A member of the Syrian opposition talks to AC360's Tom Foreman about the continued uprising in Syria, and the brutal crackdowns in the city of Homs:
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Twitter Subpoena Reveals Law Enforcement Monitoring OWS Via Social Media
The two-party system will do whatever it takes to destroy OWS. This story points to an overall trend in this country of the government attacking liberties we take for granted:
Twitter has been subpoenaed for information related to Occupy supporters' accounts, proving that law enforcement agencies have been monitoring OWS supporters' activity on social media. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Massachusetts is fed up with being mocked, ridiculed, and criticized by faceless Tweeters, so it's taking matters into its own hands.Full article
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Benjamin A. Goldberger sent a subpoena on Dec. 14 to Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco requesting information on a number of accounts and hashtags associated with the Occupy Boston protest movement to assist authorities with an "official criminal investigation."
[...]Goldberger's move is just one more step in the lengthy tarring and feathering of the Occupy Wall Street movement's supporters sure to come now that winter has arrived and the media are focused on other matters.
[...]One of the most critical aspects of the brief subpoena is the fact that the #BostonPD hashtag was listed. If the D.A.'s office actually wants the subscription information, IP address and more of every single person who tweeted that hashtag out during the Dewey Square raid, it is asking for information on a vast number of users, thereby infringing on the rights to privacy of at least hundreds of people who were simply exercising their free speech rights. Either that, or the authorities simply don't understand how hashtags work.
Dylan Ratigan Show: "Real" Unemployment Rate is 20%
Very frightening news on the economy described on Dylan Ratigan program. The so-called recovery from 1997 recession is one of the weakest on record. The economy is still very weak. And not enough jobs are being created; we need to have 30 million. In addition, the European debt crisis is threatening our and the world's economy. It certainly doesn't help that major retailers, K-Mart and Sears are laying off large numbers of employees.
The analyses was given by the a fomer Presidenti advisor, Alan Blinder.
Occupy Wall Street: How Cash Has Corrupted Congress
From the Jeff Smith, The Daily Beast:
It’s always been about the money. Occupy Wall Street chose to set up its 24-hour outpost of political dissent on the doorstep of the finance industry primarily to underscore the simple fact that money has corrupted our political process so completely that the seat of power in the U.S. isn’t even in Washington, D.C. any more. That said, the Capitol continues collecting its cut, as evidenced in this week’s double-barreled dispatches, in the Washington Post and the New York Times, on the exploding wealth gap between our ever-more affluent representatives in Congress and the financially flat-lined citizens they represent.Full article
From its inception, OWS has focused on the concept of legalized bribery, as the continually rising cost of a political campaign—an average of $1.4 million for a successful House run, up fourfold in real dollars since 1976, and nearly $10 million for a Senate seat—has been largely subsidized by wealthy donors, corporations and special interests, in return for legislation that favors their interests. It’s a form of regulatory capture that most first-world democracies outlaw as corruption, but that Americans know as “the way things are,” along with “ask your doctor” pharmaceutical ads and campaigns pitching products directly to young children. The result is an almost total lack of confidence in our elected officials, as reflected by Congress’ almost impossibly low 9 percent approval rating.
Occupy Wall Street (12-28-11)
3:30pm:
- Occupy Wall Street, MLK Memorial and the top stories of 2011
- Occupy the Caucuses Meets to Plan A Week of Protests
- Fighting back against the 1% will take some real organizing
3pm:
- @OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Call 2 #boycott these businesses that support #SOPA: http://t.co/3sknl43q - Tweet: @neontommy Neon Tommy
SPECIAL REPORT| Why a Somalian woman who went to school for accounting is homeless and why @OccupyLA was a relief: bit.ly/tVxLXP -
Occupy Tulsa
@OccupyTulsa Occupy Tulsa
#Occupy Tulsa Help make it happen for Occupy Billboards on #indiegogo igg.me/p/58506?a=3601… Please RT everyone!
Strikes spread across Yemen as government employees rally against corruption
Looks promising for a revolution in Yemen:
Labor strikes spread through Yemen Wednesday as workers demanded reforms and dismissal of managers over alleged corruption linked to the country’s outgoing president.This is why we shouldn't allow the "President" of Yemen into the U.S. It would create all kinds of ill will. The government made that mistake with the Shah of Iran. Look at what that led to:
Corruption was one of the grievances that ignited mass protests against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February. After months of stalling, Saleh last month signed an agreement to transfer power.
The deal includes immunity for prosecution for the longtime leader, but protesters reject that. They are also demanding that his relatives and associates, also suspected of corruption, be removed from their posts in the government and military and put on trial.
The White House has not yet formally decided whether to admit Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to the U.S. for medical treatment, but Obama administration officials as recently as last week considered granting Saleh a visa, in part to "get him out of the region," a senior administration official said Tuesday.Full article
One advantage the administration sees in letting Saleh come to the U.S. is that it would remove from Yemen a symbol of the country's repression of its citizens and perhaps smooth the transition to new leadership, the official said.
Video: Ed Fallon, OccupyIowa, on C-SPAN
Ed Fallon, of Occupy Des Moines, was interviewed on C-SPAN to talk about the "people's caucus." There are 8 minutes in the interview since he was interrupted by a live event involving Newt Gingrich:
US Police Fatalities up 13 percent in 2011 to 173
Government cutbacks a major factor but so are the increase in the number of guns in our society:
Craig Floyd, the group's chairman, blamed the rise on budget cuts to public safety departments. He cited surveys by police groups that showed many cut back on training and delay upgrading equipment, and referenced a Department of Justice report issued in October that said an estimated 10,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies have been laid off within the past year.Full article
"I'm very troubled that these drastic budget cuts have put our officers at a grave risks," he said. "Our officers are facing a more brazen cold-blooded element and fighting a war on terror, and we're giving them less training and less equipment they need to do their jobs safely."
[...]The number of firearms-related fatalities, which have risen 70 percent since 2008, was particularly alarming to analysts. Of the 68 deaths, 14 took place while the officer was attempting an arrest, nine occurred during a domestic disturbance call and five were ambushes, according to the data.
Russia Scolds United States for Human Rights Abuse
Relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated to dangerous levels. Eventhough Putin is helping move Russia towards dictatorship we need to have good relations with whomever is ruling that country. We don't want to push them into the hands of the Chinese. So it's in our strategic interest to get along with the Russians. This does not mean we remain silent when they violate human rights. But we can't rub Putin's nose in it either. It is foolish U.S. foreign policy since the collapse of the Soviet Union that have contributed to pushing Russia away from the West and democracy and towards oppression. The Obama administration seems intent on making things worse:
Russia sought to undermine the authority of the United States as a global judge of human rights on Wednesday with Moscow's first report to detail allegations of torture, phone tapping and abuse by the U.S. government.Full article
Criticising the United States for double standards, Russia said President Barack Obama had failed to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and accused the White House of sheltering officials and CIA operatives from prosecution.
The Foreign Ministry's report "On the situation with human rights in a host of world states," follows China's example in highlighting U.S. failings in an attempt to counter U.S. State Department criticism of domestic human rights abuses.
Gingrich: Ron Paul Worse Than Obama
Sounds like a desperate candidate. Gingrich will do anything to get his way. Any Republican would have to question a candidate who will call a fellow Conservative worse than the hated Obama:
Newt Gingrich has finally found a politician he considers even worse than the president he calls socialist, anti-colonialist and radical. That would be his fellow Republican Ron Paul.Full article
"I think Barack Obama is very destructive to the future of the United States. I think Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American," Gingrich said Tuesday in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer.
Could he vote for Paul? "No." If it came down to Paul vs. Obama? "You'd have a very hard choice at that point."
Registered Democrats and Republicans has Plunged 2.5 million since 2008
The American people are sick of both parties. We need choice. Let's start by voting third party. And let's create a people's platform:
Voters are a tough bunch to satisfy these days. The number of people who are registered to vote as Democrat or Republican has plunged by 2.5 million since 2008, according to a new tally. Independent ranks have grown. Still, studies show, most independents still vote overwhelmingly for one party or the other, even if they don't want to admit that in public.Full article
Both parties have been losing members to the independent column since at least the 1960s. Among other reasons, television and suburbanization increasingly have liberated voters from reliance on precinct captains and other party favors.
[...]Yet, I suspect that there's another reason that more people are calling themselves independents these days. They're hoping that someday if there are enough independents, they might create a third party. Maybe. But considering the wide diversity of views held by independents now, their wishes won't be easy for a third party to satisfy either.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Taking multi-vitamin pills 'does nothing for our health'
The vitamin supplement industry is one of the big racket. And they are allowed to rip-off the public by a government that is unwilling to regulate them. Who knows how many people are poisoned each year by using what is essentially over the counter drugs. The only time you use supplements is by direction of a doctor:
They are a daily essential for millions of Britons hoping to ward off ill-health.Full article
But despite the millions of pounds spent on vitamin pills, they do nothing for our health, according to a major study.
Researchers spent more than six years following 8,000 people and found that those taking supplements were just as likely to have developed cancer or heart disease as those who took an identical-looking dummy pill.
And when they were questioned on how healthy they felt, there was hardly any difference between the two groups.
Gun sales at record levels, according to FBI background checks
At least the killing business is doing well:g ranges, sportsmen organizations and publishers, has offered a
glimpse into the economic impact of the industry.
Firearms industry has returned robust results in the midst of recession.But a little reminder of what guns do for us:
A recent report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a trade association for the firearms industry which boasts membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen organizations and publishers, has offered a glimpse into the economic impact of the industry.
- Of all firearm-related crime, 86 percent involved handguns.5
Only one in six Americans own handguns.6
Unlike manufacturers of other consumer products, the industry that makes handguns is unregulated for health and safety. - Since 1962, more than one million Americans have died in firearm homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings. Handguns were used in more than 650,000 of these fatal shootings.7
In 1997�the most recent year available�there were 89 firearm deaths per day, or a firearm death every 16 minutes.8
In homes with guns, a member of the household is almost three times as likely to be the victim of a homicide compared to gun-free homes.9 - The largest category of firearms fatality is suicide, not homicide. In 1997, 54 percent of all gun deaths were suicides, and 42 percent were homicides.16
About six out of 10 suicides are committed with firearms. - For every time a gun in the home is used in a self-defense homicide, a gun will be used in�
1.3 unintentional deaths
4.6 criminal homicides
37 suicides22
In 1997 there were 15,690 homicides.
Of these, 8,503 were committed with handguns.
Among handgun homicides, only 193 (2.3 percent) were classified as justifiable homicides by civilians.23
For every time in 1997 that a civilian used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 43 people lost their lives in handgun homicides alone.
Geologists map ocean floor to study fault near nuclear plant
Geologists map ocean floor to study fault near nuclear plant: Today a research vessel will finish mapping more than four square miles of ocean floor off Avila Beach so geologists can better understand an earthquake fault near Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
The marine research vessel Bluefin of Seattle has spent nearly most of December towing a sophisticated array of instruments in a grid pattern through the waters of San Luis Obispo Bay.
The result will be a detailed map of the southern end of the Shoreline Fault, which runs northwest from the bay, brushing the coastline just off Diablo Canyon.
Sexual assault reports up at U.S. military academies: report
Sexual assault reports up at U.S. military academies: report: (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that there was a rise in reports of sexual assault at the nation's military academies in the most recent school year and announced
The Obama Administration Declines to Cite China as a Currency Manipulator
Barack will do what is good for his corporate handlers:
The Obama administration has declined to label China a currency manipulator after seeing recent increases in the value of the yuan compared to the dollar.Full article
The decision will likely anger unions and Democratic lawmakers, who have accused Beijing of artificially holdings down the value of its currency to gain trade advantages. A cheaper yuan makes Chinese goods less expensive when they are shipped to the United States. It also makes U.S. goods more expensive in China.
SOPA is the End of Us, say Bloggers
This is only the latest attack on our freedoms. It is a war we must win. If it succeeds we will have greater concentration of information by a handful of corporations. Less voices means less democracy or none at all. It is the Internet that has been responsible for many of the revolutions breaking throughout the World. The ruling classes want to put an end to that freedom of expression. Stop SOPA:
The conservative and liberal blogospheres are unifying behind opposition to Congress’s Stop Online Piracy Act, with right-leaning bloggers aruging their very existence could be wiped out if the anti-piracy bill passes.Full article
“If either the U.S. Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) & the U.S. House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) become law, political blogs such as Red Mass Group [conservative] & Blue Mass Group [liberal] will cease to exist,” wrote a blogger at Red Mass Group.
[...]In particular, GoDaddy, a domain registration firm, suffered a spectacularly bad round of PR when it came out in support of the measures. But after a grass-roots campaign to boycott the firm, driven by Reddit, an online community, and others, GoDaddy reversed course and renounced its support.
“Some good news on the SOPA front: Its corporate base of supporters is starting to crumble,” David Dayden wrote at Firedoglake. “GoDaddy is not alone. Scores of law firms are requesting their names be removed from the Judiciary Committee’s official list of SOPA supporters.”
In the blogosphere, the trajectory of the bill seemed set — that it is destined for failure if the pressure of the online community is kept up.
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