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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Homewood Man Stabbed 79-Year-Old Woman Because She Was Black, Old and Vulnerable: Prosecutors
The victim was stabbed four times. The accused has animosity toward African-Americans: prosecutors.
By Lauren Traut (Patch Staff) Updated October 12, 2014 at 12:08 am
A man has been charged with attempted first degree murder and a hate crime after attacking and stabbing a 79-year-old woman at Walt’s Food Center, 2345 183rd St., apparently because he’s angry at African-Americans, according to a Cook County prosecutor.
Pol Danilov, 26, was arrested on the scene Friday morning, and officers found a 5-inch knife in Danilov’s possession. The attack took place at about 10:30 a.m. The victim was taken to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. She was stabbed four times in the back and neck, and the blade pierced her lung, reports Sun-Times Media.
Danilov, of the 18400 block of Harwood Avenue in Homewood, appeared in court Saturday with a cast on his arm. His bail was set at $500,000. The prosecutor said Danilov has a history of animosity toward African-Americans and admitted to police he stabbed the woman because she was black, old and appeared vulnerable, reports the Chicago Tribune.
http://patch.com/illinois/homewood-flossmoor/homewood-man-charged-attempted-murder-hate-crime-after-stabbing-woman–0#.VDsaMha2Onp
Paul Krugman: Obama a More ‘Consequential’ President Than Clinton http://abcn.ws/1tScrtn
Jamal Simmons @JamalSimmons
If Hillary is the blowout Dem candidate, could Black voters crossover to vote for Rand Paul in 2016 GOP primaries? http://fb.me/2HPwlTsjt
Pretty Foot @PrettyFootWoman
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@JamalSimmons hahahahahaha….ohhhh you meant that!!
12:03 PM – 12 Oct 2014
Mr. NFTG @Kennymack1971
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All it took was the election of a Black POTUS for White “Progressives” to prove they’re as hung up on privilege as any racist teabagger is.
10:14 AM – 12 Oct 2014
https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/status/521327977695805440/photo/1
Dana Houle @DanaHoule
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In MI, Dem pulling away for open SEN seat, incumbent Repub gov/AG in danger of losing. KS GOP Gov/Sen/AG all in danger of losing #GOPWave
10:56 AM – 12 Oct 2014
Wayne Slater ✔ @WayneSlater
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Beyond the hyperbole, Greg Abbott got millions when punitive damages encouraged big awards, changed system for others http://share.d-news.co/yta7KSY
10:25 AM – 12 Oct 2014
Fernando Espuelas @EspuelasVox
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This Is How @EvaLongoria Is Trying to Win #midterms2014 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/01/this-is-how-eva-longoria-is-trying-to-win-the-midterms.html?via=desktop&source=twitter … via @swin24 #TNTweeters #latism #votolatino
12:59 PM – 1 Oct 2014
https://twitter.com/CanProveIt/status/521110828167462912/photo/1
Very true. Local issues are most significant in day to day life. Just ask the folks in Detroit who have had their water turned off.
But I guess it’s also true that a really bad president like George W. Bush can almost destroy the country and the multiplier effect of that can go on for decades, seemingly forever.
It’s best to just vote in every election, presidential, midterm, city, and special elections. It is the only voice you have, why would you not use it?
https://twitter.com/thetrudz/status/411924612923277312/photo/1
THERE YOU GO!
This is KANSAS, people.
KANSAS
………………..
GOP leaders plead colleagues to help Rep. Lynn Jenkins
Jenkins is suddenly leading her opponent by just a small margin, sources say.
By JAKE SHERMAN and JOHN BRESNAHAN
10/12/14 1:45 PM EDT
House Republican leaders are maneuvering behind the scenes to shore up Kansas Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins, who is suddenly battling for her political life in her Topeka-area district.
Senior members of the leadership have called rank-and-file lawmakers, asking them to cut Jenkins a check after internal polling showed the race tightening, with multiple sources saying the contest is within single digits.Continue Reading
Jenkins is ahead, but by a surprisingly small margin, said the sources.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/lynn-jenkins-kansas-republicans-111807.html#ixzz3FxxRvB2H
MOFO PLEASE
Barack Obama, disappointer in chief
By Aaron David Miller October 10
Aaron David Miller is a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former adviser to several secretaries of state. He is the author of “The End of Greatness: Why America Can’t Have (and Doesn’t Want) Another Great President” (Palgrave MacMillan), from which this essay is adapted.
All presidents disappoint. It comes with the job, the unreasonable expectations Americans have for their presidents, and the inherent conflict and disconnect between campaigning (promising people all they can have) and governing (explaining to people why they won’t get it).
So Barack Obama isn’t the first president to fail to meet expectations — and he won’t be the last. But he has come to embody something else, too: the risks and travails of reaching for greatness in the presidency without the crisis, character and capacity necessary to achieve it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barack-obama-disappointer-in-chief/2014/10/10/eeb90022-48ac-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html?hpid=z2
The NYPD paid over $428 million in settlements over the last five years
An average of $33,875 per closed lawsuit, with a high of $11 million
by JPat Brown on Oct. 10, 2014, noon
As part of an ongoing investigation, MuckRock’s Todd Feathers asked the NYPD for a list of all civil rights lawsuits brought against the department. To his surprise, what he got was every case brought against the NYPD since 2009, and how much those cases cost them. To all of MuckRock’s surprise, that amount is almost half a billion dollars.
We’ve only just begun to look through the data, but already there’s a couple interesting take-aways: one, the sheer volume of capital that is being spent on settlements, and two, that the overwhelming majority of these cases end with the NYPD at fault. While’s there a handful of Zero Disposition and Administrative Closing statuses, the Settlement category outnumbers them three to one.
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/oct/10/nypd-paid-over-428-million-settlements-over-last-f/
“We don’t have a jobs problem in this state. We have a work problem.”
— Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), quoted by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/278898661.html
Liza, I made it. Yay!
GO SG2!!
Congratulations, SG2, I knew it would be today because you only needed six the last time I checked. Well, this is a MILESTONE that should be celebrated.
Thank you, Liza! I lose some, get banned by some and some I have to ban. lol
WOOOOO HOOOOOO! CONGRATULATIONS, SG2!!! You totally ROCK in Twitterville.
But nobody better not get it twisted. SG2 is serving our brothers & sisters by fighting for JUSTICE and standing up to the INJUSTICES!
THANK YOU!
Thank you, Ametia! I try my best.
ICYMI
Chubby Checker, HP settle lawsuit over penis-measuring app
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/25/us-hp-chubbychecker-lawsuit-idUSKBN0FU1KG20140725
(Reuters) – The singer Chubby Checker has settled a lawsuit in which he accused Hewlett-Packard Co of using his trademarked name without permission on a software app that purported to measure the size of a man’s penis.
HP denied liability in agreeing to settle with Checker, whose given name is Ernest Evans, but agreed not to make future use of his stage name, likeness or related trademarks.
The settlement was disclosed in a Tuesday filing with the San Francisco federal court. Other terms remain confidential. It is unclear whether money changed hands.
Checker, 72, is best known for his 1960 song “The Twist,” a No. 1 hit on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 that inspired an international dance craze.
In his February 2013 lawsuit against HP and its Palm unit, the singer objected to HP having in October 2006 begun online sales of “The Chubby Checker” app, which purported to let women estimate the size of a man’s genitals based on his shoe size.
The little short guy in front is my Josh’s uncle.
cool!
Man Rescues Trapped Fawn And Reunites It With Its Mother
Happy Sunday, Ladies!
Happy Sunday, Vitamin!
CONGRATULATIONS, SIMONE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3adYP8f-Q&list=PLJBt-Bl-D7nZ12wcKSCZ-tdQ07zZ9l8dj
Simone Biles of the United States in mid-leap as she competes in the balance beam final of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championship. Andy Wong/AP Photo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KOiaJMDCuE
Here’s full broadcast link. If you look elsewhere, you’ll find a 3040 minute clip of Simone swatting off a bee on the podium while accepting her GOLD MEDAL. SMGDH
Stop and seize
Aggressive police take hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists not charged with crimes
After the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the government called on police to become the eyes and ears of homeland security on America’s highways.
Local officers, county deputies and state troopers were encouraged to act more aggressively in searching for suspicious people, drugs and other contraband. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice spent millions on police training..
The effort succeeded, but it had an impact that has been largely hidden from public view: the spread of an aggressive brand of policing that has spurred the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from motorists and others not charged with crimes, a Washington Post investigation found. Thousands of people have been forced to fight legal battles that can last more than a year to get their money back.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/
White People Are Unironically Talking About the White Experience in New PBS Documentary
By Tom McKay 17 hours ago
The news: This week, PBS and documentary filmmaker Whitney Dow launched the first installment of the “Whiteness Project,” a thorough and well-intentioned interview series that aims to make white Americans open up about their racial identities.
Dow has started his goal to interview 1,000 white Americans across the country to obtain their unfiltered views on race. The first 24 of those one-minute interviews from Buffalo, New York are now available to watch on the PBS website.
And so far, Dow has delivered. The interviews are sharp, engaging and relevant, precisely because they don’t aspire to show a saccharine view of racial problems in America. Instead, they’re revealing just how tense racial relations in the U.S. remain right now and how many white people simply don’t know how to talk about it. Many of them are contributing to it.
http://mic.com/articles/101158/white-people-are-unironically-talking-about-the-white-experience-in-new-pbs-documentary
Thank you for posting this, rikyrah.
I am taking a breaking after listening to the “interviews” 10 white people in order to come back here, rikyrah, to share my reaction and reflections.
First of all, I appreciate the willingness of these White men and women to be part of this project and to share at least part of their feelings.
I have come away with a feeling of anticipated exhaustion just thinking of what a monumental task is ahead to educate and nurture willing (receptive) White men and women into new understandings.
I have decided use my spare time in the weeks ahead to better prepare myself to respond to White people either individually or in group discussions when they bring up issues similar to those brought up by those in this project.
I think I’ll start another study notebook. Perhaps, first transcribe these interviews and then begin writing how I would respond to each person (returning to polish each of my responses after doing research).
One thing that I have noticed is that most of the people in the interviews spoke to how they felt without any attempt at an empathetic understanding of what Blacks have to deal with on a daily basis. Also, their education of American history (current and past) of the Black American experience seems (is) terribly superficial (shallow).
Please, if you find a video of the PBS TV broadcast of the whole project (or clips of it), would you post it here or let me know if it is available on the PBS site?
On subject
I have been watching the live streaming from Ferguson and STL and following the tweets.
Here are some tweets I copied:
Molly @
So I’m literally two blocks from y’all and I’m giving my #BlackLivesMatter speech in my conference room and taking questions.
Q: Are people scary? (Translation: Are black people scary?)
A: The police are the scary ones.
Q: What are you typing on your phone?
A: I’m tweeting your questions.
Q: You can’t do that!
A: I’m not using names.
Q: Oh, okay.
“I have black friends.” I asked who & he named the two cleaning people for the building… What are their last names? He doesn’t know.
Trying to explain that being nice to black people isn’t the same as not being racist.
Q: Why don’t I trust the police?
A: Police lie. Police hurt people. Police act like schoolyard bullies with weapons. How can I trust them?
We’re looking up videos on my laptop now. Coco & Josh being beaten, people being gassed, maced, shot at. I have to show them this shit.
Q: You seem upset.
A: Watching these videos upsets me.
Q: We don’t have to watch.
A: I think we need to watch them until we are all upset.
Q: But if they hate us, why do you help them?
A: “They” don’t hate “us.” We should ALL hate the system that oppresses and harms some of us.
Q: How come you can speak for black people?
A: I can’t. I don’t. I’m speaking as a person who understands racism. I only speak for myself.
Q: What about black-on-black crime?
A: Explains crime statistics, usage of “black-on-black” to detract from racially motivated crime.
Q: I don’t see color.
A: We all need to see color or we will ignore the racial disparities in treatment by police & by society.
Q: Do you get scared protesting?
A: Yes. I’ve been afraid of the police several times. I’ve thought they might hurt or kill me & others.
Q: Why do you go if you’re afraid?
A: Because black people can’t take a day off from being black.
Q: Mike Brown’s mom was on welfare though.
A: Mike Brown’s mom worked down the street. Please stop paying attention to Fox News.
Q: Abraham Lincoln ended slavery!
A: Ending slavery didn’t end oppression.
We’re winding down. I’m talking about how many lovely people I’ve met protesting. The men seem shocked.
Chuck Todd Goes Full Blown Republican Hack By Attacking Alison Lundergan Grimes
By: Jason Easleymore from Jason Easley
Friday, October, 10th, 2014, 1:05 p
Chuck Todd attacked Alison Lundergan Grimes on MSNBC by claiming that she disqualified herself from being elected to the Senate from Kentucky by not saying who she voted for in 2012.
After Joe Scarborough had treated Grimes’ refusal to say whether or not she voted for Obama as the biggest mistake in the history of elections, Chuck Todd went full Republican hack
odd said, “Even to say you regret your vote would almost be as disingenuous, but that is if Kentuckians expect her to cast a tough vote on anything. Is she ever going to answer a tough question on anything? You want to be a U.S. Senator? If you can’t say, if you can’t find a way to stand behind your party’s president. You can disagree with him, but you can’t answer that basic question, and come across looking that ridiculous. I think she just disqualified herself.”
The fact is that Grimes should have answered the question. It is a simple question. She could have answered it by saying that she thought Obama was the better choice over Romney, then listed all of the things that she disagrees with the president on. There are a lot of ways to answer that question, and come out looking good.
The problem is that Chuck Todd is now trying to swing this election for Mitch McConnell. His analysis was anything but non-partisan and journalistic. Todd’s suggestion that Grimes lacks the character to cast a tough vote was straight electioneering. Chuck Todd didn’t phrase his answer as a potential question. He made a flat statement of opinion. His idea that Grimes disqualified herself was also silly Beltway conventional wisdom.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/10/10/chuck-todd-full-republican-hack-attack-alison-lundergan-grimes.html
That Was Fast! ‘Survivor’s Remorse’ Renewed for a Second Season by Starz
Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
October 10, 2014 at 3:44PM
After just a single episode, Starz announced today a season two pick up of its freshman series “Survivor’s Remorse” from executive producers Tom Werner, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Mike O’Malley, Paul Wachter and Victor Levin.
The sophomore season of the half-hour scripted comedy series will feature 10 episodes – up from its 6-episode first season.
The first episode of “Survivor’s Remorse” debuted on October 4 on STARZ with a multiplatform performance of 1.3 million viewers in the first week.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/that-was-fast-survivors-remorse-renewed-for-a-second-season-by-starz-20141010
Kerry Washington Will Reminisce About Past Loves in Malcolm D. Lee’s Wedding Romcom ‘Is He the One?’
Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
October 7, 2014 at 4:25PM
Kerry Washington has signed up to star Malcolm D. Lee’s next feature film – the MGM romantic comedy titled “Is He The One?”
Lee will direct from a script penned by DJ Richardson and Michelle Morgan (“Girl Most Likely”), which tells the tale of a bride (to be played by Washington) who remembers her past serious relationships, while getting ready for her wedding, although the audience won’t find out who the lucky man is, until she meets him down the aisle at the wedding.
MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman and senior vice president Cassidy Lange are overseeing the project. Todd Garner is producing.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/kerry-washington-will-reminisce-about-past-loves-in-malcolm-d-lees-is-he-the-one-20141007
“Young Turk” Gets Drunk on Obama Derangement Cocktail, Loses It
Spandan Chakrabarti October 9, 2014
I know what you’re thinking. Who’s the Professional Left’s Rush Limbaugh? Radio personality, loud, always head exploding, and if you tuned into his show, you may be forgiven for thinking you just called into a cult hotline. Yes, I’m talking about Cenk Uygur, who recently penned a column on Huffington Post… just for fun I suppose, because his radio show isn’t platform enough for the ritual anti-Obama fits.
Turning President Kennedy’s call to action on its head, Cenk jumps off the deep end, asking “What has Obama done for you lately?” Cenk has a very big problem with what he perceives as President Obama’s lack of vision – only I don’t think he realizes that ‘vision’ here isn’t the thing you see when you’re hopped up on the good stuff.
“Can anyone tell me what President Obama’s second-term goals are? What has he accomplished? What would he like to accomplish?
A little bit of immigration reform? Wow! What else? Still waiting.”
— Cenk Uygur
No, Cenk. You’re not waiting. You’re yelling. But since you insist, let me answer the questions for you like you’re a third grader – given your level of infantile fit, I don’t think you’re capable of understanding at any higher level.
What are President Obama’s second term goals? Oh, let’s see. Actually implement health care reform fully. Grow the economy and reduce unemployment despite the GOP’s unwavering resistance. Uphold voting rights (yeah, you know, that thing). Complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.
What has he accomplished… what has he accomplished. That’s a hard question indeed. Hard, that is, if you have your head so far up your butt you can re-chew your dinner.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2014/10/9/professional-lefts-rush-limbaugh-drinks-ods-juice
Cenk’s a LOSER. bye boy!
How the media has helped normalize GOP crazy
By Paul Waldman October 10
The victim of this morning’s pile-on is Kentucky Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, who was asked in an editorial board meeting whether she had voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Grimes hemmed and hawed a bit, obviously scared to say Yes. That isn’t too surprising — when you run as a Democrat in a red state (just as when you run as a Republican in a blue state), you spend a lot of your time explaining why you aren’t like the national party and its leaders. But some people are outraged, including Chuck Todd, who said on Morning Joe (with a look of profound disgust): “Is she ever going to answer a tough question on anything?…I think she disqualified herself. I really do, I think she disqualified herself.”
No question, Grimes botched this badly, and she should be able to answer a question as simple as this one. But this affair gets at the odd set of unspoken rules that dictate what gets designated a “gaffe” or a serious mistake, and what doesn’t.
The problem isn’t that one party gets treated more harshly than the other does. There are plenty of Republican candidates who have gotten pummeled for their “gaffes.” Rather, the problem is the standard that reporters use, probably unconsciously, to decide which gaffes are worthy of extended discussion and which ones merit only a passing mention, a standard that often lets GOP candidates get away with some appalling stuff.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/10/how-the-media-has-helped-normalize-gop-crazy/
How Walmart is showing that Obamacare is working
By Paul Waldman October 8
Walmart announced today that as of the beginning of next year it will be dropping health insurance for 30,000 employees who work less than 30 hours per week. Many liberals will react to the news by saying that it’s just a profit-hungry corporation once again screwing over its employees. Conservatives are likely to say that this just shows what a mess Obamacare has created and why it should be repealed (and replaced with the Republican alternative, which by now should be known as GodotCare, since people keep talking about it and it never shows up).
But the truth is that this development is actually a good thing, and it shows that the Affordable Care Act is working.
Walmart isn’t the first to take this step. Other large retailers that had been offering coverage to part-timers, including Target, Home Depot, and Trader Joe’s, have dropped it as well. In some cases it was because the plans were “mini-med” insurance that covered little if anything, and were no longer permitted under the ACA’s new rules. But Trader Joe’s made the change because they calculated that with subsidies, their part-time employees could actually get more affordable insurance through an ACA exchange than through the company (and they gave them an extra $500 to ease the transition).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/08/how-walmart-is-showing-that-obamacare-is-working/
Plum Line
The future of GOP relations with Latinos, in one ad
By Greg Sargent October 9
When House Republicans killed immigration reform earlier this year, demographically non-delusional members of the party quietly told reporters that the GOP could always do immigration reform in 2015, and begin to repair relations with Latinos in time for the 2016 presidential election.
To judge how realistic this proposition is, take a look at the candidacy of Dan Patrick, the Republican vying to be Lieutenant Governor of Texas.
Patrick, a former radio host who is basing his run on remarkably lurid claims about the need to secure the border, is an important figure to watch to understand the GOP’s trajectory on immigration, and by extension, the party’s future relations with Latinos. Patrick is almost certain to win; he will be in a position of great influence in a state that is home to much of the border with Mexico — and well positioned to pull the party further right on the issue, particularly if another crisis flares up.
To see what this might look like, check out Patrick’s latest ad. It raises the specter of ISIS terrorists crossing the border to kill Americans, links that to his Democratic opponent’s opposition to sending the National Guard to the border and her support for in-state tuition for residents brought to this country illegally. “National security begins with border security — and that begins with the Texas Rangers and National Guard,” Patrick says. “Border security will be my top priority.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/09/the-future-of-gop-relations-with-latinos-in-one-ad/
Plum Line
Morning Plum: Voting restrictions in force in key Senate race
By Greg Sargent October 10
As the midterm elections hit their final, frenzied stretch, a handful of court decisions on voting laws threaten to scramble the outcome in unpredictable ways. We had something of a split decision. The Supreme Court has blocked Wisconsion’s voter ID law from moving forward before the election, but North Carolina voting restrictions will be in force.
Both of these races are very close. The decision means that in the Wisconsin gubernatorial contest, we can now have a “normal, high-turnout election,” as John Nichols puts it.
In North Carolina, however, restrictions that did away with same-day registration and voting, and the counting of ballots in wrong precincts, were upheld. Will this matter? Well, one fact about North Carolina is that the Democrats’ traditional midterm drop-off problem — in which core Dem groups like young voters, minorities and single women who tend to be less economically stable sit out elections — is particularly pronounced. So this latest decision could matter. Meanwhile, a new study finds restrictions did depress turnout in Kansas and Tennessee in 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/10/morning-plum-voting-restrictions-in-force-in-key-senate-race/
GOP Privatization Would Substitute an Un-Electable Board of Directors for Democracy
By: Hrafnkell Haraldssonmore from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Saturday, October, 11th, 2014, 8:34 am
The Republican Party makes much of the idea that people can be “dependent on government.” Whether their target is blacks (where we’re often told that, entitlement” handouts to blacks keep them “dependent” on the government), Latinos (where we’re often told immigrants are only coming to the United States for “free stuff”), or women (where we’re told they want free contraception to subsidize their slutty behavior), we are told that these people are motivated solely by the lure of “entitlements” and hand-outs.
Never mind the government hand-outs rich Republicans get in the form of tax breaks and subsidies.
As Deborah Foster explained in 2012,
[Republicans] have come up with the phrase, “entitlement society,” and have spent a lot of money trying to get “Real Americans” (particularly White, Christian) to worry that we have one, and that it is ruining the country. They have preached that entitlements are going to bankrupt the nation and doom its children and grandchildren to lower living standards, debt, even some form of slavery. In short, they promote what Jeffrey Sachs has called “entitlement hysteria,” the irrational fear that social programs will wreck the country, encourage dependence and sloth, and benefit unworthy groups who don’t deserve them, despite a considerable amount of available evidence to the contrary.
……………………….
Abraham Lincoln wrote “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” but it is perishing. It is being devoured before our eyes by greedy corporations, which have bought politicians are courts and are now buying the government itself through what Republicans call “privatization” but which is really “corporatization.”
That is exactly what stripping powers from government, and handing it to the public – in other words, for profit – sector is, as the complete disaster of the GOP-led charter school scam demonstrates. And it is easy to see why.
What matters to corporations is the bottom line: profits. What matters to government, say in the matter of public schools, is outcome. The education of the children sent to attend those schools. But the corporations which run these charter schools don’t exist to teach the children. They exist to enrich the entities running the schools because that’s why corporations exist.
Seen in that light, does privatization really seem like such a good idea?
Think about this for a minute: we can elected our governments. We can also un-elect them if they go to far, through recall campaigns. Ultimately, we have control over who serves in our government through the democratic process.
The democratic process does not exercise control over who runs a corporations. We have no control over a CEO or over a board of directors. We can’t recall what we can’t vote for in the first place. It is difficult to imagine a government every being as terrifying as a corporation.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/10/11/gop-privatization-substitue-un-electable-board-directors-democracy.html
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Rand On Race, Regretfully
Posted by Zandar
Not even Washington Post columnist Nia-Malika Henderson buys Rand Paul coming to Ferguson as the Kentucky senator being “helpful”.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made one of the boldest and most memorable statements on the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., going a place members of his party wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.
Now, he’s literally gone to the place — as in, Ferguson — where he’s meeting with the NAACP, the Urban League and other church and business leaders about criminal justice.
A cynic would say that Paul, a likely 2016 presidential contender, is simply trying to expand his appeal.
That cynic wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/10/rand-on-race-regretfully.html
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Last Call For Kansas Torna-derps
Posted by Zandar
Looks like Kansas Republicans are going to fight until the end over stopping same-sex marriage, which they can’t legally stop for much longer.
On Wednesday, a judge in Johnson County, which borders Kansas City and is the state’s most populous county, ordered court clerks to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Kansas bans same-sex marriage by state law and its state constitution, a position expected to be overturned following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday.
The high court decided not to review a U.S. appeals court decision striking down bans in Oklahoma and Utah, which are in the same U.S. appeals court circuit as Kansas, meaning the state is bound by that court’s rulings.
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said the attorney general’s petition would ensure an orderly process and avoid confusion created by inconsistent judicial rulings.
“An overwhelming majority of Kansas voters amended the constitution to include a definition of marriage as one man and one woman,” Brownback said in a statement. “Activist judges should not overrule the people of Kansas.”
Johnson County has announced that it would issue marriage licenses and Shawnee County is accepting applications for license while awaiting court action before issuing licenses.
The ACLU of Kansas plans to file a federal lawsuit early next week challenging the ban on same-sex marriage, Doug Bonney, its chief counsel and legal director, said on Friday.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/10/last-call-for-kansas-torna-derps.html
Well, I’m closing in on the end of a 14 hour shift. I was ok until about 30 minutes ago. This last hour is gonna be killer. …..can’t wait to go home and crash
Good Morning, All :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone. :-)
Good morning, everyone!
Rikyrah, it’s raining here and cool. I have my portable heater on. It feels so good. :)
SG2,
You crack me up with that portable heater. Just be careful with it, that’s all I ask.