Oakland's Shameful Raid Condemned from Within

Oakland Mayor's Top Legal Adviser Resigns Over Raid | Common Dreams: "OAKLAND -- Mayor Jean Quan's chief legal adviser resigned early this morning after what he called a "tragically unnecessary" police raid of the Occupy Oakland camp.  Dan Siegel, a civil rights attorney and one of Oakland's most active and vocal police critics, said the city should have done more to work with campers before sending in police."

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CBS Sourcing of Pelosi Story More Than Suspect

Pelosi fires back at '60 Minutes' report on 'soft corruption' - CNN.com: ""It is very troubling that 60 Minutes would base their reporting off of an already-discredited conservative author who has made a career of out attacking Democrats," he added. CBS said it used as a starting point for its story the research of Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University."


60 Minutes should issue an apology.


'via Blog this'

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Iran in The Wake of an Apparent Assassination

Did Israel assassinate Iran's 'missile king'? - CSMonitor.com: ""Without concluding that this was an assassination, it fits in line with the kind of actions that have...deprived Iran of some of its top influential leadership" in nuclear and missile efforts, says Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. "Missiles are a major component of having a nuclear weapons capability, and this is the first time that we've seen some hint that the missile aspect is bearing the brunt," says Mr. Fitzpatrick, who edited a comprehensive 150-page dossier on Iran's ballistic missiles earlier this year."

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Occupy Oakland Live Blog

Occupy Oakland Live Blog: Tab for mutual aid may come to $500,000 - San Jose Mercury News:

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SCOTUS A Chip off The W Block

I wrote the comment below late last year. But I want it to stand as an indication of the sense I had at that time. It will be a large surprise to me if the Court upholds the Health Reform despite the wealth of intelligent opinion that feels the Court has no option but to uphold it. I now believe, however, that the negative decision will create a fire storm that will benefit the President. This would be a defeat for the Court, period. It would be yet another instance of GOP overreach.

Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on Health Law - WSJ.com: "The court is expected to hear oral arguments in March, with a decision expected by the end of June. That timeline means the court will rule on President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement during the thick of the 2012 presidential campaign."

If you have to ask what this headline means, forget it. W in my mind is a SIGN that says Expect Worse Than you Can Imagine. A conservative judge has already offered a sage approval of the landmark health care reform law. But I trust the demons on the Court to find their reasons and deliver another Citizen's United. It is a judgment on us all as a democracy for electing Presidents and Senators who appointed and approved these characters.



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Alabama 3 Occupy Anthem

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Hong Kong Faces Challenges to Democracy

Hong Kong Takes Cautious Steps Towards Full Democracy | Chatham House: Independent thinking on international affairs: "Over the years, Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers and activists have pushed for hastening the pace of political reform, but with little success. Part of the problem is that many in the territory, such as those in the finance sector, oppose rapid political reform because they fear it will threaten stability and bring turmoil to the financial market. "

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Obama Will Be Called Great for Many Reasons

Geithner told Obama he would be remembered

As the President tho staved off Great Depression Two

Obama said that is not enough for me

So GOP heed

There is only one way this can go

The President who faked you out by being

Tougher than the mindless Bush Two

Will fake you out by realizing the dream of

Past Presidents

And set us on a course to real nuclear disarmament

And a world order based on human rights

Rather than the failed project of capitalist philanthropy

Obama's not enough is in this salient direction

Charles Sanders Peirce Posthumous Author

How I Agreed with Charles Sanders Peirce Before I Ever Read Him - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com:

My life is a testament to the fact that at least in my case life stages are nonsense. I have studied and learned more in the last four years than in any prior four years. And it has been less than a year since I realized in Charles Sanders Peirce's case, everything I think has already been thought And for that matter, is already relegated to a backwater where it is sure to remain uncomprehended for yet another century. So be it. Peirce is on the radar screen now as he never was during his lifetime. All posthumous authors become the text of the future. Peirce has joined Neitzsche in that select company.

More at link above and in this blog complex.




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Jesus was never a family man

Jesus was never a family man

Jesus reached out to all

He gave poor and sinful the highest esteem

And redefined his family

His brothers and sisters were those who lived by

The values of  Abba

for which Jesus died

This great I Am, speaks from a burning tree

On Values Poetic Meditation - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com:

The great I Am speaks from a burning tree,

Saying I will be Who I Will Be.

And when fully known he disgusted the priests

And went about skewering hypocrisy

And even today is reviled and ignored

And yet Abba left us with the greatest gift 

And that is the Spirit within everyone

When the Spirit is heeded Abba's will is done

And nothing will end until everyone sees

For each of us bears pieces of what is to be

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Why are we stoking global suicide?

Climate deal unlikely soon, as emissions grow | Reuters: "(Reuters) - A new and broader climate deal is out of reach for now and instead nations need to focus on how to replace the ailing Kyoto Protocol before 2020, Britain's minister of state for energy and climate change said on Monday.

The view is recognition that agreement on a pact that commits all major greenhouse gas polluters to curbing the growth in planet-warming emissions is slipping further away, in part because of sluggish economic growth and a mounting debt crisis."

If we wanted to solve sluggish growth and mounting debt, we would look to solving the environmental problem, not ensuring disaster. I suspect the nations have failed and that from now on it is the people acting locally that will create car free communities that combine locally the aspects we associate with a city. It is disgusting to contemplate that politicians cannot make and interpret the connection between today's troubles and the future death of the planet.