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C&L staffer Karoli sends in this video and writes:

Sometimes my video recorder glitches. It's annoying... and sometimes funny. Here's what the opener of Morning Joe looked like. Megyn Kelly is pretty funny too when it happens.

PS. Don't forget that tomorrow at 2 Eastern / 11 Pacific Darcy Burner will be here at Crooks and Liars for a live Blue America chat. Please turn out to support this terrific progressive candidate for Congress. We need her!

Open Thread below....

About Bluegal aka Fran
Bluegal aka Fran's picture
Executive Producer of The Professional Left Podcast. On staff at Crooks and Liars since 2007. Master's degree from Harvard. Happy wife of Driftglass. Mother of three geniuses. Obsessive knitter. Blogs at http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com. .
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fastfeat's picture

Stupid people doing stupid shit.

A few pics from around the 'web to cheer you up when you think the world has beaten you. There are always bigger idiots...


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Ape-Man's picture

Excellent. thanks. i feel better already.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

fastfeat's picture

My favorite line:

His criminal history at the time of his arrest was 26 pages in length.

Of course, there's no mention of how many arrests or probation violations there are per page. May only be one incident (or even less) on each page.

Shameful.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Edwin's picture

2 years solitary for DUI.

That's grossly unfair and verging on torture.


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

court documentation it was very brutal. He couldn't afford the bond and was given a psych, they deemed him "depressed" and sent him to a secure facility. Apparently they keep mentally ill people in solitary.

This fellow was never directly diagnosed, never followed up on, often not let out of his cell and ended up near madness.

He was awarded 22million at trial (later, after release) but the state is contesting it. He'll never be the same.

Rich H's picture

I especially like the fellow digging under the boulder. That's a good on.

Reminds of more stories.

NoBuddy's picture

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57366443-28...

"Hawaii's legislature is weighing an unprecedented proposal ... : requiring Internet providers to keep track of every Web site their customers visit. ... The measure, H.B. 2288, says "Internet destination history information" and "subscriber's information" such as name and address must be saved for two years. "

fastfeat's picture

Democrat Jill Tokuda, the Hawaii Senate's majority whip, who introduced a companion bill, S.B. 2530, in the Senate, told CNET that her legislation was intended to address concerns raised by Rep. Kymberly Pine, the first Republican elected to her Oahu district since statehood and the House minority floor leader.

Pine, who did not immediately respond to queries, has been targeted by a disgruntled Web designer, Eric Ryan, who launched KymPineIsACrook.com and claims she owes him money,

Sooo, a disgruntled 'Thug with a personal beef co-opts a Dim into sponsoring legislation to track all Hawaiians' activities? Makes perfect sense to me...


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Ape-Man's picture

Just say NOPE!

Ripe for abuse.

In case everyone hasn't figured this out by now, people in positions of power have proven themselves not to be trusted.
That's why the power must remain in the hands of the collective, the voters - the people.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Edwin's picture

That's why the power must remain in the hands of the collective, the voters - the people.

I would say we have to take it back from them (and maybe from their cold... ...listless hands)


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

Awww!


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

MountainMan23's picture

The skies over northern Europe have been illuminated with an intense display of the northern lights after a week of massive solar storms showered the Earth with radiation

Stunning Northern Lights Video: Norway Aurora after solar storm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpmd_ucQHv4


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

fastfeat's picture

Thanks.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Rich H's picture

Isn't that what we're supposed to see just before we get sucked into a black hole?

fastfeat's picture

Didn't you get an invite from the palins?


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Ape-Man's picture

Oh, Hey! Ya, there's only a few months left... before we move on to the next date for the end of the world. I wonder if those giant arks will be ready by the time Yellowstone blows up.

Oh ya, and do you suppose they have finished their work on the disaster shelter under the Denver airport? Time is running short now.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

ricky's picture

He might get hungry and break his diet.


TFR

NoBuddy's picture

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/judg...

"A judge on Monday ordered a Colorado woman to decrypt her laptop computer so prosecutors can use the files against her in a criminal case.

The defendant, accused of bank fraud, had unsuccessfully argued that being forced to do so violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against compelled self-incrimination."

From what I understand, the case will be appealed. In my opinion, since the decryption would involve the defendant to enter the passphrase, something that is within the content of defendant's mind and memory, that would violate the 5th amendment.

Ape-Man's picture

Maybe after being under such stress, she has completely forgot the passphrase. Or perhaps it was that root canal, the bender she went on, or the bump to the head as she slid into her car...


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

NoBuddy's picture

The courts have thought of that one....
http://volokh.com/2012/01/24/encrytion-and-th...
UPDATE: A reader asks what happens if a person refuses to comply with the order or claims to have forgotten the password. Here’s the Second Circuit’s summary of the law in In re Weiss, 703 F.2d 653 (2d. Cir. 1983):

"Testimonial obduracy by a witness who has been ordered by the court to answer questions may take any of a number of forms .... Any of these [three] forms of obduracy may be met with the imposition of one or more judicial or governmental sanctions. ..."

fastfeat's picture

Thanks.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Ape-Man's picture

...and for Gonzales? The same Gonzales that said umpteen billion times "i don't recall".


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Radically Moderate ad infinitum's picture
Yep

There were no civil or criminal penalties for his obvious contempt of court.


'Talk to the hand'

fastfeat's picture

Good enough for government work.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Ape-Man's picture

The testimony as it appears in the record evinces a deliberate purpose to conceal the truth and prevent the trustee from becoming possessed of facts which would lead to a recovery of the missing property. The witness was being asked regarding transactions directly within his knowledge and facts which he must have known.

Seems to me, this applies to Alberto, and a bunch of other war criminals in our midsts - some of whom are still walking the halls in powerful places...

I think my question to the President in his virtual Town Hall next week will be "What will you do to re-instate 'equal justice for all', including in cases of crimes by political and corporate elites?"


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

MountainMan23's picture

.


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Edwin's picture

Have fun in Gitmo. :)


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

Ape-Man's picture

"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Radically Moderate ad infinitum's picture

If she refuses his order what could he do beside hold her in contempt of court?
What if the judge has a computer expert open her files would that be an illegal search?


'Talk to the hand'

http://www.********.com/obama-signs-global-in...

God Bless Sen. Wyden for being the lone voice against this travesty.

I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on in Syria??:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/223263.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/syri...

There isn't any chance that CIA/Mossad agents provocateurs could be there "terrorizing" the citizenry in order to force a "regime change", right???!

The State of Virginia is fighting the NDAA. Gee. I wonder what the odds are of California jumping into the fray? Ha!!!!!!

http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/01/...

Glenn Greenwald is BRAVE. He is willing to speak TRUTH to power Israel!:

Democracy Now had a segment on the anti-Muslim film being used in the NYPD training classes. The segment "NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly Urged to Resign After Police Conceal Role in Anti-Muslim Documentary" is at:

http://tinyurl.com/6sap348

A related segment is about Sheldon Adelson, one of the producers of the film. The segment, "Gingrich’s Extremist Anti-Palestinian Stance Follows Millions From Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson" is at:

http://tinyurl.com/78gtday

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/27/the_predictab...


"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

MountainMan23's picture

Now that the National Defense Authorization Act is a reality, there is a call to change the language of the Act and it comes from Senator Al Franken and Representative Jeff Landry.

NDAA US Citizen Detention Challenged
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_boulrlYVQ


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Abbybwood's picture

"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

NoBuddy's picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlFyoEKV0dE

I did a search, this looks like the video I ran across covering the matter.

----
Separately....
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/03/obam...
"The White House this week declared the text of the proposed treaty a "properly classified" national security secret, in rejecting a Freedom of Information Act request ...
... In early January, the Bush administration made the same claim in rejecting a similar FOIA request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation."

ACTA, a treaty negotiated in secret by our corporate run government, that involves nothing to do with national security.


"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

ACTA creates its own international court with international jurisdiction.

With the power to extradite anyone charged with disobeying another nation's copyright laws.

And with the power to shut down web sites.

And that sure is a BIG change to US law.


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

fastfeat's picture

And extradited to where?


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

MountainMan23's picture

I'm having trouble finding links to the statements regarding extradition and the creation of an independent court. I'll keep looking, though it's late here.

Best I can find so far is from Wyden's website:
http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/releas...

ACTA is a plurilateral agreement currently negotiated by the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea, establishing basic minimum standards on a broad range of intellectual property enforcement issues. In addition to covering issues ranging from counterfeit goods to generic medications to online copyright infringement, ACTA creates a governing body that would operate outside of current international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

.

The remark about extradition occured in a video clip. I'll keep looking.

Lots more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeit...

ACTA was first developed by Japan and the United States in 2006. Canada, the European Union and Switzerland joined the preliminary talks throughout 2006 and 2007. ..

ACTA first came to public attention in May 2008 after a discussion paper was uploaded to Wikileaks.[17] After more leaks in 2009 and 2010 and denied requests for disclosure by groups such as Doctors without Borders, IP Justice, the Canadian Library Association, and the Consumers Union of Japan,[18][2][19] the negotiating parties published an official version of the then current draft on 20 April 2010.[20] In June 2010, a conference with "over 90 academics, practitioners and public interest organizations from six continents"[21] concluded "that the terms of the publicly released draft of ACTA threaten numerous public interests, including every concern specifically disclaimed by negotiators." A group of 75+ law professors signed a letter to President Obama demanding that ACTA be halted and changed.[22]

The final text was released on 15 November 2010,[23] with English, French, and Spanish published on 15 April 2011.[24] A signing ceremony was held on 1 October 2011 in Tokyo, with the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea signing the treaty. ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

MountainMan23's picture

The whole clip is worth watching (less than 4 minutes long).

The reference to extradition is made by Rick Falkvinge, founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, at about 2:23.

Caught in the ACTA: More angry protests break out in Poland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WToxyRwd-I0


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

MountainMan23's picture

While protests were able to pressure officials from moving forward with the SOPA and PIPA bills, President Obama already signed ACTA months ago. The International Business Times reports:

ACTA, on the other hand, was already signed by the United States on Oct. 11, 2011, and Obama was not required to attain the approval of any outside authority to do so: not the Congress, not the Supreme Court, and not the American public.

Now that it has been signed, the legislative and judicial branches of the U.S. government also have little ability to challenge or amend the treaty, and Americans will be subject to a whole new scheme of laws, restrictions and regulations that could have them facing fines or jail through a process that would likely exist entirely outside the scope of the American justice system. ..

ACTA: The International Treaty You've Never Heard of That Could Affect Internet Freedom
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/...

Here's the link to the International Business Times article:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/286925/201201...

Now I gotta crash ..

GNA !!

Zzzzzzzzzz ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

fastfeat's picture

Thanks for the links.

Later all...


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Edwin's picture

Cya fastfeat.


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

Abbybwood's picture

D'Oh!

(I thought California was supposed to lead the way of the nation?!).


"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

MountainMan23's picture

Obama's signing ACTA without Congressional approval is outrageous.

The streets of every major city in Poland are full of outraged citizens because their prime minister also signed it without any kind of input from the citizens.

The best discussion I've read so far explain that IF everyone concerned would sit down and hash out a reasonable bill, copyrights could be honored, real piracy prosecuted and everyone's internet rights intact.

BUT the motion picture & recording industries, and the seed industries, and the pharmaceutical industries decided to ram this through in secret in one country after another without any effort to write a reasonable bill.

What we have here are Global Corporations setting up an International Court to protect their profits, a court that has extradition powers (yup!) and can fine and imprison people for using the internet in any way that eats into their already obscene profits. And forces the ISPs and websites to become policemen or suffer the consequences.

And our ratfink President signed it already! And claims he has the right to do so!


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

NoBuddy's picture

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-...
"... the treaty was signed by Obama on October 1, 2011, but it is currently a subject of discussion because the White House is circulating a petition demanding that senators ratify the treaty."

So, how is the ratification going? It looks like we need another SOPA moment, this time on ACTA.

One thing you can count on. The corporate media isn't going to give this issue any more coverage than it did to SOPA. The only reason why SOPA got stop was because of sites like Wikimedia and Google calling public attention to the matter.

MountainMan23's picture

Outside of that site I haven't seen any indication the White House is asking for any sort of Congressional approval.

In fact it has argued that no such approval is necessary, in response to Sen Wyden's letter complaining that no such approval was sought.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, Wyden to President:
Isn’t Congress Supposed to Approve International Trade Agreements?
http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/releas...

Text of his letter in pdf form linked at bottom of that page - worth a read.
http://wyden.senate.gov/download/?id=f20e3fd3...

January 9, 2012 - Sen. Wyden Challenges ACTA Constitutionality Again
http://infojustice.org/archives/7031


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

... and maybe we have an avenue to the courts that the treaty is null and void if not ratified by the Senate.

According to Wyden's letter, international law considers an agreement binding if it is signed by the head of state of a nation. International law does not take into consideration the domestic laws of that nation.

So in the eyes of international law, if the ACTA international court demands you or I be extradited to face charges, international law expects the US to hand us over ..

That's why Wyden is so upset .. and Poland is in the streets


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Rich H's picture

What about a little thing called The Geneva Convention?

NoBuddy's picture

It's domestic law. I hate to see it come to this point, but I think any extradition under this treaty would need to have a court challange on account that the treaty wasn't ratified by the Senate.

MountainMan23's picture

:)


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

NoBuddy's picture

... Obama may be seeking ratification of the treaty.

As far as I'm concerned he can take his ratification and shove it ....

More importantly, we need an explanation why the substance of the treaty needed to be concealed from the American public under a "national security" reason, when no national security issue existed.

NoBuddy's picture

... while they try to slip in ACTA.

MountainMan23's picture

When it becomes SO OUTRAGEOUS that the Left of the Left and the Extreme Right AGREE on something YOU KNOW we are in DEEP DOODOO.

.. and we are ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

NoBuddy's picture

It's the left that is non-owned by the corporations , and it's the right that is non-owned by the corporations.

I just have this feeling that the religious right have a little too much manipulation from corporations to declare them non-owned.

We're allowing ourselves to have the debates in this country framed in a false dichotomy. It is a fake "either - or".

Nothing made that more clear to me than the phony debt ceiling issue in 2011 when we had this fake calamity BS, while the actual deal was cooked up between Obama and the Republicans when the Bush tax cuts were renewed in 2010. A blind man could see that. The people who didn't see it, probably didn't see the pack of lies in 2003 that led to the Iraq war.

One thing to me is clear, and that is that we need to stop letting the corporate media frame the issues, especially the "sides" to an issue. I assume the correct "side" (since there may be more than 2 sides) isn't included. We really need to get out of the mode that there are 2, and only 2 sides to an issue, since that sets us up to the false choice.

Edwin's picture

Wanna bet the debt will be back on the radar, orange alert, after the election?

(bu$h tax cuts cuts due to expire at the end of 2012 )


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

NoBuddy's picture

The fortunate thing is, we waste a lot of money. Take the drug war, underestimated at $70B. The current approach maximizes the incentive to addict new users, and maximizes the cash flow to drug kingpins.

There is the Libertarian approach, which is legalize drugs, which would dry up cash flow to drug kingpins. Myself, I would legalize marijuana and have doctors issue prescriptions on other drugs to already addicted users, which would eliminate incentives to addict new users, since there would be no recurring cash flow.

The idea is to take the profitability out of drug dealing. But most importantly, lets take 65B out of 70B on the war on drugs. Use the $5B for rehibilation for willing addicts.

We need to end the military industrial complex corruption that has us spending nearly what the rest of the world combined is spending on the military.

End the subsidy for high fructose corn syrup. Come up with a mechanism to negate it if it is otherwise advisable to subsidize corn. (Not saying I think it is necessary to subsidize corn)

And on and on. The problem here is that the wrong items contributing to the debt will be in focus.

Edwin's picture

Myself, I would legalize marijuana and have doctors issue prescriptions on other drugs to already addicted users, which would eliminate incentives to addict new users, since there would be no recurring cash flow.

Not a bad idea, but there are also lots of other drugs which are non-addictive (and fun ...err.. I've heard): LSD. shrooms, mescaline, etc. They're no more dangerous than alcohol (the legal drug)


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

NoBuddy's picture

... that doesn't have a detrimental effect.

The current approach maximizes the detrimental effect, since the effect of the policy maximizes cash flow to criminal enterprises.

At what point do we equate a known effect with an intention to cause the known effect?

Let's hope this point occurs before the corporate media points out the issue, otherwise we'll never equate a known effect of a policy with an intent by reason of continued implimitation of a policy, to cause the known effect.

Rich H's picture

.

Dradeeus's picture

I think that might be SOPA you're thinking of, but I'm not 100%.

MountainMan23's picture

Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill that includes provisions on detention that I found simply unacceptable. These provisions are inconsistent with the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the system our Founders established. And while I did in fact vote for an earlier version of the legislation, I did so with the hope that the final version would be significantly improved. That didn't happen, and so I could not support the final bill. ..

Al Franken - Why I Voted Against the National Defense Authorization Act
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/why-...


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

with the final vote.

.. which I guess wa about his original support ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Security Cam Video Of Sen Rand Paul Being Detained By TSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVryPjugNo8

Make sure you read all the annotations right down to the end!


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Yeah, the heavy-handedness of the TSA sucks (no more taping smokables to my nutsack for me...). Paul is treated no worse than the rest of us here. And if I were a TSA agent, given my knowledge of his views, I'd be damn sure to give him extra screening.

Fuck Rand Paul and his Second Amendment-obsessed pencil-dicked supporters. More likely to be a handgun strapped on one of these fucks than probably any other group flying the oh-so-fiendly skies.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

dasqf's picture

.."yea,the heavy handed-ness of the TSA sucks( no more taping smokables to my nutsack for me...). . . . . " .. cracks me up,every time i read it.. amendment number two......in the bill of rights....we need to call it that ,rather than 'the second amendment.they own that,tooo-ooo powerful...amendment number two(that's funny,number 2 ! ! !.).....................bet ya every good 'ol boy and most other wingers,the pro wars(can you believe it?) fucks in the republican congress critter crowd.........,has a CCW permit...............................food for thought,and grounds for further research


....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."

.. should have their constitutional rights protected ..

It's the ACLU in my DNA ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Rich H's picture

No. I've been informing people I know about this. Everyone seems to think everything is fine now that SOPA/PIPA have been Temporarily tabled. I'd sure like to read the text and thought one of the contributors would have linked to it by now.

I guess I'll have to do that myself (no big deal, I've just been busy).

Thank You!

Edwin's picture

I thought maybe it was because every syllable that comes out of Newt Gingrich's mouth was more newsworthy. It seems so to me.


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

MountainMan23's picture

Just "them" ..

:)


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Edwin's picture

Yeah, so I took a nap instead. Big snore.

(I'm too old to cheerlead anyone 24/7.)


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

dasqf's picture

conviction,better believe it. i lean....there for,i think


....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."

Dradeeus's picture

US places 47th in 2011-12 for Press Freedom Index, according to Reporters without Borders.

Of course, reasons cited being the completely irrational and unexplained arrests of reporters covering the Occupy Wall Street protests, amongst other things.

Edit: Actually, according to the non-yearly summaries, we're actually 99th.

resonates with large and well funded part of the GOP: when you educate people they tend to leave the church. (unless you go to bible college, and those don't get much govt funding)
......
"Rick Santorum accused President Obama of wanting Americans to go to colleges and universities that will indoctrinate them to be liberals."
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presi...

"The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America."
"If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them," Santorum continued. "Because, you know, 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it."
.......
That is the real fear of the fundies and evangelicals. many of their affluents, with the best minds, leave the cult.

Ricky, let's make it even: Can I teach evolution in your Sunday School?


Can I teach evolution in the Sunday school at your tax-free Church? No?!
Can you use taxpayer money to impose your religious beliefs on others? NO!
Separation of church and state is a wall, not a one-way door.

Radically Moderate ad infinitum's picture

Santorum- "Because, you know, 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it."
I'm guessing that Santorum is one of the 38% of children that were left behind in the all important critical thinking skills spectrum.


'Talk to the hand'

Abbybwood's picture

I don't tweet? but apparently there is an international uproar over this as well.

Imagine the impact on worldwide protests (especially considering the power of Twitter in past protests):

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ameri...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pFLw5YuDP8


"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

Edwin's picture

Imagine the impact on worldwide protests (especially considering the power of Twitter in past protests):

That's the problem. It's fine when it happens in other countries and the news can be used for domestic politics, but it's NOT OK in your own country. This is an election year and Occupy will most definitely be on the prowl (thank Neptune).

Here in Korea, the conservatives got a huge upset when an independent was elected mayor of Seoul. Now it looks like they are doomed in the next federal election and they are blaming twitter and social networking sites and now want to censor them. (Seoul is about 1/2 the nation's votes and they ditched the ruling party.)


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

MountainMan23's picture

To say it is the 99% versus the 1% is true ..

But somewhat more specifically it is the people of this planet rising up against the unholy alliance of the governments with the global corporations, ie, the global fascist state.

Power To The People !!


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

dasqf's picture

greenhorn daughter asks season-ed dad...."what advice can you give me?"........dad,"nothing i can say......"...REALLY!..?..how about,,,,"if you can't hear,its so fucking loud,or so dark you can't hardly see........before you move.....look over your shoulder...or...................... never cross without looking the other way,before you cross any 'road'. come-on man,thats your daughter.............the base of the word parent is teacher,ain't it?...yea,it is...........hey,we're teachers too.


....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."

Ha!!! (I'm a Bruins fan....although probably the very same thing is going on in Westwood):

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/01/ja...


"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

Abbybwood's picture

"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn

MountainMan23's picture

though I prefer it cooked ..


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Radically Moderate ad infinitum's picture
;^)

"When they are still very young, they are loaded onto lorries bound for the abattoir. They ride a conveyor belt to the person or machine with the knife and then are skinned and gutted. "
Hmmm,where have I heard this before? Oh Yeah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2PyeXRwhCE


'Talk to the hand'

Ape-Man's picture

"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

NoBuddy's picture

Either hospitals don't treat people who don't have the ability to pay, or bankruptcy law needs to be changed so that people can't discharge debts incurred that they wouldn't have incurred if they had been insured under an insurance policy that conformed to conditions under the ACA.

MountainMan23's picture
GNA

Time to crash ..

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz


Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!

Ape-Man's picture

lates.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Edwin's picture

Sleep well.


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

Ape-Man's picture

"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Edwin's picture

I'll only go for it if we can burn witches in the town square too.


"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!

dasqf's picture

lets burn him.....how do you like it?


....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."

Crustyolcarpenter's picture

Ra Ra Ra please make it official C & L policy to post all repukes in chimpmunk mode..........It'll make the baloney on white bread so much more palatable.


The first casualty of republicanism is the truth.
Party politics are not only undemocratic, they are antidemocratic.

Sabaean's picture

Santorum sounded like Kyle from South Park. I half expected him to say "Today I learned something important...."

Radically Moderate ad infinitum's picture

$4.5 million from Dec11-Jan17.
Giant direct contributions......no restrictions on recall elections in Wisconsin.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/fo...


'Talk to the hand'

Ape-Man's picture

Power to the people. Get it together Wisconsin. Don't let a few creeps with a lot of money rule over you and your state! Recal, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

dookiestix's picture

the gayest of all the chipmunks.