Politico.com: Halloween Death to Conservatism display

The not-so-subtle "RIP" to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush on East Capitol Street enraged at least one conservative passerby.  He told POLITICO: "This is the liberal tolerance we keep hearing about. Someone went to a lot of effort to show how little class they have."

Actually the passerby's comments indicates he lacks a sense of humor.This Halloween display is professional and must have taken many hours to prepare.

Well done!

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Young Rush on Halloween

Our thanks to LtSaloon.org

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Dick Cheney should be prosecuted for lying to the FBI

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney told the FBI in 2004 he had no idea who leaked that Valerie Plame, wife of a Bush administration critic, worked for the CIA.

A summary of the FBI's interview with the then-vice president reflects that he had deep concern about Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa who said the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in the probe of who leaked Plame's identity to the news media. At the end of Libby's trial, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that "there is a cloud over the vice president" regarding the leaking of Plame's identity.

In the FBI interview, the vice president's memory of key events appeared hazy.

Cheney said he did not recall discussing Wilson's wife with Libby before her CIA employment was publicly revealed by conservative columnist Robert Novak. Libby's own notes produced at his trial reflect that Cheney told him about the CIA employment of Wilson's wife in mid-June 2003, a month before Plame's CIA job became public knowledge.

Following Libby's conviction, President George W. Bush commuted Libby's 30-month prison sentence but rejected Cheney's vehement appeals to pardon Libby. Dick Cheney tired unsuccessfully on several occasions near the end of the Bush administration to get a pardon for Libby. The President's refusal created a rift between Cheney and Bush.

The 28-page FBI interview summary was released Friday to a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sued to get the material under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the interview, whose participants included Fitzgerald, the vice president said the identity of Valerie Wilson and her employment were not high on his radar screen. Cheney also told agents that he did not recall having a conversation about either Plame or her husband with Bush.

The vice president said he probably discussed Wilson with Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, but told the FBI he would not have talked to Rove about Wilson's wife.

Cheney's occasional denials that he talked about Plame to various people at the White House are among the few things in the lengthy interview with the FBI that Cheney appeared certain about.

According to courtroom testimony, Rove was one of Novak's sources for his column disclosing Plame's CIA identity and Rove and Libby were sources for Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper, who also wrote a story identifying Plame.

Cheney said he was not aware of any discussions Libby may have had with Rove about Wilson or Wilson's wife, and Cheney said Libby did not tell him about any such discussions.

The vice president advised the agents that he had no idea what Libby knew in the days before Plame's CIA identity was publicly revealed. Cheney said he did not recall if Libby revealed to the vice president his independent knowledge about the fact that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.

In a New York Times opinion piece on July 6, 2003, Wilson accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence about Iraq's efforts to buy a uranium "yellowcake" in the African nation of Niger. Bush referred to the yellowcake during his Jan. 28, 2003, State of the Union speech to Congress as he was trying to rally support for going to war with Iraq.

Yellowcake is a powdered form of uranium that could be used in a nuclear weapon if purified and enriched. The Yellowcake report orginated in Italy and the UK considered the single source report to be unreliable. The Yellow Cake documents from the Niger were later proven to be forgeries.

The year before, the CIA had sent Wilson to Niger to determine the accuracy of the uranium reports. Wilson brought back denials of any sale and argued such a sale was not likely to happen.

In his FBI interview, Cheney said his initial reaction to the Wilson article was his sense that it was "amateur hour" out at the CIA.

Cheney said The New York Times piece was disturbing. Cheney said he was most disturbed because it was now being made to look as though the vice president had personally sent Wilson on the trip. The vice president said that all he had done was to make a legitimate inquiry of a CIA briefer in February 2002 about Niger and Iraq.

Plame was outed in Novak's column as a CIA employee eight days after Wilson attacked the administration in The New York Times piece.

Obama would be wise to offer a presidential pardon to Libby if he would be willing to finger Dick Cheney  for outing Valerie Plame. Cheney is a war criminal who should go to trail for revealing the identity of a CIA agent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/cheney-told-fbi-he-had-no_n_340583.html

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This video struck a nerve: The Kids are Covered

by Natasha Malinsky



Rightardia has discussed this before. Most of the people who have kids like the ones in the video are conservative. Jay Leno has also commented that he is annoyed when people dress these kids up.

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The nature of racism

by Rightard Whitey

photo credit: The Black Sentinel

If you study racism, you will discover much of it is the aftermath of war. The Southern states never had the economic vitality of the north and the people who settled the southern part of the US were different from the people who settled the North. As Alexis de Toqueville stated:

The men sent to Virginia were seekers of gold, adventurers without resources and without character, whose turbulent and restless spirit endangered the infant colony...Artisans and agriculturalists arrived afterwards...hardly in any respect above the level of the inferior classes in England. No lofty views, no spiritual conception presided over the foundation of these new settlements. 

The colony was scarcely established when slavery was introduced; this was the capital fact which was to exercise an immense influence on the character, the laws and the whole future of the South. Slavery...dishonors labor; it introduces idleness into society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distress. It enervates the powers of the mind and benumbs the activity of man. On this same English foundation there developed in the North very different characteristics.

In 1855, de Toqueville wrote the following text published by Maria Weston Chapman in the Liberty Bell: Testimony against Slavery:

I do not think it is for me, a foreigner, to indicate to the United States the time, the measures, or the men by whom Slavery shall be abolished. Still, as the persevering enemy of despotism everywhere, and under all its forms, I am pained and astonished by the fact that the freest people in the world is, at the present time, almost the only one among civilized and Christian nations which yet maintains personal servitude; and this while serfdom itself is about disappearing, where it has not already disappeared, from the most degraded nations of Europe.

An old and sincere friend of America, I am uneasy at seeing Slavery retard her progress, tarnish her glory, furnish arms to her detractors, compromise the future career of the Union which is the guaranty of her safety and greatness, and point out beforehand to her, to all her enemies, the spot where they are to strike. 

After the Civil War the slaves were freed, but Jim Crow laws were passed that assured de jure segregation until 1965. These laws and the Klu Klux Klan also suppressed the black vote in the South until LBJ got the Voting Rights Act passed in the mid-sixties. Blacks were not allowed to marry whites either until miscegenation laws were overturned in the 1960s as well.


The blacks became the scapegoat of the Civil War. Many Southerners still blame the loss of civil War on black Americans. Many blacks served in the Union Army, but Southerners were afraid to arm their black slaves. When the South lost the war, the blacks became a convenient bogeyman. 

Fast forward to World War 1. The War was stalemate until the British introduced tanks on the battlefield and aircraft started conducting reconnaissance and bombing missions which made trench warfare obsolete. 

In Germany, Jews were not allowed to own property and had to live in the cities. The Spartacist uprising (German: Spartakusaufstand), also known as the January uprising (Januaraufstand), was a general strike (and the armed battles accompanying it) in Germany from January 5 to January 12, 1919. Although this strike started after the war ended, there were more than 60 strikes in Germany during World War 1.

The name Spartacist uprising was only one of a number of reasons contributing to disillusionment within Germany towards the Weimar Government. One of the most important labor leaders, Rosa Luxemburg, was Jewish.

When the stike was suppressed by the Freikorps, who had weapons left over from the war, the strike leaders were executed. Many of the Nazi leaders such as Adolf Hitler, had been members of the Freikorps. Hitler actually got his start in politics by spying on liberals, socialists and German communists.

Hitler blamed the strikes and the Jewish leaders of the stikes for the loss of World War 1. This is the basis of much of the German anti-Semitism that led up to World War 2. Hitler was well aware of the Final Solution and wanted all the Jews in occupied areas exterminated so they would not be able to retaliate against the sons of daughters of the Nazis.

The Nazi movement was syndicalist rather than socilist. Hitler killed off most of the socialist Sturmabteilung  or SA in the Nazi party during the Night of the Long Knives. Hitler ordered the head of the SA, Ernst Röhm, to be shot when he refused to commit suicide. Of interest, it was the efforts of the SA that provided Hitler's rise to power.

Heinrich Himmler. the SS chief, was more pragmatic and wanted to ransom Jews for 1000 trucks and hard cash. Himmler realized by the end of the war that the Final Solution was a huge mistake, but it was his SS forces that implemented it.

While the blacks were the scapegoats in the South for the Civil War, the Jews were the scapegoats in Germany after World War 1. Hitler may have believed the Germans would have won if the strikes hadn't occured, but Americas' entry into the war sealed the fate of the Germans.

The common racist experiences of blacks and Jews may explains the historic affinity of many American Jews for the plight of blacks in this country. Scapegoats are always needed by defeated nations to rationalize their own failures. 

source: Wikipedia

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Right wing is hoping the recession isn't over

The right wing media--particularly Fox News--is suggesting the recession is not over. This is after Wall Street DJIA hit 10,000 points and the GDP grew by 3.5 per cent. Conservative media is suggesting the growth isn't real because of the Economic Stimulus.

Of course, these are the same people who suggested the Economic Stimulus wouldn't work. These righties were also the ones who denied the US was in a recession in 2008 that indicated that Supply Side economics was a failure.

Wait a minute! The Obama government followed Keynesian economics 101 and spent the money to get things moving again.

The employment sitiation is a hangover form the Bush administration. The Bush League never really seem to be interested in employment and Bush created about one quarter of the jobs that were created during the Clinton administration. In fact, many of the job that were created by the Bush League were government Homeland Security and airport security jobs.

Obama needs to help small business create more jobs and the Small Business Administration recently increased their loan maximum from $2 million to $5 million. Businesses continue to need more tax credits for hiring people. The government may wish to restart the 'cash for clunkers' program again and also extend the $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers.

The Obama administration needs to worry less about the large corporations represented by the US Chamber of Commerce and worry more about the moms and pops that operate small businesses.

If you don't think the recession is over, then you will have to admit that the Obama Economic Stumulus is working. In addition. government economists are qualified to make the call that a recession is over. Partisan hacks like Fox News are not qualified to make this call.



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The Kirk Cameron Action Kit

Kirk Cameron and his pastor decided to debate the atheist Rational Response Squad on the existence of God on NightLine. If you want to see what happens when educated secular humanists debate preachers and religious zealots, check out this Rightardia article: http://rightardia.blogspot.com/2009/09/kirk-cameron-spoof.html

It isn't pretty.

In November 2009 Kirk Cameron will be distributing altered copies of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" with his own preface that tries to make Darwin look like an evil crazy old man who helped the Nazis take over Poland, and may have loved monkeys in a strange, special way.

Okay, we actually don't know what is in his preface, but either way, we thought we would help Kirk Cameron and his important quest. We've made the "Kirk Cameron Action Kit". Inside you will find everything you need to fight those evil Darwinists!! Just watch as Kirk Cameron's colleague Dick Tooley, leads you through the many benefits of the Kirk Cameron action kit! WOW!

The Kirk Cameron Action Kit - watch more funny videos

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Conservative Halloween costumes are popular

This monster thought he could restructure the Middle East and orchestrated the Iraq War. He is responsible for the death of several hundred thousand Iraqis. Rep. Alan Grayson is right. Blood does drip from his mouth.

This crazy looking fiend spawned George W. Bush and thinks MSNBC news people are sick puppies.

What can you say about this whack job that hasn't been said? This is one of the funnier customes you'll see on the street.

You betcha! The Princess of Darkness.  Evangelicals love her.

Yes, it's  El Rushbo, the Clown Prince. Another funny costume.

Last but not least, the Monsters of Fox News. Where is Gretchen Carlson?


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Democrats needs to get their heads out of thier . . .

If you want to lose the next Congressional election, go corrupt like the Republicans did for the last eight years. Most of the names on the ethics investigation list are Democrats. Shame of these greedy Democrats for being so stupid. 

The panel announced that it was probing two California Democrats — Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson — even as its embarrassed leaders took pains to explain that several other lawmakers also identified in the leaked confidential committee memo may have committed no wrongdoing.

The committee said it was investigating whether Waters used her influence to help a bank in which her husband owned stock, and whether the couple benefited as a result. Separately, the panel is looking into whether Richardson failed to disclose required information on her financial disclosure forms and received special treatment from a lender.

Ethics chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., recently went to the House floor to announce that a confidential weekly report of the committee from July had leaked out in a case of "cyber-hacking."

The weekly reports include a summary of the committee's work at an earlier stage, when its members and staff scrutinize lawmakers to see whether an investigation is warranted.

The Washington Post reported in its online edition Thursday that the document was disclosed on a publicly accessible computer network.
The Post reported that almost half the members of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee were under scrutiny.

A prior ethics inquiry involves lawmakers who steered appropriations to clients of a now-defunct lobbying firm and received campaign contributions from the firm and its clients.

The names included three lawmakers previously identified in the inquiry: the chairman of the defense subcommittee, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; and Reps. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., and James Moran, D-Va.

The Post said others whose names were in the report included Reps. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., and Todd Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan.

This is a huge embarrassment to the Democratic Party. Rightardia has no sympathy for corrupt politicians regardless of party affiliation. We like the way the Chinese deal with corruption. China executes corrupt officials.

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLCF080

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HUFFPO: Orly Taitz Lawsuit Thrown Out By California Judge

The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner

Have we heard the last of this crazy Birther queen? Probably not. David O. Carter made it very clear in his decision that a federal court cannot remove a standing president from office. 

Another challenge from birther queen Orly Taitz against President Obama's birth certificate has been thrown out of court.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's decision came down this morning. dismissed Orly Taitz's challenge that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen and so is not the country's legitimate president.

Judge Carter wrote in his decision that the plantiffs were asking the Court "to effectively overthrow a sitting president who was popularly elected by We the People‚ sixty-nine million of the people."

Carter said before the ruling came down that his office was getting 40 to 100 calls from birthers urging him to back Taitz, after she asked for support on her website.

Dave Weigel points out that the decision also confirms that witnesses complained Taitz wanted them to lie on the stand.

Earlier this month, Taitz was slapped with a $20,000 sanction by a judge in Georgia for "wasting the judicial resources" of the Middle District of Georgia with her "frivolous and sanctionable conduct."


Here is the crux of Judge Carter’s decision:


“Interpreting the Constitution is a serious and crucial task with which the federal courts of this nation have been entrusted under Article III. However, that very same Constitution puts limits on the reach of the federal courts. One of those limits is that the Constitution defines processes through which the President can be removed from office. The Constitution does not include a role for the Court in that process.
 
Plaintiffs have encouraged the Court to ignore these mandates of the Constitution; to disregard the limits on its power put in place by the Constitution; and to effectively overthrow a sitting president who was popularly elected by We the People‚ sixty-nine million of the people.
 
Plaintiffs have attacked the judiciary, including every prior court that has dismissed their claim, as unpatriotic and even treasonous for refusing to grant their requests and for adhering to the terms of the Constitution which set forth its jurisdiction.
 
Respecting the constitutional role and jurisdiction of this Court is not unpatriotic. Quite the contrary, this Court considers commitment to that constitutional role to be the ultimate reflection of patriotism. Therefore, for the reasons stated above, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.”

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/13/orly-taitz-slapped-with-2_n_318546.html

Read the whole decision:

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The Governator uses the F-word in a veto

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typically attaches a message to bills he signs or vetoes a bill.

A Democratic assemblyman who heckled the governor during a recent event in San Francisco and told Schwarzenegger to "kiss my gay ass" actually received two messages: the veto letter itself and a not-so-subtle rebuke creatively hidden within it.

Like a find-the-word puzzle, the second message was visible by stringing together the first letter of each line down the left-hand margin. It consisted of the F-word followed by the letters "y-o-u." "My goodness. What a coincidence," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear, "I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen."

Schwarzenegger's veto messages are sent to the lawmakers who authored the bills, and posted on the governor's Web site. McLear noted that the left-hand margin of past veto messages has spelled out words such as "poet" and "soap."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/schwarzenegger-sends-lawm_n_336319.html


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Another Columbian Union organizer murdered

by James Parks, Oct 28, 2009

George W. Bush was trying to get a free trade agreement with Columbia through Congress, but the  Congress torpedoed it because of all of the anti-union violence in Columbia. There was also a scandal in the Hillary Clinton campaign when Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, apologized for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a free trade agreement that Hillary opposed. Penn was forced to resign.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/04/mark-penn-apologizes-for_n_95090.html

The AFL-CIO is saddened and angered by news of the assassination of Honorio Llorente Melendez, a union organizer for the CUT—Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (Unitary Central of Workers) of Magdalena Medio—in Colombia. Until he was fired recently for trade union activity, Llorente had served as treasurer of Sintrainagro (National Union of Agricultural Industry Workers) in Santander.

A court hearing on his unlawful firing was scheduled to take place this week. Llorente is among at least 25 trade unionists killed this year in Colombia, which remains the deadliest country in the world for trade unionists. Llorente, a father of five, was killed Oct. 17, allegedly by paramilitaries, in Puente Sogamoso, a community in Puerto Wilches, Santander.

Prior to his murder, Llorente and his colleagues had received numerous death threats because of their organizing work. The CUT of Magdalena Medio had appealed to government authorities for protection, but its request was denied by the local police.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka expressed his outrage at Llorente’s murder, saying: We join our sister organization, the CUT of Colombia, in condemning the ongoing violence against trade unionists and other human rights defenders in Colombia, as well as the ongoing impunity of all of those responsible for this violence.

The AFL-CIO extends its condolences to the family and friends of Brother Llorente and stands in full solidarity with them. The AFL-CIO and CUT of Colombia demand that President Álvaro Uribe and the Colombian government order a full investigation, prosecution, conviction and sentencing of those responsible for this unconscionable crime.

They also call upon the U.S. Congress to demand the same. The two federations urge the Colombian government to protect the ability of all workers and trade unionists in Colombia to exercise their fundamental rights without fear of violence.

source: AFL-CIO Now blog

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Stephan Colbert hails Joe Lieberman

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Joe Lieberman Is a True Independent
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

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Commerce Department: Bush Recession has ended

 

WASHINGTON — The economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. It's the strongest signal yet that the economy has entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended.

 

Many analysts expect the pace of the budding recovery to be slow due to rising unemployment and continuing difficulties by both consumers and businesses to secure loans.

"This welcome milestone is just another step, and we still have a long road to travel until the economy is fully recovered," said Christina Romer, President Barack Obama's chief economist. "It will take sustained, robust ... growth to bring the unemployment rate down substantially. Such a decline in unemployment is, of course, what we are all working to achieve."

The much-awaited turnaround reported Thursday by the Commerce Department ended the streak of four straight quarters of contracting economic activity, the first time that's happened on records dating to 1947.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/new-commerce-report-shows_n_338162.html

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The Benefits of Healthcare IT

Posted by Aneesh Chopra on October 29, 2009 at 09:52 AM EDT
A national health care computerized system is needed. In Medicare alone fraud costs the taxpayers $60 to $90 billion every year. Miami, FL is a hotbed of Medicare fraud. Once medical records are automated and computerized, it will be much easier for the government to catch fraud.

The Health IT Standards Committee within the Department of Health and Human Services will begin an unprecedented effort to get the public’s view on how our work might "pull forward" the benefits of healthcare information technology (IT).
Specifically, we’re interested in uncovering new strategies to accelerate the adoption of health IT standards. This effort began with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  It called for recommendations on standards to promote safe, secure, healthcare information exchange.

“Standards” are really the guardians of quality, consistency, and interoperability. Without thoughtful, clear and uniform standards, we cannot enable the seamless and secure exchange of electronic health information (or the benefits that accrue to providers and patients from such protected exchanges).

So, while the exploration of technical standards may seem mundane to some, it is foundational to electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic health information exchange more broadly. In other words, it’s worth paying some attention to, and voicing your opinions.

Our process continues with a public hearing today in Washington, DC. Find out how to participate via phone and webcast here. We are convening four panels of experts with on-the-ground experience in interoperability standards - providers, quality stakeholders, health IT vendors, and a group with lessons drawn outside of healthcare. Thanks to HIT Standards Committee member Judy Murphy for her leadership on this effort.

The conversation through an Online Forum over the next two weeks. Thanks to Committee Member Cris Ross for his leadership on this effort. We have arranged a series of Committee Member blog posts to begin the dialogue, starting with HIT Standards Committee Vice-Chair John Halamka's summary of our work to date, which will post on Friday. We will concurrently have ongoing discussion threads on the following topics:

1. Proposed Standards (General Discussion)
2. Interoperability
3. Vocabularies
4. Privacy
5. Security
6. Quality
7. Implementation Case Studies (Your Story - the good, bad and
in-between)

We have also enabled a "voting" feature on submissions to allow you - the public - an opportunity to emphasize points raised in a given post. Our goal is to harness the shared wisdom of our community to inform the work of the HIT Standards Committee in the weeks and months ahead.

The process of accelerating the adoption of health IT standards will not end this week, this month, or this year. This is an ongoing effort, and your participation will continue to be essential to its success.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

See a 60 Minutes article on this Medicare fraud: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5419844n&tag=related;photovideo

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Tax Credit May Be Extended and Expanded

10/29/09

 

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on October 28, 2009 - 4:56pm

A first-time home buyers tax credit could be extended. Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle expressed a desire to add more time to the $8,000 tax credit which is set to expire on November 30.

There could be an extension to April with an added expansion that would open the credit up for home owners who have been in a home for five years or more.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said once some unrelated issues are settled the buyer credit will most likely make it to the floor for a vote.

source: http://www.laborradio.org/node/12253

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Sarah Palin: Thrilla in Wasilla

graphic courtesy of mariopiperni.com

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Russian Arms expo rocks the Urals

Published 08 July, 2009, 17:51


Multi-million dollar deals are on the table as Russia showcases some of its most advanced weaponry at the Seventh International Exhibition of Arms, Military Equipment and Ammunition in the Urals.

Despite the financial crisis that is affecting most of the world, participantion in the arms exposition in Russia’s Nizhny Tagil was only reduced about 8 per cent.

The T-90 tank and the tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon Tunguska are among the hits on display at the show.

Turkmenistan has already bought the first batch of Russia’s T-90 tanks, dubbed “the flying tank” for its exceptional maneuverability and speed.

The T-90 is Russia’s main battle tank and is the most sophisticated and modern tank in the Russian armed forces. Designed and built in the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Urals, the 46-ton beast can cruise at up to 60 kilometers per hour and easily overcomes many land and water obstacles.

“It can hit the target with precision. During accuracy tests, results showed about 999 hits out of 1000. It can fire and guide missiles within a five kilometer range. Compared to other tanks, it is the most mobile and very maneuverable,” says Yury Tyurin, Chief Specialist at the Uralvagonzavod factory.

Its 125 mm gun can break through 1,000 mm wide armor and the tank has a unique three-layer protection system.

T-90 tank

There are more than 900 T-90s in the Russian army. The T-90 has proven to be so effective that India purchased more than 500 of them for its ground forces.

The T-90 is thought to be one of the most modern and attractive exhibits at the seventh international arms exhibition in Nizhny Tagil.

Tunguska-M1

There is one fighter with much more experience and it deserves attention as well – the tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon Tunguska-M1.

It was first put in service back in 1982 by the USSR. Since then it has been modified several times and is currently used by the armies of six countries.

Tunguska’s unique feature is that it is armed with both guns and missiles, and can attack targets both in the skies and on the ground.

“Its main advantage is in conducting combat performance with artillery weapons in motion. With rocket armament you have to stop and fire, but with artillery armament you can keep moving,” explains Lev Ochagov, Chief Specialist at the Development Design Office of Ulyanovsk mechanical plant.

More than 400 companies are taking part together with about 40 foreign delegations. Organizers boast that the budget of this year’s show is larger than ever.

The reason for so many countries coming to this exhibition is that some major arms deals could be signed. Last year several contracts were signed to supply arms to India and to the UN.

The participants of the exhibition, apart from demonstrating their products, are holding seminars and conferences to attract more customers.

The spectacular display of arms attracts a good deal of military specialists, arms producers, and ordinary people interested in modern arms alike.

source: http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-08/Arms_expo_rocks_the_Urals.html

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This sounds a lot like a booty call

What does Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) think of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)? Well, he's nothing short of stunning. These two may need to get a room.


Click the  video below to see Bachmann embarrass King with a flattering compliment on the House floor this week.


"As it turns out, Bachmann has used the same phrase to describe King repeatedly over the last several months."


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NewsMix: Sarah Palin's Book Slashed to Just $16, Best Price in the World

        Dear Newsmix Reader:

Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rouge: An American Nightmare," won't be released until Nov. 17, but it is already a major sensation.

Newsmix wants you to get your copy of this important book  a book that tells Sarah's story in her own words, without the media spin.

We have three incredible Palin book offers for you!

Great Offer #1!

Get Sarah's book with our FREE Offer with Newsmix magazine.

Great Offer #2!

Get Sarah's book for just $16.00. Save more than $24 off the cover price and buy it much, much cheaper than Amazon. The ebook is only $10.00. 

Please Remember: This offer is not available for current or former subscribers to Newsmix magazine! If you are a subscriber you can get the book FREE by renewing early. Go Here Now: Sarah Palin's new book: Going Rouge

Great Offer #3!

Julie Sigwart and political Micheal Stinson are also self-publishing Going Rouge: The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring & Activity Book, a 48-page paperback that will be released Nov. 17 (the same day as the G.O.P. firebrand’s autobiography as well as OR Books’ anti-Palin essay collection, also titled Going Rouge).

The sample pages on the book’s promotional website fall clearly into the realm of political satire, including a coloring page with lipsticks and pigs (naturally) and a caricature of Palin in fishing overalls and possible “fishing gear”: a gun, a saw, an ax, and a bomb. Get the companion coloring book for $12.00.

To order the Sarah Palin Coloring book, see Sarah Palin Companion Coloring Book

Thank you.

Newsmix.com

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Colbert Nation: George W. Bush's Motivational Speech

Stephen Colbert wanted to attend George W. Bush's "Get Motivated" seminar in Dallas, but he couldn't afford the $4.95 admission fee. (01:44)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
George W. Bush's Motivational Speech
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

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China Daily cartoon

China Daily 10/28/2009

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Billionaires 4 WealthCare visit the Tea Party Express Kick-off in San Diego!

This is quite funny. At first the Tea Partiers didn't realize they were being satirised. Then things started to turn ugly. Billionaires for Wealthcare joined the kickoff for the Tea Party Express II in San Diego.

The group, which consisted of individuals made incredibly rich on US health care industry profits, made dozens of new friends among the throngs of tea party attendees and even earned a shout-out from one of the event’s organizers.

The Daily Kos had another report on the action which was written in La Gitane's diary. 

We mingled; there were surprisingly many nice folks, who enjoyed our performance and were laughing along with us and taking pictures. However, there were MANY more vitriolic tea baggers, some of whom were violent and, of course, racist. 

We were interviewed by the SD Union Tribune, and Channel 8. Three of our Billionaires, including The Commodore, sang a song that the Commodore wrote. Channel 8 filmed the whole song! I'm telling you, we got great exposure! 
We also had three videographers, and I will be posting pics, footage and the lyrics to the Commodore's song as soon as it's available. 

A pattern I'm seeing is that in the beginning, the Repubs don't really understand and don't know what to think. But, as they catch on, they become more violent, and really in your face. 

By the time our limo came to pick us up and Todd, our faithful driver, laid out the red carpet once again, things were getting pretty bad. Many people wanted to know who is behind all of this??? Who's paying us?? 

One very "bright" woman was angry because the Tea Baggers "barely had the money to put this together" while we are funded by someone (Soros?) and she DEMANDED to know who!! 

She screamed that we were "fucking hypocrites". And I mean SCREAMED. Their grass-roots effort is pretty impressive - although they "barely had the money to put this together", they managed to have two buses fully wrapped in Tea Party regalia and plenty of vehicles, all marked with Tea Party Express signage. 

Cops were pretty thin, surprisingly, since any lefty rally I've ever been to seems to bring them all out in full riot gear. I guess the tea baggers aren't a threat to public safety...? Anyhoo, much thanks to all the San Diego Billionaires for making such a beautiful performance. It really is a fun bunch! 



source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/26/797254/-Billionaires-4-WC-hits-again!-Tea-Party-Express-Kick-off-in-SD

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Levi Johston knows some "huge" things about Sarah Palin he has not revealed

In an interview with CBS's "Early Show," Levi Johnston continued to talk about Sarah Palin. He reiterated negative revelations he made about Palin in a recent Vanity Fair piece, saying that her daughter Bristol played the mom role in her children's lives, and that Palin repeatedly referred to her son Trig as her "retarded baby."


He also indicated he is still knows some "huge" things about the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate.
 
Watch CBS News Videos Online

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/10/28/video-levi-johnston-says-hes-holding-back-huge-things-about/


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Halloween is a big hit in China

10/28/2009
 

An interactive haunted house attraction - called the 'Shanghai Terror' - opens to the delight of horror fans in Shanghai ahead of Haloween. Video courtesy of Reuters.

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Why Affirmative Action is needed

Check this Racist web site in Louisiana after you read its disclaimer:

Disclaimer:

This store is designed for Klansmen and LOTIEs and is intended for light hearted humor.  It is not intended to harm any individual or group of individuals or to initiate violence or hate. There are products that some may find offensive inside. We realize that any product sold by any vendor may in some way offend somebody.
If pro-White merchandise offends you, please click here.

Here is an example of one of the T-shirts it sells. It is not the worst one either:

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Republican Party animals can turn, but not learn new tricks

 
graphic courtesy of Ltsaloon.org

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French Scientologists convicted of fraud

ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

By Europe correspondent Emma Alberici

The Church of Scientology has been convicted of organised fraud in France and fined nearly $1 million.

A Paris court fined the church $980,000 but stopped short of banning the group's activities.

Four leading French Scientologists were also given suspended sentences.

The case centred on the claims of former Scientologists who say they were cajoled into spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personality tests, vitamin cures, sauna sessions and counselling.

The Church of Scientology is not recognised as a church in France, it is classified as a cult, and for the past 14 years the French government has kept it under strict surveillance.

This is interesting because the Russians were recently required to certify Scientology as a religion by an EU court. Russia’s ban on the Church of Scientology was illegal, the European Court of Human Rights said in a binding ruling.

Somehow the French have been able to keep Scientology classified as a cult. The French have been a secular country since the French Revolution and also prevented a tribute to Catholicism from being added to the EU Constitution.

source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/28/2726058.htm?section=justin

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Newsy.com: Time for Conservatives to Shine?

October 27, 2009

A new Gallup Poll says 40% of Americans consider themselves conservative, 36% moderate and 20% liberal. But is the GOP exploiting this golden opportunity?

Rightardia has seen polls like this before. One of the problems is that  some news people tend to equate conservatives to Republicans and liberals to Democrats. Most Democrats know that only about 15 per cent of the Democratic Party is liberal. The Democratic Party contains many moderates and Blue Dog conservatives as well. It is the party of the big tent.

In addition, a conservative Democrat is a different animal than a conservative Republican. You will not find many conservative Democrats watching Fox News or listening to Rush Limbaugh. Obama's political organisation, Organizing for America, is still active and it was three times as large as the McCain organization. The DCCC also outraised the NRCC but 2:1 last month.

The Democrats will not let this country slide back into fascism without a fight. You can count on it!

 


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Right Wing Family Research Council explains the cost of health care

The ad is called Get to Work: The Impact of Government Health Care on the Next Generation. The factless ad doesn't mention that the Iraq War will also cost the next generation $ one trillion dollars. It is interesting how evangelicals were quiet about the one $ trillion dollar Iraq War and many of the right wing clergy even sanctioned the Iraq War.

Yet when it comes to making life better for Americans, evangelicals suggest spending a $ trillion  is bad.  What would Jesus say about this?

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UN Economic Forum: Does the US have a Gender Gap?

The right wing likes to tell Americans we have the best health care system in the world, we are happiest nation in the world, we have the highest per capita and we are number one in gender equality.

Actually we are 37th in the world in health care according the WHO, Denmark is the happiest nation in the world, the Swiss have the highest per capita and we are 17th in the gender gap. The right has been lying though its teeth about where America fits in internationally.

The nations that usually are tops in the rankings are the Scandinavian and other European countries that have robust social systems that does a better job of caring for its citizens. This is why Europeans live longer and are taller than Americans.

The US can do better. The US women really are not doing well in economic opportunity and health and well being. To see how the US shapes up in gender equality:

click on graphic to enlarge

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Judas Lieberman ready to betray the Democrats again

The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner

First Posted: 10-27-09 05:30 PM | Updated: 10-27-09 05:37 PM

On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) announced that he might join a filibuster against health care reform.

It's not the first time he's betrayed Democrats. Check out a slideshow of the senator's worst turns at the hyperlink. Vote for your favorite!

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/top-15-lieberman-betrayal_n_336024.html 

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Ubuntu can absolutely be the default Windows alternative

Posted by Christopher Dawson 

About a year and a half ago, ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes asked, “Is Ubuntu becoming the generic Linux distro?” and concluded that “the evolution of Ubuntu into the generic Linux distro isn’t a bad thing”. Canonical’s Mark Shuttleworth took this idea a bit farther during a press conference call yesterday:

Shuttleworth said that his focus was on “making sure that Ubuntu gets pre-installed and Ubuntu is available from Dell.com and others and making sure that Ubuntu is the default alternative to Windows.”

He didn’t mention Apple, which, to many consumers, is the only alternative to Windows. For all its buzz in the tech world, Linux (or Ubuntu) is hardly a household word. Competing with Apple, though, which already has an impressive ecosystem of hardware and is the reigning king of usability, doesn’t make sense anyway and this ad from Novell would never fly outside of the tech community:



So how can I be so confident that Shuttleworth’s vision of becoming the “default alternative”, and not just the default Linux for those geeky enough to try it, will become a reality? If Ubuntu can work well on every device users encounter (including non-Intel smartbooks and other new classes of portable devices that will be emerging in the next couple of years that displace notebooks for many consumers), then name recognition will follow.

Obviously, the PC space is dominated by Windows. Yet no matter how spiffy Windows 7 is (and even Shuttleworth acknowledged that it was a good OS, worthy of competing with Ubuntu), Vista taught us all a lesson (consumers and techies alike). There are alternatives to the latest and greatest from Microsoft, even if that’s Windows XP. We don’t have to upgrade.

This “PC space” is changing, though. Windows Mobile stinks. Microsoft has no plans to develop Windows on ARM platforms. The cloud is here, not because of the economy, but because of the value businesses perceive in it. Ubuntu is actively developing in all of these spaces and their latest, highly polished OS (available Thursday) shows off many of the technologies.

What forced Microsoft to crank out it’s best OS in years (some might say it’s best ever and certainly the most stable prior to a service pack or two)? Competition. Competition from Apple, certainly, but also a growing awareness of open source concepts in general.

Many artists are releasing DRM-free music (and still making money). Books are widely and freely available. Content is everywhere, much of it for free. Something that you pay for, then, like Windows, better be a heck of a lot better than its free alternatives. Competition is our friend, whether we’re consumers, pro users, or CIOs.

Christopher Dawson

Chris Dawson writes ZDNet's Education IT blog. Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.

Read the complete article at http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=26606&tag=nl.e539

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