Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The 99% Have Left The Building
The heart of the OWS movement has been cleared. Last night, police cleared Zuccotti park of its protesters. Several people were injured. 150 people were arrested. The suprise clearing came as a result of Mayor Bloomberg's concern for the public use of the park. Although Zuccotti permits the public to freely use the park 24 hours a day, Bloomberg says OWS protesters took complete control over the park, making it inaccessible for others. Some city dwellers are relieved to find the park back to in its normal condition. There is still doubt this will suppress the movement as a whole. It may be a minor setback.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Mindless conservatism
Great opinion piece in the Washington Post about a disturbing trend in today's Republican party - not merely conservatism but mindless reflexive conservatism that hasn't thought through the consequences of its actions.
The Elusive Progressive Majority
I read this very interesting article in The Economist today about the changing demographic trends in our country. By 2050 the U.S. population is projected to no longer be a majority white nation. The Latino population is supposed to double in size from 15% to 30% and Asian-Americans and African-Americans are supposed to account for 24% of the total population. These changing trends will be a significant boost to Democrats because these minority groups tend to support progressive political candidates (in 2008 80% of minorities backed Obama over McCain).
The article also notes that by the end of the decade 90million voters will be from the millennial generation (born between 1978 and 2000) which will also be a significant boost to Democratic chances as young voters tend to vote Democratic. However, this number may be deceiving as the young are also increasingly detached from politics and have abysmal voting records. Interest in the 2008 campaign from this young cohort was at 28% whereas today it only stands at 13%. To conclude, changing demographic trends seem to indicate that an "elusive" progressive majority might become the face of America's electoral composition in the near future. But that majority is still a ways away and Mr. Obama's chances at re-election seem more precarious than ever.
Herman Cain: Michele Bachmann is 'tutti frutti'
Cain compares his GOP rivals to ice cream flavors. Bachmann is “tutti-frutti,” Romney is “plain vanilla,” and Perry is “rocky road.” Cain also claims he is a manly man who won’t be seen eating a “sissy pizza” and that “the more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly man is not afraid of abundance.”
Supreme Court to Health Reform Law
Politico: The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will review President Barack Obama’s health reform law, setting the stage for a showdown over his signature legislative accomplishment months ahead of the 2012 election.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
CIA's "Facebook" program allows them to track citizens for free
Here's the video from the onion, parodying the amount of private info people post of themselves online!
$900,000 a year still not enough?
Thought this might be an interesting news story seeing as we're reading Reckless Endangerment!
Italian PM, Berlusconi, finally throws in the towel...
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| Silvio Berlusconi |
"We used to fear our rulers. Now they fear us." Are Arab Leaders getting scared of the popular will?
This is a very interesting article. It also gives an insightful perspective on how Iran could be a beneficiary of the "huge vacuum" being created in the Middle East as a result of the Arab Spring.
GOP debate: Romney and Gingrich would go to war against Iran, Cain and Paul would not
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Occupy DC photos
Here are some photos I was able to take the other day. For those that are fearless, we should set up our own tent and share the experience, hahaha.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Republican Jobs plan and tracker
As I brought up in the debate, the Republicans have realistic and well thought out plans to get our economy back on track and get America back to work.
Here's the link to the House GOP's jobs plan: http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs
and a link to Majority Leader Cantor's site which tracks Republican efforts to create jobs in America: http://majorityleader.gov/JobsTracker/
The illusion of objectivity.
This article from The Atlantic is a glaring caveat about any survey that claims to prove the intellectual prowess of one ideology over another. This article reminds me of a well-publicized study that Hamilton government students conducted regarding the accuracy of media pundits, which concluded that liberal pundits were more "accurate" than their conservative counterparts.
Our 21st century Hoover (?)
The News International phone-hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving mainly the News of the World but also other British tabloid newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of publishing stories. Investigations conducted from 2005–2007 concluded that the paper's phone hacking activities were limited to celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family. However, in July 2011, it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings were also accessed, resulting in a public outcry against News Corporation and owner Rupert Murdoch. Advertiser boycotts contributed to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July, ending 168 years of publication. - Wikipedia
Today, James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of News Coporation and son of Rupert Murdoch, sat before British MPs for the second time and faced allegations that likened his alleged actions to that a Mafia boss.
the Washington Post also has more information on news organization's "Hoover-esque" actions:
Earlier this week, News International admitted that News of the World had paid a private investigator to spy on lawyers acting on behalf of several alleged phone-hacking victims.
While there has been no suggestion that this kind of surveillance is illegal, News International issued a statement saying it was “deeply inappropriate in these circumstances.”
The BBC reported that the investigator, Derek Webb, had worked for the tabloid for eight years until it closed in July, and had conducted surveillance operations on more than 100 targets, including: Prince William; the parents of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe; Peter Goldsmith, a former attorney general; and Tom Watson, a Labor politician on the select committee that grilled Murdoch on Thursday.
The Metropolitan Police recently announced they have gathered the names of more than 5,000 people whose phones may have been hacked by News of the World.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/james-murdoch-grilled-by-british-politicians/2011/11/10/gIQAhWsU8M_story.html
Oregon iHappy with iPad voting
Oregon became the first state to use iPads in the voting process for its special election on Tuesday. Eighty-nine disabled residents took advantage of the program. Because of the program’s success, election officials say they will move full speed ahead with the iPads in the January special general election. Is this the future of voting?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Occupy the Highway
Starting today at noon, OWS protesters will be marching 20 miles a day for 2 weeks, heading to DC by November 23, the day the Supercommittee decides whether or not to keep Obama's extension to the Bush tax cuts. Good thing it will be Thanksgiving break.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
FBI Accused of Using GPS to Illegally Track U.S. Citizens
I stumbled across this article while at work today and I thought it raises a lot of interesting questions about constitutional rights and the FBI's role in crime-fighting. We are all reading Puppetmaster right now but the era of suspect FBI wiretaps and illegal tracking seems to have not ended with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. As American citizens we are all entitled to basic political and social rights that protect us from unwarranted searches and to a relatively secure right to privacy. Personally I find the circumstances surrounding this particular individual to be an affront to our justice system and constitutional rights. I agree that sometimes it is necessary for the FBI to track suspected criminals, foreign and domestic, in order to protect the average American citizen. But I think in recent years it has become far too easy for the FBI to take justice into their own hands and illegally track anyone they suspect of being even remotely involved with terrorist organizations or drug cartels.
Often times, as appears to be the case with the individual interviewed for this article, the FBI follows an innocent person while subsequently trampling all over their constitutional rights to privacy, and freedom from illegal searches and seizures. I think there is a way to mainstream fast-action from the Justice Department to LEGALLY search/track suspected criminals (terrorist or otherwise) but for an investigative unit like the FBI to take matters into their own hands is simply unAmerican. The criminal underground is a high-tech fast paced world and our Justice Department/investigative units need to reflect this truth. But there needs to be a legal way to go about investigating suspected criminals without infringing upon citizen's rights. We cannot sacrifice our constitutional rights for the sake of a responsive police state that is both judge and juror.
Cain Again?
But seriously, I think we need to begin questioning the motivations behind the actions of his accusers. Why do they come out after so many years? I don't think your motive is to get true justice. But well, that could be it. Idk.
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