October 17, 2012

I loved how Obama waited until JUST the perfect moment

to drive home the 47% issues during his closing remarks, so
smarmy-pants couldn't parrot his pre-pre-prepared come-back.

It was masterful timing.

October 16, 2012

"Margin Call" <-- Kevin Spacey movie about 2008 economic collapse

I just watched this last night on NETFLIX. Very well done IMHO, which
definitely helped me understand how human beings can be suckered
and/or sucked into doing just about any crazy shit, with the "correct
incentive $$$" I missed this when it came out, so was glad to have
stumbled across it on Netflix.

Here's a trailer:

October 16, 2012

Uruguay to become 1st government to SELL cannabis to its citizens

Certainly makes sense to me. I say legalize it in U.S. as well.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2162570/Uruguay-government-SELL-cannabis-citizens.html#ixzz29UcXjtjF

October 15, 2012

DU needs a "Trash Talk Forum" where stuff like this can be posted

so we know WTF the new lies are that are being bandied about on FOX, et. al.

There are numerous posts on DU today URGING OBAMA to focus on Sensata
as a case-in-point of how Rmoney is Mr. Outsourcing American Jobs to China,
but if there is ANY truth to the claims re: Obama's pension funds, then that
needs to be dealt with somehow, PRIOR to bring up Sensata on campaign
trail.. or else it becomes "he said she said' and goes nowhere.

"OBAMA OWNS STOCK IN SENSATA, ersonally Benefits By Outsourcing Of Jobs To China"
http://nation.foxnews.com/obama/2012/10/14/obama-owns-shares-sensata-personally-benefits-outsourcing-jobs-china#ixzz29OzG4500

October 11, 2012

Kucinich: "Want to Stop Attacks on US Embassies? Stop trying to overthrow Governments"

Want to Stop Attacks on US Embassies? Stop trying to overthrow Governments
By: Kevin Gosztola Wednesday October 10, 2012 4:27 pm

A congressional committee held a hearing on the security failures that led to the killings of four Americans at a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11. The hearing included two witnesses from the State Department that agreed to begin to share key details on what occurred.

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee that held the hearing, said in his statement the State Department had just yesterday begun to publicly acknowledge the truth that was long suspected. There had been no protest related to any anti-Islam video. What happened was a clearly planned attack by “terrorists on the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.” And he added the hearing had been scheduled to address the concerns of citizens with “direct knowledge of the events in Libya.”

The opening of the hearing featured a prime example of how the United States government engages in secrecy to shield itself from embarrassing information that might invite criticism or scrutiny. Ambassador Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management at the State Department, was asked directly by Issa whether he was prepared to share with Congress members unclassified “memos” or diplomatic cables. Kennedy said he would not share them because the “totality” of the documents make them restricted. Issa did not buy this mosaic theory intended to conceal information and he said to say an array of unclassified documents are restricted when combined together is to “make everything you do unavailable to Congress.”

COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/10/10/kucinich-want-to-prevent-attacks-on-us-embassies-stop-trying-to-overthrow-governments-video/

October 9, 2012

Big Bird steals spotlight from Speaker Boehner in New Hampshire

Big Bird steals some spotlight as Speaker Boehner blasts Obama in Derry visit
By KEVIN LANDRIGAN * Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Staff Writer

DERRY – U.S. House Speaker John Boehner vowed Monday that top Democrat Nancy Pelosi will be unable to grab the gavel from his “stone, cold hands” in the Nov. 6 election.

That’s yet to be seen, but a certain yellow, feathered Sesame Street character managed to steal some of the spotlight from the top congressional GOP leader’s visit to the Mitt Romney campaign headquarters in Derry.

Outside, the Barack Obama re- election team had convinced a volunteer to don a Big Bird outfit straight from a Boston costume store to mock Romney for declaring he would end federal support for public television.

The volunteer held a sign that read, “Romney-Boehner. Tough on Sesame Street; Soft on Wall Street.”

Boehner came to New Hampshire for a brief visit that included a public rally with 1st District congressman Frank Guinta, R-N.H.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/978501-469/big-bird-steals-some-spotlight-of-speaker.html

___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*___*
GO BIG BIRD!!!!!

October 8, 2012

The Revenge of Big Bird

THE REVENGE OF BIG BIRD (true story)

Decades ago, as a young lass in my early 20s, I was happily employed as a Child Care Worker at a residential treatment center for “emotionally disturbed” children. It was an idyllic job, common sense humanistic values of love, acceptance, compassion, and generosity prevailed at all levels from the Director to the peons like me, the cook, and even the janitors. Each child had a “treatment team” consisting not only of parents, CCWs, family counselor, etc. but also frequently one of the cooks or janitors. Consensus was highly valued, and seldom breached.

This was all fine and good, until some “higher ups” somewhere decided to change everything, without regard to what any “lesser than”s thought about it. The new “cure-all treatment” these "experts" rolled out all over us, had a name: behavior modification. This was the new “big idea” that supposedly produced remarkably consistent “positive” results, by systematically punishing “undesirable behaviors” and rewarding “desired behaviors”. Undesirable or desired by whom? ... and for what reason? These matters were "irrelevant", i.e. not allowed to clutter the mind or soul of behavior modifiers. Their job is only to manipulate the sticks and carrots just so, as to systematically impose (by force if necessary) behaviors deemed by others as “appropriate”, like eye contact, lack of “self-stimulation”, compliance with directions from staff, etc. The use of cattle prods was seriously discussed on at least one occasion as a possible “negative” reinforcement.

I don’t recall the exact moment when I decided to resign in protest. Actually I think it was a more gradual process, of plowing through layers of disbelief, shock, grief, feelings of betrayal, fear of unemployment: in short, kind of like I imagine a factory worker might feel, working in a US manufacturing plant that had just been purchased by Bain Capital. Everything was reduced to a commodity, i.e. tokenism: tokens for eye contact, tokens for compliance, etc. to produce token behavior designed to comply with someone else’s idea of what is “appropriate”.

I didn’t leave quietly, and I was not the only one. We (myself and a close friend and co-worker, John Green, who also was feeling similarly impacted by the invading behaviorists) decided to put on a skit, at that years Christmas party. Our little swan song, as it were. I played Mr. Hooper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hooper), and John G. played Big Bird.



The story line was quite straight forward. Big Bird was wanting to buy one of his dear friends a gift from Mr. Hooper's store, but he just didn’t have quite enough tokens. There was wrangling and haggling about the price, during which Mr. Cooper delivered a punch line: “It’s a dog-eat dog world Big Bird! Get over it!”. We managed a last-minute conversion by Mr. Cooper “just this once” to achieve a semblence of a “happy ending”. Everyone "got it", including many of the kids I think.

Imagine my surprise and delight, when Big Bird bursts onto the Campaign 2012 scene, during the first debate no less. Now I can’t help but think, that this is Big Bird’s revenge at long last: a devastating blow to the Forces of Evil that only know domination, exploitation, manipulation, degradation, and meanness as their MO.

We love you Big Bird!!!! Your voice is being heard across the nation. "SAVE PBS and BIG BIRD"

You are kicking Rethuglican ass for our planet, our children, and our grandchildren. May you prevail.

October 1, 2012

If anyone has Obama's ear

Would you please suggest that Obama to use this during the debates.

&feature=player_embedded

Of course Obama would tone it down a bit, but still .. Malloy
powerfully juxtaposes the Rmoney/Ryan health care "policy" i.e.
simply referring poor people to the ER, with an equally powerful
story of one woman who tried to do exactly that, and ended up
dead on the floor of a jail cell for "causing trouble".

If Obama did this with feeling, with authority, during debates, I
think it would completely devestate the Rmoney/RAyan / GOP's
ability to recover before the election on the issue of Health Care,
Medicare, et. al.