Hate in The Heartland-Not about Wikileaks

    Anyone who watched the spectacle of hate at the NBA game last night in Cleveland might decide the town could win the prize for the most bitter, angry and low life fans anywhere in the nation, including Philly.  Raucous, rude, angry fans and mobs of police were present as hometown boy LeBron James returned for the first time with his new team, the Miami Heat.  James grew up in Ohio, skipped college, and went directly to the NBA to play for the Cavaliers for seven years before moving to

    GotToBeMe's picture

    Political Cartoon: Gulf of Wikileaks

    "Gulf of Wikileaks" a Cartoon by Kaveh Adel

    It has been a while since I have posted anything relating to the subjects on Dagblog but here I go.

    Crossposted at www.Kavehadel.com/blog

    Artwork 2010©KavehAdel.com

    Michael Maiello's picture

    The Whatever-Partisan Commission On Economic Progress

    The President's fiscal commission has failed to generate a plan that won the support of 14 of 18 of its members, as directed.  Three Republican Senators on the commission voted for it, so the ideas in the commissions report might still egt an airing in the Senate but it won't be some up or down vote without amendments.  Which is fine.  I never understood why this issue should be treated differently than any other, screwy as I think senate rules are.

    Richard Day's picture

    ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

    OrgueSaintThomasStrasbourg.jpg
     

    No, I am not talking about transporting a church organ from Strasbourg to Milan you idiots.

    I am referring to transplants along this order:

    cmaukonen's picture

    Fed up with the Ds and Rs ????

    There is another option and Ted Rall's latest book, The Anti-American Manifesto explains it quite seriously and succinctly. Overthrow the present government and establish something else. Something that is fair and just and workable. This is not some 1960s hippy Abbie Hoffman type book. It contains no plans for Molotov Cocktails or pipe bombs or how to rip off bits of the system.  It is an in depth examination of the  reasons for taking down the current oligarchy and replacing it with a real government.

    Bernanke & Fed Aim To Speed Foreclosures, Make them Faster, Easier For Banks

    McClatchy is reporting that the Fed has proposed changing a key rule having to do with the the TILA (Truth in Lending Act of 1968). This rule currently allows a homeowner who can prove that they were not given proper disclosure on their loan up to 3 years to cancel the loan. Current law says in such a case, the lien on the home must be removed so the homeowner can use the home to get a new mortgage to pay off the first.

    Watt Childress's picture

    Transportation earmarks turn taxpayers into roadkill

     

    Independents are curious what will happen now that Republicans have won back some of their control over America’s coffers. Will elected leaders secure funding for public priorities without adding more debt or taxation? Will federal officials work with state and local governments to shore up budgets during this era of economic hardship?

    Free Speech Gone Rogue

    By now, Gentle Reader, you understand the power of information.

    For instance, you probably know that Israel was able to remotely silence Syria's radar defense grid, allowing Israeli jets to slip unnoticed into Syrian airspace to take out a nuclear reactor the Syrians were building with North Korea's help.

    No doubt you also are aware that China has used Google to spy on its domestic human-rights activists, and that Iran's uranium-enrichment centrifuges were crippled last month by a powerful computer virus likely planted by a foreign government.

    tmccarthy0's picture

    THIRD PARTIES ALWAYS DRINK TEA PART 1

    THE AMERICAN THIRD PARTY TRADITION

    Michael Maiello's picture

    Let My Tax Cuts Go

    I agree with Atrios here and maybe take it a step further.  The Republicans specifically designed tax cuts that expire in 2011.  So Obama should let them go.

    Richard Day's picture

    REPORTING THE FACTS!!!!

    Paul Harvey
     

                                  FIRST RADIO IDIOT

    Michelle Goldberg at Daily Beast decided she would take the time to read Sarah Palin’s book.

    Evidently Ms. Goldberg found a section in this mighty literary tome dedicated to feminism:

    Michael Maiello's picture

    Stupid Americans

    It seems that the mainstream reaction to the latest from Wikileaks has been something along the lines of, "this isn't new," by which the speaker means either that they already knew this stuff or always suspected it and that there's no value in having their suspicions confirmed by evidence.  If the speaker already knew, it just means they're fine keeping the public in the dark about how foreign policy is conducted.  But the second sentiment, along the lines of "didn't you always think Karzai was corrupt?" or "Didn't you always suspect that the Saudis would love for us to bomb Iran?" is reall

    Symbolism huh?

    So it appears that Senate Dems are set to hold symbolic votes on START,DADT,extension of unemployment benefits and extension of middle class only tax cuts,knowing GOPs will block them and intending to make the GOP pay a political price at some point. After the symbolic votes Senate Dems will cave into Republican demands and get little or nothing for it in exchange. I've got news for them about who is gonna pay a bigger political price. These are fights worth fighting.

    GOP, Democrats to Spar Over Taxes on 0.11% of the Estates of the Wealthiest Americans

    Millionaire and billionaire Dagbloggers take note: if you die before Dec. 31st, 2010, as Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) claims some of her constituents may do to avoid taxes, you can RIP knowing Uncle Sam did not get one cent of your hard earned fortunes, your designated heirs got it all.

    cmaukonen's picture

    What?! Sarah Palin again? But wait...this is a bit different.

    Who are these people? These so called Tea Party followers of Sarah Palin that support her with so much enthusiasm.  Contrary to the caricature that those on the left and some on the right like to paint them, they are not the ignorant hicks of some back water towns that don't even have television yet.  Or escapees from a lunatic asylum.  They are in fact common folk from  the small towns in the Midwest and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

    Iran Achieving its Goals in Iraq? Recent News/Wiki Documents Support that View

    The recent takeover reported this month, of a formerly US run Iraqi prison, by Moqtada al Sadr supporters, who have just been brought into the Maliki government, combined with the reading of a dispatch from Ambassador Hill from December, 2009, leads one to surmise that Iran is moving to consolidate its influence in Iraq, including the widespread use of death squads:

    tmccarthy0's picture

    REPUBLICANS QUEST FOR POWER THREATENS TO KILL "NEW START"

     Republicans are opposed to New START, but the question is why? Well, listen to Jon Kyl, who was on Meet the Press this morning, he does try but ultimately fails to offer any reason for his opposition. I guess he is leading a filibuster in order to stop any discussion of ratification of the Treaty. As noted in the first comment by NCD, below.  He attempts to justify killing the New START ratification process. Have things changed so drastically since 1982, when there was basic agreement around the world on the need to reduce nuclear proliferation.

    we are stardust's picture

    The Great MERS Whitewash: Kaptur on Dylan Ratigan

    The object of this diary is twofold:  a) to show that Dylan Ratigan at MSNBC does in fact cover the issues of the banking and fraudclosure  travesty; and b) to simplify some of this for financial neophytes like myself.  It’s increasingly important that more of us learn what’s going on, and what’s at stake as these issues are either papered over or systemically made right for people, not for banks.  I’m sure that the things I have gotten wrong here, you will let me hear about.  ;o)

    Barth's picture

    Giving Thanks

    Thanks. There is no reason to repeat why this is a great holiday, whatever its supposed derivation, or the more accurate and quite understandable basis for it. It is, in the end, a day for us to become one: an entire nation eating roughly the same foods and celebrating together, as best we can.

    "We decry what has happened. These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests."

    --Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State
    Daily Press Briefing, Washington, DC, November 24, 2010

    The relevant excerpt:

    QUESTION: WikiLeaks.
    MR. CROWLEY: Last question. One more, then I got to go.

    QUESTION: WikiLeaks.

    QUESTION: Is it coming down this week? Are you expecting it this weekend? Do you have any idea of what you can on the record, off on background, or off the record --

    MR. CROWLEY: Last question on WikiLeaks. We – no, no. I literally got to go. All right. On WikiLeaks --

    QUESTION: This is on the record?

    MR. CROWLEY: Yeah, sure. We are very mindful of the announcement that WikiLeaks made earlier this week, that there is a release of documents pending at some point in the future. If the past is prologue, that would mean that certain news organizations may well already be in possession of specific documents. So we continue to work through, as we have throughout this process, evaluating both the material that we think was previously leaked from government sources to WikiLeaks, and we continue to make clear that this is harmful to our national security. It does put lives at risk. It does put national interests at risk.

    It’s hard for us to give you any kind of assessment of what the potential impact is, because we actually don’t know what is going to be released. It is our expectation – we’ve known all along that WikiLeaks has in its possession State Department cables. We are prepared if this upcoming tranche of documents includes State Department cables. We are in touch with our posts around the world. They have begun the process of notifying governments that release of documents is possible in the near future. Many of you are aware, we have had similar conversations with members of the Hill to let them know what we are prepared for. This is going to be unhelpful.

    This is – without getting into any discussion of any specific cables, the kinds of cables that posts send to Washington are – they’re classified. They involve discussions that we’ve had with government officials, with private citizens. They contain analysis. They contain a record of the day-to-day diplomatic activity that our personnel undertake. And this back and forth between government, the government of the United States and governments around the world, it is diplomacy in action. It is part of the system through which we collaborate and cooperate with other countries. Inherent in this day-to-day action is trust that we can convey our perspective to other governments in confidence and that they can convey their perspective on events to us. It helps inform us of what’s happening around the world. It informs our – the policies that we undertake on behalf of the American people.

    And when this confidence is betrayed and ends up on the front pages of newspapers or lead stories on television and radio it has an impact. We decry what has happened. These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests. They are going to create tension in our relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world. We wish that this would not happen. But we are, obviously, prepared for the possibility that it will.

    QUESTION: And you’ve notified Congress this week?

    MR. CROWLEY: Yes. 

    Also see:

    Richard Day's picture

    TEXAS JUSTICE

     

    Phantly Roy Bean, Jr.

     

    cmaukonen's picture

    Thanksgiving Dinner

    I'm making my dinner now. Such as it is. I just got back from visiting my mother. She lives fairly close by. About a 20 minute drive give or take traffic.  My sisters brought over thanksgiving dinner for my mother and brother. My brother is two years younger than me but lives with my mother. He is an untreated schizophrenic.  You cannot force people with mental illness to take treatment unless they are proven to be a danger to them selves or others. Then it's up to the courts to decide. She will not kick him out so he lives there.

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