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marmar

marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 23, 2011

Freeper reax to CNN story "Why the winds are shifting toward Obama": FR threads MUST include racism



[font size="4"]The stupid party of RINOS delivers a big fat Kwanzaa gift to Hussein and the 'Rats.
1 posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 5:49:13 PM by jimbo123
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To: jimbo123

The RINOS stand for nothing, except to bend over backwards and kiss the butts of their democratic masters.

2 posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 5:51:47 PM by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: jimbo123

Sad but true. God knows what he’ll do when he doesn’t have to face re-election.

3 posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 5:51:55 PM by madprof98 ("moritur et ridet" - salvianus)
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To: jimbo123

Gergen is pimping for his masters.

4 posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 5:51:58 PM by WashingtonSource
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To: jimbo123

Unfortunately we’re all downwind....

5 posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 5:54:02 PM by clintonh8r (Living well is no longer the best revenge. Revenge is now the best revenge.)
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To: jimbo123

And you believe anything that David Rodham Gergen has to say about GOP politics? Can you point to any previous time when this guy was ever right on anything?[/font]

More, if you can stomach it, at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2823996/posts




December 23, 2011

NY Times: Signs Point to Economy’s Rise, but Experts See a False Dawn


WASHINGTON — As the fourth quarter draws to a close, a spate of unexpectedly good economic data suggests that it will have some of the fastest and strongest economic growth since the recovery started in 2009, causing a surge in the stock market and cheering economists, investors and policy makers.

In recent weeks, a broad range of data — like reports on new residential construction and small business confidence — have beaten analysts’ expectations. Initial claims for jobless benefits, often an early indicator of where the labor market is headed, have dropped to their lowest level since May 2008. And prominent economics groups say the economy is growing three to four times as quickly as it was early in the year, at an annual pace of about 3.7 percent.

But the good news also comes with a significant caveat. Many forecasters say the recent uptick probably does not represent the long-awaited start to a strong, sustainable recovery. Much of the current strength is caused by temporary factors. And economists expect growth to slow in the first half of 2012 to an annual pace of about 1.5 to 2 percent.

.........(snip).........

“Unfortunately, I think we’re going to see a slowdown over the course of next year,” Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told reporters last week. “Not only do we have the European crisis spilling over and hurting U.S. trade and confidence,” he said, but the United States economy also faces “homegrown shocks.” ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/signs-point-to-economys-rise-but-experts-see-a-false-dawn.html?_r=1&ref=business



December 23, 2011

Indiana's GOP Secretary of State Removed By Court For Falsifying Candidate Papers


Indiana's GOP Secretary of State Removed By Court For Falsifying Candidate Papers
The state's top election official used an address where he was not a legal resident.


Charlie White, Indiana's Republican Secretary of State, has been removed from office by an Indiana Court that ruled White falsified his address when registering as a candidate for the constitutional post overseeing Indiana elections.

"His change of registration for purposes of voting was timely. For purposes of being a candidate, however, his change of registration was not timely," wrote Louise Rosenberg, Marion County Circuit Court Judge in her December 21st decision. "The fact that Mr. White knowingly registered in the wrong precinct is sufficient to render him ineligible for the office of Secretary of State."

The court set aside the results of a 2010 recount by another state commission and ordered the candidate with the second-highest votes, Democrat Vop Osili, an architect and chair of the Indianapolis Board of Zoning Appeals, seated. The court also did not dismiss separate voter fraud charges against White.

The case was brought by Indiana's Democratic Party, which has not exactly had a winning streak when it comes to election cases. Indiana has some of the toughest voter ID laws in the country, as a result of Republican activists claiming that floods of people (Democrats, of course) were falsifying voter registration forms in order to vote more than once. The voter ID law was upheld by the Supreme Court, mostly because lawyers challenging it sued before it took effect. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/752457/indiana%27s_gop_secretary_of_state_removed_by_court_for_falsifying_candidate_papers/



December 23, 2011

Japan Times: Nuclear crisis far from resolved


Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011

EDITORIAL
Nuclear crisis far from resolved

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Dec. 16 declared that the stricken reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have entered the state of "cold shutdown" and that it has been confirmed that the nuclear crisis has "been resolved" (Shusoku ni itatta.) As far as Tepco and the goverment are concerned, "Step 2" of their "road map" to bring the nuclear crisis under control has been accomplished one month earlier than originally scheduled. After the completion of Step 2, work that will eventually lead to removal of molten nuclear fuel and decommissioning of the stricken reactors is supposed to start. But the prime minister's declaration that the crisis has been resolved will not be accepted by many people, especially those in Fukushima Prefecture.

Workers who have struggled continuously since March 11 to stabilize the stricken reactors deserve the nation's praise. But Mr. Noda's announcement is political grandstanding designed to give an impression that the plant's four crippled reactors -- three of which suffered meltdowns -- have been completely brought under control. Apparently he wanted to make the announcement before year's end.

......(snip)......

The term "cold shutdown" is traditionally used to describe a reactor in normal working order that has reached a state of sub-criticality. If the nuclear fission process is stopped in such a reactor, the temperature inside the reactor falls below 100 C and the nuclear fuel is cooled by the reactor's own internal cooling system in a stable manner, then a reactor can be said to be in the state of cold shutdown. In this state, no amount of radioactive substances is released from a reactor. In addition, a reactor in a true state of cold shutdown can be easily restarted.

The conditions of the stricken reactors at Fukushima No. 1 are completely different from a reactor that is in a true state of cold shutdown. An external cooling system that has been cobbled together uses about 4 km of rubber hosing and was not built to earthquake safety standards so it cannot be considered to be a stable system. Furthermore, while the containment vessels of reactors in true states of cold shutdown can be opened and their fuel rods removed, the melted nuclear fuel in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors cannot be removed and must be continually kept cool by the external makeshift cooling system. Finally, the reactors could easily suffer additional damage if another strong earthquake strikes, and the pools containing spent nuclear fuel remain in a vulnerable state. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20111220a1.html



December 23, 2011

Occupy hecklers drown out Bachmann at Iowa diner



http://news.yahoo.com/occupy-hecklers-drown-bachmann-iowa-diner-231024309.html


IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Hamburg Inn in Iowa City has long been a popular stop for presidential candidates, but it probably won't be high on Rep. Michele Bachmann's list anymore.

About two dozen activists with Occupy Iowa City packed the diner before Bachmann arrived there Thursday, then loudly chanted in unison as she tried to mingle with supporters. Their chant blasted the Minnesota congresswoman's position on gay rights, health care and taxes and ended with: "You're not wanted here. So go, just go."

The restaurant blared Christmas songs over the loudspeaker to drown out the protesters. Police arrived as tensions rose, but no one was arrested.




December 23, 2011

Inequality in Ancient Rome and Modern America


via truthdig:



Inequality in Ancient Rome and Modern America
Posted on Dec 21, 2011


Historians used the Gini coefficient, a modern measure of wealth inequality, to compare disparities between the classes in the Roman Empire 150 years after the death of Christ and those in the United States today. The ancients, with their ranks of plebeians, patricians and senators, scored slightly better than we did.

To become a ruling Roman, would-be senators had to be worth at least 1 million Roman sesterces. Most were far wealthier, with the average worth well over 5 million sesterces.

Today, the Center for Responsive Politics calculates a U.S. senator’s average estimated wealth was $13.2 million in 2010, and a U.S. House member’s was $5.9 million. The median American household pulls in about $54,000 per year. —ARK

Per Square Mile:

To determine the size of the Roman economy and the distribution of income, historians Walter Schiedel and Steven Friesen pored over papyri ledgers, previous scholarly estimates, imperial edicts, and Biblical passages. Their target was the state of the economy when the empire was at its population zenith, around 150 C.E. Schiedel and Friesen estimate that the top 1 percent of Roman society controlled 16 percent of the wealth, less than half of what America’s top 1 percent control. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://persquaremile.com/2011/12/16/income-inequality-in-the-roman-empire/





http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/inequality_in_ancient_rome_and_modern_america_20111221/


December 22, 2011

Cops mock Seattle jogger nearly killed by a truck


from Grist:



Cops mock Seattle jogger nearly killed by a truck

by Sarah Laskow
21 Dec 2011 10:45 AM


In Seattle, a semi truck hit a jogger, nearly killing him. While the jogger lay almost dying, the police officers who responded to the accident were busy sneering at his decision not to drive a car. This being 2011, their comments were caught on video:

Here's the most relevant excerpt, from the local TV station that obtained the video:



"That's why you drive a car!" the first one remarks.
"Yeah, don't try to jog to work, you dumb (expletive)," said the other.


Now, bikers are often subjected to such 'tude, but joggers? Isn't it a god-given right in this country to get your jog on? ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/list/2011-12-21-cops-mock-seattle-jogger-nearly-killed-by-a-truck



December 22, 2011

Chinese Hack Into US Chamber of Commerce, Authorities Say

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December 22, 2011

FCC rules for Tennis Channel in Comcast dispute


WASHINGTON (AP)—The Federal Communications Commission has ruled in favor of Tennis Channel in its dispute with Comcast.

Tennis Channel filed a complaint against the cable operator in 2010, accusing it of discriminating against the network in violation of FCC rules. Tennis Channel argued that Comcast gave preferential treatment to two similar sports cable networks it owned—Versus and Golf Channel—by placing them on more broadly distributed tiers. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=ap-tennischannel-comcast



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Gender: Male
Hometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
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