NOOOOO!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!

Bill de Blasio is apparently blessed by the Clintons….he is in the circle.

Peter Beinart should do his freaking homework before writing such a long-winded article on politics….especially when it raises the hopes of those of us who are wise to the Clintons and want to see their grip on politics broken.

 

 

How can you tell… **edited

…when John Kerry is lying?  His lips are moving.   (Old joke, but unfortunately still works.)

From Global news in Canada.

Anytime anyone involves ego in a decision, you can bet it is a bad decision.  Going to war over a warped perception of credibility is wrong.  And America’s credibility was seriously damaged with going to war in Iraq.  We were perceived as bullies and liars.   The whole world rejoiced when Barack Obama was elected because the whole world disagreed with our invasion.

But the world’s perception of us didn’t seem to bother Congress before now, eh?

And what exactly does “protect our values” mean??  Because I don’t value war.

Kerry tries to shut up opposing voices by throwing out ” this is not the time for  armchair isolationists”….that’s you and me, folks, the American public that speaks out against war.  We’re sick of war and we’re sick of millionaire politicians telling us that our opinions don’t matter.

He asks if one would be comfortable if we don’t act and Assad gasses his people.  Hello? Are we alone in the world?  Israel and Saudi Arabia have a stake in this  and they should be expected to bear the brunt of it–skin in the game, as they say…they are both wealthy nations, and we are fast losing our wealth.  Well, it’s still there, technically, but in the hands of a few who don’t want to pay taxes….that… fund… wars.  So Saudi Arabia and Israel need to ante up.

Note how Kerry asserts that there will be no boots on the ground, but from what I was watching yesterday, he once again flip-flopped and stated that he did not want that put in writing because it may become necessary if things escalate.   Mighty suspicious….

Tell me again why Kerry was trying to interfere with U.N. gathering evidence on chemical weapons?  And why aren’t we waiting for the U.N. to get the results bacK?  The Syria situation is not new–this has been happening for over a year now….so why the rush, rush, rush to bomb?

And tell me why those pictures of the dead keep nagging at me–like I have seen them before…?  That they were from a chemical weapons attack, but not the current event with Syria?? I just can’t shake that feeling.

Here’s the view from emptywheel.  During the hearing, Kerry was drumming his fingers on the table with impatience that they were questioning him.   John McCain was caught playing computer games….on taxpayer’s dime.  If those same taxpayers were caught playing computer games during company time, they would be fired.

Another take here on it from the Israelis:

Note the sentiment if the U.S. doesn’t strike, Israel will.   Is that supposed to be a threat of some sort?

Lastly, John Kerry’s testimony as a Vietnam veteran before Congress, below.  He stated yesterday that no chemicals had been used since WWI…I was stunned that he chose to ignore Agent Orange used in Vietnam.  In this video, he acknowledges the horror of them and how we “destroyed villages in order to save them…”  Note also the reference to Nixon, who stated he “did not want to be the first president to lose a war…”  Doesn’t that sound eerily similar to “we have to go in to Syria to save our credibility…”??  The Communism threat was a lie, btw, as only 25% of the people in Vietnam were Communists.  The rest were peaceful Buddhists.  Pretty sad, eh?

**Edited to fix stupid link to Kerry’s Vietnam Testimony:

The Moyers Program

Well, I was right about Bill Moyers’ program being eye opening….

African American folks who think Bill Clinton is pro-African American might want to pay close attention to who he associates with:  Haley Barbour was governor of Mississippi when Katrina hit.  I was still in the town I grew up in at the time and the local radio station was collecting donations for the victims of Katrina.  They made sure to note that the donations would be going to a certain town or county in Mississippi.  I asked a blogger that I knew to see what the demographics were–it was repub and white.  Yep.

Tony Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother…um-hmmm…Gulf Coast Funds Management...raised money from overseas.

You know, a representative (vice president, I believe) of an fighter jet manufacturer was on CSPAN talking about one of the bombers that costs us millions of dollars to build and maintain, and the VP stated during the conversation that these bombers weren’t only for the U.S. forces…but were also necessary for U.S. allies.  Read that again–we are spending millions of dollars for fighter jets so that other countries can benefit from American technology…as the American taxpayer foots the bill.

In other words, we order the plane to specs…plane is built…..taxpayers pay $$$$$ for the plane….company then sells the plane to other countries….courtesy of the American taxpayer.

At  about 16:00 in, it is noted that the joke is “we’re all Patriots…”   The contempt here being that they are not representing the American public, but the corporations who will pay and pay and pay…they don’t give a shit about the country….it’s all in how much money they can make….

Mark Leibovich’s statement on The White House Correspondents Dinner really causes one to pause–rewarding the media for being on television, basically.  The mix of nooz and glamour is stunning.  Although he mentions Tom Brokaw railing against it, he fails to mention that George Clooney, via his father, thanked Brokaw for speaking out.   And what is really bad is that none of the so-called “serious” news outlets mentioned Clooney or Brokaw’s sentiments….quite telling, isn’t it?

As Leibovich brings up the massive PR campaign of BP after the oil spill, my mind flashes to all the commercials aired nightly on the nooz–BP, Big Pharma, Big Energy…rinse, repeat.  And I think of all the major problems facing the nation right now and how this lack of true coverage of these important issues have left the American public without crucial information.  Our democracy is fragile and the Press is in the thick of it–and they don’t give a shit that they are aiding the demise of that democracy.  Hey, they’re on TV!!  They’re very important people!!  And this is why they attacked Edward Snowdon for doing what they should have been doing.

…and there are still those who blame the American public for not knowing what is going on in their government.  <sigh>

Go Virginia!

Virginia has had enough of dismissive politicians who circumvent the people whom they represent and they have filed suit against what is basically taxation without representation.

 

In other education news,  Diane reposts about the Gesell Institute’s take on Common Core…waay back in 2010.

From the statement:

We urge the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to respect the individual developmental differences of children and revise the K-3 standards based on research and the advice of experts in the field of early childhood.

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In the comments, someone provided a link to Bill Moyers’ program on Glitz and Greed in D.C.  I haven’t viewed it yet, but knowing Bill Moyers, it will be eye-opening.

Detroit Unions Fighting Back

Good for them.

Make Orr lay the evidence that Detroit is insolvent out there.  Make him negotiate in good faith, with everyone taking a hit, not just the unions.

…and a thought just occurred to me…if a person owes a bank money, say, for a car, and doesn’t pay…then the bank takes possession of the car, correct?  So…if the city of Detroit owes the union workers money…wouldn’t they then…ahem…take over the running of the city…?  Hell, they couldn’t do any worse…

I tried looking up the Idaho bankruptcy mentioned in the article, but could only find articles talking about the bankruptcy–not their successfully challenging it.

 

All things ALEC

Center for Media and Democracy has several links up on ALEC:

(most of these are from the week prior to the 40th birthday bash in Chicago)

They long for the bygone era.

ALEC agenda.

More *cough* scholarship funds for those poor, poor legislators…

I, for one, would like to know the reasons that Larry Summers, a hedge fund manager, would be the optimal choice for Federal Reserve.  WTH?

Pissed off at how much you’re taxed….well, how does this grab ya?  You at least expect your taxes to go towards useful things like roads, police, fire, schools….but, no, it is going to subsidize these folks.

This is the latest–the treatment of the protestors by Chicago P.D.  A note in the comments section said that over 900 people were arrested.

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On to other things–

Pandora’s lunchbox. Basically, like Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride tells GAPS patients….nothing processed is good for you–avoid it like the plague.  Try to eat more raw than cooked food.  Cooking destroys the enzymes in food–enzymes are used in all processes in your body.  This includes digestion of proteins and other nutrients so that your body can utilize them.  It won’t do your body any good if it lacks the enzymes to digest the nutrients.

~~~~~~~

Lastly, there’s nanotechnology everywhere.  Is anybody regulating it? Well, yes and no.  The FDA is regulating silver nanoparticals, but you know the FDA on the nanotechnology as a whole….throw it out there and hope nobody notices.  Be sure to click on the links for Grist’s take (I knew there was a reason that I felt like I had sludge in my gut after eating M&M’s); also the link for Purdue’s report on the fish; and  the effect on DNA.  Yep.

 

Liberal media, where are you? **edited

Diane Ravitch has a link up to a daily kos piece on the non-coverage of issues Americans care about…

**edited to add this link.

Forty Years of ALEC

They’re protesting ALEC in Chicago as I type…the tweets are keeping tabs on what is going on.  Badass Teachers Association is there.  Others have reported rough treatment by Chicago Police.

https://twitter.com/aaroncynic/status/365556308516151297/photo/1

Chicago Teachers Union

 

Biotech food launches new website

Propaganda...gotta love it. Not.   Ninety-three percent of Americans want GMO labeling…why isn’t Congress doing what the American people want??  I mean, they keep stating “the American people want…” so they must be concerned with honoring our wishes….right?   /just a little sarcasm there, folks

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One really has to wonder if the folks at the FDA have too much time on their hands or have completely lost their minds when you read stories like this. 

I think we should all live in bubbles so there is no way that we could ever, ever, ever come in contact with salmonella or any other bad bug.  /snark

I want eggs by free range chickens, but I can’t always get them.    It makes sense that the nutrition is better with free range eggs–look at the variety in their diet.  Clearly, the FDA is infiltrated with Big Ag  corporations that want to squeeze out the organic farmer.

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Speaking of organic food–I am starting to see the fruits of my labor with the heirloom tomato, Cosmonaut Volkov.  I had one the other night with mayonnaise on it…and OMG, it was delicious!  It tasted like tomatoes used to taste like before the hybridized the taste out of them!  Oh, wow, it was just like they tasted back in the 60s.  I kid you not.

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More on the GMO war–of course, it always comes down to who is funding  it.   Gah, the “NO” list reads like a list of defense contractors.

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Organic food sales are increasing.  People are waking up to the poison in their food.  Good for them.

~~~~~~~~~

Michael Pollan and Mark Hertsgaard on how sustainable farming practices can help with climate change.