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Bank Transfer Day
Author: TriSec    Date: 11/05/2011 10:42:31

Good Morning!

An early Saturday, but not platelets are in the offing. Instead, I'm headed down to Camp Sayre in the beautiful Blue Hills Reservation for a day of training new Scouters. It's another ticket item for Woodbadge, but I digress.
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8 comments (Latest Comment: 11/05/2011 23:03:04 by trojanrabbit)

In Jobs We Trust
Author: BobR    Date: 11/04/2011 13:18:42

Ask enough people in the U.S. what the number one issue is facing our country, and the majority will answer "Jobs". The Bush-era economic policies resulted in those at the top being financially rewarded for shipping jobs overseas, and unregulated financial groups selling debt as assets until the whole ponzi scheme collapsed. The fallout has resulted in a stagnant job market as companies sit on money rather than investing in growth.

Despite it being Congress's job to create bills to alleviate this sort of thing, the Republican leadership in the House has criticized President Obama for not coming up with a jobs bill. So - he did. He created a comprehensive bill that covers a lot of territory and is well thought out. He presented it to Congress where it quickly stalled.

In the meantime, the House Republicans have been working on plenty of bills themselves - there was the bill redefining rape, bills about abortion, and - yesterday - the bill affirming "In God We Trust" as the official U.S. motto. What does this have to do with jobs, America wonders?...
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79 comments (Latest Comment: 11/05/2011 04:04:10 by BobR)

Hey Sugar, Park it here...
Author: Raine    Date: 11/03/2011 13:34:17

As the drama of the Cain campaign unfolds, I am reminded once again of how women seem to always be caught in the middle of having to defend themselves from unwanted advances. Cliches that were supposed to be long dead have reared their ugly heads again.

TPM has a wonderful article about this.
Herman Cain’s allies seem intent on tying his sexual harassment scandal to the most famous case of inappropriate workplace behavior in American history, the saga of Clarence Thomas.

And in one unexpected way, they’ve already succeeded: much of the right wing is now pulling the dust cloths off the same old criticisms of the very concept of sexual harassment that they’ve kept in storage since the ’90s. Namely, that the behavior is often harmless fun and women really need to lighten up already.

Advocates of women’s rights are noticing.

NOW Vice President for Action Erin Matson said what she’s heard coming from the right in the two days since the Cain story broke has been “disheartening.”

"(There’s a) strain of blaming and shaming women and calling them crazy," she said.
It's disheartening to say the very least, that some of the people defending whatever it is that Herman Cain did as something that is in the eye of the beholder, are female conservative commentators.

There is a real problem with this. The problem is that harassment, be it sexual or otherwise, is NOT a consensual act. It is a form of bullying and humiliation.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 11/04/2011 01:11:14 by BobR)

The Smell Test
Author: BobR    Date: 11/02/2011 12:45:34

(UPDATE BELOW...)

Upon the release of a story Monday by Politico on "alleged" sexual harrassment by presidential hopeful Herman Cain, the news seems to be focusing on little else. They've been doggedly pushing Cain for details, and he has continued to be deliberately obtuse. His meme has been that he remembers little of the incident, and has tossed off one silly "example" of what "might" have been construed as sexual harrassment.

To this I call bullshit.
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91 comments (Latest Comment: 11/03/2011 03:07:25 by BobR)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 11/01/2011 10:27:02

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,149th day in Iraq, and our 3,677th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4480
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4341
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3621
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 252
Since Operation New Dawn: 52

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,830
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 960
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 271, 600, 900, 000 .00

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57 comments (Latest Comment: 11/02/2011 02:45:38 by clintster)

Monday Open topic: Cain it be true?
Author: Raine    Date: 10/31/2011 12:50:51

I'll let you at it for a while. But I am really believing that the Cain story has some legs to it.

-- and I don't believe it is from the 'Liberals' as the Cain camp is saying.

What do you think? Mother Jones was wondering about this as well after the strange tobacco ad was released. Read the internal memo. I now believe this may have been the 'weaknesses' that Cain had.
When he left, meanwhile, an R.J. Reynolds lobbyist, Rob Meyne, penned an internal memo on Cain's future prospects. Noting that Cain was considering a presidential run in 2000, he wrote: "Nice to have goals, huh?" Meyne outlined a number of perceived electoral strengths for Cain—African American, a compelling public speaker, good record as a businessman, etc.—but added that there were a few weaknesses which he would only share off-list:
(click the link to read the internal memo)
We'd really love to know what the too-hot-for-email weaknesses were.


(be back in a bit, feeling really crappy this morning, and woke up late. Sorry everyone! )

Raine
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58 comments (Latest Comment: 11/01/2011 01:38:55 by Will in Chicago)

BOO!
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/30/2011 01:51:35

Scary stuff out there these days. And I'm not talking about serial murderers or terrorists or prehistoric monsters reawakened by evil mad scientists or deranged meth-addicted gang members bent on killing your family for pocket change. I'm talking about current political candidates out there asking you to vote them into office!

I'm talking about people that want to see you, or perhaps your loved ones, dead or at the very least miserably unhappy. Like, for example, Randall Terry. Yes, he of the "Pro-Life" movement is running as a Democrat. Nope, that is not a typo. Democrat. I rather doubt he'll win the nomination since I'm fairly sure the Dems already have their candidate.

Here is just one scary factoid about Randall; he is adamant about saving the unborn because, "abortion is murder", and against Gods will. But he will happily plunge the needle into a man sentenced to death by other men. Why one is considered murder and the other isn't has still never been explained to me; and things I don't understand, scare me.
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10 comments (Latest Comment: 10/31/2011 01:20:15 by TriSec)

Cross Quarter Days
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/29/2011 13:42:49

Good Morning!

We're just back indoors from an overnight with the Cubbies at the local Girl Scout camp. I smell like smoke...so even though we were in a cabin, this counts as a camping trip as far as I'm concerned.
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 10/29/2011 21:15:54 by Raine)

Selling a Used Car
Author: BobR    Date: 10/28/2011 12:44:59

It seems all we've been talking about here on FourFreedomsBlog lately is Occupy Wall Street. The protests have captured the attention of people, politicians, and the press in a way that hasn't been seen since the 60s. We've written about the goals, the lack of leadership and concrete action plans, and the heavy-handed responses by the police. The root cause of the protests, however, remains and will remain as long as the Republicans control a majority in the House. Since we're leading up to an election year, they are also trying to take the presidency.

The economy in general (and jobs in particular) remains the number one concern for most Americans. This is where the OWS movement can and should vocalize how the Republican approach to taxes and the economy flies in direct conflict with the problems and desires of the 99%. One of the OWS desires is to have a more equitable tax program for all Americans so that the rich are paying a higher percentage comensurate with their higher incomes.

So let's see how the Republican candidates plan on threading that needle...
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81 comments (Latest Comment: 10/29/2011 02:00:52 by Raine)

This is the Only Way.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/27/2011 13:29:00

So far, only the police through their fears and prejudice have goaded our people to riot. And once the riot starts, only the police or the National Guard have been able to put an end to them. This demonstrates that there violent eruptions are unplanned, uncontrollable, temper tantrums brought on by the long-neglected poverty, humiliation, oppression and exploitation. Violence as a strategy for social change in America is nonexistent. All the sound and fury seems but the posturing of cowards whose bold talk produces no action and signifies nothing.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom May 4, 1966
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73 comments (Latest Comment: 10/27/2011 23:50:12 by Will in Chicago)

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