across the pond during a global celebration of sport and culture and peace, throw them where they can make a difference:

‘Tolerant’ GOP’er Wants Gays Purged From The Republican Party - Because Satan!

"Mary Helen Sears, who currently serves as the vice-chair of the Michigan Republican Party‘s 1st District, posted a viciously homophobic rant on her county’s Republican website last April. In it she claimed that homosexuals prey on young children, and said that “Satan uses homosexuality to attack the living space of the Holy Spirit.” She went on to argue that the GOP “as a party should be purging the perversion and send them to a party with a much bigger tent.”

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/02/tolerant-gop-er-wants-gays-purged

And, I must add, these American Holy Rollers are welcome in the Republican Party, and only the Republican Party, when their only welcome should be as place mats at the door of Haydes.

American exceptionschism seems to now translate into one national TV station monopolizing all coverage, none of the coverage is live, live coverage is banned by some kind of national internet switch being thrown to OFF, they censor what they please, the announcers are uninformed, they do not even carry the opening ceremonies live!

Then you wonder why so many Americans are not into The Games, why some did not even know it started.....

In the meantime, while the monopoly TV station is not covering their monopolized event, the other TV stations are ginning up the fear angle at every opportunity, elevating a drunken man armed with a airplane peanut snack into an international terror alert, toothpaste into fear.....

Idiot America, enslaved by its exceptional Media Cartel.

P.S. CBC Canada coverage, French and English have different event coverage, always live first and the repeat on tape, is freaking AWESOME. Sochi is a beautiful city.


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Edit added: Apparently some of the coverage IS live, if you can find it on the national NBC channel and not NBC Sports, the cable channel, I would like to know.

section at the official Comments Page of the 30 day official comment period....seems like if someone wants to comment and be heard it would be good to register and comment directly to the decision makers at the State Department AND on blogs like DU:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOS-2014-0003-0001


Here are a couple of comments on the site, only 1060 so far:

"The extraction and processing of bitumen via the Keystone pipeline is a horrific misallocation of government and private resources. The expected emission increases from the development of this resource in the EIS for the state department is not accurate. It should also be expected that a significant portion of the petcoke developed in the refinement process will also be utilized either domestically or as a resource to be sold, at the cost of containment, to developing countries. This process then significantly raises the climate impact of this resource on future generations. At the very minimum, a tariff must be developed for this resource that implements a societal cost of carbon penalty on a per unit basis. This societal cost of carbon MUST include a negative discount rate of -.05% as the full utilization of this fuel resource will lead to a climate collapse and run-away warming within the next 40 years."

"No NO NO to the Keystone Pipeline. We need protected water supplies, NOT more oil to refine for export sale."

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And this article is seriously worth reading from a fellow DU commentator I believe:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024465008

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21691-william-rivers-pitt-diary-of-a-dying-country

Update: The Wall Street Journal reports the would-be hijacker was "heavily drunk":

A representative for the SBU said in a statement that the passenger was "heavily drunk," according to the Interfax news agency. "He tried to enter the pilot's cabin, calling out, "Let's fly to Sochi," the representative said, according to Interfax.

"Officials negotiated with the alleged hijacker and passengers were evacuated, with the cabin crew remaining on board, Mr. Mutlu said. Security officers then boarded the plane and subdued the alleged hijacker without the use of firearms, Mr. Mutlu said.

While the person wasn't found to have consumed alcohol, he may have used other substances to "stay alert," Mr. Mutlu said. He didn't elaborate on whether the person had any explosives.

A statement by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said that no weapons or explosives were found during a search of the aircraft by Turkish security personnel."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com//livewire/report-airliner-forced-to-land-after-possible-hijacking-attempt-in-connection-to-sochi

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304181204579368912606603056

How much longer is the mass media going to frighten America for ratings and ignore the glory of sport?

Anyone who saw the opening ceremonies and was not moved and blown away by the artistry and showmanship is not thinking clearly about what The Olympics is supposed to represent, a celebration of culture and sport and peace, a finger in the eye of war and division and in the face of the terror that the media assists in making worse for no reason.

The athletes are showing bravery, can the rest of us not honor them by not freaking out over every little unconfirmed fright?

A truly informed America would be down on its knees thanking the President for restoring the economy, restoring family values and compassion in the White House and ending endless American war, demanding these policies be continued. even in the face of massive Republican and mass media obstructionism .......but, no, having an informed America would cause massive profit loss for the media, The Big Game would be like this year's Superbowl first quarter blowout, people would lose interest early in The Big Game, the Perpetual Media Election Cycle and edge of your seat excitement of Who Will Win would suffer, plunging ratings would lose profit, the Citizens United Bonanza would wane....so the CBO media fiasco was an accident, a rare media mea error was it?

How much "progressive" policy could anyone have championed and pushed through to law in the current Idiot America media environment, I ask you who whine about his lack of progressive creed? How many Presidents were subject to the crude attacks of Bill O'Reilly, pretend journalist, obvious propagandist, on a pretend TV "news" station, obvious propaganda, in your face, jaw dropping propaganda, while said media environment stood mutely by IGNORING the obvious?

Don't blame Obama!

The right wing has got that covered.

And remember President Obama has three more years to be President Of America, so caving to the Endless Election Cycle Of The Mass Media is exactly what you should not be doing.

At the bottom, of course, of the story:

"Full disclosure: The Post earlier posted a headline saying that the CBO had concluded that the law “will result in 2 million fewer jobs.” Now it reads as follows: “CBO: Health-care law will mean 2 million fewer workers.” A correction explains the change."

The media’s massive revisions on CBO-Obamacare story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/02/04/the-medias-massive-revisions-on-cbo-obamacare-story/?hpid=z5

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Oh, well, we can all rejoice in James Carville joining himself to Fox News to bring fairness and balance to that TV station.

P.S. And, no, the correction does NOT explain the change. The explanation explains they made a change because they screwed up, it does not explain how they screwed up.

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List Of Changed Headlines, And Not, By The American Mass Media:

Wall Street Journal earlier: Health-Care Law Expected to Take Greater Toll on Workforce

Wall Street Journal now: Health Law Seen Leading to Some Loss of Labor

-----------

Washington Times earlier: Obamacare will push 2 million workers out of labor market: CBO

Washington Times now: Obamacare will push 2 million workers out of labor market: CBO

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UPI earlier: CBO: Obamacare to cost 2.3 million jobs over 10 years

UPI now: WH disputes media claims on CBO Obamacare study

------------

Politico earlier: CBO: Lower enrollment, bigger job losses with Obamacare

Politico now: Report reignites debate over Obamacare and jobs

The Hill earlier: CBO: O-Care slowing growth, contributing to job losses

The Hill now: CBO: O-Care will cost 2.5M workers

National Review earlier: The CBO Just Nuked Obamacare

National Review now: The CBO Just Nuked Obamacare

Wall Street Journal Market Watch earlier: CBO says Obamacare will add to deficit, create reluctant work force

Wall Street Journal Market Watch now: Obamacare plans to top $1 trillion, create reluctant workers: CBO

Talk Radio News Service earlier: Obamacare Will Cost 2.5 Million Jobs: Report

Talk Radio News Service now: 2.5 Million Will Exit Work Force Because Of Obamacare

Forbes earlier: Congressional Budget Office: Obamacare A Tax On Workers

Forbes now: CBO: Obamacare Is A Tax On Work, May Cut Full-Time Workforce By 2.5 Million

What??? He actually confirmed it will reduce unemployment?

And create 2.5 million new job positions as current workers are able to make the choice to cut back work hours, retire, or take care of the kids without a health catastrophe ruining their whole lives?

And the CBO report says that the ACA "bailout" of insurance companies, last weeks Big Media Lie, is going to profit the government $8 billion?

Once again the Republicans will just pivot to subsidies for the poor make them moochers and subsidies for the rich make them Gods.

Will Republicans and the Idiot Media admit they were taken in by another Fox News twisting of facts to try to create yet another faux outrage and report the truth direct from the mouth of the AUTHOR of the CBO report, because this would be a good one to do it, seeing how Fox was caught with its propaganda pants fully down.

Because it simply IS a very good thing Americans won't have to work 2 jobs to pay for health care coverage anymore and maybe the mother gets to stay at home with the family more. Isn't that only a conservative "value"?

Come on, Right Wingers, you have been totally conned by your media and leaders, how much more smacking around of your intellect will you take in this Political Cycle of Violence? Stop being the victim.

And come on, Left Wingers, stop defending all the time from the shit flung by the monkey people of the right wing media and start shouting about the benefits of millions of American citizens freed from the chains of miserable jobs that enslaved them to their employers at the expense of their health and happiness.

Terror In America?



You decide if the police knocked, announced and permitted the home owners to answer the door before executing an illegal entry, as they did not have a "no knock" warrant for a fraudulent use of credit card allegation, from the one video camera they did not find:

"First, note that the police say they knocked and announced themselves before the raid. The knock and announce requirement has a long history in U.S. and English common law. Its purpose was to give the occupants of a home the opportunity to avoid property damage and unnecessary violence by giving them time to come to the door and let the police in peacefully. As you can see from the video, the knock and announce today is largely a formality. The original purpose is gone. From the perspective of the people inside, there’s really no difference between this sort of “knock and announce” and a no-knock raid. (The covering of the officers’ faces is also troubling, though also not uncommon."?

"Watch this video, taken from a police raid in Des Moines, Iowa. Send it to some people. When critics (like me) warn about the dangers of police militarization, this is what we’re talking about. You’ll see the raid team, dressed in battle-dress uniforms, helmets and face-covering balaclava hoods take down the family’s door with a battering ram. You’ll see them storm the home with ballistics shields, guns at the ready. More troubling still, you’ll see not one but two officers attempt to prevent the family from having an independent record of the raid, one by destroying a surveillance camera, another by blocking another camera’s lens."



Ripping out the home security video cameras, is that also now common?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2014/02/04/scenes-from-a-militarized-america-iowa-family-terrorized/

"The CBO projects that the [Affordable Care] act will reduce the supply of labor, not the availability of jobs. There's a big difference. In fact, it suggests that aggregate demand for labor (that is, the number of jobs) will increase, not decrease; but that many workers or would-be workers will be prompted by the ACA to leave the labor force, many of them voluntarily.

As economist Dean Baker points out, this is, in fact, a beneficial effect of the law, and a sign that it will achieve an important goal. It helps "older workers with serious health conditions who are working now because this is the only way to get health insurance. And (one for the family-values crowd) many young mothers who return to work earlier than they would like because they need health insurance. This is a huge plus."

The ACA will reduce the total hours worked by about 1.5% to 2% in 2017 to 2024, the CBO forecasts, "almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor -- given the new taxes and other incentives they will face and the financial benefits some will receive." That translates into about 2.5 million full-time equivalents by 2024 -- not the number of workers, because some will reduce their number of hours worked rather than leaving the workforce entirely."

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And THIS major news about the "risk corridors" that Republicans were beating the drum about and snagging the attention of the Lazy Media with as "bailouts"....oh, no, it will actually lower premiums, so of course Republicans got ahead of the curve by lying about it.

"The new projections released Tuesday show the CBO now expects that the government will collect $16 billion from insurers who are running a profit but that it will only have to pay out $8 billion of that to the insurance companies that are essentially running at a loss, creating a net $8 billion in savings for the government. Previously the CBO projected that the program would break even.

If things play out as the CBO expects, it would mean that insurance companies are generally charging enough in premiums, and won’t have to raise rates in the future. “So it’s not only good news for 2014 but it seems to be a good sign for other years as well,” says Levitt."

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So the rest of the idiots in the Beltway Media should just swallow their false pride and admit they never read the report before leaping to conclusions, or they are unable to read and unable to admit that actual ECONOMISTS are better able to make the conclusions.

Not to mention that the reduction in the supply of labor is NOT a good thing for the job creators is it? The whole supply and demand thingy going on there not in their favor.

Idiot America, meet your Idiot Free Press.

to be the first with "anal-ysis". Being conclusions pulled posthaste out of their asses.

Damn that the story be accurate, the prime directive is to get your ugly mug in front of the camera and your hasty thoughts in print FIRST, because someone else will beat you to it......that the public is massively misled is merely media collateral damage.

How WRONG the mass media has got the CBO report, how firmly and convincingly they got it wrong, is now going to be a delicate walk back for them, because they are also a very prideful bunch.

Not to mention the right wing now clutching to the "there will still be 30 million people without healthcare in 10 years", so Obamacare is a trainwreck lie fails to take into account population growth of 3 million a year....so you do the math.

Idiots, all of them. Prideful, lusting for power and profit idiots that want to drag the whole nation down into their Idiot's Paradise.