Michigan Republicans circumvent democracy by immediately enacting over 96% (546) of their bills using an emergency loophole
It’s much, much worse in Michigan than we even realized
Last night, Rachel Maddow broke a huge story that has been happening since Republicans took over in Michigan in 2011 and has gone completely under the radar. Since January 2011, 566 bills have been signed into law. Of those, 546 of them, 96.5% were passed under “immediate effect”. Click through for the video from last night’s show. Pay particular attention to around 12:30 where they show it in action. It’s astonishing.
MAD asks…Who said it? Mitt Romney or Montgomery Burns (Simpsons)?
Alabama Occupiers - Call to Protest Tonight’s Republican Presidential Forum
Occupy Birmingham is asking people to join them in protesting the Alabama Republican Party Presidential Forum.
Monday, 12 March, 2012
Starts at5:30 PM
Doors open at 3:30 PM (get there early to get a seat)
Free admission
Location:
Alabama Theatre
1817 3rd Avenue North
Birmingham, AL 35203
The Alabama Republican Party’s presidential forum will be held in Birmingham’s Alabama Theatre Monday evening on the eve of the state’s presidential preference primary. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have confirmed plans to attend. The party is awaiting a response from Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
The format will be a forum and not a debate. Each candidate will have 20 minutes to talk to voters, in hopes of swaying their votes. Following their “closing arguments,” there will be a short question-and-answer segment with a small panelist. The forum is free and open to the public. However, seating is limited to 2,000. If you want to get inside, the Maloney suggests getting there early.
For further details on Occupy Birmingham’s plans, please contact hollygolightly87.
Source: occupybirmingham.org
Pimpin’ ain’t easy.
Ladies and gentleman: The 1%.
Source: philistine
Unpopular Opinion Time: Study Shows Differences in the Brains of “Liberals” and “Conservatives”
I was analyzing common patterns in years worth of debates between individuals who proclaimed to be liberals and those who proclaimed to be conservatives. I noticed that many of the debates came down to a common difference in principles and motivations - primarily those who were self-preserving, self-orientated, self-serving (i.e., survival of self) and then those who were collectivist, community-orientated, species/planet-serving (i.e., survival of species, life, planet). I have noticed, from personal experience, that many self-proclaimed conservatives did not seem to grasp or readily notice contradictions in their beliefs, and tended to be quite self-preserving and fear-conditioned. This is not a critique or hard-line generalization, just a personal observation. I have simply found it very confusing (and frankly, frustrating) at times that, what to me seems to be an easy task of recognizing and properly analyzing/categorizing contradicting information, appeared to be quite difficult for some individuals.
Examples: Being gay is wrong. Why? This scripture in the Bible. But that same Book also says women suck, not to eat pork, not to shave your temples, not to get tattoos…need I go on? I fail to see the problem. Where is the contradiction?
We need to be good Christians and follow Christ’s teachings. November: I love charity. I volunteered with my church at the local soup kitchen for Thanksgiving! March: Ugh, get away you dirty, lazy hobo, get a job and stop asking for handouts. Abortion is terrible and wrong! Ugh, I’m not paying more taxes to help support poor people who won’t stop having children! Etc. etc. After beating a dead horse enough on these topics, you start to realize…many people truly, and sincerely, fail to see the problem or the contradiction, even when presented with seemingly clear evidence of it.
Likewise, there are many people who plainly see the frustrating contradictions laid out above. That doesn’t make you a better person, but perhaps simply better at sorting and making sense of contradictions. So I looked to science to see if there were brain differences between “liberals” and “conservatives”. At least one study tackles this question:
The differences between liberals and conservatives run wide and deep, and a new study suggests they may even be reflected in the very structure of their brains.
In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear. (More on TIME.com: In Politics, It’s Survival of the Fittest, Literally)
Source: TIME
30 companies that spent more $$$ on lobbying than in taxes.
The war Ronald Reagan started against the working class is a resounding success today
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Opportunities for Women – published the report and it finds that a single Michigan resident needs to make more than 12 bucks an hour just to house – clothe – and feed him or herself. The minimum wage in Michigan is well short of that marker – just $7.40. But when you throw children into the equation – the picture is even grimmer.
A mother with two children needs to make about $24 dollars an hour to meet their basic needs – that’s more than three times higher than minimum wage, and that’s working a 40-hour week. That means each and every month – someone who’s trying to raise their kids on minimum wage has to forego dinner – or rent – or electricity – or a new pair of shoes just to get by in America – the richest nation on the planet. I guess Republicans will argue they just need to get a credit card.
Looks like the war Ronald Reagan started against the working class 30 years ago is a resounding success today.
Submitted by Louise Hartmann from The Thom Hartmann Program Blog (via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
Source: thomhartmann.com
Paul Ryan Tells Student He Should Work Three Jobs To Pay For College, Not Use Pell Grants
During a town hall today, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was asked by Matthew Lowe, a student, why the GOP wants to cut Pell Grants. Ryan responded by saying that the program is “unsustainable,” before telling Lowe that he should be working three jobs and taking out student loans to pay for college, instead of using Pell Grants:
LOWE: I come from a very middle-class family and under President Obama, I get $5,500 per year to pay for school, which doesn’t come close to covering all of the funding, but it helps ease the burden. Under your plan, you cut it by 15 percent. I was just curious why you would cut a grant that goes directly to the middle- and lower-class people that need it the most.
RYAN: ‘Cause Pell Grants have become unsustainable. It’s all borrowed money…Look, I worked three jobs to pay off my student loans after college. I didn’t get grants, I got loans, and we need to have a system of viable student loans to be able to do this.
Hilariously accurate look at the hypocrisy of those critiquing the Occupy Movement.
Source: politicaldirtylaundry
AHigherLevel: "They say they're against Capitalism, but they're using iphones!"
I saw a Fox News anchor say roughly this, and I’ve seen the same idea spewed time and time again by conservatives of late, so I felt the need to address how utterly absurd it is. When ones living in a system, even if they want to enact certain changes to said system, its often not feasible to wholly extricate themselves from the system without crippling their ability to efficaciously defeat or reform it. Even more importantly though, the idea that just because something is produced under a certain system necessarily means said thing in inherently tied to that system and could not exist outside of it is ridiculous. I’l give an example to prove it:
During the Islamic Golden Age, their was a wave of intellectual output and advancements, especially in science, math, and medicine, that continue to shape our society by their use today. For instance, Spherical Trigonometry as it is used in modernity is an immediate outcome of advancements during this period. However, no one would ever say something like “Oh, you don’t believe in Islam, but your entire space program uses astronomy based on spherical trigonometry!”
The output and advances made under a certain system, even if that system likely played into their creation in some manner, are not necessarily tied to that system indefinitely. Furthermore, theirs no reason to presume that technology similar to that which is created under one system wouldn’t inevitably emerge under another system in some manner.
And in fact, people might be surprised to learn that many people are not motivated by money and power and acclaim. Some people are satisfied with credit, appreciation, and the simple, altruistic pleasure of creating and giving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc - I highly recommend this RSA Animate. There are many RSA Animates that are fantastic.
