Remember what I said a few posts back about the poor not being able to take even a simple vacation like camping…?
Well, I have to retract that, because apparently the austerity measures are the conservative’s attempt at vacations...only they’re extended…clear through winter months, as well.
What?? Vacations are meant for the warmer months? Oh….
…but not really that surprising: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/08/07/court-ruling-brings-end-to-legal-challenge-against-bush-warrantless-wiretapping/
And yet there are still those who criticize the public for not speaking out and getting off their duffs to do anything–where is the justice? Who are the people obeying the law of the Constitution? Not the courts–as someone pointed out, this is the Ninth Circuit–a court that the rightwing continually blasts as “liberal”. Pffft.
Good God, it’s come to fruition…
…how in the hell does one, in good conscience, try to make a profit off of something one had no hand in creating…? What kind of soulless being thinks it’s okay to do such a thing?
From the story:
Like other aspects of neoliberalism, the commodification of nature forestalls democratic choice. No longer will we be able to argue that an ecosystem or a landscape should be protected because it affords us wonder and delight; we’ll be told that its intrinsic value has already been calculated and, doubtless, that it turns out to be worth less than the other uses to which the land could be put. The market has spoken: end of debate.
~~~~~~
Exactly. Once the price tag has been set, the $$$ will trump all other values…because one cannot put a price tag on beauty, on value to other beings besides two-leggeds (because all the rest don’t matter, according to these folks), nor can a value be assigned when the benefits are unknown, as most of the natural world’s benefits aren’t known until they’re lost…
commondreams has this up on the statement made by Romney on his visit to Israel, trying to look the part of a statesman. Failed.
If you read the comments, skeezyks has a link to the star tribune and their take on the GOP strategy–the same old, tired–let’s-divide-them-by-creating-enemies-along-racial-religious-lines….
(PERSONAL BLOG)
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day–mild 80s. We’ve had more rain (thank you, thank you, thank you), so everything is turning from brown to green again. So, it was a nice drive to see my Mom.
Again, I wonder at the houses along the way that have overgrown weeds, the houses looking sad, like they’re abandoned. I wonder about the owners and what happened to them…
The corn crop along the highway is indicative of the drought–they’re about knee high with the tassles sticking up (they should be twice that height).
I realize two things as I’m driving: only one bug hit my windshield, and there were no woolly worms crossing the road. This is the time of year when I would normally look like I’m drunk because I’d be swerving all over the road to avoid hitting them–but not a one was seen. This was the warning when they came out with Bt corn, which is bioengineered to destroy the caterpillars that ate the corn crop. With that in mind, it occurred to me that bugs used to plaster the windshield during the summer months here–they no longer do. And others have noticed that the birds are not as plentiful as before–their songs were a pleasant chorus, and now it’s a single bird singing. Silent Spring, anyone? (A side note~~as admirable Rachel Carson’s work was, she still thought that science could cure whatever ills affected nature–something I’ve come to disagree with, as Nature is superior to anything science can cook up.)
I arrive at the nursing home, and my Mom’s color is better than last time. But she still doesn’t remember my name. This is definitely a change from even two months ago. She always knew my name even though she might be confused about other things. She asked what grade my kids were in, and I had to tell her that they were grown and gone several times during my visit. The conversation went around in circles. Usually, she would be able to at least carry on a conversation, but yesterday, she was having more difficulty making sense. My sister brought cupcakes (I stuck to the diet and didn’t eat any) which made Mom happy.
We started to sing “Happy Birthday” to her, and Mom began to cry. We both broke up over that. You have to know my Mom–she was not one for spontaneous displays like that. She wouldn’t give you a hug for no reason, nor was she the type to have cookies out of the oven when you got home from school. I don’t think she knew how to be a mother, as her own mother caused her grief.
The thought struck me how she didn’t really know how to take me—-because I was so different from her. I was more like my Dad.
I started to leave before I knew my sister was coming, and my Mom wanted to walk me to the door (something she hadn’t done previously) and then she did it again when my sister and I were on our way out the door. She didn’t want us to go (and perhaps she wanted to come home with us). Tough day–tears on the way home.
PRWatch has this up. Those of us of a certain age will recall the original (they have a link to it, too.) Ahhh…remember when they were actually trying to inform people of the government process? And civil rights? My older sisters took Civics classes…by the time I reached high school, some five years later…no civics classes—just government class. And it didn’t even hit me what had happened until I went to college, and one of my professors began asking the class if they knew their rights. None of them did.
New York landowners fighting for their land and the environment. They are an example for the rest of the country.
Boy, is my face red…
I realized last night that my post on Romney’s tax returns was ass backwards. I should have added the $7,000 standard deduction instead of subtracting it. Geesh. And no, I wasn’t smoking anything. Stupid dyslexia rearing its ugly head…
Anyway, I’ve edited the post.
The Sunlight Foundation has this up on the lack of sunlight by Romney. (hat tip to washington post)
The rightwingers are all over this–saying that Romney is a private individual who does not have to disclose his returns.
Um…does anyone else wonder why the rightwing (and the Dems) are all about snooping into other people’s lives…saying “if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t mind someone reading your emails, watching what books you check out, who you call on the phone (and what you say), and generally destroying the Fourth Amendment…so, um…why do they have a problem with Romney laying his tax return out there? I mean, if he has nothing to hide….
Looking at the stats on Romney…good grief look at the disparity between him and Obama. And man, it warmed my heart to see Obama was paying 32%, but as the article states, it’s because of the classification of income–Obama’s coming from book sales.
The rightwingers will make the case that Romney somehow deserves to only pay 13 -15% of his income because it’s investment income…they have wrongly stated that he would be paying taxes on income he’s already paid taxes on. Not true–the investment capital is not taxed again, but the profits he makes on those investments is. He should be paying 35% on the profits he makes–whether its from investments or from a paycheck. Incidentally, if he loses money, he gets to deduct that from his taxes owed.
Lastly, I’m sick of hearing about how great the rich are in contributing to charity–some statement was made awhile back on how much more they give to charity. Sitting where I am, there is just as much charity with the poor–only they don’t get to deduct that off their taxes, so it isn’t documented. They will help others out the best that they can–a few bucks or few sheets of typing paper or a few slices of bread to tide one over…that sort of thing.
So…speaking of taxes…here is the 2011 tax table figures: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf
If one takes the standard deduction (single), they start taxing you when you make $15,000–minus the $7,000 standard deduction. It’s stunningly pathetic that the one-percenters like Romney can take taxes off to feed his horse, but a person who every week has to decide whether to pay the light bill or food on the table has to pay taxes on a measily $15k. Poverty level….
Here is the poverty level, by the way–which is waaaay too low: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml
A person making $20,000 per year would be more like it–you can’t afford decent housing at even that level. You certainly couldn’t put any money away in savings nor could one take even the most simple vacation (camping, etc.). You’re one paycheck away from being homeless.
I think the reasons for keeping the level so low are listed on the page–it’s used to determine food stamp eligibility and other social services…it’s the same with the false 8% unemployment figures…if you don’t acknowledge a problem exists, or acknowledge the scope of the problem, then you don’t have to get off your butt and do something about it.
…well, it’s that time of year for the Health Dept to put out its dire warnings of West Nile virus, spread by mosquitoes. This is an annual warning by the dept. so you would think that thousands of people die of the disease...nope.
Here’s a story on a death by West Nile. Note that it’s the first one since 2007: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/west-nile-death-first-since-2007-2425637.html
The state’s Health Dept. was recommending people use DEET to avoid mosquitoes, and subsequently, the virus. I was at the beginning of chemical awareness and asked the director of the office I was in whether citronella was as effective. He said yes, but citronella had to be applied every 30 minutes. When I asked about an article I had just read about DEET being linked with epileptic seizures, he confirmed that it did cause seizures in some people. So, I asked why the public wasn’t informed of this, and that citronella was a non-chemical solution, he blew me off. The health dept. denied people information so that they could make their own decisions. This was another reason I left that job.
Here’s a link (gov) on it: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002763.htm
Here’s a less biased link: http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/2005/DEET-Cox-NCAP17oct2005.htm
A good link here. She outlines the dangers and then gives helpful suggestions on natural repellants. When I still had my house, I would light three or so citronella candles before going out to the patio, and never had a problem with being bitten. And I also had natural citronella bug repellant wipes that I used when I was out.
I tried to look up deaths from DEET, and there are few reported cases. Since it is known to cause seizures, and other neurological issues, I have to be skeptical of the statistics–how many had seizures that caused death, but it was not attributed to DEET? Since there is such denial in the medical profession of the devastating effects of chemicals (toxins) on our health, I’m just not that confident that they are inquiring about the chemicals a person uses.
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