Sunday, March 27, 2011

Headlines - Sunday March 27

"France is now saying that Operation Odyssey Dawn could take days or weeks  or months or years.  Good thing we found this couch."
 
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"Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior agency official."
 
Update: Radioactivity in water at one earthquake-crippled Japanese nuclear reactor soared to 10 million times its usual
 
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Classiest exit ever

Most of Elizabeth Taylor's massive fortune will go to the two AIDS charities with whom she was most famously associated.
Screen queen Elizabeth Taylor has left behind a fortune worth at least $600 million, much of which is expected to go to the AIDS charities she championed for decades. Her famous jewelry collection, valued at an eye-popping $150 million in 2002, is likely to be auctioned off with the bulk of the proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and amfAR, the AIDS charity she helped found in 1985, according to WFLD/Fox TV Chicago. "From what I understand, she seems to have been very wise about her investments," said a financial planner who has worked with other Hollywood A-listers. At the time of her 1994 divorce from her last husband, Larry Fortensky, Taylor's net worth was estimated at $608.4 million. That figure could now be well in excess of $1 billion. During the 1990s, Taylor reportedly earned about $2 per second, or about $63 million per year. Her famed perfume, White Diamonds, earned more than $70 million last year, according to reports.

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President Obama recently named Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, to head the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. At the time, the President said, "He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy."Apparently, what it takes is for GE to make $14.2 billion in profits in 2010 and to pay $0 in taxes.
 
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Wisconsin Republicans defy court order

You may have heard about the court order blocking the anti-Union law in Wisconsin:

Last week, a judge in Dane County (Madison) blocked the law on procedural grounds, ruling that a key conference committee used to advance the bill -- and to get around the state Senate Dems' walkout from the state -- had violated the state open-meetings law by failing to give proper 24-hours notice.

But the Republicans are plowing forward by publishing the law anyway.

It's clear the tea party Republicans have no respect for the law and are simply doing whatever the hell they want. It's the Sarah Palin Doctrine.

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"When you're under fire, and people are living and dying on split-second decisions, you don't need any kind of amorous mindset that can affect saving people's lives and killing bad guys." Boss Haley Barbour discussing his support for reinstating DADT

Amorous mindset? So Boss Hogg thinks gay and lesbian soldiers will be sucking and handling each other while bullets are whizzing past their heads. There's this weird prejudice on the far-right in which they believe gay and lesbian people are always thinking about sex. In fact, I assume they think about sex just as often as straight people -- and I don't imagine that happens too often when fellow soldiers are having their limbs torn away by enemy RPGs.

Actually, this speaks more to Boss Hogg's lack of military/combat experience and less about his knowledge of human libido.

Guh-yuck.

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If your glass is half full and your neighbor's is half empty, do everything in your power to empty his half into yours. That way, at least somebody will have a full glass.  As Ayn Rand has taught us, one full glass is always better than either two half-full or two half-empty glasses. 
 
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Gov. Rick Scott signed his
first bill into law, eliminating tenure for new teachers and tying teacher contracts and pay to student performance.
 
I rarely agree with a Republican, but I do on this issue. Why shouldn't someone's pay be based on performance?
 
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Stand Up For Your Rights And Starve
Think Progress, links at site.

Buried Provision In House GOP Bill Would Cut Off Food Stamps To Entire Families If One Member Strikes

Much of the bill is based upon verifying that those who receive food stamps benefits are meeting the federal requirements for doing so. However, one section buried deep within the bill adds a startling new requirement. The bill, if passed, would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer:

Yet removing entire families from eligibility while a single adult family member is striking would have a chilling effect on workers who are considering going on strike for better wages, benefits, or working conditions — something that is especially alarming in light of the fact that unions are one of the fundamental building blocks of the middle class that allow people to earn wages that keep them off food stamps.

With a record 42 million Americans on food stamps during these poor economic times, it appears that the right is simply looking for more ways to hurt working class Americans.

Update

Believe it or not, there are already a whole host of sanctions against strikers in the current Food Stamp program -- the section quoted is actually part of a 1981 Reagan era law. Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) has introduced a bill to do away with these restrictions. A 1988 Supreme Court case reversed lower court decisions that ruled these sanctions unconstitutional.

There it is - go against the Bosses and lose Federal benefits. Who's yer daddy?
 
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"It all began when I noticed how so many people were taking me seriously as a candidate for political office. That's when I started to realize the United States of America was going down, even faster than I had ever imagined.  And, believe me, I have a very powerful imagination!"
 
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Maine Gov. Paul Lepage agrees to install a new 'labor mural' - By Don Davis

"WE THINK 'CHILDREN IN COAL MINES' BEST CAPTURES THE OLD-TIME VALUES WE WANT TO GET BACK TO."

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Jesuits agree to $166 million abuse payout The US order agreed to pay $166 million to 500 mostly Native American child victims of "horrific" sexual abuse.

Praise Jeebus.

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Robert Reich: Why Governor LePage Can't Erase History, and Why We Need a Fighter in the White House

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Greenwald: Top Bush-era GITMO and Abu Ghraib Psychologist is White House's Newest Appointment

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Bradley Manning Treatment Reveals Continued Government Complicity in Torture

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Hope & Change, Inc.: BP Oil Disaster: Obama Administration Tightens Lid on Dolphin Death Probe