December 23, 2015

I was thinking, in light of all the DNC/Clinton shenanigans, I should start referring

to Bernie in any of my posts as "Bernie Sanders, the presumptive nominee". I mean, if HRC can extrapolate somehow getting there from where she is, surely the actual clear front-runner should be afforded the same courtesy. Plus it has a nice ring to it. Bring on the primaries, we are ready!

October 27, 2015

Exclusive: Feds Investigate Hobby Lobby Boss for Illicit Artifacts

In 2011, a shipment of somewhere between 200 to 300 small clay tablets on their way to Oklahoma City from Israel was seized by U.S. Customs agents in Memphis. The tablets were inscribed in cuneiform—the script of ancient Assyria and Babylonia, present-day Iraq—and were thousands of years old. Their destination was the compound of the Hobby Lobby corporation, which became famous last year for winning a landmark Supreme Court case on religious freedom and government mandates. A senior law enforcement source with extensive knowledge of antiquities smuggling confirmed that these ancient artifacts had been purchased and were being imported by the deeply-religious owners of the crafting giant, the Green family of Oklahoma City. For the last four years, law enforcement sources tell The Daily Beast, the Greens have been under federal investigation for the illicit importation of cultural heritage from Iraq.


These tablets, like the other 40,000 or so ancient artifacts owned by the Green family, were destined for the Museum of the Bible, the giant new museum funded by the Greens, slated to open in Washington, D.C., in 2017. Both the seizure of the cuneiform tablets and the subsequent federal investigation were confirmed to us by Cary Summers, the president of the Museum of the Bible.

From its founding in 1970, the Greens’ Hobby Lobby chain has been more than simply a suite of craft stores. The Greens have used it as a model of a business run on Christian values. Stores are closed on Sundays in order to give employees time to attend church. The company employs four chaplains, and offered a free health clinic to staff at its headquarters long before free health care came into political vogue. The Greens have also used the Hobby Lobby platform to spread their Christian message far and wide: the company annually places full-page ads celebrating—in their words— “the real meaning of Christmas, Easter, and Independence Day” in newspapers across the country.

But the Greens went from evangelical players to bona fide Christian celebrities in June of 2014 when they won a Supreme Court case, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. It granted them exemption from the Obamacare mandate to provide certain forms of contraception to their employees; forcing the company to do so, the Supreme Court ruled, would have violated the Greens’ deeply-held Christian beliefs.


(*note: I didn't post to LBN because i wasn't sure this is mainstream source)
much more:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/26/exclusive-feds-investigate-hobby-lobby-boss-for-illicit-artifacts.html

September 25, 2015

Bern, baby, Bern!

For those of us of a certain age:

[link:

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August 25, 2015

Despite strict voter ID laws, Alabama is in the process of closing 45 of 49 driver's license offices

If you're going to need a driver's license in Alabama, you're most likely going to have to figure out a way to get to one of only four driver's licenses offices in the entire state:

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said budget cuts will result in closing driver's license offices across the state.

The agency said the cut will be in phases, with 33 offices closed during the first wave.

In January 2016, a further 12 offices will close. By March, all but four offices in the entire state will shut their doors.

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more at link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/25/1415384/-Despite-strict-voter-ID-laws-Alabama-is-in-the-process-of-closing-45-of-49-driver-s-license-offices?detail=facebook

August 25, 2015

Cornel West endorses 'brother' Bernie Sanders

*(I searched and didn't see this posted yet)*

Washington (CNN)Civil rights activist and philosopher Cornel West on Monday endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

"I endorse Brother @BernieSanders because he is a long-distance runner with integrity in the struggle for justice for over 50 years," West tweeted late Monday night.

West went on to say that it's time for Sanders' "prophetic voice to be heard across our crisis-ridden country."

While West has been a long time supporter of Sanders (and "not a Hillary Clinton fan at all&quot , the endorsement comes weeks after Black Lives Matter activists disrupted a Sanders event in Seattle, taking the podium from the self proclaimed socialist who is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. West has frequently linked arms with Black Lives Matter activists and has been arrested with them during various protests.
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more at link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/politics/cornel-west-endorses-bernie-sanders/index.html

August 25, 2015

Boston Globe Pledges Columnist Will Stop Writing About Telecom Issues After Conflict Of Interest Cri

Boston Globe Pledges Columnist Will Stop Writing About Telecom Issues After Conflict Of Interest Criticism

The Boston Globe says columnist John E. Sununu will no longer write about cable and Internet issues because of his financial conflict of interest. Media Matters criticized the paper after it allowed the former Republican senator to complain about the "unnecessary regulation of the internet" without disclosing he has been paid over $750,000 by broadband interests.

In an August 17 column, Sununu attacked the Obama administration for reaching "ever deeper into the economy, pursuing expensive and unnecessary regulation of the internet, carbon emissions, and even car loans." Sununu serves on the board of directors for Time Warner Cable, and is a paid "honorary co-chair" for Broadband for America, which has been supported by broadband providers and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Dan Kennedy, an associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University, wrote that Globe Editorial Page Editor Ellen Clegg stated "Sununu has told me he will avoid writing about issues pertaining to cable and internet access because of his seat on the Time Warner Cable board." Clegg reaffirmed that the Globe is "posting bios for our regular freelance op-ed columnists online and linking those bios to their bylines" to provide "more transparency."

She added in her email to Kennedy that Sununu "has also assured me that he will disclose his support of GOP presidential candidate John Kasich in the text of any columns he writes about presidential politics (he is chair of his campaign in New Hampshire.)" Sununu devoted his June 22 column to Donald Trump, writing that he's "running a race where both the chance of winning and the risk of losing are zero." The piece did not note Sununu's ties to Kasich.

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more at link: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/08/25/boston-globe-pledges-columnist-will-stop-writin/205138

August 11, 2015

Larry Lessig Believes Democracy Is Screwed. So He's Running For President To Save It.

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Larry Lessig, a well-known legal theorist and political activist, is taking the plunge into electoral politics, announcing on Tuesday that he will formally explore a run for the presidency in 2016 as a Democrat.

Lessig, a Harvard law professor, will be a distinctly unconventional White House aspirant. In an interview, he said he will run on a singular platform: the Citizen Equality Act, which includes campaign finance reform, an end to partisan gerrymandering, and a vast expansion of voting access that would make Election Day a national holiday. Should he win and lead the passage of that agenda, Lessig said he'll promptly quit, handing the office to his vice president, whoever that may be.

“This is not a 'Rent Is Too Damn High' campaign,” Lessig said, referencing the infamous 2010 gubernatorial run of Jimmy McMillan in New York. “This is a campaign about how we need to intervene to make democracy possible again. Raising the salience of that issue is enormously important. I think there is more of a chance that we do more than just raise the salience. ... It is a shot worth taking regardless of the criticism that will come.”

Individuals have run for the White House before with the aim of spotlighting an issue more than occupying an office. Lessig is of that vein, having warned about the pernicious influence of money in politics for years now. It's almost fantastical to imagine the swift series of successes that would result in him challenging William Henry Harrison, who died after 32 days in office, for the shortest presidency.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/larry-lessig-2016_55c93a18e4b0f1cbf1e61b66?kvcommref=mostpopular

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More at link, including video. More people panicking as Bernie continues to steamroll, I suppose. Bernie light.

July 31, 2015

Looking for suggestions for internet-only service. Dropping Comcast in the next few days.

If I can find a reliable, high-speed internet-only service it would help, as I intend to drop cable service altogether and just go with the over-the air programming. I already have the boxes needed for that, as I have done it before. My only hang-up is the internet. Any ideas? Last time I kept Comcast for only internet, but I refuse to support them with any of my $.

July 24, 2015

If MSNBC wants to play this game, I will too. The minute Ed is gone, I will pull

the plug on Comcast.

July 22, 2015

Bernie just commented on Sandra Bland. No link yet. On FB.