesman Linden Zakula said in a statement. “It’s unclear why Fox News refuses to stand by its own content that simply asked questions about Congressman Blunt’s Washington record.”

Blunt’s campaign said the matter is between Carnahan and Fox. But a campaign spokesman added: “We do hope Robin Carnahan stops the dishonesty and false personal attacks.”

The ad features Wallace questioning Blunt, who at the time was running for House majority leader.

“You just said a moment ago that you have to show that you’re the party of reform,” Wallace says to Blunt. “You have to show that to voters. But some question whether you are the man to do that.”

Wallace continues, describing a 2002 incident where Blunt tried to insert legislation into a homeland security bill aimed at benefiting the Philip Morris tobacco company “while you were dating that company’s lobbyist.”

“Since 1999,” Wallace said in the interview, “you’ve received at least $429,000 in campaign contributions from lobbyists. And your campaign committees paid $485,000 to a firm linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Are you the one to clean up the House?”

The ad ends with Blunt looking at Wallace.

The Carnahan campaign’s decision “in stealing only certain footage from the FNS (“Fox News Sunday”) interview is also false and misleading,” the suit alleges. “Wallace’s tough questions were included, but Blunt’s answers and explanations were not.”

Jean Maneke, a Kansas City media lawyer, said no case law exists for a situation such as this one. She said the case could involve “fair use” law, which deals with the limited use of copyright material without requiring permission from the rights holders.

The key factor, she said, is whether the footage the Carnahan camp used could be classified as falling under the category of “comments or criticisms.”
http://www.readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/69-69/3347-fox-...

http://www.funky16corners.lunarpages.net/sounds/jackieandroy_crystalillu...

http://www.funky16corners.lunarpages.net/sounds/kingcoleman_freedom.mp3

http://www.funky16corners.lunarpages.net/sounds/charleshodges_daddylovep...

http://www.funky16corners.lunarpages.net/sounds/rufus_once.mp3

By Ian Sinclair

A recent edition to the New Internationalist’s ‘No-Nonsense’ book series, Symon Hill’s short guide to religion is a readable introduction to an often controversial and misrepresented subject.

Hill, a Quaker Christian who is the co-director of the Ekklesia thinktank and former media spokesperson for Campaign Against the Arms Trade, argues “For every example of a link between religion and oppression, there is a link between religion and liberation”. To illustrate the former he includes a shocking quote from the Bishop of London in 1914: “Kill Germans. Kill them, not for the sake of killing, but to save the world. Kill the good as well as the bad, kill the young as well as the old, kill those who have shown kindness to our wounded.”

Throughout Hill is keen to emphasis the complexity and contradictions inherent in any discussion of religion. He clearly supports the strengthening of what he calls “the bridge between religion and progressive politics”, and the book’s highlight for peace activists is likely to be the absorbing chapter exploring the concepts of ‘just war’, ‘pacifism’ and ‘holy war’.

However, as with other ‘No-Nonsense’ guides I have read, I found there to be something slightly bland and lacking in his analysis. For example, although he concedes he was forced to leave much out due to space restrictions, the omission of any in-depth discussion of organised religion’s relationship to schooling, homosexuality, abortion, HIV/AIDS and women’s rights is baffling.

Furthermore, I found his caricature and critique of ‘New Atheists’ like Richard Dawkins to be wholly unconvincing. For Hill this group has much in common with religious fundamentalists, including a literal approach to religious texts and the denial of “the complexity of truth” – that is they do not recognise “the validity of non-factual truth”. It all sounds like deliberately esoteric tosh to me but this could be because I myself am an atheist with a simplistic understanding of the truth.

With its brief survey of the world’s major religions and accessible tone, The No-Nonsense Guide to Religion will undoubtedly be a thought-provoking read for young people who are beginning to think about this unwieldy subject. However, I suspect more experienced activists and adults who have spent time mulling over this topic will struggle to find any new information or arguments here.

Janeane Garofalo on the
hal sparks radio program.

• _Listen_ <

• _Watch on USTREAM_ <

SNIP
Mr. Bloomberg has endorsed a Democrat, John Hickenlooper, for governor of Colorado, whose rival, Dan Maes, has called for the deportation of illegal immigrants and decried bicycle lanes as a threat to personal freedom. The mayor supports Senator Michael F. Bennet, another Colorado Democrat, who is running against the Tea Party-backed Republican Ken Buck.
The mayor has endorsed Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican running for Senate who beat back a Tea Party primary candidate, and is supporting Joe Sestak, a Democrat, for Senate in Pennsylvania. Mr. Sestak faces an uphill fight against Pat Toomey, a Tea Party challenger. In Nevada, Mr. Bloomberg has embraced Mr. Reid, whose challenger, Ms. Angle, wants to phase out Social Security.
But a blessing from the mayor could create a backlash. In Nevada, where Republicans are seeking to portray Mr. Reid as too cozy with Wall Street, Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the state party, said that a fund-raiser at the mayor’s home “will only remind Nevadans of how well he’s represented New York’s interests in Washington.”
Levi Russell, a spokesman for the Tea Party Express, which helped defeat Michael N. Castle, a Republican whom Mr. Bloomberg backed in Tuesday’s Delaware primary, said the mayor was misreading the mood of the electorate. Voters are hungry for limited government, he said.
But those seeking Mr. Bloomberg’s endorsement say that voters are not simply angry; they want solutions to problems, and that the mayor represents a government that, by all accounts, works well. Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, a Democrat who won the mayor’s backing for re-election this year, said voters were “sick of partisanship and they want us to deliver.”
-----------
might make sense to read the whole article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/nyregion/19bloomberg.html

mornin gang,

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert plan political rallies!

they’re responding to webfan pressure.

October 30th in Washington DC.

Rally to Restore Sanity:

http://www.rallytorestroresanity.com

March to Keep Fear Alive:

http://www.keepfearalive.com

Actually I thought that all was incredibly cynical and it pissed me off. A lot.

Um...did you hear what the other end of the spectrum supposedly was to teabaggers? (Again?)

But we all know I'm fuckin' nuts.

Scuse my hormones.

Or whatever.

at colbert/sterwart

One Nation is already in play.. OCT 2nd in DC

not too helpful unless THEY need attention . they are getting in the way to promote their own careers

Gloryoski Is making a good point .

Sweetie!

and appoints Warren . take that Scott brown. she makes so much sense about the credit card industry

http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20100918scott_brown_blasts...

[this is the link that the email references]
http://petition.stopsecretholds.com/forward
Dear Friend,

Right now we are facing one of the biggest threats to Senate progress, and, frankly, to democratic Senate elections we've ever faced: Secrecy.

As soon as next week, the McCaskill/Wyden/Grassley bill to stop secret holds is going to the floor for a vote. And, as you can imagine, there are many who want to see it fail -- especially all of those who have benefited from the clandestine sabotage we're trying to stop.

Those senators who are still undecided need a push -- and we need you to help us give it to them. And we don't have any time to lose.

Add your name to our call to pass the "Stop Secret Holds" bill. If we can demonstrate overwhelming grassroots support for this bill, we can overcome those who are aligned against us.

The use of "anonymous holds," the arcane procedure that allows a single senator to secretly torpedo any piece of legislation, has skyrocketed in the last few years. And with its rise, our ability to pass strong legislation -- and hold senators accountable for their actions -- has nosedived.

The bill would end this practice by taking the "secret" out of secret holds by requiring every senator who puts a hold on legislation to come out in the open and identify themselves.

Senators who want to hide something are using secret holds at an unprecedented rate. And it is costing us all in very concrete and specific ways.

Click here to visit StopSecretHolds.com, and see half a dozen real-world examples where secret holds have cost us in the last decade. When you see these, you'll see why we need to take action.

These anonymous holds are endangering our ability to get urgently needed legislation through the Senate. But, even more importantly, the practice endangers the very basis of our representative democracy.

In politics, your record is the report card voters use to choose their representatives. If senators are allowed to continue to avoid public scrutiny, we can't hold them accountable. And without accountability, democracy fails.

The era of Senate secret holds must end -- and end now. The American people simply can't wait any longer to know which of their representatives are holding up pieces of legislation.

Sixty-nine senators have signed the McCaskill letter pledging not to use secret holds themselves and supporting the end of the practice. But pledges can be broken -- laws can't. We need this bill passed.

Join us, and thousands of grassroots supporters: Join the call to pass the "Stop Secret Holds" bill -- sign your name now.

Thank you for your help. Together we can make our democracy stronger, break through the logjam that is blocking progress, and start insisting on transparent accountability.

We're glad you're with us in this fight.

Sincerely,

Claire McCaskill
U.S. Senator
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator

from Fo:

In a circular letter sent out by e-mail, the Italian playwright and Nobel laureate Dario Fo also stated his opinion on the attacks: "Big speculators joyfully splash about in an economy that lets millions of people die every year in misery. What are 20,000 dead in New York by comparison? ... Regardless of who carried out the massacre, this violence is the legitimate daughter of the culture of violence, hunger and inhumane exploitation."

While Fo's statement is evidence of a cynical anti-Americanism, Stockhausen's words appear as the monstrous result of radical artistic egocentrism. To the victims of terrorism, both the composer's mental descent into hell and the aging left-wing writer's stale, calculating spite must seem like hideous mockery.Sep. 18, 2001

Buzzy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xSuyXIdxE&feature=related

------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rClxeRmCcg&feature=related

with butterfied

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0LjW2P4idw&feature=fvw

http://vimeo.com/2448168

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement_(film)

...and it's not witchcraft, it's satanism.

Christine O'Donnell in 1999: 'I dabbled into witchcraft'
By Matt DeLong
Last updated at 12:12 p.m.

The story of Christine O'Donnell's past got a little stranger Friday. Bill Maher -- on whose former show, "Politically Incorrect," O'Donnell appeared repeatedly in the late 1990s -- showed a previously unaired clip from Oct. 29, 1999, on his current HBO program, "Real Time," in which the GOP Senate nominee from Delaware said she "dabbled into witchcraft." From ThinkProgress:

O'DONNELL: I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. ... I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do. [...]

One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that. ... We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.

O'Donnell is an outspoken conservative Christian, making this admission a little surprising.

Maher said he will show a clip every week until O'Donnell appears on his show. "It's like a hostage crisis," Maher said. "Every week you don't show up, I'm going to throw another body out."

(Watch: at the link.)

Update: In other O'Donnell news that may or may not be related, Bob Schieffer tweeted Saturday that the candidate has pulled out of a scheduled appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. She is still scheduled to appear on "Fox News Sunday" at 9 a.m.

Second Update: O'Donnell has also canceled her appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Diane Banister, whose public relations firm booked the shows for O'Donnell, said in an e-mail Saturday that O'Donnell canceled so she could attend a Republican campaign event Sunday in Delaware's Sussex County.
Go here for video:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/09/christine-odonnell-i-dabbled...

...never accused of objectivity in his reporting, McKelway will surely show up at Fox to work alongside his former co-worker Steve Do-Doocy.

WJLA-TV fires veteran anchor Doug McKelway, cites insubordination, misconduct
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 17, 2010

WJLA-TV has fired veteran anchorman Doug McKelway for a verbal confrontation this summer with the station's news director that came after McKelway broadcast a sharply worded live report about congressional Democrats and President Obama.

McKelway was placed on indefinite suspension in late July after his run-in with ABC7's news director and general manager, Bill Lord. In a letter to McKelway this week, the station said it was terminating his contract immediately, citing insubordination and misconduct.

Amid the ongoing BP oil spill in July, McKelway covered a Capitol Hill demonstration by environmental groups protesting the influence of oil-industry contributions to members of Congress.

In his piece, McKelway said the sparsely attended event attracted protesters "largely representing far-left environmental groups." He went on to say the protest "may be a risky strategy because the one man who has more campaign contributions from BP than anybody else in history is now sitting in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama, who accepted $77,051 in campaign contributions from BP."

After a brief taped segment updating efforts to cap the BP well, McKelway added that the Senate was unlikely to pass "cap-and-trade" legislation this year, because "the Democrats are looking at the potential for huge losses in Congress come the midterm elections. And the last thing they want to do is propose a huge escalation in your electric bill, your utility bill, before then."

Lord took exception to McKelway's reporting and asked to meet with him, according to several station sources who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. A shouting match between the two men ensued, leading to McKelway's suspension, sources said.

McKelway has alleged liberal favoritism in news reporting before; when he left his anchor chair at WRC after nine years to join WJLA in mid-2001, he blasted the station's lack of "balance," in a newspaper article.

McKelway declined to comment on his status at WJLA; Lord also declined to comment.

McKelway said that he is currently working on a book about his family's history in journalism in Washington. McKelway's grandfather, Benjamin, was the longtime editor of the Washington Star; his great-uncle St. Clair was a writer and editor for the New Yorker for 30 years; and his late uncle John was a columnist with the Star and the Washington Times.
ad_icon

WJLA is owned by Allbritton Communications of Arlington, which also owns TBD TV (formerly NewsChannel 8), Politico and TBD.com.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/16/AR201009...

...yea-yea, that's the ticket.

As India overhauls homeland security, U.S. firms vie for its business
By Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, September 18, 2010; 8:16 PM

NEW DELHI - At a sprawling exhibition hall in the capital, Indian military officers browsed displays of modern surveillance systems, sophisticated mine detectors, anti-hacking software and guns. They asked questions, took notes and scheduled meetings with company officials, setting in motion a major shopping spree.

In recent years, India has secured billion-dollar defense deals with U.S. companies to modernize its military. Now the country is overhauling its homeland security, and U.S. companies are again hoping to be first in line.

"As far as internal security goes, its strengthening and augmentation, there is going to be no dearth of money or resources," Ajay Maken, India's deputy home minister, said at the security conference this month.

After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai two years ago, authorities demanded better weapons and more sophisticated technology for police forces. Today, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, X-ray machines and bomb squads proliferate in airports, the Metro, malls, multiplexes and high-rises.

But analysts say the country's arsenal of domestic security weapons remains woefully inadequate in the battle against terrorism, separatist violence and Maoist guerrillas.

To upgrade its arsenal, India should turn to a "country which is strategically a friend of India," Maken said.

India and the United States have emerged as strong strategic allies since reaching a civilian nuclear accord that is likely to generate more than $100 billion worth of business. The two countries set up a counterterrorism cooperation initiative this year. Last month, Indian law enforcement and the FBI participated in a counterterrorism program that included sessions on improvised explosive devices and post-blast investigations.
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"The two governments have outlined the 'what' of homeland security priority areas. The industry will now map the 'how,' said retired U.S. Adm. James Loy, a former deputy secretary of homeland security and commandant of the Coast Guard. "The American companies want to make a contribution in the areas of counterterrorism, police modernization, cyber-security and transport safety."

Business opportunities for security companies over the next few years will be worth nearly $1.7 trillion, said Loy, who led a U.S. delegation to the conference this month.

Maken said India is also setting up a national intelligence database and modern crime tracking systems that prioritize cyber-security. "The more we are technologically advanced, the more is the threat of infiltration in our networking systems," he said.
"
India's internal security department has also bought long-range acoustic warning systems, sound guns and other devices from American companies.

In recent weeks, the country's police and paramilitary forces have been widely criticized for firing at stone-throwing teenage protesters in the troubled Himalayan valley of Kashmir. About 85 protesters have been killed this summer.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed state police chiefs to find nonlethal means to control mobs. That opened up opportunities for companies such as Taser International, an Arizona-based firm that set up an office in India after the Mumbai attacks and attended the homeland security conference this month.

In August, paramilitary forces and the Kashmir police department decided to buy Tasers, and the state's police officers are now learning how to use them. India's national police training school and commando force have also bought Tasers this year for training.

"Earlier, our force had weapons that were meant to kill," said P.M. Nair, inspector general of the Central Reserve Police Force. "But now we have introduced nonlethal weapons to deal with volatile situations in Kashmir or other demonstrations elsewhere in the country."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR201009...

niece & nephews in TX will be pleased :D}

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=6726

Yeah we did it again.

SEE the Beltway Bubalas!
WATCH them twist themselves into pretzels alternately defending the tea baggers and the administration!
YELL at your teevee!
THROW bricks!

Brick TeeVee Connecting Dots & Bill-n-Hill Show!
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5988

How is Sederville tonight?

TAOZEN! I'm into Wisconsin Cheese Sandwiches! Where do we meet in DC on Oct 2?
Start a thread over there! ----------------->

GRITtv: Naomi Klein: Building a Real Left

"We have to build that independent left. It has to be so strong and so radical and so militant and so powerful that it becomes irresistible." Who better to say such a thing than Naomi Klein, Nation columnist, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, and longtime rabblerouser? Naomi makes a special visit to the GRITtv studio to talk about the recent G20 meetings in her hometown of Toronto, about Obama's recent return to a kind of populism, the looming midterm elections in the U.S., her reporting on the BP disaster in the Gulf, and what we can do to channel the growing rage in this country and in the world into a true progressive movement.

White Rose Society plays some (or all) between-sets music on their Mike Malloy stream.
Here's one.

FREAK KITCHEN
http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/eV76V8R5yLs/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344">

Exposed

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...

*** ***

still grrr

snagged from ms in la (h/t too funny!)

Colbert is right. We must do everything in our power to Keep Fear Alive in America!

Are you doing YOUR part in the war on Terriers?

******** WANTED ********

Ahmed Adbul al Fakasan; Omar Abdul Sheik Khalifa; Abdul Ali Sunnistan

Wanted by the FBI for the recent break-in to SeeAyeAee trash bin detail. Suspected ring leaders of a Terrier plot to install Sharia law in America operating out of dog pounds in small towns across the country. Suspects are believed to be armed, legged, tailed, and dangerous. Do not approach. Alert your local law enforcement officials should you 'spot' them within your vicinity. **Photo is mugshot provided by Virginia Police Dept dated July 17, 2010. In an attempt to disguise himself from law enforcement officials, "Omar" is reputed to have colored and trimmed his hair since date of the photograph. Artists rendering depicts what he may look like today.

Keep Fear Alive.

My Dear Terror Terrier will never have her ear-hair clipped...

They have grown :Witchy-Kewl. Arf ;)

in middle of night... Kewl

Little Simon shown with the tools of torture and bloodletting.

Trent (Trento in Italian) was no Eastern European backwater town full of ignorant kulaks that hated Jews. It was in 1475 already an old and beautiful northern Italian city of the scenic Tyrol region, experiencing the height of Renaissance art and culture. It had universities and a highly educated professional class. Its people were of typically northern Italian stock, with a good dose of Alpine and German in the mix. By the first half of the fourteenth century, German Jews were already settled in this Tyrolean town. In the fifteenth century, the Jews of Trent possessed a synagogue, a house of study and three other houses. They were well established as a part of the community. The local rules on usury (interest rates) served as a model for other cities of the region. Standards of literacy were high for the times. It was a Catholic city with many churches and devout religious people. Later in the 1500s it would host the famous Councils of Trent launching the Catholic Counter-Reformation against the encroachments of Protestantism. It was a clean, healthful prosperous city growing and expanding in trade, culture and the arts. Trent was a comfortable place to live the good life of Renaissance times.

The cultured citizens were shocked when a thirty month old boy, Simon, disappeared. Just as in child abduction cases today, the parents and citizenry went through a period of shock and disbelief as efforts to find the boy failed. Perhaps, they hoped, he had only been disobedient, and gone off somewhere to play with other children. As the time grew later and later, another kind of shock and terror took hold as they began to realize that any chance of finding the boy alive was fast fading away. The parents of little Simon must have felt awful. They were both away from home when the child went missing, perhaps attending Holy Week services. What terrible anguish and misgivings did these frightened parents feel? If you have ever loved a child, you can place yourself in this horrid dilemma.

It seems that Simon Gerber played outside after the family dinner, last seen sitting on the front steps of his home. Later testimony revealed that one Tobias Cohn, a Jewish resident of Trent, approached him. Tobias was no ordinary citizen. He was a doctor, a surgeon to be exact, skilled in the use of knives and blades. Tobias became friendly with the boy, eventually picking him up and bearing him away to the house of a co-conspirator, one Samuel. Simon was not seen alive again. This all happened on 21 March 1475 on a Thursday. To be precise, it was Maundy Thursday of Holy Week - and it was also Passover. The crime, occurring as it did during this high holy season, attracted much attention. Eventually the focus of public attention fell upon the Jews. They were seen with the lad, and the full story soon unfolded. In a curious development, the body was “discovered” by some of the Jews in the river. This may have been a tactical move by the cult to go ahead and let the body be found, hopefully directing attention away from them. Due to the arcane Kabalistic dogma, the cult never buried a victim, hence problems with body disposal. But, if the boy's body was found in the water, then he probably drowned accidentally as the not yet three-year-old could not swim. If believed, a funeral would be the end of it, or so they hoped. Poor Simon’s body was found in the Adige River (in German, the Etsch) that flowed not far from the house of the co-conspirator, Samuel. Nevertheless, the matter was not handled so easily. The boy’s naked body had curious and extraordinary wounds and incisions, and showed recent signs of circumcision! Further examination showed that the body was almost completely bloodless. It was soon clear that he had not drowned.

Still ATT I know not what to say, save...
Tea & Time To Brew, as the rain continues to fall.

care2 petitionsite actionAlert

Hi X,

Are you in need of some good news? Here are some recent examples of what Care2 members have helped accomplish.

Wolf Mountain Sanctuary Re-Opened
Wolf The paperwork is in and Wolf Mountain Sanctuary (WMS) is open -- all thanks to you! County officials demanded the sanctuary re-permit in order to remain open, but WMS could not afford the pricey process. After being bombarded with almost 13,000 petition signatures and emails urging them to open WMS, officials finally listened! Help more wolves.

Kevin Keith Saved From Death Sentence
Kevin Keith Thanks to supporters like you, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland spared Kevin Keith from execution last week. Death Penalty Focus created a petition -- signed by 14,000 Care2 members -- to save this man, who many believe was convicted based on flawed identifications. We are so happy Governor Strickland listened to all of you. Read more.

EU Seal Trade Ban Takes Effect
Seal On August 20, the EU ban on seal product trade came into effect. Thank you to all the Care2 members and animal activists who continue to fight for seals. Although the ban has some flaws, this major step forward gives us hope for even better seal protection and a complete ban of seal products in the future. Read more.

Federal Judge Rules Military Gay Ban Is Unconstitutional
Military A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service personnel, known as "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT), is unconstitutional. The judge will now issue a permanent injunction to prevent enforcement of the DADT rule, ending such discharges. Activists are working hard to ensure DADT is eliminated for good. Read more.

Florida Bans Fox and Coyote Pens
Fox pen Earlier this summer, we celebrated when one Care2 member's petition helped convince the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to draft a rule banning all fox and coyote pens. Now a new petition with almost 3,000 signatures resulted in the FWC voting to approve the rule and ban fox and coyote pens statewide. Read more.

We love sharing good news with you. Keep up the great work and remember to share your own success stories with us by emailing successstories@earth.care2.com.

Best Wishes!

Megan S.
Care2 Campaigns Team
ThePetitionSite.com

Posted by Hendrik Hertzberg
Judging from the posted clip, Jimmy Carter’s “60 Minutes” interview isn’t going to earn him a lot of points for graciousness. I was a junior White House speechwriter at the time he talks about, but I wasn’t privy to the insider machinations between him and Ted Kennedy. Nor have I seen his new book, which is culled from the diary he kept as President. I’ll have to do some research before I can judge whether what he says about Ted torpedoing his health-care initiative has a reasonable factual basis.

From what I remember, though, I would say that the failure of Carter’s health-care bill (like the failure of his reëlection campaign, which Ted did his modest part to ensure) was overdetermined.

Like every Democrat since Truman, Carter ran as an advocate of comprehensive national health care for all. But he was something of a fiscal conservative. He was a moralist, a low-church hard-pew Baptist, a devotee of facing hard truths and postponing gratification. The good old Protestant ethic. Pay as you go wasn’t enough for him—he believed in pay before you go.

Whatever his reasons, he decided to approach health care step by step, and the first step would be hospital cost containment. That was admirable in some ways. If you start the meal by gorging on ice cream, you probably won’t eat your spinach. But it’s not hard to see why cost containment was a political loser. Its benefits would be real, but they would be widely and thinly spread. Most people wouldn’t notice them until the programs that cost containment would help pay for materialized down the road. On the other hand, the interests whose costs would be contained—i.e., the hospital industry and its suppliers—knew exactly who they were, and they were rich, well-organized, and well-connected. Whatever Ted did or didn’t do, the Carter approach was probably doomed.
http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/83-83/3357-oy-no...

Tonight the West Coast part of the Brutal Beauty tour begins in Sacramento at Movies on a Big Screen at the Guild. Director Chip Mabry and the Sacred City Derby Girls in attendance.

or as I like to call him "Detox Chakra" has a new novel called Mohammed.Since I feel his Vedantist view and after seeing him talk On ABC TV I think He has some intentions to help clear up alot of misunderstandings. He is a memeber of the 4H Club

Harmless,Helpful,Humble,and Happy!

It just has this unfortunate flatulence connotation to me...

But maybe that's just me.

Anyhow, too late now.

is cracking me the eff up

For those who don't know: several hours ago Ken Mehlman randomly sat next to Maron on a plane.

Hilarity ensued.

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

Television footage shot by the BBC's Natural History Unit has provided the first evidence that tigers can live and breed at extremely high altitudes.

The team filmed the animals, normally found in jungle habitats, more than 4,000 metres high in the Himalayas.

Experts say the discovery could make it easier to create a conservation corridor, linking populations of the endangered felines across Asia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11368475

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/opinion/20krugman.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_H...

A British company that uses a genetically modified compost-heap bug to produce biofuel from rubbish has signed a $500m (£319m) contract with a US firm.
TMO Renewables developed a strain of "turbo-charged" bacteria that can turn tea bags, cardboard, wood and other household waste into fuel for cars and trucks. The Guildford-based company signed a 20-year, $25m-a-year deal with US firm Fiberight.
The technology is part of a wave of "second generation" biofuels that are not made from crop plants. The use of rubbish is aimed at addressing concerns that growing plants for fuel will raise food prices.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/20/tmo-renewables-bacteri...

We live in a revolutionary era where technology enables everyone to publish, and this calls for a redefined role for newspapers, says Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian. In an interview, he covered a wide range of subjects, ranging from reader engagement and core values of journalism, to free speech, defamation, the rise of mobile devices and the Wikileaks phenomenon.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/article699199.ece

who have been on board since before WTF, all of you --

September 20, 2010

Sidewalk Murder Scene Should Have Displayed Vivid Bullet Impact Marks

New Tests Show Key Witnesses Lied at Abu Jamal Trial

By DAVE LINDORFF and LINN WASHINGTON, Jr.

During the contentious 1982 murder trial of Philadelphia radio-journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, a central argument of the prosecution in making its case for the conviction and for imposition of a death penalty was the trial testimony of two key eyewitnesses who claimed to have actually seen Abu-Jamal fire his pistol repeatedly, at virtually point-blank range, into the prone Officer Daniel Faulkner.

This testimony about Abu-Jamal’s shooting at the defenseless policeman execution-style solidified the prosecution’s portrayal of Abu-Jamal as a cold-blooded assassin.

There was however, always the lingering question, never raised at trial, or even during the subsequent nearly three-decades-long appeals process, of why, if Abu-Jamal had fired four bullets downward at Faulkner, only hitting him once with a bullet between the eyes on the morning of December 9, 1981, there was no evidence in the surface of the sidewalk around the officer’s body of the bullets that missed.

Now two independent journalists have raised further questions about that troubling lack of any evidence of missed shots by doing something that neither defense nor prosecution ever bothered to do, namely conducting a gun test using a similar gun and similar bullets fired from a similar distance into a slab of old concrete sidewalk similar to the sidewalk at the scene of the original shooting on the south side of Locust Street just east of 13th Street in Center City, Philadelphia.

Their test conclusively demonstrated it is impossible to fire such a gun from a standing position into a sidewalk without the bullets leaving prominent, unambiguous and clearly visible marks. Yet, the prosecution’s case has Abu-Jamal performing that exact miracle, missing the officer three times without leaving a trace of his bad marksmanship. So where are the missing bullet marks? The police crime-scene photos presented by the prosecution don’t show any, and police investigators in their reports don’t mention any bullet marks on the sidewalk around the slain officer’s body.

The results of this test fundamentally challenge the prosecution’s entire case against Abu-Jamal since they contradict both eyewitness testimony and physical evidence presented by the prosecution about the 1981 murder of Officer Faulkner in a seedy section of downtown Philadelphia.
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff09202010.html

September 17 - 19, 2010

CounterPunch Diary

Autumn of the Driveler

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN

Some world leaders mature as they head into the sunset: Jimmy Carter often makes more sense in his eighties than he did as president nearly four decades ago. Others spare the world their midnight thoughts, not always voluntarily. Ronald Reagan succumbed to Alzheimers; Ariel Sharon is still animate, albeit effectively dead to the world. Alas, Fidel Castro just broke an arm and a kneecap when he tripped on that fateful concrete step six years ago. Would that he had bitten off his tongue and thus spared his erstwhile admirers, myself included, the sound of this once great revolutionary plunging into kookdom.

If President Raúl Castro wants to defend Cuba’s record on human rights, all he needs to do point to the fact that his brother has not been deposed from his formal position as First Secretary of the Communist Party, and carted off to an isolation ward in the Casa de Dementes, Havana’s psychiatric hospital. Instead he has unstinted access to the state radio and the newspaper Granma.

In both of these media Castro, now 84, has spouted a steady stream of drivel.

Memorable among these forays intonutdom was his outburst of conspiracism on the sixth anniversary of the Trade Center/Pentagon attacks with the whole slab of nonsense read out by a Cuban television presenter.

Castro claimed that the Pentagon was hit by a rocket, not a plane, because no traces were found of its passengers. "Only a projectile could have created the geometrically round orifice created by the alleged airplane," according to Fidel. "We were deceived as well as the rest of the planet's inhabitants." All nonsense of course. There were remains of the passengers on the plane that hit the Pentagon, in the form of teeth and other bits traced through DNA. Hundreds of people saw the plane -- people who know the difference between a plane and a cruise missile. The wreckage of the plane was hauled out from the site.

It’s logical that maximum leaders like Castro are conspiracists by disposition. Since they are control freaks, the random and the accidental are alien to their frame of reference. If it happened, it happened for a reason. And if a bad thing happened, it was very probably a conspiracy.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09172010.html

Serbia Surrenders Kosovo to the EU

By DIANA JOHNSTONE

On September 10, at the UN General Assembly, Serbia abruptly surrendered its claim to the breakaway province of Kosovo to the European Union. Serbian leaders described this surrender as a “compromise”. But for Serbia, it was all give and no take.

In its dealings with the Western powers, recent Serbian diplomacy has displayed all the perspicacity of a rabbit cornered by a rattlesnake. After some helpless spasms of movement, the poor creature lets itself be eaten.

The surrender has been implicit all along in President Boris Tadic’s two proclaimed foreign policy goals: deny Kosovo’s independence and join the European Union. These two were always mutually incompatible. Recognition of Kosovo’s independence is clearly one of the many conditions – and the most crucial – set by the Euroclub for Serbia to be considered for membership. Sacrificing Kosovo for “Europe” has always been the obvious outcome of this contradictory policy.

However, his government, and notably his foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, have tried to conceal this reality from the Serbian public by gestures meant to make it seem that they were doing everything possible to retain Kosovo.

Thus in October 2008, six months after U.S.-backed Kosovo leaders unilaterally declared that the province was an independent State, Serbia persuaded the UN General Assembly to submit the following question to the International Court of Justice for an (unbinding) advisory opinion: “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?’”

This was risky at best, because Serbia had more to lose by an unfavorable opinion than it had to gain by a favorable one. After all, most of the UN member states were already refusing to recognize Kosovo’s independence, for perfectly solid reasons of legality and self-interest. At best, a favorable ICJ opinion would merely confirm this, but would not in itself lead to any positive action. Serbia could only hope to use such a favorable opinion to ask to open genuine negotiations on the status of the province, but the Kosovo Albanian separatists and their United States backers could not be forced to do so.
http://www.counterpunch.org/johnstone09172010.html

How did Reagan, even as a big business apologist, hold the 54 GOP Senate seats and only lose 26 House seats in the mid-term election of 1982? Reagan was, in the words of Jim Kessler, “facing 10.8 percent unemployment, 6 percent inflation, a declining GDP, an approval rating barely above freezing and the indignity of having drastically increased the budget deficit over the previous year after running as a fiscal hawk.” Maybe it is because enough voters saw the “Gipper” as knowing what he stood for and showing steadfastness and better times coming soon, in comparison to the wavering, concessionary posture of the then-majority Democrats in the Congress.

Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.

http://www.rense.com/general92/bill.htm
=======

http://www.rense.com

http://shivchopra.com/?page_id=2

some more on the topic

For further information, watch these videos:

Food Laws Forcing people to globalize
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia-P4rL2IWc

State Imposed Violence to snatch resources of ordinary people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onw_PkVvpts&feature=related

Corporate Rule
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PwqUQ_HIlg&feature=related

Dr. A. Evangelista
Dir. of Operations and Research
Public Health, Medical Fraud, Investigations
also: Veteran, Casual Hero, Patriot Park County, Montana

Monsanto, Blackwater, and GM Crop Saboteurs
by Rady Ananda / September 20th, 2010

http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/09/monsanto-blackwater-and-gm-crop-sabote...

The water of life: A small world with huge potential
In the icy oceans of Enceladus, one of Saturn's tiny moons, scientists believe that there is proof that aliens exist. So why are there no plans to return to this mysterious miniature world?

By David Whitehouse

Monday, 20 September 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-water-of-life-a-small-worl...

Andrew Breitbart Confronts Hateful Protesters At Right Nation 2010

In the name of 'ending the hate' Democratic Party Protesters use homosexual slurs against Andrew Breitbart, and engage in name calling, using terms like 'crazy' and 'tea baggers' in their political discourse.

These Alinsky trained Progressives were organized and delivered by President Obama's and the DNC's Organizing For America, and the SEIU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWlqiv-YL7c&feature=player_embedded#!

President Waylaid by “Deeply Disappointed” Supporters
By: David Dayen Monday September 20, 2010 12:24 pm

I did not see the CNBC town hall on the economy that President Obama held today, and I initially envisioned this to be another one of these Presidential meetings with Wall Street types where he begs them to “do the right thing” and support something not in the interests of their bottom lines. It was held in New York (UPDATE: it was at the Newseum in DC. Full transcript here.) but I guess the audience was generally sympathetic to the President, at least at one point, and they expressed their disappointment not with raising taxes on the rich, but with the totality of his Presidency:

An African-American woman who described herself as a chief financial officer, a mother and a military veteran said she was disappointed that Mr. Obama had not lived up to her once-lofty expectations.

“I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration. … I’m deeply disappointed where we are right now,” she said, adding that when she voted for Mr. Obama, she thought he would change Washington. “I’m waiting, sir. I’m waiting. I don’t feel it yet. … Is this my new reality?”

Moments later, a young man offered a similar theme. He noted that the president had ignited a wave of inspiration for young people and students.

“That inspiration is dying away,” he said. “It feels like the American dream is not attainable for a lot of us. … Is the American dream dead for me?”

These comments strike at the heart of the dumbfounding strategy to browbeat the liberal base into accepting that the Presidency has been a towering triumph of liberalism. I had the occasion of speaking with Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, over the weekend. When asked about how he approaches voters, he finds the best policy is to be very straightforward. He said that he starts with “You’re right,” that things aren’t good right now, and that everyone has a right to be disappointed. He described the conversations his phone bankers are having with voters as something akin to therapy sessions, where voters spend a lot of time venting their frustrations. There’s only one way you can approach people in a mood like this – with some measure of validation. You have to accept their premise because any attempt to talk them out of their objective reality will be met with skepticism...

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/09/20/president-waylaid-by-deeply-disap...

If and When Democrats Keep the House, Conyers Should Remind Holder the Import of Congressional Oversight
By: emptywheel Monday September 20, 2010 3:14 pm

[snip]

Maybe Conyers can start by asking Holder to either provide a more credible explanation for why Pittsburgh’s FBI office was lying about taking a picture at a peace rally with no premise to do so than the FBI provided to Inspector General Glenn Fine (more on this IG Report in a bit).

FBI officials, including the Pittsburgh office’s top lawyer, engaged in distinctly COINTELPRO-style tactics after the American Civil Liberties Union sued for the release of documents relating to the surveillance.Boiled down to their essence, those tactics involved officials generating post-dated “routing slips” and other paper to create a terrorism threat that didn’t exist.

Or as the inspector general put it, the FBI’s elaborate, “after-the-fact reconstruction” of the Pittsburgh events, designed to fabricate a counter-terrorism rationale for the rookie’s surveillance mission, “was not corroborated by any witnesses or contemporaneous documents.”

It was on the basis of their fabrication, moreover, that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III gave “inaccurate and misleading” testimony to Congress, the IG said.

The IG’s recounting of the Pittsburgh events is lengthy and meticulous.

The FBI, however, continues to deny that bureau officials engaged in an elaborate and deliberate scheme to deceive investigators, Congress and the pubic about what was, in retrospect, one rookie agent’s minor, misdirected surveillance of the Pittsburgh antiwar demonstration.

“Nobody,” the FBI says, “had a motive to provide an intentionally misleading account of it.”

It seems the only people who are given carte blanche to lie and obstruct justice are those trying to evade Congressional oversight, and the people who rely on that seeming carte blanche report up through Holder. That’s a management failure and a failure of the rule of law.

Would that the Attorney General cared more about that rule of law than chumming up to the opposition party.
******************************************
7 Comments Spotlight
7 Responses to “If and When Democrats Keep the House, Conyers Should Remind Holder the Import of Congressional Oversight”

Jeff Kaye September 20th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
1
If readers don’t have it, here’s a link (PDF) to the DoJ Inspector General’s report, just released today, A Review of the FBI’s Investigations of Certain Domestic Advocacy Groups, September 2010.

Lots to look at and laugh and fear in this report. Nice to know that civil disobedience can be a reason to open a terrorist investigation, or that throwing blood on a federal building or a U.S. flag (are you listening, Sen. Feinstein?) is a “forceful” act that would warrant classifying the act as an act of terrorism, as “wilful injury” to U.S. property is listed (or was in 2002) as an offense in the definition of the federal crime of terrorism. (See page 148 of report as the FBI goes after that notorious group, the Catholic Workers!).

Haven’t by any means read this whole report, which appears a classic partial admission of crimes, without any real accountability, or admission that the sum total of these events represent attacks upon Constitutional rights.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/09/20/if-and-when-democrats-keep-...

Rethinking Palin

For OpEdNews: earl ofari hutchinson - Writer

It's time to rethink Sarah Palin. From the moment that Republican presidential candidate John McCain plopped her on his ticket, the supreme article of political faith from all pundits, much of the press, most Democrats, and the GOP establishment has been that Sarah Palin is a laughingstock, a sideshow diversion, an ignoramus on the issues, a gossip and celebrity starved media creation, and, of course, a closet race tinged crowd baiter. The Palin allure is built squarely on elements of these features. But what's now painfully obvious, is the allure has turned Palin into a political force, threat, and danger.

The millions of Palin loathers gag at the thought of this. But her string of victories by candidates she endorsed in the primaries, and a flip-flop in some polls that now show more people than not say that she should run, and a more than a few say that she should win, have radically changed the game.
The tough to swallow truth is...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Rethinking-Palin-by-earl-ofari-hutchin-...

"Check Your Package': Public Information About Cancer Too Racy For Facebook!

For OpEdNews: Dominique Lord - Writer

ksnip>
What's even weirder (and by 'weirder', I mean 'insane') is that Facebook already has pages completely devoted to the male midsection, not to mention the parts below...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Check-Your-Package--Publ-by-Dominique-L...

Andy Borowitz: Delaware Masturbators March Against O’Donnell - Humor

Posted on Sep 19, 2010

Fake news by Andy Borowitz

WILMINGTON—Galvanized by Republican senatorial nominee Christine O’Donnell’s anti-masturbation stance, masturbators from across the state converged on Wilmington today in what some are calling the largest pro-wanking protest in American history.

Carrying signs reading, “O’Donnell: Hands Off Our Masturbation,” the angry masturbators clogged downtown Wilmington, stopping traffic for blocks. Harley Farger, a leading Delaware masturbator and planner of the Million Masturbators March, said it was difficult to organize masturbators “because they’re used to acting alone.”...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/delaware_masturbators_march_against_...

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Also, it's Monday...

I don't think anyone can dispute that. But you never know...

OAKLAND, California — As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the United States' most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana.
The Teamsters added nearly 40 new members earlier this month by organizing the country's first group of unionized marijuana growers. Such an arrangement is likely only possible in California, which has the loosest U.S. medical marijuana laws.
But it's still unclear how the Teamsters will safeguard the rights of members who do work that's considered a federal crime.

more

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39278089/ns/business-us_business/

Police Fatally Shoot Dog At Adams Morgan Festival.

A D.C. police officer shot and killed a festival-goer's dog amid hundreds of onlookers in Adams Morgan on Sunday afternoon in an incident that was either completely justified or totally unnecessary, depending on whom you ask.

This much, witnesses say, is clear: Sometime after noon on Sunday, two dogs started snapping at each other in the middle of a crowd enjoying cheese fries and funnel cake at the annual Adams Morgan Day festival on 18th Street NW. D.C. police officers soon got involved, and at some point, one of them shot and killed the larger dog, described as either a pit bull or Shar-Pei mix.

The disagreement is in the details.

Aaron Block, 25, of Dupont Circle said he was walking his 2-year-old Shar-Pei mix, Parrot, up 18th Street when the dog suddenly turned around and bit a poodle that was passing by. He said he separated the two dogs -- cutting his hand inside Parrot's mouth in the process -- and was subduing his dog when police arrived.

That's when a D.C. police officer took over, putting his knee in the middle of Parrot's back while he pulled the dog's forelegs behind him, Block said. He said that the officer then grabbed Parrot by his neck and threw him over a banister at the Brass Knob antique store and that just as the dog righted itself, the officer pulled out his gun and fired. Parrot was "a full 12 to 15 steps away," Block said, and was "making no aggressive overtures." The dog, he noted, "doesn't handle stairs well."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/12/AR201009...

GOP House hopeful Jim Russell praised racist practices, encouraged eugenics in 2001 essay

By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, September 20th, 2010 -- 8:25 pm
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A New York Republican hoping to displace the long-serving Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey will face an increasingly steep climb to electoral victory thanks to a revelation by Politico's Maggie Haberman, who dug up some of his published works and noted a number of distinctly racist elements in a 2001 piece published by the right-wing Occidental Quarterly.

Jim Russell, who enjoys the support of his state's Republican Party and conservative establishment, has maintained a strongly anti-immigrant stance in his campaign against Lowey, who defeated him in 2008.

The same could be said of his 2001 essay for Occidental [PDF link], titled "The Western Contribution to World History," which advises parents to establish "appropriate ethnic boundaries" for their children, and criticizes the film "Save the Last Dance" for depicting an interracial relationship.

He also opined against the racial integration of public schools and praised two individuals for their antisemitic ideas on how to limit the spread of Jews.

Russell even lauded some ideas behind the practice of eugenics, a radical ideology most commonly associated with Germany's Third Reich which seeks to preserve racial and ethnic purity.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/republican-house-hopeful-jim-russell-...

Tariq Ali & Alexander Cockburn: War and Taxes

Tariq Ali and Alexander Cockburn talk with Laura about the conventional wisdom of today on just about every political issue, domestic and global.

Murkowski says GOP leaders turned backs on her
By BECKY BOHRER, AP
1 hour ago
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U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R- Alaska climbs to the stage in preparation to...
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JUNEAU, Alaska — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday she feels that Republican leaders have turned their backs on her as she mounts a write-in bid to try to hold onto her seat.

Murkowski, who lost last month's GOP primary to tea-party-supported Joe Miller, told The Associated Press that she understands this, though: GOP leaders are "committed to a process that is pretty absolute."

"You've got a situation where people are, they're counting numbers. And if it's a Republican body, that's the body we want," she said in an interview from Anchorage. "Here in Alaska, what I hear so often is, 'I vote for the individual. I look at the person, I don't really get myself tied into the party label.'"

...and Good Day Again} ;);(

watch... ;} Ultimate Gamer

Health Insurers Skirt New Coverage Requirement For Kids : Shots

Starting late this week, parents of children with pre-existing health conditions were expecting to breathe easier.
Sign reads: No children allowed.

That's when a provision of the federal law overhauling health care takes effect and bans insurance companies from denying individual policies for kids with a history of health problems. But families counting on the change could be in for a shock.

The Denver Post reports, "at least six major companies — including Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, and Humana — have said they will stop writing new policies for individual children" in Colorado. The companies "blamed health reform mandates taking effect Thursday requiring companies that write such policies as of that date to also cover sick children up to age 19," the paper said.

The Washington Post reports that three big insurers — WellPoint, Cigna and CoventryOne — made their decisions because of "uncertainty in the health insurance market."

By dropping all new children-only coverage before the effective day of the new mandate, the companies effectively sidestep the new requirements.

The advocacy group Health Care for America Now was the first to bring the action to widespread attention. "Even for the insurance industry this behavior is surprisingly brazen," HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome wrote in a blog entry for the Huffington Post. "They don't like the rules, so they're going to take their ball and go home."...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/09/21/130013723/colorado-insurers-s...

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As heard on Malloy.

Didn't hear Rachel and Dr. Dean mention it last night. Go fig. :l

In the West, however, there's been such repetitious and unedifying attention paid to Palestinian suicide bombing that a gross distortion in reality has completely obscured what is much worse: the official Israeli, and perhaps the uniquely Sharonian evil that has been visited so deliberately and so methodically on the Palestinian people. Suicide bombing is reprehensible but it is a direct and, in my opinion, a consciously programmed result of years of abuse, powerlessness and despair. It has as little to do with the Arab or Muslim supposed propensity for violence as the man in the moon. Sharon wants terrorism, not peace, and he does everything in his power to create the conditions for it. But for all its horror, Palestinian violence, the response of a desperate and horribly oppressed people, has been stripped of its context and the terrible suffering from which it arises: a failure to see that is a failure in humanity, which doesn't make it any less terrible but at least situates it in a real history and real geography.

gloryoski

And thanks for your blog.

http://www.onenationforpeace.org/

to find out "The Computer AGAIN said NO!"

00xx Arf Arf Meow Meow

Wikileaks Prepares Next Big Document Dump, While Media and Pentagon Continue Smear Campaign on Its Founder | Media and Culture

Attacks on Wikileaks are really an attack on free speech says its founder, Julian Assange.

September 20, 2010 |

http://www.alternet.org/media/148231/wikileaks_prepares_next_big_documen...

Scheduled for release in the next few weeks in concert with international and American media outlets, Wikileaks' data dump on Iraq could prove to be just as explosive as its download on Afghanistan.

According to Newsweek, the Iraq collection is already three times larger than the 92,000 Afghan field reports made public in Wikileaks' last release, and perhaps the largest in history. It predictably details American military participation in bloody conflicts as well as detainee abuse conducted by Iraqi security forces. It's unclear at this point if its documents were submitted by Private First Class Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. military intelligence analyst who was charged in July with leaking the chilling Collateral Murder video to Wikileaks. Manning is already looking at over 50 years in prison for Uniform Code of Military Justice violations of "transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system" and "communicating, transmitting and delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source."....

New poll: Tax cut fight is winner for Dems in battleground states

If this new poll conducted for the labor powerhouse SEIU doesn't persuade Dems to hold a vote on extending the middle class tax cuts, then nothing will.

The toplines of the poll, which were first reported by Alex Burns, are striking enough: In seven core battleground states, a big majority, 62 percent, favor extending the middle class tax cuts while letting the high end cuts expire. That's exactly what Dems are mulling a vote on.

But the rest of the poll, which I obtained from the SEIU, is equally striking, and builds the case for this vote very effectively. Here are the other key findings from the survey, which was conducted by the Dem firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/

L.A. NOW

Bell officials arrested as prosecutors are set to file criminal charges
September 21, 2010 | 9:31 am

At least eight city of Bell officials were arrested Tuesday morning, a source said, as L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley prepared to announce criminal charges in the municipal salary scandal.

The charges are expected to be detailed at a morning press conference, according to a source with knowledge of the case who was not authorized to comment publicly. Authorities were in Bell Tuesday morning making arrests, but the identities of all those taken into custody were not immediately available. A source said four council members were taken into custody. A witness told The Times he saw Councilman Luis Artiga taken away in handcuffs Tuesday morning.

For two months, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and state and federal authorities have investigated Bell, where high salaries earned by former City Manager Robert Rizzo and other top officials have sparked widespread outrage. The Times reported last month that Rizzo was set to earn more than $1.5 million in 2010. Additionally, he gave loans totaling $1.6 million to more than 50 city officials, including himself...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/bell-officials-arrested-as...

We Will Be Watching: Victory for the DREAM Act
By kyledeb

The fate of almost a million lives could be decided in the next six hours. As a voter, as a millenial, as a migrant, as a Guatemalan, I'm writing to say that I will be watching along with the vast majority of those who will determine the future of the United States of America.

If you already haven't heard already, Harry Reid is going to offer the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act up as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate is scheduled to vote on taking up the Act tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. If you haven't called you're Senator yet in the support of the DREAM Act please do so now by calling:

888-254-5087

[snip]

According to a poll commissioned by First Focus, 70% of the U.S. public supports the DREAM Act. [Wow! Purty kewl! What's First Focus?] Multiple polls show that a majority of the U.S. public supports the repeal of DADT. Republicans, for the most part, are floating arguments about procedure. They are saying that Democrats are playing politics with the National Defense Authorization Act. Republicans are playing politics, too, and have used the procedure of the filibuster to grind the Senate to a halt for two years. Playing politics is what politicians do. The public doesn't care about politicians playing politics or what procedures are used as long as Congress does their job and gets things done. It's time for Congress to get two things done that the majority of Americans support.

[snip]

http://crooksandliars.com/kyledeb/we-will-be-watching-victory-dream-act

Article: O'Donnell LOST in Delaware

For OpEdNews: Mark Crispin Miller - Writer

Apparently, Christine O'Donnell's "stunning upset victory" in Delaware was yet another stroke of electronic magic--just like Scott Brown's "stunning upset victory" in Massachusetts in February.

There, as the Election Defense Alliance has reported, it turns out that Martha Coakley won the hand-counted paper ballot vote by 2.8%, while Brown "won" his 5-point "victory" only where the "votes" were "counted" electronically (with no spot-checks of that "count," no systematic audit and no exit polls).

And now it turns out that Christine O'Donnell's "win" in Delaware was just as iffy; or even iffier, since she "beat" Mike Castle--electronically, which is to say, unverifiably-- by 6+ points, while Mike Castle actually beat her, according to the paper-based absentee ballots, by over 10 points. (Brad Friedman goes into the details below.)....

http://www.opednews.com/articles/O-Donnell-LOST-in-Delaware-by-Mark-Cris...

Machu Picchu train halted over water protests

* Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 September 2010 16.32 BST
* Article history

Authorities in Peru have suspended train services to the Inca citadel Machu Picchu due to protests over an irrigation project that critics say could leave communities without water.

The train, which ferries about 1,500 tourists to the ruins daily, will be halted today and tomorrow while trade unions, university students, peasants and other groups hold a 48-hour strike in Cusco, a regional capital and jumping-off point for visitors to the archaeological site.

Rail authorities said the train, which is the only way to reach Machu Picchu besides an arduous trek, would be suspended as a precaution until the strike ended and tension eased. In an apparently separate event, a forest fire flared about eight miles from Machu Picchu.

Violent clashes last week between police and protesters left one man dead and 44 injured. Protesters say the Majes-Siguas II irrigation project will leave the town of Espinar, 400 miles south of the capital Lima, without water.

The project envisages a dam and water system to irrigate 95,000 acres of agricultural land in the region of Arequipa, part of a Peruvian government plan to boost agriculture and diversify the economy away from mining. Officials said the irrigation project could generate 150,000 or 200,000 jobs.

Authorities issued a decree guaranteeing Espinar's water supplies but residents's suspicion grew after the state investment agency, allegedly without consultation, awarded a concession to a private consortium called Angostura-Siguas...

http://ht.ly/2HE31

Judge upholds Guantanamo detention in rare government win
Never miss a McClatchy story
By Carol Rosenberg | Miami Herald

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A federal judge has rejected the habeas corpus petition of a Kuwaiti man who was designated during the Bush years for a war crimes trial here, bringing to 17 the number of habeas cases that have been decided in the government's favor. In the 38 cases, the judge has ruled in favor of the detainee.

Fayiz Kandari 35, has long claimed he was in Afghanistan at the time of his capture as a charity worker -- not a terrorist.

But the Pentagon alleges he trained with al Qaeda and around the time of the 9/11 attacks "served as an adviser to Osama bin Laden'' and produced al Qaida tapes that recruited men to jihad.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected Kandari's habeas petition in a one-page order Sept. 15. Her full ruling was still classified Monday and had not been released.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/21/100899/judge-upholds-guantanamo-de...

but question the source in re the timing...considering...

By Brad Friedman on 9/21/2010 10:31AM
'Working Stiffed': The Daily Show's Mandvi Exposes Union's Non-Union Picketers of Walmart

Last night on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, correspondent Aasif Mandvi offered some of the best journalism we've seen on television in quite a while.

It wasn't particularly funny, union supporters are going to hate it, Walmart is going to love it, but credit where it's due.

This is the sort of journalism that Rightwing con-men like Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe and their acolytes pretend to be producing. It's journalism they could and even should be producing. But as they are political/partisan con-men/hitmen/hacks, they've chosen to throw away all of their credibility to the point where they are outclassed even by a comedian like Mandvi. Then again, the same can be said for many of the so-called journalists in our corporate MSM which rarely manages to offer anything as serious, substantive --- or scathing --- as Mandvi's report from last night...

[Video at link]

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8081

http://books.google.com/books?id=GvP5GCo6Nd4C&printsec=frontcover&source...

Didn't lie, did I?

Real context? Don't know don't care.

gloryoski

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd_kme1K_aM

(Clippette)

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5995#comments

UNITED NATIONS — Iran's president on Tuesday predicted the defeat of capitalism and blamed global big business for the suffering of millions, but Germany's chancellor said market economies were key to lifting the world's least developed countries out of poverty.

The clash of visions at the U.N. anti-poverty summit drew a line under the stark differences on easing the misery of the one billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.

More than 140 presidents, prime ministers and kings are attending the three-day summit which started Monday to assess and spur on achievement of U.N. targets set by world leaders in 2000. The plan called for an intensive global campaign to ease poverty, disease and inequalities between rich and poor by 2015.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, never mentioned the Millennium Development Goals in his speech to the 192-member General Assembly.

Instead, he took aim at capitalism and called for the overhaul of "undemocratic and unjust" global decision-making bodies, which are dominated by the United States and other Western powers. While Ahmadinejad didn't single out any country, he said world leaders, thinkers and global reformers should "spare no effort" to make practical plans for a new world order — reform of international economic and political institutions.

AP: Ahmadinejad Says Future Is Iran's

One of the good parts (there are so many) is how she has to be careful not to knock over or break the "brick" and "concrete" walls on the set.