The Gypsy's Caravan

pass it on...

2011-11-15T10:06:00.002-05:00

US Asset Distribution

2011-08-20T08:17:00.006-05:00

This is the pie chart featured in the recent PBS report on Income Inequality in the US. GW Bush said that it's no use trying to tax the rich, since they have tax lawyers and will do everything they can to not pay (their fair share).

A meme is also going the rounds that you couldn't possibly get enough out of the rich to alleviate our problems, even if you took all they have. (wtf?)

The answer, for these people, is to tax the lowest 40% - that would be the tiny sliver top center with two arrows pointing to it.

HUH?

Jon Stewart pointed out in his recent, excellent segment that if the government were to take ALL of the assets of the lowest 50%, it would equal $1.5 Trillion, or the amount they want to cut from the budget in the near term.

Me? I say TAX THE RICH - it's a no-brainer.

Open Letter to Pres Obama

2011-08-16T09:46:00.002-05:00

Dear Mr President,

We hired YOU to fight for US in Washington.

First You negotiate away all of our most important ideas - Medicare for all, adequate stimulus, tax the rich... then you "put on the table" our most cherished programs - Social Security, Medicare, support for the destitute...

Now you want US to fight the republicans for YOU? have you not been listening and learning these last three years? The republicans do what their corporate overlords want as expressed through their oracle the tea party. They don't even listen to their own constituents, why would they listen to an out of state liberal?

I thought that fighting for Democratic values was YOUR job. YOU have the bully pulpit.

If you don't want to do the job, please step down so someone else with intact balls could do it. Maybe we could get Alan Grayson or Mr Weiner to fight for our values. At least they know what the Democratic Party stands for.

Signed: Who's our champion now

I swear, if a real progressive populist would throw his/her hat in the ring, I'd vote for them without a second thought.

So, i went to a block party this weekend...

2011-08-08T09:46:00.002-05:00

... and every time the tax cut cut cut issue came up, I made sure to say - "and you know that all these cuts they are talking about are JOBS that they are cutting...

Remarkably, I got lots of nodds, and no head shakes at all.

Quote of the day

2011-08-04T11:27:00.002-05:00

Question, how come the Anti-Christ gets to be president and Jesus only shows up on moldy cheese sandwiches? You ever wonder about that?

~Jim Wright @ Stonekettle Station

Quote of the day

2011-08-03T09:24:00.001-05:00

The only way this deal was two sided was that the Dems had to take it at both ends.

~ Stephen Colbert

Laid Off

2011-07-30T08:19:00.002-05:00

I've joined the ranks of the unemployed. I've spent the last three weeks (when I wasn't calling on jobs) wandering around wondering what to do with myself. I always thought that if I didn't have to get in the car every morning and race to work, I'd jump on all those projects that I've been putting off for years - like writing, and blogging, and art projects and getting some exercise...

It turns out that self discipline is a whole lot harder than you'd think.

True, I did stain the deck, and do a little painting, but I still feel out of sorts. And then too, all of a sudden I had more time to pay attention to Washington.

That'll make you sink deep into despair if nothing else will.

Thank Goodness for Jon Stewart

2011-07-30T08:07:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Thank Goodness for Spring

2011-05-24T17:01:00.009-05:00

Winter's finally over!

Bush a no-go for NY 9/11 appearance tomorrow

2011-05-04T08:51:00.004-05:00

Obama invited Bush to Ground Zero for tomorrow's appearance... Bush said no.

I think Bush took a good look at the last three times Obama has invited a Republican to sit front and center at a venue where Obama's going to speak, and decided that the treatment afforded to Trump, Paul Ryan, and Boehner was not something that he wanted to go through. Heh Heh Heh.

Oh my allergies

2011-05-03T14:25:00.002-05:00

I have the tree and the mold allergies. Right about now I'm miserable, with weepy itching eyes, and sneezing and sinus headaches. Oh well

I know that trees need to mate, but I ask you, do they have to jizz in my nose? really?

The People's Budget

2011-05-03T09:12:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day

2011-04-25T11:27:00.001-05:00

As the crisis in Cairo’s Tahrir Square unfolded, respected opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei complained bitterly that Washington was pushing “the whole Arab world into radicalization with this inept policy of supporting repression.” After 40 years of U.S. dominion, the Middle East was, he said, “a collection of failed states that add nothing to humanity or science” because “people were taught not to think or to act, and were consistently given an inferior education.”

Sound familiar?

Famous last words

2011-04-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

"These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland ... They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." - Ronald Reagan

Wisconsin Battles On

2011-04-20T09:31:00.003-05:00

FROM CROOKS & LIARS' Nicole Belle:

And another one bites the dust...

Wisconsin Democrats announced late Monday that they are filing recall signatures against a fourth Republican state senator [Sheila Harsdorf of the 10th District], in the political battle over Republican Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union agenda. And with this development, the momentum is growing for control of the chamber to be up for grabs in the coming months.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, whose readership includes people across the Minnesota state line in Harsdorf's northwestern Wisconsin district, reports:

Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Graeme Zielinski said a petition will be filed with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Tuesday. While he didn't have a total signature count Monday afternoon -- signatures were still coming in -- Zielinski said the number is well over the 15,744 needed.

Democrats on Monday filed petitions against Republican state Sen. Luther Olsen, and had previously filed petitions targeting state Sen. Dan Kapanke and state Sen. Randy Hopper. These petitions are still being reviewed by the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections.

There's More..

Long Past Time for Solar and Wind

2011-04-12T08:16:00.004-05:00

...and this is just the subsidies, they don't include the nearly $5,000.00 per year that we spend per household for the Oil Wars in the Middle East and Africa.

hattip to The Immoral Minority

I watch Youtube.

2011-04-08T11:13:00.001-05:00

Amazing Video:

I can so relate to this vid - I've also been feeling overwhelmed and cut off lately.

The Shutdown

2011-04-07T11:09:00.006-05:00

During Nixon's government shutdown, I happened to be living in Washington DC. The thing with DC is that they do not have a state to help them with funding, they are funded directly from the federal government. Now, that shutdown happened in August, and you could tell that the garbagemen were on furlough because the piles of trash that were heaping up on the sidewalks and streetcorners were stinking to high heaven.

That's what I remember most - the smell of shutdown in the morning.

This time around, we have this:

Go on over to America blog for the full story.

Hilarious!

*corrected*

open Survey

2011-04-05T09:33:00.006-05:00

Dear DNC,

I received your "Presidential survey", and when I got to the last page, you asked for comments:

"If the Dems ever grow a spine, I'll be Gobsmacked!"

Are you willing to support President Obama and the DNC at this important yadda yadda yadda...

"ALL my $ are going to :

Bernie Sanders
Rep Raúl M. Grijalva
Anthony Weiner
Alan Grayson
and Russ Feingold"

(those with balls)

You won't defend my rights OR my economic interests, what good ARE you?

Respectfully...

Open Letter

2011-03-31T08:02:00.001-05:00

Dear Mr President,

I listened to your energy speech and I was amazed that we still cannot have an adult conversation about our energy problems here in the United States.

I mean, you all but said we should "drill baby drill". Your administration is giving out deepwater permits like they're candy, before the oil corps have even cleaned up the last mess they made. They still have not shown that they know what they're doing or how they can prevent another disaster in the Gulf. We have leaking wells there that aren't being attended to and we still have tarballs and plumes almost a year later. Your own commission charged with analyzing the accident recommended a complete re-engineering of the "blowout preventer" BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WORK AS ADVERTISED.

We need a CLEAN GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE the size and the urgency of The Marshall Plan, and we need it NOW NOW NOW!

Imagine if we took the 3.5 billion that we give as a gift to GE(one of the most profitable corps in the history of the world) and instead fund a solar panel plant in every county in the US - JOBS!

Take the billions we give away to Big Oil, and build a windmill plant in every big city in the US - JOBS!

Take the obscene subsidy we give every year to Monsanto, and use it to buy the solar panels to line our freeway right of ways to provide free power to the streetlights and municipal buildings adjacent. This will LOWER THE COST OF THE PANELS SO THAT HOMEOWNERS CAN AFFORD THEM.

Use the bully pulpit to make these transnational corporations pay their taxes,(or just take some chump change out of the "defense" budget) and use that money to help homeowners buy the panels and windmills that will build the distributed power network that will bring us into the 21st century stronger than ever.

Now, THAT would be an energy policy that I could get behind.

Open Letter

2011-03-07T11:46:00.002-05:00

I took this chart, printed it out on a piece of paper, and added my prescription for our economy:

Tax Wall Street, break up "too big to fail".

Tax Big Oil, fund clean energy.

Tax the rich, fund Medicare for all.

Stop the WARS, Tax the War Profiteers!

...then I signed it and sent it snail mail (i'm beginning to doubt whether anyone ever does look at the emails submitted to the white house website)

from Science News:

2011-03-04T14:23:00.004-05:00

LOVE HORMONE HAS A DARK SIDE

By Bruce BowerFebruary 26th, 2011; Vol.179 #5 (p. 15)
Oxytocin may accentuate social tendencies for good or ill

SAN ANTONIO — Oxytocin, a hormone with a rosy reputation for getting people to love, trust and generally make nice with one another, can get down and dirty, according to evidence presented on January 28 at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
This brain-altering substance apparently amplifies whatever social proclivities a person already possesses, whether positive or negative, says psychologist Jennifer Bartz of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Previous work has shown that a nasal blast of the hormone encourages a usually trusting person to become more trusting (SN Online: 5/21/08), but now Bartz and her colleagues find that it also makes a highly suspicious person more uncooperative and hostile than ever.
“Oxytocin does not simply make everyone feel more secure, trusting and prosocial,” Bartz says.
These new results raise concerns about plans by some researchers to administer oxytocin to people with autism and other psychiatric conditions that include social difficulties, she adds.
Her team studied 14 people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 13 volunteers with no psychiatric conditions. Symptoms of borderline personality disorder include severe insecurity about relationships, fears of abandonment and constant, needy reassurance-seeking from partners.
Borderline personality disorder usually occurs in women, but Bartz’s sample included four men. Her group of healthy participants included seven men.
Members of each group played a computer game with an experimenter posing as a research volunteer. In each of three rounds, volunteers had to predict whether their partner would cooperate with them so that each player could make $6 or if the partner would leave the game in order to claim $4 alone.
Volunteers who suspected the partner of bad intent could leave the game early and claim $4 for themselves.
Borderline personality players of both sexes left the game early far more often after receiving an oxytocin nasal spray than after whiffing a placebo spray. Inhaling the hormone prodded their already high levels of hostile suspicion and depleted minimal reserves of trust, Bartz suggests.
Psychiatrically healthy players became more cooperative in the money game after getting oxytocin, relative to their placebo responses.
Nasally inhaling oxytocin also magnifies men’s memories of their mothers as being either supportive or not, Bartz says. Her team had 31 men fill out surveys on the quality of their relationships with their mothers up to age 16.
Those who described good maternal relationships remembered mom as substantially more caring and supportive after receiving oxytocin, compared with after inhaling a placebo spray.

Those whose early home life had been troubled remembered mom as much less caring and supportive after oxytocin, versus placebo. (my ems)

Bartz’s team initially described oxytocin’s two-sided influence on men’s maternal memories in the Dec. 14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
These findings underscore that “oxytocin is not a love hormone; its effects vary in different people,” remarks psychologist Greg Norman of Ohio State University in Columbus.
Norman and his colleagues have found that oxytocin stimulates the heart to beat more in sync with the breathing cycle in people with healthy social lives, but not in people who report constant loneliness.
Other researchers have recently reported that oxytocin stimulates greater trust of members of one’s own ethnic group and greater suspicion of other ethnicities.

When they first came out with the "Oxytocin is the 'love chemical' meme, there were those who either suggested or feared that politicians would use it for some kind of crowd- or mind-control (to make us love them against our will and better judgement).

This makes me wonder if the tea partys haven't been using this already at their rallys.

Open Letter

2011-03-02T09:03:00.004-05:00

Dear Mr President,

Ain't nobody gonna look out for us except us. No hope, no change, business as usual.*

Please for the love of our country, stop with the deficit madness.

Tax Wall Street, break up "too big to fail".

Tax Big Oil, fund clean energy.

Tax the rich, fund Medicare for all.

Stop the WARS, Tax the War Profiteers!

respectfully...

Then I went to the end of the page to fill out the Captcha phrase, and got this:

same siblt

Which at first glance read: "same shit"

Figures.

*from The Alternate Brain

Now, THAT'S The Way To Do It!

2011-02-07T12:25:00.003-05:00

Tax Revolt In Great Britian

Vision: Everyday Brits Are in Revolt Against Wealthy Tax Cheats -- Can We Do That Here?

The UK Uncut message was simple: if you want to sell in our country, you pay our taxes. They are the membership fee for a civilized society. Most of the protesters I spoke with had never attended a demonstration before, but were driven to act by the rising unemployment, insecurity and austerity that are being outpaced only by rising rewards for the superrich. Ellie Mae O’Hagan, a 25-year-old office worker in Liverpool, one of the most economically depressed places in the country, said she was “absolutely outraged to discover that I was paying more than Philip Green in taxes.” She added, “I could see what all the cuts were doing. My brother had been made redundant, loads of my friends were unemployed and I could see it all getting worse, while these bankers get even bigger bonuses. And I thought, Right, you’ve got to do something. So I e-mailed UK Uncut to ask if there was a protest happening in Liverpool. They said, Not yet, so you organize one. So I spent forty-eight hours arranging one. And a hundred people turned up—an amazing mixture of people, who I had never met, and who didn’t know each other—and we shut down both Vodafone stores. Suddenly, it felt like we weren’t passive anymore. We were standing up for ourselves.

~snip~

What should US Uncut target? “It’s important to go after brand names that exist in every city in America,” says Tom Purley, a UK Uncut participant. “The key to our success was that it was so easily replicated. People could do it anywhere. It took something that seems like a remote issue and connected it to a place they see every day.” Most of the companies that engage in the worst tax avoidance in the United States are Big Pharma and financial companies, which don’t have stores. But the GAO also named a number of major brands that are exploiting tax havens. They include Apple, Bank of America, Best Buy, ExxonMobil, FedEx (whose president, Frederick Smith, was named by Obama as the businessman he most admires), Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, Safeway and Target. That’s a wealth of potential targets.”

Go. Read.

We should be doing this here. now.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-27T08:06:00.004-05:00

Our picnic table.

Another Fine Quote

2011-01-26T08:22:00.005-05:00

From Paul Ryan's rebuttal:

“Our nation is approaching a tipping point. We are at a moment, where if government’s growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America’s best century will be considered our past century. This is a future in which we will transform our social safety net into a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency. Depending on bureaucracy to foster innovation, competitiveness, and wise consumer choices has never worked – and it won’t work now. We need to chart a new course.”

Uh, Hello? What was the 50's and the 60's if it was not a bureaucracy set up to foster innovation, competitiveness, and informed consumer choices? The "best century" he's talking about was taken from the great inequality of the roaring twenties to the relative equality of the post war period by taxing the wealthy and stimulating the economy with three great projects: Defeating Hitler, the Marshall Plan, and The Space Race.

Quote of the Day

2011-01-10T13:21:00.000-05:00

“Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and now we’re discovering we work for Fox.”

David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter

Music Blogging

2011-01-07T14:50:00.003-05:00

Lynnrd Skynnrd

I've heard enough

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2010-12-23T09:43:00.002-05:00

Open Letter

2010-12-08T11:52:00.002-05:00

Dear Mr President,

Your Words:

So I pass a signature piece of legislation where I finally get health care for all Americans, something that Democrats have been fighting for for 100 years, but because there was a provision in there that they didn't get that would have affected maybe a couple million people, even though we got health insurance for 30 million people, and the potential for lower premiums for 100 million people that somehow that was a sign of weakness and compromise.

Sir - I think you're starting to sound like my ex-huband, trying to make excuses for his philandering by listing his good points. Problem is, every good point he lists requires that I sacrifice more than him, and to top it off, I had to go get antibiotics for the infection he passed on.

You, sir, are starting to remind me of him. We could have gotten much better deals if we had all fought for them together. Instead we get secret backroom deals and compromises that elicit no return.

Please, for the love of !America! , get a spine and dust off your veto pen, you're gonna need them.

Saturday Night Live

2010-12-06T09:17:00.001-05:00

Dear SNL

Re: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton...

REALLY?

YOU REALLY WANT TO GO THERE?

REALLY?!

DURING TIME OF WAR?

REALLY!!!

DUUUUDZ!

YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO GO THERE - TRUST ME.

What In The World??

2010-12-01T08:52:00.002-05:00

Still, House Democrats said they could press ahead as early as Thursday with a vote to allow the tax breaks for income over $250,000 for a family to expire even though such a plan appears unlikely to be able to clear a Senate filibuster, given solid Republican opposition and resistance from several Democrats. Democrats said they could use the votes to make their position clear and also illustrate that they do not have the votes to block extension of those tax cuts, clearing the way for concessions.(my ems)

What?!

I think they should let the tax cuts expire, and then let the Republicans try to redo them in 2011. Pelosi's still Speaker until they expire, and all she has to do is refuse to bring a bill to extend up for a vote. Then, hold vote after vote on the unemployment extension, pound it into the populace's heads that Republicans only care about the rich, and are perfectly willing to throw the rest of us under the bus - for any excuse they can pull out of their asses.

And the Dems should get their messaging together: We want the same tax cuts for everyone - on the first 250K of income - for everyone who pays taxes in America. It comes to about 6K each. If the richy-rich don't notice their $6,000.00 bonanza, they can just stuff it.

They should consider themselves lucky they didn't get thrown in jail for imploding the world economy and killing the hopes and dreams of millions.

Quote of the day

2010-11-28T12:54:00.002-05:00

“We are here today to say that we are not economic units whose only function is to behave ourselves and to pay off the gambling debts of our masters, we are not children who must take our medicine or be sent to bed without our supper, we are not subjects, we are citizens and we want our republic back”

~ Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole

You might be a Progressive....

2010-11-18T09:37:00.001-05:00

If you think that every patriotic American(including the mega-rich and the corporations) should pay their fair share of taxes, in order that We the People can invest in infrastructure that would benefit us all.

Sweet Summer

2010-11-17T11:49:00.001-05:00

Oh, sweet summer, where have you gone?

Backlash?

2010-11-16T11:23:00.004-05:00

I want to make a trip to OR soon, but now that Bradley Field has installed a new Porno-Scan machine, I'll be buying the Winnabago that I've always wanted, and I'll not be flying any more.

read more

Update:

They may as well herd us all into a big gymnasium, have us strip down and don hospital Johnnies and booties, stop and grab ankles at the door for the gratuitous body cavity check, and fly that way.

You might be a Progressive....

2010-11-15T12:37:00.001-05:00

If you think a strong public education system is a good idea.

Friday Cat Blogging

2010-11-12T15:44:00.002-05:00

I can haz nap, K?

Still napping.

Quote of the Day

2010-11-12T08:16:00.002-05:00

James Galbraith is an economist and the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in government and business relations at the University of Texas at Austin.

This is his take on the deficit:

"
Since the 1790s, how often has the federal government not run a deficit? Six short periods, all leading to recession. Why? Because the government needs to run a deficit, it's the only way to inject financial resources into the economy. If you're not running a deficit, it's draining the pockets of the private sector. I was at a meeting in Cambridge last month where the managing director of the IMF said he was against deficits but in favor of saving, but they're exactly the same thing! A government deficit means more money in private pockets.

The way people suggest they can cut spending without cutting activity is completely fallacious. This is appalling in Europe right now. The Greeks are being asked to cut 10 percent from spending in a few years. And the assumption is that this won't affect GDP. But of course it will! It will cut at least 10 percent! And so they won't have the tax collections to fund the new lower level of spending. Spain was forced to make the same announcement yesterday. So the Eurozone is going down the tubes.

On the other hand, look at Japan. They've had enormous deficits ever since the crash in 1988. What's been the interest rate on government bonds ever since? It's zero! They've had no problem funding themselves. The best asset to own in Japan is cash, because the price level is falling. It gets you 4 percent return. The idea that funding difficulties are driven by deficits is an argument backed by a very powerful metaphor, but not much in the way of fact, theory or current experience.
"

God help us through these next few years!

From: EZRA KLEIN

F*ck the Death Penalty...

2010-11-11T12:21:00.004-05:00

...Just get Steven Hayes OFF my TV!

I would much rather that the heinous murderer be condemned to life without parole in solitary confinement than get the death penalty. Now we have to have his increasingly ugly mug on our news over and over and over as the mandatory appeals go on and on and on. Not to mention all the money it will cost.

Someone as disgusting as Steven Hayes should go into prison never to be seen or heard from again. He should get his meals slid through a slot in his 15 cubic foot compound, with no tv, no radio no contact with another human being ever again. He should have the clothing he stood up in when he goes in and nothing else ever. He should have a windowless, black stall, with no daylight- only fluorescents on 24/7, no greenery, no flowers. No tv, no radio, no human voice or face or warmth ever again.

Make available at all times a fatal dose of his medicine, and let him do it himself, if he has the courage.

Pic of the Day

2010-11-08T08:37:00.002-05:00

first snow

oh woe

no grow

too slow!

Quote of the Day

2010-09-13T13:48:00.003-05:00

But saying that the rise in inequality is partly the result of technological change is not the same as saying it's the result of skills-biased technological change. It's not that satellite television has created a need for more basketball players and that need isn't being filled. If that were the case, the answer would be easy: Train more basketball players. It's that satellite television has made it much, much more lucrative to be one of the world's top basketball players. It's not about skills, but about the opportunity to make money.

~ Ezra Klein

...And how many high school and college students are running themselves ragged and shorting their studies for a slim to none chance to become one of the golden players?

Pic of the Day

2010-08-31T08:27:00.002-05:00

Quote of the Day

2010-08-20T13:25:00.001-05:00

So instead of giving tax breaks to companies for buying more machines to replace their workers, make big profitable companies pay severance to any worker they lay off, equal to a month’s salary times the number of years worked. And require that any corporations receiving government contracts and subsidies (including defense contractors) use the money to create jobs in the United States.

~ Robert Reich : here

Another Fine Quote

2010-08-20T11:59:00.002-05:00

"All your life, you've sent a bit of every paycheck to Uncle Sam, in exchange for the promise that he would use that money to support you when you retire. And to keep that promise, Uncle Sam put your money in a retirement account for all working Americans--the Social Security Trust Fund. Now the Republican Party wants to steal the retirement savings you've piled up over a lifetime of honest work and give the money to Wall Street bankers, Paris Hilton, and BP. If you have a problem with that, vote for the party that promises that your retirement savings will always be there for you. Vote Democrat."

~ anonomous commenter @ mojo

Quote of the Day

2010-08-19T07:33:00.001-05:00

As we move forward together, I urge you to remember this: Life is a grindstone. But whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.

~ Shirley Sherrod

Today's Garden Pics

2010-08-12T12:59:00.007-05:00

Dear Mr Gibbs

2010-08-11T12:58:00.003-05:00

The first thing a mother reminds her daughter of on prom night is :

Make sure you reserve most of the dances for the guy who was nice enough to ask you to come with him, and who buys your ticket and brings you home. Otherwise, he may not want to ask you again.

Mr Gibbs, when the dance is over, you may find yourself in an empty parking lot without your cell phone with the gym all locked up.

It may be a long walk home, sir.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

2010-08-09T11:46:00.001-05:00

2010-08-06T10:08:00.004-05:00

Projecting Much Lately, Sarah?

2010-08-06T08:22:00.002-05:00

PALIN: I think he's quite complacent and I think he's over -- in over his head and I think he has poor advisors surround him and I think he's really in flux kind of when it comes to what his governing philosophy actually is. Some of this though is a result of he not having much experience and then a complicit media, and maybe some voters who chose not to allow him to be vetted very closely

What's on my Screensaver?

2010-08-02T07:53:00.008-05:00

White Anemone (with hiding spider)

The entryway to Our House

(...is a very very very fine house,

with one cat on the deck... ;)

Quote of the Day

2010-07-26T14:11:00.003-05:00

Starting around 2012 – 2014, the world will need to build the equivalent of all the world’s existing renewable energy capacity every year just to replace the lost BTUs from oil.

~Chris Nelder

...And that would be the little tiny wedge called "geothermal and other" , the "other" being wind, solar, tidal, and every other sustainable energy source known to mankind.

Get the whole story here

Funniest Commercial I've seen lately

2010-07-13T06:55:00.001-05:00

I saw this while watching Saturday Night Live, and thought it was one of those SNL "commercials".

Quote of the Day

2010-07-08T12:38:00.001-05:00

There used to be a word in the English language called integrity. ... It has fallen out of usage recently because it's not nearly as glamorous as billionaire.

~ R P Siegel Huffington Post

This Whole Post is Completely lifted from The LA Progressive - spread these photos far and wide

2010-07-08T08:50:00.002-05:00

Note: I am removing all copyrights on my work. Spread these photos far and wide.

Georgianne Nienaber

Facing the Future as a Media Felon on the Gulf Coast

by Georgianne Nienaber posted on Tuesday, 6 July 20107 Comments

vote
nowBuzz up!

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Is this photo worthy of a felony conviction?

The United States Coast Guard considers me a felon now, because I “willfully” want to obtain more photos like these to show you the utter devastation occurring in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, as a result of the BP oil catastrophe. If the Coast Guard has its way, all media, not just independent writers and photographers like myself and Jerry Moran, will be fined $40,000 and receive Class D felony convictions for providing the truth about oiled birds and dolphins, in addition to broken, filthy, unmanned boom material that is trapping oil in the marshlands and estuaries. We don’t have $40,000 to spare, and have had to scrape the bottoms of our checkbooks as is to hire boats to take us to the devastation the Coast Guard, under the direction of BP, does not want you to see.

Absorbent boom reality

Here is what PB wants you to believe–kayakers enjoying a peaceful paddle in pristine waters. Does the new boom law apply to them, as well? If so, it is time for BP to redo its public relations photography, unveiled at a community meeting in Houma, or we will have a ton of kayakers as well as journalists clogging Louisiana courts and prisons.

One to five years in prison is a definite possibility for “willful violation” of the latest Coast Guard directive that flies in the face of the First Amendment. And, I guarantee you that writers and photographers will continue to try our best to use cameras and words to explain to those who have not been there exactly what is happening on our Gulf Shores. If we don’t continue to try, Americans will no longer see the images and read the words that have been a voice for the voiceless fishermen and women, coastal residents of the Delta, and the battered wildlife.

What BP and Coast Guard does not want you to see

Working and reporting from American Gulf Coast is starting to remind me of working in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where photos and recordings must be hidden on secreted flash drives at border crossings, and where interrogation by drunken border patrols certainly follows if one does not provide a proper “explanation” for visits to certain regions. In 2007, I was accused of being a “spy” and held by the secret police in Goma, DRC, for having video of illicit “conservation” activities. Now the same sick feelings of fear, anger, and helplessness is stalking my mind as I try to plan for the next round in south Louisiana. Never in my lifetime could I imagine that a foreign company could dictate my ability to move freely and openly in American territorial waters.

Already we have been challenged by the private security firm, Talon, on the oiled beaches of Grand Isle, and hassled by the Coast Guard and Louisiana Wildlife officials for not wearing flotation devices when it was not necessary. The law was on our side then, now the “law” is being used to limit free speech.

God forbid you should see this

What’s next? Will media be totally shut down? Will we face assassinations like journalists do in Rwanda? I realize assassination is over-the-top, but when it crosses your mind, even for a moment, you know something is terribly wrong.

On June 30 there was an uptick in press releases flowing from “Unified Command.” The notice of the Coast Guard felony directive was buried along with EPA test results on Corexit, Thad Allen’s “official” retirement from the Coast Guard, notices about NOAA, oiled wildlife– at least nine press releases in the space of a few hours.

Ordinarily, these propaganda pieces go in the file folder. The media ban disguised as a safety rule jumped out, but there was much analysis to do regarding the EPA test results on that day. So, the bogus 20-meter (65 feet) “safety zone” surrounding all Deepwater Horizon booming operations and oil had to wait until I could wrap my head around the implications. Frankly, I wanted to ignore it.

It is now a felony to take more photos of birds like this, wading through oil that broken booms have trapped in rookeries

The Coast Guard directive states, “The safety zone has been put in place to protect members of the response effort, the installation and maintenance of oil containment boom, the operation of response equipment and protection ofthe environment by limiting access to and through deployed protective boom.”

That statement is the most egregious smokescreen we have encountered on this story. No one is maintaining the boom in Barataria Bay. Boom must be anchored, cleaned, and replaced. This is not happening, and the Coast Guard, which reports directly to President Obama, does not want you to see this.

Why aren’t boom maintenance laws enforced? Instead, reporters now become felons for showing the American public the utter mess the Coast Guard, federal officials and BP have created in our once-beautiful waterways.

Here is one boom plan that is not being implemented.

“The boom is not working … it is a joke,” says Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, at a Thursday Senate hearing. “It washes up on the shore with the oil, and then we have oil in the marsh, and we have an oily boom. So we have two problems.”

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has said that the boom only works in open ocean.

BP Public Relations photo displayed at community meeting in Houma in early June

Another under-reported aspect of this story is that the dispersant Corexit has done its job of hiding the catastrophe so well that booms cannot stop the oil. It slips, snakes, and slides under the booms, which are inherently worthless in shallow waters, as Landrieu says.

Here is what the Ports and Waterways Safety Act directs. Is the Coast Guard ensuring the environmental protection of Barataria Bay? It is not, and Thad Allen and BP and the federal government do not want you to see the images that bring that fact home.

The Coast Guard has a statutory responsibility under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972 (PWSA), Title 33 USC §1221to ensure the safety and environmental protection of U.S. ports and waterways. The PWSA authorizes the Coast Guard to “…establish, operate and maintain vessel traffic services in ports and waterways subject to congestion.

In fairness to beleaguered information officers at Unified Command, there is one woman who has been trying to be helpful on several information fronts. I sent her this question:

Have you heard about the Coast Guard regulation (new) about booms and staying 20 meters away. Does this apply to unmanned booms? There is a felony penalty. Does this mean no boat traffic in Barataria Bay? It is hard to stay that distance if you are near the boomed islands.

Her response was immediate and we cannot hold PIO officers accountable for the regulations. She did sum it up in no uncertain terms.

The safety zone applies to ALL boom. In the case of Barataria Bay, the statement made in the press release,” In areas where vessels operators cannot avoid the 20-meter rule, they are required to be cautious of boom and boom operations by transiting at a safe speed and distance,” would apply.

Do you want to see more photos like this oiled dolphin in Barataria Bay, taken by Jerry Moran?

Permission to enter any safety zone must be granted by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans by calling 504-846-5923. Perhaps the American public should start calling him and demand that our rights of free speech and expression be reinstated in Gulf waters.

Note: I am removing all copyrights on my work. Spread these photos far and wide.

Georgianne Nienaber

Crossposted with the author’s permission from Huffington Post

RIP Senator Byrd

2010-06-28T13:24:00.001-05:00

...You will be sorely missed.

Quote of the Day

2010-06-23T12:01:00.002-05:00

"Women make better loan recipients than men if your aim is to increase family well-being. Compared to men's loans, women's loans double family income and increase child survival twentyfold."

~Muhammad Yunus, who founded Grameen

This article is about the invisible elephant in our crisis planning room: nothing will save the human race if we don't lower our population STAT.

The paradox embedded in our future is that the fastest way to slow our population growth is to reduce poverty, yet the fastest way to run out of resources is to increase wealth.

I've been wondering for years why no one is talking about reducing our numbers, when the core of all of our looming problems is our tendency to make like rabbits when we have no birth control.

My mother had no birth control other than the rhythm method, and I grew up with 5 siblings. I asked her once how many children would she have had if she could have stopped when she wanted - she said TWO.

I had birth control, and was able to limit my family to 3 children. And everywhere they find the same thing: the surest way to slow population growth is to educate and empower women.

So, WTF is happening right here in the US - birth control is coming more and more under fire, abortion is less and less available, and women's rights are being thrown away - and all while the only conversation on these issues is all about how a very small and vocal minority is morally opposed to limiting human procreation.

They suck the air out of the debate, leaving only death, starvation and decline in their wake.

flowers today

2010-06-22T08:36:00.002-05:00

I just love me some peonies.

Volunteers.

A HA HAH HAH HAHAHAHA

2010-06-21T14:08:00.002-05:00

Last month, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and his lieutenants launched "America Speaking Out," a public outreach campaign involving an interactive website and town hall meetings with GOP lawmakers. Its stated purpose is to provide people with "a new platform to share their priorities and ideas for a national policy agenda."

Thousands of people posted ideas or voted on their favorite suggestions. But the project's usefulness in shaping a Republican agenda is questionable.

Last week, the top five entries in the "Liberty and Freedom" category were:
1. ban handguns,
2. "drop the idea that we're a 'Christian' country,"
3. declare abortion "none of the government's business,"
4. allow gays to serve openly in the military and
5. legalize marijuana.

(my bullets)

STORY HERE

The War Is Making You Poor

2010-06-21T11:08:00.002-05:00

Take the $159 billion dollars that Obama is asking for yet another "supplemental" to fund the wars in the middle east... and make income tax go away for the first $35,000 for every American taxpayer. Then, take the $16,000,000,000 that's left and pay down the deficit.

I think that 550 BILLION dollars is more than enough to run the pentagon and run the wars too, and I don't want another red cent of my tax money going to kill poor people on the other side of the world.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!

Let's Play What's On My Screen Saver?

2010-06-17T09:19:00.003-05:00

From the President's Speech:

2010-06-17T08:27:00.002-05:00

Last year, the House of Representatives [passed] a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill — a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses. Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And some believe we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy — because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party — as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development — and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

[at this point I was yelling at the TV: "SHOW ME THE MONEY" I firmly expected that he would follow that by saying he would take the billions in taxes we give to big oil every year and give it to solar and wind development.

Instead we get this:

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction....What has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny — our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there. We know we’ll get there.

...and then a buncha mushy hooey about prayer.

The $20 billion is a good start, but will not be sufficient to put it all right.

Common Sense

2010-06-09T12:06:00.002-05:00

Quote of the Day

2010-06-07T10:53:00.004-05:00

Opponents of the immigration law may be frustrated, but "boycotts are absolutely the wrong way to go," said Garrick Taylor, a spokesman for the state chamber of commerce. Boycotts hurt Arizonans, "particularly in the tourist industry, who had nothing to do with the law."

Uh, excuse me, but if you cannot rouse yourself to be against a racist and unconstitutional new law, than you are ipso facto FOR said racist and unconstitutional new law. Particularly if you are in an industry as sensitive to those sorts of things as the tourist industry is.

One From the Vault

2010-05-26T12:08:00.003-05:00

pics of the day

2010-05-20T12:16:00.000-05:00

pics of the day

2010-05-19T12:41:00.000-05:00

I call this one "happy Wednesday" - Mimosas will get me over the hump

Pic of the Day

2010-05-18T13:30:00.000-05:00

Pic of the Day

2010-05-17T15:24:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day

2010-05-17T11:56:00.002-05:00

“For the first time we shall be the majority living with a minority, and we shall be called upon to provide an example and prove how Jews live with a minority.”

~ Knesset member Pinchas Lavon 1948

Oh boy, that didn't turn out so well, did it. Lately they've been looking a lot more like South Africa during apartheid than any shining city on a hill.

Pic of the Day

2010-05-16T15:19:00.002-05:00

Pic of the Day

2010-05-15T14:48:00.003-05:00

* Click the pic to embiggen

Note to Pope Benedict(the rat)

2010-05-15T07:30:00.004-05:00

Perverted, child raping, catholic priests and the hierarchy that condoned them by protecting and covering up their activities are the real "insidious and dangerous" threats to humanity; gay unions and abortion... not so much.

Resign.

Better yet, turn yourself in to federal authorities for racketeering, and go to prison for your crimes.

Quote of the Day

2010-05-13T14:48:00.002-05:00

"My favorite is when you are at a meeting and you say something, and it's just dead silence," Bair says. "Fifteen minutes later, some guy says exactly the same thing, and everybody is nodding their head."

Sheila Bair .. heading up the FDIC

man, that's happened to me SO many times...

Several Things..

2010-05-07T12:14:00.006-05:00

First, a new vid by my favorite congressman:

Next, a couple of pics shot this morning in my shade garden:

Our neighbor gave us these wonderful bleeding hearts a couple of years ago. They were just a couple of roots each when I transplanted them, but they've gotten bigger and bigger each spring. This year I had to dig up a couple handfulls of seedlings that were straying too close to my trilliums and orchids, and replant them where they'll have some room to grow.

Orchids and Bleeding Hearts

*click on the pics to embiggen

The Graveyard of Empires

2010-05-04T10:04:00.004-05:00

NY Times Editorial: The Way Out (of Afghanistan)

The hurdles in training even a minimally effective Afghan force are daunting. There has been some progress. New initiatives like pay raises and mandatory literacy training should begin to improve professionalism and competency. None of these efforts have a chance if there are not enough NATO trainers to teach the Afghans how to defend their country.

Let me get this straight. The little country that has been the graveyard for empires all down through history - this little country that Alexander the Great, Ceasar's army, the British Empire, Napoleon, not to mention the USSR could not defeat(never mind the USA - {psst we're loosing ground by the day}). This little country needs 5200 trainers so that NATO can teach them how to defend their country. And we cannot leave there until somehow NATO satisfies itself that they have an Afghan army properly trained.

I seem to remember that we've been training their army now for about six or seven years, and we have very little to show for it.

These Middle East OIL wars are bankrupting us (the state of California would be in the black right now if not for the 30 some odd $$Billion$$ that they've contributed to the war effort).

IMHO it's about 7 1/2 years past time to get the heck outa there.

Pic of The Day

2010-04-30T08:33:00.003-05:00

The one and only (that I know of) checkerboard flower.

*Click the pic to embiggen

The End of Oil: Time to Work Together

2010-04-22T11:52:00.005-05:00

Through the continuing embargo of Cuba, the US government keeps trying to smother this small country. Cuba just keeps taking the lemons that we throw at it, and making the juciest sweetest lemonade.

We disrupt their economy by withholding energy and trade, they transform their society to welcome the new age, and in the process end up with a leaner, greener, healthier, more community oriented populace. Moreover, they do it in less than 5 years.

We've had twice that long to mull this over, and a large minority in our country is still chanting "drill baby drill", and we've done nothing in any real practical sense about it.

So - if you want a taste of what's to come here eventually, check out this vid. It's a little long, runs about an hour, but I found it very inspiring.

One From The Vault

2010-04-15T07:52:00.001-05:00

Spring has finally sprung.

Sue Louden - Utah's Replacement for Harry Reid?

2010-04-13T10:24:00.006-05:00

Lowden is a former state senator and chair of the Nevada Republican Party. She’s also, according to nearly every recent poll, the favorite to defeat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) in November. Lowden is not, as one might imagine, a supporter of recent improvements to the broken health care system, and she was asked at a candidate forum the kind of policies she’d prefer to see. Among her proposals:
“…I would have suggested, and I think that bartering is really good. Those doctors who you pay cash, you can barter, and that would get prices down in a hurry. And I would say go out, go ahead out and pay cash for whatever your medical needs are, and go ahead and barter with your doctor.”

check out Liberal Values' blog

I would think that negotiating with Doctors, Pharma, and Hospitals is the main thing that we pay our outrageous premiums for in the first place. Sue Louden thinks we should all bring our doctor a chicken - or maybe a hundred dozen eggs? And this is supposed to make our medical prices go down somehow?

Lets hear this again:>

"...go ahead and pay cash for whatever your medical needs are, and go ahead and barter with your doctor"

That sure sounds like a plan.

What's on My Screensaver?

2010-04-12T07:02:00.004-05:00

I have a screen saver that goes through my photos and changes the desktop image every day, and this is today's pic.

We aren't quite warm enough yet here for these tiny flowers to cover the grass. Soon though..

Quote of the Day

2010-04-06T11:31:00.001-05:00

Since 1981, the United States has followed a policy, until the last year or so when we started rethinking it, that we rich countries that produce a lot of food should sell it to poor countries and relieve them of the burden of producing their own food, so, thank goodness, they can leap directly into the industrial era. It has not worked. It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake. It was a mistake that I was a party to. I am not pointing the finger at anybody. I did that. I have to live every day with the consequences of the lost capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people, because of what I did. Nobody else.

~ Bill Clinton

Pssst: Catholic Clergy - this is how it's done!

Quote of the Day

2010-03-30T07:01:00.000-05:00

" Powerful leaders who will cover up for pedophiles aren't likely to give a damn about the plight of the uninsured. "
~Digby

Priests: are they ALL Pedophiles? Nosy people want to know

2010-03-25T09:03:00.006-05:00

The Catholic Pedophile scandal just seems to grow wider and deeper every day. The river of sickening accusations and the pricetag that goes along with it makes me wonder whether there will be a Catholic Church when this is done with.

In my mind, the abuse of power by those who arguably should be trusted, who society holds up as examples of purity .. against those who are innocent, with no power and no reasonable expectation that their protest will be acted upon .. is the absolute worst crime that can be done in our society.

That the bishops still have an opinion about women's health care and the balls to dare express that opinion, and the power to make a difference here where church is supposed to be separate from state...

It just boggles my mind.

Check this out.

Quote of the Day

2010-03-24T13:29:00.002-05:00

The Republicans fought long and hard for people's right to wait three hours in an emergency room for someone to take their blood pressure, and they went down to defeat, and now they should stop and rethink their Waterloo strategy. The picture of the grinning GOP congressmen holding "Kill the Bill" posters was not an attractive one. Those guys all get excellent hrothgar(sic) from the government, at bargain prices. If you choke on your shoe during a speech in the House of Representatives, you'll be whisked away to Walter Reed, and specialists will extract your hoof from your mouth and your head from your colon and clean you up and all for a tiny annual premium. It does not behoove men who are enjoying a huge pork sandwich to deny a few pork rinds to others and to grin in the process.

~Garrison Kellior

(go read the whole thing)

Pic of the Day

2010-03-21T14:08:00.000-05:00

Pic of the Day

2010-03-20T10:10:00.001-05:00

Looking at land in OR...

Time to take on China

2010-03-18T12:02:00.002-05:00

PAUL KRUGMAN:

" We have to get past a common misunderstanding ... that the Chinese have us over a barrel because we don’t dare provoke China into dumping its dollar assets.

What you have to ask is, What would happen if China tried to sell a large share of its U.S. assets? Would interest rates soar? Short-term U.S. interest rates wouldn’t change: they’re being kept near zero by the Fed... Long-term rates might rise slightly, but ... the Fed could offset any interest-rate impact of a Chinese pullback by expanding its own purchases of long-term bonds.

It’s true that if China dumped its U.S. assets the value of the dollar would fall against other major currencies... But that would be a good thing ... since it would make our goods more competitive and reduce our trade deficit. On the other hand, it would be a bad thing for China, which would suffer large losses on its dollar holdings. In short, right now America has China over a barrel, not the other way around. "

contrast and compare

2010-03-11T10:23:00.003-05:00

The Hubbster(D) has a friend that he's known since school days who now has MS, and he goes to visit her several times a month, to make sure to himself that she's being taken care of, and to bring her things that the doctor won't let her indulge in - like candy, ciggibutts, and comfort food. She's quadriplegic, and hanging on to her home by the skin of her teeth.

So, the other day he was picking up some McDonald's for her (yes, I know, but she doesn't have long no matter how healthy she eats), and he noticed a young woman sitting outside. She was skinny and looked kinda down. He asked her if she needed anything, was she hungry? She allowed that she could use a hamburger, looking down in her lap. He asked her if she wanted a soda? She looked up and barely spoke "I could have a soda too?"

He went in and ordered his friend's stuff, and directed them to make a separate bag with a double cheeseburger, fries and a soda, and gave it to her on his way to the car.

Last night as I kissed him goodnight, he was still worrying about her... "do you think she has a place to go tonite?" The overnight low was below freezing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, this morning I get to work, and the boss(R) was talking about the two Toyota accidents that were in the news when I woke up.

His opinion is that now everyone who owns a Toyota and doesn't want to keep it or who now cannot afford their loan is going to go out and crash their car on purpose and blame it on the accelerator.

Y'know, because everyone always thinks that committing fraud will solve their problems...

Some Say - Worse Than McCarthy

2010-03-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

Madam, have you NO SHAME?

The "Snow-nut Hole"

2010-02-28T08:02:00.008-05:00

While the rest of the east coast was getting pounded, we only got a couple of inches.

It really feels like it's been snowing for the last month or so straight,

...yet there's only a little coating of the stuff, hardly enough to shovel.

It does make for some cool pics though.

Open Letter to Senator Collins

2010-02-04T11:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Senator Collins,

It has been very distressing to see you on TV, in your capacity as a United States Senator, disparaging the US Justice System, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of Law.

If you cannot read the Bill of Rights and understand our way of life, perhaps you should STFU and get the heck off my TV until you can have it explained to you in simple words :

We do not hurt people that are in custody. (only barbarians do that)

We explain to people in custody the rights that they are entitled to in our system of justice. (In order that we can prosecute them without their calling a mistrial and being set free because of official police misbehavior).

Our government, and by extension our Police, considers those who have not been proved criminals in a court of law to be innocent of wrongdoing until such time as they have been proven guilty.

Our government has successfully prosecuted all the terrorists that we have caught with the exception of those that the Bush administration stuffed into GITMO.

You ma'am, are an embarrassment.

This week's Pics

2010-02-02T12:49:00.004-05:00

sunrise

Snow on the River

... and one from the vault:

Still Longing for Spring...

pics of the day

2010-01-26T15:12:00.006-05:00

sweet sleepy kitty

hubby's lunch - check out that radish - top right .. heh heh

How about a Citizen's Protection Act..

2010-01-26T12:59:00.004-05:00

Robert Reich Says:

Push Congress to enact the “Shareholder Protection Act.”

For many years, anti-union lobbyists have pushed what they call “pay-check protection” laws, supposedly designed to protect union members from being forced, through their dues, to support union political activities they oppose. Under such laws — already in effect in several states — no union dues can be spent for any political purpose unless union members agree.

The same principle should protect shareholders from being forced to spend their share of corporate earnings in favor of or against a particular candidate. Surely a First Amendment that protects corporate free speech protects individuals no less.

Under a shareholder protection law, shareholders would not have to spend their share of corporate earnings on candidates who they personally oppose. If a company dedicates, say, $100,000 to a particular campaign in a given year — directly, or indirectly through a front organization — shareholders who don’t want their money used this way would get a special dividend or additional shares representing their pro rata share of that campaign expenditure.

For so many years the anti choice crowd has gotten away with saying : "no abortions with MY money!!" to the extent that the sentiment is now engraved in our very laws.

How about "NO MORE WARS with MY money!!"

Why can't I say that?

How about CUT DEFENSE SPENDING INSTEAD OF MEDICARE

An idea I once read about: Make the last page of your tax return a questionnaire on how you want your tax dollars spent. Make it binding rather than a suggestion. Make it the base of the next budget.

It would bring the power of the "free market" to the decisions that Congress is trying to weasel out of.

Open Letter to Rep Joe Courtney(D)

2010-01-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

Dear Rep Courtney,

In the last fourty years I have watched our country move relentlessly to the far right, now so far right that I would begin to classify the US as a rightwing government even when the Democratic Party is in the majority.

For the last year, I have watched the health care bill start out weak, and be compromised to the point where now the only substance left in the Senate bill is the features that will enrich the Insurance Companies, at the expense of the health and wellbeing of the taxpayers.

We all know that the least expensive route to universal care is Medicare For All. Not only could that not get a fair hearing, it got no hearing at all. If the Senate version of health care reform passes into law, it will only prove that the DemocRATS can sell themselves into prostitution to the Corporations faster than the Republicans did.
(I will say here that I have never voted for a republican, and never will)

After watching DADT remain in force despite promises to the contrary, GITMO remain open despite promises to the contrary, Mercenaries remain as a growing sector of our military... After waiting for the criminals of the previous administration to be investigated and brought to justice - in vain... After watching the politicians that we progressives worked so hard to elect turn around and sell their vote to the highest(corporate) bidder... After watching a couple of Senate Democrats hold legislation hostage for the ransom of millions of dollars for their states... After watching the same people who brought us the financial disaster sweep in to loot our treasury and enrich their cronies(Geithner, Summers, and Bernanke)... After watching the president demand billions in supplemental funds for the wars he promised to at least put on the books...

The Democratic Party seems to have lost the page that they wrote down the party platform and ideals on. If I wanted to elect a politician who would forget what prompted my vote,and then smear scat all over Justice, Liberty and the American Worker, I could have just stayed home and let the republicans win.

~

Why, I ask you, should I bother to go to the polls in November?

I would like a real answer to this question, in your own words, not a form letter.

Thank You
SB Gypsy

DID YOU SEE...

2010-01-06T10:07:00.001-05:00

...Last night's CBS News report on jobs in America, and how to get the economy jump-started.

Yesterday's Sunset

2010-01-06T08:14:00.001-05:00

* click to embiggen

NEW NUKES

2009-12-30T11:01:00.004-05:00

OK, Now they've gone and done it: they're going to inject 18.5 billion of our Tax money into America's nuclear power industry.

Jeeze, we can't find a way to dispose of the tons of nuclear waste that we have now, what're we going to do with all the new waste we'll be generating?

Think what an American Solar Industry would do for the US, with an 18.5 billion investment.

It boggles the mind how shortsighted and corrupt our government is.