Tag Archives: politics

Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown

For my amusement….

I like to imagine this was Elizabeth Warren’s reaction to seeing Scott Brown’s Cosmo Centerfold….

As well as her reaction to his ability to serve as an effective Senator…

It certainly reflects mine…

For Reference:  The Current Senator from Massachusetts:

Cute don’t cut it when compared to smart…..

One of the lessons of growing older…..

It’s time someone taught Scott Brown that….He’s cruised by for too long on his looks and manufactured image.

I’m hoping Elizabeth Warren will prove me wrong on my estimation of the intelligence of the American Electorate and be the first Woman elected President of the U.S.!

Don’t own the copyrights…just saw these pics on the web….

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AIDS Memorial Quilt Marks 25 Years with Display in D.C.

Let’s never forget….

And keep this in mind as we await the Republican controlled Supreme Courts decision on Health Care Reform (aka Obamacare) tomorrow….

Striking down this legislation will have a great impact on people with pre-existing conditions, including AIDS, and vastly limit access to affordable Healthcare.

 

From USA Today:

 

It was on June 27, 1987, when a group of grieving friends and loved ones hung a 40-panel quilt from a balcony in San Francisco to memorialize 40 lives lost to AIDS. Their act inspired thousands of mothers, brothers, friends and lovers to make and send in their own panels and, soon, that quilt became the world’s biggest piece of folk art and the nation’s most tangible symbol of the epidemic.

Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt contains more than 47,000 panels with the names of more than 93,000 people. Laid end to end, they would stretch more than 50 miles. Displaying the whole thing is such a huge undertaking that it hasn’t been tried since 1996.

But it’s about to be done, in a series of events that begins Wednesday, the 25th anniversary of that first display.

The entire quilt is coming back to Washington, D.C., where it was shown several times between 1987 and 1996. Pieces will be on display during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 27 to July 1 and July 4 to July 8. Then, from July 21 to July 25, organizers hope to roll out every segment of the 54-ton quilt, in stages, on the National Mall and in more than 50 venues around the city, during the International AIDS Conference.

At a time when AIDS is often out of the daily headlines and when treatments make long lives possible for many with the disease, the quilt is a reminder that people with HIV still matter and that the disease still kills, says Julie Rhoad president of the Names Project Foundation, the Atlanta-based custodian of the quilt: “Those who have no access to care are dying rapid, hard deaths and they are invisible.”

More:   AIDS Memorial Quilt marks 25 years with display in D.C. – USATODAY.com.

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CNN Hits 21-Year Ratings Low In Second Quarter

Somehow, I’m not surprised….

Old people leave Faux News on 24/7 to keep them company and reinforce their prejudices, while CNN becomes more ridiculous everyday…

CNN isn’t about news anymore, it’s about entertainment and sensationalism- just like there rest of the Corporate Media.

They blew their reputation for being a “serious” news network a long time ago…

But I miss the old CNN.  Just the facts and good solid, objective reporting.  But there doesn’t seem to be a place for that anymore in an America that no longer recognizes the existence of “facts”…

Not with the Corporate ownership of the Media….

They really shouldn’t call it the “Cable News Network” anymore…

It’s the “Corrupted Nonsense Network” now…..

Form the Huffington Post:

CNN had its worst ratings in twenty-one years, according to quarterly figures released on Tuesday.

CNN drew an average of just 319,000 total viewers and 129,000 viewers ages 25-54 in the second quarter. Ratings fell 35% among total viewers and 41% in the key demo compared to the same time last year. Primetime ratings also suffered big losses — 35% and 45% in those audiences respectively.

The news was inevitable, after months of terrible ratings at the network. CNN had its lowest-rated month in over a decade in April. May was its worst month in primetime in over twenty years.

As usual, Fox News dominated the ratings in the second quarter, taking 13 of the top thirty programs. MSNBC and Fox News also saw drops, though smaller than CNN’s, from last year. The second quarter of 2012 saw less news than in 2011, when Osama bin Laden died and as Arab Spring protests continued.

via CNN Hits 21-Year Ratings Low In Second Quarter; Cable News Ratings For Q2 2012.

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10 Things You Would Miss About Obamacare

This is a great summary of the benefits of Obamacare…

Please keep this in mind as we await the Supreme Court decision- either today or sometime this week- for the Roberts Court to determine it’s “constitutionality”.

Of course, precedent and legality don’t mean much to the Roberts Court, so I’m very concerned that we will lose this hard-fought, but limited victory against the insurance companies.

Good news:  If we lose, it’s only  going to be a matter of time before National Healthcare becomes a necessity.  Bad News:  If they strike this down, it’s going to be hard times for so many people for the foreseeable future….

From ThinkProgress:

 

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act this week and could potentially strike down part or the whole of ‘Obamacare.’ Below are 10 things you will miss about the law if the justices invalidate it:

via 10 Things You Would Miss About Obamacare | ThinkProgress.

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The Wit and Wisdom of Gloria Steinem

I’m posting lightly right now- resting up for the fall political battles- and spending more time reading…

One of my discoveries is how much I admire Gloria Steinem….

I always knew she was smart, but–wow!

Here are a few quotes, from About.com/Women’s History that illustrate why I admire her so much:

 

 

•The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.

• We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.

• We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs.

• Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age.

• But the problem is that when I go around and speak on campuses, I still don’t get young men standing up and saying, “How can I combine career and family?”

• A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after.

• Someone asked me why women don’t gamble as much as men do, and I gave the commonsensical reply that we don’t have as much money. That was a true and incomplete answer. In fact, women’s total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage.

• We know that we can do what men can do, but we still don’t know that men can do what women can do. That’s absolutely crucial. We can’t go on doing two jobs.

• Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.

• Most women are one man away from welfare.

• [About Geraldine Ferraro’s candidacy:] What has the women’s movement learned from her candidacy for vice president? Never get married.

• If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn’t it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?

• Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren’t, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.

• Most women’s magazines simply try to mold women into bigger and better consumers.

• I have met brave women who are exploring the outer edge of human possibility, with no history to guide them, and with a courage to make themselves vulnerable that I find moving beyond words.

• If the shoe doesn’t fit, must we change the foot?

• The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.

• Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.

• A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.

via Gloria Steinem Quotes.

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For Those Still Trying to Figure out the Gay Marriage Issue…

Today, North Carolina is voting whether to approve Amendment One to the Constitution which says, as follows:

“Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”

If you live in North Carolina and have not gone out to vote against this spiteful, hateful attempt to spread hate and discrimination, please DO SO NOW!

People need to understand that “marriage” is a secular, legal contract.  Religion has nothing to do with it.  I’m fine with anyone having a religious ceremony-or not- but we should not prohibit unmarried heterosexual or Gay couples from sharing the same legal protections as married people.

I’ve been with my partner for 15 years and don’t you dare try to tell me our relationship should not have the same legal recognition as straight couples.  This is the only way to protect us in the event of sickness or, god forbid, death, so that we each can care for the other and no one can interfere with our wishes.  Or contest our estates….I hate to think how complex this is for people with children.

I am grateful to all the People of Faith who have come out against this mean-spirited, petty attempt to enshrine discrimination into the North Carolina Constitution.

However, a substantial number of Fundamentalist Christians are claiming they support this hateful amendment based on “biblical” principles….

This is for them:

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Student Loan Vote: Republicans Block Bill To Extend Low Interest Rates

The GOP is so blatant in their contempt for the Middle Class- or anyone who isn’t part of the 1%….

Could it be more obvious they are only there to protect and help the wealthy and could not care less about the vast majority of Americans?

I can’t believe people who don’t make over a million dollars a year still vote for these guys….

It’s insane!

Their votes are killing the Middle Class and destroying our young people’s futures…

Education is the key to upward mobility, financial security and a fulfilling career- hopefully one that gives back to society.

From HuffingtonPost.com:

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have frozen student loan interest rates before they are set to double on July 1.

In a partisan vote of 52 to 45, the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to begin debate on the Democratic bill. Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) was the lone Republican to vote “present.” A Snowe spokesman told The Huffington Post her vote was related to her practice of voting “present” on legislation that contains the potential or appearance of association with the private business activity of her husband.

The vote wasn’t much of a surprise: Republicans have been signaling they would filibuster the bill because of its cost offsets. Democrats would cover the $6 billion cost of keeping student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent for another year by raising Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on certain high-earners. By contrast, Republicans have called for nixing a preventive health fund to pay for it.

Ultimately, the vote gives Democrats another chance to try to frame Republicans as favoring the wealthy over the middle class in the midst of intensifying election-year politicking.

via Student Loan Vote: Republicans Block Bill To Extend Low Interest Rates.

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Greensboro and Guilford County Voter’s Guide

Everyone in North Carolina….

Please remember to go out and vote tomorrow–especially AGAINST Amendment One!

As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  Of course, that includes Women, too!

For those looking for a good, Progressive voter guide, here is the best one I know of- from Replacements, LTD PAC:

More:  http://www.replacementsltdpac.org/

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Most and Least Religious States in America

Some interesting, but not really surprising information….

What’s surprising is how these deeply religious people in the South seem to support the heartless GOP agenda….

Is that really what Jesus would do?

From the Huffington Post…….

Religiosity varies widely across U.S. states and regions, with Mississippi in the deep South and Vermont in New England providing the most extreme example of the disparity. Fifty-nine percent of Mississippians are very religious and 11% nonreligious, while 23 percent of Vermonters are very religious and 58 percent are nonreligious. Although New Hampshire ties Vermont with 23 percent of its residents classified as very religious, slightly fewer (52 percent) residents in the Granite State are classified as nonreligious.

More generally, eight of the 10 most religious states in 2011 are in the South (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia), with one straddling the line between the South and the Midwest (Oklahoma), and one in the West (Utah). None of the most religious states are in the Middle Atlantic, New England, or West Coast regions.

By contrast, six of the least religious states in 2011 are in New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) and four are in the West (Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington), with the District of Columbia and New York rounding out the list.

via Most and Least Religious States in America.

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Ronald Reagan Regretted Becoming Republican; Wished He Had Stayed Democrat

This is going to cause some Conservative heads to explode…

Apparently Reagan believed in a collective philosophy and more traditional Democratic values….

Freewood Post has an excerpt from Reagan’s newly released journals where he admires FDR, says God should not be part of Politics and he wished he had stayed a Democrat….

What if?

What if it were true…

And apparently this is not true, but still….

It’s going to annoy the GOP, so it must be good anyway…

Here is a brief excerpt from Reagan’s “alleged” journal and a link to the complete post at Freewood Post:

When I worked as the president of the Screen Actors Guild I understood the need for people to stick together for the greater good to get their goals accomplished. I admired other great presidents of the past such as Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower who knew that in order for the nation to thrive, we must all thrive. I am also saddened that the Republican party of today thinks I wanted God in the White House and to rule the nation. That is not true at all, after I was nearly assassinated I wanted God more in my own personal life. I acknowledged that I was to be here for a reason and serve him and my nation together, but they always stayed separate in my mind just as in the Constitution. The Republican party today merely just uses God as a means to get votes, and I don’t believe Jesus would want to be used as a marketing tool. I regret my decision to become Republican and if I had to do it all over again I would have remained in the Democratic party and ran on their ticket. They seem to instill the core values I believe in, such as a collective philosophy. I thought for a while the Democrats left me, because we used to agree on so much, it turns out that I did indeed leave them, and I would do anything to take it all back. Now as I sit here as an old man, I can only imagine, “what if…”

via Free Wood Post.

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