January 13, 2012

So, which candidate do you think that Obama could handily defeat...Romney, Gingrich, or Paul...

I mean handily with a mandate and that the ticket could enhance lower ticket voters.

January 12, 2012

Bradley Manning's leaks probably put fewer Americans in danger

than the leaks by the 4 Marines in Afghanistan.

Greg Mitchell via twitter.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165603/occupyusa-blog-thursday-jan-12-frequent-updates

January 10, 2012

Leon Panetta says Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon;

PBS edits his remark to make it appear he said the opposite:
http://www.fair.org/blog/2012/01/10/pbss-dishonest-iran-edit/


via charlesdavis84 Charles Davis on twitter
https://twitter.com/#!/charlesdavis84/status/156794780737740801

January 7, 2012

Notes From a Guantánamo Survivor

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/notes-from-a-guantanamo-survivor.html

Hundreds more still detained and will always be detained after this kind of tragic suffering...

"I later learned the United States paid a $3,000 bounty for me. I didn’t know it at the time, but apparently the United States distributed thousands of fliers all over Afghanistan, promising that people who turned over Taliban or Qaeda suspects would, in the words of one flier, get “enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life.” A great number of men wound up in Guantánamo as a result.

I was taken to Kandahar, in Afghanistan, where American interrogators asked me the same questions for several weeks: Where is Osama bin Laden? Was I with Al Qaeda? No, I told them, I was not with Al Qaeda. No, I had no idea where bin Laden was. I begged the interrogators to please call Germany and find out who I was. During their interrogations, they dunked my head under water and punched me in the stomach; they don’t call this waterboarding but it amounts to the same thing. I was sure I would drown.

At one point, I was chained to the ceiling of a building and hung by my hands for days. A doctor sometimes checked if I was O.K.; then I would be strung up again. The pain was unbearable.

After about two months in Kandahar, I was transferred to Guantánamo. There were more beatings, endless solitary confinement, freezing temperatures and extreme heat, days of forced sleeplessness. The interrogations continued always with the same questions. I told my story over and over — my name, my family, why I was in Pakistan. Nothing I said satisfied them. I realized my interrogators were not interested in the truth. "

January 6, 2012

FDL: Obama’s Pentagon Strategy: A Leaner, More Efficient Empire

"By Charles Davis and Medea Benjamin
http://my.firedoglake.com/codepink/2012/01/06/obamas-pentagon-strategy-a-leaner-more-efficient-empire/

In an age when U.S. power can be projected through private mercenary armies and unmanned Predator drones, the U.S. military need no longer rely on massive, conventional ground forces to pursue its imperial agenda, a fact President Barack Obama is now acknowledging. But make no mistake: while the tactics may be changing, the U.S. taxpayer – and poor foreigners abroad – will still be saddled with overblown military budgets and militaristic policies.

...

Unfortunately, though, rather than renouncing empire and endless war, Obama’s stated strategy for the military going forward just reaffirms the U.S. commitment to both. Rather than renouncing the last decade of war, it states that the bloody and disastrous occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan – gently termed “extended operations” – were pursued “to bring stability to those countries.”

And Leon Panetta assured the American public that even with the changes, the U.S. would still be able to fight two major wars at the same time—and win. And Obama assured America’s military contractors and coffin makers that their lifeline – U.S. taxpayers’ money – would still be funneled their way in obscene bucket loads."

January 6, 2012

This Week In Poverty

The Nation's new blog
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165478/week-poverty-january-6-2011

TANF Is Broken

"In 1996, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) which had guaranteed cash welfare to poor families with kids since 1935. The deal severely limited available funds, freezing block grants at 1996 levels without indexing them to inflation (unlike campaign contribution limits, for example). The states were also allowed wide discretion in terms of eligibility, benefit levels and how the funds would be used.

The results of “reform” are now in: prior to the legislation, for every 100 poor families with children, 68 received cash assistance through AFDC. In 2009 that number plummeted to twenty-seven for every 100 poor families. And since the block grants are stuck in a 1996 time warp, those dollars don’t go as far. Adjusted for inflation, benefit levels have fallen by 20 percent or more in thirty-four states, and a majority of states provide benefits at less than 30 percent of the poverty line (about $5,200 for a family of three).

The recent payroll tax extension also extended TANF “as is” until February 29, 2012. President Obama and Congress should look to Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s RISE Act for guidance when reauthorization rolls around. Among the reforms in the legislation: adjusting each state’s block grant for inflation; allowing education and job training to count towards work requirements; providing childcare for all work-eligible parents; and prohibiting time limits of less than sixty months."

January 4, 2012

Homophobic enablers..

What? This OP that Greenwald is a fag so he hates Obama is still up here?

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

ALERTER'S COMMENTS:

Using a Homophobic slur "fag"

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Wed Jan 4, 2012, 01:35 AM, and voted 4-2 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
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Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Given the content of the OP, the question (if harsh) is valid.

Sometimes you gotta be a bitch to make the point.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: Using the word "fag" is hateful. Hide it.

Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given

CONSEQUENCES OF THIS DECISION

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January 4, 2012

A Republican Primary forum would be nice.

50 states of this cluttering GD?