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Note:With the increase in the number and spread of RFID chips in passports,credit,and debit cards,here is some info that might save you some time,money,and aggravation. As stated,you don’t have to get esoteric with shielding for your plastic –here’s a cheap,easy to implement solution using duct tape,or if you want something finer or more suitable for professional or artistic types consider this company’s offerings. You can also find suitable shields on Amazon from the producers of the video:Stronghold. If you are an anti-establishment type you can always just hit the RFID chip in the cards with a hammer. Nuking it in a microwave for 5 sec should do it too;but the damage is apparent,and will probably also damage the magnetic strip making it “un-swipeable”. Note carefully in the video the typical range that your cards can be scanned by perps –and remember how especially hazardous RFID chips are in debit cards!
Note:Following are photos of political ladies from the last half-century.
Note:If you have any artistic abilities at all,and you’ve ever thrown a pot -you will empathize with this photo. To others it’s something else. 
(from “My Escape from Slavery”by Frederick Douglass) –(1817?-1895)
“Anguish and grief,like darkness and rain,may be depicted;but gladness and joy,like the rainbow,defy the skill of pen or pencil. During ten or fifteen years I had been,as it were,dragging a heavy chain which no strength of mine could break;I was not only a slave,but a slave for life. I might become a husband,a father,an aged man,but through all,from birth to death,from the cradle to the grave,I had felt myself doomed. All efforts I had previously made to secure my freedom had not only failed,but had seemed only to rivet my fetters the more firmly,and to render my escape more difficult. Baffled,entangled,and discouraged,I had at times asked myself the question,May not my condition after all be God’s work,and ordered for a wise purpose,and if so,Is not submission my duty? A contest had in fact been going on in my mind for a long time,between the clear consciousness of right and the plausible make- shifts of theology and superstition. The one held me an abject slave–a prisoner for life,punished for some transgression in which I had no lot nor part;and the other counseled me to manly endeavor to secure my freedom. This contest was now ended;my chains were broken,and the victory brought me unspeakable joy.”
Patagonia Bucks the Trend of Encouraging Consumers to Shop,Shop,Shop
Patagonia recently featured an ad in The New York Times that encouraged consumers not to buy. Having not broken my obsession with the print version of The New York Times,I was thrilled to greet the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping spree known as Black Friday by opening to a full-page ad from Patagonia that urged readers “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” To the best of my knowledge,Patagonia has never purchased a full-page ad in the Times,and for this,the first time that they did,they are urging consumers to buy less stuff. This exhibits both true leadership and untarnished truth about what it means to be sustainable. The copy reads:“Don’t buy what you don’t need. Think twice before you buy anything.” On Patagonia’s blog,The Cleanest Line,the company further states that:“It’s time for us as a company to address the issue of consumerism and do it head on. The most challenging,and important,element of the Common Threads Initiative is this:to lighten our environmental footprint,everyone needs to consume less. Businesses need to make fewer things but of higher quality. Customers need to think twice before they buy.” We face an extremely difficult challenge:We’re depleting the environment of its essential life support systems as we produce ever more products — products that we often don’t really need. Yet,at the same time,the production of these un-needed products create the jobs needed to feed families and run a global economy — one that is addicted to making stuff. While no single answer will resolve a complex system designed for destruction,what we decidedly need more of is companies willing to speak the truth and take bold positions on difficult issues.
(Note:The following comes directly from Conservapedia Website) <————————————-> Hall of FameConservative scholar Clinton Rossiter[4] names Alexander Hamilton,John Adams,John Marshall,Daniel Webster,John C. Calhoun,Elihu Root,and Theodore Roosevelt to the “Conservative’s Hall of Fame,” with John Adams as the greatest of American conservatives. PresidentsPeriodically a conservative has been elected president of the United States. The most prominent conservative presidents include: The most prominent conservative Congresses have been: - The 80th Congress (elected in 1946)
- The 104th Congress (elected in 1994)
MovementMovement conservatives are those who accept the logic of conservatism across-the-board,and stand up for its powerful principles despite liberal ridicule. Movement conservative activists include: - Phyllis Schlafly,opposed ERA
- Larry McDonald,Congressman,on board KAL 007 when shot down by the Soviets near Moneron Island.
- Jesse Helms,Senator,specialist in foreign policy
- Pat Buchanan,commentator
- Jerry Falwell,religion
- Michele Bachmann,congresswoman
- Ann Coulter,columnist
- Rush Limbaugh,radio
- Michelle Malkin,commentator
- Glenn Beck,commentator
Key leaders<————————————-> Note:I am assuming this list is an accurate representation by the movement,of the people they consider suitable for the Conservative Hall of Fame. The principle problem with the list is it includes a few who obviously do not agree in their writings and actions with current conservative orthodoxy,notably George Washington,John Adams,Daniel Webster,and even Milton Friedman. This is a sad effort… -based especially on the quality,intellectual rigor,and contributions to society of the “movement conservatives”,not one with an advanced degree,highly regarded book,nor internationally transported social organization or NGO to their credit. These people are snipers –bitchin &moaning about the actions of others,while proposing ideas that have already been proven ineffective or counter-productive…with one important distinction unique to their movement:they vehemently oppose and obstruct rational examination of their own precepts and conclusions. They might be more palatable to many who didn’t “drink the Cool-Aid”,for example,if they addressed their attachment to “freedom”in a more thorough and consistent manner –as their current projections on the tenets of “freedom”have no internal coherence. Behind their arguments about “freedom”lurks “Sin”–which to the secular mind has no place in the discussion.
Note:The following verbatim description comes from:Conservapedia Website <————————————-> “A conservative is someone who adheres to principles of personal responsibility,moral values,and limited government,agreeing with George Washington‘s Farewell Address that “religion and morality are indispensable supports”to political prosperity.[1][2] Former President Ronald Reagan said,“The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom.”[3] The sine qua non of a conservative is someone who rises above his personal self-interest and promotes moral and economic values beneficial to all. Alternatively,a conservative is willing to learn and advocate the insights of economics and the morality of the Bible for the benefit of all,recognizing that the Bible is the most logical book ever written. Specifically,conservatives seek or support: <————————————-> Problems and Issues - George Washington made it quite clear he was opposed to any effort of making Christianity an integral part of the State or Federal government function
- The Bible is one of the most illogical book ever written:it attempts to portray and account for occurrences that could not possibly have happened
- Capitalism and free markets without oversight and regulation brought about the Depression of 2007-20xx
- Classroom prayer is incompatible with religious freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
- Abortion is a matter to be decided by an impregnated woman and her medical authorities,not by the State,nor anyone else who is not personally involved in the pregnancy,nor in the potential life and rearing of the fetus,especially during the first and second quarter of gestation.
- “Respect for human life”;but supporting the death penalty is a contradiction for Christianity,especially if “death-bed conversions”are accepted as valid
- Abstinence education has been proved ineffective as either a birth control,or STD prevention mechanism. Condoms work. Just saying no doesn’t.
- Traditional marriage is a social,legal,and religious affair,and should not be subject to authorization solely by one of these entities,especially the State,in addition,marriage should include some notion of requisite permanence;yet conservatives seem to have no problem with divorce
- Family values are not the province of any one religious orientation,sex,social,or economic classification –and like religion are private matters when conducted within the family unit.
- Laws are made to prohibit activities deemed unacceptable to the larger society. Sexual behavior between consenting adults in private is not a Government issue.
- Nowhere in the Constitution is there support for open access to handguns which are the predominate weapon used in murders. Long guns/rifles should be ok.
- To argue against Social Security,Medicare,Veterans Administration care,and public hospital emergency room care is beneath contempt
- Public schools,public libraries,public roads,public laws are for the benefit of everyone.
- Parents in general are no more capable of effectively providing a good education to their child from K-12 than providing adequate medical or dental care.
- To argue against the need,and validity of the U.N. now,and especially in the coming years is politically naive
- Supporting the military should involve actual participation in it –not simply being an “arm-chair”warrior
- Evolution and climate change science give us the best description and explanation of observed phenomena –nothing else does
- Some guidance,governance,and restrictions are reasonable at the appropriate levels. The Legislature and the Judiciary decide what applies.
- Unlike the Bible,our Constitution and Laws are a living construct,open to examination,review,and amendment based on best knowledge. It was never meant to be a static document.
February 20,2012 10:46 PM California Dreamin’
On Jan. 14,2004:The West Wing showed President Bartlett,just before the State of the Union address,deciding whether to veto a popular piece of legislation because it contains an amendment limiting judicial discretion in sentencing (he decries the “war on judges” being waged by some in Congress.) As a signal of the seriousness of his purpose in opposing long mandatory sentencing,he also considers commuting the sentences of a number of drug offenders,as recommended by the Justice Department. We were told that the episode includes a scene in which the President talks to the president of FAMM (portrayed on the show as a man!) whose sister is serving a mandatory minimum drug sentence. The central section of the episode: Inside,Donna talks to a guy who seems to be with an organization that lobbies for clemency. He tells her how great it was to be able to call the thirty-five families and tell them that the pardons were coming through. Just then,Jed enters. Donna introduces the president to the guy,who indeed turns out to be with Families Against Mandatory Minimums,and the woman with him —who is his sister Candy,just pardoned. They thank him profusely. Candy says that she can never repay Jed,and Jed says she can repay him by using her second chance wisely. After all,as he points out,if she screws up again,it will hurt her and her family,but also him and all the other prisoners who are hoping to be released. “Am I right,Donna?”he says. She agrees. He admonishes Candy again to use her pardon wisely,and she promises she will. He shakes her hand and leaves. “Bless you all,”says Candy’s brother,adding to Donna,“It must be an honor to work for him.”Donna stares after Jed for a moment,and then,conflicted but very slightly smiling,says,“It is.” Note:I’m desperately seeking the exact words Jed used to Candy –as they are priceless! Another portion deals specifically with mandatory minimums: President Josiah “Jed”Bartlet:…and worse:leave judges impotent! Our judicial system is predicated on an individual’s right to a fair trial. But how individual is that process,if a 258 box grid seals your fate before you ever step foot in front of a judge,a FEDERAL judge,that my office has invested considerable effort in selecting,who is then constrained from exercising basic common sense,while twenty-nine year old prosecutors,who make their bones on their win-loss record hold the only discretion in the whole system?
Obama,Explained(by James Fallows in The Atlantic –Mar 2012 Edition) As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office,two conflicting narratives of his presidency have emerged. Is he a skillful political player and policy visionary—a chess master who always sees several moves ahead of his opponents (and of the punditocracy)? Or is he politically clumsy and out of his depth—a pawn overwhelmed by events,at the mercy of a second-rate staff and of the Republicans? Here,a longtime analyst of the presidency takes the measure of our 44th president,with a view to history.
Continue reading Obama,explained
(via Atlanta Business Chronicles –Feb 2012)
 David Quinn · Founder &Managing Director at IP UtiliNET Large public firms are less agile than smaller innovative firms that are staffed with local talent. Regulation such as e.verify applied by the counties for all businesses causes locally innovative business models to be less likely to succeed and far less likely to push for innovation that leads to lower costs. Small business creates local value and stimulates economic growth but our anemic view of innovation and ruthless focus on spreadsheet management actually increases the costs of government operations while decreasing the opportunity to realize the opportunity to reduce budgetary consumption. Innovation creates new opportunities for growth,new industries,and the need for new skills,expanded support services,etc. Government needs to reduce complexity and get focused on improved services at lower cost. This takes courage and an accelerator versus an incubator mindset. For innovation to succeed,decision makers need to dedicate half of one day a week to disruptive innovation …Brought forward by companies with 50 or fewer employees. Every advance at one point was preposterous. It took explorers,refiners,and early adopters to create industries that have sustained our way of life as we moved from caves. Look for the game changers and the big swings. These are momentum movers that change people’s lives.
Ken Robinson,the Man with the $16 House,Took SMU Law Students to School This Week | | Photo by Leslie Minora | | Ken Robinson lectures SMU law students on his first-hand experience with adverse possession. |
? The property rights law of adverse possession is normally a dry topic,a chapter covered in law school to be forgotten immediately after final exams. This will not be the case for about 100 SMU law students who attended a Wednesday evening lecture by Ken Robinson,the Flower Mound man (and subject of an Observer cover story) who overtook a vacant suburban home for $16,the price of filing notice with Denton County. Robinson is not a lawyer,but with a background in real estate and a penchant for unusual investments,he knows the law. He lectured with the charisma of a seasoned professor,first thanking everyone for having him,and even giving a hat-tip to Christopher Columbus,who used some version of adverse possession before the law even existed. “One of these was not like the other,”he said,explaining that the home where he now lives was unkempt compared to its perfectly manicured neighbors when he noticed it in the beginning of summer. He approached the property as an investment opportunity,figuring he might get a good deal if he could contact the owner. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even track down information about the mortgage. The home was apparently abandoned. Throughout his research,the only option he could find was adverse possession. So he filed notice with the county,moved in and fixed the place up to the trimmed and pruned standards met by his neighbors. Continue reading Adverse possession law applied to vacant homes
 | Legend |
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| Extreme risk | * | | High risk | * | | Medium risk | * | | Low risk | * | | No Data | |
| Rank | Country | Rating |
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| 1 | Haiti | Extreme | | 2 | Bangladesh | Extreme | | 3 | Zimbabwe | Extreme | | 4 | Sierra Leone | Extreme | | 5 | Madagascar | Extreme |
| Rank | Country | Rating |
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| 6 | Cambodia | Extreme | | 7 | Mozambique | Extreme | | 8 | DR Congo | Extreme | | 9 | Malawi | Extreme | | 10 | Philippines | Extreme |
© Maplecroft,2011
Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools,the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars. The documents,from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute,outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet. “Principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective,” one document said.
Continue reading Info leak offers glimpse into climate science denier campaign
and therefore Religious Opinions not cognizable by Law: Or,The high-flying Churchman,stript of his legal Robe,appears a Yahoo John Leland (1791)“There are four principles contended for,as the foundation of civil government,viz. birth,property,grace,and compact. The first of these is practised upon in all hereditary monarchies,where it is believed that the son of a monarch is entitled to dominion upon the decease of his father,whether he be a wise man or a fool. The second principle is built upon in all aristocratical governments,where the rich landholders have the sole rule of all their tenants,and make laws at pleasure which are binding upon all. The third principle is adopted by those kingdoms and states that require a religious test to qualify an officer of state,proscribing all non-conformists from civil and religious liberty. This was the error of Constantine’s government,who first established the christian religion by law,and then proscribed the pagans and banished the Arian heretics. This error also filled the heads of the anabaptists in Germany (who were re-sprinklers):they supposed that none had a right to rule but gracious men. The same error prevails in the see of Rome,where his holiness exalts himself above all who are called gods (i.e. kings and rulers),and where no protestant heretic is allowed the liberty of a citizen. This principle is also plead for in the Ottoman empire,where it is death to call in question the divinity of Mahomet or the authenticity of the Alcoran.
Continue reading An extraordinary sermon by John Leland –circa 1791
Note:There is no end to the proliferation of bogus quotes attributed to responsible people by those with a Evangelical Christian agenda. For example this quote attributed to President Washington:  As any student who has mastered Logic 101 knows well,this argument is in the form of “an appeal to authority”. That is,if Pres. Washington said it,it must be true.
Instead,Pres. Washington’s orientation toward religion,and especially Christianity was best illustrated by Pres. Benjamin Franklin’s writings in his journal: On February 1,1800,a few weeks after Washington’s death,Thomas Jefferson made the following entry in his journal,regarding an incident on the occasion of Washington’s departure from office:[31][32] “ Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt,it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Xn religion and they thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. They did so. However he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly except that,which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory letter to the Governors of the states when he resigned his commission in the army,wherein he speaks of the benign influence of the Christian religion. “I know that Gouverneur Morris,who pretended to be in his secrets &believed himself to be so,has often told me that Genl. Washington believed no more of that system than he himself did.” (- via Wikipedia)
Note: By law,everyone in the U.S. is subject to the requirement of filing Federal and State Income Tax Reports,so obtaining an electronic report of one’s transactions with providers for a calendar year should not be difficult –but it is. Recently I attempted to obtain a CSV file showing all my transactions with some companies we do business with,and below are the results of my attempts:Continue reading Providers make obtaining a report of your transactions with them almost impossible
(via The Ad Contrarian website:Feb. 10th,2012) “…For years I have been trying to figure out what makes a good ad person better than an average ad person. There are some people who are just better at it than others. They seem to have an intuitive understanding of what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. They are not deluded by marketing cliches or expert opinions. They draw their conclusions from a kind of personal understanding rather than conventional wisdom. I’ve spent a lot of hours trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes them exceptional. My previous theories about this have been too intellectual. I have hypothesized that they have a deeper psychological understanding of human motivation. But I’ve never really been happy with this explanation. It seems very much like a tautology. Then the other night,slithering on hands and knees from the bed to the bathroom,it struck me. There’s a much simpler and more satisfying explanation. The attribute that makes people exceptional at advertising is that they’re better at noticing things. They’re good noticers. They notice what people really do. They notice what people have in their refrigerators. They notice the little lies that people tell themselves and each other. They notice the contradictions between attitudes and behaviors. They notice the small,seemingly irrelevant things that most people don’t notice.”
Published:February 9,2012Lately inequality has re-entered the national conversation. Occupy Wall Street gave the issue visibility,while the Congressional Budget Office supplied hard data on the widening income gap. And the myth of a classless society has been exposed:Among rich countries,America stands out as the place where economic and social status is most likely to be inherited. So you knew what was going to happen next. Suddenly,conservatives are telling us that it’s not really about money;it’s about morals. Never mind wage stagnation and all that,the real problem is the collapse of working-class family values,which is somehow the fault of liberals. But is it really all about morals? No,it’s mainly about money. To be fair,the new book at the heart of the conservative pushback,Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart:The State of White America,1960-2010,” does highlight some striking trends. Among white Americans with a high school education or less,marriage rates and male labor force participation are down,while births out of wedlock are up. Clearly,white working-class society has changed in ways that don’t sound good. But the first question one should ask is:Are things really that bad on the values front? Mr. Murray and other conservatives often seem to assume that the decline of the traditional family has terrible implications for society as a whole. This is,of course,a longstanding position. Reading Mr. Murray,I found myself thinking about an earlier diatribe,Gertrude Himmelfarb’s 1996 book,“The De-Moralization of Society:From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values,” which covered much of the same ground,claimed that our society was unraveling and predicted further unraveling as the Victorian virtues continued to erode. Yet the truth is that some indicators of social dysfunction have improved dramatically even as traditional families continue to lose ground. As far as I can tell,Mr. Murray never mentions either the plunge in teenage pregnancies among all racial groups since 1990 or the 60 percent decline in violent crime since the mid-90s. Could it be that traditional families aren’t as crucial to social cohesion as advertised? Still,something is clearly happening to the traditional working-class family. The question is what. And it is,frankly,amazing how quickly and blithely conservatives dismiss the seemingly obvious answer:A drastic reduction in the work opportunities available to less-educated men. Most of the numbers you see about income trends in America focus on households rather than individuals,which makes sense for some purposes. But when you see a modest rise in incomes for the lower tiers of the income distribution,you have to realize that all — yes,all — of this rise comes from the women,both because more women are in the paid labor force and because women’s wages aren’t as much below male wages as they used to be. For lower-education working men,however,it has been all negative. Adjusted for inflation,entry-level wages of male high school graduates have fallen 23 percent since 1973. Meanwhile,employment benefits have collapsed. In 1980,65 percent of recent high-school graduates working in the private sector had health benefits,but,by 2009,that was down to 29 percent. So we have become a society in which less-educated men have great difficulty finding jobs with decent wages and good benefits. Yet somehow we’re supposed to be surprised that such men have become less likely to participate in the work force or get married,and conclude that there must have been some mysterious moral collapse caused by snooty liberals. And Mr. Murray also tells us that working-class marriages,when they do happen,have become less happy;strange to say,money problems will do that. One more thought:The real winner in this controversy is the distinguished sociologist William Julius Wilson. Back in 1996,the same year Ms. Himmelfarb was lamenting our moral collapse,Mr. Wilson published “When Work Disappears:The New World of the Urban Poor,” in which he argued that much of the social disruption among African-Americans popularly attributed to collapsing values was actually caused by a lack of blue-collar jobs in urban areas. If he was right,you would expect something similar to happen if another social group — say,working-class whites — experienced a comparable loss of economic opportunity. And so it has. So we should reject the attempt to divert the national conversation away from soaring inequality toward the alleged moral failings of those Americans being left behind. Traditional values aren’t as crucial as social conservatives would have you believe — and,in any case,the social changes taking place in America’s working class are overwhelmingly the consequence of sharply rising inequality,not its cause.
By Derek McGee,The Nation
Posted on February 12,2012,Printed on February 13,2012The following article first appeared in the Nation magazine. For more great content from the Nation,sign up for its email newsletters. In late September 2001,I was living in a tent in Lower Manhattan with the 2nd Battalion,25th Marines,a reserve unit just outside the city. We were occupying Battery Park,which at the time served as the National Guard’s headquarters. “Guarding the guard,”we called it. The two weeks I spent there were profoundly affecting. There I was,at the center of the world,watching America at its finest,showing at once nearly impossible perseverance and limitless compassion. Generosity sprouted everywhere throughout New York City;people gave out food,shoe inserts,massages,coffee,flowers,hugs,kind words and anything you needed. I told someone I liked Red Bull,and hours later he came to my tent,dragging a handcart with eight cases of the stuff. I would slip one under each of the other marines’pillows while they slept,and when we woke up for guard duty I would say the Red Bull fairy had come. Exploring the city on my one afternoon off,I stumbled upon the Wall Street Bull. The smooth metal sculpture is stunning,always on the verge of some wild movement—a lunge or a charge,at the least,a bellow with a head toss. Too tarnished to be gold,too big to be a calf,it’s revered nonetheless. I would come fairly close to worshiping it myself years later. But for now,I just had my picture taken on top of it. From where I stood,the whole world seemed to feel empathy. It was one of the only times in my life that I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. Another time was when I was living under a bridge along the Euphrates River. A nearly ceaseless convoy rolled overhead. I wasn’t particularly keen on the invasion of Iraq,but if we had to have one,I knew I needed to be there with my fellow marines. A Subaru filled with reporters pulled up and offered us cigarettes to hasten our search of their car. “They’re just outside Baghdad,”they told us. The whole world is watching,I thought. But the last time I knew without a doubt that I was where I should be was on November 17,standing in the center of Zuccotti Park. We were corralled and outnumbered,with helicopters overhead and riot cops,tourists,media and disdainful bankers looking on. Yet for all the chaos,it felt like the whole world was suddenly awake—not just watching but thinking. In the decade between my occupation of Battery Park and Occupy Wall Street,I saw the country descend into fear and apathy. We became so afraid of Osama bin Laden and Muslims that we borrowed a trillion dollars to wage an unneeded war in Iraq (then forgot about it halfway through). I returned from Falluja in 2006 haunted by the sense that our country had made things worse,not better,for Iraqis. Meanwhile,at home,we’d let an invasive domestic intelligence apparatus go silently to work all around us. And as money dominated politics and bipartisanship degenerated into an impotent ruckus,we let our banks more or less start regulating themselves. It was this last bit that brought me back to Lower Manhattan. After Iraq I’d gone to work at Merrill Lynch,then worked doing corporate security for a firm on Wall Street. I knew enough to be critical of the financial industry. Yet when the first Occupiers converged downtown,I was dismissive. I didn’t have anything in common with those people,I thought. Then I saw a newspaper photo of someone holding a sign that read,Reinstate Glass-Steagall. Thank you,I thought. I’d been saying that since taking my stockbroker’s certification exam in 2007. Nobody had ever listened. I went down to Zuccotti Park. Continue reading A journey from Iraq to Wall Street
by Brad Johnson –Feb. 10th,2012 
By Brad Johnson Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. Any morally acceptable pathway to prevent catastrophic global warming includes broad access to affordable birth control for the world’s women. The conservative war on birth control is a war on women’s rights,and thus on the rights of us all. Human-made global warming is one of the most troubling symptoms of economic and social injustice around the planet,and the “countries in the developing world least responsible for the growing emissions are likely to experience the heaviest impact of climate change,with women bearing the greatest toll.” Researchers have found that empowering women to reduce unplanned pregnancies is one of the most cost-effective ways to combat greenhouse pollution,as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson discussed at the Durban climate conference last December: In addressing climate resilience,Robinson stressed the importance of focusing on health and burden impacts of climate change. One of the keys is access to reproductive health for women.
“The sexual and reproductive health and rights community should challenge the global architecture of climate change,and its technology focus,and shift the discussion to a more human-based,rights-based adaptation approach,” said a Lancet editorial in 2009. “Such a strategy would better serve the range of issues pivotal to improving the health of women worldwide.” “Increasing women’s reproductive rights should be at the heart of the climate discussion,in the same basket as strategies like increasing energy efficiency and researching new technologies,” Robert Engelman of Worldwatch said in 2010. As Nick Kristoff said in 2011,family planning is a solution to “climate change to poverty to civil wars,” but it has become a “victim of America’s religious wars.” The more world leaders focus on giving women and girls the tools of empowerment — access to family planning,education,and the political and economic system — the better future all of us will have. A world where women and girls have more power to manage their own fertility is a healthier world.
(Jagger/Richards) What a drag it is getting old
“Kids are different today”
I hear ev’ry mother say
Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though she’s not really ill
There’s a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper
And it helps her on her way,gets her through her busy day “Things are different today”
I hear ev’ry mother say
Cooking fresh food for a husband’s just a drag
So she buys an instant cake and she burns her frozen steak
And goes running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper
And two help her on her way,get her through her busy day Doctor please,some more of these
Outside the door,she took four more
What a drag it is getting old “Men just aren’t the same today”
I hear ev’ry mother say
They just don’t appreciate that you get tired
They’re so hard to satisfy,You can tranquilize your mind
So go running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper
And four help you through the night,help to minimize your plight Doctor please,some more of these
Outside the door,she took four more
What a drag it is getting old “Life’s just much too hard today,”
I hear ev’ry mother say
The pursuit of happiness just seems a bore
And if you take more of those,you will get an overdose
No more running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper
They just helped you on your way,through your busy dying day
(in reply …)by Pete Murphy –Feb. 11th,2012 http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/index I’ve started to write on this topic a couple of times in the past week or so,but have gotten hung up each time on trying to keep it brief. It’s just not a subject that lends itself to brevity. But,together with the fact that my book’s main theme is the need to stabilize and even reduce our population, the events of this morning have me fired up enough to just wade in with my two cents’ worth. First,while attending mass this morning,some guy felt it his duty to interrupt the service and educate the rest of us with a rant about “Obamacare” and the contraception mandate. Later,after returning home and switching on the TV,George Stephanopolous’s round table discussion on this topic on “This Week” on ABC pushed me over the edge. So the following are some random thoughts on the subject. First of all,there certainly is a valid concern about treading on the 1st amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom by mandating things that violate a religion’s beliefs. That said,it seems to me that there’s a lot of political opportunism here. The president was wrong to mandate that the Catholic Church pay for the cost of insurance coverage that includes contraception. But that concern was laid to rest when he shifted the burden to insurance companies and mandated that they offer it for free to anyone who wants it. The Church doesn’t pay for it,and no one takes advantage of it unless they want to. But that’s not good enough for them. Now it seems that the Church is over-reaching and is just as eager to trample people’s rights to make their own decisions about the use of contraception as they were eager to complain about their own rights being violated. Republicans need to be careful here. If the Church is perceived to be worried less about religious freedom and begins turning this into a fight over contraception,that’s a battle Obama would love to have,because it’s one he can’t lose.
Continue reading And finally…the end of posts on Contraceptive-Gate circa 2012
by rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) Visual source:NewseumJacob Hacker and Paul Pierson look at why Romney could actually be a very good,unifying candidate for president. Only they’re not talking about Mitt Romney. Is the younger Romney less concerned about economic fairness than was his late father,who helped create Michigan’s first income tax and famously returned a big bonus when he was chief executive of American Motors? Does Mitt’s cautious style reflect the bitter experience of George,whose 1968 presidential run collapsed after he used the term “brainwashing” to explain his early support for the Vietnam War?Such speculation can certainly be entertaining for political junkies hoping to glimpse the soul of a would-be president. However,the contrast between father and son reveals less about Mitt Romney’s state of mind than it does about America’s. If Mitt has a tin ear for the concerns of the needy,if he goes along with,rather than resists,the rightward turn of his party,he is simply mirroring the disturbing transformations of American business and politics in recent decades. In his public and private careers,the younger Romney has emulated the retreat of corporate elites and the Republican Party from the model of economic partnership and cross-party compromise that the elder Romney exemplified.
Continue reading If you’re going to play in this league,you’d better be quick
Sun Feb 12,2012 at 06:00 AM PST by Mark Sumner Follow for Daily Kos Share1298 There’s a mythology around politics,one that sees the ballot box and the floor of Congress as a battleground of ideas. In this star-spangled arena,progressives and conservatives square off in the competition to prove the worth of their opposing philosophies and the merit of their plans. Of course it’s not all high-minded rhetoric and reasoned discourse,there are selfish motives and personal ambitions,angry outbursts and plain old mistakes,but in the end the best ideas win out in the great experiment that is America! Cue the brass section and wave the flag. The truth is it was probably never that way. It doesn’t take much prompting for people to produce examples of nastiness in campaigns back Jefferson and Adams,or to revisit instances of corruption from decades or centuries gone by. We all know that Mr. Smith is a fictional character. However,just because it’s possible to unearth grizzled examples of ugliness doesn’t mean that the current season is not unique. Uniquely dangerous. And what makes it dangerous is the pretense that we’re still in that fantasyland were ideas arm wrestle for history’s approval. In fact,that time is long past. It’s not even that what’s now coming from the right consists of 100% emotional,fear-based appeals without a factual basis. In 2012,a campaign of suggestive fear-mongering seems almost quaint. It’s that the Republicans have staked out a position that requires that they lie,24/7,365. Not shade the facts their way. Not put their own spin on the situation. Lie. Big,sloppy,and constantly. The lies go beyond instantly dismissible claims like President Obama being the “food stamp president”(why you have to go back one whole administration to discover that more people joined the food stamp ranks under Bush than Obama,but then the Republicans don’t seem to remember Bush in any case). The blatant lies extend through every aspect of the Republican platform,such as it is. The simple reason is that the Republicans have no ideas left,at least no ideas that have not been tested and proven to be failures again,and again,and again.
Continue reading Sumner on the modern GOP
- (via ScienceSunday.com –Feb. 11th,2012)
Atlanta Business ChronicleDate:Thursday,February 9,2012,4:30pm EST 
SED International Q2 profit up to $3.8M SED International Holdings Inc. (AMEX:SED) The Tucker,Ga.-based supply chain management provider and distributor of computer technology,consumer electronics,small appliances and cellular products saw a big surge in second-quarter profit. - Sales:$150.9 million,down 3.8 percent
- Net Income:$3.8 million,up 330 percent
- Earnings Per Share:78 cents,up 333 percent
Jonathan Elster,SED president and CEO: “SED delivered strong bottom-line results,due primarily to robust holiday sales and a favorable product mix. The e-commerce segment,where we have made considerable investments,was a major driver of our holiday sales strength and our results benefitted from a more favorable product mix. While an industry-wide shortage of hard drives from a tragic natural disaster in Thailand resulted in lower revenues,margins improved due to the scarce supply and our careful management of the supply chain.”
(received via email today) Dear Richard , I am delighted to announce the conservative event of the year:the National Review 2012 Post-Election Cruise. STAR-STUDDED AND AFFORDABLE VOYAGE
Featuring over dozens of confirmed all-star conservative speakers (with many more expected to follow),this affordable trip—prices start at only $1,999 a person—will take place November 11–18,2012,aboard Holland America Line’s beautiful MS Nieuw Amsterdam. (You’ll find complete information at www.nrcruise.com). From politics and domestic policy to economics and foreign affairs—and of course the consequences of the 2012 elections—there’s so much to discuss,and that’s precisely what our array of premier conservative speakers,writers,and experts will do on the Nieuw Amsterdam,your floating luxury getaway for scintillating discussion of major current events and trends,and what a new (or same?!) occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will mean for America’s future. You could spend the week of November 11th raking leaves and cleaning gutters while you Monday morning quarterback the election results. Or,if you took the wiser course,you’ll be spending that week enjoying seven sunny days and cool nights sailing the balmy tropics,mixing and mingling with the crew of exemplary speakers we’ve assembled to make sense of politics and the day’s top issues.
Continue reading Wingnut cruise Nov. 11th -18th,2012 | |
Mrs. Reagan II
Mrs. Santorum
Mrs. Eisenhower
Ms. Coulter
Mrs. Truman
Ms. Malkin
Mrs. Roosevelt
Mrs. John McCain II
Mrs. Kennedy
Mrs. Reagan I
Mrs. Johnson
Mrs. Palin
Mrs. Carter
Mrs. Nixon
Mrs. Clinton
Mrs. Bush
Mrs. Obama
Mrs. Bush
Mrs. Kennedy 
