December 18, 2012

The Progressive: We don’t need a bad “grand bargain”

We don’t need a bad “grand bargain”
By Sarita Gupta, December 18, 2012


In the 2012 elections, the American people voted for strengthening our economy and putting people back to work. “We’re all in this together” defeated “You’re on your own.” Or so we thought.

It seems that since Nov. 6, many politicians forgot that the people they represent used their voice at the polls to stand up for working families and the programs they rely on. Democratic lawmakers should resist any “grand bargain” on the budget that protects the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.

There’s a palpable sense of urgency being manufactured inside the beltway to rush lawmakers into striking a budget deal, but a grand bargain is neither inevitable nor necessary.

The best way to solve America’s debt crisis is to fix our revenue crisis, and we can do that quickly by ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent and creating jobs to get our economy moving again. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.progressive.org/we-do-not-need-a-bad-grand-bargain

December 18, 2012

Rick Perry is a dangerous fool

Rick Perry: Legislature Will Work Out Punishment for Women Seeking Later Abortions Under Proposed Ban

by Andrea Grimes
December 17, 2012 - 1:24pm


Texas' Gov. Rick Perry has thrown his support behind a potential 20-week abortion ban in the state, but his office told RH Reality Check that he'll leave it up to legislators to determine the appropriate punishment for women who get later-term abortions.

After Perry's appearance at a Houston crisis pregnancy center last week, RH Reality Check asked his office whether he supported any exceptions to the yet-to-be-proposed law, such as for cases of rape, incest, or the life of the pregnant person. His office's answer: "those details will be worked out by the Legislature."

We also wondered: what does Gov. Perry imagine the punishment should be for women who seek abortions after 20 weeks, were Texas to ban such procedures?

His office responded not with the usual anti-choice dithering about punishing doctors instead of abortion-seekers, but with a clear admission that punishment for these women is in order: "That will also be decided by the Legislature." ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/12/17/rick-perry-punishment-women-who-seek-later-term-abortions-to-be-worked-out-by-law

December 18, 2012

Apple request for US ban on Samsung smartphone sales rejected by judge

Apple has been dramatically rebuffed by a California judge after its request for a US sales ban on a number of Samsung smartphones was turned down in the California court where a jury awarded it $1.05bn (£635m) in damages for patent infringement in August.

But Samsung saw one of its biggest complaints about the verdict – that there had been jury misconduct, with the foreman Velvin Hogan being biased against it and introducing his own knowledge to the deliberation – thrown out.

The rulings by Judge Lucy Koh mean that the two phone giants, which together control about half of the entire smartphone market worldwide, will both be dissatisfied with the outcome of the post-trial hearing – though Samsung will have more cause to celebrate because its infringement will only cost it in monetary, not sales terms.

In her ruling, Koh said: "Samsung may have cut into Apple's customer base somewhat, but there is no suggestion that Samsung will wipe out Apple's customer base, or force Apple out of the business of making smartphones. The present case involves lost sales – not a lost ability to be a viable market participant." ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/18/apple-us-ban-samsung-smartphone-rejected

December 18, 2012

Thom Hartmann: Why Do We Get Riled Up About Gun Rights, and Not Rights to Health Care and Education?

AlterNet / By Thom Hartmann

Why Do We Get Riled Up About Gun Rights, and Not Rights to Health Care and Education?
Billionaires like the Koch brothers are helping shift our priorities.

December 17, 2012 |


The suicide/mass-killing in Newtown has provoked Senator Dianne Feinstein to propose going back to the assault weapons ban that George W. Bush let lapse in 2004. That’s a nice start, but increasing numbers of Americans are calling for a ban on all guns, except for those carried by people who actually need them.

And there’s a strong argument to be made for it.

The Charles Koch Foundation, which was founded in 1974 and then changed its name to the Cato Institute two years later, would like you to know something about gun control. In a commentary titled “ Gun Control, Myths and Realities ,” their director of publications, David Lampo, writes:

The facts show that there is simply no correlation between gun control laws and murder or suicide rates across a wide spectrum of nations and cultures. In Israel and Switzerland, for example, a license to possess guns is available on demand to every law-abiding adult, and guns are easily obtainable in both nations. Both countries also allow widespread carrying of concealed firearms, and yet, admits Dr. Arthur Kellerman, one of the foremost medical advocates of gun control, Switzerland and Israel “have rates of homicide that are low despite rates of home firearm ownership that are at least as high as those in the United States.”

Sounds pretty compelling, right? ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-do-we-get-riled-about-gun-rights-and-not-rights-health-care-and-education

December 18, 2012

Robert Reich: Remember the Children

Remember the Children
Monday, December 17, 2012


America’s children seem to be shortchanged on almost every issue we face as a society.

Not only are we failing to protect our children from deranged people wielding semi-automatic guns.

We’re not protecting them from poverty. The rate of child poverty keeps rising – even faster than the rate of adult poverty.

And we’re not protecting their health. Rates of child diabetes and asthma continue to climb. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/38172048589

December 18, 2012

Tennis matches of the year: Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic US Open Final 2012

December 17, 2012

Australian court: Worker's comp covers sex mishap

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian court has ruled that a bureaucrat who was injured while having sex on a business trip is eligible for worker's compensation benefits.

The Full Bench of the Federal Court ruled Dec. 13 in favor of the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and rejecting the appeal of the federal government's insurer.

The woman was hospitalized after being injured in 2007 during sex with a male friend while staying in a motel in the town of Nowra, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of her hometown of Sydney.

During the sex, a glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed and landed on her face, injuring her nose and mouth. She later suffered depression and was unable to continue working for the government. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Australian-court-Worker-s-comp-covers-sex-mishap-4123249.php#ixzz2FLfthTgT

December 17, 2012

In Arkansas, Heavily Armed Cops to Patrol City Stopping Residents at Random

AlterNet / By Alex Kane

In Arkansas, Heavily Armed Cops to Patrol City Stopping Residents at Random
A city in Arkansas is dealing with an increase in crime. The police chief thinks the solution to the problem is granting law enforcement expansive new powers.

December 17, 2012 |


A city in Arkansas is dealing with an increase in crime. So they’ve decided to grant scary new powers to their law enforcement.

The Associated Press reports that Paragould, Arkansas is set to create a new law enforcement unit to deal with the increase in crime. The new unit will patrol on foot and may have the power to “randomly ask residents for identification.” No word on whether the Fourth Amendment is being suspended in Paragould.

The AP notes that “officers will be clad in protective gear and carry AR-15 rifles.” Pargould’s police chief said that “if officers see people on the street, they'll ask why they are out and ask to see identification.” The AR-15 is a powerful, semi-automatic rifle.

"We're going to do it to everybody,” said the police chief, Todd Stovall . “Criminals don't like being talked to.” ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/arkansas-heavily-armed-cops-patrol-city-stopping-residents-random

December 17, 2012

Presenting America’s Ten Greediest of 2012

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:



Presenting America’s Ten Greediest of 2012
December 16, 2012

Some of today’s most greedy are running giant multinational corporations. Some are just running their mouths. Their stories remind us just how much needs to change, economically and politically, in the year that beckons ahead.

By Sam Pizzigati


The essence of greed? Simple. Greed amounts to taking more than you need when you already have enough — and others don’t. Who among us, by this yardstick, rate as our greediest? Those greediest would be those who have the wherewithal to take whatever they want — and deny others the basics they need.

We abound in these greedy. Most of them wear power suits and dart in and out of the executive suites that sit high atop America’s most elegant corporate towers. Year in and year out, these greedy grab ungodly rewards for their own labor — and deny their employees anything close to decent compensation for theirs.

Without further ado, our fifth annual Too Much list of the greediest of our greedy, those ten deep-pocketed personages who’ve done the most in 2012 to subvert the decency we all like to call, at this time of year, the “holiday spirit.”

10/ Jack Welch: Comforting Comfortables

An oversized ego can be a terrible thing to waste. Jack Welch, the retired General Electric CEO, is doing his best not to waste a bit of his — and pick up a few extras pennies in the process.

Welch, the super CEO of the 1990s, has become a regular on the corporate chattering circuit since he retired in 2001. He collects a sweet $150,000 per appearance. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://toomuchonline.org/presenting-americas-ten-greediest-of-2012/

December 17, 2012

Chris Hedges: Egypt’s New Pharaoh

from truthdig:



Egypt’s New Pharaoh

Posted on Dec 16, 2012
By Chris Hedges


When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 14 years in exile on Feb. 1, 1979, he set out to destroy the secular opposition forces, including the Communist Party of Iran, which had been instrumental in bringing down the shah. Khomeini’s declaration of an Islamic government, supported by referendum, saw him rewrite the constitution, close opposition newspapers and ban opposition groups including the National Democratic Front and the Muslim People’s Republican Party. Dissidents who had spent years inside Iran’s notoriously brutal prison system under the shah were incarcerated once again by the new regime. Some returned to their cells to be greeted by their old jailers, who had offered their services to the new regime.

This is what is under way in Egypt. It is the story of most revolutions. The moderates, who are crucial to winning the support of the masses and many outside the country, become an impediment to the consolidation of autocratic power. Liberal democrats, intellectuals, the middle class, secularists and religious minorities including Coptic Christians were always seen by President Mohamed Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party—Egypt’s de facto political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood—as “useful idiots.” These forces were essential to building a broad movement to topple the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. They permitted Western journalists to paint the opposition in their own image. But now they are a hindrance to single-party rule and are being crushed.

The first of two days of voting on a new constitution was held Saturday. According to reports Sunday, the document is being approved. The second round of voting, next Saturday, includes rural districts that provide much of the Brotherhood’s base of support, and it is expected to end in the constitution being ratified by the required 50 percent or more of Egypt’s 51 million voters. Opposition forces charge that the first round was marred by polling irregularities including bribery, intimidation, erratic polling hours and polling officials who instructed voters how to cast ballots. A large number of the 13,000 polling stations will have had no independent monitors; many judges, in protest over the drafting process, have refused to oversee the voting.

The referendum masks the real center of power, which is in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood. The party has no intention of diluting or giving up that power. For example, when it appeared that the Supreme Constitutional Court would dissolve the panel—stacked with party members—that was drafting the new constitution, the Brotherhood locked the judges out of the court building. Three dozen members of the panel, including secularists, Coptic Christians, liberals and journalists, quit in protest. The remaining Islamists, in defiance of the judges, held an all-night session Nov. 29 and officially approved the 63-page document. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/egypts_new_pharaoh_20121216/