Daily Archives: August 17, 2012

Freedom & Democracy — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Pro-Bradley Manning protesters occupy Obama campaign’s Oakland headquarters

A rally on Thursday demanding justice for whistleblower Bradley Manning was followed by a group of at least sixty protesters showing up at the Obama campaign headquarters in Oakland, California.

According to the Washington Whispers blog at U.S. News, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War handed a letter to campaign volunteers and demanded that they fax it to the White House. Rainey Reitman, a representative of the Electronic Frontier Foundation who had spoken at the rally, later confirmed that the letter did go out.

“President Obama made a… statement in May 2011: ‘In the 21st century, information is power,’” it read. “We now ask that President Obama honor those words by freeing American truth-teller Bradley Manning.”

via Pro-Bradley Manning protesters occupy Obama campaign’s Oakland headquarters | The Raw Story.

Uncategorized — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Binyamin Netanyahu’s aides launch stinging rebuke to Israeli president Shimon Peres

http://tpt.to/a2HM1lg

Uncategorized — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Colbert: Why do we need to vote for our U.S. Senators anyway?

http://tpt.to/a2HM5mT

Uncategorized — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Geraldo tells ‘Fox and Friends’ that ‘lesbian cabal’ has taken over DHS and ICE

http://tpt.to/a2HMtvj

Elections — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Obama offer to Romney: Release your Taxes and I won’t Criticize You

The Obama campaign is biting on that bone real hard. Don’t talk about how to rescue the economy. Instead the administration has gone completely negative. They will spend as much time trashing the Republican opponent as possible. That makes them just as irresponsible as the GOP. Republicans have said since 2009 that they won’t do the people’s work instead they’ll spend all their time attacking Obama. That is job one for them. Democrats are doing the same now. Notice how Obama supporters have stopped complaining about Republican negativity:

President Barack Obama’s campaign is offering Mitt Romney a deal: if he releases five years of tax returns, Obama’s team won’t criticize him for not releasing any more.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina made the offer to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades in a letter Friday. Messina says he is taking the step because Romney “apparently fears the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide.”

Romney released his 2010 taxes and plans to release his 2011 returns. Messina says he wants Romney to provide three more years of returns.

Obama’s campaign has questioned whether there are years when Romney paid no taxes. Romney said Thursday he has paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the past decade.

Government Waste — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Caltrans spent millions on unjustified house repairs, audit says

California transportation officials have spent millions of dollars making overpriced, unjustified repairs to houses the state owns in and around Pasadena, according to an audit released Thursday.

Caltrans bought the houses decades ago to bulldoze for the long-planned, never built extension of the 710 Freeway. The agency has spent $22.5 million since 2008 to maintain the homes, but transportation officials are “unable to demonstrate that the repairs were necessary, reasonable or cost-effective,” according to the report by the California State Auditor, which was sparked by a Times investigation.

via Caltrans spent millions on unjustified house repairs, audit says – latimes.com.

Greed and Corruption — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Still no escape for taxpayers if banks go bust

Five years since the start of the financial crisis, taxpayers would still be forced to foot the bill should more banks fail because countries are delaying alternative solutions.

Finding a way to shut down big banks quickly without triggering market mayhem — the threat of which prompted governments around the world to resort to publicly-funded bailouts between 2007 and 2009 — remains a mammoth task.

via Still no escape for taxpayers if banks go bust | Reuters.

Elections — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Ryan Denies Taking Stimulus, Then Admits He Did

Paul Ryan voted against President Obama’s federal stimulus bill, and has repeatedly attacked the legislation, calling it a “wasteful spending spree” and “a monstrosity.” Thus, the revelation that he and several other Republicans asked for stimulus funds for companies in their district caused a minor stir when it was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2010. The issue was revived this week when the Boston Globe reported that Ryan wrote four letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu requesting stimulus money for two companies in his district to develop green jobs, which were both eventually awarded. In a 2010 interview and again on Thursday, Ryan indignantly declared that he’d never do such a thing. Then he admitted several hours later that upon further investigation, he definitely did ask for stimulus funds.

via Ryan Denies Taking Stimulus, Then Admits He Did — Daily Intel.

Health — No Comments
17
Aug 12

Global smoking pattern is ‘alarming’, says study

Women in developing countries are starting to smoke at younger ages, according to a study that found “alarming patterns” of tobacco use around the world.

Despite years of anti-smoking measures being encouraged across the world, most developing countries have low quit rates, according to the study in The Lancet medical journal on Friday — and tobacco is likely to kill half its users.

via Global smoking pattern is ‘alarming’, says study – World News.