Friday, March 13, 2009

03-13-09
  • Our 'Liberal Media':
    • Glenn Greenwald: There's nothing unique about Jim Cramer (salon) "It's fine to praise Jon Stewart for the great interview he conducted and to mock and scoff at Jim Cramer and CNBC. That's absolutely warranted. But just as was true for Judy Miller (and her still-celebrated cohort, Michael Gordon), Jim Cramer isn't an aberration. What he did and the excuses he offered [they lied to us] are ones that are embraced as gospel to this day by most of our establishment press corps, and to know that this is true, just look at what they do and say about their roles. But at least Cramer wants to appear to be contrite for the complicit role he played in disseminating incredibly destructive and false claims from the politically powerful. That stands in stark contrast to David Gregory, Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, David Ignatius and most of their friends, who continue to be defiantly and pompously proud of the exact same role they play."
    • Do RW loonies have anything personal to gain in hounding Obama to leave Bush's tax cuts for the rich alone? You bet they do, and here are two examples: Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly each save more than $400,000 a year in taxes under the Bush plan. How about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity? (wonkroom)
      • Ask And Ye Shall Receive: Limbaugh saves $1.5m a year with Bush tax cuts (wonkroom) -- He is also paid $38,000,000 a year under an 8-year contract, plus a nine-figure contract signing bonus. That's a NINE-FIGURE signing bonus. Nine figures can be anywhere from $100,000,000.00 to $999,999,999.00 as a signing bonus. Do you know anyone who would lie like a rug for that kind of pay? As long as this "entertainer" continues to make you listen and believe even part of his lies -- and vote as he recommends -- he's doing a good job for his uber-wealthy paymasters (who have even more to gain from Republican tax cuts than he does). Seen from this angle, it's very easy to understand Republicon high-minded bluster ad nauseum about "lower taxes" boiling down to just one thing: grasping and maintaining the power that determines ultimate personal profits, democracy be damned.
  • Barack's Bush-Lite Gang:
    • Obama Administration Moves to Protect Military Officials (commondreams/ap) "The new administration is seeking to craft new rules for when and how a terror suspect can be seized, and what interrogation methods may be used in trying to extract information from them. But while it works on those rules, the Obama administration appears to be sticking with Bush administration legal definitions in pending litigation." In the meantime, each day Obama fails to prosecute Bush and those others responsible for torture, he is in violation of both the Geneva Convention and his own presidential oath to defend the constitution. Sounds like McSame must be whispering advice into his ear.
  • Unregulated Capitalism -- Anything for a Buck:
    • Cancer-causing chemicals found in baby bath products (washingtonpost) -- Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and Baby Magic lotion included on the list. 32 of the 48 baby bath products tested contained trace amounts of either one or both of the cancer-causing chemicals 1,4-dioxane or formaldehyde. "'The FDA and other government agencies around the world consider these trace levels safe, and all our products meet or exceed the regulatory requirements in every country where they are sold,' Johnson & Johnson said in a statement." -- Well, we've already seen how concerned the FDA and other government agencies are about our health and well-being when it is compared to corporate profits and corporate political contributions.
    • Michael Parenti on Capitalism's Self-Inflicted Apocalypse (democracynow Pt-1 - Pt-2) (Parenti YouTube Playlist) -- Republicon goal has been to destroy the "social democracy," and they are satisfied that they have accomplished it. They have no wish nor intention to help Democrats restore it. As the governmental representatives of the puppeteer financially elite, one would expect no other position than this by the GOP.
  • Global Broiling:
    • The Fresh Prince of Clean Air (grist) "Prince Charles says financial crisis is 'nothing' compared to climate change"
    • Lord Stern on global warming: It's even worse than I thought (independent/uk) "Lord Stern said new research done in the past two or three years had made it clear there were 'severe risks' if global temperature rose by the predicted 4C to 7C by 2100. Agriculture would be destroyed and life would be impossible over much of the planet, the former World Bank chief economist said." -- Do your yet unconceived child a BIG favor: don't bring it into the world to suffer what this is going to do to the planet and everyone on it.
    • Fumigant used in industrial-strawberry production is a potent greenhouse gas (grist) "Now comes news that the industry's new favorite fumigant -- sulfuryl fluoride -- is a greenhouse gas 4,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to a recent MIT study." Enjoy your strawberries, they're helping extinguish life on this planet.
    • Climate Change? Try, Climate Breakdown (guardian/uk) "Using 'climate change' to describe events like this, with their devastating implications for global food security, water supplies and human settlements, is like describing a foreign invasion as an unexpected visit, or bombs as unwanted deliveries. It's a ridiculously neutral term for the biggest potential catastrophe humankind has ever encountered." The term "climate change" was invented by Republicon word smiths to try to obscure the real meaning of what is happening. They're very good at that, particularly master propagandist, the odious liar Grover Norquist, who has even publically admitted he sees no problem with lying if it accomplishes one's purposes.
    • The Republicon response to the threat of such catastrophe is to simply deny that the threat exists, problem solved, bought and paid for by the propaganda committee at ExxonMobil. (crooksandliars - google)
  • Why Your Taxes Are Too High:
    • Sand, sea and a double-dip: all you need to avoid millions in tax offshore (guardian/uk) "For the first time, bankers are revealing the techniques behind beating the Revenue" -- This free-loading is not unique to the UK. Two-thirds of U.S. corporations pay no federal income taxes.
  • Hickson Compact Group 90 (apod)
  • Geomagnetic Storm over Nuuk, Greenland (spaceweather 03-13-09) -- Click on the image to enlarge or reduce.
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