Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
February 22, 2013
AlterNet / By Laura Gottesdiener
Rapid City, S.D.: The City Without Separation of Church and State
Despite scrutiny, city officials are vowing not to remove Christian prayer at City Council meetings
February 22, 2013 |
In South Dakota, city government officials are doubling down on their unconstitutional practice of beginning each city council meeting with a Christian prayer--despite objections from residents and the threat of a lawsuit.
The battle began earlier this year in Rapid City, South Dakota, when a teenage atheist who attends the city council meetings complained about the mandatory moment of prayer that opens each gathering. But instead of reconsidering the council’s religious stance, one council member ridiculed the teenager’s objection by giving him scripture to read. Others suggested the council should draft a prayer policy under the mistaken assumption that this could protect the unconstitutional tradition from becoming the subject of a lawsuit.
Even the Mayor weighed in--on the side of the prayer supporters.
"We are going to stand and fight this nonsensical effort to remove prayer from our meetings. We aren’t backing down," wrote city Mayor Sam Kooiker in a e-newsletter to all the city’s employees. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/belief/rapid-city-sd-city-without-separation-church-and-state
Rapid City, S.D.: The City Without Separation of Church and State
AlterNet / By Laura Gottesdiener
Rapid City, S.D.: The City Without Separation of Church and State
Despite scrutiny, city officials are vowing not to remove Christian prayer at City Council meetings
February 22, 2013 |
In South Dakota, city government officials are doubling down on their unconstitutional practice of beginning each city council meeting with a Christian prayer--despite objections from residents and the threat of a lawsuit.
The battle began earlier this year in Rapid City, South Dakota, when a teenage atheist who attends the city council meetings complained about the mandatory moment of prayer that opens each gathering. But instead of reconsidering the council’s religious stance, one council member ridiculed the teenager’s objection by giving him scripture to read. Others suggested the council should draft a prayer policy under the mistaken assumption that this could protect the unconstitutional tradition from becoming the subject of a lawsuit.
Even the Mayor weighed in--on the side of the prayer supporters.
"We are going to stand and fight this nonsensical effort to remove prayer from our meetings. We aren’t backing down," wrote city Mayor Sam Kooiker in a e-newsletter to all the city’s employees. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/belief/rapid-city-sd-city-without-separation-church-and-state
February 22, 2013
By Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MARTA, the backbone of public transit in metro Atlanta, on Thursday moved a step closer to privatization in an effort to put the troubled agency on a firmer financial footing.
Legislation was passed by state representatives that required the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority to privatize major functions — from payroll and cleaning to paratransit services. The reform also requires moving new employees from a pension to a 401(k) retirement plan and capping the heavily indebted agency’s bond debt at 35 percent of sales tax collections. Some aspects may run afoul federal rules, putting critical federal grants at risk.
The bill was approved by a vote of 113-57, with mostly Republicans voting in favor and Democrats voting against, and sent to the state senate, which can modify it.
“Marta should be the crown jewel of Georgia’s capital city poised for growth, ” said state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, who chairs the legislative oversight committee for MARTA. “Instead, it is an authority that is mired in the business practices of the 1970s.” .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/transportation/lawmakers-make-step-toward-privatization-at-marta/nWWpz/
Atlanta: Lawmakers make step toward privatization at MARTA
By Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MARTA, the backbone of public transit in metro Atlanta, on Thursday moved a step closer to privatization in an effort to put the troubled agency on a firmer financial footing.
Legislation was passed by state representatives that required the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority to privatize major functions — from payroll and cleaning to paratransit services. The reform also requires moving new employees from a pension to a 401(k) retirement plan and capping the heavily indebted agency’s bond debt at 35 percent of sales tax collections. Some aspects may run afoul federal rules, putting critical federal grants at risk.
The bill was approved by a vote of 113-57, with mostly Republicans voting in favor and Democrats voting against, and sent to the state senate, which can modify it.
“Marta should be the crown jewel of Georgia’s capital city poised for growth, ” said state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, who chairs the legislative oversight committee for MARTA. “Instead, it is an authority that is mired in the business practices of the 1970s.” .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/transportation/lawmakers-make-step-toward-privatization-at-marta/nWWpz/
February 22, 2013
Published on Feb 22, 2013
Complete broadcast: http://www.kontext-tv.de/node/327
With Chris Hedges, Senior fellow at the Nation Institute, former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize in 2002. His latest book is "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" with illustrator Joe Sacco.
In his book "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" Chris Hedges describes "sacrifice zones" in the U.S. which have been exposed to unlimited economic exploitation: fromer industrial centres like Camden, New Jersey which is one of the poorest and most violent cities in the country or the coal mines of West Virginia where nature and commmunities have been devastated. The liberal institutions such as the Democratic Party have betrayed the American people and sold their interests to corporate capital.
Chris Hedges: Days of Destruction / Corporate Coup d'Etat - Kontext TV
Published on Feb 22, 2013
Complete broadcast: http://www.kontext-tv.de/node/327
With Chris Hedges, Senior fellow at the Nation Institute, former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize in 2002. His latest book is "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" with illustrator Joe Sacco.
In his book "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" Chris Hedges describes "sacrifice zones" in the U.S. which have been exposed to unlimited economic exploitation: fromer industrial centres like Camden, New Jersey which is one of the poorest and most violent cities in the country or the coal mines of West Virginia where nature and commmunities have been devastated. The liberal institutions such as the Democratic Party have betrayed the American people and sold their interests to corporate capital.
February 22, 2013
02.21.13 - 10:38 PM
Choked To Death On Waste
by Abby Zimet
The appalling evidence mounts. A new scientific study urges that our omnipresent plastic debris - 280 million tons produced last year, less than half recycled, 370 species suffering its effects and another possible 33 billion tons produced by 2050 - be declared "hazardous." You think? Another report from the U.N. and World Health Organization says over 800 man-made chemicals, including BPA, found in everyday products, including plastic, are becoming “a global threat that needs to be resolved,” with widespread resulting health problems. All this, ahead of Midway, an extraordinary, Kickstarter-funded film by photographer Chris Jordan that documents the deaths of tens of thousands of baby Laysan Albatrosses each year on the Pacific Island of Midway Atoll - over 2,000 miles from the nearest continent - from ingesting plastic from the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a massive floating island of waste plastic. Devastating trailer, both elegy and warning.
http://vimeo.com/25563376
Choked To Death On Waste
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/02/21-402.21.13 - 10:38 PM
Choked To Death On Waste
by Abby Zimet
The appalling evidence mounts. A new scientific study urges that our omnipresent plastic debris - 280 million tons produced last year, less than half recycled, 370 species suffering its effects and another possible 33 billion tons produced by 2050 - be declared "hazardous." You think? Another report from the U.N. and World Health Organization says over 800 man-made chemicals, including BPA, found in everyday products, including plastic, are becoming “a global threat that needs to be resolved,” with widespread resulting health problems. All this, ahead of Midway, an extraordinary, Kickstarter-funded film by photographer Chris Jordan that documents the deaths of tens of thousands of baby Laysan Albatrosses each year on the Pacific Island of Midway Atoll - over 2,000 miles from the nearest continent - from ingesting plastic from the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a massive floating island of waste plastic. Devastating trailer, both elegy and warning.
For me, kneeling over their carcasses is like looking into a macabre mirror. These birds reflect back an appallingly emblematic result of the collective trance of our consumerism and runaway industrial growth. Like the albatross, we first-world humans find ourselves lacking the ability to discern anymore what is nourishing from what is toxic to our lives and our spirits. Choked to death on our waste, the mythical albatross calls upon us to recognize that our greatest challenge lies not out there, but in here.
http://vimeo.com/25563376
February 22, 2013
from truthdig:
Two 2016 Prospects Spotlight Democrats’ Identity Crisis
Posted on Feb 22, 2013
By David Sirota
Despite its success in recent elections, and despite the image of unity it projects, the Democratic Party is in the throes of an epic identity crisis pitting its corporate money against its stated principles. The recent actions of two of the party’s rising stars—Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren—tell the deeper tale of that crisis. It is a microcosmic story, suggesting that the 2016 election may be a decisive turning point in the party’s history.
The money side of the schism is embodied by Hickenlooper. As the new vice-chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, the former petroleum geologist and beer mogul represents a cabal of Democratic politicians whose brand couples moderate positions on social issues with hard-edged corporatism on economic ones.
Corporatism, of course, is a vague label - but in Democratic politics it typically refers to helping campaign contributors bust unions and dismantle environmental regulations, with the expectation that servile labor and environmental leaders will sit by as their movements are decimated.
Hickenlooper’s actions this month show how the formula works.
On labor issues, after a summer of staging media events to thank firefighters for combating wildfires, the Colorado governor publicly threatened to veto legislation that would enshrine the right of those firefighters to choose to form a union. Of such basic legal protections, Hickenlooper flippantly declared that he does “not believe it is a matter of state interest.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/two_2016_prospects_spotlight_democrats_identity_crisis_20130222/
David Sirota: Two 2016 Prospects Spotlight Democrats’ Identity Crisis
from truthdig:
Two 2016 Prospects Spotlight Democrats’ Identity Crisis
Posted on Feb 22, 2013
By David Sirota
Despite its success in recent elections, and despite the image of unity it projects, the Democratic Party is in the throes of an epic identity crisis pitting its corporate money against its stated principles. The recent actions of two of the party’s rising stars—Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren—tell the deeper tale of that crisis. It is a microcosmic story, suggesting that the 2016 election may be a decisive turning point in the party’s history.
The money side of the schism is embodied by Hickenlooper. As the new vice-chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, the former petroleum geologist and beer mogul represents a cabal of Democratic politicians whose brand couples moderate positions on social issues with hard-edged corporatism on economic ones.
Corporatism, of course, is a vague label - but in Democratic politics it typically refers to helping campaign contributors bust unions and dismantle environmental regulations, with the expectation that servile labor and environmental leaders will sit by as their movements are decimated.
Hickenlooper’s actions this month show how the formula works.
On labor issues, after a summer of staging media events to thank firefighters for combating wildfires, the Colorado governor publicly threatened to veto legislation that would enshrine the right of those firefighters to choose to form a union. Of such basic legal protections, Hickenlooper flippantly declared that he does “not believe it is a matter of state interest.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/two_2016_prospects_spotlight_democrats_identity_crisis_20130222/
February 21, 2013
from Consortium News:
How Reagan Promoted Genocide
February 21, 2013
Special Report: A newly discovered document reveals that President Reagan and his national security team in 1981 approved Guatemala’s extermination of both leftist guerrillas and their “civilian support mechanisms,” a green light that opened a path to genocide against hundreds of Mayan villages, reports Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Soon after taking office in 1981, President Ronald Reagan’s national security team agreed to supply military aid to the brutal right-wing regime in Guatemala to pursue the goal of exterminating not only “Marxist guerrillas” but their “civilian support mechanisms,” according to a newly disclosed document from the National Archives.
Over the next several years, the military assistance from the Reagan administration helped the Guatemalan army do just that, engaging in the slaughter of some 100,000 people, including what a truth commission deemed genocide against the Mayan Indians in the northern highlands.
The recently discovered documents at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, also reveal that Reagan’s White House was reaching out to Israel in a scheme to circumvent congressional restrictions on military equipment for the Guatemalan military.
In 1983, national security aide Oliver North (who later became a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal) reported in a memo that Reagan’s Deputy National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane (another key Iran-Contra figure) was approaching Israel over how to deliver 10 UH-1H helicopters to Guatemala to give the army greater mobility in its counterinsurgency war. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/02/21/how-reagan-promoted-genocide/
Robert Parry: How Reagan Promoted Genocide
from Consortium News:
How Reagan Promoted Genocide
February 21, 2013
Special Report: A newly discovered document reveals that President Reagan and his national security team in 1981 approved Guatemala’s extermination of both leftist guerrillas and their “civilian support mechanisms,” a green light that opened a path to genocide against hundreds of Mayan villages, reports Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Soon after taking office in 1981, President Ronald Reagan’s national security team agreed to supply military aid to the brutal right-wing regime in Guatemala to pursue the goal of exterminating not only “Marxist guerrillas” but their “civilian support mechanisms,” according to a newly disclosed document from the National Archives.
Over the next several years, the military assistance from the Reagan administration helped the Guatemalan army do just that, engaging in the slaughter of some 100,000 people, including what a truth commission deemed genocide against the Mayan Indians in the northern highlands.
The recently discovered documents at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, also reveal that Reagan’s White House was reaching out to Israel in a scheme to circumvent congressional restrictions on military equipment for the Guatemalan military.
In 1983, national security aide Oliver North (who later became a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal) reported in a memo that Reagan’s Deputy National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane (another key Iran-Contra figure) was approaching Israel over how to deliver 10 UH-1H helicopters to Guatemala to give the army greater mobility in its counterinsurgency war. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/02/21/how-reagan-promoted-genocide/
February 21, 2013
from Der Spiegel:
Germany's Constitutional Court has further opened the door for gays and lesbians to adopt with a landmark ruling on Tuesday. Yet again the justice system has moved to bring the rights of civil unions closer to those of marriage. But the decision also underscores the deep division in Chancellor Merkel's party on gay rights.
Leaders with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party took their time in reacting to the Federal Constitutional Court's decision on Tuesday morning that one member of a civil partnership can adopt a child that has been previously adopted by their partner, a practice known as successive adoption that until Tuesday had been the exclusive right of married heterosexual couples.
The ruling is ground breaking, marking a further step towards equal rights for same-sex partnerships. The move was welcomed by members of Merkel's junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats, the political opposition and gay and lesbian groups, but the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), remained conspicuously silent in the wake of the news.
At a press conference in the early afternoon, government spokesman Steffen Seibert was unable to avoid any further comment on behalf of the chancellor. But beyond a statement that the ruling "had been acknowledged with due respect," Seibert remained unforthcoming, adding simply that the government would be examining what legislative measures would now be required. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-high-court-more-decisive-than-government-on-gay-rights-a-884377.html
On Gay Rights, Chancellor (Angela Merkel) Still a Conservative
from Der Spiegel:
Germany's Constitutional Court has further opened the door for gays and lesbians to adopt with a landmark ruling on Tuesday. Yet again the justice system has moved to bring the rights of civil unions closer to those of marriage. But the decision also underscores the deep division in Chancellor Merkel's party on gay rights.
Leaders with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party took their time in reacting to the Federal Constitutional Court's decision on Tuesday morning that one member of a civil partnership can adopt a child that has been previously adopted by their partner, a practice known as successive adoption that until Tuesday had been the exclusive right of married heterosexual couples.
The ruling is ground breaking, marking a further step towards equal rights for same-sex partnerships. The move was welcomed by members of Merkel's junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats, the political opposition and gay and lesbian groups, but the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), remained conspicuously silent in the wake of the news.
At a press conference in the early afternoon, government spokesman Steffen Seibert was unable to avoid any further comment on behalf of the chancellor. But beyond a statement that the ruling "had been acknowledged with due respect," Seibert remained unforthcoming, adding simply that the government would be examining what legislative measures would now be required. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-high-court-more-decisive-than-government-on-gay-rights-a-884377.html
February 21, 2013
from Rolling Stone:
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but . . . the latest ploy by the government to insist it is "getting tough" on Wall Street is beyond laughable.
The tough new-and-improved regime, as described by the curiously credulous Dealbook, is a policy of extracting criminal guilty pleas from foreign subsidiaries, as opposed to the "usual fines and reforms." This was the path chosen in the recent UBS deal (in which a Japanese subsidiary was charged while the parent company was given a complete walk, a non-prosecution settlement) and in the more recent deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Both of those banks were implicated in the LIBOR rate-fixing case, which is only maybe the most egregious and far-reaching financial scandal of our generation. Writes Dealbook:
The story was accompanied by a preposterous photo of Lanny Breuer angrily wagging a finger, suggesting a new, "get-tough" criminal division of the Department of Justice. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/justice-departments-new-get-tough-policy-is-well-not-20130220#ixzz2LXvA1vFo
Matt Taibbi: Justice Department's New Get-Tough Policy Is, Well, Not
from Rolling Stone:
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but . . . the latest ploy by the government to insist it is "getting tough" on Wall Street is beyond laughable.
The tough new-and-improved regime, as described by the curiously credulous Dealbook, is a policy of extracting criminal guilty pleas from foreign subsidiaries, as opposed to the "usual fines and reforms." This was the path chosen in the recent UBS deal (in which a Japanese subsidiary was charged while the parent company was given a complete walk, a non-prosecution settlement) and in the more recent deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Both of those banks were implicated in the LIBOR rate-fixing case, which is only maybe the most egregious and far-reaching financial scandal of our generation. Writes Dealbook:
Criticized for letting Wall Street off the hook after the financial crisis, the Justice Department is building a new model for prosecuting big banks.
In a recent round of actions that shook the financial industry, the government pushed for guilty pleas, rather than just the usual fines and reforms. Prosecutors now aim to apply the approach broadly to financial fraud cases, according to officials involved in the investigations.
Lawyers for several big banks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were already adjusting their defenses and urging banks to fire employees suspected of wrongdoing in the hope of appeasing authorities.
The story was accompanied by a preposterous photo of Lanny Breuer angrily wagging a finger, suggesting a new, "get-tough" criminal division of the Department of Justice. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/justice-departments-new-get-tough-policy-is-well-not-20130220#ixzz2LXvA1vFo
February 21, 2013
Ever have a Dairy Milk bar in Britain, or an orange Fanta in Canada?
Why do they taste SO much better than the versions we get here?
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,077
