Suppertime
Author: clintster
Date: 03/30/2012 12:17:45
A young man is walking along, minding his own business. He disappears and turns up dead days later. His killer or killers are defended by those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. The perpetrators of the true crime are let off the hook, and all because the victim was "different". This is a story that has been played out hundreds of times in America, and now is being seen again in the case of Trayvon Martin. There used to be a name for this: lynching.
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48 comments )
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Protecting the 2%
Author: Raine
Date: 03/29/2012 13:19:51
This week among the flurry of SCOTUS arguments was the topic of the individual mandate and it's constitutionality. Arguments have been made for and against it. Lost, once again, in the shuffle is the actual mandate and its cost. Lost in the debate are the number of people that will be affected by the mandate slated to go into effect in 2014. This is all making the assumption that the Supreme Court declares the Mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act Constitutional. I would like to reclarify what the mandate is. Basically, if you or your family do not have insurance by a set time you will be required to buy an insurance plan or pay a penalty. Q. I don't have health insurance. Will I have to get it, and what happens if I don't?
A: Under the legislation, most Americans will have to have insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. The penalty would start at $95, or up to 1 percent of income, whichever is greater, and rise to $695, or 2.5 percent of income, by 2016. This is the individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085 or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater. Some people can be exempted from the insurance requirement, called an individual mandate, because of financial hardship or religious beliefs or if they are American Indians, for example. )
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On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store to his dad's house. Self-appointed block "captain" George Zimmerman decided in his mind that this boy was a criminal and pursued him, despite direct directions from the non-emergency 911 operator NOT to do that. Supposedly, a scuffle occurred and Zimmerman shot Martin, claiming self-defense. Had Zimmerman been an actual police officeer, this may have been just another white-cop-shoots-black-youth story, and gotten little press. But Zimmerman was a private citizen, and Trayvon's parents were not about to let Zimmerman get away with murder (literally). And so - in the interim, the case has turned into a national discussion about racism (both casual and institutionalized), assumed guilt, and what constitutes self-defense and justifiable homocide. So let's take a closer look at these things...
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40 comments )
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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec
Date: 03/27/2012 10:21:07
Good Morning. Today is our 3,824th day in Afghanistan. We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com: US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,915 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,022 We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $ 1, 316, 092, 375, 000 .00 We'll get right into the political aspect of the war today. Like last time around, candidates are trying to make war a political issue. But it's far more cloudy than the last time around when there was a pretty clear division between the candidates. I suppose it's yet another instance of the GOP tin ear on most issues that really matter.
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68 comments )
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SCOTUS meets ACA
Author: Raine
Date: 03/26/2012 14:44:51
Today the Supreme court begins the first of the days of hearing on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. It will consist of 6 hours of oral arguments, and its longest argument in almost 45 years. At issue today is the Anti Injunction Act (AIA) a federal tax law that says, in essence, that a taxpayer cannot challenge a tax, at a minimum, until it comes into effect.
If the Supreme Court eventually rules that the individual mandate triggers the AIA, the court will have effectively punted the constitutional debate concerning the individual mandate down the road. It will have found that no challenge to the mandate can be brought until it goes into effect, which is after 2014.
The AIA, enacted in 1867, says “no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person.” It was passed to protect the government’s need to assess and collect taxes as expeditiously as possible with minimum interference from the judiciary. )
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I'll just leave a quick stub for you whilst I complete the Monday Blog. Here is the video, via MediaIte: Continue reading...
11 comments )
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Heart of a Cheney
Author: velveeta jones
Date: 03/25/2012 13:51:25
Be afraid, be very afraid. Dick Cheney now has a heart. Now, if only he had courage and a brain! Also, the capacity for honesty, compassion, love, tolerance, and justice; but sadly, those things are not for sale, no matter who you are. But, let's be happy for Dick, after all he needed a new heart because as he said back in Jan of this year, the pump that worked perfectly fine and kept him alive made it "awkward to walk around."
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8 comments )
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Hi Everyone. Our delightful stretch of weather is coming to an end....cold front is expected tonight, and temps will be back to more “normal” levels overnight tonight. While I could write about the weather, and how alarming it is to see things budding and opening at this stage of the game, we’re not going there today. We’re all familiar with Aesop’s fable of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse. Neither visit ended well for our furry friends. This past week, working in the city, I’ve been pondering whether I’d have to call myself a City Trisec or a Country Trisec.
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8 comments )
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Money Talks
Author: BobR
Date: 03/23/2012 12:57:57
There's an old saying that "money makes the world go 'round". While this certainly seems like it was coined by a Republican (LOL), money is certainly the grease that lubricates the cogs of the economy. It is also a large factor in determining who can and does run for public office, as well as who eventually wins (and then keeps their) seats in government. There have been numerous attempts to reign in spending via legislative action, but - as expected - the monied continuously fight these in court lest they lose their influence.
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22 comments )
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I am reposting this blog from September 2009. In light of what is happening to women in this year 2012 and taking into consideration what has happened in Florida I thought it would be interesting to go back 3 and a half years in time. I think it is fair to add, that I must be a sexist as well, considering I have called out the GOP for their attempts to strip away women's rights. I
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39 comments )
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