Daily Topics - Tuesday March 15th, 2011
By shawnt56
Truthout proudly presents weekly installments of Thom Hartmann's much-lauded book, "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became 'People' and How You Can Fight Back." Click here for the latest chapter
Hour One: Will a recall in Wisconsin work? John Nichols, The Nation Magazine
Hour Two: Japan bracing for potentional radiation catastrophe - Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear / Plus, radiation disaster...what does it mean? Cindy Folkers, Beyond Nuclear
Hour Three: Wisconsin...democracy” or “anti-democracy” movement? Mark Meckler, Tea Party Patriots
Comments
#2
After Chernobyl, the evening news in Chicago, IL, USA the weather forecaster instructed Chicagoans not to go outside unless needed, and if they did go out, to use an umbrella because the rain was radioactive.
Koch Broths -- and all billionaires. I call on you as a citizen of planet to help us.
#3
Derrick Jensen enviornmental expert. Please have Derrick Jensen on! He is very informative and articulate.
#4
jib TV in Japan has been reporting a 6.4 earthquake centered in Shizuoka south of Tokyo at 10:31 PM Japan time, electrical poles are down and many without power because of it.
#5
Listening to Thom's guest discuss the failing and failures of the Nuclear power plant in Japan brings to mind some of the tragedies in history wrought by human hubris. I think socially we are plagued by the "Babel Syndrome", as in the "Tower of Babel". Our faith in technology has lead to numerous tradgedies, such as the Titanic, the Hindenburg, Chernobyl, etc... this is just a short list. We rarely seem to learn the main lesson in all these situations, as Murphy's Law puts it, "If something can go wrong with a design, eventually it will go wrong".
N
#6
Listening to Mark Meckler chatter away on today's show, I have to wonder if conservatives intentionally miss the point (i.e. Koch Bro.'s financial support being [intentionally?] conflated with the TPP's support of policies that benefit people like the Koch Bro.s). Does he do that to intentionally "run out the clock" with demands that Thom supply evidence for an accusation that no one was making? Or was he really so dense that he didn't understand what Thom was saying?
The same question holds true for the constitutionality of a group of people fleeing the state to avoid a quorum. Did he not understand that while it didn't say that you were explicitly allowed to leave the state that the constitution certainly didn't preclude that as an option? It says is that you need a quorum but doesn’t, as far as I know, rule any particular method of preventing a quorum illegal (unless the actions themselves are illegal – you know, unlawfully detaining members). And, again, as far as I know, not showing up to work or crossing state lines is not illegal. Well, give republicans time. They’ll probably make that illegal, too, so they can throw sick people into private prisons.
#7
That guest was an idiot.
1) Quorum rules exist so that a minority (or an insufficent majority, as in the case in WI) can't ram through legislation while a majority (or a sufficient minority) opposed to it is absent.
2) A "Wisconsin filibuster" conducted in the U.S. Senate wouldn't make any sense, because the quorum there is always a majority, so 50 senators would have to leave. Whereas only 41 senators need to vote against cloture to keep legislation from passing.
#8
A CEO, a union member, and a teabagger are sitting at a table with a dozen cookies. The CEO takes 11 cookies for himself. The CEO then turns to the teabagger and says,”Watch out for that union guy, he wants part of your cookie.”
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From Screwed:
"Thom Hartmann’s book explains in simple language and with concrete research the details of the Neo-con’s war against the American middle class. It proves what many have intuited and serves to remind us that without a healthy, employed, and vital middle class, America is no more than the richest Third World country on the planet."
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
What would happen if the Koch Broths. gave millions to relieve the suffering in Japan, and to help kick start the desperate need planet-wide for localized solar, wind, and algae power, and localized vertical greenhouses?
What if they invested their billions in saving the planet instead of destroying the families of Wisconsin?
What if they had a change of heart?
I believe in miracles and the possibility of awakening for all humans.