Saturday, May 30, 2009

NEW RULES BILL MAHER 5.29.09 GREED

This is the latest New Rules segment from Bill Maher's HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher."

I'll try to post his "New Rules" segment from now on, in this clip he mentions the electrocution of American Soldiers due to shoddy electrical work, (I blogged about this) he mentions the dumping of patients on the streets on L.A. because of no insurance.

He relates the growing for-profit prison industry, the fact that we have more people in prison than China for God's sake, he talks about the food industry. Searchers, it is time to wake up and see where we have been heading for the past 30 years, since Reagan was elected and our nation embraced greed like a drunk with a five dollar whore. Enjoy, watch it and then watch it again, then watch it again, then subscribe to HBO if you don't have it already. It is time for systemic change in the United States...Peace

WATCH WHITE MALE APOPLEXY IN REAL TIME!! MORE STUPIDITY FROM THE GREAT WHITE RIGHT

I've been paying attention to the continuing circus that is our Supreme Court judicial nominee process. It has been four days since President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and the right has come out against her nomination, which is no surprise, as any President that nominates an individual to the high court is going to face opposition to their pick regardless of party affiliation. Dems will oppose Repub picks and vice-versa.

What I am watching is the way the right is opposing her nomination. For the past four days, and right now it is 6:09 am Pacific, all I have heard about is race issues (not judicial decision issues) from the Great White Right.

Before I begin indulge me as I interject a thought:
I considered ignoring this subject altogether unless something really outrageous (actually the behavior from the right IS outrageous, but it's so commonplace that it just seems normal) transpired, then of course I'd be all over it. The subject of race in the United States has become so predictable that it is just tiresome, especially when it comes from pampered, privilged white folk, or white folk that are broke as hell, and not interested in expanding their horizons by picking up a book, newspaper, or watching a t.v. show other than American Idol or some such drivel... *sigh* So here we go...

Sonia Sotomayor is an extraordinarily accomplished individual that happens to be a woman of Latin decent. She sees the world through her eyes, eyes that I'm confident have seen some shit while growing up in a South Bronx project by a single mother. Her dad died when she was nine. She has experiences that no white person could ever understand, and I daresay she has had experiences no one could relate to, unless they were walking in her shoes.

I believe this is a good thing. We now have, on the right, characters such as Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Glen Beck, showing their extraordinary fear and trepidation, (okay let's call it what it is: they are fucking tripping) because their vision of the Supreme Court DOES NOT include a Puerto Rican woman.

I laughed as I wrote that last sentence because it's just so damn funny!
So the aforementioned clowns are screaming about a statement Sotomayor made a few years ago. Here it is, courtesy of Media Matters:

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life,"

You decide. The right is screaming "Racism," that she is a "reverse racist!" I guess that means she is being a racist while driving in reverse or some shit like that. A sidebar Great White Right: There is no such thing as "reverse racism" you idiots. Either you are a racist or you're not. "Reverse racism" is a completely idiotic term that makes virtually no sense, much like the very life most of the Great White Right lead.

Okay, so Judge Sotomayor believe she has had experiences as a Latina that could help understand discrimination cases better than a white male. Big surprise. Of course she does! Growing up as a poor kid in the projects, you know damn good and well she has experienced racism against her on all sorts of levels. Racism that a white male has never experienced. There is such a thing as white privilege, white people en masse don't see it cause, well, it is white privilege, after all. So let's forge ahead and see what some of these privileged white folk have to say about this accomplished, articulate woman:

Glen Beck, from his radio show, thanks Media Matters:

Glen Beck cannot conceal his racism at all, when he condescendingly calls her a "Hispanic chick-lady."

Next-Newt Gingrich former speaker of the House, racist, Georgia:

"White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw." The biggest problem Gingrich has is the fact that she is not white, or a Michael Steele type of Black man...

And the Big Boss Limbaugh: Racist Supreme and leader of the Republican Party, Olbermann breaks it down-

Thanks to Media Matters, MSNBC and Olbermann. If you didn't watch the clip, Limbaugh compared her to David Duke, from the Ku Klux Klan. (As a man from Arkansas that walked by smoldering crosses on black people's lawns in the town of Pocahontas on my way to work at Ramon's Grocery store, I can say this woman is no David Duke.)
The right wing has attacked Sotomayor for her heritage, for the food she eats, and some have even demanded she change the way her name is pronounced, make it more "anglicized." Batshit crazy, racist as hell, and it has to stop.

I'm not going to bother to post what Rove had to say, Search it out.
I realize that Obama has seriously offended the sensibilities of these pampered, privileged white folk, but they had better get used to it, 'cause these times they are a changin' and there aint no stopping it. And why would I want to live in a monochromatic world that's ruled by nut jobs with bad hair (or no hair) anyway? The biggest threat these people face, is a sea change in the status quo, and that terrifies their cowardly asses. Let's have Bob Dylan take us out, cause the times they really are changing...
Peace-

Thursday, May 28, 2009

COMMITING MYSELF TO A CRUSADE (JIHAD) FOR CHANGE

Over the past 15 years or so I have had the distinct pleasure of dealing with the Office of Child Support Enforcement in the state of Arkansas. It has been a rocky and contentious decade and a half, with corruption, discrimination, bureaucratic bullshit, and general apathy from the government toward families. This is going to change. I cannot devote this blog exclusively to the child support problem but I will give some place to it.

I spoke with Dan McDonald today, administrator of the Office of Child Support(Extortion) Enforcement for the State of Arkansas. We had a 40 minute conversation with me outlining the issues working families face when the Government steps in and robs working families of at least 50% of pre-tax income. In this particular situation, the money that is taken from my paycheck is used to pay down a debt acquired by the custodial parent when the custodial parent applied for and received certain types of state aid.

As Mr. McDonald indicated the C.P. is required by law, that is forced, coerced, etc., to give up rights to any child support collected by the state. In other words, the state is robbing one family and taking the money and putting it in the state coffers. This policy is reprehensible especially coming from such an obviously Christian state. Hell they're right in the middle of the bible belt yet they extort money from families to give it to the greedy bureaucrats.

I also spoke briefly with state Senator Paul Miller, and bless his heart he sounds like a confused old man, the equivalent of John McCain wandering around the stage during the Presidential debate, just a guy on the verge of dementia. Don't get me wrong, his picture makes him look nice enough, but it was like talking to your old grandpa that just isn't firing on all cylinders

I have attempted to contact state Senator Tracy Steele today to no avail, back after it tomorrow.

Over time I will identify more and more my stances on issues regarding the OCSE. Suffice it to say, I believe a consensus can be reached that will benefit families, although the state will definitely lose revenue, because it isn't about the state you dumb asses, it is about the families.

I full believe that the current policies in place by the Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement lead to:
1. Increased alcohol abuse

2. Increased drug use.

3. Mental health issues

4. Physical health issues

5. Domestic violence.

By his own admission, Mr. McDonald doesn't agree with parts of the 34 year old system but until I get reform pushed through, he made it clear that he is, in fact, just another mid-level bureaucrat interested in maintaining the status quo.

As stated earlier, I will be contacting various elected officials around the State of Arkansas as well as Washington State, as Washington has a reciprocity agreement with the other 49 to commandeer paychecks and keep working families trying to obtain an education in abject poverty. This is a fact, a despicable one, and it is a discriminatory practice, an injustice I intend to rectify.

Stay tuned, Searchers-
Peace and Onward!

Post Script-for the future I am going to refer to non-custodial parents as NCP's and custodial parents as CP's...peace

BEEN LOOKING THORUGH PAST POSTS

And I realized that I've been rather casual about following up on posts in reference to posting videos, etc. So, I'll try to work on that and follow up in the future...

Peace

REPUBLICANS SHOW THEIR RACISM YET AGAIN

So Searchers, I'm sure you now know about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court of the United States.

I don't personally have a problem with Judge Sotomayor, she was initially appointed to a seat by Bush 1, and elevated to another seat by Bill Clinton, so she clearly can appeal to both Repub and Dem. The snippets of her record that I have caught on the news channels, (MSNBC and CNN, Fixed News is nothing more than a Republican propaganda machine) as well as what I have read leads me to believe that she probably is not left-leaning enough to balance the ridiculous Antonin Scalia, or Ailito, or Roberts, or Thomas.

So Obama nominated a woman and a Latina at that. I say it is about time. (Not only do we need more women on the Court, we need more "Minorities" and those that understand what is like to not be a rich white "christian" man) The biggest problem bigots such as Newt Gingrich, Mitt (who the hell names their kid "Mitt" any damn way? and of course you know he named his kid "Tagg" wtf?) Romney, Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, is not her political record, although granted that may play a part, largely because she is "not conservative enough," (why must it be a pre-requisite to be a conservative to be on the court, especially with the abysmal track record of conservatives, both repub and dem in our country. Wake up! We are in the current crises because of the conservatives) but the real reasons are two-fold:

1. She is a woman, not a man. Specifically, not a rich white man.

2. She is Latina. Specifically, a Puerto Rican. However, the fact that she is Peurto Rican is only realized after being told that she isn't Mexican, which is where the majority of these clowns this all people of Latin decent hail from...*sigh* (I feel as though I need to apologize to the rest of the world for the lack of intellectual curiosity and percieved superiority of my fellow countrypeople)



Mike Huckabee, former governor of the failed state of Arkansas, summed up the Republican mindset with this snippet from his website:

"The appointment of Maria Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama's campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric. "

Ah Mike Huckabee, the twice-elected governor of Arkansas, who evidently thinks all women of Latin decent must be named "Maria." I do not believe this screw-up of her name was a typo. It was a deliberate attempt to demean and marginalize Sonia Sotomayor. (See my post "Life in the Bible Belt: Would Jesus Abuse Immigrants?" )



His website has been updated, but that does not take away from the inherent racism this "christian" governor harbors. He is a fraud.

Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh, however, are not frauds. They are unabashed, obvious racists. See my October 24, 2008 post regarding racist Limbaugh quotes. Keep in mind this is the guy that runs the Republican Party from a radio studio in Florida.

So, congratulations, Ms. Sotomayor, on your historic nomination. I'm confident you will be confirmed, and when you are, use your position to balance this Reagan throwback, right wing court.

Peace-

Thanks to Huffington Post for turning me on to the latest stupid shit to come out of Huck-a-chuck's mouth...

Let me leave a post script here regarding Huckabee: This is an individual that was a Southern Baptist (think Jerry Falwell) minister in the state of Arkansas. Red Flag! When he took office, he launched a campaign of retaliation against his political opponents that included one Patrick Henry Flanagin of Forrest City, Arkansas. Pat Flanagin was a 22 year veteran of the state legislature, (and failed candidate for Forrest City, Ar mayor) serving as a state rep for 11 terms. That is, sponging off of the taxpayers and abusing his power for 22 years while elected, which has not stopped simply because he no longer holds an elected office.

Pat Flanagin and Mike Huckabee should have settled their differences in a field with dueling pistols, perhaps neither would have survived the duel. This would not have been a bad thing if the scenario would have played out in such a fashion.

Where I take exception to Huckabee (among other things) is when he attacks children regarding their school records because he dislikes the parents of particular children.

As mentioned above, Huckabee is a fraud. Pat Flanagin is a dipshit criminal that abandoned his oldest son and his daughter. He sent his namesake, "Junior" to exile. He attempted to bribe his son in law with money and a car after his puppet child, samuel "chris" flanagin (criminal, racist,) broke into his daughters' home and attempted to murder his son in law (the worthless shitheel was facing almost 20 years in prison.)



Both Huckabee and Pat Flana-fuckstick are the antithesis of what it means to be a Christian, (that is "christ-like") and they should both be locked in prison for what we know they did and let's add "for life" to that prison sentence for what they probably did, but we just don't know about yet.

PPS: Forrest City, Arkansas is named after the Confederate racist, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the "Arkansas Gem" that founded the Ku Klux Klan. It is an absolute shithole in the poverty stricken delta region of Arkansas. Interstate 40 runs through there, and if you're driving through, you better make sure you have insurance, tags, and a good lawyer, and ties to the ACLU cause if they start to fuck with you, it can be like fallng through a black hole. For example, just a few years ago, the sheriff of St. Francis county, of which Forrest City is the seat, cut the testicles off of an accused criminal, and displayed them on his desk in a jar. He was a close friend of Patrick Henry Flanagin, (D) Forrest City. Real classy folks.



Peace-



Thanks to the New York Times as well...

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

YOUNG PREGNANT WOMAN FACING DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD IN LAOS


Caught this on the Field Negro, and chased it down via Google. It's a frightening story about a young woman caught in a country that doesn't afford people the same rights as we are used to in the United States, such as right to counsel.
She's been in a Laos jail accused of smuggling heroin and apparently Laos law dictates death for anyone caught carrying over 500 grams; she allegedly had 680. That's a little over a pound. The Laotian government has not allowed attorney contact with Miss Orobator.

From the Field:
According to the telegraph.co.uk, Miss Orobator, 20, from London was arrested last August at Wattay airport in the south east Asian country.

Prosecutors claim she had 680 grams (1.3lb or 21 oz) of heroin in her luggage.According to the legal campaign group Reprieve she has not met a lawyer since she was arrested 9 months ago but it is believed that she denies the drugs were hers.

Under Lao law the death penalty is mandatory for possession of over 500 grams of heroin. At least 39 people have been sentenced to death for a variety of offences since 2003.On Thursday, without warning or explanation, the government of Laos rescheduled Miss Orobator's trial for next week, but they have still not announced which day the case will begin. "

More here.


So the young lady has been in jail since last August, and she's five months pregnant.
Clearly she got pregnant while locked up, which again begs the question posed elsewhere: was she raped? This is an absolute nightmare for her mother: from New York Daily news:
From her home in Dublin, Orobator's mother Jane Orobator told The Associated Press that she just wanted her daughter home."I'm terrified. I'm scared," she said in a telephone interview. "I'm just begging they should not do anything to her. They should just send her back to me."
Read the story at the link above or here.
As much as I bitch about our system in the U.S., we do have considerable more accountability from our police and judicial system, (and our system puts the burden on the government, not the citizen) than others do around the world. It makes me glad I live in the U.S., at the same time it makes me want to demand more accountability from our police forces, judges, and politicians.
Hold this young lady in your thoughts and prayers and follow this story, help get it out.
Peace-
thanks to nydailynews.com

Monday, May 4, 2009

OBAMA GOING AFTER CORPORATE TAX DODGERS

"The steps I am announcing today will help us deal with some of the more egregious examples of what is wrong with our tax code" -Barack Obama, May 4, 2009


Watched a news conference today, Obama was outlining a plan that will close loopholes and force American Corporation that set up "shell companies" overseas or "offshore" such as the legendary Cayman Islands to pay the taxes that they are legally obligated to pay...check out excerpts from the L.A. Times:

President Obama said this morning that he plans to crack down on American companies that legally avoid U.S. tax obligations by investing money in countries with lower tax rates.

He also plans to eliminate tax deductions for companies that achieve similar breaks by sending jobs overseas, while extending the deduction for those who create domestic jobs.

The practice of "offshoring" cheats other taxpayers, the president said, and those who circumvent the system are "aided and abetted by a broken tax system" that he pledged to fix.

The practice of "offshoring" doesn't cheat others just because the President says so, it cheats others because it cheats others, period.

I feel it is imperative that we work to end the reign of the multi-national wholesale robbery of the American People, as well as the robbery of whole nations and peoples across the planet.

Remember, Americans, even though we like to think we're the only country on the planet, we are not alone, and the actions of this nation reverberate throughout the world like no other nation in the history of the world. The article continues:

Speaking to reporters in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Obama said he doesn't think companies should be rewarded more for creating a job in Bangalore, India, than for creating one in Buffalo, N.Y.

"I want to see our companies remain the most competitive," the president said, while not rewarding them for moving jobs overseas.

The president's plans could yield an additional $210 billion in tax revenue over the next decade, according to the administration.

Obama's plan would:

* Eliminate some tax deductions for companies that earn profits in countries with low tax rates.

* Make permanent a research and experimentation tax credit, which is offered for creating domestic jobs.

* End a loophole that allows corporations to avoid taxes by reporting to the U.S. government that they're paying taxes in foreign countries and then telling the foreign countries that they're paying here.

This is important. It is time the corporations in this country that have dodged the IRS (while most of us sweat dealing with them at all,) to start paying and contributing to this country on a very visceral level. I want these motherfuckers give till it hurts.

Obama did bring this up more than once during the campaign , and after eight years of Bush, we handily voted Obama in over the Republicans and their policies, policies that have lead to the destruction of the middle, working class, and created more hardship for the poorest in the US, as well as around the world.

The Republican response? Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky:

"a significant tax increase on companies" Ever the defender of the corporation, never a defender of his or any constituents that don't earn 6 or more figures a year...

As soon as Rachel Maddow's clip from this evenings' newscast on MSNBC, I wil post it. As always Rachel breaks it down. Suffice it to say, the Republicans have virtually no ideas that will benefit anyone other than their cronies that line their pockets.

TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS DOES NOT WORK. The Republicans ideas are old and they have failed. (Thanks Mr. Prezz)

So, here is a link to tired ass McConnell senate website, here is his number:
202.224.2541

and a link for all 50 states

I will contact Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas as well as Mark Pryor, along with the Ladies of Washington State. I'll let you know what they said tomorrow, and I'll get that video from Maddow's posted along with it...peace Searchers, we are in a fight for our country, and it aint against Obama.


BTW, the Republicans are already screaming about Obama's Supreme pick, and the pick doesn't even exist, yet.

Rachel Maddow is currently reporting on Jefferson Sessions, Republican senator from Alabama, evidently a racist s.o.b., I will research him more, and track down the quotes Maddow threw up onscreen. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee that will handle the nomination of Obama's Supreme pick. I have contacted Session's office in the past regarding some ridiculous comments he made, so I will be watching Senator Session's behavior very closely during the nomination process. Peace-

Saturday, May 2, 2009

ON RACE AND POLLS IN THE UNITED STATES-COURTESY OF THE FIELD NEGRO

Great post, Field-

I have a news flash for republicans: The 14th Amendment pretty much did away with Dred Scott v. Sandford. For those of you not familiar with the Dred Scott case, it is one of the many dark spots (no pun intended) in A-murder-can jurisprudence. That case basically said that us black folks were not humans but mere chattel. Property. No more important than the cotton we picked out of the ground or the animals we worked alongside.

Anyway, apparently conservatives didn't get the 14th Amendment memo. If they did, one of their most respected writers, Byron York, wouldn't be making the type of declarations that he did while writing for the Washington Examiner.

"On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are. [emphasis added]"

See, it's all so simple when you break it down: Obama's 62% job approval rating is primarily because of his high approval rating among black folks. But among white folks, whose opinion really matters, Obama's is "significantly less popular". See niggers, it's like this, when you are just three-fifths of a man or woman, your opinion only has three- fifths of the weight. So Obama being popular among you niggers means nothing. Wow! Byron York doing his best Chief Justice Taney imitation.

I love how Steve Benen writing in the Washington Monthly breaks down York's article:

"For crying out loud, what the hell does that mean, exactly? I read the rest of the piece, hoping to see York explain why the president's seemingly popular positions are exaggerated or inflated. Why, in other words, these positions "appear" more popular "than they actually are." But all the piece tells me is that African Americans tend to support Obama in greater numbers than white Americans.

The problem, of course, is that damn phrase "than they actually are." York argues that we can see polls gauging public opinion, but if we want to really understand the popularity of the president's positions, and not be fooled by "appearances," then we have to exclude black people. "

Steven, that is exactly the point Mr.York wants to make; "we do have to exclude black people". Because, let's face it, when did they ever matter.

Read Byron York's article here, and please note some of the comments that follow.

------------------------------------

Check out Field's blog here...

CHURCH FOLK FAVOR TORTURE: SURVEY

As always, I'm perusing the news and along came this little gem. Apparently church folk, white evangelical protestants in particular, think torture is justified. Evidently someone failed to give them the memo about the "Christ" in "Christian."

The church in the United States is so far from what the teachings of Jesus lay out...who in their right mind would want to be involved in such nonsense? Here is a link to the article and some excerpts:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.

The first sentence of the article is very telling. "Suspected" is a key word. To pass judgement on someone that is merely a suspect and torture the person is not only unconstitutional, it is un-american and anti-christ. Jesus would never have condoned the torture of people, and in this self-proclaimed "Christian Nation" we ought to know better, and we ought to do better. I used to think others hated America because of our "freedom." I swallowed that bullshit hook, line, and sinker. I know now America is hated around the world because of American policies...

Can someone please stand up and tell me why I should take this bunch of wackos seriously? I remember back in church, preaching and talking against denominations like Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic...the church I was involved with was white protestant evangelical. Enlightenment is such a good thing...

Peace, Searchers.