Category: Politics

Political commentary and awareness

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The US Healthcare System is the Best in the World!

Well, actually it’s ranked 37th.

Evidence that other countries perform better than the United States in ensuring the health of their populations is a sure prod to the reformist impulse. The World Health Report 2000, Health Systems: Improving Performance, ranked the U.S. health care system 37th in the world…

It is hard to ignore that in 2006, the United States was number 1 in terms of health care spending per capita but ranked 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for adult female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality, and 36th for life expectancy. These facts have fueled a question now being discussed in academic circles, as well as by government and the public: Why do we spend so much to get so little?

[Source, , ]

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Is this really the simple difference between right and left?

Listen to the words of Kirsten Haglund (Miss America 2008) between 3:50 and 3:58. Does she sum up the difference between liberal and conservative beliefs in 8 seconds? If so, I’ll be happy to be labeled left, leftie, liberal, what-have-you. Just push play below and it should already be cued up to 3:50.

But it’s a basic difference in world view in that usually liberals and people on the left, Secular Humanists, believe that human nature is ultimately good. But conservatives believe it’s not.

[Source, Youtube, Fox News – Elmo & Big Bird Are Too Liberal & Make Gay Boys Want To Be Prom Queens quote by Kirsten Haglund 3:50-3:58]

I do believe in the goodness of people.

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Stop Outsourcing at Knox County Schools

A friend from Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee asked that I help spread their word:

Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee is petitioning to save the jobs of 275 or more custodial workers as Superintendent Dr. McIntyre has proposed an outsourcing plan as part of the 2011-2012 school budget which would:

  • lay off 275 workers across the county
  • reduce custodial wages by $2-$5 per hour
  • decrease quality of work (as shown by the last outsourcing attempt)

Please sign our online petition urging the school board to avoid outsourcing in our schools! http://bit.ly/g69Uz3

Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee is having a lunch for custodians and other school employees and community members this Saturday.

Custodians and other school employees and community members have been circulating petitions and talking to the Board of Education about the proposal to contract out custodial services. This is a very bad idea – bad for employees, students, and the whole community. There are a couple of School Board meetings coming up soon, so this might be a good time for folks to get together and talk about what we need to do next.

Let’s meet for lunch Saturday, April 30, 12 noon to 2 pm at the UNITE Building, 1124 N. Broadway (less than a mile north of Central).

Since custodians work different shifts, Saturday seems like the best chance to get together. We’d like the other folks who have been working on this to attend as well.

Lunch & Child Care are provided.

Family members are welcome at this gathering. Everyone is important. We’ll talk about what we’ve accomplished so far, and how we might move forward to save jobs and the quality of our schools. We can do this!

If you have questions before Saturday, call Jobs with Justice volunteers Karly Safar, 615/519-0157 or Brad Rayson, 865/385-4421.

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We hire fags!

I’m thinking of starting a business in Tennessee with the sole purpose of hiring homosexual staff. Here’s the business plan:

Mission statement: To snub our noses at the Tennessee GOP

Objectives:

  • Hire employees based on their qualifications and not sexual orientation
  • Provide healthcare to employees and their significant others even if Tennessee will not allow them to be married
  • Show the Tennessee Legislature that a business can operate and profit while respecting an employee’s personal choices in religion (or lack thereof) and relationships
  • Provide the same opportunities to the gay and lesbian, transvestite, transsexual, and asexual communities as the heterosexual community

We can worry about a product or service later. Investors? Angels?

If this post confuses you, see quipsofyellow Gay gay gay gay gay: arrest me, already. and TN House Votes to Reverse Nashville LGBT Workplace Protection Ordinance and Tennessee Legislature moves quickly to nullify Nashville’s newly adopted nondiscrimination ordinance.

Without debate, the House Commerce Subcommittee voted for legislation Wednesday to bar all Tennessee cities from enacting their own policies against gay, lesbian and/or transgender discrimination. The action was taken by voice vote, with no lawmaker offering audible opposition. [Source, Democratic Underground, Tennessee Legislature moves quickly to nullify Nashville’s newly adopted nondiscrimination ordinance]

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Ministry of Truth to be created in California

A California corporation has been awarded has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom) to build the Ministry of Truth. "The project has been likened by web experts to China’s attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet."

The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".

[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]

Now, before you grab your tinfoil hat (and mine is shinier than yours), note that "said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to ‘address US audiences’ with such technology"

…any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.

In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with “our coalition partners” to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain".

[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]

See also: Inspector General – Information Operations Contracts in Iraq page 9, Operation Earnest Voice (OEV) – online engagement, The man behind Operation Earnest Voice, and Operation Earnest Voice Part III.

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This does not make me proud

The land of the free, the promised land, the place people once longed to visit or immigrate is quickly becoming the land to stay far away.

going to the US is more unpleasant than going to Soviet era Russia or even Iran 10 years ago. Sure, you sometimes have to bribe people, but at least I’ve not had gear stolen off me during security checks or had people break my gear without at least compensating me.

And taking pictures. Well, let me put it like this: you are 20 times more likely to get hassled for whipping out your camera anywhere in the US than in, say, downtown Teheran.

I offer this as an observation from the outside. The US is isolating itself and it is becoming a very, very unpleasant place to visit. I often talk to fellow travellers and even a lot of business types in nice suits often relate how they’d rather not travel to the US if they could help it and that they’d rather work with people in Europe or Asia. I can relate to that.

[Source, Reddit, Why I stopped travelling to the US and I largely stopped doing business in the US.]

My fellow Americas. Can we please return to the pre-9/11 sensibilities we once had?

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To remove any doubt, WMDs evidence was a lie

In case there is still any doubt, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi has admitted to lying about Iraqs weapons of mass destruction. As I read this and watch the video, as an American citizen I feel heavy in my chest; despite my protests at the time, I feel guilty.

The defector who convinced the White House that Iraq had a secret biological weapons programme has admitted for the first time that he lied about his story, then watched in shock as it was used to justify the war.

[Source, guardian.co.uk , Defector admits to WMD lies that triggered Iraq war]

You should watch the video.

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It works the same in any country.

Image source http://i.imgur.com/6v7tR.jpg

Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. –Hermann Goering

[Source, ThinkExisting.com, Hermann Goering quotes]

Did he really say it? According to Snopes, yes.

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60 Minutes Wikileaks Statement Does Not Match Data

60 Minutes Vanity Fair Poll asks: "What do you think of the activities of WikiLeaks?" and from the answers concludes:

Only 9 percent of Americans think that WikiLeaks is a good thing. Twenty three percent think that it is destructive but legal and 22 percent think it is treasonous. But despite being prominently in the news for weeks for leaking classified documents from The State Department, and worse, for an organization that depends on notoriety to ply its trade, 42 percent of Americans aren’t sure what WikiLeaks is. [Source, CBSNews.com, 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: February Edition]

I’m not sure how their polls work but this statement was published on January 30 for a February poll. At the time I took in, the numbers were entirely contrary to the picture and paragraph they reported with 81% saying wikileaks is a good thing, 9% destructive but legal, 9% treasonous, and only 2% not sure what wikileaks is. Perhaps they sampled their poll early in the results. I view this as some of the manipulative reporting that misleads the average news consumer. Think of the number of people who don’t click the vote button to see the real results. If CBSNews wanted the numbers to remain static, they should have closed to the poll.

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Florida produces a winning 2012 presidential candidate

Ryan Lipner wants to be president of the United States but he is only 27 and the Constitution requires a candidate to be 35 years old or older. Is he qualified?

Lipner is known for his obsession with Hallmark stores as a teen and for opening branches without the company’s permission, leading him "to grand theft, bankruptcy, imprisonment, and possibly insanity — all before his 18th birthday," according to a 2001 New Times story.

[Source, Broward Palm Beach NewTimes]

He at least sounds qualified for Congress.