This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Carl Sagan's wife on his death...
This is probably going to be difficult t read - you may need to click on the image to view larger or us Ctrl and + keys together to enlarge image in your browser. Ctrl and - keys will reduce browser size.
Republican extremism
"The Republican Party has spent 30 years careering ever more deeply into ideological extremism, but one of the novel developments of the Obama years is its embrace of procedural extremism. The Republican fringe has evolved from being politically shrewd proponents of radical policy changes to a gang of saboteurs who would rather stop government from functioning at all. In this sense, their historical precedents are not so much the Gingrich revolutionaries, or even their tea-party selves of a few years ago; the movement is more like the radical left of the sixties, had it occupied a position of power in Congress. And so the terms we traditionally use to scold bad Congresses-partisanship, obstruction, gridlock-don't come close to describing this situation. The hard right's extremism has bent back upon itself, leaving an inscrutable void of paranoia and formless rage and twisting the Republican Party into a band of anarchists.
And the worst is not behind us."
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine. Read the rest here: LINK
And the worst is not behind us."
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine. Read the rest here: LINK
Well said, George Carlin
Have you ever wondered why Republicans are so interested in encouraging people to volunteer in their communities? It's because volunteers work for no pay. Republicans have been trying to get people to work for no pay for a long time.
---George Carlin
---George Carlin
Guns - don't we all feel safer?
Don't we all feel safer when a bunch of protesters show up carrying long guns? In Texas? Wearing masks? Wow - hard to believe anyone in Texas gets nervous around guns.
Even Democrats will sell out the poor for a few shekels
From Daily Kos
(Click on the link to read more)
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel insists there's no money for the schools, he's planning to use $55 million in taxpayer funds for a new basketball arena for DePaul University (a private Catholic university) and a new hotel. If that sounds bad, it's actually worse. The theory of the Tax Increment Funding program is that property tax money is taken from schools and public services and invested in things that will improve the city's tax base. But:
In the case at hand, Mayor Emanuel has decided to take the $55 million and buy some property on which he'll build the aforementioned hotel and basketball arena.
But once the city owns it, this land will move off the property tax rolls because publicly held property is exempt. So instead of investing your property tax dollars in developments that create more property tax dollars, Mayor Emanuel has decided to invest them in a scheme that will yield no property tax dollars whatsoever. Think of it as spending $55 million to lose money.
(Click on the link to read more)
Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than 1,000 of them teachers, the district said Thursday night.
About half of the 1,036 teachers being let go are tenured. The latest layoffs, which also include 1,077 school staff members, are in addition to 855 employees - including 420 teachers - who were laid off last month as a result of the district's decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program.While Mayor Rahm Emanuel insists there's no money for the schools, he's planning to use $55 million in taxpayer funds for a new basketball arena for DePaul University (a private Catholic university) and a new hotel. If that sounds bad, it's actually worse. The theory of the Tax Increment Funding program is that property tax money is taken from schools and public services and invested in things that will improve the city's tax base. But:
In the case at hand, Mayor Emanuel has decided to take the $55 million and buy some property on which he'll build the aforementioned hotel and basketball arena.
But once the city owns it, this land will move off the property tax rolls because publicly held property is exempt. So instead of investing your property tax dollars in developments that create more property tax dollars, Mayor Emanuel has decided to invest them in a scheme that will yield no property tax dollars whatsoever. Think of it as spending $55 million to lose money.
It gets so tiresome...
From Daily Kos
(Click on the link to read more)
Rubio and fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) recommended Brian Davis and William Thomas last year to President Barack Obama to fill vacancies on two U.S. district courts in Florida. But the nominations have since stalled in the Senate because Rubio won't provide a "blue slip" to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a customary step that signals a senator's consent to proceed with nominees from his or her state. Without a blue slip, the committee chairman won't bring up a nominee. [...]
(Click on the link to read more)
Marco Rubio still obstructing, refusing to cooperate on judicial nominations
Rubio and fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) recommended Brian Davis and William Thomas last year to President Barack Obama to fill vacancies on two U.S. district courts in Florida. But the nominations have since stalled in the Senate because Rubio won't provide a "blue slip" to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a customary step that signals a senator's consent to proceed with nominees from his or her state. Without a blue slip, the committee chairman won't bring up a nominee. [...]
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
I ripped off the complete article from Daily Kos because it is incomplete without all of the details.
Standardized tests take over the school day
Saturday, July 27, 2013, 11:17 pm
If you listen to parents and teachers, you hear a lot about how much time kids spend taking and preparing to take standardized tests. But how much is it, really? A new reportfrom the American Federation of Teachers shows that time—and money—spent on testing varies widely from district to district. But, at least in some districts, as in one of the two the AFT studied, the stories of endless hours of testing are no exaggeration:
All this for tests that are in many cases poorly designed or are being administered to identify which students are in danger of doing badly on other standardized tests. It's not time well spent if what you care about is kids learning to do anything other than take very specific tests.
Shooting report
Lots of folks out there still playing cowboy - settle all your disputes in the street, at high noon, with guns. By changing the gun laws, we could begin to get a grasp on the situation and change the mental attitude that has people turning to guns whenever they get pissed off or a little scared.
Is our Constitution outdated?
Even if it is, just TRY to get enough cool heads together to fix it in this day and age. It ain't gonna happen, but the discussion is interesting.
From Forward Progressives
(Click on the link to read more)
First let me say, I believe our Constitution is one of the most remarkable documents ever written. While flawed, it set the foundation to build a nation the likes of which the world had never before seen.
Many of the men responsible for writing it were ideological geniuses.
But the truth of the matter is it was written over 200 years ago. We didn't have the internet, cell phones, satellites, semi-automatic weapons-hell, we didn't even have electricity.
So it's always somewhat baffled me to see people cling so tightly to something that was written so long ago. To see highly educated individuals try and determine the correct "interpretation of the law based on the Constitution" for situations that didn't even exist when it was written, just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense.
Tell me, how the heck can we determine "Constitutional interpretation of law" based on laws which govern situations or events that couldn't have even been imagined when it was written?
And don't give me the "Constitutional Amendment process." It's completely broken. When our process for passing a Constitutional Amendment was written we had a handful of states and a Congress that was a fraction of the size. It wasn't unheard of to get two-thirds of both the House and Senate as well as three-fourths of the states to ratify something. Granted it wasn't easy, but it was much more realistic with numbers that were much smaller.
From Forward Progressives
(Click on the link to read more)
A Reality Many Americans Don't Want to Admit: Our Constitution is Outdated and Broken
July 20, 2013 By Allen CliftonFirst let me say, I believe our Constitution is one of the most remarkable documents ever written. While flawed, it set the foundation to build a nation the likes of which the world had never before seen.
Many of the men responsible for writing it were ideological geniuses.
But the truth of the matter is it was written over 200 years ago. We didn't have the internet, cell phones, satellites, semi-automatic weapons-hell, we didn't even have electricity.
So it's always somewhat baffled me to see people cling so tightly to something that was written so long ago. To see highly educated individuals try and determine the correct "interpretation of the law based on the Constitution" for situations that didn't even exist when it was written, just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense.
Tell me, how the heck can we determine "Constitutional interpretation of law" based on laws which govern situations or events that couldn't have even been imagined when it was written?
And don't give me the "Constitutional Amendment process." It's completely broken. When our process for passing a Constitutional Amendment was written we had a handful of states and a Congress that was a fraction of the size. It wasn't unheard of to get two-thirds of both the House and Senate as well as three-fourths of the states to ratify something. Granted it wasn't easy, but it was much more realistic with numbers that were much smaller.
Still talking about the NSA spying on Americans
Two nights ago, Bill Maher, on his HBO show Real Time, spoke of his limited support for the NSA spying because of his fears of small nuclear bombs. Sorry, Bill - I don't buy it. There's just NOT enough oversight of the project to make me comfortable with what else is being watched.
From The Guardian
(Click on the link to read more)
The National Security Agency revealed to an angry congressional panel on Wednesday that its analysis of phone records and online behavior goes exponentially beyond what it had previously disclosed.
John C Inglis, the deputy director of the surveillance agency, told a member of the House judiciary committee that NSA analysts can perform "a second or third hop query" through its collections of telephone data and internet records in order to find connections to terrorist organizations.
"Hops" refers to a technical term indicating connections between people. A three-hop query means that the NSA can look at data not only from a suspected terrorist, but from everyone that suspect communicated with, and then from everyone those people communicated with, and then from everyone all of those people communicated with.
Inglis did not elaborate, nor did the members of the House panel - many of whom expressed concern and even anger at the NSA - explore the legal and privacy implications of the breadth of "three-hop" analysis.
But Inglis and other intelligence and law enforcement officials testifying before the committee said that the NSA's ability to query the data follows rules set by the secret FISA court, although about two dozen NSA officials determine for themselves when those criteria are satisified.
From The Guardian
(Click on the link to read more)
NSA warned to rein in surveillance as agency reveals even greater scope
The National Security Agency revealed to an angry congressional panel on Wednesday that its analysis of phone records and online behavior goes exponentially beyond what it had previously disclosed.
John C Inglis, the deputy director of the surveillance agency, told a member of the House judiciary committee that NSA analysts can perform "a second or third hop query" through its collections of telephone data and internet records in order to find connections to terrorist organizations.
"Hops" refers to a technical term indicating connections between people. A three-hop query means that the NSA can look at data not only from a suspected terrorist, but from everyone that suspect communicated with, and then from everyone those people communicated with, and then from everyone all of those people communicated with.
Inglis did not elaborate, nor did the members of the House panel - many of whom expressed concern and even anger at the NSA - explore the legal and privacy implications of the breadth of "three-hop" analysis.
But Inglis and other intelligence and law enforcement officials testifying before the committee said that the NSA's ability to query the data follows rules set by the secret FISA court, although about two dozen NSA officials determine for themselves when those criteria are satisified.
It's also the spilling of it.
From Mother Jones...
(Read more - follow the link)
The Alberta Oil Sands Have Been Leaking for 9 Weeks
| Tue Jul. 23, 2013 12:54 PM PDT
Photos provided by a government scientist show the site of an oil spill in Cold Lake, Alberta. On Friday, the Toronto Star reported that an anonymous government scientist who had been to the spill site—which is operated by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.—warned that the leak wasn't going away. "Everybody [at the company and in government] is freaking out about this," the scientist told the Star. "We don't understand what happened. Nobody really understands how to stop it from leaking, or if they do they haven't put the measures into place." The Star reported that 26,000 barrels of watery tar have been removed from the site.
The impacted area spans some 30 acres of swampy forest, said Bob Curran, a spokesperson for the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which oversees these sites. According to the Star, pictures and the documents provided by the scientist show that dozens of animals, including loons and beavers, have been killed, and some 60,000 pounds of contaminated vegetation have been removed. (You can see the pictures at the Star's website.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Ronald Reagan on church and state
To place the following statement in context, click HERE. Although not completely misleading, Reagan was a born-again Christian and also supported a number of Conservative measures endorsed by the Christian Right movement in the U.S.
Heaven must be heaven!
If heaven is so fantastic, and the religious are so sure that they will wind up living eternity in Nirvana, why aren't they offing themselves to get there faster?
"Thank you, Reverend, your sermon has made me super-excited about croaking."
The rich have learned to love the bucks and hate the people.
From Occupy Democrats
(Click on the link to read more)
How nice would it be to be a Koch. You would have all of the money you could ever ask for. Laws do not apply to you. And the ones that do, you can have changed so they no longer will. The Koch brothers political influence stretches far across the globe. But, none more damaging than right here in the homeland. And while we are busy every November thinking that our voting and canvassing will make a difference, the Koch's are spending hundreds of millions to ensure our voices our silenced. And, although the ways they are funneling their money may be legal, it is not always in the light of day.
Moreover, the Koch's are using their money to fund organizations that can further their self and business interests. Because of the size and scope of Koch Industries, "the relationship between these for-profit and nonprofit entities is often mutually reinforcing to the direct financial and political interests of the behemoth corporation - broadly characterized as deregulation, limited government and free markets."
"An analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that from 2007 through 2011, Koch private foundations gave $41.2 million to 89 nonprofit organizations and an annual libertarian conference. Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch contributed $8.7 million to candidates and the Republican Party in the three election cycles between 2007 through 2012. In addition, Koch private foundations contributed $30.5 million to 221 U.S. colleges and universities and $46.3 million to the arts and other more traditionally charitable purposes during this period. And while Koch Industries' lobbyists were spending $53.9 million to further the giant corporation's federal and state policy agenda, the nonprofits it funded were simultaneously "educating" the public and lawmakers about energy, the environment and other issues in public testimony on Capitol Hill."
(Click on the link to read more)
Koch Brothers Purchase Even More Influence In America Politics Than You Think
posted by Salvatore Aversa July 18, 2013 Economy, PoliticsHow nice would it be to be a Koch. You would have all of the money you could ever ask for. Laws do not apply to you. And the ones that do, you can have changed so they no longer will. The Koch brothers political influence stretches far across the globe. But, none more damaging than right here in the homeland. And while we are busy every November thinking that our voting and canvassing will make a difference, the Koch's are spending hundreds of millions to ensure our voices our silenced. And, although the ways they are funneling their money may be legal, it is not always in the light of day.
Moreover, the Koch's are using their money to fund organizations that can further their self and business interests. Because of the size and scope of Koch Industries, "the relationship between these for-profit and nonprofit entities is often mutually reinforcing to the direct financial and political interests of the behemoth corporation - broadly characterized as deregulation, limited government and free markets."
"An analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that from 2007 through 2011, Koch private foundations gave $41.2 million to 89 nonprofit organizations and an annual libertarian conference. Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch contributed $8.7 million to candidates and the Republican Party in the three election cycles between 2007 through 2012. In addition, Koch private foundations contributed $30.5 million to 221 U.S. colleges and universities and $46.3 million to the arts and other more traditionally charitable purposes during this period. And while Koch Industries' lobbyists were spending $53.9 million to further the giant corporation's federal and state policy agenda, the nonprofits it funded were simultaneously "educating" the public and lawmakers about energy, the environment and other issues in public testimony on Capitol Hill."
Shooting report
"Gun control?"asks the NRA? "We don't need no steenken gun control!"
But then, I guess they don't care about all of the people being shot by other people with guns. Says a lot about their moral code, doesn't it?
But then, I guess they don't care about all of the people being shot by other people with guns. Says a lot about their moral code, doesn't it?
The deck is stacked against the middle class
From Truth Out
(Click on the link to read more)
Trade agreements and global corporate exploitation of international monetary regulations provide resources and cheap labor to developed nations, while leaving poorer countries depleted. Is it possible that rich countries have increased the wealth gap from being 35 times greater during European colonialization to 80 times greater today? The video Global Wealth Equality contends that is the case.
This are just some examples of how the economic cards are stacked by the G-8 and G-20 through the institutional and global corporate creation and manipulation of the financial rules. But when you move to the impact of global wealth distribution to individuals, according to Global Wealth Equality, the richest 1% on the earth have accumulated some 43% of the world's wealth, while the bottom 80% of the planet's inhabitants have just 6% between them. [...]
This skewed economic distribution within the US is reflective of an even worse economic disparity in the world in general.
The post-colonial era has actually accelerated economic injustice on a worldwide basis. What's done in the name of helping the world's poor (by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) is often really only a process of capturing markets too weak to fight back and indebting them to the masters of wealth without recourse. This has become abundantly clear in the World Bank's policies of "structural adjustment" for the developing world, which might be best phrased as "you pay us the interest on our loans and impose austerity on yourselves. It will be good for you."
(Click on the link to read more)
Richest 300 Persons on Earth Have More Money Than Poorest 3 Billion
Trade agreements and global corporate exploitation of international monetary regulations provide resources and cheap labor to developed nations, while leaving poorer countries depleted. Is it possible that rich countries have increased the wealth gap from being 35 times greater during European colonialization to 80 times greater today? The video Global Wealth Equality contends that is the case.
This are just some examples of how the economic cards are stacked by the G-8 and G-20 through the institutional and global corporate creation and manipulation of the financial rules. But when you move to the impact of global wealth distribution to individuals, according to Global Wealth Equality, the richest 1% on the earth have accumulated some 43% of the world's wealth, while the bottom 80% of the planet's inhabitants have just 6% between them. [...]
This skewed economic distribution within the US is reflective of an even worse economic disparity in the world in general.
The post-colonial era has actually accelerated economic injustice on a worldwide basis. What's done in the name of helping the world's poor (by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) is often really only a process of capturing markets too weak to fight back and indebting them to the masters of wealth without recourse. This has become abundantly clear in the World Bank's policies of "structural adjustment" for the developing world, which might be best phrased as "you pay us the interest on our loans and impose austerity on yourselves. It will be good for you."
The wealthy are killing us
It is hard to fathom how much the super-rich want to be even super-richer at the expense of the average Joe - it seems inhuman to me, but then I don't fashion myself as a selfish prick.
From Crooks and Liars
(Read more by following the link)
Scientists are warning that the controversial practice of natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may lead to far more powerful earthquakes than previously thought. Fracking injects millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth in order to break up shale rock and release natural gas. A new study published Thursday in the journal Science by a leading seismology lab warns that pumping water underground can induce dangerous earthquakes, even in regions not otherwise prone to tremors. The new report comes as Academy Award-nominated director Josh Fox has released the sequel to his highly acclaimed documentary "Gasland," which sparked a national discussion on fracking. The new film, "Gasland Part II," exposes how the gas industry and the government's portrayal of natural gas as a clean and safe alternative to oil is highly suspect. He also discusses how drilling companies have admitted to having several former military psychological operations, or PSYOPs, specialists on staff, applying their skills in Pennsylvania to counter opponents of drilling.
"What's really disappointing about this is that this is a moment when an American president has come forward and spoken about climate change and exhibited his obvious and earnest desire to take on the problem; however, the emphasis on fracked gas makes this plan entirely the wrong plan," says Fox, noting that methane released from fracking sites is more potent than other greenhouse gases. "Moving from coal to fracked gas doesn't give you any climate benefit at all. So the plan should be about how we're moving off of fossil fuels and onto alternate energy."
From Crooks and Liars
(Read more by following the link)
Josh Fox: Gasland 2, Fracking-Quake Link, Gas Industry’s Use of PSYOPs
Scientists are warning that the controversial practice of natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may lead to far more powerful earthquakes than previously thought. Fracking injects millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth in order to break up shale rock and release natural gas. A new study published Thursday in the journal Science by a leading seismology lab warns that pumping water underground can induce dangerous earthquakes, even in regions not otherwise prone to tremors. The new report comes as Academy Award-nominated director Josh Fox has released the sequel to his highly acclaimed documentary "Gasland," which sparked a national discussion on fracking. The new film, "Gasland Part II," exposes how the gas industry and the government's portrayal of natural gas as a clean and safe alternative to oil is highly suspect. He also discusses how drilling companies have admitted to having several former military psychological operations, or PSYOPs, specialists on staff, applying their skills in Pennsylvania to counter opponents of drilling.
"What's really disappointing about this is that this is a moment when an American president has come forward and spoken about climate change and exhibited his obvious and earnest desire to take on the problem; however, the emphasis on fracked gas makes this plan entirely the wrong plan," says Fox, noting that methane released from fracking sites is more potent than other greenhouse gases. "Moving from coal to fracked gas doesn't give you any climate benefit at all. So the plan should be about how we're moving off of fossil fuels and onto alternate energy."
It's in the top 5....
Taxes - they are important.
I don't LIKE paying taxes, but I don't MIND paying taxes. The funds collected from taxes can do a hell of a lot of good for us as a society - and education is just the beginning.
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