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Sunday Reads: Part B

Posted: August 5, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: court rulings, Diplomacy Nightmares, Discrimination against women, double-speak, Foreign Affairs, Fox News, Labor unions, Middle East, misogyny, morning reads, PLUB Pro-Life-Until-Birth, Political Affective Disorder, Politics as Usual, racism, Religious Conscience, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, Republican politics, science, Syria, The Right Wing, U.S. Politics, War on Women, We are so F'd, Women's Rights | Tags: , |30 Comments »

Wow, I am not sure what is going on, but I am still tired! So here is the rest of the post from this morning. In link dump fashion of course. Grab some crackers or chips or melba toast and dig into these delectable DIPS…(Dumbass Intolerant PLUB Sentiments)

Go and read this link that PDgray shared…Sarah J. Jackson: What’s Wrong with Media Coverage of Women Olympians?

Then, go read this thing from Fox News…Serena flubs crowning moment

Then, take a look at this one…These Three Court Rulings on Women’s Health Will Give You a Rage Headache

Are you feeling it yet?

This one is sure to add one more layer to the already over topped sexist, racist, misogynistic hate encrusted Ritz cracker: From Bachmann to Romney: Coded racial rhetoric is out of control

Let’s start loading up on another chip, cause mine just broke under the weight of all that crap above…and besides we don’t want to double-dip a chip.

More DIPS shit?  Basu: GOP opens door to a partisan judiciary

So it’s come to this. The Iowa Republican Party is demanding the state’s judiciary square its rulings with a GOP party platform plank, or be punished.

That’s in effect what party Chairman A.J. Spiker is doing when he calls on voters to oust Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins at the polls in November. Wiggins is targeted for being on the court that unanimously ruled the state cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Using buzzwords about “activist judges” imposing their personal views, Spiker said, “The people of Iowa are tired of increasingly powerful bureaucrats arrogantly and deceitfully instituting law when they have no justification or ability to do so.” Actually, what Wiggins did was read the Iowa Constitution — exactly as the other six justices, both appointees by Republican and Democratic governors, did.

Woooo, after that kind of snacking I think we are ready for something to drink. So take a long pull on this cool one:

Ethiopian Sets Olympic Record in Women’s Marathon – NYTimes.com

Daniel Garcia/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana handled the field and the rain to finish the women’s marathon in record time.

On the narrow streets of Sunday’s women’s Olympic marathon, Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia reached for her water bottle and collided with another runner just beyond the halfway point. She fell to the ground and scraped her right elbow. She got up and was bumped again.

“I said, ‘Oh wow, I’m not going to finish,’ ” Gelana said. “I just concentrated on running. All of a sudden I made it.”

She did not see the runner who knocked her down inadvertently as runners scrambled to get their liquids and avoid dehydration. But Gelana climbed to her feet, remained poised and set an Olympic record to win in 2 hours 23 minutes 7 seconds.

Congratulations Tiki!

Here is another cool drink to sip from: The women changing Britain’s unions

women union leaders

From left, Sian Rabi-Laleh of Unison, Alice Hood and Scarlet Harris of the TUC, Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor of the Musicians’ Union, Becky Wright of the TUC and Natalie Jacottet of the CWU. Photograph: Suki Dhanda

In 1943, Women’s Own reported an astonishing feat. “Job experts said that no woman could do boring, screwing a breech ring for the barrel of a six-pounder tank gun in a giant lathe, but Miss Megan Lewis, 22… has been doing it at the ordnance factory where 80% of machine operatives are women. She said, ‘I learned by watching the setter at the machine. Officials were astounded.’”

During the second world war, most women were at work against the wishes of the trade unions. Traditionally, unions argued that men needed to earn a “family wage” sufficient to keep a wife and children and this should not be undercut by women claiming male skilled jobs and equal pay; a woman’s place was in the home. Employment was – and still often is – segregated. Men then were employed in heavy industry, women in the low-paid business of care, secretarial and admin work and the service sector.

Trade unions are an important component in a democratic society, but for decades they did not serve women well. Strikes and negotiations were a beer-and-sandwiches job almost exclusively conducted by and for “the brothers”. Meetings were at night, when most women were at home engaged in ironing shirts and childcare. “I’m all right, Jack” was the slogan while, with honourable exceptions, the men paid scant attention to the needs of Jill, often the sole breadwinner in the family. The image of the average trade unionist was a white, working-class and blue-collar bloke: “male, pale and stale”.

That was just a taste, go read the rest at the link.

There is a lot going on in Syria, here are a few updates:

 Syria conflict: Troops ‘mass for Aleppo assault’

More than 20,000 Syrian troops are massed around Aleppo, military sources say, as fighting rages for control of the country’s second city.

Fighter jets, helicopters and artillery have pounded rebel positions ahead of a feared full-scale assault within days.

Tanks are trying to push into two key rebel-held areas, the opposition says.

Syrian Forces Pound Rebel Positions in Aleppo

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 40 Syrians, including 25 civilians, were verified as killed Sunday in the country. The casualties have not been independently verified.

Meanwhile, Iranian media said Tehran has asked Turkey and Qatar to help secure the release of 48 Iranian nationals kidnapped Saturday in Damascus.  Iran said the victims were religious pilgrims, but a brigade commander with the Free Syrian Army describes them as elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Iran backs the Syrian government, while Turkey and Qatar support the Syrian opposition.

Read this letter to the editor of the Washington Post:  Why John Kerry tested engagement with Syria written by…

Jodi B. Seth, Washington

The writer is communications director for the Senate ­Foreign Relations Committee, which is chaired by Sen. John F. Kerry.

Which states:

I was stunned to read the assertion that Bashar al-Assad ever had “prominent admirers in the United States, including Sen. John F. Kerry” [“For besieged Syrian dictator Assad, only exit may be body bag,” front page, Aug. 1]. Mr. Kerry never claimed or believed that Mr. Assad was a “reformer” or had any interest beyond regime survival. But that one interest was the reason that former secretaries of state James Baker and Henry Kissinger and Sens. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) believed it was worth testing U.S. engagement with Damascus, after eight years of isolationist policies had moved Syria only closer to Iran.

I have another letter/op-ed for you, this time about Walmart and Minimum wage:  Marcus Edgerson: Walmart Worker Speaks Out: Raise the Minimum Wage to Get My Vote

I am family man, I have a wife and I just had a child. I am also a veteran, a Marine who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom. I now work at Walmart, serving customers every day. While I am excited and appreciative to have a job, I wish that I was paid enough to make ends meet. I currently make $7.70 an hour, three cents more than Florida’s minimum wage. At 30 hours per week, that’s a little more than $12,000 per year. That is just not enough to pay for food, rent and and still pay for things like car insurance. I don’t drive now because I can’t afford it. And believe me, it is hard to survive in South Florida without a car.

However, not everyone at Walmart makes minimum wage. Mike Duke, our CEO, made $18 million last year. That’s close to $9,000 an hour. Many Walmart workers would be happy to make $9 an hour.

And we will close this article about Mars, let’s hope Curiosity sticks the landing!  NASA hopes Curiosity landing site is a Grand Canyon of Mars

In the spring of 1869, a geology professor who had lost an arm to a musket ball at the Battle of Shiloh led a tortuous journey down a canyon that had been etched into stone, a mile deep, by the unremitting force of the Colorado River.

There, in what would become known as the Grand Canyon, John Wesley Powell found a diary of the Earth’s adolescence — layer upon layer of varied, exposed rock spanning 2 billion years. If there were a Bible of geology, Powell wrote, this would be the Book of Revelation.

On Sunday, 143 years later, scientists will attempt to retrace that journey — on Mars.

Have a good day y’all, I am going back to bed!

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30 Comments on “Sunday Reads: Part B”

  1. JJ Lopez Minkoff says:
    August 5, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Sorry for the post being so late…anyway…catch y’all later, much later tonight!

  2. JJ Lopez Minkoff says:
    August 5, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    Damn, I wanted to include this link in the post and forgot to…it is from earlier in the week:

    Immigrants prove big business for prison companies | AccessNorthGa

    The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever, generating lucrative profits for the nation’s largest prison companies, and an Associated Press review shows the businesses have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers and contributing to campaigns.

    The cost to American taxpayers is on track to top $2 billion for this year, and the companies are expecting their biggest cut of that yet in the next few years thanks to government plans for new facilities to house the 400,000 immigrants detained annually.

    After a decade of expansion, the sprawling, private system runs detention centers everywhere from a Denver suburb to an industrial area flanking Newark’s airport, and is largely controlled by just three companies.

    read the rest…

  3. RalphB says:
    August 5, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    Mass Shooting and Potential Hostage Situation at Sikh Temple in Wisconsin

    It’s unclear exactly what is going on, but early reports say at least 4 people are dead and up to 30 have been injured in a shooting at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin just south of Milwaukee:
    [...]
    According to an initial report from ABC, a witness to the shooting informed law enforcement that the shooter was a “white male, bald, with a heavy build.”
    [...]
    Reports on Twitter also state that a SWAT team is about to raid the temple to rescue hostages—some of which are children – from the basement of the temple.

    We couldn’t go a month without another one?

  4. JJ Lopez Minkoff says:
    August 5, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    I know there is a lot going on, but I will post this link for now:

    Romney: Wealthy will do fine no matter who wins in Nov. – Political Hotsheet – CBS News

    Mitt Romney said he’s not worried about the future of the country’s wealthiest saying this weekend they’ll “do just fine” under President Obama or a President Romney.

    “I know the very wealthy are going to do just fine whoever is elected,” Romney said in an interview with CNN’s Gloria Borger that was conducted Saturday. “The middle class is the people that is the group of people that I am most concerned about, they need our – and the poor – they need our help. They need our help with good jobs. That is only going to come if we encourage this economy by keeping the burdens on small business down.”

    He added that it would be “an enormous mistake” to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of the year, including on those who make more than $250,000 per year, which is what President Obama proposed.

    “If your priority in this country is to punish success, vote for President Obama. If you priority is to create more success and more jobs vote for me,” he said.

  5. bostonboomer says:
    August 5, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    Romney says gays should be able to take part in the Boy Scouts, but he wouldn’t dream of telling the organization what to do.

    Back in 1994, during a political debate in Massachusetts, Romney said this: ‘‘I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.’’

    A Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said in an e-mail that this remains Romney’s position today.

    Weasel.

  6. ANonOMouse says:
    August 5, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    The Oak Creek shooting is being investigated by the FBA as an act of Domestic Terrorism. Who’s surprised?

  7. ecocatwoman says:
    August 5, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    OT – but had to share. I went to Pew Research Center to check out a poll I’d seen/heard referenced recently & found this instead: http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/02/little-public-awareness-of-outside-campaign-spending-boom/

    The public is hearing little about increased spending by outside groups in the 2012 election. Just 25% have heard a lot about outside spending by groups not associated with the candidates or campaigns, while three-quarters are hearing a little (36%) or nothing at all (39%) about this. In fact, the term “super PAC” itself is not widely known: Just 40% can correctly identify the term, nearly half (46%) don’t know what it refers to, while 14% give incorrect responses.

    I’m willing to bet if Pew did a poll on the Kardashiams or TomKat, 3/4 would ace that poll.

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