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deminks
deminks's Journal
deminks's Journal
June 7, 2012
If the Wisconsin recall is truly second in importance only to the presidential race, as many media outlets have trumpeted lately, then why have those same outlets so badly neglected one of that election’s most salient aspects?
As millions of dollars in dark right-wing money pour into the state to preserve Gov. Scott Walker from his progressive opposition, it seems relevant that he and many top aides are under investigation in a campaign finance and corruption scandal that has been growing for two years.
Yet the national media have largely ignored the fascinating details of that probe—which has already resulted in indictments, convictions and cooperation agreements implicating more than a dozen Walker aides and donors. Only readers of the local newspapers in Madison or Milwaukee would know, for instance, that law enforcement documents have emerged in court during the past few days suggesting that Walker stonewalled the investigation in its initial phase
(snip)
But the suspicions have been stoked by actual events, not campaign propaganda, including guilty pleas, immunity deals and home raids by law enforcement officials. (Last September, a team of sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents raided the Madison home of Cindy Archer, a former top county official who served as the governor’s deputy administration secretary until going on extended “sick leave” in 2011.) And Walker’s associates stand accused of felonies that go well beyond the mere misuse of campaign funds.
(end snip)
I think I may refer to him as Gov. John Doe from now on.
Joe Conason: Silent Running: The Burgeoning Wisconsin Scandal That Major Media Ignored
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=151332If the Wisconsin recall is truly second in importance only to the presidential race, as many media outlets have trumpeted lately, then why have those same outlets so badly neglected one of that election’s most salient aspects?
As millions of dollars in dark right-wing money pour into the state to preserve Gov. Scott Walker from his progressive opposition, it seems relevant that he and many top aides are under investigation in a campaign finance and corruption scandal that has been growing for two years.
Yet the national media have largely ignored the fascinating details of that probe—which has already resulted in indictments, convictions and cooperation agreements implicating more than a dozen Walker aides and donors. Only readers of the local newspapers in Madison or Milwaukee would know, for instance, that law enforcement documents have emerged in court during the past few days suggesting that Walker stonewalled the investigation in its initial phase
(snip)
But the suspicions have been stoked by actual events, not campaign propaganda, including guilty pleas, immunity deals and home raids by law enforcement officials. (Last September, a team of sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents raided the Madison home of Cindy Archer, a former top county official who served as the governor’s deputy administration secretary until going on extended “sick leave” in 2011.) And Walker’s associates stand accused of felonies that go well beyond the mere misuse of campaign funds.
(end snip)
I think I may refer to him as Gov. John Doe from now on.
June 7, 2012
You can lead a donkey to the koolaid, but you can't make it drink.
Go ahead. Tell these people they don't believe in recalls.
You can lead a donkey to the koolaid, but you can't make it drink.
June 6, 2012
What we got tonight in Wisconsin was the same old stench, coming from the same old corner of the room. To wit, there was a huge turnout (highly favorable to the Democratic candidate Barrett), in fact they’re still waiting in line to vote in Milwaukee and elsewhere nearly two hours after poll closing; and the immediate post-closing Exit Polls had it a dead heat, 50%-50%. But the only place those polls were posted was as a Bar Chart in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Not a single network posted any Exit Poll numbers, though they all have been regularly posting them throughout the 2012 primary season within a few minutes of poll closing. But they all called the race “extremely tight,” since they were looking at the same 50%-50% Exit Poll that the Journal Sentinel at least had the courage to post in some format.
In short order, and quite predictably, the race was Walker’s, the networks anointing him the winner as the Exit Poll “Adjustment” Process played out. You could actually see it on the Journal Sentinel’s Bar Chart: the blue bars shrinking and the red bars lengthening every 20 minutes or so. It will take a bit of visual measuring but the adjustment process was egregious, on the order of an 8-10% marginal disparity between the Unadjusted Exit Polls and the Adjusted Exit Polls congruent to the eventually-to-be-announced “official results.”
We’ve seen this before, election after election, the familiar “Red Shift.” And it’s the Exit Polls that are always “off,” because the Votecounts must always be “on.” Except that the Votecounts are secret and in the full control of outfits, with strong right-wing affiliations, like Dominion Voting and Command Central. Votes counted by partisans in complete secret–is this sane?
(end snip)
There are exit polls, and then there are exit polls. For the uninitiated:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9333
The early Exit Poll results had reportedly predicted the race between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett a virtual tie, leading media to plan for a long night tonight. A second round of Exit Polls results, however, was said to have given Walker a broader lead over Barrett. Even so, we were told, the race based on the Exit Poll data alone was still "too close to call." Those data were either accurate or they were not.
Of course, the raw, unadjusted Exit Polling data are no longer entrusted to us mere mortals. They can be seen only by members of the mainstream media, and we are simply left to trust them to report it all accurately to us or not. And when, after all, have we not been able to rely on the mainstream media to report everything accurately to us?
(end snip)
Wisconsin Recall: The adjusted Final Exit Poll was forced to match an unlikely recorded vote
http://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/wisconsin-recall-the-adjusted-final-exit-poll-was-forced-to-match-an-unlikely-recorded-vote/
The media and the exit pollsters have done it again.
Before the first votes were posted, the media reported that based on the exit polls, the election was “too close to call”. But Walker won by a solid 7% margin and 173,000 votes. Why the big red shift?
Why did the media not provide the actual unadjusted exit poll data (the “crosstabs”)? Was it because they knew that they would have to adjust the poll to match a bogus recorded vote and did not want the public to view the impossible “adjustments”?
The solid 53.2-46.3% Walker win was more than implausible since voter turnout exceeded that of the 2010 election. Walker “won” the recorded vote 52.2-46.6% in a supposed low-turnout election. But who turned out in droves in 2012? Democrats and independents who wanted Walker out. The grossly unpopular Walker could not have done better than he did in 2010 – only worse.
And as is always the case, there was no mention of the fraud factor in the mainstream media. There never is. To the exit pollsters and the media, there is no such thing as election fraud.
(end snip)
Nope, they only dream of Democratic voter fraud.
With the exit polls—as usual— “adjusted,” Walker “wins” Wisconsin! (Who’s surprised?)
http://markcrispinmiller.com/2012/06/with-the-exit-polls-as-usual-adjusted-walker-wins-wisconsin-whos-surprised/What we got tonight in Wisconsin was the same old stench, coming from the same old corner of the room. To wit, there was a huge turnout (highly favorable to the Democratic candidate Barrett), in fact they’re still waiting in line to vote in Milwaukee and elsewhere nearly two hours after poll closing; and the immediate post-closing Exit Polls had it a dead heat, 50%-50%. But the only place those polls were posted was as a Bar Chart in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Not a single network posted any Exit Poll numbers, though they all have been regularly posting them throughout the 2012 primary season within a few minutes of poll closing. But they all called the race “extremely tight,” since they were looking at the same 50%-50% Exit Poll that the Journal Sentinel at least had the courage to post in some format.
In short order, and quite predictably, the race was Walker’s, the networks anointing him the winner as the Exit Poll “Adjustment” Process played out. You could actually see it on the Journal Sentinel’s Bar Chart: the blue bars shrinking and the red bars lengthening every 20 minutes or so. It will take a bit of visual measuring but the adjustment process was egregious, on the order of an 8-10% marginal disparity between the Unadjusted Exit Polls and the Adjusted Exit Polls congruent to the eventually-to-be-announced “official results.”
We’ve seen this before, election after election, the familiar “Red Shift.” And it’s the Exit Polls that are always “off,” because the Votecounts must always be “on.” Except that the Votecounts are secret and in the full control of outfits, with strong right-wing affiliations, like Dominion Voting and Command Central. Votes counted by partisans in complete secret–is this sane?
(end snip)
There are exit polls, and then there are exit polls. For the uninitiated:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9333
The early Exit Poll results had reportedly predicted the race between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett a virtual tie, leading media to plan for a long night tonight. A second round of Exit Polls results, however, was said to have given Walker a broader lead over Barrett. Even so, we were told, the race based on the Exit Poll data alone was still "too close to call." Those data were either accurate or they were not.
Of course, the raw, unadjusted Exit Polling data are no longer entrusted to us mere mortals. They can be seen only by members of the mainstream media, and we are simply left to trust them to report it all accurately to us or not. And when, after all, have we not been able to rely on the mainstream media to report everything accurately to us?
(end snip)
Wisconsin Recall: The adjusted Final Exit Poll was forced to match an unlikely recorded vote
http://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/wisconsin-recall-the-adjusted-final-exit-poll-was-forced-to-match-an-unlikely-recorded-vote/
The media and the exit pollsters have done it again.
Before the first votes were posted, the media reported that based on the exit polls, the election was “too close to call”. But Walker won by a solid 7% margin and 173,000 votes. Why the big red shift?
Why did the media not provide the actual unadjusted exit poll data (the “crosstabs”)? Was it because they knew that they would have to adjust the poll to match a bogus recorded vote and did not want the public to view the impossible “adjustments”?
The solid 53.2-46.3% Walker win was more than implausible since voter turnout exceeded that of the 2010 election. Walker “won” the recorded vote 52.2-46.6% in a supposed low-turnout election. But who turned out in droves in 2012? Democrats and independents who wanted Walker out. The grossly unpopular Walker could not have done better than he did in 2010 – only worse.
And as is always the case, there was no mention of the fraud factor in the mainstream media. There never is. To the exit pollsters and the media, there is no such thing as election fraud.
(end snip)
Nope, they only dream of Democratic voter fraud.
June 5, 2012
Who would ever guess that it's a Tory government running the UK? Anyone with a sense of decency and respect for the hard times in the UK would want to scale back if not postpone a celebration for the monarchy, but we are talking about the British royal family after all.
It's absurd to imagine any taxpayer money funding a "party" for one of the richest families in the world. It's even more absurd to bus unemployment recipients to London, ask them to sleep under bridges and then work for such an event. Royalists are naturally claiming that the event generates millions for the economy, no doubt using the same twisted logic that sports teams use when they spend millions to move a team into a new location.
(end snip)
Link to Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/04/jubilee-pageant-unemployed
A group of long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant.
Up to 30 jobseekers and another 50 people on apprentice wages were taken to London by coach from Bristol, Bath and Plymouth as part of the government's Work Programme.
Two jobseekers, who did not want to be identified in case they lost their benefits, said they had to camp under London Bridge the night before the pageant. They told the Guardian they had to change into security gear in public, had no access to toilets for 24 hours, and were taken to a swampy campsite outside London after working a 14-hour shift in the pouring rain on the banks of the Thames on Sunday.
(snip)
Both stewards said they were originally told they would be paid. But when they got to the coach on Saturday night, they said, they were told that the work would be unpaid and that if they did not accept it they would not be considered for well-paid work at the Olympics.
(end snip)
Prosperity for them, Austerity for us. Happy Jubilee.
Smile, you're working for the queen now.
http://www.americablog.com/2012/06/unemployed-bused-into-london-for-unpaid.htmlWho would ever guess that it's a Tory government running the UK? Anyone with a sense of decency and respect for the hard times in the UK would want to scale back if not postpone a celebration for the monarchy, but we are talking about the British royal family after all.
It's absurd to imagine any taxpayer money funding a "party" for one of the richest families in the world. It's even more absurd to bus unemployment recipients to London, ask them to sleep under bridges and then work for such an event. Royalists are naturally claiming that the event generates millions for the economy, no doubt using the same twisted logic that sports teams use when they spend millions to move a team into a new location.
(end snip)
Link to Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/04/jubilee-pageant-unemployed
A group of long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant.
Up to 30 jobseekers and another 50 people on apprentice wages were taken to London by coach from Bristol, Bath and Plymouth as part of the government's Work Programme.
Two jobseekers, who did not want to be identified in case they lost their benefits, said they had to camp under London Bridge the night before the pageant. They told the Guardian they had to change into security gear in public, had no access to toilets for 24 hours, and were taken to a swampy campsite outside London after working a 14-hour shift in the pouring rain on the banks of the Thames on Sunday.
(snip)
Both stewards said they were originally told they would be paid. But when they got to the coach on Saturday night, they said, they were told that the work would be unpaid and that if they did not accept it they would not be considered for well-paid work at the Olympics.
(end snip)
Prosperity for them, Austerity for us. Happy Jubilee.
May 16, 2012
The Hill reports that former Representative (and football star) Steve Largent’s son, Kramer James Largent, got hired as Tom Coburn’s District Staff Assistant. That, in spite of the younger Largent’s conviction on misdemeanor charges of criminal solicitation and sexual harassment.
Sen. Tom Coburn’s decision to hire a former Member’s son who has a criminal record illustrates the latitude lawmakers have to hire as they see fit — and the value of personal connections in a world where information about wrongdoing can be found at a moment’s notice.
(snip)
Largent was indicted in July 2006 on four felony counts of the sexual solicitation of a minor under 16. Charging documents obtained from Delaware state court say that when Largent was 19, he met a 15-year-old girl on the Internet and tried to persuade her to meet him “for the purpose of facilitating, encouraging, offering or soliciting a prohibited sexual act.”
(snip)
Credit where it’s due, the Hill actually makes the connection between Coburn, the elder Largent, the Christian cabal “The Family’s” brownstone known as C Street where they shacked up together, and the involvement of both in covering up John Ensign’s extramarital affair (it also notes that Kramer worked for Ensign during college).
(end snip)
Link to the Hill article:
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_136/Rare-second-Chance-for-Tom-Coburn-Hire-214539-1.html
IOKIYAR
C Street Takes Care of The Family’s Sex Problems, Again
http://www.emptywheel.net/2012/05/15/c-street-takes-care-of-the-familys-sex-problems-again/The Hill reports that former Representative (and football star) Steve Largent’s son, Kramer James Largent, got hired as Tom Coburn’s District Staff Assistant. That, in spite of the younger Largent’s conviction on misdemeanor charges of criminal solicitation and sexual harassment.
Sen. Tom Coburn’s decision to hire a former Member’s son who has a criminal record illustrates the latitude lawmakers have to hire as they see fit — and the value of personal connections in a world where information about wrongdoing can be found at a moment’s notice.
(snip)
Largent was indicted in July 2006 on four felony counts of the sexual solicitation of a minor under 16. Charging documents obtained from Delaware state court say that when Largent was 19, he met a 15-year-old girl on the Internet and tried to persuade her to meet him “for the purpose of facilitating, encouraging, offering or soliciting a prohibited sexual act.”
(snip)
Credit where it’s due, the Hill actually makes the connection between Coburn, the elder Largent, the Christian cabal “The Family’s” brownstone known as C Street where they shacked up together, and the involvement of both in covering up John Ensign’s extramarital affair (it also notes that Kramer worked for Ensign during college).
(end snip)
Link to the Hill article:
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_136/Rare-second-Chance-for-Tom-Coburn-Hire-214539-1.html
IOKIYAR
May 4, 2012
Edwards Prosecutor: Is there a reason you didn't tell the gov't that? Witness: You never asked.
Edwards refused to lie about affair under oath, ex-aide testifies
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/03/11524495-edwards-refused-to-lie-about-affair-under-oath-ex-aide-testifies?lite
Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET: Prosecutors in John Edwards' campaign finance trial were thrown for a loop Thursday when a former aide testified that Edwards refused to lie under oath about his affair with Rielle Hunter.
(snip)
The disclosure appeared to surprise prosecutor David Harbach, who asked Kornblau, "Is there a reason you didn't tell the government about the affidavit?"
"Because you never asked," Kornblau responded.
(end snip)
Can the gov't prosecutors be more embarrassing than John Edwards? Stay tuned.
March 22, 2012
As he campaigns for president, Mitt Romney is ratcheting up his attacks on Barack Obama over high gas prices, putting the issue at the center of his economic message. He is calling for Obama to fire his Energy secretary, EPA administrator, and Interior secretary, saying they are to blame for high prices at the pump. “No question in my mind that these—I call them the gas-hike trio—that those three are on a mission to drive up the price of gasoline and all energy so that they can finally get their solar and their wind to be more price-competitive. That’s what they want to do,” Romney said on Monday
Curiously overlooked, though, is just what a shift this rhetoric is from the approach that Romney took on the issue of gas prices while governor of Massachusetts. Befitting his profile as a moderate Republican who cared about the environment, Governor Romney responded to price spikes by describing them as the natural result of global market pressures and by calling for increases in fuel efficiency—the same approach that he now derides Obama for taking as president.
(snip)
But at other times, he was fearless about pushing policies that would increase prices at the pump. Just a few months into his first term in 2003, his administration pushed for expanding a fee on wholesale fuel deliveries that resulted in a two-cent per-gallon price increase at the pump. The fee went toward a state fund that paid for cleaning spills and leaks at gas stations and had been running low. The board that oversaw the fund had sought approval from Romney’s predecessor, Republican Jane Swift, to double the fee from an effective half-cent per gallon to a full cent per gallon. But when Romney came into office, his administration proposed quintupling the effective rate, to 2.5 cents per gallon.
The administration’s argument was that the higher increase would put the fund on solid footing for good, recalled Stephen Dodge, associate director of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Petroleum Council, who sat on the board overseeing the fund. But shortly afterward, the administration moved to consolidate the fund, and many other small dedicated accounts, into the state’s general fund to help close a $3 billion state budget deficit. This, Dodge said, undermined the administration’s claim that the increase, which raised $60 million, was merely a fee adjustment and not a bona fide tax hike. “The fee really did become a tax because it wasn’t used for what it was intended for,” Dodge said.
(end snip)
emphasis mine
More Sketch-A-Mitt. And a great big uh-oh, 'cause ole Mittens raised (gasp) taxes.
When Romney Liked High Gas Prices
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/101946/mitt-romney-massachusetts-governor-gas-prices-renewable-energy#.T2sfwnJIc6M.twitterAs he campaigns for president, Mitt Romney is ratcheting up his attacks on Barack Obama over high gas prices, putting the issue at the center of his economic message. He is calling for Obama to fire his Energy secretary, EPA administrator, and Interior secretary, saying they are to blame for high prices at the pump. “No question in my mind that these—I call them the gas-hike trio—that those three are on a mission to drive up the price of gasoline and all energy so that they can finally get their solar and their wind to be more price-competitive. That’s what they want to do,” Romney said on Monday
Curiously overlooked, though, is just what a shift this rhetoric is from the approach that Romney took on the issue of gas prices while governor of Massachusetts. Befitting his profile as a moderate Republican who cared about the environment, Governor Romney responded to price spikes by describing them as the natural result of global market pressures and by calling for increases in fuel efficiency—the same approach that he now derides Obama for taking as president.
(snip)
But at other times, he was fearless about pushing policies that would increase prices at the pump. Just a few months into his first term in 2003, his administration pushed for expanding a fee on wholesale fuel deliveries that resulted in a two-cent per-gallon price increase at the pump. The fee went toward a state fund that paid for cleaning spills and leaks at gas stations and had been running low. The board that oversaw the fund had sought approval from Romney’s predecessor, Republican Jane Swift, to double the fee from an effective half-cent per gallon to a full cent per gallon. But when Romney came into office, his administration proposed quintupling the effective rate, to 2.5 cents per gallon.
The administration’s argument was that the higher increase would put the fund on solid footing for good, recalled Stephen Dodge, associate director of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Petroleum Council, who sat on the board overseeing the fund. But shortly afterward, the administration moved to consolidate the fund, and many other small dedicated accounts, into the state’s general fund to help close a $3 billion state budget deficit. This, Dodge said, undermined the administration’s claim that the increase, which raised $60 million, was merely a fee adjustment and not a bona fide tax hike. “The fee really did become a tax because it wasn’t used for what it was intended for,” Dodge said.
(end snip)
emphasis mine
More Sketch-A-Mitt. And a great big uh-oh, 'cause ole Mittens raised (gasp) taxes.
March 21, 2012
The legislation apparently preventing the successful prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer was reportedly adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as model legislation that the shadowy group has spent years promoting across the country with the help of their allies in the National Rifle Association.
Formed in 1973 by conservative activists including Paul Weyrich and state legislators like then-Illinois State Rep. Henry Hyde, ALEC has earned infamy throughout the progressive movement for its ability to promote model legislation favorable to its corporate funders through statehouses across the country.
Legal experts have noted that Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law may prevent George Zimmerman from ever being successfully prosecuted for the killing of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has claimed that he acted in self-defense, and court precedent indicates that the State has the heavy burden of disproving this in order to win a conviction.
Florida's statute on the use of force in self-defense is virtually identical to Section 1 of ALEC's Castle Doctrine Act model legislation as posted on the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). According to CMD, the model bill was adopted by ALEC's Civil Justice Task in August 2005 -- just a few short months after it passed the Florida legislature -- and approved by its board of directors the following month.
(end snip)
ALEC Has Pushed The NRA's "Stand Your Ground" Law Across The Nation
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203210004The legislation apparently preventing the successful prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer was reportedly adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as model legislation that the shadowy group has spent years promoting across the country with the help of their allies in the National Rifle Association.
Formed in 1973 by conservative activists including Paul Weyrich and state legislators like then-Illinois State Rep. Henry Hyde, ALEC has earned infamy throughout the progressive movement for its ability to promote model legislation favorable to its corporate funders through statehouses across the country.
Legal experts have noted that Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law may prevent George Zimmerman from ever being successfully prosecuted for the killing of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has claimed that he acted in self-defense, and court precedent indicates that the State has the heavy burden of disproving this in order to win a conviction.
Florida's statute on the use of force in self-defense is virtually identical to Section 1 of ALEC's Castle Doctrine Act model legislation as posted on the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). According to CMD, the model bill was adopted by ALEC's Civil Justice Task in August 2005 -- just a few short months after it passed the Florida legislature -- and approved by its board of directors the following month.
(end snip)
March 1, 2012
The answer is strolling through the bluebonnets.
Know why the Saudi involvement in Septembertheeleventh remains largely "not investigated"?
The answer is strolling through the bluebonnets.
February 10, 2012
Regardless of race, age, or religion, virtually every American woman who's ever had sex has also used some form of birth control. Yet efforts to block millions of women's access to contraception has reached new heights. Below, a quick reality check on just how widespread (and uncontroversial) contraception use is for the overwhelming majority of American women.
More charts at the link
Charts: Women Who Use Birth Control Are the 99 Percent
http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/charts-birth-control-statistics-catholics?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+motherjones%2Fmain+%28MotherJones.com+Main+Article+Feed%29Regardless of race, age, or religion, virtually every American woman who's ever had sex has also used some form of birth control. Yet efforts to block millions of women's access to contraception has reached new heights. Below, a quick reality check on just how widespread (and uncontroversial) contraception use is for the overwhelming majority of American women.
More charts at the link
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