Have a look at #6 - it should be read by everyone in this country......note - it's non-partisan......
1/ There is an organisation you have never heard of, ALEC, which is behind many if not most of the pro-corporation and anti-union laws enacted by state legislatures in Republican states. ALEC actually writes the laws, which are written the way the oligarchs want them, and give them to sponsors, along with some campaign cash, who shepherd the bill through the process. Thant's how we got the "Stand your Ground" act.......
Paul Krugman with another excellent column.......
Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. And it’s tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations.
Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence (only recently, thanks to yeoman work by the Center for Media and Democracy, has a clear picture of ALEC’s activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martin’s killing, it is that it might finally place a spotlight on what ALEC is doing to our society — and our democracy.
What is ALEC? Despite claims that it’s nonpartisan, it’s very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesn’t just influence laws, it literally writes them, supplying fully drafted bills to state legislators. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 ALEC-written bills have been introduced, many almost word for word. And these bills often become law.
Many ALEC-drafted bills pursue standard conservative goals: union-busting, undermining environmental protection, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.
2/ The latest abortion related war on womens' rights is happening in Arkansas....let the Onion News team tell you about the latest crazy Republican ideas.....in Arkansas a woman who wants an abortion has to name the foetus and paint the nursery.......2 minutes......
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3/ Jonathan Cohn in the Nation with commentary on the Supreme Court's deliberations on the health care act - it's not just the ACA act at stake, it's the legitimacy and reputation of the Supreme Court as well......
My opinion - they will strike it down, and President Obama and the Democrats should run in November on a "Medicare for All" ticket......
"Medicare for All"......has a certain ring to it, doesn't it......
Before this week, the well-being of tens of millions of Americans was at stake in the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act.
Now something else is at stake, too: The legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
Nobody knows how the justices will rule. And nobody can know, not even the justices themselves. On Friday morning, perhaps by the time you read this, they will meet privately to take their first vote. More often than not, this first vote determines the final verdict. But there are exceptions and Anthony Kennedy, on whose decision the outcome presumably depends, has a reputation for long deliberation and changes of heart—particularly in major cases like this one.
That’s good. With the result apparently in doubt—smart money still says the chances of the full law surviving are about 50-50—Kennedy should think long and hard about how he wants the Court to rule. So should Chief Justice John Roberts, who appeared more skeptical of the government’s case during oral arguments but nevertheless indicated that he, like Kennedy, understood the government’s premise—that health care was a special market, perhaps requiring special intervention.
If that concern is not enough to sway the chief justice, than perhaps his frequently professed concern for the court’s respectability will.
Even now, I have trouble wrapping my mind around what I saw in the courtroom this week and what a majority of the justices may be contemplating. Kennedy’s second question, the one that so unnerved supports of the law, was whether the government had “a heavy burden of justification to show authorization under the Constitution.” But the heavy burden in this case is on the justices threatening to strike down health care reform. They have not met it.
http://www.tnr.com/blog/
4/ Jon Stewart on the Supreme Court, helped by some bizarre Taiwanese animation. Very amusing, 3 minutes.....
If you haven't been keeping up with this week's health care reform hearings in Washington, let Jon Stewart sum it up for you. On Thursday night's "Daily Show," he mocked the three-day argument of "freedom vs. social contract" with some good, old fashioned Taiwanese animation.
Since cameras are not allowed inside the hearings, Stewart hired the imagineers atNMA to show us what really definitely didn't happen. For example, did you know that "Chief Justice Of Our Hearts" Cee-Lo Green presided over the hearings? Yeah, it was weird.
http//www.huffingtonpost.com/
5/ "Prometheus", directed by Ridley Scott who made the wonderful "Alien" - "Prometheus" definitely looks like the sci-fi movie experience of the summer - out June 8th.....
Watch the 2 minute trailer - not sure what it all means but it looks ultrasupercool........
6/ An excellent article in Esquire, the gist of which is that boomers, yes you, for the last 30 years have stacked the deck so that the old are taken care of at the expense of the young......
This article is an epiphany, an eye-opener, and should be read by all boomers, so that we know what we have done, and everyone in their 20's and 30's so that they know what is happening to their generation......
Highly recommended.....
Twenty-five years ago young Americans had a chance.
In 1984, American breadwinners who were sixty-five and over made ten times as much as those under thirty-five. The year Obama took office, older Americans made almost forty-seven times as much as the younger generation.
This bleeding up of the national wealth is no accounting glitch, no anomalous negative bounce from the recent unemployment and mortgage crises, but rather the predictable outcome of thirty years of economic and social policy that has been rigged to serve the comfort and largesse of the old at the expense of the young.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, human potential has been consistently growing, generating greater material wealth, more education, wider opportunities — a vast and glorious liberation of human potential. In all that time, everyone, even followers of the most corrupt or most evil of ideologies, believed they were working for a better tomorrow. Not now. The angel of progress has suddenly vanished from the scene. Or rather, the angel of progress has been sent away.
7/ Holy shit! A nasty accident caught by a state troopercam.....35 seconds of......OMG!!!!
8/ Where do these journalists get their insights from? Fascinating discussion by James Kwak about whether or not the Republican party is still the party of business, or has it been captured by billionaires and their unlimited funds......
The GOP has always been the party of the top 10%, but does it now represent the 0.01%, i.e. the oligarchy? If this is even partially true, it's scary......
Jonathan Weisman of the Times wrote an article about the reluctance of many Republicans in Congress to extend policies that are traditionally favored by big business (and the Chamber of Commerce), such as infrastructure spending and funding for the Export-Import Bank. This points to a split between the traditional corporate wing of the GOP and the newer, ultra-conservative tax revolt wing.
My guess is that this will blow over and the Republicans will figure out a way to keep big business happy without upsetting the Tea Party too much. But it points out a potential shift among the people who fund the GOP.
Historically, the Republicans were the party of business. Businesses like to make money. That can mean a lot of different things for government policy. In some cases, they want less regulation, since regulatory compliance costs money. On the other hand, large companies often want more regulation, since they can absorb the costs of compliance better than small competitors. (See The Economist on tax preparers for a recent example.) Regulation can also be a mechanism for price fixing, as with the old Interstate Commerce Commission, which functioned as a legal cartel for railroads. Businesses definitely want lower corporate tax rates, since that increases their net income. But they also like some types of government spending. Most obviously, defense contractors like lots and lots of defense spending. Less obviously, businesses have historically been major beneficiaries of free public education, since it gave them a more skilled workforce. So in general, the business community is not obviously in favor of lower taxes or lower spending.
Contrast this with the interests of billionaires. The super-rich do have a lot of wealth tied up in company stock, so to some extent they share the interests of businesses. But as rich people, they have their own interests. In this case, they unequivocally gain from lower taxes and lower government spending; they get to keep more money and they don’t need government services, as individuals. Besides, once you’ve made your first billion, it doesn’t really matter how your business does after that point.
9/ Wow. The Dallas Federal Reserve bank has just put out a report recommending the breakup of the "too big to fail" banks......
Let's start with the evil Bank of America......but we can see all of the lobbyists springing into action to bury this report, so don't expect too much to happen....
Taxpayers will be on the hook for another giant Wall Street bailout, and the economy won’t be mended, unless the nation’s biggest banks are broken up.
That’s not just me talking, or the Occupier movement, or that wayward executive who resigned from Goldman Sachs a few weeks ago. It’s the conclusion of the Dallas Federal Reserve, one of the most conservative of the Fed’s regional banks.
The lead essay in its just released annual report says a cartel of giant banks continues to hobble the recovery and poses an ongoing danger to the economy.
Wall Street’s increasing power remains “difficult to control because they have the lawyers and the money to resist the pressures of federal regulation.” The Dodd-Frank act that was supposed to control Wall Street “leaves TBTF [too big to fail] entrenched.”
The Dallas Fed goes on to argue that the Fed’s easy money policy can’t be much help to the U.S. economy as long as Wall Street is “still clogged with toxic assets accumulated in the boom years.”
So what’s the answer, according to the Dallas Fed? It’s “breaking up the nation’s biggest banks into smaller units.”
Thud. That’s the sound the report hitting the desks of Wall Street executives. They and their Washington lobbyists are doing what they can to make sure this report is discredited and buried.
10/ Fascinating rerun video of the military rituals for the daily closure of the border between India and Pakistan....Indians are first...
This is not a Monty Python comedy skit, but it does resemble one with the "silly walks".
Keep in mind that each of these countries has nuclear weapons.......2 minutes....
11/ Thankfully the certified asshole Rick Santorum is close to being irrelevant in the Presidential race, but in this clip he comes close to using the n-word to describe the President.
He is just a disgusting human being........20 seconds of slime.....
12/ For what I hope is the final word on this cretin we have Tom Tomorrow with a Rick Santorum "Sex Talk"......
13/ What is Tebowing? - to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing
something completely different. For those of you outside the US and/or ladies, this term is from Tim Tebow, the
quarterback for the New York Jets [formerly the Denver Broncos] who is very religious, and publicly prayed
during the football games.....
Here are some pictures of people Tebowing.......
And here is a South Park illustration of inappropriate Memeing while Tebowing.....funny and disgusting.....eeeew......2 minutes.......
14/ A DDD favourite - Arcade Fire with "Ready to Start", nothing fancy, just an excellent live rock video.....audience freaking out, a lady drummer in a prom dress, good geetar......
15/ Yeay - Rachael Maddow has a book out, and here is the review in the Times......very good......
A book by the host of a political talk show is often an ancillary product or marketing tool. But “Drift,” by Rachel Maddow, whose show is on MSNBC, is much more. It is an argument — a sustained, lucid case in which points are made logically and backed by evidence and reason. What’s more, it follows one main idea through nearly a half-century. The subtitle, “The Unmooring of American Military Power,” explains exactly what “Drift” is about.
Ms. Maddow’s point is that the way we go to war has changed: that there has been an expansion of presidential power, a corresponding collapse of Congressional backbone and a diminution of public attention. She does not see this in conspiratorial terms, but she has an explanation for the step-by-step way it evolved. She thinks the transformation began with a question asked by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 as he prepared to more than double the ground forces in Vietnam: “You don’t think I oughta have a joint session, do you?” Did he need authorization from Congress, he asked the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to make a troop deployment like that?
That very question indicates that Johnson understood the importance of Congressional authority.
..............................
President Clinton was faced with Bosnia and the use of private contractors became a form of damage control. Later parts of the book outline how the buildup of C.I.A. secret forces and these private contractors have dimmed public awareness of how and when war is waged.
Ms. Maddow’s way of making points, whether on the page or on the air, follows a distinct pattern. She begins a chapter with something small and piquant, like the Houbara bustard, a bird found in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She will explain the small thing, come up with a cute phrase about it (“poor bustard”) and suddenly leap to explain why the American incursion into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden managed not to be regarded as an outright act of war.
Thank the bustard (which turned out to inhabit conservation land within Pakistan because Arab falconers favor the bustard as falcon prey) for this book’s explanation of how drone warfare is waged. And thank Ms. Maddow for picking this and every other fight that “Drift” provokes. It will be a smarter public debate than the kinds we’re used to.
Or.......
Rachael Maddow joins Jon Stewart for a 7 minute interview about her new book, so if you don't want to read the review watch this instead......mildly amusing.....
Rachel Maddow appeared on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" on Thursday night to discuss her new book about war, "Drift: The Unmooring Of The American Military."
Maddow's book, which has been a labor of love for the MSNBC host for a number of years, investigates how U.S. national security policy has changed since the Vietnam War, resulting in a severe disconnect between the military, government, and American public. "We didn't feel like we were a country at war," Maddow said to Stewart. "We felt like we're a country that sends the military off to war."
16/ Aha - Julia Roberts, an ad blitz of huge proportions and maybe you have been persuaded you want to see the latest RomCom "Mirror Mirror"......chill yer jets - read this review first.......
Is it too early to call Mirror Mirror the worst movie of the year?
This new retelling of Snow White targeted to children is so bad, the studio should have included the words “cracked,” “broken” or “splintered” in its title.
Worried that one viewing wasn’t enough to appreciate the utter terribleness ofMirror Mirror, I went to see it again, this time with a guest. Samara Haynes, an aspiring writer from Montclair, N.J., enjoys soccer, acting, and considers herself a fairy-tale scholar. It should be noted that she absolutely loved the film. She’s 8 years old.
Here is our joint review:
The Evil Queen (Julia Roberts)
The film, directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell), begins from the Queen’s point of view. Who cares what she has to say? Her narration is botched by a faux-English accent that brings to mind the last time Madonna tried to act.
Roberts’s Queen is supposed to be evil, but since she never commits to her character, she’s doesn’t come across that way. Instead, she’s only vaguely bad, like a high-school mean girl—but not even. Since Roberts is an old-school star who always plays a variation of herself, the Queen still laughs, smiles, and sounds like Julia Roberts.
Any doubts? Watch this awful, choppy trailer......
Todays video - the bikini Dyson commercial
A couple of jokes for married people......
A woman is sitting at home on the veranda enjoying a bottle of wine with her husband and she says, "I love you."
He asks, "Is that you or the wine talking?"
He asks, "Is that you or the wine talking?"
She replies, "It's me............. talking to the wine."
..............................
A husband and wife were sitting watching a TV program about psychology and explaining the phenomenon of mixed emotions.
The husband turned to his wife and said, "Honey, that's a bunch of crap. I bet you can't tell me anything that will make me happy and sad at the same time.
And she said, "Out of all your friends you have the biggest pecker."
Todays short drunk joke
Two drunk guys are sitting at a bar when one looks
at the other and says,
"I had sex with your mother last night".
The other guy gets up, grabs his coat and says,
"OK dad, it's time to go".
Todays Polish joke
Two Polish hunters got a pilot to fly them into the Canadian wilderness, where they managed to bag two big bull moose.As they were loading the plane to return, the pilot said the plane could take only the hunters, their gear and one moose.The hunters strongly objected saying, "Last year we shot two, and the pilot let us take them both... and he had exactly the same airplane as yours."Reluctantly the pilot, not wanting to be outdone by another bush pilot, gave in and everything was loaded. However, even under full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down, crashing in the wooded wilderness.Somehow, surrounded by the moose, clothing and sleeping bags, Yanush and Stashek survived the crash.After climbing out of the wreckage, Yanush asked Stashek, "'Any idea where we are?"Stashek replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year!"
And we finish with another married joke
A husband had just finished reading a new book entitled; You Can Be the Man of Your House.
Finding new courage that he never knew he had, he stormed into the kitchen and announced to his wife, "From now on, you need to know that I am the man of this house and my word is the 'Law.' You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, bring it to me, and when I am done eating my meal, you will clear the dishes and serve me a scrumptious dessert. After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me and we will make love the way I want!"
"Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You will put on soothing music, wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe. You will massage my feet and hands to relieve any last bit of tension so that I can sleep like a baby. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"
The wife replied, "The funeral director would be my first guess, unless I have your ass cremated."
