Sunday, June 9, 2013

I'm not you.

angelophile: "I got a fan letter from a young lady. It was a...













angelophile:

"I got a fan letter from a young lady. It was a suicide note.

So I called her, and I said, "Hey, this is Jimmy Doohan. Scotty, from Star Trek." I said, "I'm doing a convention in Indianapolis. I wanna see you there."

I saw her — boy, I'm telling you, I couldn't believe what I saw. It was definitely suicide. Somebody had to help her, somehow. And obviously she wasn't going to the right people.

I said to her, "I'm doing a convention two weeks from now in St. Louis." And two weeks from then, in somewhere else, you know? She also came to New York - she was able to afford to got to these places. That went on for two or three years, maybe eighteen times. And all I did was talk positive things to her.

And then all of the sudden — nothing. I didn't hear anything. I had no idea what had happened to her because I never really saved her address.

Eight years later, I get a letter saying, "I do want to thank you so much for what you did for me, because I just got my Master's degree in electronic engineering."

That's…to me, the best thing I've ever done in my life."

Always reblog.

Photo



odinsblog: It seems like everybody in Washington D.C. except...





odinsblog:

It seems like everybody in Washington D.C. except Rand Paul knew about "VerizonGate", which Congress says has been going on for over seven years.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) released an outraged statement in response to "new shocking revelation" of the "NSA extensive seizure and surveillance" of Americans' Verizon phone records: "If the President and Congress would obey the Fourth Amendment we all swore to uphold, this new shocking revelation that the government is now spying on citizens' phone data en masse would never have happened."

Yes, it's "shocking" to some, but not to anyone who actually works in DC, and certainly not to Congress, since Congress knew about it for the last seven years.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said that they have been kept informed under the law and that the surveillance is legal. Chambliss added that the court order lasts three months and was a regular renewal of the legal authority, which has been going on for seven years.

h/t PoliticsUSA

The 4 Types of People on Welfare Nobody Talks About

The 4 Types of People on Welfare Nobody Talks About:

School Bus Driver Fired for Facebook Post About Hungry Student

School Bus Driver Fired for Facebook Post About Hungry Student:

socialismartnature:

The actual people who work with our children care a lot more about them than the superintendents and city officials too busy firing people and closing schools to even notice them.

===

graveyardpussy: The Shooting of James Meredith Jack Thornell, 6...



graveyardpussy:

The Shooting of James Meredith
Jack Thornell, 6 June 1966

James Meredith, a prominent civil rights activist, was leading a march when he was sprayed in his back with birdshot. The shooter was a man called Aubrey Norvell, who had reportedly shouted, "I just want James Meredith!"

Miraculously, none of the sixty-three birdshot pellets struck a vital organ or broke Meredith's spine, even though the pattern wounded him from head to buttocks.

In the picture, Meredith is lying on the street in agony. He cried out, "Isn't anyone going to help me?" No one did, but the photographer Thornell shouted that he should stay calm, and that an ambulance was on its way. Meredith was taken to a hospital where the pellets were extracted, and he healed well enough in two days to finish the march before it reached Jackson. Norvell pled guilty, and spent his time in prison regretting that he had not used buckshot.

illsevenyournine: mia-the-wonder-slut: cakeandrevolution: pubh...



illsevenyournine:

mia-the-wonder-slut:

cakeandrevolution:

pubhealth:

Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

For 75 years, Finland's expectant mothers have been given a box by the state. It's like a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys that can even be used as a bed. And some say it helped Finland achieve one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates.

It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life.

The maternity package - a gift from the government - is available to all expectant mothers.

It contains bodysuits, a sleeping bag, outdoor gear, bathing products for the baby, as well as nappies, bedding and a small mattress.

With the mattress in the bottom, the box becomes a baby's first bed. Many children, from all social backgrounds, have their first naps within the safety of the box's four cardboard walls.

Mothers have a choice between taking the box, or a cash grant, currently set at 140 euros, but 95% opt for the box as it's worth much more.

The tradition dates back to 1938. To begin with, the scheme was only available to families on low incomes, but that changed in 1949.

Infant mortality in Finland

(From BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415

Socialism at work.

I would rather my tax money pay for this than drone missiles.

Read about this the other day. Wish the United States would follow suit.

quickhits: Gun lobby: immigration reform means lazy brown...



quickhits:

Gun lobby: immigration reform means lazy brown people are gonna take away your guns!

Gun Owners of America's Larry Pratt emails supporters:

You Could Lose all your Guns before 2035 under the Amnesty Bill before the Senate

Contact your Senators and urge them to vote against the anti-gun immigration amnesty bill.

We've written you before about the immigration amnesty bill that will be debated on the Senate floor beginning June 10.

We had just been through a hard fight to stop gun bans and registration.  And some of you may have even felt the immigration amnesty was not a "gun" issue.

But if the amnesty bill is passed, within 20 years, Washington could be as anti-gun as Albany, Hartford, and Sacramento.

This is because the bill will create at least 11,500,000 new citizens — but probably closer to 20,000,000 — and, if history is any guide, they will vote 71% of the time for far Left Democrats like Barack Obama.

By 2035, the battle will no longer be about stopping the expansion of background checks.  Most likely, it will be about stopping the government from coming to take your guns away. And there is nothing we will be able to do about it.

Right Wing Watch notes that Pratt "has been going-all out against immigration reform, warning that immigrants will 'vote to take away our guns' and are 'going to be probably just sitting around drawing welfare and voting Democrat.' He told radio host Steve Deace earlier this week that if a reform bill passes, 'you can buh bye to your guns and buh bye to the rest of your freedom because this would be a country that had been californicated.'"

Is anyone in the media going to notice that the gun lobby is getting blatantly racist?

[photo by Neon Tommy]

"Nine people have been shot, at least seven fatally, near Caifornia's Santa Monica College on..."

"

Nine people have been shot, at least seven fatally, near Caifornia's Santa Monica College on Friday.

It was a chaotic scene that kept the seaside town on edge for hours as police tracked down the gunman through a residential neighborhood and shot him dead on crowded college campus.

The shootings began a little before noon during an apparent domestic dispute at a single-story Santa Monica home. Neighbors described hearing multiple gunshots coming from the house and saw smoke pouring from windows.

A man dressed in all black and a ballistic vest was carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon left the home, police said. He then shot a woman in a black Infinity, and got into the passenger side of a purple Mazda—a car similar to the one driven by his mother—and ordered the driver to head in the direction of the Santa Monica College campus.

The gunman was carrying multiple rounds of ammunition when he got out of the car and began firing at passing vehicles, including a city bus and a police car.

"Everyone threw themselves on the floor, screams," student Marta Fagerstroem, who was on the bus, told NBC4. "The bus driver, she panicked. She couldn't drive away. She was able to, after a while."

The suspect then fled police and ran onto the Santa Monica College campus where he shot one woman, and fired at several students at the school's library.

The college was quickly put on lockdown, and the suspect was shot and killed by police at the library.

"

- The New York Daily News, "At Least Seven Killed, Three Injured Near Santa Monica College" (via inothernews)

liberalsarecool: All that CEO pay comes at a cost to all...



liberalsarecool:

All that CEO pay comes at a cost to all workers in the company food chain.

"Every year white people add 100 years to how long ago slavery was. I've heard educated white people..."

""Every year white people add 100 years to how long ago slavery was. I've heard educated white people say, 'slavery was 400 years ago.' No it very wasn't. It was 140 years ago…that's two 70-year-old ladies living and dying back to back. That's how recently you could buy a guy.""

- Louis C.K. (via 30thcenturyboy)

centerforinvestigativereporting: America's 50 worst charities...



centerforinvestigativereporting:

America's 50 worst charities devote less than 4% of donations to direct cash aid.

We spent a year investigating and combing through a decade's worth of data to find that America's 50 worst charities paid solicitors nearly $1 billion in 10 years that could've gone to their causes. 

→ Read the wild dirty secrets of America's worst charities

→ Search our interactive database for the rankings.

→ We're also looking for tips on other bad charities to investigate next. Got any leads? Let us know here. 

thepoliticalfreakshow: The Blame Game: Here's Exactly Who To...



thepoliticalfreakshow:

The Blame Game: Here's Exactly Who To Blame In Congress For Authorizing Government Spying…Here's A Hint, It's Mostly Republicans (And Both President George W. Bush and President Obama)

The National Security Agency and the FBI don't bear all the responsibility for the revelation that Verizon is turning phone records over to the government. That responsibility lies with the members of Congress who voted for the PATRIOT Act, as well as extensions of it and the provisions related to collecting those records. Over 100 people currently serving in the House and Senate voted for the original Act in 2001. Last year, over 300 voted to extend a key provision.

We looked at seven Congressional actions generally and five in particular to assess how the government's power to collect data has evolved. From October 2001 to last December, Congress continually voted to expand or continue the government's power to collect private data, ostensibly to bolster efforts to stop terrorist activity. In addition to the PATRIOT Act, Congress has also renewed provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA — the law that established the court which issued the Verizon order.

The seven votes were:

(The "Medicare" bill, above, was gutted and re-written to accommodate three PATRIOT-related measures.)

There have been attempts to revise or curtail the rules, from their inception. In 2011, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky tried to amend the PATRIOT Act to limit its power. Last year, senators attempted to halt FISA data collection. In neither case did the rules pass.

We looked at votes by sitting Congressmembers on five bills critical to the existing governmental security tools. At the bottom of this post is a spreadsheet showing those votes — with names. But here's how they broke out.

The first graph for each bill shows the vote breakdown: red for those supporting increased surveillance tools; blue for opposed. The second graph shows the vote in both chambers by party.

The PATRIOT Act

Total current members who voted: 153
Total current members who supported the bill: 118

No sitting Republicans who were in Congress in 2001 voted against the PATRIOT Act. More sitting Democrats supported it than opposed.

Votes by sitting members

21.6%77.1%

Support and opposition by party

36.4%41.7%21.9%

PATRIOT Act Reauthorization, 2005

Total current members who voted: 260
Total current members who supported the bill: 151

Currently sitting Democrats were more likely to oppose the extension than to approve it. Several Republican House members opposed the extension, but no Senators did.

Votes by sitting members

41.2%58.1%

Support and opposition by party

12.8%45.7%39.1%

FISA Amendments, 2008

Total current members who voted: 304
Total current members who supported the bill: 191

Only one Republican voted against the amendments, which authorized the government to conduct sweeps like the one in the Verizon case.

Votes by sitting members

34.9%63.2%

Support and opposition by party

19.1%45.3%35.2%

PATRIOT Act Extension, 2011

Total current members who voted: 430
Total current members who supported the bill: 265

A larger number of sitting Republicans opposed the extension than any of the other three. That includes Senators Murkowski, Paul, Heller, and Lee. Nineteen Democrats who opposed the FISA amendments in 2008 voted in support of it under the new president.

Votes by sitting members

33.5%61.6%

Support and opposition by party

16.1%28.6%48.7%

FISA Extension, 2012

Total current members who voted: 437
Total current members who supported the bill: 303

Three Republican senators opposed extending FISA: Lee, Murkowski, and Paul.

Votes by sitting members

28.8%69.3%

Support and opposition by party

18.2%27.3%52.4%

If it's easier, we've put together a list of every sitting member of Congress who has voted for the continuation of these surveillance tools every time they had an opportunity to do so, with special mention for those that have done so all five times. There are 56 of those — and 247 who've never voted no.

Sitting members who voted for surveillance every time

  • Rep. Robert Aderholt (Alabama, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Spencer Bachus (Alabama, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Jo Bonner (Alabama, Republican)
  • Rep. Mo Brooks (Alabama, Republican)
  • Rep. Martha Roby (Alabama, Republican)
  • Rep. Mike D. Rogers (Alabama, Republican)
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions (Alabama, Republican)
  • Rep. Terri Sewell (Alabama, Democratic)
  • Sen. Richard Shelby (Alabama, Republican)
  • Rep. Ron Barber (Arizona, Democratic)
  • Sen. Jeff Flake (Arizona, Republican)
  • Rep. Trent Franks (Arizona, Republican)
  • Rep. Paul Gosar (Arizona, Republican)
  • Sen. John McCain (Arizona, Republican)
  • Rep. David Schweikert (Arizona, Republican)
  • Sen. John Boozman (Arkansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Rick Crawford (Arkansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Tim Griffin (Arkansas, Republican)
  • Sen. Mark Pryor (Arkansas, Democratic)
  • Rep. Steve Womack (Arkansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Ken Calvert (California, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Jeff Denham (California, Republican)
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein (California, Democratic)
  • Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (California, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Darrell Issa (California, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Kevin McCarthy (California, Republican)
  • Rep. Howard McKeon (California, Republican)
  • Rep. Gary Miller (California, Republican)
  • Rep. Devin Nunes (California, Republican)
  • Rep. Ed Royce (California, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Michael Bennet (Colorado, Democratic)
  • Rep. Mike Coffman (Colorado, Republican)
  • Rep. Cory Gardner (Colorado, Republican)
  • Rep. Doug Lamborn (Colorado, Republican)
  • Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut, Democratic)
  • Sen. Tom Carper (Delaware, Democratic)
  • Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Vern Buchanan (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Kathy Castor (Florida, Democratic)
  • Rep. Ander Crenshaw (Florida, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Ted Deutch (Florida, Democratic)
  • Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. John Mica (Florida, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Jeff Miller (Florida, Republican)
  • Sen. Bill Nelson (Florida, Democratic)
  • Rep. Rich Nugent (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Tom Rooney (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Dennis Ross (Florida, Republican)
  • Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Steve Southerland (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Daniel Webster (Florida, Republican)
  • Rep. Bill Young (Florida, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. John Barrow (Georgia, Democratic)
  • Rep. Sanford Bishop (Georgia, Democratic) - all five times
  • Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Georgia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Phil Gingrey (Georgia, Republican)
  • Sen. Johnny Isakson (Georgia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Jack Kingston (Georgia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. David Scott (Georgia, Democratic)
  • Rep. Austin Scott (Georgia, Republican)
  • Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia, Republican)
  • Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho, Republican)
  • Sen. Jim Risch (Idaho, Republican)
  • Rep. Mike Simpson (Idaho, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Randy Hultgren (Illinois, Republican)
  • Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Illinois, Republican)
  • Sen. Mark Kirk (Illinois, Republican)
  • Rep. Dan Lipinski (Illinois, Democratic) - all five times
  • Rep. Mike Quigley (Illinois, Democratic)
  • Rep. Peter Roskam (Illinois, Republican)
  • Rep. Aaron Schock (Illinois, Republican)
  • Rep. John Shimkus (Illinois, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Larry Bucshon (Indiana, Republican)
  • Sen. Dan Coats (Indiana, Republican)
  • Sen. Joe Donnelly (Indiana, Democratic)
  • Rep. Marlin Stutzman (Indiana, Republican)
  • Rep. Todd Young (Indiana, Republican)
  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa, Republican)
  • Rep. Steve King (Iowa, Republican)
  • Rep. Tom Latham (Iowa, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kansas, Republican)
  • Sen. Jerry Moran (Kansas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Mike Pompeo (Kansas, Republican)
  • Sen. Pat Roberts (Kansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Kevin Yoder (Kansas, Republican)
  • Rep. Brett Guthrie (Kentucky, Republican)
  • Sen. Mitch McConnell (Kentucky, Republican)
  • Rep. Hal Rogers (Kentucky, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Ed Whitfield (Kentucky, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Rodney Alexander (Louisiana, Republican)
  • Rep. Charles Boustany (Louisiana, Republican)
  • Rep. Bill Cassidy (Louisiana, Republican)
  • Rep. John Fleming (Louisiana, Republican)
  • Sen. Mary Landrieu (Louisiana, Democratic)
  • Rep. Steve Scalise (Louisiana, Republican)
  • Sen. David Vitter (Louisiana, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Susan Collins (Maine, Republican)
  • Sen. Angus King (Maine, Independent)
  • Rep. Steny Hoyer (Maryland, Democratic) - all five times
  • Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Maryland, Democratic)
  • Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (Maryland, Democratic)
  • Rep. Dan Benishek (Michigan, Republican)
  • Rep. David Camp (Michigan, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Bill Huizenga (Michigan, Republican)
  • Rep. Candice Miller (Michigan, Republican)
  • Rep. Gary Peters (Michigan, Democratic)
  • Rep. Mike Rogers (Michigan, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Fred Upton (Michigan, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Tim Walberg (Michigan, Republican)
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minnesota, Republican)
  • Rep. John Kline (Minnesota, Republican)
  • Rep. Erik Paulsen (Minnesota, Republican)
  • Sen. Thad Cochran (Mississippi, Republican)
  • Rep. Gregg Harper (Mississippi, Republican)
  • Rep. Alan Nunnelee (Mississippi, Republican)
  • Rep. Steven Palazzo (Mississippi, Republican)
  • Sen. Roger Wicker (Mississippi, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Roy Blunt (Missouri, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Sam Graves (Missouri, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Missouri, Republican)
  • Rep. Billy Long (Missouri, Republican)
  • Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (Missouri, Republican)
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill (Missouri, Democratic)
  • Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (Nebraska, Republican)
  • Sen. Mike Johanns (Nebraska, Republican)
  • Rep. Adrian Smith (Nebraska, Republican)
  • Rep. Lee Terry (Nebraska, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Mark Amodei (Nevada, Republican)
  • Rep. Joe Heck (Nevada, Republican)
  • Sen. Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire, Republican)
  • Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (New Jersey, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Scott Garrett (New Jersey, Republican)
  • Rep. Leonard Lance (New Jersey, Republican)
  • Rep. Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Bob Menendez (New Jersey, Democratic)
  • Rep. Jon Runyan (New Jersey, Republican)
  • Rep. Albio Sires (New Jersey, Democratic)
  • Rep. Chris Smith (New Jersey, Republican)
  • Rep. Steve Pearce (New Mexico, Republican)
  • Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York, Democratic)
  • Rep. Michael Grimm (New York, Republican)
  • Rep. Brian Higgins (New York, Democratic)
  • Rep. Peter King (New York, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Tom Reed (New York, Republican)
  • Sen. Richard Burr (North Carolina, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. George Butterfield (North Carolina, Democratic)
  • Rep. Howard Coble (North Carolina, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Renee Ellmers (North Carolina, Republican)
  • Rep. Virginia Foxx (North Carolina, Republican)
  • Sen. Kay Hagan (North Carolina, Democratic)
  • Rep. Patrick McHenry (North Carolina, Republican)
  • Rep. Mike McIntyre (North Carolina, Democratic) - all five times
  • Sen. John Hoeven (North Dakota, Republican)
  • Rep. John Boehner (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Steve Chabot (Ohio, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Bob Gibbs (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Bill Johnson (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Bob Latta (Ohio, Republican)
  • Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Steve Stivers (Ohio, Republican)
  • Rep. Pat Tiberi (Ohio, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Tom Coburn (Oklahoma, Republican)
  • Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoma, Republican)
  • Sen. Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma, Republican)
  • Rep. James Lankford (Oklahoma, Republican)
  • Rep. Greg Walden (Oregon, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Lou Barletta (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (Pennsylvania, Democratic)
  • Rep. Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Jim Gerlach (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Tom Marino (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Pat Meehan (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Rep. Joe Pitts (Pennsylvania, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Bill Shuster (Pennsylvania, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Glenn Thompson (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Sen. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania, Republican)
  • Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island, Democratic)
  • Rep. Jeff Duncan (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Rep. Trey Gowdy (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Rep. Mick Mulvaney (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Sen. Tim Scott (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Rep. Joe Wilson (South Carolina, Republican)
  • Sen. John Thune (South Dakota, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Kristi Noem (South Dakota , Republican)
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Diane Black (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Jim Cooper (Tennessee, Democratic)
  • Sen. Bob Corker (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Scott DesJarlais (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Stephen Fincher (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tennessee, Republican)
  • Rep. Joe Barton (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. John Carter (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Mike Conaway (Texas, Republican)
  • Sen. John Cornyn (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. John Culberson (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Blake Farenthold (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Bill Flores (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Louie Gohmert (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Kay Granger (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Gene Green (Texas, Democratic)
  • Rep. Ralph Hall (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. RubĂ©n Hinojosa (Texas, Democratic)
  • Rep. Kenny Marchant (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Randy Neugebauer (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Pete Olson (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Ted Poe (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Lamar S. Smith (Texas, Republican)
  • Rep. Mac Thornberry (Texas, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah, Republican)
  • Rep. Eric Cantor (Virginia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Randy Forbes (Virginia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Bob Goodlatte (Virginia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Robert Hurt (Virginia, Republican)
  • Rep. Scott Rigell (Virginia, Republican)
  • Sen. Mark Warner (Virginia, Democratic)
  • Rep. Rob Wittman (Virginia, Republican)
  • Rep. Frank Wolf (Virginia, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Doc Hastings (Washington, Republican)
  • Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Washington, Republican)
  • Rep. Dave Reichert (Washington, Republican)
  • Sen. Joe Manchin (West Virginia, Democratic)
  • Rep. David McKinley (West Virginia, Republican)
  • Sen. Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia, Democratic)
  • Rep. Sean Duffy (Wisconsin, Republican)
  • Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin, Republican)
  • Rep. Tom Petri (Wisconsin, Republican) - all five times
  • Rep. Reid Ribble (Wisconsin, Republican)
  • Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisconsin, Republican)
  • Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin, Republican) - all five times
  • Sen. John Barrasso (Wyoming, Republican)
  • Sen. Mike Enzi (Wyoming, Republican)
  • Rep. Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming , Republican)

Complete list of votes

Photo: President Bush signs the FISA Act in 2008.

truth-has-a-liberal-bias: Ronald Reagan's Legacy: Homelessness...



truth-has-a-liberal-bias:

Ronald Reagan's Legacy: Homelessness in America

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reagan came to office in 1981 with a mandate to reduce federal spending. In reality, he increased it through the escalating military budget, all the while slashing funds for domestic programs that assisted working class Americans, particularly the poor.

Reagan's fans give him credit for restoring the nation's prosperity. But whatever economic growth occurred during the Reagan years only benefited those already well off. The income gap between the rich and everyone else in America widened. Wages for the average worker declined and the nation's homeownership rate fell. During Reagan's two terms in the White House, which were boon times for the rich, the poverty rate in cities grew…

By the end of Reagan's term in office federal assistance to local governments was cut 60 percent. Reagan eliminated general revenue sharing to cities, slashed funding for public service jobs and job training, almost dismantled federally funded legal services for the poor, cut the anti-poverty Community Development Block Grant program and reduced funds for public transit. The only "urban" program that survived the cuts was federal aid for highways – which primarily benefited suburbs, not cities…

Reagan is lauded as "the great communicator," but he sometimes used his rhetorical skills to stigmatize the poor. During his stump speeches while dutifully promising to roll back welfare, Reagan often told the story of a so-called "welfare queen" in Chicago who drove a Cadillac and had ripped off $150,000 from the government using 80 aliases, 30 addresses, a dozen social security cards and four fictional dead husbands. Journalists searched for this "welfare cheat" in the hopes of interviewing her and discovered that she didn't exist…

Another of Reagan's enduring legacies is the steep increase in the number of homeless people, which by the late 1980s had swollen to 600,000 on any given night – and 1.2 million over the course of a year. Many were Vietnam veterans, children and laid-off workers.

In early 1984 on Good Morning America, Reagan defended himself against charges of callousness toward the poor in a classic blaming-the-victim statement saying that "people who are sleeping on the grates…the homeless…are homeless, you might say, by choice."  […]

http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/135/reagan.html

centerforinvestigativereporting: Some startling info from...



centerforinvestigativereporting:

Some startling info from Mother Jones on the rise in student loan debt, and Congress' short and long-term plans to fix it

wisconsinforward: The War on Marijuana in Black and...





wisconsinforward:

The War on Marijuana in Black and White

According to a new report by the ACLU:

Between 2001 and 2010, there were over 8 million pot arrests in the U.S. That's one bust every 37 seconds and hundreds of thousands ensnared in the criminal justice system.

Marijuana use is roughly equal among blacks and whites, yet blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.

And the racial disparity in Wisconsin is, once again, worse than the national average.  In Waukesha County alone, black people were arrested for marijuana possession at nearly 13 times the rate of white people.

bebinn: How To Identify Crisis Pregnancy Centers Crisis...



bebinn:

How To Identify Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Crisis pregnancy centers, or pregnancy resource centers, disguise themselves as medical facilities, but usually have no licensed doctors, nurses or counselors. They often appear under "Abortion Alternatives," and may have names similar to abortion clinics nearby in order to confuse patients into entering their buildings instead of the real clinics.

Once you enter a CPC, their mission is to prevent you from getting an abortion at any cost. They will use misleading language, delay tactics, emotional manipulation, intimidation, and outright lies to either persuade you against abortion or to make you miss your appointment. The worst part? It's all completely legal and funded by federal dollars.

CPCs do their best to appear as legitimate abortion clinics, so how can you tell which is which? Here is a list of red flags for CPCs:

  • The words "crisis" or "resource" appear in the center's name
  • Their ads use language like "Pregnant & Scared?"
  • They offer free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds
  • When asked if they provide abortions or contraception, they will not give a direct answer
  • The waiting room has biased pamphlets, sometimes with graphic pictures labeled as abortions
  • They attempt to make you feel guilty about considering abortion
  • They offer baby items, such as diapers and formula
  • They downplay the effectiveness of contraception and emphasize abstinence
  • They emphasize the dangers of abortion (Fact: fewer than 0.3% of patients experience complications requiring hospitalization)
  • They discuss the false connections between abortion and breast cancerinfertility, or mental illness, often referred to as post-abortion stress syndrome
  • Regardless of how you talk about the pregnancy, they refer to "your baby," the "preborn child," "post-abortive women," and say that you are "already a mother."

More on CPCs

How to Identify CPCs

Beware of Fake Clinics

Crisis Pregnancy Centers: An Affront to Choice

CPC Warning Stickers

A list of licensed abortion clinics in the United States can be found on the Abortion Assistance Blog.

letitburnthewaythestarsdo: Down with Monsanto ~



letitburnthewaythestarsdo:

Down with Monsanto ~

questionall: The Revolution in Istanbul is not being Televised....



questionall:

The Revolution in Istanbul is not being Televised.

Please spread the news about what's going on in Turkey! "It is very clear. The whole country is being sold to corporations by the government, for the construction of malls, luxury condominiums, freeways, dams and nuclear plants. The government is looking for (and creating when necessary) any excuse to attack Syria against its people's will."

"They gathered and marched. Police chased them with pepper spray and tear gas and drove their tanks over people who offered the police food in return."

People who are marching to the center of Istanbul are demanding their right to live freely and receive justice, protection and respect from the State. They demand to be involved in the decision-making processes about the city they live in.

What they have received instead is excessive force and enormous amounts of tear gas shot straight into their faces. Three people lost their eyes.

Yet they still march. Hundred of thousands join them. Couple of more thousand passed the Bosporus Bridge on foot to support the people of Taksim. Over 40,000 people crossed the Bosporus bridge to support the people on Saturday morning. Chanting together "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism."

No newspaper or TV channel was there to report the events. They were busy with broadcasting news about Miss Turkey and "the strangest cat of the world".

Police kept chasing people and spraying them with pepper spray to an extent that stray dogs and cats were poisoned and died by it. This is happening now, this is the revolution, and NO its not being televised.

Find out more about the turkish revolution here: http://defnesumanblogs.com/2013/06/01/what-is-happenning-in-istanbul/

"In 1969 … Nixon strategist Kevin Phillips offered a blueprint for crushing the Democrats' New Deal..."

"

In 1969 … Nixon strategist Kevin Phillips offered a blueprint for crushing the Democrats' New Deal coalition by recruiting Southerners and Catholics to the G.O.P. …

Nixon's advisers urged him to reconsider his position on abortion and family planning. … Observing that abortion was "a rising issue and a gut issue with Catholics," Buchanan wrote, "If the President should publicly take his stand against abortion, as offensive to his own moral principles … then we can force Muskie [one of Nixon's potential democratic challengers up for the nomination] to make the choice between his tens of millions of Catholic supporters and his liberal friends at the New York Times and the Washington Post."

A week later, in a statement to the Department of Defense, Nixon borrowed the language of the Catholic Church to speak of his "personal belief in the sanctity of human life—including the life of the yet unborn."…

Abortion wasn't a partisan issue until Republicans made it one. In June of 1972, a Gallup poll reported that sixty-eight per cent of Republicans and fifty-nine per cent of Democrats agreed that "the decision to have an abortion should be made solely by a woman and her physician." Fifty-six per cent of Catholics thought so, too.

"

-

from:

"The Politics of Planned Parenthood and Women's Rights;" The New Yorker 

November 2011

Literally all of the ~~moral~~ bullshit the GOP puts out about abortion has its origins in a Nixon campaign strategy designed to get him to run against a weak candidate: McGovern. Nixon wanted to run against him, rather than Muskie, so he came up with some moral crap about abortion to destabilize Muskie's support base, which ensured that McGovern received the nomination and ran against Nixon.

He didn't even really believe in what he was saying. And he politicized it. And forty years later, look at the mess we have now. 

(via collegegrrrl)

O

(via mommapolitico)

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