Category Archives: war

The Moyers Program

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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>

Nick Clegg defends bullying Guardian

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Nick Clegg has defended his actions towards the Guardian newspaper.

The fact that the Guardian has copies outside the country has restored my faith…somewhat.  Why should they have to go to such great lengths to exercise Freedom of Speech?

Gah, as I thought about this story last night, images of the King’s soldiers coming in and smashing printing presses went through my head…if nothing else, it sure does hit home that nothing has changed and that Freedom of Speech needs to be fought for and protected for democracy to survive.

News of Egypt, Syria, Middle East

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In Syria,  appears there have been several chemical attacks on civilians, according to this. 

The video is hard to watch.  Good God.  They’ve got oxygen masks on them, but I would think that water is more suited to flushing the poison out of their systems?  What kind of monster would do this?

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EU’s response to the crisis in Egypt.

Meanwhile, a court orders the release of Hosni Mubarak.  (!!)  Color me confused.

The report states this is likely to add fuel to the fire in Egypt already, so I’m at a loss to understand the thinking behind it.

 

 

All things ALEC

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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.

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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

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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.

The Monuments Men

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…is being brought to the big screen this December.

Here is a page that briefly explains who they were and what they did.

I was happy to discover they did not neglect Capt. Rose Valland.  When they called the operation  “Monuments Men”  , the name implies that there were only men helping the effort.  As with most of history, women’s contributions are ignored or downplayed, and unfortunately, that seems to have been the case for Rose, as well.  She died without acknowledgement of her enormous contribution to the success of the operation.  Why is that?

Why did I have to learn in college that if it were not for women gathering nuts, berries, and seeds, human beings would not have survived….because men were not that good at hunting, because at that time, there were no tools? I should have learned this in the history classes I took in elementary, middle, and high school.  Nope. 

Why are women’s contributions to history and to sustaining civilization not seen as important or consequential?  It would take nothing away from men’s contributions….so I’m at a loss to explain it.

More on my blog here.

Limbaugh and Hannity being cut by Cumulus

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Well, now.  Didn’t expect they would do it.  I seriously thought that Limbaugh was entrenched and nothing short of him murdering someone would they cut the strings.  I’m happy that they are cutting off the hate-filled blather.   Who are they going to get now to bang the drum for the rightwingers…?

I just hope they aren’t replaced with more hate-filled blather by someone even worse than Limbaugh and Hannity.