14 Felonies Later, Gov Rick Scott...

14 Felonies Later, Gov Rick Scott Wants Taxpayers to Fund His Clinics

Amplify’d from www.politicususa.com

14 Felonies Later, Gov Rick Scott Wants Taxpayers to Fund His Clinics

Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott better hope his wife doesn’t leave him any time soon.

Scott transferred 62 million dollars in Solantic stock (a chain of healthcare clinics) to a revocable trust in his wife’s name after he got elected. Now he’s passing a bill that will hugely benefit Solantic. He calls this privatization, which might ring a bell for you since Republicans have been singing its high praises ever since they discovered government contracts (i.e., socialized profits for their private companies, aka, welfare for the wealthy). Basically, your tax dollars will soon be going directly to Rick Scott’s wife’s bank account if his bill passes.

Perhaps in Republican circles, transferring your stock options into your wife’s name is distancing yourself from your personal profit. Sure, Republicans hate to empower a woman like that (hence, the trust is “revocable”), but it’s either give the stocks to her or heaven forbid, sell them just before you get into office and finally get to pass laws to enrich yourself, aka, the “Medicaid Reform Law.” Read more at www.politicususa.com

 

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A Theocratic Christian Assault ...

There are more ominous signs that Republicans are moving closer to theocratic rule, and they are unapologetic about their Reconstructionist intentions

Amplify’d from www.politicususa.com

Republicans Launch A Theocratic Christian Assault On The Constitution

At the start of the 112th Congress, every legislator was sworn in using the standard oath proclaiming the members will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Each state has their own oath of office that includes supporting and defending the Constitution as well as the particular state’s constitution. In many states, every civil servant, whether a firefighter, school teacher, or police officer takes the state’s oath of office including the clause regarding supporting and defending the U.S. Constitution. Since the new Congress has been in session, it appears that every single Republican in the House and Senate has broken their promise to uphold and defend the Constitution and it may be time to initiate a full-scale, across-the-board impeachment proceeding to evict the promise-breakers in the Republican Party.

The first Amendment’s Establishment Clause says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and is generally accepted to mean the Congress cannot establish a national religion or show preference of one religion over another. In this session of Congress, Republicans arranged to have the Constitution read aloud to show their intention of strictly adhering to the document they claim directs their agenda and policy decisions. Since they swore to uphold the Constitution and heard it read aloud, there is absolutely no excuse for subverting the 1st Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

In the House of Representatives, Republicans have been on a rampage to make laws regarding establishment of Christianity as the law of the land, and in the process, are prohibiting the free exercise of beliefs or religion that is not Christianity. The illegal, unconstitutional establishment of religion is not unique to the House of Representatives or the Senate for that matter. Republican governors and state legislators are following the lead of House Republicans in passing laws establishing Christianity as the source of law that all residents must follow in spite of the Constitution’s prohibition.

Instead of working on legislation that helps improve the economy and creates jobs, House Republicans are attacking women’s reproductive rights and using Christian dogmata to dictate spending cuts and defunding strategies in an effort to ban abortions. The issue has gone beyond the argument that government funds shall not be used to pay for abortion; Republicans have worked to make it impossible for women to enroll in health policies that cover abortion whether the coverage is used or not, and regardless that a woman pays for the coverage with her own funds. Regardless of the reason an individual is against abortion, the Republicans are using the bible as the basis for the law and not the Constitution.

In states with Republican majorities, the theocratic lawmakers are taking drastic steps to impose Christianity on women with total disregard for the Constitution or freedom to choose their own reproductive health. In South Dakota, for example, women seeking an abortion must wait for three days and submit to sermons outlining the iniquities of abortion, and in Utah, a law seeks to criminalize miscarriages, and many states are attempting to pass laws granting personhood to a zygote. The bible-inspired laws are being supported by religious organizations that are also attempting to impose their anti-gay beliefs on Americans in states throughout the nation. Read more at www.politicususa.com

 

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Is there any hope for the "99ers"?

“It's pretty tragic out there for a lot of people,”

Amplify’d from www.alternet.org

8 Unemployed for Every Job Opening: What Are They Supposed to Do Once Their Benefits Run Out?

Is there any hope of help arriving for the "99ers"?

There are now approximately 14 million Americans who want a job and can't find one. According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), if they stood side by side, they'd stretch from Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles, California and back.

In February, the average length of joblessness for all unemployed workers was a record 36 weeks. Many of those people relied on their unemployment insurance to get by until it ran out and still haven't found work -- they've come to be known as "99ers," as extended unemployment benefits in many states last a maximum of 99 weeks. NELP researchers estimate there were 3.9 million 99ers out of work last year, and project a similar number for 2011.  Read more at www.alternet.org

 

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War on drugs has failed, say former head

“Criminalizing drug users has been an expensive catastrophe for individuals and communities.

Amplify’d from www.telegraph.co.uk

War on drugs has failed, say former heads of MI5, CPS and BBC

The "war on drugs" has failed and should be abandoned in favour of evidence-based policies that treat addiction as a health problem, according to prominent public figures including former heads of MI5 and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Drug availability and use has increased with up to 250 million people worldwide using narcotics such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin  Photo: PA

Leading peers – including prominent Tories – say that despite governments worldwide drawing up tough laws against dealers and users over the past 50 years, illegal drugs have become more accessible.

Vast amounts of money have been wasted on unsuccessful crackdowns, while criminals have made fortunes importing drugs into this country.

The increasing use of the most harmful drugs such as heroin has also led to “enormous health problems”, according to the group.

It could lead to calls for the British government to decriminalise drugs, or at least for the police and Crown Prosecution Service not to jail people for possession of small amounts of banned substances.

Their intervention could receive a sympathetic audience in Whitehall, where ministers and civil servants are trying to cut the numbers and cost of the prison population. The Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, has already announced plans to help offenders kick drug habits rather than keeping them behind bars. Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk

 

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At its heart, NPR is an educational institution. It was born out of the same philosophy that brought America public education for everyone. Thomas Jefferson and America's other founders believed in public education because it leads to a more highly-educated and prosperous country -- a more informed electorate and a more vital democracy. It was a decision that -- probably more than any other -- led America to become the most prosperous country on earth, and its longest-lasting democracy.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

Why the Republicans Hate NPR

Yesterday, Republicans in the House passed a bill -- with no Democratic support -- to cut off funding for NPR altogether and to restrict local public radio stations from using federal funds from buying programing from NPR. The Miami Herald quoted Patrick Butler, president of the Public Media Association that represents public television stations and NPR, as saying:

The only result would be the loss of thousands of jobs in this industry, the closing or severe restriction of hundreds of local stations serving small-town and rural America which depend on federal funds for 30 (percent) to 100 percent of their annual budgets, including program acquisition, and the loss of vital information for millions of Americans.

Why do the radical Republicans in the House hate NPR? First, they hate any successful public sector -- non-corporate venture. It flies in the face of radical conservative belief that the "private sector" always does things better.

Second, the Republicans hate the idea that NPR is drawing listeners from stations owned by corporations like Clear Channel. They are all about "competition" until private corporations have to compete with public sector ventures that can provide superior services for less money and don't have to pay millions in profits to satisfy their corporate task masters.

Third, Republicans want to kill NPR because it presents high quality, unbiased, factually accurate news. These qualities do not sit well with people who want the Rupert Murdoch's and Fox News's of the world to control what the public has the right to hear. They think unbiased news coverage is subversive.

Fourth, the Republicans in the House wanted to attack NPR to throw some red meat to the Tea Party portion of its base. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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We’re well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless. Why doesn’t Washington care?

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

The Forgotten Millions

More than three years after we entered the worst economic slump since the 1930s, a strange and disturbing thing has happened to our political discourse: Washington has lost interest in the unemployed.

So one-sixth of America’s workers — all those who can’t find any job or are stuck with part-time work when they want a full-time job — have, in effect, been abandoned.

It might not be so bad if the jobless could expect to find new employment fairly soon. But unemployment has become a trap, one that’s very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record.

In short, we’re well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless. Why doesn’t Washington care? Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunam

Greek philosopher Plato wrote about Atlantis some 2,600 years ago, describing it as "an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules," as the Straits of Gibraltar were known in antiquity. Using Plato's detailed account of Atlantis as a map, searches have focused on the Mediterranean and Atlantic as the best possible sites for the city.

Amplify’d from www.reuters.com

Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found

NORTHAMPTON, Mass (Reuters) - A U.S.-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain.

"This is the power of tsunamis," head researcher Richard Freund told Reuters.

"It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that's pretty much what we're talking about," said Freund, a University of Hartford, Connecticut, professor who lead an international team searching for the true site of Atlantis.

To solve the age-old mystery, the team used a satellite photo of a suspected submerged city to find the site just north of Cadiz, Spain. There, buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, they believe that they pinpointed the ancient, multi-ringed dominion known as Atlantis.

The team of archeologists and geologists in 2009 and 2010 used a combination of deep-ground radar, digital mapping, and underwater technology to survey the site.

Freund's discovery in central Spain of a strange series of "memorial cities," built in Atlantis' image by its refugees after the city's likely destruction by a tsunami, gave researchers added proof and confidence, he said.

Atlantis residents who did not perish in the tsunami fled inland and built new cities there, he added.

The team's findings will be unveiled on Sunday in "Finding Atlantis," a new National Geographic Channel special. Read more at www.reuters.com

 

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Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.

Amplify’d from motherjones.com

It's the Inequality, Stupid

Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.

How Rich Are the Superrich?

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

Winners Take All

The superrich have grabbed the bulk of the past three decades' gains.

Out of Balance

A Harvard business prof and a behavioral economist recently asked more than 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth is distributed in the United States. Most thought that it’s more balanced than it actually is. Asked to choose their ideal distribution of wealth, 92% picked one that was even more equitable.

Who's Winning?

For a healthy few, it's getting better all the time.

See more at motherjones.com

 

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--> Huckabee and the Boy Scouts

hahahaha! what a 'POS' ! Huckabee? huckapuppy!- choke on your righteous lies, and swallow your VILE HYPOCRISY you F,ing LIAR!!!

Amplify’d from www.pensitoreview.com

Huckabee and the Boy Scouts

His Son Was Fired As a Scout Counselor for Torturing a Dog to Death

On Day Three of Mike Huckabee’s Lie-apalooza Tour this week, in an interview with hate-group radio host Bryan Fischer, Huckabee said this:

HUCKABEE: “…I do think [Pres. Obama] has a different worldview and I think it’s, in part, molded out of a very different experience. Most of us grew up going to Boy Scout meetings and, you know, our communities were filled with Rotary Clubs, not madrassas.”

On Tuesday, in an attempt to walk back his lies, Huckabee released a statement insisting that, on Monday, he’d meant to say “Indonesia” every time he said “Kenya” when he said this:

It was the next day that, in a fit of exasperation, Huckabee said, “Most of us grew up going to Boy Scout meetings and, you know, our communities were filled with Rotary Clubs, not madrassas.”

As Trish reported here in December 2007, during the 2008 presidential primaries, it came out that, at age 18, Huckabee’s son David had been fired by the Scouts as a camp counselor after he and another counselor captured a stray dog, hanged him by the neck, slit his throat and stoned him to death. Read more at www.pensitoreview.com

 

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