Category: Red Flag

Head for the bunkers

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Paul Krugman on Climate Change Deniers

A famous Carl Sagan quote definitely applies to Paul Krugman’s editorial in today’s New York Times.Pioneer10-plaque_tilt

“In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”

Mr. Krugman’s editorial, Points of No Return, describes how if you are not a climate change denier it will get you excommunicated from the Republican Party.

From the editorial:

“Think of it this way: Once upon a time it was possible to take climate change seriously while remaining a Republican in good standing. Today, listening to climate scientists gets you excommunicated — Continue reading “Paul Krugman on Climate Change Deniers”

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Bad for business… Good for business…

Bad for business… Good for business… Two terms that one hears quite often. We apparently need business to some extent to meet our daily needs.  The unfortunate aspect of business is that to a large extent it is based on the profit motive which often translates into unbridled greed.  The way businesses and corporations are structured in this country it tends to shield individuals from most responsibility for less than desirable actions.  A familiar buzz phrase is “corporate citizen” which in my mind is the paradigm for explaining what an oxymoron is.

When I hear something is bad for business it generally grates on my nerves.  It frequently is a case of the tail wagging the dog.  In this country, businesses and corporations have garnered more than their fair share of wealth.  This wealth has bought politicians and who knows whom else.  This wealth has managed to change the laws to shield and benefit these legal fictions. It has reached the point that if Lincoln was giving the Gettysburg Address today, his closing would read “and that government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations, shall not perish from the Congress.”

What started me down this well trodden path again was a news story this morning on NPR. It was reported that “Louisiana’s coast is disappearing at the rate of about a football field an hour. Since the 1930s, the Gulf of Mexico has swallowed up an area the size of Delaware.”

Many folks allege that this erosion of the wetlands that provide a buffer between hurricanes and New Orleans is the responsibility of the various oil companies operating in the area.  For mysterious reason some of these folks feel that the entities that caused the erosion due to their business activities should pay to restore the land.  It is costing  Continue reading “Bad for business… Good for business…”

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Something everyone should know on Tax Day

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Hey Ted Nugent…Guns are not toys.

Dead-Nugent-1219x1200I will admit to liking one or two Ted Nugent songs, but on the whole I am not a fan.  My musical tastes tend toward Americana, singer/songwriter, jazz and classical music.  However, Ted Nugent as a political activist I categorically do not like.  It is an actually aversion.  I am a big supporter of free speech, but part of me cannot help but thinking in a sane society this individual would be receiving heavy psychiatric counseling.

My aversion to Mr. Nugent stems from his attitude towards guns and his support of seeming absolutely no gun control.

To state the obvious, guns are designed to kill, period.  They have no other function.   They are meant to either kill humans or animals.  Of course, there are effects that stem from this function.

They have been and are used for agents of gathering meat.  This use has limited functionality now, as most folks who hunt for food in the United States will readily tell you that it is not cost efficient.  While I personally do not hunt, I can understand the desire.  It is not something I would wish to take away from people.  Continue reading “Hey Ted Nugent…Guns are not toys.”

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The War on Drugs Has Unacceptable Costs

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Click to see in larger size

This outrages me. If I was a person of color I would be beyond outrage. Then you add onto the statistics the fact that we are spending more on incarceration than we are spending on higher education while we are importing skilled labor because supposedly we do not have the skill sets in the U.S.A.

We have our priorities wrong on so many fronts.

The graphic is from the ACLU website

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Ann Wagner, Global Warming Denier…Be scared, very scared

Okay I know that Senators and Congress folks really do not read a sliver of the email they get, but this is pretty outrageous.  I went onto Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s site to ask that she not support the Keystone Pipeline project for causes-of-global-warmingenvironmental reasons.  They force you to choose a subject so I chose Climate Change.

This is the form letter I got back.  It is one of the scariest things I have read in a long time.  The only place that climate change is being debated is within Republican circles and only then because big money wants to continue to make big money at everyone else’s expense.  The percent of scientist that are in agreement on global warming being caused by humans is almost unanimous.  Either this woman is an idiot who cannot understand basic science, such an ideologue that she refuses to face hard evidence, or so enamored with her position as a  high and mighty Congresswoman that she is going to go along with the party line to remain so.  No matter what the reason she scares the living snot right out of my body.  The fact that we continue to elect idiots like this does not speak well for our country.

Just as an aside she never once addressed the main subject of my email, the Keystone Pipeline.  Now there is responsive public service.

I am including the whole text of her form letter response.  Read it with the lights on.   It is indeed a horror story of complete and utter stupidity.

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Dear Citizen Rush,Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding climate change. I appreciate your views on this issue and welcome the opportunity to respond. Continue reading “Ann Wagner, Global Warming Denier…Be scared, very scared”
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Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality

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How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?

Another sad account of Foxconn and Apple and the high human cost of your iPhone: iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think

Someone please tell what is right about unfettered capitalism be practiced globally with US in the lead.

Here is a link to a Forbes article listing the top 400 richest people in America. Number 400 has a net worth of $1 billion. Number 1 on the list, Bill Gates, has a worth of 59 billion. Six of the folks on this list made their wealth from Wal*Mart. Steve Jobs is number 39 with a paltry $7 billion. Michael Dell is number 18 with a worth of $15 billion.

Go to the top of the list and find the “source” heading. Click on Continue reading “How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?”

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Disillusioned Republican laying it out

I am disillusioned… still

Our government/legislative process has been hijacked by nut cases and our Maginot Line of defense against these fruit cakes is a batch of spineless Democrats.  Mr. Obama apparently has taken Neville Chamberlain as a role model on how to lead a nation. 

Mean time, back at the ranch USA, Snidely Whiplash has kidnapped Nell and Dudley Do-Right has fallen into an inter-galactic black hole.  No serious money is betting on him coming out the other end, and creditors are foreclosing on the ranch.

Below is a quote from the article Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult  by Mike Lofgren at truth-out.org.

“But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP. Continue reading “Disillusioned Republican laying it out”

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How To Fix America In 126 Super Cute Seconds

From MoveOn.org:

Sign their petition and send Congress and Obama the Betrayer a message.  Here is the link  to A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM petition.

IMHO… the corporations are effecting a coup d’etat on our government, our way of life, and the future of our children and grandchildren.  We need to take our country back from these greedy SOBs.   The Tea Party is just a tool the Koch Brothers and others of similar ilk.  Why should they be setting the agenda for the majority of us?

A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM
Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us…has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact and our contract with one another…
1. Invest in America’s Infrastructure
2. Create 21st-Century Energy Jobs
3. Invest in Public Education
4. Offer Medicare for All
5. Make Work Pay 6. Secure Social Security
7. Return to Fairer Tax Rates
8. End the Wars and Invest at Home
9. Tax Wall Street Speculation
10. Strengthen Democracy