Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Arizona Elementary School Will Whiten The Faces Of Its Own Students On A Mural Because Some Racists Yelled At It


Via Ken Layne at Wonkette, this is just the worst story in the world:

Mural

An Arizona elementary school mural featuring the faces of kids who attend the school has been the subject of constant daytime drive-by racist screaming, from adults, as well as a radio talk-show campaign (by an actual city councilman, who has an AM talk-radio show) to remove the black student’s face, and now the school principal has ordered the faces of the Latino and Black students to be changed to Caucasian skin.

F’ing hell. Read the rest of the details here. And here’s Richard Lawson’s reaction, at Gawker.

What can I say about this? We are talking about a bunch of mentally deranged adults, who have terrorized an elementary school, for daring to paint a mural featuring the faces of black and Latino children — actual black and Latino children who live in Arizona. And we’re also talking about a group of adults who have decided to send a stirring message to their students and the world: when a bunch of mentally deranged adults — and we are not talking about people who are particularly threatening, this is a bunch of utterly gutless mopes, yelling racial slurs from their cars, egged on by some pinhead city councilman cowering behind a radio microphone — threaten a bunch of children, the best thing to do is to accede to their psychotic, racist “demands.”

Seriously, educators of Prescott, Arizona, when some creep demands you whiten the faces of your own students on a mural, the correct response is to say, “No, we will not be doing anything of the sort.”

This story really should be blasted, far and wide. You cable news producers need to get this story in the mix with a quickness. And let me be clear to you all: there are no “two sides to this story.” This is not something you need to have a panel discussion about. CNN, I don’t want to see you plumbing the depths of your counterintuition on your website, or lending credence to the notion that the gutless mopes in their cars, shrieking racial slurs at the images of children have an interesting point of view that we should “hear out” because of the need to be “balanced.” This is your moment to decry, condemn, and brutalize these evil people.

Blast them to hell, or go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.

RELATED:
Arizona School Demands Black & Latino Students’ Faces On Mural Be Changed To White [Wonkette]

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

TGIF and some News …


Today, the President will be in Louisiana …the Gulf Coast to talk to those who live and work there.  It is my opinion that it is not the Media’s job to sway or make sure we are all pissed at the President; their job is to report the News and time and time again we hear cable talking heads using the time to stir-up trouble.  It’s getting tiring to see people like tamron hall and others possibly trying to get better rating numbers by joining the bash the President brigade. People in the Press and or Media need to stop pointing fingers and help get this thing solved. I say change the channel

…Lakers Win Game 1 109, Celtics 89; Game 2 is on Sunday at the Staples Center.  The public or 60% of the public say they are upset with the President’s efforts on the Gulf Coast disaster… is it possible that the Media is not giving our President a platform… thank goodness Larry King did the interview …even though it is Larry’s 25yr celebration it was a moment that the public got to hear, see and realize how the President has been feeling as well as how he actually is handling BP and Associates. It can all be improved but clearly the government is not in the oil clean-up biz and anything said can possibly make the 3stooges abandon the site if pushed …they seemed to have decided to pay for damage control spots… odd because that money could be used to pay for the damages …to families of the dead, businesses dying and for more equipment to fight this spill… it should tell everyone exactly where these guys stand … and hopefully the President knows … BP seems to be putting Profits and damage control before the People.

The pictures and video’s of the oil goo, globs and blobs let alone the video of what some of the wildlife are going through was bad enough to make parents all over the country scream and turn the channel.  The photos are outrageous and while people are yelling where are the people/ and people need to clean this up… who is letting the viewers know that the air is that bad; it’s so unsafe for folks to be working there without some sort of mask or more hardcore -that is why the area is empty; this is not being conveyed to the viewer …we all need to see the awful things; this  should help Americans get it; we need to move toward Green Energy unlike how Gov Jindal seems to  feel …we don’t like big Gov’t, we want less spending but on the other hand Govt is not acting fast enough or spending enough money to get us out of this mess. It is unfortunate that people on the state level turned their heads while a lot of deals and money exchanged hands; like the current reports of money being given to Republicans as recent as last week from BP and Halliburton and it’s offensive.

It’s Friday, almost 2 months into what seems like an endless stream of bad news and photos from the Gulf Coast that prove what deepwater drilling does to the environment without proper equipment and lack of emergency procedures.  It is another day that 11people need to be recognized and condolences made to their families; the truth behind the accident will show the lack of safety features and hopefully used to recoup funds from the 3stooges.

And as the next BP procedure gets adjusted and or new procedure has to be used; We the People wait for the video the live shot or the reporter lucky enough to get both.  It’s not lost on me that the junkshot,  topkill, tophat and caphat procedures only seem to happen when it’s dark … why? out of sight out of mind or maybe less stress? anyway, it’s frustrating not being able to see the procedure happen; if nothing else we would all get a better idea on how far technology has come when it comes to getting something that has the value of gold but prefer to take extreme risks where worker safety is concerned. There are reports stating profits from oil is insane; probably the only reason why folks get into the oil business, willing to risk the environment or the people vs absolute profits

Hurricane season is here and while those of us outside the Gulf Coast sit and wait for things, something, anything positive to happen the reality that at any moment the whole area will need to be cleared out because the next natural but nasty thing is going to make a major impact on the Gulf Coast.  The weather is being watched closely by most weather experts and hopefully those responsible for the people on the Gulf Coast and their safety are as well because it’s clear  being prepared not only is a cliché; it’s one of many missing elements that could have prevented this type of incident.  It’s obvious this disaster has made  more people actually consider our future ,consider solutions that do not include fossil fuels but about moving toward Solar, Wind Biofuel, smart grid, batteries and more.

immigration … after watching the press conference that the Gov of Arizona held it appeared like she was nervous and uncomfortable but tried to seem like she got the best of the President …maybe she thinks that the written word will stop police officers who now have to act like ICE agents from negative behavior; that the written word will keep their emotions in check  but it won’t; racial profiling is used on a daily basis by the police  and while against the law, it’s accepted behavior … It is a side of human nature most of us know is bad but it’s there and this Governor just doesn’t get it … the video of a Seattle Police Officer was definitely an example of how some police officers can and do act … no all police officers will cross that line but it’s 2010 and this guy yelled shouted and called the so-called pert a racial slur… he must have felt safe that he would not be caught on tape …21st Century technology kept him in check…the written word of a law is only as good as the officer who takes the words written into law seriously.  Just ask people of colour who drive great cars and get pulled over; who visit parks and get questioned because they looked reasonably suspicious but there was no probable cause …this law seems  unconstitutional, will alienate minorities and drive undocumented people back into the shadows which is bad for the overall good of the state of Arizona.

Other News …

**Private Sector Companies are starting or have been outsourcing jobs …sending the jobs to China

**Changes today to  Gulf fishing  closure due to oil spill effective 6pm; call 800 627 NOAA for info or view map at http://ht.ly/1UbJx

Though Republicans are seizing on the Gulf oil crisis to attack President Obama, their “embrace of offshore oil drilling and their skepticism of ‘big’ government may hamper the party’s efforts to gain politically” from Obama’s handling of the disaster. “They’re kind of stuck because they’re the party of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill,’” David Lanoue, head of the political science department of the University of Alabama, told Bloomberg News.TP

**Vann Jones will be on Bill Maher tonight

**Griffey will work for Mariners

**The Gov and Mayor got into a fight over the Tunnel … they mayor does not want the tunnel the Gov let the mayor know he was not listening.

**Republicans believe they will gain more govenors

**The cap is on but the vents have not been closed yet …doug suttles states they will do so later on today

Myanmar has reportedly acquired components for a nuclear weapons program, including technology for uranium enrichment and long-range missiles, according to a defector from the nation’s Army. “The purpose is they really want a bomb. That is their main objective,” said defector Sai Thein Win.TP

C-SPAN …

watch Pres. Obama Remarks

Primary Elections Update

Democratic Governor’s Association 2010 Strategy

Eric Holder Remarks on Civil Rights

Cap placed on oil leak: President to Gulf to assess progress

President Obama returns to the Gulf region today to assess the latest efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history. This is his third visit to the region since the spill began in April and the second visit in just under a week. The White House said yesterday that the government will be sending BP and other responsible parties a bill for $69.09 million for costs of the response and recovery operations relating to the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.   Yesterday, crews cut through the pipe from the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and this morning BP said it has placed a cap on the pipe and that some oil is flowing thru pipes to tanker ships.

watch LIVE Undersea ROV Cameras watch Adm. Allen (6/3)

Unemployment dips to 9.7%: 430,000 jobs created but most were temporary census workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released it employment statistics for the month of May. It finds that 430,000 jobs were created but 411,000 of those jobs were temporary census workers. The unemployment rate dropped from 9.9% to 9.7%. The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week, but figures show the job market continues to remain weak.

watch LIVE NOW: WJ on unemployment numbers
read BLS May Report:

Book TV Spotlights 2009 & 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Tonight’s Book TV theme highlights three Pulitzer Prize recepients and their recently awarded books.

David Hoffman, former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, begins the evening when he recounts the final decade of the Cold War and the nuclear and biological munitions that remained following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Dead Hand was the recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. Then, author T.J. Stiles outlines the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was central in the ascendancy of the American corporation and whose fleet of steamships and railroad holdings allowed him to possess one of the largest fortunes in world history. T.J. Stiles’ The First Tycoon won the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. And finally, Liaquat Ahamed recounts four of the world’s central bankers who attempted to rebuild the global economy following WWI in his 2010 Pulitzer Prize book for history, Lords of Finance .

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ThinkProgress.org


UNDER THE RADAR

JUSTICE — PRESIDENT OBAMA DIRECTS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO EXTEND BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEES’ SAME-SEX PARTNERS: Last June, President Obama ordered each federal agency to conduct a thorough review of employee benefits to identify any that can be extended to LGBT employees under existing law. Yesterday, the President released a memorandum announcing that the agencies “have identified a number of benefits,” and they should provide them “to their employees’ same-sex domestic partners [and their children] as permitted by law.” The benefits extension includes credit union membership, hardship transfers, counseling services, family assistance services, access to medical treatment, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. Also as a result of Obama’s June 2009 order, the Office of Personnel Management announced on Tuesday that partners of gay and lesbian federal employees, U.S. Postal Service workers, and federal retirees can start applying next month for long-term health-care insurance. “For far too long, many of our Government’s hard-working, dedicated LGBT employees have been denied equal access to the basic rights and benefits their colleagues enjoy,” Obama said in yesterday’s memo. “This kind of systemic inequality undermines the health, well-being, and security not just of our Federal workforce, but also of their families and communities.” The President also urged Congress to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which would extend the full range of benefits currently enjoyed by Federal employees’ opposite-sex spouses to those of the same-sex.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Save the Internet …Support Net Neutrality


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74 Democratic members of Congress sold you out to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

hey need to hear from you.

Take action!
Clicking the text below will add your name to this petition. The petition reads:

I strongly object to your decision to co-sign an industry-backed letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski urging the FCC to allow broadband Internet companies to police themselves.

We can no more trust AT&T, Verizon and Comcast to protect a free and open Internet any more than we could trust BP to protect the oceans.

I want you to stand up for consumers like me, not sell out to wealthy corporations.
Click to sign.

Click here to add your name

Infuriatingly, they signed an industry-backed letter telling the FCC to abandon efforts to protect Internet users by prohibiting big companies from blocking Internet traffic.

Not only is this letter an attack on net neutrality, but by signing the industry letter, these Democratic members of Congress are attempting to drastically undercut the FCC’s ability to make a fast, affordable and open Internet available to everyone in America — they are actually taking a position against the interests of rural and low-income communities.

This is unacceptable.

We need to make sure they know that their constituents and other consumers are paying attention and will hold them accountable when they undermine net neutrality protections.

Click here to automatically sign our petition to the 74 Democrats telling them that you’re upset by their decision to side with the wealthy telecommunications corporations over their constituents.

What this comes down to is a principle known as “net neutrality.” Net neutrality means that Internet users, not Internet service providers, should be in control. It ensures that Internet service providers can’t speed up, slow down, or block Web content based on its source, ownership, or destination.

Of course broadband providers are insisting that we should just trust them and there’s no need for consumers to be protected by net neutrality rules. But we cannot trust AT&T, Verizon or Comcast to protect a free and open Internet any more than we could trust BP to protect the oceans.

Without strong net neutrality rules, we might have to rely upon the good will of large telecoms to protect our access to the diversity of political perspectives. We might have to trust companies like Comcast, which actively and secretly interfered with users’ ability to access popular video, photo and music sharing applications. We might have to trust companies like AT&T, which censored anti-Bush comments made by Pearl Jam’s lead singer during a concert.

A free and open Internet is an important part of 21st Century democracy, but these members of Congress signed a letter that undercut the efforts of the FCC to make sure the Internet stays free and open.

In other words, they decided to stand with wealthy corporations rather than stand up for your interests.

Click here to automatically sign the petition to the 74 Democrats telling them you want them to stand up for you, not the telecoms.

The simple fact of the matter is that powerful companies with a vested interest in this fight like AT&T have armies of lobbyists to push their agenda.

If these 74 Democrats are going to get the message that it’s unacceptable for them to sell out American consumers, it’s only going to be because people like you speak up. So take a minute right now to sign our petition. You can do so automatically by clicking here.

Thank you for standing up for a free and open Internet.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What we’re Watching …


Israeli raid debate- Right to Protect or Terror Act?

The UN Human Rights Council wants to set up an independent fact-finding mission to look into what it calls violations of international law

Immigration

Latest news from BP

Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill – 02 June. BP today announced that it supports the U.S. government’s decision to proceed with the construction of six sections of the Louisiana barrier islands proposal. The company will fund the estimated $360 million it will cost to construct the six sections. Read the full press release

Deepwater Horizon boom deployment

> View More Videos | YouTube | CG Visual Imagery

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. – Boom is repaired and redeployed off the coast of Alabama by crews with the Environmental Safety and Health Service, May 20, 2010.

Latest Information from Deepwater Horizon