Yesterday I met with a dozen prisoners for our CoDA group. A lot of the discussion focused on our need to maintain healthy relationships with ourselves, and as always, I could not have been more proud of my guys. I returned home late and pooped. I slept late this morning, so this will be today’s only article. I am not current with replies, but will catch up when I can. Tomorrow appears routine.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:47 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn: Why Some Women All Across The Country Are Rethinking Their Party
For men, as well as women, unless you are rich and dominated by your own greed, a hatemonger or a fanatic trying to force your religious dogma on others, the Republican Party is wrong for you.
From NY Times: Protesters angry over an amateurish American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, killing a State Department officer, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the fortified walls of the United States Embassy here.
Here’s that video:
I am behind the curve on this issue, so I do not have much to say. However, I remember millions of evangelicals demonstrating in anger over "The Last Temptation of Christ", and this garbage film is far more offensive. I understand people’s anger over it, but not the actions of the murderers. There is no conflict between authentic Christians and authentic Muslims. The conflict is between Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians and right-wing Muslim extremists, both of which seek to impose their dogma on others. Remember that the Libyans trying to save our people are Muslims too. I condemn Willard Romney for his desperate and dangerous political opportunism, and I ask your thoughts and prayers for the families of the four slain Americans.
From Democracy Now: The IRS has announced a record $104 million reward to a whistleblower who exposed the largest tax evasion scheme in U.S. history. Former UBS AG banker Brad Birkenfeld first reported in 2007 that he and his colleagues had encouraged rich Americans to store more than $20 billion in offshore Swiss bank accounts and cheat the IRS. But after coming forward, Birkenfeld was prosecuted and convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to prison. Following Birkenfeld’s release last month, on Tuesday the IRS vindicated his actions with the largest amount ever awarded under its whistleblower program.
I wonder whether he knows anything about Willard’s tax evasion using Swiss banks. Do you think this makes Willard nervous?
Cartoon:
10 Responses to “Open Thread–9/12/2012”
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Puzzle — 6:29 Obviously the Bugatti is not my vehicle of choice!
MoveOn — Good! Some are listening! I hope more have the good sense to listen. I remember reading a post on another site where someone was bemoaning the size of government and how Romney was for smaller government. My immediate thought was about how this person does not understand the issues. Republican/Teabaggers want big government when it comes to interfering with choices in the lives of women, but small government when it comes to regulations for corporations. One conclusion I came to — the Republican/Teabaggers support rape — the rape of women in their health choices, and the rape of consumers in their financial choices.
New York Times — TC, garbage yes, film no. This has absolutely no redeeming value. Based on this trailer, and the fact that Pastor Terry Jones of Florida is promoting it, this piece of garbage is an insult to intelligent people everywhere no matter their faith. What I cannot understand is the motive behind the production. The only motive I can see is to intentionally promote violence, but there is no value in violence because violence only produces destruction. It makes me wonder if this Jewish producer is trying to goad Islamic Iran into an attack on Israel in order to give credence to an Israeli strike against Iran. I personally consider this hate speech, and it would appear to have garnered the wrong attention. The world should be coming together against all extremists.
Democracy Now — Good on the IRS for rewarding the whistleblower. If I were Romney, I would be worried . . . but then we already know he money in the Caymans and Swiss bank accounts. It is a matter of getting the IRS to deal with it; investigate and ask the right questions; be unrelenting; and no deals.
Cartoon — I wonder if Henry Hudson were alive today, would he be a Republican/Teabagger? I somehow think he might have — he sailed down the river and claimed what wasn't his to claim.
3:40 The Bugatti is mine so far. Jerry might be hell on wheels today though.
3:09 I put the pedal to the metal and did not look back.
You know, my car license plate is 666 HLL so I refer to myself as 'hell on wheels'. Don't understand it but no one would take this plate. There it sat, like an abandoned kitten. So I adopted it and have had fun with it and a lot of people commenting — either "get rid of it" or "cool!"
They'll be time to eviscerate the craven, crass and contemptible words & smirks of Rmoney.
For now, I'll just say that like all of us, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the brave Americans who gave the last full measure in service to our country.
Thank You for your Service! Godspeed and Rest in Peace.
Holy cow — that video! You call it "amateurish?? That's like calling the Pacific Ocean "slightly damp". Does someone actually want to release that as a serious effort at propaganda? I could do better than that by hiring random homeless people and having them read cue cards in front of blow-ups of my vacation photos. And people got killed over this?
The conflict is between Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians and right-wing Muslim extremists
Can't we put them both on an island somewhere so they can get on with killing each other and leave the rest of the world in peace?
It appears that this was just going on, as people got killed, because Obama took out al Liby.
We talk about big business and its political influence. Well here is yet another, only it has global implications. I have posted this elsewhere and hope that I can help get the message out so that AVAAZ can reach 500,000 signatures or more. When I signed, there were just under 80,000 but with worldwide attention, I'm sure there are close to 100,000 now.
4 Days to Stop the Corporate Death Star
Details are leaking of a top-secret, global corporate power grab of breathtaking scope — attacking everything from a free Internet to health and environmental regulations, and we have just 4 days to stop it.
Big business has a new plan to fatten their pockets: a giant global pact, with an international tribunal to enforce it, that is kept top secret for years (even from our lawmakers!) and then brought down like a Death Star on our democracies. Big Tobacco, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Walmart and almost 600 other corporate lobbyists are all in on the draft — including limits on smoking laws, affordable medicines and free speech on the Net.
The latest round of negotiations ends in just 4 days — but outcries in each of our countries could shake the confidence of negotiators and scuttle the talks forever. Let's get to a million against the global corporate takeover. Sign below and forward widely. Avaaz will project our petition counter on the walls of the conference so negotiators can see the opposition to their plan exploding in real time:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_corporate_death_star/?bfRGrab&v=17866
The deal, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is written to protect investors from government regulation, even if that regulation is passed in the public interest. Leaked versions suggest the TPP would undermine protections for air and water safety and reintroduce measures from the US Internet freedom attack as well as steamrolling efforts to produce generic affordable medicines. Worse still, lawmakers who fail to conform to the TPP’s rules face sanctions in an international tribunal — a place where corporations can sue us for deals previous governments signed in secret!
Negotiators say this is just a trade agreement, written to facilitate investment and profit for all. But the leaked draft imposes so many limits on citizen protections, it's clear this "trade" agreement is skewed to put corporate profit above people's needs — that's not surprising since it's been drafted in secret with almost 600 corporate lobbyists.
But there is hope: Australia is bucking against the international tribunal system, and New Zealand is objecting to the takeover of its medicine-pricing protections that keep drugs affordable. Massive public opposition, casting doubt over each country's ability to sell TPP at home, could derail the talks for good. Sign the petition now, and forward widely — the delegates and lobbyists are watching the wave of opposition grow in real time:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_corporate_death_star/?bfRGrab&v=17866
US candidate for Senate, Elizabeth Warren in a recent speech said: “Corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters, because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people." Let’s reach one million to stop the corporate takeover of our governments.
With hope,
Iain, Pedro, Laura, Ari, Emma, Lisa, Luca, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team
All of the actors in the film have denounced it and said they had no idea what the finished product was supposed to be. When people can be driven to murder because of seeing a movie trailer, I would say they are not too stable to begin with. Extremists are mentally ill and should not be allowed to wander the streets unsupervised. I mean extremists of all kinds including the pseudo-Christian who made the film.
Thanks all, and especially Lynn.