tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32932224566183805432024-02-22T11:06:18.787-08:00This Week in RealityJodine Mayberry is an experienced journalist who recently retired from a career that began in 1968 and has included reporting, writing and editing positions at several daily newspapers, and at textbook and legal publishing companies. She lives in Brookhaven with her cat, Molly.Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-67277373247532345842013-12-13T21:38:00.001-08:002013-12-13T21:38:34.452-08:00A Moving flash mob tribute to Nelson Mandela <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHHjP7XrBq0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
This might make you cry. It's very moving, It shouldn't be. It should be crass commercialism, but it doesn't come off that way at all. Sometimes even a corporation can act human. Enjoy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-25699660600829306252013-10-17T11:11:00.001-07:002013-10-17T11:11:49.088-07:00A poet for our times<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jacksverse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/Hasling.jpg.w180h196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://jacksverse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/Hasling.jpg.w180h196.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Hasling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here's a light verse poet who deserves a hand, a laugh and some promotion.<br />
<br />
Read this latest poem of his and then if you're interested in seeing more, check out his two books of poetry. I'll put the books and ordering info at the end.<br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><b><span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;">QUOTH THE PARROT</span></b></b></div>
<b> </b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<b>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Once
when I was lightly noting how perchance I might be voting</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>There appeared upon my sill a parrot with a crooked bill.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Ah, distinctly I remember elections early in November</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Engaged was I in making choices </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Hearing politician’s voices.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>I couldn’t help but see that doom was casting shadows in my room</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Democracy was almost lost —it must be saved
at any cost.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>I asked the parrot
in despair, and wondered if he’d even care</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>He look around from side to side</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>“Socialism,” he replied.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>But
what about <a href="http://jacksverse.com/#" id="_GPLITA_2" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">Obamacare</a>? We’ll need it if it isn’t there</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>We surely know it’s more than fair that healthy people pay their share</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>The sick and lame just can’t abide, and preconditions
won’t subside</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>The argument
can’t be denied.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>“Socialism,”
he replied.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://jacksverse.com/#" id="_GPLITA_0" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">Food Stamp</a> programs soon might end; still opponents
will not bend. </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>They’re
promising to never spend, while money overseas they send. </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>On faith the hungry have relied</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>While dealing with their fragile pride</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>“Socialism,” he replied.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Our roads and bridges need repair; our schools not funded anywhere</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>But somehow no one seems to care: Protect instead the billionaire.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>And while we struggle with this schism</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Looking through a shaded prism</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times new roman, times; font-size: medium;"><b>Quoth the Parrot, “Socialism.”</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</b><br />
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_blue_pinstripe.gif" colspan="3" height="15"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_blue_pinstripe.gif" width="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="15" /></td>
<td><img alt="cover.jpg" border="" hspace="0" src="http://jacksverse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/cover.jpg.w180h268.jpg" vspace="0" width="180" /></td>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_blue_pinstripe.gif" width="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="15" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_blue_pinstripe.gif" colspan="3" height="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="1" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My two books of
verses are available on amazon.com</span></span></b></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><b>If you don't like to <a href="http://jacksverse.com/#" id="_GPLITA_1" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">buy on line</a>, write to me at</b></span></span> </b></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b> jackhasling@sbcglobal.net</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;">—Jack
Hasling </span></b></span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>
</b></span><br />
<h6 style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></h6>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b></b></span><br />
<div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>
</b></span>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;">FOOTPRINTS ON MY TONGUE </span></b></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also available
at Leigh's Books </span></b></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></b></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center" background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/spacer.gif"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_dkblue_canvas.gif" colspan="3" height="15"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_dkblue_canvas.gif" width="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="15" /></td>
<td><img alt="footprints.jpg" border="" hspace="0" src="http://jacksverse.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/footprints.jpg.w180h264.jpg" vspace="0" width="180" /></td>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_dkblue_canvas.gif" width="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="15" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/frame_dkblue_canvas.gif" colspan="3" height="15"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/blank.gif" width="1" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr valign="top"><td width="265"><table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="258"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="" height="10" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/spacer.gif" width="1" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="258"><div align="center">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jack+hasling&x=15&y=18" target="_self"><span style="color: black;">To order go to AMAZON.COM</span></a></i></u></b></span>
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b></b></span><br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>A
little book of light verse
with important advice for grandchildren and other folks who think they
don't need it. </b></span></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Available
now </span></b></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Leigh's Book Store</span> </b></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sand;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">121 S. Murphy Ave, Sunnyvale</span></b></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>
</b></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td width="9"><img alt="" height="10" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/spacer.gif" width="9" /></td>
<td width="265"><table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td width="258"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="" height="10" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/spacer.gif" width="1" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-37310591355658492042013-09-24T07:43:00.001-07:002013-09-24T07:46:08.466-07:00That 1912 eight grade exam<a href="http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html">http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media5.picsearch.com/is?FwA4VvdTB3D3-kYX1TigYLjTw9fFxGedm9eJlHSmMGQ" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://media5.picsearch.com/is?FwA4VvdTB3D3-kYX1TigYLjTw9fFxGedm9eJlHSmMGQ" width="400" /></a></div>
When I wrote about how hard the 1912 Bullitt County high school readiness exam was last week in the Daily Times, exactly zero people asked me if they could see the whole test and maybe challenge themselves to take it.<br />
So good news, you can. You can find it at this<a href="http://http/www.bullittcountyhistory.com"> site</a>. And to get the answers and an explanation of the answers, go to <a href="http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912ans.html">this link</a>.<br />
Go ahead and try it; it's fun. By the way, look for the misspelled word in the spelling list. <br />
The issue I brought up in my column was about the Keystone high school graduation tests now being developed to test high school seniors and deny them diplomas if they don't pass. This is supposed to get students to invest in their own learning and I hope it works.<br />
Right now, 61 percent of those taking the beta version are failing the algebra portion. My question is, what are educators going to be able to do to lower that number drastically and prepare students for their college math requirement, which holds many back from graduating. Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-83900685009507475122013-08-11T10:59:00.001-07:002013-08-11T12:09:45.019-07:00Our canary in the coal mine?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEC62c0-kuhWJXXCE1xsiBSgno21mHztqmZb8xhetH3h_BF345lyKxa5kwAT5phS3d0MFez9KTvCAHh1fIbp-pZtQu4f6JWHhIxaisrb0JjfBiGYNrBM7b9wZN5Ze9TpJN6zIJn4IGTQA/s1600/Bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEC62c0-kuhWJXXCE1xsiBSgno21mHztqmZb8xhetH3h_BF345lyKxa5kwAT5phS3d0MFez9KTvCAHh1fIbp-pZtQu4f6JWHhIxaisrb0JjfBiGYNrBM7b9wZN5Ze9TpJN6zIJn4IGTQA/s400/Bear.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This polar bear died of starvation because of a lack of Arctic ice on which it could hunt seals. It was found last week in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Circle 160 miles from its normal hunting grounds and it was healthy when it was last seen in March.<br />
Maybe that is a short-term good thing for seals, unless they're starving too, but it does not forebode long-term well-being for the seven billion human beings on the planet. Climate change is, well, changing the natural order.<br />
The North Pole has melted, as has most of Greenland as well as glaciers and snow fields that provide clean drinking water for people all over the world. One-third of the arable soil of Bangladesh, home to 150 million people, is contaminated by salt from seawater.<br />
Any minute now the permafrost is going to melt just enough to release millions of pounds of methane gas into the atmosphere and that's going to accelerate the warming of the globe many times more intently than anything we've seen so far. The big burp, some bloggers are calling it. <br />
In our own country, we seem to be enduring a constant barrage of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and tornadoes, in and out of their normal seasons and of a size and scale never before experienced. The entire Southwest may become too hot to be inhabitable within a couple of decades. Hurricanes are accompanied by gigantic storm surges and major cities, like New York, Miami and New Orleans are in danger of drowning in rising sea waters. <br />
Whether or not climate change has been accelerated by human activity, and I think most of us know the answer to that, there is no denying it is happening, no looking away or screaming hoax.<br />
It is long past time that we start doing what we can to ameliorate it and that means lots and lots of clean renewable energy and, just for starters, no Keystone pipeline. <br />
As Buffalo Springfield wrote/sang:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
There's something happening here <br />
What it is ain't exactly clear </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I think it's clear enough. </div>
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-35517433543295215972013-06-26T13:08:00.000-07:002013-06-26T13:08:38.048-07:00The prez tackles climate change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cMT87OP21mo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
President Obama made a historic speech on climate change last Tuesday, historic not just for what he proposes, but also for detailing what his administration has already done. The 21-page plan that accompanies it puts it altogether. The speech was largely ignored by the Mainstream Media, but if you're interested in the survival of the planet, here it is. Climate change deniers can deny themselves right back to the Stone Age. <br />
<br />
Here's the video of his speech.<br />
Here's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-climate-change">the text</a>.<br />
Here's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan">the graphic</a> that explains it all. <br />
Here's the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf">21-page plan</a>. <br />
Here's<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/state-reports/climate/f_pennsylvania_fact_sheet.pdf"> a report</a> on Pennsylvania and the Northeast.Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-80778404966061858432013-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:002013-05-12T21:13:28.221-07:00A judge has fun ... and so can we<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
"Sober as a judge" is more than a cliche. <br />
Judges by and large have to be serious folk, given to writing long, pedantic, meticulously researched and nuanced and, let's face it, deadly boring legal opinions.<br />
But every once in a while one of them gets the chance to let loose and when they do, it's great fun. <br />
Judge Fred Biery of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas went to town on a ruling released April 29 denying a preliminary injunction to a strip club, 35 Bar and Grille LLC, in San Antonio, Texas, and well, the rest of this just writes itself.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRuMVP-bFcGXhjzETjmFBmkCwFz7a-Lk0rS06foF234eIknNh_DYg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRuMVP-bFcGXhjzETjmFBmkCwFz7a-Lk0rS06foF234eIknNh_DYg" /></a></div>
The issue is whether a strip club is being denied its First Amendment rights by having to take out a license in order to allow its entertainers to appear topless. The club was seeking a preliminary injunction against the city of San Antonio to prevent it from enforcing an ordinance to that effect. Sit back and enjoy.<br />
First, Judge Biery gave the title to his decision, which is unusual in itself: "The Case of the Itsy Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Bikini Top v. the (More) Itsy Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Pastie."<br />
The dispute over the ordinance, Judge Biery says, has "once again fallen into the court's lap."<br />
The city of San Antonio wants exotic dancers employed by the plaintiffs to wear larger pieces of fabric to cover more of the female breast and "thus, the age-old question before the court, now with constitutional implications, is: Does size matter?"<br />
The judge then notes that the case arose out of an earlier decision known by some as the "Salomé order,"which derives from Salomé's dance of the seven veils in the palace of King Herod as noted in the Bible, Mark 6:16 – 28.<br />
That dance, he observes in a footnote, resulted in "a fatal secondary effect for John the Baptist."<br />
The plaintiffs "clothe themselves in the First Amendment seeking to provide cover against another alleged naked grab of constitutional power," the opinion says.<br />
The city's enforcement of the ordinance would "strip [the club owners]of their profits," but the city asserts that businesses such as this contribute to reduce property values, violent crime, increase drug sales, prostitution and other sex crimes, and "therefore need to be girdled more tightly."<br />
"Plaintiffs, and by extension their customers, seek an erection of a constitutional wall separating themselves from the regulatory power of city government," the judge says.<br />
"While the court has not received amicus curiae ( friend of the court) briefs, the court has been blessed with volunteers known in South Texas as 'curious amigos' to be inspectors general to perform on-site visits at the locations in question," he says.<br />
Here's where the judge really branches out from the issue at hand. He observes that these curious amigos would have enjoyed far more the sight of "Miss Wiggles," an exotic artist "of physical self-expression even into her 80s" who died in October 2012 at the age of 90.<br />
I'm not at all sure what Miss Wiggles has to do with this case but, what the hell.<br />
"To bare, or not to bare, that is the question," Judge Biery says paraphrasing Shakespeare. <br />
"The court doubts several square inches of fabric will staunch the flow of violence and other secondary effects emanating from these businesses," he says.<br />
"Indeed, this case exposes the underbelly of America's Romanesque passion for entertainment, sex and money, sought to be covered with constitutional prophylaxis." Really, judge!<br />
"Alcohol, drugs, testosterone, guns and knives are more likely the causative agents than the female breast, proving once again that humans are a peculiar lot," the judge says alluding to a line from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.<br />
Then the judge delivers the coup de grace: "Should the parties choose to string this case out to trial on the merits, the court encourages reasonable discovery intercourse as they navigate the peaks and valleys of litigation, perhaps to reach a happy ending." Ooh, naughty. <br />
In denying the preliminary injunction, Judge Biery makes it clear that there is no First Amendment violation involved in a municipal ordinance that seeks to regulate strip clubs and that the club's pursuit of the case is virtually certain to end unhappily for it.<br />
As an addendum, the judge notes that he has supplied an appendix with the entire history of the case "for those interested in a lengthy exposition, those who wish to appeal and those who suffer from insomnia."<br />
Amen to that. <br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-23377682787527407712013-03-14T20:26:00.000-07:002013-03-15T06:47:00.553-07:006000 dead pigs ... in the drinking water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VJmfs3AtNIw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Say what you want about the Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, think what you want about government regulation, I'll bet we'll never have 6,000 diseased <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/13/world/asia/pigs-china-river/index.html">pig carcasses</a> floating down the Delaware River. If we do, time to move to Canada, en mass. <br />
For those of you who cannot access videos, CNN and Reuters and a bunch of Chinese bloggers reported that more than 6,000 diseased pig carcasses were dumped in the Huangpu River, which supplies the city of Shanghai, China with its drinking water, in the last few days.<br />
What's even worse, Chinese officials insist that the dead pigs, which were removed, posed no health risk to residents. What would have been worse, and apparently happens all the time, is that upstream farmers, who have lost 70,000 pigs since the beginning of the year, have been selling them to unscrupulous middlemen who put them into the food supply. This is cheaper than burning or burying the carcasses as the law requires and according to news accounts, it's a law that is not much enforced.<br />
Bloggers on Weibo, China's version of Facebook, dared Chinese officials to drink the water first. "big leaders, please do go ahead and have the first drink," one quipped. <br />
Clean Air Act anyone? Clean Water Act? Food inspection? Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-38768001215002005292013-03-01T20:01:00.001-08:002013-03-01T21:34:53.613-08:00The saddest story ever<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReZMELC3276975dbkOWuA9B1xV-BUCAoRLNPkvAVPE-7yZPMrgXw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReZMELC3276975dbkOWuA9B1xV-BUCAoRLNPkvAVPE-7yZPMrgXw" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyle Thacker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These two young men are -- were -- Kyle (top) and Kody Thacker. On Saturday, Feb. 23, Kody, 19, took his own life after accidentally shooting and killing his brother Kyle, 24, with a shotgun, according to a Lexington, Ky., TV station. Here is the<a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/deputies-pulaski-co-man-accidentally-shoots-and-kills-brother-takes-own-life"> transcript</a> of the Lex18 TV news story.<br />
Apparently police are satisfied it was an accident and can take no further action, leaving their family to grieve and bury their dead. All over some mindless tomfoolery with a shotgun in a situation where there was no threat, no home invasion and no need to protect a family member.<br />
They are just two of the 2,392 people who have died from gun violence in this country since Newtown/Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012, according to a<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html"> gun deaths chart </a>being maintained on Salon.com. On this chart you can see exactly how many were men, how many were women and how many were children. If you click on each figure, it will tell you the victim's name, age and location. Take a look. That's an average of 18 Americans a day dying from gunshots.<br />
David Waldman on Daily Kos has been running a different tally, of headlines involving gun deaths and injuries each week called GunFail. Here's his<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/01/1189175/-GunFAIL-VII"> latest one, number 7</a>. Waldman's list includes idiots who accidentally shoot themselves, dogs that accidently shoot their owners' guns and the like so it's a less depressing list. He's also including some pretty amusing photos and videos.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT27HSJK9VR0LjUUMMfs_W0Hiqo6TAPMT-tfqNe3i4V6ecOJzc0SQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT27HSJK9VR0LjUUMMfs_W0Hiqo6TAPMT-tfqNe3i4V6ecOJzc0SQ" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KodyThacker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But it is still a sad roster of people who would be alive, who would not be in pain, who would not be maimed, disfigured, scarred for life, if there had not been a gun close at hand, in their hands or the hands of loved ones, at some supremely dumb moment.<br />
Here's what I don't get:<br />
Every time I hear a Second Amendment fanatic says, "We don't need more gun laws, we just need to enforce the ones we have," I have to wonder in a case like the Thackers, exactly how would greater enforcement of existing gun laws have prevented this tragedy? And how can any sane person conclude that it is safer for his or her family to have guns in the house than not? <br />
Now we learn that certain technically inclined gun nuts are perfecting the manufacturing of the guts of assault weapons on 3D printers so that there will be no controlling of, or even knowing about, such guns because there will be no buying or selling of them, no registrations or background checks, no serial numbers, just the running of a printer in somebody's basement.<br />
For the last 15 years Congresshas prohibited federal government agencies from researching the causes and extent of gun violence for fear that would lead to -- gasp -- regulation.<br />
The government does research on traffic accidents, on air crashes, on boating accidents, even on bicycle and skateboard accidents, all of which leads to better laws and regulations (like no texting while driving), better education and better designs to make all of these things safer. Research on the health hazards of smoking led to profound changes in public opinion about tobacco and a drastic reduction in the number of smokers in the U.S.<br />
But no, we can't research the health hazards of guns, because James Madison and few other founding fathers 214 years ago badly worded one sentence in the U.S. Constitution. <br />
What a bats__t crazy country. Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-54502056829680883252013-02-12T21:37:00.000-08:002013-02-12T21:46:14.040-08:00My valentine to Sammy Franklin<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGv71Hrms9WtomUWhiGWQ0G0huDqe6lkoAX7sdVuHBktG99CtwcA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGv71Hrms9WtomUWhiGWQ0G0huDqe6lkoAX7sdVuHBktG99CtwcA" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice how none of these guys is black?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know how when you are young and you’re busy with your
education or your love affairs or your growing family, you never think much about
or notice much about your parents or grandparents’ lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know how you never showed much interest in what they’d
been through personally or the cataclysmic events they lived through, like the
Great Depression and World War II, or thought about the friends they
accumulated over the years?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was thinking about that for just a moment tonight because
a guy I used to know a little bit came to mind for the first time in years and I
thought, “Wow, it’s a damned shame nobody but me remembers this guy.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My grandparents, Camille and Rosalie Richards, came here
from New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1920s and settled in New Haven, Conn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandfather was a carpenter and iron
worker who worked on many of the Yale University construction projects and on
I-95, from the 1920s to the 1960s.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even during the Great Depression he earned a living from
construction work or running whiskey across the Canadian-American border or making
bathtub gin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother claimed she couldn't take a bath for seven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And my grandmother ran a rooming house through all those
years from the 1920s until (unbelievably) 1999, working hard cleaning rooms
and changing sheets for single men who needed a place to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They did have a woman tenant in their last years. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Camille (Ca-Mill) was a short man but strong as a bull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone called him “Frenchy.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to hear stories about how he once fell
three stories off a construction project and got up and walked away, or how
when he bought his first (actually only) refrigerator, he picked it up at the
store and carried it home, or about how he pulled his own teeth with a pair of
pliers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it’s not him I am remembering at this moment, it’s his
friend, Sammy Franklin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandfather was a French-speaking Canadian and
Sammy was a black American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an
important element of their story, but, I think, for them not the most
important.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They worked shoulder to shoulder for years and remained fast
friends even though my grandfather was a hard drinker and Sammy was a Seventh Day
Adventist teetotaler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As my grandparents aged and became frail in the 1980s and 1990s,
as they themselves entered their 80s and 90s, there were relatives who were
close geographically but who did not extend a hand to help them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I lived in New Jersey and when my grandfather became bed-ridden
and my grandmother, suffering from osteoporosis, began to experience more and
more hospitalizations for broken bones, I was the one who went to them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, I noticed, each time I went, Sammy, who had risen high
in the New Haven Housing Authority and then retired, was always there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the years, he repeatedly arranged for members of his
church to provide home health care services for my grandparents at a pittance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sammy made sure my grandparents had Meals on Wheels and
every time one of them was hospitalized, Sammy was at his or her side. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sammy
came over to shave my grandfather and bathe him a few times a week for several
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shoveled snow and took out the
trash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One time I asked my grandmother, why does Sammy help you so
much?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she said, “Well, you know he
and your grandfather have been good friends for a long time and your
grandfather helped him get into the union.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, my grandmother had no idea what an extraordinary
statement that was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Throughout the 20th century up through the late 1960s, the
construction unions were a closed shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you were not related to someone in the unions and were not white,
there was no hope for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you were an
able-bodied black man, maybe you could get a job pushing a broom and cleaning
up the brick shards.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t even know how my grandfather got into “the union,” which
he must have done in the 1930s or 1940s, let alone how he got Sammy in (in
perhaps the 1940s or 1950s), but if he did, that was a big, big favor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if that was the case, Sammy repaid that favor a thousand
times over, even when his own family’s problems were overwhelming, even when
his own health was failing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember one time walking down a hospital corridor to
visit my grandmother in the 1990s and while I turned left when the corridor
zigged left, Sammy kept walking straight, right into a wall, because he had glaucoma
so bad he could not see a thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sammy was one of the few people at my grandfather’s
funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>My grandmother leaned over to me and said, “It’s
a shame so few people have come, of all your grandfather’s co-workers.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Grandma,” I replied, “Papa was 93.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nobody left to mourn him.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sammy was also at my grandmother’s funeral when she died a couple
of years later at 95.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Someone asked me tonight why I thought my grandparents
helped Sammy and I said, “I don’t think it was altruism or nobility,
especially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I think they were from such a homogenous society, they
never knew anyone with a different skin color so that it never occurred to them
that they should treat someone differently because of their color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were just ignorant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t know the concept of racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe it was because they were strangers
and outsiders themselves because of their language and nationality.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And why did Sammy love them and care for them so much?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe it was because they treated him as an equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or maybe he just loved everyone that much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do know this: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sammy practiced the doctrine of Christianity
as purely and wholeheartedly as anyone I have ever known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinking about his faith is almost enough to
make me convert. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the thought occurs to me, Sammy may have done even more for
my grandparents than I am aware of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My grandparents lived for nearly 80 years in a neighborhood
of New Haven that went from Ukrainian and Polish for most of that time to black
and Hispanic in the 1960s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In their last 30 years, they were virtually the only white
people in a black neighborhood, and they were never bothered, taunted,
ridiculed, attacked or treated with anything other than respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe Sammy had something to with that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it was just their own character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll never know. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I do know this, it never occurred to them to move out of
that neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they were in
their 80s, HUD drove them out of their building and they did move across the
street, taking their rooming house tenants with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was their neighborhood and that was
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>French Canadians are nothing if not
stubborn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m ashamed to say I lost touch with Sammy after my
grandparents died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I think he must be dead now himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t show up on Google, which is a
darned shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t show up on Google
these days, who are you?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m very grateful Sammy was there for my grandparents and they
were there for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I suspect this is one of many millions of past and current American
stories about individuals being kind to each other, standing by each other and
looking straight at each other beyond the barriers of fear and hatred that,
after all, are the very foundations of racism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hope that someday Sammy’s descendants may, in looking for
information about him on the Internet, come across this little valentine of
mine.</div>
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-58059019984041274192013-02-04T21:22:00.005-08:002013-02-05T19:09:51.171-08:00America the beautiful? Where?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/17/60/77/4132802/5/628x471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/17/60/77/4132802/5/628x471.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Am I the only one who was appalled by these kids singing America the Beautiful at the Superbowl?<br />
I'm sure they were invited in the purest of motives, to help us all heal from the horror of Sandy Hook-Newtown-12-14 slaughter, whatever you want to call it.<br />
But by the same token, these poor kids mouthing the words to America the Beautiful when they have been through America the Horrific? The hypocrisy of those who arranged this little love fest is overwhelming. Meanwhile, in rapid succession over the last few weeks we have had:<br />
* A 15-year-old who performed at the Inauguration and was killed less then two weeks later in Chicago.<br />
* A 22-year-old Latino who made the mistake of pulling into the driveway of a suburban Atlanta man when his GPS steered him wrong and was shot and killed for his trouble (and the shooter held the victim's three teenage companions until police arrived and arrested the shooter). None of the four in the car was armed.<br />
* A guy in Phoenix who took a gun to a legal deposition and killed a lawyer and the man who was suing him. Nice way to settle a legal dispute.<br />
* America's greatest sniper in the Iraq war and another veteran who were shot and killed on a rifle range by a third disturbed veteran.<br />
(Really, if a trained sniper armed with whatever armament he had cannot defend himself, who can? I'm not making light of this. These were a couple of military heroes trying their best to help a fellow veteran, but this cannot be an advertisement for "We need to arm ourselves to protect ourselves from the mentally unstable.")<br />
* Twenty-two Iraq and Afghanistan veterans a day --A DAY -- are committing suicide, nearly all of them with guns. <br />
* Our president had to prove that he has shot a gun at least once to campaign against gun violence.<br />
* And, since 12/14, at least <b>1,600 Americans</b> have been shot and killed. See <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/01/1182767/-GunFAIL-III">here a</a>nd <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html">here</a>.<br />
These were people and now they are graves.<br />
In the last week of January alone, 22 murder-suicides were committed in America leaving more than 40 people dead, husbands, wives, children. <br />
So who am I to talk about gun violence?<br />
I have lost two brothers and a sister-in-law to gun violence. On Labor Day, 2004, my brother Bo shot his estranged wife Rose and himself to death in front of his three youngest sons and a grandson. They left behind 11 children.<br />
That one-and-a-half-year old grandson, now eight, has been the victim of horrendous, ongoing mental and emotional problems, and he doesn't even understand the source of any of it. And my nieces and nephews have been assaulted by unbelievable guilt and pain, as have I. That pain does not end.<br />
My brother Tom? I am not even allowed to talk about him. He was shot and killed in 2008 by a member of his wife's family. The police have not found his body or been able to charge the perpetrator but they know what happened, if not why.<br />
I cannot even bury Tom and I often imagine the terror he experienced in the moment, seconds, before he was killed. Can you imagine someone you loved experiencing that? <br />
Rose also experienced unfathomable terror. She did not deserve to die that way. And Bo? He was one week into an anti-depressant regimen that may have given him the calm and fortitude to kill Rose and himself. The drug he was taking has been blamed for many other suicides.<br />
Do you imagine that this epidemic of gun violence is simply a class thing? Black inner-city youths killing each other? Think again. My family is as white and Anglo-American and Middle Class as they come. <br />
So yeah, I think I have a little cred to talk about gun violence. <br />
In both these cases and in many of the 32,000 or so homicides and
suicides we experience every year, the intersection of
rage or despair or mental instability and a handy gun results in deaths that simply would not have happened if the moment were allowed to pass and the gun had not been at hand.<br />
And those of you who insist that we need semi-automatic weapons and 30-round magazines to protect us from a tyrannical government? <br />
"Tyrannical government" is code-speak in some circles for "the blacks are coming to get us." But in either case, a popularly elected government gone mad or minority marauders, this is total fantasy and the worst kind of fear-mongering. Even if you really had to protect yourselves from a real, honest-to-God "tyrannical government," you civilians would need a lot more armaments than you can ever stockpile. <br />
Our government has nuclear bombs,anti-ballistic missiles launched from submarines, hellfire missiles, drones, shoulder-launched rocket launchers, Apache helicopters, armored Humvees and I don't even know what else. Not to mention 12 years of warfare experience against small arms and roadside explosive devices.<br />
And if you had to go up against a "tyrannical government," you would really be going up against your own sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands,wives, military, police and first responders. You will not be wiping out some abstract enemy, you will be wiping out your friends, relatives and neighbors.<br />
Who do you think would be coming for your guns?<br />
Which isn't even a question. As President Obama says, there is no legislation, no proposal, no intent to take any of your guns away from you. <br />
But, whatever we can achieve in gun control, otherwise known as "sensible gun laws," it's time.<br />
It's time for all of us to change our attitudes against unfettered, unregulated gun ownership.<br />
Oh yes, it is time. <br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-39706129030633998402013-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:002013-01-28T10:24:32.725-08:00They're doing it -- we can't let them<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowComments/>
<w:DoNotShowInsertionsAndDeletions/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1027"/>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/>
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those of you who are not paying attention, the
Pennsylvania Republican-controlled legislature and governor are pursuing a new,
perfectly constitutional, but profoundly undemocratic way <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to suppress the vote and steal all future presidential elections
from majority voters in the state.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s very simple really:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2010 the Legislature gerrymandered<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the state’s congressional districts to make sure there were more
Republican-controlled/safe districts that Democratic districts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what the current districts look like:<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDqoj3ra8PubTpQ8GnkBTKOwVx2wGKKwsRcRPWuKhxrjsuNcCS9HAcxZ2FTnSdVIa90WU1mGydHcNaV1P4s1TjxErUD_t5pMAYma867ifTaeM_ElUhprJ9PUXapobWHAjNT9RF_90qnU/s1600/Pa.+congressional+districts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDqoj3ra8PubTpQ8GnkBTKOwVx2wGKKwsRcRPWuKhxrjsuNcCS9HAcxZ2FTnSdVIa90WU1mGydHcNaV1P4s1TjxErUD_t5pMAYma867ifTaeM_ElUhprJ9PUXapobWHAjNT9RF_90qnU/s400/Pa.+congressional+districts.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoCaption">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2010 Pa. Congressional Districts </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So now there are five districts – all geographically tiny, urban and densely
populated --where the voters are predominately Democratic and 13 where they
are predominately Republican.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Democratic districts are the 1st, 2nd and
13th (Brady, Fattah and Schwartz) in and around Philadelphia, the 14th
(Pittsburgh) and the 17th (Harrisburg).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Why did they do that? because if they had left the districts alone after the 2000 redistricting, several -- like the 7th in Delaware County -- would have been highly competitive for Democratic candidates. Indeed, the old 7th was represented for two terms by a very liberal Democrat, Joe Sestak. The Republicans couldn't have that, so they added the most Democratic areas of the 7th District to Bob Brady's 1st District and shoved the borders of the 7th out into counties where the voter rolls are rural, conservative and Republican. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Then they tried unsuccessfully to suppress the urban, suburban and minority vote by making it harder for people to vote -- which backfired on them spectacularly in the 12012 election. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, however, having carefully drawn and shrunk the number of districts so
that widely scattered Republicans -- so thin on the ground they are spread over 15 counties in District 5 and 13
counties in District 10, for example -- can command the largest number of
congressional districts, regardless of actual human population (cows, trees and deer not counted), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Republicans are moving on to step two.</div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
Voter Suppression Step Two </h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Step two is to enact legislation to change the way
Pennsylvania allocates its 20 electoral votes from winner take all -- which reflects
the overall popular vote in the state -- to the majority<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>vote within each congressional
district -- plus two electoral votes for the top vote getter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this configuration, President Obama, who got all 20 electoral votes in 2012, would have received 7
electoral votes and Mitt Romney would have gotten 13 in the last election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the other large swing states that are
contemplating this move-- Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida -- had also changed their
laws to apply to the 2012 election, Obama would have still won the popular vote by 4
percent and yet lost the election to Romney in electoral votes by a wide margin. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thus, the votes of white voters <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in rural areas would count for far more than
the votes of urban, minority, largely Democratic voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, several pundits have calculated that the vote of an urban black
or Latino voter would be worth about 3/5ths of that a rural white voter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where have we seen that figure before?
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
The Destruction of Democracy </h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since the rise of the
extreme rightwing over the past four years, we have been witnessing the death of the Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, it appears ready to pull down
the whole nation as it goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> After a</span> couple of election
cycles where the presidential candidate chosen by a majority of the popular vote is
rejected by the electoral college under the Republicans' plan that several things may happen: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li>The disaffection of voters for the entire political process will become complete. </li>
<li>The electoral college
may be abolished and the country may switch to a straight popular vote like other modern democracies (which would be a good thing). </li>
<li>Voters will revile and reject the Republic Party utterly and it will go the way of the Federalists and Whigs.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">The people will have to resort to violence and perhaps the kind of armed insurrection the right-wing gun huggers have been pining for. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">The Republican Party could take over the
government by fiat, much like the Nazis did in the 1930s with the Reichstag
Fire Decree and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933">Enabling Act</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
</ol>
Whether any or all of these things happen, it will be crystal clear to
all Americans that the Republican Party is profoundly undemocratic,
unpatriotic and hostile to the American people.<br />
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/27/1182006/-If-it-is-not-stopped-the-Republican-war-on-democracy-will-tear-this-nation-apart">Lawrence Lewi</a>s at Daily Kos has the best explanation of this whole process I’ve seen so far. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Give it
a read.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h3>
They're Doing It</h3>
In the meantime, seven<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pennsylvania Assembly Republicans have introduced House bill 94 to enact
the the electoral college vote allocation change, with the deceptively banal
title “An Act Concerning Elections.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
has been referred to the House Committee on State Government where it is to be
hoped it dies a quiet death. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But those of us who believe in democracy and representative
government cannot depend on our hopes alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Find your state <a href="http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/county_list.cfm?CNTYLIST=DELAWARE">legislators
here.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let them know how you feel
about the hijacking of your presidential vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Contact Gov. <a href="http://www.governor.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/governor_pa_gov/20650">Tom
Corbett’s Office</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let him know that
while his chnaces of winning re-election don’t look so hot right now, he will
surely be committing political suicide if he signs this bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Contact your local ACLU and League of Women Voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Ask your Democratic representatives what the hell they're doing to prevent this from happening. </span>Fight back now, before the damage is
done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-22804530434232370302013-01-20T09:05:00.000-08:002013-01-20T09:37:01.803-08:00Would you stay in line with this guy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/16190/large/article-armed1-0118.jpg?1358628285" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/16190/large/article-armed1-0118.jpg?1358628285" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a man standing at a check-out counter in a J.C. Penney store in Ogden, Utah, last Wednesday toting not only this rifle, whatever it is, but also a Glock. He's making a point: Utah is one of 43 states to have an open carry law allowing gun lovers can carry their toys wherever they want, church, restaurants, movie theaters, even into a mall store where mothers are shopping with children.<br />
Other shoppers were supposed to take it on faith that this is one of the NRA's "good guys with guns" as opposed a homicidal maniac ready to start shooting if say, his credit card is rejected or someone says something to him about his weaponry. Or perhaps the police might have showed up thinking he was a potential mass murderer and then God knows what would have happened.<br />
What do you think your reaction would be if he had shown up at the Granite Run Mall J.C. Penney? What would have been your reaction if the guy was black, wearing a hoodie and toting exactly the same firepower?<br />
My whole life I have felt like I live in two different countries. There's the eastern and western seaboards, where I've lived my whole life and that vast fly-over middle of the country, the "heartland," the real America," etc. -- like Wyoming, where my father came from and never went back, and Kentucky where my stepfather came from, and made the mistake of going back.<br />
My stepfather never had guns in the house although he was in the military. He was a submarine sailor and they weren't armed because what were they going to do, shoot a hole in the submarine? <br />
But after he retired he went home to Kentucky and acquired all of the necessary accouterments -- the pickup truck, the rifle rack and the coon dog. He stopped short one day and threw the coon dog out of the back of the truck. She was so badly injured her leg had to be amputated. <br />
Then he shot an unarmed neighbor in the foot and served eight months in the county jail at the age of 69. The police, even in that rural part of western Kentucky, didn't buy his story that he was "defending his castle." <br />
These two countries in my head are so different and yet not different enough. Pennsylvanians are rushing to buy guns and get concealed carry permits, and from now on I will have to sit in a crowded movie theater even in the Walnut St. Theater's production of The Music Man and wonder how many people around me are carrying guns? Which is the quickest way out? <br />
I don't want to have to pick out the good guys with guns from the bad guys with guns and I most assuredly do not want to be one of the good guys with guns. <br />
So yesterday, Gun Appreciation Day, hundreds gathered at statehouses around the country, mostly in the Midwest and South, carrying their legal firearms. Fortunately nothing tragic happened but five people accidentally shot themselves or others at gun shows, again fortunately, none fatally. That's just the way it ids in Gunland. <br />
I'm not going to urge you to boycott J.C. Penney because as commentators pointed out on the blogosphere yesterday, what this jerk did in Utah was perfectly legal, but I am going to urge you to say something to J.C. Penny either online or in person because national retail chains can make quite a stink about this sort of thing when it may cause them to lose other, saner shoppers.<br />
<br />
<br />
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-21150592506250975492012-12-08T12:55:00.000-08:002012-12-08T13:15:21.337-08:00Tobacco Cos.: We do help these things kill you<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media4.picsearch.com/is?rujsQArLnZriLvaBTMklQj-tQHmqpwul0elPyMRNjNM" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://media4.picsearch.com/is?rujsQArLnZriLvaBTMklQj-tQHmqpwul0elPyMRNjNM" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Pause a moment to mentally congratulate Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: Her 13-year-long slog presiding over <i>United States v. Philip Morris et al.</i>, No. 99-2496, is coming to an end. And it is ending in pretty spectacular fashion. <br />
On Nov. 27 she ordered all the big tobacco companies to begin publishing "corrective statements" in newspapers, on TV, on the Internet, in magazines and on their cigarette packs to correct the lies they have been telling cigarette consumers for decades and decades. <br />
The statements will say not just that cigarettes kill more than 400,000 American smokers and ex-smokers every year, not just that secondhand smoke kills 3,000 Americans a year, not just that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette ...<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/sites/dcd/files/kessler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/sites/dcd/files/kessler.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judge Gladys Kessler</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The statements will say tobacco companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction to make it very hard for you to quit and then lied to you about just how addictive they are.<br />
Judge Kessler has approved the exact wording of the statements and the tobacco companies cannot change the wording, no matter how embarrassed, chagrined or pissed-off their corporate executive may be.<br />
They lost their last argument in the Nov. 27 ruling, that the statements violated their rights of free speech.<br />
Au Contraire, the judge said. Commercial speech does not enjoy the protections that political speech enjoys.<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowComments/>
<w:DoNotShowInsertionsAndDeletions/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->"There is no reason to believe that issuing
these corrective statements would place any burden on defendants' speech other
than the desired one, namely preventing defendants from denying the accuracy of
them," she said.<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Here are the corrective statements that the tobacco companies have to publish, in full and verbatim, straight from the opinion. Look for the statements to start appearing in four or five months. (Ignore any links in the following. I didn't put them in and can't figure out how to get them out.)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The preamble:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"A
Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately
deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking, and has
ordered those companies to make this statement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is the truth:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="Document1zzF00552029287331"></a>"</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A. Adverse
Health Effects of Smoking</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Smoking
kills, on average, 1200 Americans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">More
people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car
crashes, and alcohol, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">combined</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Smoking
causes heart disease, emphysema, acute myeloid leukemia and cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, lung, stomach, kidney, bladder, and
pancreas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Smoking
also causes reduced fertility, low birth weight in newborns, and <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">cancer of the
cervix</span> and uterus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">B. Addictiveness
of Smoking and Nicotine</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Smoking
is highly addictive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nicotine is the
addictive drug in tobacco.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cigarette
companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and
sustain addiction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's
not easy to quit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain-that's why quitting is so
hard.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">C. Lack of
Significant Health Benefit from Smoking “Low Tar,” “Light,” “Ultra Light,”
“Mild,” and “Natural” Cigarettes</span></b>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many
smokers switch to low tar and light cigarettes rather than quitting because
they think low tar and light cigarettes are less harmful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Low
tar” and filtered cigarette smokers inhale essentially the same amount of tar
and nicotine as they would from regular cigarettes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> cigarettes
cause <span style="color: windowtext;">cancer</span>,
lung disease,heart attacks,
and premature death -- lights, low tar, ultra lights, and naturals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no safe cigarette.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">D. Manipulation
of Cigarette Design and Composition to Ensure Optimum Nicotine Delivery</span></b>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Defendant
tobacco companies intentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cigarette
companies control the impact and delivery of nicotine in many ways, including
designing filters and selecting cigarette paper to maximize the ingestion of
nicotine, adding ammonia to make the cigarette taste less harsh, and
controlling the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> ·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain-that's why quitting is so
hard.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">E. Adverse
Health Effects of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke</span></b>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> ·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Secondhand
smoke kills over 3,000 Americans each year.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Secondhand
smoke causes <span style="color: windowtext;">lung cancer</span><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span>
and <span style="color: windowtext;">coronary heart disease</span> in adults who do <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b>
smoke.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Children
exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, severe<span style="color: windowtext;">asthma</span><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span>,
and reduced lung function.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don't know if all this will do any good, but at least, the tobacco companies are finally being forced to stop lying. I can't wait for their new advertising campaigns. </span></div>
<br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-71010367893874705712012-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:002012-12-06T21:13:00.247-08:00Joe Biden could sue himself and other fun facts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQD7WHBmnAYDvOM4qFzBA8e2_5hfmP8jPaLo-O0omnt6xJ4MYzDqA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQD7WHBmnAYDvOM4qFzBA8e2_5hfmP8jPaLo-O0omnt6xJ4MYzDqA" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Cause is suing Joe Biden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Those of you who went right back to sleep, political junkie-wise, right after the election are sure missing some fun now!<br />
I'll get to Common Cause and Joe Biden in a minute, but first let's catch up on some other things. <br />
In its first post-election poll (Dec. 4), Public Policy Polling -- which did some remarkably accurate presidential election polling -- learned that:<br />
* Nobody knows or much cares who Grover Norquist is. Forty-eight percent of those polled were not sure if they had a favorable or unfavorable view of the great no-taxes ever for any reason guru, but fully 77 percent either thought it was not important for politicians to stick to his no-tax pledge or weren't sure.<br />
*Some people will never stop believing President Obama somehow stole the election from what-was-his name? Twenty-four percent of those polled believe ACORN stole the election for Obama despite the fact that ACORN was disbanded in 2010. And if ACORN didn't steal the election, then 39 percent of the poll subjects believe the Democrats engaged in voter fraud. It had to be one or the other because how else could you explain it? <br />
* Here's the best poll result: 16 percent oppose the Simpson-Bowles federal deficit plan while 17 percent oppose the "Panetta-Burns" plan, which is a completely made-up plan name that PPP threw in just to see if anyone was paying attention. <br />
* Oh yeah, and 18 percent of those polled want to secede from the union. I say, don't let the door hit ya ...<br />
So the PPP poll, was hilarious, but that's not all.<br />
U.S. Senator and Tea Party darling Jim DeMint (R-Wingnut Crazy Town) is leaving the U.S. Senate to head the Heritage Foundation. DeMint, you may remember, was the guy who said the Affordable Care Act would be Obama's Waterloo. So Obama is staying and Napoleon DeMint is leaving? <br />
DeMint may be the meanest, craziest right-wing nuttiest U.S. senator in recent memory, though Rand Paul we're counting on you to take up the slack. So there was dancing in the streets everywhere at the announcement DeMint was leaving, except perhaps among the employees of the Heritage Foundation. <br />
But wait, it gets even better:<br />
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed a vote this morning (Dec. 6) on a bill giving President Obama unilateral power to raise the debt ceiling (a ploy to embarrass Democrats) and when Majority Leader Harry Reid called him on it and said, "Sure, let's vote," McConnell had to block his own bill. He actually had to filibuster himself! It doesn't get any more dysfunctional than that. <br />
Which brings us to Common Cause v. Biden, No. 12-775 (D.D.C.). <br />
Delaware County's former congressman and currently president and CEO of Common Cause, Bob Edgar, says that Common Cause is suing Biden, in his capacity as president of the Senate, seeking a judgment that the filibuster is unconstitutional.<br />
Long story short, Edgar says that the U.S. Constitution provided for only six specific things that require a 60-vote super-majority -- impeachments, expelling members, overriding a presidential veto, ratification of treaties and constitutional amendments. The founding fathers, as they spelled out so eloquently in the Federalist Papers, intended that everything else be decided by majority vote. You know, majority vote, democracy and all that. <br />
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is holding a hearing Monday on Biden's (really the Office of Senate Legal Counsel's) motion to dismiss. The motion argues that Common Cause has no standing to sue. <br />
Common Cause may not have standing, but interestingly, the Judge told the parties he especially wants to hear argument on whether three of the other plaintiffs -- members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- have standing to sue. Their argument: They cannot do their jobs because nothing they pass ever gets enacted by the Senate due to the filibuster.<br />
As to Biden suing Biden -- Bob Edgar told me that the vice president could have standing to sue himself because as president of the Senate he is tasked with casting tie-breaking votes, but he never gets to do that because defeating a filibuster requires 60 votes. I'll keep you posted on what happens with the court hearing. <br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-75862273549123030262012-11-08T20:06:00.001-08:002012-11-08T20:14:08.911-08:00So many things to feel really, really good about<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/600x39964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/600x39964.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
People love lists? Here's a list:<br />
<ol>
<li>Apparently a majority of American voters do NOT believe that Barack Obama is a Kenyan-born, Muslim, socialist, terrorist, America-hating Nazi witch doctor, despite enormous efforts to convince us of those absurdities.</li>
<li>There's going to be a lovely black family in the White House for four more years.</li>
<li>Young people came through again. The percentage of voters in the 18-29 age group was 19 percent this time, up from 18 percent in 2008 and 60 percent voted for Obama, as did more than half of the 17 percent of voters between the ages of 30 and 39. The demographics are against you, Republicans.</li>
<li>Thank you Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert for the masterful job you did educating those young voters on how the American political system really works. </li>
<li>Proposition 32 was defeated in California so maybe it won't be popping up all over the country in the next four years courtesy of ALEC. Prop. 32, titled, in the fine old tradition of Orwellian Newspeak, "the <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_32,_the_%22Paycheck_Protection%22_Initiative_%282012%29">Paycheck Protection" Act,</a>" would have emasculated California unions by forcing them to get written permission from each of their members every year to spend union dues on politicking. Corporations would have to do that too if they deducted any money from their employees paychecks for political campaigns, but of course, corporations don't work that way, so only unions would have been suppressed. It's a damned shame that $133 million was spent on this bit of anti-democratic crap before California voters defeated it 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent. </li>
<li>Republicans so frightened us women with their anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive, put them back in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, war on women, we went out and elected four strong women to the U.S. Senate -- the first openly lesbian woman, Tammy Baldwin, in Wisconsin, the first Asian-American woman, Mazie Hirono, in Hawaii, Heidi Heitkamp, a real come from behind surprise in North Dakota and Elizabeth Warren in Massachusets, who will know more on Day 1 about how our economy works than most 20-year Senate veterans. </li>
<li>We also re-elected a bunch of terrific Democratic women in California, Washington, Minnesota, New York and Michigan, and one who claims to be a Democrat, Claire McCaskill in Missouri. She is, in any case, 100 times better than the"legitimate rape" troglodyte she was running against. </li>
<li>There will be 20 women in the Senate and 61 women in the House of Representatives. The House will also have 43 African-Americans, 27 Hispanics, 10 Asian Americans and five openly gay members. Looks a little more like America, don't you think? </li>
<li>The Republicans did not succeed in "taking back America." What made them think they had lost it? </li>
<li>The Republicans did not succeed in destroying the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, and it will go into full effect in the next year. It's not single-payer, but it's a hell of a lot better than the collapsing healthcare system we had. </li>
<li>The Republicans will not be able to make the Supreme Court more conservative than it already is. </li>
<li>The Senate may be able to get rid of or limit the filibuster so it can get some real work done for a change. </li>
<li>Piles and piles and piles of anonymous campaign funding only went so far to influence our vote. And the Electoral College system ensured that only the swing states, and not all of us, were drowned in TV ads, though we were all drowned in emails and phone calls. </li>
<li>But no matter which state we were in, it was important for us to go out and vote to fulfill the pollsters' predictions, and we did. </li>
<li>Yay democracy! </li>
</ol>
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-38666724595172895082012-10-31T20:17:00.000-07:002012-10-31T20:20:32.801-07:00Proud, proud, a little bit worried, proud<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTX_5eHFNvFB4eH2Hiod_n0g3QuHrjQV-43s2wnH6olJMEGIxYZfg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTX_5eHFNvFB4eH2Hiod_n0g3QuHrjQV-43s2wnH6olJMEGIxYZfg" width="400" /></a></div>
I am so proud of my friends, Paul Mulshine and Andi Getek, both of them former Daily Times reporters, for staying in their home in Bay Head, N.J., and doing what news reporters do -- report.<br />
Paul, a columnist for the Newark Star Ledger, and Andi, a teacher who teaches journalism in a middle school in Monmouth County, stayed in their home, about seven or eight blocks from the beach, and are currently without food and water, except what they stockpiled, and without electricity. I don't know, but I suspect, that their oldest daughter, Molly, also a reporter for a local newspaper/blog, also stayed.<br />
It's what I would have done. It's what any reporter I know would have done. A reporter does not turn his or her back on the story of a lifetime in the face of a little danger. War correspondents, so many of whom have been killed, do not opt out of danger.<br />
The list is long, but I am thinking now of Marie Colvin, who you probably never heard of, who died so heroically in Homs, Syria earlier this year. <br />
New Yorkers are the toughest people on earth and Newersyites are the second toughest people on earth, and Gov. Chris Christie and President Obama are heroes without equal.<br />
I lived in New Jersey -- Camden, Trenton, Toms River - for 23 years of my life and I remember several wonderful moderate (wild-eyed liberal) Republicans, including Clifford Case, Edwin Forsythe and Millicent Fenwick (on whom the Doonesbury character was based) who held office during those years. <br />
If that fat-assed, obnoxious, insufferable Christie runs in 2016, I may find myself forcing my right hand with my left hand (think Dr. Strangelove) to pull the lever for him.<br />
Hurray New Jersey. We have your back.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-39921433467121623202012-10-27T20:14:00.001-07:002012-10-27T20:14:34.321-07:00Grandma's coming home, are you ready?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2009/0902/360_mitt_romney_0205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2009/0902/360_mitt_romney_0205.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
"Government does not create jobs."<br />
"I will create 12 million new jobs."<br />
"Teachers don't grow the economy." <br />
Mitt Romney has said each of these things. At least one of these statements is not true. Actually, I think none of them is true.<br />
Government -- federal state and local -- actually creates one hellava lot of jobs and can cut one hellava lot of jobs.<br />
Mitt Romney says 600,000 women have lost their jobs in the last four years. True. But what he doesn't say is that many of them teachers, social workers, state workers other public sector employees in states now controlled by Republican governors and legislatures intent on breaking public sector unions and cutting spending on the social safety net to the bone.<br />
But the laid-off workers know that and their families know that and their mortgage companies and car payment companies and utilities providers know that. Their grocery stores and doctors and clothing stores and insurance companies know that. <br />
Here in Pennsylvania, 232 unemployment division workers have been laid off themselves, making it nearly impossible for all of those who have been recently unemployed to even apply for <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/171954851.html">unemployment insurance</a>. Brilliant, (one-term) Governor Corbett!<br />
One concession those unemployment division workers won -- they could submit their own unemployment benefits applications before they walked out the door. <br />
If the Republicans succeed in being elected, seize Congress and implement their wonderful plans to turn Medicaid into block grants to the states -- because the states know so much better how to spend our money -- you can expect Grandma and/or Grandpa to wind up on your doorstep or the nearest street corner very soon<br />
Medicaid pays for hundreds of thousands of destitute seniors to be cared for in nursing homes. By the very existence of this benefit, it creates thousands of nursing home jobs.<br />
Want the states to take that away? Congrats, here comes grandma.<br />
The nursing homes will disappear and the seniors it provides with care (after they have spent every last dime they have except Social Security and Medicare), will not have any place to go but home -- your know, the place where if they knock on your door, you have to take them in.<br />
But there are many other ways in which government creates jobs or services, both directly and indirectly.<br />
Take for example, the military -- and by "the military," I do not mean the troops, I mean the military industrial complex that builds weapons and provides all the goods and services that the troops need at 200 bases around the world.<br />
Just by giving out contracts to private companies, the government creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and enables small companies to become big companies. Mitt Romney keeps saying he wants to support small businesses, although by his definition, a small business can employ 10,000 workers. That ain't your corner McDonalds or your local insurance broker. <br />
Here's a sampling of the military contracts that were given out to private companies just in the month of October in no particular size or order:<br />
* $59 million to the Raytheon Corp. "for the modification of an
existing contract to support the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile
Defense Elevated Netted Sensor" <a href="http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4892"> and $240 million in other contracts</a> for whatever, all given out in one day (Oct. 5). <br />
* $490 million to General Dynamics, Electric Boat, in Groton, Conn., for plans, drawings and technical data for a new nuclear submarine (just the plans, mind you), plus $72.5 million to "exercise an option" for the decommissioning of the U.S.S. Enterprise.(Oct. 16).<br />
* $8.5 million to Boeing Corp., St. Louis, to "procure 12 virtual Mission Training System kits and spares in support of the T-45 aircraft platform" (Oct. 16).<br />
* $9.4 million for research and development for the Air Force Radiation Effects Laboratory (Oct. 16).<br />
*$45 million to Communications and Power LLC for a "simplified driver traveling wave tube to be used by the Navy and Missile Defense Agency" (Oct. 3).<br />
* $21 million to J. W. Clark Enterprises"for painting and vinyl wall covering throughout Hampton Roads, Va." (Oct. 3). Pretty sure they mean the military installations in and around Hampton Roads. Now there's a small painting company that went big. <br />
* $90 million for airfield pavement construction services at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam (Oct. 12). Wonder if a local company won that contract or if they have to fly workers and equipment in. <br />
* $349 million to Raytheon Co. for "TOW missiles wireless precision-assault capability" (Oct. 8).<br />
That's just a very small sample of the contracts that the federal government gives out every day to private companies to maintain our military and all its gadgets and all its paving and painting and food service and uniforms and flagpoles and jeeps and barracks mattresses and toothpaste and golf courses and officer's clubs and training facilities and who knows what else.<br />
The moving of military families from one base to another (moving companies) is huge as is family housing (construction companies) as is clothing (the garment industry) and shoes and hats and vehicles and soda machines and fences and sand bags and flights and doctors and dentists and hospitals and VA hospitals .... and ...<br />
Our military is already larger and more powerful than the next 10, 20 or 25
countries combined. When you see that we are spending this kind of money on it day in and day out, you just have to say, "Wow." <br />
How many employees do these contracts support? How small did these companies start out and how big have they become? <br />
And these are direct jobs. Think of all the indirect ones. Some companies have to formulate all those tests we are constantly giving to our students, soldiers, civil service employees. <br />
Some companies have to develop the forms and training programs and manuals and Internet sites that our governments use to contact, register, screen and eliminate applicants for jobs, welfare, food stamps, unemployment, bids and contracts. Some company has to provide the vehicles, furniture and supplies that keeps government going.<br />
Some companies develop the computer programs and supply the computers, printer, radios, walkie-talkies, nightsticks, Tasers, police cars, prisons, courtrooms, schools, playgrounds, sports equipment and offices our public employees use.<br />
The truth is, not many small companies become big companies without having anything whatever to do with supplying or servicing government. <br />
And government employs a great many people. How many teachers, police, firemen, trash collectors, road construction workers, economists, agricultural specialists, water and electric workers, state, county and municipal workers, doctors, nurses, janitors, judges, bailiffs, prison guards, parole officers, social workers, school nurses, bus drivers and cafeteria workers do we employ every single day?<br />
Hell yes the government creates and sustains jobs, scads and scads of jobs.<br />
Here's the bottom line -- government is an industry, perhaps the biggest industry we have left. We are all shareholders in it and all consumers of it. <br />
No matter who is elected, we will all have to pay more taxes to support this industry. That is the pain that is coming. <br />
But perhaps if we keep government employees working and taking home a paycheck, they can pay their own taxes and mortgages and bills and share our pain. Otherwise, we will be paying for them, but they will not be paying for us. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-58591985166118477712012-10-22T20:57:00.003-07:002012-10-22T20:57:59.624-07:00Send this around the world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/XMxtbAP2cyU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-81873761471563357842012-09-27T18:35:00.000-07:002012-09-27T18:38:58.203-07:00How can anyone vote for this man?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhas9879C2kiTsF7fKvCAOOkDkGAyXxbLKiRRC7n5ENLPs8rnv-NmtgHDFoKzN7ylUwFfsMdTBMddW1tPxNwzZe9Ke4gqmWCXCmbefDfhuOkymr09cIO3FsJr-G_O7Gaz4D4EKoddzgxbg/s1600/Gaulrapp-right-thinks-it-would-only-take-a-phone-call-from-Romeny-to-save-the-170-jobs-at-Sensata-Technologies-AFPFile-Mira-Oberman-e1348501925589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhas9879C2kiTsF7fKvCAOOkDkGAyXxbLKiRRC7n5ENLPs8rnv-NmtgHDFoKzN7ylUwFfsMdTBMddW1tPxNwzZe9Ke4gqmWCXCmbefDfhuOkymr09cIO3FsJr-G_O7Gaz4D4EKoddzgxbg/s400/Gaulrapp-right-thinks-it-would-only-take-a-phone-call-from-Romeny-to-save-the-170-jobs-at-Sensata-Technologies-AFPFile-Mira-Oberman-e1348501925589.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The two people pictured above are employees of Sensata Technologies in Freeport, Ill., owned by Bain Capital, which is in the process of shutting the 170-employee company down and outsourcing its production of thermostats and circuit breakers to China.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
we all know that Mitt Romney is retired from Bain Capital and is no longer
directing its operations but still continues to reap millions of dollars in
retirement income from the company each year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Back
in July the employees sent an open letter to Romney asking him to use his
influence to keep the profitable factory open and save their jobs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"It's
not right that our good American jobs are being sent to China. It's not right
that you stand to get even richer off of our loss and pain," the letter
said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"We
know that you can take action to stop the offshoring of our jobs. You are
running for president, promising to create good jobs. You can start keeping
that promise today by stepping in and saving our jobs," it continues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Romney
never responded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cheryl
Randecker is the first signer of the letter as you can see in this <a href="http://rockrivertimes.com/wpapp/wp-content/uploads/Sensata-Open-Letter-to-Romney.pdf">PDF</a>.According
to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/mitt-romney-sensata-tax-break_n_1920396.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&utm_hp_ref=politics">Huffington Post</a>, Cheryl is 52 and is a 33-year Sensata veteran so it’s a
safe bet she never had any other full-time job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She received her 60-day layoff notice shortly after Labor Day and her
job will end the day before Election Day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cheryl
will become one of that 47 percent that Mitt Romney doesn't care about. She’ll
apply for unemployment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She may have to
get food stamps and she probably won’t pay much in income tax next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If she’s lucky, she’ll get a job as a
waitress or working at McDonald’s.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
that Romney has released his 2011 tax returns, we can see why he hasn't stepped
in to save any of those 170 jobs heading for China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He transferred $700,000 of Sensata stock to
Tyler Charitable Foundation, a tax-exempt non-profit he controls and thereby
saved himself a bundle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
gets to deduct the full value of the stock, which, if he were taxed at 35
percent would be a $250,000 benefit and at 15 percent, amounts to about
$100,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Defenders
will say two things about this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) he
doesn’t control Bain and 2) he didn’t even take as large a charitable deduction
as he could have for 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
to the first, he benefits mightily from this company that he started, ran and
still profits from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As to the second, if
he loses the election he can still amend his 2011 return and take that full
deduction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Either
way, he profits and ordinary, hard-working people and the little town they live
in all lose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Romney
has an ad on TV that says something like: “President Obama and I both care
about the poor and Middle Class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
only difference is, I will make their lives better.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Who believes that? </span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowComments/>
<w:DoNotShowInsertionsAndDeletions/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-8992035599510022142012-08-29T13:34:00.002-07:002012-08-29T13:46:26.678-07:00Um, maybe it's the emergency contraception<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSs12OWHCSkC9hXsUMvDewLOyyQEm_Qp1TRpnIr6xclAFAIoDIS" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSs12OWHCSkC9hXsUMvDewLOyyQEm_Qp1TRpnIr6xclAFAIoDIS" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe rape victims can get help here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.angryblacklady.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/rape-is-always-rape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowComments/>
<w:DoNotShowInsertionsAndDeletions/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So you have
this guy, Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, running for the U.S. Senate in
Missouri who sits on the House Science Committee – he sits on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House Science Committee</i> – saying that
victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant because they have some magic biological mechanism that shuts down their fertility.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I think there might be something else at work here: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Here in America, victims of “legitimate rape,” I mean “forcible rape,” I mean “violent, brutal, super-traumatic
stranger rape” tend, if they survive, to report the attack pretty quickly to the
police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the police take them to
hospitals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/mg_4O6XmKAQ/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mg_4O6XmKAQ&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mg_4O6XmKAQ&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
Taylor Ferrara clues you in to legitimate rape.<br />
And, the doctors at the
hospitals offer these victims emergency contraception, which short-circuits any incipient conception. That's why they call it "contra-ception." This is a service that I doubt very many rape
victims turn down because they're thinking, "Wow, I'm just thrilled to be pregnant even if it took enduring a rape to do it." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So there you
have it – the magic lady parts that spring into action during “legitimate rape”
is only ordinary, garden variety morning after Plan B. But, there's a problem: We all know right-wing, pro-life know-nothings like Akin consider emergency contraception abortion and they would gladly deny it to rape victims and
every other woman on the planet if they had half a chance because, you know, the
sanctity of life. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What about
those other rape victims – the 13-year-old repeatedly violated by her father or
uncle or stepfather, the college student who drinks too much or is slipped a
date rape drug at a frat party or bar, the kidnap victim held prisoner in her
attacker’s back yard for years, the woman who can’t fight back when her date
(or her boyfriend or her husband) decides that no mean yes?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
They’re obviously
not victims of “legitimate rape” so if they get pregnant they should just shut up and have the resulting kid and
raise the resulting kid and not “blame” the resulting kid because their lives,
their mental health, their families and their futures have been ruined. No, the only consideration is that precious little bundle of cells growing in their bellies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Until the little bastards get here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
it’s every millionaire for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cut
food stamps, slash Medicaid to the bone, get rid of WIC (the Women Infants and Children nutrition program), cut Head Start, reduce unemployment benefits, cut welfare, starve poor school districts, close public housing, close homeless shelters, shut down homeless feeding programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQoac9ApiUAP0R7U7BBqiIJlm0mU5dRRk4GcydF-ePiVqoo-id7mw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQoac9ApiUAP0R7U7BBqiIJlm0mU5dRRk4GcydF-ePiVqoo-id7mw" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made rape victims pay for their own rape kits.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Heck, cutting WIC even affects the unborn because their poor pregnant mothers can't get the nutrition they need. But that's somehow okay. Let them all starve, let them wear rags, let them die in the streets (I mean back alleys) or hills. Just not in our sight, please. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The poor "born" deserve what they get because their lazy, fornicating,drinking, drugging, undeserving, jobless, foreclosed-on, under-educated parents don't have defense jobs, haven't joined the military and just don't measure up to Conservative standards of American rugged individualism and self-reliance. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We all know what's being said here: No abortion, no exceptions, no matter what. But in order to dehumanize rape victims so you can deny them abortion services in their direst hour of need, you first have to distinguish between "real" rape victims and the pretend kind and then you have to convince yourself that "real" rape victims don't really need abortion anyway because their own bodies take care of the problem. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is not just what Akin believes, it is what a great many "pro-life" advocates believe, though they're not dumb enough to say it out loud. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Gosh, and Republicans wonder why they have a gender gap problem. They also have a "compassion gap" problem the size of the Grand Canyon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-78257367852106303632012-08-21T14:17:00.000-07:002012-08-21T14:17:23.946-07:00The joys of federalism -- tobacco editionThere is this weird thing that's going on in Florida -- and only Florida -- in which long-time smokers, or in most cases their survivors, are winning millions upon millions of dollars from tobacco companies.<br />
Only Floridians are allowed to sue. Only Floridians (or their families) who can prove that they were addicted to cigarettes before it became public knowledge that cigarettes were addictive killers, got cancer (and in most cases died) have a hope in hell of winning. <br />
* * * <br />
Here's what happened as best as I can figure out: In 1994, a class action lawsuit was filed in a Florida state court against all of the major tobacco companies. There ensued a lot of really complicated legal stuff over the next 12 years, including a separate suit by the states themselves against the tobacco companies culminating in the "Master Settlement Agreement" in which the tobacco companies agreed to pay hundreds of billions of dollars to the states to pay their Medicaid costs for treating indigent smokers, and individual suits in most other states were somehow verboten as part of the agreement.<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ7pmNgTWcNeRihchwOP1560WkLZTFGYIVE4BuS8gupbb-sQMyy" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ7pmNgTWcNeRihchwOP1560WkLZTFGYIVE4BuS8gupbb-sQMyy" width="309" /></a>But in this one case, now known as <i><a href="http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2006/sc03-1856.pdf">Engle v. Liggett Group</a></i> (Fla. 2006), the Miami trial judge certified a nationwide class of people
with smoking-related diseases and survivors of deceased smokers. A jury eventually heard the case and awarded damages of more than $145 billion. A state appeals court
later said the class can only be made up of Florida residents.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="sp_999_1"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="SDU_1"></a>Then
the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 decertified the class altogether and tossed out the $145 billion verdict, but it ruled that class members -- 8,000 of them -- could file individual suits
using the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="SR;325"></a><a class="SearchTerm" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="SearchTerm" title="SearchTerm"></a><i><span class="SearchTerm" name="SearchTerm" title="SearchTerm">Engle</span></i> jury's findings that the tobacco companies lied about the dangers and addictiveness of smoking over decades.<br />
* * *<br />
Sooo, ever since that ruling, trial after trial has been going on in the Florida courts with varying results. The family of one woman won $300 million, later reduced to $37 million, another family won $5 million, later overturned, the widow of a construction worker got $75 million.<br />
Overall, the families have won nearly 70 percent (42 cases) of the trials held so far and the tobacco companies have won about 30 percent (19). One verdict has been overturned and several large awards have been reduced in the Florida appeals courts. Interestingly, in April the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the tobacco companies' appeals of four cases -- thus upholding verdicts of $28 million, $15.8 million, $3.4 million and $6.2 million.<br />
In doing so, the high court also affirmed the <i>Engle</i> ruling itself -- that is, the one that decertified the class, overturned the $145 billion verdict but said plaintiffs could use the jury's findings to pursue their own suits -- in Florida only. <br />
And so, the trials go on. Only 7,930 or so to go.<br />
In a recent case, a Florida appeals court ordered a new trial on damages because the smoker's husband was listed on the verdict form as supplying his wife with cigarettes, allegedly contributing to her
death and thus perhaps prejudicing the jury to award low damages of only $500,000.<br />
In another case, a Florida appellate court has thrown out a $79.2 million jury award against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. finding that the $7.2 million compensatory damages portion was larger than the evidence at trial reasonably supported.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="sp_999_1"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3293222456618380543" name="SDU_1"></a>Some attorneys are making boatloads of money, some appellate judges are beholden to the tobacco companies for their election campaign money, some families are really making out big-time, some are losing heart-breaking amounts of money they thought they had won from sympathetic juries. The tobacco companies are employing phalanxes of lawyers and the only fun aspect of the whole thing is watching juries take those companies for astronomical amounts of money. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6X0rP_EzEF7v5hfgYTKovAg1D6oaHxbS-LLpfZfwLMMcBGwfo" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6X0rP_EzEF7v5hfgYTKovAg1D6oaHxbS-LLpfZfwLMMcBGwfo" /></a>What I find so strange is this: How did we get to the point that only Floridians can sue for wrongdoing that the tobacco companies committed on millions of people nationwide? Or, since the states settled with the tobacco companies in 1995, why is it that anybody is allowed to sue? Or why isn't everybody? <br />
It's all part and parcel of our very odd and somewhat rare federal system in which the federal government and each of our 50 states can make separate and sometimes very unequal laws.<br />
You do see the occasional suit in some other state, but they have become rare as statutes of limitation have expired, not to mention smokers. Only the <i>Engle</i> class members are guaranteed the right to sue. <br />
It is not that way in most other countries where one set of laws govern the entire country. <br />
Ain't life grand in these United States? <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-72369595360225208422012-08-09T21:36:00.000-07:002012-08-09T21:36:37.043-07:00How an ALEC bill becomes a law<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/NXUPDAMc_6o/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NXUPDAMc_6o&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NXUPDAMc_6o&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
Just had to share this with you. From Mark Fiore at <a href="http://prwatch.org/">PRWatch.org</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/11669" target="_blank"></a>Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-75647431546862796432012-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:002012-08-04T10:00:46.573-07:00'We were living on the edge'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/670166/thumbs/o-MITT-ROMNEY-JET-SKI-900.jpg?4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/670166/thumbs/o-MITT-ROMNEY-JET-SKI-900.jpg?4" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mitt and Ann Romney enjoying their summer home at Lake Winnipesaukee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I recently came across this </span><a href="http://www.samefacts.com/2012/01/income-distribution/mitt-romney-and-ann-the-students-struggling-so-much-that-they-had-to-sell-stock/"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">1994 interview</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
with Ann Romney that just leaves me speechless (not really, but please, please
read it. It's priceless).<br />It seems that Ann and Mitt were really
"struggling" in college, circa late 1960s, so much so that they lived in a
basement apartment that cost $62 a month and were so poor that they had to use a
door for a desk.<br />"We were living on the edge, not entertaining," as they both
attended Brigham Young University, she tells the Boston Globe in this Oct. 20,
1994, interview when Mitt was running for governor of Massachusetts.<br />Well I can
feel for her. In 1967 I too was living on the edge, in my senior year at Rutgers,
College of South Jersey, in lovely downtown Camden, working two or three
part-time jobs (who can remember now), living in an $80 a month apartment, with
help from a roommate who was also struggling, and spending $25 a week between us
for food in a good week.<br />If I wanted to cut up my 1967 college yearbook, I
could show you a picture of me with the College Center Activities Committee. I
was summoned to pose for the photo while I was working one of those two or three
jobs so there I am in a hideous canary-yellow waitress-bus girl uniform that I
wore while busing tables in the college center. Hey, it was a job and I was not
too proud to do any job that kept the wolf from my door. <br />According to the
interview with Ann Romney, despite the fact she and Mitt were struggling
students, she was kicking out a kid every year or two and <i><u>not
working</u></i> because she and Mitt thought it was important "for me to stay
home with the children, and I was delighted." <br />"Mitt and I walked to class
together, shared housekeeping, had a lot of pasta and tuna fish and learned hard
lessons."<br />"I had a baby sitter during class time, but otherwise I'd hold my
son on my lap while I studied," she said.<br />What! A baby sitter? I <i>was</i>
the baby sitter. No woman I ever went to school with could afford to have
children and go to college at the same time.<br />Maybe baby daddy could go to
school, but baby momma got baby sitters only so she could work to put baby daddy
through. Already back then Ann's universe and the rest of our universes were
diverging into different planes of existence.<br />I walked to classes too, right
out my back door. And I ate a lot of tuna fish and pasta (though I don't think
we called it that back then) and even, on occasion, canned bacon.<br />That's
right. Bacon in a can. The most God awful stuff on the face of the
Earth. My roommate and I also shopped for label-less mystery cans
at the Campbell Soup Co. thrift store. You never knew what was in the can until
you opened it.<br />Mitt and Ann and my roommate and I and millions of other baby
Boomer children were alike in one respect -- we had been brought up to believe
that education was the pathway to a comfortable Middle Class existence and we
understood that our college poverty was temporary.<br />Here's where we were
different. She claims that neither she nor Mitt got any help from their very
well-to-do parents during those college years. Hard to believe, but okay. I'll
take her word.<br />My mother and stepfather didn't help me either, other than
buying me a $200, 10-year-old Volkswagen. But I am eternally grateful that my
father faithfully sent me $50 a month.<br />I think now that must have been an
awesome struggle for him as he was living in a trailer and supporting a second
family while working at a GE plant. Without that monthly stipend I would most
assuredly not have graduated from college.<br />Here is another way the
college-era Romneys and I were different. I really <i>was</i> struggling.<br />I
<i>wa</i>s literally living hand to mouth, never knowing whether I would make
tuition or rent from one month to the next. And I hasten to acknowledge that I
was not alone. Millions of us have gone through that mill. <br />The Romneys, on
the other hand, had a very nice fallback: They owned a fair amount of American
Motors stock, courtesy of Mitt's father, that they could sell when the rent
money came due, according to Ann.<br />Did I mention that Romney's father, George,
was the president of American Motors? <br />It's not clear how much stock Mitt
had in those horrible old college days. By one estimate, it was roughly $60,000
worth in 1969 dollars (about $377,000 today), not "we're facing starvation" by
any means.<br />Here's Ann: "Five years later, stock that had been $6 a share was
$96 and Mitt cashed it so we could live and pay for education."<br />Ann does
admit that Mitt's daddy helped them out with a loan so they could buy their
first home for $42,000 in Belmont, Mass., around 1971, which they sold seven
years later for $90,000. <br />"So we not only stayed for free, we made money.
As I said Mitt's very bright," Ann told the Globe.<br />He may be very bright,
but making money on that house doesn't prove it. The Romneys merely took
advantage of the same rising housing market the rest of us did.<br />My husband
and I bought a home in 1970 in Trenton for $24,000 and sold it in 1979 for
$54,000. We then bought a home in Swarthmore for $100,000 in 1981 that we sold
in 1990 for $210,000. I bought a house for $154,000 in 1991 and sold it three years ago for $275,000. And we were financial dimwits. <br />Here is what is
clear -- from the time they were "poor students" until now, Mitt and Ann Romney
have never lived on the edge as you and I did, as most blue collar, Middle Class
and poor people did and do.<br />They have never known what it was like to
work your way through college because you had to and then work the rest of lives
to provide a comfortable life for your families. They have never lost their job
to outsourcing, their home to foreclosure or 40 percent of their retirement
savings to Wall Street gambling like so many of the rest of us have. They have
never had to go back to work in their retirement years because they don’t
have enough money even with Social Security to survive.<br />They knew that one
brief period of pretend belt-tightening in college and that was it. <br />Mitt
Romney has been retired since 1998 (or 2001 depending on whether you believe him
or his SEC filings) and is still raking in millions of dollars a year from his
former business.<br />Our 401Ks have $100,000 or so if we were lucky and frugal and didn't get killed by the stock market. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">His IRA (and here’s a great mystery) has $102 million.<br />"We were struggling" my
sweet patootie. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-48164844553394257952012-07-23T21:57:00.000-07:002012-07-25T08:16:34.875-07:00More than 1 million PA voters may lack valid IDs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media3.picsearch.com/is?1f6Ea52tADqPh3aERnjD9230cUO4fgAVa-4YGssO93k" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://media3.picsearch.com/is?1f6Ea52tADqPh3aERnjD9230cUO4fgAVa-4YGssO93k" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Justice Department is investigating the PA Voter ID law</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This just in: the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Pennsylvania Voter ID Act and an <a href="http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/BarretoReport.pdf">expert report</a> submitted to the Commonwealth Court ahead of Wednesday's court hearing on the new law may help it establish a good case of vote suppression.<br />
The report estimates that <b>1,055,200</b> <i>registered</i> Pennsylvania voters (almost 13 percent) lack a valid photo ID and <b>1,364,433</b> or 14.4 percent, of <i>eligible</i> voters lack a valid ID to vote in November's presidential election.<br />
If this report is correct, that's more than 1 million of the state's already registered, already on the books, voters who do not qualify to vote under the state's new voter ID law. That's out of the state's roughly 8.8 million total registered voters, or nearly one in nine. <br />
Worse, an estimated <b>1.2 million</b> eligible Pennsylvania voters think they have a valid ID, but do not, according to the 97-page report based on surveys conducted by Matt A. Barreto, Ph.D., of the University of Washington and Gabriel R. Sanchez, Ph.D, of the University of New Mexico. <br />
Even worse, 37 percent of eligible voters, 34 percent of registered voters and 34 percent of those who voted in 2008 are <b>totally unaware</b> that a photo ID law exists, the report says.<br />
That's one-third or more of the state's potential voters who don't even know they will need to produce a driver's license or other government-sanctioned photo ID with when they walk into their polling place in November. Fortunately a majority of them will have a valid driver's license. Let's hope they bring it with them.<br />
In addition to<i> </i>the lawsuit<i>, Applewhite v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania</i>, No. 330 MD 2012, which will be heard starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, it was disclosed today that the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/pennsylvania-voter-id-law-under-investigation_n_1696675.html">U.S. Department of Justice</a> has opened a formal investigation of the state's voter ID law by sending a three-page letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Carol Aichele Monday asking her for a bunch of annoying records, including the <i>entire</i> state voter registration list AND the <i>entire</i> current state driver's license and personal identification card list AND all documents identifying registered voters who lack acceptable proof of identification AND the records supporting Aichele's recent estimate that <i>only</i>758,000 registered voters lack state-issued photo ID.<br />
By the way, the DOJ wants those records in 30 days. <br />
<a href="http://media3.picsearch.com/is?SckmYE0CZm5a1gqTe5shvO_O8p_xAwftzx4ZxcZGXMk" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://media3.picsearch.com/is?SckmYE0CZm5a1gqTe5shvO_O8p_xAwftzx4ZxcZGXMk" width="320" /></a>The DOJ's probe marks the first time it has publicly acknowledged a formal
investigation of a voter ID law passed in a state which is not covered
by <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/about.php">Section 5</a>
of the 1964 Voting Rights Act, which requires certain states with a history
of racial discrimination to have changes to their voting laws
precleared. The Pennsylvania investigation falls under <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_2/about_sec2.php">Section 2</a>
of the VRA, which prohibits any state from enacting a “voting standard,
practice, or procedure that results in the denial or abridgement of the
right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership
in a language minority group.”<br />
And, in Professor Barreto's expert report, the DOJ has a big helping hand in proving that minorities are being denied the right to vote. He found that the biggest impact of the new law will be on Latino voters, 18 percent of whom lack a valid ID compared to non-Hispanic whites (14 percent)who lack a valid ID. Also more women (17 percent) than men (11 percent) do. <br />
The kind of good news is this: Barreto estimates that among eligible voters, 86% of whites and 86.8% of Blacks possess a valid photo ID, and for registered voters the figures are 87 percent and 86 percent.<br />
But enough statistics. Read the report if you're a statistics maven.<br />
Sufficient to say, we're having some fun now, boys and girls.Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293222456618380543.post-85727613438106013142012-07-08T16:41:00.002-07:002012-07-08T16:41:52.649-07:00The big lie and low-information voters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4PgkOEO37ZYxdzwvqLBbdh0-ADqqRzaB6Z4IrBzdHPtxa917aeQ" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4PgkOEO37ZYxdzwvqLBbdh0-ADqqRzaB6Z4IrBzdHPtxa917aeQ" width="400" /></a></div>
As Inquirer political columnist <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/161518765.html">Dick Polman</a> so ably points out in today's paper, the Republicans are pushing a lie of colossal, world-class proportions when they claim that the Affordable Care Act is the "biggest tax on the Middle Class in American history." <br />
In fact, the penalty for not buying health insurance, according to Polman and the Congressional Budget Ofiice, will fall on only 1.2 percent of the public -- those who do not have employment-based insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or some other government insurance program, like military or veterans' programs, and who are not too poor to pay for private coverage but just won't do it.<br />
By the way, it's not a tax just because the Supreme Court upheld it as constitutional under Congress' taxing powers. Literally tens of thousands of fees, tax deductions, tax credits and other government-regulated financial arrangements are allowed under the taxing power that are not direct taxes. These include the premiums that retired government employees pay for <i>their</i> government-run health insurance. <br />
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his spokesmen have already flip-flopped on the issue, saying first that he agreed with President Obama that the penalty for not buying insurance coverage is not a tax, then, buying into the party's propaganda, that it is.<br />
Romney is a rather poor candidate to be attacking the ACA, as it is modeled on his own Massachusetts health care plan, which the vast majority of Massachusetts citizens are perfectly happy with. Which explains why he never talks about his governorship. <br />
Romney's flip-flopping is not so concerning in the presidential race as three other factors: (1) voter suppression, (2) the ocean of campaign financing money being raised much more successfully by Republicans than Democrats and (3) Republican TV commercials already saturating the national television markets proclaiming that the ACA is the "biggest tax on the Middle Class in American history."<br />
Here in Pennsylvania, we learned last week that House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R. Allegheny) boasted to a Republican group that Pennsylvania's new Voter ID law will guarantee Romney's win in Pennsylvania, then we learned that as many as 10 percent of the state's already legally registered voters could be disenfranchised, including upwards of 180,000 voters in Philadelphia.<br />
It was nice of Turzai to finally be truthful about the purpose of the law -- to disenfranchise Democratic voters. As many, many people have been pointing out for some time, voter fraud involving people trying to impersonate other people at the polls is, and has been, virtually non-existent, not only in this state but throughout the US.<br />
<b>Photo ID not so easy</b> <br />
Those that say, "Well, all people have to do is go down to the nearest PennDOT office and get a photo ID" are delusional. It is way more complicated.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPLhSuW-FNiNu_-aoX5wJs09EA6mJsC618S1j4vgc4-K1eMHXS9x2Gjt0t6yL0j5K9vmNkY-jxl4Tjlns-KpUB_FWqlXJPQQH9dyNoHJXewcLcYIfVVSG4cgCOCVdm_Ts5kUonSErdC4/s1600/photo+ID+=+poll+tax.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPLhSuW-FNiNu_-aoX5wJs09EA6mJsC618S1j4vgc4-K1eMHXS9x2Gjt0t6yL0j5K9vmNkY-jxl4Tjlns-KpUB_FWqlXJPQQH9dyNoHJXewcLcYIfVVSG4cgCOCVdm_Ts5kUonSErdC4/s320/photo+ID+=+poll+tax.JPG" width="320" /></a>You have to have or obtain a Social Security card. I haven't seen mine in decades, probably since I obtained a new Pa. driver's license in 1991. Everybody knows their number, but many don't have their actual cards.<br />
Step 2 is to have or obtain a birth certificate. This is sometimes impossible for older people, people who were born at home and people who were born in places where records have been lost over time. <br />
Step 3 is to make sure your name harmonizes with all your records. If you have never used the name on your birth certificate or if you changed your name when you married, that creates more problems.<br />
Step 4 is to get yourself and your papers to the DMV. Then you have to
request and fill out an affidavit swearing that you will be using the ID only for
voting and that you can't afford to pay the $13 for it. If you have
had to pay for your birth certificate or the photo ID card, that's a
poll tax plain and simple. <br />
Students have to have a college photo ID with an expiration date, which as of two months ago, 80 percent of Pennsylvania colleges did not issue. Finally, if you are not already registered, you have to go do that. <br />
I can see a lot of students, poor and elderly saying,"Why bother. I just won't vote." <br />
If that was the goal of Gov. Tom Corbett, Rep. Turzai and Senate Majority Leader Dominick Pileggi, congratulations, mission accomplished. <b> </b><br />
<b>Brainwashing the rest</b><br />
So once you<b> </b>cull out the 800,000 or so mostly Democratic<b> </b>voters in Pennsylvania, you are still left with the job of making sure the remaining Democratic, independent and Republican voters are adequately subliminally conditioned to vote against their own economic interests and for those of the corporations.<br />
That means running millions of dollars of "Big Lie" TV commercials at every opportunity. We will not be able to mute or channel-surf away from these ads fast enough, and most people won't even try. They'll just sit there and absorb the crap-- delivered in stentorian tones while bad photos of the opposing candidates are projected -- until viewers become convinced that whatever they are seeing was their opinion all along.<br />
Many people will go out and vote who have been mesmerized by the ads and haven't bothered to research the facts or issues. These are the so-called "low-information voters" who -- in enough numbers -- can decide the economic future of generations. <br />
One Tea Party" acquaintance sends me gushing emails talking about how handsome Romney is and how much she loves him, with many multiple exclamation points, even while her own economic and health coverage circumstances are desperate. But she tells me, she opposes ACA because it might end up covering illegal immigrants. So much better to deny health care to millions than to let a single undeserving person get away with anything. <br />
Unfortunately, this woman has a PA driver's license so she will get to vote. <br />Jodine Mayberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16738507307333004854noreply@blogger.com0