Tag Archives: politics

NSA warrantless wiretapping ruled uncostitutional

17 Aug

U.S. Federal Judge Rules Warrantless Wiretapping Unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

“Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,” Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.

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Religion and geopolitics

7 Aug

Religion and geopolitics; Lebanon, Israel, Christian Zionism
by bewareofthegod.com

American Jewish citizens can be sure that a large number of Jewish organizations will claim to speak in our name – without being asked to do so. We can also be sure that should we dissent from the US Jewish community’s central item of faith, that Israel can do no wrong, we will be pilloried. When our gentile fellow citizens express doubt, they are accused of anti-Semitism. Those of us who are Jewish are taxed with self-hatred.

Is it the supreme duty of American Jews to use our considerable influence to align US policy with that of Israel?

(…)

Read Norman Birnbaum’s whole 5 August 2006 investigation and analysis in The Nation.

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Tin foil hats time again folks. Nail ’em on tightly!

6 Aug

Governors bristle at Bush Guard proposal

The nation’s governors are closing ranks in opposition to a proposal in Congress that would let the president take control of the National Guard in emergencies without consent of governors.

The idea, spurred by the destruction and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, is part of a House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act. It has not yet been agreed to by the Senate.

The measure would remove the currently required consent of governors for the federalization of the Guard, which is shared between the individual states and the federal government.

Click through to read the remainder…

Now let’s see, it’s late December 2008. The Democratic candidate won the Presidential election last month. Time for another well timed disaster. Take over the National Guard first, then declare martial law, then “delay” the change of regime.

Yes, I have a top of the line tin foil hat. Thanks for asking.

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Update on Republican dirty politics with the minimum wage

4 Aug

Senate Democrats block wage, tax bill

Excerpt:

“They (Republicans) can get 6.6 million Americans an increase in their basic minimum wage as long as we promised that the fattest of cats in America would get a great big bowl of tax cuts,” said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

Organized labor blasted the Republican maneuvering and called on Congress to approve a stand-alone minimum wage increase to help keep some low-paid workers out of poverty.

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Minimum wage bill actually cuts wages for many Americans

2 Aug

A Primer on the Federal Minimum Wage – NPR

Since the last federal increase in September 1997, from $4.75 to $5.15, the purchasing power of the minimum wage — after accounting for inflation — has deteriorated by 20 percent. Adjusted for inflation, the value of the minimum wage is at its lowest since 1955.

House-passed minimum wage bill cuts wages for tipped employees in seven states by as much as $5.50 per hour

The Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006, H.R. 5970, which passed the House on July 29, raises the minimum wage for most employees. But for many employees in seven states, H.R. 5970 means a wage cut. Section 402 of the bill strikes down state laws that require employers to pay a full minimum wage without relying on tips from customers to reach the minimum level. States that have those laws will see the minimum wage for tipped employees fall as much as $5.50 per hour.

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Lebanon tells Rice “Don’t bother, you aren’t welcome here”

30 Jul

Israel kills 60 civilians and continues their official terrorist activity in Southern Lebanon

An Israeli air strike killed more than 60 Lebanese civilians, including at least 37 children, on Sunday, fuelling world pressure for an ceasefire in
Israel’s war in Lebanon against Hizbollah guerrillas.

So since the US continues to fail to condemn Israel’s blatantly terroristic actions, the US has lost all street cred in the Middle East.

The raid on the southern village of Qana — the bloodiest single attack during Israel’s 19-day-old war on Hizbollah — prompted Lebanon to tell U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice she was unwelcome in Beirut for talks.

Really, is it any wonder?

Rice said it was “time to get to a ceasefire,” but insisted this required changing the status quo before the war, which erupted after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

The United States says the priority is to remove the threat posed to Israel by Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria.

So in order to apply any pressure to Israel to stop killing civilians, first we have to give them something to which they have no right? What kind of logic is that? The kind of logic that wants any effort at diplomacy to fail, I think.

It’s no wonder that US diplomatic efforts are so ineffectual. The only thing that surprises me is that it took this long for Lebanon to tell us we weren’t welcome.

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I present to you “Christians in the Hand of an Angry God”

30 Jul

I’ve read this before. I liked it then, and I still like it. And yes, I too am an ex-Christian who actually studied the Bible. Brad does an excellent job in his theology, and makes a very believable case for his premise. What is his premise you ask?

The gospel that is being taught in almost every evangelical and fundamentalist church in America is a false gospel, and it has condemned tens of millions of people to eternal damnation in the fires of Hell.

Read his thesis here:

Christians in the Hand of an Angry God (part 1)
Christians in the Hand of an Angry God (part 2)
Christians in the Hand of an Angry God (part 3)
Christians in the Hand of an Angry God (part 4)
Christians in the Hand of an Angry God (part 5)

Representative excerpt from part 3

You remember Jesus, right? The guy who stood up against everything the Republicans stand for? Supposedly your savior if you call yourself a Christian? That guy. And oh yeah, he never mentioned anything about homosexuality, or, for that matter, much about any kind of sin other than robbing the poor. In fact, the only time that anybody forced the issue on him, it was a trap by the Pharisees, who hated Jesus with a fiery passion. You see, the Pharisees were exactly like modern Republicans.

Why bring this to your attention now? It’s the necessary backstory for understanding this post, which I think you should go and read.

So now we know, in at least one case, what it costs to preach that George Bush isn’t God’s prophet on Earth, Jesus doesn’t say it’s OK to hate the poor, and that wealthy people don’t usually have all of that money because God recognizes their virtues: $500,000.00 per sermon.

Bio: J Brad Hicks at Wikipedia

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Oceania looms ever closer

29 Jul

Bush submits new terror detainee bill

U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.

Sometimes I have very serious doubts that the Constitution will survive until 2008. Every single day the Bush administration seems to grab another tiny bit, and use it for toilet paper.

Why does G. W. hate America so?

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Priorities

28 Jul

What could we have done with the money spent to date on the Iraq war? Have you ever wondered? Well, here’s where you can see a counter telling you the cost of the war as it increments.

Then you can click a few links, and find out how many public school teachers could have been hired, how many children could have been provided full heath insurance, how many college scholarships could have been provided, and more.

Never mind that the war in question is as morally wrong as the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, or Lebanon by Israel. That’s not the point I’m making here. Even if you believe the war was justified, you should still think about the priorities. America has limited resources, and we are burning them in Iraq at an amazing rate.

What would you do with $300 billion? Would you invade and occupy another nation, or would you see our nation have health care for its citizens? Just another thing to ponder.

National Priorities, indeed.

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Mid Term Elections and Blackmail

28 Jul

House GOP slates minimum wage vote

. . . The wage would increase from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour, phased in over the next two years, the aide said.

The maneuver is aimed at defusing the wage hike as a campaign issue for Democrats while using its popularity to spur enactment of the Republican Party’s long-sought goal of permanently cutting taxes on millionaires’ estates. . . .

Click the link to read the entire story.

So, the Congress gives itself pay increases regularly, no strings attached. But to get the minimum wage workers any improvement, we have to agree to roll back the federal estate tax!?!?

Lawmakers fear being pounded with 30-second campaign ads over the August recess that would tie Congress’ upcoming $3,300 pay increase with Republicans’ refusal to raise the minimum wage.

You think?

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