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Would like to see a tax on Junk food. Then take the money and begin an education campaign like we see with the Tobacco tax and cigarette education. I can't tell you how pissed I get when I see the commercials that promote High Fructose Corn Syrup with the obvious insult to the public, 'Since you don't know what's wrong with it, you can assume its good for you' (summary). It's just so obnoxious and disingenuous, I can't stand it. Would love to see an anti-campaign that used that commercial format, except when the proponent character asks "Whats wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup?", the answer comes back with fact after fact about whats wrong with it, with the commercial fading out, while facts are continued to be spoken.
N
I don't have a lot to say about the ruling on the Proposition 8 case over gay marriage in California -- the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages was overturned by a federal judge -- because the only decision that counts will be made by the monstrosity that is the John Roberts Supreme Court, and one can imagine how that one will go down. This was like the equivalent of that pre-season game the Birds play against the Jets every August, entertaining for a moment or two but largely meaningless. I'm guessing the only leftover excitement tomorrow will be when right-wing radio goes after the chief federal judge of the circuit in northern California, Vaughn Walker, as another loopy California liberal activist judge.
Really? Except that Ronald Reagan tried to name Walker to the bench way back in 1987, and his first nomination was blocked by liberal Democrats in Congress. One reason? He was perceived as anti-gay, because he represented the Los Angeles Olympic Committee in suing to shut down an event called "the Gay Olympics." But there's more. Walker -- who was nominated again by the next Republican, George H.W. Bush, and confirmed -- is gay. He is currently one of only two openly gay federal judges. And despite his support from Reagan and Bush 41, he's not exactly a conservative but an honest-to-goodness libertarian. Thus, liberals still complain about Walker favoring rich people in many key decisions. But he's also a proponent of drug legalization. And now he's issued what is -- until it's probably overturned -- one of the landmark progressive rulings of the 21st Century.
The thing is, I'm wondering if someone like Vaughn Walker could ever become a federal judge today. We want people to fit into the Glenn Beck box or the Michael Moore box in their ideology, and someone with libertarian and iconoclastic views will probably just end up offending potential supporters on both sides. To me that's the most interesting thing about today's ruling -- the guy who made it. Even if you disagree with the verdict, I think someday soon you're going to miss free-thinking judges when they're gone.
Posted by Will Bunch @ 10:54 PMhttp://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/
Hey Thom!
Just a quick follow up to a comment you made yesterday. Your friend Jerry's life was not destroyed by pot - it was destroyed by PROHIBITION!!! My condolences to Jerry, and the millions of others like him who are being persecuted for the love of a plant. If there's any war we need to end, it's the war on drugs, because it's a war that we are waging against our own citizens.
I'd also like to make a suggestion: please invite someone from NORML on your show to discuss the upcoming referendums in Oregon and California, such as Russ Belleville or Paul Armentano. They'll make quick work of debunking the deceitful propoganda that people like Paul Chabot are propogating about cannabis and help get the truth out about this herb that is so beneficial to mankind. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Bagel
By 1984, three years after its initial approval for use in tabletop sweeteners and dry food, U.S. consumption of aspartame had already reached 6.9 million pounds per year. This number doubled the following year, and continued to climb well into the 90's. According to statistics published by Forbes...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/aspartame-health-risks_b_668692.html
"The only alternative sweetener I recommend is natural stevia, especially the flavoured ones which avoid many of the aftertaste objections some people have about using stevia. It is interesting to note that the powerful food industry has made it illegal to sell natural stevia as a sweetener. If I recommended to use stevia as a sweetener and sold it, the government would immediately file criminal charges and confiscate our product".
Establishing a New NormalNational Security, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights Under the Obama Administration
An 18-Month Review
In the eighteen months since the issuance of those executive orders, the administration’s record on issues related to civil liberties and national security has been, at best, mixed. Indeed, on a range of issues including accountability for torture, detention of terrorism suspects, and use of lethal force against civilians, there is a very real danger that the Obama administration will enshrine permanently within the law policies and practices that were widely considered extreme and unlawful during the Bush administration. There is a real danger, in other words, that the Obama administration will preside over the creation of a "new normal."
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/establishing-new-normal
The problem with the "European Dream" is you have about zero chance of immigrating over there.
N
Senator Sanders,
Of course, Senator McConnell can maintain greater discipline in the acolytes of the Republican Party . . . Those folk of an authoritarian bent much more readily march in lockstep.
I can tell you the future: Tomorrow the sun will rise... and then it will set, also the tides will fluctuate up and down. The world population will rise and break the record set today. Some people will die, and some won't.
I'm a freakin' psychic, and I know all this will happen.
N
Never met anyone who could tell me the future. I am sure, however, that one day I will die. That's about it.
hmmmm voting Democrat is a wonderful idea, I'm just wondering if one of the right wing hacks on the court will oblige us by stepping down or dying within the next 6 years.
N
Thats a great question, Maxrot, and I guess I would have to say the Executive, as even a Village Idiot can only do so much damage in 8 years. So there is always the possibility of a sane President, at least in theory. The Congress seems to essentially be bought and sold. Bush's (both) appointees to the Court are all wacked ideologues. It is tettering on redefining the Right. My understanding is that the Court justices are supposed to be "beyond ideology." Campaign Finance Reform seems one of the only possible solutions, but for them to do that could be likened to a hungry man refusing over and over to eat a delightful meal set before him. (there must be a better analogy than mine.) So the good news is, good news is possible! And of course one must vote democrat, as if the next appointee to the Court is like the last ones, WATCH OUT!
@dhavid, which of the three branches isn't in utter disfunction?
N
Quote of the Day: "Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people." -- Harry Emerson Fosdick.............Our Democratic System, where the power is shared between the Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches is based on the conviction that when most people get power, they become horribly twisted. Even with this protection in place, the American Experiment seems to be teetering on failure, as at least two branches of it's government are in utter disfunction. I do share Mr. Fosdick's sentiment that there are extraordinary possibilities in all people, but not just people in democracies, but rather all peoples of the world.
The bombing of Iran will forever damn American souls. HELL AWAITS AMERICAN SOULS!!!
The day after! The United States of Hell is Israel's puppet.
http://www.lobelog.com/patrick-disney-describes-the-day-after-the-us-bombs-iran/
There is a difference between government and country.
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-08-04.asp
Yeah, they've actually asked for "volunteer" editing and you can see on some subjects the "right" has been volunteering to change history by redefining subject matter. It's been slow but I've noticed it as well.
It helps for a person to copy the article.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Perpetual-War-for-Perpetua-by-Bill-Hare-100804-985.html
We all need to read between the lines, so called "free trade" is anti-US employment. Free trade is cheap trade and what's happening now and what's been happening for 30 years is a concerted attack against US jobs and workers. They've been trying to create Mexico or India in America by working harder to protect overseas jobs than they work to protect our jobs. By "they" I mean both Washington and your own state government. So very shortly, within a year when there is no more employment benefits for what I call the permanent 10-18% unemployment in the US, you'll start to see the shanty towns and the poverty you see in places like Mexico in your own country.
Louise, thank you for an early start on comments for today! I am very tired and I need a morning nap!!!
Perpepual war! What is there not to love about a warmongering country?
Looked on Wikipedia to justify protectionist policies to cement my arguments with co-workers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectionism
But, based upon Wikipedia, there aren't many positive outcomes, if any, to be had from such policies. Seems like the online resource is heavily edited by "free trade" people.
What garbage.
If the Republicans continue hating on gay and non-white folk and purge the 14th Amendment from the America Constitution, they will remove the basis for Corporate Humanity . . . AND how will they explain that to their Corporate Overlords?
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/mcconnell-renews-call-for-hearings-into-birth-tourism-and-birthright-citizenship.php
I contacted members of Congress and the Governor of Colorado shortly after they passed TARP and asked them why they took the buy American clauses out of the TARP? How can they possibly explain it? Where are the new laws taxing corporations and changing the tariff laws penalizing corporations? It was this issue that started me on a path of activism, not just a very polite letter now and then to a politician but real political activism. It's inconceivable your own government would give your job away and then ask for your vote and billions more and that's exactly what they are doing. And we have a President who let them take those buy American clauses out, he signed the bill after all, so that tells me right there that there weren't going to be many jobs from the billions spent to supposedly save the economy.
A wonderful father!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/05/dad-gets-in-the-crib-with-kid.aspx
In studying the American mind a person will forever be discombobulated.