Category Archives: civil rights

Farmers protests

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I missed this when it was first published.  The family farm is in danger of being run over by not only Monsanto, but the Too Big To Fail corporate farms.  God help us.

The rightwing radio nooz casters mentioned the Indiana farmer with the case before the Supreme Court against Monsanto.  Vernon Bowman was portrayed as a greedy farmer who tried to get away with “stealing” Monsanto technology without paying for it.  I was just stunned.

More farmer protests here.

And British farmers’ action.

Protests in Poland.

And in India–farmers protesting pipelines.

In Canada.

Taiwan.

And here is a piece of history--farmers protesting the 1977 Food Bill–when the blizzard struck.

From the last link:

The protesters stayed, camped out on the Washington Mall. During that time a blizzard hit the city with 20-inches of snow. Farmers used their tractors to help dig out the city. Some tractors transported doctors and nurses to hospitals. AAM women even cooked and cleaned in hospitals when other staff couldn’t make it in.

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This from Occupy Monsanto. Stone Soup Day April 8, 2013.

 

Selling of the war

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Rachel Maddow has a special out on the selling of the Iraq War.  Unfortunately, I’m at a computer with no sound today, so I can’t listen to this piece.  I hope that she holds Hillary Rodham Clinton accountable, and the other dems who were all too happy to go along with the charade.

The big eye in the sky

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common dreams has this up on the move by the FAA to allow drones to spy on your every move. (Note that this is a Friday news dump–they save the most worrisome news for Fridays, hoping that it will, ahem, fly under the radar.

How detached does an engineer have to be to joke about the ability to spy on people in their backyards?  What the hell gives them the right?

 

Speaking of the airwaves…

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commondreams has this up on the *cough* reporting of the Iraq war…or I should say, the blind acceptance of the “facts” without a hint of healthy cynicism and questioning authority that the serious situation required.

FAIR’s worst moments in journalism.

Last night on CBS, they had a story of an Afghan youth who could not play a musical instrument because the Taliban had outlawed any music that was not religious.  It’s great that he is part of a musical troupe but in no way does it justify us going to war.  I’m sorry that probably sounds cold, but I have to think —how many innocent people have died so this kid could play a musical instrument?  Why does America have to spend billions of dollars policing another country?  Of course, there was no mention of the oil in Afghanistan…

Like the bad penny that keeps resurfacing…

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…Dick Cheney has emerged once again to darken the airwaves…

As Jon Stewart illustrates, you don’t even have to be credible in your assertions to be put on the tube.  You could be wrong about everything and because you’re a conservative hack, you’re given more air time than someone with half a brain who is fair in their assertions.

I was watching a bit of Charlie Rose this morning, and didn’t realize his was conservative-leaning until this program–which was about fixing the economy.  Since I came in on the last part of it, I didn’t catch who the three white guys were who were speaking.  They all seemed to be conservative and wanting to cut “entitlements” (how I am beginning to despise that word–these are programs that people pay into their whole lives!) and they pretty much spewed the conservative lies about how Social Security was going to have to be cut or other programs were going to have to be cut  in order for Social Security to survive.

Paul Krugman’s take on the S.S. program.

From the article:

Social Security has been running surpluses for the last quarter-century, banking those surpluses in a special account, the so-called trust fund. The program won’t have to turn to Congress for help or cut benefits until or unless the trust fund is exhausted, which the program’s actuaries don’t expect to happen until 2037 — and there’s a significant chance, according to their estimates, that that day will never come.

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President Obama mentioned Alan Simpson again last night in his speech….<sigh> …the guy is an ogre who believes he should be blessed while others suffer….

His 310 million teats comments. (hat tip to David Dayen at firedoglake.com)

And then there’s this. Greedy geezers? Seriously?  Does he not know that nobody is rich off of Social Security?  That it’s really not enough to live comfortably?  I suppose they should be happy they’re not eating dog food, but perhaps that is what he would like–that would show those “greedy geezers” for wanting to have enough money for food as well as rent, utilities, gas for the car (if they’re still able to drive, if not, money for a cab or public transportation), and heat in the winter.

(One of the sites I visited made a point that Simpson has been on the public dole for fifty years. )

Sure, I think Social Security and Medicare should be cut…

…let’s start with your benefits first, Alan Simpson (along with all of Congress).

 

…because God despises women….

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Sarah Silverman’s sister was detained for…brandishing a gun? Nope. Threatening someone with a knife? Nope.  Throwing bricks through windows? Nope.

She wanted to pray.

…she wanted to be recognized as her brother’s equal in the eyes of God by praying at the holy site.

Good on the men whom have supported them, too.  And I even have to give Netanyahu a hat tip for his trying to find a way to allow the non-Orthodox women to pray there. At least, I hope that he is sincere in his speech, but one never knows.