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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 21, 2012
BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. — Multiple sources say several people have been shot on Juniata Valley Road just outside Geeseytown, Blair County.
6 News has been told that the two state troopers are among the wounded. Both are in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to be in the hospital.
There are conflicting reports of other possible fatalities at several locations.
Courtney Brennan of WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported that three people are dead and five injured. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wjactv.com/news/news/sources-1-trooper-shot-another-injured-blair-co/nTcf5/
Sources: Several shot, including 2 state troopers, in Blair Co.
BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. — Multiple sources say several people have been shot on Juniata Valley Road just outside Geeseytown, Blair County.
6 News has been told that the two state troopers are among the wounded. Both are in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to be in the hospital.
There are conflicting reports of other possible fatalities at several locations.
Courtney Brennan of WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported that three people are dead and five injured. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wjactv.com/news/news/sources-1-trooper-shot-another-injured-blair-co/nTcf5/
December 21, 2012
from Right Wing Watch:
Close Bachmann Ally Bradlee Dean Suggests Sandy Hook was a Government Plot
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 12/21/2012 10:53 am
Bradlee Dean, whose close ties to Rep. Michele Bachmann are well-known and well-established, published a column in WND (Rick Santorum's new home) suggesting that, just as the Nazis burned the Reichstag, the shootings at Sandy Hook and in Aurora, Colorado were orchestrated by the government:
................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/close-bachmann-ally-bradlee-dean-suggests-sandy-hook-was-government-plot
Six degrees of Michele Bachmann
from Right Wing Watch:
Close Bachmann Ally Bradlee Dean Suggests Sandy Hook was a Government Plot
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 12/21/2012 10:53 am
Bradlee Dean, whose close ties to Rep. Michele Bachmann are well-known and well-established, published a column in WND (Rick Santorum's new home) suggesting that, just as the Nazis burned the Reichstag, the shootings at Sandy Hook and in Aurora, Colorado were orchestrated by the government:
The Sandy Hook shooting occurred just days after Sen. Rand Paul sent out an alert that the U.N. was set to pass the final version of the Small Arms Treaty, supported by Obama the day after election.
Part of the treaty bans the trade, sale and ownership of all semi-automatic weapons … like the one Adam Lanza used to kill 20 children and 6 adults.
The “Batman shooting” in Aurora, Colo., also happened to coincide with the same time as negotiations of the U.N. Small Arms Treaty.
The timing is impeccable.
As we reflect upon massacres such as Sandy Hook, Aurora, the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, Tuscon, Ariz., and Columbine, we cannot help but see the similarities: conflicting news reports on what happened, who did the killing and the number of shooters. Eyewitnesses in all of these massacres said there were more shooters than the media maintain, indicating the shootings were coordinated and planned.
When the “fire” is started, these government gun banners are right there to strip away your rights in an attempt to gain control under the guise of “putting out the fire.”
Adolf Hitler was responsible for attacking his own Reichstag to start a world war. Hitler was also responsible for sending his brownshirts to incite the people so he could play the role of solving their problems. No one believed Hitler was guilty of these crimes until after the fact.
Then it was too late.
The complete piece is at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/close-bachmann-ally-bradlee-dean-suggests-sandy-hook-was-government-plot
December 21, 2012
from Consortium News:
The Beat-Down of ‘Public Servants’
December 21, 2012
For several decades, the American Right has heaped contempt on government employees as part of a strategy to delegitimize federal regulation of the private sector, contributing to such disasters as the Wall Street meltdown of 2008. But the beat-down of “public servants” goes on, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
By Paul R. Pillar
The annual survey of job satisfaction of federal employees has been released, and the picture is not pretty. Overall job satisfaction suffered its biggest one-year decline and is as low as it has been since the survey began nine years ago.
The survey provides some comparison with sentiments of employees in the private sector. The job satisfaction index computed from the survey data is 60.8 for federal employees; for private-sector employees the corresponding figure — which did not drop this year — is 70.0.
One does not have to look hard for sources of the feds’ malaise. They are about to enter the third year of a pay freeze, and the Federal Salary Council calculates that federal employees are now underpaid by about 35 percent compared to counterparts in the private sector. (The biggest contributing factors to drops during the past two years in federal employees’ satisfaction, as measured by the survey, involved pay.)
Not quantifiable but no doubt also a major contributor is a nationwide ideological drift, fueled from one side of the political spectrum but affecting the entire national political climate, that disparages the contributions of government and of those who serve in it. The employees, like other Americans, constantly hear a refrain of “private sector good, government bad.” .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/21/the-beat-down-of-public-servants/
The Beat-Down of ‘Public Servants’
from Consortium News:
The Beat-Down of ‘Public Servants’
December 21, 2012
For several decades, the American Right has heaped contempt on government employees as part of a strategy to delegitimize federal regulation of the private sector, contributing to such disasters as the Wall Street meltdown of 2008. But the beat-down of “public servants” goes on, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
By Paul R. Pillar
The annual survey of job satisfaction of federal employees has been released, and the picture is not pretty. Overall job satisfaction suffered its biggest one-year decline and is as low as it has been since the survey began nine years ago.
The survey provides some comparison with sentiments of employees in the private sector. The job satisfaction index computed from the survey data is 60.8 for federal employees; for private-sector employees the corresponding figure — which did not drop this year — is 70.0.
One does not have to look hard for sources of the feds’ malaise. They are about to enter the third year of a pay freeze, and the Federal Salary Council calculates that federal employees are now underpaid by about 35 percent compared to counterparts in the private sector. (The biggest contributing factors to drops during the past two years in federal employees’ satisfaction, as measured by the survey, involved pay.)
Not quantifiable but no doubt also a major contributor is a nationwide ideological drift, fueled from one side of the political spectrum but affecting the entire national political climate, that disparages the contributions of government and of those who serve in it. The employees, like other Americans, constantly hear a refrain of “private sector good, government bad.” .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/21/the-beat-down-of-public-servants/
December 21, 2012
(Salon.com) Last night was hardly the first public humiliation that John Boehner has suffered at the hands of his fellow Republicans, but it’s probably the most stark. And it raises some very basic questions about the House speaker’s political future – like whether he even has one.
That Boehner had devised and pursued Plan B in the first place seemed to speak to his weak grip on the GOP conference. Boehner and President Obama had negotiated their way to within spitting distance of each other, with the president giving significant ground on his revenue demands, agreeing to a reduction in Social Security benefits, and giving up on a payroll tax holiday extension. But when word of the looming deal leaked, House Republicans let their displeasure be known, and the speaker announced that he’d instead hold a vote on a bill to extent the Bush tax rates for all income under $1 million. That was Plan B.
Exactly where Plan B fit into Boehner’s overall strategy was a matter of some debate, but he pressed hard for it and confidently predicted he had the 218 votes needed to pass it. So now we know that not only does Boehner not have sufficient support among Republicans to pass a potential compromise with Obama, he also doesn’t have the support to pass his own plan.
It’s still possible some kind of fiscal cliff deal will be completed before January 1, but it’s hard to see how. Last night’s developments are a clear sign that a significant chunk of Republicans are simply committed to never voting for any kind of tax hike – even one on a tiny chunk of super-wealthy people, even when it comes with some serious concessions from the other party, and even when failing to act means that taxes will go up for everyone. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/21/the_humiliation_of_john_boehner/
Diminished Boehner
(Salon.com) Last night was hardly the first public humiliation that John Boehner has suffered at the hands of his fellow Republicans, but it’s probably the most stark. And it raises some very basic questions about the House speaker’s political future – like whether he even has one.
That Boehner had devised and pursued Plan B in the first place seemed to speak to his weak grip on the GOP conference. Boehner and President Obama had negotiated their way to within spitting distance of each other, with the president giving significant ground on his revenue demands, agreeing to a reduction in Social Security benefits, and giving up on a payroll tax holiday extension. But when word of the looming deal leaked, House Republicans let their displeasure be known, and the speaker announced that he’d instead hold a vote on a bill to extent the Bush tax rates for all income under $1 million. That was Plan B.
Exactly where Plan B fit into Boehner’s overall strategy was a matter of some debate, but he pressed hard for it and confidently predicted he had the 218 votes needed to pass it. So now we know that not only does Boehner not have sufficient support among Republicans to pass a potential compromise with Obama, he also doesn’t have the support to pass his own plan.
It’s still possible some kind of fiscal cliff deal will be completed before January 1, but it’s hard to see how. Last night’s developments are a clear sign that a significant chunk of Republicans are simply committed to never voting for any kind of tax hike – even one on a tiny chunk of super-wealthy people, even when it comes with some serious concessions from the other party, and even when failing to act means that taxes will go up for everyone. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/21/the_humiliation_of_john_boehner/
December 21, 2012
(Guardian UK) Canada's placid winter surface has been broken by unprecedented protests by its aboriginal peoples. In just a few weeks, a small campaign launched against the Conservative government's budget bill by four aboriginal women has expanded and transformed into a season of discontent: a cultural and political resurgence.
It has seen rallies in dozens of cities, a disruption of legislature, blockades of major highways, drumming flash mobs in malls, a flurry of Twitter activity under the hashtag #IdleNoMore and a hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence, in a tepee minutes from Ottawa's parliament. Into her tenth day, Spence says she is "willing to die for her people" to get the prime minister, chiefs and Queen to discuss respect for historical treaties.
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan has dismissed the escalating protest movement, saying "that's social media, so we'll just have to see where that goes." He told international media that relations with First Nations are "very good". If only that were the truth. What remains unspeakable in mainstream politics in Canada was recently uttered, in a moment of rare candour, by former Prime Minister Paul Martin:
The evidence – and source of the current anger and unrest – is hard to dispute. While Canada has the world's largest supply of fresh water, more than 100 aboriginal communities have tapwater so foul they are under continual boil alert (pdf). Aboriginal peoples constitute 3% of Canada's population; they make up 20% of its prisons' inmates. In the far north, the rate of tuberculosis is a stunning 137 times that of the rest of the country. And the suicide rate capital of the world? A small reserve in Ontario, where a group of school-age girls once signed a pact to collectively take their lives. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/20/canada-first-nations-new-alliance
Canada's First Nations protest heralds a new alliance
(Guardian UK) Canada's placid winter surface has been broken by unprecedented protests by its aboriginal peoples. In just a few weeks, a small campaign launched against the Conservative government's budget bill by four aboriginal women has expanded and transformed into a season of discontent: a cultural and political resurgence.
It has seen rallies in dozens of cities, a disruption of legislature, blockades of major highways, drumming flash mobs in malls, a flurry of Twitter activity under the hashtag #IdleNoMore and a hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence, in a tepee minutes from Ottawa's parliament. Into her tenth day, Spence says she is "willing to die for her people" to get the prime minister, chiefs and Queen to discuss respect for historical treaties.
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan has dismissed the escalating protest movement, saying "that's social media, so we'll just have to see where that goes." He told international media that relations with First Nations are "very good". If only that were the truth. What remains unspeakable in mainstream politics in Canada was recently uttered, in a moment of rare candour, by former Prime Minister Paul Martin:
"We have never admitted to ourselves that we were, and still are, a colonial power."
The evidence – and source of the current anger and unrest – is hard to dispute. While Canada has the world's largest supply of fresh water, more than 100 aboriginal communities have tapwater so foul they are under continual boil alert (pdf). Aboriginal peoples constitute 3% of Canada's population; they make up 20% of its prisons' inmates. In the far north, the rate of tuberculosis is a stunning 137 times that of the rest of the country. And the suicide rate capital of the world? A small reserve in Ontario, where a group of school-age girls once signed a pact to collectively take their lives. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/20/canada-first-nations-new-alliance
December 21, 2012
I started watching the show under David Tennant's watch, so he's my pick.
Best Dr. Who? (from the contemporary BBC series)
I started watching the show under David Tennant's watch, so he's my pick.
December 21, 2012
from Civil Eats:
A Grocery Store For The People Planned For West Oakland Food Desert
By Twilight Greenaway on December 18, 2012
Brahm Ahmadi spends a lot of time thinking about something most people take for granted: grocery stores.
But it hasn’t always been this way. As one of the founders of the nonprofit People’s Grocery in West Oakland—the Bay Area’s most notorious food desert—he and his colleagues started out with more affordable, less ambitious projects, like a mobile food delivery service and a local community-supported agriculture (CSA) box. But it quickly became clear—as several grocery chains tried to enter the neighborhood and failed, and residents were left relying on corner stores or taking long trips by public transportation to other neighborhoods—that the area needed a reliable, independent grocery store.
“Residents said, ‘What you’ve brought to the neighborhood is great, but it’s far from a complete solution,’” Ahmadi recalls.
So, he left People’s Grocery, spent time in business school where he became an expert on community grocery stores, and then secured a possible matching loan from the California FreshWorks Fund for around a third of the funding. Ahmadi then hatched a plan to raise the remaining $1.2 million needed to start the People’s Community Market through what’s called a direct public offering. In other words, he’s inviting California residents to invest in fresh food — literally. For a mere $1,000, anyone in the state can become a shareholder. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/12/18/a-grocery-store-for-the-people-planned-for-west-oakland-food-desert-2/
A Grocery Store For The People Planned For West Oakland Food Desert
from Civil Eats:
A Grocery Store For The People Planned For West Oakland Food Desert
By Twilight Greenaway on December 18, 2012
Brahm Ahmadi spends a lot of time thinking about something most people take for granted: grocery stores.
But it hasn’t always been this way. As one of the founders of the nonprofit People’s Grocery in West Oakland—the Bay Area’s most notorious food desert—he and his colleagues started out with more affordable, less ambitious projects, like a mobile food delivery service and a local community-supported agriculture (CSA) box. But it quickly became clear—as several grocery chains tried to enter the neighborhood and failed, and residents were left relying on corner stores or taking long trips by public transportation to other neighborhoods—that the area needed a reliable, independent grocery store.
“Residents said, ‘What you’ve brought to the neighborhood is great, but it’s far from a complete solution,’” Ahmadi recalls.
So, he left People’s Grocery, spent time in business school where he became an expert on community grocery stores, and then secured a possible matching loan from the California FreshWorks Fund for around a third of the funding. Ahmadi then hatched a plan to raise the remaining $1.2 million needed to start the People’s Community Market through what’s called a direct public offering. In other words, he’s inviting California residents to invest in fresh food — literally. For a mere $1,000, anyone in the state can become a shareholder. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/12/18/a-grocery-store-for-the-people-planned-for-west-oakland-food-desert-2/
December 21, 2012
from truthdig:
Crony Capitalism’s Power Couple
Posted on Dec 21, 2012
By Robert Scheer
Where is Phil Gramm hiding? The former Republican senator from Texas, who wrote the radical banking deregulation of the 1990s and was rewarded for his efforts to enrich the banks with a plum job at Switzerland-based UBS, has not been heard from since his bank got nailed by the G-men. Or, as The New York Times put it, UBS now has the distinction of being “the first big global bank in more than two decades to have a subsidiary plead guilty to fraud.”
Surely Gramm, who retired from the bank last year, must know something about the nefarious activities conducted over a timespan when he was helping to manage the firm. This latest scandal, involving the rigging of a major trusted banking interest rate, might finally test the theories that he has long written into law that assume banks are best when regulated by themselves—a now obviously dumb idea.
As the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday: “U.S., U.K. and Swiss authorities alleged a vast conspiracy led by UBS AG to rig interest rates tied to trillions of dollars in loans and other financial products, indicating the practice was far more pervasive than previously known.” But what did Gramm know about this criminal behavior at a bank he helped govern, and when did he know it?
In a deal brokered with the criminal division of the U.S. Justice Department, UBS was also fined $1.5 billion in the massive Libor interest-rate-fixing scam that evidenced a pattern of deep corruption across a score of top banks. But Gramm, the man most responsible for the repeal in 1999 of 60 years of sensible banking regulation that enabled the financial industry to run wild, has not responded to a single question from the mainstream media concerning UBS’ criminal behavior. I assume he has been queried, given his important prior contribution to the sorry state of banking. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/crony_capitalisms_power_couple_20121221/
Robert Scheer: Crony Capitalism’s Power Couple
from truthdig:
Crony Capitalism’s Power Couple
Posted on Dec 21, 2012
By Robert Scheer
Where is Phil Gramm hiding? The former Republican senator from Texas, who wrote the radical banking deregulation of the 1990s and was rewarded for his efforts to enrich the banks with a plum job at Switzerland-based UBS, has not been heard from since his bank got nailed by the G-men. Or, as The New York Times put it, UBS now has the distinction of being “the first big global bank in more than two decades to have a subsidiary plead guilty to fraud.”
Surely Gramm, who retired from the bank last year, must know something about the nefarious activities conducted over a timespan when he was helping to manage the firm. This latest scandal, involving the rigging of a major trusted banking interest rate, might finally test the theories that he has long written into law that assume banks are best when regulated by themselves—a now obviously dumb idea.
As the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday: “U.S., U.K. and Swiss authorities alleged a vast conspiracy led by UBS AG to rig interest rates tied to trillions of dollars in loans and other financial products, indicating the practice was far more pervasive than previously known.” But what did Gramm know about this criminal behavior at a bank he helped govern, and when did he know it?
In a deal brokered with the criminal division of the U.S. Justice Department, UBS was also fined $1.5 billion in the massive Libor interest-rate-fixing scam that evidenced a pattern of deep corruption across a score of top banks. But Gramm, the man most responsible for the repeal in 1999 of 60 years of sensible banking regulation that enabled the financial industry to run wild, has not responded to a single question from the mainstream media concerning UBS’ criminal behavior. I assume he has been queried, given his important prior contribution to the sorry state of banking. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/crony_capitalisms_power_couple_20121221/
December 21, 2012
http://vimeo.com/56056449
Bill Moyers Essay: Remember The Victims, Reject the Violence
December 20, 2012
In this timely broadcast essay, Bill urges us to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre by name. He also rejects the notion of doubling down on guns and armor as a response, and encourages all of us to work hard on realistic and moral solutions.
“Laws are hard to come by, civilization just as hard” Bill says. “But democracy aims for a moral order as just as possible — which means laws that protect the weak, and not just the strong.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-remember-the-victims-reject-the-violence/
Bill Moyers: Remember The Victims, Reject the Violence
http://vimeo.com/56056449
Bill Moyers Essay: Remember The Victims, Reject the Violence
December 20, 2012
In this timely broadcast essay, Bill urges us to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre by name. He also rejects the notion of doubling down on guns and armor as a response, and encourages all of us to work hard on realistic and moral solutions.
“Laws are hard to come by, civilization just as hard” Bill says. “But democracy aims for a moral order as just as possible — which means laws that protect the weak, and not just the strong.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-remember-the-victims-reject-the-violence/
December 21, 2012
from NOW Toronto:
Sharing Sherbourne
Toronto’s first separated bike lanes aren’t preventing drivers from blocking cyclists’ paths
By Ben Spurr
Toronto’s first separated bike lanes are complete, but the jury is out on whether they will keep cars safely out of the paths of riders.
On Tuesday, the city issued a press release declaring the Sherbourne cycle tracks officially open from Bloor to King. A second phase of the project, from King to Queens Quay, will be completed in 2014, part of a planned 14-kilometre network of separated bikeways downtown.
At a cost of $2.4 million, the Sherbourne lanes are worth every penny according to some Toronto cycling advocates.
“I’d say it’s a good day for cycling in the city of Toronto,” said Jared Kolb of Cycle Toronto, who took a test ride on the track on Tuesday. “It’s the first time that there will be an increased separation for cyclists between motor vehicles and the rest of the roadway.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=190469
Toronto’s first separated bike lanes aren’t preventing drivers from blocking cyclists’ paths
from NOW Toronto:
Sharing Sherbourne
Toronto’s first separated bike lanes aren’t preventing drivers from blocking cyclists’ paths
By Ben Spurr
Toronto’s first separated bike lanes are complete, but the jury is out on whether they will keep cars safely out of the paths of riders.
On Tuesday, the city issued a press release declaring the Sherbourne cycle tracks officially open from Bloor to King. A second phase of the project, from King to Queens Quay, will be completed in 2014, part of a planned 14-kilometre network of separated bikeways downtown.
At a cost of $2.4 million, the Sherbourne lanes are worth every penny according to some Toronto cycling advocates.
“I’d say it’s a good day for cycling in the city of Toronto,” said Jared Kolb of Cycle Toronto, who took a test ride on the track on Tuesday. “It’s the first time that there will be an increased separation for cyclists between motor vehicles and the rest of the roadway.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=190469
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