June 10, 2013

Next Time Someone Tells You That Immigrants Are Destroying Our Country, Show Them This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bJX5XHnONTI#t=43s

June 10, 2013

Next Time Someone Tells You That Immigrants Are Destroying Our Country, Show Them This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bJX5XHnONTI#t=43s

June 8, 2013

Mars, Nestle, Hershey accused of chocolate price-fixing conspiracy in Canada

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/07/18820597-mars-nestle-hershey-accused-of-chocolate-price-fixing-conspiracy-in-canada?lite

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Nestle, Mars and Hershey companies in Canada have been charged with conspiring with others to fix the price of chocolate, authorities said.

Nestle Canada and Mars Canada both said they would “vigorously defend” themselves against the claims.

Canada’s Competition Bureau said in a statement that Hershey Canada was expected to plead guilty later this month “for its role in the conspiracy to fix the price of chocolate confectionery products in Canada.”

However, the bureau said that Hershey had “cooperated” with the investigation and it had recommended to prosecutors that it should receive “lenient treatment.”

SNIP

ITWAL Ltd., a national network of independent wholesale distributors, has also been charged along with Robert Leonidas, former president of Nestlé Canada; Sandra Martinez, former president of confectionery for Nestlé Canada; and David Glenn Stevens, president and chief executive of ITWAL.

The Competition Bureau said it became aware of the allegations under a program in which the first party to disclose an offense “may receive immunity” from prosecution.

“Subsequent cooperating parties may receive lenient treatment under the Bureau's Leniency Program,” it added. “These programs provide powerful incentives for business organizations and individuals to come forward and cooperate with the Bureau's investigations.”

The bureau said the accused “face the possibility of a fine of up to $10 million and/or imprisonment for a term of up to five years.”

SNIP

Hershey Canada said in a statement that it had "promptly reported the conduct to the Competition Bureau, cooperated fully with its investigation and did not implement the planned price increase that was the subject of the 2007 communications."

June 7, 2013

Obama: Spying programs only ‘modest’ invasion of privacy

Source: Yahoo News


By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 57 mins ago


President Barack Obama on Friday defiantly defended the government's newly revealed telephone and Internet spying programs on grounds that Americans must tolerate what he dismissed as "modest encroachments on privacy" in the name of security.

With evident impatience, Obama suggested at one point that he set limits on what the National Security Agency (NSA) can grab without a judge's OK because he himself might one day be the target of such snooping.

"I came in with a healthy skepticism about these programs," Obama said at an event in San Jose, CA, initially designed to trumpet Obamacare but subverted by the dramatic disclosures. "My team evaluated them. We scrubbed them thoroughly. We actually expanded some of the oversight, increased some of the safeguards."

But, the president said, "My assessment, and my team’s assessment, was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks. And the modest encorachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers, or duration [of calls] without a name attached, and without looking at content, that on net it was worth us doing."

SNIP

Obama said Congress had been fully briefed on the various secret programs, and suggested that lawmakers who objected to those initiatives or to "abuses" could have done so. But lawmakers critical of such programs have repeatedly made clear that they are hamstrung by the Administration's decision to classify information -- making a full, public debate involving the American public impossible.

The president dismissed the "hype" that portrays such programs as s stepping stone towards a tyrannical "Big Brother"-like government. He also denounced the leaks that fed the news reports, saying the nation's secrets cannot be "dumped out willy-nilly" without damaging national security.

SNIP.

"With respect to my concerns about privacy issues: I will leave this office at some point -- sometime in the next three and a half years -- and after that I'll be a private citizen," he said. "And I suspect that on a list of people who might be targeted so that somebody could read their emails or listen to their phone calls, I’d probably be pretty high on that list. So it's not as though I don't have a a personal interest in making sure my privacy is protected."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-spying-programs-only-modest-invasion-privacy-170140961.html

---

"modest"

June 7, 2013

Cory Booker to make New Jersey Senate run official

Source: Yahoo News

The Ticket
By Holly Bailey, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 45 mins ago

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/fi1r0FsMeEemFQE2FRr7Hg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker is set to make official what the political world has long expected: He’ll run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday.

A source close to the Democratic mayor told Yahoo News Booker was expected to announce Saturday that he’ll enter the special election primary set for Aug. 13. But the source cautioned that the event could be postponed because of heavy rains and flooding from remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea that were forecast for the region over the next 24 hours. The campaign was expected to make a final call on the event later Friday.

Booker announced in December he was exploring a run for Lautenberg’s seat in 2014, and had long been considered the front-runner in that race. But the special election could complicate his plans—in part because several well-funded lawmakers have announced or expressed their interest in running in what looks to be an increasingly crowded Democratic primary. Booker would have to make up financial ground quickly.

<snip>

Several other Democrats are also said to be eying the race, including Rep. Frank Pallone and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Beth Mason, a wealthy Hoboken City Council member, is considering financing her own primary bid, according to the Star-Ledger.

<snip>

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/cory-booker-jersey-senate-run-official-153922045.html

---

Cory Booker in a landslide. Future President here.

June 7, 2013

Viral Video Explains How Women’s Issues Are Men’s Issues (VIDEO)

Author: Leslie Salzillo 4:24 am

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/12/ted-talk-speaker-jackson-katz-captivates-women-and-men-on-the-subject-of-gender-violence-video/


<snip>

Recently, one particular TED talk video by American filmmaker, educator and author, Jackson Katz, was captured on the Upworthy site, and has since gone viral. I first saw the headline/title,

” A TED Talk That Might Turn Every Man Who Watches It Into A Feminist? It’s Pretty Fantastic.”

Okay. Sounds interesting, and I might have overlooked it had it not been posted on a women’s rights Facebook page, UniteWomen.org. So I took the time to watch the TED Talk video, and I’d say it goes well beyond the Upworthy title. Katz strikes a chord in both men and women. He tells us that ‘women’s issues’ are not just women’s issues; they are men’s issues. And as long as we segregate men’s violence against women, and men’s violence against men, as ‘gender issues,’ – the problem will continue. Here is a short excerpt from Katz’s beginning remarks:

Katz:

“I’m going to share with you, a paradigm shifting perspective, on the issues of gender violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship abuse, sexual harassment, sexual abuse of children… that whole range of issues that are referred to, in shorthand, as ‘gender violence’ issues. They’ve been seen as women’s issues – that some good men help out with. But I have a problem with that frame, and I don’t accept it. I don’t see these as women’s issues that some good-men-help-out-with. In fact, I’m going to argue that these are men’s issues, first and foremost.” (There is applause)

“Now obviously, obviously, they are women’s issues. I appreciate that. But calling gender violence a women’s issue is part of the problem for a number of reasons.”

As Katz goes on to explain in his TED Talk, he is almost out of breath as he speaks. It’s as if he wants so badly to say everything he needs to say in less that 20 minutes, while having the strongest possible impact. If so, his mission was accomplished. After I watched it, my first thought was, “If only every man, woman, girl and boy could see this video and hear this message.” Then I realized I have an avenue from which I can spread the word, and I’m grateful to AddictingInfo.org, for giving me that platform.

Here is the TED Talk Video With Jackson Katz:

I know, I know – it’s no longer ‘cool’ to ask people to ‘please share.’ These days as we are barraged with that request all over social media, especially in activist circles. But today, I’m going to claim, ‘uncool’ (unlike other days) and hope all who watch the video, will share this worthy message.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<snip>

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/12/ted-talk-speaker-jackson-katz-captivates-women-and-men-on-the-subject-of-gender-violence-video/#ixzz2VY0MPyHL

June 6, 2013

George Zimmerman wants ‘inflammatory terms’ banned from trial

Source: Yahoo News

George Zimmerman wants ‘inflammatory terms’ banned from trial
The Lookout
By Jason Sickles, an arrives for a pretrial hearing on Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Getty)

“Profiled”

“Vigilante”

“Self-appointed Neighborhood Watch Captain”

“Wannabe cop”

Suspected murderer George Zimmerman’s defense team calls the above list “inflammatory terms” and wants them banned from the opening statements of his trial. Jury selection begins on Monday.

“Some of these terms are disparaging, inappropriate, and if used in trial would serve only to unfairly prejudice the jury by eliciting unfounded connotations and unfair emotional responses,” defense attorney Mark O’Mara wrote in a motion to the court.

<snip>

The request also asks that prosecutors be prohibited from using these phrases during opening statements:

“He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.”

“He confronted Trayvon Martin.”

Motions seeking to limit evidence in a trial is not uncommon, but seldom target phrases or characterizations.

<snip>

Judge Debra S. Nelson has not yet ruled on the motion. She recently ruled defense lawyers, in their opening statements, would not be permitted to mention pictures of drugs and guns found on Martin's cell phone.

Zimmerman, 29, faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/george-zimmerman-wants-inflammatory-terms-banned-trial-163405912.html

---

I don't think he stands a chance of this.

June 6, 2013

Paul Rand and his claims on the Affordable Healthcare Act

Rand Paul claims Obamacare will include diagnostic codes for injuries sustained from a turtle, walking into a lamppost and burning water skis

By David Martosko

PUBLISHED: 13:22 EST, 27 May 2013 | UPDATED: 23:14 EST, 27 May 2013

In a little-noticed speech to the Iowa Republican Party this month, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul mocked President Obama's signature health care overhaul, noting the 122,000 new medical diagnostic codes doctors will have to use in order to inform the government about injuries sustained by Americans.

Those codes, said Sen. Paul, a medical doctor himself, include line-items for 'injuries sustained from a turtle,' 'walking into a lamppost' and 'injuries sustained from burning water skis.'

Paul has attracted attention in recent weeks for spending time in the Hawkeye State, because it' will be among the first states to weigh in during the 2016 Republican presidential primary season.

As a video of Paul's remarks surfaced Monday on YouTube, news emerged that a CNN/Opinion Research poll showed 54 percent of Americans don't support Obamacare.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331716/Rand-Paul-Obamacare-include-medical-diagnostic-codes-injuries-sustained-turtle-walking-lamppost-injuries-sustained-burning-water-skis.html#ixzz2VRMSBwY0

Video at link.

June 6, 2013

We all live on a heavy submarine....

Spain Seeks US Help to Slim Down Overweight Sub

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/spain-seeks-us-slim-overweight-19332078#.UbB9hpziWco

By MICHAEL MELIA Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. June 5, 2013 (AP)

A new, Spanish-designed submarine has a weighty problem: The vessel is more than 70 tons too heavy, and officials fear if it goes out to sea, it will not be able to surface.

And a former Spanish official says the problem can be traced to a miscalculation — someone apparently put a decimal point in the wrong place.

"It was a fatal mistake," said Rafael Bardaji, who until recently was director of the Office of Strategic Assessment at Spain's Defense Ministry.

The Isaac Peral, the first in a new class of diesel-electric submarines, was nearly completed when engineers discovered the problem. A U.S. Navy contractor in Connecticut, Electric Boat, has signed a deal to help the Spanish Defense Ministry find ways to slim down the 2,200-ton submarine.

The agreement with Groton, Conn.-based Electric Boat calls for Spain to pay $14 million over three years for an assessment of the problem with the S-80 submarine program and the scope of the work that would be required to correct it, the Spanish Defense Ministry said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Bardaji, now a senior fellow with the Strategic Studies Group think tank in Madrid, said officials will review options provided by Electric Boat. But he said the preference has been to extend the length of the submarine's hull, perhaps by 5 to 6 meters, to increase buoyancy.
Overweight Submarine.JPEG

Otherwise, the weight of the submarine would have to be reduced, and he said the Spanish Navy would not want to compromise features such as the combat system or an air-independent propulsion system.

The Isaac Peral, named for a 19th century Spanish submarine designer, is one of four vessels in the class that are in various stages of construction. The country has invested about $2.7 billion in the program. The first was scheduled to be delivered in 2015 but the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder, Navantia, has said the weight problems could cause delays of up to two years.

The 233-foot-long submarine will carry a crew of 32, along with eight special forces troops, and weapons systems for surface and anti-submarine warfare.

The Defense Ministry said technical problems are normal for projects of this scale.

"The technology challenges that these programs face during development are much more than simple calculations," the ministry said. "All the major military programs, especially submarines, have experienced delays and often have required the support of a technology partner."

Bardaji said the problem was discovered in the second half of last year, and Navantia told defense officials that somebody had apparently put a decimal point in the wrong place.

"Apparently somebody in the calculations made a mistake in the very beginning and nobody paid attention to review the calculations," he said.

Electric Boat, the primary contractor for the U.S. Navy's fleet of nuclear submarines, accepted the contract through a foreign military sales agreement between the American Navy and the Spanish Defense Ministry, the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command announced this week.

Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamic Corp., has helped other countries with their submarine programs. It began assisting with development of the Astute-class nuclear attack submarine for the British Royal Navy in 2003, and it is working under another foreign military sales agreement on Australia's Collins class of submarines.

—————

Associated Press writer Jorge Sainz contributed to this report from Madrid.

June 5, 2013

Judge accused of racial bias in speech

Complaint Accuses U.S. Judge in Texas of Racial Bias
By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: June 4, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/us/federal-judge-in-texas-is-accused-of-racial-bias.html?_r=0

A group of civil rights organizations and legal ethicists filed a complaint of misconduct against a senior federal judge on Tuesday, alleging that recent remarks of hers showed bias against minority groups and an inappropriate religious belief in the death penalty.

The complaint, against Judge Edith H. Jones of Houston, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, asserts that at a speech at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in February she said that blacks and Hispanics were more prone than others to commit violent crimes and that a death sentence was a service to defendants because it allowed them to make peace with God.

The complaint is signed by representatives of, among others, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program and cites a number of people who attended the lecture.

<snip>

One of the affidavits accompanying the complaint is from Marc Bookman, a veteran death penalty lawyer in Pennsylvania, who attended the lecture. He quoted Judge Jones as saying, “Sadly, some groups seem to commit more heinous crimes than others.” When asked to elaborate, Judge Jones “noted there was no arguing that ‘blacks’ and ‘Hispanics’ far outnumber ‘Anglos’ on death row and repeated that ‘sadly’ people from these racial groups do get involved in more violent crime,” the affidavit said.

Mr. Bookman said in a telephone interview that when the judge was questioned by angry students, “She defensively backed off what she had said or, at least, what the audience had interpreted it to mean.”

<snip>

Judge Jones is alleged to have said that the defenses often offered in capital cases, including mental retardation and systemic racism, were “red herrings.” She also said, according to the witnesses, that Mexicans would prefer to be on death row in the United States rather than in prison in Mexico.

Charles W. Wolfram, one of the country’s experts in legal ethics who is retired from Cornell Law School, said Judge Jones’s alleged statements were a cause of great concern.

“If I were a parent of a black with borderline IQ accused in a capital case, would I be distressed in knowing that Judge Jones was sitting on my case?” he asked in a telephone interview. “Yes, I would. She seems to have made up her mind on these issues. She is slanted. That is the whole point of the impartiality requirement.”

Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics scholar at New York University, said that if Judge Jones really did say that death penalties serve the condemned by forcing them to face God, that was troubling.

“If a judge were to say that during sentencing, that sentence would be vacated,” he said. “It suggests that she believes she is helping the accused by giving a death sentence. That is totally inappropriate.” He said the central question concerning her alleged statements about race and crime depended heavily on tone and context.

The fate of the complaint now lies with the circuit’s chief judge, Carl E. Stewart of Louisiana, the first black in the job. He could dismiss it, speak privately with Judge Jones or order an investigation and set up a committee of judges either in his circuit or another one. Most complaints against judges, many of which come from inmates, are dismissed.


Another reason to be careful with whom I share my being from Texas.