A place to enjoy good music, drink in some knowledge, and watch a little sports. Where there is always food for thought, topped with choice grillings of right wing talking points.
UPDATE 3/31/11: Well, Judge Sumi finally scared the pants off of Walker and his minions such that they have tacitly admitted they will not begin implementing their ill-gotten law that they pretended was published legally and were going to start taking money out of paychecks for certain union workers. Guess who blinked first!
It's just unfortunate that in so many other states the Republican governors are doing the very same thing that Walker has done, and they are steamrolling this very wrong idea that somehow unions and their collective bargaining rights are what is problematic to the United States, and more importantly, the cause (now) of the bad economy. It sickens me to watch this continued assault on the middle class all the while the uber rich continue to amass their wealth.
I found this companion piece full of information concerning the "wealth" in this country. It is ironic that many Americans are so stupid that they believe big corporations pay "their fair share" of taxes on their earnings, when in fact, they don't. This piece up on Crooks and Liars, concerning the latest 60 Minutes interview done by Ms. Stahl shows one just how uncommitted these big corporations are to sharing the wealth, creating new jobs and opening up business in America. If they have to "pay" their fair share, they are more than willing to move their business out of the country, and deprive America of the taxes due, as well as deprive Americans of jobs, all so that corporate CEO's and the like can continue to make billions in profits.
Stahl was shown to a conference room they said Weatherford rents for board meetings, but Weatherford's Houston office told us they never go there. So are these big companies pulling a fast one? Apparently not: under both Zug and U.S. tax laws, it's perfectly legal to get the low tax rate even without a real presence in Zug. But Rep. Doggett wants to change that.
"You have a proposed legislation that a company will be taxed not based on where they file some pieces of paper, but where their decision makers and management actually resides and makes decisions," Stahl remarked.
"Let them pay the same way that other Houston-based companies pay. And so if they have their management and control are there, they ought to be paying here in the United States. I think it's fair," Doggett argued.
We found that faced with the mere threat of Doggett's legislation, Transocean and Weatherford both recently packed up their top brass and shipped them to Geneva.
We were told Transocean's top ten executives live in the Geneva area, and work on the top two floors of a Geneva office building - everyone from the CEO to the chief financial officer, to the vice president of taxes.
They wouldn't talk to us on camera, and neither would Weatherford. They also moved their CEO and CFO to Geneva. And so now we're beginning to see a jobs exodus from the U.S. of top management.
And people actually feel that this country is being threatened by terrorists from the Middle East which will destroy America? Rich Americans and their corporations are what is destroying America! This pernicious corporate greed has infiltrated every stratum of society, and thanks to Citizens United, only the rich and their corporate mouth pieces will be making the laws affecting the rest of the poor people in this country. A full frontal assault on our rights is being waged right in the open, and despite public opinion to the contrary, nothing really seems to be stopping it.
On Tuesday, Sumi reiterated that her order barring action by the secretary of state was still in effect, and she threatened to sanction anyone who disobeyed the order, saying she wanted to be “crystal clear” that no further action on its implementation should be taken.
Of course, even that completely clear and explicit statement is being scoffed at by the Wisconsin Republicans!
Republican Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald went further, openly questioning the judge’s right to rule in the case, saying it “flies in the face of the separation of powers between the three branches of government.”
“It’s disappointing that a Dane County judge wants to keep interjecting herself into the legislative process with no regard to the state constitution,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.
Hello? Anyone at home?
“I cannot understand the legal rationale of attorneys who are apparently advising this administration to ignore this order for whatever reason,” Democratic Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said Wednesday. “The very fabric of a just society is based on the rule of law. We don’t have the option of which law we will obey and we don’t have the option of which court order we’ll ignore.”
---------- It appears that despite a court ruling staying the implementation of that disaster of a bill by Governor Walker (not to mention the impropriety with regard to the method the Republicans used to even "vote" the bill in), the Republicans in Wisconsin feel they do not have to follow the law.
In my business, a stay is a stay. You disregard the stay, you are in contempt of court. Yet, now, Republicans don't even try to be sneaky about disobeying court orders -- they simply put their fingers in their ears and shout out loud "I don't have to pay attention, I don't have to pay attention, I don't have to pay attention."
With more than 60% of Wisconsin voters unsatisfied with the way Walker and his Republican cohorts have handled this situation, and fed up with the lies, recall efforts are clearly gaining serious momentum.
For more on my earlier posts on Wisconsin and solidarity, see here. If you want to help with the recall efforts, click here.
This ranks as one of my all time favorite movies, but I also adored Liz's performances in such films as Whose Afraid Of Virginia Wolf and Butterfield 8 (which also happen to be the two films she won an Oscar for).
The last of the real glamorous movie stars has left the building.
I can't believe that Mike guy made a reference to being glad he was paired with an "American" dancer as he still "remembered the Cold War" which is obviously a reference to the fact that some of the ballroom dancers were Russian.
Wow ... that's all I can say. Hope he's off first round, the piece of shit.
UPDATES REGULARLY AT THE BOTTOM - CONTRIBUTE TO THE WISCONSIN RECALL HERE
3/18/11 - Moved to Front Page - Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issues a temporary restraining order blocking Wisconsin's collective bargaining law from taking effect. Read more here. One small victory for the time being.
The stakes are high nationwide. Wisconsin is the first in a long line of states considering big changes to pay, benefits, work rules and the bargaining power of government workers.
The Wisconsin measure would force public employees to pay more for pension and health benefits while limiting their union's power to negotiate.
The sergeant at arms was searching for Democratic state lawmakers who had not shown up for a vote on the sweeping legislation, and one Democratic lawmaker said he and his colleagues had left the state.
This reminds me of a few years back when Texas Republicans were trying to redistrict the state to their favor, and the Democrats (and others) flew out of the state so as not to be present to allow a vote!
Now we have this idiot in Wisconsin having the National Guard on standby ... yeah, like 1970 in Ohio, dude? Ya gonna shoot the protesters?
Here’s the other thing: the current crop of extreme-right Republicans have no interest in compromise, on anything. They don’t want to force the public employee unions to the table to bargain over wages and health care, they want to utterly destroy the unions for all time. They don’t want to negotiate over changing the formula on pension contributions, they want to make workers pay for half their pensions, or slash their benefits to shreds — and then never have to negotiate with workers again over them. At the federal level, they don’t just want to make substantial cutbacks in domestic programs, they want to defund many of them entirely — and if they don’t get their way, all of it, they’ll just shut down the government. It’s not just economics issues either: pro-lifers don’t just want to make it harder to get abortions, they want redefine rape and make shooting an abortion doctor a justifiable homicide. These Republican extremists are completely beyond the pale.
How un-American can you get. Having the GOP legislators pass a law requiring the protesters to be removed. In the old days we'd call that a bill of attainder - it's something Henry VIII liked to use, a lot, when he wanted to behead a wife or a top aide.
The Republicans will not be happy until they've gutted democratic principles and looted the treasury on all levels of government. At the time we see the Middle East oligarchies being toppled, we see the United States turning into one.
We shall see what happens this Saturday.
Speaking of oligarchs, here's an interesting tidbit I found.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has dismissed a deputy, Jeff Cox, for posting inappropriate comments online critical of the labor union protesters in Wisconsin.
Cox sent out a message on his Twitter account saying that police should "use live ammunition" against the protesters.
HEAD OF POLICE UNION ASKS GOVERNOR TO KEEP CAPITOL OPEN AND ANNOUNCES LAW ENFORCEMENT SLEEPOVER
MADISON—Following action by lawmakers to approve a rule change that clears the way for closing down the State Capitol and ejecting the people protesting Governor Walker’s bill to curtail union activity, the head of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association called on the governor today to keep the capitol building open and allow the peaceful protesters to remain.
“The law enforcement officers from across the state that have been working at the Capitol and have been very impressed with how peaceful everyone has been,” said WPPA Executive Director Jim Palmer. “As has been reported in the media, the protesters are cleaning up after themselves and have not caused any problems. The fact of that matter is that Wisconsin’s law enforcement community opposes Governor Walker’s effort to eliminate most union activity in this state, and we implore him to not do anything to increase the risk to officers and the public. The costs of providing security can never outweigh those associated with a conflict.”
Palmer also announced that, beginning tonight, the WPPA is formally requesting its members from across the state to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of other union supporters. “Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s devoted public employees is wrong,” continued Palmer. “That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight.”
And then there is this:
Amendments to block labor unions from engaging in collective bargaining with the government over salaries and benefits for public workers are sparking protests. In Wisconsin, which may wind up as the Egypt of the Midwest, more than a dozen Democrat senators are AWOL, while Republican Gov. Scott Walkeris standing his ground and becoming a tea party hero. Clickon the map to see which states have proposed collective-bargaining amendments and follow our updates on the protests.
UPDATED AND MOVED TO FRONT PAGE 2/27/11:
First, I am pleased to see that the police decided to join the protesters.
From inside the Wisconsin State Capitol, RAN ally Ryan Harvey reports:
“Hundreds of cops have just marched into the Wisconsin state capitol building to protest the anti-Union bill, to massive applause. They now join up to 600 people who are inside.”
I gather the Saturday deadline to remove the protesters from the Capital did not actually result in any removal, considering close to 100,000 were there yesterday (of course, you wouldn't know it by watching any television as most news programs just couldn't stop "gushing" about the alleged two year anniversary of the tea party). From Politicus USA:
There is a deeper bias evident in the case of the Wisconsin rallies. The corporate ownership of these networks, like most businesses, is anti-union. They assume that all of America is also anti-union, and they have conveniently ignored all the polling that shows the American people are behind the protesters in order to rationalize ignoring the protests.
There was an interesting post up a while back when this all started in Wisconsin and the comparisons were made between Egypt and the protesters. And, that is, while American corporations have been shipping American jobs (especially in the manufacturing sector) overseas to underprivileged and dictatorship controlled countries under the guise of free trade agreements, some of the people in various countries that are starting to revolt against the leaders are just like the people in Wisconsin protesting. That is, they want better wages, better benefits and want to put a stop to the "bottom line" mentality of their employers or their government's stealing what is rightfully theirs. When across the globe, the people stand in solidarity against abusive working conditions and the taking advantage of dictatorships and oligarchies that force their people to live in substandard conditions and have a life that is barely livable, where will these corporations go to get cheap labor? When everyone joins together for the right to earn a decent wage against those that are stealing from the very people whose backs they made their millions off of, equality and justice looms around the corner. That's the deeper issue of these protests in the Middle East -- they want out from under the thumb of oppression, and it's a tough spot for the rich American politicians and the corporations they represent (because by now most Americans are well aware their representatives in government are not beholding to them, but to the fat cats that put the money in their pockets, and I mean this as to all parties, not just the Republicans) as it has always been their position to allow the despots to stay in power in exchange for cheap labor (or oil).
It's a new day approaching. The youth are revolting again, and I for one, am proud to see the lie exposed that there is apathy attributed to the youth, and its perpetration by mass media worldwide, and corporations with a vested interest in keeping young people poor and desperate, is slowly crumbling.
This is a must read piece about what else is really at stake in Wisconsin based on Walker's plans for the state. Courtesy of ThinkProgress:
As the standoff between the Main Street Movement and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) continues for the twelfth day, much of the media coverage — and anger — from both sides has focused on Walker’s efforts to strip Wisconsin public workers of their right to collective bargaining. But Walker’s assault on public employees is only one part of a larger political program that aims to give corporations free reign in the state while dismantling the healthcare programs, environmental regulations, and good government laws that protect Wisconsin’s middle and working class. These lesser known proposals in the 144-page bill reveal how radical Walker’s plan actually is: (abbreviated by me) --1. ELIMINATING MEDICAID; 2. POWER PLANT PRIVATIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLECT; 3. DANGEROUS DRINKING WATER; 4. DESTROYING WETLANDS; 5. FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY; 6. DISENFRANCHISING VOTER; 7. CUTTING JOBS, LOSING THE FUTURE; 8. STIFLING INNOVATION; 9. “NAKED POWER GRAB”; 10. POLITICIZING STATE AGENCIES.
Wisconsin authorities backed away Sunday from a threat to evict hundreds of labor rights demonstrators who have occupied the state Capitol for nearly two weeks.
The Capitol Police were supposed to open the building to the public at 8am. Two hours later they are still not letting anyone into the building. It’s particularly cold out in Madison today, with big crowds outside trying to enter.
[snip]
As you can see, they are really cracking down on access, and particularly what can be brought into the building. They have tried to make it very uncomfortable for people to stay, forcing them to sleep on jackets or the bare floor. They have restricted medical supplies and slowed the supply of food. But according to the CCLC, they are going well beyond these rules and basically blocking access to the building. And this comes after the police told protesters that they would be allowed back in at 8am.
[snip]
This is all tied to the joint legislative session on the budget on Tuesday. Governor Walker really doesn’t want to have to deliver the budget in a building under occupation. I think initially he planned to move locations, but that would not have been legal under Wisconsin state law. So instead of mass arrests and the negative publicity that would have went with it, Walker is going for the slow squeeze.
Local union leaders and the ACLU are working on the issue as we speak. More when I get it…
UPDATED 3/2/11 - Good news about recall efforts of key Republican Senators. H/T to ThinkProgress:
This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining. And we learned just last night that their disastrous budget that will cut millions from our schools and universities. . . .
Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators [Democrats] are targeting, [Democrats] can regain control of the Senate.
UPDATE 3/3/11
Now the Republican senate in Wisconsin has passed a resolution (not sure if anything they try to pass without the necessary lone Democrat is legal) that will fine the missing Democrats $100 a day, take away any per diem, and will punish their staff and more.
MADISON - The 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who left the state two weeks ago will now face fines of $100 for each day they miss, if they miss two or more days.
Republicans remaining in the Senate approved the daily fine on Wednesday morning with none of the Democrats present.
[snip]
Republicans have already withheld the checks of missing Democrats from direct deposit and denied access to copying machines for their staff.
According to TODAY'S TMJ4's Mick Trevey, there are punishments incorporated into the resolution which would allow for the removal of offices from senators, to downsize their offices, to take away spending capabilities for their offices for photocopies and office supplies, even to changing the way the staffs are run.
This is so school yard playing. The typical "it's my ball, so I make up the rules" kind of thing. I am really very surprised, in a way, that these Republicans, with not only a majority of the citizens in their own state against them on this (and other) issue, still believe in their own bubble tent that they are right, and all those people outside the Capital and across the state are ALL UNION THUGS. What idiots. The recalls of many Republican senators has already been put in motion. Are they just dolts? As this is playing out across America, do they even think no one is paying attention?
Oh, and I love this new tidbit. Seems those television and radio personalities (think O'Reilly, Hannity, et al.) all, OF COURSE, belong to AFTRA (like Reagan was, and who was PRESIDENT of that union for a number of terms) believe that AFTRA really isn't a union, and they give different reasons for why they feel they aren't union members, despite the fact that their pay and pensions are the result of THEIR UNION's negotiations with the television and radio bosses. Oh, the humanity! It's only public workers whose union is being targeted by these scumbag politicians. God forbid any union they belong in should be targeted. Union for regular people equals bad. Union for idiotic and over payed television and radio right wing nut jobs equals ... long pause ... crickets chirping ....
UPDATE 3/9/11 - A lot happened today. Apparently the Republicans in the Senate "passed" certain portions of the Governor's bill (see more here) without the requisite number of Democrats. Not sure if it is legal or not, but Democrats tried to hold some kind of hearing, which resulted in the Capitol building being open and the protesters being allowed back in (see here with some great video of the protesters).
"Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten," said Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, D-Monona, in a statement released shortly after the vote. "Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people. We will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government."
What an amazing scene (watched the videos). As an old timer, it warms my innards to know that the young folk are finally finding their protest voice. Keep at it, and know that all of America actually supports you guys, and they are decidedly against what the Wisconsin governor is trying to do. It's not supported even by Wisconsin residents, for goodness sake. I mean, come on, it was bad before with Bush in the White House, but this surge in Republican power grabs that are clearly unconstitutional, not to mention outright wrong (especially when it comes to the supposed "deficit" in Wisconsin that really resulted because of the governor's giving of tax breaks to his buddies like the Koch brothers, et al) is definitely giving ammunition to recall efforts, among other things. Don't be surprised when there is a definite trending in the opposite direction in 2012. This just makes me sick to my stomach to watch one man think he is god and can run an entire state solely on his personal agenda.
I was raised in a show business family, of which most belonged to AFTRA, SAG or AFM. I grew up knowing about unions, and just what they did for actors and musicians. Sports unions abound in professional sports. Collective bargaining is just a part of labor life for many, many Americans. And now the rich oligarchs just want to turn back the clock 100 years so that the robber baron lifestyle can return, and child labor will be the norm.
(Hate The Marks This Keyboard Makes On Head When Banging Head On Keyboard).
Feel free to click on the link below at the end of every page where I have placed my two cherished organizations, PBS and ACLU, for donations - since the inception of this blog. The private sector has to step up for what the Republican fear mongers continue to take away from us ... our freedoms.
Unbelievable. This is how Republicans want to rule. Just take over. Not even the slightest pretense of actually following a just order or a proper procedure as an elected official. Ram it down your throat improperly. All Hail Caesar as they say, e tu?
Great post over at ThinkProgress about options Wisconsin residents have to repeal this gawd awful bill and a step-by-step process to ensure that this never happens again. It's a must read.
UPDATE 3/13/11:
It is estimated that over 100,000 protesters converged on Madison, WI yesterday.
For two years, tea party activists and their allies in the GOP have claimed that the hard-right movement represents the true beliefs of the American people. But the crowd in Madison and numerouspolls tell a different story.
One of my three days that I always say it is ok to be drunk before noon are -- St. Patty's day, 4th of July and Super Bowl Sunday.
This being the wear what's green day (and let's not miss the point that I am of Irish descent), had my corn beef and cabbage (ugh, I should stop eating this crap at a NON Irish restaurant, ya think?), and instead of bowing down to some traditional Guinness or Bushmills, I settled for my usual double Bacardi and diet, as the bartender sees to it that it is at my table before I have the time to take off my jacket (LOL).
I wore a green bow tie all day. It was meant for my grandson, but the damn music thingy wouldn't work, and I was going to return it when I said, what the frak, just wear it! I had fun. And it's all the more so because I am of Irish descent. I learned to do jigs at an early age. (Although the dominant strain heritage wise was Norwegian ... hell we had to speak Norwegian at the dinner table, had to ask to leave the table and say thank you in Norwegian for sure!)
I've loved the Celtic sounds since being a child. Can't really say where I actually heard them from. It's just a vague remembrance.
Irish Rovers
Flogging Molly
Ok, you definitely have to be pissered to enjoy listening to this over and over!
Dubliners and The Clancy Bros.
Ok, so I am truly a sucker for a Bing Crosby song.
Any young Irishman knows this band, singing Kiss My Irish Ass
psssst (Dropkick Murphys)
Going to close it out with this Rugby anthem by Andrew Strong
P.J. Crowley, the state department spokesman, stepped down Sunday after saying publicly that treatment of Wikileaks suspect Pfc. Bradley Manning in military detention has been “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”
In a statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote that she accepted his resignation with regret.
I really don't know how many of you have been following the Manning story, but I have, and thank goodness Glenn Greenwald has been holding the Obama Administration's feet to the coals on this.
America at its best, of course. It's a sign of the times, people. You have no rights. Where are your papers? It gets worse before the whole government falls. Eventually, people revolt. Turning a blind eye only works until you're the person that blind eye is turning from. When you no longer have any rights as an American, what the hell distinguishes you and this country from other dictatorships?
UPDATE: 3/14/11
As usual, the ever prolific Glenn Greenwald has a few choice words in his latest two posts on Pfc. Manning.
So, in Barack Obama's administration, it's perfectly acceptable to abuse an American citizen in detention who has been convicted of nothing by consigning him to 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement, barring him from exercising in his cell, punitively imposing "suicide watch" restrictions on him against the recommendations of brig psychiatrists, and subjecting him to prolonged, forced nudity designed to humiliate and degrade. But speaking out against that abuse is a firing offense. Good to know. [rest of post here]
When Obama was asked on Friday about Manning's treatment, he said in part: "I've actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures . . . are appropriate. They assured me they are." [rest of post here]
To me, it is unfathomable that a supposed Democratic President who campaigned against this type of torture (among other campaign promises that were broken immediately upon his election) gets away with this crap. Mr. Obama, the question I have for you is -- go see Pfc. Manning and ask HIM if he's being treated fairly, you stupid asshole. Do you think for one minute astute Americans are buying your lame excuse that the military says he's not being treated badly so be it? Get off your hiney and check it out, dude. You're the Prez for damn sakes. Act like one. Or, could it be that you are actually not interested in the rights of the American public, and that even though you campaigned on the slogan of change, you really just bullshitted the American people into electing a tyrant?
Mr. President - you are despicable. You are complicit in this crime against humanity and your head in the sand approach is not becoming of one who holds the highest office in America. You, sir, do not deserve to be president of the United States. You deserve to experience the same treatment as Pfc. Manning. Then tell the world how you feel. Just once, put your feet in the doo doo that you perpetuate, you hypocrite.
Well, it's that time again, where the Republicans in Congress are informing everyone else that unless entitlement programs are cut, they will not raise the debt ceiling, which is, of course, a must.
One really has to wonder after all these years of unpaid for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why any American at all would say yes to cutting their own Social Security benefits, or Medicare. If this was a lesson for elementary school children, cutting defense spending would be the first and only choice. Millions and millions of people will be affected by the Republican plans. Turning America into a third world country, with despots running every state, and an oligarch in the White House, is not how I thought I'd spend my retirement years. Hell, what retirement, eh? According to the Republicans, just work longer. Easy for them to say (and many Democrats too) as they only receive government benefits on top of their million dollar fortunes that got them into Congress in the first place. Don't take their government health care away from them, just take it away from the rest of America. Let's not fund the infrastructure of America, let's give this money away to defense contractors blowing shit loads of cash in Iraq and Afghanistan for their infrastructure, which by the way, is still looking like shit despite the years and billions that have been handed over to foreign countries. Let's continue to support financially countries like Saudi Arabia and Libya, but let's not feed our own citizens. Let them die in the streets of hunger, or freeze to death in the winter because they simply do not have enough money to pay to heat their homes. How many deaths have we had so far that fit that particular scenario, eh? (And, no, I'm not Canadian, but it just seems a fit word - eh?).
People, wake up. The Horatio Alger myth is no longer an option for our young kids. There is no ability to pull yourself up from the proverbial bootstraps and make yourself wealthy. The only options are to be worker bees or be the queen bee. And since there are only a limited number of queen bees but tons and tons of worker bees, you can pretty much count yourself out of the running of queen bee. Most of Americans will never be anything more than a worker bee. And then you die, thanks to Republican (and blue dog Democratic) policies.
What I really truly do not understand is why the wealthy in America (those very, very, very few), and especially the wealthy politicians, feel the need to not share the wealth? Especially considering the Christian motif that generally surrounds those that espouse the "I am rich and you are not" policies keeping the poor in their place. It is the opposite of Christ's teachings to hoard wealth. That's common knowledge -- among everyone, even those who aren't Christian! But in God's name, and American patriotism, the rich politicians bury this country under needless debt so they can continue to hoard the money built off the backs of the rest of America. Compassion is a dirty word in politics -- when did that happen?
It's heartbreaking to see this country go down the tubes as a whole. I can't say I never imagined this happening, though. I realized back in the 1980's that the destruction of the world as we know it would be a financial meltdown, and it would start and end with the United States. People back then thought I was crazy. Hell, we were still fighting the imaginary Communist Russians and fearing the rise of power in China. Now Russia has been broken up into smaller countries, and China has more money than God, and owns most of America.
The rich have sold out this country. But that still isn't enough for them. They won't rest until this country reverts to what it was 100-200 years ago. "Please, sir, I want some more."
Get used to that phrase. And get used to the answer as well, my friends.
(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.
"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).
This is the second earthquake that has resulted in a shifting of the earth on its axis. At what point will earth change its orbit? Feels like it's time to watch an end of the world movie.
Let's be clear on something: Republicans firmly believe that nothing is important enough to trump a possible tax cut. That's why they oppose the adequate funding of the U.S. Weather Service -- and not incidentally, its tsunami warning system.
They're the main reason why America can't have nice things. Nobody in their right mind who wants any of these things should ever, ever, ever vote for a Republican.
Though Gov. Rick Snyder says he is not interested in hurting unions, yesterday’s Senate approval of a package that gives Emergency Managers complete power over financially troubled towns and school districts means he will soon be asked to sign off on measures that are expected to eliminate union jobs across the state.
In a party line vote, and despite impassioned speeches of protest by the body’s Democratic minority, the Michigan Senate approved legislation that threatens to take over and even dissolve local governments that refuse to balance their budgets by breaking labor contracts.
According to the law, which has already been approved in the House, the governor will be able to declare “financial emergency” in towns or school districts and appoint someone to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, and eliminate services.
Under the law whole cities or school districts could be eliminated without any public participation or oversight, and amendments designed to provide minimal safeguards and public involvement were voted down.
Just think for a moment about that. The new wave of Republican governors are passing bills that will allow them to declare financial crisis (even when one does not exist, such as the trumped up claims of Gov. Walker in Wisconsin) and unilaterally take over municipalities, cities and other forms of duly elected communities. This then allows "them" to appoint an individual or corporation to "run" these taken over communities. I would urge you to think very hard about this maneuver. This new law and this new way of thinking even will allow the governor(s) to disincorporate cities, sell off assets to private corporations ... basically to turn our democracy to the oligarchs. And they are not even trying to hide this. It is right in front of our faces. There is no show of pretense here. Just a power grab of all that is America.
When it happens to you and your little community, the "shock and awe" of it will bring chills down your spine. Before we become a nation of Stepford Citizens, people, you have to break out of the "stupidity" funk.
Bill Maher brings it home with this point from his show recently:
Maher: America's rich aren't giving you money, they're taking your money. Between the years 1980 and 2005 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%. Let me put that in terms that even you fatass teabaggers, I'm sorry, can understand.
Say 100 Americans get together and order a 100 slice pizza. The pizza arrives and the first guy takes 80 slices. And if someone suggests, why don't you just take 79 slices, that's socialism! I know, I know. I know, I know, it's just a TV show. But it does reinforce the stupid idea people have that rich people would love us and share with us if only they got to walk a mile in our cheap plastic shoes.
But they're the reason the shoe factory moved to China. We have this fantasy that our interests and the interests of the super rich are the same. Like somehow the rich will eventually get so full that they'll explode. And the candy will rain down on the rest of us.
Like there's some kind of pinata of benevolence. But here's the thing about a pinata. It doesn't open on its own. You have to beat it with a stick.
We can't even escape it in sports, as our precious football season is now in jeopardy based on the owners' lock-out. Money, money, money ... even in this sport that is dominated by highly paid players, the owners eschew the collective bargaining process, claim they are broke or are losing tons of money, but then turn around and refuse to open the books for review. Yeah, I've got your "books" right here.
Vonnie Holliday, the Redskins' player representative, said in an interview on ESPN that "we want a fair CBA. That's it. The owners are saying that they're losing money and they want 18 percent back. Okay, if you are losing money, then in fact show us that. We are not opposed to restructuring, but they refused to do that."
I'll close with this one quote, from a local Republican in Barrington, MH (Martin Harty). Savor it, as this is the mindset of Republicans.
Barrington Republican Martin Harty told Sharon Omand, a Strafford resident who manages a community mental health program, that “the world is too populated” and there are “too many defective people,” according to an e-mail account of the conversation by Omand. [...]
Harty confirmed to the Monitor that he made the comments to Omand. [...]
Omand says Harty then stated, “I wish we had a Siberia so we could ship them all off to freeze to death and die and clean up the population.” Omand said Harty appeared to be serious. After Omand responded that his idea sounded like what Adolf Hitler did in World War II, Omand said Harty responded, “Hitler did something right, and I agree with (it).”
I usually post a live web stream from New Orleans. For some reason, everything is on "down" mode right now, but then again, it's still on the west coast not quite Fat Tuesday! Tomorrow will be all the partying. Hopefully, I can update the post with the live streams.
Ma Tit Fille - Buckwheat Zydeco
Now, there's also another side of Mardi Gras ... Brazil style (carnival), tee hee hee!
Googlebot is Google's web crawling bot (sometimes also called a "spider"). Crawling is the process by which Googlebot discovers new and updated pages to be added to the Google index.
We use a huge set of computers to fetch (or "crawl") billions of pages on the web. Googlebot uses an algorithmic process: computer programs determine which sites to crawl, how often, and how many pages to fetch from each site.
For most sites, Googlebot shouldn't access your site more than once every few seconds on average. However, due to network delays, it's possible that the rate will appear to be slightly higher over short periods. In general, Googlebot should download only one copy of each page at a time. If you see that Googlebot is downloading a page multiple times, it's probably because the crawler was stopped and restarted.
Googlebot was designed to be distributed on several machines to improve performance and scale as the web grows. Also, to cut down on bandwidth usage, we run many crawlers on machines located near the sites they're indexing in the network. Therefore, your logs may show visits from several machines at google.com, all with the user-agent Googlebot. Our goal is to crawl as many pages from your site as we can on each visit without overwhelming your server's bandwidth
Basically, that means that my blog posts are being archived by Google, which is probably why when Carrie Cann or Carrie's Bar & Grill are Googled, my blog and many of my posts show up in the search. So, in a way, it's a good thing, as it makes my blog more accessible to those interested in my stories, and as you can see, it went into overdrive this past week!
(AP Photo/Michael P. King, Pool)
