Saturday, June 18, 2011

10 Of The Craziest Things Michele Bachmann Has Ever Said

This week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) announced she had filed the papers to run for President. It’s not a frivolous pursuit: She is extremely well liked by the Republican base and is an unusually effective fundraiser, taking in more dollars in the last election cycle she than any of her Congressional colleagues.

Still, Bachmann’s candidacy is not without potential landmines. Over the last decade, she has taken positions that are dangerous, stemming from her radical ideology. To Bachmann’s credit, she is aware of this, lamenting to Glenn Beck, “I have experienced that throughout my political career, being labeled a kook.”

ThinkProgress has assembled 10 of the nuttiest things Bachmann has ever said:

Obama's Favorite Banker Jamie Dimon Bitches About Regulations, Has Short Memory

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon hopes we’ll forget that we bailed out his bank along with all the other big players on Wall Street.
READ MORE:

Texas Is a Shining Example of Right-Wing Governance and That's Why the Lone Star State Is a Complete Basket-Case

Texas Is a Shining Example of Right-Wing Governance and That's Why the Lone Star State Is a Complete Basket-Case

http://act.alternet.org/go/8296?akid=7121.150508.qI8fWe&t=12

Conservatives claim the "Texas Miracle" is a model for the nation, but it's actually a blueprint for winning the race to the bottom.
READ MORE

Thursday, June 16, 2011

WTC1 Victim, Jim Gartenberg, "Core blown out"

WTC1 Victim, Jim Gartenberg, "Core blown out"-- calls ABC7 from floor 86 before Collapse
Excerpt from P4T thread
Trapped on the 86th floor of WTC1 by blocked fire doors, Mr James M Gartenberg (age - 36) was just 8 floors below where the aircraft struck. Mr Gartenberg was on the east side of the North Tower facing the East River and the aircraft struck on the northeast side of the North Tower. The core must have blown towards Mr Gartenberg else how could he have seen it? The inner glass was blown out on the 86th floor, but not the outer glass according to Mr Gartenberg. Therefore the heavy core blowing out was almost at right angle to the direction of the aircraft inertia. Eight floors lower and the heavy core blowing out can only be explained by planted demolition charges. Jet fuel burning could not possibly exert that much force 8 floors below the impact zone.
-------------
Trapped on the 86th floor of WTC1 by blocked fire doors, Mr James M Gartenberg (age - 36) was just 8 floors below where the aircraft struck. Mr Gartenberg was on the east side of the North Tower facing the East River and the aircraft struck on the northeast side of the North Tower. The core must have blown towards Mr Gartenberg else how could he have seen it? The inner glass was blown out on the 86th floor, but not the outer glass according to Mr Gartenberg. Therefore the heavy core blowing out was almost at right angle to the direction of the aircraft inertia. Eight floors lower and the heavy core blowing out can only be explained by planted demolition charges. Jet fuel burning could not possibly exert that much force 8 floors below the impact zone.

Is it not odd how the ABC media prostitutes did not want to talk to Mr Gartenberg after he stated the building core was blown out from the inside? Did they have a 9-11 planner on their earphones instructing them on their every move? At 9:32 + 3, they could have interviewed Mr Gartenberg for 53 more minutes until WTC1 was destroyed at 10:28. Why did they not want to talk to him? He was still talking on his phone and those lousy bastards did not want to talk to him.
--------------


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Tony Blair "intentionally" exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein

Tony Blair "intentionally" exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq inquiry heard yesterday.

Former diplomat Carne Ross said Britain and the US went to war in 2003 despite knowing that Iraq was not a "substantial threat".

Mr Ross, First Secretary responsible for the Middle East at the UK's mission to the United Nations from 1997 to 2002, told the Chilcot inquiry intelligence was "massaged" into "more robust and terrifying" statements the supposed WMD.

He added: "Throughout my posting... at no point did we have any firm evidence of significant weapons holdings."
---

William Rivers Pitt | Down in the Ditch

William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "There is never a shortage of Stupid in American politics, but by normal standards, our recent history has been pretty spectacular. Rep. Anthony Weiner is caught in what could very easily go down in history as the single most absurd sex scandal to ever unfold. The Republican leadership continues to play chicken with the debt limit, making even the titans of the financial industry nervous. Michele Bachmann is being taken seriously by the 'mainstream' news media after the first GOP debate ... and as far as Stupid goes, really, that's all you need to say. Sometimes, however, the Stupid skyrockets to new and heretofore unknown heights. It takes a special kind of purebred dunderhead to raise the benchmark, and in that spirit, I give you Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who opined last week that once Iraq becomes a rich and prosperous country, they should repay the United States for the money spent on the invasion and occupation. Let that sink in for a moment."
Read the Article

You Are Not So Smart.

The Backfire Effect

June 10, 2011

The Misconception: When your beliefs are challenged with facts, you alter your opinions and incorporate the new information into your thinking.

The Truth: When your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger.

YOU REALLY NEED TO READ MORE:

The Fascinating Reason It's So Hard to Quit Bad Habits Like Overeating or Smoking

Why do many diets end in catastrophe? The answer lies in a strange mechanism in your brain.

June 13, 2011

This story is cross-posted from "You Are Not So Smart".

The Misconception: If you stop engaging in a bad habit, the habit will gradually diminish until it disappears from your life.

The Truth: Any time you quit something cold turkey, your brain will make a last-ditch effort to return you to your habit.

You’ve been there.

You get serious about losing weight and start to watch every calorie. You read labels, stock up on fruit and vegetables, hit the gym. Everything is going fine. You feel great. You feel like a champion. You think, “This is easy.”

One day you give in to temptation and eat some candy, or a doughnut, or a cheeseburger. Maybe, you buy a bag of chips. You order the fettuccine alfredo.

That afternoon, you decide not only will you eat whatever you want, but to celebrate the occasion you will eat a pint of ice cream.

The diet ends in a catastrophic binge.

What the hell? How did your smooth transition from comfort food to human Dumpster happen?

You just experienced an "extinction burst."
READ MORE

6 Billion "In Cash" Missing in Iraq

Harold R. Mencher 2011-06-14 13:31
Anyone that is interested, I refer you to the following URL
link:
Video Here
This is not fresh news. It's only fresh to people who have
never heard of it. The above link will take you to a website
where you will be able to play & watch, free, an unabridged
complete version of a documentary titled "Iraq's Missing
Billions." This came out in 2006 & was aired many times on
FSTV. I recorded it multiple times on my DVD burner, but if
you wish to watch it, just go to the above referenced site.

N.Y. approves same-sex marriage bill

The Senate must decide if gay marriages are to get the go ahead in New York after thr state Assembly passed a same-sex marriage bill late Wednesday night.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bill was approved 80-63 in the Democrat-led Assembly but faces a tougher vote in the Senate, where Republicans are in the majority.

Republican senators defeated a similar bill in 2009 but there appears to be a more even split in the Senate over the Marriage Equality Act.
READ MORE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Many religious leaders keep speaking out on this issue, perhaps not realizing
that the only real "dog in the hunt" they have is: "Freedom of Religion".
This is not a religious issue, anyone who tries to make it one is not
well advised, because that would allow citizens to be stripped of their
rights, on the account of the religious beliefs of others.

The short version is: "If you wish to secure a right for yourself, you must
aid and abet the support of those rights, for those whose same rights are
under attack."

I do believe that those same religious leaders, who rail against same sex
marriage, would not support being held to account or sanctioned, for their
own violation of the religious beliefs of other religious groups. But this
is exactly what they advocate for, when they oppose equal rights for some
citizens, simply because their own church lore prohibits it.

Thus, they should actually be supportive of same sex marriages, if they
actually believe that religious freedom is a good thing. You cannot have
both religious control of freedom and religious freedom as well.

Obwon

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Surprise! Bank of America "Significantly Hampered" Federal Investigations

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Ah, the banksters just never quit giving us fuel for our fires, do they? In today's news, we have this gem, courtesy of the Huffington Post:

The bank withheld key documents and data, prevented investigators from interviewing bank employees or asking certain questions, and was slow to provide information, according to a June 1 declaration by William W. Nixon, a fraud examiner and assistant regional inspector general for audit for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general's office.

Due to Bank of America's "reluctance," Nixon resorted to asking the Justice Department to issue so-called civil investigative demands last December to compel testimony, a "less effective" means of carrying out its investigation, Nixon said. His office can't compel testimony on its own.

Bank of America, the largest handler of home loans in the U.S., threw up roadblocks to the investigation, Nixon said, like preventing his team from performing a "walkthrough" of the bank's documents unit.

The bank also failed to fully comply with subpoenas issued by Nixon's team. HUD's internal watchdog issued two subpoenas requesting documents and information, and what was returned was incomplete, had conflicting information, and in some cases, the bank provided excerpts of documents rather than the complete record.

Here's an example of what they were looking for:

Federal investigators found one bank employee who signed more than 75,000 foreclosure documents over the two-year period. If the employee worked every day during those two years, that amounts to about 103 documents signed per day, or one every five minutes.

The next time you hear someone blaming Fannie and Freddie for the mortgage meltdown, please supply this article to them and ask them what part they think Bank of America and its acquired puppet Countrywide played in the whole stinking mess.
---

In Which We Learn That Yet Another "Lesbian" Blogger Is Not Gay, Not a Girl

In Which We Learn That Yet Another "Lesbian" Blogger Is Not Gay, Not a Girl

This morning, I wrote about a straight American man admitting that the "Gay Girl in Damascus," Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, was a fictional character he had created.

This afternoon, the editor of "Lez Get Real," known as "Paula Brooks," on whose site "Amina" had written before launching "Gay Girl in Damascus," revealed he, too, is a straight man named Bill Graber.

Just one day after the author behind a popular Syrian lesbian blog admitted to being a married, American man named Tom MacMaster, the editor of the lesbian news site Lez Get Real, with the tag­line "A Gay Girl's View on the World," acknowledged that he is also a man. READ MORE

Hey Kids, Who Wants to Go to Tea Party Summer Camp?

Hey Kids, Who Wants to Go to Tea Party Summer Camp?

And I thought Girl Scout camp sucked. Check out the horrible summer experience some Florida children are about to have: Tea Party summer camp.

The [Tampa 912 Project], which falls under the tea party umbrella, hopes to introduce kids ages 8 to 12 to principles that include "America is good," "I believe in God," and "I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable"....

"We want to impart to our children what our nation is about, and what they may or may not be told," Lukens said. Read more

Gingrich's Charity Paid Money to Gingrich's Business

Elspeth Reeve, The Atlantic Wire
Elspeth Reeve reports: "A charity founded by Newt Gingrich paid Gingrich's for-profit company $220,000 over two years, ABC News reports. The non-profit, Renewing American Leadership, was meant to spur conversation about restoring Christian principles in Washington, and mostly did that through letters seeking donations."
READ MORE

GOP Debate's Biggest Loser: George W. Bush

GOP Debate's Biggest Loser: George W. Bush
Ryan Lizza writes: "I have no idea who 'won' last night's debate, and it doesn't really matter anyway, because historically these early forums have almost no relevance to the final outcome of the following year's nominating season. But there was a clear loser last night: George W. Bush."
READ MORE

Did Mitt Romney, Ann Coulter, Jon Huntsman Commit Voter Fraud?

Did Mitt Romney, Ann Coulter, Jon Huntsman Commit Voter Fraud?

Maybe rich Republicans, not ACORN, should have been the targets of voter fraud prevention efforts.
June 14, 2011 |

What is it about Mormon Republican Presidential candidates and their proclivity for committing voter fraud?

For that matter, what is it about high-profile Republicans in general and their rapidly growing record of voter fraud, as we have two new reports today of two more very high profile Republicans who appear to have committed voter fraud? One of them is GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the other U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri.

But they are just the two latest in a quickly growing list of Republican vote fraudsters.
READ MORE

Ayn Rand's Poison: GOP Faces Backlash for Their Obsessive Worship of a Psycho



It's dangerous for a political party to think of the public as "parasites," and people with tons of cash as "producers" who should govern.

June 10, 2011



Some say that maybe it is a bad idea to base a political party's ideology on a belief that altruism, democracy and Christianity are "evil." Others say that maybe it is a bad idea to base a country's policies on fictional novels rather than science and history. Still others say is it a bad idea for national leaders to think of most of the public as "parasites" while saying people with tons of cash are "producers" who should govern. I am talking about the Republican Party's embrace of Ayn Rand and her cruel philosophy.
READ MORE

The age of Consent -- by State

The age of Consent -- by State
Because this may come in handy some time.
-------------------------------------------------------

It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard
the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all
ages who mean to govern well, but *They mean to govern*. They promise to
be good masters, *but they mean to be masters*. Daniel Webster
-------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Oops! Missing $6.6 billion for Iraq may have been stolen, auditors say

Oops! Missing $6.6 billion for Iraq may have been stolen, auditors say
--Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction said missing $6.6 billion may be 'largest theft of funds in national history' 13 Jun 2011 After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the George W. Bush regime flooded the conquered country with so much cash to pay for 'reconstruction' and other projects [dog leashes for Abu Ghraib] in the first year that a new unit of measurement was born. Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12-billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time. For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the $6.6 billion in cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. [LOL! How would you 'mislay' 6.6 billion dollars, anyway?]

READ MORE

GOP Senator: Military intervention in Syria should be 'on the table'

GOP Senator: Military intervention in Syria should be 'on the table'
[American Revolution #2 should be 'on the table'] 12 Jun 2011 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday that it's time to consider international intervention in Syria to avoid the further "slaughter" of people there by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. "If it made sense to protect the Libyan people against Gadhafi, and it did because they were going to get slaughtered if we hadn't sent NATO in when he was on the outskirts of Benghazi, the question for the world [is], have we gotten to that point in Syria," Graham said on the CBS' "Face the Nation."

READ MORE

Aspartame, MSG, Dumbing Down Society

Dr. Russell blaylock accuses Industry and Government of dumbing down society with Chemical Toxins. Toxins such as flouride, aspartame, and msg effect brain function and a person's ability to think clearly.

Learn more

Tennessee law bans posting Internet images that 'cause emotional distress'

A new Tennessee law makes it a crime to post an image that is likely to "frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress" to anyone who sees it.

Violators could face almost a year in jail or be fined up to $2500.

According to ARS Technica:

The ban on distressing images, which was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam last week, is also an update to existing law. Tennessee law already made it a crime to make phone calls, send emails, or otherwise communicate directly with someone in a manner the sender "reasonably should know" would "cause emotional distress" to the recipient. If the communciation lacked a "legitimate purpose," the sender faced jail time.

The new legislation adds images to the list of communications that can trigger criminal liability. But for image postings, the "emotionally distressed" individual need not be the intended recipient. Anyone who sees the image is a potential victim. If a court decides you "should have known" that an image you posted would be upsetting to someone who sees it, you could face months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
Continue reading on Examiner.com

Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at UCLA.

E.coli-outbreak In Europe: Black Op?

E.coli-outbreak In Europe: Black Op?

QUOTE There's really only one way this happens (and only one way) -- you have to expose this strain of e.coli to all eight classes of antibiotics drugs. Usually this isn't done at the same time, of course: You first expose it to penicillin and find the surviving colonies which are resistant to penicillin. You then take those surviving colonies and expose them to tetracycline. The surviving colonies are now resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. You then expose them to a sulfa drug and collect the surviving colonies from that, and so on. It is a process of genetic selection done in a laboratory with a desired outcome. This is essentially how some bioweapons are engineered by the U.S. Army in its laboratory facility in Ft. Detrick, Maryland
Learn more:

The topic can be found here:

Auditors Says Missing Money Meant for Iraq May Have Been Stolen

Auditors Says Missing Money Meant for Iraq May Have Been Stolen

Paul Richter, The Los Angeles Times: "After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the George W. Bush administration flooded the conquered country with so much cash to pay for reconstruction and other projects in the first year that a new unit of measurement was born. Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12-billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time. This month, the Pentagon and the Iraqi government are finally closing the books on the program that handled all those Benjamins. But despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash - enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things."
Read the Article

Tell Republicans to Drop their Plan to Privatize Social Security

Tell Republicans to Drop their Plan to Privatize Social Security
Republicans are rolling out another plan to "privatize" and end Social Security as we know it, turning seniors' guaranteed benefits into a guaranteed gamble. The last time they tried this was 2005. Just think, if they succeeded then, seniors would have lost trillions more in the 2008 financial crash.

We protected Social Security then. Let’s stand together to protect it again now.

Help us get 100,000 signatures for our petition calling on House Republicans to drop their reckless plan to end Social Security as we know it. Add your name and then spread it far and wide to your friends and family.
SIGN THE PETITION CLICK HERE

Is a cyberattack on the U.S. an act of war?

Big Questions About Cyberwar
The Pentagon is expected to announce a cyberstrategy this month; is a cyberattack on the U.S. an act of war?


By John Dix, NetworkWorld Jun 12, 2011 1:19 pm

The Pentagon is expected to announce a cyberstrategy this month that concludes a cyberattack on the U.S. can be an act of war, and while the damage from such an assault may warrant that position, hopefully this just amounts to loud barking given the perils involved.

The Wall Street Journal says the Pentagon's 30-page document (18 pages of which are classified) broaches the idea of the U.S. using military force to respond to a nation-backed cyberattack. The gist: If an attack caused significant damage to our economy, infrastructure or people, the U.S. could respond with an equivalent amount of military force.

DETAILS: Cyberattacks can justify armed response, Pentagon says
READ MORE

Taking On TARP -- By Dan Rather,

With all the bad news about jobs coming out, most of the focus has rightly been on the plight of working people across the country. The big banks which helped usher in this economic crisis have been largely forgotten. The general assumption is that they're doing just fine. And they are, thanks in large part to you and me, the American taxpayer. But as we try to struggle back to prosperity, have we learned the lessons that led to this crisis? One man in the middle of it all says absolutely not.

READ MORE

KABOOM | MERS Does NOT Have The Right to Foreclose on a Mortgage

KABOOM | NY Appellate Division | Bank of NY v Silverberg -
MERS Does NOT Have The Right to Foreclose on a Mortgage in Default or Assign That Right to Anyone Else

Submitted by 4closureFraud on 06/13/2011 13:04 -0400

* Bank of New York
* Countrywide
* Gretchen Morgenson
* Mortgage Industry
* Mortgage Loans
* New York Times

Appeals Court Clarifies MERS Role in Foreclosures

The ubiquitous Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, nominal holder of millions of mortgages, does not have the right to foreclose on a mortgage in default or assign that right to anyone else if it does not hold the underlying promissory note, the Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled Friday. "This Court is mindful of the impact that this decision may have on the mortgage industry in New York, and perhaps the nation," Justice John M. Leventhal wrote for a unanimous panel in Bank of New York v. Silverberg, 17464/08. "Nonetheless, the law must not yield to expediency and the convenience of lending institutions. Proper procedures must be followed to ensure the reliability of the chain of ownership, to secure the dependable transfer of property, and to assure the enforcement of the rules that govern real property." The opinion noted that MERS is involved in about 60 percent of the mortgages originated in the United States.

From the ruling...

(Emphasis added by 4F)

Decided on June 7, 2011

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE DIVISION : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

ANITA R. FLORIO, J.P.
THOMAS A. DICKERSON
JOHN M. LEVENTHAL
ARIEL E. BELEN, JJ.
2010-00131
(Index No. 17464-08)

[*1]Bank of New York, etc., respondent,
v
Stephen Silverberg, et al., appellants, et al., defendants.

LEVENTHAL, J.This matter involves the enforcement of the rules that govern real property and whether such rules should be bent to accommodate a system that has taken on a life of its own.

MORE

Sunday, June 12, 2011

FBI Reports Show Dramatic Decline in Violent Crime over Past Decades

FBI Reports Show Dramatic Decline in Violent Crime over Past Decades

Did you know that according to official FBI and U.S. Department of Justice reports, the rates of violent crime in the U.S. are now at their lowest level in 40 years? Did you know that violent crime rates of 2010 were 1/3 the rates of 1994? Other countries are experiencing a similar decline. And deaths of law enforcement officers are at their lowest in 50 years according to this Boston Globe article. What inspiring news!!! Yet I'm amazed at how little media attention this is drawing.

About three years ago, I came across a major media article stating violent crime rates were on the decline. Given all of the violence reported in the news every day, I was amazed and somewhat skeptical about this. To verify the claim, I searched for and found the FBI's webpage listing cumulative crime statistics. I was most surprised to find that not only were violent crime rates steadily declining over the last 17 years, the cumulative decline was huge! What great news!!! Yet I was also fascinated that the article I read didn't mention the inspiring extent of this decline.
Read More

Good Heavens, I had no Idea Rick Santorum was known as "Frothy" Rick

Hahaha... google search "Santorum"

I hear Frothy isn't too Gay about this! LOL!

Maddow Chats Up Porn King Larry Flynt on Republicans' Vitter/Weiner Hypocrisy

Maddow Chats Up Porn King Larry Flynt on Republicans' Vitter/Weiner Hypocrisy
Senator David Vitter, R-LA, was one of the politicians implicated in the DC Madame case, and yet has never been prosecuted -- nor has he been forced to resign. There aren't too many similarities between his case and Weiner's -- for instance, Weiner never paid a prostitute for sex -- so last night Maddow wondered why there's a double standard in outrage, as Vitter is presently enjoying a healthy Congressional career that is as un-persecuted and it is un-prosecuted. "If Anthony Weiner resigns," she said, "it means this is a country where we are all okay with people getting pressured to resign for doing something like this specifically because they are a Democrat."Read more

Gov. Jindal Subpoenaed in Controversial Louisiana Health Care Privatization Move

Gov. Jindal Subpoenaed in Controversial Louisiana Health Care Privatization Move

On Monday, Scott Kipper, the man Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appointed to facilitate the privatization of that state's employee health insurance resigned. Five days prior, on June 1, Kipper had been questioned by members of the State Senate about his testimony -- namely, they accused him of lying. Now, the controversy brewing threatens to blow the lid off a privatization scheme that may have been utterly unnecessary, and involves a possibly missing $500 million surplus. Talking Points Memo reports: Read more

Disgusting: Unregulated Private School Offers HS Diploma in Eight Days for $399

Disgusting: Unregulated Private School Offers HS Diploma in Eight Days for $399
Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) — buoyed by legislators who received hundreds of thousands of dollars of special interest cash — signed into law legislation that would dramatically expand access to school vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars into private schools. Scott is doing this despite proposing nearly $3 billion in cuts to public education, meaning that he is essentially transfering money from public education to private education.

On the same day that Scott signed into law his latest attack on public education, Gus Garcia-Roberts of the Miami New Times published a story looking at the case of InterAmerican Christian Academy, a private school located in Doral, Florida. Garcia-Roberts amazingly enrolled at the school and earned a diploma after only eight days of schoolwork and $399: Read more

We Want Weiner: 5 Reasons & Slogans for Weiner Support

We Want Weiner: 5 Reasons & Slogans for Weiner Support
When Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) became the first democrat to call on Weiner to resign, she claimed to do so in the name of his constituents: “Having the respect of your constituents is fundamental for a Member of Congress. In light of Anthony We READ MORE

-------------------
It's "palace intrigue", where it's a dangerous game, trying to do the "right thing", in the face of a widely ignorant and mis-informed public. Most people only
know what they catch in sound bites of news or what
they see on the news while waiting for the hurricane, earthquake, flood or other natural disaster pictures to arrive. Thus, they cannot understand how raising taxes,
for example, can possibly create jobs, it just doesn't make any sense to them. Nor does the media take the
time to help. So one ignores these facts at their peril,
and must play to the misinformation that the media
is providing and that the public holds, in order to stay
out front and have any control at all.

Here, have a look at this:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

From The Daily Beast website

On the Friday of Memorial day weekend, Rep. Weiner sent a letter to
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, accusing him of corruption-
and stating that it was widely known that his wife Ginny Thomas had
already taken nearly $700,000.00 from health care opponents and openly
advertised herself as a crack lobbyist with the "experience and connections"
to overturn the law of the land.

It didn't take long for Weiner's online "correspondance" to surface, even
though it was already the worst kept secret in Washington. As they say-
timing is everything.



The Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
United States Supreme Court Building
1 First Street Northeast
Washington, D.C. 20543

Dear Justice Thomas:

As an Associate Justice, you are entrusted with the responsibility to exercise the highest degree of discretion and impartiality when deciding a case. As Members of Congress, we were surprised by recent revelations of your financial ties to leading organizations dedicated to lobbying against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We write today to respectfully ask that you maintain the integrity of this court and recuse yourself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of this act.

The appearance of a conflict of interest merits recusal under federal law. From what we have already seen, the line between your impartiality and you and your wife's financial stake in the overturn of health care reform is blurred. Your spouse is advertising herself as a lobbyist who has "experience and connections" and appeals to clients who want a particular decision - they want to overturn health care reform. Moreover, your failure to disclose Ginny Thomas's receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent opponent of health care reform, between 2003 and 2007 has raised great concern.

This is not the first case where your impartiality was in question. As Common Cause points out, you "participated in secretive political strategy sessions, perhaps while the case was pending, with corporate leaders whose political aims were advanced by the [5-4] decision" on the Citizens United case. Your spouse also received an undisclosed salary paid for by undisclosed donors as CEO of Liberty Central, a 501(c)(4) organization that stood to benefit from the decision and played an active role in the 2010 elections.

Given these facts, there is a strong conflict between the Thomas household's financial gain through your spouse's activities and your role as a Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We urge you to recuse yourself from this case. If the U.S. Supreme Court's decision is to be viewed as legitimate by the American people, this is the only correct path.

We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this request.

Sincerely,
ANTHONY D. WEINER
Member of Congress
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Elliot Spitzer comes to mind, on the very day he was to
give a press conference about the subprime mortgage
thingy, naming names and exposing games, POW, he
get's hit with a scandal.

"30 Rock" Star Tracy Morgan Reportedly Goes on Homophobic Tirade

This is unfortunate news for fans of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live star Tracy Morgan: the comedian reportedly went on a rant against gay people at a stand-up show in Nashville last week. The Advocate reports:

Audience member Kevin Rogers took to his Facebook page to describe the scene. Rogers said the 30 Rock star joked that “women are a gift from God and that ‘Born this Way’ is bullshit. Gay is a choice.” Morgan is said to have called gay people “mistakes.” Morgan said lesbians just hate men and don’t have real attraction to women, according to Rogers’ account. Read more

Romney Tries to Appeal to Sane People by Acknowledging Climate Change;

Romney Tries to Appeal to Sane People by Acknowledging Climate Change; Wingnuts Are Not Pleased

This looks to me like Romney's version of a Sistah Soljah moment:

It seemed like a straightforward question on a second-tier issue: Would Mitt Romney disavow the science behind global warming?

The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides, could easily have said what he knew many in his party’s base wanted to hear.

Instead, the former Massachusetts governor stuck to the position he has held for many years — that he believes the world is getting warmer and that humans are contributing to that pattern. Read more

By Digby | Hullabaloo

Teens Locked Up and Forced to Give Birth to Kids Sold into Slavery

Teens Locked Up and Forced to Give Birth to Kids Sold into Slavery

-- How Can This Happen, and What Can We Do About It?

Last week, BBC broke the story of what has been dubbed a "baby farm" in southern Nigeria. Now that we know this, what are we going to do about it?
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American Banks 'High' On Drug Money:

American Banks 'High' On Drug Money: How a Whistleblower Blew the Lid Off Wachovia-Drug Cartel Money Laundering Scheme

A fraud investigator helped expose the shocking world of multi-billion dollar drug laundering by American banks and the surprising lack of oversight by the Feds.READ MORE

Shocking photo created a hero, but not to his family

Shocking photo created a hero, but not to his family

May 16, 2011|By John Blake, CNN


The mob was already waiting for James Zwerg by the time the Greyhound bus eased into the station in Montgomery, Alabama.

Looking out the window, Zwerg could see men gripping baseball bats, chains and clubs. They had sealed off the streets leading to the bus station and chased away news photographers. They didn't want anyone to witness what they were about to do.

Zwerg accepted his worst fear: He was going to die today.

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Five Reasons To Be Concerned Your Husband Is A Psychopath

Five Reasons To Be Concerned Your Husband Is A Psychopath

It dawned on me a few years ago that our rational lives are like a still pond and madness is the jagged rock thrown into it, creating odd ripples everywhere. And the most powerful madness of all, when it comes to the way the world turns, is psychopathy.

There's a consensus amongst psychologists that psychopaths -- with all their glib charm and grandiosity and the power to effortlessly manipulate -- do brilliantly in business and politics. Theirs is the brain anomaly that rules our world. Which is why I've written a book about them: "The Psychopath Test." As part of my research, I spoke to hundreds of people--everyone from the doctors who catalogue mental illness, to those who vehemently oppose them, to a Broadmoor Hospital inmate who says he faked a mental disorder. In the process, I learned that, during the courtship phase, psychopaths come across to the women they're targeting as potentially great husbands. What I'm saying is, you may have married a psychopath. It is really very possible. He might have not yet revealed the full extent of his astonishing malevolence. You might want to pack your bags and run screaming from the marriage before he does. Let me help. What follows are five telltale signs that your husband may be a psychopath.
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Will recent GOP sex scandals affect upcoming races?

Will recent GOP sex scandals affect upcoming races?

By From Ed Hornick CNN | June 29, 2009
It has been a rocky couple of weeks for the Republican Party as high-profile, traditional-values politicians have faced embarrassing sex scandals. First it was Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, who admitted in a news conference two weeks ago to having an affair with a former staffer. Then, last week, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford trumped Ensign. After days in which his whereabouts were unknown by his wife and staff (who thought he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail), Sanford held a tear-filled and rambling news conference to admit to an affair with an Argentine woman, and to apologize to his staff and the voters of South Carolina for not disclosing where he was. Republicans and Democrats panned the scandal.

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