ThinkProgress has announced that Home Depot has agreed to pull advertising from the Bill O’Reily, according to Americablog.
This is reason to celebrate, but there is more to be done! What is the point in only taking the ads off of one liar’s horse and pony show? Demand that a self-proclaimed ‘green’ company show true integrity by not supporting lies and deceit. Tell Home Depot to leave the Fox Network! Sign up now! Thank you.
Why is it so hard for Republicans to honestly win an election? ThinkProgress.org, a progressive blog that acts as a sort of watchdog against the scandalous administration that is ruining our country, has been keeping tabs on the voter caging scandal within the top ranks of the Bush Dynasty.
Evidence is irrefutable. PBS Now has copies of emails describing the voter reg fraud strategy used by these un-American fascists.
Even Republicans have to agree that this is just SICK. I know that the average Republican American wants to win elections, but I’m sure they wanted to win fairly…….right?
We need to get these people out of office. Americans need to stand up and not let their rights be infringed upon any longer. ’08 is coming up soon, and I’m going to be ready. I know I’m safe because I live in a Republican controlled (Do-little’s) district. They leave those ballots alone.
Thank you TP, for looking out for the real Americans, and thank you PBS for your thorough investigating. (Plus, I love the nature shows).
The Sierra Club and Brave New Films have put the pressure on companies to stop advertising on Fox News because the network spreads a bias message to it’s viewers and undermines environmental efforts. The pressure is getting results. Lowes has agreed to pull advertising on Bill O’Reily.
Read this article on ThinkProgress.org and sign the Sierra Club’s online petition to tell Home Depot, a self-prescribed ‘green’ company, to stop advertising with Murdoch’s evil empire.
How can our President keep insisting that Iraq is doing fine? How can he keep insisting we continue to support the Iraqi puppet government he put in power that isn’t even getting it’s job done? And how many more American lives is he going to waste under the guise of helping the Iraqi people? This makes me sick. One article in the New York Times shows how horribly we have f***ed up over there.
The article has to deal with a commodity that isn’t even considered a commodity here in America. We can all go to our refrigerators and pull out a little tray and pluck ice cubes to put in our sun-tea at any time we want. In fact, most people have freezers that will create the ice and cut it for them and keep it in a little bin. It’s amazing. The technology has been available to people all over the world for many, many years. Even to Iraqis. Those that couldn’t afford the technology were safe to visit ice factories in regions that are deeply segregated due to the sectarian violence we allowed when we toppled their leader.
So how can Republicans insist that Iraq is better off when we read articles that tell us of how the standard of living has been put back generations in Iraq?
In a capital that was once the seat of the Islamic Caliphate and a center of Arab worldliness, ice is now a currency of last resort for the poor, subject to sectarian horrors and gangland rules.
“There is nothing better than law and order,” said Omar Suleiman, another factory manager. “In the days of Saddam Hussein, the government used to control the price of ice. Now there is no control, except where the militias are doing it.”
…the Iraqi middle class, which prided itself on being one of the most educated in the Arab world… now sees itself falling further behind its regional rivals and back onto the technology of its grandfathers.
There is no way our President can defend this. It’s ice we are talking about, not gold or oil or diamonds that usually cause the biggest strife. Read the full article here.
If you want a good laugh, see this blog here on ThinkProgress.org
If you are still bored, go see Crispy Quips.
Fine journalism here.
In other news, the man suspected of killing a seventeen year old girl in the back of his SUV was questioned five months ago for a similar shooting. In the previous incident, the girl lived but is permanently blind. She says she remembers nothing leading up to the shooting. The man, Raul Reyes, was never charged. According to the Mountain Democrat, he offers no explanation as to how either victim ended up in his car.
The plot thickens.
I was surprised that this was the fourth story in the Wednesday Mountain Democrat that had to do with murder. It seems that the small town image of El Dorado County is quickly changing into one dotted with murder and crime. Could this be the end of small foothill life in this area? Only time will tell.
What happened to little, freckle-faced Lyndsay Lohan to make her such a coke-head? Seriously. Her actions aren’t your normal young-adult experimentation phases. To get out of rehab and go straight back to jail is usually reserved for drug addicts and alcoholics a bit more advanced in the disease and a bit older. So maybe she’s just stupid? Another DUI and possesion charges against her just a few days out of a fancy rehab. Maybe someone should put her in Delancey Street. Nothing a little behavior modification can’t fix, right?
She will probably end up going down hard. It may take a couple more years, but it will happen. She is still delusional enough to think she can take charge and fix her drug problem herself. How do I know this? Work in the field of addiction as well as my own life experience. Hopefully, she doesn’t die first.
In other news, I read in the Mountain Democrat (El Dorado County’s finest newspaper…it’s only one), that there was a dead woman found in an SUV at an apartment complex in El Dorado Hills. The owner of the SUV called the cops and told them about the dead woman. There was an entrance hole in the windshield and a two foot hole in the rear window. The woman was dead in the back seat, apparently from a gunshot wound. This was all in the paper.
The owner of the SUV was arrested on suspicion of first degree murder. I wonder why someone would get out of their own car to shoot into it from the front just to kill a person?
There was also a man in a Jetta parked right behind the SUV, (both cars registered to addresses in South Sacramento) but he was let go. Police believe drugs were involved.
The driver of the SUV was described by the paper as “Hispanic,” an outdated description of Latino people used mainly by white people in authority. El Dorado County is still catching up.
This murder is definitely going to mar the image of the nice wholesome place to raise your kids in El Dorado Hills, that’s for sure. Not to mention, it’s just plain strange.
And that is all the news I have for today.
This article in the New York Times just gets my blood boiling. Instead of criticizing how the show is portrayed, or the fact that the ASPCA is not fully equipped to deal with the influx of reports that have come from the shows popularity, how about helping this organization and demanding a larger budget for the division?
One idiot is quoted as saying “If they are going to profit from the TV show, they should hire more officers.” The man behind this quote is none other than former A.S.P.C.A. manager Gary Perkinson, who also complained that a report of abuse that he himself called in was never answered.
Well, Mr. Perkinson, having been manager for the ASPCA, couldn’t you have done more than just leave a message at a department you knew was over-worked? I hope you don’t wonder why you don’t have that job anymore, being as how you are so willing to give up after one try. Not only that, stupid, the ASPCA is a NON-PROFIT organization. Did you not realize that when you were the manager?
Enough about an incompetent ex-manager that has no sense of personal responsibility. The ASPCA rebuts:
Officials for the A.S.P.C.A., a nonprofit group that does not receive government funding, call the criticism unfair, asserting that the “animal cops” have never been more effective, that the unit’s budget has been increased and that arrests are up significantly over prior years.
Maybe there are too many expectations on just one organization, when there are others that are helping to do the same job. Criticize one, criticize all… especially since many critics are from animal rights organizations. Here is how this agency is misidentified:
Given its name and its status as the nation’s oldest animal welfare organization, the A.S.P.C.A. is often mistaken for a national umbrella organization. Actually, the 141-year-old group operates independently of all other S.P.C.A.’s across the country, although it does help many with grants and training and works to spread its message nationally with lobbying and education efforts.
So it looks like the ASPCA is doing more than it’s fair share but is stretched thin at times. So these cowards feel the need to criticize the show and the agency the show portrays. Brilliant.
Critics complain about the arrest rate compared to the number of complaints received by the ASPCA hotline because of 50,000 calls, 4,000 were valid complaints, and only 103 arrests were made. 109 more people received summons from the officers (tickets, basically).
But cruelty cases are harder to prove because the victim can’t testify, according to the ASPCA. Mr Riedel, director of the Humane Law Enforcement division of the ASPCA says the ratio isn’t as simple as 4,000 to 103 arrests. Many calls aren’t valid abuse cases.
“If I was a detective commander and had 4,000 of them, and then I only had 103 arrests, I’d be as skeptical as you are right now,” he said. “But we are actually getting a lot of calls that are not, in fact, crimes. They are disputes, or we have to go and educate people.”
Mr. Riedel added, “If you actually look at where there are crimes where we can say an animal was intentionally neglected or maltreated, it’s much, much smaller. It’s not 4,000 to 103, it probably comes down to 300 to 103.”
This seems very effective if you ask me. It seems that educating more pet owners would do better than arresting more pet owners. And because animal cases are so difficult to prove, the standard of judging law enforcement cannot be tailored to judging the effectiveness of the ASPCA enforcement force. It sounds like they are doing the best they can.
Some other things idiots are saying:
Garo Alexanian, executive director of the Companion Animal Network, an 18-year-old New York City advocacy group, said the officers were not active enough in inspecting the stables used by Central Park carriage horses, or monitoring them on hot and cold days. The society, which has a dedicated officer for those efforts, denies both charges.
Patty Adjamine, the director of New Yorkers for Companion Animals, a Manhattan rescue group, said she happened to be on Lexington Avenue one day in March when a man got out of a car and began capturing pigeons with a net. Fearing he meant to use the birds for torture or target practice, she said she called the A.S.P.C.A. to provide the man’s license plate number. Her call, she said, went to voice mail at 3 in the afternoon.
“The A.S.P.C.A. never even called me back,” she said.
The ASPCA couldn’t find any record of this woman’s call. And let’s be real. What evidence does she have that this man was going to torture these birds, and if it is illegal to catch pigeons, why didn’t she call the police? Of course, they also could do nothing without evidence. What a whack-job.
I’ll tell you what, why don’t these critics ask that more than 18 officers be assigned to the task? Why don’t they take initiative and start documenting, photographing, and doing what it takes to collect evidence to make these people’s jobs easier? The officers can’t be everywhere at once, but a neighbor is close enough to document evidence at times when the officers are not or cannot be on the scene.
True, the enforcement program could use some more money to handle the larger case load, but it’s not like the ASPCA is throwing their budget out of the window. They have animal hospitals, education programs and adoption programs they also run. Also, they use some of the budget helping other organizations that hold the same purpose.
What these critics should really be doing is encouraging the agency, not criticizing and complaining. It’s amazing how people will find a flaw in any little thing just so they don’t have to look at their own actions-or lack thereof. Maybe they are jealous they don’t have their own show.
The benefit concert was a hit. There will be another one tonight at the same location, Sartory Coffee in El Dorado Hills, 3907 Park Dr (behind masque restaurant) 916-933-3112. North on El Dorado Hills Blvd from Highway Fifty, make a left on Park Dr.
From the Sterling Fund’s blog page at:
http://myspace.com/sterling_fund
Thanks for last night
I do not have any medical updates at this time. If you want medical information please read the blog from Friday night and the blog from June 14th
I would like this opportunity to thank everyone who came to Sartory Coffee last night. It was wonderfull to get out and meet a lot of the people who I only know through cyberspace. I think we all needed a social event to feel some joy and love. Rob and Becca made their first journey into society since the life altering event of June 9th. What this was about was 2 things: to help raise money for them to continue to stay with Sterling at the hospital and to network out and get the word out on Sterling’s medical condition. What I am trying to do is get in touch with as many people as possible in the hope that someone somewhere will know of or know someone who can help us find a treatement for Sterling. We want our little guy back. While we may not find a treatement that will make him the way he was pre accident we may find a treatement that will send a boy home who will have the ability to give and recieve love. There is also the possibility that we may find a treatement that will leave him with only physical scars, that would be great beyond what I can put in words. Whatever the outcome, all of us have been touched by the kindness of people we know and complete strangers. I am changed for the rest of my life. I as well as our family will always feel compelled to act instead of watching when someone is in need.
There will be a benefit tonight at the same location as last night where EVERYONE who wants to come may attend. Strangers, family from both sides and friends may attend. All ages are welcome. please read the blog from yesterday for location. Again, thank you to everyone, we all really needed that, but our crusade will not end untill Sterling is home and in his family’s loving arms.
Please, please, please, visit these pages. The family this is affecting is very close to me and they really really need your help. A dear friend’s grandson was hit by a car two weeks ago. A benefit concert in El Dorado Hills is scheduled for tomorrow. If you can’t make it but you want to help, please visit Sterling’s page.
http://www.myspace.com/sterling_fund
http://www.myspace.com/christiandewild
They can say it better than I can.
I received a comment from a reader in my previous blog entry. This is my answer. Seeing as how it was turning out to be so long, I decided to respond as a blog. I thank her for her input, although I disagree.
I know the biggest argument to staying in Iraq is that the war will be brought home. So I’m expecting rafts full of Iraqis jumping onto the beaches when we finally leave. I’ll have my club ready.
So, we know that the civil war in Iraq was created by years of internal conflict in the Middle East. (What else is new? The place has been full of dissension for two thousand years). And when we went over there, we picked a side and that is why the other side is shooting at us. I’ll bet you twenty bucks that if we left, they would keep shooting eachother, and would no longer have Americans to kill. If we are worried about attacks on the US, we can rest assured that we are doing so well at preventing attacks, we are even torturing people like Maher Arar, among others. Look him up.
Because, you see, the Terrorists we are supposed to be fighting are not just in Iraq. In fact, we practically invited Al Qaeda there by destabilizing the country. So why are we concentrating all our effort on Iraq if the majority of Al Qaeda is in other countries? I agree that we should leave a force in Iraq to counter Al Qaeda, but fighting someone else’s civil war is not helping at all. We could be using our resources more wisely. A change of course is overdue.
Soldiers in boot camp are saying we need to be in Iraq. Of course the soldiers are going to support the war. They signed up, remember? They wouldn’t have signed up if they didn’t. But I’ve talked to some soldiers as well, and on returning, they have told me that they can’t wait for their brothers to come home and that it’s useless for us to be in Iraq when we could be better dealing with terrorism.
At home, we have a War on Drugs. We are fighting the symptom of a deeply rooted socio-economic problem and psychological illness. This problem is not as simple as “If we allow drug users to have as much as they want they will eventually die and then they will lose cliental. It also will reduce the earths population and solve that issue as well”. I know my reader may be angry at the levity of the drug situation, but I think that is a little harsh. The situation is more complicated than that.
First of all, there is a reaction in the brain that occurs when a person does drugs. Also, there is a genetic flaw that causes a predisposition to drug and alcohol abuse. Not only that, but poverty creates the kind of stress that breeds a need to escape. So all these factors can be solved if we are willing to invest in treatment.
The private prison system is the biggest lobby in California. Why would they want to help people rehabilitate if they are making money keeping people on the inside?
There is no such thing as corrections in the corrections system, so of course we see drug addicts hit the streets after release. Not only that, but they are paroled into the very same streets that they were caught in and if they leave without jumping through months of hoops, it is called absconding.
With poor public transportation and little instruction, they are told to show up once a week at a parole office and jump through more hoops. I have personally known parolees, clean for a significant amount of time, sent back on a violation for no other reason than some technicality.
Parolees are instructed to meet with a PO during normal business hours, so they can’t really have a job during that time, right? (How does this sound? “Hey boss, can I have some time off to meet with my PO? Thanks”). Most places won’t touch a person with a felony for at least five years, if at all. Not only that, but few are given vocational rehab. Almost all inmates did not have parents that worked consistently, so they have no example to live by. This is why voc rehab is important. Nor have they been equipped with the upbringing necessary for a person to respond to life in a stable, well-balanced way. Children learn what they see. This is why intense counseling should also be given to parolees, along with the voc rehab.
So, being forced to have a job and to jump through these hoops without any help whatsoever, why should they even try? They spit and it’s back to prison. What a crap shoot.
This doesn’t just start at the adult level. If a person is a minor in a poor, black neighborhood and is caught past curfew, chances are he or she will be taken to Juvenile hall, whereas a white, suburban minor would be taken home. This is fact. So, with an early start in a system that is nearly impossible to escape, no education, psychiatric help, or a way out of the situation that temps them to use or deal again, they don’t really have a whole lotta help.
I’m not saying all criminals would be miraculously saved by a new approach in corrections, but a whole lot of them would benefit. If you look at the success of the programs that teach inmates to raise horses, work in fire camps, brush the animals at the humane society and such, there is no reason not to take a healing approach to corrections, instead of a holding approach.
People may shout, “But there are rehab programs that some parolees are given an opportunity to attend and they fail drug tests half-way through!” So true. But it takes a smoker an average of SEVEN times to finally kick nicotine. Do we give up on smokers after only one or two tries?
People also shout, “It is their fault they did drugs in the first place!” But in the subculture they live in, this is a way of life. If a person got an ulcer for drinking too much coffee, would we shout, “But he tried coffee in the first place!” We have to change the culture that fosters drug addiction through prevention and education, as well as rehab.
I’ve known too many people on the front lines. The ones that work in the rehabs and the clinics. I’ve known too many that have fallen through the cracks and have been sent back. I also know that even if a person gets sent back to prison, him and people closet to him now know about recovery where many have never even heard of the twelve steps before. This spreading the word is not given credit as a success because it is too hard to trace and document. I’ve known people that have walked into the rooms of twelve step recovery because they heard about it from someone who was sent to the meeting by the judge.
Not only all this, but I have seen those miracles that stay clean and sober. The heroine addict with two strikes that owns his own business and his own home. The ex-prostitute with a loving family and a new college education. The angry, the lonely, the withdrawn, the burnt, the hopeless- all that have become more than society would have EVER hoped for them to be. The ones on which we had given up.
No, we shouldn’t just let them die. We help create them when we turn our heads in ignorance and write the problem off as hopeless.
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