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A while back, while researching a 1989 helicopter crash that killed 20 Marines in Korea, I was having trouble tracking down the hometown info for one of the names: 1st Lt. Kevin M. Wooten.
The name brought up a 2010 story about a 23 year-old black man from Watts [Kevin Wooten] who was riding his bicycle at 4:00 am on Christmas morning and was shot dead from multiple gunshot wounds by police because someone had reported seeing someone in the area on a bicycle with an assault rifle.
I mention this because of a similarity to retired Marine Chamberlain's case, namely, that the Officer (Manuel Castenada, LAPD) who shot Kevin Wooten dead on Christmas morning also killed another 22-year-old black male [Joshua Akeed] the year before in the same neighborhood and was involved in another fatal shooting of an 18-year-old [James Davis] the month before.
Three prominent situations (Florida, New York, California) show just how widespread this epidemic of poor training/instruction/supervision/correction is with law enforcement across the country.
There are a number of "experts" saying there may be another big crash yet, since the Wall St. games are still in play and the same people who brought you the last crash are still making the rules. Banks have not changed their preditory ways with housing. Etc, etc.
I sincerely hope we're turning it around. There are certainly signs that some of the powers that be are beginning to listen. I watched a very interesting meeting on C-Span, discussing issues with commodities speculation schemes by big corporations that are helping to keep oil prices and food prices high. The meeting was called by democrats in congress Let's hope they do some good, and it wasn't all for show.
We are in a bad recession.Unemployment is 8% of what? People are in trouble-losing jobs, mounting debt, no spending money, high gas prices. People have given up. It looks hopeless for most people. The Republican primaries are a farce-no substance, no concern for ordinary people. Voterrs are cynical. We used to have survival of the fittest, now we have survival of the richest.
I agree boycotts are an important way of getting the message across. Some of these companies have so many subsidiaries, it's tough to know who all to boycott. Remember pepsi co and Coca-cola own numerous fast food chains like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, etc. Just say "no" to fast foods! Or, at least support your locally owned burger stands and cafes.
"(From 2004 to 2008, Bush authorized 42 drone strikes, according to the New America Foundation. The number has more than quadrupled under President Obama—to 180 at last count.)" "Administration officials insist that the targeted killings rest on a solid legal foundation, but many scholars disagree. Georgetown University’s Gary Solis, the author of The Law of Armed Conflict, says people at the CIA who pilot unmanned aerial vehicles are civilians directly engaged in hostilities, an act that makes them “unlawful combatants” and possibly subject to prosecution." http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/02/13/inside-the-killing-mach...
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Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA..... By James Bamford
"Narus was formed in Israel in November 1997 by six Israelis with much of its money coming from Walden Israel, an Israeli venture capital company." "At AT&T, the wiretapping rooms are powered by software and hardware from Narus, now owned by Boeing, a discovery made by AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein in 2004." A few years ago, Narus boasted that it is “known for its ability to capture and collect data from the largest networks around the world.” The company says its equipment is capable of “providing unparalleled monitoring and intercept capabilities to service providers and government organizations around the world” and that “Anything that comes through [an Internet protocol network], we can record. We can reconstruct all of their e-mails, along with attachments, see what Web pages they clicked on, we can reconstruct their [Voice over Internet Protocol] calls.” "Like Narus, Verint was founded by in Israel by Israelis,...." "Among its products is STAR-GATE, which according to the company’s sales literature, lets “service providers … access communications on virtually any type of network, retain communication data for as long as required, and query and deliver content and data …” and was “[d]esigned to manage vast numbers of targets, concurrent sessions, call data records, and communications.” http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/shady-companies-nsa/all/1
The economy is getting better because fewer individuals are wasting their income and people are shopping locally whenever possible. They're becoming more independent with gardens and bikes/scooters.
Usury ; Yoo/ sir/ ree. And I'm in Miz/ ur/ ree the political state, not the emotional state. But you can call it Miz/ ur/ uh if you like.
WE, the 99%, need someplce to get bullet-point type info to help us in our discussions with friends and family when we try to make a point on why things are so slanted toward the 1%.. I have been looking for something about how Reagan and Bush were the biggest spenders in history. I need something simple to make this point. Where do I go? smroog
No! We need to quit getting excited and writing headlines over each little temporary upturn. We have proven that Trickle Down, Reagonomics, Bailouts, and Keynesian Economics don’t solve the problem. The criminal banksters and the housing bubble contributed to, and triggered, the breakdown, but the real problem was living beyond our means on borrowed money. We still are.
It is time to take off the rose colored glasses, and quit pretending that the 1990’s and early 2000’s were normal and sustainable, and that we can bring them back. Like it or not, we now live in a global economy. International businesses are loyal to the bottom line, not to our country no matter how American their name or history. The people of the emerging nations are neither lazy nor stupid. America’s future in the world depends on how deep a hole we dig before we face the unpleasant facts
My, you are well read! Appreciated!
Good comments! We need to learn from the natural world, the whats and hows of the life cycle of all living things. David Suzuki teaches this so well. Many have learned much from our indiginous people who are so sharing of their knowledge. My own experience of such has been nothing shy of wonderful, enlightening and marvelous. I'm learning how to be proud of my person, not my race identity. THAT has been some of my best learning ever. Aplace for everything and everything in its place. Harmonious, it is!
"Knowledge is nothing if not shared." Author unknown to me.
May I suggest "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. Marvelous text to have on hand, anytime! Was gifted to me and I've gifted it to others. It's that kind of a book. Very important piece of work. A small, condensed, light and pleasant read!
Well stated! So many great responses. This IS a part of getting involved, politically, so to speak. But - it's only a start. Voices must come to unison to be heard properly. How history is stuck on repeat, sadly! Somebody needs to adjust the needle on the record!
Post your excellent interview of Great Minds today, as you introduced the subject of ALEC, my mind was racing to talk to you. In Canada we have strict gun control laws for good reason. We value them. We need them to remain firmly in place. Our gun registry program crashed, that the Government has NO right to ask us to register legal fire arms that are already legal and accounted for. They tried though. I'm sure the DEA had something to do with implementing it, as they have long been granted all rights to over-ride our own countries law enforcemnt. Somebody really dropped the ball on that one! When the Spaniards, among others came to our continent so many years ago and brought guns, disease and alcohol, all three were effective in eliminating much of the indiginous peoples they either enslaved or blatantly murdered. Back to the interview of why prejudice is so prevelant and why the "Shoot First" policy will also fail. Putting weapons in the hands of the good and righteous folk" to do your dirty work for you (themselves being govermnet) is a dastardly way of having their way. How ironic they felt it was ok to enslave the peoples they brought to the land to do their physical dirty work and still. Centuries later, the wish to eliminate them now that they don't do their dirty work for them anymore (at least not legally, as they continue to bring Mexicans and others into the country to do dirty work of all kinds, from the sex trade, human trade, drug trade, crop picking and domestic work - privately for themselves), is purely a matter of convenience. This is to prevent assimilation, which failed with the indiginous peoples and was later directed toward other minorities, so to speak. No money or help is ever to be made available from THIER coffers for such purpose, period. Martin Luther King started the ball rolling, among others. My own family hid people of the underground railroad when Slavery was in the initial stages of abolishment. French Canadians, might I add. Interesting. Now that so many of us, any race, creed or colour are subject to their "New World Order", oh my goodness... all at once, the wall comes tumbling down - round the world! Some Stephen King reading is in order. The Post Man in particular. Robert Heinlans Starship Troopers is my novel of hope for our future. I think we'll make it, just fine. Won't be easy, many continue to die, but it shall come to bare. I'm sure of it!
Regards,
Mary Anne
We are seeing a hill and valley skewness which could be indicative of approaching a limit and another downturn. It's hard to conclude that we have turned a corner just because the Market has a good week or an uptick in emplyment.
1. There are grave problems in Europe which could impact our economy.I
2. We are exhausting our natural resources at alarming rates (oil, gas, minerals, water, topsoiletc). The economy will reflect this with rising prices for necessities like food, fuel and shelter.
3. Corporations and government have no adequate plans to cope with looming economic problems
I only wish he had, since he decided to end his life anyway, that he would have shot a few of those arrogant capitalist twerps who have created the corrupt system that drove him to suicide. What the heck, right-wing idiots are going to belittle this guy for shooting himself anyway. The one thing that is hardly ever talked about in the news when something terrible happens...like school shootings...is that the shooter was usually driven to this horrible action by bullies and others who thought they would get their jollies by constantly putting people down and rejecting them from their social acceptance. I believe the snobbish wealthy, and their children, lead in this very destructive practice. One could say that blowback is alive and well and if you want to help make our schools or businesses or other places where people must deal with each other...we need to concentrate on coming down hard...very hard..on those bullies and snobs who create those problems.
The Korean guy in Oakland, who killed and injured all those people, was obviously a time bomb waiting to go off due to the pressures and losses he suffered...and the faculty or fellow students made fun of the guy.
When you have irresponsibility like this you can expect trouble. Our schools should be teaching, above all, a good course in acceptance of others. And, this was a Christian school??? It might be easy to say that, if the shooter managed to hit only those who tormented him..then, maybe, they tended to deserve it. But, unfortunately, lots of innocent people also get hurt or killed not to mentioned damaged psychologically.
So, all you arrogant snobs out there...you would do yourself a favor by watching what you say and don't come off as an arrogant snob.
I've been boycotting wal mart and coke cola ever since I found out they donated millions in support of walker's union busting in Wisconsin months ago. I'm a public employee standing with Wisconsin the only way I can. Plan on leaving AT&T for their membership to ALEC. ALEC=Koch Brothers destruction of America.
Well, I guess I won't be shopping at Wal-mart any more.
As for the Supreme Court ruling on the Constitutionality of laws...I'd be alright with that if we elected the bloody assholes. Can we amend the Constitution nto make Supreme Court judge an elected, term-limited office?
It only appears to be, on a small scale. Mostly because so many have dropped off the unemployment roles or people have given up. Even most of the ones who've found jobs, they are earning less money or are working one or more part time jobs. The economy is rallying only slightly and is still very weak, thanks in large part to the rich and our corrupt congress.
I have been unemployed for 3.5 yrs-this is 7X longer than any previous spell in my 29 yrs of adult life.I gave up looking for work 2 yrs ago.Started college this year.I despair that summer employment won't happen for me.No one beleives these useless unemployment stats like 8.2%-I think it's 3X that figure.No job no problem, except for the money thing.
Increasing RAGE against the right..... god I love it so....
I've found that boycotts don't work too well. For instance, I tried to boycott all businesses that donated to Scott Walker. However, I am retired (living on a fixed income) and cannot afford to buy some of my medications unless I buy them at Sam's Club (Walmart) where I've found them to be most reasonably priced. There were a few other Walker supporters' businesses whose products were better than products I could find elsewhere. I still try not to buy from Walker supporters, and will often go out of my way to avoid them, but I can't always. The list of ALEC companies is far more extensive than the list of companies supporting Walker. I would find it difficult to maintain a boycott of all of them.
Second, just who is the boycott hurting? The employees of these companies do not necessarily support ALEC. In fact, I doubt most of the low-paid employees do, and they are the ones who will be the first to be laid off if business slows down.
I have found that getting involved politically is a better way to fight ALEC!
Hi, all
Am new here, but was inpired to enter the fray after watching th March 15th show. Just purchased Thom's Reader and The Prophet's Way and am waiting for their arrival. Will be brief because this isn't on topic, but wondered (Thom, if you're here) what other books you might recommend for the lay reader who wants to understand more about what is currently known involving the interplay of quantum dynamics and human thought/potential.Ty for a great show. I share your religion, but am a little clueless about this aspect of things.
Fan from Loveland, CO
As we all know by now, the Republicans are having their convention in "stand your ground" Florida. There will be many protesters there durning this time. Is any 99%er worried about the "stand your ground" law that we all have became very aware of lately? The right or the 1%er's could cause a bunch of trouble if they plant a few trouble makers with loaded guns and a certain mindset of using this ALEC promoted law as a shield from prosecution. Precations or plans to avoid this problem have to be made to our 99% brothers and sisters!
Thom, I've pointed this out before: Article III, Section 2 is a list of types of cases, not a list of types of decisions. The appropriate type of case for nullification is one of equity to which the United States is a party, which is listed there.
The Constitution doesn't explicitly allow any types of decisions, so, by your logic, you would have to believe that the Supreme Court has no ability to judge cases in any way whatsoever.