tagged w/ Political Issues
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Speaking last week he said, "In Britain now we have workforces that are locked to areas and the result of that is we have over five and a half million people of working age who simply don't do a job…. We have to look at how we get that portability, so that people can be more flexible, can look for work, can take the risk to do it."
What is the point of moving a family to an area where there is more work when another family that has work then has to move to the area where there is no work and then commute to work every day just to keep their jobs which are most probably minimum wage, so how can they afford to do so unless their employer pays the travel expenses?
It will cost quite a lot of money to relocate the families. So why don't the government give the employers an initiative to hire people that live outside of their areas by offering a grant of somekind for example a travel to work grant, so that they can just pay the travel expenses for their out of town employees. The grant would cost far less than the current benefits being paid to the out of town/out of work families.
Oh...by the way...don't the MP's get their travel expenses paid, and their accommodation paid for, just so that they are able to maintain their work!!!!Speaking last week he said, "In Britain now we have workforces that are locked to... more
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* ... passed by the House last week and currently before the Senate: the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.
As with so much legislation, the title is Orwellian. The bill, sponsored by Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, does not reorganize a Native Hawaiian government, it creates one.
It states that people of Native Hawaiian descent can organize themselves as an Indian tribe. It would have "inherent powers and privileges of self-government," including presumably the power to tax, to enact criminal laws and to use eminent domain to seize private property.
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The Constitution empowers Congress to recognize established Indian tribes and to grant them self-governance. But the Constitution doesn't give it the power to create an Indian tribe.
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The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act would put Hawaii on a road headed in the wrong direction... and the Akaka bill threatens something even more precious, the progress we have made as a nation toward racial equality.
* excerpts from the following link:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/will_senate_say_aloha_to_racial_discrimination* ... passed by the House last week and currently before the Senate: the Native... more
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ahiguy
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added this
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2 years ago
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"What Government Can Learn From the New Research on Well-Being."
"economists have begun informing us what makes people happy...the American political system seeks the pursuit of happiness...apply this to the way the system works, and a good society will be one step closer."
www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/books"What Government Can Learn From the New Research on Well-Being."... more
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Dennis Kucinich comments on the impact of the Massachusetts election, the economy and Health Care for all.Dennis Kucinich comments on the impact of the Massachusetts election, the economy and... more
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tt112
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2 years ago
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Because its surface holds enough helium-3 to generate electricity for '10,000 years'
The race is on to return to the moon, and this time America has a new set of rivals: Japan, China and India. At stake is access to a new and clean source of energy buried in the grey lunar soil -- helium-3, which could be used to power fusion reactors in the near future.
NASA intends to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 with the Constellation Program, the replacement for the space shuttles. The Ares I rocket will bring astronauts up to Earth orbit where their capsule will rendezvous with a lunar lander launched aboard the massive Ares V. The combined ship will then take off for the moon. NASA plans to eventually establish lunar bases.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz56D4K0Ps0&feature=relatedBecause its surface holds enough helium-3 to generate electricity for '10,000... more
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I have a handful of conservative friends. Not so many that I could be considered a sympathizer. Just a few.
Being friends with them isn't always easy, but maintaining the relationships make me feel better about myself. After all - if I can look past something as ominous as conflicting political views - I must be a truly enlightened individual, right?
So we eat lunch together. We go out for drinks. One of them gave me a handjob. It's fine.
Yesterday, while sitting with a group of the right-wingers, I hear: "It's a fact. The people of Massachusetts have spoken."
Of course that person was referring to the GOP special election win by Scott Brown, the new pickup-driving Senator and former pin-up model, who had enough decency to cover up his junk but not his tangled mess of pubic hair in an '82 edition of Cosmo:
So - right then and there - I decided to drop a bombshell on their elephant-loving asses.
"Facts are for suckers," I said. "I don't believe in them."
The group let out a boisterous laugh. The handjobber blushed. Surely she hoped it was just another one of my super-engaging conversation starters.
"What is that supposed to mean?" someone asked. "It doesn't even make sense."
"Doesn't it?" I challenged back. "You show me a fact and I'll show you someone trying to prove a point. Facts are for suckers. I believe in the truth. It's universal."
Their collective jaw dropped. The Sereno legend lives on.
And it's no joke. Facts are bullshit. They're used to motivate people and support points of view. The next time you hear someone say "in fact ...," listen to what follows. It'll no doubt be a direct attack on what you know to be true.
On Dragnet, when Joe Friday asked for "just the facts, ma'am," did he get the truth? No. He received a borderline-useless eyewitness account of what happened. The whole show was spent searching through the misleading facts that plagued his investigation.
When the FDA releases facts on cigarette smoking is it to fuel its own agenda? Yep. That agenda may be loosening the stranglehold tobacco has on the United States, but it's still an agenda. And it'd be nowhere without those eye-opening and strategically-placed facts.
... So is it a fact? Have the people of Massachusetts spoken? Depends who you ask. As for me, I'll be sipping a margarita and floating in a pool of the truth. You should join me.
There isn't a gratuitous pubic hair in sight.I have a handful of conservative friends. Not so many that I could be considered a... more
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....In what universe must someone be living to believe that the Democratic Party is controlled by "the Left," let alone "the furthest left elements" of the Party? As Ezra Klein says, the Left "ha[s] gotten exactly nothing they wanted in recent months." The Left wanted a single-payer system, then settled for a public option, then an opt-out public option, then Medicare expansion -- only to get none of it, instead being handed a bill that forces every American to buy health insurance from the private insurance industry. Nor was it "the Left" -- but rather corporatist Democrats like Evan Bayh and Lanny Davis -- who cheered for the hated Wall Street bailout; blocked drug re-importation; are stopping genuine reform of the financial industry; prevented a larger stimulus package to lower unemployment; refuse to allow programs to help Americans with foreclosures; supported escalation in Afghanistan (twice); and favor the same Bush/Cheney terrorism policies of indefinite detention, military commissions, and state secrets.
The very idea that an administration run by Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel and staffed with centrists, Wall Street mavens, and former Bush officials -- and a Congress beholden to Blue Dogs and Lieberdems -- has been captive "to the Left" is so patently false that everyone should be too embarrassed to utter it. For better or worse, the Democratic strategy has long been and still is to steer clear of their leftist base and instead govern as "pragmatists" and centrists -- which means keeping the permanent Washington factions pleased. That strategy may or not be politically shrewd, but it is just a fact that the dreaded "Left" has gotten very little of what it wanted the entire year. Is there anyone who actually believes that "The Left" is in control of anything, let alone the Democratic Party? The fact that Lanny Davis -- to prove the Left's dominance -- has to cite one provision that was jettisoned (the public option) and another which the Left hates (the mandate) reflects how false that claim is. What are all of the Far Left policies the Democrats have been enacting and Obama has been advocating? I'd honestly love to know.
And then there is the "Blame the Left" theme from Obama loyalists, who actually claim that the Democrats' problems are due to the fact that the Left hasn't been cheering loudly enough for the Leader.
http://salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/20/left/index.html....In what universe must someone be living to believe that the Democratic Party is... more
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~y2010m1d18-Ron-Pauls-ideas-gaining-voters-attention
Ron Paul's ideas gaining voters attention~y2010m1d18-Ron-Pauls-ideas-gaining-voters-attention
Ron Paul's ideas gaining... more
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This is so sweet you almost want to give the guy a pass.
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is so smitten with his current live in girlfriend that he nominated her for US Attorney in Montana.
Alas, this selfless gift didn't work out, as John Stanton of Roll Call tells us:
Hanes, who is divorced and now lives with Baucus in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Washington, D.C., ultimately withdrew her name from consideration for the U.S. attorney position in order to move to Washington, and she now works in the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as a counselor to the administrator.
Baucus spokesman Tyler Matsdorf said the relationship was not the cause of Baucus' divorce and that Baucus did not arrange for her current position with DOJ.
"In no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces. When Senator Baucus and Melodee Hanes, his former state director, realized that their relationship was developing beyond a purely professional nature, Melodee began the process of resigning her Senate employment," Matsdorf said.
"After withdrawing from consideration for U.S. Attorney, Ms. Hanes independently applied for her current position at the Department of Justice. Having extensive experience and qualifications in the field, Ms. Hanes was awarded the position based solely on her merit. Since then she has excelled in her role," he added.
Hanes was one of three names Baucus forwarded to the White House for consideration as Montana's U.S. attorney. President Barack Obama ultimately tapped one of Baucus' nominees, Mike Cotter, for the position.
Odsbodkins! We are supposed to believe that one of the most powerful senators in Washington had nothing to do with getting his girlfriend a job in government? Yes, and you probably believe that man made global warming is real too.
This brings to mind that great song from A Chrous Line, "What I Did For Love:"This is so sweet you almost want to give the guy a pass.
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)... more
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KSirys
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2 years ago
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Reacting to prominent conservative blogger Charles Johnson's announcement that he would not follow the right wing off a cliff, Andrew Sullivan is offering his own reasons for parting with the movement.
Johnson, who blogs at Little Green Footballs, wrote on Monday that fanatic politicians, racism, sexism, anti-Islamism, hate speech, conspiracy theories and other troubling trends on the right wing have led him to make a formal break.
"The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff," he concluded. "I won't be going over the cliff with them."
Andrew Sullivan, though not as consistent a conservative as Johnson, felt compelled to emphasize his own separation from the right wing. Among other things, he writes:
I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.
I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.
I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.Reacting to prominent conservative blogger Charles Johnson's announcement that he... more
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's government has approved a plan to open the country's first Kurdish-language department at a university as part of its efforts to reconcile with the Kurdish minority.
Kurds largely welcome the government's overtures to try to end the Kurdish conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people as the rebels fight for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.
Small scale violence continued Tuesday. For the third day in a row, stone-throwing Kurdish militants clashed with police across the nation in the wake of last week's anniversary of the 1978 founding of the rebel group.
The Cabinet's decision about the new university department was published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday in another step toward recognizing the once-banned Kurdish language.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9VhSca_oZldvbO-XktR7l7Sa_PgD9CAG28G1
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kurdish_86.jpgANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's government has approved a plan to open the... more
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House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far right, speaks while colleagues Representative Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Representative Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget. (AP)
The guy sitting in the row in front of these two... he's on Facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out the baseball scores.
These are the folks that can't get the budget out, Seriously!!!
So, now we will be in the same boat.
It makes no difference WHICH party they are with, we need to expose these slackers and kick them out.
And no more lifelong pension.
This is one of their THREE DAY WORK WEEKS that we all pay for. I am ready to start from the beginning by voting out all elected officials and not letting any of them stay in office for more than two terms. No more lifelong healthcare, retirement, voting in their own pay raises, taking perks on our taxes,House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far... more
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ejasun
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2 years ago
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Washington (CNN) -- Republicans boycotted a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on a major bill to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Only one of the seven Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee -- Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio -- showed up for the panel's opening session. He left the meeting after delivering an opening statement.
Committee rules require at least two minority party members to be present to reach a working quorum. However, an exception could allow the committee to proceed without any Republicans, according to committee staff members.
Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for the committee's Republicans, told CNN that applying the exception would be a "nuclear option" by Democrats that would worsen the panel's already strained political climate.
In his remarks, Voinovich asked the committee to hold off its debate until getting a full Environmental Protection Agency analysis of a bill that he said would affect every American.Washington (CNN) -- Republicans boycotted a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on a... more
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KSirys
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added this
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2 years ago
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Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan "reform" and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be "universal coverage." The result will be destructive on every level—for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505423751140690.htmlDemocrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan "reform" and moved... more
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SEE is a short documentary that presents the growing phenomenon of surveillance through the performance art of Raul Gschrey, a young German artist who is aware of the increasing number of CCTV cameras in his hometown Frankfurt.
The film takes a look at Frankfurt’s streets and public spaces, which are under intensive surveillance, as Raul artistically attempts to communicate with the people who operate the cameras through monitoring systems. He engages in question-and-answer antics to investigate the cameras’ use. Is there anyone watching? Do CCTV cameras provide a feeling of security or are they perceived as an uninvited, intrusive observer?
For Raul, the CCTV camera offers a stage on which people can change roles: from passive observed persons to self-empowered individuals who take active part in an interaction with them. He successfully manages to raise people’s awareness of surveillance, visual monitoring and encourages the public to behave actively and self-consciously using his techniques.
SEE echoes the Orwellian alarm of a despotic regime that continuously monitors its citizens and tries to exercise thought control. This is the nightmare view of the delightfully dastardly tomorrow that, according to many sociologists, has already started.
Produced and Directed by Apostolos Gaitanis
Editing by Chris Tsatsanis
Music by DATURAH
Many thanks to Bernd Metz, Jesse Karjalainen and Miguel Samothrakis
Copyright Apostolos Gaitanis 2009
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Previous Works:
The Valley of Eordea (in English), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI0fLqmxXbY
Citizen Journalism (in Greek), http://tvxs.gr/node/41148SEE is a short documentary that presents the growing phenomenon of surveillance... more
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“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.
But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
.. we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard,... more
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