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Segami
Segami's Journal
Segami's Journal
July 19, 2013
The news is a major blow to the nascent British GM industry which ministers have been championing this year as fears grow about food security.Monsanto, whose name is synonymous with GM crops, confirmed that it is withdrawing all of its EU applications for approval for new crops. The decision is understood to affect as many as 10 applications for approval for new GM crops. It is understood that Monsanto is pulling all of its applications for crops in frustration at delays over clearing existing crops at EU level. It does not affect clearance for an existing crop grown from GM seeds in Portugal and Spain. Monsanto currently sells only one biotech seed product in Europe — a biotech corn which is modified to be resistant to a destructive pest called the European corn borer. It accounts for less than one per cent of the corn grown in the EU.
A company source pointed to the fact that the EU has not approved a new GM crop for cultivation since 1998, adding that it "currently has suspended the progression of cultivation files towards decisions for political reasons". The source added: "As the EU today is effectively a conventional seed market we have been progressively de-emphasising cultivation of biotech crops in Europe.
"Amongst other things, this means we are no longer seeking approval to commercialise biotech seeds in the EU. We intend to withdraw pending regulatory applications for commercial cultivation of new biotech crops in the EU." A Monsanto spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: "Monsanto´s business in Europe is very strong and growing. In order to better serve farmers in Europe we will be investing several hundred million dollars in Europe over a decade to expand our conventional seed production and breeding.
"In parallel, biotech crops are highly successful in the rest of the world. In order to fully support both of these success stories, we will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe. "Instead, we will focus on enabling imports of biotech crops into the EU and the growth of our current business there."
cont'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10186932/Major-GM-food-company-Monsanto-pulls-out-of-Europe.html
Major GM Food Company Monsanto 'PULLS OUT OF EUROPE'
Environment secretary Owen Paterson using a particle gun used in the testing of genetically modified crops Photo: Dominic
The news is a major blow to the nascent British GM industry which ministers have been championing this year as fears grow about food security.Monsanto, whose name is synonymous with GM crops, confirmed that it is withdrawing all of its EU applications for approval for new crops. The decision is understood to affect as many as 10 applications for approval for new GM crops. It is understood that Monsanto is pulling all of its applications for crops in frustration at delays over clearing existing crops at EU level. It does not affect clearance for an existing crop grown from GM seeds in Portugal and Spain. Monsanto currently sells only one biotech seed product in Europe — a biotech corn which is modified to be resistant to a destructive pest called the European corn borer. It accounts for less than one per cent of the corn grown in the EU.
A company source pointed to the fact that the EU has not approved a new GM crop for cultivation since 1998, adding that it "currently has suspended the progression of cultivation files towards decisions for political reasons". The source added: "As the EU today is effectively a conventional seed market we have been progressively de-emphasising cultivation of biotech crops in Europe.
"Amongst other things, this means we are no longer seeking approval to commercialise biotech seeds in the EU. We intend to withdraw pending regulatory applications for commercial cultivation of new biotech crops in the EU." A Monsanto spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: "Monsanto´s business in Europe is very strong and growing. In order to better serve farmers in Europe we will be investing several hundred million dollars in Europe over a decade to expand our conventional seed production and breeding.
"In parallel, biotech crops are highly successful in the rest of the world. In order to fully support both of these success stories, we will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe. "Instead, we will focus on enabling imports of biotech crops into the EU and the growth of our current business there."
cont'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10186932/Major-GM-food-company-Monsanto-pulls-out-of-Europe.html
July 19, 2013
The Lizard Of Blah!............
An automated poll released Friday shows incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) with a massive lead over Liz Cheney among Wyoming Republicans. The survey from Republican firm Harper Polling, conducted on behalf of the right-wing blog Conservative Intelligence Briefing, found Enzi with the support of 55 percent of GOP primary voters, while Cheney trailed with only 21 percent support.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney who announced earlier this week her intention to challenge Enzi in 2014, is still a relative unknown among Wyoming Republicans. Forty-five percent said they have a favorable opinion of her while just 15 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion, but 38 percent indicated they have no opinion of Cheney, who until recently was a resident of Virginia.
Enzi, meanwhile, is viewed favorably by 76 percent of Wyoming Republicans, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted July 17-18 using automated interviews with 422 likely Republican primary voters. It has a margin of error of 4.77 percentage points.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-poll-shows-enzi-crushing-cheney
GOP Poll Shows Enzi CRUSHING The Lizard Cheney
The Lizard Of Blah!............
An automated poll released Friday shows incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) with a massive lead over Liz Cheney among Wyoming Republicans. The survey from Republican firm Harper Polling, conducted on behalf of the right-wing blog Conservative Intelligence Briefing, found Enzi with the support of 55 percent of GOP primary voters, while Cheney trailed with only 21 percent support.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney who announced earlier this week her intention to challenge Enzi in 2014, is still a relative unknown among Wyoming Republicans. Forty-five percent said they have a favorable opinion of her while just 15 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion, but 38 percent indicated they have no opinion of Cheney, who until recently was a resident of Virginia.
Enzi, meanwhile, is viewed favorably by 76 percent of Wyoming Republicans, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted July 17-18 using automated interviews with 422 likely Republican primary voters. It has a margin of error of 4.77 percentage points.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-poll-shows-enzi-crushing-cheney
July 19, 2013
Smack-Down with a "GIANT ELBOW".....Warren style!..... 
ELIZABETH WARREN Brings News Anchors To Knees
Smack-Down with a "GIANT ELBOW".....Warren style!.....
"Elizabeth Warren has a message for any television personalities questioning the merits of increased financial regulation: You're wrong.
During a media tour last week to bring attention to a bill the Senator proposed with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others aimed at preventing banks from making risky bets with Americans' savings, CNBC personality Brian Sullivan asked her to back his assertion that no law can prevent major bank busts.
'No that is just wrong,' Warren said in response."*
During a media tour last week to bring attention to a bill the Senator proposed with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others aimed at preventing banks from making risky bets with Americans' savings, CNBC personality Brian Sullivan asked her to back his assertion that no law can prevent major bank busts.
'No that is just wrong,' Warren said in response."*
July 19, 2013
Prepare yourselves!....Here come the 'Sex-Police Brownshirts'......
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has a problem. He doesn’t like sodomy. He says he is just protecting children from predators, but says he doesn’t even want married couples to engage in oral and anal sex. Ironically, should Cuccinelli win an appeal, it will be Virginia residents taking it in the backside. Apparently, Cuccinelli is into sodomy only if he is the one doing the sodomizing. According to Cuccinelli, oral and anal sex are “homosexual acts,” and he said at a Heritage Foundation-sponsored event in 2009 that “homosexual acts are wrong and should not be accommodated in government policy.”
The Virginian-Pilot reported him saying that same year:
This reasoning of his is – how shall we say it? – a little bizarre; okay, more than a little. Does this mean that a man going down on a woman or a woman going down on a man are, despite engaging in heterosexual sex, are somehow guilty of a homosexual act? Whatever we make of this, and despite the supposed Republican opposition – and his own avowed anti-government stance – to government regulation, the couples would become felons.
This is what the law says:
And confusing as that is, it is difficult to see how prohibiting married couples from engaging in sodomy protects any children from predators. And of course, Cuccinelli isn’t really concerned about predators but with his own narrowly defined sense of morality. He is a religious zealot who wants the Church police in every bedroom ensuring that people use only the approved missionary position. Otherwise, society collapses. Yes, Cuccinelli is the guy the Founding Fathers warned you about when they wrote the First Amendment. Of course, the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that anti-sodomy laws which made sexual activity between consenting adults were unconstitutional (Lawrence v. Texas).
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/19/virginias-gop-would-be-governor-ban-sodomy-married-couples.html
SEX POLICE- Virginia GOP’s Would-Be Governor Would Ban Sodomy Between Married Couples
Prepare yourselves!....Here come the 'Sex-Police Brownshirts'......
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has a problem. He doesn’t like sodomy. He says he is just protecting children from predators, but says he doesn’t even want married couples to engage in oral and anal sex. Ironically, should Cuccinelli win an appeal, it will be Virginia residents taking it in the backside. Apparently, Cuccinelli is into sodomy only if he is the one doing the sodomizing. According to Cuccinelli, oral and anal sex are “homosexual acts,” and he said at a Heritage Foundation-sponsored event in 2009 that “homosexual acts are wrong and should not be accommodated in government policy.”
The Virginian-Pilot reported him saying that same year:
My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. … They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/steve-shannon-attorney-general
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/steve-shannon-attorney-general
This reasoning of his is – how shall we say it? – a little bizarre; okay, more than a little. Does this mean that a man going down on a woman or a woman going down on a man are, despite engaging in heterosexual sex, are somehow guilty of a homosexual act? Whatever we make of this, and despite the supposed Republican opposition – and his own avowed anti-government stance – to government regulation, the couples would become felons.
This is what the law says:
If any person carnally knows in any manner any brute animal, or carnally knows any male or female person by the anus or by or with the mouth, or voluntarily submits to such carnal knowledge, he or she shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony…
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-361
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-361
And confusing as that is, it is difficult to see how prohibiting married couples from engaging in sodomy protects any children from predators. And of course, Cuccinelli isn’t really concerned about predators but with his own narrowly defined sense of morality. He is a religious zealot who wants the Church police in every bedroom ensuring that people use only the approved missionary position. Otherwise, society collapses. Yes, Cuccinelli is the guy the Founding Fathers warned you about when they wrote the First Amendment. Of course, the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that anti-sodomy laws which made sexual activity between consenting adults were unconstitutional (Lawrence v. Texas).
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/19/virginias-gop-would-be-governor-ban-sodomy-married-couples.html
July 18, 2013
Despite an internal company memo in 1900 that read, "any paint is poisonous in proportion to the percentage of lead contained in it," Sherwin-Williams Co. went on to become a leading lead-based paint manufacturer and to promote with other members of the industry the use of paint with large percentages of lead -- "the higher, the better." "White lead should be the basic ingredient of all white paint and light tints," read a Sherwin-Williams magazine advertisement in the 1920s. "It is to these paints exactly what flour is to bread."
Sherwin-Williams is one of five corporations that went on trial in California this week, facing claims they knowingly poisoned generations of children with the neurotoxic heavy metal and continue to do so today, with lead-based paint lingering and deteriorating on the walls of homes. The plaintiffs, 10 California cities and counties, seek some $1 billion in costs to strip the toxic heavy metal remaining on millions of residences throughout the state, and save "additional children from being poisoned" and millions of dollars in medical, special education and lost-productivity costs burdening "society as a whole," according to a trial brief filed in the Superior Court of California on July 1.
A representative for the companies suggested that the lawsuit, which rests on the claim that lead paint poses a "public nuisance," carries no "factual or legal merit." The trial may set an important precedent for other states and the federal government, experts say. "They put out a dangerous project, knowing it was dangerous, and now they are responsible for helping to clean it up," said Owen Clements, chief of special litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, who has been working on the case since the lawsuit was filed 13 years ago. The trial finally began on Monday, after years of industry objections.
David Rosner, co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University, will testify as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. "This is a huge epidemic that has changed the lives of literally millions of children in America," said Rosner, who described a history of deceit within the lead paint industry and the ongoing public health battle in the book he co-authored, Lead Wars, published in April. "The single biggest problem has been that industry historically defeated any attempt to control lead on the walls of the nation. "Lead on walls is by far the largest source of poisoning for kids," Rosner added. Of course, lead-painted walls -- especially if deteriorating -- can mean lead on windowsills and floors. And every time a window or door is opened or closed, more dust can be stirred, Rosner said.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/lead-paint-trial_n_3612546.html
.
TOXIC SHOCK!: Lead Paint Industry On Trial For KNOWINGLY POISONING Generations Of Children
Despite an internal company memo in 1900 that read, "any paint is poisonous in proportion to the percentage of lead contained in it," Sherwin-Williams Co. went on to become a leading lead-based paint manufacturer and to promote with other members of the industry the use of paint with large percentages of lead -- "the higher, the better." "White lead should be the basic ingredient of all white paint and light tints," read a Sherwin-Williams magazine advertisement in the 1920s. "It is to these paints exactly what flour is to bread."
Sherwin-Williams is one of five corporations that went on trial in California this week, facing claims they knowingly poisoned generations of children with the neurotoxic heavy metal and continue to do so today, with lead-based paint lingering and deteriorating on the walls of homes. The plaintiffs, 10 California cities and counties, seek some $1 billion in costs to strip the toxic heavy metal remaining on millions of residences throughout the state, and save "additional children from being poisoned" and millions of dollars in medical, special education and lost-productivity costs burdening "society as a whole," according to a trial brief filed in the Superior Court of California on July 1.
A representative for the companies suggested that the lawsuit, which rests on the claim that lead paint poses a "public nuisance," carries no "factual or legal merit." The trial may set an important precedent for other states and the federal government, experts say. "They put out a dangerous project, knowing it was dangerous, and now they are responsible for helping to clean it up," said Owen Clements, chief of special litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, who has been working on the case since the lawsuit was filed 13 years ago. The trial finally began on Monday, after years of industry objections.
David Rosner, co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University, will testify as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. "This is a huge epidemic that has changed the lives of literally millions of children in America," said Rosner, who described a history of deceit within the lead paint industry and the ongoing public health battle in the book he co-authored, Lead Wars, published in April. "The single biggest problem has been that industry historically defeated any attempt to control lead on the walls of the nation. "Lead on walls is by far the largest source of poisoning for kids," Rosner added. Of course, lead-painted walls -- especially if deteriorating -- can mean lead on windowsills and floors. And every time a window or door is opened or closed, more dust can be stirred, Rosner said.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/lead-paint-trial_n_3612546.html
.
July 18, 2013
We welcome the new 'DICK' senate republican challenger........
It doesn’t pay to make friends with the Cheney family. Just ask Texas attorney Harry Whittington, the man who was shot in the face by Dick Cheney in a 2006 hunting accident. Whittington sustained long-term injuries, including having to carry approximately 30 pieces of lead in his body ever since. Dick has never apologized to Whittington, in public or in person. In spite of media reports that described the two men as old friends, the lawyer denies that, describing his relationship with Cheney as merely ‘acquaintances.’ Now it’s Liz Cheney’s turn to inflict harm on a man involved with the family–a man who truly is an old family friend. The person in question–Senator Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming–has valued the relationship with Dick for over 30 years. That didn’t stop Liz from declaring on Tuesday that she’s running for incumbent Enzi’s seat in Congress, nor did it stop her father from fully endorsing the run. In Washington on Tuesday, Senator Enzi told reporters that neither Liz nor Dick informed him of her intention, adding plaintively:
“I thought we were friends.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=2&
That was Enzi’s first mistake. The third-term senator’s second mistake was being willing to compromise in the Senate. Even though his reputation as a conservative is sterling, he’s also known as someone who will strike a deal with Democrats. That’s a BIG mistake in Cheney eyes and Tea Party sympathizer Liz immediately latched onto it. In the video announcing her candidacy, Liz said:
Enzi pointedly made public his own plans for a fourth Senate run, just a few minutes ahead of the release of Liz’s video, saying:
After Liz’s announcement, Ari Fleisher, White House press secretary under George W. Bush, summed up the dilemma:
“It’s going to have senator against senator. It’s going to have the Senate committee that’s in charge of re-electing senators against the Cheney family. It’s an uncomfortable split within the Republican Party that could’ve and should’ve been avoided.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57594095/liz-cheneys-senate-run-prompts-worries-of-dividing-republicans/
cont'
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/18/liz-cheney-stabs-fathers-friend-in-the-back-with-her-dads-help/
LIZARD Cheney STABS Father’s Friend In The Back With Her Dad’s Help
We welcome the new 'DICK' senate republican challenger........
It doesn’t pay to make friends with the Cheney family. Just ask Texas attorney Harry Whittington, the man who was shot in the face by Dick Cheney in a 2006 hunting accident. Whittington sustained long-term injuries, including having to carry approximately 30 pieces of lead in his body ever since. Dick has never apologized to Whittington, in public or in person. In spite of media reports that described the two men as old friends, the lawyer denies that, describing his relationship with Cheney as merely ‘acquaintances.’ Now it’s Liz Cheney’s turn to inflict harm on a man involved with the family–a man who truly is an old family friend. The person in question–Senator Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming–has valued the relationship with Dick for over 30 years. That didn’t stop Liz from declaring on Tuesday that she’s running for incumbent Enzi’s seat in Congress, nor did it stop her father from fully endorsing the run. In Washington on Tuesday, Senator Enzi told reporters that neither Liz nor Dick informed him of her intention, adding plaintively:
“I thought we were friends.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=2&
That was Enzi’s first mistake. The third-term senator’s second mistake was being willing to compromise in the Senate. Even though his reputation as a conservative is sterling, he’s also known as someone who will strike a deal with Democrats. That’s a BIG mistake in Cheney eyes and Tea Party sympathizer Liz immediately latched onto it. In the video announcing her candidacy, Liz said:
“I am running because I believe it is necessary for a new generation of leaders to step up to the plate… we can no longer afford simply to get along to go along … I will never compromise when our freedom is at stake.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=1&
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=1&
Enzi pointedly made public his own plans for a fourth Senate run, just a few minutes ahead of the release of Liz’s video, saying:
“I intend to run for re-election for Wyoming’s Senate seat in 2014. When I announce formally, I will let everyone know that date in the future. In the meantime, I will do the job I was already elected to do. My trips to Wyoming almost weekly, the public listening sessions, the groups I meet with and speak to, working behind the scenes — this is what I have been doing since I was elected, and this is what needs to be done.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=1&
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-to-challenge-senator-michael-enzi-of-wyoming.html?ref=us&_r=1&
After Liz’s announcement, Ari Fleisher, White House press secretary under George W. Bush, summed up the dilemma:
“It’s going to have senator against senator. It’s going to have the Senate committee that’s in charge of re-electing senators against the Cheney family. It’s an uncomfortable split within the Republican Party that could’ve and should’ve been avoided.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57594095/liz-cheneys-senate-run-prompts-worries-of-dividing-republicans/
cont'
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/18/liz-cheney-stabs-fathers-friend-in-the-back-with-her-dads-help/
July 18, 2013
Another privileged moron Tweets...
The Senile Lightbulb Guy might want to get an encyclopedia of logical fallacies out and look up false equivalence.
First, I don't remember Democrats refusing vote on George W. Bush's choices to head federal agencies, just because they didn't like the agencies. Second, whatever you think about Democratic filibusters, they've generally represented the majority view. And third, any third grader could look at a chart and spot the difference.
Other than that, great political analysis, Senile Lightbulb Guy!...
cont'
http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/stupid-right-wing-tweets-jack-welch-e-0
LOL!- Stupid Right-Wing Tweets: Jack Welch Edition
Another privileged moron Tweets...
The Senile Lightbulb Guy might want to get an encyclopedia of logical fallacies out and look up false equivalence.
First, I don't remember Democrats refusing vote on George W. Bush's choices to head federal agencies, just because they didn't like the agencies. Second, whatever you think about Democratic filibusters, they've generally represented the majority view. And third, any third grader could look at a chart and spot the difference.
Other than that, great political analysis, Senile Lightbulb Guy!...
cont'
http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/stupid-right-wing-tweets-jack-welch-e-0
July 17, 2013
Liz Cheney, a former George W. Bush administration state department official and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced Tuesday that she will mount a primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), a third-term Senator who ranked as the eighth most conservative member of the Senate in 2012. Enzi, told of this news, expressed shock, claiming Cheney had previously said that if he ran she wouldn’t. “But obviously that wasn’t correct,” he lamented, “I thought we were friends.” If Enzi’s claim is correct, it would hardly be the first false statement from Cheney, who has made a name for herself making misleading and inaccurate attacks on President Obama and as a fierce defender of the Bush:
1. Defended waterboarding. In a 2009 interview, Cheney defended the infamous Bush-era torture memos, arguing that the brutal techniques, such as waterboarding, that were authorized by the memos are not torture. Cheney invoked the false argument that the techniques were not torture because they were derived from special forces training called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Evasion (SERE) — an argument debunked by the Bush Department of Justice’s own memos.
2. Portrayed Department of Justice lawyers as terrorist-sympathizers. Along with Republican pundit Bill Kristol, Cheney co-founded a right-wing attack group called Keep America Safe. The Cheney-chaired tax-exempt “social welfare” group ran an infamous ad noting that some attorneys working under Attorney General Eric Holder had previously done work against indefinite detention of Guantanamo prisoners. The spot called these lawyers, the “Al Qaeda 7,” asking, “Whose values do they share?” The attack was denounced by former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and an array of prominent conservatives. Cheney stubbornly defended the ad, falsely claiming, “it doesn’t question anybody’s loyalty.”
3. Suggested freedom of religion should not apply to Muslims. In 2010, Cheney stoked the Islamaphobic controversy over the building of a Mosque and Muslim community center in midtown Manhattan. First, Cheney made an unsubstantiated attack on the Imam leading the project, saying, “When you’ve got an Imam that has got the very questionable and dubious ties to radical Islamist organizations that this man does, saying he’s going to build a mosque at Ground Zero, I think we as Americans have every right to say, ‘No you’re not going to do that.’” Her group offered no evidence to support the claim and the FBI had praised his cooperation after 9/11. Then, when pushed as to whether she’d oppose the project even without the Imam’s alleged terror connections, Cheney still wouldn’t concede, responding, “It would depend.”
4. Blasted Obama for not being pro-America enough. In 2009, Cheney falsely attacked President Obama for not telling other countries about how exceptional the USA is. “We’ve now seen several different occasions when he’s been on the international trips, where he’s not willing to say, flat out, ‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’” she charged. At an April 2008 NATO summit in France, Obama expressly had said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. … And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.”
5. Repeatedly suggested that Obama appeases terrorists. In a 2012 Wall Street Journal op/ed, Cheney suggested that the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya happened because the President’s foreign policy was one of appeasement. “Apologizing for America, appeasing our enemies, abandoning our allies and slashing our military are the hallmarks of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy.” Earlier that year, she blasted proposed military spending reductions, saying “I think in fact what President Obama is doing is something that America’s enemies — the Taliban and Al Qaeda — have been unable to do, which is to decimate the fighting capability of this nation.”
In her announcement video, Cheney repeated some of these attacks:
President Obama has launched a war on our Second Amendment rights. He’s launched a war on our religious freedom. He’s used the IRS to launch a war on our freedom of speech. And he’s used the EPA to launch a war on Wyoming’s ranchers, our farmers, and our energy industry. He’s working to nationalize one-sixth of our economy with job-killing Obamacare. He has so effectively diminished our strength abroad that there’s no longer a question about whether this was his intent. He’s working to preemptively disarm America while rogue states like North Korea and Iran build nuclear weapons capabilities and stockpiles.
cont'
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/07/17/2313551/liz-cheney-senate-primary/
Five Things Everyone Should Know About The Newest U.S. Senate Candidate LIZARD CHENEY
Liz Cheney, a former George W. Bush administration state department official and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced Tuesday that she will mount a primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), a third-term Senator who ranked as the eighth most conservative member of the Senate in 2012. Enzi, told of this news, expressed shock, claiming Cheney had previously said that if he ran she wouldn’t. “But obviously that wasn’t correct,” he lamented, “I thought we were friends.” If Enzi’s claim is correct, it would hardly be the first false statement from Cheney, who has made a name for herself making misleading and inaccurate attacks on President Obama and as a fierce defender of the Bush:
1. Defended waterboarding. In a 2009 interview, Cheney defended the infamous Bush-era torture memos, arguing that the brutal techniques, such as waterboarding, that were authorized by the memos are not torture. Cheney invoked the false argument that the techniques were not torture because they were derived from special forces training called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Evasion (SERE) — an argument debunked by the Bush Department of Justice’s own memos.
2. Portrayed Department of Justice lawyers as terrorist-sympathizers. Along with Republican pundit Bill Kristol, Cheney co-founded a right-wing attack group called Keep America Safe. The Cheney-chaired tax-exempt “social welfare” group ran an infamous ad noting that some attorneys working under Attorney General Eric Holder had previously done work against indefinite detention of Guantanamo prisoners. The spot called these lawyers, the “Al Qaeda 7,” asking, “Whose values do they share?” The attack was denounced by former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and an array of prominent conservatives. Cheney stubbornly defended the ad, falsely claiming, “it doesn’t question anybody’s loyalty.”
3. Suggested freedom of religion should not apply to Muslims. In 2010, Cheney stoked the Islamaphobic controversy over the building of a Mosque and Muslim community center in midtown Manhattan. First, Cheney made an unsubstantiated attack on the Imam leading the project, saying, “When you’ve got an Imam that has got the very questionable and dubious ties to radical Islamist organizations that this man does, saying he’s going to build a mosque at Ground Zero, I think we as Americans have every right to say, ‘No you’re not going to do that.’” Her group offered no evidence to support the claim and the FBI had praised his cooperation after 9/11. Then, when pushed as to whether she’d oppose the project even without the Imam’s alleged terror connections, Cheney still wouldn’t concede, responding, “It would depend.”
4. Blasted Obama for not being pro-America enough. In 2009, Cheney falsely attacked President Obama for not telling other countries about how exceptional the USA is. “We’ve now seen several different occasions when he’s been on the international trips, where he’s not willing to say, flat out, ‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’” she charged. At an April 2008 NATO summit in France, Obama expressly had said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. … And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.”
5. Repeatedly suggested that Obama appeases terrorists. In a 2012 Wall Street Journal op/ed, Cheney suggested that the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya happened because the President’s foreign policy was one of appeasement. “Apologizing for America, appeasing our enemies, abandoning our allies and slashing our military are the hallmarks of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy.” Earlier that year, she blasted proposed military spending reductions, saying “I think in fact what President Obama is doing is something that America’s enemies — the Taliban and Al Qaeda — have been unable to do, which is to decimate the fighting capability of this nation.”
In her announcement video, Cheney repeated some of these attacks:
President Obama has launched a war on our Second Amendment rights. He’s launched a war on our religious freedom. He’s used the IRS to launch a war on our freedom of speech. And he’s used the EPA to launch a war on Wyoming’s ranchers, our farmers, and our energy industry. He’s working to nationalize one-sixth of our economy with job-killing Obamacare. He has so effectively diminished our strength abroad that there’s no longer a question about whether this was his intent. He’s working to preemptively disarm America while rogue states like North Korea and Iran build nuclear weapons capabilities and stockpiles.
cont'
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/07/17/2313551/liz-cheney-senate-primary/
July 14, 2013
As the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial settles into the American consciousness, Robert Zimmerman Jr., the brother of George Zimmerman, sat with Piers Morgan immediately following the verdict to discuss the trial and what he thinks is next for his brother. Near the end of the interview, CNN anchor Don Lemon felt compelled to ask Zimmerman Jr. a question on the potential opportunity for racial healing now that such a polarizing case has come to an end.
Lemon asked:
What seemed like a chance for Zimmerman Jr. to begin some semblance of a reconciliation process quickly morphed into a bizarre indictment of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old shot and killed by George Zimmerman.
This is not the first time Zimmerman Jr.'s words have caused controversy. In March, Zimmerman Jr. tweeted a picture that showed perceived similarities of Trayvon Martin and De’Marquise Kareem Elkins, a teenager from Georgia accused of killing a 13-month-old boy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/14/robert-zimmerman-jr_n_3593739.html
WATCH: Zimmerman's Brother Gives TASTELESS Interview
As the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial settles into the American consciousness, Robert Zimmerman Jr., the brother of George Zimmerman, sat with Piers Morgan immediately following the verdict to discuss the trial and what he thinks is next for his brother. Near the end of the interview, CNN anchor Don Lemon felt compelled to ask Zimmerman Jr. a question on the potential opportunity for racial healing now that such a polarizing case has come to an end.
Lemon asked:
"You said you want to start some sort of dialogue, and much has been made about race in this particular case. And you, your brother, your family—you have a unique opportunity in this country to address that. What would you like to see happen when it comes to race, healing the divide, and do you plan to do anything about that, and will you ask your brother to do anything about that?"
What seemed like a chance for Zimmerman Jr. to begin some semblance of a reconciliation process quickly morphed into a bizarre indictment of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old shot and killed by George Zimmerman.
"I want to know what makes people angry enough to attack someone the way Trayvon Martin did. I want to know if it is true, and I don't know if it's true, that Trayvon Martin was looking to procure firearms, was growing dru.. marijuana plants or was making 'lean' or whatever he was doing. I want to know that every minor, high schooler that would be reaching out in some way for help and they may feel it's by procuring firearms or whatever it is they may be doing, that they have some kind of help."
This is not the first time Zimmerman Jr.'s words have caused controversy. In March, Zimmerman Jr. tweeted a picture that showed perceived similarities of Trayvon Martin and De’Marquise Kareem Elkins, a teenager from Georgia accused of killing a 13-month-old boy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/14/robert-zimmerman-jr_n_3593739.html
July 14, 2013
A top conservative leader endorsed a government-run health care program similar to single-payer during an appearance on CSPAN’s Washington Journal on Sunday morning, telling a caller that TRICARE — the Department of Defense’s health care program for more than 9 million active duty uniformed personnel and their dependents — works even better than the Affordable Care Act. Dean Clancy, the Vice President of Public Policy at Freedom Works, an organization that vehemently opposes President Obama’s health care law and advocates for eliminating most government regulations in the health care system, admitted that the government program is “fairly popular” with military members:
CALLER: Good morning. I have looked at all the insurance companies all over the world and the governmental plans all over the world and it comes back to one item that sticks out that would work for everybody, employers, retired people, people who have a small business, people who have low insurance and high insurance. That is TRICARE. TRICARE is what would lower everything and increase everything as far as services and there is not a doctor who doesn’t know about TRICARE. [...]
CLANCY: TRICARE is an employer provided insurance for Pentagon employees and their families. I think it is fairly popular with them. It may have some problems, but in general it works better than Obamacare is likely to do. Employer provided insurance works pretty well, in fact Congress has the best employer provided insurance in the country, it’s the gold standard.
The DoD initiative, which like Medicaid, contracts with private insurers, offers health care services “through both military and nonmilitary hospitals, clinics, and other providers.” Military retirees and their family members are also eligible for the TRICARE health benefit and over 75 percent participate in the government-run program.
cont'
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/07/14/2297111/top-conservative-activist-enthusiastically-endorses-government-run-health-care/
Top Conservative Activist Enthusiastically ENDORSES Government-Run Health Care
A top conservative leader endorsed a government-run health care program similar to single-payer during an appearance on CSPAN’s Washington Journal on Sunday morning, telling a caller that TRICARE — the Department of Defense’s health care program for more than 9 million active duty uniformed personnel and their dependents — works even better than the Affordable Care Act. Dean Clancy, the Vice President of Public Policy at Freedom Works, an organization that vehemently opposes President Obama’s health care law and advocates for eliminating most government regulations in the health care system, admitted that the government program is “fairly popular” with military members:
CALLER: Good morning. I have looked at all the insurance companies all over the world and the governmental plans all over the world and it comes back to one item that sticks out that would work for everybody, employers, retired people, people who have a small business, people who have low insurance and high insurance. That is TRICARE. TRICARE is what would lower everything and increase everything as far as services and there is not a doctor who doesn’t know about TRICARE. [...]
CLANCY: TRICARE is an employer provided insurance for Pentagon employees and their families. I think it is fairly popular with them. It may have some problems, but in general it works better than Obamacare is likely to do. Employer provided insurance works pretty well, in fact Congress has the best employer provided insurance in the country, it’s the gold standard.
The DoD initiative, which like Medicaid, contracts with private insurers, offers health care services “through both military and nonmilitary hospitals, clinics, and other providers.” Military retirees and their family members are also eligible for the TRICARE health benefit and over 75 percent participate in the government-run program.
cont'
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/07/14/2297111/top-conservative-activist-enthusiastically-endorses-government-run-health-care/
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