Tuesday, February 19, 2013

(Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said cuts from sequestration are “mindless” and should be replaced with revenue from closing tax “loopholes.” (TU))

(Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said
cuts from sequestration are “mindless” and should be replaced with
revenue from closing tax “loopholes.” (TU))
*************
Spot on, Mr. Paul.
But the deep, and not so hidden, politics behind the sequestration is
the tea party, Koch brothers, billionaire right-wing plutocrats to
reduce the size of government..to create a greater space for unfettered
private market activity.
Over the weekend, S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham lifted the curtain on the
hidden,behind the scenes, machinations of the right-wing plutocrats.
He proclaimed that one way to avoid the sequester is to kill Obamacare.
You can’t make this stuff up.
(Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday the government should protect
the Defense Department from automatic spending cuts by slashing $1.2
trillion from the Affordable Care Act.
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Graham suggested that the
sequester’s across-the-board cuts to federal spending, including about a
roughly 7.5 percent reduction in military spending, would be
“destroying the military.” But rather than agree to President Obama’s
proposed alternatives to the sequester, the South Carolina Republican
said we should save money by eliminating health care for the 30 million
people covered by the Affordable Care Act)
http://thinkprogressdotorg/health/2013/02/17/1604781/gop-senator-would-take-away-health-coverage-from-30-million-americans-to-avoid-military-cuts/?mobile=nc
**************
Graham is up for re-election in 2014; and he needs to protect his right flank from the tea partiers.
He doesn’t want to be primaried; doesn’t want his political gravestone
to say he joins Dick Luger, Utah’s former Sen.Bob Bennett, and other
moderate GOPers.
  • The POTUS goes golfing in Florida, while 35k-50k rally in DC against the approval of the Keystone pipeline.

    The POTUS goes golfing in Florida, while 35k-50k rally in DC against the approval of the Keystone pipeline.
    *************************
    One late night comedian cracked that you must conclude that the
    Obamas have a strong marriage when Michelle goes skiing in Aspen,
    allowing her husband to spend a weekend with Tiger Wood in Florida.

    This blogger can laugh at the joke, but also there is very likely a
    hidden, deep political reason that the POTUS left town this past
    weekend.

    It may have been to avoid seeing up to 50k climate change believers
    ,anti-Keystone pipeline ralliers demanding that he, and Sec. of State
    Kerry, reject the pipeline proposal.

    The Keystone pipeline would be a 2000 mile line, sending up to
    700,000 barrels of heavy Canadian tar sand crude oil daily down to the
    Gulf coast.

    The 50k ralliers believe that approving the pipeline will begin the end of civilization as we know it.
    The Alberta tar sand crude will send tons of additional CO2 into the
    atmosphere, enough to tip the climate,environmental to a pollution level
    that could not be reversed.
    Could it be that Obama left town because he, and Kerry, have already decided to green light the pipeline?
    http://thinkprogressdotorg/politics/2013/02/17/1605541/forward-on-climate-rally/

    The position in support of the Keystone pipeline was articulated by the NYT's Joe Nocera.
    If found the column unpersuasive.
    Nocera is dressed up as Prince Poppycock on this issue; and his position if flap-doodle
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/nocera-how-not-to-fix-climate-change.html?ref=joenocera&_r=0

    Monday, February 18, 2013


    1. "I oppose the ban on 16 oz. sodas and will break the law drinking one in
      my announcement press conference. This is the Nanny State taken to the
      extreme. Mayor Bloomberg should not decide what we eat and drink or
      subject us to a body search without probable cause, a sad erosion of our
      civil liberties. Big Brother is upon us….
      As someone who worked as the Vice President of Operations a $2 Billion
      Hedge Fund, I made a nice living on Wall Street before opening the
      escort agency that supplied high-end call girls for Attorney general and
      Governor Eliot Spitzer. I know how the economy works. I’ve read Von
      Mises, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. I understand the barriers
      to growth and what creates wealth. I think economic growth is
      paramount. I believe a rising tide lifts all boats….”
      Kristen Davis, website announcement of NYC Mayoral candidacy .
      *********************
      You can’t make this stuff up.
      Will she be drinking Coke or Pepsi?
      Bloomberg has announced that having pot will be considered a violation, not a misdemeanor or felony…and that is progress.
      Davis’ libertarian call for pot legalization will eventually see fruition.
      The Bloomberg/Kelly preemptive policing, the stop-and-frisk policy is more complex.
      Bloomberg makes the case that this policy has lowered the violent crime in the city.
      And the stop-and-frisk has been made less rigorous…i.e. the pot possession change.
      Davis’ advocacy of legalizing prostitution also has strong positive arguments, but will not become reality in most of our lifetimes.
      Davis’ says she has read Von Mises, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek.
      I’ve also read these libertarian true believers.
      But that doesn’t mean I agree with them.
      Davis should also read Keynes , J.Kenneth Galbraith, and his son’s James (U.of Texas economist), Robert Reich, and other liberal economists.
      It’s good to be well-rounded, informed and educated in these matters.

    Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his hubris on steroids

    (Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged with misusing hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars for personal use.)
    **************
    Another argument for public financing of federal/state elections.
    Jackson Jr.’s action on the money smacks of hubris on steriods.
    And his wife is also caught in the web.
    Jackson’s personal use stuff included a $43,350 gold-plated men’s Rolex watch.
    Jackson can try to hide behind a claim of bi-polar mental illness, but this Rolex stuff is more likely case of hubris, arrogant stupidity.
    His plea bargaining may produce a suspended sentence, community service and full restitution of the money.
    His father has been a productive civil rights leader for decades, but there has also been previous investigations of money spent by his Rainbow Coalition.
    Hubris may be in the family DNA.

    Cable Fox and the failed GOP right-wingers

    (Fox News has signed Herman Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate, as a contributor.)
    **********************
    Cable Fox has lost ratings since Nov.
    Perhaps it is because of Ailes’ ( president of Fox News Channel, and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group) proclivity to hire failed GOP POTUS/VP candidates
    gecannonphd
    (Jonathan Soros and Dan Cantor told Bill Moyers about their efforts to implement public campaign financing. (Moyers))
    *************************
    This show was informative, and is well worth watching.
    Their advocacy of a public finance of NY state elections is spot on.
    The NYC public finance law seems to working to promote small donations…the law has a public donation of $6 for every $1 dollar donated by small donors.
    The show can be watched at:
    http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-the-fight-to-keep-democracy-alive/

    Saturday, February 16, 2013

    The 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.

    This year is the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.
    Properly, there will be increased discussion, cable movies on this  important event.
    The JFK assassination is a cold case that should be of interest to all us.
    It's important to understand why he died; and why his death should still resonate.

    Fox's Bill O'Reilly's Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot has been in the top five book sellors for months.
    People are reading this book; and many, unfortunately,  are accepting the premises that O'Reilly promotes.
    ( http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Kennedy-The-End-Camelot/dp/0805096663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361031983&sr=8-1&keywords=killing+kennedy+by+bill+o%27reilly).

    O'Reilly states that the book is to make "history fun to read".
    His Killing Kennedy also a dangerous distortion that  misleads, misinforms millions on the JFK murder.

    The first half of the book covers the personal life of the Kennedys; and a  cursory  review of the events of the JFK administration.

    Much of this portion of the book not only attempts to make "history fun", but also reads like a cheap romance paperback.

    O'Reilly recounts the adulterous affairs of JFK, an account that most of us already are familiar with.

    But to serious students of the JFK assassination, their are likely only 4 women that should be considered important.

    First, of course, is Jackie.
    Jackie was 32 when sitting in the Dallas limo., and watched as JFK's head was brutally destroyed.
    For that reason alone, Jackie is an important woman.

    But she was also an enigma.
    In recent interviews with Jackie released by Caroline and the Kennedys, Jackie states that she believed that LBJ was behind (the plotter) the murder of JFK.
    But yet, in the LBJ White House tapes, LBJ and Jackie, post-assassination, sound like they are engaged in phone sex...very romantic talk.


    The second woman is Marilyn Monroe.
    Celebrity writer Darwin Porter , in his new biography of MM, actually tells us who the Chicago Mob Giacana killers of MM were, including photos of the hit team.

    MM was murdered.
    She was deeply involved with JFK and RFK ; and was considered a national security risk by the brothers, and the national security state actors involved in the Castro assassination program.
    http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-At-Rainbows-End-Cover-up/dp/1936003295/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361033146&sr=1-2&keywords=darwin+porter+books

    The third woman is Mary Pinoche Meyer, the Georgetown free-thinking, bomenian flower child former wife of CIA honcho Cord Meyer.
    She perhaps was one of the few females that JFK connected with on a cerebral level.
     And relative Peter Janney claims she was murdered by the CIA because she knew too much about the JFK assassination..
     http://www.amazon.com/Marys-Mosaic-Conspiracy-Kennedy-Pinchot/dp/1616087080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361033328&sr=1-1&keywords=mary+pinchot+meyer

    The fourth woman is Judy Campbell, the link between JFK and the Mob's Sam Giancana.

    *************
    But it is the second half of O'Reilly' s fun history that deals with Dallas; and is the dangerous distortion that  misleads, misinforms millions on the JFK murder

    O'Reilly travels down the rabbit hole, following Oswald, and concludes that he fired shots in Dealy Plaza and that he was a left-winger, a communist.

    There is substantial documentation that Oswald was a CIA contract employee; a double- or triple-agent; and a kid who was deeply involved in the political right-wing groups in New Orleans and Dallas.

    Oswald was sent to Russia by the CIA; and likely provided the Soviets with information on the U2 spy plane. He provided this information as a CIA agent because the CIA wanted the U2, flown by Powers, to be shot down in order to sabotage the Ike summit with Khrushchev.

    O'Reilly describes Oswald's attempt to get into Cuba, and his trip to Mexico City and the Cuban Embassy.
    To O'Reilly, this confirms Oswald's communist bona fides.

    This is so wrong on so many levels.

    The real story, vividly described by Judyth Baker (in Me and Lee) is that Lee worked with her in New Orleans during the Summer, 1963.
    She,Lee, and David Farrie got involved in a CIA financed research project with cancer researchers at Tulane U.
    The project took a bizarre turn as they worked on developing a bio-weapon of mice/monkey virus that could be transferred to humans to cause rapid spreading cancer.
    Oswald's visit to Mexico City was to deliver this bio-weapon virus to someone who would get it into Cuba, to assassinate Castro.

    Judyth Baker is a creditable, important person in the JFK assassination/conspiracy.

    She describes how Oswald, this mixed up kid who was controlled by the CIA, actually tried to stop the JFK assassination; and knew he was going to die.
    http://www.amazon.com/Me-Lee-Came-Harvey-Oswald/dp/1936296373/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361033907&sr=1-1&keywords=me+and+lee


    Perhaps the best written, and documented, book to read on the JFK assassination is James Douglass,JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.
    ( http://www.amazon.com/JFK-Unspeakable-Why-Died-Matters/dp/1439193886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361033969&sr=1-1&keywords=james+douglass+jfk+and+the+unspeakable+why+he+died+and+why+it+matters)

        

     

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