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| Giant Windmills near the summit of Ryegrass (I-90 near Ellensburg). Photo by author |
Friday, September 30, 2011
Happy Friday
Occupy Wall Street Coming to Seattle
Occupy Seattle
TIME: Daily @ 4:00
LOCATION: 915 Second Ave.
http://www.occupyseattle.org/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Seattle/254620607914006
Facebook Event:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=105010096274020
Hermain Cain, I'm white, but I've been brainwashed too!!
Herman Cain
"Many African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view"
A conservative point of view includes:, the complete disregard for any scientific evidence regarding global climate change, eliminating medicaid, replacing medicare with a voucher system, handing over social security to wall street, eliminating the EPA, eliminating the Dept. of Education, cutting heating oil subsidies for the elderly, eliminating funds for public education, the destruction of unions, elimination of the minimum wage, no taxes or very low taxes on corporations and the wealthy, restricting the voting rights of the poor and minority groups, eliminating all federal regulations, deportation of all illegal "aliens", support any and all gun rights, adulation of Ayn Rand, watching Fox news, control over every female's reproductive organs, opposition to "Obama care" and to a Single payer system or any regulations at all on the health care insurance Industry, and for war.
I admit freely that these conservative, selfish, childish and un-humanitarian points of view have been washed completely out of my brain (Honestly, unlike you, I never let the infestation go unchecked). My brain, like most of African-americans is clean, fresh and unpolluted from the stale, selfish and usually sexist conservative point of view. Constant attention to mental hygiene keeps your brain clean, but Herman its not too late. You too can have a clean, fresh and unpolluted brain. When your driving down a dusty road, you roll up your windows, to keep your car clean. Similarly, when Fox is on, or republicans are speaking roll up the windows of your mind, so you don't get dirty. Herman, change your public associations, try and see yourself in others and dust off your heart and listen to it. A mind functioning without the heart, is robotic or conservative.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Grape Seed Oil
Hold Wall Street Accountable
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| Click here to sign the petition |
If someone borrowed your car and wrecked it, would you just hand over your keys the next time they wanted to use it -- no questions asked? No. But that's what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and a number of state attorneys general, including Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna, are on the verge of doing with Wall Street banks.
Documents obtained by the media indicate they are close to signing a deal that would let the Wall Street banks most responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis off the hook with nothing but a slap on the wrist -- letting them get back to business as usual without any real reforms or accountability.
That's wrong, and I need your help to stop it.
Sign my urgent petition to AG Holder and Rob McKenna -- tell them not to let Wall Street off the hook for running our economy off the road.
Here's what this bad deal would mean:
- Wall Street banks would get blanket immunity in exchange for a rumored lump sum payment of $25 billion.1 That's a fraction of what the mortgage crisis has cost homeowners nationwide and nowhere near an appropriate amount to create a fund to assist homeowners.
- An end to investigations into further wrong-doing by banks. This crisis was years in the making. Stopping now means we won't understand how banks and mortgage companies took advantage of families and investors, won't punish those responsible, and won't be able to make sure it never happens again.
Sign my urgent petition to AG Holder and McKenna now. Tell them not to let Wall Street off the hook for running our economy off the road.
The lessons of this financial collapse are not that the banks should get a free pass to do what they want. We need a tough cop on the beat that enforces the rules of the road. The rules must be clear, and people who break the rules should be held accountable.
This deal accomplishes neither of those things.
Sign my petition now, and let these attorneys general know that you oppose this Wall Street giveaway.
Our families and neighbors deserve a fair settlement that includes holding companies accountable.
10 year Jail Sentence for First Time Offender?
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| Would Mitch Daniels be the governor of Indiana if he spent 10 years in jail for his marijuana possession charge? |
What Patricia did was illegal, but many activists feel that the harsh punishment far outstrips the severity of the offense, especially for a first-time offender convicted of a nonviolent crime.
In just a few days, Oklahoma Judge Robert Davis will decide whether to modify Patricia's sentence. So Garret Overstreet, a Change.org member from Oklahoma, started a petition asking Judge Davis to release Patricia from prison and issue a more humane punishment sentence. Please add your name to the petition now.
Patricia has already spent nine months in prison -- more time than most marijuana first-offenders ever serve. During that time, she's taken parenting classes and even finished her GED. But Patricia has also missed her one-year-old daughter's first words. And unless Judge Davis reduces her sentence next week, Patricia will be on track to stay in prison until her youngest daughter is in middle school.
Sign the petition to fix this travesty of justice
When "spin" Becomes Perfidious
Tuesday, September 27 Chris Matthews on Hardball hosted a segment, called "Obama derangement syndrome" he was joined by Mayor Willie Brown and former VP Dick Cheney aid Ron Christie. Wayne LaPierre comes on at 5:50 with the following ridiculous, baseless and spurious claim that Obama and Eric Holder are involved in a conspiracy to destroy the second amendment. Ron Christie rises to LaPierre defense with a bald faced string of lies. Claiming that Obama said: "Republicans had to ride in the back of the bus". Obama said no such thing. What Obama said was:
Then Ron Christie claims that James Hoffa said: "Mr. President we are your army, lets take them out". He repeated this lie three times. Fox news has repeatedly run edited segments of Jimmy Hoffa's comments.(easily found on the net, I won't post anything from Fox) The full quote from Jimmy Hoffa is:
He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, “we can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.”
Then Ron Christie claims that James Hoffa said: "Mr. President we are your army, lets take them out". He repeated this lie three times. Fox news has repeatedly run edited segments of Jimmy Hoffa's comments.(easily found on the net, I won't post anything from Fox) The full quote from Jimmy Hoffa is:
"And you know what? Everybody here has got a vote. If we go back, we keep the eye on the prize, lets take these sons-of-bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.”Ron Christie is clearly misrepresenting what people say. Fox news, taking lessons from Andrew Brietbart clearly is misrepresenting what people say.
Ron Christie's answer to Wayne LaPierre's lies is to tell more lies? Ron Christie should avoid appearing with Mayor Willie Brown, on split screens, Mr. Christie seems to visibly shrink when shown next to the honorable Mayor. If an "An informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy." then what does that make Ron Christie and Fox news?
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sweet and Sour Pork, Family Favorite
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| photo by author |
Tell Rep. Stearns to Back Off His Investigation of Planned Parenthood
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla) has announced plans to investigate Planned Parenthood asking for their records back to 1998. What is motivating Rep. Cliff Stearns, who is a member of the Pro-Life Caucus to investigate Planned Parenthood? Earlier this year the republican congress tried to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote a letter to Rep. Cliff Stearns:
"We are aware of no predicate that would justify this sweeping and invasive request to Planned Parenthood, It would be an abuse of the oversight process if you are now using the Committee's investigative powers to harass Planned Parenthood again. Your fervent ideological opposition to Planned Parenthood does not justify launching this intrusive investigation."Cecille Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America had this apt comment:
"At a time when American people need jobs, some members of Congress are instead misusing political power to go after health care access for the most vulnerable women in this country, and that's a shame,"Is it possible that Rep. Stearns and the other members of his pro-life caucus members are unaware that their supposedly pro-life views are endangering the lives of millions of women through their legislative attempts to restrict women's access to reproductive care?
From Planned Parenthood:
Dear Representative Stearns:Care to sign this letter? Click Here, Please
You've gone too far. Your so-called "investigation" is nothing more than politically motivated intimidation.
Planned Parenthood health centers are trusted nonprofit health care providers for millions of women. One in five women has turned to Planned Parenthood for professional, non-judgmental, and confidential care. I am a proud Planned Parenthood supporter, and I stand with them in telling you to stop this appalling misuse of your authority.
Your effort to discredit, damage, and weaken Planned Parenthood will only harm the women and families who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for essential preventive health care. Focusing on attacking Planned Parenthood when millions of women lack access to basic, affordable health care just shows how far out of touch Congress is with Americans' priorities.
I stand with Planned Parenthood just as they have stood with millions of American women. I demand that you abandon your baseless investigation, and do so now.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Global Zero
Image via WikipediaValerie Plame the noted CIA operative that was outed by officials in the George Bush Administration is now a spokesperson for Global Zero. Global Zero is working to reduce the world supply of nuclear weapons to zero. During the height of the cold war there were 60,000 nuclear weapons, good work by successive global leaders have reduced the count to 23,000. Globally various nations spend a trillion dollars every 10 years on nuclear weapons the US spends 60 billion a year on nuclear weapons.
Global Zero has a petition:
"WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, believe that to protect our children, our grandchildren and our civilization from the threat of nuclear catastrophe, we must eliminate all nuclear weapons globally. We therefore commit to working for a legally binding verifiable agreement, including all nations, to eliminate nuclear weapons by a date certain."You can sign the petition here
The Pacific Northwest and beyond from the Space Station
Monday, September 26, 2011
Fantastic Removable Non-Stick Oven Liners, from Chef Planet
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| Chef Planet Non-Stick oven liner |
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| Non-Stick Oven Liner placed on bottom rack of busy Oven |
If your like me and bake quite a few pies, your familiar with the mess that dripping pies make on the bottom of your oven. If like me you tried placing a cookie sheet underneath the pie, you most likely also discovered how hard it is to clean those cookie sheets. Two or three years ago, I found one of these oven liners and they are absolutely the best. I replaced my last one this week, it seemed to have broken down a little, and had become slightly crumbly. Frequent bread baking at 450 degrees most certainly shortened the life of my mat. The mats never require scrubbing, the food just comes off, and you can put it in the dishwasher to clean off any stain. Mine cost 20 dollars without a coupon, ($16 with coupon) at Bed Bath and Beyond. Best part? They are made in USA! Great item for Christmas presents.
The Chef Planet Product Page for the Non-Stick Ovenliner
The Magic of Reality, available now for iphone
You can order the book now from the app store here:
If like me you don't have an iphone you'll have to wait until October 4 to get your copy from Amazon here:
Link to The Magic of Reality at Amazon from Richard Dawkins.net
Image via Wikipedia
Silience is Not an Option, When Military Service Members are Booed
This weekend at a fundraiser in California, President Obama had this to say about the republican debates.
Not one of the nine candidates on the stage said a word about the crowd booing a service member in Iraq. Huntsman and Santorum have issued statements following the debate, criticizing the booing, but the other 7 have remained silent.“It’s true. You’ve got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don’t have health care and booing a service member in Iraq because they’re gay.” “That’s not reflective of who we are,” he added.
To the Republican presidential candidates:
Each and every one of you owes our American service members an apology.
Thursday night, during the Republican presidential debate in Florida, an American soldier serving in Iraq was booed by the audience simply for saying that he was gay, and for asking a question about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Nine of you were on that stage, and none of you said a word.
After the debate, one lone candidate, Jon Huntsman, had the decency to speak out in defense of the soldier, saying: "You know, we’re all Americans, and the fact that he is an American who put on the uniform says something good about him."
This isn't about politics, it doesn't matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat, and it has nothing to do with where you stand on the issue of gays in the military. This is about showing an American service member a basic level of respect for serving this country.
We urge each of you to speak out against the disrespectful way in which soldier Stephen Hill was treated during your debate.
Sincerely,
Tanya L. Domi, former Army Captain
James E. Pietrangelo, II, former Army Captain
Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, former Army Captain
Jonathan Hopkins, former Army Captain
Justin Elzie, former Marine Sergeant
Katherine Miller, former West Point cadet
John Aravosis, AMERICAblog
Sign the letter here
Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol.
Last Thursday the Obama administration opened "we the people". A website where citizens can petition the government to change policies. Not all petitions are visible on the site. But of those that are, the big winner is legalize and regulate marijuana. 35,200 signatures already. We'll see if the Obama administration is more willing to listen to the people than the republicans.
Sign the petition here, (requires registration, just email and verification)
we petition the obama administration to:35,200 signatures
Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol.
We the people want to know when we can have our "perfectly legitimate" discussion on marijuana legalization. Marijuana prohibition has resulted in the arrest of over 20 million Americans since 1965, countless lives ruined and hundreds of billions of tax dollars squandered and yet this policy has still failed to achieve its stated goals of lowering use rates, limiting the drug's access, and creating safer communities.
Isn't it time to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol? If not, please explain why you feel that the continued criminalization of cannabis will achieve the results in the future that it has never achieved in the past?
Sign the petition here, (requires registration, just email and verification)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
GOP 2012, " A Lot of Reasons Not to Elect them".
These are republican presidential candidates? Unscientific, uncaring, un-compassionate and unelectable.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Daily Bread
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| photo by author |
Apple Pie, Recipe
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| Crust ,brushed with water and then dusted with cinnamon and sprinkled with turbinado sugar. Photo by author |
I love making apple pies and make quite a few every year. I use an old Betty Crocker recipe which I have made a few changes to. A few years ago, we purchased an apple/corer/slicer machines. They are priceless, it cuts preparation time in half.
APPLE PIE
5-7 apples, (I usually use an assortment, that almost always includes a few granny smith and some golden delicious and any old apples in the fruit basket)
3/4 cup sugar
2 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
dash of salt
For the crust:
2 cups unbleached white flour
2/3 cup crisco butter flavored shortening
1 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. water
Bake at 425 for 50 minutes
After the spices, flour, sugar and butter are added to the sliced apples, mix thoroughly in a large bowl before making the crust. Thoroughly cut the crisco into the flour. This takes a bit of time if your doing it with an old large fork (my method) or even with those fancy pastry blenders. Then sprinkle in the water and mix into a ball. Cut dough in half, and roll it out between the two sheets of saran wrap. People tell me, my crust is great. But I cheat by rolling out my crust between the two sheets of saran wrap. Real bakers would laugh at my method, but its simple, frustration free and fast. When I learned how to roll out dough, it was on corian counter tops. Never had a problem with rolling out beautifully looking crusts. However, once we moved to a home without those corian countertops, the only way I could make a satisfactory pie was with saran wrap. Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Link to directions and pictures on how to easily roll out pie crusts using saran wrap
Link to directions and pictures on how to easily roll out pie crusts using saran wrap
Organic Farmers sue Monsanto
Monsanto manufactures, produces and sells genetically modified seed. With the vagaries of the wind and insects those genetic markers can wind up in farmers fields that have not purchased genetically modified seed. Monsanto is a large corporation and has been suing and harassing thousands of farmers who do not use their products. OSGATA, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association is suing Monsanto for relief from their continuing harassment. The amici brief is here.
The OSGATA website
Recently, other groups and organizations have joined the lawsuit. The following quote from Marty Mesh, whose organization just joined the lawsuit, aptly describes the situation.
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| photo from OSGATA |
Recently, other groups and organizations have joined the lawsuit. The following quote from Marty Mesh, whose organization just joined the lawsuit, aptly describes the situation.
Marty Mesh, Executive Director of Florida Organic Growers, states, “We join this suit with sadness but feel compelled to seek justice. If Organic farmers, seed growers, and companies have no assurance that technology they have never asked for, never signed a licensing agreement to use, have no desire to be a part of, and in fact, go to great lengths to avoid, can still trespass on their farms and subject them to a lawsuit by the patent holder who seemingly escapes all liability for that trespass, then it is not only morally wrong, ethically unjust, but also legally perverse.”Monsanto can sue organic farmers if trace amounts of genetically modified crops show up in their fields but organic farmers cannot sue Monsanto for polluting their organic crops? This is an important case and will have wide ranging consequences. I hope that most of the "conservative ethically challenged right wing activist" judges on the supreme court retire before this case hits their tainted benches.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tell the Super Committee to implement the "Buffet Rule"
President Obama's proposal -- named after billionaire Warren Buffett, who said it's wrong that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary -- might never have happened if progressives hadn't united to demand it.The middle class has no lobbyists, we'll get stuck with the bill for George Bush's two wars, his two unpaid for tax cuts for the rich, his unpaid for prescription drug bill and the bailout of wall street. The middle class has already paid plenty with declining wages, falling house prices, falling 401k's and pension plans, 9% unemployment, millions without healthcare, millions living in poverty. Don't let the super committee balance the budget on the breaking back of the poor and the middle class.
The president calls it "basic math," and I call it common sense: Millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share to help us balance the budget and create jobs. We can't put it all on the backs of working families who are struggling to get by during these tough economic times.
But the influence of big corporations and the super rich is strong in Congress, and several senators -- including Democratic ones -- are already opposing this crucial effort.
Send the Super Committee a message here
Remove all military troops and civilian contractors from the country of Afghanistan within six months
***Update***
I apologize for putting a broken link to the petition on the "We the People" website. The first petition I've ever written and then post a broken link. This was my mistake, it's definitely embarrassing and I apologize for the inconvenience. It's fixed now.
stephen
stephen
I've been promoting petitions on this website for a few months now but have never written one. When the White House started their new "we the people" website, I logged on ready to sign a petition to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. None were available, so I wrote one, if you would like to help bring our troops and military contractors home from Afghanistan, click the link, create your account, and then sign or write your own petitions to the government.
Remove all troops and civilian contractors from Afghanistan within 6 months
We have been fighting and pouring money into Afghanistan for over 10 years. The nation is tired of war. The only thing we have to show for our blood, tears and money is a corrupt Afghan government and at home a failing economy, fading infrastructure and gridlock in our nations capitol. The Obama administration eliminated Bin Laden, its time to leave Afghanistan. Millions of Americans are unemployed, living in poverty and without healthcare. These Americans are more important than illusory goals in Afghanistan and represent a greater threat to the health and stability of our country than 100 Al Qaeda. Please bring our troops home and all the military contractors too.
White House new website "We the People" up and running
A new official White House Website is up "We the People". You can write and sign petitions to the government. If 5000, people sign your petition in 30 days the government will address it.
The White House: "We the People" petition site
From the Website:
The White House: "We the People" petition site
From the Website:
Of course, I found a great petition to promote, it almost has 5000 signatures already.The History of Petitions
The right to petition our government is guaranteed in the First Amendment to our Constitution. Throughout our nation’s history, petitions have served as a way for Americans to organize around issues that matter to them, and tell their representatives in government where they stand. Petitions have played an important role in many of the changes throughout our history, from ending slavery to guaranteeing women the right to vote.
The We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov gives Americans a new way to create, share, and sign petitions that communicate your views about your government's actions and policies.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
– The First Amendment, United States Constitution
we petition the Obama administration to:
Edit the Pledge of Allegiance to remove the phrase "Under God".The Pledge of Allegiance is said every day in schools across America. It is a government sanctioned speech, and should remain neutral in matters of religion. In its current state, it supports the existence of God, which goes against several religions, and supports others. This bias should not be supported by the country according to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Created: Sep 22, 2011
You'll have to create an account, which just requires a name and email address. Very simple, then you can petition your government. In case your wondering the words "under god" did not appear in the original pledge that was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. Here is what it looks like without the "under god":
Is including "under god" in the pledge of allegiance lawful?
Wikipedia page for Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.The inclusion of the phrase "under god" almost certainly violates the 1st Amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religionIn 2002 in Newdow vs US Congress the ninth circuit court ruled that it did violate the constitution.
Is including "under god" in the pledge of allegiance lawful?
Wikipedia page for Pledge of Allegiance
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Rep. Fleming (R-LA) I only have 200,000 dollars to feed my family
Rep. Fleming (R-LA) appeared on MSNBC to protest President Obama's plan to raise revenues by enforcing the "Buffet Rule", ensuring that wealthy people pay the same tax rate that middle class families do. He complained that this job killing proposal would hit, very hard, the "job creators". Rep. Fleming moaned that after subtracting the 200,000 dollars it takes to feed his family, he only has 400,000 dollars left over after he pays his taxes. Rep. Fleming represents Louisiana where 66% of public school children are on free or reduced lunch programs. 20% of the citizens of his state have no health insurance. His state is 2nd in number of citizens living below the poverty line, with over a million residents living on 22,000 dollars to feed a family of four. With the current tax rates on the wealthy in place for over 10 years and almost 10% unemployment, where are the jobs? If low tax rates create jobs, there should be a surplus of jobs. I can't believe that people are still spinning the lie that low tax rates create jobs. Where is the evidence? Rather, the evidence of the last 10 years is that low tax rates create an environment with very few jobs and many of those jobs are low paying, minimum wage jobs. John Stewart rightly skewers this unaware, selfish, unfeeling Koch powered robot representative from the state of Louisiana.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
| Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | ||||
| Moneybrawl - The Extinction of Subway, Bill O'Reilly & the Super Rich | ||||
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Elizabeth Warren on FIRE about shared sacrifice!!
Elizabeth Warren's Massachusetts Campaign Website
I've always loved listening to the calm crystal clear speech of Ms. Warren, her compassion always came through. This video shows Ms. Warren speaking "not calmly" but with great passion. Ms. Warren is already a better senator than Scott Brown and she hasn't been sworn in yet.
Want to Help Monsanto Make Millions by Eating some Pesticide with your Fresh Corn?
Grocery store CEOs: Refuse Monsanto's GMO sweet corn!
Right now, Monsanto, the corporation responsible for producing roughly 90% of genetically modified seeds around the globe, is working to bring their new, GMO sweet corn to a grocery store aisle or farmer's market near you.1
Unlike Monsanto's other GMO crops -- which are primarily fed to animals -- this sweet corn is intended for direct human consumption.
This is the first time Monsanto has engineered a vegetable that could be served straight to your dinner table. And if this unlabeled, and potentially toxic crop succeeds, Monsanto is sure to bring us even more.
As an activist and consumer, you are in a powerful position to pressure leading U.S. grocery stores to reject Monsanto's new GMO corn.
Tell U.S. food companies: Americans don't want Monsanto's GMO sweet corn in our grocery stores!
Monsanto's GMO sweet corn is engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup, and to produce the insect-killing pesticide Bt.
But shockingly, just as other GMO foods are not required to have special labeling, consumers will have no way of knowing if they're purchasing Monsanto's new genetically modified sweet corn.
Tell U.S. grocery stores: Americans don't want Monsanto's GMO sweet corn!
Right now, Monsanto, the corporation responsible for producing roughly 90% of genetically modified seeds around the globe, is working to bring their new, GMO sweet corn to a grocery store aisle or farmer's market near you.1
Unlike Monsanto's other GMO crops -- which are primarily fed to animals -- this sweet corn is intended for direct human consumption.
This is the first time Monsanto has engineered a vegetable that could be served straight to your dinner table. And if this unlabeled, and potentially toxic crop succeeds, Monsanto is sure to bring us even more.
As an activist and consumer, you are in a powerful position to pressure leading U.S. grocery stores to reject Monsanto's new GMO corn.
Tell U.S. food companies: Americans don't want Monsanto's GMO sweet corn in our grocery stores!
Monsanto's GMO sweet corn is engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup, and to produce the insect-killing pesticide Bt.
But shockingly, just as other GMO foods are not required to have special labeling, consumers will have no way of knowing if they're purchasing Monsanto's new genetically modified sweet corn.
Tell U.S. grocery stores: Americans don't want Monsanto's GMO sweet corn!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Leader Nancy Pelosi and the republican plan to "payfor" disaster relief
“All of the disasters that are happening at once—we don’t know when the next one will come—but what is frightening also is that we don’t know where this Majority wants to go to pay for it. I have serious objection to the payfor in this legislation.
“I have a bigger objection that we would have to pay for disaster. We never paid for the tax cuts for the rich. They never were paid for. We never paid for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They were never paid for. But all of a sudden we have to pay, to try to make whole these people who have been affected, who’ve lost everything. I’ve visited there. I wish you would and maybe you have, maybe you have.
“It’s not that Joplin, Missouri is finished. It’s not that as we go to a new disaster we are finished with the old one. It is just compounded.
“Someone mentioned earlier in the election people talk about this, that and the other. And the American people want—whether it is in an election or out of election—they want jobs. And exactly what this bill does is cut jobs.
“Instead of creating jobs, the number one priority of the American people, this Republican bill will cost good-paying jobs. It’s amazing because the bill that we are debating here will cost at least 10 [thousand] good-paying jobs under, American manufacturing jobs. ‘Make It In America.’ And perhaps tens of thousands more by cutting the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.
“I am not even going to speak too much about it because our colleagues already have. They have talked about how this takes us to the next place in innovation, in competitiveness for our country, the next place in technology for cars that will reduce emissions, which will help to stop some of the natural disasters. These loans have proven to be effective. They have already created 42,000 jobs, putting America to work making cleaner, more efficient American cars.
“We shouldn’t have to choose between creating jobs and caring for those struggling in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Irene and the earthquake that preceded it and the floods that continue.
The 37 Republicans that voted against disaster relief
This has been a rough year for those on the receiving end of natures wild swings. Fires, tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes have taken a toll on communities throughout the nation. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has done well responding to the nations natural emergencies. However, FEMA funds have dwindled to 350 million after responding to hurricane Irene. Last week the senate voted on a 7 billion dollar funding bill for FEMA. The Party of NO, true to form failed to stand up for Americans in need. 37 republicans voted NO. The party willing to spend billions in Iraq and Afghanistan was unwilling to help hard hit American communities. The republican party which voted twice this year to keep 20 billion dollars of tax breaks for the oil companies, couldn't help Americans devastated by floods, tornadoes, fires or hurricanes.
I seriously doubt the 37 republicans that voted against funding FEMA are Americans. Lets see their birth certificates.
These are the 37 senators that voted against funding FEMA
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE),
Johnson (R-WI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY),
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID),
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Wicker (R-MS)
I seriously doubt the 37 republicans that voted against funding FEMA are Americans. Lets see their birth certificates.
These are the 37 senators that voted against funding FEMA
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE),
Johnson (R-WI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY),
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID),
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Wicker (R-MS)
**** UPDATE****
The house today, 9/21/11 failed to pass the bill with disaster relief funds
Ben and Jerry's Newest Flavor: Schweddy Balls
Ben & Jerry’s announced their newest ice cream flavor which sounds anything but appealing. Schweddy Balls is the best they could come up with. The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.Forbidden Schweddy Balls taste twice as sweet. We salute Ben and Jerry's for naming an ice cream after one of the best SNL skits ever, and ticking off the AFA to boot.
The Great Tar Sands Stand Stand-Off
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| Great graphic from Heather Libby |
Join the Nobel Peace Laureates in Opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline!
7 Billion and Counting Distributor
Budget battle; Money for the Elderly or War, Lobbyists say War Wins
The members of the congressional deficit committee represent more than 16 million people who rely on Social Security and Medicare. But war profiteers who donate millions to these politicians want them to slash Social Security and Medicare to protect their profits. Join War Costs in telling the deficit committee that you want to cut the corrupt, fraud-filled war budget and protect Social Security and Medicare.
Military profiteers contractors don't care what party elected officials are in, as long as they protect their cash cow at the Pentagon (For example, Lockheed Martin CEO Robert J. Stephens made $21.9 million last year, almost entirely from your tax dollars). In fact, Democrats on the committee have taken more donations from military contractors than Republicans over the last 5 years. That means that people who usually protect Social Security and Medicare may be tempted to do the wrong thing.
Democrat Jim Clyburn, for example, recently said, "…Defense may be something that most members on the Democrat side will not mind going after. But I do mind going after that. So I’m going to be very reticent." Clyburn has taken several hundred thousand dollars in contractor donations since 2007, and he’s not alone.
We’ve got to let them know we will hold them accountable.
The new law requires the deficit committee to recommend ways to cut the federal deficit by a certain dollar amount, and that means if they don't cut in one area, they will cut in another. The war profiteers only care about their profits, and they will do anything to protect them, including pushing Congress to cut a lifeline for tens of millions of people across the country.
Sign War Costs' letter to the deficit committee and tell them to cut war spending and protect Social Security and Medicare. We’re slugging it out every day with the contractors and their profit-protection scheme, and we need you with us.
Sincerely,
Derrick Crowe, Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Foundation team
P.S. This effort is brought to you by an investigative fund created by Salon, Alternet and Brave New Foundation. Keep up with our future work by joining War Costs on Facebook.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Good Bye Scott Brown (R)
Elizabeth Warren leads Scott Brown 46-44 in the latest poll. Join Elizabeth's grassroots campaign today -- and join the fight for working families! http://elizabethwarren.com/
Last June the same poll showed Ms. Warren trailing Senator Brown by 15 points. The republicans made it perfectly clear that Ms. Warren in no way was going to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that she fought so hard to establish. After the release of the latest poll, perhaps the republicans are regretting that decision. President Obama appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and he is also backed by Ms. Warren. “Rich is smart, he is tough, and he will make a stellar director,” Warren said. However, a group of 44 republican senators are blocking the vote to confirm him to head our new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Click the link to contact your senators and tell them to confirm Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Tell your Senators to end the games, and start protecting consumers. Approve Cordray’s nomination!
President Obama repeals "don't ask, don't tell"
Join the movement here
Monday, September 19, 2011
What Martin Luther King really did
Most of you had no idea what Martin Luther King actually did by HamdenRice
This is by far the best post I've read anywhere on the internet this year. Click the link and read the whole post.
This is by far the best post I've read anywhere on the internet this year. Click the link and read the whole post.
view of what Dr. King accomplished. He gave this great speech. Or some people say, "he marched." I was so angry at Mrs. Clinton during the primaries when she said that Dr. King marched, but it was LBJ who delivered the Civil Rights Act.
At this point, I would like to remind everyone exactly what Martin Luther King did, and it wasn't that he "marched" or gave a great speech.
My father told me with a sort of cold fury, "Dr. King ended the terror of living in the south."
Please let this sink in and and take my word and the word of my late father on this. If you are a white person who has always lived in the U.S. and never under a brutal dictatorship, you probably don't know what my father was talking about.
But this is what the great Dr. Martin Luther King accomplished. Not that he marched, nor that he gave speeches.
He ended the terror of living as a black person, especially in the south.
I'm guessing that most of you, especially those having come fresh from seeing "The Help," may not understand what this was all about. But living in the south (and in parts of the mid west and in many ghettos of the north) was living under terrorism.
It wasn't that black people had to use a separate drinking fountain or couldn't sit at lunch counters, or had to sit in the back of the bus.
You really must disabuse yourself of this idea. Lunch counters and buses were crucial symbolic planes of struggle that the civil rights movement decided to use to dramatize the issue, but the main suffering in the south did not come from our inability to drink from the same fountain, ride in the front of the bus or eat lunch at Woolworth's.
It was that white people, mostly white men, occasionally went berserk, and grabbed random black people, usually men, and lynched them. You all know about lynching. But you may forget or not know that white people also randomly beat black people, and the black people could not fight back, for fear of even worse punishment.
I'm Warrens Buffet's Secretary
72% of Americans want those making over 250,000 dollars a year to pay a higher rate in taxes than they currently pay. The top 2% are paying the lowest tax rate in 50 years, its way past time to change that. The republicans keep up the same old tired lie, "don't tax the job creators". We haven't been taxing the job creators for 10 years, there are no jobs and we are deeply in debt. If low taxes stimulated job growth, then we should be swimming in jobs. If the private sector can't generate job growth then the government must. The wealthy should be paying the same rate as average American's, and the additional revenue will pay for the jobs bill. The next time a republican says "we can't tax the job creators" please slap them and remind them that getting slapped for stupidity is much easier to bear than 18 months without a job.
It’s Not Class Warfare; It’s Math (contact your senators and congressperson to act on jobs here)
Stand with President Obama on the "Buffet Rule", sign here
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