Too Soon ...Aaron Swartz

I can't say I was on the forefront of Aaron Swartz' connection to internet freedom.  I do know, NOW, what he was.

Can you say, "government bullying" that results in "death by suicide?"

There is really no other explanation.  And just to say, this is not the only time our government's prosecution techniques resulted in a premature death by suicide. 

At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library.

Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. 

Jon Husted Just Can't Help Himself - Gets Hand Caught In Cookie Jar Again

Jon Husted, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, is responsible for confusion regarding voting in Ohio.  Husted first cut the hours for early voting in Ohio, but was overruled by a federal judge.  Then Husted defied the judge's orders, even going so far as to fire two election board officials (Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie) who made it clear they were not going to follow Husted's refusal to comply with the judge, until the judge ordered Husted to appear before him.  That prompted Husted to allow the early voting as previously ordered.

Then, on the Friday before the election, Husted tried to pull a fast one again, this time deciding to make it the voter's responsibility to correctly fill in a provisional ballot form if the voter was facing a contested vote. This procedure was part of the poll worker's responsibility and, in fact, US District Judge Algenon Marbley had already put in place how the poll worker was to effect the contested voter's ballot.  So guess who got pissed off?  Yup, Judge Marbley.

THE COURT: Mr. Epstein, would you agree that voting is the linchpin of our democracy?

MR. EPSTEIN: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: I do too. What concerned me about the 2012-54 directive is that it was filed on a Friday night at 7 p.m. The first thought that came to mind was democracy dies in the dark. So, when you do things like that that seeks to avoid transparency, it appears, then that gives me great pause but even greater concern. So, if anyone I’m going to give additional time to, it’s going to be you, Mr. Epstein, because you have a lot of explaining to do.

[snip]

Show me the facts that the secretary used to make the decision to change this directive at seven o'clock on a Friday night on the eve of an election.  I want to see it, and I want to see it now.  Show it to me. 

MR. EPSTEIN:  Your Honor, I have no legislative history to present to the Court.

I, for one, would not relish being in Mr. Epstein's shoes! Read the transcript here.

As it turns out, Mr. Husted's attempts to pull the wool over the court's eyes were for naught as to this election.  As to future elections, Judge Marbley makes his ruling on Monday.

Why Our Postal Service Suffers Needlessly

I really want to make sure that my readers understand just what the attacks on the U.S. Postal Service are about, and why they are constantly facing a default on payments they have to make, and just how those payments, exclusive of all other government entities, were forced on the Postal Service, by our Congress, in a serious attempt to eliminate out government sponsored mail service in order to replace it by a private service. (Please remember that this is a primary goal of most Republicans in office, and many of those newly elected Republican governors in 2010 have been dismantling public sector jobs and replacing them with private contractors, from schools on down to police and fire departments).

In 2006 there was a congressional mandate that the U.S. Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, within a ten year period. This, of course, is not mandated for any other public agency. That amount, approximately $5.5 billion a year, $21 billion total, is exactly what is causing the financial problems within the postal service.

Take a moment to digest that. Congress mandated the USPS to PREPAY retirement benefits FOR THE NEXT 75 YEARS WITHIN A TEN YEAR PERIOD! This is/was absurd. Can you imagine if you or your company (let alone any other government institution) was required to pay ahead of time 75 fucking years worth of proposed retirement benefits, and to pay that amount (75 years) in 10 years?

This is why the postal service is going broke. Please support the American Postal Workers Union.

Good-bye America

I am ambivalent about politics of late. Somewhere between 2005, when I had started up my blog, and was very passionate about the slow take-over of our democracy by the “right wingers,” and today, where seven years of outright lying, a lackadaisical news media, and a misdirected and ill-informed public, I’ve given up. Literally. With the promises made by a presidential candidate in 2008, who won (in my mind) with overwhelming support, and the follow-up of consistent failure to keep those campaign promises, coupled with a very real embrace by said president of certain ideologies that are antiethcal to the very nature of our democracy (i.e., renditions, killing American citizens abroad without warrants, trials, and the like, deporting more people out of this country than Bush ever did, failure to properly and timely embrace the GLBT issues that he ran on, etc., and not to mention the very same reliance on the banking industry that his opponents also embrace) have molded me into a non-believer in today’s version of our democracy.

This is a fully corrupt nation, with zero regard for the 99% of those that make up this country, work hard, and have tried to believe in the greatness of America. Instead, we have countries disparaging America based on the hypocrisy of its ideology vs. the practice. We prop up dictators, deal with our enemies, and wage wars on innocent people and nations. We are trillions in debt and yet not a single legislator on any level of government is taking up the mantle and running with the torch for the American people.

I had a guy tell me yesterday at my local watering hole that it is the corporations like GE, the oil companies, and others, that “pay the majority of taxes” in this country. I literally almost fell off my bar stool. I told him he really must stop watching Fox news, stop reading the Wall Street Journal, and for goodness sake, turn off talk radio. You will not get the truth from such areas, and that is why you, my friend, are ill informed.

It is hard to stand for truth and justice when there are so many politicians that have jumped on the bandwagon of corrupt methods of gaining and maintaining their free ride in government. “Can I please have some more” is the cry of the populace with the answer from the politicians being “hell fucking no” even as they cash their social security checks, get their federally funded (or state mandated) insurance coverage that is denied to anyone not in politics, and tell the average worker to go fuck themselves. Hell, the thought that the 1% think it’s okay (for example, Scranton, PA) to cut police and firefighter’s pay to minimum wage ($7.25), even after a court ordered the mayor NOT to do that, is just to mind boggling for me. The 1% are clearly not aware that to live in today’s America, minimum wage just does not cut it. And to believe that the majority of Americans want to suck off the teat of the government (the only people the suck off the teat of government ARE the politicians) is preposterous. A decent wage, the ability to put a roof over you and your family’s head, and raise your children with a decent education, has now gone the way of a “dream” and is actually, according to many politicians, no longer a “right” for Americans. The only “rights” that these politicians believe in is their right to pillage and destroy the America I grew up in, and turn our government into a corporate owned subsidiary. One person, one vote? Got rid of that. Power to the people? Got rid of that. A decent working wage? Got rid of that. Home ownership for the average American? Got rid of that. Where a corporate executive can work one day, retire, and take home $44 million in severance, bonuses, etc. (think Duke Energy’s CEO Bill Johnson), while there are millions and millions of people (including many Iraq war veterans) who are literally homeless, on the streets, with no real income in sight, as well as the rampant starvation of our children, I get sick to my stomach. And to top it off, a great deal of this rhetoric is pumped up by the false assertion that these politicians and their supporters are merely following Christian (read “bible”) themes, which totally distort the reality of what “Jesus” actually preached (according to some relevant history that seems to be methodically erased from the propaganda of what current Christianity means to this country).

Many of our elected officials are boneheads and seriously stupid. Deranged and empowered by corporate fueled laws and rights that come hand-in-hand with corporate money, it is time for me to check out. The power of the people, or the lack of it at this point, will be demonstrable in the 2012 elections, when it becomes obvious that millions of people will be disenfranchised as voters, where gerrymandering has resulted in lopsided and illegal power grabs, and where many more millions like me will simply fail to show up to cast our worthless vote.

Good-bye America. I will dream of your resurgence in the future. I only hope I live long enough to see the second Revolution and the fight to regain the rights that constitutionally belong to the American people.

Mitt Romney Is A Punk Ass Liar

I really couldn't say this better than karoli over at Crooks and Liars:

Today's picture concerns the auto bailouts and Romney's role in them. Mr. Fehrnstrom would like you to forget the title of Romney's 2008 op-ed, calling to "let Detroit go bankrupt." Or his 2012 op-ed, where he reiterated his 2008 stance.

But if you don't remember those, maybe you remember the primary debates, where he sneered at the bailouts (begun under George W. Bush, by the way) as a "giveaway to the UAW." If you don't, just watch the video at the top of the page.

Today we have the New and Improved Mitt Romney position on the auto bailout, courtesy of Fehrnstrom, via The Hill:

One of Mitt Romney's top advisers said Saturday that President Obama's decision to bailout Chrysler and General Motors was actually Romney's idea.

"[Romney's] position on the bailout was exactly what President Obama followed. I know it infuriates them to hear that," Eric Fehrnstrom, senior adviser to the Romney campaign, said.

"The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney's advice."
[...]

"The fact that the auto companies today are profitable is because they've shed costs," Fehronstrom said. "The reason they shed those costs and have got their employee labor contracts less expensive is because they went through that managed bankruptcy process. It is exactly what Mitt Romney told them to do."

Welcome to the 2012 general election campaign, where up is down, right is left, wrong is right, and whatever you said yesterday is yesterday's truth because today is a new day with a new truth. This is the cynical Romney campaign at it's lying-est best.

This is an outright lie, and it wasn't Fehrnstrom going off the reservation. It was planned, it relies upon a gullible and uninformed public to accept the lie as truth because memories are too short to remember yesterday and for the most part, the part of the press that reaches the most viewers hasn't bothered to actually call a lie a lie or to pull them up short on any of the lies they've told, so why not?

This is what is infuriating so many people today. There simply is no restraint whatsoever on the aspect of telling lies. And it's not just limited to the political arena. It has permeated into the very fabric of our society, encouraging people to get what they want (or out of what they don't want) by lying. There are no consequences anymore.

I see it all the time in my job, with lawyers just making up shit. I keep asking myself "when did this become the habitual practice?" Lawyer jokes notwithstanding, many actually were, back in the "day" very good at speaking the truth to the lies. As a society, we have embarrassed ourselves into sinking so low that "he said/she said" is good enough to pass the smell test.

"Oh My God, Not The Secret Service, Damn It"

Uh, where were you when there was outrage over the Bush era criminal activities?

President Barack Obama, speaking for the first time about allegations that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes, said Sunday that "of course I'll be angry" if those accusations are proven true by an investigation.

Obama said the agents represent the United States and are supposed to conduct themselves with the highest levels of dignity anywhere in the world. "Obviously, what's been reported doesn't match up to those standards," Obama said in a news conference wrapping his appearance at a Latin America summit.

Ah, the faux outrage!

Breitbart Dead At 43

I know one is not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I only have this to say: Good riddance. And at 43, it looks like God had just about enough of his nastiness and it was, as they say, his time to GO.

UPDATE 3/2/12:

For those that have tried to assail me for speaking ill of Mr. Breitbart, I bring you the following:



And some famous quotes by Mr. Breitbart, even as to Ted Kennedy after he died (courtesy of Take My Country Back):

Two weeks following Ted Kennedy’s death:

“Rest in Chappaquiddick”

“he was a f@#$er. a big ass motherf@#$er. this aint a 24-hour zone, baby. he was a bad, bad dude. & if mary jo were your kin youd be dancin’.”

“Kennedy was a special pile of human excrement.”

On Shirley Sherrod’s “racism”:

“I think the video speaks for itself…The way she’s talking about white people…is conveying a present tense racism in my opinion”

Other random acts of “journalistic” eloquence:

“This Idea Of Taking Off Ethnic Profiling Or Profiling Of Any Way Is Taking Common Sense Out Of The Equation”

On Janeane Garofalo: “Hollywood’s Sympathy F***”

“If You Want To Talk About Looks And Appeal,” The View ”Was Crafted … To Make Sure That Men Won’t Watch”

Code Pink: “[I]t’s no longer fun to watch them and they’re not even good looking anymore. It used to be that they were like, kinda slutty lefties…they’re getting long in the tooth.”

“Go After The Teachers”

ACORN “Helped…Set Up An Underage Sex Slave Operation”

Florida's New Prison Bill Goes Down In Flames

A massive expansion of private prisons in Florida collapsed in the Senate Tuesday as nine Republicans joined a dozen Democrats in handing a setback to Senate leaders and a victory to state workers.

As a result, the state will not undertake what would have been the single greatest expansion of prison privatization in U.S. history, affecting 27 prisons and work camps in 18 counties and displacing more than 3,500 correctional officers.

Thank Goodness! This was pushed by the Governor and touted as the "new" way to go regarding imprisoning so called criminals. Except in Florida, the privatization was predicated on the expected "new" criminals that would be coming from the illegal immigrant crackdown. They were counting the money hand over fist. Glad to see that this "plan" died a quick death.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/14/2642075/bill-to-privatize-prisons-dies.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Tennessee Firefighters Are Lowlifes ... Tommy Gavin Fans Rise Up

It's stuff like this that will continue to feed the fire of the Occupy/99% movement. I cannot think of anything more crass than fireman (regardless of whether they are on the payroll or volunteers) just standing around and watching a house burn down because someone didn't pay $75 bucks for a "fee" for the service of these firemen. SHAME ON YOU.

October 2010 firefighters refuse to assist video:



Current video of firefighters again watching a home burn down over $75 dollars.



Heartless bastards. This is the Republican answer. Austerity on the backs of the least likely to handle it. You can bet your bottom dollar that the 1% have their own controlled firefighters ... a profession one used to be proud of, now bought and paid for.

Wonder how that would have been portrayed on "Rescue Me." Would Tommy Gavin let a measly $75 stop him from saving a house from being burnt down? Yeah, we all know THAT answer .... NOT!

Stupid people.

More On AG Settlement With Banks

I first posted on this subject here on August 22, 2011. Here's a little tidbit from Matt Taibbi's blog about this, with a very interesting point.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris sent a letter to state and federal regulators explaining that she pulled out because the proposed settlement amount for banks guilty of bad securitization practices leading up to the mortgage crisis – said to be in the $20 billion range – was too small.

[snip]

I’m convinced that the deal will eventually go through, however, after some further concessions are made. Certainly the absence of both New York (whose Attorney General Eric Schneiderman gamely started this mess by refusing to sign on or abandon his own investigation into corrupt securitization practices) and California will make it difficult for the banks to do any kind of a deal. But there is such an awesome amount of political will to get this deal done in Washington that it almost has to happen before the presidential election season really gets going.

If it does get done, expect a great deal of public debate over whether or not the size of the settlement was sufficient. Did the banks pay enough? Should they have paid ten billion more? Twenty? Even I engaged in a little bit of that some weeks ago.

But if and when that debate takes place, it will actually obscure the real issue, because this settlement is not about getting money from the banks. The deal being contemplated is actually the opposite: a giant bailout.

In fact, any federal foreclosure settlement along the lines of what’s been proposed will amount to a last round of post-2008-crisis bailouts. I talked to one foreclosure activist over the weekend who put it this way: “[The AG settlement] will be a bigger bailout than TARP.”

Another bailout. More giveaways to the 1%. Nothing fair to the 99%. And media keeps asking what is the point of OWS? Open your eyes, stupid people!

Obama Administration Now Attempting To Run Interference With AG's And Investigations Of Bank Fraud, Etc.

Why am I not surprised? Why are many Democrats in America not surprised? Why are the American PEOPLE not surprised?

Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices, according to people briefed on discussions about the deal.

In recent weeks, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and high-level Justice Department officials have been waging an intensifying campaign to try to persuade the attorney general to support the settlement, said the people briefed on the talks.

Mr. Schneiderman and top prosecutors in some other states have objected to the proposed settlement with major banks, saying it would restrict their ability to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing in a variety of areas, including the bundling of loans in mortgage securities.

Well, DUH! If you haven't figured out by now that Obama is propped up by the financial industry (and the oil industry, and big pharma, etc.), and watches out for THEIR interests over the interests of the American people, then you simply have had your fingers in your ears and yelling out loud so as to NOT know these things about the president YOU elected to change things.

This is disturbing to me, because I first read about Mr. Schneiderman's efforts to stop the settlement of a paltry $20 billion because such settlement includes a bar against further investigations into the banking industry's other notorious practices. Uncovering wrong doing is supposed to be an AG's responsibility, and the fact that the president of the United States is taking an active role in curtailing such investigations, continues to strike me as proof positive Obama and the banks have their hands in each others' pockets.

I cannot tell you how many cases my office has where we are representing clients who have had their homes foreclosed upon, and the documents produced by the banks and lending institutions are all signed by a handful of these robo-signers! Seriously! We just "google" some of the notaries and other signers and the list of those that are under current investigation is remarkable. One such signer, who also signed off on many documents on a couple of our cases, said in a deposition (which is available on the internet) that she signed about 180,000 of these documents every month, never read them, and just did what the banks and lending institutions told her to do. One day she was an officer of Chase Bank, the next day she was an officer of Countrywide, etc. She was signing and or notarizing documents transferring title (generally AFTER the fact and not BEFORE the fact) where banks would then use these documents to prove they held the underlying loan on the property, hence they were entitled to foreclose. Many of these properties, as you have undoubtedly read time and time again, were never delinquent in the payment of the loans by the borrowers ... the "industry" as it were, simply was (and still is) stealing homes, many of them with equity and not "upside down" as the term is generally used when the value of the property is less than the mortgage attached to the property. Millions of people have lost their homes due to this unsavory practice, and the small settlement offered by the banking industry does not come even close to bringing satisfaction to those millions who have lost their homes. But all the president seems to care about is, once again, not prosecuting the bad guys, whether it is banks, Wall Street, or the Bush Administration.

I love this quote from the article, which concerns an argument Mr. Schneiderman had with Kathryn S. Wylde, a "member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who represents the public."

Characterizing her conversation with Mr. Schneiderman that day as “not unpleasant,” Ms. Wylde said in an interview on Thursday that she had told the attorney general “it is of concern to the industry that instead of trying to facilitate resolving these issues, you seem to be throwing a wrench into it. Wall Street is our Main Street — love ’em or hate ’em. They are important and we have to make sure we are doing everything we can to support them unless they are doing something indefensible.”[my emphasis]

But Ms. Wylde, they ARE doing indefensible things, and HAVE been doing said indefensible things for quite some time now.

I shudder as I continue to watch this president devolve into a greedy politician.

More than three weeks after he declared victory in the race for state attorney general, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley conceded defeat Wednesday as he trailed by more than 50,000 votes in one of the closest statewide races in California history.

The decision means that San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris will assume the post of California's top law enforcement official, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the statewide offices.

Just one of the reasons I knew I didn't have to vote in this election with respect to my state. It's blue, through and through.

Congratulations to Harris, and good-bye Rove protege Cooley!

The race for California's Attorney General is getting dirty. Unusual national interest is suddenly coming to California's election from a group in Alexandria, VA called The Republican State Leadership Committee, a group cofounded by Karl Rove. This committee just put 1.1 million to fund attack ads against Harris now showing in Los Angeles.