You certainly can’t blame the poor, starving dogs….
From YahooNews:
Seven dogs starved of food and water for two weeks are suspected of eating their Indonesian owner after he returned to his hometown in Manado from a holiday, local media reported on Tuesday.A neighborhood guard was curious when he saw luggage lined up at the front of Andre Lumbogas house, days after the 50-year old arrived back home. He approached the house, smelled something foul and called the police, according to a report.”His skull was found in the kitchen, and his body was found in the front of his house,” Eriyana, a local police chief in Batam, an island off Sumatra, told VIVAnews website.Lumboga arrived home last Wednesday, but his body was just discovered on Monday.”We suspect that the dogs were hungry, so they attacked Andre, because they had not been fed for 14 days,” he said.
I’m convinced Justin Bieber really is a 24 year old lesbian being packaged by the media conglomerates to make money.
Therefore, this simply was not physically possible.
Now I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and that fact to come out….
Remember Milli Vanilli!
From TMZ:
Justin Bieber’s baby mama has dismissed her paternity lawsuit against the singer … TMZ has learned.
The suit was quietly dismissed late last week. What’s more, Mariah Yeater’s lawyers, Lance Rogers and Matt Pare, have quit her … withdrawn from the case.
As we first reported, Justin not only planned to take a DNA test when he returned to the U.S., he was going to sue Yeater and her lawyers for making a bogus claim. And, as we reported, Justin’s lawyer, Howard Weitzman, called the attorneys and informed them a suit was looming.
I think after this, we can safely classify the House GOP Caucus as a vegetable.
I’ve seen some idiotic bills come out of the GOP Caucus. I’ve seen some blatant bills where it’s obvious payback to campaign contributors and lobbyists.
This is an excellent example of both.
From ThinkProgress.org:
Earlier this year, the USDA made an attempt to bolster the nutrition guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Under the new guidelines, for instance, school lunches would be limited to one cup of starchy vegetables a week and the ability of schools to count tomato sauce on pizza towards their fruit and vegetables requirement would be scaled back. But House Republicans, in a new spending plan unveiled yesterday, have done away with those changes:
The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.
The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Some conservatives in Congress have called the push for healthier foods an overreach, saying the government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat.
According to a bill summary released by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, these provisions are meant to “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations.” What they will actually do is ensure that a steady flow of dollars continues toward certain favored food manufacturers, at the expense of children’s health.
“We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program,” said Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness, a group advocating for healthier school lunches. “It doesn’t take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”
Seems he’s in the minority on this- at least among the GOP.
Mayor Bloomberg certainly doesn’t seem to agree with this opinion…
The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are “as American as apple pie,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a recent interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. According to Powell, there is plenty of justification for the movement’s outrage, but also some reason for concern over its direction.
Powell began by recalling his upbringing in Harlem and the Bronx at a time when his parents didn’t make much, but were at least able to find stable employment.
“I don’t think either of them ever made more than 50 or 60 dollars a week,” Powell said. “Both my parents worked for as long as I can remember, they always worked, they always had work.”
But this sort of job stability is no longer present, the retired four-star Army general said, a fact that is now serving as a catalyzing force for the Occupy movement.
“People are concerned now that there is not that source of an income, there isn’t that work source that I remember,” Powell continued. “What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.”
I’ve been trying to follow the news about the eviction of Occupy Wall Street from Zucotti Park.
The problem is, there isn’t any. Or at least not much….
That is because New York Mayor Bloomberg is acting more like he runs Cairo than New York.
I still can’t quite believe he actually implied Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly are situational, not intrinsic American Rights.
I still can’t believe he actually stopped the Media from covering the eviction by arresting journalists.
I can believe the mainstream media is not covering this as it is all Corporate owned now…
This is simply not the way things are supposed to work in America….
The actions of the Mayor of New York and the NYPD under his direction make Zucotti Park look like Cairo during the Arab spring or a potential Tiananmen Square.
These were not actions consistent with respect for Democracy and peaceful protest and assembly.
These were the actions of an oligarch protecting the assets of the 1%. He moved against the many to protect the interests of the few.
He just proved the Occupy Wall Street movement is right- and very necessary…
Hopefully, this will only make the Occupy Wall Street movement grow stronger.
I’ll be watching nervously and hopefully.
This is scary stuff when Americans are treated this way by the Police and the agents of the Ruling Class….
Here is a report from reporter Josh Harkinson at Mother Jones. I’m just trying to do my bit to spread the news, since the mainstream media sure isn’t.
“Can I help you?” an burly officer asked me, his helpfulness belied by his scowl.
“I’m a reporter,” I told him.
“This is a frozen zone, all right?” he said, using a term I’d never heard before. “Just like them, you have to leave the area. If you do not, you will be subject to arrest.”
By then, riot police were moving in, indiscriminately dousing the peaceful protesters with what looked like pepper spray or some sort of gas. As people yelled and screamed and cried, I tried to stay calm.
“I promise to leave once the arrests are done,” I replied.
“This is a frozen zone,” one cop insisted. “You could be injured.” His meaning was clear.
“No, you are going to leave now.”
He grabbed my arm and began dragging me off. My shoes skidded across the park’s slimy granite floor. All around me, zip-cuffed occupiers writhed on the ground beneath a fog of chemicals.
“I just want to witness what is going on here,” I yelped.
“You can witness it with the rest of the press,” he said. Which, of course, meant not witnessing it.
“Why are you excluding the press from observing this?” I asked.
“Because this is a frozen zone. It’s a police action going on. You could be injured.”
His meaning was clear. I let myself be hustled across the street to the press pen.
“What’s your name?”
His reply came as fast as he could turn away: “Watch your back.”
There is no way this is not a conflict of interest, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
Everyone knows Scalia and Thomas are idealogues and could not care less about either the perception or the reality of a conflict of interest.
Amazing how quaint Judicial qualities like honor, honesty and impartiality seem when you look at these guys….
But then, they are lawyers….
From the LA Times:
It’s nothing new: The two justices have been attending Federalist Society events for years. And it’s nothing that runs afoul of ethics rules. In fact, justices are exempt from the Code of Conduct that governs the actions of lower federal judges.
If they were, they arguably fell under code’s Canon 4C, which states, “A judge may attend fund-raising events of law-related and other organizations although the judge may not be a speaker, a guest of honor, or featured on the program of such an event.“
Nevertheless, the sheer proximity of Scalia and Thomas to two of the law firms in the case, as well as to a company with a massive financial interest, was enough to alarm ethics-in-government activists.
“This stunning breach of ethics and indifference to the code belies claims by several justices that the court abides by the same rules that apply to all other federal judges,” said Bob Edgar, the president of Common Cause. “The justices were wining and dining at a black-tie fundraiser with attorneys who have pending cases before the court. Their appearance and assistance in fundraising for this event undercuts any claims of impartiality, and is unacceptable.”
Scalia and Thomas have shown little regard for critics who say they too readily mix the business of the court with agenda-driven groups such as the Federalist Society. And Thomas’ wife, Ginni, is a high-profile conservative activist.
Moreover, conservatives argue that it’s Justice Elena Kagan who has an ethical issue, not Scalia and Thomas. Kagan served as solicitor general in the Obama administration when the first legal challenges to the law were brought at the trial court level. Her critics have pushed for Kagan to recuse herself from hearing the case, saying that she was too invested in defending the law then to be impartial now. Kagan has given no indication she will do so.
Many thank to ALL our veterans. We honor you today and every day.
This Veterans Day is a little different. For the first time, we can openly recognize and thank our Gay and Lesbian Veterans who have served so long, so well and in silence.
A special Thank You to you and to those brave soldiers, such as a man I’m proud to call my friend, Col. Andy Leonard, who fought so long and hard to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” They fought to allow all vets to be recognized not just for what they do, but to do so without fear that who they are might end their service.
Now we can truly thank all the Vets as they proudly stand openly and together.
Here is a blogpost from the Human Rights Campaign with another Vet’s story:
The following post is from Retired Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva:
Today is Veterans Day. It’s a day to honor all those who have served their country – our country. Whether they saw combat, or served during times of peace, all who have worn the uniform of any of the five branches of the U.S. Military, are heroes in my eyes. I salute them.
This year, Veterans Day is a little different. The honor the uniform commands has always been there, even when we were forced to serve in silence, but this year openly gay veterans like me are holding our heads a little higher because this is the first Veterans Day without the stain of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on our nation.
Last month I was proud to attend the HRC National Dinner. I’ve attended the dinner the past several years, but this was the first year I wore my uniform to the gala. I wasn’t alone. Hundreds of veterans were there that night, some in uniform, others not. But what struck me the most was not the sheer number of service members and veterans at the Washington Convention Center, but the look in all of their eyes. That night we knew two things: our nation had changed, and we were part of that change.
Today, on Veterans Day, the love I have for my country is as strong as it’s ever been. I am proud that I fought for my country, and that fight includes fighting to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” People who are willing to fight and die for their country are rare. We should not be denied the opportunity to serve, we should be encouraged. I’m thankful we now are.
Happy Veterans Day. God bless the United States of America.
Eric Alva was the first American service member wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, when he triggered a landmine just three hours into the conflict, losing his right leg. He served as HRC’s spokesperson in our efforts to repeal DADT. He stood behind President Obama as he signed DADT repeal into law.
Another brilliant article from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich….
Click the link at the bottom to see his actual proposed “pledge” for the Corporations:
Words of Wisdom from RobertReich.org:
Despite what the Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say, corporations aren’t people. (I’ll believe they are when Georgia and Texas start executing them.)
The Court thinks corporations have First Amendment rights to spend as much as they want on politics, and Romney (and most of his fellow Regressives) think they need lower taxes and fewer regulations in order to be competitive.
These positions are absurd on their face. By flooding our democracy with their shareholders’ money, big corporations are violating their shareholders’ First Amendment rights because shareholders aren’t consulted. They’re simultaneously suppressing the First Amendment rights of the rest of us because, given how much money they’re throwing around, we don’t have enough money to be heard.
And they’re indirectly giving non-Americans (that is, all their foreign owners, investors, and executives) a say in how Americans are governed. Pardon me for being old-fashioned but I didn’t think foreign money was supposed to be funneled into American elections.
Romney’s belief big corporations need more money and lower costs in order to create jobs is equally baffling. Big corporations are now sitting on $2 trillion of cash and enjoying near-record profits. The ratio of profits to wages is higher than it’s been since before the Great Depression. And a larger and larger portion of those profits are going to top executives. (CEO pay was 40 times the typical worker in the 1980s; it’s now upwards of 300 times.)
This makes way too much sense to ever become law….
This is not aimed at true investors, but rather at the Market manipulators who treat Wall Street much the way other gamblers treat Las Vegas…
Unfortunately, these same people, who would pay this miniscule tax, now own most of our Senators and Congressmen. Therefore, they will say it’s better to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security than to implement this transaction tax….
A minuscule tax on financial transactions proposed by congressional Democrats would raise more than $350 billion over the next nine years, according to an analysis by the Joint Tax Committee, a nonpartisan congressional scorekeeping panel.
The analysis was sent Monday to the offices of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the lawmakers who proposed the tax, and provided to The Huffington Post.
The Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act would impose a tax of 0.03 percent on financial transactions, meaning that longterm investors would barely notice it, but traders who move rapidly in and out of positions would feel its sting and, the authors hope, reduce the volume of their speculation in response.
Lost in the 21st Century 