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| 2/27/2012 |
Ron Paul 43%, Obama 41% For the first time ever, Ron Paul leads Barack Obama in a hypothetical 2012 matchup. In the latest Rasmussen poll, Paul earns 43% of the vote, while the current president attracts support from 41%. Ten percent (10%) would vote for some other option, a figure that includes 17% of Republicans. Ron Paul leads by 13 among men and trails by eight among women. Paul also picks up 15% of the vote from self-identified liberals. (Ron Paul) | |||
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keywords: Barack Obama, Elections, Rasmussen, Ron Paul, United States
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| 2/22/2012 |
Davis votes to support repeal of Citizens United ruling Yesterday, the city of Davis voted unanimously to support Assembly Joint Resolution 22. The text of the resolution passed by the Davis city council can be found here. AJR 22 is working its way through California's state legislature; the bill would urge Congress to begin the process of a Constitutional Amendment in order to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. The Citizens United Supreme Court decision is what allows Corporations and "Super PACS" to spend unlimited funds on any individual candidate or party they choose. Davis joins New York City and Portland in calling on Congress to begin the process of a Constitutional Amendment for campaign finance reform. The effort in Davis, like in these other cities, was spearheaded by the Occupy Davis group. Occupy is developed growing momentum for repealing the Citizens United ruling that many see as swinging the door of corruption completely open. (Examiner) | |||
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keywords: California, Citizens United, Davis CA, Montana, New York City, Occupy Davis, Portland, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, US Congress, US Constitution, US Supreme Court, United States
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| 2/20/2012 |
C-SPAN Callers School Terror War Profiteers Cheerleader On Underwear Bomber Fairy Tale (CSPAN) | |||
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keywords: Airports, Christmas Day Bombing Attempt, Cspan, Fox, Homeland Security Today, Kurt Haskell, Mickey Mccarter, Privacy, Terrorists, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, United States, X-ray
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| 2/19/2012 |
Is This the End of Market Democracy? The 2012 election will offer voters a stark choice between right and left alternatives. President Obama is calling for: investing in things like education that gives everybody a chance to succeed. A tax code that makes sure everybody pays their fair share. And laws that make sure everybody follows the rules. That’s what will transform our economy. That’s what will grow our middle class again. Republicans, in turn, are denouncing the expansion of a Democratic “entitlement society” and what they see as a trend toward European social democracy. They are calling for sharply reduced taxes, regulation and government spending to free market forces and revive private sector economic growth. While Americans are going to be able to choose between two contrasting ideologies, what if both choices are off the mark? What if the legitimacy of free market capitalism in America is facing fundamental challenges that the candidates and their parties are not addressing? Here are some of the issues that are making some politicians and political thinkers uneasy: Are large segments of the American workforce — millions of people — at a structural disadvantage in the face of global competition, technological advance and ever more sophisticated forms of automation? Is this situation permanent? Will the share of profits from improving corporate productivity flowing to capital and to high-earning C.E.O.s continue to grow, while the income of wage earners stagnates and their share of profits declines? Has the surging wealth and income of the top one percent and of the top 0.1 percent reached a tipping point at which the political leverage of the very affluent decisively outweighs the influence of the electorate at large? Is it possible that in the United States and Europe, democratic free market capitalism is no longer capable of providing broadly shared benefits to a solid majority of workers? (New York Times) | |||
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keywords: Austria, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance Reform, China, Columbia University, Council On Foreign Relations, David Autor, Denmark, Education, Elections, European Union, Financial Crisis, Foreign Affairs, Francis Fukuyama, Germany, Globalization, Harvard University, Health Care, Income Tax, Japan, Jeffrey Sachs, Larry Summers, Lawrence Katz, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Michael Spence, Mitt Romney, National Economic Council, Netherlands, Nobel Prize, Norway, Pollution, Richard Freeman, Sandile Hlatshwayo, Simon Johnson, Stanford University, Sweden, Thomas Edsall, US Department Of The Treasury, Unemployment, United States
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| 2/19/2012 |
Justices Signal High Court May Rethink Citizens United: Ginsburg, Breyer say real-world results rebut original ruling The Supreme Court on Friday blocked a Montana Supreme Court ruling against corporate campaign funding, appearing once again to support the unlimited corporate spending it allowed with the Citizens United case of 2010. But maybe not? Comments in Friday's order by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer hint that they're unhappy with the results of that infamous case, reports the Washington Post. (Newser) | |||
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| 2/17/2012 |
Newest anti-Keystone activists: Tea Partiers If there’s anything the Tea Party hates, it’s whatever the government is doing right now. Which means greens have picked up some unusual allies in the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline: Texas Tea Partiers who think the project violates property rights. “Crippling someone’s water supply knows no party line,” said Rita Beving, consultant to the bipartisan East Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission. A Republican mayor and a Democratic city secretary lead the group’s fight against the pipeline. TransCanada has shown itself willing to use eminent domain to acquire land to build the pipeline. The company says it prefers to come to “voluntary agreements” whereby landowners sell their land, but just on the off chance that you would rather not give up your land and instead keep your land, they’re prepared to take it. This sits about as well with Tea Partiers as a gay clinic escort melting down a gun and turning it into a hammer and sickle. (Grist) | |||
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keywords: Canada, Jim Pitts, Keystone Xl Pipeline, Natural Gas, Private Property, Rita Beving, Sierra Club, Tea Party, Texas, Transcanada, United States, Water
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| 2/14/2012 |
Tony Bennett Is Right That Legalizing Drugs Would Save Lives "First it was Michael Jackson, then it was Amy Winehouse and now the magnificent Whitney Houston. I'd like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs. So they have to get it through a doctor, not just some gangsters that sell it under the table." That's what Tony Bennett said at a pre-Grammy Awards party on Saturday night, shortly after learning of the tragic death of Whitney Houston, and he's exactly right. One of us (Neill) is a former police officer who fought -- and lost friends -- on the front lines of the failed "war on drugs." One of us (Katharine) learned about the commonality of human pain in another difficult way, spending two years in a residential facility ("rehab"). She wasn't there for drugs, but many of those struggling alongside her were. There has been some confusion and criticism over Bennett's remarks and, because of our experience dealing with the pain and heartbreak of drug abuse and harmful drug laws, we feel compelled to expand upon his heartfelt remarks in the hopes that we can help break through some of the misunderstanding underlying the reaction to what Bennett said. (Huffington Post) | |||
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keywords: Alcohol, Amsterdam, Amy Winehouse, Baltimore, Barack Obama, Cocaine, Columbia University, Diane Warren, European Union, Facebook, Fox, George W Bush, Gil Kerlikowske, Health Care, Heroin, Katharine Celentano, Latin America, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Los Angeles Times, Maer Roshan, Marijuana, Marty Ferrero, Michael Jackson, Neill Franklin, Netherlands, Police, Russell Brand, Students For Sensible Drug Policy, Thefix.com, Tony Bennett, United States, War On Drugs, Whitney Houston, Xanax
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| 2/11/2012 |
This Hoax Affects Everyone This video contains absolute proof that the votes are not being used. | |||
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keywords: Barack Obama, Elections, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, United States, Voter Fraud
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| 2/9/2012 |
Republican Chokes Up At Gay Marriage Debate In Washington (Washington State Assembly) | |||
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keywords: Lgbt, Maureen Walsh, United States, Washington
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| 2/9/2012 |
The Top Twelve Reasons Why You Should Hate the Mortgage Settlement As readers may know by now, 49 of 50 states have agreed to join the so-called mortgage settlement, with Oklahoma the lone refusenik. Although the fine points are still being hammered out, various news outlets (New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal) have details, with Dave Dayen’s overview at Firedoglake the best thus far. The Wall Street Journal is also reporting that the SEC is about to launch some securities litigation against major banks. Since the statue of limitations has already run out on securities filings more than five years old, this means they’ll clip the banks for some of the very last (and dreckiest) deals they shoved out the door before the subprime market gave up the ghost. The various news services are touting this pact at the biggest multi-state settlement since the tobacco deal in 1998. While narrowly accurate, this deal is bush league by comparison even though the underlying abuses in both cases have had devastating consequences. The tobacco agreement was pegged as being worth nearly $250 billion over the first 25 years. Adjust that for inflation, and the disparity is even bigger. That shows you the difference in outcomes between a case where the prosecutors have solid evidence backing their charges, versus one where everyone know a lot of bad stuff happened, but no one has come close to marshaling the evidence. (Naked Capitalism) | |||
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keywords: Adam Levitin, Alternative Media, Arizona, Bank Of America, Barack Obama, Big Tobacco, Countrywide, Dave Dayen, Delaware, Fannie Mae, Fbr Capital Markets, Financial Crisis, Financial Times, Fire Dog Lake, Foreclosure, Freddie Mac, George Orwell, Kemp V Countrywide, Massachusetts, Mers, Missouri, Naked Capitalism, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Paul Miller, Pensions, Residential Mortgage-backed Securities, Robosigning, Securities And Exchange Commission, The New York Times, Tobacco, Tom Adams, US Department Of Justice, United States, Wall Street Journal
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| 2/8/2012 |
49-State Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Will Be Finalized Thursday Forty-nine states, every one but Oklahoma, as well as federal regulators will participate in a foreclosure fraud settlement that will release the five biggest banks (Wells Fargo, Citi, Ally/GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America) and their mortgage servicing units from liability for robo-signing and other forms of servicer abuse, in exchange for $25 billion in funding for legal aid, refinancing, short sales, restitution for wrongful foreclosures and principal reduction for underwater borrowers. The announcement will be made on Thursday. This settlement arises from multiple abuses found in the servicing of loans and the foreclosure process over the past several years. At the height of the housing bubble, banks sliced and diced mortgages and traded them with little regard for the rules following land recording or securitization to such a sloppy extent that they lost track of the true owner on potentially millions of homes. To cover up for this massive failure, banks and their servicing units have been found to have routinely forged, back-dated and fabricated documents at county recorder offices and state courts across the country. Furthermore, they employed “robo-signers,” who signed hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of documents and affidavits without any knowledge of the underlying mortgages. In addition, investigations uncovered massive servicing abuses, including illegal fees charged to borrowers, putting borrowers into foreclosure at the same time as they were working out loan modifications, failing to honor previous settlements where promises were made on modifications, and countless other errors that maximized servicer profits and gouged homeowners. There are also cases of wrongful foreclosures where homeowners have been turned out of their homes without just cause, and servicer-driven foreclosures, where servicers illegally added late fees and applied payments inaccurately, pushing the homeowner into foreclosure. This is but a smattering of the examples of foreclosure fraud and servicer abuse found in a series of interlocking investigations, court depositions, reviews of documents in registers of deeds offices, and homeowner testimonials. (Fire Dog Lake) | |||
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keywords: Ally Financial, Arizona, Bank Of America, Beau Biden, California, Catherine Cortez Masto, Chris Koster, Citigroup, Countrywide, David Dayen, Delaware, Docx, Eric Schneiderman, Financial Crisis, Financial Fraud Task Force, Foreclosure, Gus Altuzarra, Iowa, JP Morgan Chase, Joseph Smith, Kamala Harris, Lps, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts, Mers, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Residential Mortgage-backed Securities, Scott Pruitt, Shaun Donovan, The New York Times, Tom Miller, US Department Of Housing And Urban Development, US Department Of Justice, United States, Vertical Capital Markets Group, Wells Fargo
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| 2/8/2012 |
Ron Paul Secretly Won the Caucuses They all laughed at Ron Paul. They all laughed when he took a stage in Minnesota, having come in a solid second place, and reminded the faithful of a "little thing called delegates!" They were serious about it. Paul's people believe that they understand the delegate process, and that the media does not. There is truth here: The delegate process is confusing, and I assume that Paul supporters have used their four years of organizing and studying in a fruitful manner. In an e-mail to supporters, they try to get granular about what's occuring. (Slate) | |||
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keywords: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Mitt Romney, Nevada, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, United States
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| 2/7/2012 |
Sacramento's Utilities Rates Advisory Commission approves water rate hikes Sacramento's Utilities Rates Advisory Commission voted 5-2 to raise water rates in the city by $19 a month over the next three years. The reason for the rate hike? It is to gain a loan from Goldman Sachs to renovate an aging water system. But that loan is going to raise water and sewer bills from $57 monthly to $350 a month in just 15 years. The city council still must give its approval before the rate cuts are final. But officials seem more and more in support of this measure. City Council members must hear from their constituents that these rate hikes are unsustainable. In a city with near 11 percent unemployment, raising water and sewer bills will only put more financial strain upon the city's residents. Also residents should be aware that this loan comes with a $10.8 million underwriting fee for Goldman Sachs. The loan itself would total $1.8 billion, and Goldman Sachs would also be making profit off that through interest. Sacramento is a city that is already struggling with painful budget cuts. Sacramento has had to lay off police and firefighters, as well as hundreds of teachers and other city employees. The city has closed libraries, and discontinued other public services. Can the city afford this loan? (Examiner) | |||
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keywords: California, Financial Crisis, Goldman Sachs, Sacramento, United States, Water
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| 2/5/2012 |
INDISPUTABLE CORRUPTION IN NEVADA 2012 GOP CAUCUS! Follow up on the corrupt article I posted yesterday. The same Yahoo/AP article I showed you yesterday.... Guess what, someone else also saw something similar so I checked it out!! BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can this same article run on Newsmax 2/2/2102 on Thursday before the caucus!! I want a time machine, too!!!!! Seriously, please tell Judge Napolitano if I disappear G-d forbid...it won't be from a time machine!! Let Ron Paul WIN so we can get some CURES released!! Google: Dr. Burzinski Cancer ....Dr. Oz knows of him & interviewed at length, Suzanne Sommers also brags about him in her books. RON PAUL is the ONLY person brave enough to call the FDA out on the corrupt terrorists that THEY are!! | |||
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keywords: Elections, Mitt Romney, Nevada, Ron Paul, United States, Voter Fraud
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| 2/3/2012 |
Fact Checking the Media During an interview last month on CBS' Face the Nation, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta set the record straight on Iran: "Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No." But if you read recent news reports lately, you'd think otherwise. The media coverage on Iran is mirroring the coverage in the lead-up to the Iraq war: grand claims about a smoking gun that doesn't exist. For example, The New York Times incorrectly reported last month that the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran concluded that their nuclear program had a military objective. The paper's public editor, Arthur Brisbane, was forced to acknowledge their mistake and wrote: "Some readers, mindful of the faulty intelligence and reporting about Saddam Hussein's weapons program, are watching the Iran nuclear coverage very closely." Other media outlets such as National Public Radio, PBS and The Washington Post have been challenged on their coverage too. A recent publication from the Center for Strategic and International Studies titled "The IAEA's Iran Report and Misplaced Paranoia," noted that "With few exceptions, these revelations are not exactly new. More importantly, neither is the thrust of the report: that Iran is developing some capabilities that can only be understood as preliminaries to the development of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, early coverage of the report's release gives the opposite impression." Many have recognized that the media failed to do its job in the lead-up to the Iraq war. The potential consequences of treading on that same path with Iran are grave. The U.S. has thus far spent over $1.2 trillion of borrowed money on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military action against Iran would be disastrous for the region and for U.S. moral standing. A serious diplomatic track based on mutual trust and respect is the only way to achieve increased transparency. (Dennis Kucinich) | |||
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keywords: Afghanistan, Alternative Media, Arthur Brisbane, CBS, Center For Strategic And International Studies, Government Transparency, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, Iraq, Leon Panetta, Military, National Public Radio, Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Weapons, Pbs, Saddam Hussein, The New York Times, The Washington Post, US Department Of Defense, United States
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| 2/2/2012 |
125 MW solar power plant to land in Arizona by end of 2013 Maricopa County, Arizona is set to play host to a 125 MW photovoltaic solar power plant, according to an announcement on Tuesday from Fluor Corporation. The company has won the separate contracts to build and maintain the facility, which upon completion will fleetingly join the ranks of the the world's largest photovoltaic solar farms. The project, known as Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AVSE II) will be built on 1.8 square miles (4.7 sq. km) near to the Arlington Valley Combined Cycle Facility, a 577 MW natural gas plant also designed and built by Fluor. "The State of California will benefit from the green energy delivered from the project as well as the solar panel sales from a San Diego-based manufacturer for a portion of the project," said John King, executive vice president of LS Power, who awarded the contract. (Giz Mag) | |||
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keywords: Alternative Energy, Arizona, California, China, Fluor Corporation, Ls Power, Natural Gas, San Diego, Solar Power, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States
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| 2/2/2012 |
America's Most Miserable Cities 1-10: Miami, Detroit, Flint, West Palm Beach, Sacramento, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Toledo, Rockford, Warren Miami is a playground for the rich and famous. Celebrities flock to parties at South Beach clubs and then return to their $10 million mansions in Miami Beach and Key Biscayne. It’s a leading city in culture, finance and international trade. But away from the glitz and glamor, many ordinary Miamians are struggling. A crippling housing crisis has cost multitudes of residents their homes and jobs. The metro area has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country and workers face lengthy daily commutes. Add it all up and Miami takes the top spot in our ranking of America’s Most Miserable Cities. The most famous way to gauge misery is the Misery Index developed by economist Arthur Okun in the 1960s, which combines unemployment and inflation. Our take on misery is based on the things that people complain about on a regular basis. We looked at 10 factors for the 200 largest metro areas and divisions in the U.S. Some are serious, like violent crime, unemployment rates, foreclosures, taxes (income and property), home prices and political corruption. Other factors we included are less weighty, like commute times, weather and how the area’s pro sports teams did. While sports, commuting and weather can be considered trivial by many, they can be the determining factor in the level of misery for a significant number of people. One tweak to this year’s list: we swapped out sales tax rates for property tax rates. Miami would have finished No. 1 under the old methodology as well (click here for more details about the criteria for the list). (Forbes) | |||
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keywords: Arthur Okun, Chicago, Detroit, Financial Crisis, Flint, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Rockford, Sacramento, Toledo, United States, Warren, West Palm Beach
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| 1/30/2012 |
Study: Outside ad spending up 1,600% Outside group spending on political ads is up 1,600 percent in the Republican primary, compared to this point in the 2008 race, new research shows. The surge in spending is in large part because of the rise of super PACs, the study from the Wesleyan Media Project found. Nearly half of the ads on the airwaves were paid for by super PACs this cycle, while ads sponsored by candidates are down 40 percent. In all, the volume of ads aired has increased slightly, 2 percent, over the last cycle. Romney’s campaign has spent about $7 million so far this cycle, compared to $28 million ahead of 2008. And though his overall number of ads has decreased, he’s dominating his competitors. In Florida, Romney and outside groups who support him had paid for almost 13,000 television ads, as of last week, most of them paid for by a pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future. Newt Gingrich and affiliated outside groups had only aired about 200 spots. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul aren’t in the TV ad game at all in the Sunshine State. (Politico) | |||
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keywords: Advertising, Alternative Media, American Crossroads, Americans For Prosperity, Arizona, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance Reform, Elections, Erika Fowler, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, North Carolina, Restore Our Future, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, South Carolina, Super Pacs, United States, Virginia, Wesleyan University
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| 1/28/2012 |
How I woke up to the untruths of Barack Obama: The President's State of the Union address was as weaselly as any politician's could be. When I happened to wake up in the middle of the night last Wednesday and caught the BBC World Service’s live relay of President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress, two passages had me rubbing my eyes in disbelief. The first came when, to applause, the President spoke about the banking crash which coincided with his barnstorming 2008 election campaign. “The house of cards collapsed,” he recalled. “We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them.” He excoriated the banks which had “made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money”, while “regulators looked the other way and didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behaviour”. This, said Obama, “was wrong. It was irresponsible. And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work.” I recalled a piece I wrote in this column on January 29, 2009, just after Obama took office. It was headlined: “This is the sub-prime house that Barack Obama built”. As a rising young Chicago politician in 1995, no one campaigned more actively than Mr Obama for an amendment to the US Community Reinvestment Act, legally requiring banks to lend huge sums to millions of poor, mainly black Americans, guaranteed by the two giant mortgage associations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was this Act, above all, which let the US housing bubble blow up, far beyond the point where it was obvious that hundreds of thousands of homeowners would be likely to default. Yet, in 2005, no one more actively opposed moves to halt these reckless guarantees than Senator Obama, who received more donations from Fannie Mae than any other US politician (although Senator Hillary Clinton ran him close). (London Telegraph) | |||
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keywords: Alternative Energy, BBC, Baghdad, Barack Obama, Big Oil, Camp Ashraf, Camp Liberty, Carbon Dioxide, Chicago, Climate Change, David Phillips, European Council, Fannie Mae, Financial Crisis, Freddie Mac, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Igor Judge, Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Iraq, Martin Kolber, Military, National Council For Resistance IN Iran, Natural Gas, Nouri Al-maliki, People's Mujahideen Of Iran, Real Estate, Residential Mortgage-backed Securities, Rudy Giuliani, Tehran, Terrorists, US Congress, US Department Of State, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States, Wall Street, White House, Wind Turbines
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| 1/27/2012 |
Twitter adopts country-specific censorship regime how will that work? As Xeni wrote, Twitter has adopted Google's tactics for coping with legally binding censorship demands: from now on, when it receives a legal demand to censor a tweet, it will only censor that tweet for users in the country from which the demand emanates. Other countries' users will still see it. Users in the censored country will see a notice that material has been censored. Additionally, all censorship demands will be archived at Chillngeffects.org, a clearinghouse that tracks Internet censorship. In many ways, this is preferable to the existing system, whereby legally enforceable censorship orders would affect all Twitter users. And of course, Twitter only has to honor censorship demands in countries where it has offices and assets; Lower Pottsylvania can require removal of every mention of Glorious Leader, but unless Twitter has an office there, it can safely ignore the orders (JWZ points out that Twitter has opened offices in many cenorious countries and plans to open offices in more, because there's money to be had by setting up local operations there). (Boing Boing) | |||
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keywords: Alex Macgillivray, Free Speech, Google, Harvard University, Internet, Saudi Arabia, Twitter, United States
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| 1/26/2012 |
Sacramento County supervisor challengers adopt Occupy platform Two candidates announced Wednesday that they will run on "pro-Occupy" platforms as they seek to unseat Sacramento County Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Susan Peters. Jeff Kravitz, who is challenging Peters in north-central District 3, has been a volunteer attorney for Occupy Sacramento, which has been protesting at Cesar Chavez Plaza downtown. He is a civil rights attorney and former law professor, according to his biography. (Sacramento Bee) | |||
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keywords: California, Gary Blenner, Jeff Kravitz, Occupy Sacramento, Occupy Wall Street, Roberta Macglashan, Sacramento, Susan Peters, United States
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| 1/24/2012 |
NH honors elections advocate on 'Granny D Day' New Hampshire is marking "Granny D Day" and deciding whether to make it an annual event. Last year, the Legislature passed a bill making Jan. 24, 2012, "Granny D Day" in honor of Doris "Granny D" Haddock, who was born on Jan. 24, 1910. (Associated Press) | |||
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keywords: Campaign Finance Reform, Granny D, New Hampshire, US Congress, United States
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| 1/22/2012 |
Has Ex Goldman Sachs Staff turned Democrat Campaigner Infiltrated Occupy? Through the revolving door from Goldman Sachs to the Democrat Party, an experienced campaigner has maneuvered themselves into a position of influence with the Occupation Movement in the nations capitol. Connections with MoveOn.org, and Van Jones’ Rebuild the Dream, seem to be only the tip of the iceberg. For a movement that considers itself not only non-partisan, but anti-partisan, and entirely anathema to the corporate owned political institutions that exist, this should come as a serious blow. Ali Savino was the initiator of Occupy DC’s Research and Policy Development Committee (RPD). This committee is responsible for not only policy development within the Occupy community, but, through the Occupy 2.0 committee, a sub group of RPD, plays a key role in establishing the future direction of the movement. Ms. Savino works for NGP VAN in Washington, DC. Her Linkedin profile states that she works in ‘product design’ at the firm. NGP VAN’s product is political campaigns. Their web site boasts deep ties with the Democrat Party. Their Clients Page states: NGP VAN is honored to power the fundraising, field, and new media activities for many of the leading Democratic and progressive organizations. Our software powers the Obama campaign’s voter contact, volunteer, fundraising and compliance operations in all 50 states. Clients include: ... (News Junkie Post) | |||
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keywords: Afl-cio, Ali Savino, Barack Obama, Boston, Canada, Change.org, Chicago, Cornell University, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Hillary Lazar, Internet, Iowa, Linkedin, Media Matters, Microsoft, Moveon.org, Netegrity, New Jersey, Oakland, Occupy DC, Occupy Wall Street, Portland, Ricky Lehner, Service Employees International Union, South Carolina, Tea Party, US Congress, Unions, United States, Van Jones, Wall Street
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| 1/20/2012 |
8 Precinct Vote Totals Missing From Iowa Caucuses The Iowa Republican Party has certified the results of its caucuses earlier this month. Rick Santorum is 34 votes ahead, but the party will not declare a winner because there are missing results in eight precincts. Before the certification process, Mitt Romney had been declared the winner. (National Public Radio) | |||
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keywords: Craig Robinson, David Kochel, Dennis Goldford, Drake University, Elections, Hogan Gidley, Iowa, Matt Strawn, Mitt Romney, National Public Radio, Rick Santorum, South Carolina, United States, Voter Fraud
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| 1/19/2012 |
2012 GOP caucus count unresolved THE RESULTS: Santorum finished ahead by 34 votes MISSING DATA: 8 precincts’ numbers will never be certified PARTY VERDICT: GOP official says, ‘It’s a split decision’ Rick Santorum – Final total: 29,839 Change: -168 Mitt Romney – Final total: 29,805 Change: -210 It’s a tie for the ages. There are too many holes in the certified totals from the Iowa caucuses to know for certain who won, but Rick Santorum wound up with a 34-vote advantage. Results from eight precincts are missing — any of which could hold an advantage for Mitt Romney — and will never be recovered and certified, Republican Party of Iowa officials told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday. GOP officials discovered inaccuracies in 131 precincts, although not all the changes affected the two leaders. Changes in one precinct alone shifted the vote by 50 — a margin greater than the certified tally. (Desmoines Register) | |||
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keywords: Al Gore, Alternative Media, Associated Press, Barack Obama, Ben Lange, Bob Dole, Buddy Roemer, CBS, Chad Olsen, Condoleeza Rice, Dennis Goldford, Donald Trump, Drake University, Elections, Florida, Fred Karger, Gary Johnson, George H W Bush, George W Bush, Herman Cain, Hillary Clinton, Iowa, Irene Iben, Janet Wissler, Jared Blankenship, Jerry Crawford, Jimmy Carter, John Edwards, John Mccain, John Stineman, Jon Huntsman, Kyle Kondik, Massachusetts, Matt Strawn, Michele Bachmann, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire, News Election Service, Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, Paul Ryan, Pennsylvania, Ralph Nader, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Robert D Ray, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, Roy Moore, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, South Carolina, Terry Branstad, Tim Pawlenty, US Supreme Court, United States, Voter Fraud, Voter News Service, Walter Mondale
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| 1/14/2012 |
Sacramento's City Manager is demanding city employees pay more for pensions Sacramento's City Manager, John Shirey, threatened that 100 city employees would be laid off, unless all city employees paid more money towards their pensions. Currently, most city employees pay four percent of their paycheck to their pension; Shirey wants that raised to seven percent. If Shirey's proposal is enacted it would save the city $14.2 million. Seems like a simple enough solution right? But what Shirey is leaving out of the story is that raising pension contributions is another word for pay cuts. Years ago the city bargained with its employees to cover a portion of employee's pension contributions in exchange for receiving no pay increase. In essence, a pay raise would result from the city covering a portion of the employee's pension contribution. So to now go back on that promise, to force city employees to pay the full employee contribution, would be to reverse those pay raises. Reversing pay raises means city employee's pay will be cut. (Examiner) | |||
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keywords: California, Financial Crisis, Firefighters, John Shirey, Pensions, Police, Sacramento, United States
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| 1/13/2012 |
Spraying San Francisco, exposing the geo-engineers. On a heavy spraying day, we talked to passers-by on what they made of the persistent contrails blanketing the city, often referred to as chemtrails. Video features congressional candidate John Fitzgerald confronting top geoengineer Ken Caldeira at San Francisco public library. We also illustrate the difference between water based contrails and persistent contrails when a regular plane (with a short lived contrail) crosses the path of a persistent contrail at a similar altitude. (John Fitzgerald) | |||
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keywords: Chemtrails, Geo-engineering, John Fitzgerald, Ken Caldeira, San Francisco, United States
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| 1/11/2012 |
Librarians, Researchers Concerned as U.S. Terminates Only National Biodiversity Network The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) program and its website will be terminated on January 15. As a result, the United States will no longer have a single, integrated point of access to federal and non-federal biological and biodiversity information. The NBII program is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Biological Informatics Office whose FY12 budget was zeroed out (down from $7 million in FY10 and $3.5 million in FY11). The NBII integrates biological databases, analytic tools, and 259 applications via various partners in government agencies, academic institutions, non-government organizations and others. By 2010, the number of unique visitors to the NBII’s online sites exceeded 3 million, with users downloading an average of a terabyte of data per month on topics ranging from bald eagles to malformed amphibians and far more. But the disposition of these resources and their future accessibility is now highly uncertain and a source of concern for researchers and librarians. (The Digital Shift) | |||
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keywords: Abigail Grotke, Acid Rain, American Library Association, Amphibians, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Eagles, Frederick Stoss, Internet, Internet Archive, Library Of Congress, Michael Frame, National Biological Information Infrastructure, National Science Foundation, Ozone, Stratosphere, US Geological Survey, United States, Usgs Metadata Clearinghouse
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| 1/10/2012 |
Homeland Security Given Green Light to Monitor American Journalists Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that emerged from the Department of Homeland Security in November, Washington has written permission to collect and retain personal information from journalists, news anchors, reporters or anyone who uses “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.” According to DHS, the definition of personal identifiable information can consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.” (The Blaze) | |||
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| 1/10/2012 |
NDAA Protests End In Ironic Swarm Of Arrests The absurdity of America today never ceases to amaze. In fact, it has become so elaborate that one might even suggest it has reached a kind of poetic symmetry. When a protest group is willing to stick their necks out to expose the horror of the National Defense Authorization Act and its open door strategy for unconstitutional arrest and indefinite detainment of American citizens, I have to stand up and applaud. This is the kind of protest we need to see all over the country. Of course, any establishment system which is willing to dissolve the inherent liberties of its citizens certainly isn't going to stand by quietly while they blatantly point out the injustice. The Grand Central Terminal action featured in the video below is a perfect example of the swift and immediate stifling of peaceful dissent by an increasingly totalitarian government: Responses to the event vary. Most people who have actually been exposed to the facts on the NDAA have expressed utter disgust and fury. Rightly so. Some, however, have taken the old elitist mantra, perpetuated effectively by the Neo-Cons in their heyday, that if you are not for the system, then you are a danger to society. Not surprisingly, there are still plenty of useful idiots out there buzzing about like parasites in search of blood. (Alt Market) | |||
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| 1/9/2012 |
Awakening to Ron Paul’s Crony Capitalism Ron Paul believes in the feudalism of the land barons and gold bankers of King George. Ron Paul believes land and money are capital. Land and money are not capital. They are the common wealth. To declare any free market currency to be legal tender is state intervention and a corruption of free markets. Title to land is state intervention and corruption of free markets. The Bible and the classical liberals understand this distinction. Ron Paul does not understand this distinction. Ron Paul wants government to allow the banks and land barons to steal the common wealth. Ron Paul does not distinguish between earned wealth and wealth stolen through economic rent and monetary interest. My article exposing Ron Paul as a globalist seeking the old world’s one world currency is getting a lot of traffic. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of people on forums discussing the article still have not awakened to the importance of the Endgame Ron Paul represents on the Grand Chessboard of the Red Symphony. The awakening to the crimes of the New World Order is being misdirected into the worship of one man, Ron Paul, and into a blind faith of a false economic paradigm of crony capitalism and corruption of free markets of the worst kind by government, the Austrian School of Economics, funded by the same people, the Rockefeller Foundation, who take an active part in the funding and control of the New World Order. What is really dangerous is that it is sold as the opposition to the New World Order and as the opposition to crony capitalism and corruption of free markets by the government when it was funded by the New World Order and when it is crony capitalism and corruption of free markets by the government. (Liberty Revival) | |||
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keywords: 9/11, Adam Smith, Alex Jones, Alternative Media, American Revolution, Austrian School Of Economics, Bill Still, China, Council On Foreign Relations, Dan Sullivan, European Union, Financial Crisis, George Orwell, George Washington, Gold, Great Depression, Henry George, India, John Maynard Keynes, Karl Marx, King George, New World Order, Rockefeller Foundation, Roman Empire, Ron Paul, Silver, Spain, US Congress, US Constitution, United States, Youtube, Zeitgeist
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| 1/9/2012 |
Grading the Republican Presidential Candidates Anyone who's following presidential politics has a general sense that some Republicans are okay on the marijuana issue, and most Republicans are terrible. But don't take our word for it, see for yourself in this video. MPP has compiled a collection of videos from the Republican presidential candidates' views on marijuana, and graded them accordingly. See which candidates pass the test, and which ones clearly have some work to do. (Marijuana Policy Project) | |||
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| 1/6/2012 |
Tallahassee settles suit over informant Rachel Hoffman's death Tallahassee city commissioners approved a $2.6 million settlement Friday in the wrongful-death suit of a police informant who was fatally shot during a 2008 drug sting. The parents of Rachel Hoffman, 23, sued after her death, claiming police were negligent in setting up the Florida State graduate as an undercover informant after she was caught with marijuana and pills without a prescription. Jury selection for the lawsuit began this week and the trial was scheduled to begin Monday. After a closed door session with attorneys Friday, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the settlement, the first $200,000 of which will be paid by the city in the next few weeks, City Attorney Jim English said. The rest will be paid after the Florida Legislature passes what is known as a "claims bill," which could take years. (Associated Press) | |||
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keywords: Andrea Green, Cocaine, Deneilo Bradshaw, Ecstasy, Florida, Florida State University, Gun Control, Informants, Irv Hoffman, Jim English, Marijuana, Police, Rachel Hoffman, Tallahassee, United States, Virgin Islands, War On Drugs
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| 1/5/2012 |
Iran: a quickly evolving geopolitical imbroglio As the days go by, the situation with Iran just gets increasingly complex and worrisome given the egregious saber rattling coming from both the West and Iran alike. As I outlined in my article entitled “Positioning for war with Iran?”, it has become clear that the West is either arming surrounding neighbors as a deterrent, preparation for an unprovoked strike, or perhaps even to goad Iran into attacking Western interest first, thus justifying brutal retaliation. My fledgling series about the global growth of NATO and the Western empire also covers aspects of this greater trend and how these issues constantly evolve and how so many seemingly disconnected events are in fact inseparably linked. While these issues may seem disconnected for some, I think it is quite important to point out that in fact they couldn’t be more closely related in that they are both symptoms of the cancerous war profiteering industry that is not only robbing the American people blind in the name of freedom but also eliminating our civil liberties and slaughtering innocent people around the globe. (End The Lie) | |||
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keywords: Aerial Drones, Ali Khamenei, Atomic Energy Organization Of Iran, Bahrain, Bernard Valero, Big Oil, Bloomberg Lp, Broad Area Maritime Surveillance, Cancer, Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, China, France, Germany, Guam, Habibollah Sayyari, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Israel Defense Force, Ivory Coast, James Acton, Jan Van Tol, Jerusalem Post, John Stennis, Kuwait, Libya, London Guardian, Madison Ruppert, Mahmoud Mousavi, Middle East, Military, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, North Drilling Company, Northrup Grumman, Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Weapons, Olli Heinonen, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sea Of Oman, Strait Of Hormuz, Tehran, Tehran Times, US Army, US Navy, United Arab Emirates, United Nations, United States, United States European Command, Uranium, Washington DC, World War III
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| 1/2/2012 |
ACLU report card finds fault with Obama, rivals The American Civil Liberties Union has issued "Liberty Watch 2012," its report card for presidential candidates on issues like surveillance, torture, gay rights and immigration. No one gets an A, including President Obama. Obama, the only Democrat among the 10 candidates rated, got a perfect score four "torches" on only one issue, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, for his backing of the December 2010 law that repealed "don't ask, don't tell." But he received lower marks on immigration, abortion rights and "closing Guantanamo Bay and indefinite detention," where his one-torch rating was attributed to backtracking on a promise to shut the prison for suspected terrorists and his support for holding their trials in military commissions. The highest overall rating went to former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican-turned-Libertarian, who opposes the Patriot Act and unlike Obama supports the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Among the leading Republican candidates, libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul also got a higher score than Obama despite low ratings in several categories. The ACLU gave the Texas congressman high marks for opposing the Patriot Act and indefinite detention of suspected terrorists, condemning waterboarding and voting to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." But it criticized Paul's call for an end to "birthright citizenship" for children of illegal immigrants, his support of the law that denies federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples and his opposition to abortion. (San Francisco Chronicle) | |||
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keywords: Abortion, American Civil Liberties Union, Arizona, Barack Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, Detainees, Free Speech, Gary Johnson, George W Bush, Guantanamo Bay, Health Care, Immigration, Iowa, Lgbt, Mexico, Michele Bachmann, Military, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Planned Parenthood, Privacy, Rendition, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Terrorists, Texas, Torture, US Constitution, US Department Of Justice, United States, Usa Patriot Act, Washington DC
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| 1/1/2012 |
Edwin Black The Truth About Our Oil Addiction (Edwin Black) | |||
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keywords: Big Oil, Edwin Black, United States
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| 1/1/2012 |
Emily Rosa (born February 6, 1987 in Loveland, Colorado) is the youngest person to have a research paper published in a peer reviewed medical journal. At age nine Rosa conceived and executed a scientific study of therapeutic touch which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2009 with a major in psychology. Her parents, Larry Sarner and Linda Rosa, are leaders of the advocacy group Advocates for Children in Therapy. (Wikipedia) | |||
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keywords: American Medical Association, Auras, Colorado, Emily Rosa, Health Care, Phenomena, United States, University Of Colorado
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| 1/1/2012 |
Global Consciousness Project The Global Consciousness Project (GCP, also called the EGG Project) is a parapsychology experiment begun in 1998 as an attempt to detect possible interactions of "global consciousness" with physical systems. The project monitors a geographically distributed network of hardware random number generators in a bid to identify anomalous outputs that correlate with widespread emotional responses to sets of world events, or periods of focused attention by large numbers of people.[1] The GCP is privately funded through the Institute of Noetic Sciences[2] and describes itself as an international collaboration of about 100 research scientists and engineers. Skeptics such as Robert T. Carroll, Claus Larsen, and others have questioned the methodology of the Global Consciousness Project, particularly how the data are selected and interpreted,[3][4] saying the data anomalies reported by the project are the result of "pattern matching" and selection bias which ultimately fail to support a belief in psi or global consciousness.[5] Other critics, whilst disagreeing with GCP findings, have noted that the open operation of GCP "is a testimony to the integrity and curiosity of those involved."[6] (Wikipedia) | |||
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keywords: Claus Larsen, Consciousness, Global Consciousness Project, Institute Of Noetic Sciences, Princeton University, Random Number Generators, Robert Carroll, Roger Nelson, United States
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| 1/1/2012 |
James Randi Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. The JREF's mission includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled scientific experimental conditions. The organization offers a prize of one million U.S. dollars which it will pay out to anyone who can demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. The JREF also maintains a legal defense fund to assist persons who are attacked as a result of their investigations and criticism of people who make paranormal claims. The organization is funded through member contributions, grants, and conferences. The JREF website publishes a (nominally daily) blog at randi.org Swift, which includes the latest JREF news and information, as well as exposes of paranormal claimants. Dennis Rawlins claimed the challenge is insincere, and that Randi will ensure he never has to pay out. In the October 1981 issue of Fate, Rawlins quoted him as saying "I always have an out".[19] Randi has stated that Rawlins did not give the entire quotation.[20] Randi actually said "Concerning the challenge, I always have an 'out': I'm right!"[21][22]. Randi states that the phrase "I always have an out" refers to the fact that he does not allow test subjects to cheat.[23] On Larry King Live Randi stated that if such phenomena did exist and someone accurately demonstrated it, he would give them one million dollars. (Wikipedia) | |||
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keywords: James Randi, James Randi Educational Foundation, United States
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| 1/1/2012 |
Ron Paul Will Win In The End Ron Paul will win in the end. That’s right. It doesn’t matter anymore how the criminals in charge try to change the vote, or how they conjure lies and attack him and his ideas. None of that is going to work anymore. Don’t get me wrong. There is no way in hell that Ron Paul will win his quest for the Presidency. The corporate criminals and their toadies in the media will never let that happen. They will do everything they can to squash Ron Paul and his ideas. Who has the uncanny ability to unite Rush Limbaugh, Rachel Maddow, Dick Morris, Bill Clinton, Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, Move On, Media Matters? Answer: Ron Paul. Why does he unite everyone on the left and right? What is it about Ron Paul that unites the media? Ron Paul and his movement are a direct result of the Internet. The Internet also showed the thinking people of the world that there is a corporate criminal mafia and it is in charge of everything. It owns the military, the media, the religions, the educational system the banks and most of the major corporations. This revelation that we are ruled by a small group of corporate criminals is the real fuel behind Ron Paul. (Jay Weidner) | |||
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keywords: 9/11, ABC, Alternative Media, Arthur Schopenhauer, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, CBS, CNN, Dick Morris, Education, Fox, Internet, John F Kennedy, Keith Olbermann, Media Matters, Military, Moveon.org, Msnbc, NBC, Rachel Maddow, Robert F Kennedy, Ron Paul, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, The New York Times, United States, White House
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| 12/30/2011 |
Public Eye: Dealing with Occupy protest costs Sacramento police $408,000 The city of Sacramento's laws against camping overnight and staying in parks after hours have been challenged on two fronts in recent months. Both have been costly to the city. The city's most expensive endeavor has been the monitoring and arrests of Occupy Sacramento protesters at Cesar Chavez Plaza and on the front lawn of City Hall. Dozens of officers have spent 6,577 hours on the Occupy protests, which represents a total payroll impact of about $408,000, said police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit. Included in that figure is $52,200 in overtime paid to police officers. Since the protests began, police have made about 110 arrests of those who violated park curfew laws. Protesters have asked the City Council for a special permit to allow them to stay in the park, but the council has declined. (Sacramento Bee) | |||
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keywords: American River, Andrew Pettit, Cesar Chavez, Eileen Teichert, Free Speech, Homeless, Occupy Sacramento, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, Police, Tent City, US Department Of Agriculture, United States
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| 12/30/2011 |
The 'Occupy' movement lives Gina Glantz was most recently an adjunct lecturer at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. The hashtag #occupywallstreet inspired the most basic of organizing strategies: sit-ins. OWS sit-ins became encampments, many of which are now being dismantled by law enforcement and debilitated by weather. As the movement is increasingly out of the sight of pundits and the popular media, and criticized as leaderless and lacking a clear purpose, it has become fashionable to talk about OWS as inevitably failing. This is a mistake. Encampment “occupiers” come and go; hashtag followers live on in cyberspace, where OWS is spawning leaders and developing goals, just not in the way that most people are accustomed to. Consider: ●The Occupy Wiki Research Group, of which I am a member, has a robust online dialogue among college professors, organizing practitioners and activists. Weekly phone calls refine their efforts. ●Occupytogether.org was started by two designers who couldn’t get to New York so tried to track, on their own, activities around the country. Overwhelmed by the volume, they recently incorporated MeetUp.com into their site. ●Maps depicting FourSquare locations using the Occupy Wall Street hashtag show thousands of check-ins across the country. ●Students at Boulder Digital Works at the University of Colorado built Occupationalist.org, which describes itself as “an impartial and real-time view of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Covering history as it unfolds. No filters. No delays.” ●An urban gardening advocate’s blog about how Occupy Wall Street can help communities seeking to take over empty lots is circulating on Facebook. (Washington Post) | |||
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keywords: Alternative Media, Denver, Facebook, Harvard University, Internet, Meetup.com, New York City, Occupationalist.org, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Wiki Research Group, Oklahoma City, Police, Scott Walker, St Petersburg, Twitter, US National Guard, United States, University Of Colorado, Wisconsin
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| 12/14/2011 |
Indefinite Detention Law Hall of Shame: List of Senators Who Voted Yes on the NDAA bill Below is the list of the Senators who voted yes on the NDAA bill which provides for indefinite detention of "any person who has committed a belligerent act" (See section 1031 (b) 2 of s1867 (National Defense Authorization Act of 2012). The term "belligerent act" is extremely wide and could applied to any form of resistance including protesting in the streets or even speaking out against the U.S. government. Be sure to also visit the list of the twitter ids for the senators who voted for NDAA below. (Waiting for the Storm) | |||
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| 12/6/2011 |
'Obamacare' to the rescue (Op-Ed) A woman who felt President Obama had let the middle class down has changed her mind. I want to apologize to President Obama. But first, some background. I found out three weeks ago I have cancer. I'm 49 years old, have been married for almost 20 years and have two kids. My husband has his own small computer business, and I run a small nonprofit in the San Fernando Valley. I am also an artist. Money is tight, and we don't spend it frivolously. We're just ordinary, middle-class people, making an honest living, raising great kids and participating in our community, the kids' schools and church. We're good people, and we work hard. But we haven't been able to afford health insurance for more than two years. And now I have third-stage breast cancer and am facing months of expensive treatment. (Los Angeles Times) | |||
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keywords: Barack Obama, Big Pharma, Cancer, Cobra, Health Care, United States
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| 12/2/2011 |
Carrier IQ: Researcher Trevor Eckhart Outs Creepy, Hidden App Installed On Smartphones (VIDEO) (UPDATE) A security researcher has posted a video detailing hidden software installed on smart phones that logs numerous details about users' activities. In a 17-minute video posted Monday on YouTube, Trevor Eckhart shows how the software – known as Carrier IQ – logs every text message, Google search and phone number typed on a wide variety of smart phones including HTC, Blackberry, Nokia* and others and reports them to the mobile phone carrier. The application, which is labeled on Eckhart’s HTC smartphone as "HTC IQ Agent," also logs the URL of websites searched on the phone, even if the user intends to encrypt that data using a URL that begins with "HTTPS," Eckhart said. (Huffington Post) | |||
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keywords: Android, Blackberry, Carrier Iq, Cell Phones, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google, Htc, Internet, Nokia, Privacy, Trevor Eckhart, United States, Wired, Youtube
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| 11/28/2011 |
US Cops Eye Drone Patrols: FAA preparing new rules to allow domestic use of drones Meet your science-fiction future. Drones may soon be deployed over your sky, courtesy of your local police force. The Federal Aviation Administration is in the process of paving the way for use of the terror-busting devices on domestic soil, reports the Los Angeles Times. And it's not only police, but farmers and utility companies that could soon be deploying drones. "It's going to happen," said Dan Elwell, vice president of civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Association. "Now it's about figuring out how to safely assimilate the technology into national airspace." (Newser) | |||
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keywords: Aerial Drones, Aerospace Industries Association, Dan Elwell, Federal Aviation Administration, Florida, Los Angeles Times, Military, Minnesota, Peter W Singer, Police, Privacy, Terrorism, Texas, United States
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| 11/27/2011 |
Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Banks worldwide earned an estimated $13 billion by taking advantage of below-market rates on emergency U.S. Federal Reserve loans from August 2007 through April 2010. Roll over the bars below to explore details for each. To compare results with banks' net income or losses for the same timeframes, click the corresponding button. Worldwide total is the sum for 190 firms with available data; those banks lost a combined $21.6 billion. The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing. The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue. (Bloomberg) | |||
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keywords: American Bankers Association, Ancel Martinez, Andrea Priest, Anil Kashyap, Anthony Coley, Bailouts, Bank Of America, Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Basel, Bear Stearns, Ben Bernanke, Berkeley, Bloomberg Lp, Brad Miller, Byron Dorgan, California, Center For Economic And Policy Research, Center For Responsive Politics, Charlotte, Citigroup, Clearing House Association, Countrywide Financial, Dallas, David Jones, Dean Baker, Dodd-frank Wall Street Reform Act, Dow Jones, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Financial Services Forum, Financial Stability Oversight Council, Gary Stern, George Mason University, George W Bush, Gerald Hanweck, Glass-steagall Act, Goldman Sachs, Government Transparency, Graham Fisher & CO, Henry Paulson, Howard Opinsky, Jamie Dimon, Jerry Dubrowski, John Dearie, Jon Diat, Joshua Rosner, Jpmorgan Chase, Judd Gregg, Kenneth Lewis, Lehman Brothers, Mark Lake, Merrill Lynch, Minneapolis, Morgan Stanley, Neil Barofsky, New York, New York City, New York University, Nobel Prize, North Carolina, Occupy Boston, Occupy California, Occupy Oakland, Occupy Seattle, Occupy Wall Street, Oliver Williamson, Phillip Swagel, Police, Realtytrac, Richard Fisher, Richard Shelby, Scott Alvarez, Sherrill Shaffer, Sherrod Brown, Switzerland, Tea Party, Ted Kaufman, Timothy Geithner, US Bureau Of Labor Statistics, US Congress, US Department Of The Treasury, US Freedom Of Information Act, US Supreme Court, United States, University Of California, University Of Chicago, University Of Maryland, University Of Wyoming, Vikram Pandit, Viral Acharya, Wachovia, Wall Street, Washington DC, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, William English
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| 11/25/2011 |
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy: The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by phalanxes of riot police went viral online; images proliferated of young women – targeted seemingly for their gender – screaming, dragged by the hair by police in riot gear; and the pictures of a young man, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, emerged in the record of the middle-of-the-night clearing of Zuccotti Park. But just when Americans thought we had the picture – was this crazy police and mayoral overkill, on a municipal level, in many different cities? – the picture darkened. The National Union of Journalists issued a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate possible federal involvement with law enforcement practices that appeared to target journalists. The New York Times reported that "New York cops have arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground and tossed a barrier at reporters and photographers" covering protests. Reporters were asked by NYPD to raise their hands to prove they had credentials: when many dutifully did so, they were taken, upon threat of arrest, away from the story they were covering, and penned far from the site in which the news was unfolding. Other reporters wearing press passes were arrested and roughed up by cops, after being – falsely – informed by police that "It is illegal to take pictures on the sidewalk." (London Guardian) | |||
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keywords: Alternative Media, Australia, Berkeley, Bill Clinton, Brandon Watts, California, Campaign Finance Reform, Chris Hayes, Citizens United, Davis, Delaware, Derivatives, Egypt, European Union, Financial Crisis, Freedom Of Information Act, Glass-steagall Act, Great Depression, Iraq, Martha Stewart, NBC, Naomi Wolf, National Union Of Journalists, New York, New York City, New York Times, Newt Gingrich, Oakland, Occupy Together, Occupy Uc Davis, Occupy Wall Street, Pepper Spray, Peter King, Police, Robert Hass, Saturday Night Live, Tahrir Square, Tea Party, US Congress, US Department Of Homeland Security, US Supreme Court, Uc Davis, United States, Wall Street, Washingtonsblog.com, White House, Wonkette, Zuccotti Park
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| 11/21/2011 |
Jerry Brown silent on UC Davis incident, student protests Even as student protests spread across the state this fall with national attention focused today on the pepper spraying of nonviolent protesters at UC Davis Gov. Jerry Brown has kept silent. Unlike Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, who was "appalled at the apparent use of excessive force by the UC Davis police force at a peaceful student demonstration," or Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who called it "outrageous," Brown's office has issued no comment. Nor would he address the Occupy movement when he was asked about it at a press conference last month. (Sacramento Bee) | |||
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keywords: California, Darrell Steinberg, Davis, Education, Elizabeth Ashford, Jerry Brown, John A Perez, Occupy Together, Occupy Uc Davis, Occupy Wall Street, Pensions, Pepper Spray, Police, Uc Davis, United States, University Of California
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| 11/21/2011 |
Occupy UC Davis Nov 21 Rally & General Assembly: In Response To John Pike Pepper Spray Nov 21, noon, Day 5 of Occupy UC Davis. Highlighted speakers and moments from the huge rally and general assembly in response to pepper spraying of peaceful protesters by Lt. John Pike on Nov 18. A resolution was passed with 1,729 votes recorded to have a general strike on Nov 28 in hopes of blocking the UC regents meeting on campus that day. (Wiki World Order) | |||
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