Evening Reads: Sport and Bullying the Sea

Good Evening Y’all!

Tonight will be a post full of links…or as Wonk the Vote calls it…a Link Dump.

I want to first update you on Syria.

Syria puts stress on US-Russia ties on eve of Obama-Putin talks

An escalating crisis in Syria, echoing with Cold War-style recriminations, has badly frayed U.S.-Russian relations at a delicate time, just as U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin try to renew their relationship.

U.S. charges that Russia is arming the Syrian government as it attacks its opponents with lethal force, and Moscow’s blocking of tougher action against Damascus, appear to indicate that tough times are ahead for Putin’s relationship with Obama and, perhaps, his successor.

The fiercely nationalist Putin, who re-assumed the Russian presidency last month, is due to meet Obama at a G20 summit in Mexico early next week, their first encounter in three years. There is growing skepticism the two men can find common ground on Syria or other festering disputes.

Festering indeed…

There is an earlier article about Syria that is a bit frightening, Russia-America tussle over Syria evokes Cold War. See what I mean, the whole Russian-Nukes US-Nukes thing was something I grew up with…

The world could slip back into a Cold War over Syria and the sprawling Arab country could break up into two or three warring parts, with unforeseeable consequences for the Middle East, a senior Israeli military commander said.

“Support for (Syrian President Bashar) Assad from Russia and China is taking us back to the Cold War,” he said this week, on condition of anonymity. “The world is not a one-man show.”

A regional proxy war is already under way in Syria, he said, with direct, daily, on-the-ground support for Assad from his allies in Iran and Lebanon’s heavily-armed Hezbollah movement.

“There can be real chaos. It can take years,” he said.

Okay, so it is an Israeli Military Commander making that statement, but I have to admit…I thought about the possibility of Russia becoming more like the Russia most of us grew up with, and it is not just the situation with Syria that makes me concerned. Putin is really bringing back that old Back in the USSR feeling.

This next article was interesting,  How Russian and Chinese media justify Syrian support.

As Russia and China remain steadfast in their refusal to back UN resolutions condemning President Bashar al-Assad, the BBC news website looks at media coverage of the Syria conflict in both countries and whether broadcasters tend to justify this stance.

Please go to the link and check that out.

John Edwards had a shit eating grin on his face this afternoon:  John Edwards Charges Dismissed – NYTimes.com

And it looks like Lance Armstrong is in deep shit: U.S. Anti-Doping Agency brings charges against Lance Armstrong – latimes.com

In the world of predator pedophiles: Jerry Sandusky Trial, Day Three: The Defense Gets Steamrolled – The Daily Beast

There is also news about a child pornography bust: Erika Susan Perdue, Texas Socialite, Faces Child Porn Charges

Yuk, I am glad those links are out-of-the-way.

Let’s move on to the bullies in today’s headlines.  We have a state that is trying to bully the ocean, by passing laws that make anyone with half a brain laugh like hell!

North Carolina Lawmakers Legislate Sea Level Rise – Truthdig

State senators in North Carolina passed a measure Tuesday in open defiance of the laws of nature, making it illegal to take into account events such as melting polar ice caps when forecasting the rate of ocean level rise along the state’s 300 miles of vulnerable, tourist-saturated coast.

Which of course means I have to post this link to a Colbert episode. The Word – Sink or Swim – The Colbert Report – 2012-04-06 – Video Clip | Comedy Central

In other “bully” news, I thought this was symbolic…considering that Romney was a bully to “gay” students at his high school.

Former governor Mitt Romney’s administration in 2006 blocked publication of a state antibullying guide for Massachusetts public schools because officials objected to use of the terms “bisexual’’ and “transgender’’ in passages about protecting certain students from harassment, according to state records and interviews with current and former state officials.

Romney aides said publicly at the time that publication of the guide had been delayed because it was a lengthy document that required further review. But an e-mail authored in May of that year by a high-ranking Department of Public Health official – and obtained last week by the Globe through a public records request – reflected a different reason.

“Because this is using the terms ‘bisexual’ and ‘transgendered,’ DPH’s name may not be used in this publication,’’ wrote the official, Alda Rego-Weathers, then the deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Because the Department of Public Health was the primary sponsor and funding source of the guide, the move effectively blocked its publication. Rego-Weathers said in the e-mail that she had been consulting with Romney’s office on the issue.

Stifling the guide’s publication was among steps that Romney and his aides took during his last year in office to distance the Republican governor from state programs designed to specifically support gays, lesbians, and bisexual and transgender people. His critics said it was part of an effort to court social conservatives as he prepared for his first campaign for president in 2008.

[…]

In a highly publicized incident in May 2006, Romney threatened to shut down the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth because it issued a press release with his name on it promoting a parade to celebrate gay, bisexual, and transgender teens. He quickly backed off the threat. In July 2006, Romney vetoed a $158,000 budget line item that was earmarked for counseling violence victims in the “LGBT community.’’ The appropriation was intended to prevent sexual violence and rape, and also for suicide prevention.

The move to block the bullying report immediately followed Romney’s threat to shut down the Gay and Lesbian Youth Commission. On May 20, 2006, the commission chairwoman, Kathleen Henry, e-mailed Rego-Weathers to say that “she had heard from the lead’’ on the antibullying guide project that “the plan is to go to print next week on the authority of the lieutenant governor.’’

Rego-Weathers e-mailed a subordinate the same day raising the objections to “bisexual’’ and “transgender’’ references. “I have raised this issue with the governor’s office and am awaiting final clearance,’’ she wrote. “If the printing must go on, I may have to ask that our name be taken off.’’

And if that isn’t enough “shit Romney’s done” news for you, check this link out: Romney Touts Presidential Salary Plan That Was Literally A Saturday Night Live Skit | ThinkProgress

Mitt Romney floated an unusual profit-making opportunity for himself if he becomes president — paying himself a higher salary if he performs well in the White House. In Romney’s words, “I do believe in linking my incentives and my commitment to the accomplishment of specific goals . . . . I wish we had that happen throughout government — where people recognized they are not going to get rewarded in substantial ways unless they are able to achieve the objectives that they were elected to carry out.”

If it sounds familiar, you may have seen this SNL skit back when Ross Perot was running for President.

This is not a new proposal, however. It was actually proposed in 1992 by billionaire presidential candidate Ross Perot — or at least by someone pretending to be Perot. In a 1992 Saturday Night Live skit, Perot impersonator Dana Carvey outlined something very similar to the Romney plan for presidential compensation:

If I’m President, we get 0% growth, you don’t pay me nothing. 1% growth? Hell, a chimpanzee could run this country and make 1% growth! So you don’t pay me dime one. Got my own plane, don’t need Air Force One. State Dinners? I’ll pay it, it’s nothing to me, sand on the beach! Now, don’t worry about ol’ Ross Perot, I got $3 billion back at home.

Now, here’s the deal. Here’s what I’m trying to tell you. 3% growth in our economy, $120 billion growth in our GNP – I get a billion dollars. Now, think about it, that’s a bargain! You’re up $119 billion. I’m telling you, 2.99% growth, I don’t see a penny, not one red cent. But don’t feel sorry for me – I got $3 billion. I’m gonna be fine.

Now, this here’s a business proposition. Now, see, 4% growth, you pay me $20 billion. The way I see it, you’re ahead $140 billion, see? Now, this ain’t no golden parachute, this isn’t the President GM giving himself a big bonus when the company’s losing money sending jobs to Mexico. I get my money if and when you get yours.

Now, 5% growth, I get $50 billion. Everybody’s happy, see?

This next bully is from JP Morgan, I will just post the link to the article: JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon faces down Senate critics – as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk

Here is another bit of news you need to read as well: Court filing: George Zimmerman said ‘hell no’ to using PayPal cash for bond | theGrio

And lastly, Tennessee Guerilla Women: Hillary Launches State Department’s Women in Public Service Institute

There is a great photo of Hillary at that link by the way.

That is it, have a great evening…