A Saudi princess has been arrested for what basically amounts to slavery. Good Grief, these people have money out the wazoo, and they’re still not happy with that…have to have it all and if they can force someone to work for them for nothing….well, then, more for them….
….they and the Kochs must be on a first name basis….
A lawsuit has been filed alleging that millions of dollars have been withheld from affordable housing funds.
More from Housing Authorities around the country:
New York. Okay, I’m a little confused, because the folks in Fort Wayne were having budget cuts even before sequestration….some forty percent was reported. It was supposed to be nationwide, so I’m wondering why NY wasn’t cut previously?
Seattle, Washington. This report is more in line with what Fort Wayne is going through–they have had to close the Section 8 (Voucher) program many times because they are just flooded every time they open it up. They have had as many as 4,000 people on the waiting list (If I recall correctly, that was for both Voucher and Public Housing).
From the report:
At the same time, the waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers remains closed, and the agency is unable to issue new vouchers at all. Nearly all vouchers are in use (99.6 percent), and the 1,552 households still on the waiting list remain stuck there. Total waiting lists exceed 25,000, and 884 new households were added in January alone. At a time when need is growing dramatically, the Seattle Housing Authority is unable to expand to meet that need.
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Here’s a good article from The Nation on the stupidity and callousness of cutting a housing budget when there is so much need.
From the article:
Although housing assistance takes only one penny of every federal budget dollar, right-wing ideologues since at least the Reagan years have long used “deficit reduction” as a pretext for achieving their dream of eliminating government housing aid. Reagan infamously slashed the housing budget at a time of recession and the emergence of modern homelessness, while the deficit exploded. There’s no question that when it comes to housing assistance, the Reagan legacy lives on. This year the Cato Institute outlined a plan to tackle the budget deficit that would, among other things, “terminate” the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And Reagan’s Tea Party descendants in Congress promise further chops of the budget ax for housing and other safety net programs.
Is what seems to be happening in the last few weeks of the “George Love In”….with the *cough* George W. Bush library that re-programs, er I mean, explains to the public how it really was when he was president…
This is such a hard subject for me, because I’ve been from one extreme to the other with my feelings on it. And feminists marginalize those women who believe in equality but have reservations about abortion. It’s probably one of the biggest reasons that the women’s movement lost steam in the 70s.
When I was younger, before I had my children, I thought abortion was okay. But when I had my children, I thought that it was wrong. But I have seen the horrible picture of the woman who was so desperate that she had her boyfriend use a coat hangar on her to abort her pregnancy. She died of an embolism. I don’t want us to go back to that, but at the same time, I feel that there needs to be restrictions. The heart starts beating at six weeks.
I learned something from Bill Moyers’ book published in the 80s–it stated that Europe is not as lenient about abortion as America is. This shocked me–thinking that Europe has always been more open and “liberal’ about stuff, I presumed that they were of the mind that a woman could have an abortion at any time. Nope. Here is a list of the countries and their abortion policy. Most of them cut off abortion at 12 weeks, even for rape. They only make exceptions for the physical and mental health of the mother, but even then, there are some cut-off dates. The book stressed that the Europeans have a much more supportive structure in that they educate women and men on contraceptives. And if a woman has the baby, she is supported the first five years of life. Amazing, isn’t it??
In the not too distant past, women were not informed on how to prevent a pregnancy (Comstock laws) . They were having five and six kids and desperate not to have another when they became pregnant again. They were too poor and uneducated to provide for the children they did have….what were they to do?
We’ve had politicians who want to deny women the means to prevent pregnancy, but then they also want to deny them abortion. It makes absolutely no sense. And when those children arrive, they will deny them food stamps and decent housing.
Educating women and men is key.
Providing safe contraceptives is also key. (Despite the popular idea that birth control pills are safe, there are many, many problems with them. I have read that gluten intolerance is linked to them, but now can’t find the reference. )
Spermicidal foam had been found to have mercury in it. More here on other issues with it. As far as I know, sponges are safe, but since they also contain N-9 there are issues.
Some women use the natural sea sponge for menstruation as well as a contraceptive. I had heard that the ladies of days past used the sea sponges.
Here’s a report from a lady who had issues with chemically treated sponges. On another site, a poster said she had heard that honey was a natural spermicide. Interesting. Here’s another site that had a brand of spermicide that is non-chemical. It’s made in the UK, however, and I don’t know whether it’s available here. I looked on their website, and it says there is an extra charge for shipping outside of Europe. If one is interested, probably best to contact them and ask.
So…a complicated subject with emotions running high and no quick, easy answers.
It’s not easy for women to prevent a pregnancy in a safe way. Why is that?
PRWatch has this up on the behind-the-scenes work of the Bradley Foundation.
From the article:
In advance of the 2012 elections, Bradley was revealed as the secret funder that had bankrolled giant billboard ads, exclusively in neighborhoods of color, stating “Voter Fraud is a Felony” during a period when voter ID was on hold in Wisconsin and many were confused as to its status. It funded groups that employed James O’Keefe, whose heavily-edited undercover videos hyped voter fraud allegations and helped take down ACORN, which had helped millions of low-income people register to vote. It also funded the legal advocacy group that represented O’Keefe.
Both Bradley and Searle have funded the American Legislative Exchange Council, which promoted voter ID laws in states across the country. And in the wake of Shelby County, ALEC-inspired voter ID bills and other restrictions will likely take effect across the South. As many as eleven percent of registered voters don’t have government-issued photo ID and would be unable to vote under the laws, with those percentages even higher among communities of color and students.
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(In case you missed it, James O’Keefe has crawled out from the rock he was under (after pleading guilty to misrepresenting himself as a telephone employee at Mary Landrieu’s office) and is now proclaiming to be a journalist who was victimized. Bwahahahahahahaha….seriously….bwahahahahaha. Let’s hope that his *cough* journalism efforts land him in jail for a looong time this go around…)
Be sure to click on the link explaining the Bradley foundation and its links to none other than….the Kochs and the John Birch Society. Also, the link for “group that brought both challenges” is very informative. Truly, their motives are to go back to “separate but equal” status of education. Yeah, we all know how that worked out. And the Searle connection…you know, one has to consider all the possibilities of drug companies that are behind racist overtures. Kind of scary, isn’t it?
Good God, these people are control freaks. And evil.
I had hoped that things were going to move in a positive direction for North and South Sudan, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Story here: satellitetoday.com/st/feature/George-Clooneys-Satellite-Sentinel-Project-Reveals-War-Crimes-Security-Violations-Using-DigitalGlobe-Imagery_41401.html
The satellites clearly show damage done, I get that—but the thing that bothers me about the satellites is that last paragraph:
DigitalGlobe made headlines of its own in February 2013, when it completed its merger with GeoEye, resulting in a total constellation of five satellites. According to DigitalGlobe’s website, the company globally collects more than 3 million square kilometers of imagery per day and supports a wide range of defense and intelligence clients, including several responsible for the monitoring, storage and development of weapons.
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[italics mine]
Yeah…the Big Brother aspect bothers me….
…something that is used to bring about good can also be used for the Dark side.
Here is a good interview that explains what is happening in Sudan. It is the best video I have seen that not only explains what is happening, but what is going on behind the scenes, as well.
So much blood shed for oil…
**edited. I missed the claim that he purchased all of this on $21.55 + 6.03 …. So, he’s saying that he used this for a week? At five weeks, that would be $137.90…and that’s only if you live within walking distance of a big box store (that pays minimum wage to its employees) …..but it still stands that this is not healthy nor sustainable, without meat, fruits and veggies, butter (or olive oil) and eggs.
Donny Ferguson, an aide in the office of Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), made the bogus claim that he could eat well on the amount of food allowed with Food Stamps, or SNAP, as it is officially called.
I was surprised to see such a well thought out response here. Not expecting that from Forbes, for sure. 🙂
I read a rather lame article on MSNBC. (not linking to it, you’ll have to google it.) The article writer didn’t bother listing the food items that Ferguson bought, but started with the headline “Republican Staffer Beats Food Stamp Challenge” I don’t know why folks think MSNBC is liberal…it’s not. Save for a couple of the more enlightened ones. I’m sure they’ ll be gone, however, if they really stick their necks out….a la Phil Donahue. (I find it highly ironic that I grew up on Phil Donahue and my kids have control freak and bully Dr. Phil.)
The llist of the items bought by Ferguson:
For $21.55 Ferguson purchased at Dollar Tree:
Two boxes of Honeycomb cereal
Three cans of red beans and rice
Jar of peanut butter
Bottle of grape jelly
Loaf of whole wheat bread
Two cans of refried beans
Box of spaghetti
Large can of pasta sauce
Two liters of root beer
Large box of popsicles
24 servings of Wyler’s fruit drink mix
Eight cups of applesauce
Bag of pinto beans
Bag of rice
Bag of cookiesFor $6.03 at the Shoppers Food Warehouse next door Ferguson bought a gallon of milk and a box of maple and brown sugar oatmeal.
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First, there are no can sizes listed. Highly suspect. How big a box of sugar-coated cereal? How big a can of chemically suspect red beans and rice? How big a jar of grape jelly?
Speaking from a Celiac viewpoint, I couldn’t get past Day One of this wheat based diet. I would be ill after the first meal, and in a hospital by the end of the month….if I made it that long.
Secondly, as the Forbes article mentions, this diet is void of fruits and vegetables. And meat, too. Not one egg. No flour. No butter. It has everything to encourage heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and dental decay. There is nothing nutritious or healthy about this diet.
I don’t drink milk, but if I did before the crash and burn, I would have stopped by now because it’s too expensive and nutritionally questionable with pasteurized milk from grain-fed cows kept in captivity shot up with antibiotics.
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This is not a sustainable diet–for the planet nor for its inhabitants. It’s disingenuous. And no doubt if someone follows this diet, the repubs would be blaming them for getting sick and costing taxpayers $$$ dollars in healthcare costs. Pffft.
Roberts says that times have changed and things are different now. Yes and No.
Yes we have our first African American president. I see African American professionals in many places. It was especially poignant to watch the coverage of the recent tragedy in Philadelphia–when the building collapsed. The mayor, the head of the fire dept., and another official were all African Americans. That was a proud moment.
But, No, racism has not been eliminated. Roberts should know this….in his own backyard of Laporte County, Indiana, was a case of someone spraying racial slurs on the sidewalk of an African American church about three years ago. There was snow on the ground, to make tracking easier….but somehow the culprits got away….
Voting Rights Act was put into place because of the stuff we’re seeing yet today…
…like the attack on ACORN…an organization that sought to get the poor and others registered to vote…
…Florida thwarting voters…
…so to say that everything is just fine and it’s okay to let these states once again do as they please is just plain wrong.
Saying racism is “over” is like saying that sexism has been eliminated because we see *some* women in positions of power. And those women don’t necessarily speak for women who stay home, out of the rat race, so to speak. So it’s not a fair representation of all thoughts. It’s also not a representation of actual progress. When women who stay home are acknowledged as contributing to society as much as a woman who brings home a paycheck; when rape is no longer seen as the fault of the woman; when domestic violence is acknowledged for its devastating effects on women, children, and society; when tenderness is no longer seen as weakness….only then will anyone convince me that sexism is no longer an issue.
And racism and sexism are created from the same mindset of power-over.
Wisconsin now asking for money back by people who were formerly qualified to receive unemployment benefits. Good Grief.
Why don’t they ask the Koch brothers for some of that tax money they haven’t paid all these years…?
Center for Media and Democracy has this up on Bill Moyers covering the dirty dealings of American Legislative Exchange Council. It states that this was all over the nation on PBS stations this weekend. If it was on my local station, I saw no advertisement of it, so I missed it. (Boy, do I miss FW, which has such a kick butt public radio station, and three PBS stations, as well. )
Luckily, there is a link here to watch the show online. Also, there is a link for finding out which of your own state’s representatives belong to ALEC. I found a couple of surprises, there, such as Win Moses, who was the former mayor of Fort Wayne, and John Gregg, the guy who just ran for governor. Mike Pence was not listed, but yeah, he seems to be doing their bidding:
mikepence.com/newsletter/pence-hires-atkins-policy-director
See…this exposure of ALEC is a double-edged sword–you’re getting the word out and people are paying attention, but they (ALEC) will find ways around it by people who are off in the wings, such as Atkins.
Eagle 
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