GOP hopeful Rand Paul rapped by RNC chairman Michael Steele over 'misplaced' civil rights remarks
Sunday, May 23, 2010
"The Perfect Storm: Six Trends Converging on Collapse"
This writer sounds a little too bleak. But you'll get the point. The years ahead will be very difficult. And we are not prepared. We are acting like the problems we face are only temporary and will somehow resolve themselves. Either way we are too complacent or apathetic. We need to start acting like we are facing a serious crisis. The politicians won't tell us the truth because they don't want to be bearers of bad news. They will only tell you what you want to hear. We need to start thinking and acting for ourselves, and stop waiting on some savior to get us out of this mess. Barack Obama has shown himself to be a fraud. We bought into that garbage about "change." He is just another politician. The press isn't telling us the truth because that requires commitment to truth. They are only committed to selling a product. And for that they have to keep us dumb-downed. Democracy requires participation and critical thinking. We are doing neither. That's why we face dark days ahead.
There are dark clouds gathering on the horizon. They are the clouds of six hugely troubling global trends, climate change being just one of the six. Individually, each of these trends is a potential civilization buster. Collectively, they are converging to form the perfect storm--a storm of such magnitude that it will dwarf anything that mankind has ever seen. If we are unsuccessful in our attempts to calm this storm, without a doubt it will destroy life as we know it on Planet Earth!
There is a popular saying that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result." If we keep doing business in the same way as we have for the past century, each of these six trends will continue their steep rates of decline, collapsing the natural systems that form the foundation for our civilization and the lifeblood of the global economy. Perhaps the current Gulf oil spill is the wake up call that mankind needs to snap us out of our complacency, realize that we are soiling our nest and that continuation of "business as usual" will destroy the world as we know it? Time will tell whether we heed this warning, go back sleep once the oil spill is contained, or simply tire of the endless media coverage, numb ourselves, and set these critical issues to the side.
We already have the technology and the means to turn this dark tide, but we lack the commitment to make the hard choices and sweeping changes that are necessary for shifting the future of our world from its current course of collapse to a new course of sustainability.
US Wants Australia to Fill the Void in Afghanistan
Why isn't this an admission of failure in Afghanistan? Sounds like defeat to me:
A report in US Defence publication Stars and Stripes has detailed plans for the US military to focus on 121 key districts in Afghanistan, even though NATO has enough forces to operate in only 48 districts. The report says the US military will rely on "foreign partner troops" to cover those 121 districts.Just recently our top commander in Afghanistan said the war is a "draw." That translates to mean we are losing:
The Kandahar offensive is set for June. The Dutch are pulling troops out by the end of 2011. The US, understandably, is searching for troop numbers, particularly as their casualties from this conflict have hit 1000 according to website icasualties. Where will these "foreign partner troops" come from?
The US seems intent — at least publicly — on gently coaxing us in.javascript:void(0) This month General David Petraeus said Australian troops have punched above their weight in Afghanistan and he would welcome a larger deployment. This week it was Marine Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Bellon: "I love working with them. I think that they are a tier one force in the world right now. Your military is capable. Your officers and your enlisted leadership are fantastic. We enjoy working with them and they get tremendous results."
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan says the war is a draw.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal says the momentum of the resurgent Taliban militants has been stopped. But for now, the general says, nobody is winning.
In an interview Thursday on PBS' "NewsHour," McChrystal says he sees significant progress for the allies fighting the Taliban this year.
McChrystal says the insurgency remains serious, with a reach that spans the country and a large number of fighters.
Transcript: Meet The Press (5-23-10)
Complete transcript. Excerpt below:
MR. GREGORY: Senator Cornyn, Rand Paul's spokesman sent a statement to MEET THE PRESS this morning indicating that he didn't want to be on the program because he wanted to avoid the liberal bias of the media, and I wonder what your view is, whether you think this is liberal bias that's ensnared him this week or whether it's the articulation of his own views about the limited scope of government that had senior Republicans in the party telling him to avoid the national spotlight?
SEN. CORNYN: Well, Dr. Paul's new to running for public office, and I think it's Bob's experience, I'm sure my experience, that you see novice candidates occasionally stumble on questions. I think he's clarified his position. But I think he's done the right thing. As much fun as this is, David, to be here with you, I think he needs to be talking to the voters back in Kentucky, the people who actually will be able to cast a ballot on whether he's elected as the next United States senator or not.
MR. GREGORY: Well, I--obviously being here is not as important as the larger point, which is don't you think this is fair game, questions about his views about the limit and the scope of government?
SEN. CORNYN: Well, I do think that's a, a fair topic, and I'm sure you'll be hearing extensively from him and all the candidates over the next six months. But the fact of the matter is Rand Paul's leading his opponent in the, in the general election by 25 points.
MR. GREGORY: You don't think he's a weaker candidate today than he was Tuesday?
SEN. CORNYN: He's leading by 25 points; I have to let the numbers speak for themselves. But I think we will have a, a discussion about the role of government in our lives. There are too many Americans, or many Americans, I should say, who believe that government has simply gotten too aggressive, it spends too much, it borrows too much, and we've had too many government takeovers. I think he will speak directly to that, and I think people will respond favorably.
MR. GREGORY: Do his views concern you?
SEN. CORNYN: I don't know what all his views are. I've watched this exchange, but the fact of the matter is I think he's doing the right thing by talking to the people of Kentucky and...
6-Year-Old Shot During Road Rage
Too many damn guns on streets of America:
Detroit police are investigating a possible case of road rage that wounded a 6-year-old girl on Detroit's West side.
Police said the girls mother was driving near the intersection of Schaefer and Puritan roads when she blew her horn at a nearby car.
The mother said she heard gunshots moments later and then realized her daughter was struck in her leg by a bullet.
Gibbs: Palin Should Get More Informed About Drilling
Maybe Mr.Obama needs to learn about drilling also:
Both parties are guilty of hypocrisy here. When is the last time you heard the Republicans shout, 'drill, baby, drill':Sarah Palin says she is still a "big supporter of offshore drilling" despite the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that is threatening the environment and the economy, though she adds that oil companies should be held accountable for their actions.
On Fox News Sunday, the former Alaska governor drew a link between the Obama administration's response to the spill and what she cast as President Obama's cozy relationship with oil companies tied to their support for his presidential campaign.
President Barack Obama launched an ambitious plan on Wednesday to lift a decades-long moratorium on offshore oil drilling along the East Coast from Delaware to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
“This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly,” he said in remarks at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. “But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel, even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.”
...Obama is proposing the first new offshore oil and gas sales in the Atlantic in two decades. The decision modifies a 20-year-old ban that limited new drilling, confining most to the seas off the Gulf of Mexico. The government will continue lease sales in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Video: Congress Funds Jet Engine the Military Doesn't Want
This is a perfect example of why we are bankrupt as a Nation. The Congress spends your money to buy your votes. Pork barrel is how incumbents stay in power in Washington. Are you for sale? If not, term limit those members of Congress who vote for such wasteful programs.
Cuomo Video Announces Campaign for Governor
Cuomo Video Announces Campaign for Governor - NYTimes.com
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced his campaign for governor with a video released early Saturday morning, finally making official his entrance into the race for governor this fall.
...Mr. Cuomo has no competition for the Democratic nomination and has been moving to assert control over the state party, and the 2010 ticket, for several months.
Hundreds Flock to Nigeria in Search of Food
This is indictment of the capitalist system, and the international community. Despite all the world organizations, charities, and big words nothing is done. And don't expect Barack Obama to do anything about it. He hasn't spoken out on the mess in Chicago.
Hundreds of Niger nationals, mostly women and children, have flooded into neighbouring Nigeria in search of food, officials and residents said on Friday.
"We are aware of the recent influx of people from Niger into some parts of (southern) Katsina State," Sani Makana, the state agriculture commissioner told AFP by phone from the state capital Katsina.
The number of of Niger nationals in northern Katsina state, which shares a land border with Nigeria, has soared in the past two months, residents said.
Makana said some were so desperate they had been forced to beg door-to-door.
"It is a pathetic sight. They just have nothing to live on and have to beg to eat," said Katsina resident, Abubakar Shehu.
"When you ask them why they came here they tell you that they were starving in Niger... and would die if they stayed," Shehu said.
According to the United Nations around 7.8 million Nigeriens are in need of food, out of the around 10 million affected by a crisis in the Sahel region.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Corporate PACs betting on Republicans to regain control of Congress
All this points to is the fact that big business supports whoever does their bidding. And both parties have taken turns serving their corporate masters:
Corporate America is gambling on the minority in its political giving this year, assuming that Republicans will win big in the November midterm elections, an analysis of campaign finance reports shows.
The pattern represents a distinct change from a year ago, when President Obama was sworn into office. Back then, corporate political action committees made a shift to the Democrats, giving 58 percent of their donations to the party. So far this year, only 48 percent of the contributions from big business are going to the Democrats.
The shift in political giving represents a calculated gamble that Republicans may regain control of Congress, GOP fundraisers and political consultants say. It also breaks a recent pattern in which lobbyists and executives overseeing corporate largesse gave more tothe party in power.
Many other political winds have shifted behind Republicans in recent months, but the swing in money from corporate PACs is unusual. Corporations often give campaign contributions while seeking access and favor with incumbent lawmakers in position to shape legislation -- meaning they gravitate to the party in power.
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Barzee Gets 15 Years
She deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison:
A federal judge on Friday ordered a woman who pleaded guilty to kidnapping then-teen Elizabeth Smart of Utah to spend 15 years in prison, with credit for about seven years she's already served.
Smart, whose abduction captured the attention of Americans, was 14 in 2002 when she was kidnapped at knifepoint from her bedroom. She was found nine months later, in March 2003, walking the streets of a Salt Lake City suburb with her captors.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball said Wanda Barzee will serve the sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Barzee, 64, pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines in Smart's abduction. She also faces sentencing Friday in state court, where in February she pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, in the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin, Olivia Wright, about six weeks after Smart's abduction.
Chicago Mayor Regrets "Up Your Butt" Comment
This guy is worthless as a Mayor. His city is a mess and all he can do mouth insults at reporters. But this is what incumbency does. He is mayor because his father was mayor. That's all. And he remain in office until he dies. It is no wonder that Chicago/Illinois is so corrupt. The only that can turn around that city/State is term limits:
Mayor Richard M. Daley said Friday that he regrets his choice of words when he suggested he'd stick a rifle with a bayonet up a reporter's "butt," but he said he was trying to "shock" the media into exposing gun manufacturers who flood the streets with firearms.
"I want to shock you, maybe scare you, to realize this is serious," he said.
Asked if he was sorry for how he went about illustrating his point, Daley said, "Sure I'll be sorry... I'm not going to sing the song 'I'm Sorry' now, but sure, you can write it. But I hope I shocked you that you can write about now the gun manufacturers."
The mayor said the focus should not be on his remarks, but about the impact of gun violence in urban America.
The mayor was talking about his controversial remarks on Thursday during a news conference on the city's handgun ban and what the city plans to do if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the ban this summer.
At that news conference, Chicago Reader reporter Mick Dumke asked Daley if the ban has been effective, given how many people are shot in the city every year. The mayor responded by picking up a rifle with a bayonet from among several seized guns that Chicago police had put on display.
"It's been very effective," Daley said as he held the rifle. "If I put this up your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. Let me put a round up your, you know."
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