“Obviously it has a legitimate medical use. Now, it does not have a legitimate medical use for 70,000 Oregonians. That’s bullshit.”No, a lawyer trying to practice medicine without a license is bullshit.
Mitt Romney says he wasn't surprised by the negative response to his speech Wednesday before the NAACP convention in Texas. "I think we expected that."If you expected to get booed, it's part of your strategy.
"Liberal attack on traditional American values."What they mean is...
"Got called out for being a closed minded bigot."
Reagan regretted becoming a When I worked as the president of the Screen Actors Guild I understood the need for people to stick together for the greater good to get their goals accomplished. I admired other great presidents of the past such as Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower who knew that in order for the nation to thrive, we must all thrive. I am also saddened that the Republican party of today thinks I wanted God in the White House and to rule the nation. That is not true at all, after I was nearly assassinated I wanted God more in my own personal life. I acknowledged that I was to be here for a reason and serve him and my nation together, but they always stayed separate in my mind just as in the Constitution. The Republican party today merely just uses God as a means to get votes, and I don't believe Jesus would want to be used as a marketing tool. I regret my decision to become Republican and if I had to do it all over again I would have remained in the Democratic party and ran on their ticket. They seem to instill the core values I believe in, such as a collective philosophy. I thought for a while the Democrats left me, because we used to agree on so much, it turns out that I did indeed leave them, and I would do anything to take it all back. Now as I sit here as an old man, I can only imagine, "what if…"In other news, JFK is still regarded as the best US President of the 20th Century and he didn't even finish his first term!
Last week, in response to an Overstock.com motion to unseal certain documents, the banks’ lawyers, apparently accidentally, filed an unredacted version of Overstock’s motion as an exhibit in their declaration of opposition to that motion. In doing so, they inadvertently entered into the public record a sort of greatest-hits selection of the very material they’ve been fighting for years to keep sealed.That is one hell of a boner. And nobody likes it when everyone points and laughs at your boner.
After 16 days adrift, he says, they saw a cruise ship sailing past, and had made attempts to flag it down with a red sweater.I can only imagine the dread of the initial engine failure, feeling certain you will die, the jubilation of spotting a ship and realizing you won't die today, the horrid sinking feeling as the ship sails away. At least 24 hours of desperate hope that the ship contacted someone and help is on the way, raging anger and an even deeper despair that you were left to die by rich vacationers, and then having to watch your two mates die.
"We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us," he said.
Mr Vasquez was eventually rescued 1,000km (620 miles) off the mainland, near the Galapagos Islands. His friends had already died of thirst.
Southern states carry out more than 80 percent of the executions but have a higher murder rate than any other region. Texas has by far the most executions, but its homicide rate is twice that of Wisconsin, the first state to abolish the death penalty. Look at similar adjacent states: There are more capital crimes in South Dakota, Connecticut and Virginia (with death sentences) than neighboring North Dakota, Massachusetts and West Virginia (without death penalties). Furthermore, there has never been any evidence that the death penalty reduces capital crimes or that crimes increased when executions stopped. Tragic mistakes are prevalent. DNA testing and other factors have caused 138 death sentences to be reversed since I left the governor’s office.I agree with the former President for many of the same reasons. Kill the death penalty.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution.What are we waiting for? Let's do this thing! Throw the bastards out and try some REAL democracy for a change.
I am not an investment specialist nor do I play one on TV, in film, or even a second rate web series. Do not follow my example! When it comes to matters of finance I am certifiably insane. Consider this your warning.
US economic growth slowed to an annualised pace of 2.2%Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the US economy, grew by a 2.9% annual rate, the fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2010.The rich horded so much they managed to SLOW what should have been a growth economy.
The founders include film director and explorer James Cameron as well as Google's chief executive Larry Page and its executive chairman Eric Schmidt.About freakin' time!
They even aim to create a fuel depot in space by 2020.
The measure would see death row inmates have their sentences commuted to life. Just 13 people have been executed since the law was re-introduced in 1978.As someone who has been wrongly accused and presumed guilty of something potentially life threatening, I really hope California can end this.
Mr Chavez, 57, dismissed rumours that he had died undergoing radiotherapy for a second tumour in his pelvic region.He's not dead, just a little crazy.
"President Obama called it a win-win. No, it's a lose-lose for workers," Stein said. "It's a deadly assault on the freedom of Colombian workers to organize, as well as on the freedom of American workers from unfair competition from workers who make poverty wages because they are violently repressed."What she said.
Personally, I would like to see guns become fashion statements. Let everyone have them. Cars are far more deadly and absolutely anybody can buy one*. Besides, wouldn't it be great to see a woman with a well maintained black powder revolver on her hip (or even this gal) making fun of the obvious overcompensation for personal inadequacies of the M-4 toting tea bagger?
Sponsored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos, a San Jose Democrat, the bill would require anyone who wants to claim a legal right to use marijuana for health reasons to apply for a county-issued identification card. Marijuana patients also would have to say if they plan to grow their own pot or to purchase it from a patient collective, and name the collective.If a person is prescribed oxycodone they aren't required to register with the county just so the cops won't bust them for taking their medicine. Other medical marijuana states should be moving towards California's interpretation of how to deal with medications, not the other way around.
They also note that the sale of alcohol to young males declines in states that legalize medical marijuana and note that alcohol is a known depressant...Next we need a study on what happens when states legalize recreational marijuana.
Cartels are influencing elections by threatening politicians and even running their own candidates, OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security Adam Blackwell said.As the world's largest illegal drug consuming country we can stop this. End the drug war. Legalize, tax, regulate. Save the rest of the Americas from the violence.
Taken literally, the top 1 percent of American households had a minimum income of $516,633...The number looks large but attainable. Then comes the real shock.
When you look at the disparity in net worth, things look even more skewed. Wealthier Americans have assets — in home equity, stocks and other investments — that generally outstrip their cash income. Average wealth of the top 1 percent was almost $14 million in 2009...Yikes! Nobody in my circle of friends can boast that. The flip side is even scarier.
By contrast, the poorest households were experiencing declines in net worth even before the recession hit. In 2007, the bottom 20 percent of households had an average (negative!) net worth of –$13,800 in 2007, which fell further to –$27,200 in 2009. Altogether, “average wealth of the bottom 80 percent was just $62,900 in 2009 — a dropoff of $40,900 from 2007,” EPI writes. That means the wealthiest 1 percent held an average of 225 times the wealth of the average median household in 2009 — a ratio that was 125 in 1962.Big numbers make the head spin. Visual!
Officers in pepper spray incident placed on leaveAt some point the people of this country accepted this behavior from the police. Now that people carry a pocket video camera with them at all times the behavior looks different. I read the above news story and compared it to what I saw in the video.
Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters...
After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.
"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.
UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza has said the decision to use pepper spray was made at the scene.Is that what you saw? What are your reactions now?
"The students had encircled the officers," she said Saturday. "They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out."
(I)nterim police chief, Howard Jordan, was similarly defensive when he spoke to reporters, denying that his men had used rubber bullets or flash-bang grenades, as some protesters alleged and adding: "It's unfortunate it happened. I wish that it didn't happen. Our goal, obviously, isn't to cause injury to anyone."How can someone lie in the face of such condemning evidence? It certainly looks like a flash-bang grenade was tossed right in the middle of those protestors trying to help out a fallen protestor; a Marine who survived two tours in Iraq only to return to the United States and get his skull fractured for peaceful unarmed protest.
The Forbes 'Occupy Wall Street' Gaining Respect...From Wall Street? article by Kenneth Rapoza is poor journalism.The left wing lunatic 'fringe of the fringe' is gaining respect from the very source of the movement's disdain: Wall Street itself.A 'news' article calling a movement of thousands in New York and hundreds of thousands if not millions showing solidarity as the movement turns into Occupy Everywhere can not be called lunatic 'fringe of the fringe'. This seems like a deliberate attempt at belittling the very movement the article purports to report support for.
Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up through divide and conquer strategies remains to be seen, but the movement, which got its start in the editorial offices of Adbusters, a non-influential magazine based in Vancouver, continues to spread around the world.Send Mr. Rapoza back to school! First and foremost, this would make a fine example of a run-on sentence in any grammar book. The poor use of commas further complicates comprehension. The opening line, "Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up..." assumes unknowable foreknowledge. It again belittles the protests and assures the reader that this too shall pass into obscurity before any results are achieved. Calling Adbusters a non-influential magazine flies in the face of all evidence. The Occupy Wall Street idea started there and has spread around the globe over the past month. While the magazine may have played almost no role in organizing the event, their influence is evident.
Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread From New York to San Francisco - BusinessweekA valid point. Or it is a further indicator of how giant corporations fleece the population by over-charging for their goods. Having watched a lot of the live feed, I could also argue the protesters made wise investments in tools that have allowed them to become their own media outlet and spread the word. No major media outlet filmed policeman Anthony Bologna pepper-spraying innocent protesters. The protesters did it for themselves and spread it around the world in an instant. They aren't trying to get on TV because they don't need the TV.
“They’re just a bunch of wacko leftists trying to get on TV,” said Onel Delorb, 33, an unemployed office worker from the Bronx. “It’s my fault that I’m not doing anything for work. It’s not government’s fault.”
He said the demonstrators undermined their credibility by carrying iPhones and iPads made by Apple Inc., which is valued at $350 billion.
BBC News - Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters arrestedWe can't keep them from rewriting the page but we can keep them from rewriting history.
Some of the protesters said police had allowed them on to the roadway and were escorting them across when they were surrounded and the arrests began.
Occupy Wall Street: 'Pepper-spray' officer named in Bush protest claim | World news | guardian.co.ukIn case you think that perhaps there was some provocation for Bologna's actions, watch this excellent piece that shows what happened.
The Guardian has learned that the officer, named by activists as deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, stands accused of false arrest and civil rights violations in a claim brought by a protester involved in the 2004 demonstrations at the Republican national convention.
"This administration's insistence on raising taxes on job creators and its reluctance to take the steps necessary to strengthen our entitlement programmes are the reasons the president and I were not able to reach an agreement previously, and it is evident today that these barriers remain," (House Speaker Boehner) said.Let us assume that the rich are the job creators. I don't buy into this but millions of the citizenry do. Rather than argue with them we will, for argument's sake, play along.
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich - NYTimes.comWow! This country must be facing some serious shit if a billionaire is telling people that the rich must be taxed if we are to make it through.
"I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation."
'The private sector is held up as an example of good service and quality of care - and this is mostly justified. What is not justified is the price tag that comes with certain forms of private health care provision,' he said.In other news, with the United States' credit rating getting a downgrade, for the first time in history all nations with a AAA credit rating have socialized medicine.
'This is not only a burden to people using private health services, but a disservice to our country as a whole because it distorts pricing across the board.'
New York has become the sixth and most populous US state to allow same-sex marriage.I think we are reaching a point where this movement is snowballing. Coincidentally I also approve of snowballing. Whatever floats your boat.
Mrs Clinton said funding for the fight against transnational organised crime in the region would be increased from $260m in 2010 to almost $300m this year.Or we could legalize all drugs, tax them, generate millions in revenue, and no longer give a rat's ass about foreign drug cartels.
Whoa! Obama sure didn't waste any time ruining our economy.Turns out I have no comprehension of how the conservative mind works. Any ideas for research that can help me better understand this phenomenon?
BBC World ServiceSome day even our "Made in the USA" labels will be made in China.
China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second largest economy.
At its current rate of growth, analysts say China will replace the US as the world's top economy in about a decade.
This is not a tax on the rich. This is a tax on the very, very, very rich.
...it is almost common sense today, on both the right and the left, to equate the right-wing Tea Party movement with the working class. It is assumed that workers are more likely to be duped by the likes of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. However, analyses of the ranks of the Tea Party have shown that its supporters tend to be wealthier, older, better educated and whiter than the U.S. population as a whole.Tea Baggers are better educated? That gives me so much more hope for the working class.
It's not what it looks like. You don't understand. Yes, they bent me over backwards, took my money, and left me to die or rot in jail. They then slapped me around until I apologized for making them do all that. But deep down they are good politicians who really do love me. This little affair with business is just a passing thing. They'll come back to me and love me and treat me right. You'll see. You just don't know them like I do.Or is comparing voters to domestic violence victims a bit crude? Fine, I'll try it another way.
So I met this total creepoid at a bar. They kept buying me drinks and nobody else was talking to me. Next thing I know I'm waking up someplace that isn't my home, I'm tied up, and my ass is bleeding. The creepoid is there. They stuff a tissue up my ass (so it doesn't stain the carpet) and ask me if I'd like to do it again. I figure since I can't remember what happened the first time, there's no harm in doing it a second time.Still seems a bit complex.
Stupid poor people for maintaining the status quo!Damn. It sounds right but it just isn't as much fun as a good analogy.
This super factory that holds some 400,000 people isn't the "sweatshop" that most would imagine. It provides accommodation that reaches the scale of a medium-sized town, all smooth and orderly. Compared to others, the facilities here are well-equipped and superior, with employee treatment meeting standard specifications. Thousands of people flock here each day just to find a place of their own, to find a dream that they'll probably never realize.It's a fascinating read. Haunting.
"I wouldn't say it's failed yet. What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn't work."Bravo! Not only do you make the words dance, but you get them to tango in 5/4 time.
Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP
