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Segami
Segami's Journal
Segami's Journal
December 19, 2012
An 11-year old boy faces criminal charges after bringing a gun to West Kearns Elementary School in Kearns, UT yesterday, and allegedly threatening a classmate with it. According to Mediaites Angali Sareen (who also writes for Addicting Info), the sixth grader told his classmates that his parents had advised him to bring the gun for protection after last weeks Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, CT. According to multiple accounts, including Andrew Wittenbergs write-up for Salt Lake City UTs KSL.com, the boy had also given the same explanations to school administrators, but his classmate, Isabelle Rios had a different story to tell:
Although the incident allegedly happened during morning recess, Rios didnt say anything until around dismissal time at 3:00 p.m., when she informed her teacher. The teacher reportedly took the gun away and took the student to the principals office, where staff called the police. According to Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley, the gun and ammunition were in the boys backpack, but the gun was not loaded. Horsley also praised the teachers swift action and clear-headedness:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/18/6th-grader-caught-with-handgun-after-threatening-classmate-school-parents-demand-answers/
6th Grader Caught With HANDGUN After Threatening Classmate, Claims GUN Was PARENTS' IDEA
Isabelle Rios, the 6th grade classmate who reported the handgun after being threatened, as reported on KSL5 TV.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23439767&nid=148&title=parents-fearful-after-6th-grader-brings-gun-to-school&s_cid=featured-1
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23439767&nid=148&title=parents-fearful-after-6th-grader-brings-gun-to-school&s_cid=featured-1
An 11-year old boy faces criminal charges after bringing a gun to West Kearns Elementary School in Kearns, UT yesterday, and allegedly threatening a classmate with it. According to Mediaites Angali Sareen (who also writes for Addicting Info), the sixth grader told his classmates that his parents had advised him to bring the gun for protection after last weeks Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, CT. According to multiple accounts, including Andrew Wittenbergs write-up for Salt Lake City UTs KSL.com, the boy had also given the same explanations to school administrators, but his classmate, Isabelle Rios had a different story to tell:
He pulled out a gun and he put it to my head me and my friend (and) said he was going to kills us. I told him I was going to tell, but he said, If you tell, Im going to kill you.
Although the incident allegedly happened during morning recess, Rios didnt say anything until around dismissal time at 3:00 p.m., when she informed her teacher. The teacher reportedly took the gun away and took the student to the principals office, where staff called the police. According to Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley, the gun and ammunition were in the boys backpack, but the gun was not loaded. Horsley also praised the teachers swift action and clear-headedness:
This teacher in particular put herself with this student and took him into physical custody to ensure that he was not able to use that weapon to harm anybody,
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/18/6th-grader-caught-with-handgun-after-threatening-classmate-school-parents-demand-answers/
December 18, 2012
WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is convinced her fellow Democrats will get behind the White House's latest "fiscal cliff" deal that cuts Social Security benefits and increases taxes on the middle class. Others in the party, however, hedged on the likelihood of that provision passing with a majority of Democratic votes. President Barack Obama's latest offer in the fiscal cliff negotiations would allow the payroll tax holiday to expire, meaning middle-class workers will see smaller paychecks in 2013. It also proposes a Social Security reform known as "chained CPI" that would reduce the benefits senior citizens receive through Social Security.
Additionally, Obama's latest offer would permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for incomes of less than $400,000. Previously, the president had insisted that taxes increase on families with income above $250,000. Despite these changes, Pelosi said she could convince her caucus to get behind such a plan, if need be "Do you think you could sell it to your caucus?" MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked Pelosi in an interview on Tuesday. "I do," replied Pelosi, adding, "Yes, the Democrats will stick with the president -- and maybe not every single one of them."
Pelosi certainly knows the temperature of her caucus better than any other lawmaker. And if she predicts that chained CPI could make it through, the likelihood is that she knows she can rally the votes to get it through. But other top officials were holding off on judgment for the time being.
- In a comment to HuffPost, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said, "We had an election, and the voters sent a message to Congress to focus on jobs and fairness -- not cutting benefits for people who have worked all their lives and are now making ends meet on fixed incomes. The formula we use to adjust cost-of-living changes for seniors needs to reflect the real costs they face, not the budgetary fantasies of Washington." Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) called chained CPI "a benefit cut - pure and simple" in a statement on Tuesday. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said it was "a Beltway fig leaf that I will never support." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said "at this stage [it] is the wrong way to go." Progressive advocacy groups such as CREDO, MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Social Security Works all responded to the president's latest offer saying Social Security cuts were unacceptable. Durbin, however, also told HuffPost a few weeks ago that he would be willing to consider chained CPI "in a much broader context, not by itself."
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/nancy-pelosi-fiscal-cliff_n_2324042.html
Nancy Pelosi Predicts 'Democrats Will Stick With The President' On Fiscal Cliff Deal. REALLY?
Particularly upsetting to progressives is the fact that Obama campaigned against cutting Social Security benefits and in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts on income above $250,000.
Obama, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), had also previously told fiscal cliff negotiators that "Social Security is not going to be part of this."
That, clearly, turned out to not be the case.
Obama, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), had also previously told fiscal cliff negotiators that "Social Security is not going to be part of this."
That, clearly, turned out to not be the case.
WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is convinced her fellow Democrats will get behind the White House's latest "fiscal cliff" deal that cuts Social Security benefits and increases taxes on the middle class. Others in the party, however, hedged on the likelihood of that provision passing with a majority of Democratic votes. President Barack Obama's latest offer in the fiscal cliff negotiations would allow the payroll tax holiday to expire, meaning middle-class workers will see smaller paychecks in 2013. It also proposes a Social Security reform known as "chained CPI" that would reduce the benefits senior citizens receive through Social Security.
Additionally, Obama's latest offer would permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for incomes of less than $400,000. Previously, the president had insisted that taxes increase on families with income above $250,000. Despite these changes, Pelosi said she could convince her caucus to get behind such a plan, if need be "Do you think you could sell it to your caucus?" MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked Pelosi in an interview on Tuesday. "I do," replied Pelosi, adding, "Yes, the Democrats will stick with the president -- and maybe not every single one of them."
Pelosi certainly knows the temperature of her caucus better than any other lawmaker. And if she predicts that chained CPI could make it through, the likelihood is that she knows she can rally the votes to get it through. But other top officials were holding off on judgment for the time being.
- In a comment to HuffPost, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said, "We had an election, and the voters sent a message to Congress to focus on jobs and fairness -- not cutting benefits for people who have worked all their lives and are now making ends meet on fixed incomes. The formula we use to adjust cost-of-living changes for seniors needs to reflect the real costs they face, not the budgetary fantasies of Washington." Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) called chained CPI "a benefit cut - pure and simple" in a statement on Tuesday. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said it was "a Beltway fig leaf that I will never support." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said "at this stage [it] is the wrong way to go." Progressive advocacy groups such as CREDO, MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Social Security Works all responded to the president's latest offer saying Social Security cuts were unacceptable. Durbin, however, also told HuffPost a few weeks ago that he would be willing to consider chained CPI "in a much broader context, not by itself."
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/nancy-pelosi-fiscal-cliff_n_2324042.html
December 17, 2012
Yes, apparently there was a lawn dart game called Jarts that got banned after killing two children (one was killed by an altered lawn dart, proving that lawn darts just didnt have the lobbyists guns do). But to be fair, they did injure 3,200 people in eight years.
Every year, nearly 1,500 children die from guns and many more are seriously injured. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes the best way to prevent gun-related injuries to children is to remove guns from the home.
So, yes.. Absurdities that arise courtesy of the propaganda money can buy. As Trailmonkee pointed out in the thread, youre never going to hear jarts dont kill people, people kill people. Big money can buy invincibility and a failure to be responsible for pretty much anything.
Conservatives are super upset about the deficit were leaving our grandchildren. This is their big moral dilemmia of our modern times (they never admit that they built that deficit). Somehow, guns for kids, guns against kids, death of children these facts do not factor into the worldview that calls itself family values" and co-opts our kids in order to justify defunding them in the name of a fiscal responsibility that always seems to elude Republicans when they are in power.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/killing-children-lawn-darts-banned-america.html
Politicusausa: In A Response To A thread by SoCalDem Titled “This Deadly Item Is Banned in the USA"
From Politicususa:
In a response to a thread by SoCalDem titled This deadly item is banned in the USA (I own it..Im not even allowed to re-sell it.. too dangerous) at Democratic Underground, trailmonkee at came up with this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022011624
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022011624
Yes, apparently there was a lawn dart game called Jarts that got banned after killing two children (one was killed by an altered lawn dart, proving that lawn darts just didnt have the lobbyists guns do). But to be fair, they did injure 3,200 people in eight years.
Every year, nearly 1,500 children die from guns and many more are seriously injured. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes the best way to prevent gun-related injuries to children is to remove guns from the home.
So, yes.. Absurdities that arise courtesy of the propaganda money can buy. As Trailmonkee pointed out in the thread, youre never going to hear jarts dont kill people, people kill people. Big money can buy invincibility and a failure to be responsible for pretty much anything.
Conservatives are super upset about the deficit were leaving our grandchildren. This is their big moral dilemmia of our modern times (they never admit that they built that deficit). Somehow, guns for kids, guns against kids, death of children these facts do not factor into the worldview that calls itself family values" and co-opts our kids in order to justify defunding them in the name of a fiscal responsibility that always seems to elude Republicans when they are in power.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/killing-children-lawn-darts-banned-america.html
December 17, 2012
How can this fucktard, hate weasel disguised as a 'preacher' sleep at night?
A Tennessee pastor on Sunday told his congregation that the number of mass shooting were escalating because of schools were government mind-control centers that taught junk about evolution and how to be a homo. Old Paths Baptist Church Pastor Sam Morris began speaking about last weeks school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut by warning that this sermon will not be pleasant.
We get all up in arms about 20 children being shot in a day care but we dont give one good-glory rip about the 4,000 that were removed violently from the wombs of their mothers [in abortion procedures] the same day, he explained. I believe they use children and Christmas and all that to pull on our heart strings about gun control. Thats what its all about. Morris asserted that equal rights was a sham because its equal immorality and that authorities should take the body of the suspected shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, and string him up in public and set his body on fire and leave it out there to let the birds pick his bones.
Were going to see more of this, he continued. Because notice, the first thing in America we start yelling about is gun control is gun control. Have you noticed that? Gun control. No ones even thought about the fact that these shootings only happened at places where guns are banned. Have you noticed that? They have never had a mass shooting at a gun show, where you can find over a thousand loaded guns at one time.
Why do you still send your kids to the governmental schools? the pastor asked the congregation. Whats behind this shooting that we saw on Dec. 14 in Newtown, Connecticut and the other ones like it? Whats going on. Well, number one, deception I got news for you, when you kicked God out of schools, youre going to be judged for that.Morris insisted that humanism in schools taught Lanza that he was God and he can just go blow away anybody he wants. When I got in high school, man, I started learning all this kingdom, phylum stuff, all this junk about evolution, he recalled. And I want to tell you what evolution teaches heres the bottom line that youre an animal. Thats what it teaches. So, youre an animal, you can act like an animal. Amen.
cont
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/17/tennessee-pastor-mass-shootings-because-schools-teach-evolution-and-how-to-be-a-homo/
Tennessee PASTOR: Mass Shootings Because Schools Teach EVOLUTION And ‘How To Be A Homo’
How can this fucktard, hate weasel disguised as a 'preacher' sleep at night?
A Tennessee pastor on Sunday told his congregation that the number of mass shooting were escalating because of schools were government mind-control centers that taught junk about evolution and how to be a homo. Old Paths Baptist Church Pastor Sam Morris began speaking about last weeks school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut by warning that this sermon will not be pleasant.
We get all up in arms about 20 children being shot in a day care but we dont give one good-glory rip about the 4,000 that were removed violently from the wombs of their mothers [in abortion procedures] the same day, he explained. I believe they use children and Christmas and all that to pull on our heart strings about gun control. Thats what its all about. Morris asserted that equal rights was a sham because its equal immorality and that authorities should take the body of the suspected shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, and string him up in public and set his body on fire and leave it out there to let the birds pick his bones.
Were going to see more of this, he continued. Because notice, the first thing in America we start yelling about is gun control is gun control. Have you noticed that? Gun control. No ones even thought about the fact that these shootings only happened at places where guns are banned. Have you noticed that? They have never had a mass shooting at a gun show, where you can find over a thousand loaded guns at one time.
Why do you still send your kids to the governmental schools? the pastor asked the congregation. Whats behind this shooting that we saw on Dec. 14 in Newtown, Connecticut and the other ones like it? Whats going on. Well, number one, deception I got news for you, when you kicked God out of schools, youre going to be judged for that.Morris insisted that humanism in schools taught Lanza that he was God and he can just go blow away anybody he wants. When I got in high school, man, I started learning all this kingdom, phylum stuff, all this junk about evolution, he recalled. And I want to tell you what evolution teaches heres the bottom line that youre an animal. Thats what it teaches. So, youre an animal, you can act like an animal. Amen.
cont
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/17/tennessee-pastor-mass-shootings-because-schools-teach-evolution-and-how-to-be-a-homo/
December 17, 2012
Tim Scott is Americas newest senator today after getting tapped by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to fill the vacancy left by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). DeMint announced this month that he was leaving the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation, an arch-conservative think tank in Washington DC.
Though DeMint left big, controversial shoes to fill for Republicans, few conservatives will be disappointed with Scotts record. Elected to Congress just two years ago in the Tea Party wave, Scott has already garnered headlines for his plan to impeach President Obama, his legislation to cut off union members children from food stamps, and his defense of Big Oil.
Heres a quick look at Scotts record:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/17/1312201/senator-tim-scott/
Meet Sen. Tim Scott: The Tea Party Lawmaker Who Wanted To IMPEACH President Obama And Kick Kids Off
Meet Sen. Tim Scott: The Tea Party Lawmaker Who Wanted To Impeach President Obama And Kick Kids Off Food StampsTIM SCOTT: Scott is an ardent proponent of guns, calling them a cornerstone of our democracy on his congressional page. The federal government should never interfere with this right, said Scott.
Tim Scott is Americas newest senator today after getting tapped by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to fill the vacancy left by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). DeMint announced this month that he was leaving the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation, an arch-conservative think tank in Washington DC.
Though DeMint left big, controversial shoes to fill for Republicans, few conservatives will be disappointed with Scotts record. Elected to Congress just two years ago in the Tea Party wave, Scott has already garnered headlines for his plan to impeach President Obama, his legislation to cut off union members children from food stamps, and his defense of Big Oil.
Heres a quick look at Scotts record:
* Floated impeaching Obama over the debt ceiling. As the debt ceiling debate raged in the summer of 2011 because of the intransigence of Tea Party freshmen like Scott, the nation inched perilously close to defaulting on its obligations. One option discussed by some officials to avoid that scenario was for the president to assert that the debt ceiling itself was an unconstitutional infringement on the 14th Amendment. However, Tim Scott told a South Carolina Tea Party group that if Obama were to go this route, it would be an impeachable act.
* Proposed a bill to cut off food stamps for entire families if one member went on strike. One of the most anti-union members of Congress, Scott proposed a bill two months after entering Congress in 2011 to kick families off food stamps if one adult were participating in a strike. Scotts legislation made no exception for children or other dependents.
* Wanted to spend an unlimited amount of money to display Ten Commandments outside county building. When Scott was on the Charleston County Council, one of his primary issues was displaying the Ten Commandments outside the Council building. According to the Augusta Chronicle, Scott said the display would remind council members and speakers the moral absolutes they should follow. When he was sued for violating the Constitution and a Circuit Judges orders, Scott was nonplussed: Whatever it costs in the pursuit of this goal (of displaying the Commandments) is worth it.
* Defended fairness of giving billions in subsidies to Big Oil. Scott and his Republican allies in Congress voted repeatedly last year to protect more than $50 billion in taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil corporations. When ThinkProgress asked Scott whether it was fair to do that, especially at a time when oil companies are earning tens of billions in profit every quarter, the Tea Party freshman defended the industry: fair is a relative word, said Scott.
* Helped slash South Carolinas HIV/AIDS budget. As a state representative, Scott backed a proposal to cut the states entire HIV/AIDS budget, despite the fact that South Carolina ranks in the top-third of reported AIDS cases. The cuts were ultimately included in the states budget, impacting more than 2,000 HIV-positive South Carolinians who needed help paying for their medication.
* Proposed a bill to cut off food stamps for entire families if one member went on strike. One of the most anti-union members of Congress, Scott proposed a bill two months after entering Congress in 2011 to kick families off food stamps if one adult were participating in a strike. Scotts legislation made no exception for children or other dependents.
* Wanted to spend an unlimited amount of money to display Ten Commandments outside county building. When Scott was on the Charleston County Council, one of his primary issues was displaying the Ten Commandments outside the Council building. According to the Augusta Chronicle, Scott said the display would remind council members and speakers the moral absolutes they should follow. When he was sued for violating the Constitution and a Circuit Judges orders, Scott was nonplussed: Whatever it costs in the pursuit of this goal (of displaying the Commandments) is worth it.
* Defended fairness of giving billions in subsidies to Big Oil. Scott and his Republican allies in Congress voted repeatedly last year to protect more than $50 billion in taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil corporations. When ThinkProgress asked Scott whether it was fair to do that, especially at a time when oil companies are earning tens of billions in profit every quarter, the Tea Party freshman defended the industry: fair is a relative word, said Scott.
* Helped slash South Carolinas HIV/AIDS budget. As a state representative, Scott backed a proposal to cut the states entire HIV/AIDS budget, despite the fact that South Carolina ranks in the top-third of reported AIDS cases. The cuts were ultimately included in the states budget, impacting more than 2,000 HIV-positive South Carolinians who needed help paying for their medication.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/17/1312201/senator-tim-scott/
December 17, 2012
The shooting in Newtown Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School has sent shock waves through out the United States and around the world. According to the New York Times 26 people are dead including 20 children. The shooter, according to the Times came in to a classroom and started shooting. According to NBC News, when the shooting started, three employees left a meeting after hearing pop pop pop and of the three one returned explaining what happened. The witness said she heard 100 rounds going off.
Times also wrote:
The shooter killed his mother and 20 students.
Apparently, with 100 rounds going off, the shooter may have legally bought a larger clip to cause this shooting or had multiple clips. I am for gun control and a firearm owner. I own a Mosin Nagant, an old bolt-action WWII sniper rifle. I shoot targets and keep the rifle in a safe at a gun store. I have no access to it because I choose to not have access to my rifle and am considering selling my rifle.
But go to any conservative site, and read how they pray to the Sky-Spook and argue that if the children had firearms or worse, compare this heinous crime to abortion, like conservative Christian Victoria Jackson said in her Facebook post:
Christian conservatives make me puke blood!
http://www.politicususa.com/killing-children-equal-abortion-victoria-jackson.html
According To Victoria Jackson 20 KIDS MURDERED In A School Shooting Is Just Like Abortion
The shooting in Newtown Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School has sent shock waves through out the United States and around the world. According to the New York Times 26 people are dead including 20 children. The shooter, according to the Times came in to a classroom and started shooting. According to NBC News, when the shooting started, three employees left a meeting after hearing pop pop pop and of the three one returned explaining what happened. The witness said she heard 100 rounds going off.
Times also wrote:
"..The gunman, who was believed to be in his 20s, walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher. He shot and killed her and then shot 18 students in the classroom. He also shot seven other adults.The gunman then killed himself inside the school..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html?hp&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html?hp&_r=0
The shooter killed his mother and 20 students.
Apparently, with 100 rounds going off, the shooter may have legally bought a larger clip to cause this shooting or had multiple clips. I am for gun control and a firearm owner. I own a Mosin Nagant, an old bolt-action WWII sniper rifle. I shoot targets and keep the rifle in a safe at a gun store. I have no access to it because I choose to not have access to my rifle and am considering selling my rifle.
But go to any conservative site, and read how they pray to the Sky-Spook and argue that if the children had firearms or worse, compare this heinous crime to abortion, like conservative Christian Victoria Jackson said in her Facebook post:
Christian conservatives make me puke blood!
http://www.politicususa.com/killing-children-equal-abortion-victoria-jackson.html
December 17, 2012
Emilie Parker, one of the victims of Fridays murder rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof offers a typical column reacting to the massacre of 20 school children in Newtown, Connecticut. He calls on politicians to show courage in standing up to the National Rifle Association, but he doesnt seem to have the courage himself to identify the key political culprits in a three-decade-long pandering to the NRAs clout. Theres a reason for that. The vast majority of the politicians who have served as handmaidens to the NRAs war on commonsense gun control are Republicans, including such icons as Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And it is routine for mainstream pundits, like Kristof, to avoid sounding partisan. So, it makes lots of career sense to wring ones hands over the horrifying image of a deranged gunman slaughtering first-graders in their classroom and then spread the blame across the political spectrum while not pointing fingers at the politicians who have most enabled this sickening madness to continue.
After all, Reagan and Bush-41 are held in high esteem across Official Washington. MSNBCs Chris Matthews has hailed Reagan as one of the all-time greats, and Bush-41 supposedly represents the good old days of Republican moderation. But the reality is that the United States had begun grappling with its epidemic of gun violence in the 1970s by passing commonsense gun laws, and it was Reagan and Bush-41 who saw the political advantage in playing the tough-guy role and treating gun-control advocates as sissies.Both Reagan and Bush-41 pandered to the NRA, recognizing and honoring its political muscle. Reagan, for instance, fawned over the NRA in a speech to a 1983 luncheon in Phoenix, Arizona. In doing so, Reagan displayed his patented technique of making crazy policies seem normal. For instance, in the 1983 speech, Reagan praised the NRAs defeat of Californias Proposition 15, which would have required the registration of handguns, limited the number of guns registered by each individual, and restricted mail-order and out-of-state purchases.
You shocked California last November when you mobilized to send help and to down Proposition 15 and defeat it, Reagan said. You pointed out that police would be so busy arresting handgun owners that they would be unable to protect the people against criminals. Its a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun-control laws. Reagan also compared the NRAs rejection of gun laws to the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, telling the NRA audience: You live by Lincolns words, Important principles may and must be inflexible. The NRA believes that Americas laws were made to be obeyed and that our constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago. And by the way, the Constitution does not say that government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. For a critique of that misguided history, see Consortiumnews.coms:
Reagan continued: But I believe we share the same goal, a strong America, carrying the banner of freedom and secure from threats to our domestic tranquility, economic well-being, and national security. No group does more to promote gun safety and respect for the laws of this land than the NRA, and I thank you. Reagan then mocked those who warned about the dangers of uncontrolled gun possession, saying: Weve both heard the charge that supporting gun-owners rights encourages a violent, shoot-em-up society. But just a minute. Dont they understand that most violent crimes are not committed by decent, law-abiding citizens? Theyre committed by career criminals. Guns dont make criminals. Hard-core criminals use guns. And locking them up, the hard-core criminals up, and throwing away the key is the best gun-control law we could ever have. Looking back on the past three decades, it should be obvious that Reagan was profoundly and tragically wrong. Many of the most notorious mass slaughters of recent years were inflicted by law-abiding citizens, that is people with little or no criminal records but with unchecked mental disorders.
cont'
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/16/how-the-gop-promoted-gun-madness/
How The GOP Promoted GUN MADNESS
Emilie Parker, one of the victims of Fridays murder rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.
Exclusive: When looking at the faces of the six-year-olds butchered in their Connecticut classroom, you should also see the faces of the politicians who pandered to the NRA and its obsessive opposition to commonsense gun control, the likes of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, writes Robert Parry.
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof offers a typical column reacting to the massacre of 20 school children in Newtown, Connecticut. He calls on politicians to show courage in standing up to the National Rifle Association, but he doesnt seem to have the courage himself to identify the key political culprits in a three-decade-long pandering to the NRAs clout. Theres a reason for that. The vast majority of the politicians who have served as handmaidens to the NRAs war on commonsense gun control are Republicans, including such icons as Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And it is routine for mainstream pundits, like Kristof, to avoid sounding partisan. So, it makes lots of career sense to wring ones hands over the horrifying image of a deranged gunman slaughtering first-graders in their classroom and then spread the blame across the political spectrum while not pointing fingers at the politicians who have most enabled this sickening madness to continue.
After all, Reagan and Bush-41 are held in high esteem across Official Washington. MSNBCs Chris Matthews has hailed Reagan as one of the all-time greats, and Bush-41 supposedly represents the good old days of Republican moderation. But the reality is that the United States had begun grappling with its epidemic of gun violence in the 1970s by passing commonsense gun laws, and it was Reagan and Bush-41 who saw the political advantage in playing the tough-guy role and treating gun-control advocates as sissies.Both Reagan and Bush-41 pandered to the NRA, recognizing and honoring its political muscle. Reagan, for instance, fawned over the NRA in a speech to a 1983 luncheon in Phoenix, Arizona. In doing so, Reagan displayed his patented technique of making crazy policies seem normal. For instance, in the 1983 speech, Reagan praised the NRAs defeat of Californias Proposition 15, which would have required the registration of handguns, limited the number of guns registered by each individual, and restricted mail-order and out-of-state purchases.
You shocked California last November when you mobilized to send help and to down Proposition 15 and defeat it, Reagan said. You pointed out that police would be so busy arresting handgun owners that they would be unable to protect the people against criminals. Its a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun-control laws. Reagan also compared the NRAs rejection of gun laws to the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, telling the NRA audience: You live by Lincolns words, Important principles may and must be inflexible. The NRA believes that Americas laws were made to be obeyed and that our constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago. And by the way, the Constitution does not say that government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. For a critique of that misguided history, see Consortiumnews.coms:
The 2nd Amendment and Killing Kids.
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/15/the-2nd-amendment-and-killing-kids/
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/15/the-2nd-amendment-and-killing-kids/
Reagan continued: But I believe we share the same goal, a strong America, carrying the banner of freedom and secure from threats to our domestic tranquility, economic well-being, and national security. No group does more to promote gun safety and respect for the laws of this land than the NRA, and I thank you. Reagan then mocked those who warned about the dangers of uncontrolled gun possession, saying: Weve both heard the charge that supporting gun-owners rights encourages a violent, shoot-em-up society. But just a minute. Dont they understand that most violent crimes are not committed by decent, law-abiding citizens? Theyre committed by career criminals. Guns dont make criminals. Hard-core criminals use guns. And locking them up, the hard-core criminals up, and throwing away the key is the best gun-control law we could ever have. Looking back on the past three decades, it should be obvious that Reagan was profoundly and tragically wrong. Many of the most notorious mass slaughters of recent years were inflicted by law-abiding citizens, that is people with little or no criminal records but with unchecked mental disorders.
In 2010 on a 5-4 vote, right-wing justices on the U.S. Supreme Court placed there by Reagan, Bush-41 and George W. Bush overturned longstanding legal precedents that deemed the right to bear arms a collective right and transformed it instead into an individual right. That meant even local gun-control ordinances could be struck down.In other words, Republicans and particularly Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush hold primary responsibility for the kinds of horrors that have claimed innocent lives in places like Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, Columbine, Virginia Tech and so many other locations whose names will long be associated with butchery.
cont'
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/12/16/how-the-gop-promoted-gun-madness/
December 16, 2012
Conservatives. Youve gotta love them! Who would entertain us if we lost all of the Republicans? The things that so many of them say are stupid, out-of-touch, and sometimes, downright crazy. Here is a list of some of the dumbest comments Republicans have ever made.
1. If this were a dictatorship, itd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as Im the dictator. ~ George W. Bush
2. We need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets. ~ Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
3. When the President does it that means that its not illegal. ~ Richard M. Nixon
4. Exercise freaks are the ones putting stress on the health care system. ~ Rush Limbaugh
5. Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. ~ Rush Limbaugh
6. Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning? (sic) ~ George W. Bush
7. Good Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions. ~ Jerry Falwell
8. As yesterdays positive report card shows, childrens (sic) do learn when standards are high and results are measured. ~ George W. Bush
9. Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them. ~ Jerry Falwell
10. Facts are stupid things. ~ Ronald Reagan
11. How did [the Holocaust] happen? Because God allowed it to happen because God said, My top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel. ~ Rev. John Hage
12. Our gays are more macho than their straights. ~ Ann Coulter, commenting in 2005 on Jeff Gannon, the conservative plant in the White House press corps who turned out to be a male escort
13. This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating. ~ George W. Bush
14. Trees cause more pollution than automobiles. ~ Ronald Reagan
15. [America has to import so many workers because] for the last 35 years we have aborted more than a million people who would have been in our workforce. ~ Mike Huckabee
16. I even accept for the sake of argument that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged. ~ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
17. I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started. ~ Donald Rumsfeld
18. My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. Youre facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that dont think too much further than that. And so what youve got to do is youve got to curtail that type of behavior. They dont know any better. ~ Andre Bauer
19. Well, I learned a lot .I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. Youd be surprised. Theyre all individual countries. ~ Ronald Reagan
20. We have a lot of work to do. Its a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border. ~ John McCain
(the countries share no common border)
21. The only way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons is to use them. ~ Rush Limbaugh
22. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. ~ Rep. Virginia Foxx
23. I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully. ~ George W. Bush
24. What I dont know is what the unexpected might be. ~ John McCain
25. I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman Arnold Schwarzenegger
26. The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~ Pat Robertson
27. President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale.~ Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, testifying before Congress
28. Juarez is reported to be the most dangerous city in America. ~ Rick Perry
29. You can always follow me on Tweeter. ~ Rick Perry
30. Dont blame Wall Street, dont blame the big banks, if you dont have a job and youre not rich, blame yourself! ~ Herman Cain
31. From time to time there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented. ~ Rick Perry, on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010
32. I had other priorities in the sixties than military service. ~ Dick Cheney on his five draft deferments
33. The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nations history. I mean in this centurys history. But I didnt live in this century. ~ Vice President Dan Quayle
34. The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is. A manly man dont want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza. ~ Herman Cain
35. I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. ~ Michele Bachmann on the HPV vaccine. (It doesnt cause mental retardation.)
36. These are not bad people. All they are concerned about is to see that their sweet little girls are not required to sit in school alongside some big overgrown Negroes. ~ President Eisenhower commenting on racial segregation after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.
37. This president, I think, has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture .Im not saying he doesnt like white people, Im saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist. ~ Glenn Beck
38. Ill be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office. ~ George W.Bush
39. I feel the best way to ensure Americans freedom is to tighten restrictions on that freedom in any way possible. Only through wiretaps, illegal searches and seizures, unfettered government intrusion, a controlled media and a complete crackdown on free speech can we ensure the liberties of all people. ~ Attorney General John Ashcroft
40. What a terrible thing to have lost ones mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is. ~ Vice President Dan Quayle
41. Michele Bachmann Im not going to say it. Im not going to say it . Tutti-frutti. I know Im going to get in trouble! ~ Herman Cain on the different flavors of ice cream to which hed compare his primary competitors.
42. When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, Im just like, Oh shut up Im so sick of them because theyre always complaining. ~ Glenn Beck
43. I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. Im not blaming this on President Obama, I just think its an interesting coincidence. ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann
44. I love California; I practically grew up in Phoenix. ~ Dan Quayle
45. He is purple the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle the gay pride symbol. ~ Jerry Falwells warning to parents that Tinky Winky of Teletubbies, may be gay
46. The greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias. ~ Rep. Lamar Smith
47. Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isnt even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann
48. If Lincoln were alive today, hed be turning over in his grave. ~ Gerald Ford (on Nixon and Watergate)
49. Isnt that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage? ~ Rick Santorum
50. I should tell my story. Im also unemployed. ~ Mitt Romney
51. I saw the young man over there with eggs Benedict, with hollandaise sauce. And I was going to suggest to you that you serve your eggs with hollandaise sauce in hubcaps. Because theres no plates like chrome for the hollandaise. ~ Mitt Romney
52. Im ready for the gotcha questions and theyre already starting to come. And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan Im going to say, you know, I dont know. Do you know? ~ Herman Cain
53. They [China] have indicated that theyre trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat. ~ Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, warning that China could develop nuclear weapons. (They developed them in 1964.)
54. If youve seen one city slum, youve seen them all. ~ Spiro Agnew
55. Capital punishment is our way of demonstrating the sanctity of life. ~ Orrin Hatch
56. I went to a number of womens groups and said: Can you help us find folks, and they brought us whole binders full of women. ~ Mitt Romney
57. We have a president, who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps. ~ Mitt Romney
58. We need a leader, not a reader. ~ Herman Cain
59. How do you say delicious in Cuban? ~ Herman Cain
60. A poet once said, Life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but its never easy when theres so much on the line. ~ Herman Cain, using the theme song of the Pokemon movie in the closing statement of the first GOP debate in 2012
Yeah, these are hilarious, Ill admit. But whats scary is that way too many people support and respect these idiots. Unbelievable!
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/16/60-ridiculously-stupid-republican-quotes/
60 Ridiculously STUPID Republican Quotes
Conservatives. Youve gotta love them! Who would entertain us if we lost all of the Republicans? The things that so many of them say are stupid, out-of-touch, and sometimes, downright crazy. Here is a list of some of the dumbest comments Republicans have ever made.
1. If this were a dictatorship, itd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as Im the dictator. ~ George W. Bush
2. We need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets. ~ Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
3. When the President does it that means that its not illegal. ~ Richard M. Nixon
4. Exercise freaks are the ones putting stress on the health care system. ~ Rush Limbaugh
5. Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. ~ Rush Limbaugh
6. Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning? (sic) ~ George W. Bush
7. Good Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions. ~ Jerry Falwell
8. As yesterdays positive report card shows, childrens (sic) do learn when standards are high and results are measured. ~ George W. Bush
9. Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them. ~ Jerry Falwell
10. Facts are stupid things. ~ Ronald Reagan
11. How did [the Holocaust] happen? Because God allowed it to happen because God said, My top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel. ~ Rev. John Hage
12. Our gays are more macho than their straights. ~ Ann Coulter, commenting in 2005 on Jeff Gannon, the conservative plant in the White House press corps who turned out to be a male escort
13. This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating. ~ George W. Bush
14. Trees cause more pollution than automobiles. ~ Ronald Reagan
15. [America has to import so many workers because] for the last 35 years we have aborted more than a million people who would have been in our workforce. ~ Mike Huckabee
16. I even accept for the sake of argument that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged. ~ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
17. I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started. ~ Donald Rumsfeld
18. My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. Youre facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that dont think too much further than that. And so what youve got to do is youve got to curtail that type of behavior. They dont know any better. ~ Andre Bauer
19. Well, I learned a lot .I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. Youd be surprised. Theyre all individual countries. ~ Ronald Reagan
20. We have a lot of work to do. Its a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border. ~ John McCain
(the countries share no common border)
21. The only way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons is to use them. ~ Rush Limbaugh
22. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. ~ Rep. Virginia Foxx
23. I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully. ~ George W. Bush
24. What I dont know is what the unexpected might be. ~ John McCain
25. I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman Arnold Schwarzenegger
26. The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~ Pat Robertson
27. President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale.~ Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, testifying before Congress
28. Juarez is reported to be the most dangerous city in America. ~ Rick Perry
29. You can always follow me on Tweeter. ~ Rick Perry
30. Dont blame Wall Street, dont blame the big banks, if you dont have a job and youre not rich, blame yourself! ~ Herman Cain
31. From time to time there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented. ~ Rick Perry, on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010
32. I had other priorities in the sixties than military service. ~ Dick Cheney on his five draft deferments
33. The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nations history. I mean in this centurys history. But I didnt live in this century. ~ Vice President Dan Quayle
34. The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is. A manly man dont want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza. ~ Herman Cain
35. I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. ~ Michele Bachmann on the HPV vaccine. (It doesnt cause mental retardation.)
36. These are not bad people. All they are concerned about is to see that their sweet little girls are not required to sit in school alongside some big overgrown Negroes. ~ President Eisenhower commenting on racial segregation after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.
37. This president, I think, has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture .Im not saying he doesnt like white people, Im saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist. ~ Glenn Beck
38. Ill be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office. ~ George W.Bush
39. I feel the best way to ensure Americans freedom is to tighten restrictions on that freedom in any way possible. Only through wiretaps, illegal searches and seizures, unfettered government intrusion, a controlled media and a complete crackdown on free speech can we ensure the liberties of all people. ~ Attorney General John Ashcroft
40. What a terrible thing to have lost ones mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is. ~ Vice President Dan Quayle
41. Michele Bachmann Im not going to say it. Im not going to say it . Tutti-frutti. I know Im going to get in trouble! ~ Herman Cain on the different flavors of ice cream to which hed compare his primary competitors.
42. When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, Im just like, Oh shut up Im so sick of them because theyre always complaining. ~ Glenn Beck
43. I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. Im not blaming this on President Obama, I just think its an interesting coincidence. ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann
44. I love California; I practically grew up in Phoenix. ~ Dan Quayle
45. He is purple the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle the gay pride symbol. ~ Jerry Falwells warning to parents that Tinky Winky of Teletubbies, may be gay
46. The greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias. ~ Rep. Lamar Smith
47. Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isnt even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann
48. If Lincoln were alive today, hed be turning over in his grave. ~ Gerald Ford (on Nixon and Watergate)
49. Isnt that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage? ~ Rick Santorum
50. I should tell my story. Im also unemployed. ~ Mitt Romney
51. I saw the young man over there with eggs Benedict, with hollandaise sauce. And I was going to suggest to you that you serve your eggs with hollandaise sauce in hubcaps. Because theres no plates like chrome for the hollandaise. ~ Mitt Romney
52. Im ready for the gotcha questions and theyre already starting to come. And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan Im going to say, you know, I dont know. Do you know? ~ Herman Cain
53. They [China] have indicated that theyre trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat. ~ Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, warning that China could develop nuclear weapons. (They developed them in 1964.)
54. If youve seen one city slum, youve seen them all. ~ Spiro Agnew
55. Capital punishment is our way of demonstrating the sanctity of life. ~ Orrin Hatch
56. I went to a number of womens groups and said: Can you help us find folks, and they brought us whole binders full of women. ~ Mitt Romney
57. We have a president, who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps. ~ Mitt Romney
58. We need a leader, not a reader. ~ Herman Cain
59. How do you say delicious in Cuban? ~ Herman Cain
60. A poet once said, Life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but its never easy when theres so much on the line. ~ Herman Cain, using the theme song of the Pokemon movie in the closing statement of the first GOP debate in 2012
Yeah, these are hilarious, Ill admit. But whats scary is that way too many people support and respect these idiots. Unbelievable!
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/16/60-ridiculously-stupid-republican-quotes/
December 15, 2012
100% Pure Weasel!
Yet another reason to be glad former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is not our President. Today, Huckabee took to Fox News to express his opinion that the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting happened because we took God out of schools.
Watch here if you dare (courtesy of Think Progress youtube):
Never one to let a chance to politicize a tragedy pass him by, Huckabee doesnt want to talk about guns or male violence or the culture of violence he participates in on Fox News. No, he wants to blame the victims of the crime by suggesting that if they had let his God in His Way, this wouldnt have happened. If we had God in our schools, they would not be a place of carnage.
Huckabee desperately grasped at straws, explaining that if we took every gun away, someone who wanted to destroy us would just get a bomb, so theres no point in regulating guns. Because, you know, bombs are everywhere. But, FEAR always shuts them up on Fox. He was sure to get in there that laws dont change these things, hearts do.
And then this:
Neil Cavuto: How could God let this happen?
Mike Huckabee: Weve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools have become a place for carnage because weve made it a place where we dont want to talk about eternity, life, responsibility, accountability?
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/huckabee-blames-shooting-idea-removed-god-schools.html
.
Holier-Than-Thou Huckabee BLAMES Shooting On His Idea That We REMOVED GOD From Our Schools
100% Pure Weasel!
Yet another reason to be glad former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is not our President. Today, Huckabee took to Fox News to express his opinion that the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting happened because we took God out of schools.
Watch here if you dare (courtesy of Think Progress youtube):
Never one to let a chance to politicize a tragedy pass him by, Huckabee doesnt want to talk about guns or male violence or the culture of violence he participates in on Fox News. No, he wants to blame the victims of the crime by suggesting that if they had let his God in His Way, this wouldnt have happened. If we had God in our schools, they would not be a place of carnage.
Huckabee desperately grasped at straws, explaining that if we took every gun away, someone who wanted to destroy us would just get a bomb, so theres no point in regulating guns. Because, you know, bombs are everywhere. But, FEAR always shuts them up on Fox. He was sure to get in there that laws dont change these things, hearts do.
And then this:
Neil Cavuto: How could God let this happen?
Mike Huckabee: Weve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools have become a place for carnage because weve made it a place where we dont want to talk about eternity, life, responsibility, accountability?
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/huckabee-blames-shooting-idea-removed-god-schools.html
.
December 14, 2012
The US Bureau of Land Management continued its widespread sale of public land to the fracking and oil industry on Wednesday in a federal auction of nearly 18,000 acres. The auction was met by dozens of anti-fracking protesters who say the continual sale of public lands to the fossil fuel industry, including 800,000 acres of land in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming for tar sands and oil shale development, puts short-term profits ahead of the planet.
BLM spokesman David Christy said eight different groupsincluding oil companiesbid for the land Wednesday in Monterey, San Benito and Fresno counties. The agency plans to announce the "winners" within 24 hours. Dozens of protesters in hazmat suits carried barrels labeled Warning: Toxic Fracking Fluid outside of the auction Wednesday morning. A fracking boom will devastate Californias beautiful public wildlands, said Rose Braz, climate campaign director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who organized the protests along with several other groups. The federal government should protect these beautiful public places, not sell them off to be drilled and fracked, risking irreparable harm to our air, water and climate.
Opening up thousands of acres of public land to oil and gas exploration would directly undercut our state's commitment to clean and renewable energy and endanger our already threatened water supply, said Andrew Grinberg, program organizer at Clean Water Action. We need to slow down and assess the long-term impacts of increased drilling, fracking and other enhanced oil and gas recovery processes on California's communities, environment and health, and the BLM should do its part by withholding these leases."
The land sale is part of a widespread push by the Obama administration's BLM to sell off vast amounts of public land for toxic hydraulic fracturing procedures and shale oil development.
cont'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/12-12
.
California Public Land Sold to FRACKERS Despite Public Outcry
The US Bureau of Land Management continued its widespread sale of public land to the fracking and oil industry on Wednesday in a federal auction of nearly 18,000 acres. The auction was met by dozens of anti-fracking protesters who say the continual sale of public lands to the fossil fuel industry, including 800,000 acres of land in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming for tar sands and oil shale development, puts short-term profits ahead of the planet.
BLM spokesman David Christy said eight different groupsincluding oil companiesbid for the land Wednesday in Monterey, San Benito and Fresno counties. The agency plans to announce the "winners" within 24 hours. Dozens of protesters in hazmat suits carried barrels labeled Warning: Toxic Fracking Fluid outside of the auction Wednesday morning. A fracking boom will devastate Californias beautiful public wildlands, said Rose Braz, climate campaign director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who organized the protests along with several other groups. The federal government should protect these beautiful public places, not sell them off to be drilled and fracked, risking irreparable harm to our air, water and climate.
Opening up thousands of acres of public land to oil and gas exploration would directly undercut our state's commitment to clean and renewable energy and endanger our already threatened water supply, said Andrew Grinberg, program organizer at Clean Water Action. We need to slow down and assess the long-term impacts of increased drilling, fracking and other enhanced oil and gas recovery processes on California's communities, environment and health, and the BLM should do its part by withholding these leases."
The land sale is part of a widespread push by the Obama administration's BLM to sell off vast amounts of public land for toxic hydraulic fracturing procedures and shale oil development.
cont'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/12-12
.
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