And here's why religious people believe in Santa Claus

Don't read this if you're religious, it'll just make you mad. This is a letter to nonbelievers.


Dear Non-believer,
I learned today that the existence of God has no evidence. I also learned that we don't have the answer to why humans live on the earth. Nobody does. Religious people attempt to answer this question. They rationalize the need for religion out of fear of divine punishment (aka heaven/hell).

So really, they could be right (even though there is no evidence). Until we find evidence proving that molecules form out of some event we are unaware of, then religious idiots will have this excuse.

Me: There's no proof. You believing in God is just the same as you believing in Santa Claus.

Religious Idiot: But you don't know either so HA. (I know i'm right, thank God.)


So until we can prove that molecules are pooped out by the turtle, we can't say their wrong. They absolutely have every right to believe in their God.

Here's the best part. If you can rationalize believing in a being that created the world with absolutely zero fact and all faith, then you can believe in Santa Claus.

Me: Santa Claus never brings any presents... He doesn't exist because parents give out the presents, and it's an incentive to do good things. Good deeds= good society.

Religious Idiot: Well just because he hasn't showed up and never will doesn't mean he won't. Yeah, that.


*Sigh*

An Open Letter to fellow atheists.

Recently I created a guild in World of Warcraft with the title . Someone reported me, and I have no idea who it is, but its not important. What is important that we find a better name that has the same message, but without violatable bit.
___________________________________________________
Greetings,

Account Name:Kxxxx
Realm: Azgalor
Guild Name: Cuddlés Guild
Submit 5 candidate names:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)
To have the name of your guild changed to one of your choosing, please reply to this email through the MSS website with your top 5 choices, in order of most wanted to least wanted. We will change the name based on your order of preference and availability. To assist us in this process, please make sure to check your new name suggestions on our Armory website in order to ensure that the names you are requesting are not already taken on your realm. The Armory website can be found at: (http://www.wowarmory.com/).

Please view the World of Warcraft Naming Policy and Terms of Use Agreement: (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20421) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml).

Thank you again for contacting us. We hope you continue to enjoy your experience in World of Warcraft!

Regards,

Game Master Lythnaael

-------------------------------
Here's how I responded.


how about these:
faith lol
our father thou art non existent
bored with theism
Santa Saves
atheist gaming

let me know which you pick, thanks.

______________________________


This is a blatant interruption of my first amendment right. Also they've banned me temporarily. Heres that email.

Greetings,

Account Name: KAxx
Realm: Azgalor
Guild Name: God Isnt Real

Account Action: 3 Hour Suspension

Offense: Inappropriate
This category includes both clear and masked names which:

* Are mildly inappropriate references to human anatomy or bodily functions
* Are references to illegal drugs or activities
* Have neutral or positive racial/ethnic/national connotations
* Have any connotations of major religions or religious figures (i.e. Jesus, Christianity, Buddha)
* Include names of World of Warcraft realms, zones, or names of major characters from Warcraft lore
* Are otherwise considered inappropriate for the game world

The name selected for this guild has been deemed as inappropriate for the World of Warcraft by the In-Game Support staff of Blizzard Entertainment. As a result, it has been given a temporary name. You should receive an additional email containing instructions on how to go about requesting a new name for your guild.

For further information, please view the World of Warcraft Naming Policy and Terms of Use Agreement: (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20421) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml).

Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20272.

If you feel that you may have any additional names on your account that violate our Naming Policy, please submit an In-Game Petition with the name(s) in question. Doing so may prevent further actions on your account. Should you have any other names on your account that violate our Naming Policy and they are reported, the names will be changed and your account may incur further penalties. We will allow you a 7-day grace period to notify us of any potential naming violations on your account. Please take this opportunity to inform us of any further naming violations on your account so they can be resolved without further penalties to your account, by submitting an In-Game Petition on one of your characters that does not violate our Naming Policy.

If you're interested in changing any of the previously inappropriate character names to one of your choice, please do visit our Paid Character Name Change service: (https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/character-namechange-intro.html)


Regards,
Blizzard Entertainment


It's time to have a non-religion voice in the world.

Word cannot express... "Man your Battle-stations"
http://ping.fm/hgp8Z

Tell me, since the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you haven't told a lie? http://tinyurl.com/6hvnl6k

Sarah Palin, the genetic lottery.

It's time like these where I'm glad to be a blogger. These times when the country is split in half on all the issues, and the issues we agree on we don't do shit about. Times like these where political candidates run on hate speech and propaganda.

Sarah Palin thought she would come to Wisconsin to show support for Governor Walker. She agrees with him on all his points. Yeah yeah. But the protestors at her speech weren't about to let her off scot-free

Palin: Wis. gov doing the right thing with unions

Here's the proof of Andrew Breitbart's insulting the protestors at the speech:

"go to hell."I'm serious!" he screamed. "Go to hell! You're trying to divide America!"

For progressives like me, this is an instant headache. It's instigation to try and destroy the unions credibility. And lets be honest, when was the last time you heard a protestor in Madison ask for anything other than respect for their own livelihoods?

Asking for respect and dividing America are two different things in my book. And last I checked, protesting is absolutely essential to true democracy. And what can I say, the Wisconsin protestors never fail to make me smile. "We drink beer, not Tea!" Solidarity, mother fuckers.



Now let's actually look at her speech. Don't be prepared for anything larger than 2 syllables. Oh and can we get some dislikes on these videos? Just one will be worth it since conservatives can barely work computers.



I'm sorry that I can't give you a dialogue between me and her, but she's literally spouting lies. What can you expect from AFP? (AKA Koch Brothers) Just try and imagine i'm saying the exact opposite of everything she is saying, and that will be pretty close.

So when it comes down to it, this is the future of conservative politics. She's the idiotic soccer mom that's not an "intellectual" that every conservative wants in office. She's the idiot with no experience, jumping on the "make the hard decisions" bandwagon that todays lemmings seem to be encapsulated with.

She gives me a heartache. She makes me mourn for the dead brain cells she's caused. She's worse than cancer, because cancer can go away. Her biological makeup makes her the most annoying, stupid motherfucker I've ever seen in my life; and honestly, it's not so much that I don't want to see her run because i'm ready for that.

It's that no matter how many times I think of Utopia, where everyone gets along and everyone is happy with each other, there's still Sarah Palin making some stupid fucking speech, wasting everyone's time and critical thinking skills.

She is the antithesis to progressive change.

She doesn't know how to fix a budget. She doesn't know how to fix anything. All she knows how to do is give braindead speeches and taught her daughter to do the same.

Extra Credit: the Full Speech, if you can even handle it. The protestors make it hard to hear.



I'll just leave it at that. Hahaha. I feel kind of bad for her, well not really. It's just awesome when you watch someone butcher any credibility they might have had.

News for comedy! Cheers!

The reality of the 2012 presidential election

In the last 10 years, America has accumulated an enormous deficit on the back of a retarded texan hillbilly, George W. Bush.

In 2004, the American people were lightheaded when he was elected to a second term. The incumbent advantage here turned into a disastrous 3 trillion dollar deficit by the end of his term.

Obama, the first black president elected in 2008, the democratic rebound in politics, the answer to the countries terrible downturn.

Thank you Obama for all your wonderful contributions.

• refused to roll back taxes on the wealthy
• refused to establish a windfall profits tax on oil companies
• refused to investigate activities carried out by telecom companies
• illegally helped the government tap our phones, and who continued to tap phones without a warrant
• turned his back on Miranda
• refused to investigate any of the Bush Admin. lies, incompetence, corruption or torture
• supported anti-democratic, murderous coup regimes in Central America
• refused to restore Habeas Corpus
• left Guantanamo open indefinitely and maintain that its inmates had no rights at all
• continued extraordinary rendition and torture
• fought to keep Dick Cheney's remarks to Plame investigators secret
• did nothing of substance to rein in Wall St.
• continued to issue signing statements
• continued to delay investigations of CIA torture and even investigate those who protest that torture
• traded away the Public Option even while saying he was in favor of it
• expanded the war in Afghanistan
• opened "vast expanses" of Atlantic seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling
• put politics before science and minimized the BP oil spill and then claimed that there was practically no oil left and that "the microbes ate it!"
• continually filed briefs in favor of large corporate polluters
• was in favor of whale hunting
• used cluster bombs on civilians in Yemen
• refused to investigate Bush's political firings of US Attorneys
• appointed a bunch of right wing psychopaths to the Commission of Fiscal Responsibility
• tried to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class
• allowed Wall St. Banks, the filthy rich and military corporations to continue plundering our economy
• tried to institute policies which would effectively shut down the internet.

Kudos for this list CCrider

Is this what America wants? No! The people are losing, we're losing really fucking hard.

The GOP and the Tea-Party rave and rant harder than ever. They support everything destroying the middle class and giving to the top class. Then, democrats like Cuomo acknowledging the "reality" of the budget crisis only to keep giving to wealthy.
We can't be tricked like this.

"How far will elected Democrats from the White House on down go in capitulating to the insatiable corporate dominators if their liberal/progressive base continues to signal that they politically have nowhere to go? These voters seem to have few visible breaking points on the dark horizon of over-reaching corporatism.

You have both sides doing the same thing, and I think Ralph Nader presents the reality of the true democratic crisis. Democratic here, being that the people choose, not the corporations.

How is it that polls indicate 81% of Americans agree with higher taxes for millionairies, and both parties continue to present apocalyptic cuts in the name of the budget?


The numbers are there. The bottom 20% sees 200$ a year in additional income. The top 1% sees 6 million a year in just GROWTH.

This is financial insanity.

When you see someone backing Obama, it's not because they want him in office, it's because they think he's better than the GOP. It's because they want to support him because they are also a democrat. But in the reality of it, he's never been on record for any progressive policy, even when he had the perfect senate democratic majority. Those are the facts.

You saw Obama say "No, Ryan, your budget sucks at 33 billion in cuts, i'll give you 38 billion and not a penny more."

Progressives need to have a citizen power like the Tea Party, because you see republicans pushing that agenda. Where do you see democrats being overlooked by the progressive people? YOU DON'T. You see protests of workers in Madison and Ohio and all over the country, but not a single progressive action has been taken.

In order to win, the people are going to have to put progressive politics back into the political system. The only way to win this is to show that we will not support Obama. You can't vote against who you want to win. It's pushing an agenda that's driving this country into the ground. The presidential election of 2012 is already decided. Obama is going to win.

The real answer was seen in the 2000 election. Seeing Nader win probably wouldn't put this country on track, but seeing a country where a majority elects someone like Nader, that's the real answer. Al Gore got less votes and lost because of Nader. You can believe it or you can't. But the truth of the matter is, Al Gore would have been just as bad. None of this is new. We havn't seen a real progressive in decades.



Don't let the guy at 11:20 stare into your soul and steal your progressive dreams. We need to win this. The people need to win this.

We need to focus on the more important duty of recognizing true progressive politicians and putting them into elected office. Work your ass off, because that's the only way we'll win. We can wait for an Abraham Lincoln to emancipate us from this debt, or we can be the change we want to see in society.

And on a day like today, it really brings it home to think about the Civil War and what it tells us about our countries past. We know how a perfect political split violently concludes. And I for one will not be participating. War is the stupidest blunder to ever plague the human race.

The difference between liberals and conservatives.

Original Article

RAWR!!

In the above article, AFP published a study in which 90 young adults, conservative and liberal, agreed to have a brain scan.

Basically it shows, using science, that liberals have more gray area in the part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, and conservatives have a more active fear response. Umm, no shit?

When I think of Gandhi, MLK, Jesus, John Lennon, all the preachers of a universal peace and unity, I see not only great capacity for good deeds, but a complete absence of fear. You're goddamn right Gandhi wasn't afraid. Do you think black people would have equal rights if MLK had decided that he didn't want to risk being assassinated?

The answer is no. MLK shattered the timidness within millions of blacks in the United States. In an alternate universe there is a USA where MLK never existed and there was no civil rights movement. It's important that we realize that he acknowledged the risks of his actions and still chose accordingly. I thank him for everything he did.

This lack of fear that is apparent in these liberal minded heroes is also juxtaposed, quite humorously, against conservatism and its icons.


George W. Bush: Fear Muslims!
Paul Ryan: Fear the Deficit!
Scott Walker: Fear the teachers!

"People with a large amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study said."

Keeping this in mind, it makes me wonder what conservatives really think Government is for. At one point, it was no government at all. Now its a lot of government, inside doctor's offices and in other countries

I really wonder where the heart of conservative politics is right now. Part of me believes that some of these whackos actually think George W. Bush is protecting them from terrorists, or that Scott Walker is protecting Wisconsin from bankruptcy, or that Paul Ryan and all his "tough decisions" and "courageous" cuts are protecting people from something.

NEWS FLASH: Conservative politicians aren't protecting anyone except the top 1% they represent.

Poor conservative voters :(. But I can understand them, they just respond to fear more than others. It's natural to feel fear when its published in the media so seriously, but democrats understand the complexity of these decisions and conservatives do not. There are simple answers that could turn this country around and they are being ignored. Tell me these don't sound fair.

Tax everyone equally.
Elections should be separated from corporate and private finance
Equal media coverage for all parties in an election
End the drug war, not your body not your problem
end the abortion war, not your body not your problem

And for the record, no federal funding goes to abortions. The only money Planned Parenthood receives from the feds is for basic healthcare.

It's funny because you actually see conservative politics opposing all of these points. Why? Because where there is control over the masses, there is a veil of protection being given by these pseudo-protectors. They are lured into a false sense of security. In reality, none of the social issues impede constitutional liberty and there's no reason for this culture war at all. The "sanctity" of marriage and and value of human life aren't at stake, that is simply brainwashing.

And brainwashing comes with a pricetag. Bush's trillion dollar debt accumulation is the disaster that all governments need to learn from. He protected your church from gays and defended fetuses to the bitter end, and he also emptied the wallet of the middle class at an enormous profit. 690 billion is what his tax cuts cost us.

Paul Ryan is trying to revive Bush's legacy. Bush's plans to privatize health insurance is zombified in Ryan's budget. It would give block grants to states to blindly give money to the "best public option". In other words, the corporation that paid for the elected official. That corporation isn't going to take that money and put it towards healthcare, they're going to pocket 90% of it and as far as the citizens paying 40% more? Tough shit.

Conservatives aren't going to fix deficit because they agree with the two most expensive and failed policies in national history. The drug war and the wars in the middle east. These two, if removed from our budget, would give every citizen in the United States an 950$ check, because that's what it's costing each and every one of us every year. Personally I think that nine fitty could be better spent. New shoes? Q-tips? I dont know, anything.
If government actually did their fucking job and put that money to good use, then we wouldn't be in such a terrible financial situation in the first place. Whenever you see cuts to important programs remember this. Corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes. They just don't. The answer isn't what programs can we cut to save money. It's what corporations can we charge with tax evasion and get our fucking money back?

I understand that some programs are bad and need to be cut big time, but cutting education and healthcare seems to be the most popular.

Tax cuts= program cuts.
Wars=deficits

Relating all this to Obama, it makes you second guess his decisions to arm Libyan rebels, and appoint General Electric CEO Jeffery Immelt as Head of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Oh I forgot to mention, GE paid 0 taxes on 14 billion dollars in 2009.

Vote democracy, not deficit. Cheers!

America, the disheveled fighting hobo-baby

I would be afraid of this baby, wouldn't you?

You know what my favorite thing about America is? It's that most citizens are patriotic while simultaneously knowing nothing about the constitution. Same with Christians who preach hate and discrimination. All these idiots piss me off. They go out and buy an American flag that's made at a Wal-Mart that's in China, and then throw it away because it's made poorly. Being American, to me, is all about being responsible for your actions. You buy too much shit? You gotta pay for it. George W. Bush wanted for war crimes? He should go to jail.

Our country is in a deficit. The biggest thing killing our economy is bad policy. Spending 1,600 dollars a second on a drug war that doesn't work? Bad policy. Going overseas and spending a trillion dollars we don't have for a country that's not ours? Bad policy; and the biggest problems with this continuous bad policy? Incentives. People are making insane amounts of money off of this bad policy. Bush's oil war for money and then this:

Obama's war with Libya. At least Bush tried to cover it up:

All of this is important. America is extremely young compared to most other cultures in the world. We're just angry whiny babies fighting everything when we get upset. America disagree on civil policy? Civil war. America disagree on foreign policy? Foreign war! America disagree on simple life decisions? Culture war. We just need to learn to accept that we can't control what people will do. If they're not harming anybody, who cares! If its not in our borders, its not our business!

Oil companies get subsidies from the government, and pollute the coast on our tax dollars and none of their responsibility. All of the money given to corporations from tax dollars in promise of jobs, to help the people, has killed the people. We want our money back. Here's how we can do it. Take strong stances on this policy.

Social agenda-You can't enforce morality, but you can enforce equality, end hate crimes. Start pushes for gay rights, cannabis legalization, and acceptable immigration requirements.
Energy policy- End oil depedency, end nuclear dependency. More energy research.
Foreign Affairs - wars are burying us in debt, occupying a country cost lots of $$$
Corporate Tax- corps that dont pay taxes should be jailed, give us our money back for the bailouts and pay your dues.

On all these issues there needs to be a powerful stance made. Progress in a society requires an educated society. Obama is so far right that he shouldn't be on a democratic ticket. He promises things during his campaign, but then delivers corporate backed legislation. He wants more drilling at home with broken drill designs that came from the same oil companies that paid for his campaign.

He's covertly arming the rebels in Libya(even though defense secretary says Defense Secretary gates: No ground troops). And he's giving tax breaks to corporations. Stop drinking the coolaid. Obama hasn't made any headway with important progress from the Bush administration.

Republicans aren't any better. It's all bullshit.

Here's what I want to see in a political candidate.

Moving away from oil, moving away from nuclear, moving towards renewable energy.
Staying WITHIN AMERICA. No more wars, no more bullshit in Libya, or anywhere else.
End the drug war too. In the time it takes you to read this article, the drug war cost tax payers millions of dollars. Tax the corporations. They aren't paying anything right now. That is unacceptable.

Hear is my rallying cry, people. Don't settle for Obama's tragic policy. We can't afford to keep giving 550 million for cruise missiles in Libya. Let's move away from oil, bring the troops home, and fix our deficit by taxing the biggest dodgers in history. Because as of right now, I paid more taxes than GE in 2009; the worst part is they made over 10 million times as much as I did. Tax these wealthy bastards extra even, simply because they don't want to pay.

Put nuclear energy to sleep, Germany is starting it. Stop spending towards more oil dependency. Fund safer energy alternatives. Give the billions in government subsidy to a wind farmer instead, or solar, or both.

Boycott bad companies, its the only justice you'll see during the current administration. Except for Walker's recall, we'll see some justice eventually on that. ;)

Active justice can be done at state level too. Here's a little list that I choose not to shop at in Wisconsin unless I have no other choices. Unless you live in the city, you don't really have other options.


Boycott:
GE-0 tax dollars on 14 billion in profits
Bank of America- 0 tax dollars on 9 billion in profits
Woodmans Food Markets- Contributes and condones Walker's horrific policy
Sendiks Grocery- Contributes Walker's horrific policy
M&I Bank- Contributes and condones Walker's horrific policy
Wal-mart-Contributes to Walker's horrific policy, and also discriminates against female employees

Fox news- They lie. Also, the guy at 1:40 is my FUCKING HERO. People with the power!

And here is what Walker's big campaign donations look like.

PACs, $5000 or more:
-------------------------------------
Concerned Realtors Committee
Realtors PAC
KochPAC Natural Resources
WI Dental PAC (WIDPAC)
People for Rebecca Kleefisch
Building a Better WI/Wisconsin Builders Association
ABCPAC-WIS
Wal-Mart Stores/WAL-PAC
Tavern Industry PAC
Republican Party of Wisconsin
HNTB Holdings Ltd PAC
AT&T Wisconsin Employee PAC (formerly SBC)
Operating Engineers 139 PAC
Republican Party Milwaukee Co
Managed Health Services/Centene PAC
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
TDS Telecom
WI Credit Union League Action Fund (WCULAF)
Deere & Company PAC - WI
FONEPAC Telecommunications & Computers
Friends of Alberta Darling
Eli Lilly and Company PAC
Friends & Neighbors of Robin Vos
WellPAC Wellpoint Inc
WI Insurance Alliance PAC
WI Pipe Trades PAC


Employers of Contributors of $5000 or more
-----------------------------------------------------
ABC Supply Co
Agrecol Corp
Allen Edmonds Shoes
AMK Concepts & Services
Anew Health Care Services Inc
AO Smith Corp
Apache Stainless Steel
Artisan Partners
Atlantic DQ
Audio Implements/GKC
Badger Meter
Baraboo Growth
Bevco Ergonomic Seating
Blomquist Benefits Consulting
Boerke Co Inc
Bradley Foundation
Brian Retzlaff Trucking
Briggs & Stratton
Burke Properties
Burlington Northern Santa Fe...
Call Solutions
Campbell Wrapper Corp
Carpenter
CD Smith Construction
Chambers & Owen
Charro Restaurante
Charter Manufacturing
Church Mutual Insurance
Cobalt Partners LLC
Commonwealth Development Corp...
Continental Properties Co Inc
County Concrete
Couri Insurance Agency
Custom Pak Products
EBY-Brown Co
Einhorn Associates
Emergency Medicine Specialists
Endeavors Group
Fabco Equipment Inc
Fashion Angels Enterprises
Feather Larson & Synhorst...
Fiduciary Management
First American Funding
Fisher Barton Inc
Glenora Co
GMR Marketing
Gogebic Taconite LLC
Gold Leaf Development
Hal Leonard Publishing
Hammes Co
Harris Associates
Hay Creek Pallett
Heartland Advisors
Hexagon Investments
High Crossing Development Corp
Holton Brothers Construction
Horton Group
Hovde Financial
Hy Cite Corp
I-Robot
Iconica
Inpro Corp
Insight Industries
Irgens Development Partners
Johnson Controls
Johnsonville Foods
JSD Professional Services Inc
Kapur & Associates
KBS Construction
Koss Corp
Krier Foods
Kwik Trip
Lorman Education Services
Lubar & Co
M&I Bank
Meissner, Tierney, et al
Michels Corp
Midwest Neurosurgical
Milksource
MillerCoors
Minnesota Wild
MJ Construction Inc
Morrison Creek Cranberry
Nicholas Company Inc
Nova Surgical LLC
Orthopaedic Associates of...
PACUR
Panduit Corp
Paper Machinery Corp
Payne & Dolan
Pinstripe Inc
Plastic Surgery Group
Prent Corp
Promotions Unlimited
RCI FirstPathway Partners
Reiman Publications
Richardson Industries
Rite Hite Corp
Roehl Transport
Salomon Smith Barney
Sargento Inc
SC Johnson & Sons
Schneider National
School choice
Sendik's Food Market
Shannon Sales Inc
SIG Financial Holdings
Specialty Underwriters
St John Properties Inc
Standard Process Laboratories
Stark Investments
Super Steel Products
Tamarack Petroleum Co
Tankcraft Corp
ThedaCare
Tries & Rice
Uihlein Wilson Architects
US Counseling Service
US Oil Co
V Duane Rath Foundation
Wausau Homes
Wausau Paper
West Allis Salvage
West Bend Clinic
Zenith Tech

Scott Walker, the shit on Wisconsins' boots

In December of 2010, I started following politics. I knew the election in Wisconsin would be important because it came down to a decision of train, or no train. Personally, I am all for the train, we're the only industrialized nation without a high speed rail. Our infrastructure lags behind, our education lags behind, our exports lag behind, our innovation lags behind, our energy policy lags behind, but hey we're involved in Libya now too. America, we're good at war, and guns, and eating, thats about it.

First thing Walker does in his tyrannic rule is give 140 million to corporate welfare. Cool, more money for corporations promising jobs, just what taxpayer money should be going to. OH WAIT. Corporate welfare is the reason we're in debt in the first place, all of us. You can thank GE and Bank of America among others. But back to the shitstain.

Then, the internet found his Budget Repair Bill. Aside from being a "budget" bill, that usually gets passed in 1 or 2 weeks, this bill highlighted such a massive lack of government transparency. Half of this bill wasn't about the budget at all. In fact, the bill was so outrageous, that it sparked the biggest protest in Wisconsin history.

This bill was so fucking ridiculous that the protestors in Madison received international aid from over 15 different countries, and all 49 other states in the form of pizza. Really good pizza? Yes. International Solidarity? Yes!

Walker doesn't care though. He doesn't care about Wisconsin, he doesn't care about it's people, and he's in an extremely powerful position. International and bi-partisan opposition to the bill? FUCK IT, DO IT ANYWAY, EVEN THOUGH ITS ILLEGAL.

So that's what they did. They found a loophole in Wisconsins' legislature and passed the collective bargaining sections of the bill without the democrats even being there.

No worries though, that's illegal, isn't it? Yes, it is, or at least multiple Wisconsin judges and lawyers came forward publicly to say so.

But according to Walker, the biggest priority in fixing the budget is making sure public employees have no say in the workplace. What's important is getting Wisconsin's budget fixed.
"Public sector, shh!"

News flash, Wiconsin's budget and unemployment are in better shape than most of the country. Why is he stirring a panic? Maybe so republicans have another "make the hard choices" nipple to suck on. More bullshit? You got it.

Here's where it gets tricky.
First, you have the initial restraining order to halt the collective bargaining bill. Then, you have WI. Sen. Fitzgerald saying Do it anyway!
After that, you have Judge Sumi saying "Hey Idiot, you can't do that, i'm a judge" And then, Walker's administration is like, WOAH. Judges lolwhat? SUCK IT SUMI MUAHAHA

Ignoring all his corrupt campaign funding. Ignoring his serious lack of policy success. Ignoring his illegal attempts at a Wisconsin monarchy, all of that ignored. I just don't know what's gonna happen next.

This isn't a fucking soap opera. This is hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin people being victimized by a tyrannic leader. The difference between democracy and a monarchy is that in a democracy, we can cut the kings balls off. Fuck you Scott Walker. We want to wait and recall you but you're not giving us very many options here. You're lucky we follow the law, but keep pushing our buttons and see what happens, I double dare you mother fucker.

Full legalization, sexy or harmful?

Chick photo Source

The thumbnail above, HB 1550 is set to legalize cannabis in all forms in July 2013. Adults over 21 would be able to purchase cannabis in liquor stores in Washington state. Tax revenue would be taken from the sale and put directly into the states healthcare.

The biggest problem to me(among many) is that the 10th amendment doesn't actually protect the state from the federal level of government. The constitution clearly states that government can regulate commerce(Thanks, Hoam). Selling cannabis at liquor stores would be considered commerce, so the whole state would be victim to the backwardness of the DEA and their outdated regulation, even if all the money is going to healthcare. So until we see the federal schedule changed, there will be a threat from the DEA. We all do what we can though. Politicians change laws in their state, I complain and rant on my blog, we all just strive for a mutual understanding.

As a Wisconsin resident, I am truly jealous. How is it that Washington is going through such incredible and groundbreaking social, economic, and cultural change, and yet here in Wisconsin we're stuck with Scott Walker for another 9 months. This is bullshit!

How is it that someone can get elected, fail at everything he promised, break the law doing the opposite of what he promised, how is it that someone can do all of these things and still have supporters? That's Wisconsin politics for you. I have to imagine if Walker had been elected in Washington, they would have said. "No bitch" and recalled on day one. Walker would have went home and gotten yelled at by his son for continuing to push shitty policy.

I feel bad for people in Washington State, though. It's a toss up whether they'll feel safer being victim only to federal level, instead of local, state, and federal. Less people will be arrested to allow more pursuit of the American dream, but will the DEA pull shenanigans?

What I do know is that it's going to take an understanding for constitutional law at a massive scale that I HOPE people are ready for.

Shady House Publishing Company has released a book: The Case of US v. Yerbas: free the weed — There will be cursing. I just ordered a copy myself and friended the Author on facebook. His blog is brilliant. The intent of his book is to promote the understanding of due process in such a way that people know that Marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional.

And that's a goal we can drink (or smoke) to! (even if Scott Walker wont)

Germany set to abandon nuclear Power

Original Article

Summary:

As a result of the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster in Japan, Germany has taken 7 of its 17 nuclear reactors down.

"If we had the winds of Texas or the sun of California, the task here would be even easier," said Felix Matthes of Germany's renowned Institute for Applied Ecology. "Given the great potential in the U.S., it would be feasible there in the long run too, even though it would necessitate huge infrastructure investments."

In Germany, the producers of renewable energy — be it solar panels on a homeowner's rooftop or a farm of wind mills — are paid above-market prices to make sure their investment breaks even, financed by a 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour tax paid by all electricity customers.

For a typical German family of four who pay about euro1,000 ($1,420) a year to use about 4,500 kilowatt-hours, the tax amounts to euro157 ($223).

The tax produced euro8.2 billion ($11.7 billion) in Germany in 2010 and it is expected to top euro13.5 billion ($19.2 billion) this year. The program — which has been copied by other countries and several U.S. states such as California — is the backbone of the country's transition toward renewable energies.

This is the quintessential example of an industrialized country doing exactly what is necessary to progress into cleaner energy. Go Germany! Maybe America will get out of a war finally, and we'll be able to focus on ourselves, for once.

Protests force Bank of America To Close

Original Article

Hundreds of UAW members march on Washington Blvd. near Cobo Center in Detroit on Thursday, March 24, 2011. Members wore red shirts in support of the public sector and workers, especially for Wisconsin. / WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) protestors actually forced the bank to close temporarily.

Union President Bob King led over 100 protestors into the bank where he spoke with Bank of America spokeswoman Diane Wagner.

“Anything that would help the middle class, Bank of America opposed,” King said. “When workers are struggling to pay child care and feed their families, Bank of America in 2010 made about $17.5 billion from credit card and ATM fees.”

King asked about Bank of America's 2009 taxes, of which they paid nothing.

Wagner said Bank of America paid more than $40 billion in taxes from 2000 to 2009.

Way to skirt the question. Also, on Wednesday, Bank of America said they would be refurbishing and donating 10 houses to the people of Detroit. 10 whole houses!

10 houses for someone who pays 5 billion a year in taxes? At 250,000 a house, the CEO alone(making 45 million a year) could pay for those 10 houses on less than a month's pay.

Let's get real here. You know what the country could do with the estimated 5 billion you skirted in taxes? We'd give up half of it to military spending, and then another 1,600$ a second to fund the war on drugs that has been proven ineffective.

Fuck you Bank of America.

P.S.: We need tax reform.

Indiana republican makes an 'Oops'

Original Article

“If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions’ cause to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the unions,” the email said.

Deputy Prosecutor Carlos Lam tendered his resignation today after being cornered about the contents of an email he sent to Governor Walker. Read the email here.
Basically, he agrees with Walker and wants to help his cause. But his idea of help is not only illegal, but it lacks empathy, morals, and respect. No empathy for the devastated workers, no morals into creating his idea, and no respect for the truth in a political state. Good thing he quit.

Personally, I think this is perfect for the people. You have an experienced republican activist giving up 18 years of work to give an awful idea to an even worse Governor. Not only did his e-mail remove any possibility of a false flag operation, it will promote an awareness of any other underhanded behavior that might develop in the future.

Oh and the 'God Bless' at the end just really shows how insane religion in the 21st century has become. "Control the masses with illegal and false propaganda, God bless!"
Fuck you Carlos Lam. Fuck you.

Avalanche Artillery

The Russian military used some big ass guns to create a big ass avalanche in North Ossessia.

You just watched real life, now check out this fiction. It reminds me of a scene from Triple X with Vin Diesel, here's the scene in Russian for more bad-ass-ness:

Police brutality against Col. Ann Wright and Daniel Ellsberg at Free Bradley Manning Protest

Clearly the uniformed men here aren't cops. No badges, no civility. The amount of automatic weapons outnumbers the protestors! It's outrageous. These people have a right to be here under the constitution and they're being attacked and arrested.

Makes you think about how important Bradley Manning is too them, for whatever reason; and its scary to think about who "them" is.

Right Wing Propaganda and My Parents Inbox

My dad sends me emails sometimes; I think to show that his side is winning or something. I don't know.

Todays email, I think requires a little bit of refereeing. I'm gonna call bullshit on the entire email. But we get down in the dirty here, and theres a lot of bullshit, so every time you see this: "&&&" That means bullshit. Here we go.
(Oh and I apologize for the grammar and spelling, it's just copied and pasted)

On 2/23/11 I was sent to Madison to assist local Law Enforcement in providing security for the Capitol building complex and grounds. I arrived at WSD(Sheriff's Department) at 0315 hours. I met with 4 Deputies and we loaded a prisoner transport van with riot helmets, gas masks, flex cuffs and extra radio batteries&&&. At 0400 four City of Waukesha officers arrived at WSD and we drove to the Marriott hotel in Madison. Pulling into the hotel parking lot I observed over 130 State Patrol squads and about 110 assorted Wisconsin Police squads&&&. We were ushered into a huge meeting room. Once there we were spilt into several divisions. I was in the largest division, the interior branch. The good news is we were going to be inside and out of the weather. The bad news, we shared the Capitol with 10,000 screaming protesters&&&(way more than that). More on those oxygen thiefs later. After we were briefed on rules of engagement and communications we were ushered out. Since this is Madison and the lead agency is the UW Capitol police, we were told absolutely no pepper spray. We were also told that the use of tasers was prohibited to dry stuns only, and then only with supervisory approval. I immediately told my troops, that they had my approval. My priority was thier safety and to protect themselves&&&. All 239 cops were led to 5 city buses waiting outside. We were escorted with red/blue lights and sirens by the State Patrol to the Capitol. It felt surreal to be part of this huge convey speeding thru the city at 0530 in the morning.

Upon arriving at the underground parking area of the Capitol we walked to a large walking tunnel&&&. In this tunnel we were instructed to store our helmets, batons, pepper spray and all gear in this tunnel&&&. I can't describe what 239 gear bags and gear look like when they are placed by the wall inside this tunnel&&&. All of us felt that this was a tactical mistake by leaving very important gear stored away in a tunnel&&&. Nevertheless, we complied and were led to our posts.&&&&&&&&&&&& (lets just say that 239 bags of weapons might be the safest thing to lay around)

My division was assigned to the first floor southern area of the Capitol. This is were the Senators offices are located. I made several observations while walking thru the rotunda. This building is a historic jewel. All of the surfaces are beautiful granite with detailed and ornate lighting fixtures and artwork. The building should make every Wisconsin citizen proud. Sleeping inside the rotunda was between 600 - 900 people. These people have been living inside the Capitol for six days. The garbage and stench were nauseating&&&. Taped to every surface were signs protesting the Governor. Some signs were simple such as "teachers don't sleep at home, they sleep at the Capitol". Some were nothing more than vulgar hate speech&&&. Don't believe the media, not all protesters are peaceful loving people&&&. (There was actually 0 violence, 0 disrespect, and compliments from surrounding security agencies, so take that as you may)

I then walked over to my assignment which was to guard a stairwell that was in front of the office of Senator Leah Vukmir and Senator Fred Risser. Senator Vukmir is a republican Senator from Tosa. She is a tough republican with good strong core values&&&. Throughout the day I had many good conversations with her. She reported for work, while Senator Fred Risser fled the State like a coward&&&. Please google her, read about her and support her. The Senator and her staff took great care of us in Law Enforcement. She and her staff treated us with respect and thanked us for our dedication to their safety. The staff that supports Senator Risser looked at Law Enforcement with disgust. They would not establish eye contact and complained about having to show us their ID's. Our team, all 10 of us maintained our posts from 0600 till 1930 hours.

At about 0700 the protesters started their demonstrations. Imagine 10,000 people yelling, screaming, beating steel drums, blowing whistles and waving signs that spew hatred&&&. Now imagine this inside the Capitol. Think of how your high school locker room smelled at its worst&&&. Now amplify that odor 20 fold&&&. The noise was deafening and we were encouraged to wear ear plugs&&&. The floors of the Capitol shook with all of the noise and marching.

Some of the protesters were normal well dressed people. But I also observed a man in a wheel chair how appeared all crippled up&&&. And then before the media arrived I, with my own eyes observed this wheelchair bound man stand up and walk&&&. He then started stretching and appeared to walk as good as any of us&&&. As soon as the media showed up, he sat back in his wheelchair&&&, rounded his shoulders and bent over as if he was crippled up&&&. I observed people who had been sleeping in the Capitol for a week, clean themselves in the bathroom sinks. We were told not to touch any railings or use the microwaves as the homeless and others were washing their socks in the sinks&&& and drying laundry in the microwaves&&&. Again, think high school locker room at its worst&&&. Throughout the day I met and worked with many cops from around the state. We have allot of good cops here that work very hard.

My final observations. I witnessed history in the making. I'm glad I was there and was able to experience this first hand. It was a long day after standing on a granite floor for 10 to 13 hours. The Capitol is a beautiful building that needs to be locked down&&&(unconstitutional). They need to secure the Capitol and move these squatters outside&&&(unconstitutional). There is a growing health risk of having that many people living/sleeping inside the Capitol&&&. Some have not showered for a week. There are piles of hair 3 inches high along the walls&&&. It is by the grace of God that we kept a lid on the protesters&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&. But, it felt as if we were on the brink of losing that control at any moment&&&. Statewide Law Enforcement is not able to continue to provide security for this event long term&&&. I fear this could last a month or more&&&. With the Capitol open and the free food pouring in, why would they every leave. The National Guard needs to respond and start replacing us&&&. When the protesters reach their breaking point&&&, and they are getting close&&&. Wisconsin will need the Guard to step in&&&. The media reports with a slant&&& and I wanted you to know what yesterday was like&&&.

Here's what really happened. Wisconsin Governor Walker tried to sneak through a bill with a hidden agenda for corporate masterminds to get another piece of what they think is their pie. The people caught on, and protested, peacefully and kindly in Wisconsin's biggest protest EVER. There was 1 violent occurrence. The security that you just read about tackled a Senator to the ground for trying to get into his office. The only arrest was one lady who charged through the police blockade when they had illegally closed the building.



The security administration and the Governor were breaking laws all over the place. They illegally closed the building during service hours breaking the first amendment. They separated the the collective bargaining clauses from the Budget Repair Bill and passed those separated clauses without notifying or giving 24 hours notice. It's called the open-meeting clause and its in the Wisconsin constitution.

So if you want to get particular, Governor Walker violated the law, simple as that.
Judges have declared it unconstitutional, put restraining orders on it, negated its passing and halted it altogether. The protestors did the most valuable thing they could, and so did the Democratic senators; they held out until the public, and the world, knew about it. Now we have near a 70% majority nationwide and recall efforts are re-doubling with every new bullshit just like this email we see today.

Thank You, right wing propaganda, for reminding me of my path to a true democracy.

Radiation Is Good For You Says Ann Coulter on Fox News

Radiation Is Good For You Says Ann Coulter on Fox News

Kudos to Nibiru Planet for the heads up.

On Brainwashing!

"There's a growing body of evidence that radiation is good for you in reduced cases." -Ann Coulter

I think at this point the right media is focusing more on rallying the few they have left. They know they can't convince everyone, but the people they do convince will do anything for "the cause". It's important that stuff like this keeps bubbling to the surface so we can stare, and laugh :P

Cheers!

P.S. I feel like this is disrespectful to Japan's situation. I'd like to know how Japanese citizens might react to this interview.

Inbflat.com, An experience, not a website

InBFlat

The combination of these highlighted videos is awesomeeeeee.

ANON PWNS Westboro Baptist Church

The only phrase that comes to mind is "BOOM HEADSHOT"

"For this unremitting display of overzealousness, we award you no points."

Cats are AWESOME.

Fullscreen this!

The Atheist Apocalypse

Courtesy Of VirusComix

I can't think of a word for the opposite of an apocalypse. That's what this is though.

The Atheist Apocalypse

Volkswagen’s $600 car gets 258 mpg

Volkswagen’s $600 car gets 258 mpg - National Trendy Living | Examiner.com

This Volkswagen car has power to single-handedly eliminate the workers necessity for so much fuel. A commute wouldn't drain your wallet.

Once this hits the market in the US, they won't be able to build these fast enough. Everyone you know will want one. Mine better have a CD player and decent speakers!

Words that don't exist in the English language

Reposted by Rana June
Originally done by upsider

Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

Sgriob: (Gaelic) The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky

L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”

Pari-pari and Saku-saku: (Japanese) Hard-crispy verses Soft-crispy, i.e. a rice cracker versus fried chicken

Stam: (Hebrew) An agreement out of amusement and frustration that something doesn’t have a satisfactory answer among those talking.

Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

Time's up, Bullies

Fuckin power slammed. Bully got fuckin pwn3d.

Good for you kid, I'm so sorry that the important adults in your life didn't do anything to help you before this. I hope they will now.

He fought the law and the law lost

He Fought The Law And The Law Lost - Watch more Funny Videos

This guy is a champion.

Thinking like an Octopus by Alvin Powell

Original Article
If you were an octopus, would you view the world from eight different points of view? Nine?

The answer may depend on how many brains an octopus has, or, to say it another way, whether the robust bunches of neurons in its coiling, writhing, incredibly handy arms bestow on each of them something akin to a brain. Is an octopus a creature ruled by a single consciousness centered in its large brain, or, by dint of its nerve-infused legs, a collaborative, cooperative, but distributed mind?

The idea of a distributed mind among animals is not new, according to Peter Godfrey-Smith, who focuses his efforts on the philosophy of science. Experiments indicate that when a bird learns a skill using only a single eye, and is later tested while being forced to use the other eye, the learning does not transfer well.

“This suggests that animal minds lack the cohesiveness that humans have,” said Godfrey-Smith, a philosophy professor at Harvard. “It may have something to do with consciousness. Maybe it acts as a unifying tool.”

Godfrey-Smith has been swimming with octopuses for years, diving in and around Sydney Harbour during summer breaks in his native Australia. It is only recently, however, that he noticed that supremely camouflaged octopuses were pretty common there.

“For years, I was swimming and diving in this area of Sydney Harbour. I had an idea they were there, but didn’t know what to look for,” Godfrey-Smith said.

Once he understood what to look for, he realized octopuses were all around. They’re so well-camouflaged, he said, it is best to look not for the animal, but for their dens. They often collect bits of marine debris — broken glass, tiles, and other hard substances — and put them out front.

“They’re watching us even if we’re not watching them,” Godfrey-Smith said.

Intrigued, he looked into the scientific literature and was struck by how little was known about octopuses. Octopuses and other cephalopods such as squids are thought to be the most intelligent invertebrates, but the nature of their intelligence is still a mystery.

Octopuses have large nervous systems, centered around relatively large brains. But more than half of their 500 million neurons are found in the arms themselves, Godfrey-Smith said. This raises the question of whether the arms have something like minds of their own. Though the question is controversial, there is some observational evidence indicating that it could be so, he said. When an octopus is in an unfamiliar tank with food in the middle, some arms seem to crowd into the corner seeking safety while others seem to pull the animal toward the food, Godfrey-Smith explained, as if the creature is literally of two minds about the situation.

There may be other explanations for the observations. But whatever the answer, it seems likely that octopus intelligence is quite different from that of humans and, as researchers ponder the broader meaning of intelligence, may be as different as is likely to be encountered, short of finding it on other planets.

That’s because other creatures that are believed intelligent — such as dolphins, chimpanzees, some birds, elephants — are relatively closely related to humans. They’re all on the vertebrate branch of the tree of life, so there’s a chance the intelligence shares at least some characteristics. Octopuses, however, are invertebrates. Our last common ancestor reaches back to the dim depths of time, 500 million to 600 million years ago. That means octopus intelligence likely evolved entirely separately and could be very different from that of vertebrates.

“Octopuses let us ask which features of our minds can we expect to be universal whenever intelligence arises in the universe, and which are unique to us,” Godfrey-Smith said. “They really are an isolated outpost among invertebrates. … From the point of view of the philosophy of the mind, they are a big deal.”

They’re a big enough deal that Godfrey-Smith has begun collaborating with other scientists in both fieldwork and lab experiments. Though not trained as a biologist, he has participated in experiments with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science aimed at finding out how well an octopus can learn just by observing, which is a controversial question. Godfrey-Smith said the test subjects are the same gloomy octopuses he sees in the harbor, captured and then released after about a week when the tests are concluded. The first test, learning how to open a jar, is being completed, he said. Though there have been some “glimmers” of observational learning, the results are so far inconclusive. He is eager to repeat the tests next summer, modifying the problem the octopuses have to solve.

He also has explored the idea that octopuses — thought to be solitary creatures — may interact socially. During his dives, he has seen two octopuses living just two feet apart for more than a week in Sydney Harbour and has visited a diver down the coast who has found a group of octopuses living together and interacting.

His time in the water has turned up another scientific dividend, observations of the rarely seen process of the creatures mating. In a recent scientific paper, Godfrey-Smith described what he saw, identifying two strategies by the male octopus, one at close range and the second at a distance, where the male extends a sperm packet at the end of an arm. The second strategy seems to be employed when the male is smaller than the female.

Though the exact reason behind the two strategies remains unknown, Godfrey-Smith suspects it may be due to another major difference between humans and octopuses: Females, it seems, sometimes eat the males.

Upcoming: “Sensations of Tone,” an exploration of the historical and contemporary relationship between wave physics and the arts, will be held Oct. 27-28 at 5:30 p.m., Harvard’s Science Center, Oxford Street, Cambridge, Mass. Each evening features musical performances interspersed with panel discussions.

“Sensations of Tone” is presented with support from the Harvard Dean for Arts and Humanities, the French Consulate in Boston, and the Office for the Arts at Harvard. For more information.

News Explosion!

There is literally too much news happening right now, so i'll just do a quick summary.
Save the best for last.

25 miles away from the BP disaster, a 100 mile long 12 mile wide oil sheen was spotted today.

100-Mile Long Oil Slick Spotted Off Louisiana Coast


Sarah Palin spoke in India, and nobody cared, hahahaha.

What some people on the street in India think of Sarah Palin


US Military Action: Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya has already cost us 550 million dollars in missiles alone in its first 24 hours.

Obama's Military Action On Libya

In as little words as possible, 2 hours long:
Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy

What happens when even our constitution is corrupted. Our democratic elections are paid for by the corporate giants that control all the other aspects of the United States of America. How can you have a democracy when economic power as the driver in our political system, when the top 1% have more than the bottom 90%.

On the upside though, we have the biggest most active majorities in all of these topics:

Tax The Rich to Help our Deficit
Universal Healthcare
Union Rights
No More War
Nuclear Disarmament

So it's not all bad, and very slowly we're moving towards a new America.

Listen to Walker Narrate His Own Demise

By SuperVideoscape of YouTube

"Candidate Scott Walker made a video called "Taking Our Government Back" during his campaign. We felt the context of the audio was poignant considering the new movement now Governor Walker has created. We took the audio and made this new version. We like to call it "Taking Our Government Forward."

You can view the original here

When was the last time you heard an elected official ruined by his very own campaign?

Cheers!

Long-time Anti-Nuke Advocate

In The Public Interest
Nuclear Nightmare
By Ralph Nader
3-18-11

The unfolding multiple nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan is prompting overdue attention to the 104 nuclear plants in the United States—many of them aging, many of them near earthquake faults, some on the west coast exposed to potential tsunamis.

Nuclear power plants boil water to produce steam to turn turbines that generate electricity. Nuclear power’s overly complex fuel cycle begins with uranium mines and ends with deadly radioactive wastes for which there still are no permanent storage facilities to contain them for tens of thousands of years.

Atomic power plants generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. Over forty years ago, the industry’s promoter and regulator, the Atomic Energy Commission estimated that a full nuclear meltdown could contaminate an area “the size of Pennsylvania” and cause massive casualties. You, the taxpayers, have heavily subsidized nuclear power research, development, and promotion from day one with tens of billions of dollars.

Because of many costs, perils, close calls at various reactors, and the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania in 1979, there has not been a nuclear power plant built in the United States since 1974.

Now the industry is coming back “on your back” claiming it will help reduce global warming from fossil fuel emitted greenhouse gases.

Pushed aggressively by President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu, who refuses to meet with longtime nuclear industry critics, here is what “on your back” means:

1. Wall Street will not finance new nuclear plants without a 100% taxpayer loan guarantee. Too risky. That’s a lot of guarantee given that new nukes cost $12 billion each, assuming no mishaps. Obama and the Congress are OK with that arrangement.

2. Nuclear power is uninsurable in the private insurance market—too risky. Under the Price-Anderson Act, taxpayers pay the greatest cost of a meltdown’s devastation.

3. Nuclear power plants and transports of radioactive wastes are a national security nightmare for the Department of Homeland Security. Imagine the target that thousands of vulnerable spent fuel rods present for sabotage.

4. Guess who pays for whatever final waste repositories are licensed? You the taxpayer and your descendants as far as your gene line persists. Huge decommissioning costs, at the end of a nuclear plant’s existence come from the ratepayers’ pockets.

5. Nuclear plant disasters present impossible evacuation burdens for those living anywhere near a plant, especially if time is short.

Imagine evacuating the long-troubled Indian Point plants 26 miles north of New York City. Workers in that region have a hard enough time evacuating their places of employment during 5 pm rush hour. That’s one reason Secretary of State Clinton (in her time as Senator of New York) and Governor Andrew Cuomo called for the shutdown of Indian Point.

6. Nuclear power is both uneconomical and unnecessary. It can’t compete against energy conservation, including cogeneration, windpower and ever more efficient, quicker, safer, renewable forms of providing electricity. Amory Lovins argues this point convincingly (see RMI.org). Physicist Lovins asserts that nuclear power “will reduce and retard climate protection.” His reasoning: shifting the tens of billions invested in nuclear power to efficiency and renewables reduce far more carbon per dollar (http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/whynewnukesareriskyfcts.pdf). The country should move deliberately to shutdown nuclear plants, starting with the aging and seismically threatened reactors. Peter Bradford, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) commissioner has also made a compelling case against nuclear power on economic and safety grounds (http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/whynewnukesareriskyfcts.pdf).

There is far more for ratepayers, taxpayers and families near nuclear plants to find out. Here’s how you can start:

1. Demand public hearings in your communities where there is a nuke, sponsored either by your member of Congress or the NRC, to put the facts, risks and evacuation plans on the table. Insist that the critics as well as the proponents testify and cross-examine each other in front of you and the media.

2. If you call yourself conservative, ask why nuclear power requires such huge amounts of your tax dollars and guarantees and can’t buy adequate private insurance. If you have a small business that can’t buy insurance because what you do is too risky, you don’t stay in business.

3. If you are an environmentalist, ask why nuclear power isn’t required to meet a cost-efficient market test against investments in energy conservation and renewables.

4. If you understand traffic congestion, ask for an actual real life evacuation drill for those living and working 10 miles around the plant (some scientists think it should be at least 25 miles) and watch the hemming and hawing from proponents of nuclear power.

The people in northern Japan may lose their land, homes, relatives, and friends as a result of a dangerous technology designed simply to boil water. There are better ways to generate steam.

Like the troubled Japanese nuclear plants, the Indian Point plants and the four plants at San Onofre and Diablo Canyon in southern California rest near earthquake faults. The seismologists concur that there is a 94% chance of a big earthquake in California within the next thirty years. Obama, Chu and the powerful nuke industry must not be allowed to force the American people to play Russian Roulette

End.

If Federal Media Cuts includes NPR and PBS, Why not FOX News?

Source: Fedsmith.com

A Democratic Congressman introduced a bill to ban federal spending on the FOX network. The committee defeated the bill along party lines- 7-4.

Congressman Jim McGovern said he thought we should be "fair and balanced", and if we were going to cut off NPR, that is was only fair to cut off all federal spending on FOX.

"Over the past several years, it has become clear that the Fox News channel is wildly biased. They continue to employ a talk show host who called President Obama a racist. They continue to employ several prospective Republican Presidential candidates as “analysts,” giving them hours and hours of free air time. And their parent company has donated millions to GOP-linked groups.

My amendment would prohibit federal funds – taxpayer dollars – from being used for advertising on the partisan, political platform of Fox News. " McGovern said.

Read more: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2795/rep-mcgovern-dma-introduces-amendment-ban.html

Is Obama 2012 better than Kucinich 2012?

It's important to remember at times like these that during the election campaigns in 2008, Obama was quoted

"I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue."

Well, he just broke his promise. One person was taken into custody, and it might result in an arrest.

Democrats need to recognize Obama as a a very right leaning democrat. His re-opening of Guantanamo bay, surge plan in Afghanistan, and his drug war policy are all very conservative views. His healthcare bill and his demand for educational reform are both liberal, but it's important we keep our eyes out for when he shows his true colors.

It's important that we recognize Obama as a threat to truely liberal politics, and what we really want is someone like this:

Someone who advocates publicly the dismantling of outdated prohibitions, bringing all the troops home from the Middle East, and someone who demands that Wall Street pay their share to the middle income families of America that they've been robbing for so long.

Kucinich 2012!

Scott Walker Emerging Rising Star In Republican Eyes: Poll

Original Article

Before you read this article, I'd just like to say that if all the GOP has is Walker for 2012, then they are in for a shitstorm. National polls say 62% of people define what Walker did to collective bargaining, "unacceptable". Link

But in the off-chance he does somehow win, maybe that's what the Mayans were talking about, they just didn't know how to write "Scott Walker 2012" on the walls.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who signed sweeping curbs on public unions into law on March 11, may be emerging as a potential 2012 Republican presidential contender, according to a poll issued on Thursday.

The phone survey by Public Policy Polling of 642 registered voters on March 10-13 found that Walker's favorability among Republican voters was 55 percent positive and 11 percent negative, a spread of 44 points.

That pushed Walker ahead of other possible Republican contenders like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"That makes him already more popular with the party base than Mike Huckabee (+42 at 58/16), Sarah Palin (+40 at 63/23), Mitt Romney (+21 at 47/26), and Newt Gingrich (+19 at 49/30)," the polling group said in a release accompanying the results.

"None of the folks most seriously considering this race have been able to get any momentum yet, leaving a lot of room for a fresher face to enter and get a lot of traction," it said. "Walker's crusade against the unions has put him in a position where he could be that guy."

A spokesman for Walker did not immediately return a request for comment.
Walker, who won the governor's race against Democrat Tom Barrett last November with 52 percent of the vote, signed the controversial union curbs into law after weeks of protests that drew thousands of protesters to the state capital.
Advertisement

The most recent poll by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, found voters in the state remain deeply divided over Walker and his plan.

A WPRI poll of 603 Wisconsinites conducted in late February and early March found 51 percent of those surveyed somewhat or strongly opposed to Walker and his anti-union plan while 46 percent somewhat or strongly in favor.

Walker said the law was aimed at protecting taxpayers and jobs, arguing it will improve the business climate and help the state's private sector create 250,000 jobs.

He said the state needs the restrictions on bargaining to deal with funding shortfalls as the state contends with a $3.6 billion deficit in the upcoming two-year budget.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher. Editing by Peter Bohan)

Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Support Women's Rights

Though I can't say I know what it feels like to be against women's rights, I can say what it feels like to be against a woman.

And as far as I'm concerned, unless you are a woman, you can't even have a true opinion on this. I can sympathize with their cause though. The answer is simple. Pro-Women.

Ralph Nader: Still Standing with the People, Against the CORPS

It's great because he highlights that the insanity of our current nuclear power practices, he shows the need to halt them as soon as possible.

Nuclear power might have a future, but with the current waste practices, and international disasters such as Japan, Chernobyl, Three Islands; it really shows that there is no need to further endanger human life.

Wiz Khalifa

I wish marijuana could get some celebrity attention. If today's celebrities pushed for social and political change instead of selfish bullshit, then there would actually be a reason to COVER them. I don't want to hear about drug addictions. I don't want to hear about criminal offenses. I really just don't care.

How about we get a celebrity to hold a rally in opposition of marijuana's outdated, economically destructive, ultimately useless prohibition?

Let's do that.

GOP gains an enemy...

On Friday Anon stated they had incriminating documents against Bank of America, and said they were to release this information tomorrow. Looks like this information might be bigger than anyone imagined.

Chat Roulette AWESOMENESS

This video is based on the original Merton who's improv video is on youtube.
Here's the link to the original, and heres the new one below.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

There IS a difference!

University Professor Formally and Politely Rick-Rolled

The Masterful Rick-Roll

I have to agree with the writer on this one. I'd much rather see something like this in a museum that a stack of tires or a tacky bust.

For those of you that don't know how it works. Your goal in life is to NOT get rick-rolled. If someone rick-rolls you, then you must acknowledge you've been rick-rolled. It's a part of the unwritten rules of life.

Here's a video of Bill O'Reilly getting Rick-Rolled in 2008, and he's not the nicest guy about it.

Agressive Atheism

There's a line between harassment and conversation. I'm not saying what this guy did is right, or compassionate. In fact I think he is very rude in the way he carries this out. But it's crazy to think that door to door Evangelicals and Mormons do this kind of thing for a living; and its hilarious to watch the reaction of some of these people when they get a dose of their own medicine.


Door To Door Atheists Bother Mormons - Watch more Funny Videos

The Time for Compassion is the Present

These photos are here to remind us that we are all just people.
Original Source for these Unforgettable Photos

1957. The first day of Dorothy Counts at the Harry Harding High School in the United States. Counts was one of the first black students admitted in the school, and she was no longer able to stand the harassments after 4 days.

January 12th, 1960.
A second before the Japanese Socialist Party leader Asanuma was murdered by an opponent student.

1963. Thich Quang Dug, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam, burns himself to death protesting the goverment’s torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound or moved while he was burning.

1962. A soldier shot by a sniper hangs onto a priest in his last moments.

1965. A mom and her children try to cross the river in South Vietnam in an attempt to run away from the American bombs.

1966. U.S. troops in South Vietnam are dragging a dead Vietkong soldier.

February 1st, 1968.
South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shots a young man, whom he suspects to be a Vietkong soldier.

1973. A few seconds before Chile’s elected president Salvador Allende is dead during the coup

1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionaire.

1989. A young man in China stands before the tanks during protests for democratic reforms.

1994. A man who was tortured by the soldiers since he was suspected to have spoken with the Tutsi rebels.

2003. An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child.

It's important to understand that all of this is a result of lack of compassion for fellow man. No man is an island, and underneath we are all connected. We must treat others as we wish to be treated.

This organization I think has found the center of it.
The Charter for Compassion
This made me cry tears of joy. You don't have to be a genius to understand what's going on in the world right now. There are people in power that don't understand how little we ask for. Some respect, a voice, a roof above our heads. There are some in this world who want to take all of that away. I am truly sorry for those individuals. The people in this video truly understand the roots that connect us all. One love.