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.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Department Of Justice Orders Ferguson Police To Stop Wearing "I Am Darren Wilson" Bracelets
Carimah Townes
September 27, 2014 at 11:35 am
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A Department of Justice letter sent to the Police Chief Tom Jackson of Ferguson, Missouri on Friday instructed all officers to stop wearing "I Am Darren Wilson" bracelets. Another letter issued on Tuesday ordered members of the police department to wear readable name plates, after officers were seen wearing unidentifiable tags or none at all.
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{Source}
September 27, 2014 at 11:35 am
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A Department of Justice letter sent to the Police Chief Tom Jackson of Ferguson, Missouri on Friday instructed all officers to stop wearing "I Am Darren Wilson" bracelets. Another letter issued on Tuesday ordered members of the police department to wear readable name plates, after officers were seen wearing unidentifiable tags or none at all.
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{Source}
Shooting report
Sadly, lots of shootings to report - no new gun control legislation to report. We've still got it backwards.
Spiritual healer arrested after killing follower to prove that he could bring him back to life
[Just goes to show how batshit crazy these religious leaders are. There is simply no logic or proof to any of their claims. - Bozo]
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Nacktman (noreply@blogger.com)
Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 1:46 am
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A pir was arrested in Pakistan on Wednesday for killing a follower to prove his claim that he could bring him back to life. A Saddar police spokesman said Muhammad Sabir, a pir of village Mubarakabad in Bahawalnagar, gained popularity over the last five years for his ability to perform 'miracles'. He said on Tuesday, he announced that he could breathe life back into a dead man.
The pir gave the condition that the victim must be married and have children. Sabir said 40-year-old Muhammad Niaz, a daily wage worker and father of six children, volunteered for the miracle. On Wednesday, Niaz was placed on a table in a square and his hands and legs were bound. The police spokesman said Sabir then sliced his throat as people looked on. Meanwhile, an anonymous caller informed the police about 'the miracle.'
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The spokesman said that by the time police arrived, Niaz had died. Witnesses said Sabir uttered some words to bring him back to life. They said when he realized his 'miracle' had not worked, he tried to flee. He was detained by the villagers and handed over to the police. Villagers told police that he used ask a local pet store to donate birds and dogs so that could save villagers from black magic. They said he sacrificed animals and sprinkled their blood on his followers.
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He also asked them to sprinkle it at the entrance of their houses to be protected from evil. A report against the cleric has been lodged in Saddar police station. The body of the victim was taken to a hospital for an autopsy and later handed over to the family for burial. Samina, sister of the victim, said that her brother had sacrificed himself for the spiritual leader. "Why should I mourn when I know that my brother is in heaven?" she said. "He will be rewarded for his services for the spiritual leader in afterlife." She said her brother had volunteered for the miracle and that the pir should not have been arrested.
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{Source}
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Nacktman (noreply@blogger.com)
Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 1:46 am
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A pir was arrested in Pakistan on Wednesday for killing a follower to prove his claim that he could bring him back to life. A Saddar police spokesman said Muhammad Sabir, a pir of village Mubarakabad in Bahawalnagar, gained popularity over the last five years for his ability to perform 'miracles'. He said on Tuesday, he announced that he could breathe life back into a dead man.
The pir gave the condition that the victim must be married and have children. Sabir said 40-year-old Muhammad Niaz, a daily wage worker and father of six children, volunteered for the miracle. On Wednesday, Niaz was placed on a table in a square and his hands and legs were bound. The police spokesman said Sabir then sliced his throat as people looked on. Meanwhile, an anonymous caller informed the police about 'the miracle.'
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The spokesman said that by the time police arrived, Niaz had died. Witnesses said Sabir uttered some words to bring him back to life. They said when he realized his 'miracle' had not worked, he tried to flee. He was detained by the villagers and handed over to the police. Villagers told police that he used ask a local pet store to donate birds and dogs so that could save villagers from black magic. They said he sacrificed animals and sprinkled their blood on his followers.
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He also asked them to sprinkle it at the entrance of their houses to be protected from evil. A report against the cleric has been lodged in Saddar police station. The body of the victim was taken to a hospital for an autopsy and later handed over to the family for burial. Samina, sister of the victim, said that her brother had sacrificed himself for the spiritual leader. "Why should I mourn when I know that my brother is in heaven?" she said. "He will be rewarded for his services for the spiritual leader in afterlife." She said her brother had volunteered for the miracle and that the pir should not have been arrested.
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{Source}
Getting to know our founding fathers (John Adams)
From foundingfatherquotes on Tumblr
John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 29, 1818
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{Source}
I agree with you that "it is difficult to say at what moment the Revolution began." In my Opinion it began as early as the first Plantation of the Country. Independence of Church and Parliament was a fixed Principle of our Predecessors in 1620 as it was of Sam. Adams and Chris. Gadsden in 1776. And Independence of Church and Parliament were always kept in View in this Part of the Country and I believe in most others.
John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 29, 1818
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{Source}
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Bill Clinton's stunning statement on charter schools: Why it's more striking than it looks
Luke Brinker
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 10:33 AM EST
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Bill Clinton weighed in on the debate over charter schools this week, warning that the publicly funded yet autonomous schools must keep their "original bargain" if they want support as alternatives to traditional public schools.
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The Huffington Post reports that in remarks before a dinner hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative on Tuesday, the former president hailed the potential of charter schools, even as he called on them to be held to high standards. Clinton cited New Orleans, whose post-Katrina public schools are 100 percent charter. While casting New Orleans' experience with charters as a success story, he added an important caveat. Charter schools aren't worth supporting, Clinton suggested, unless they perform better than traditional public schools.
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"They still haven't done what no state has really done adequately," Clinton told the group, "which is to set up a review system to keep the original bargain of charter schools, which was if they weren't outperforming the public model, they weren't supposed to get their charter renewed."
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Clinton's statement is stunning once you consider its implications. Research shows that the vast majority of charter schools in the U.S. haven't cleared that hurdle. A study at Stanford University last year found that only 25 percent of charter schools fare better than traditional schools in reading. In math, only 29 percent of charters do better. Nineteen percent of charters actually did worse in reading, while 31 percent were worse in math; the rest weren't significantly different from traditional public schools.
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{Source}
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 10:33 AM EST
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The former president sounds a note of caution about whether they should be renewed. Will other Dems follow?
.Bill Clinton weighed in on the debate over charter schools this week, warning that the publicly funded yet autonomous schools must keep their "original bargain" if they want support as alternatives to traditional public schools.
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The Huffington Post reports that in remarks before a dinner hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative on Tuesday, the former president hailed the potential of charter schools, even as he called on them to be held to high standards. Clinton cited New Orleans, whose post-Katrina public schools are 100 percent charter. While casting New Orleans' experience with charters as a success story, he added an important caveat. Charter schools aren't worth supporting, Clinton suggested, unless they perform better than traditional public schools.
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"They still haven't done what no state has really done adequately," Clinton told the group, "which is to set up a review system to keep the original bargain of charter schools, which was if they weren't outperforming the public model, they weren't supposed to get their charter renewed."
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Clinton's statement is stunning once you consider its implications. Research shows that the vast majority of charter schools in the U.S. haven't cleared that hurdle. A study at Stanford University last year found that only 25 percent of charter schools fare better than traditional schools in reading. In math, only 29 percent of charters do better. Nineteen percent of charters actually did worse in reading, while 31 percent were worse in math; the rest weren't significantly different from traditional public schools.
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{Source}
Shooting report
One of these days it's going to be you - or a friend - or a family member - who gets shot. Let's get some gun control now.
White House moves to limit corporate tax inversions
Rss@dailykos.com (joan Mccarter)
Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 7:30 pm
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As promised, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced Monday that the Obama administration is going to use its regulatory authority to crack down on corporate inversions, the strategy corporations have used to avoid paying taxes by buying up foreign companies and relocating their headquarters overseas. The most recent example is Burger King, which bought Canadian coffee purveyor Tim Horton's. The new regulations are intended to both make existing inversions less lucrative and to make future inversions more difficult.
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{Source}
Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 7:30 pm
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As promised, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced Monday that the Obama administration is going to use its regulatory authority to crack down on corporate inversions, the strategy corporations have used to avoid paying taxes by buying up foreign companies and relocating their headquarters overseas. The most recent example is Burger King, which bought Canadian coffee purveyor Tim Horton's. The new regulations are intended to both make existing inversions less lucrative and to make future inversions more difficult.
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{Source}
Bundyism Lives On; Gets Indicted
Josh Marshall
Monday, September 22, 2014, 8:52 pm
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Cliven Bundy and his clan were not prosecuted for their armed standoff with federal land management employees earlier this year. But an ATV protest ride - which happened just after the standoff and was closely associated with the Bundy protest has not been so lucky. Five Utah men have now been charged with federal misdemeanor conspiracy and misuse of federal lands tied to the protest.
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{Source}
Monday, September 22, 2014, 8:52 pm
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Cliven Bundy and his clan were not prosecuted for their armed standoff with federal land management employees earlier this year. But an ATV protest ride - which happened just after the standoff and was closely associated with the Bundy protest has not been so lucky. Five Utah men have now been charged with federal misdemeanor conspiracy and misuse of federal lands tied to the protest.
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{Source}
Walmart finds a new way to exploit workers with a new dress code
Rss@dailykos.com (laura Clawson)
Thursday, September 18, 2014, 7:55 pm
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Walmart may have stirred up a little more publicity than it expected when it changed its "dress code" for employees recently. The low-paid workers are not happy that they'll be expected to buy the new clothes they're required to wear to work, and they've been making themselves heard. But wait. Federal law says that employers have to provide workers with required uniforms, right? Bryce Covert explains how Walmart is getting away with making workers pay:
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As Reuel Schiller, a law professor at UC Hastings, told NPR's Marketplace, "There's a legal difference between a uniform and a dress code." Walmart skirts the regulation about uniforms and is able to pass the cost on to workers by calling it a dress code rather than a uniform. It also gets around it by making employees buy clothes that they could conceivably wear elsewhere, not ones branded with a logo, for which it would otherwise be legally required to pay.
Although, if workers don't already have the required clothes, Walmart has helpfully marked the tags on items that pass muster in case workers want to buy those clothes from Walmart. Isn't that thoughtful? Worker group OUR Walmart estimates that the company stands to make $51 million or more in sales to workers buying the new not-quite-uniforms.
Walmart will also be supplying workers with a vest they're required to wear-a vest that, for all the company's big talk about American-made products, is currently being made in Jordan. They promise that soon, the vests will be made in the U.S., but:
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What was so urgent about putting workers in new clothes that they couldn't wait long enough to get 1.4 million vests made here? And if it was hard for Walmart, with its massive profits, to get vests quickly enough, think about the strain for its workers, many of who are forced by their low wages and part-time hours to rely on food stamps and Medicaid, and are now required to quickly come up with the money to buy new work outfits.
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{Source}
Thursday, September 18, 2014, 7:55 pm
.
Walmart may have stirred up a little more publicity than it expected when it changed its "dress code" for employees recently. The low-paid workers are not happy that they'll be expected to buy the new clothes they're required to wear to work, and they've been making themselves heard. But wait. Federal law says that employers have to provide workers with required uniforms, right? Bryce Covert explains how Walmart is getting away with making workers pay:
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But, under the language used by the company, the new clothes aren't "uniforms." Instead, they're part of a new "dress code.".
As Reuel Schiller, a law professor at UC Hastings, told NPR's Marketplace, "There's a legal difference between a uniform and a dress code." Walmart skirts the regulation about uniforms and is able to pass the cost on to workers by calling it a dress code rather than a uniform. It also gets around it by making employees buy clothes that they could conceivably wear elsewhere, not ones branded with a logo, for which it would otherwise be legally required to pay.
Although, if workers don't already have the required clothes, Walmart has helpfully marked the tags on items that pass muster in case workers want to buy those clothes from Walmart. Isn't that thoughtful? Worker group OUR Walmart estimates that the company stands to make $51 million or more in sales to workers buying the new not-quite-uniforms.
Walmart will also be supplying workers with a vest they're required to wear-a vest that, for all the company's big talk about American-made products, is currently being made in Jordan. They promise that soon, the vests will be made in the U.S., but:
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Michelle Gloeckler, executive vice president of consumables and U.S. manufacturing at Wal-Mart, confirmed the vests were made in Jordan, explaining the retailer made this decision because it couldn't find a supplier in the U.S. to churn out 1.4 million vests under such a quick time crunch.
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"The sheer number of vests that we ordered for our associates is the reason that we utilized a current apparel supplier in that location," she said. "Our intent is to replenish the vests as needed through a U.S. supplier."
What was so urgent about putting workers in new clothes that they couldn't wait long enough to get 1.4 million vests made here? And if it was hard for Walmart, with its massive profits, to get vests quickly enough, think about the strain for its workers, many of who are forced by their low wages and part-time hours to rely on food stamps and Medicaid, and are now required to quickly come up with the money to buy new work outfits.
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{Source}
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Look sharp, Texas kids, your new pro-conservative textbooks are almost ready
[Brainwashing to keep the kids stupid and working for peanuts. - Bozo]
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Rss@dailykos.com (hunter)
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 7:15 pm
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Sorry kids, you're screwed.
Tuesday saw a contentious public hearing on Texas's new proposed school textbooks, the ones that are required to adhere to 2010-established state standards set by a State Board of Education populated by hard-right conservatives and drafted with the help of such luminaries as conservative "historian" David Barton. The resulting crop of rewritten textbooks are in, and while the experts and others had some mighty harsh words for those results, the Board will be picking from this crop of textbooks this November, probably with precious few edits in the meantime. Shall we take a look?
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From Pearson, one of the most dominant textbook publishers, comes a social science textbook that sounds like a fine choice for Texas schoolchildren. Learn 'em up right, it will.
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That was back in the era when we were being rocked by market crashes and depressions and old and poor people were dying in the streets and the meat you bought might still occasionally have a worker's thumb in it, when racism against pretty much everyone was rampant and in certain states you could lynch any black person you wanted if they looked at your womenfolk funny, but won't somebody think about the taxes? So many taxes.
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The meaning is that you are growing up in a backwater state where your parents and lawmakers still bitterly resent you having to go to a desegregated school and are expressing that through passive-aggressive insertion of lackluster conservative humor in your social studies textbooks. Feel free to copy that one down, kids, I've just saved you three precious minutes of your lives.
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{Source}
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Rss@dailykos.com (hunter)
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 7:15 pm
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Sorry kids, you're screwed.
Tuesday saw a contentious public hearing on Texas's new proposed school textbooks, the ones that are required to adhere to 2010-established state standards set by a State Board of Education populated by hard-right conservatives and drafted with the help of such luminaries as conservative "historian" David Barton. The resulting crop of rewritten textbooks are in, and while the experts and others had some mighty harsh words for those results, the Board will be picking from this crop of textbooks this November, probably with precious few edits in the meantime. Shall we take a look?
.
From Pearson, one of the most dominant textbook publishers, comes a social science textbook that sounds like a fine choice for Texas schoolchildren. Learn 'em up right, it will.
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In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. taxes are 'what we pay for civilized society.' Society does not appear to be much more civilized today than it was when Justice Holmes made that observation in 1927. However, 'what we pay' has certainly gone up..
That was back in the era when we were being rocked by market crashes and depressions and old and poor people were dying in the streets and the meat you bought might still occasionally have a worker's thumb in it, when racism against pretty much everyone was rampant and in certain states you could lynch any black person you wanted if they looked at your womenfolk funny, but won't somebody think about the taxes? So many taxes.
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In another chapter, the Pearson text takes aim at affirmative action with a cartoon showing two aliens in a space ship landing on earth. Pointing toward a man in a suit and tie, one of them exclaims: "This planet is great!-He says we qualify for affirmative action!" The only context is a caption asking readers to parse the cartoon's meaning.
The meaning is that you are growing up in a backwater state where your parents and lawmakers still bitterly resent you having to go to a desegregated school and are expressing that through passive-aggressive insertion of lackluster conservative humor in your social studies textbooks. Feel free to copy that one down, kids, I've just saved you three precious minutes of your lives.
[...]
{Source}
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