February 6, 2014

SHOCKING FACTS About America's For-Profit PRISON Industry

~snip~

Unbeknownst to many, the prison system has become a for-profit business in which inmates are the product–a system that has shocking similarities to another human-based business from America’s past: slavery.


In late 2013, a new report from In the Public Interest (ITPI) revealed that private prison companies are striking deals with states that contain clauses guaranteeing high prison occupancy rates–sometimes 100 percent. This means that states agree to supply prison corporations with a steady flow of residents–whether or not that level of criminal activity exists. Some experts believe this relationship between government and private prison corporations encourages law enforcement agencies to use underhanded tactics–often targeting minority and underserved groups–to fill cells.

“The report, ‘Criminal: How Lockup Quotas and ‘Low-Crime Taxes’ Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations,’ documents the contracts exchanged between private prison companies and state and local governments that either guarantee prison occupancy rates (essentially creating inmate lockup quotas) or force taxpayers to pay for empty beds if the prison population decreases due to lower crime rates or other factors (essentially creating low-crime taxes),” reports Salon.


As a result, there are now over 2 million people living behind bars in the United States. That’s half a million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Many are incarcerated for non-violent crimes, like the use or possession of marijuana, and other problems that would be far better served through a rehabilitation or education program. The worst part is that once captured by the prison industry, inmates are forced to work for pennies an hour, providing cheap labor for some of the most profitable enterprises in the world, including the U.S. Military.







cont'

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/21694-shocking-facts-about-americas-for-profit-prison-industry

February 6, 2014

The Anatomy of a Politico and GOP LIE

February 6, 2014

"Rand Paul And Ted Cruz Are NOVELTY CANDIDATES, Not To Be Taken Seriously."

Enjoy the ride Clowns!!.........Love the bird's nest hairdo..........




Paul Ryan is the Odds-On Favorite to Win the Republican Nomination in 2016



There's been a lot of blathering about who the front runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is, and so far I've resisted taking part. But I guess I'm kind of curious: Is there much of a case to be made for anyone other than Paul Ryan?



On the substantive side, Ryan sure seems like he's setting himself up for a run. There's his steady series of "unheralded" anti-poverty outreach trips that always manage to be just heralded enough to get sympathetic press coverage. He brokered a budget deal with Patty Murray that was businesslike and low-drama but didn't alienate the tea party crowd too badly. Today, in a hearing about the CBO's report on Obamacare, he acknowledged that the report didn't say that employers would be cutting jobs—points for intellectual honesty!—while also calling Obamacare a "poverty trap"—points for demagoguery! This is all stuff that seems very delicately calculated to stay in the good graces of the tea party base while building up plenty of policy substance cred that will keep him attractive to moderate voters.



On the flip side, who are his big competitors? Chris Christie is toast. Marco Rubio is inexperienced to begin with, and then muffed his chance for statesmanlike glory when he staked his reputation on immigration reform and came up empty. Jeb Bush can't even get his mother's endorsement. Scott Walker is getting buzz, but he strikes me as having too much baggage. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are novelty candidates, not to be taken seriously. And although I used to think Bobby Jindal might have a chance, he's had a rough past couple of years.




Maybe I'm dismissing all these guys a little too glibly. Walker and Bush are certainly serious possibilities. And I admit that Ryan doesn't always give off a vibe that says he's running for president. And of course, we're still a couple of years away from 2016, anything can happen, blah blah blah. Still, ol' blue eyes sure looks like the favorite to me right now. Anyone want to make a case for one of the others?






http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/02/paul-ryan-odds-favorite-win-republican-nomination-2016

February 6, 2014

Document EXPOSES Papa John’s And Other Companies As SECRET KOCH BROTHER ALLIES

The Koch brothers are well-known for their right-wing activism, but less has been known about the wealthy conservatives who fund their vast political operations. But a document left behind last week at the first donor gathering of 2014 at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Palm Springs, California, and handed over by a hotel guest to Mother Jones offers a glimpse at this network. Attendees at events hosted by the billionaire industrialists are warned that the seminars – where plans are hatched to elect Republican officials and advance conservative ideas – are strictly confidential, and they’re told to closely guard their meeting notes and materials.



The discarded document, Mother Jones reported, lists VIP donors – including John Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s pizza chain – who met individually with Koch representatives and revealed just how closely tied Koch Industries is intertwined with the brothers’ political machine. In addition to Schnatter – who’s already known as a longtime Republican donor and outspoken opponent of the Affordable Care Act – the one-page Koch donor list included top executives from Jockey International and TRT Holdings, which owns Omni Hotels and Gold’s Gym. The document shows that Schnatter, who had not been previously revealed as a Koch donor, was scheduled to meet with Ryan Stowers, director of higher education at the Charles G. Koch Foundation.



Robert Rowling, who cofounded TRT Holdings and funneled $3.5 million in 2012 to a super-PAC directed by Karl Rove, was scheduled to meet with Charles Koch at a private residence along with other top operatives, including fundraising guru Kevin Gentry, Latino outreach director Daniel Garza and Marc Short – who runs the Kochs’ Freedom Partners distribution network. Other consumer-products makers whose top executives met with the Kochs or their representatives were Klipsch Group, which sells audiophile speakers and headphones, Captive Aire, which sells commercial kitchen products, and Haworth, which sells office furniture.



Read the full donor list here

Most of the sessions paired donors with representatives of Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded by the Kochs and their top political strategist, Richard Fink, who is also executive vice president and a board member of Koch Industries. Koch Industries has claimed AFP is just one of the hundreds of organizations that receive funding from the brothers and operates independently from the company they run. But the one-page found document hints at a much closer collaboration between Koch Industries, AFP and Freedom Partners, which is heavily staffed with current and former employees of Koch Industries.



cont'


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/06/document-exposes-papa-johns-and-other-companies-as-secret-koch-brother-allies/

February 6, 2014

'OH I SURE DO': Romney Thinks Christie Is Telling The TRUTH

Mitt Romney on Wednesday said that he believes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) when he says that he did not know and was not involved with the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge last year.

"Oh, I sure do," Romney said on CNN's "The Situation Room" when anchor Wolf Blitzer asked if he thought the governor was telling the truth. "Chris is a friend of mine. Chris is a straightforward guy. When he tells you something, you can count on it."


Romney also hinted that Christie still has a chance to become the GOP presidential nominee in 2016.


"I'm counting on Chris and believe that he, if he decides to get into national politics, he'll do very well indeed," he said.





http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/romney-believes-christie-bridge

February 5, 2014

Oregon Dem DESTROYS TOP DRUG OFFICIAL Who CAN'T SAY If Weed’s Less Addictive Than Meth

SKATING,.......SKATING,......SKATING.......





In Oregon Democrat literally threw up his hands in frustration Tuesday after failing to get a direct answer to his question about marijuana’s dangers from the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) asked Michael Botticelli, the drug czar’s chief deputy, to identify the number of marijuana overdoses reported in the previous five years.

“To my knowledge, I don’t know if there have been instances of specific overdose-related deaths,” Botticelli said.




Blumenauer then asked the drug official in a House Oversight Committee hearing to identify whether marijuana was more dangerous and addictive than cocaine or methamphetamines. “I don’t think that anyone would dispute the fact that there’s relative toxicity related to those drugs,” said Botticelli, who reluctantly admitted during the same hearing that marijuana was less dangerous than alcohol. But the lawmaker wasn’t satisfied, asking Botticelli again whether marijuana was more dangerous than the other two illegal drugs. “I think the conversation minimizes the harm,” Botticelli said.




That’s where the conversation turned testy. “I’m not trying to minimize the harm,” Blumenauer said. “I just want to know what’s more dangerous and addictive. You don’t know?” “As a public health person, one of the things that we look at is not the relative risk of one drug against another,” Botticeli said as the lawmakers’ face clouded over. “Let me just say that your equivocation right there, being unable to answer something clearly and definitively when there is unquestioned evidence to the contrary, is why young people don’t believe the propaganda, why they think it’s benign,” Blumenauer said.



He continued.






cont'

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/oregon-dem-destroys-top-drug-official-who-cant-say-if-weeds-less-addictive-than-meth/

February 5, 2014

Oregon Dem DESTROYS TOP DRUG OFFICIAL Who CAN'T SAY If Weed’s Less Addictive Than Meth

SKATING,.......SKATING,......SKATING.......





In Oregon Democrat literally threw up his hands in frustration Tuesday after failing to get a direct answer to his question about marijuana’s dangers from the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) asked Michael Botticelli, the drug czar’s chief deputy, to identify the number of marijuana overdoses reported in the previous five years.

“To my knowledge, I don’t know if there have been instances of specific overdose-related deaths,” Botticelli said.




Blumenauer then asked the drug official in a House Oversight Committee hearing to identify whether marijuana was more dangerous and addictive than cocaine or methamphetamines. “I don’t think that anyone would dispute the fact that there’s relative toxicity related to those drugs,” said Botticelli, who reluctantly admitted during the same hearing that marijuana was less dangerous than alcohol. But the lawmaker wasn’t satisfied, asking Botticelli again whether marijuana was more dangerous than the other two illegal drugs. “I think the conversation minimizes the harm,” Botticelli said.




That’s where the conversation turned testy. “I’m not trying to minimize the harm,” Blumenauer said. “I just want to know what’s more dangerous and addictive. You don’t know?” “As a public health person, one of the things that we look at is not the relative risk of one drug against another,” Botticeli said as the lawmakers’ face clouded over. “Let me just say that your equivocation right there, being unable to answer something clearly and definitively when there is unquestioned evidence to the contrary, is why young people don’t believe the propaganda, why they think it’s benign,” Blumenauer said.



He continued.






cont'

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/oregon-dem-destroys-top-drug-official-who-cant-say-if-weeds-less-addictive-than-meth/

February 5, 2014

Elizabeth Warren COMES OUT SWINGING For The Unemployed

BAM!!......






Senator Elizabeth Warren went on the Senate floor on Monday evening with the passion to inform through clear lenses. She blasted the GOP for blocking an extension of the federal unemployment insurance that expired at the end of last year. Elizabeth Warren began by reminding senators what brought the country to this point. “Just five years ago middle class families got hammered by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” she said. “These families didn’t cause the crisis. They worked hard and played by the rules. But they ended up paying the price for Wall Street’s wild risk taking and Washington’s failed oversight. People lost jobs, lost savings, lost homes.” She goes on about the reality of poor and middle class Americans. Elizabeth Warren goes on to talk about the impact the lack of unemployment insurance is having on them.


The same government that allowed the crash because of lax regulations on the corporatocracy is creating additional pain to the out of work poor and middle class. This government was willing to step in, not in months but in days, to assist the corporations that brought the crisis upon themselves. Yet, the current Republican Congress and Senate are forcing Americans to go through hoops to help those who can least help themselves. “Because of Republican filibusters, 1.6 million Americans and counting have lost access to unemployment insurance since the end of last year,” Elizabeth Warren said. “including more than 60 thousand people in Massachusetts. Their obstruction means that we cannot fulfill our commitment to the families that need it most. My Republican colleagues should be looking for a way to say yes. Yes to helping middle class American families and their 2.3 million children who rely on unemployment insurance. But once again they just want a way to say no.”




cont'

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/04/elizabeth-warren-comes-swinging-unemployed-video/

February 5, 2014

Elizabeth Warren COMES OUT SWINGING For The Unemployed

BAM!!......






Senator Elizabeth Warren went on the Senate floor on Monday evening with the passion to inform through clear lenses. She blasted the GOP for blocking an extension of the federal unemployment insurance that expired at the end of last year. Elizabeth Warren began by reminding senators what brought the country to this point. “Just five years ago middle class families got hammered by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” she said. “These families didn’t cause the crisis. They worked hard and played by the rules. But they ended up paying the price for Wall Street’s wild risk taking and Washington’s failed oversight. People lost jobs, lost savings, lost homes.” She goes on about the reality of poor and middle class Americans. Elizabeth Warren goes on to talk about the impact the lack of unemployment insurance is having on them.


The same government that allowed the crash because of lax regulations on the corporatocracy is creating additional pain to the out of work poor and middle class. This government was willing to step in, not in months but in days, to assist the corporations that brought the crisis upon themselves. Yet, the current Republican Congress and Senate are forcing Americans to go through hoops to help those who can least help themselves. “Because of Republican filibusters, 1.6 million Americans and counting have lost access to unemployment insurance since the end of last year,” Elizabeth Warren said. “including more than 60 thousand people in Massachusetts. Their obstruction means that we cannot fulfill our commitment to the families that need it most. My Republican colleagues should be looking for a way to say yes. Yes to helping middle class American families and their 2.3 million children who rely on unemployment insurance. But once again they just want a way to say no.”




cont'

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/04/elizabeth-warren-comes-swinging-unemployed-video/

February 5, 2014

Republicans Across The Country Are Passing ILLEGAL LAWS Requiring Teaching CREATIONISM

Seat belts please.........









The United States Constitution is very clear in prohibiting government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, or impeding the free exercise of religion, and yet Republicans in Congress and states pass an inordinate number of laws founded completely on the Christian religion. In fact, in spite of the Constitution and several federal court rulings banning the practice, Republicans have illegally passed laws mandating the teaching of the bible as science in public schools using taxpayer dollars because they claim the creation myth is real and evolution is an abomination to bible god. It is little surprise, then, that creationists are absolutely apoplectic over a resolution introduced by a New Jersey Democrat, Representative Rush Holt, to designate British naturalist Charles Darwin’s birthday on February 12 as a day to recognize ‘the importance of science in the betterment of humanity.”






Holt’s resolution is the third attempt to recognize Charles Darwin’s contribution to science after former Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) first introduced the idea in 2011, and Holt’s first attempt to advance “Darwin Day” in 2013 fell short. Holt, the only Quaker in Congress, a Christian, and holder of a doctoral degree in physics said,

Holt’s resolution was assigned to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and is a strong stance against teaching creationism in public classrooms in addition to voicing great concern for the consequences of climate change denial. Keeping their ignoramus supporters unconscious of the existential danger of global climate change is why Republicans are on a crusade to use taxpayer money to teach creationism in public schools across the country despite it is a violation of the Constitution.







According to creationists, the proposed resolution acknowledging science’s contribution to mankind’s progress beyond the Stone Age is an “authoritarian” and “unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause and protection of the freedom of speech,” and as a Pagan religion is responsible for advancing infanticide, gun violence, wars, Nazism, and likely all the diseases that plagued humanity down through the ages. The creationists’ categorical claim is that evolution is a religion like atheism, and it leads them to assert that “since the constitution calls for the state not to be involved in the establishment of any religion,” atheists have no right asking the federal government to endorse and mandate the religion known as evolution. The religious right is certain that evolutionary science is the wrong side of what they moronically labelled “a philosophical debate” because it contradicts the Adam and Eve fairy tale. They claim that atheists have no right, and the federal government has no authority, to acknowledge science’s contribution to mankind’s betterment according to their interpretation of the Constitution’s First Amendment.






There is so much wrong with the creationist’s assertions, but their greatest inaccuracy is that evolution or atheism is a religion. It is a contention borne of rank stupidity because by definition religion is a collection of beliefs and rules used to worship a deity based on mythos and ancient texts about morality, ethics, and god-law. Religion also comprises certain behaviors, clergy, and a definition of what constitutes adherence and deity veneration through the ridiculous conviction that one can have a rapport with a deity through deliberate and direct communication. Atheism is simply the rejection of belief in the existence of a deity or deities, and as a scientific theory like gravity, it is impossible, and absurd to think that any human being worships or prays to evolution. Creationists cannot see, define, or understand gravitational theory, but they believe in gravity or they would regularly jump off the top of the Empire State Building and expect to hover. Evolutionary theory is proven, observable, and well-documented in peer-reviewed scientific journals.





cont'

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/05/republicans-country-passing-illegal-laws-requiring-teaching-creationism.html