July 17, 2014

Why are such a number of DU'ers so HOT on COLD WAR?

the antipathies being promulgated in advance of the Olympics seemed disproportionate and clumsy in their
timing, anti-homosexual issues aside, the sentiments appeared akin to chopping off a shoplifter's hand.
and this sort of hot blooded militarized response to (questionably derived) things happening within and to foreign countries?
Is that what DU is all about?
WAR?
what happened in the last 14 years?

July 17, 2014

US Judge rules against California death penalty

Source: Fresno Bee

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled California's death penalty unconstitutional Wednesday, writing that lengthy and unpredictable delays have resulted in an arbitrary and unfair capital punishment system.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney represents a legal victory for those who want to abolish the death penalty in California and follows a similar ruling that has suspended executions in the state for eight years.

Carney, in a case brought by a death row inmate against the warden of San Quentin state prison, called the death penalty an empty promise that violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

"Inordinate and unpredictable delay has resulted in a death penalty system in which very few of the hundreds of individuals sentenced to death have been, or even will be, executed by the State," wrote Carney, a George W. Bush appointee.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/16/4027206/us-judge-rules-against-california.html?sp=/99/217/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Read more: Link to sourcehttp://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/16/4027206/us-judge-rules-against-california.html?sp=/99/217/&ihp=1

July 14, 2014

US officer fires gun in clash at pro-Israel rally

Source: Fresno Bee

The officer of the Federal Protective Service fired a weapon during the rally at the Federal Building in Westwood on Sunday, according to a sheriff's statement. The FPS is the security police division of the Department of Homeland Security.

The demonstration, which drew several hundred people, was breaking up when pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters began to clash.

Witnesses said the confrontation included a scuffle between the pro-Israel protesters and men who drove past the protest in a truck displaying a Palestinian flag, KNBC-TV reported (http://bit.ly/1ra6cF3 ).

A man in the truck said the Palestinian flag was ripped away. When the truck's occupants attempted to retrieve the flag, there was a struggle, witnesses said.



Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/14/4023907/federal-officer-fires-weapon-at.html

July 14, 2014

Ukraine, Iraq and the "Palestinian problem" all at once....

if only we had some say on these vital and bloody hot spots...
Well, if we were involved, the information titty would tell us,
so lets just not go there.
isnt it just horrible what these violent cultures are doing?

July 13, 2014

What was one of the first things the National Security State accomplished?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_blacklist#The_Hollywood_Ten

July 13, 2014

The deafening silence of racism's accomplices in the United States

http://www.c-span.org/video/?168299-1/martin-luther-king-jr-commemoration


even Tim Wise had nothing to say about this, although he apparently knew nothing of it,
when I brought it to his attention..

if we were ever going to have an open discussion, it should have erupted around this.
instead, crickets and disbelievers guffawing at GW's "clumsiness"

July 12, 2014

Color "blindness" and American racism- mutualism, symbiosis or parasitism?

how would you describe the effects of racism in the US?
how would you perceive it if you were poor and black?

July 10, 2014

State Controller recount that includes Fresno County ignites questions

Source: Fresno Bee

'Questions and criticism loom in a historic recount for the state controller primary election that involves 15 counties, including Fresno.

"The whole thing is completely uncharted territory," said Douglas Herman, campaign strategist for candidate John Pérez, who is requesting the recount.

"It's the largest recount in California history and the closest election."

No. 2 in the race, Betty Yee, emerged just 481 votes ahead of Pérez from among more than 4 million votes cast for controller in June

Pérez's recount request is only the third in state history, said Shannan Velayas, spokeswoman for the secretary of state. The other two recounts concerned 2012 ballot propositions.'



Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/09/4017952/controller-vote-recount-stirs.html?sp=/99/217/&ihp=1

July 10, 2014

Honduran coup per Obama, NO ITS NOT says Hillary and her friends

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/104549

heard a bit of a great discussion about the Honduran coup about an hour ago, so somewhere around the halfway mark of this program an interesting distinction is made as to who gets to decide when a coup is a coup.
Lanny Davis plays a key role and the discussion clarifies at least one difference between Hillary and the President.

July 9, 2014

Is Dennis Kucinich still a Democrat? Doesnt sound like it

"Who will protect us from our government? That is a central question I have after reading the Washington Post's publication of NSA intercepts given to them by whistleblower Edward Snowden (link below). The article describes an "exponential" increase in NSA spying on American citizens, gathering and storing information about deeply personal, private matters of the heart, health, and finances. What has happened is that under the guise of security, our government has annihilated each individual American's sphere of privacy. I warned of this when, as a member of Congress, I led opposition to the Patriot Act as well as opposing FISA legislation.

Every American's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure involves the protection of one's privacy. Without privacy, the government, in effect, annexes our personal space, threatening every individual's sense of agency, and causing an extraordinary degree of self-censorship. Prior to our government instituting elements of a police state, there have been long-standing tools in the criminal justice system which describe a process by which the government can obtain a court order to gather information about individuals suspected of criminal activity. Now, however, the assumption is that everyone is a suspect and the NSA's dragnet sweeps up and stores deeply personal information on law-abiding Americans. Under these circumstances, it is not the American people who are suspect, but our government. This situation must change.

The US has been set upon a path which is anti-democratic. I am seeking to enlist the support of individuals who are concerned about this issue, to assist in developing a grass roots campaign in every neighborhood in America to begin to discuss how we may reclaim our right to be left alone, free of government suspicion which makes of everyone a suspect. Your feedback and comments are much appreciated. Dennis"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-nsa-intercepted-data-those-not-targeted-far-outnumber-the-foreigners-who-are/2014/07/05/8139adf8-045a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html
Photo: Who will protect us from our government? That is a central question I have after reading the Washington Post's publication of NSA intercepts given to them by whistleblower Edward Snowden (link below). The article describes an "exponential" increase in NSA spying on American citizens, gathering and storing information about deeply personal, private matters of the heart, health, and finances. What has happened is that under the guise of security, our government has annihilated each individual American's sphere of privacy. I warned of this when, as a member of Congress, I led opposition to the Patriot Act as well as opposing FISA legislation.

Every American's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure involves the protection of one's privacy. Without privacy, the government, in effect, annexes our personal space, threatening every individual's sense of agency, and causing an extraordinary degree of self-censorship. Prior to our government instituting elements of a police state, there have been long-standing tools in the criminal justice system which describe a process by which the government can obtain a court order to gather information about individuals suspected of criminal activity. Now, however, the assumption is that everyone is a suspect and the NSA's dragnet sweeps up and stores deeply personal information on law-abiding Americans. Under these circumstances, it is not the American people who are suspect, but our government. This situation must change.

The US has been set upon a path which is anti-democratic. I am seeking to enlist the support of individuals who are concerned about this issue, to assist in developing a grass roots campaign in every neighborhood in America to begin to discuss how we may reclaim our right to be left alone, free of government suspicion which makes of everyone a suspect. Your feedback and comments are much appreciated. Dennis


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-nsa-intercepted-data-those-not-targeted-far-outnumber-the-foreigners-who-are/2014/07/05/8139adf8-045a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html