A 37-year-old man has been executed in Iran after being found guilty
of heresy and insulting prophet Jonah, according to human rights
activists.
Mohsen Amir-Aslani was arrested nine years ago for his activities
which the authorities deemed were heretical. He was engaged in
psychotherapy but also led sessions reading and reciting the Qur’an and
providing his own interpretations of the Islamic holy book, his family
said.
Amir-Aslani was hanged last week for making “innovations in the
religion” and “spreading corruption on earth”, but human rights
activists said he was a prisoner of conscience who was put to death
because of his religious beliefs. He had interpreted Jonah’s story in
the Qur’an as a symbolic tale.
Iran’s judiciary, which was responsible for the handling of his case,
has since denied that Amir-Aslani’s execution was linked to his
religious beliefs.
Instead, the authorities allege that he had illicit sexual
relationships with a number of people who participated in his sessions
and the type of activities he was involved in did not follow an official
interpretation of the religion. It was not clear if Amir-Aslani had
official permission to conduct his sessions.
“Mohsen held sessions in his own house dedicated to reciting the
Qur’an and interpreting it. He had his own understandings [of the
religion] and had published his views in the form of a booklet and made
it available to his fans,” an unnamed source told the New York-based
group, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI).
According to the source, Iran’s ministry of intelligence was behind
Amir-Aslani’s arrest. “He was initially held for making innovations in
Islam and providing his own interpretations of the Qur’an but later he
was accused of insulting prophet Jonah and also faced accusations of
having sex outside marriage,” the source said. “They alleged that he had
sexual relationships with a group of the people who participated in his
classes.”
Iran’s judiciary has presented little evidence in public relating to
the allegations of illicit sexual activities. The judge who presided
over his case, Abolghassem Salavati, is known in Iran for leading numerous unfair trials, including many that resulted in execution.
Amir-Aslani’s wife, Leila, told the opposition website Roozonline
that she was hoping a high court would strike down his conviction but
his sentence was eventually upheld. She told Roozonline that his
conviction stemmed from his religious views and no evidence was
presented to back up the charges related to his alleged sexual
activities.
Iranian authorities are sensitive towards those practising Islam in
ways not conforming to the official line. In recent years, several
members of Iran’s Gonabadi dervishes religious minority have been
arrested and are currently serving lengthy prison terms.
Amnesty said last week that a group of nine Gonabadi dervishes were
on hunger strike in protest at their treatment in prison. They were
Mostafa Abdi, Reza Entesari, Hamidreza Moradi and Kasra Nouri, as well
as the five lawyers representing them who have also been jailed: Amir
Eslami, Farshid Yadollahi, Mostafa Daneshjoo, Afshin Karampour and Omid
Behrouzi.
“The men were mostly detained in September 2011, during a wave of
arrests of Gonabadi dervishes. They were all held in prolonged solitary
confinement, without access to their lawyers and families, and were
sentenced, after two years and following grossly unfair trials, to jail
on various trumped-up charges,” Amnesty said. “The men are prisoners of
conscience, imprisoned solely for practising their faith and defending
the human rights of dervishes through their legitimate activities as
journalists and lawyers.”
In Iran, Gonabadi dervishes face persecution, discrimination,
harassment, arbitrary arrests and attacks on their prayer houses,
Amnesty said.
-------------------------------------------------------------
How do the anti-Semites who claim to be "progressives" explain this from their "religion of peace"?
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Why the Economy is Still Failing Most Americans
Some basic truths from Robert Reich. It would pay all to listen -- after all, GLOBAL "unrest" has been growing -- the "ultra - rich" must understand there's no place to hide. Folks must begin to understand that we're all in this together.
I do not think the destruction of western civilization would do anyone any good. We pioneered individual freedom, managed to build a real middle class, and brought true prosperity to more folks than any other culture has.
I hope our ultra - rich come to their senses.
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://robertreich.org/
I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country.
Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example.
Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will put more money into the hands of low-wage workers who are likely to spend almost all of it in the vicinity. That will create jobs.
Conservatives believe the economy functions better if the rich have more money and everyone else has less. But they’re wrong. It’s just the opposite.
The real job creators are not CEOs or corporations or wealthy investors. The job creators are members of America’s vast middle class and the poor, whose purchases cause businesses to expand and invest.
America’s wealthy are richer than they’ve ever been. Big corporations are sitting on more cash they know what to do with. Corporate profits are at record levels. CEO pay continues to soar.
But the wealthy aren’t investing in new companies. Between 1980 and 2014, the rate of new business formation in the United States dropped by half, according to a Brookings study released in May.
Corporations aren’t expanding production or investing in research and development. Instead, they’re using their money to buy back their shares of stock.
There’s no reason for them to expand or invest if customers aren’t buying.
Consumer spending has grown more slowly in this recovery than in any previous one because consumers don’t have enough money to buy.
All the economic gains have been going to the top.
The Commerce Department reported last Friday that the economy grew at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter of the year.
So what? The median household’s income continues to drop.
Median household income is now 8 percent below what it was in 2007, adjusted for inflation. It’s 11 percent below its level in 2000.
It used to be that economic expansions improved the incomes of the bottom 90 percent more than the top 10 percent.
But starting with the “Reagan” recovery of 1982 to 1990, the benefits of economic growth during expansions have gone mostly to the top 10 percent.
Since the current recovery began in 2009, all economic gains have gone to the top 10 percent. The bottom 90 percent has lost ground.
We’re in the first economic upturn on record in which 90 percent of Americans have become worse off.
Why did the playing field start to tilt against the middle class in the Reagan recovery, and why has it tilted further ever since?
Don’t blame globalization. Other advanced nations facing the same global competition have managed to preserve middle class wages. Germany’s median wage is now higher than America’s.
One factor here has been a sharp decline in union membership. In the mid 1970s, 25 percent of the private-sector workforce was unionized.
Then came the Reagan revolution. By the end of the 1980s, only 17 percent of the private workforce was unionized. Today, fewer than 7 percent of the nation’s private-sector workers belong to a union.
This means most workers no longer have the bargaining power to get a share of the gains from growth.
Another structural change is the drop in the minimum wage. In 1979, it was $9.67 an hour (in 2013 dollars). By 1990, it had declined to $6.84. Today it’s $7.25, well below where it was in 1979.
Given that workers are far more productive now – computers have even increased the output of retail and fast food workers — the minimum wage should be even higher.
By setting a floor on wages, a higher minimum helps push up other wages. It undergirds higher median household incomes.
The only way to grow the economy in a way that benefits the bottom 90 percent is to change the structure of the economy. At the least, this requires stronger unions and a higher minimum wage.
It also requires better schools for the children of the bottom 90 percent, better access to higher education, and a more progressive tax system.
GDP growth is less and less relevant to the wellbeing of most Americans. We should be paying less attention to growth and more to median household income.
If the median household’s income is is heading upward, the economy is in good shape. If it’s heading downward, as it’s been for this entire recovery, we’re all in deep trouble.
I do not think the destruction of western civilization would do anyone any good. We pioneered individual freedom, managed to build a real middle class, and brought true prosperity to more folks than any other culture has.
I hope our ultra - rich come to their senses.
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://robertreich.org/
I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country.
Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example.
Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will put more money into the hands of low-wage workers who are likely to spend almost all of it in the vicinity. That will create jobs.
Conservatives believe the economy functions better if the rich have more money and everyone else has less. But they’re wrong. It’s just the opposite.
The real job creators are not CEOs or corporations or wealthy investors. The job creators are members of America’s vast middle class and the poor, whose purchases cause businesses to expand and invest.
America’s wealthy are richer than they’ve ever been. Big corporations are sitting on more cash they know what to do with. Corporate profits are at record levels. CEO pay continues to soar.
But the wealthy aren’t investing in new companies. Between 1980 and 2014, the rate of new business formation in the United States dropped by half, according to a Brookings study released in May.
Corporations aren’t expanding production or investing in research and development. Instead, they’re using their money to buy back their shares of stock.
There’s no reason for them to expand or invest if customers aren’t buying.
Consumer spending has grown more slowly in this recovery than in any previous one because consumers don’t have enough money to buy.
All the economic gains have been going to the top.
The Commerce Department reported last Friday that the economy grew at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter of the year.
So what? The median household’s income continues to drop.
Median household income is now 8 percent below what it was in 2007, adjusted for inflation. It’s 11 percent below its level in 2000.
It used to be that economic expansions improved the incomes of the bottom 90 percent more than the top 10 percent.
But starting with the “Reagan” recovery of 1982 to 1990, the benefits of economic growth during expansions have gone mostly to the top 10 percent.
Since the current recovery began in 2009, all economic gains have gone to the top 10 percent. The bottom 90 percent has lost ground.
We’re in the first economic upturn on record in which 90 percent of Americans have become worse off.
Why did the playing field start to tilt against the middle class in the Reagan recovery, and why has it tilted further ever since?
Don’t blame globalization. Other advanced nations facing the same global competition have managed to preserve middle class wages. Germany’s median wage is now higher than America’s.
One factor here has been a sharp decline in union membership. In the mid 1970s, 25 percent of the private-sector workforce was unionized.
Then came the Reagan revolution. By the end of the 1980s, only 17 percent of the private workforce was unionized. Today, fewer than 7 percent of the nation’s private-sector workers belong to a union.
This means most workers no longer have the bargaining power to get a share of the gains from growth.
Another structural change is the drop in the minimum wage. In 1979, it was $9.67 an hour (in 2013 dollars). By 1990, it had declined to $6.84. Today it’s $7.25, well below where it was in 1979.
Given that workers are far more productive now – computers have even increased the output of retail and fast food workers — the minimum wage should be even higher.
By setting a floor on wages, a higher minimum helps push up other wages. It undergirds higher median household incomes.
The only way to grow the economy in a way that benefits the bottom 90 percent is to change the structure of the economy. At the least, this requires stronger unions and a higher minimum wage.
It also requires better schools for the children of the bottom 90 percent, better access to higher education, and a more progressive tax system.
GDP growth is less and less relevant to the wellbeing of most Americans. We should be paying less attention to growth and more to median household income.
If the median household’s income is is heading upward, the economy is in good shape. If it’s heading downward, as it’s been for this entire recovery, we’re all in deep trouble.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Islamic State Militants Execute Female Iraqi Human Rights Activist
So, here's a report of another atrocity from the "religion of peace" (trademark applied for).
Another sign of their "tolerance".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/samira-nuaimi-killed_n_5880900.html
BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants with the Islamic State group tortured and then publicly killed a human rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after their self-proclaimed religious court ruled that she had abandoned Islam, the U.N. mission in Iraq said Thursday.
Gunmen with the group's newly declared police force seized Samira Salih al-Nuaimi last week in a northeastern district of the Mosul while she was home with her husband and three children, two people with direct knowledge of the incident told The Associated Press on Thursday. Al-Nuaimi was taken to a secret location. After about five days, the family was called by the morgue to retrieve her corpse, which bore signs of torture, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, her arrest was allegedly connected to Facebook messages she posted that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in Mosul. A statement by the U.N. on Thursday added that al-Nuaimi was tried in a so-called "Sharia court" for apostasy, after which she was tortured for five days before the militants sentenced her to "public execution." Her Facebook page appears to have been removed since her death.
"By torturing and executing a female human rights' lawyer and
activist, defending in particular the civil and human rights of her
fellow citizens in Mosul, ISIL continues to attest to its infamous
nature, combining hatred, nihilism and savagery, as well as its total
disregard of human decency," Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. envoy to Iraq,
said in a statement, referring to the group by an acronym. The statement
did not say how she was killed.
Among Muslim hard-liners, apostasy is thought to be not just conversion from Islam to another faith, but also committing actions that they believe are so against the faith that one is considered to have abandoned Islam.
Mosul is the largest city held by the Islamic State group in the self-declared "caliphate" it has carved out, bridging northern and eastern Syria with northern Iraq. Since overrunning the once-diverse city in June, the group has forced religious minorities to convert to Islam, pay special taxes or die, causing tens of thousands to flee. The militants have enforced a strict dress code on women, going so far as to veil the faces of female mannequins in store fronts.
In August, the group destroyed a number of historic landmarks in the town, including several mosques and shrines, claiming they promote idolatry and depart from principles of Islam.
Al-Nuaimi's death is the latest in a string of attacks by the militant group to silence female activists and politicians. In July in the nearby town of Sderat, militants broke into the house of a female candidate in the last provincial council elections, killed her and abducted her husband, the U.N. said. On the same day, another female politician was abducted from her home in eastern Mosul; she remains missing.
Hanaa Edwer, a prominent Iraqi human rights activist, said at least five female political activists have been killed in recent weeks by the Islamic State group in Mosul, including al-Nuaimi, who Edwer said was also running for a seat on the provincial council.
"But it is not just women being targeted," Edwer said. "They will kill anyone with a voice. It is terrifying."
The Gulf Center for Human Rights said Wednesday that al-Nuaimi had worked on detainee rights and poverty. The Bahrain-based rights organization said her death "is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular defending the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in Mosul."
The Islamic State extremists' blitz eventually prompted the United State to launch airstrikes last month, to aid Kurdish forces and protect religious minorities in Iraq.
This week, the U.S. and five allied Arab states expanded the aerial campaign into Syria, where the militant group is battling President Bashar Assad's forces as well as Western-backed rebels. Despite making gains in some of the country's more isolated areas, where airstrikes have paved the way for successful ground operations by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, the cities of Mosul and Fallujah remain major strongholds of the group, which has buried itself among large civilian populations.
The militant group recently killed 40 Iraq soldiers and captured 68 near Fallujah and then paraded their captives through the city in a show of brawn.
Nearly a dozen countries have also provided weapons and training to Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who were strained after months of battling the jihadi group.
In other developments Thursday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited northern Iraq for talks with Kurdish leaders about the fight against Islamic State extremists and Berlin's efforts to help with arms deliveries.
Thursday also marked the start of German arms deliveries to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with the ultimate goal of supplying 10,000 Kurdish fighters with some 70 million euros ($90 million) worth of equipment.
"We are involved with relief shipments and the airlift, but we know that this is not sufficient," said von der Leyen. "Much more is needed to get these (millions of people) through the winter."
___
Another sign of their "tolerance".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/samira-nuaimi-killed_n_5880900.html
BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants with the Islamic State group tortured and then publicly killed a human rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after their self-proclaimed religious court ruled that she had abandoned Islam, the U.N. mission in Iraq said Thursday.
Gunmen with the group's newly declared police force seized Samira Salih al-Nuaimi last week in a northeastern district of the Mosul while she was home with her husband and three children, two people with direct knowledge of the incident told The Associated Press on Thursday. Al-Nuaimi was taken to a secret location. After about five days, the family was called by the morgue to retrieve her corpse, which bore signs of torture, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, her arrest was allegedly connected to Facebook messages she posted that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in Mosul. A statement by the U.N. on Thursday added that al-Nuaimi was tried in a so-called "Sharia court" for apostasy, after which she was tortured for five days before the militants sentenced her to "public execution." Her Facebook page appears to have been removed since her death.
Among Muslim hard-liners, apostasy is thought to be not just conversion from Islam to another faith, but also committing actions that they believe are so against the faith that one is considered to have abandoned Islam.
Mosul is the largest city held by the Islamic State group in the self-declared "caliphate" it has carved out, bridging northern and eastern Syria with northern Iraq. Since overrunning the once-diverse city in June, the group has forced religious minorities to convert to Islam, pay special taxes or die, causing tens of thousands to flee. The militants have enforced a strict dress code on women, going so far as to veil the faces of female mannequins in store fronts.
In August, the group destroyed a number of historic landmarks in the town, including several mosques and shrines, claiming they promote idolatry and depart from principles of Islam.
Al-Nuaimi's death is the latest in a string of attacks by the militant group to silence female activists and politicians. In July in the nearby town of Sderat, militants broke into the house of a female candidate in the last provincial council elections, killed her and abducted her husband, the U.N. said. On the same day, another female politician was abducted from her home in eastern Mosul; she remains missing.
Hanaa Edwer, a prominent Iraqi human rights activist, said at least five female political activists have been killed in recent weeks by the Islamic State group in Mosul, including al-Nuaimi, who Edwer said was also running for a seat on the provincial council.
"But it is not just women being targeted," Edwer said. "They will kill anyone with a voice. It is terrifying."
The Gulf Center for Human Rights said Wednesday that al-Nuaimi had worked on detainee rights and poverty. The Bahrain-based rights organization said her death "is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular defending the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in Mosul."
The Islamic State extremists' blitz eventually prompted the United State to launch airstrikes last month, to aid Kurdish forces and protect religious minorities in Iraq.
This week, the U.S. and five allied Arab states expanded the aerial campaign into Syria, where the militant group is battling President Bashar Assad's forces as well as Western-backed rebels. Despite making gains in some of the country's more isolated areas, where airstrikes have paved the way for successful ground operations by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, the cities of Mosul and Fallujah remain major strongholds of the group, which has buried itself among large civilian populations.
The militant group recently killed 40 Iraq soldiers and captured 68 near Fallujah and then paraded their captives through the city in a show of brawn.
Nearly a dozen countries have also provided weapons and training to Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who were strained after months of battling the jihadi group.
In other developments Thursday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited northern Iraq for talks with Kurdish leaders about the fight against Islamic State extremists and Berlin's efforts to help with arms deliveries.
Thursday also marked the start of German arms deliveries to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with the ultimate goal of supplying 10,000 Kurdish fighters with some 70 million euros ($90 million) worth of equipment.
"We are involved with relief shipments and the airlift, but we know that this is not sufficient," said von der Leyen. "Much more is needed to get these (millions of people) through the winter."
___
Iran executes man for heresy Mohsen Amir-Aslani convicted of insulting prophet Jonah and making ‘innovations in religion’ through interpretations of Qur’an
O.K. now, this from "The Guardian" -- a little more information about the very famous "religion of peace". Perhaps they have regressed to the 12 century -- then again, can you say "Inquisition"?
If civilization really is going to collapse, perhaps it's only fitting to see what the future holds. We all know damn well that every religion would love to maintain orthodoxy in a very similar way. Look at our KKKonservative-right-wing-"Christians" -- they too hate blasphemy, heresy, and any sort of original thought.
Follow link to original.
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/iran-executes-man-heresy-mohsen-amir-aslani
If civilization really is going to collapse, perhaps it's only fitting to see what the future holds. We all know damn well that every religion would love to maintain orthodoxy in a very similar way. Look at our KKKonservative-right-wing-"Christians" -- they too hate blasphemy, heresy, and any sort of original thought.
Follow link to original.
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/iran-executes-man-heresy-mohsen-amir-aslani
NEW YORK: Flight Delayed Because Hasidim Wouldn't Sit Next To Women
Have not been well for the last few days. Upon browsing the interwebs today (feeling much better, thank you) I came across this rather disturbing item at "Joe.My.God.".
Perhaps some folks should be prevented from flying -- since only God(s) and/or Angels actually fly.
Please follow link to original.
-------------------------------------------------
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/
A flight from New York City to Tel Aviv was delayed on Wednesday because ultra-Orthodox passengers refused to sit next to women.
--------------------------------------------------------
ALL RELIGION SUCKS! They ALL HATE women.
Perhaps some folks should be prevented from flying -- since only God(s) and/or Angels actually fly.
Please follow link to original.
-------------------------------------------------
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/
A flight from New York City to Tel Aviv was delayed on Wednesday because ultra-Orthodox passengers refused to sit next to women.
According to the passengers who were on the plane, their fellow ultra-Orthodox travelers refused to sit next to women prior to the takeoff, which not only delayed the flight, but caused actual chaos to ensue on the plane. "People stood in the aisles and refused to go forward," said Amit Ben-Natan, a passenger who was on board the plane. "Although everyone had tickets with seat numbers that they purchased in advance, they asked us to trade seats with them, and even offered to pay money, since they cannot sit next to a woman. It was obvious that the plane won't take off as long as they keep standing in the aisles."The airline has promised to look into "future steps" to prevent the issue from recurring.
Galit, another traveler on the flight, said the ultra-orthodox passengers suggested she and her spouse split up to better accommodate their desired seating arrangements: "Why should I agree to switch places?" she said with anger. After she refused, the haredi man seated next to her conceded, but it was only temporary: "I ended up sitting next to a haredi man who jumped out of his seat the moment we had finished taking off and proceeded to stand in the aisle." It seems that after takeoff a large portion of the haredi travelers took to the aisle to pray which, according to their fellow travelers, crowded the aisle and caused the flight to be unbearable. "I went to the bathroom and it was a mission impossible, the noise was endless," Galit said.
--------------------------------------------------------
ALL RELIGION SUCKS! They ALL HATE women.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
"Religion Of Peace"
French tourist seized in Algeria was beheaded by a group aligned with ISIS --- please tell me more about the "religion of peace".
BARBARIANS! We must defeat them to save civilization.
BARBARIANS! We must defeat them to save civilization.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Art Pepper - Star Eyes
Art Pepper (Alto Saxophone)
Paul Chambers (Bass)
Philly Joe Jones (Drums)
Red Garland (Piano)
John Coltrane Septet 1956 ~ How Deep Is The Ocean ?
Al Cohn - Tenor Sax (1st solo)
Zoot Sims - Tenor Sax (2nd solo)
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax (3rd solo)
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax (4th solo)
Red Garland - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Art Taylor - Drums
Monday, September 22, 2014
Those Lazy Jobless
The latest column from Dr. Krugman.
Please follow link to original.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/opinion/paul-krugman-those-lazy-jobless.html?_r=0
Please follow link to original.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/opinion/paul-krugman-those-lazy-jobless.html?_r=0
Last week John Boehner, the speaker of the House, explained
to an audience at the American Enterprise Institute what’s holding back
employment in America: laziness. People, he said, have “this idea” that
“I really don’t have to work. I don’t really want to do this. I think
I’d rather just sit around.” Holy 47 percent, Batman!
It’s
hardly the first time a prominent conservative has said something along
these lines. Ever since a financial crisis plunged us into recession it
has been a nonstop refrain on the right that the unemployed aren’t
trying hard enough, that they are taking it easy thanks to generous
unemployment benefits, which are constantly characterized as “paying
people not to work.” And the urge to blame the victims of a depressed
economy has proved impervious to logic and evidence.
But
it’s still amazing — and revealing — to hear this line being repeated
now. For the blame-the-victim crowd has gotten everything it wanted:
Benefits, especially for the long-term unemployed, have been slashed or
eliminated. So now we have rants against the bums on welfare when they
aren’t bums — they never were — and there’s no welfare. Why
First
things first: I don’t know how many people realize just how successful
the campaign against any kind of relief for those who can’t find jobs
has been. But it’s a striking picture. The job market has improved
lately, but there are still almost three million
Americans who have been out of work for more than six months, the usual
maximum duration of unemployment insurance. That’s nearly three times
the pre-recession total. Yet extended benefits for the long-term
unemployed have been eliminated — and in some states the duration of
benefits has been slashed even further.
The result is that most of the unemployed have been cut off. Only 26 percent of jobless Americans are receiving any kind of unemployment benefit, the lowest level in many decades. The total value
of unemployment benefits is less than 0.25 percent of G.D.P., half what
it was in 2003, when the unemployment rate was roughly the same as it
is now. It’s not hyperbole to say that America has abandoned its
out-of-work citizens.
Strange
to say, this outbreak of anti-compassionate conservatism hasn’t
produced a job surge. In fact, the whole proposition that cruelty is the
key to prosperity hasn’t been faring too well lately. Last week Nathan
Deal, the Republican governor of Georgia, complained that many states
with Republican governors have seen a rise in unemployment and suggested that the feds were cooking the books. But maybe the right’s preferred policies don’t work?
That
is, however, a topic for another column. My question for today is
instead one of psychology and politics: Why is there so much animus
against the unemployed, such a strong conviction that they’re getting
away with something, at a time when they’re actually being treated with
unprecedented harshness?
Now,
as anyone who has studied British policy during the Irish famine knows,
self-righteous cruelty toward the victims of disaster, especially when
the disaster goes on for an extended period, is common in history.
Still, Republicans haven’t always been like this. In the 1930s they
denounced the New Deal and called for free-market solutions — but when
Alf Landon accepted the 1936 presidential nomination, he also emphasized
the “plain duty” of “caring for the unemployed until recovery is attained.” Can you imagine hearing anything similar from today’s G.O.P.?
Is it race? That’s always a hypothesis worth considering in American politics. It’s true that most of the unemployed are white, and they make up an even larger share
of those receiving unemployment benefits. But conservatives may not
know this, treating the unemployed as part of a vaguely defined,
dark-skinned crowd of “takers.”
My
guess, however, is that it’s mainly about the closed information loop
of the modern right. In a nation where the Republican base gets what it
thinks are facts from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, where the party’s
elite gets what it imagines to be policy analysis from the American
Enterprise Institute or the Heritage Foundation, the right lives in its
own intellectual universe, aware of neither the reality of unemployment
nor what life is like for the jobless. You might think that personal
experience — almost everyone has acquaintances or relatives who can’t
find work — would still break through, but apparently not.
Whatever
the explanation, Mr. Boehner was clearly saying what he and everyone
around him really thinks, what they say to each other when they don’t
expect others to hear. Some conservatives have been trying to reinvent
their image, professing sympathy for the less fortunate. But what their
party really believes is that if you’re poor or unemployed, it’s your
own fault.
Friday, September 19, 2014
The Red Garland Quintet - Soul Junction (Full Length)
Red Garland: piano
Donald Byrd: trumpet
John Coltrane: tenor saxophone
George Joyner; bass
Art Taylor; drums
Errors and Emissions Could Fighting Global Warming Be Cheap and Free? By PAUL KRUGMAN
Dr. Krugman's latest column. Please follow link to original,
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/opinion/paul-krugman-could-fighting-global-warming-be-cheap-and-free.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/opinion/paul-krugman-could-fighting-global-warming-be-cheap-and-free.html
This just in: Saving the planet would be cheap; it might even be free. But will anyone believe the good news?
I’ve just been reading two new reports on the economics of fighting climate change: a big study by a blue-ribbon international group, the New Climate Economy Project, and a working paper
from the International Monetary Fund. Both claim that strong measures
to limit carbon emissions would have hardly any negative effect on
economic growth, and might actually lead to faster growth. This may
sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. These are serious, careful
analyses.
But
you know that such assessments will be met with claims that it’s
impossible to break the link between economic growth and ever-rising
emissions of greenhouse gases, a position I think of as “climate
despair.” The most dangerous proponents of climate despair are on the
anti-environmentalist right. But they receive aid and comfort from other
groups, including some on the left, who have their own reasons for
getting it wrong.
Where
is the new optimism about climate change and growth coming from? It has
long been clear that a well-thought-out strategy of emissions control,
in particular one that puts a price on carbon via either an emissions
tax or a cap-and-trade scheme, would cost much less than the usual
suspects want you to think. But the economics of climate protection look
even better now than they did a few years ago.
On
one side, there has been dramatic progress in renewable energy
technology, with the costs of solar power, in particular, plunging, down by half just since 2010.
Renewables have their limitations — basically, the sun doesn’t always
shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow — but if you think that an
economy getting a lot of its power from wind farms and solar panels is a
hippie fantasy, you’re the one out of touch with reality.
On
the other side, it turns out that putting a price on carbon would have
large “co-benefits” — positive effects over and above the reduction in
climate risks — and that these benefits would come fairly quickly. The
most important of these co-benefits, according to the I.M.F. paper,
would involve public health: burning coal causes many respiratory
ailments, which drive up medical costs and reduce productivity.
And
thanks to these co-benefits, the paper argues, one argument often made
against carbon pricing — that it’s not worth doing unless we can get a
global agreement — is wrong. Even without an international agreement,
there are ample reasons to take action against the climate threat.
But
back to the main point: It’s easier to slash emissions than seemed
possible even a few years ago, and reduced emissions would produce large
benefits in the short-to-medium run. So saving the planet would be
cheap and maybe even come free.
Enter
the prophets of climate despair, who wave away all this analysis and
declare that the only way to limit carbon emissions is to bring an end
to economic growth.
You
mostly hear this from people on the right, who normally say that
free-market economies are endlessly flexible and creative. But when you
propose putting a price on carbon, suddenly they insist that industry
will be completely incapable of adapting to changed incentives. Why,
it’s almost as if they’re looking for excuses to avoid confronting
climate change, and, in particular, to avoid anything that hurts
fossil-fuel interests, no matter how beneficial to everyone else.
But
climate despair produces some odd bedfellows: Koch-fueled insistence
that emission limits would kill economic growth is echoed by some who
see this as an argument not against climate action, but against growth.
You can find this attitude in the mostly European “degrowth” movement, or in American groups like the Post Carbon Institute;
I’ve encountered claims that saving the planet requires an end to
growth at left-leaning meetings on “rethinking economics.” To be fair,
anti-growth environmentalism is a marginal position even on the left,
but it’s widespread enough to call out nonetheless.
And
you sometimes see hard scientists making arguments along the same
lines, largely (I think) because they don’t understand what economic
growth means. They think of it as a crude, physical thing, a matter
simply of producing more stuff, and don’t take into account the many choices — about what to consume, about which technologies to use — that go into producing a dollar’s worth of G.D.P.
So
here’s what you need to know: Climate despair is all wrong. The idea
that economic growth and climate action are incompatible may sound
hardheaded and realistic, but it’s actually a fuzzy-minded
misconception. If we ever get past the special interests and ideology
that have blocked action to save the planet, we’ll find that it’s
cheaper and easier than almost anyone imagines.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
America's Political Spectrum Is Not Left to Right, It's Top to Bottom—And It has Failed the People Every day, there are populist uprisings, both large and small, all across this country.
Here's a little something by Jim Hightower, from "Alternet" -- please follow link to original.
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http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/americas-political-spectrum-not-left-right-its-top-bottom-and-it-has-failed?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
My father, W.F. "High" Hightower, was a populist. Only, he didn't know it. Didn't know the word, much less the history or anything about populism's democratic ethos. My father was not philosophical, but he had a phrase that he used to express the gist of his political beliefs: "Everybody does better when everybodydoes better."
Before the populists of the late 1800s gave its instinctive rebelliousness a name, it had long been established as a defining trait of our national character: The 1776 rebellion was not only against King George III's government but against the corporate tyranny of such British monopolists as the East India Trading Company.
The establishment certainly doesn't celebrate the populist spirit, and our educational system avoids bothering students with our vibrant, human story of constant battles, big and small, mounted by "little people" against ... well, against the establishment. The Keepers of the Corporate Order take care to avoid even a suggestion that there is an important political pattern -- a historic continuum -- that connects Thomas Paine's radical democracy writings in the late 1700s to Shays' Rebellion in 1786, to strikes by mill women and carpenters in the early 1800s, to Jefferson's 1825 warning about the rising aristocracy of banks and corporations "riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman," to the launching of the women's suffrage movement at Seneca Falls in 1848, to the maverick Texans who outlawed banks in their 1845 state constitution, to the bloody and ultimately successful grassroots struggle for the abolition of slavery, and to the populist movement itself, plus the myriad rebellions that followed right into our present day.
WHAT POPULISM IS NOT: An empty word for lazy reporters to attach to any angry spasm of popular discontent. (And it's damn sure not Sarah Palin and today's clique of Koch-funded, corporate-hugging, tea party Republicans.)
WHAT IT IS: For some 238 years, it has been the chief political impulse in America's body politick -- determinedly democratic, vigilantly resistant to the oppressive power of corporations and Wall Street, committed to grassroots percolate-up economics, and firmly rooted in my old daddy's concept of "Everybodyness," recognizing that we're all in this together.
Although it was organized into a formal movement for only about 25 years, Populism has had an outsized, long-term, and ongoing impact on our culture, public policies, economic structure and governing systems. Even though its name is rarely used and its history largely hidden, and neither major party will embrace it (much less become it), there are many more people today whose inherent political instincts are populist, rather than conservative or liberal.
Yet the pundits and politicos frame our choices in terms of that narrow con-lib ideological spectrum, ignoring the fact that most of us are neither, or a bit of both. Our nation's true political spectrum is not right to left, but top to bottom. People can locate themselves along this vertical rich-to-poor spread, for this is not a theoretical positioning: It's based on our real-world experience with money and power. This is America's real politics.
Every day, there are populist uprisings, both large and small, all across this country. Towns taking on Big Oil frackers, cities raising the minimum wage, fast-food workers demanding a living wage, states taking on GMO labeling, Moral Monday, Truthful Tuesday, and other movements spreading across the South to fight for social justice.
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/americas-political-spectrum-not-left-right-its-top-bottom-and-it-has-failed?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
My father, W.F. "High" Hightower, was a populist. Only, he didn't know it. Didn't know the word, much less the history or anything about populism's democratic ethos. My father was not philosophical, but he had a phrase that he used to express the gist of his political beliefs: "Everybody does better when everybodydoes better."
Before the populists of the late 1800s gave its instinctive rebelliousness a name, it had long been established as a defining trait of our national character: The 1776 rebellion was not only against King George III's government but against the corporate tyranny of such British monopolists as the East India Trading Company.
The establishment certainly doesn't celebrate the populist spirit, and our educational system avoids bothering students with our vibrant, human story of constant battles, big and small, mounted by "little people" against ... well, against the establishment. The Keepers of the Corporate Order take care to avoid even a suggestion that there is an important political pattern -- a historic continuum -- that connects Thomas Paine's radical democracy writings in the late 1700s to Shays' Rebellion in 1786, to strikes by mill women and carpenters in the early 1800s, to Jefferson's 1825 warning about the rising aristocracy of banks and corporations "riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman," to the launching of the women's suffrage movement at Seneca Falls in 1848, to the maverick Texans who outlawed banks in their 1845 state constitution, to the bloody and ultimately successful grassroots struggle for the abolition of slavery, and to the populist movement itself, plus the myriad rebellions that followed right into our present day.
WHAT POPULISM IS NOT: An empty word for lazy reporters to attach to any angry spasm of popular discontent. (And it's damn sure not Sarah Palin and today's clique of Koch-funded, corporate-hugging, tea party Republicans.)
WHAT IT IS: For some 238 years, it has been the chief political impulse in America's body politick -- determinedly democratic, vigilantly resistant to the oppressive power of corporations and Wall Street, committed to grassroots percolate-up economics, and firmly rooted in my old daddy's concept of "Everybodyness," recognizing that we're all in this together.
Although it was organized into a formal movement for only about 25 years, Populism has had an outsized, long-term, and ongoing impact on our culture, public policies, economic structure and governing systems. Even though its name is rarely used and its history largely hidden, and neither major party will embrace it (much less become it), there are many more people today whose inherent political instincts are populist, rather than conservative or liberal.
Yet the pundits and politicos frame our choices in terms of that narrow con-lib ideological spectrum, ignoring the fact that most of us are neither, or a bit of both. Our nation's true political spectrum is not right to left, but top to bottom. People can locate themselves along this vertical rich-to-poor spread, for this is not a theoretical positioning: It's based on our real-world experience with money and power. This is America's real politics.
Today's workaday majority can plainly see
that a privileged few at the top are separating their fortunes as fast
as they can from the well-being of the rest of us. We've also seen that
after the 2008 economic collapse, both major parties rushed to wipe the
fevered brows of the pampered few with our tax dollars and did little
about the crash in wages, income, wealth and economic power of the
bottom 90 percent. Six years later, Congress continues to ignore the
ongoing destruction of the middle class and the unconscionable rise in
poverty -- unless you count last year's cuts to food stamp funding and
jobless benefits as "doing something."
Our system of
representative government has, in a word, collapsed. Most Congress
critters are not even trying anymore -- not listening to the people, not
even knowing any regular folks, and not representing their interests.
But what we also have is a ripening political opportunity for a
revitalized, 21st-century populist movement.Every day, there are populist uprisings, both large and small, all across this country. Towns taking on Big Oil frackers, cities raising the minimum wage, fast-food workers demanding a living wage, states taking on GMO labeling, Moral Monday, Truthful Tuesday, and other movements spreading across the South to fight for social justice.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Red Mitchell - Jim's Blues
Red Mitchell (cello), Jim Hall (g), Frank Strazzeri (p), Jimmy Bond (b), Frank Butler (ds)
Album：" Red Mitchell Cello Debut At The Renaissance / Rejoice! "
Recorded：Live at The Renaissance, Hollywood, October,1960
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Sonny Criss Quartet 1965 ~ What's New
Sonny Criss - Alto Sax
Hampton Hawes - Piano
Clarence Johnson - Bass
Frank Butler - Drums
New York pastor’s wild ‘rectum’ rant: NASA Voyager probe proved ‘homos’ are perverts
"take them out on the street"?? How hateful are these folks? Why does any pastor, priest, rabbi, etc., preach hate toward anyone?
This stuff is insane. Please follow link to original, watch video -- if you can stomach it.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/new-york-pastors-wild-rectum-rant-nasa-voyager-probe-proved-homos-are-perverts/
A New York pastor who believes that Jesus would have stoned LGBT people said this week that the NASA Voyager spacecraft’s journey through the Solar System verified that homosexuality is perverted.
In a YouTube message to his followers posted over the weekend, Atlah World Missionary Church Rev. James David Manning said that gay Christians were misusing Bible verses to claim that God loved them.
“It makes you wonder about their legitimate place in the universe to think that somehow or another that we’re no longer under those laws,” he opined, adding that the Earth and the Sun would be destroyed before “sodomy and the abominable practice of man lying with man” was not a sin.
“Any effeminate person will not enter into the Kingdom of God just for acting like a homo,” the pastor insisted. “I mean, you just act sweet, you ain’t going to Heaven, homie. Read it right there. Read it and weep.”
“The entire universe rebukes sodomy, it rebukes same-sex marriage, it rebukes man lying with man.”
Manning said that the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Voyager spacecraft had looked into the universe and proved that “everything has an opposite.”
“As far as our scientists have been able to discover, everything has an opposite,” he shrugged. “There’s nothing in the universe that agrees with same-sex [marriage], there’s nothing in the universe that agrees with the Sodomites… The Sodomites can’t get a witness from anywhere in the universe except their own perverted testimony, nothing in the universe will agree with them. Everything in the universe says it must be male and female.”
The pastor then explained that demons were convincing LGBT people that homosexuality was normal, which triggered a rant about how life was not created in the rectum.
“There is no life that will come out of a rectum!” he exclaimed. “You cannot produce life, it’s only death! There’s nothing in a rectum except waste, refuse and death!”
Manning continued: “And without the true, authentic creation that God has put in order, all Sodomites would die! Because there’s nothing but death and refuse in the rectum! No life can come out of the rectum! The rectum is designed to get rid of death and waste! It’s designed for that one purpose, and the Sodomites are cheering on and praising the rectum!”
“I mean, that’s demonic!”
In the end, Manning said that his followers should understand that LGBT people were “filled with demons.” He advised that it was possible for gay men and lesbian women to be saved by Jesus.
“However, you cannot allow anyone who is a transgender to come into the church,” he warned. “Anyone who has cut off their [genitals] cannot enter into the house of God. So, you can’t even pray for them. Maybe you can take them out on the street and pray for them that they get rid of the demons that are in them.”
“The entire universe condemns sodomy, same-sex marriage and the practices thereof. I’m James Manning, everybody. I’m the Lord’s servant!”
This stuff is insane. Please follow link to original, watch video -- if you can stomach it.
-------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/new-york-pastors-wild-rectum-rant-nasa-voyager-probe-proved-homos-are-perverts/
A New York pastor who believes that Jesus would have stoned LGBT people said this week that the NASA Voyager spacecraft’s journey through the Solar System verified that homosexuality is perverted.
In a YouTube message to his followers posted over the weekend, Atlah World Missionary Church Rev. James David Manning said that gay Christians were misusing Bible verses to claim that God loved them.
“It makes you wonder about their legitimate place in the universe to think that somehow or another that we’re no longer under those laws,” he opined, adding that the Earth and the Sun would be destroyed before “sodomy and the abominable practice of man lying with man” was not a sin.
“Any effeminate person will not enter into the Kingdom of God just for acting like a homo,” the pastor insisted. “I mean, you just act sweet, you ain’t going to Heaven, homie. Read it right there. Read it and weep.”
“The entire universe rebukes sodomy, it rebukes same-sex marriage, it rebukes man lying with man.”
Manning said that the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Voyager spacecraft had looked into the universe and proved that “everything has an opposite.”
“As far as our scientists have been able to discover, everything has an opposite,” he shrugged. “There’s nothing in the universe that agrees with same-sex [marriage], there’s nothing in the universe that agrees with the Sodomites… The Sodomites can’t get a witness from anywhere in the universe except their own perverted testimony, nothing in the universe will agree with them. Everything in the universe says it must be male and female.”
The pastor then explained that demons were convincing LGBT people that homosexuality was normal, which triggered a rant about how life was not created in the rectum.
“There is no life that will come out of a rectum!” he exclaimed. “You cannot produce life, it’s only death! There’s nothing in a rectum except waste, refuse and death!”
Manning continued: “And without the true, authentic creation that God has put in order, all Sodomites would die! Because there’s nothing but death and refuse in the rectum! No life can come out of the rectum! The rectum is designed to get rid of death and waste! It’s designed for that one purpose, and the Sodomites are cheering on and praising the rectum!”
“I mean, that’s demonic!”
In the end, Manning said that his followers should understand that LGBT people were “filled with demons.” He advised that it was possible for gay men and lesbian women to be saved by Jesus.
“However, you cannot allow anyone who is a transgender to come into the church,” he warned. “Anyone who has cut off their [genitals] cannot enter into the house of God. So, you can’t even pray for them. Maybe you can take them out on the street and pray for them that they get rid of the demons that are in them.”
“The entire universe condemns sodomy, same-sex marriage and the practices thereof. I’m James Manning, everybody. I’m the Lord’s servant!”
Monday, September 15, 2014
Drinking water contaminated by shale gas boom in Texas and Pennsylvania Faulty natural gas well casings blamed in study for methane leakage in Barnett Shale and the Marcellus formation
From "The Guardian" -- better late than never. Follow link to original
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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/15/drinking-water-contaminated-by-shale-gas-boom-in-texas-and-pennslyvania-study
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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/15/drinking-water-contaminated-by-shale-gas-boom-in-texas-and-pennslyvania-study
The natural gas boom resulting from fracking has contaminated
drinking water in Texas and Pennsylvania, a new study said on Monday.
However, the researchers said the gas leaks were due to defective gas well production – and were not a direct result of horizontal drilling, or fracking.
The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences validated some of the concerns raised by homeowners in the Barnett Shale of Texas and the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania about natural gas leaking into their water supply.
The film Gasland notoriously showed flames bursting out of a kitchen tap because of high concentrations of natural gas in drinking water.
But the researchers said there was no direct causal relationship with fracking itself.
“Our data do not suggest that horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing has provided a conduit to connect deep Marcellus or Barnett formations directly to surface aquifers,” the authors wrote.
Instead, the researchers said the leakage was due to faulty cement casing on natural gas wells.
The finding was in line with a number of earlier studies on leaks in the cement casing of natural gas wells.
In Pennsylvania, state inspectors found about 9% of steel and cement casings on wells drilled since the start of the natural gas boom were compromised. There was an even higher risk on newer wells drilled since 2009, especially in the north-western part of the state, the inspectors found.
Scientists from Cornell University – who have often led research onto environmental problems associated with fracking – have said in the past the problems with well construction were due to installation as well as faulty cement mixing.
Earlier this year, the Cornell researchers also found higher rates of methane leakage from natural gas wells.
Researchers from Duke University meanwhile have suggested that the higher failure rate for hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells could be due to longer distances, or the horizontal orientation, which adds to pressure on the casing.
Monday’s study was conducted by scientists from Ohio State University,Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Rochester as well as Duke.
The researchers took water samples seven locations around gas drilling regions in the Pennsylvania and Texas, and analysed them for traces of methane gas.
In some cases, the gas come from shallow formations unrelated to fracking, but travelled up through the gas well and leaked into the groundwater from there because of faulty casing.
However, the researchers said the gas leaks were due to defective gas well production – and were not a direct result of horizontal drilling, or fracking.
The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences validated some of the concerns raised by homeowners in the Barnett Shale of Texas and the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania about natural gas leaking into their water supply.
The film Gasland notoriously showed flames bursting out of a kitchen tap because of high concentrations of natural gas in drinking water.
But the researchers said there was no direct causal relationship with fracking itself.
“Our data do not suggest that horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing has provided a conduit to connect deep Marcellus or Barnett formations directly to surface aquifers,” the authors wrote.
Instead, the researchers said the leakage was due to faulty cement casing on natural gas wells.
The finding was in line with a number of earlier studies on leaks in the cement casing of natural gas wells.
In Pennsylvania, state inspectors found about 9% of steel and cement casings on wells drilled since the start of the natural gas boom were compromised. There was an even higher risk on newer wells drilled since 2009, especially in the north-western part of the state, the inspectors found.
Scientists from Cornell University – who have often led research onto environmental problems associated with fracking – have said in the past the problems with well construction were due to installation as well as faulty cement mixing.
Earlier this year, the Cornell researchers also found higher rates of methane leakage from natural gas wells.
Researchers from Duke University meanwhile have suggested that the higher failure rate for hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells could be due to longer distances, or the horizontal orientation, which adds to pressure on the casing.
Monday’s study was conducted by scientists from Ohio State University,Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Rochester as well as Duke.
The researchers took water samples seven locations around gas drilling regions in the Pennsylvania and Texas, and analysed them for traces of methane gas.
In some cases, the gas come from shallow formations unrelated to fracking, but travelled up through the gas well and leaked into the groundwater from there because of faulty casing.
Alabama pastor drives girl to city park to rape and sodomize her, police say
Now, from "Raw Story", more proof it's not just Catholic Priests who like to diddle the young'uns.
Follow link to original
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/blog/2014/09/15/alabama-pastor-drives-girl-to-city-park-to-rape-and-sodomize-her-police-say/
Police in Pleasant Grove, Alabama arrested a local pastor last week after he was caught driving a 16-year-old girl to a city park to allegedly rape and sodomize her.
WBRC reported that an officer noticed Palisades Family Church of Christ Pastor Glenn VanZandt’s car in an abandoned park at around 10 p.m. on Thursday.
When the officer stopped to check out the car, he discovered the 55-year-old pastor inside with the teen.
“He rolled up on the car, the vehicle, and he found our 55-year-old suspect with a minor child, a female under the age of 16,” Sgt. Danny Reid told the station.
And investigators discovered that it was not the first time the pastor had allegedly raped the girl.
“There was a period of victimization over several months where he had sex and sodomized a minor female under the age of 16,” Reid told Al.com in a phone interview.
VanZandt was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy. He was being held in Pleasant Grove jail in lieu of $60,000 bond.
VanZandt has served as the pastor of Palisades Family Church of Christ since October of 2011.
Follow link to original
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/blog/2014/09/15/alabama-pastor-drives-girl-to-city-park-to-rape-and-sodomize-her-police-say/
Police in Pleasant Grove, Alabama arrested a local pastor last week after he was caught driving a 16-year-old girl to a city park to allegedly rape and sodomize her.
WBRC reported that an officer noticed Palisades Family Church of Christ Pastor Glenn VanZandt’s car in an abandoned park at around 10 p.m. on Thursday.
When the officer stopped to check out the car, he discovered the 55-year-old pastor inside with the teen.
“He rolled up on the car, the vehicle, and he found our 55-year-old suspect with a minor child, a female under the age of 16,” Sgt. Danny Reid told the station.
And investigators discovered that it was not the first time the pastor had allegedly raped the girl.
“There was a period of victimization over several months where he had sex and sodomized a minor female under the age of 16,” Reid told Al.com in a phone interview.
VanZandt was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy. He was being held in Pleasant Grove jail in lieu of $60,000 bond.
VanZandt has served as the pastor of Palisades Family Church of Christ since October of 2011.
Georgia's top elections official targets group for encouraging African-Americans to register to vote
from "Daily Kos" -- nothing ever changes. Follow link to original
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/15/1329904/-Georgia-s-top-elections-official-targets-group-for-encouraging-African-Americans-to-register-to-vote?showAll=yes
The New Georgia Project was created earlier this year with one goal: encouraging unregistered Georgians to vote, particularly in the state's African-American communities. Thus far, it has submitted 85,000 voter registration forms, worked with other groups that are trying to enroll new voters, and—you guessed it—become a target of Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who last week accused the project of voter fraud and issued a subpoena ordering them to hand over copies of virtual all of their records to his office.
Kemp set a deadline of tomorrow at 5 PM ET for the documents, but despite the breadth of his demand and severity of his allegations, has offered virtually no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing beyond citing complaints from a few county clerks and asserting that not every application was completed correctly:
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/15/1329904/-Georgia-s-top-elections-official-targets-group-for-encouraging-African-Americans-to-register-to-vote?showAll=yes
The New Georgia Project was created earlier this year with one goal: encouraging unregistered Georgians to vote, particularly in the state's African-American communities. Thus far, it has submitted 85,000 voter registration forms, worked with other groups that are trying to enroll new voters, and—you guessed it—become a target of Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who last week accused the project of voter fraud and issued a subpoena ordering them to hand over copies of virtual all of their records to his office.
Kemp set a deadline of tomorrow at 5 PM ET for the documents, but despite the breadth of his demand and severity of his allegations, has offered virtually no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing beyond citing complaints from a few county clerks and asserting that not every application was completed correctly:
In a memo sent to county elections officials, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said in recent weeks his office has “received numerous complaints about voter applications submitted by the New Georgia Project.” Kemp wrote, “Preliminary investigation has revealed significant illegal activities including forged voter registration applications, forged signatures on releases, and applications with false or inaccurate information.”Oooh—"significant illegal activities"—sounds serious, right? Well, Bloomberg News caught up with two of those counties and found:
A spokesman confirmed Kemp's office was contacted by officials in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Bartow, Butts and Muscogee counties.
DeKalb County reported “a handful” of possibly fraudulent registrations to Kemp’s office, including some with apparently forged signatures, said registration director Maxine Daniels. [...] Nancy Boren, registration director in Muscogee County, which includes Columbus, said her office received about 11,000 registration cards and sent 10 to Kemp for review.A "handful"? Ten of 11,000? And this is "significant illegal" activity? Continue below the fold to see why that doesn't seem credible, even if you factor in 7,000 forms sent to Fulton County for voters who don't live in Fulton County and several thousand registrations whose authenticity is still being verified by DeKalb County.
So there's a handful of forms that might be fraudulent and have been
set aside from legitimate forms, plus there are a bunch of others where
counties need to either forward forms to the correct county or verify
the information. Sounds to me like a system that is working the way it's
supposed to work. Moreover, as State Rep. Stacey Abrams, the Democratic
leader in the state House and the leader of the group points out,
her group was required to submit all forms they received, even the ones
that were questionable, which they flagged for further review. And you
know who requires that? Yep: Georgia's secretary of state.
So you have a group that is doing exactly what Georgia's secretary of state requires of them and yet because they are doing what he required, he accuses them of fraud based on at most a handful of cases—cases that are almost certainly examples of canvassers trying to get paid for work they didn't do, not a conspiracy to commit actual voter fraud.
What in the world could possibly have caused him to chart such an unreasonable path? Let Big Dog explain:
So you have a group that is doing exactly what Georgia's secretary of state requires of them and yet because they are doing what he required, he accuses them of fraud based on at most a handful of cases—cases that are almost certainly examples of canvassers trying to get paid for work they didn't do, not a conspiracy to commit actual voter fraud.
What in the world could possibly have caused him to chart such an unreasonable path? Let Big Dog explain:
In Georgia, [former President Bill] Clinton pointed to the need to register more black voters. He visited there this weekend to boost Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn. “African-Americans are as under-registered in Georgia, historically, as Hispanics are in Texas,” he said in an interview. “If we can increase the number, increase the vote, then I think you just need to go out and find the rest of the state, the people that are for you.”In fact, the day before Kemp issued his subpoena, First Lady Michelle Obama appeared in the state and said:
“If just 50 Democratic voters per precinct who didn’t vote in 2010 get out and vote this November—just 50 per precinct—then Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter will win.”And even Kemp himself understands what's going on, because in July he said:
In closing I just wanted to tell you, real quick, after we get through this runoff, you know the Democrats are working hard, and all these stories about them, you know, registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines, if they can do that, they can win these elections in November.In retrospect, those comments look like Kemp was planning all along to target New Georgia Project, but when he made them, he was trying to encourage Republicans to do the same thing:
Well, we’ve got to do the exact same thing. I would encourage all of you – if you have an Android or Apple device, download that app, and make it your goal to register one new Republican voterCan't argue with that—nobody should ever be discouraged from voting or from trying to get more people to vote. But now that Kemp knows how successful Democratic efforts have been been, he's changed his tune, because more than anything else, the Republican victory plan depends on people not voting. And if he thinks that going on fishing expeditions against groups that threaten the GOP's plan will help him politically, that's exactly what he'll do—and it's exactly what he's doing. The best way for people in Georgia to fight back? To do what Kemp and his fellow Republicans don't want: To get registered, and to vote.
Friday, September 12, 2014
How James Brown Saved CBS’s Pre-Game Show From Hell - Dave Zirin on September 12, 2014 - 10:40 AM ET
From Dave Zirin - "Edge of Sports". This is a must read. Please follow link to original.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.thenation.com/blog/181593/how-james-brown-saved-cbs-pre-game-show-hell-full-transcript#
The pregame program of the profoundly awkward Thursday night CBS game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens was on a toboggan ride toward collective mortification. An NFL reeling from the revealed reality that they care nothing about domestic violence – or women at all beyond their capacity to buy their crap - was in a drowning death-grip with a CBS network that had spent billions on their new Thursday night NFL package. On the day of the broadcast, CBS realized that having a pregame video of Rihanna, who before this week could safely be called the most well-known domestic violence survivor on planet, did not seem like the best of ideas. They also belatedly came to understand that the network could not just light some fireworks and pretend this was business as usual, not when Jon Stewart, gesturing for so many of us, took time Wednesday night to give the league a one finger salute. Not when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was continuing in real time to drown in lies about what he knew and when he knew it.
So CBS responded to the mushrooming scandal by putting on its “Bizarro Olivia Pope” hat and revamped the entire operation. Struck from the set was the Rihanna opener. Smashed to smithereens was the pomp and fireworks. Instead, CBS presented an awkward, hybrid news/sports/entertainment set featuring respected members of their news division alongside the CBS and NFL Network jockocracy. "Norah O’Donnell and Deion Sanders break down domestic violence, only on CBS!" Clearly the golden goose had to be saved. All hands were on deck and any pretense of a separation between CBS’ news and entertainment wings, or between CBS and the NFL, were out the window.
Instead we had Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti speaking about this being “a seminal moment for domestic violence” and a series of pregame news reports about the “sobriety” of this moment. The method was obvious: if CBS and the NFL – together! – could show that they take domestic violence seriously, then fans could exhale and, having its guilt at watching Goodell’s league expiated, sit back to enjoy the commodified violence on the field of play. It was just “Are you ready for some football?” except instead of Hank Williams, Jr, Scott Pelley was on hand to get us in the mood. The entire operation felt about as sincere as Roger Goodell’s “independent” investigation into whether the NFL had seen the tape of Ray Rice removing his then-fiancée Janay from consciousness.
Then James Brown, the longtime anchor of CBS NFL coverage, actually brought something of profound value to the proceedings. Speaking directly to the camera, Brown said the following. (Warning: You are going to want to reread this and share it as widely as possible.)
--------------------------------------------
http://www.thenation.com/blog/181593/how-james-brown-saved-cbs-pre-game-show-hell-full-transcript#
The pregame program of the profoundly awkward Thursday night CBS game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens was on a toboggan ride toward collective mortification. An NFL reeling from the revealed reality that they care nothing about domestic violence – or women at all beyond their capacity to buy their crap - was in a drowning death-grip with a CBS network that had spent billions on their new Thursday night NFL package. On the day of the broadcast, CBS realized that having a pregame video of Rihanna, who before this week could safely be called the most well-known domestic violence survivor on planet, did not seem like the best of ideas. They also belatedly came to understand that the network could not just light some fireworks and pretend this was business as usual, not when Jon Stewart, gesturing for so many of us, took time Wednesday night to give the league a one finger salute. Not when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was continuing in real time to drown in lies about what he knew and when he knew it.
So CBS responded to the mushrooming scandal by putting on its “Bizarro Olivia Pope” hat and revamped the entire operation. Struck from the set was the Rihanna opener. Smashed to smithereens was the pomp and fireworks. Instead, CBS presented an awkward, hybrid news/sports/entertainment set featuring respected members of their news division alongside the CBS and NFL Network jockocracy. "Norah O’Donnell and Deion Sanders break down domestic violence, only on CBS!" Clearly the golden goose had to be saved. All hands were on deck and any pretense of a separation between CBS’ news and entertainment wings, or between CBS and the NFL, were out the window.
Instead we had Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti speaking about this being “a seminal moment for domestic violence” and a series of pregame news reports about the “sobriety” of this moment. The method was obvious: if CBS and the NFL – together! – could show that they take domestic violence seriously, then fans could exhale and, having its guilt at watching Goodell’s league expiated, sit back to enjoy the commodified violence on the field of play. It was just “Are you ready for some football?” except instead of Hank Williams, Jr, Scott Pelley was on hand to get us in the mood. The entire operation felt about as sincere as Roger Goodell’s “independent” investigation into whether the NFL had seen the tape of Ray Rice removing his then-fiancée Janay from consciousness.
Then James Brown, the longtime anchor of CBS NFL coverage, actually brought something of profound value to the proceedings. Speaking directly to the camera, Brown said the following. (Warning: You are going to want to reread this and share it as widely as possible.)
Two years ago I challenged the NFL community and all men to seriously confront the problem of domestic violence, especially coming on the heels of the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins. Yet, here we are again dealing with the same issue of violence against women.Damn. Thank you James Brown. Thank you for speaking up and speaking out. Thank you for using your platform for some good. The historian Howard Zinn once said famously that “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” There is also no “internal investigation” deep enough, no pregame show somber enough, no press conference emotional enough, to cover the shame of how the the culture of the NFL has enabled violence against women both inside and outside their league. There are many roads that lead toward ending domestic violence: fighting poverty, creating more resources for survivors, and building a less degrading society are all imperatives. But, in addition to that, domestic violence will never end until men see it as both a political principle and moral imperative to stand up and say no more. In front of an audience of millions, James Brown has officially launched that conversation.
Now let’s be clear, this problem is bigger than football. There has been, appropriately so, intense and widespread outrage following the release of the video showing what happened inside the elevator at the casino. But wouldn’t it be productive if this collective outrage, as my colleagues have said, could be channeled to truly hear and address the long-suffering cries for help by so many women? And as they said, do something about it? Like an on-going education of men about what healthy, respectful manhood is all about.
And it starts with how we view women. Our language is important. For instance, when a guy says, ‘you throw the ball like a girl’ or ‘you’re a little sissy,’ it reflects an attitude that devalues women and attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion. Women have been at the forefront in the domestic violence awareness and prevention arena. And whether Janay Rice considers herself a victim or not, millions of women in this country are.
Consider this: According to domestic violence experts, more than three women per day lose their lives at the hands of their partners. That means that since the night February 15th in Atlantic City [when the elevator incident occurred] more than 600 women have died.
So this is yet another call to men to stand up and take responsibility for their thoughts, their words, their deeds and as Deion [Sanders] says to give help or to get help, because our silence is deafening and deadly.
7 Women Working Tirelessly to Screw Over Other Women These women should be held just as accountable as men who attack equal rights for women.- By Amanda Marcotte
A little something from "Alternet" -- know the enemy. -- follow link to original
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http://www.alternet.org/gender/7-women-working-tirelessly-screw-over-other-women?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
A lot of people assume the term "female misogynist" is an oxymoron.
How can a woman be opposed to the fight to help women achieve equality?
The sad fact of the matter is, as long as there has been feminism, there
have been women who find it personallydvantageous to reject feminism
and instead argue for continuing social systems that perpetuate women’s
inequality, male dominance, and even violence against women. (There were
even plenty of women who were willing to argue against women’s suffrage
back in the day.) Here is a list of nine women who have made a career
out of opposing women’s struggle for social, political and economic
equality.
1. Christina Hoff Sommers. Sommers is a pioneer in the art of arguing that it’s men who are actually the oppressed class in modern society. Her 2000 book The War Against Boys tried to argue, falsely, that feminists are ruining young men’s lives by oppressing them through the educational system. (Somehow those distressed young men continue to graduate and go on to have better job opportunities and make more money than their female peers.) She was most recently spotted offering her support to an organized online campaign to harass a young video game developer over her sex life.
2. Cathy Young. While Christina Hoff Sommers specializes in facetious claims about imaginary feminist oppressors, Young focuses on minimizing the problems of sexual abuse and harassment of women. Recently, she made a shoddy and dishonest claim that men get harassed more than women online, a claim that necessarily leads to the conclusion that women’s greater stress over harassment must be the result of their inferior constitution. Young also objects to the new movement to pass laws requiring men only to have sex with women who want the sex, on the grounds that men can’t be expected to handle something as simple as reciprocity.
3. Jill Stanek. Many women have found their calling in attacking contraception and abortion access, but Stanek, an ardent blogger, brings a hatefulness and obsessiveness that helps her stand out from an already unpleasant crowd. After getting old enough that unwanted pregnancy stopped being a personal concern, Stanek “discovered” that contraception has been evil all along, dedicating much of her blog to arguing that pregnancy prevention is a uniquely modern evil. Stanek also notoriously celebrated domestic violence, arguing that men should hit women who have abortions. “That spontaneous slap was the reaction of a real man who a woman had just told she aborted his baby,” she said of a notorious scene in Godfather II in which a gangster hits his wife. “Compare that to the modern-day cowardly male response, ‘It’s your choice. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.’”
4. The Politichicks. Ann-Marie Murrell, Morgan Brittany and Dr. Gina Loudon are Internet video hosts who run a show called Politichicks and have a new book out arguing that women don’t actually want the equality feminists are fighting for. They laid out their philosophy recently on Fox & Friends. “Beyoncé’s argument,” complained the host, “is that it’s okay for women to be sexual beings just like men are sexual beings.” The Politichicks agreed that this was absolutely outrageous, arguing that feminists are actually “sexualists” and that feminist insistence that women like sex just like men do encourages violence against women.
7. Phyllis Schlafly. Phyllis Schlafly is the OG (original gangster) of women who hate other women, spearheading the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment and helping invent the modern conservative movement in the process. Schlafly was successful in her fight to keep a ban on sex discrimination out of the U.S. constitution, but she didn’t just rest on her laurels, continuing the fight against women’s basic human rights to this day. She was most recently spotted telling women that the way to turn boyfriends who beat them into loving partners is to marry them, even though experts advise that keeping the abuser as far from the victim as possible is the best way to keep the victim safe.
What makes some women so nasty toward other women that they would actively work to deny women equal rights, or even access to healthcare and basic safety? For some, it’s religious conviction. Some like to imagine they’re somehow special and better than all other women. Some enjoy the easy attention they get from sexist men by bashing women and others enjoy the financial perks of being the woman who is willing to speak out against feminism. But regardless of their reasons, female misogynists are putting personal gain ahead of the health and wellbeing of average women, and for that they should be held just as accountable as men who attack the equal rights of women.
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.alternet.org/gender/7-women-working-tirelessly-screw-over-other-women?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
1. Christina Hoff Sommers. Sommers is a pioneer in the art of arguing that it’s men who are actually the oppressed class in modern society. Her 2000 book The War Against Boys tried to argue, falsely, that feminists are ruining young men’s lives by oppressing them through the educational system. (Somehow those distressed young men continue to graduate and go on to have better job opportunities and make more money than their female peers.) She was most recently spotted offering her support to an organized online campaign to harass a young video game developer over her sex life.
2. Cathy Young. While Christina Hoff Sommers specializes in facetious claims about imaginary feminist oppressors, Young focuses on minimizing the problems of sexual abuse and harassment of women. Recently, she made a shoddy and dishonest claim that men get harassed more than women online, a claim that necessarily leads to the conclusion that women’s greater stress over harassment must be the result of their inferior constitution. Young also objects to the new movement to pass laws requiring men only to have sex with women who want the sex, on the grounds that men can’t be expected to handle something as simple as reciprocity.
3. Jill Stanek. Many women have found their calling in attacking contraception and abortion access, but Stanek, an ardent blogger, brings a hatefulness and obsessiveness that helps her stand out from an already unpleasant crowd. After getting old enough that unwanted pregnancy stopped being a personal concern, Stanek “discovered” that contraception has been evil all along, dedicating much of her blog to arguing that pregnancy prevention is a uniquely modern evil. Stanek also notoriously celebrated domestic violence, arguing that men should hit women who have abortions. “That spontaneous slap was the reaction of a real man who a woman had just told she aborted his baby,” she said of a notorious scene in Godfather II in which a gangster hits his wife. “Compare that to the modern-day cowardly male response, ‘It’s your choice. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.’”
4. The Politichicks. Ann-Marie Murrell, Morgan Brittany and Dr. Gina Loudon are Internet video hosts who run a show called Politichicks and have a new book out arguing that women don’t actually want the equality feminists are fighting for. They laid out their philosophy recently on Fox & Friends. “Beyoncé’s argument,” complained the host, “is that it’s okay for women to be sexual beings just like men are sexual beings.” The Politichicks agreed that this was absolutely outrageous, arguing that feminists are actually “sexualists” and that feminist insistence that women like sex just like men do encourages violence against women.
5. Janet Bloomfield. Bloomfield
is supposedly the PR representative for the anti-feminist website A
Voice For Men, but her take on public relations is much different than
the way most people understand the term, as she spends most of her time
harassing and abusing other women online. Indeed, her Twitter harassment
got so bad Twitter actually banned her
account, though she immediately started a new one and began her
harassment anew. Bloomfield’s hatred of feminists has also led to her
making up fake quotes she
attributes to feminists in order to make it look like feminists hate
men. Despite this unhinged behavior, she has a lot of status in the
misogynist movement, because she provides cover for men who want to deny
they hate women.
6. Lila Rose. Rose concentrates
most of her energies on demonizing Planned Parenthood in hopes of
cutting off state and federal funding, so that low-income women lose
access to affordable contraception and reproductive healthcare services.
Rose’s strategy is to do “undercover” videos,
which are usually deceptively edited, to build the claim that Planned
Parenthood’s services are evil and need to be terminated. While a couple
of employees have, in the many years of Rose’s activism, been caught on
camera doing a poor job and were subsequently fired, most of the people
Rose targets on camera are only saying “shocking” things if your
audience already believes women should not have access to contraception
and sex education. Her latest attempt at a “sting” involves activists secretly taping themselves asking sex
educators questions about sexual practices like bondage. Audiences are
supposed to be horrified because the educators answer the questions
honestly instead of shaming the patients. Research shows that honest,
non-judgmental sex education is far better than sex-negative programs that try to discourage sexual experimentation through shaming.7. Phyllis Schlafly. Phyllis Schlafly is the OG (original gangster) of women who hate other women, spearheading the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment and helping invent the modern conservative movement in the process. Schlafly was successful in her fight to keep a ban on sex discrimination out of the U.S. constitution, but she didn’t just rest on her laurels, continuing the fight against women’s basic human rights to this day. She was most recently spotted telling women that the way to turn boyfriends who beat them into loving partners is to marry them, even though experts advise that keeping the abuser as far from the victim as possible is the best way to keep the victim safe.
What makes some women so nasty toward other women that they would actively work to deny women equal rights, or even access to healthcare and basic safety? For some, it’s religious conviction. Some like to imagine they’re somehow special and better than all other women. Some enjoy the easy attention they get from sexist men by bashing women and others enjoy the financial perks of being the woman who is willing to speak out against feminism. But regardless of their reasons, female misogynists are putting personal gain ahead of the health and wellbeing of average women, and for that they should be held just as accountable as men who attack the equal rights of women.
What We’re Afraid to Say About Ebola By MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM
Happy, happy ----- follow link to original
---------------------------------------------------------
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/opinion/what-were-afraid-to-say-about-ebola.html
MINNEAPOLIS — THE Ebola epidemic in West Africa has the potential to alter history as much as any plague has ever done.
There have been more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past six months. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that, by early October, there may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. What is not getting said publicly, despite briefings and discussions in the inner circles of the world’s public health agencies, is that we are in totally uncharted waters and that Mother Nature is the only force in charge of the crisis at this time.
There are two possible future chapters to this story that should keep us up at night.
The first possibility is that the Ebola virus spreads from West Africa to megacities in other regions of the developing world. This outbreak is very different from the 19 that have occurred in Africa over the past 40 years. It is much easier to control Ebola infections in isolated villages. But there has been a 300 percent increase in Africa’s population over the last four decades, much of it in large city slums. What happens when an infected person yet to become ill travels by plane to Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa or Mogadishu — or even Karachi, Jakarta, Mexico City or Dhaka?
The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air. You can now get Ebola only through direct contact with bodily fluids. But viruses like Ebola are notoriously sloppy in replicating, meaning the virus entering one person may be genetically different from the virus entering the next. The current Ebola virus’s hyper-evolution is unprecedented; there has been more human-to-human transmission in the past four months than most likely occurred in the last 500 to 1,000 years. Each new infection represents trillions of throws of the genetic dice.
If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one at risk of contracting Ebola. Infections could spread quickly to every part of the globe, as the H1N1 influenza virus did in 2009, after its birth in Mexico.
Why are public officials afraid to discuss this? They don’t want to be accused of screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater — as I’m sure some will accuse me of doing. But the risk is real, and until we consider it, the world will not be prepared to do what is necessary to end the epidemic.
In 2012, a team of Canadian researchers proved that Ebola Zaire, the same virus that is causing the West Africa outbreak, could be transmitted by the respiratory route from pigs to monkeys, both of whose lungs are very similar to those of humans. Richard Preston’s 1994 best seller “The Hot Zone” chronicled a 1989 outbreak of a different strain, Ebola Reston virus, among monkeys at a quarantine station near Washington. The virus was transmitted through breathing, and the outbreak ended only when all the monkeys were euthanized. We must consider that such transmissions could happen between humans, if the virus mutates.
So what must we do that we are not doing?
First, we need someone to take over the position of “command and control.” The United Nations is the only international organization that can direct the immense amount of medical, public health and humanitarian aid that must come from many different countries and nongovernmental groups to smother this epidemic. Thus far it has played at best a collaborating role, and with everyone in charge, no one is in charge.
A Security Council resolution could give the United Nations total responsibility for controlling the outbreak, while respecting West African nations’ sovereignty as much as possible. The United Nations could, for instance, secure aircraft and landing rights. Many private airlines are refusing to fly into the affected countries, making it very difficult to deploy critical supplies and personnel. The Group of 7 countries’ military air and ground support must be brought in to ensure supply chains for medical and infection-control products, as well as food and water for quarantined areas.
The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed; the World Health Organization has recommended 1,500, but we may need thousands more. It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection. Many countries are pledging medical resources, but donations will not result in an effective treatment system if no single group is responsible for coordinating them.
Finally, we have to remember that Ebola isn’t West Africa’s only problem. Tens of thousands die there each year from diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have among the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Because people are now too afraid of contracting Ebola to go to the hospital, very few are getting basic medical care. In addition, many health care workers have been infected with Ebola, and more than 120 have died. Liberia has only 250 doctors left, for a population of four million.
This is about humanitarianism and self-interest. If we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action now, we risk the disease’s reaching from West Africa to our own backyards.
---------------------------------------------------------
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/opinion/what-were-afraid-to-say-about-ebola.html
MINNEAPOLIS — THE Ebola epidemic in West Africa has the potential to alter history as much as any plague has ever done.
There have been more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past six months. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that, by early October, there may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. What is not getting said publicly, despite briefings and discussions in the inner circles of the world’s public health agencies, is that we are in totally uncharted waters and that Mother Nature is the only force in charge of the crisis at this time.
There are two possible future chapters to this story that should keep us up at night.
The first possibility is that the Ebola virus spreads from West Africa to megacities in other regions of the developing world. This outbreak is very different from the 19 that have occurred in Africa over the past 40 years. It is much easier to control Ebola infections in isolated villages. But there has been a 300 percent increase in Africa’s population over the last four decades, much of it in large city slums. What happens when an infected person yet to become ill travels by plane to Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa or Mogadishu — or even Karachi, Jakarta, Mexico City or Dhaka?
The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air. You can now get Ebola only through direct contact with bodily fluids. But viruses like Ebola are notoriously sloppy in replicating, meaning the virus entering one person may be genetically different from the virus entering the next. The current Ebola virus’s hyper-evolution is unprecedented; there has been more human-to-human transmission in the past four months than most likely occurred in the last 500 to 1,000 years. Each new infection represents trillions of throws of the genetic dice.
If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one at risk of contracting Ebola. Infections could spread quickly to every part of the globe, as the H1N1 influenza virus did in 2009, after its birth in Mexico.
Why are public officials afraid to discuss this? They don’t want to be accused of screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater — as I’m sure some will accuse me of doing. But the risk is real, and until we consider it, the world will not be prepared to do what is necessary to end the epidemic.
In 2012, a team of Canadian researchers proved that Ebola Zaire, the same virus that is causing the West Africa outbreak, could be transmitted by the respiratory route from pigs to monkeys, both of whose lungs are very similar to those of humans. Richard Preston’s 1994 best seller “The Hot Zone” chronicled a 1989 outbreak of a different strain, Ebola Reston virus, among monkeys at a quarantine station near Washington. The virus was transmitted through breathing, and the outbreak ended only when all the monkeys were euthanized. We must consider that such transmissions could happen between humans, if the virus mutates.
So what must we do that we are not doing?
First, we need someone to take over the position of “command and control.” The United Nations is the only international organization that can direct the immense amount of medical, public health and humanitarian aid that must come from many different countries and nongovernmental groups to smother this epidemic. Thus far it has played at best a collaborating role, and with everyone in charge, no one is in charge.
A Security Council resolution could give the United Nations total responsibility for controlling the outbreak, while respecting West African nations’ sovereignty as much as possible. The United Nations could, for instance, secure aircraft and landing rights. Many private airlines are refusing to fly into the affected countries, making it very difficult to deploy critical supplies and personnel. The Group of 7 countries’ military air and ground support must be brought in to ensure supply chains for medical and infection-control products, as well as food and water for quarantined areas.
The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed; the World Health Organization has recommended 1,500, but we may need thousands more. It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection. Many countries are pledging medical resources, but donations will not result in an effective treatment system if no single group is responsible for coordinating them.
Finally, we have to remember that Ebola isn’t West Africa’s only problem. Tens of thousands die there each year from diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have among the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Because people are now too afraid of contracting Ebola to go to the hospital, very few are getting basic medical care. In addition, many health care workers have been infected with Ebola, and more than 120 have died. Liberia has only 250 doctors left, for a population of four million.
This is about humanitarianism and self-interest. If we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action now, we risk the disease’s reaching from West Africa to our own backyards.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Toby Keith - Courtesy of the red white and blue
I lost folks I knew on 9/11. That is something I'll never forget. Oppose tyranny of ALL kinds. Oppose ALL "fundamentalist" religion. Oppose all those who demand you worship ANYTHING.
When you check all the boxes, look at all the options, the USA is still the best.
Oppose ALL "religionists". Oppose all those who yell about "The Crusades" but refuse to look at the fact THEY conquered with terror and the sword a couple of hundred years earlier. Oppose those who DEMAND you follow their "religion".
Support TRUE AMERICAN VALUES!
When you check all the boxes, look at all the options, the USA is still the best.
Oppose ALL "religionists". Oppose all those who yell about "The Crusades" but refuse to look at the fact THEY conquered with terror and the sword a couple of hundred years earlier. Oppose those who DEMAND you follow their "religion".
Support TRUE AMERICAN VALUES!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Primary
It seems yesterday was primary day for many folks. It also seems people nominated the same old, tired, useless, candidates.
our VSP's, the pundits we are supposed to listen to talk about "compromise", at the same time folks nominate, and elect folks who want to close down "gubbmint". They want to shri8nk our government down to nothing.
Can anyone explain how you "compromise" with folks who want to end all government? Not "shrink", not "cut waste", but END. How do you work with folks who put their ideology ahead of everything else?
Either we wake up, or the USA is doomed. As bridges fall, sewer systems fail, water disappears, roads break down, these fools say we are not "entitled" to an infrastructure.
Of course these a__holes also "think" something we paid for our entire working life is also an "entitlement".
They are ANTI-AMERICAN, anti-working class, anti-middle class, as well as anti-poor.
Shame on them all
our VSP's, the pundits we are supposed to listen to talk about "compromise", at the same time folks nominate, and elect folks who want to close down "gubbmint". They want to shri8nk our government down to nothing.
Can anyone explain how you "compromise" with folks who want to end all government? Not "shrink", not "cut waste", but END. How do you work with folks who put their ideology ahead of everything else?
Either we wake up, or the USA is doomed. As bridges fall, sewer systems fail, water disappears, roads break down, these fools say we are not "entitled" to an infrastructure.
Of course these a__holes also "think" something we paid for our entire working life is also an "entitlement".
They are ANTI-AMERICAN, anti-working class, anti-middle class, as well as anti-poor.
Shame on them all
Monday, September 8, 2014
Eddie Jefferson-'Benny's From Heaven'
'Benny' From Heaven' by Eddie Jefferson from 'The Main Man(1977)
Eddie Jefferson(v}
Charles Sullivan(t)
Richie Cole(alto s)
Junior Cook(tenor s)
Hamiet Bluiett(bari s)
Slide Hampton(trom)
Harold Mabern(p)
George Duvivier(b)
Billy Hart(d)
Azzendin Weston(perc)
Harold White(perc)
Janet Lawson(vocals)
Wardell Gray California Jam Session Live 1947 ~ One O'Clock Jump
Wardell Gray - Tenor Sax
Howard McGhee - Trumpet
Vic Dickerson - Trombone
Benny Carter - Alto Sax
Erroll Garner - Piano
Irving Ashby - Guitar
Red Callender - Bass
Jackie Mills - Drums
Wardell Gray Quartet 1946 ~ One For Prez (3rd Alternate Take)
Wardell Gray - Tenor Sax
Dodo Marmarosa - Piano
Red Callender - Bass
Harold "Doc" West - Drums
Wardell Gray Quartet 1949 ~ Easy Living
Wardell Gray - Tenor Sax
Al Haig - Piano
Tommy Potter - Bass
Roy Haynes - Drums
Wardell Gray - PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Wardell Gray(ts)
Hampton Hawes(p)
Joe Mondragon(b)
Shelly Manne(ds)
Recorded 9,Sept. 1952
Friday, September 5, 2014
California Utility Will Pay Record Penalty For Deadly Pipeline Explosion -- by Katie Valentine
It's about time. Follow link to original.
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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/03/3478235/california-utility-penalty-for-pipeline-explosion/
California’s largest utility will have to pay a $1.4 billion penalty for a deadly 2010 gas pipeline explosion, state regulatory judges decided Tuesday.
The penalty, issued to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for a 2010 gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and caused a fire that destroyed 35 homes in the suburban San Francisco neighborhood of San Bruno, is the largest ever given out by the California Public Utilities Commission for a safety-related issue. Judge Timothy J. Sullivan wrote in the penalty order that the commission is aiming to “send a strong message to PG&E, and all other pipeline operators, that they must comply with mandated federal and state pipeline safety requirements, or face severe consequences.”
The penalty will be parceled into several chunks, with $950 million to be paid to the state of California, $400 million to go toward improving pipelines, and $50 million to go toward increasing pipeline safety. The penalty is on top of a $635 million penalty that the California Public Utilities Commission previously issued to PG&E for pipeline safety improvements. In total, PG&E is facing a $2.03 billion penalty.
PG&E has 30 days to appeal the fine, and PG&E spokesman Greg Snapper said that the utility was “reviewing the decision.” In a statement, the utility said that it holds itself “accountable” and that it fully accepts “that a penalty of some kind is appropriate.”
“However, we have respectfully asked that the Commission ensure that the penalty is reasonable and proportionate and takes into consideration the company’s investments and actions to promote safety. Moreover, we believe any penalty should directly benefit public safety,” the statement reads.
The penalty also could be appealed by another party. The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer watchdog group, told ABC7 News that it’s planning on asking judges to change how the penalty is parceled out, hoping to get the judges to allocate more money toward pipeline safety.
“$950 million going to the state general fund and $450 million that’s going to repair the pipelines, we want to see those numbers reversed,” TURN’s Mark Toney said.
San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane agreed, saying that he wished more money would have gone toward pipeline safety, rather than directly to the state.
“This reflects, if you will, a payday for Gov. Jerry Brown when we believe this money should instead be directed for a safer pipeline system,” he said.
Regulatory judges found that PG&E committed almost 3,800 violations of state laws, federal laws, regulations, and safety standards related to the exploded pipeline, which had been built in 1956. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that a weak weld in the pipeline led to the explosion, even though PG&E reports showed the pipeline being unwelded. PG&E also didn’t shut off the natural gas that fed the fire until 95 minutes after the explosion, and that overall, the utility’s management of its pipelines’ safety was lacking.
Natural gas pipeline explosions aren’t uncommon. In February, a natural gas pipeline blast ignited multiple fires and leveled homes in Kentucky. In January, a TransCanada natural gas pipeline in Manitoba exploded and caught fire, shutting off gas supplies for thousands of residents in the depths of winter. And in June, at least 15 people were killed when a natural gas pipeline exploded in India.
-------------------------------------------
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/03/3478235/california-utility-penalty-for-pipeline-explosion/
California’s largest utility will have to pay a $1.4 billion penalty for a deadly 2010 gas pipeline explosion, state regulatory judges decided Tuesday.
The penalty, issued to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for a 2010 gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and caused a fire that destroyed 35 homes in the suburban San Francisco neighborhood of San Bruno, is the largest ever given out by the California Public Utilities Commission for a safety-related issue. Judge Timothy J. Sullivan wrote in the penalty order that the commission is aiming to “send a strong message to PG&E, and all other pipeline operators, that they must comply with mandated federal and state pipeline safety requirements, or face severe consequences.”
The penalty will be parceled into several chunks, with $950 million to be paid to the state of California, $400 million to go toward improving pipelines, and $50 million to go toward increasing pipeline safety. The penalty is on top of a $635 million penalty that the California Public Utilities Commission previously issued to PG&E for pipeline safety improvements. In total, PG&E is facing a $2.03 billion penalty.
PG&E has 30 days to appeal the fine, and PG&E spokesman Greg Snapper said that the utility was “reviewing the decision.” In a statement, the utility said that it holds itself “accountable” and that it fully accepts “that a penalty of some kind is appropriate.”
“However, we have respectfully asked that the Commission ensure that the penalty is reasonable and proportionate and takes into consideration the company’s investments and actions to promote safety. Moreover, we believe any penalty should directly benefit public safety,” the statement reads.
The penalty also could be appealed by another party. The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer watchdog group, told ABC7 News that it’s planning on asking judges to change how the penalty is parceled out, hoping to get the judges to allocate more money toward pipeline safety.
“$950 million going to the state general fund and $450 million that’s going to repair the pipelines, we want to see those numbers reversed,” TURN’s Mark Toney said.
San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane agreed, saying that he wished more money would have gone toward pipeline safety, rather than directly to the state.
“This reflects, if you will, a payday for Gov. Jerry Brown when we believe this money should instead be directed for a safer pipeline system,” he said.
Regulatory judges found that PG&E committed almost 3,800 violations of state laws, federal laws, regulations, and safety standards related to the exploded pipeline, which had been built in 1956. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that a weak weld in the pipeline led to the explosion, even though PG&E reports showed the pipeline being unwelded. PG&E also didn’t shut off the natural gas that fed the fire until 95 minutes after the explosion, and that overall, the utility’s management of its pipelines’ safety was lacking.
Natural gas pipeline explosions aren’t uncommon. In February, a natural gas pipeline blast ignited multiple fires and leveled homes in Kentucky. In January, a TransCanada natural gas pipeline in Manitoba exploded and caught fire, shutting off gas supplies for thousands of residents in the depths of winter. And in June, at least 15 people were killed when a natural gas pipeline exploded in India.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
The Devil Made Me Do It: Diddling Children
A little something from "Atheist Oasis" -- follow link, etc., etc.
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http://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/
There are perhaps fewer things more odious than someone who is a short-eyes. The inability to form healthy adult sexual relationships, predation on the innocent, libidinous urges all out of whack (likely due to religion’s anti-sexual nature) – it’s revolting. I’d personally like to catch these guys in a dark room, with a….never mind, you ken me drift.
It’s a sick sad world it is…mostly because the religious teach people that.
And lo and behold! In the following headline, we see the cheapest of rationalizations:
The fact that many wack-a-doons slide under the radar due to ‘religious affiliations is little help either.
‘Suffer the little children’ should rather read ‘the suffering children’.
Till the next post, then.
-----------------------------------------------------
http://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/
There are perhaps fewer things more odious than someone who is a short-eyes. The inability to form healthy adult sexual relationships, predation on the innocent, libidinous urges all out of whack (likely due to religion’s anti-sexual nature) – it’s revolting. I’d personally like to catch these guys in a dark room, with a….never mind, you ken me drift.
It’s a sick sad world it is…mostly because the religious teach people that.
And lo and behold! In the following headline, we see the cheapest of rationalizations:
Missionary Accused of Molesting Kenyan Orphans Blames the DevilThis is emblematic of many of the issues I (as well as many others) have with religion. The views are all stunted and stilted: sexual repression (a powerful, inescapable fact of our biology), the coveting of innocence (overrated I’d say), the cheap rationalization and the abrogation of ethical responsibility. How responsible can you be, if you expect someone else (and an imaginary friend at that!) to clean up after your messes?
A missionary from Oklahoma who was accused of molesting and raping children at a Kenyan orphanage blamed a demon named Luke for his crimes. Prosecutors have stated that 19-year-old Matthew Durham, who was volunteering at Upendo Children’s Home in the suburbs of Nairobi from April to June this year, sexually abused as many as ten children aged 4 to 10 years, including one who is infected with HIV.
A series of text messages were submitted along with Durham’s court documents that suggest that he did in fact speak to a friend about the supposed alter ego.
“Literally he takes me at night and there is nothing I can do to stop him… I’ve prayed so much, but every night Luke gets what Luke wants,” read one of the texts.
If convicted for aggravated sexual abuse with children and engaging in illegal sexual conduct in a foreign place, among other charges, Durham can be sentenced to life in prison.
The charge sheet says Durham travelled to Kenya from Oklahoma City to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors at Upendo, an orphanage that specializes in assisting abandoned Kenyan children by offering them housing, food, clothing and access to educational and religious institutions.
Durham’s attorney, Stephen Jones, initially said his client’s confession was the result of some kind of pseudo-tribal psychological voodoo.
In another text message, Durham wrote to his friend, “It takes me at night and I am powerless to what Luke wants. Yes I named him, I know how crazy that is. He whispers in my ear all day and he’s so hard to resist.”
Charges against Durham were still being litigated when his indictment was returned after a federal judge started deliberations over whether the accused should be sent back to his family home in Edmond. Durham was then detained while prosecutors appealed an order for his release on bond, a request that was eventually granted.
An affidavit said that Durham, who had been volunteering at the same orphanage since 2012, wrote and attested a statement admitting to his actions. The affidavit also said that an Upendo official submitted the statement to the United States Embassy in Nairobi.
“The defendant in this matter by his own detailed admission both orally and in writing has brutally raped and molested young girls and boys in an orphanage in Kenya. He has confessed his crimes in writing, on video, and has admitted to a life-long struggle of desires to touch children and child predation,” the appeal filed in U.S. District Court alleges.
However, Jones has challenged his client’s statements saying they were coerced by Upendo officials who confiscated Durham’s passport and kept him in isolation until he agreed to do what they asked him to.
Jones requested Durham’s release to his family on home incarceration as long as the case is being litigated, which according to him can take up to a few months.
“This litigation, with witnesses and alleged victims in Kenya, will likely endure many months… Further incarceration would violate Mr. Durham’s due process right, as he is presumed innocent and will be detained for a prolonged amount of time,” Jones said in a written objection to the government’s appeal.
Durham’s release was ordered by the magistrate for a bail bond of $10,000. The order states Durham’s father as his custodian, who testified to taking leave from his job at the Oklahoma City Fire Department so he can look after his son. The order also requires Durham to surrender his passport, avoid using his cellphone and any computer that can possibly put him in touch with children or any witnesses from the case.
The fact that many wack-a-doons slide under the radar due to ‘religious affiliations is little help either.
‘Suffer the little children’ should rather read ‘the suffering children’.
Till the next post, then.
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