Wednesday, February 15, 2012 CONFIRMED: Koch & Microsoft-Funded Heartland Institute's 'Denier Curriculum Project' To Distort Climate Data (1 comments)
Questions about the authenticity of the leaked Heartland Institute documents are fading, as projects described therein are confirmed. Heartland's senior fellow James Taylor confirmed the existence of the climate-denier classroom curriculum project to ThinkProgress Green yesterday. Now, anti-science blogger Anthony Watts has confirmed that Heartland is funding his project to display weather station data, detailed in the leaked fundraising plan. In a comment at Andrew Montford's Bishop Hill blog, Watts claims there are no "nefarious motives" in his project
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Pregnancy bias is alive and well in America among employers - even though it is ILLEGAL
It's hard to imagine we still have to tell employers this today, but here goes: Pregnancy discrimination is illegal.
While it may sound obvious to some, blatant pregnancy bias is still alive and well in the workplace. A pregnant woman who applied for a job at a Subway franchise in Phoenix was told by a manager "we can't hire you because you're pregnant." Last month, she won punitive damages against the employer.
It's just one example of the types of flagrant pregnancy discrimination that the federal government is trying to stop.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 The Obama Coalition is Magically Reassembling Before Our Eyes
Matchup polls are pretty much useless this far ahead of an election, but Ron Brownstein points out something genuinely interesting about the internals of recent polls that match Barack Obama against Mitt Romney: Obama's support is almost precisely the same among various subgroups as it was in 2008. He seems to be very successfully reassembling the coalition that powered him to victory four years ago...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Even Republicans Want Employers to Cover Birth Control
Findings: 60 percent of Americans support the federal government requiring private health insurance plans cover the full costs of birth control. That includes 50 percent of Republicans, The Washington Post's Greg Sargent points out.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 The Fundamentals Now Favor Obama - Nate Silver
Given Mr. Obama's current approval ratings and consensus forecasts on the economy, he rates as about a 60 percent favorite to win the popular vote against Mitt Romney, with somewhat higher chances against any of the other Republicans running for the nomination. By contrast, in the November version of the model, Mr. Obama was an underdog to Mr. Romney, with a 40 percent chance of winning; the president's approval ratings were about 6 points lower then and economic forecasts were somewhat more pessimistic.
The model also measures the strength of Mr. Obama's potential opponents on the basis of an ideology score -- the empirical evidence is fairly clear, in my view, that opponents who are closer to the center of the electorate are more likely to outperform the fundamentals than those that are more toward the wings.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Super PAC Cash Flows from a Handful of States
Following a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, any entity, be it an individual, union, or company, is now able to make unlimited contributions to so-called Super PACs (more formally known as Independent Expenditure-Only Committees) to specifically advocate for or against federal candidates as long as they do not explicitly coordinate with those candidates' campaigns. MapLight has conducted an analysis of the nearly $100 million in contributions made to Super PACs in 2011, broken down by state.
Based on data provided by California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting, MapLight has found that, between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2011, over two-thirds of all reported Super PAC contributions have come from just four states and the District of Columbia.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Mitt Romney Soon to Be America's Most Hated Man
I don't really have anything insightful to say about this, just that it's an astonishing chart. Mitt Romney's favorability rating has been in complete free fall since early January. If the Republican primary lasts another few months, he's going to be about as popular as your average dinnertime telemarketer.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Rick Santorum's Wife Karen Sued Doctor For $500,000, Despite Senator's Calls For Tort Reform
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has advocated capping medical malpractice awards at $250,000, but in 1999, his wife sued her doctor over a back injury and asked for twice that amount
As ABC News reports, Santorum's wife, Karen, sued a Virginia-based chiropractor for half-a-million dollars for allegedly bungling a spinal adjustment.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Santorum Blames Wife for Anti-Working Woman Book Passage
Santorum throws wife under the bus... Rick Santorum says women shouldn't serve in combat, but he's happy to have his wife jump on a grenade for him. When ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked the presidential candidate about a passage of his 2005 book -- "The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness" -- Santorum claimed his wife wrote the passage. But as The New York Times' Brian Knowlton points out, Karen Santorum's name isn't on the cover of the It Takes a Family, and she's not listed in his acknowledgments of people "who assisted me in the writing of this book." ... David Gregory also asked Santorum about the line from the book. He took the question further -- would Santorum allow single women to work in his administration? Santorum laughed and said there were... Hypocrite.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Met probes claims that Sun paid some public officials more than 10k a year
The Scotland Yard investigation into alleged illegal payments by Sun journalists to police and other public officials is looking into claims that some individuals received more than £10,000 a year and were "effectively on retainer". News Corporation's controversial internal unit passing information about alleged illegal practices by News International journalists to the Metropolitan police believes it has uncovered evidence of "serious suspected criminality over a sustained period" by some public officials supplying information to the Sun.
The revelation will almost certainly mean that Rupert Murdoch, the New York-based News Corp chairman and chief executive, will not seek to rein in the management and standards committee when he arrives in London on Friday for what are now almost certain to be crisis talks with News International management.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Murdoch's Circle: The Growing News International Scandal
From phone hacking to bribery, the corruption at News International has involved many players -- increasingly, ones close to Rupert Murdoch. We've mapped out the players involved in this growing debacle, organized by their proximity to Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and other senior staff.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 The Secret, Koch Brothers and Microsoft Funded Plan To Teach Elementary School Children That Climate Change Is A Hoax (8 comments)
Internal documents reveal that the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank funded by the Koch brothers, Microsoft, and other top corporations, is planning to develop a "global warming curriculum" for elementary schoolchildren that presents climate science as "a major scientific controversy." This effort, at a cost of $100,000 a year, will be developed by Dr. David E. Wojick, a coal-industry consultant.
"Principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective," Heartland's confidential 2012 fundraising document bemoans. The group believes that Wojick's project has "potential for great success," because he has "contacts at virtually all the national organizations involved in producing, certifying, and promoting scientific curricula."
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Private Prison Corporation Offers Cash In Exchange For State Prisons | Mandates 90% Prison Occupancy
As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact.
Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full, according to a copy of the letter obtained by HuffPo. The move reflects a significant shift in strategy for the private prison industry, which until now has expanded by building prisons of its own or managing state-controlled prisons. It also represents an unprecedented bid for more control of state prison systems.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Romney Gives Bush Neocons Another Chance - 15 of 22 Advisors Worked At PNAC (1 comments)
As Rachel Maddow reported this Friday, on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, Mitt Romney decided to announce the members of his national security advisory team, and as she noted, of the twenty two people he named, fifteen of them are people who worked on foreign policy for the George W. Bush administration, and around a half dozen of them are former members of the neoconservative think tank and now defunct, PNAC, or The Project for the New American Century.
Apparently Mitt Romney thinks it's a good idea to make all that's old new again with bringing in a bunch of neoconservative war mongers to advise him on matters of national security. If Mitt Romney thinks running as George W. Bush 2.0 on national security issues with the mood of the country being what it is right now after all the money and lives that have been wasted...
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Company sells Mitt Romney condoms for the 'elite penis'
Perfect for those who can't keep politics out of the bedroom, a new range of Mitt Romney condoms was launched this week, aimed at anyone with an "elitist penis."
Mitt Romney condoms have become a best seller since their launch earlier this week by Say It With a Condom. com. Already proving more popular than the rival Obama Stimulus Package, the novelty Romney condoms are designed for "Anyone with an elitist penis."
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Find Every Public Radio Station During Long Journeys With NPR Road Trip
Driving across America soon? Know what station carries public radio programs for every mile of your journey, thanks to NPR's Road Trip tool. You'll get turn-by-turn directions from Bing along with the name and frequency of all the NPR stations you'll be able to listen to every mile of your trip.
Stop "scanning" and go straight to the station you're looking for.
If you're a fan of public radio you know it's the perfect companion for long road trips across the USA. Not only does a day of public radio teach you more than an average day in university, it also makes any trip go quickly by being consistently interesting.
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Sunday News Shows Overwhelmingly White And Male: Study
A new study confirms, yet again, one of the more troubling features of the Sunday morning talk shows: that they are dominated by white men.
The study, released by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts this week, is part of a new initiative by a wide coalition of Latino groups to bring more diversity to the Sunday shows. The NHFA tabulated every guest and commentator on "This Week," "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation" and "Fox News Sunday" from March-November of 2011
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Rupert Murdoch is flying to London after five of Sun's most senior staff are arrested for bribing public servants
Five Sun newspaper journalists have been arrested as part of Operation Elveden, the police inquiry into alleged inappropriate payments to public servants. Latest arrests could intensify the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation into News Corp in the US and further endanger Murdoch's News Corp's media empire. A 39-year-old female employee at Britain's defense ministry, a 36-year-old male member of the armed forces and a 39-year-old serving police officer with Surrey Police, were also arrested, police said.
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Attacks on Disclosure - For Some Citizens United Did Not Go Far Enough In Allowing Secret Donations
A major premise of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling is that prompt disclosure of campaign contributions can allow voters to judge whether candidates are " "in the pocket' of so-called money interests." But the huge amount of cash funneled through "super PACs" by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals -- whose identities are often hidden behind shell entities -- makes a mockery of this notion. Now many lawsuits across the country are seeking to gut even limited disclosure laws in states like Maine, Florida and West Virginia. James Bopp Jr., who initiated the Citizens United case, is a prime mover behind cases attacking disclosure.
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston rightly upheld the disclosure requirement of Maine's campaign finance law against a challenge by Mr. Bopp and others...
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Who Is Foster Friess? Seven Facts You Need To Know About Santorum's Sugar Daddy
Foster Friess, the multi-millionaire financial investor who--until recently--was practically single-handedly bankrolling Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, has a long history supporting Republican candidates and conservative causes. And unlike some of his fellow mega-donors like the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson, Friess has never tried all that hard to hide his intentions or methods.
On his personal YouTube page, more than a dozen sparsely-viewed videos show Friess discussing his philanthropic endeavors as well as his thoughts on President Obama, health care reform and the cause of the economic crisis. Here's a look at some of the more interesting things about Friess that you may not know...
Saturday, February 11, 2012 CIA website hacked in attack 'claimed' by Anonymous
The Central Intelligence Agency website was brought down for several hours in what appeared to be a concerted attack by hackers.
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Get US Conference of Catholic Bishops off the US taxpayer dole!
That is right, you might think they are standing up for the "poor and vulnerable," but they are standing up for the millions of federal dollars they receive to run not only their field operations through Catholic Charities but their Washington, DC lobbying office funded by you! 2009 USCCB annual report tells the story...check out the USCCB Office of Migration and Refugee Services annual report here. Note that in an overall annual income stream of $62 million, $58 million comes from the taxpayer! Only $1.3 million comes from collections taken up during mass. Get off the tit Bishops!!
Saturday, February 11, 2012 Who Are the 271 Celibate Men Trying to Control the Sex Lives of American Women While Harboring Pedophiles?
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- which today called for contraception coverage to be removed from the Affordable Care Act -- is comprised of 271 active and 185 retired bishops. This institution -- which has included and harbored known pedophiles -- is now attempting to control American women through their uteruses (and save themselves a little money in the process).
The Conference of Bishops pretends to speak on behalf of American Catholics while it puts the health and well-being of women, children and families at risk.
It's time to take off the white sheet off and expose the truth.
Friday, February 10, 2012 REPORT: By A Nearly 2 To 1 Margin, Cable Networks Call On Men Over Women To Comment On Birth Control
President Obama's regulation mandating that health insurance plans offer free birth control is an issue that most directly affects women. And yet, the cable news chatter over this controversy has been driven mostly by men, according to a new ThinkProgress analysis.
From Monday through Thursday evening, the leading cable news channels -- Fox, Fox Business, MSNBC, and CNN -- invited almost twice as many men as women onto their shows to discuss contraceptive coverage.
Out of a total of 146 guests who discussed contraception, the cables invited 91 men compared to 55 women as commentators. In other words, males comprised 62 percent of the total guests who commented on contraception. Fox was the most gender stratified network -- on the Business network, 10 of 11 guests were male; on the News side, male pundits took up 65 percent of the guest lineup (28 men vs. 15 women)...
Friday, February 10, 2012 Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) faces insider-trading investigation
The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who holds one of the most influential positions in the House, has been a frequent trader on Capitol Hill, buying stock options while overseeing the nation's banking and financial services industries.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Contraception Accommodation: Insurers Will Be Required To Offer Birth Control Free Of Charge
Senior administration officials announced early this morning that President Obama will announce a new "accommodation" for religious liberties in the rule requiring all employers to offer contraception coverage without additional cost sharing. Under the new policy, "all women will still have access to free preventive care, including contraception," no matter where they work. However, if a nonprofit religiously affiliated organization like a Catholic college or hospital objects to offering birth control, the insurance company will be required to provide the coverage free of charge and the employer will not pay for it. Sister Carol Keehan, President of the US Catholic Health Association and Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards support the compromise, the administration officials said.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Koch Charity Aiding WI Gov. Scott Walker in Recall
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt "charitable organization" is in the midst of a $700,000 campaign aimed at supporting embattled Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) in his upcoming recall election. By not explicitly naming Walker in the ads touting his reforms, they may be narrowly avoiding a federal law that says (c)(3) organizations may "not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates."
In 2010, Americans for Prosperity, the group's affiliated 501(c)(4) tax-exempt "social welfare" organization spent more than $1.3 million on electioneering. When the group told the IRS in its annual disclosure that it does not engage in political activity, tax experts questioned whether the group was complying with the laws governing nonprofits.
Charles and David Koch are major funders of Americans for Prosperity.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Gov. Scott Walker To Use Foreclosure Settlement Money To Balance His Budget, Not Help Homeowners (1 comments)
Yesterday, 49 states joined the federal government in announcing a $26 billion settlement with five of the nation's biggest banks over the banks' foreclosure fraud abuses. The money from the settlement is meant to aid homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure or who find themselves underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth.
However, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) -- whose high profile assault on workers' rights has prompted a recall effort against him -- isn't planning to use the money to help homeowners. Under the terms of the settlement, Wisconsin is set to receive $140 million, $31.6 million of which comes directly to the state government. And Walker is planning to use $25.6 million of that money to help balance his state's budget.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Mitt Romney Legitimizing White Nationalists at CPAC
This year, among the participants in the conference is Peter Brimelow and Robert Vandervoort. Brimelow is the founder and head of the White Nationalist hate website VDARE, a site known for publishing the works of racist and anti-Semitic authors. Robert Vandervoort is the director of ProEnglish, an English-only group, and is a former leader of the White Nationalist group Chicagoland Friends of the American Renaissance.
These aren't just your average conservative activists. They have actively pushed the idea that our diversity is killing us, that Jews are destroying the American white majority, and that non-white immigrants are the cause for our economic problems.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Obama Birth Control Compromise In Works
One idea that has been mentioned is the "Hawaii model," by which an employer who morally objects to contraception could opt out and inform its female employees where they can get that coverage outside of the employee health plan. In Hawaii, women who decide to directly pay the insurer out of pocket for contraception coverage are not allowed to be charged more than they would pay for their company plan.
ABC News reports that President Barack Obama's compromise would not go as far as the Hawaii plan, but would involve a third-party health company helping to provide contraception coverage. It actually makes financial sense for insurance companies to cover birth control, ABC's Jake Tapper notes, because unwanted pregnancies and resulting complications cost more than contraception and sterilization.
Friday, February 10, 2012 Santorm, watch "Lioness:" A doc about an elite team of women soldiers on the frontlines in Iraq (1 comments)
Lioness tells the story of a group of female Army support soldiers who were part of the first program in American history to send women into direct ground combat. Without the same training as their male counterparts but with a commitment to serve as needed, these young women fought in some of the bloodiest counterinsurgency battles of the Iraq war and returned home as part of this country's first generation of female combat veterans. Lioness makes public, for the first time, their hidden history.
Told through intimate accounts, journal excerpts, archival footage, as well as interviews with military commanders, the film follows five Lioness women who served together for a year in Iraq. With captivating detail, this probing documentary reveals the unexpected consequences that began by using these Army women to defuse tensions with local civilians, but resulted in their fighting...
Thursday, February 9, 2012 Brilliant Democratic State Senator Tacks 'Every Sperm is Sacred' Clause to Oklahoma's Personhood Bill (2 comments)
Undaunted by the monumental failure of Personhood USA's push to declare fertilized human eggs exactly the same as grown ass adults in Mississippi, conservatives in Oklahoma have pushed forward with their own Personhood Bill. But one Democratic smartass isn't having it, and she finds the whole thing so absurd that she tacked on an amendment of her own that would outlaw the spilling of semen in any location other than a woman's vagina.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Enjoying health insurance coverage that pay for contraception, GOP enters fracas to take benefits from others
Republican congressional leaders are entering the fray over the Obama administration's weeks-old decision to require employer-provided health insurance to cover contraception, including for some religious organizations that don't employ a majority of people of that faith. The decision has been a hot topic on the campaign trail in recent days, but today, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) took the House floor to slam it, calling it an "unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country" and vowed to repeal the regulation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had a similarly sharp indictment yesterday. But missed in this debate is the fact Boehner and McConnell's own health insurance plans covers contraception, something they now want to deny to others.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Mississippi Legislator Proposes Renaming Gulf Of Mexico As 'Gulf Of America'
Mississippi state Rep. Steve Holland (D) has introduced a bill that in Mississippi, would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." According to HB 150, "For all official purposes within the State of Mississippi, the body of water that is located directly south of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties shall be known as the "Gulf of America.'" The Mississippi House's Marine Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the bill, and if it is approved by the legislature, Mississippi would begin recognizing the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" on July 1. How many jobs does this create?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Oops!! Mitt Romney Is Financially Invested In The Birth Control He Seeks To Restrict
an examination of Romney's financial investments reveals that the very same GOP frontrunner who is now petitioning the White House to extend the regulation's conscience clause and exclude more women from the benefits of birth control is himself invested in and profiting from pharmaceutical companies that produce the frequently prescribed and extremely common medication:
Romney's Goldman Sachs 2002 Exchange Place Fund, valued at over a million dollars in 2010, brought in nearly $600,000 in gains in 2010 and is invested in:
- Watson Pharmaceuticals: manufacturer of nine forms of emergency contraception (which Romney incorrectly identifies as "abortifacients").
- Johnson & Johnson: launched the first U.S. prescription birth control product in 1931 and produces various forms of birth control.
- Merck: produces various forms of birth control
- Mylan: produces birth control medication...
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 DocX Indicted by Grand Jury on Robo-Signing/Foreclosure Fraud Charges in Missouri
One of the largest companies that provided home foreclosure services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury -- one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners. A grand jury in Boone County, Mo., handed up an indictment Friday accusing DocX of 136 counts of forgery in the preparation of documents used to evict financially strained borrowers from their homes. Lorraine O. Brown, the company's founder and former president, was indicted on the same charges. Employees of DocX, a unit of Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Fla., executed and notarized millions of mortgage documents for big banks and loan servicers over the years. Lender Processing closed the company in April 2010, after evidence emerged of apparent forgeries in these documents, a practice now called robo-signing.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Many Catholic Universities, Hospitals Already Cover Contraception In Their Health Insurance Plans (1 comments)
Catholic leaders and the GOP prez candidates have intentionally distorted the Obama admin's new rule requiring employers and insurers to provide reproductive health benefits at no additional cost sharing. Conservatives are seeking a way to politically unite GOP voters around a social issue and portray the regulation as a big government intrusion into religious liberties. In reality, the mandate is modeled on existing rules in 6 states, exempts houses of worship and other religious nonprofits that primarily employ and serve people of faith, and offers employers a transitional period of 1 year to determine how best to comply with the rule. It's also nothing new. 28 states already require organizations that offer prescription insurance to cover contraception and since 98% of Catholic women use birth control, many Catholic institutions offer the benefit to their employees. See list:
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Senior Gingrich Campaign Official Scrubbed Infidelity, Tiffany Credit Line From Wikipedia Page
Newt Gingrich loves technology, but apparently it doesn't always love him back enough on its own and sometimes needs encouragement.
Gingrich has already been caught vastly inflating his Twitter following with phony accounts, and now CNN now reports that the campaign's communications director, Joe DeSantis, has been aggressively making dozens of edits of Gingrich's Wikipedia page. DeSantis has attempted to scrub or embellish embarrassing information about Gingrich's marital troubles, House ethics investigation, and $500,000 Tiffany credit line:
Wikipedia records show DeSantis has made over 60 adjustments to entries in the online, publicly-edited encyclopedia to the biographical entry on Gingrich, the similar page on his wife, Callista, and a separate page on one of their books, Rediscovering Good in America. [...]
Monday, February 6, 2012 "We the People' Loses Appeal With People Around the World - US Constitution Out Of Favor (4 comments)
The Constitution has seen better days. Sure, it is the nation's founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning. In 1987, on the Constitution's bicentennial, Time magazine calculated that "of the 170 countries that exist today, more than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S. version." A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different. "The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere..." The study, to be published in June in The New York University Law Review, bristles with data. Its authors coded and analyzed the provisions of 729 constitutions adopted by 188 countries from 1946 to 2006, and they considered 237 variables regarding various rights and ways to enforce them.
Monday, February 6, 2012 How to Score a Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Deal
Once again we're hearing that a foreclosure fraud deal is about to be announced between major banks, the US government, and most or all of the states. We've heard that before, only to have the deadline pushed back so that holdout Attorneys General can be brought on board with the agreement.
Deal, or no deal? We're not sure, but it's certainly possible we'll hear something today, tonight, or tomorrow.
How will we know if it's a good deal for the American people? After all, this is an issue with a lot of moving parts. It includes all of the states and multiple agencies within the Federal government, and involves a multitude of allegations involving several different kinds of crime that come under different jurisdictions. Even the statutes of limitations are a moving target. That doesn't mean we don't know enough to judge the deal...
Monday, February 6, 2012 Pentagon Whistleblower: Truth, lies and Afghanistan
BY LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS
How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding and behind an array of more than seven years of optimistic statements by U.S. senior leaders in Afghanistan? No one expects our leaders to always have a successful plan. But we do expect — and the men who do the living, fighting and dying deserve — to have our leaders tell us the truth about what’s going on.
Monday, February 6, 2012 MAPS: The Consequences Of Voting On Civil Rights
Opponents of marriage equality, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), have emphasized lately that they believe the issue of same-sex marriage should be put to a popular vote. Besides an excuse to completely cede responsibility for the matter, the argument also calls into question whether society benefits by advancing civil rights through referenda.
BuzzFeed took a look at where states stood on past civil rights issues to show how differently history would have played out if the same methodology had been applied to them. Here are maps that show how divided states were on slavery, women's suffrage, integrated education, and interracial marriage before national decisions advanced those issues, and finally, where they currently stand on recognizing same-sex relationships. Maps at the jump...
Monday, February 6, 2012 Why Hasn't Anyone at Komen Resigned Yet? Handel DOES resign!
The latest nail in the shiny pink coffin containing Komen's credibility came yesterday, when the Huffington Post's Laura Bassett revealed that sources within Komen showed her emails proving that Handel was behind Planned Parenthood's defunding... Apparently Handel was positive that if Komen simply framed the defunding as a rule change, everyone would just accept whatever she said and just go blithely on their merry way. For being a "pro woman" organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure's leadership sure seems to think women are stupid. And before Komen gets back to curing breast cancer, they better cure their own case of bullshit. This is no longer an issue of funding or not funding Planned Parenthood-- this is an issue of an institutional dishonesty and ham-fisted attempts to obscure an obvious political agenda.
Monday, February 6, 2012 Saul Alinsky, Who? | BillMoyers.com
And now, a word about a good American being demonized, despite being long dead. Saul Alinsky is not around to defend himself, but that hasn't kept Newt Gingrich from using his name to whip up the froth and frenzy of his followers, whose ignorance of the man is no deterrence to their eagerness, at Gingrich's behest, to tar and feather him posthumously.
Monday, February 6, 2012 Study: Ultrasounds Do Not Influence Women's Decisions On Abortion
Republican lawmakers in VA are the latest to push for an ultrasound bill that will mandate that women seeking abortions undergo medically-unnecessary sonograms before they can end their pregnancies. But two ongoing studies provide further evidence that such laws are a waste of taxpayer money and do little to influence women's choices. Later this year, the University of Calif project Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) will publish findings from two studies that conclude "that viewing an abortion is not an indication that a woman will cancel her scheduled procedure, regardless of what emotional response the sonogram elicits," according to the American Independent. Six states already require women seeking abortions to first have ultrasounds, and last year the TX legislature went even farther, mandating that women must also hear a description of the sonogram image.
Monday, February 6, 2012 House GOP Memo: "Abortion Is the Leading Cause of Death in the Black Community" | Bill Targets Black Women
Mean Old White Republican Mem still obsessed with women parts... A House GOP memo obtained by Mother Jones argues for a controversial "prenatal discrimination bill" by referring to "black abortions" as distinct from abortions in general and claiming that "abortion is the leading cause of death in the black community." The memo (PDF) was circulated by Republicans on the House judiciary committee on Monday in advance of Tuesday's markup of Rep. Trent Franks' (R-Ariz.) Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act.
Franks' bill, which is also known as H.R. 3514, didn't make it out of committee when it was introduced in the last Congress. But the fact that it's now receiving a markup--a key step on the way to a floor vote--and that 78 cosponsors have signed on suggest that it could proceed to a vote of the full House before November's elections. In addition...
Monday, February 6, 2012 Exclusive: "Exciting" Public Opinion Study Debunks Claim Al Gore Polarized the Climate Debate and Many Other Myths
Public Opinion Driven Largely by Media Coverage and Cues from Politicians and Other Authorities. Obama's Silence Matters "Very Much." A must-read study published Monday in the journal Climatic Change debunks some pervasive myths about public opinion and climate change. Here are some of the key findings from "Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002--2010 ³:
"" media coverage of climate change and elite cues from politicians and advocacy groups are among the most prominent drivers of the public perception of the threat associated with climate change"
"The greater the quantity of media coverage of climate change, the greater the level of public concern." Continued...
Monday, February 6, 2012 Top Obama counterterrorism official: Drone critics are Al Qaeda enablers
The New York Times" Scott Shane reported this morning on the Bureau of Investigative Journalism study I wrote about yesterday, detailing that the U.S. drone program, as the NYT put it, "repeatedly targeted rescuers who responded to the scene of a strike, as well as mourners at subsequent funerals." Shane's article contains this paragraph:
A senior American counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, questioned the report's findings, saying "targeting decisions are the product of intensive intelligence collection and observation." The official added: "One must wonder why an effort that has so carefully gone after terrorists who plot to kill civilians has been subjected to so much misinformation. Let's be under no illusions -- there are a number of elements who would like nothing more than to malign these efforts and help Al Qaeda succeed."
Monday, February 6, 2012 Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals
A "Bureau of Investigative Journalism" Report: The CIA's drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed. The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a "targeted, focused effort' that "has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.' ... But research by the Bureau has found that since Obama took office three years ago, between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed including more than 60 children. A three month investigation including eye witness reports has found evidence that at least 50 were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners.
Sunday, February 5, 2012 I Will Not Be Pinkwashed: Komen's Race Is For Money, Not Cure (1 comments)
Outrageous salaries, drug company ties, and less than a dime of every dollar looks for a cure. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a multimillion-dollar company with assets totaling over $390 million. Only 20.9% of these funds were reportedly used in the 2009-2010 fiscal year for research “for the cure.” Where does the rest of the money go? Let’s have a look. Health screening is 13.0%. Treatment is 5.6%. Fundraising is 10.0%. The largest chunk of the pie is going toward “public health education,” 39.1%. More on that later, but for now I’d like to take a look at the millions, or 11.3%, spent on “administrative costs.”
Sunday, February 5, 2012 New Film Takes on Komen Foundation and 'Breast Cancer Industry'
With the most fortunate timing a political doc can ever hope for, Pink Ribbons Inc. opens in Canada today and will soon be slated for US dates.
A feature documentary based on Dr. Samantha King's book Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, the film takes the Susan G. Komen Foundation to task for its fiscal management and marketing alliances with multinational corporations and argues that the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause," has been hijacked by a shiny, pink story of success.
As the doc recounts, breast cancer has become the poster child of corporate cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. These days you can row and jump for the cause. You can be a warrior in pink by driving a Ford you've pumped with pink gasoline, tote a pink hand gun...
Sunday, February 5, 2012 Ari Fleischer to advise Susan G. Komen charity on Planned Parenthood PR disaster
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer will help the Susan G. Komen foundation deal with its decision to halt grants to Planned Parenthood and the subsequent PR disaster, according to the Washington Post.
Sunday, February 5, 2012 Did Obama make the economy worse? Not according to most statistics (1 comments)
In fact, most of the economic numbers don't support Romney's claim.
For example, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that the economic stimulus Obama signed into law added -- in the 4th quarter of 2009 -- between 1 million and 2 million employed workers and boosted the GDP between 1.5% to 3.5% higher than it would have been without the stimulus.
In addition, a more recent CBO study -- for the second quarter of 2011 -- found that the stimulus raised real GDP between 0.8% and 2.5% and lowered the unemployment rate between 0.5 and 1.6 percentage points, compared with what would have occurred without it.
And another analysis, by economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi, estimated that the stimulus raised 2010 real GDP by 3.4%, held the unemployment rate about 1.5 percentage points lower, and added nearly 2.7 jobs to U.S. payrolls.
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Europe Rises Up Against ACTA - Outbreaks Overwhelming (1 comments)
The widespread protests against the anti-democracy bill ACTA by the Polish people have forced Poland's prime minister to stall -- or perhaps even back out -- of the treaty. As TechDirt notes:
Following the growing protests about ACTA in Europe, as well as signs of US meddling, Poland's prime minister is making it clear that Poland will not ratify ACTA for the time being, leading to speculation that the EU may not actually join ACTA.
Tusk's backtracking could spell the end of ACTA for the entire European Union. If Poland or any other EU member state, or the European Parliament itself, fails to ratify the document, it becomes null and void across the union. As it stands, there are already five member countries that have not even signed ACTA.
"I share the opinions of those who from the beginning said that consultations were not complete," Tusk said, according to a report...
Saturday, February 4, 2012 UPDATE: Komen confirms continued involvement of Ari Fleischer on Planned Parenthood strategy
Yesterday, ThinkProgress exclusively reported Ari Fleischer's involvement -- dating back at least to December -- with the Komen Foundation, including issues related to Planned Parenthood. Tonight, the Washington Post reports that Komen is now publicly confirming that Fleischer, a prominent right-wing pundit and former press secretary for George W. Bush, will help "on crisis communications" related to Planned Parenthood. Komen stressed that Fleischer, who is a long-time critic of Planned Parenthood, "had nothing to do with the funding decision."
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Susan G. Komen's priceless gift
A radical decision woke the country up to an alarming rightward drift, and gave new life to women's health advocacy
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Komen Halted Funding for $12 Million in Stem Cell Research Like We Wouldn't Notice [UPDATED]
Now, that Susan G. Komen for the Cure has sufficiently pissed off progressives, they've changed course and reinstated existing grants to Planned Parenthood, pissing off the anti-abortion crew they'd initially been trying to appease. But before Komen was loudly defunding-- and then reinstating funding for-- Planned Parenthood, they were stealthily defunding organizations that associate with embryonic stem cell research. And the financial damage from this iteration of their pro-life ideology totals in the millions.
When Komen messed with Planned Parenthood, they messed with an organization with millions of vocal supporters tired of seeing the health care provider being politically stigmatized. But when Komen's newly Karen Handel flavored muscle messed with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of Kansas, the US National Cancer Institute, the Society for Women's...
Saturday, February 4, 2012 ANALYSIS: Obama Reproductive Health Reg Mirrors State Conscience Protections
The Catholic Bishops and their Republican allies argue that the Obama administration's regulation requiring insurers and employers to offer reductive health coverage at no additional cost sharing is an "unprecedented attack on religious liberties" that will force houses of worships to sacrifice deeply held beliefs. In reality, the rule, part of the Affordable Care Act, exempts houses of worship and other religious nonprofits that primarily employ and serve people of the same faith. But religious groups contend that its conscience protections are too narrow.
A closer examination of the Obama provision, however, reveals that the conscience language closely mirrors the existing provisions in at least five states. Twenty-eight states already require employers, including most religiously affiliated institutions, to cover contraception...
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Indiana Sec. of State Convicted On Voter Fraud Charges
The long saga of Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White (R) isn't over yet -- but it now it includes a conviction on 6 felony charges. White, the top elections official in his state, was indicted last March on charges that he lied about where he lived to remain on the voter rolls in the Fishers, IN district where he served on the city council along with other related charges. On Friday, he was convicted on 6 out of 7 felony charges and was immediately replaced by a new interim director.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the conviction may not be the end of this time at the top of the state's electoral law enforcement strucuture.
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Black Americans Given 60% Longer Sentences than White Americans for Same Crimes
A new academic study of 58,000 federal criminal cases has found significant disparities in sentencing for blacks and whites arrested for the same crimes. The research led to the conclusion that African-Americans' jail time was almost 60% longer than white sentences... The report concludes that sentence disparities "can be almost completely explained by three factors: the original arrest offense, the defendant's criminal history, and the prosecutor's initial choice of charges."
Friday, February 3, 2012 British Parliament launches inquiry into private investigators after phone hacking scandal
Parliament has launched an inquiry into private investigators, after intense scrutiny of the industry during the Leveson inquiry into press ethics.
The Commons home affairs select committee will question senior Metropolitan police officers and the information commissioner next week about the controversial sector.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affair select committee, said: "Recent high profile events, such as the phone-hacking scandal, have thrown light on the sometimes shady world of private investigators. Despite this the industry still remains entirely unregulated."
Friday, February 3, 2012 Europe tries to shield homeless from deep freeze
Russia and Ukraine took extra precautions on Friday to protect homeless people during a brutal cold snap, ordering new facilities and medical care after scores of people have frozen to death on the streets of Europe.
As the death toll from the past week rose to at least 175 on Friday, Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the creation of facilities nationwide to feed and provide medical assistance to the homeless.
The weeklong freeze -- Eastern Europe's worst in decades -- is causing power outages, frozen water pipes and widespread closure of schools, nurseries, airports and bus routes.
Other parts of Europe experienced frigid temperatures unseen in years. A roundup...
Friday, February 3, 2012 How the GOP Is Resegregating the South
Ari Berman posts an intelligent and comprehensive article on the GOPs success gerrymandering the South with the use of "bleaching" and "packing" following the 2010 Census effectively isolating African-American voters in heavily majority-black districts, reducing or eliminating their influence in majority-white districts.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Virginia's Republican Controlled Senate Committee Rejects Restrictive Abortion Bill | ThinkProgress
The Republican controlled Virginia Senate committee has voted down legislation that would have forbidden women from having abortions after the fetus has reached 20-weeks gestational age. "The proposed 20-week limit was predicated on the assumption that fetuses can feel pain beyond 20 weeks, but other citations suggest that does not occur until at least 24 weeks, or roughly the beginning of the third trimester." Initially, the committee was deadlocked on the bill, the vote stalling at 7-7, but were in the end swayed after hearing testimony from a woman who had decided to have a late-term abortion after the proposed 20-week cutoff upon learning her child would be born with a myriad of health issues that would have ultimately bankrupted her family. Just two weeks ago, however, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced similar legislation in Congress.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Ranking Member Waxman Requests Information on Indiana Lobbying Efforts on Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman sent a letter to Mrs. Deborah Hohlt, who, according to lobbying disclosure documents filed with the U.S. Senate, was retained by the State of Indiana to lobby regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Given that the proposed pipeline route would not pass through or nearby the State of Indiana, nor does it appear that Indiana would particularly benefit from any economic activities associated with the construction of the pipeline, Rep. Waxman is requesting a briefing in order to better understand the State's unusual interest in Keystone XL. In addition, TransCanada has predicted that oil prices would increase in Indiana and other Midwestern states as a result of the Keystone XL pipeline project.
The full text of the letter is below and also available online.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Mayor Seems To Contradict Gov. Jan Brewer's Story On Obama Run-In
President Obama didn't exactly walk away from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) during their disagreement on Wednesday on an airport tarmac near Phoenix, said one of the only people to witness the exchange up close. The president simply began talking to the other two elected officials who were there to greet him.
Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Ariz., declined to say exactly what he heard Obama and Brewer talk about during their now-infamous tiff next to Air Force One.
But the mayor said he was standing right next to the governor when the exchange took place and Obama didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry to leave.
"There was no sense that he was running to or from anything," Smith told TPM. In fact, he said, the president stayed and had a pleasant conversation with Smith, who's a Republican, and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Bait And Switch: GOP Leaders Renege On Debt Limit Deal Defense Cuts (7 comments)
GOP bails on promise to activate cross-the-board spending cuts required when Super Committee failed to strike a deal. Boehner is pressuring the White House to let Republicans off the hook for the piece of the deficit enforcement mechanism that was designed to make them negotiate in good faith. And Democrats are furious.
Friday, February 3, 2012 AZ Gov Jan Brewer Pledged Cash For Immigration Fight, Instead Spent It Buying Copies Of Her Own Book
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) launched a special fundraising political action committee in October, pledging to use the money to fight illegal immigration and take on other issues she believes in. But based on financial disclosures filed this week, she has so far used it to do little more than buy copies of her own book.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Petitions Delivered to AG Target O'Keefe, Voter Fraud
A coalition of organizations is urging the state Attorney General to investigate right-wing activist James O'Keefe, saying his undercover footage shot during the January Primary at various polling sites violates state and federal election law.
People For the American Way, Daily Kos and Granite State Progress on Thursday delivered 109,931 petitions to New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney urging him to investigate O'Keefe on voter fraud charges.
O'Keefe, who heads Project Veritas, sent undercover operatives to polls in Nashua, Bedford and other towns who secretly filmed themselves requesting ballots under the names of recently deceased voters.
Friday, February 3, 2012 U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Plunges To 40 Year Low Of 12.1%
n recent decades, corporate tax revenue has plunged, falling from about 6 percent of gross domestic product in the 1950 ²s to less than 2 percent today, due to a proliferation of corporate tax breaks and the use of offshore tax havens. According to the Congressional Budget Office, in fact, corporate tax receipts as a share of corporate profits have hit their lowest point in 40 years:
Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.
Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Swiss Bank Charged By U.S. For Helping Americans Hide $1.2B
The U.S. Justice Department says it has indicted Switzerland's oldest private bank, claiming it conspired with Americans and others to hide more than $1.2 billion in client assets from the Internal Revenue Service.
Justice officials said Thursday that they also seized more than $16 million from Wegelin & Co.'s correspondent bank in the U.S.
The move comes about a month after U.S. authorities indicted three client advisers at the St. Gallen, Switzerland-based bank on similar charges.
Friday, February 3, 2012 "Anonymous' intercepts secret law enforcement call on hacking probe
In a stunning release, the mysterious hacker organization "Anonymous" has published audio of an international coordination conference call between the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the British Scotland Yard, revealing officers' secret communications on investigations into the group's recent exploits.
The FBI and Scotland Yard have both said they're investigating how hackers obtained the conference call's audio. A document published online, presumably by a member of "Anonymous," reveals that the hacker or hackers were privy to law enforcement email communications, giving them access to the login information for the call.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Goldman Sachs Faces Mortgage Debt Class-Action Lawsuit Over Misleading Investors
Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender.
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer in Manhattan certified a class-action lawsuit by investors in the GSAMP Trust 2006-S2, a $698 million offering of certificates based on a pool of second-lien home mortgages.
The underlying loans were made by New Century Financial Corp, a subprime mortgage specialist that went bankrupt in 2007.
Friday, February 3, 2012 NY AG Eric Schneiderman Sues BofA, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase Over Electronic Mortgage Fraud
New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday accused three major U.S. banks of fraudulently using an electronic mortgage database to avoid the need for recording mortgage transfers.
Schneiderman's office said he was suing Bank of America Corp , Wells Fargo & Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co in New York state court in Brooklyn.
"The mortgage industry created MERS to allow financial institutions to evade county recording fees, avoid the need to publicly record mortgage transfers and facilitate the rapid sale and securitization of mortgages en masse," Schneiderman said.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Adelsons attend Koch Brothers conference for mega donors
Billionaire casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson seems to be signaling his intention to plow millions more into conservative groups to influence this year's elections, in addition to $10 million he and his wife gave a super PAC backing Newt Gingrich. For the first time, Adelson, who is worth an estimated $21.5 billion, and his Israeli born physician wife Miriam attended a mega donor conference sponsored by the billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 New grants for investigative journalists!
The George Polk Program at Long Island University wants to help experienced journalists finish -- or get started on -- that investigative project that is crying out to be done. Grants are expected to range from $2,500 to $10,000. They will offer up an editor and help placing the story -- on the Web, in print or on the air.
This program is aimed at reporters with a proven track record of investigative work, especially those who have been laid off, furloughed or taken retirement. We are looking for applicants who have long dreamt of following up a specific story and need a little assistance to run it down.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 VA Senator Attaches Mandatory Rectal Exam Amendment For Men Seeking Erectile Dysfunction Drugs To Anti-Abortion Bill
To protest a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) on Monday attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.
"We need some gender equity here," she told HuffPost. "The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we're going to do that to women, why not do that to men?"
The Republican-controlled senate narrowly rejected the amendment Monday by a vote of 21 to 19, but passed the mandatory ultrasound bill in a voice vote. A similar bill in Texas, which physicians say has caused a "bureaucratic nightmare," is currently being challenged in court.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 House Republicans Have 'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing
In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Initial reports from sources suggested that an ABC News camera was also prevented from taping the hearing; ABC has since denied that they sent a crew to the hearing.
Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Israel sets up elite command unit to strike behind Iran 'enemy' lines (1 comments)
Israel has set up a specialist commando unit designed to carry out missions deep inside enemy territory amid growing consensus in government circles that military strikes must be contemplated if economic sanctions do not halt Iran's nuclear programme.
The "Depth Corps" has been organised with the aim of co-ordinating deep penetration operations in other countries at a time when the defence ministry acknowledges that the number of covert Israeli operations abroad has increased significantly in the last year.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Who's Afraid of Saul Alinsky? (1 comments)
Newt Gingrich has defined his campaign as a "choice between American exceptionalism versus the radicalism of Saul Alinsky". Gingrich casts himself as upholding the beliefs and values of the "founding fathers" under assault by President Obama, an agent of the radical left that wants to turn the U.S. into a "European style socialist state". It's relatively easy to point out the factual and historical absurdity of this statement, particularly coming from someone who considers himself a great historian, what's more interesting to me is to examine why the use of the name of this obscure Chicago organizer strikes such a responsive cord among the conservative Republican base. Few have heard of Alinsky or know much about his life and legacy, yet he works as a boogeyman for conservatives in much the same way Bill Ayers played that role in 2008.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Peter Dreier: Is Capitalism on Trial? Or Just Big Business? Or Just Mitt Romney? (1 comments)
"I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," Frank Luntz, an influential GOP pollster and strategist, warned the Republican Governors Association at a meeting in Florida last month, referring to the Occupy movement. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism."
Perhaps Luntz had already discovered this startling finding, buried in a recent Pew Research Center survey: roughly the same number of 18-to-29-year-old Americans have positive views of socialism as of capitalism. In a survey conducted in early December last year, 49 percent had a positive view of socialism, while 47 percent had a positive view of capitalism. Similarly, only 43 percent had a negative view of socialism, compared with 47 percent who had a negative view of capitalism.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Praying to be skinny and straight
Fatness and gayness have a few things in common: They are both highly charged social issues that can anger people in ways few other things can. To many people, they both represent a sinful inability to control urges -- in the case of fat folks, to eat food, and in the case of gay people, to have sex. In evangelical circles, however, fatness and gayness are not just stigmatized, they are actively fought.
In her eloquent new book, "Seeking the Straight and Narrow: Weight Loss and Sexual Reorientation in Evangelical America," Lynne Gerber examines the ways these two separate issues interact in that most morally stringent segment of American culture.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 CBO: Tax Cuts, Especially Bush's, Are Causing "Lion's Share" Our Current And Future Budget Deficits
The Congressional Budget Office today released its latest budget projections, which show that the deficit in 2012 is expected to exceed $1 trillion and that economic growth is likely to slow over the next two years. Predictably, Republicans jumped to blame the large deficit on President Obama's spending... However, as Center for American Progress Director of Tax and Budget Policy Michael Linden noted, CBO was projecting a surplus for 2012 as recently as 2007, and plummeting federal revenue -- not the GOP's imaginary "spending spree" -- is responsible for the lion's share of the swing from surplus to deficit.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Maddow: Impeachment is not a toy
Grover Norquist, the Republican uber-activist, sat down with National Journal last week, and shared some thoughts on what he expects to see in Washington after the November elections. His use of the "I" word was rather striking.
NORQUIST: If the Republicans have the House, Senate, and the presidency, I'm told that they could do an early budget vote -- a reconciliation vote where you extend the Bush tax cuts out for a decade or five years.... And, if you have a Republican president to go with a Republican House and Senate, then they pass the [Paul] Ryan plan [on Medicare].
NJ: What if the Democrats still have control? What's your scenario then?
NORQUIST: Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Gingrich Wants A Government That Respects 'Our Religion' [Code for HIS] Not 'Every Other Religion'
As TP's Igor Volsky pointed out today, Newt Gingrich has been accusing President Obama of perpetrating a "war on religion," saying the president has made it more difficult for people of faith to practice their beliefs. But at a campaign stop in Florida this afternoon, Gingrich made that not all religions are created equally:
GINGRICH: Now, I think we need to have a government that respects our religions. I'm a little bit tired about respecting every religionon the planet. I'd like them to respect our religion.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Tennessee Restaurant Throws Out Anti-Gay Lawmaker
A restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee refused to serve state Sen. Stacey Campfield, the man who sponsored the state's "don't say gay" bill, compared homosexuality to bestiality, and most recently told Michelangelo Signorile that it's virtually impossible to spread HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex. "I hope that Stacy Campfield now knows what if feels like to be unfairly discriminated against," the Bistro at the Bijou wrote on its Facebook wall on Sunday. The restaurant has received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Krugman: Eurozone Problems
First, I make the case that the overall economic crisis is driven by private debt, not public debt: A few graphs for basic information.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Anonymous And The War Over The Internet
This article is the first in a two-part series tracing the development of the amorphous online community known as Anonymous, pranksters who have become a force in global affairs.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Catholic churches evangelize against Obama Administration en masse over contraception coverage
In a surprising move over the weekend, thousands of Catholic parishioners were read letters that condemn the Obama administration and its recent decision to make birth control available to women through virtually all private health insurance plans.
The letters were written by Catholic Bishops in the U.S. and read aloud at hundreds of Catholic churches on Sunday. In one of the letters (PDF), written by a Catholic Bishop in Phoenix, Ariz., the church attacks the Obama administration for having "cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty."
Monday, January 30, 2012 Muppets Kermit & Miss Piggy Smackdown Fox News Muppets - VIDEO
It is important that you watch this crucial Fox News Business report on the evil of the beloved Muppets, even if you already saw this clip in December. Why? Because the Muppets have finally responded to these treasonous charges, at a press conference -- Miss Piggy even did a SMACKDOWN on the Fox News idiots. It's a good thing Fox News viewers are all 67-year-old white trash sitting in their soon-to-be repo'd double-wides, because otherwise they would probably stop buying Muppet toys and movies!
Here, from some fancy hotel meeting room, is the press conference from Thursday...
Monday, January 30, 2012 Randall Terry's Gory Super Bowl Abortion Ad Gets Intercepted
Football fans in Chicago might get to enjoy a fetus-free Super Bowl next weekend. The city's NBC affiliate has intercepted Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry's plan to air a gory anti-abortion ad during the big game.
Monday, January 30, 2012 SEC Only Now Investigating CDOs Created At Deutsche Bank
Der Spiegel reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Deutsche Bank. According to financial regulatory sources, the bank launched one CDO transaction called "START" in which it allegedly allowed the hedge fund of US speculator John Paulson to choose junk mortgage securities against which he could speculate -- without the other investors knowing about it. Goldman Sachs settled a suit with the SEC in a similar case for $550 million.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Democrats' strategy on Medicare: Let Ryan, Republicans step in it again
House Democrats have a simple strategy as GOP leaders prepare to unveil a 2013 budget expected to include Medicare cuts akin to those proposed last year: Bring it on.
"The strategy is to get out of their way and let them do it again," Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) told reporters at the Democrats' annual Eastern Shore retreat.
"There is overwhelming rejection of the abolition of the Medicare guarantee," Andrews added, "and if they choose to identify themselves with it again, we're going to identify ourselves with Medicare."
Behind Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Republicans last year passed a 2012 budget that made sharp cuts to Medicare benefits and privatized the program for future beneficiaries.
Monday, January 30, 2012 Murdoch's WSJ Publishes Op-Ed From 16 Climate Deniers, Refused Letter From 255 Top Scientists
The evil Mr. Murdoch: In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, sixteen prominent global warming deniers with scientific backgrounds -- such as tobacco apologist Richard Lindzen of MIT and ExxonMobil executive Roger Cohen -- concede that manmade carbon dioxide emissions have a warming effect on the planet, but argue that the effect is "small" and nothing to "panic" about. All the other scientists in the world who believe the science are part of a conspiracy to intimidate people like themselves, they write, just as Soviet biologists who believed in genes were "sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death."
As climate scientist Peter Gleick reports at his Forbes.com blog, those other scientists include 255 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences who wrote a letter about the scientific threat of climate change for the Wall Street Journal -- but were turned down...
