Bits and Pieces for the Week of January 22 - 28

Raising Arizona... to HATE. "The photo above showing seven young men with guns holding what seems to be a bullet-riddled T-shirt depicting President Barack Obama was, until recently, up on the Facebook page for Sergeant Pat Shearer of the Peoria Police Department." (7 of 6)

Tucson School Walk Outs Grow: Protest School District's Folly and Mexican American Studies Banishment (7 of 6)

Dear Newt, Please Apologize

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich From the Pastors of Poor Children Mr. Gingrich, For this you still owe our children an apology: "Some of the things they could do is work in a library, work in the front office, some of them frankly could be janitorial; what if they clean up the bathrooms, what if they mopped the floors, what if in the summer they repainted the school; what if in the process they were actually learning to work, learning to earn money; if they had their own money, they didn't have to become a pimp or a prostitute or a drug dealer. [If] they had the dignity of work and learned how to be around adults who actually wanted to mentor them and help them. This is not a casual comment... It grows out of a lot of thinking over many years of trying to figure out how do we break out people trapped in poverty who have no work habits." -- Gingrich We, the students and faculty of the Delaware Annual Conference Ministerial Institute of the AME Church, representing over 34 congregations and their constituents throughout Delaware and southern Pennsylvania are outraged at your continued demeaning of poor children and their families. As a candidate vying for the Republican Presidential nomination, to suggest that poor children collectively lack a work ethic and drive for legal and productive work is entirely classist. Your national platform is no place for such irresponsible remarks. Our children deserve better than your degrading rhetoric. In fact, they deserve an apology, and we -- their pastors and advocates -- demand one. Mr. Gingrich, what your remarks have demonstrated is a failure to acknowledge the resilience of many who work daily and yet are unable to escape poverty. For many, low wages, a poor economy, and sparse full time employment opportunities have landed many families into the category of what the U.S. Department of Labor & Labor Statistics call the working poor. Contrary to what your remarks propagate, a significant number of children in households below the American poverty line (and those one paycheck away from it) are in homes with working family members; many of them are in our congregations weekly and are active citizens. Mr. Gingrich, not only did you get the "cause" of poverty wrong, but your "solution" is just as unsubstantiated and offensive. Mandating that poor children become the janitors of their own failing public schools to better their work ethic is not a well thought out, viable, or realistic solution. Such a proposal is not only insulting, it is ridiculous. Where would the currently employed janitors work (obviously this is a back handed assault on union employees)? If poor children are to benefit from extracurricular employment, why not at least provide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) opportunities to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace? Why not invest in education reform instead of cutting back early education/head start programs? Why not put forth solutions to the unemployment crisis in our nation, so that those who have the dignity, but not the work, can have an opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their children? But, no -- instead you fan the flames of prejudice to get votes. With a move right out of Lee Atwater's Southern Strategy play book (i.e., "Welfare Mothers" = Lazy Blacks), you have managed to stir the xenophobia and racist fears of your far right republican base with the statement: "I've been talking about the importance of work, particularly as it relates to people who are in areas where there is public housing, et cetera, where there are relatively few people that go to work." (Emphasis added) Mr. Gingrich, the poverty of many poor minority children is the byproduct of systemic injustices that bar them from participation in the American Dream because of their racial and social location -- not laziness. We understand that you are of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" camp, but the last time we checked Mr. Gingrich, it is impossible to pull yourself up by your own boot straps, and even more difficult when you have no boots to begin with. Consequently, as pastors and leaders of the poor and their children, we are called to champion those without the boots of opportunity, fair play, and justice. For us not to mandate an apology for such biased, erroneous and offensive remarks would be as irresponsible as the remarks themselves. Today, Mr. Gingrich, we extend to you the opportunity to recant your "war on poor children" rhetoric and the opportunity to apologize to our children for speaking such falsehoods over their lives. Awaiting your response, Delaware Annual Conference Ministerial Institute The Rev. Dr. Janet J. Sturdivant, Dean of Ministerial Institute The Rev. Silvester S. Beaman, Chairman of Board of Examiners Sis. Joi Orr, M.Div, Organizer & Institute Student

Bits and Pieces for the Week of January 15 - 21

Man dying of cancer wishes his wife "happy birthday". (Mike)

The "one-space" vs. "two-space" controversy. (Mike)

Military drones are much more expensive, more likely to fail, and deadlier than you might think.  (Mike)

"...ALEC bills itself as the nation’s largest bipartisan legislative membership organization, dedicated to the advancement of “federalism” and “Jeffersonian ideals.” In reality, ALEC is a conduit through which roughly 2,000 state legislators (almost all Republicans) are paired with legions of lobbyists representing more than 300 of the nation’s top corporations... ALEC holds three major conferences each year for member lawmakers, lobbyists and member “think tanks.” At the end of such conferences, member lawmakers carry pieces of ALEC “model legislation” to their home assemblies for introduction..." (7 of 6)

Why Obama deserves, and the U.S. needs, a second Obama term. (Mike)

In racist Arizona, the Tea Party's agenda continues to attack the Mexican-American studies (MAS) program. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop at classroom studies. "As part of the state-mandated termination of its ethnic studies program, the Tucson Unified School District released an initial list of books to be banned from its schools today." Including, Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” More banned books, "Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years", "Pedagogy of the Oppressed", "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos", "Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement", "500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures", "Critical Race Theory". More from Blog for Arizona. (7 of 6)

Bits and Pieces for the Week of January 8 - 14

Don't ignore Pakistan.  It's becoming more destabilized by the day. (Mike)

If there had been NO Bush tax cuts, average-income Americans would be bringing home around $9,000 MORE per year.  In a related issue, Romney's proposed tax cuts will allow the rich to bring home tax cuts twice the size of those under Bush. (Mike)

No, Iran is NOT developing a nuclear weapon program. (Mike)

"There is an old quote from Lord Baron Acton that says, 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' ...there is no better example of this in Maricopa County than Joe Arpaio. Since coming to office with a promise to serve one term, Arpaio has become the most sued sheriff in America, costing taxpayers over $42,000,000 in settlements from over 5,000+ lawsuits with over 2,600+ just for civil rights violations--including those cases that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars." (7 of 6)

Adding to My Wishlist

Yes, I want one of these (the vehicle, not the model):

Bits and Pieces for the Week of January 1 - 7

Hard to believe, but the New England Journal of Medicine is 200 years old this month.

Today Obama reached into his pants and found his balls! And here's why. (Mike)

The Book of Jobs - Joseph Stiglitz. Last paragraph of page 2, and page 3 outline the economic recovery plan America should take. But God forbid if it smells of Democratic Socialism. (7 of 6)

37th annual list of banished words (Mike)

Timeline of The Affordable Care Act. An outstanding resource of what's already been implemented under ACA and what is to come in future years. The republi-cons focus on repealing the ACA is wasting valuable money and energy. Time for them to work with Democrats on making the ACA better instead of trying to roll back the whole thing. (7 of 6)

Bye Bye to Michele and her flamboyant husband

Sorry, I just couldn't resist:

Mapping Device of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC )

Until they became public, and under scrutiny, no one really knew the integral depths ALEC has become at almost every level! Local, state and federal legislatures have been corrupted. From ALEC Exposed.org "These bills and resolutions reach into almost every area of American life: worker and consumer rights, education, the rights of Americans injured or killed by corporations, taxes, health care, immigration, and the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. Only by seeing the depth and breadth and language of the bills can one fully understand the power and sweep of corporate influence behind the scenes on bills affecting the rights and future of every American in every single state." I have been working with a friend from Southern Arizona, Lisa Hoffman, and she has compiled an interactive map, it will take your breath away how deep the inner workings have gone. Follow the mapping device, click on the names, see how deep this collusion has been. One masterful Machiavellian scheme by the conservatives is the only way to describe it! Who said there wasn't a "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" going on? We know that it was no conspiracy, it was the complete truth!

Here's what Republicans think of Americans with jobs

The voice pleading at the end belongs to Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer.

Best Fails of 2011

As a tribute to all the rest of us who know better, here are some of the truly idiotic humans who we hope also fail to breed:

Possibly the worst, most disgusting political ad ever

I just saw the Black Keys for the first time a few nights ago on Letterman. What a terrific band!

Pre-Holiday Bits & Pieces

Pondering the effects of Greece leaving the Euro

It's SGR Hell Time Again

Because of our semi-incompentent federal government, each year around this time we must go throught the agonizing process of renewing appropriate Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians. It's up again for vote in congress, and I'm sure Republicans will do everything in their power to try to fuck it up, like they do with almost everything else. This video helps explain the faults of the SGR process:

Post-Thanksgiving Bits and Pieces

• WOW
• A public apology to Obama
• This is a great service if you need a temporary email address for one hour (such as for registering at a new web site for a one-time activity)
• There's a good chance that your smartphone is being tracked. UPDATE: So some users are now suing.
• Legalizing marijuana will reduce traffic fatalities
• Soccer and violent video games can cause brain damage.
• Provisions of the new NBA settlement
• Pre-order the first universal remote that controls everything.
• If you visit Wisconsin, don't let your 6-year-old son play "butt-doctor" with a little girl.
• Animated GOP Presidential Horse Race

The Brown Request

California Governor Brown goes directly to the voters:

When I became Governor again -- 28 years after my last term ended in 1983 -- California was facing a $26.6 billion budget deficit. It was the result of years of failing to match spending with tax revenues as budget gimmicks instead of honest budgeting became the norm.

 

In January, I proposed a budget that combined deep cuts with a temporary extension of some existing taxes. It was a balanced approach that would have finally closed our budget gap.

 

I asked the legislature to enact this plan and to allow you, the people of California, to vote on it. I believed that you had the right to weigh in on this important choice: should we decently fund our schools or lower our taxes? I don’t know how you would have voted, but we will never know. The Republicans refused to provide the four votes needed to put this measure on the ballot.

 

Forced to act alone, Democrats went ahead and enacted massive cuts and the first honest on-time budget in a decade. But without the tax extensions, it was simply not possible to eliminate the state’s structural deficit.

 

The good news is that our financial condition is much better than a year ago. We cut the ongoing budget deficit by more than half, reduced the state’s workforce by about 5500 positions and cut unnecessary expenses like cell phones and state cars. We actually cut state expenses by over $10 billion. Spending is now at levels not seen since the seventies. Our state’s credit rating has moved from “negative” to “stable,” laying the foundation for job creation and a stronger economic recovery.

 

Unfortunately, the deep cuts we made came at a huge cost. Schools have been hurt and state funding for our universities has been reduced by 25%. Support for the elderly and the disabled has fallen to where it was in 1983. Our courts suffered debilitating reductions.

 

The stark truth is that without new tax revenues, we will have no other choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts.

 

That is why I am filing today an initiative with the Attorney General’s office that would generate nearly $7 billion in dedicated funding to protect education and public safety. I am going directly to the voters because I don’t want to get bogged down in partisan gridlock as happened this year. The stakes are too high.

 

My proposal is straightforward and fair. It proposes a temporary tax increase on the wealthy, a modest and temporary increase in the sales tax, and guarantees that the new revenues be spent only on education. Here are the details:

 

• Millionaires and high-income earners will pay up to 2% higher income taxes for five years. No family making less than $500,000 a year will see their income taxes rise. In fact, fewer than 2% of California taxpayers will be affected by this increase.
• There will be a temporary ½ cent increase in the sales tax. Even with this temporary increase, sales taxes will still be lower than what they were less than six months ago.
• This initiative dedicates funding only to education and public safety--not on other programs that we simply cannot afford.
• This initiative will not solve all of our fiscal problems. But it will stop further cuts to education and public safety.

 

I ask you to join with me to get our state back on track.

You just never know how California voters will respond...

Change

A sappy short for the holidays that will make you cry anyway:

HOW TO FIX EVERYTHING