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03-14-09

• Phony U.S. War on Drugs:
• Greenwald: The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal (salon)
• Barack's Secretive Gang:
• Copyright treaty is re-classified for 'national security' (cnet) "Last September, the Bush administration defended the unusual secrecy over an anti-counterfeiting treaty being negotiated by the U.S. government, which some liberal groups worry could criminalize some peer-to-peer file sharing that infringes copyrights. Now President Obama's White House has tightened the cloak of government secrecy still further, saying in a letter this week that a discussion draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and related materials are "classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958." . . . In one of his first acts as president, Obama signed a memo saying FOIA 'should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure.' . . . The White House appears to be continuing the secretive policy of the Bush administration, which wrote to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (PDF) on January 16 that out of 806 pages related to the treaty, all but 10 were 'classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958.'"
• Haute-Provence Star Trails (apod)
  

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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."
• MSNBC instructed their reporters not to include the above Stewart/Cramer discussion in today's reports. (thinkprogress) Same ole, same ole game. It just goes on and on.
• 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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03-12-09

• Restore the Rule of Law:
• International Criminal Court Toothless And Color-Blind? (onlinejournal) -- Can see only Africans. "It should either close its doors or open them to all and everyone if it wants to be credible rather than a sick joke."
• Military-Industrial Complex - Always Above the Law:
• Unveiling the Matrix: Madsen on the CIA: The Mini-City the CIA Built (onlinejournal) -- "WMR previously reported on the use of one of these buildings -- 1911 North Fort Myer Drive -- for a number of CIA front companies operated by CIA officers Edwin Wilson, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, and Rafael Quintero to smuggle weapons abroad covertly, in addition to other operations."
• Prison-Industrial Complex:
• The American criminal injustice system - The Case of Ronald Cotton (onlinejournal) -- "On NPR Thompson said that eyewitness testimony is incorrect 70 percent of the time. I am familiar with psychological studies that conclude that eyewitness accounts are wrong half of the time. That is enough to discredit eyewitness testimony as evidence, yet, police and juries always bank on it."
• Rashomon Effect (wiki) - Rashomon (film) (wiki) -- Your local library may have this black and white subtitled film in its collection.
• Barack's Bush-Lite Gang:
• Obama Justice Department Urges Dismissal of Yet Another Torture Case (Rasul v. Rumsfeld) (washingtonindependent)
• The Great Economic Shakedown - Ripping Off College Students:
• Reduce the Rate: Rev. Jesse Jackson Joins Movement Against Crippling Rates on Student Loans (democracynow) "The average student now leaves college with $20,000 in debt." College education borrowers lack the ordinary protections that are customary for consumer loans. Sallie Mae (SLM) actually makes more money from student loan defaults than loans that are paid on time.
• Hypocrite Watch:
• The royal wedding is off (americablog) "Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have broken off their engagement. I write this not for the gossip element (though it's tempting), but rather to point out, yet again, how crassly political the Republicans are. Tell me this wasn't a shotgun wedding to help McCain and Palin get elected? These are young people's lives, and a baby, we're dealing with. But none of that mattered to the McCain campaign. Making political fodder of marriage and babies is just another day at the office for Republicans."
• Global Broiling:
• UN Warns of Widespread Water Shortages (globeandmail/ca) "Constantly rising demand from increasing populations for a finite resource raises risk of political upheaval and economic stagnation over next 20 years" -- Such a good argument for a one-half-child-per-person policy per lifetime -- worldwide.
• Acidic seas fuel extinction fears (bbc) "Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns."
  
• Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359) and Planetary Nebula (apod)

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03-11-09

• Global Broiling:
• We are in the driest first two months of any year in over 100 years (usatoday) -- What the article makes no reference to is the fact that over the next 90 years aridity will creep over most of the United States, from the SW to the Atlantic. Say goodbye to amber waves of grain and corn as high as a elephant's eye and do something useful, like practicing birth control -- without exception.
• Fighting Back:
• Fred Phelps Lunatics Actually Quit a Univ of Chicago Protest Because a Few Frat Boys Fight Back (youtube)
• Phony 'War on Terror':
• The Terrorists You’re Not Told About (firedoglake) "Ah, shucks, I feel so gol-darned proud of what our good old US of A is doin' 24/7 to protect us God-fearin' Christians from all them dark skinned heathern that want to kill us for our freedoms."
• More on The Bush Dictatorship:
• Cheney's CIA Assassination Squads (youtube - emptywheel) -- Why does this seem like very stale non-news?
• Former Bush Spokesman and Professional Liar Ari Fleischer to Chris Matthews: "How Dare You Say 9/11 Happened On Our Watch" (youtube) -- These leftover Bush gang members are certifiably delusional in their arrogance and self-righteousness and are a danger to the public at large.
• Phony 'War on Drugs':
• Drug War Doublespeak (fpif) "Drug-war doublespeak pervades and defines the U.S.-Mexico relationship today. The discourse aims not to win the war on drugs but to assure funding and public support for the military model of combating illegal drug trafficking, despite the losses and overwhelming evidence that current strategies are not working."
• Prison-Industrial Complex:
• GEO Group, Inc.: Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profit (corpwatch) "In addition to 'false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to senior special agents' . . . Two months before the fraud charges, a study by the Seattle University School of Law and the nonprofit group OneAmerica reported that conditions at the Tacoma facility violated both international and domestic laws that grant detained immigrants the right to food, due process and humane treatment."
• It's not who votes that matters, but who counts the votes:
• I remain astonished that while watching vital exposés on Free Speech TV that the government might have an interest in controlling, the video feed is so often lost from the DISH Network satellite. I have seen it happen so often that just as particular incriminating statements are about to be made, the satellite feed is suddenly lost. It happened again this morning while watching FSTV's airing of 'Stealing America: Vote By Vote.' The video is such an important work that pulls together many details to present a coherent picture of the Republican Party as the treasonous election-stealing organization it really is -- and how they do it. I searched for a copy for you to watch. Here is one I found at Vimeo. It is 90 minutes long and worth every minute of it. Yet so much still is not said in the one film that can fill in more of the picture, such as Dan Rather's documentary exposé (The Trouble With Touch Screens) of the part played by Sequoia in shipping punch ballots in 2000 to Florida that they knew were produced on inferior paper that would be sure to cause all sorts of chad problems, thus setting the stage for the hanging chad RW corporate media fluff and the "necessity" of the election-stealing legislation known as HAVA: the Help America Vote Act, pushed through Congress by Republican felon Bob Ney. Watch Stealing America: Vote By Vote (Vimeo), Dan Rather's HBO Special - Hacking Democracy (video.google), and The Trouble With Touch Screens (veoh, youtube) for a sobering look at the bigger picture of how the elections were stolen. -- Then add to this the fact that Democrat politicians seemed complicit in allowing it. Where does that leave us as a nation? It's as if from 2000 forward Democrats have been complicit with the powers that be who installed dictator George W. Bush as interloper president to deconstruct this nation. Was it all to prepare us for something that is still going to befall us? Democrats remain dumb as rocks about bringing genuine election reform, and one would think they must still be complicit. What part does Barack Obama play in this drama? Certainly, whatever it is, it is temporary, as the lying, constantly accusing Republican-controlled corporate media and the GOP election-stealing machinery remain intact and ready to bring another Republican to the White House in 2012.
• Yet Another Republican Installed Into Office Without Proof of Having Won (bradblog) "Yet another touch-screen voting machine broke down, in yet another 'hotly contested' election, in yet another Democratic-leaning district yesterday. Due to the failure, the actual results are completely unknown, unreliable, and unverifiable, and yet, one candidate (the Republican, as coincidence would have it) has been named the 'winner' by 89-votes out of 12,000 cast in the Fairfax County, VA Board of Supervisors special election."
• Lunar X (apod)
  

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03-10-09

• It's not who votes that matters, but who counts the votes:
• Brad Friedman: A draft summary of what I see as the most important, most doable, federal election reform priorities for 2009 (bradblog) -- If Obama does not fix the electoral system before 2012, I predict the lying, conservative-owned corporate media, together with the failed economy, will have turned enough Democrat votes away from Obama to make it easy for Republicons to yet again steal another presidential election. Democrats seem dumb as logs about this problem, but it will bite them and the nation again if they don't fix it while they have the power.
• The Great Economic Shakedown:
• Olbermann: Blame for economic crisis goes beyond Washington (youtube) "Olbermann places the blame for the economic downturn past President Barack Obama and President Bush to the Wall Street executives who paid politicians and brought deregulation."
• Market Up 5.8% Today Because It Was Deeply Oversold, But Roubini Says S&P 500 May Drop to 600 OR LOWER This Year as Profits Fall (bloomnerg) "A level of '500 is less likely, but there is some possibility you get there.' . . . The global economy is likely to shrink for the first time since World War II and trade will decline by the most in 80 years, the World Bank said yesterday."
• Horsehead and Orion Nebulae (apod)
• Worm Moon (spaceweather) "Tonight's full Moon has a special name--the Worm Moon. It signals the coming of northern spring, a thawing of the soil, and the first stirrings of earthworms in long-dormant gardens. Step outside tonight and behold the wakening landscape. 'Worm moonlight' is prettier than it sounds."

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03-09-09

• How Long Do Religious Liars, Fear-Mongers, Gold-Diggers, Demagogues, Bigots and Hypocrites Think They Can Maintain the Respect of Thinking People?
• Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds (usatoday) "The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely." Amazing how long it takes brainwashed victims to see organized religions' true colors and finally brush them aside.
• The All-Seeing NSA Eye:
• U.S. Cybersecurity Director Resigns, Blames NSA (informationweek) "The government's director of cybersecurity resigned Thursday, warning that the National Security Agency's control of national cybersecurity efforts poses a potential threat to U.S. democratic processes."
• Global Broiling:
• Chris Hedges: We Are Breeding Ourselves to Extinction (commondreams/truthdig) By 2050 it is believed that we will have a 50% increase in world population. "All efforts to stanch the effects of climate change are not going to work if we do not practice vigorous population control. . . . Population growth is often overlooked, or at best considered a secondary issue, by many environmentalists, but it is as fundamental to our survival as reducing the emissions that are melting the polar ice caps."
• Carbon Cuts 'Only Give 50/50 Chance of Saving Planet' (theindependent/uk) "As states negotiate Kyoto's successor, simulations show catastrophe just years away" -- Afraid to tell the truth that the Titanic is steaming full-speed directly into the center of the mountainous iceberg.
• Young People Beginning to Realize It's Theirs And Their Children's Lives That Are at Stake (guardian/uk) -- Will they raise enough hell to get some changes made?
• Another Gem From Our 'Liberal Media':
• MSNBC: 'Drop on Wall Street All Obama's Fault' (bradblog - stockcharts) -- The DJIA had already been dropping since the October 2007 because of the popping of the conservative-driven real estate bubble. The smartest economist, Nouriel Roubini, declared that if everything was done exactly correctly, we might be able to have a U-shaped drop and recovery; however if not done precisely correctly, then probably an L-shaped drop and sideways move that could last for years. The Republicons took the strategic position of doing everything possible to impede Democratic attempts to repair the problems created by greedy and irresponsible conservatives. The Republicon goal is only to do everything possible to try to make the Democrats look bad. Destroying the economy doesn't matter to them in their lust to regain power. This current drop is just the natural continuation of the crash created by the Republicons' unregulated, laissez faire capital feeding frenzy and their continuing obstruction to fixing the problem. Because all the correct steps are not being expediently and precisely taken, the market will continue to drop until the job market finally stabilizes, and the RW-owned corporate media will continue to scream and cry -- and lie about Obama and Democrats every point of the way down. -- On the other hand, for a taste of Bush-Obama election reality, take a look at this DJIA long-term monthly chart that shows that when Bush came to power in 2000, the DJIA actually peaked in the few days right after Bush's illegal appointment by the five GOP members of the Supreme Court, then fell for three solid years as investors realized what the fiscally irresponsible lying interloper was actually like. It started climbing again only when Bush illegally invaded Iraq in March 2003 and commenced major manipulation to push up market prices till October 2007. Inflating the housing bubble was only one form of that manipulation. How does that taste to you?
• A Flash of Sanity:
• Obama instructs his administration not to rely on Bush’s signing statements (thinkprogress - nytimes)
• Kepler's Streak (apod)

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03-08-09

• Class Warfare Via the Tax Tables:
• Soaking the Rich (Redux) (washingtonmonthly) -- Examine the chart carefully. It was about 1952 that a little booklet was distributed to wealthy Americans, telling them it was their right to be wealthy and that they could restore what was taken away from them by the New Deal. It caught on in a big way, and a few years later, we can see that they were effective in buying their way into lower tax rates, year after year. Now, at a very low rate, Obama tells them he will let Bush's budget-busting trillion dollar tax cuts expire -- and they cry like little babies, loudly and long. Their perennial claim whenever Democrats raise their taxes at all is "it's 'class warfare and socialism,'" but when Republicons give them part of the U.S. Treasury, it's just and equitable and much-needed tax revision. These guys and gals are what is wrong with this once great nation. What they do is for themselves at the expense of everyone else. The noise machine belongs to them, so they cry long and loud, obfuscating and prevaricating every step of the way, because they are afraid of your power if you knew the truth. They admit by their need to lie to you that they are afraid of your power, so use your power and go after them. Inform yourself and take them on. Take back what they have stolen from the rest of us -- our country.
• Barack's Gang - Upholding the Bush Tradition:
• Salazar Upholds Bush-era Decision to Delist Gray Wolves (commondreams/ens) "Wolves in other parts of the 48 states, including the Southwest wolf population, remain endangered and are not affected by the actions taken today."
• Prison-Industrial Complex Thriving - 1 in 31 Americans in jail, on parole, or on probation - and lots of profits being made:
• The Dog Eats Its Tail: Oversized Classes, Overpopulated Prisons (commondreams) ". . . states like Washington even determine how many prison cells to build based on 4th grade reading scores and graduation rates. So rest assured, if your 9-year-old stumbles over syntax or has trouble sounding out the word 'priorities,' the state has readied the necessary cellblock accommodations. Why flush money down the sinkhole of reading improvement teachers when there are solitary confinement cells to be built? As the Pew study reports, 'In the past two decades, state general fund spending on corrections increased by more than 300 percent, outpacing other essential government services from education, to transportation and public assistance.'"
• Global Broiling:
• Scientists to issue stark warning over dramatic new sea level figures (guardian/uk) "Rising sea levels pose a far bigger eco threat than previously thought. This week's climate change conference in Copenhagen will sound an alarm over new floodings - enough to swamp Bangladesh, Florida, the Norfolk Broads and the Thames estuary [by 2100]." -- And of course, there is always that inconvenient little fact that each time you see new reports, the data are worse and the disaster is happening faster than the previous reports indicated.
• Restore the Rule of Law:
• Greenwald: Britain's bizarre reaction to war crimes allegations: investigations needed (salon)
• Israeli/Palestinian Atrocities - Educating A Whole New Generation of Terrorists:
• Israeli airstrikes continue to haunt Gaza children (commondreams ctv/ca) "But a true accounting of the injuries suffered by the children of Gaza may never be known, says Matthews, noting that the horror of the bombings has left countless numbers of kids psychologically scarred."
• Unsung Hero: Mike Jones
• Haggard scandal will always haunt Mike Jones (wiki - google) (gazette article) -- When Mike Jones outed the very powerful RW evangenital gay basher Ted Haggard as an arrogant, brazen man-on-man-sex hypocrite, he did the whole world a VERY big favor. As the scandal tumesced in the media, Haggard lied every step of the way, until the megachurch he had founded kicked him out with a generous parachute. Its own phony "ex-gay" program was never considered in the media as the logical place for him to seek "repair" and redemption. Instead he was assigned to a committee of "experts", including humorless bigot James Dobson, who after hearing Haggard's miserable tale, told him to get lost. Too bad he didn't reassign him to pretty-boy Ralph Reed, with whom Teddy might have found much more in common to explore together. -- When Mike Jones brought down the mighty Ted Haggard, the hateful religious right was given a big black eye, the image of which was burned into the skulls of many otherwise Republicon and undecided voters. THANK YOU, MIKE JONES, for those Obama-Biden votes that just as easily could have gone to John McLame and Theocratia Palin. -- Because Mike Jones had been a kiss-and-tell prostitute (at least in the case of RW hypocritical power-politics players Haggard and Craig) and drug procurer for Haggard and other clients, the gay press hypocritically showed him little mercy or much-deserved appreciation. Like Nancy Pelosi's "Impeachment Is Off The Table," too cowed by what straight, white soccer moms, nascar dads, and other potential voters might think, liberal and gay gatekeeper blogs to their great shame made sure Jones never got the full appreciation and honor he deserved for falling this very deserving Goliath and boosting Democratic chances at the polls. -- As the wheel so turned, in faithful mimicry of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the initial revelations came out, Haggard and other high-ranking New Life Church officials have also allegedly been implicated in several additional "sexual immorality" cases, including the sexual abuse of three victims who were allegedly underage at the time. -- Go to Mike Signorile's site for good coverage of Haggard and New Life Church's comings and goings.
• Gibbous Europa (apod)