The best short history of the growth of corporate power, and why the Supreme Court’s (Citizens United) decision is incompatible with basic democratic governance.
http://storyofcitizensunited.org —- Season Two launches on March 1st with The Story of Citizens United v. FEC, an exploration of the inordinate power that corporations exercise in our democracy.
And, for all you fact checker out there,
http://www.storyofstuff.org/2011/03/13/story-of-citizens-united-v-fec/
What’s wrong with the people is this country? Is this the “New America” the GOP keeps saying they want? The me, me, me, screw everyone and everything else America. How heartless can people get? Over politics! Over a bunch of lying, stealing, evil, crooks! Really! Is this the only way for them to get elected? They have to lie, cheat, and bully their way into office, and when that doesn’t work they turn into the “American Taliban” terrorizing and killing children’s pets. Next (I guess) instead of the cat, it will be the kids. Very sad what’s happening to American. It seems to be a nation lost in it’s greed and ignorance.
YOU ARE COWARDS!!!
By Scott Keyes on Jan 23, 2012 at 2:20 pm
The campaign manager of Arkansas Democratic congressional candidate Ken Aden arrived home last night to find his child’s pet cat murdered on the front porch with the word “LIBERAL” scrawled across its lifeless body.
Aden’s campaign manager, Jake Burris, lives in central Arkansas with his four kids.Blue Arkansas has more on the scene at Burris’s home (emphases are ours):
Last night, Jake and his four kids had come back to their Russellville home. As they were getting out of the car, one of his children discovered their family cat dead on the front porch. One side of the animal’s head had been bashed in and an eyeball was hanging out of its socket. But there was something even more horrifying to be found on the corpse. Written across the animal’s fur in black marker was the word “LIBERAL“.
Here is a picture of the family’s murdered cat:
Pope County, where Burris lives, is a highly conservative area of Arkansas. Aden has been running for the 3rd congressional district seat, currently held by Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), since August 2011. He released a statement on the matter this morning: “To kill a child’s pet is just unconscionable. As a former combat soldier, I’ve seen the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. Whoever did this is definitely part of the worst of humanity.”
It is unclear at this time precisely who committed this heinous act.
Hi, I’d like to start by telling you that I am 56 years old and have just gotten comfortable with who I am. What’s the old phrase, oh yeah, “I found myself” (that was a freaking long journey)! That said, there are wonderful things to enjoy at a mature age, especially if you’re a woman. We all know we get better and stronger with age, and I could say that I have started a so-called “Bucket List“, but I don’t like to put labels on things, and I don’t like lists.
The first thing I tried and totally enjoyed on my spontaneous, not-at-all-thought-about “bucket list” was jumping out of an airplane (something I always fantasized about doing, but thought that it was the most insane act a person could voluntarily do for fun). Here comes the plus of working with young adults at Starbucks who were planning a skydiving party (tandem of course) and would not take “no” for an answer. Skydiving is the most awesome experience and the place to go is skydivesurfcity.com (Santa Cruz, CA). It was a totally awesome beach landing and I paid extra for pics and a video, but it was well worth it. If I ever have an extra $200, I will SOOO do it again!
More to follow on my newfound fun things to do.
As I walk through this high school, the halls and classrooms are quiet and empty. The kids who normally fill these classrooms have gone home for the day, and soon adults of all ages will occupy these same classrooms with the hope of obtaining the education they did not receive years ago. Illiterate is a word often used for adults who have educational skills below a fourth grade level, and the word implies ignorance and lack of culture, so I prefer to use the term untutored or unlearned.
It’s Monday evening and the beginning of a new school semester. This is my 27th year as a tutor, instructor, and coordinator of adult basic education, and I am still overwhelmed by the number of unlearned adults seeking help at our adult learning centers.
While I sit here awaiting the arrival of the new adult students, I reflect on my experience with previous students. Reading is something that we (who are literate) take for granted, and not being able to read is something we cannot even imagine. I ask myself: how does a person spend half their lifetime not knowing how to read or write; how do they survive in a world where so much depends on this ability; how can you help these people?
The answers to my questions came to me while I volunteered as a reading tutor. Working one-on-one with different students, I acquired insight and understanding, and found I could identify and feel empathy with them; not because I lacked reading or verbal skills, but because of my writing skills. Writing instilled in me the same panic and shame that reading and writing instilled in them. For this reason we were able to establish strong lines of communication and trust. Through a great deal of interaction, I gained insight through their eyes and could feel what they were feeling.
We think of a handicapped person as one who is crippled, blind, deaf, without an arm or leg, etc. A person who cannot read is just as handicapped, they have a mind that is blind to the written word, and a spirit crippled by the stigma of illiteracy. This is just as burdensome and cumbersome as any crutch or wheelchair.
Handicapped adults come to our adult learning center every year for help; they want to shed these crutches that keep their minds from walking through the pages of written words; they want to reveal the dark secret and rid themselves of the stigma that has kept their spirits locked up. Contrary to what we believe, they are survivors. Most of them have learned the art of survival in the literate world, they have gone to great lengths to fine tune these skills, and some of them develop good listening and verbal skills. One man told me, “I became a great con artist. I memorized everything.” This was not the first time I had heard this.
The adult learning center services many students, and it is impossible for the teachers to give personal attention to all the students, but the center is fortunate enough to have a few volunteer reading tutors (what a blessing they are). The volunteers tutor 1-1/2 hours two evenings a week, and their only compensation is the reward of helping the unlearned student regardless of age, race, or sex.
As the year progresses I watch and observe the tutor and student relationship grow. The changes that start to occur in the student can be compared to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar. As the students’ confidence and self-esteem grows, they slowly start to emerge into a beautiful butterfly. They shed their cumbersome cocoon, and learn to soar high and free to places they had only dreamed of before. What self-satisfaction this is for the tutor as well as myself, and I recall the words of Frank Laubach (the man who developed The Laubach Way of Reading Series for the adult illiterate), “Each one teach one.”
The center is getting busy as the first adults start to arrive, and I feel the presence of someone standing in the doorway. I look up and ask, “May I help you?” With their head and eyes down, they answer in a soft whisper, “I am here to learn how to read.” Another butterfly.
Authors Note: For more information on literacy in the United States refer to, Caliteracy.org
Servings 12
Prep Time: 15 Min Cook Time: 15 Min Ready In: 30 Min
I love these biscuits. They are tender, fluffy, and ohhh so tasty. Not to mention how easy they are to make.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter (frozen butter)
1 cup milk
Note: To make them a little more savory you can add fresh herbs, or a 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.
A Novel for Humans by W. Bruce Cameron.
A friend gave me this book for Christmas. I thought it was a wonderful book. A simply written story about one dogs search for his purpose over the course of several lives told from the dog’s perspective. A powerful story of birth, death, and most importantly love. It made me laugh out loud, and cry real tears. It may even make you think about the purpose of life in general. For sure you’ll never look at your dog the same after reading this book. A must read for all who love dogs.
AP Photo
SOPA and PIPA support collapses after protest.
It was truly amazing to see how quickly some of our so-called legislators decided to take another look at the bills before them yesterday. It’s always fun to watch them back stepping and stammering over themselves. Although it seemed like it was over before it really got started, my representative, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, posted this message on her face book page yesterday (“I don’t support SOPA. History is being made by the more than 10,000 websites that have chosen to boycott SOPA by participating in today’s blackout. Members of Congress need to hear about the consequences of SOPA, and when they do, they’ll learn of the serious consequences to the Internet the bill poses. It’s time to pull up the emergency brake on this legislation.”).
It really is OK to protect copyrights. Being an amateur photographer I have had my photographs used without permission on many occasions, and honestly, it kind of sucks that someone would do that. So, I can understand people’s frustrations with the old outdated laws now in place. Of course some of the problem lies in the fact the internet just moves at a faster pace than our legislation does. With our current legislators, (better known as clowns, crooks, or corporate mouthpieces) who only serve the corporations and the super rich; who seem to have little regard for people, animals, the environment, this country, that country or anyone’s interest besides their own and their corporate masters; who seem to do the bidding of their masters very well with lots of smoke and mirrors, tossed in with a little fear, and a lot of hateful rhetoric and lies to keep us divided. Meanwhile as we bicker among ourselves about nonsensical blather, they’re moving our industries and jobs offshore to other countries. To make sure we have no voice to fight back, they attempt to change our laws to suit their needs and strip us of our freedoms and liberties one by one under the disguise of terrorism. It seems their biggest job is to make sure no one is held accountable or goes to jail for their actions and/or crimes they have committed. As they say “follow the money and you’ll find the rat”.
I think the most important thing for everyone to understand is that it’s not OK to kill the free internet.
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Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.
Animals seem to get it. They communicate with their body language better than most of us humans do with all our endless hours of nonsensical blather. My pup on the other hand would be jumping, lunging, and frothing at the mouth like he had lost his mind if he were to even see a cow.
