Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Willard Romney's Manifold Lies
533 lies in 30 weeks, quite an accomplishment for any human, even one running for President of these United States.
[Mitt Romney says many, many things that are not true. He says this despite being in possession of the correct facts of the matter.
Which is to say that Mitt Romney lies. A lot. He lies more than any other national candidate for office in my lifetime. And I was born before the Nixon administration.
This is documented. Proven. Validated, verified, demonstrated, catalogued and quantified. Mitt Romney lies.
Here are 30 — 30! — of Benen’s weekly “chronicling” posts. These are all backed up and sourced. These are not assertions, interpretations or allegations. These are facts, actual instances.
Over the past 30 weeks, Mitt Romney has told lie after lie after lie: I, II, III, IV, V, VI,VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII,XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX.
Click those links. Read the lists. List after list of lie after lie. Hundreds of them — 533, to be exact, although Benen does not make any claim to providing a comprehensive chronicle.
This is unprecedented. “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Romney’s pollster, Neil Newhouse, said.
This has produced what James Fallows calls the “post-truth” age — a relentlessly dishonest onslaught of brazen falsehoods with which the media and the political system are struggling to cope. What do you do when every article, every “fact-check,” every arbiter denounces a lie and corrects it, but then a politician just keeps repeating it?
It’s remarkable to behold.] emphasis added
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/08/29/mitt-romney-tells-533-lies-in-30-weeks-steve-benen-documents-them/
[Mitt Romney says many, many things that are not true. He says this despite being in possession of the correct facts of the matter.
Which is to say that Mitt Romney lies. A lot. He lies more than any other national candidate for office in my lifetime. And I was born before the Nixon administration.
This is documented. Proven. Validated, verified, demonstrated, catalogued and quantified. Mitt Romney lies.
Here are 30 — 30! — of Benen’s weekly “chronicling” posts. These are all backed up and sourced. These are not assertions, interpretations or allegations. These are facts, actual instances.
Over the past 30 weeks, Mitt Romney has told lie after lie after lie: I, II, III, IV, V, VI,VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII,XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX.
Click those links. Read the lists. List after list of lie after lie. Hundreds of them — 533, to be exact, although Benen does not make any claim to providing a comprehensive chronicle.
This is unprecedented. “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Romney’s pollster, Neil Newhouse, said.
This has produced what James Fallows calls the “post-truth” age — a relentlessly dishonest onslaught of brazen falsehoods with which the media and the political system are struggling to cope. What do you do when every article, every “fact-check,” every arbiter denounces a lie and corrects it, but then a politician just keeps repeating it?
It’s remarkable to behold.] emphasis added
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/08/29/mitt-romney-tells-533-lies-in-30-weeks-steve-benen-documents-them/
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Once in a Blue Moon I Do Have a Twinge of Conscience
Do you?
[Your last chance to see a blue moon until 2015 will come around this Friday (Aug. 31), but don't expect an azure hue in the sky.
In fact, "blue moon" refers not to color, but to rarity. Blue moons are defined as either the fourth full moon in a season, or, more recently, as the second full moon in a month. It's the second definition that covers August's blue moon; the month's first full moon was on Aug. 1.
Blue moons happen because our calendar months don't precisely sync with the moon's orbit. It takes the moon 29.5 days to wax and wane from full to new to full again. With the exception of February, months are longer than that, meaning that once in a while the timing works out so there are two full moons in one month.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/blue-moon-2012_n_1840504.html?utm_hp_ref=science
[Your last chance to see a blue moon until 2015 will come around this Friday (Aug. 31), but don't expect an azure hue in the sky.
In fact, "blue moon" refers not to color, but to rarity. Blue moons are defined as either the fourth full moon in a season, or, more recently, as the second full moon in a month. It's the second definition that covers August's blue moon; the month's first full moon was on Aug. 1.
Blue moons happen because our calendar months don't precisely sync with the moon's orbit. It takes the moon 29.5 days to wax and wane from full to new to full again. With the exception of February, months are longer than that, meaning that once in a while the timing works out so there are two full moons in one month.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/blue-moon-2012_n_1840504.html?utm_hp_ref=science
Demographics: "Why (and How) Romney is Playing the Race Card"
Look, will flesh this post out later, tomorrow. But today Sudsy sez quit fulminating and start drinking.
[I share this story to crack the code – the subtle language of distrust and prejudice that whites use to communicate deep-set fears, and that cynical politicians translate into votes. Translating Miller and Benson:
“Subsidization” = Welfare
“Generational Apathy” = Lazy
“They Slept All Day” = Blacks Sleep All Day
“I Feel Like a Fool” = I’m Mad As Hell]
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-election/why-and-how-romney-is-playing-the-race-card-20120829?page=1
Republican'ts versus demographics; this might make their last, best chance to steal an election playing the race card:
[A Republican strategist said something interesting and revealing on Friday, though it largely escaped attention in the howling gusts of punditry over Mitt Romney’s birth certificate crack and a potential convention-altering hurricane. The subject was a Ron Brownstein story outlining the demographic hit rates each party requires to win in November. To squeak out a majority, Mitt Romney probably needs to win at least 61 percent of the white vote — a figure exceeding what George H.W. Bush commanded over Michael Dukakis in 1988. The Republican strategist told Brownstein, “This is the last time anyone will try to do this” — “this” being a near total reliance on white votes to win a presidential election.
I wrote a long story last February arguing that the Republican Party had grown intensely conscious of both the inescapable gravity of the long-term relative decline of the white population, and the short-term window of opportunity opened for the party by the economic crisis.]
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/2012-or-never-for-gops-white-base.html
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2012/08/racism-is-only-path-to-white-house-for.html
[I share this story to crack the code – the subtle language of distrust and prejudice that whites use to communicate deep-set fears, and that cynical politicians translate into votes. Translating Miller and Benson:
“Subsidization” = Welfare
“Generational Apathy” = Lazy
“They Slept All Day” = Blacks Sleep All Day
“I Feel Like a Fool” = I’m Mad As Hell]
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-election/why-and-how-romney-is-playing-the-race-card-20120829?page=1
Republican'ts versus demographics; this might make their last, best chance to steal an election playing the race card:
[A Republican strategist said something interesting and revealing on Friday, though it largely escaped attention in the howling gusts of punditry over Mitt Romney’s birth certificate crack and a potential convention-altering hurricane. The subject was a Ron Brownstein story outlining the demographic hit rates each party requires to win in November. To squeak out a majority, Mitt Romney probably needs to win at least 61 percent of the white vote — a figure exceeding what George H.W. Bush commanded over Michael Dukakis in 1988. The Republican strategist told Brownstein, “This is the last time anyone will try to do this” — “this” being a near total reliance on white votes to win a presidential election.
I wrote a long story last February arguing that the Republican Party had grown intensely conscious of both the inescapable gravity of the long-term relative decline of the white population, and the short-term window of opportunity opened for the party by the economic crisis.]
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/2012-or-never-for-gops-white-base.html
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2012/08/racism-is-only-path-to-white-house-for.html
Mitt Romney, Not Fit to Tie His Father's Shoes
Current political reporting focusing on the horse race, instant polls, and daily messages and gaffes, often misses any sort of historical narrative o put things in perspective, marketing candidates like toothpaste: whitening, prevents cavities, and tastes good too.
Yum, minty fresh.
This ignores the reality of politics involves resolving competing interests; no human society could ever have it all.
Some starry eyed progressives believed election of an African American President would usher in a new era of progressive politics writ large across the land, ignoring the reality of an opposition party committed from day 1 and misusing the filibuster tactic in the US Senate to stop any hint of progress.
They ignore the reactionary elements of the Republican'ts and RepubliKKKans who still fight battles against the New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
People miss the reactionary right ward drift of the modern Republican't Party terrified of their lunatic right wing elements and the 14 old, white angry billionaires who fund the trend: the PAC's, foundations, and 501 c3 organizations.
George Romney, Willard's father and historically one of the last of the extinct breed of reasonable Republicans, walked out of the 1964 national convention to protest the capture by conservatives and their plan--which continues to this day--of using racially charged code words to inflame prejudices and influence votes.
Willard, alas, shows no such courage nor convictions.
[A few years earlier, George Romney had been the front runner for the Republican nomination for president. Romney was probably tied with Nelson Rockefeller as the most preferred candidate of the liberal and moderate Republicans, largely from the Midwest and Northeast, who wanted to regain control of the party following the devastating defeat of conservative Barry Goldwater in 1964. A 1966 New Yorker story declared Romney the leading contender for 1968 — so long as someone didn’t come along who would unite the Republican Party’s warring Goldwater and Rockefeller wings. Someone, the article says, like Richard Nixon.
It’s not hard to imagine that the 21-year-old Mitt Romney, freshly returned from his Mormon mission tour abroad shortly after the 1968 election, noticed that his father, a dedicated public servant with a passion for social justice, lost the nation’s top job to a notoriously unprincipled paranoiac whose main qualification for the presidency was an unchecked willingness to do literally anything to reach it. The guy who didn’t believe in anything won.] emphasis added
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/26/george_romney_braver_than_mitt/
Yum, minty fresh.
This ignores the reality of politics involves resolving competing interests; no human society could ever have it all.
Some starry eyed progressives believed election of an African American President would usher in a new era of progressive politics writ large across the land, ignoring the reality of an opposition party committed from day 1 and misusing the filibuster tactic in the US Senate to stop any hint of progress.
They ignore the reactionary elements of the Republican'ts and RepubliKKKans who still fight battles against the New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
People miss the reactionary right ward drift of the modern Republican't Party terrified of their lunatic right wing elements and the 14 old, white angry billionaires who fund the trend: the PAC's, foundations, and 501 c3 organizations.
George Romney, Willard's father and historically one of the last of the extinct breed of reasonable Republicans, walked out of the 1964 national convention to protest the capture by conservatives and their plan--which continues to this day--of using racially charged code words to inflame prejudices and influence votes.
Willard, alas, shows no such courage nor convictions.
[A few years earlier, George Romney had been the front runner for the Republican nomination for president. Romney was probably tied with Nelson Rockefeller as the most preferred candidate of the liberal and moderate Republicans, largely from the Midwest and Northeast, who wanted to regain control of the party following the devastating defeat of conservative Barry Goldwater in 1964. A 1966 New Yorker story declared Romney the leading contender for 1968 — so long as someone didn’t come along who would unite the Republican Party’s warring Goldwater and Rockefeller wings. Someone, the article says, like Richard Nixon.
It’s not hard to imagine that the 21-year-old Mitt Romney, freshly returned from his Mormon mission tour abroad shortly after the 1968 election, noticed that his father, a dedicated public servant with a passion for social justice, lost the nation’s top job to a notoriously unprincipled paranoiac whose main qualification for the presidency was an unchecked willingness to do literally anything to reach it. The guy who didn’t believe in anything won.] emphasis added
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/26/george_romney_braver_than_mitt/
Testify,Brother: "For the most part, I’ve tried to be restrained."
[For the most part, I’ve tried to be restrained.
Although conservatives accuse those of us on the left of thinking that all critiques of President Obama are rooted in racism, this has certainly never been my argument. Indeed, I’ve written two books highly critical of Obama’s positions on a number of issues (from a place well to his left), and am fully aware that decent, honest people can disagree with Barack Obama from the right, too, without their disagreements serving as proof of some latent, let alone blatant, bigotry or anti-black bias.
That said, what I have also long maintained — and what seems increasingly evident as we move into the heart of the 2012 campaign — is that the style of opposition, its specific form, and its particular content are too often embedded in a narrative of white racial resentment, white racial anxiety, and a desire to “other” the president in ways that go well beyond the politically partisan. It is not that criticisms of Obama are quantitatively racist, per se, but rather that they are qualitatively so in too many instances; a distinction, yes, but one that does not alter the underlying reality.
In other words, it is one thing to disagree, even mightily, with a president’s policies.
It is quite another to suggest that that president is really a foreign imposter: over, and over and over andover and over and over and over and over and over again. And to accept no proof, no matter how extensive, that he really is an American after all....
How many times can a man be the butt of racist humor, or likened to black dictators, or accused of seeking racial revenge upon white people, before it is no longer outrageous or the playing of some mystical, magical race card to assert that, indeed, the people doing these things are really just race-baiting white nationalists in conservative garb?
How long, in short, before we call that which walks and talks like a duck, a fucking duck?] emphasis added because you know it as true. http://www.timwise.org/2012/08/if-it-walks-like-a-duck-and-talks-like-a-duck-racism-bigotry-and-the-death-of-respectable-conservatism/#more-2027
Although conservatives accuse those of us on the left of thinking that all critiques of President Obama are rooted in racism, this has certainly never been my argument. Indeed, I’ve written two books highly critical of Obama’s positions on a number of issues (from a place well to his left), and am fully aware that decent, honest people can disagree with Barack Obama from the right, too, without their disagreements serving as proof of some latent, let alone blatant, bigotry or anti-black bias.
That said, what I have also long maintained — and what seems increasingly evident as we move into the heart of the 2012 campaign — is that the style of opposition, its specific form, and its particular content are too often embedded in a narrative of white racial resentment, white racial anxiety, and a desire to “other” the president in ways that go well beyond the politically partisan. It is not that criticisms of Obama are quantitatively racist, per se, but rather that they are qualitatively so in too many instances; a distinction, yes, but one that does not alter the underlying reality.
In other words, it is one thing to disagree, even mightily, with a president’s policies.
It is quite another to suggest that that president is really a foreign imposter: over, and over and over andover and over and over and over and over and over again. And to accept no proof, no matter how extensive, that he really is an American after all....
How many times can a man be the butt of racist humor, or likened to black dictators, or accused of seeking racial revenge upon white people, before it is no longer outrageous or the playing of some mystical, magical race card to assert that, indeed, the people doing these things are really just race-baiting white nationalists in conservative garb?
How long, in short, before we call that which walks and talks like a duck, a fucking duck?] emphasis added because you know it as true. http://www.timwise.org/2012/08/if-it-walks-like-a-duck-and-talks-like-a-duck-racism-bigotry-and-the-death-of-respectable-conservatism/#more-2027
Hey Republican'ts, We're on Mars, Bitches!
Yes We Can!
[Nasa is showing off a high-resolution colour picture sent back by theMars rover Curiosity, detailing the mountain where scientists plan to focus their search for the chemical ingredients of life.
The image reveals distinct tiers near the base of the three-mile-high mountain that rises from the floor of Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed on 6 August.
Scientists estimate it will be a year before the rover reaches the layers of interest at the foot of the mountain, 6.2 miles from the landing site.]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/28/mars-curiosity-high-resolution-pictures
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Don't Stop Believing in 1/2 a Million Dollars: Journey Sells Out
Have always hated Journey; if gotta listen to Journey to make whoopie, it ain't happening, Gimme some Luther Vandross any day--and night.
[Mitt Romney's campaign has paid rock band Journey $500,000 to play at a private campaign event, TMZ reports.
A source tells the entertainment website that the campaign hired the group to play a 90-minute set at a Tampa, Fla. fundraising event on Thursday night. The Republican National Convention comes to a close that evening.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/mitt-romney-journey_n_1831698.html?ir=Entertainment
Geez, Mitt, can't find any rock acts with, you know, testosterone like Nugent or Megadeth And Kid Suck don't count, not after ripping off "Werewolves of London" riff.
[Mitt Romney's campaign has paid rock band Journey $500,000 to play at a private campaign event, TMZ reports.
A source tells the entertainment website that the campaign hired the group to play a 90-minute set at a Tampa, Fla. fundraising event on Thursday night. The Republican National Convention comes to a close that evening.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/mitt-romney-journey_n_1831698.html?ir=Entertainment
Geez, Mitt, can't find any rock acts with, you know, testosterone like Nugent or Megadeth And Kid Suck don't count, not after ripping off "Werewolves of London" riff.
Monday, August 27, 2012
(Charlie Crist Endorses Obama) Sorry, Charlie, We Want Democrats Who Taste Like Progess
So Charlie Crist, Governor Great Tan as Republican, failed Senate candidate as an Independent (thereby installing Marco Rubio, Senator Cipher, as US Senator for FL instead of an actual Democrat in the race), now you have your come to Jaysus, reason, and Democratic moment?
A little late, don't you think? Your overwhelming arrogance in splitting the vote instead of just waiting 2, or 4, or 6 years to run for office, any other bloody office instead of tanking the Senate race for the side of righteousness and good, supporting the filibustering fools of Republican'ts in the US Senate?
Google among yourselves about the recalcitrant Republican'ts historic and unprecedented misuse of the filibuster has stalled any bills coming out of the Senate? I can't 'cause too mad to spit right now.
Thanks, Charlie, hope your ambulance chaser profession pays your bills until you fill your ambition by running for public office again.
[We often remind ourselves to learn the lessons of the past, lest we risk repeating its mistakes. Yet nearly as often, our short-term memory fails us. Many have already forgotten how deep and daunting our shared crisis was in the winter of 2009, as President Obama was inaugurated. It was no ordinary challenge, and the president served as the nation's calm through a historically turbulent storm.
The president's response was swift, smart and farsighted. He kept his compass pointed due north and relentlessly focused on saving jobs, creating more and helping the many who felt trapped beneath the house of cards that had collapsed upon them.
He knew we had to get people back to work as quickly as possible — but he also knew that the value of a recovery lies in its durability. Short-term healing had to be paired with an economy that would stay healthy over the long run. And he knew that happens best by investing in the right places.
President Obama invested in our children's schools because he believes a good education is a necessity, not a luxury, if we're going to create an economy built to last. He supported more than 400,000 K-12 teachers' jobs, and he is making college more affordable and making student loans, like the ones he took out, easier to pay back.
He invested in our runways, railways and roads. President Obama knows a reliable infrastructure that helps move people to work and helps businesses move goods to market is a foundation of growth.]
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article1247631.ece
A little late, don't you think? Your overwhelming arrogance in splitting the vote instead of just waiting 2, or 4, or 6 years to run for office, any other bloody office instead of tanking the Senate race for the side of righteousness and good, supporting the filibustering fools of Republican'ts in the US Senate?
Google among yourselves about the recalcitrant Republican'ts historic and unprecedented misuse of the filibuster has stalled any bills coming out of the Senate? I can't 'cause too mad to spit right now.
Thanks, Charlie, hope your ambulance chaser profession pays your bills until you fill your ambition by running for public office again.
[We often remind ourselves to learn the lessons of the past, lest we risk repeating its mistakes. Yet nearly as often, our short-term memory fails us. Many have already forgotten how deep and daunting our shared crisis was in the winter of 2009, as President Obama was inaugurated. It was no ordinary challenge, and the president served as the nation's calm through a historically turbulent storm.
The president's response was swift, smart and farsighted. He kept his compass pointed due north and relentlessly focused on saving jobs, creating more and helping the many who felt trapped beneath the house of cards that had collapsed upon them.
He knew we had to get people back to work as quickly as possible — but he also knew that the value of a recovery lies in its durability. Short-term healing had to be paired with an economy that would stay healthy over the long run. And he knew that happens best by investing in the right places.
President Obama invested in our children's schools because he believes a good education is a necessity, not a luxury, if we're going to create an economy built to last. He supported more than 400,000 K-12 teachers' jobs, and he is making college more affordable and making student loans, like the ones he took out, easier to pay back.
He invested in our runways, railways and roads. President Obama knows a reliable infrastructure that helps move people to work and helps businesses move goods to market is a foundation of growth.]
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article1247631.ece
Amish Hate Crimes
Gee, this makes me really angry that small groups of religious extremists want to enforce their views on the majority: anti-choice Republican'ts, Westboro fools, now this Amish splinter group. They make me so mad want to beat them about head, neck and shoulders with a rubber chicken.
Yes, Lord, know that implies violence so should not harbor those passive/comic urges but what I ought do to counter insanity and virulent hatred let loose in the world?
Ty to make my little corner of the Earth better by becoming a better person?
Oh Lord, you really do ask for the impossible.
[CLEVELAND -- Sixteen people charged with hate crimes in hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish are going on trial this week in Ohio.
Jury selection began Monday morning in Cleveland. Among those who are charged are the leader of a breakaway Amish group and four of his children who all live in eastern Ohio.
Prosecutors say some of the suspects forcibly cut the beards and hair of Amish men and the hair of women last fall. Authorities say the attacks were motivated by religious differences.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/amish-beard-cutting-attacks-ohio-trial_n_1833189.html?utm_hp_ref=crime
Yes, Lord, know that implies violence so should not harbor those passive/comic urges but what I ought do to counter insanity and virulent hatred let loose in the world?
Ty to make my little corner of the Earth better by becoming a better person?
Oh Lord, you really do ask for the impossible.
[CLEVELAND -- Sixteen people charged with hate crimes in hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish are going on trial this week in Ohio.
Jury selection began Monday morning in Cleveland. Among those who are charged are the leader of a breakaway Amish group and four of his children who all live in eastern Ohio.
Prosecutors say some of the suspects forcibly cut the beards and hair of Amish men and the hair of women last fall. Authorities say the attacks were motivated by religious differences.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/amish-beard-cutting-attacks-ohio-trial_n_1833189.html?utm_hp_ref=crime
Cancer Without Health Insurance
Few related "comic" strips making cancer diagnosis. surgery, and billing "funny," not in ha ha way but more like yeah, been almost there, done that, ignoring messages from bill collectors way.
What will President (shudder) Romney replace the Affordable Care Act with?
Republican'ts Agenda in Bullet Points
- From Democracy for America, the people powered Political Action Committee:
- Destroy Medicare as we know it and replace it with a voucher program for seniors
- Give women no choice, with no exemptions, in making personal healthcare decisions
- Make the Bush tax cuts permanent -- and give huge new tax breaks to the rich on top of them
- Raise taxes on the poor and middle class
- Pretend climate change doesn't exist and massively expand oil drilling
Sunday, August 26, 2012
US Labor Movement: The Battle of Blair Mountain
[This weekend marks the anniversary of the most brutal confrontation in the history of the American labor movement, the Battle of Blair Mountain. For one week during 1921, armed, striking coal miners battled scabs, a private militia, police officers and the US Army. 100 people died, 1,000 were arrested, and one million shots were fired. It was the largest armed rebellion in America since the Civil War.
This is how it happened. In the Twenties, West Virginia coal miners lived in "company towns." The mining companies owned all the property. They literally ran union organizers out of town - or killed them.
In 1912, in a strike at Paint Creek, the mining company forced the striking miners and their families out of their homes, to live in tents. Then they sent armed goons into that tent city, and opened fire on men, women and children there with a machine gun.
By 1920, the United Mine Workers had organized the northern mines in West Virginia, but they were barred from the southern mines. When southern miners tried to join the union, they were fired and evicted. To show who was boss, one mining company tried to place machine guns on the roofs of buildings in town.
In Matewan, when the coal company goons came to town to take it upon themselves to enforce eviction notices, the mayor and the sheriff asked them to leave. The goons refused. Incredibly, the goons tried to arrest the sheriff, Sheriff Hatfield. Shots were fired, and the mayor and nine others were killed. But the company goons had to flee.
The government sided with the coal companies, and put Sheriff Hatfield on trial for murder. The jury acquitted him. Then they put the sheriff on trial for supposedly dynamiting a non-union mine. As the sheriff walked up the courthouse steps to stand trial again, unarmed, company goons shot him in cold blood. In front of his wife.
This led to open confrontations between miners on one hand, and police and company goons on the other. 13,000 armed miners assembled, and marched on the southern mines in Logan and Mingo Counties. They confronted a private militia of 2,000, hired by the coal companies.
President Harding was informed. He threatened to send in troops and even bombers to break the union. Many miners turned back, but then company goons started killing unarmed union men, and some armed miners pushed on. The militia attacked armed miners, and the coal companies hired airplanes to drop bombs on them. The US Army Air Force, as it was known then, observed the miners' positions from overhead, and passed that information on to the coal companies.
The miners actually broke through the militia's defensive perimeter, but after five days, the US Army intervened, and the miners stood down. By that time, 100 people were dead. Almost a thousand miners then were indicted for murder and treason. No one on the side of the coal companies was ever held accountable.
The Battle of Blair Mountain showed that the miners could not defeat the coal companies and the government in battle. But then something interesting happened: the miners defeated the coal companies and the government at the ballot box. In 1925, convicted miners were paroled. In 1932, Democrats won both the State House and the White House. In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. Eleven years after the Battle of Blair Mountain, the United Mine Workers organized the southern coal fields in West Virginia.
The Battle of Blair Mountain did not have a happy ending for Sheriff Hatfield, or his wife, or the 100 men, women and children who died, or the hundreds who were injured, or the thousands who lost their jobs. But it did have a happy ending for the right to organize, and the middle class, and America.
Now let me ask you one thing: had you ever heard of this landmark event in American history, the Battle of Blair Mountain, before you read this? And if not, then why not? Think about that.
Courage,
Alan Grayson]
This is how it happened. In the Twenties, West Virginia coal miners lived in "company towns." The mining companies owned all the property. They literally ran union organizers out of town - or killed them.
In 1912, in a strike at Paint Creek, the mining company forced the striking miners and their families out of their homes, to live in tents. Then they sent armed goons into that tent city, and opened fire on men, women and children there with a machine gun.
By 1920, the United Mine Workers had organized the northern mines in West Virginia, but they were barred from the southern mines. When southern miners tried to join the union, they were fired and evicted. To show who was boss, one mining company tried to place machine guns on the roofs of buildings in town.
In Matewan, when the coal company goons came to town to take it upon themselves to enforce eviction notices, the mayor and the sheriff asked them to leave. The goons refused. Incredibly, the goons tried to arrest the sheriff, Sheriff Hatfield. Shots were fired, and the mayor and nine others were killed. But the company goons had to flee.
The government sided with the coal companies, and put Sheriff Hatfield on trial for murder. The jury acquitted him. Then they put the sheriff on trial for supposedly dynamiting a non-union mine. As the sheriff walked up the courthouse steps to stand trial again, unarmed, company goons shot him in cold blood. In front of his wife.
This led to open confrontations between miners on one hand, and police and company goons on the other. 13,000 armed miners assembled, and marched on the southern mines in Logan and Mingo Counties. They confronted a private militia of 2,000, hired by the coal companies.
President Harding was informed. He threatened to send in troops and even bombers to break the union. Many miners turned back, but then company goons started killing unarmed union men, and some armed miners pushed on. The militia attacked armed miners, and the coal companies hired airplanes to drop bombs on them. The US Army Air Force, as it was known then, observed the miners' positions from overhead, and passed that information on to the coal companies.
The miners actually broke through the militia's defensive perimeter, but after five days, the US Army intervened, and the miners stood down. By that time, 100 people were dead. Almost a thousand miners then were indicted for murder and treason. No one on the side of the coal companies was ever held accountable.
The Battle of Blair Mountain showed that the miners could not defeat the coal companies and the government in battle. But then something interesting happened: the miners defeated the coal companies and the government at the ballot box. In 1925, convicted miners were paroled. In 1932, Democrats won both the State House and the White House. In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. Eleven years after the Battle of Blair Mountain, the United Mine Workers organized the southern coal fields in West Virginia.
The Battle of Blair Mountain did not have a happy ending for Sheriff Hatfield, or his wife, or the 100 men, women and children who died, or the hundreds who were injured, or the thousands who lost their jobs. But it did have a happy ending for the right to organize, and the middle class, and America.
Now let me ask you one thing: had you ever heard of this landmark event in American history, the Battle of Blair Mountain, before you read this? And if not, then why not? Think about that.
Courage,
Alan Grayson]
The Who: "Slip Kid"
"Keep away old man. You won't fool me. You and your history won't rule me. You might've been a fighter but admit you failed. I'm not affected by your blackmail."
Life of a Younger Brother Sucks Some Times
Especially if you live in a "modern" world which should only tolerate British monarchy as an anachronism at best and certainly not worth it to the United Kingdom to maintain monetarily the whole damn royal family and tens of castles and lands paying rent to the crown.
Especially if you live second in line to an antiquated crown and feel constrained by custom from shiving your older bother. It's just not done old sport.
So you you play strip billiards in Las Vegas while your brother rescues humble travelers.
You do the former because you can; I'm the bloody prince!
[Prince William is at it again. Days after herescued drowning teenagers off the coast of Anglesey, the future king of England piloted a helicopter to save an injured Canadian tourist who was hiking with her husband on a cliff by the shore.
Darlene Burton was hiking along a trail near the picturesque Point Lynas with her husband, Lawrence Oakley, when she slipped on a rock and broke her leg, The Globe and Mail reports.
Local paramedics were called, but they were unable to help her. That's where Prince William comes in: He piloted the helicopter that brought the woman to a nearby hospital, according to the Express .
While we know this was part of the Prince's job description, it's certainly not every day that one has the future king of England come to the rescue. It seems Burton's husband was in a bit of shock, as he boasted to the Globe & Mail: "He assisted in helping Darlene when they moved the stretcher out (of the helicopter).”
The Prince's rescue comes a day after nude photos of his younger brother, Harry, surfaced from a wild weekend in Vegas.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/prince-william-rescues-injured-canadian-tourist_n_1822866.html
Especially if you live second in line to an antiquated crown and feel constrained by custom from shiving your older bother. It's just not done old sport.
So you you play strip billiards in Las Vegas while your brother rescues humble travelers.
You do the former because you can; I'm the bloody prince!
[Prince William is at it again. Days after herescued drowning teenagers off the coast of Anglesey, the future king of England piloted a helicopter to save an injured Canadian tourist who was hiking with her husband on a cliff by the shore.
Darlene Burton was hiking along a trail near the picturesque Point Lynas with her husband, Lawrence Oakley, when she slipped on a rock and broke her leg, The Globe and Mail reports.
Local paramedics were called, but they were unable to help her. That's where Prince William comes in: He piloted the helicopter that brought the woman to a nearby hospital, according to the Express .
While we know this was part of the Prince's job description, it's certainly not every day that one has the future king of England come to the rescue. It seems Burton's husband was in a bit of shock, as he boasted to the Globe & Mail: "He assisted in helping Darlene when they moved the stretcher out (of the helicopter).”
The Prince's rescue comes a day after nude photos of his younger brother, Harry, surfaced from a wild weekend in Vegas.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/prince-william-rescues-injured-canadian-tourist_n_1822866.html
Saturday, August 25, 2012
God Bless the Engineers
God bless the engineers of all ages of humanity, from prehistory and making tools to those who labored for humans to walk on the moon, for though we have faith in our false security of 21st century technology which requires nerds with computer algorithms and programming skills, the adventure of the human race always requires someone to put their butt in a seat in a raft made from reeds to cross the Pacific to new lands or in a lunar lander to touch down on soil alien to the human race.
Occam's unforgiving razor fairly assures the reckless did not survive those journeys but those who planned and plotted and pioneered tried to assure the best they could their survival in the adventure.
God bless the engineers, because among the best exist a few who say we've tried to know the unknowable and think we can do it so let's try.
Light that candle. Hey Ho, let's go!
[In his own words:
On touching down: "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed...."
Looking back at Earth: "It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet. I felt very, very small."
On his career: "I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer. And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/neil-armstrong-one-of-the-greatest-american-heroes-of-all-time-8081425.html
Occam's unforgiving razor fairly assures the reckless did not survive those journeys but those who planned and plotted and pioneered tried to assure the best they could their survival in the adventure.
God bless the engineers, because among the best exist a few who say we've tried to know the unknowable and think we can do it so let's try.
Light that candle. Hey Ho, let's go!
[In his own words:
On touching down: "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed...."
Looking back at Earth: "It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet. I felt very, very small."
On his career: "I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer. And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/neil-armstrong-one-of-the-greatest-american-heroes-of-all-time-8081425.html
Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky
From family statement on Passing of Neil Armstrong: "For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/astronaut-neil-armstrong-family-issues-statement-occasion-death-article-1.1144566#ixzz24b58kzqH
Obviously a hoax and probably started as a joke by Buddy Hackett, but it still makes me laugh: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blgorsky.htm. Will give the Moon a wink and a chuckle the next time I see it in memory of Neil Armstrong.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/astronaut-neil-armstrong-family-issues-statement-occasion-death-article-1.1144566#ixzz24b58kzqH
Obviously a hoax and probably started as a joke by Buddy Hackett, but it still makes me laugh: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blgorsky.htm. Will give the Moon a wink and a chuckle the next time I see it in memory of Neil Armstrong.
Neil Armstrong Passes
Neil Armstrong, first human to set foot on the moon, dies at age 82. I'd say he had full and productive life.
[(Reuters) - Former U.S. astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.
Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.
As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."
Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.
Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.
"I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program in 2005.
He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/25/us-usa-neilarmstrong-idUSBRE87O0B020120825
[(Reuters) - Former U.S. astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.
Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.
As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."
Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.
Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.
"I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program in 2005.
He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/25/us-usa-neilarmstrong-idUSBRE87O0B020120825
Romneyhood, Taking from the Poor to Give to the Rich!
Romney’s plan is to give record tax breaks to the rich, lowering their tax rate down to 28 percent. Ryan is a little different. His plan is to give the rich even bigger tax breaks, lowering their tax rate down to 25 percent. No wonder billionaires are bank rolling them.
Both of these men understand exactly how to advocate for their own class. If elected it'll be just like the George W. Bush years again, except this time, along with launching exciting new wars overseas, they’ll finally be able get rid of the remaining tax breaks that benefit low-income Americans.
Comforting the comfortable while punishing the American mainstream is now open Republican practice, so the far right have finally stepped out from behind the curtain to watch their candidate Ryan take on the mantel of power in full public view.
The timing is fortuitous because it's become apparent to most observers that the truth about Romney would probably end his presidential campaign.
He cannot sell himself on Romneycare, his signature achievement, because it would be too damaging. He cannot disclose his own income tax returns -- apparently they would be too damaging too.
Enter Ryan and his big toothy grin. But who is Paul Ryan, that’s the question?
Well, tremble now American seniors, because Ryan is the man who genuinely believes in turning Medicare into a voucher program.
Under his budget plan senior citizens would no longer be entitled to comprehensive medical benefits designed to protect them from financial ruin. No more guarantee of benefits, just take a voucher instead, and you know what a voucher's good for, don’t you?
Ryan also believes in ending Medicaid, turning it into a “block grant” instead. It’s estimated between 14 and 27 million low-income Americans would lose their health insurance over it.
Ryan also wants to privatize Social Security. In fact his plan to take a wrecking ball to the New Deal is so radical that even the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Bush rejected it out of hand.
So why do very rich people like Romney and Ryan hate government programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
Well, the nation’s top earners don’t want the financial burden of the welfare state, since they don’t benefit from it, so their plan is to hand the entire cost of it over to the middle class, who do.
America’s rich no longer feel the need or the responsibility to contribute one thin dime to the upkeep of this nation. Instead they open Swiss bank accounts to hide their earnings from the IRS; they ship jobs overseas while closing companies here; they play Wall Street like a private casino and hand you the bill for their excesses.
I don't know how they can make this fact any plainer. They don’t actually care what happens to America.
Under Romney/Ryan it’ll be tax breaks for the rich and social Darwinism for the poor. These would be the deepest, most biting cuts ever attempted by a sitting government.
Have you noticed all of that crumbling infrastructure from sea to shining sea? Under Ryan’s budget the government would be so starved of resources that by 2050 it wouldn’t have enough money for basic functioning, never mind overdue road works or highway repairs.
Ryan’s massive and historic cuts to government funding would mean debilitating cuts to law enforcement, education, highway repair and even basic even food inspection.
Ryan does want to increase defense spending, however, so while you're watching all the bombs drop on new wars overseas you can try to console yourself that your money's being well spent.
But predictably, Ryan’s most characteristic ambition of all is Robin Hood in reverse. He wants to preside over the largest transfer of wealth from the poor and the middle class over to the rich in American history.
According to Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the new Ryan budget “would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history, and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times (and possibly in the nation’s history).”
So that's who Paul Ryan is. Another partisan plutocrat with faraway eyes comes to squeeze the last few drops out of the American century.
A man who has never once in his life had to ask himself, which bill can I afford to pay this week? A man who once used Social Security checks to pay for his education, but who now wants to see Social Security scrapped.
And some of you will even vote for him. Just don’t ever get sick or lose your job, all right?] my emphasis throughout
http://www.irishcentral.com/story/ent/manhattan_diary/vote-for-paul-ryan-thats-rich-romney-vp-pick-most-extreme-candidate-ever-to-run--166390186.html
The Spirit Works in Mysterious Ways
But I do not believe in a biker boot to the face as an instrument of the Lord's Work in faith healing.
[A Canadian US-based preacher, who claims to have cured cancer by kicking his followers in the face and stomach, has been banned from Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Todd Bentley (36), who founded the revivalist organization Fresh Fire USA, had planned to hold a series of meetings in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However the British Home Office said Bentley was subject to an exclusion order and would not be permitted entry into the UK....
In videos he is heard telling audiences, “And the Holy Spirit spoke to me, the gift of faith came on me. He said, 'kick her in the face with your biker boot'. I inched closer and I went like this – bam! And just as my boot made contact with her nose, she fell under the power of God.”]
Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/US-based-preacher-who-heals-by-punching-and-kicking-banned-from-Northern-Ireland--VIDEO-167304455.html#ixzz24ZHBshZ3
[A Canadian US-based preacher, who claims to have cured cancer by kicking his followers in the face and stomach, has been banned from Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Todd Bentley (36), who founded the revivalist organization Fresh Fire USA, had planned to hold a series of meetings in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However the British Home Office said Bentley was subject to an exclusion order and would not be permitted entry into the UK....
In videos he is heard telling audiences, “And the Holy Spirit spoke to me, the gift of faith came on me. He said, 'kick her in the face with your biker boot'. I inched closer and I went like this – bam! And just as my boot made contact with her nose, she fell under the power of God.”]
Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/US-based-preacher-who-heals-by-punching-and-kicking-banned-from-Northern-Ireland--VIDEO-167304455.html#ixzz24ZHBshZ3
Release the President's Beer Recipe!
White House Beer Recipe released if we get enough petition requests.
Actually as devout German Lutheran, do however consider beer recipes with honey an abomination before the Lord. Will drink 'em as do not hew to strict dietary laws. Heck, if following Old Test, would have to give up BBQ pork and oysters and that ain't happening.
Go here to sign: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/release-recipe-honey-ale-home-brewed-white-house/XkpkYwc0
Actually as devout German Lutheran, do however consider beer recipes with honey an abomination before the Lord. Will drink 'em as do not hew to strict dietary laws. Heck, if following Old Test, would have to give up BBQ pork and oysters and that ain't happening.
Go here to sign: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/release-recipe-honey-ale-home-brewed-white-house/XkpkYwc0
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Friday, August 24, 2012
Florida Cutting Benefits By Cutting Access
Governor 48.9% continues the fine JEB! legacy: tax cuts for the poor and cuts in basic human services for people in need. Unemployment compensation makes one of the main strands of the tattered social safety net. If one loses a job through no fault of their own. say through layoffs or Bain Capital buying a company and sending jobs to China, then in FL with enough work history over the previous year, a beneficiary can get up to $275 biweekly.
If you've worked and paid unemployment taxes for decades, you still only get benefits based on previous 4 quarters. FL payment amounts rank among the lowest in the nation. By making it nearly impossible or at least as frustrating as conceivable, FL also reduces the money it has to pay out, monies which people legitimately earned by working, which help people survive, and which help keep the economy moving by getting put back into buying goods and services rather than getting stashed in Cayman Islands tax shelter.
Starting with dauphin JEB! Bush, the state of FL made it mandatory to apply on line for unemployment benefits, which kind of can discourage potential applicants without computers from applying.
Same thig happened with food stamps, another form of assistance which helps keep people in need alive. Jeb! closed local service centers and moved to web based applications. Then, one had to have a phone interview to confirm eligibility. If you ain't got enough dough to eat, do you think you can keep phone service?
Can't have any of those pesky poor people actually benefiting from government services.
And forget about talking to a human being customer service representative. Tax cuts and budget cuts which follow means you can call for days--DAYS--and never get through.
JEB! came into office pledging to cut taxes, received warnings that coming yeas wuld bing exponential growth of Medicaid expenses, and then cut $14 billion in taxes, leaving FL broke and needing to impoverish most broken citizens even more, "Because you can't raise taxes in the middle of a recession."
Bullshit.
Return taxes to near pre-Bush rates, at both federal and state levels.
JEB! left the cupboard empty, ate the seed corn, and salted the fields so poor could not even glean for subsistence.
Bastard!
[BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- When 65-year-old Raymond Togyer isn’t polishing his resume or cold calling potential employers, he’s spending hours trying, unsuccessfully, to navigate Florida’s labyrinthine unemployment compensation system.
Togyer — who was laid off for the first time in his adult life from a high-paying civil engineering job in June — has spent the last seven weeks sending and resending letters, staying on hold for hours and checking state websites, all to no avail.
He is one of hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Floridians flummoxed by what has become the most tightfisted unemployment compensation system in the nation.
“They told me that I was eligible and that I was going to be getting $275 a week,” said the Togyer, of FortLauderdale . “That was seven weeks ago. To this day I have not received anything. I’m draining my savings to pay my bills.”
Critics say Gov. Rick Scott and Florida’s Legislature are behind a multipronged effort to restrict payments to eligible Floridians. A required 45-question “skills review” and an online-only application system have combined to restrict thousands of applicants from receiving aid. The U.S. Labor Department is investigating the complaints. A spokesman told the Herald/Times that Florida is cooperating with their inquiry, but they would not comment further.
Scott’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but in the past he has touted the required 45-question “skills review” as a commonsense reform intended to create a more skilled workforce.
Whatever the intention, the impact is clear: Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Floridians have been cut off from a safety net system for those who find themselves suddenly without income.] emphasis added for shame
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/21/2962090/getting-an-unemployment-check.html#storylink=misearch
[More than six years later, as Bush prepares for his final year in office, it would be hard to deny that he's cut taxes. Since 1999, lawmakers have approved tax cuts totaling more than $14 billion.
But most Floridians haven't seen a direct impact.
A review of tax cuts enacted during Bush's terms show the bulk of the cuts have aided businesses or investors, with cuts on estate taxes and investments accounting for nearly half of the tax cuts and cuts for businesses also well into the billions of dollars.
"The vast majority of tax cuts (under Bush) went to special interests, select corporations and our most privileged and wealthy citizens," said Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. "They gave the wealthy and most powerful the vast majority of your tax breaks and gave everyone else a few crumbs and told them they've been to the party."] Bolded for those with eyes who will not see.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051204/LOCAL/212040319/1078&template=printart
If you've worked and paid unemployment taxes for decades, you still only get benefits based on previous 4 quarters. FL payment amounts rank among the lowest in the nation. By making it nearly impossible or at least as frustrating as conceivable, FL also reduces the money it has to pay out, monies which people legitimately earned by working, which help people survive, and which help keep the economy moving by getting put back into buying goods and services rather than getting stashed in Cayman Islands tax shelter.
Starting with dauphin JEB! Bush, the state of FL made it mandatory to apply on line for unemployment benefits, which kind of can discourage potential applicants without computers from applying.
Same thig happened with food stamps, another form of assistance which helps keep people in need alive. Jeb! closed local service centers and moved to web based applications. Then, one had to have a phone interview to confirm eligibility. If you ain't got enough dough to eat, do you think you can keep phone service?
Can't have any of those pesky poor people actually benefiting from government services.
And forget about talking to a human being customer service representative. Tax cuts and budget cuts which follow means you can call for days--DAYS--and never get through.
JEB! came into office pledging to cut taxes, received warnings that coming yeas wuld bing exponential growth of Medicaid expenses, and then cut $14 billion in taxes, leaving FL broke and needing to impoverish most broken citizens even more, "Because you can't raise taxes in the middle of a recession."
Bullshit.
Return taxes to near pre-Bush rates, at both federal and state levels.
JEB! left the cupboard empty, ate the seed corn, and salted the fields so poor could not even glean for subsistence.
Bastard!
[BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- When 65-year-old Raymond Togyer isn’t polishing his resume or cold calling potential employers, he’s spending hours trying, unsuccessfully, to navigate Florida’s labyrinthine unemployment compensation system.
Togyer — who was laid off for the first time in his adult life from a high-paying civil engineering job in June — has spent the last seven weeks sending and resending letters, staying on hold for hours and checking state websites, all to no avail.
He is one of hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Floridians flummoxed by what has become the most tightfisted unemployment compensation system in the nation.
“They told me that I was eligible and that I was going to be getting $275 a week,” said the Togyer, of FortLauderdale . “That was seven weeks ago. To this day I have not received anything. I’m draining my savings to pay my bills.”
Critics say Gov. Rick Scott and Florida’s Legislature are behind a multipronged effort to restrict payments to eligible Floridians. A required 45-question “skills review” and an online-only application system have combined to restrict thousands of applicants from receiving aid. The U.S. Labor Department is investigating the complaints. A spokesman told the Herald/Times that Florida is cooperating with their inquiry, but they would not comment further.
Scott’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but in the past he has touted the required 45-question “skills review” as a commonsense reform intended to create a more skilled workforce.
Whatever the intention, the impact is clear: Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Floridians have been cut off from a safety net system for those who find themselves suddenly without income.] emphasis added for shame
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/21/2962090/getting-an-unemployment-check.html#storylink=misearch
[More than six years later, as Bush prepares for his final year in office, it would be hard to deny that he's cut taxes. Since 1999, lawmakers have approved tax cuts totaling more than $14 billion.
But most Floridians haven't seen a direct impact.
A review of tax cuts enacted during Bush's terms show the bulk of the cuts have aided businesses or investors, with cuts on estate taxes and investments accounting for nearly half of the tax cuts and cuts for businesses also well into the billions of dollars.
"The vast majority of tax cuts (under Bush) went to special interests, select corporations and our most privileged and wealthy citizens," said Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. "They gave the wealthy and most powerful the vast majority of your tax breaks and gave everyone else a few crumbs and told them they've been to the party."] Bolded for those with eyes who will not see.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051204/LOCAL/212040319/1078&template=printart
Things Your Bartender Won't Tell You
22.
Everyone should bartend a few nights in his life.
You learn so much about people.
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-your-bartender-wont-tell-you-slideshow/?trkid=outbrain-all#slideshow=slide22
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-your-bartender-wont-tell-you-slideshow/?trkid=outbrain-all#slideshow=slide1
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-your-bartender-wont-tell-you-slideshow/?trkid=outbrain-all#slideshow=slide22
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-your-bartender-wont-tell-you-slideshow/?trkid=outbrain-all#slideshow=slide1
Pete Townsend and Jack White: "The Seeker"
(Notes say Pino Palladino on bass.)
(With John "the Ox" Entwhistle on bass. Not too shabby.)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Don't You Dare Ask and Romney Won't Tell
[Denver TV reporter Shaun Boyd wanted to ask Mitt Romney about Todd Akin and the abortion controversy roiling the GOP Thursday. But the Romney campaign refused.
In a broadcast on Thursday, Boyd revealed the Romney campaign’s demand that she not ask about Akin. The Obama campaign quickly posted the video online and sent it to reporters:
Boyd told TPM that the Romney campaign offered her station an interview with Romney, one of several local news hits in swing states that Romney conducted via satellite Thursday. A campaign staffer whose name she didn’t divulge told her what questions she wasn’t allowed to ask.
“They said, you know, ‘the only stipulation is we don’t want you talking about the Akin issue,’” Boyd recalled. She also said the Romney staffer told her the campaign didn’t want questions for Romney about ‘the whole abortion controversy.’”]
In a broadcast on Thursday, Boyd revealed the Romney campaign’s demand that she not ask about Akin. The Obama campaign quickly posted the video online and sent it to reporters:
Boyd told TPM that the Romney campaign offered her station an interview with Romney, one of several local news hits in swing states that Romney conducted via satellite Thursday. A campaign staffer whose name she didn’t divulge told her what questions she wasn’t allowed to ask.
“They said, you know, ‘the only stipulation is we don’t want you talking about the Akin issue,’” Boyd recalled. She also said the Romney staffer told her the campaign didn’t want questions for Romney about ‘the whole abortion controversy.’”]
"The whole abortion controversy," like forcing women to carry their rapists' babies to term?
Home Brewing Hurricane Supplies
From Booth's Brewing, Tampa:
√ Homebrew Recipe
√ Recipe Ingredients
√ Plenty of gas
√ Jugs of water for brewing (be sure to account for sparging, sanitizing and cleaning)
√ Lots of sanitizer
√ The required brewing equipment
√Flashlights or candles
√ A lighter
√ Lots of ice for chilling the wort
√ Plenty of homebrew for morale lifting
√ Board games or cards to pass the time by
Good list but leaves out Tequila--always buy more Tequila and limes than you think you need 'cause you might lose power for days--spare lighters, 2 ice chests with ice (1for beer and one for vittles, although true cajun survivors like remy and Beauregard might say with enough PBR you don't need food.), and more Tequila.
√ Homebrew Recipe
√ Recipe Ingredients
√ Plenty of gas
√ Jugs of water for brewing (be sure to account for sparging, sanitizing and cleaning)
√ Lots of sanitizer
√ The required brewing equipment
√Flashlights or candles
√ A lighter
√ Lots of ice for chilling the wort
√ Plenty of homebrew for morale lifting
√ Board games or cards to pass the time by
Good list but leaves out Tequila--always buy more Tequila and limes than you think you need 'cause you might lose power for days--spare lighters, 2 ice chests with ice (1for beer and one for vittles, although true cajun survivors like remy and Beauregard might say with enough PBR you don't need food.), and more Tequila.
Did I mention Tequila?
God Hates Jedi: Star Wars convention VI kicks off in Orlando
Star Wars mania still goes on, like a bad 70's mullet hair cut? Geez, 2 OK movies and 4 crappy ones--each getting worse and worse, so bad that "Jar Jar Binks" has become a synonym for writers and directors who equate making tons of Money with making a quality product.
My ever ironic goddess, has this "franchise" gone on longer than the centuries of the Olympics or the seeming recent NBC eternity of coverage of synchronized swimming and rhythmic dance? Quit kidding me, Lucas finds another 13 seconds of cutting room footage and issues a new director's cut every 10 years,soon to hit theatres in 3D and still banks major ducats?
With edits in bold { }:
[Orlando becomes the center of the science fiction universe when Star Wars Celebration VI occupies the Orange County Convention Center, August 23rd through 26th, 2012.
The ultimate fan experience — focused on a galaxy far, far away...
{Focused on you coughing up cash}
The biggest party this side of the galaxy, Star Wars Celebration brings fans of all ages together, from all points of the globe, to celebrate the pop-culture phenomenon that is Star Wars. Whether it's young fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars or die-hards fueled by the nostalgia for the original Star Wars trilogy; curious, casual followers; gamers, readers, costumers or collectors — there's something for everyone at Celebration.
The biggest party this side of the galaxy, Star Wars Celebration brings fans of all ages together, from all points of the globe, to celebrate the pop-culture phenomenon that is Star Wars. Whether it's young fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars or die-hards fueled by the nostalgia for the original Star Wars trilogy; curious, casual followers; gamers, readers, costumers or collectors — there's something for everyone at Celebration.
{Losers}
Both hardcore and casual fans will gather to have fun while celebrating their passion for all things Star Wars, discovering what's new, and being the first to see what's next. It's four fun-filled days of exhibits, a vibrant, interactive show floor, screenings, exclusive merchandise, celebrity guests, panels, autograph sessions, fan-inspired activities, and other surprises.
Both hardcore and casual fans will gather to have fun while celebrating their passion for all things Star Wars, discovering what's new, and being the first to see what's next. It's four fun-filled days of exhibits, a vibrant, interactive show floor, screenings, exclusive merchandise, celebrity guests, panels, autograph sessions, fan-inspired activities, and other surprises.
{"Four fun-filled" days in HELL. Celebity guests, how much does Mark Hamil charge for his autograph?}
Star Wars Celebration delivers a landmark experience where memories are made, families brought together, old friends reunited, and new friendships formed — all in the setting of the ever-evolving Star Wars universe.
Star Wars Celebration delivers a landmark experience where memories are made, families brought together, old friends reunited, and new friendships formed — all in the setting of the ever-evolving Star Wars universe.
{Cynical synapses overload: "families brought together" and "ever evolving," we'll have another Lucas cartoon piece of crap called "Clone Contrtemps."
Get a freakin' life, people}
Lissen up, Sudsy sez start happy hour!
Romney Lies Limerick
Damn, I could have written this!
[Limerick Ode To Smear-Meister Mitt Romney
By Madeleine Begun Kane
For Romney, the truth holds no sway,
As his lies mount up day after day.
Welfare, health care and tax—
With the facts he is lax,
Treating voters like ignorant prey.]
[Limerick Ode To Smear-Meister Mitt Romney
By Madeleine Begun Kane
For Romney, the truth holds no sway,
As his lies mount up day after day.
Welfare, health care and tax—
With the facts he is lax,
Treating voters like ignorant prey.]
Rapists' Parental Rights
You read that right. In 31 states, rapists whose sperm swim well can claim parental visitation rights.
Holy Purple Jesus punch in a dirty bathtub, patriarch Man! Visitation rights for criminal vermin who ought to have all trace of their existence wiped from the earth. What freakin' patriarchal Mormon prick came up with that idea?
[It would not be long before I would learn firsthand that in the vast majority of states -- 31 -- men who father through rape are able to assert the same custody and visitation rights to their children that other fathers enjoy. When no law prohibits a rapist from exercising these rights, a woman may feel forced to bargain away her legal rights to a criminal trial in exchange for the rapist dropping the bid to have access to her child.
Opinion: Wake up, it's not just Akin
When faced with the choice between a lifetime tethered to her rapist or meaningful legal redress, the answer may be easy, but it is not painless. For the sake of her child, the woman will sacrifice her need to see her once immensely powerful perpetrator humbled by the court.
I know it because I lived it. I went to law school to learn how to stop it.]
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/opinion/prewitt-rapist-visitation-rights/index.html
People without a uterus should shut up and stop making laws about women's bodies!
I'm looking at you, Paul Ryan, defender of every fertilized egg who would ban most forms of birth control.
Dipwad.
Holy Purple Jesus punch in a dirty bathtub, patriarch Man! Visitation rights for criminal vermin who ought to have all trace of their existence wiped from the earth. What freakin' patriarchal Mormon prick came up with that idea?
[It would not be long before I would learn firsthand that in the vast majority of states -- 31 -- men who father through rape are able to assert the same custody and visitation rights to their children that other fathers enjoy. When no law prohibits a rapist from exercising these rights, a woman may feel forced to bargain away her legal rights to a criminal trial in exchange for the rapist dropping the bid to have access to her child.
Opinion: Wake up, it's not just Akin
When faced with the choice between a lifetime tethered to her rapist or meaningful legal redress, the answer may be easy, but it is not painless. For the sake of her child, the woman will sacrifice her need to see her once immensely powerful perpetrator humbled by the court.
I know it because I lived it. I went to law school to learn how to stop it.]
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/opinion/prewitt-rapist-visitation-rights/index.html
People without a uterus should shut up and stop making laws about women's bodies!
I'm looking at you, Paul Ryan, defender of every fertilized egg who would ban most forms of birth control.
Dipwad.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
These RepubliKKKans Scare Me
Update: First found this fool at Juanita Jean's--the most dangerous beauty salon on earth--and thought her description of West TX apt: [Judge Tom, first off, nobody is coming to Lubbock. It’s a hellhole. It’s hot as a frying pan in the summer, colder than a witch’s boob in a brass bra in the winter, and one damn crappy place in between. You can’t pay people to come to Lubbock. Hell, son, you could offer starving people in China a fancy condo in Lubbock and they wouldn’t take it.
Tom Head: Raising Taxes Because He Wants To
Second off, I do not care how seasoned your police are, they cannot take out a predator drone or the United States Marines. And there would be thousands of them — all whining about being in damn Lubbock.]
How in the name of blind justice did this fool become a judge? Lord, I know it only TX, but this strains the bounds of credulity.
How did crackpot borderline psychopaths get so comfortable stating publicly what they secretly believe, in this case a duly elected President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, who would disband the United States and turn it into a fiefdom of the United Nations.
What do these people smoke, ingest, imbibe, inject, or consume?
Timothy Leary's ghost, give me some of them drugs.
Seriously cannot make this shite up, justifying raising local taxes to fight off black federal government helicopters.
[Texas Judge Tom Head is worried about what might happen if President Obama wins reelection in November. There could be riots, unrest or a “civil war, maybe,” he told a local television station this week.
Because of that, the Lubbock County judge has decided the only way to prepare is to increase taxes to help beef up local law enforcement.
“I’m thinking worst case scenario now,” Head said during an appearance on FOX 34 in Lubbock. “Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war, maybe. And we’re not talking just a few riots here and demonstrations, we’re talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.”
The judge spun the elaborate conspiracy theory while calling for a 1.7 cent hike per $100 on property taxes in Lubbock County, a measure being considered by the commission there. He said he feared Obama would hand over sovereignty of the United States to the United Nations and the unrest would naturally follow.
Head’s role as judge is an elected position akin to executive of the county commission, which is known as a court. He presides over commission meetings, prepares the budget and is in charge of the county’s emergency management.
Under Head’s theory, the United Nations would then send in peacekeeping troops to try to quell the violence and that’s where he would draw the line. He vowed to stand in front of the county’s armored vehicle and stare down the U.N. troops if that happens.
“And the sheriff, I’ve already asked him, I said, ‘You gonna back me?’” the judge said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll back you.’ Well, I don’t want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me.”] Sure, like a bunch of beer bellied red neck sheriffs will stand off a fleet of predator drones. Emphasis added to ridicule.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/tom_head_civil_war.php?ref=fpb
Tom Head: Raising Taxes Because He Wants To
Second off, I do not care how seasoned your police are, they cannot take out a predator drone or the United States Marines. And there would be thousands of them — all whining about being in damn Lubbock.]
How in the name of blind justice did this fool become a judge? Lord, I know it only TX, but this strains the bounds of credulity.
How did crackpot borderline psychopaths get so comfortable stating publicly what they secretly believe, in this case a duly elected President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, who would disband the United States and turn it into a fiefdom of the United Nations.
What do these people smoke, ingest, imbibe, inject, or consume?
Timothy Leary's ghost, give me some of them drugs.
Seriously cannot make this shite up, justifying raising local taxes to fight off black federal government helicopters.
[Texas Judge Tom Head is worried about what might happen if President Obama wins reelection in November. There could be riots, unrest or a “civil war, maybe,” he told a local television station this week.
Because of that, the Lubbock County judge has decided the only way to prepare is to increase taxes to help beef up local law enforcement.
“I’m thinking worst case scenario now,” Head said during an appearance on FOX 34 in Lubbock. “Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war, maybe. And we’re not talking just a few riots here and demonstrations, we’re talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.”
The judge spun the elaborate conspiracy theory while calling for a 1.7 cent hike per $100 on property taxes in Lubbock County, a measure being considered by the commission there. He said he feared Obama would hand over sovereignty of the United States to the United Nations and the unrest would naturally follow.
Head’s role as judge is an elected position akin to executive of the county commission, which is known as a court. He presides over commission meetings, prepares the budget and is in charge of the county’s emergency management.
Under Head’s theory, the United Nations would then send in peacekeeping troops to try to quell the violence and that’s where he would draw the line. He vowed to stand in front of the county’s armored vehicle and stare down the U.N. troops if that happens.
“And the sheriff, I’ve already asked him, I said, ‘You gonna back me?’” the judge said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll back you.’ Well, I don’t want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me.”] Sure, like a bunch of beer bellied red neck sheriffs will stand off a fleet of predator drones. Emphasis added to ridicule.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/tom_head_civil_war.php?ref=fpb
Never Trust a Man Who Doesn't Drink Beer
That means Mormons, right? Guys like Willard Mitt Romney who never had the moments of introspection praying to the porcelain god brings, who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and upgraded it to platinum
[Son, never trust a man who doesn’t drink because he’s probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They’re the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They’re usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they’re a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can’t trust a man who’s afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It’s damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he’s heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.
~James Arthur Crumley (October 12, 1939 – September 17, 2008)]http://www.sexcigarsbooze.com/2011/09/never-trust-a-man-who-doesn%E2%80%99t-drink/
Better to trust a man who brews his own beer and will have to share the recipe after a Freedom of Information Act Request: Barack H. Obama.
[Obama is a big enough fan of his White House beer (and beer in general) that he's now carrying it on the campaign bus andoccasionally handing out bottles of it. While it may in fact be a great brew, we don't really know for sure since most of us have never tried it. That's why a Reddit user decided to submit a Freedom Of Information Act request for the White House Honey Ale recipe, or any other White House brews, which include White House Honey Porter and White House Honey Blonde Ale. All three use honey from Michelle Obama's White House garden.
The Fedblog points out that this is not the first formal request for the recipe. A petition was recently filed at the White House website, but it needs 25,000 signatures by September 17 before it gets reviewed. As of this writing, it has 295. Only 24,705 to go! The petition pleads, "In keeping with the brewing traditions of the founding fathers, homebrewers across America call on the Obama administration to release the recipe for the White House home brew so that it may be enjoyed by all."]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.html?ir=Food
[Son, never trust a man who doesn’t drink because he’s probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They’re the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They’re usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they’re a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can’t trust a man who’s afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It’s damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he’s heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.
~James Arthur Crumley (October 12, 1939 – September 17, 2008)]http://www.sexcigarsbooze.com/2011/09/never-trust-a-man-who-doesn%E2%80%99t-drink/
Better to trust a man who brews his own beer and will have to share the recipe after a Freedom of Information Act Request: Barack H. Obama.
[Obama is a big enough fan of his White House beer (and beer in general) that he's now carrying it on the campaign bus andoccasionally handing out bottles of it. While it may in fact be a great brew, we don't really know for sure since most of us have never tried it. That's why a Reddit user decided to submit a Freedom Of Information Act request for the White House Honey Ale recipe, or any other White House brews, which include White House Honey Porter and White House Honey Blonde Ale. All three use honey from Michelle Obama's White House garden.
The Fedblog points out that this is not the first formal request for the recipe. A petition was recently filed at the White House website, but it needs 25,000 signatures by September 17 before it gets reviewed. As of this writing, it has 295. Only 24,705 to go! The petition pleads, "In keeping with the brewing traditions of the founding fathers, homebrewers across America call on the Obama administration to release the recipe for the White House home brew so that it may be enjoyed by all."]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.html?ir=Food
Pregnant After Rape: Why people without a uterus should shut the frack up!
God help anyone who hurts my teenage nieces. I will kill the perpetrators. Painfully. Repeatedly after reviving them to kill them again.
(Preferably, first we will imply great mayhem will fall on any suitors who fail to act as gentlemen.}
This explains why I try to become a follower of Jesus but trying in my heart does not include forgiving, a sin for sure and one which will have to abashedly confess when my time comes but ain't changing after 54 years.
So personal stories of victims of violent crimes shake me as cannot believe a human feels the need to assert power and dominance over and ability to diminish another by rape.
Then, getting on my last unperturbed brain cell, Todd, idiot asscclown Akin, MO, trots out his ignorance of theology, biology, and uses it to construct a fascist ideology to control the bodies of women
Ideologue "Christian" conservatives usually rely on their "special" knowledge of what God wants by selecting certain passages of the Bible and ignoring others. Leaving aside their hypocritical crusade to become the new Pharisees and create a theocracy in the United States according to their own prejudices, let's go ahead and look at 2 passages disproving their bullshit.
Exodus 21:22 concerns injury of a woman resulting in miscarriage and thus no murder had occurred.
Genesis has God breathing life into clay, meaning life can't begin until a human stats breathing.
Nevertheless, these ideologues in their messianic, misplaced zeal cannot admit of possibility of their own error because fanatics need a cause to make them judgmental little tin plated gods of their own, more eager to condemn than forgive, a very human impulse of my own.
So these idiots will, if elected, dictate to victims of rape what the women ought do with their own bodies.
IF ELECTED!
[At 19 years old, I became an unwilling expert on the topic of rape. I learned about rape’s savagery and its psychological trauma.
Lately, we’ve been hearing from men who don’t know much about the subject at all. On Monday, Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., created a stir when he said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” But his casual, off-the-cuff ignorance is just the latest in a long line of insults. In March, Kansas Rep. Pete DeGraf said, “Women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire.” A few weeks after that Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner said, “Some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.” I can’t stand by and watch these men who have no personal experience with sexual assault pretend to know so much about it.
I do know about rape. I received an education of the highest degree, and now it’s my turn to teach....
But just when I thought the horror couldn’t escalate any further, things got worse: My period never came. At first, I assumed it was due to the stress and anxiety, so I waited. I waited and waited, and fear swarmed in my mind....]
(Preferably, first we will imply great mayhem will fall on any suitors who fail to act as gentlemen.}
This explains why I try to become a follower of Jesus but trying in my heart does not include forgiving, a sin for sure and one which will have to abashedly confess when my time comes but ain't changing after 54 years.
So personal stories of victims of violent crimes shake me as cannot believe a human feels the need to assert power and dominance over and ability to diminish another by rape.
Then, getting on my last unperturbed brain cell, Todd, idiot asscclown Akin, MO, trots out his ignorance of theology, biology, and uses it to construct a fascist ideology to control the bodies of women
Ideologue "Christian" conservatives usually rely on their "special" knowledge of what God wants by selecting certain passages of the Bible and ignoring others. Leaving aside their hypocritical crusade to become the new Pharisees and create a theocracy in the United States according to their own prejudices, let's go ahead and look at 2 passages disproving their bullshit.
Exodus 21:22 concerns injury of a woman resulting in miscarriage and thus no murder had occurred.
Genesis has God breathing life into clay, meaning life can't begin until a human stats breathing.
Nevertheless, these ideologues in their messianic, misplaced zeal cannot admit of possibility of their own error because fanatics need a cause to make them judgmental little tin plated gods of their own, more eager to condemn than forgive, a very human impulse of my own.
So these idiots will, if elected, dictate to victims of rape what the women ought do with their own bodies.
IF ELECTED!
[At 19 years old, I became an unwilling expert on the topic of rape. I learned about rape’s savagery and its psychological trauma.
Lately, we’ve been hearing from men who don’t know much about the subject at all. On Monday, Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., created a stir when he said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” But his casual, off-the-cuff ignorance is just the latest in a long line of insults. In March, Kansas Rep. Pete DeGraf said, “Women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire.” A few weeks after that Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner said, “Some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.” I can’t stand by and watch these men who have no personal experience with sexual assault pretend to know so much about it.
I do know about rape. I received an education of the highest degree, and now it’s my turn to teach....
But just when I thought the horror couldn’t escalate any further, things got worse: My period never came. At first, I assumed it was due to the stress and anxiety, so I waited. I waited and waited, and fear swarmed in my mind....]
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