September 2010 archive

I apologize for being away last week; Translator was a bit under the weather.  Not really ill, but feeling poorly enough that I could not have monitored comments for the hours that I always promise after publication.  I would rather post nothing at all than not be available to respond to comments, because I respect my readers and know that the comments are usually the most interesting part of the post.

Tonight we shall discuss the final spinoff of Star Trek that appeared on TeeVee. Enterprise (after the first couple of seasons renamed Star Trek:  Enterprise) is, in my opinion, held in much lower esteem than it should be.  I always liked it, but since SyFy has been running it, I have come to appreciate it even more.  It sort of lost its way halfway into the run, but the final season more than made up for it.

Two weeks ago, I asked whether or not the Obama administration’s Department of Justice under Eric Holder would seek to thwart the ruling of Judge Virginia Phillips, when she ruled on 9/9/10 that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the military’s antiqued discharge policy used against gay people, was unconstitutional.  The lawsuit was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, who won the ruling on the grounds of freedom of speech, freedom of association, and the ability to petition the government for the redress of grievances-  the good, old fashioned stuff.

https://www.docudharma.com/diar…

Since then, the Democrats in the Senate made another one of their feeble, half hearted attempts at accomplishing something meaningful and legally correct, and of course, failed, after 3 of their alleged Dem caucus bailed on them during a cloture vote to get an amendment to get rid of DADT tucked into the latest DOD spending bill for FY 2011.

Here’s the roll call on that pathetic 56 to 43 vote.   http://www.senate.gov/legislat…

Judge Phillips said in her ruling that she intended to issue an injunction to stop enforcement of DADT,  yesterday, the Obama Administration’s Dept of Justice Filed An Objection to Overturning DADT, and even said that the Judge would be overstepping her bounds if she did it.  

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…

“A court should not compel the executive to implement an immediate cessation of the 17-year-old policy without regard for any effect such an abrupt change might have on the military’s operations, particularly at a time when the military is engaged in combat operations and other demanding military activities around the globe,” federal attorneys said in their objection.

Department of Justice officials declined to comment further.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tried to pretend this was not backpedaling on that fierce advocacy for equal rights that was mentioned in the 2008 campaign.  Instead he tried to blame Congress, via an email, sent to the Associated Press.   Odd that he said “this clearly shows why Congress must end this policy.”   Because Congress is thought of as the House, and the House has its act together on this and would vote for it.  It’s the Senate, and more specifically a Democratic Majority Senate that is at fault,  that has decided a man or a woman in some states  gets to have 2 and 2/3 Senators, while the rest of the country only gets 1 and 1/3 Senator, every time they insist on a 60 vote majority to decide any procedure.

One potential solution to this would be for every person in the military who this policy impacts to immediately declare themselves a member of the   Log Cabin Republicans, since Judge Phillips could limit the injunction to them and not upset Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice…..  too much during an election season.   I’m not recruiting for them, but it looks like President Obama is confused about that equal protection under the law Konstitooshunal bipartisanshipthingee again.   I would love to see the Judge smack down more doofus crap from any administration who is telling her that the military members have to belong to the Republican Party to have equal protection, wouldn’t you ?

And of course,

Back in April in CA at the Boxer fundraiser

Back in April at the White House

Last year in DC , Oct 2009

They say that this country is free, and they say that this country is equal, It is not equal if it is “some times”

Aside from the legal and moral issues, since this is the height of campaign season, and the President is running around the country doing million dollar fundraisers for some of these Senatorial candidates, let’s say what they fear the most:

Don’t Equalize, Don’t Pay to Play.

Because there is nothing more obnoxious that watching the current spectacle of the Senate Democrat’s Villain Rotation being used as an extortion tool.  

I was scouting for something to write about/discuss a couple of nights ago and I ran across a few reviews of a new movie that is making the rounds in less than usual venues.  Funded in part by The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS), The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Arlington Cultural Arts Council, The Open Meadows Foundation the movie was produced and directed by Alice Dungan Bouvrie of Mineral King Productions and is entitled Thy Will Be Done, which we of course recognize as a phrase from The Lord’s Prayer.

Personally I might have preferred a quote from Shakespeare.

This above all: to thine own self be true.

–Polonius to his son Laertes, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3, line 82

That is, after all, what the story seems to be about for me.

  Executives from Glen Beck’s favorite gold company, Goldline, testified in front Congress yesterday. Rep. Anthony Weiner showed no mercy.

 “We’re talking about a classic consumer issue,” Weiner said at a House subcommittee hearing. “The television gold industry, led by [Goldline], is built on lies, fear and rip-offs.”

 While Weiner has a point, at least when it comes to Goldline being a predator, one has to wonder why Congress doesn’t share that level of outrage for the infinitely larger problem of payday loan predators? Is it because Goldline doesn’t have the lobbying power of the entire banking industry? Or because Beck endorses Goldline, thus making it a partisan hearing?

 On the very same day of the hearings there was another headline in the markets.

 Gold prices traded in record territory again Thursday as inflation-wary investors bid prices up near the psychologically important threshold of $1,300 an ounce.

  Gold prices gained $4.20 to settle a record $1,296.30 an ounce, building on gains it made after the Federal Reserve announced Tuesday it might take further steps to stimulate the economy. …

  Gold prices have nearly doubled since 2008, when an economic panic shook global credit markets and central banks responded by flooding currency markets. Since then, global economic uncertainty and inflation fears have spurred investors to shift money from stocks and cash into gold.

 The simple fact is that while Goldline might be stoking the hype and fear, people would be rushing into gold even if Goldline didn’t exist. The reason isn’t because of lies and rip-offs. The reasons are based on sound historical facts.

  Executives from Glen Beck’s favorite gold company, Goldline, testified in front Congress yesterday. Rep. Anthony Weiner showed no mercy.

 “We’re talking about a classic consumer issue,” Weiner said at a House subcommittee hearing. “The television gold industry, led by [Goldline], is built on lies, fear and rip-offs.”

 While Weiner has a point, at least when it comes to Goldline being a predator, one has to wonder why Congress doesn’t share that level of outrage for the infinitely larger problem of payday loan predators? Is it because Goldline doesn’t have the lobbying power of the entire banking industry? Or because Beck endorses Goldline, thus making it a partisan hearing?

 On the very same day of the hearings there was another headline in the markets.

 Gold prices traded in record territory again Thursday as inflation-wary investors bid prices up near the psychologically important threshold of $1,300 an ounce.

  Gold prices gained $4.20 to settle a record $1,296.30 an ounce, building on gains it made after the Federal Reserve announced Tuesday it might take further steps to stimulate the economy. …

  Gold prices have nearly doubled since 2008, when an economic panic shook global credit markets and central banks responded by flooding currency markets. Since then, global economic uncertainty and inflation fears have spurred investors to shift money from stocks and cash into gold.

 The simple fact is that while Goldline might be stoking the hype and fear, people would be rushing into gold even if Goldline didn’t exist. The reason isn’t because of lies and rip-offs. The reasons are based on sound historical facts.

Imagine it’s election season in 2020 … you look around the economic and political and media landscape in America — and you’re asking yourself “What Happened?”

VP Paul Ryan is Leading in all the Insta-Polls.

Ryan is considered a shoe-in after spearheading President Pence’s Ultimate Govt Diet Plan for the last 8 years.  Even though Ryan’s only real accomplishment was leading American Prosperity’s many market research programs.

Ryan must be credited with figuring out exactly How to Sell the Dog Food — and making it “palatable to the majority of the people”.   Afterall, the Pundit Class was stunned when Mike Pence eked out that Win in 2012 — given how he insisted on running on the GOP original slogan:  Time to Deconstruct Run-away Government.

With that surprise upset-win, which sent Obama packing, VP Paul Ryan seized the opportunity to get out of the number-crunching business, and move into the world of high-octane Messaging …

Who knew that an Ultra-Conservative — turned Marketing Guru — could actually become the “Leader of the Free-Market World“?

The 2020 Polls are ticking …

The following Green Party candidates are running for U.S. Senate this year.

http://www.greenscc.org/pages/…

Jerry Joslyn – Arizona

   http://www.joslynforsenate.com

   John Gray – Arkansas

   http://www.johngrayforussenate…

   Midge Potts – Missouri

   http://www.midgepotts.com

   Duane Roberts – California

   http://voteforduane.wordpress.com

   Bob Kinsey – Colorado

   http://www.kinseyforsenate.org

   LeAlan Jones – Illinois

   http://lealanforsenate.org

   Natasha Pettigrew – Maryland – Deceased on account of a hit-and-run this week.  Please send condolences to the family, if you want to help them in their time of need.

   http://www.natashaforsenate.com

   Colia Clark – New York

   http://www.coliaclark.org

   Cecile Lawrence – New York

   http://www.cecilelawrence.org

   Richard Weir – North Carolina

   Mel Packer – Pennsylvania – Forced to drop out because of another questionable Democrat legal challenge to remove him from the ballot.

   http://www.melpacker.com

   Tom Clements – South Carolina

   http://clementsforsenate.com

   Jesse Johnson – West Virginia

   http://www.jesse4ussenate.org  

As far as I am aware, the other candidates are still running.  Numerous candidates are running for seats in the House of Representatives.  The link to the page with their info is here.

http://www.greenscc.org/pages/…

Finally, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein has almost raised enough money to qualify for matching funds.  You can donate by going here:

http://www.jillstein.org/contr…

Dave Schwab reports that her campaign, at last posting, is $8,655 shy of the $125,000 needed, and phred updated that amount raised to $117,690 here.  This means that less than seven thousand dollars is still needed by 4:30PM today to meet the deadline.  Considering the short period of time that Ms. Stein has been able to raise money, she might be able to do it, but she needs your help.

So many progressives say that they will support progressive candidates if viable ones appear.  Well, Jill Stein looks like exactly that kind of candidate.  Her positions on the issues are a left-winger’s dream, and she has proven that she can raise a lot of money in a very short amount of time.  Help put her over the top to qualify for matching funds in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election.  This is the moment of truth.  Let’s make it a reality as well.

Dr. Jill Stein is running an insurgent Green campaign for Governor of Massachusetts against 3 business-as-usual political insiders. Her platform reads like a progressive Christmas list. Now she has the chance to break this race open and show that clean, green, people-powered politics can succeed. If Jill Stein’s campaign can raise $125,000 in amounts of $250 or less by Friday 9/24 at 5 PM, it will qualify for 1-1 public matching funds.

The thermometer on Jill Stein’s website is rising rapidly. At 10:40 EST on Friday it shows $110,918, meaning Stein needs just over $14,000 to make it over the top. Supporters of her campaign have created a “Clean Money Tidal Wave for Jill Stein” facebook event, which is doing brisk business with 10,000 people invited so far.

Here’s why this is so important: progressives often talk about supporting independent progressive candidates, if a viable one comes along. Jill Stein is that viable independent progressive. She hasn’t taken a dime of corporate or lobbyist money. She was a leading activist for the MA Clean Elections public campaign financing law that the state’s Democratic establishment threw out after the people voted for it 2-1.

Jill Stein is the only candidate talking about replacing Romneycare with a vastly more efficient single-payer health care system. She is the only candidate calling for local green job creation, instead of the big corporate tax breaks and casino schemes that her opponents all agree on. On issue after issue, Jill Stein is unwaveringly progressive while her opponents pledge allegiance to the failed corporatist policies of the status quo.

If Jill Stein qualifies for matching funds, she’ll have a guaranteed place in the debates and a real war chest to spread her message of a secure, healthy green future. It will show that clean money campaigns can work – and that independent progressives are ready to support candidates who support them.

Make a little bit of history today. http://www.jillstein.org/