Intriguing

This is very thought-provoking.

I'm not prepared to assert that I agree with everything he says here because I'm not very well schooled regarding economic theory. Nevertheless, I have great respect for Noam Chompsky and what he says here makes a lot of sense to me.


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It's happening here, too

This:

"The labor reform has taken away workers' rights my parents managed to win."

-- Miguel Pastor, train driver, on the general strike against austerity measures in Spain on Thursday; unions reported a high turnout, while government officials downplayed the disruption, saying most workers reported to work

Now would we, in this country, be willing to participate in a general strike? There's one scheduled for May 1, you know. Frankly, I doubt very much that it will be widely observed.
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How COULD they????

Excellent question

As I think I've shared with you before, I'm one of the few people out there who has actually READ huge portions of the Patriot Act. It is horrible. And blatantly unconstitutional.

Something to think about

The health care reality

This really sums things up:

"We will eventually have single payer health care or a system where a huge percentage of people have little or no care. It's actually that simple."

-- Dan Gillmor

I think it's pretty obvious that he's right.
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Another really good one:

A headline of interest

Here you go:

Five myths about the health-care law

Helpful information.
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Oh, yes!

We were warned

Right here:

‎"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."

— President Theodore Roosevelt, April 19, 1906

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Friday cat blogging!

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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Update on Tibet

this is one of the "quotes of the day" from Time Magazine:

"They claim we are free to practice our religion but in fact they keep pulling the reins tighter and tighter so we can hardly breathe."

-- A Tibetan monk, on China's religious and cultural controls that have led to a wave of self immolations among protesting Tibetans
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Oh, my goodness

Highly, highly recommended

This is the performance of a poem - a very intense poem about the government's intrusion regarding women's health care decisions. It's not very long. Truly worth a listen:


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Both evil and tragic

Hmmm.... could be!

This is war, people

Do click on this to enlarge.

This is one of a large number of photographs published in the October 30, 2011 issue of The Atlantic.

Here is the caption

"A view taken from Dresden's town hall of the destroyed Old Town after the allied bombings between February 13 and 15, 1945. Some 3,600 aircraft dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the German city. The resulting firestorm destroyed 15 square miles of the city center, and killed more than 22,000. (Walter Hahn/AFP/Getty Images)"
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An important question

Well! Here's something to think about:

Are Voters Stupid, Or Are They Just Routinely Subjected To Terrible Political Reporting?

The article is from Huffington Post. A lot to think about here.
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Ouch!

Hmmm...

Two for your consideration

First this:

"If he is not tried and punished in the country, people will rise up against the Americans."

-- Shekiba Hashimi, member of the Afghanistan parliament, demanding that the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians be tried in Afghanistan; military officials say the suspect has been moved to Kuwait to ensure a fair investigation

And now the following:

"When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues — he just snapped."

-- Senior American official, speaking on condition on anonymity because there have been no formal charges, on the mental state of the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians

Both of these are Time Magazine "quotes of the day".
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God help us!

Very, very disturbing

It's from the Time Magazine "quotes of the day" section:

"It's almost like we skipped winter and now we're going to skip spring, too."

-- Gino Izzi, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Chicago office in a statement as warm weather is arriving early across much of the U.S., even in northern states where perplexed residents are swapping their snow shovels for golf clubs

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UPDATE: Please do take note of Bryan Doug's comment to this post. I think he makes a very good point.
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Love her or hate her, she's right on this one:

Issues concerning painkillers

Well, as some of you know, I have a bee in my bonnet about this issue --- and have had ever since my surgeon refused me adequate pain medication after I came home from the hospital following some major abdominal surgery -- surgery that involved life-threatening complications, as it happens.


Painkiller Access Debated as Patients Suffer

This kind of sums things up:

"All of the witnesses began their testimony on the assumption that there is a prescription drug abuse epidemic in the U.S., and that access to controlled drugs, benzodiazepines and especially opioid painkillers, needs to be restricted, or at least monitored.


"Noticeably absent from the hearing, however, was anyone living with chronic pain, or anyone even to speak on behalf of pain patients. Patients and their advocates say last week's hearing is typical of the lack of balance in the public debate over painkillers.


"It's not hard to find such people. Since the first two installments of this series were published, HuffPost has heard from over 300 people who suffer from chronic pain and have at some point found relief from prescription painkillers, but have since been unable to find adequate treatment."

I remember after my surgery having real anxiety episodes about perhaps being in severe pain again at some time in my life and not being allowed any help for it.  It seems to me to be an example of true societal cruelty that medication is often not available to legitimate pain patients just because we believe we have to be absolutely sure that nobody gets high. That effort isn't working, anyway. Criminals can get hold of the medications while law abiding citizens cannot. That's just wrong.
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The new censorship

Check out this article:

REPORT: SOME PAPERS WON’T BE RUNNING NEXT WEEK’S ‘DOONESBURY’ STRIPS

Here's what it's all about:

“Next week’s ‘Doonesbury’ cartoons, on the Texas anti-abortion/mandatory ultrasound law, may cause some newspapers to use 'Flashbacks' instead of the live cartoons.”

Do click on through. It's not very long. And it's an eye-opener.
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Oh, good grief!

Just look:

Sen. James Inhofe: Bible Refutes Climate Change

And here's what he actually said:

"Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that ‘as long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night,’ my point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous."

It's times like this that I truly grieve that I live in Oklahoma.
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In honor of International Women's Day

This is SOME kind of cynicism:

He's probably right, however.

"If you find people who aren't corrupt, it is largely because they haven't had the opportunity."

-- Anthony Cordesman, military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, saying it may be too late for the U.S. to worry about the graft that permeates the Afghan government
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Ha!

A real eye opener, people

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My sentiments exactly

Hmmm...

(Click to enlarge)

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Very distressing

I really don't see how this can be justified:

Pentagon says military network will continue to air Limbaugh’s show; no review planned

Also, I wish people would quit crediting him with having apologized. It was not an apology at all worthy of the name.
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Sunday Art Blogging

Artist: William Woodward

Image from Wikimedia Commons

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What really going on

(Click to enlarge)

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Our frighteningly growing income disparity

I found this comment on a Facebook post. It's by someone named Darcie Callahan:

"Anyone who wants to see what life is like when there is no middle class & no social programs for the poor should watch the documentary "Manda Bala" about Sao Paulo, Brazil. There is a kidnapping every day and the poor use the ransom to pay for food, medical care, and even sewage systems in their neighborhoods. The rich spend a lot of money on bulletproof cars, helicopter taxis, bodyguards, and ear reconstruction surgery."

This is a very important observation, people. Very.
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Yep.

Some important information

Right here:

"To contact Clear Channel and register your disgust with their having a contract with Rush Limbaugh call: 210-822-2828. You will have the option to leave a message. Please do."

 -- The Christian Left

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Tulsa Peace Fellowship this afternoon

Thank you, dear friends, for being a voice for peace here in Tulsa. You are appreciated perhaps more than you know.

Readers can find the website of the TPF right here.
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Class act, Mr. President!

Just look:

Sandra Fluke Receives Call From Obama After Rush Limbaugh 'Slut' Comments

Here's part of what it says:

The call came a day after conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh demanded that Fluke release tapes of her having sex in exchange for the contraception that she argued should be covered by employers. Fluke was set to go on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports when the president rang her on her phone. She took the call while waiting in the green room.

"He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women," she told Mitchell, who received permission from the White House to discuss the exchange between Fluke and Obama. "What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much."

I must say, I'm seriously impressed.
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What a nuisance

My friend, MadPriest, posted the following:

"Blogger is messing us about again. Recent changes to the comment facility has resulted in the disappearance of the ability to subscribe to a comment thread if you have your comment settings set to pop up window. However, it is still there if you set your comments to "embedded beneath post."

"I strongly suggest that we all change our settings to embedded. Otherwise there will be no conversations on our blogs anymore and a drastic reduction in visits.

"Thanks to Grandmère Mimi for sussing this one out for us."


So, I'm off to change all those settings right now.
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Very moving and very powerful as well

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Worth your time, people; worth your time

And, anyway, this takes less than three minutes:


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Yes, yes, yes

For the life of me, I don't see how anybody can disagree with this:

"The Obama administration believes that decisions about medical care should be made by a woman and her doctor, not a woman and her boss."

-- Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services secretary, on President Obama's mandate that companies cover contraception in health plans; an amendment allowing employers to refuse to pay for coverage for religious or moral reasons was defeated in the Senate
~~~