Foster children in Michigan would use their state-funded clothing allowance only in thrift stores under a plan suggested by State Senator Bruce Caswell.
Caswell says he wants to make sure that state money set aside to buy clothes for foster children and kids of the working poor is actually used for that purpose.
He says they should get "gift cards" to be used only at Salvation Army, Goodwill or other thrift stores.
As Caswell himself puts it:
To this Gilda Jacobs; CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services, had this to say:
First of all, let's talk about what this is NOT about. This is not about me having any problem with second hand clothing. I buy second hand & I never throw cloths away. There is a Goodwill not far from where I live and I ALWAYS take them there.
This is about singling out an already disenfranchised group of CHILDREN for deferential treatment & robbing them of ALL choice in the process. Little choices mean a lot to someone with very little. It's those little things that make a person feel empowered in some way. Besides, people should have the option to NOT buy certain things second hand like underwear and shoes.
Also; as someone who thinks we should pass things like our clothes on, this just serves to stigmatize the buying of second hand clothes even more. Taking all other choices away from orphans turns the buying of second hand clothes INTO a punishment because it's something they HAVE TO do "unlike kids with parents," they will tell themselves.
Lastly, I have a serious problem with the idea of orphans being limited to buying clothes from the Salvation Army. Why? The Salvation Army is notoriously anti-gay. Because of people who run that organization, gay people and same-sex adoption are much less further along in this country then they should be. I wonder how many of those kids would have safe, loving, same-sex parents if organizations like the Salvation Army would welcome themselves into the 21st century.
Update 7-8-11 Rachel Maddow reveals that the Deepwater Horizon was actually a replacement for a rig that was malfunctioning. That original rig is now sinking off the Coast of Africa. Meanwhile, the GOP declares intentions to drastically cut funding for inspecting Deep water drilling rigs.
Exactly one year ago today, the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf Of Mexico killing 11 people, injuring 17 others and setting in motion an environmental catastrophe so enormous it's consequences are too disturbing for many to even think about.
The subsequent oil spill that followed is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. For three months crude oil oozed into our oceans totaling approximately 4,900,000 barrels of oil; that's 206,000,000 US gallons or 779,000 cubic meters, poisoning our planets delicate ecological balance in ways we are not full capable of predicting. Have we learned anything from this event? We shall see...
First a little BP history:
On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP's Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others. BP was charged with criminal violations of federal environmental laws, and has been subject to lawsuits from the victim's families.
On March 2, 2006 an oil spill was discovered at a pipeline owned by BP Exploration in western Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. About 212,252 US gallons were spilled making it the largest oil spill on Alaska's north slope in history. The pipeline was decommissioned and replaced. In November 2007, BP Exploration, Alaska (BPXA) plead guilty to negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor under the federal Clean Water Act and was fined US $20 million.
But those two events; though tragic, are pretty common knowledge. Here's something just came out. September 2008; 17 months BEFORE the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, there was a previous blowout on a BP owned deep water drilling well in the Caspian Sea. Why isn't this event as well known as the others? Because BP completely hid it from congress and U.S. safety regulators.
A secret memo concerning the blow out reads
"Given the explosive potential, BP was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and to prevent any gas ignition."
1~ BP is gunning to get back to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The first deepwater drilling permit to be issued went to (you guessed it) a well half owned by BP. On top of that, they are in negotiations with the U.S. government now to resume drilling at 10 deepwater wells in the Gulf this July.
2~ People are not only sick, some have died. There is actually an entire channel on youtube documenting one woman's struggle to get help for the multitude of health problems she and her former co-workers are now suffering after working to help clean up the beaches.
3~ Harm to sea life since the spill has been severely under reported.
4~ Elected officials have actually been exposed using money that should be going to help cleanup and victims for personal goodies like iPads and SUVs
5~ Congress hasn't changed a single law concerning drilling.
6~ GOP House members want more drilling off all our coasts with less environmental review.
7~ There issuing drilling permits even though the blow out preventers they deep water drilling rigs are STILL using DON'T WORK!
8~ BP is STILL blocking reporters from the beaches in order to keep them from exposing the tar balls washing ashore.
So what has BP or the U.S. government learned about an ounce of prevention?
NOT A DAMNED THING! Not only have they NOT learned...THEY DON'T CARE!
If they cared they wouldn't be issuing drilling permits to rigs using the same faulty blow out preventers.
If they cared they wouldn't be using the money meant to help with clean up and medical care for a bunch of BULLSHIT!
If they cared congress would have changed at least ONE law concerning drilling.
THEY DON'T CARE!
THEY HAVEN'T LEARNED SHIT AND THEY DON'T CARE!
And when there's another blowout they won't care THEN! They won't care until we MAKE them care! This is OUR fault too.
We are...WE THE PEOPLE!
and we the people have been so busy chasing the myth of the American dream they PURPOSELY keep just out of our reach to notice. AND WHEN WE DO notice we are too tired after working our multiple jobs to do anything about it.
Only we can stop this! We have to STOP voting for those who put our interests and safety second to their corporate donations. We have to STOP sticking our heads in the oil soaked sand and pay attention! We have to teach our kids about democracy and what it means to be a citizen of this country...and a patriot!
And most of all we have to let them know NOW that we are mad and we are not going to take it anymore.
This is YOUR children's future on the line.
Years from now when you look at the FUCKED UP state of the world are you going to wonder if things would have been different if you had done something NOW! By then it will be to late.
With all the research I've been doing on BP before and after the spill as well as the hold big oil has on our political system I gotta say, I'm depressed. I don't really do blogs on my personal feelings much but the weight of all this is just too much and I don't know who I can share this with or if anyone will even get it or care.
Meanwhile ocean life and people are dying and politicians have the blatant, balls out CONTEMPT for the sick and the dying...for the offices they were elected to hold, that they buy SUVs and laptops for themselves with the money!
I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM!
I just can not BELIEVE all the shit I'm reading! All the shit I'm finding!
On top of it they are declaring financial marshal law in cities HERE! In the United States! Our democracy is a JOKE! I am so beside myself with this feeling of hopelessness that I actually broke down crying at my computer!
I have to say I'm at a loss. Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-R) ; Mr. Draconian budget cuts himself, actually collected Social Security until he was 18.
There has been so much focus on the Ryan bill would do to Medicare and Medicaid that Social Security has been largely ignored in all this. According to Campaign For America's Future:
"Ryan would free up Social Security for fast-track cuts by turning it into a regular line budget item. Since Social Security is not part of the general budget, has its own revenue stream, and is forbidden by law from borrowing, it has always been dealt with separately from the rest of the budget. In fact, Ryan had to create a new fast-track process to trigger cuts for Social Security alone, because by law, it is excluded from fast-track reconciliation procedures for the general budget."
Do I need to go there? Yea, I think I will...I bet daddy would be proud.
If you would like to let Ryan's office know of your disapproval of this hypocrisy here's the contact info:
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. ~Benito Mussolini
1~ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS. Plus, it didn't pay any Federal Taxes.
2~Bank of America made $4.4 billion in profits last year. This was after it received a $1 TRILLION bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, and a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS.
3~General Electric has made $26 billion in profits in the United States over the past five years. It's also received a $4.1 billion tax refund from the IRS. GE has cut a fifth of its American jobs in the past nine years, and is boosting jobs overseas~where tax rates are lower. And where it can continue evading U.S. taxes.
4~Chevron's IRS refund last year totaled $19 million, but its 2009 profits came to a whopping $10 billion.
5~Boeing received a &30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers. It also received a $124 million refund from the IRS.
6~Valero Energy made $68 billion in sales and received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS. Over the past three years, it has received a $134 million tax break thanks to oil and gas manufacturing tax reduction.
7~Goldman Sachs paid 1.1% of its 2008 income in taxes. Yet it made a profit of $2.3 billion. And guess how much it received from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department? $800 billion.
8~Citigroup profits last year totaled more than $4 billion. But it paid zero dollars in federal income tax, and received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.
9~ConocoPhillip' profits from 2007 through 2009 totaled $16 billion. But it was still awarded $451 million in tax breaks because of the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.
10~Carnival Cruise Lines is apparently getting pretty good business: It's profits over the past five years totaled more than $11 billion. Its federal income tax rate; however, came to just 1.1%.
And how can they get away with this? Well, with all that money to throw at accountants and lawyers is it really any wonder. Wow, imagine how much a single mother of 3 working 3 jobs just to get by could get back form the IRS If she had access to all those resources. Dare to dream.
Shmoozin with the big guys Scott Brown; Republican of Massachusetts, lays down at his Koch daddies boots and takes a lick.
Did ya catch that:
BROWN: Your support during the election, it meant a ton. It made a difference and I can certainly use it again. Obviously, the –
KOCH: When are you running for the next term?
BROWN: ’12.
KOCH: Oh, okay.
BROWN: I’m in the cycle right now. We’re already banging away.
Wow, I wish I could just ask some Billionaire for money and get it...and get it he did. According to Political Intelligence:
"Shortly after his conversation with Koch, Brown received a $2,500 donation to his campaign fund from Koch Industries through its political action committee, according to campaign finance reports made public yesterday."
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. ~Benito Mussolini
On March 16, 2011, Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican dominated House and Senate of Michigan passed a law. This law stated that if Gov. Snyder declared a financial emergency in any given Michigan city at any given time, he then had the authority to appoint an Emergency Financial Managers (EFM) to take over the town. This EFM has the authority to
He basically now has the authority to declare FINANCIAL MARSHAL LAW! And if you think this is one mans insanity, one mans desperate bid for total power think again. As I write this good ol' Scott Walker is trying to seize this power for himself as well. One of Wisconsin's largest law firms; Foley & Lardner, is in the process of drawing up the language now.
So what is this NOT about? As Rachel says "this is not about the budget" as Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio exposes in this video:
Walker claimed before his push to bust the unions that he was doing it for the sake of the budget but SURPRISE! That was bullshit.
So what is this about...really? Well, I know many are going to call me a conspiracy theorist for this but, I think this is a plan that has long been in the works. To understand this we must go back to the Reagan era. Reaganomics/Trickle-down economics is based on a theory that if markets are completely deregulated and the wealthiest untaxed they will reinvest their riches in our country creating jobs. In other words, trust the richest among us to be infinitely generous and ethical. To that all I can say is
SARCASM WARNING: Yea, and the BP oil spill is TOTALLY cleaned up & all those who helped do it have full coverage for all the health problems that resulted from the work. Just ask the P2S workers that are now dying with no help in sight.
Now lets look at the facts. According to Willamette Week's 9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes, Reaganomics has not only failed but it has almost completely brought economic growth for the middle, working and poverty class of this country to a halt.
"Since 1980, when Reagan won the presidency promising prosperity through tax cuts, the average income of the vast majority—the bottom 90 percent of Americans—has increased a meager $303, or 1 percent. Put another way, for each dollar people in the vast majority made in 1980, in 2008 their income was up to $1.01.
Those at the top did better. The top 1 percent’s average income more than doubled to $1.1 million, according to an analysis of tax data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. The really rich, the top one-tenth of 1 percent, each enjoyed almost $4 in 2008 for each dollar in 1980."
Does anybody else feel like they've been scammed?
Is this all a ploy to ruin our economy so corporate puppets like Snyder & Walker have a reason to declare Financial Marshal Law in their states and appoint ANYONE; even those affiliated with major corporation creating a major conflict of interest, dictator of the town? And is it only Republicans? Anyone else notice that President Obama has been oddly quiet about this assault of our Democracy? Is this simply a case of "good cop, bad cop?" I don't know but I do know this; many of those Wallstreet fools that drove our economy into the ground and got bailouts were major contributors to the Obama presidential campaign.
I voted for President Obama. I may do so again even though I live in Texas and a Democratic Presidential vote in this state is worth about as much as an ice maker is to an Eskimo...but I may not. I just know he'd better start showing where his loyalties lie and quick! The Justice Department should be all over this EFM business by now.
As if filling the very real issue of human trafficking with disinformation & conflations; muddying the issue in the process, wasn't bad enough! Now we have celebrities who barely know what they're talking about making a BIG joke out of the issue!
Beware all who try to tell one of these celebrities they need to go back and do a little homework. As highly respected immigrants & sex workers right's advocate Laura Agustin found out when Mira Sorvino compared her to a holocaust denier, they don't know much about debate either. Ad homs like that serve nothing but their own egos.
Can we have someone who actually cares too much about the victims of trafficking to use the issue as an excuse to self stroke on the field?
PLEASE!
As I found out when I thumbed up their facebook page in order to engage some of their frequenters in debate, their fans can be just as ferocious as they are.
Here's the thing: I was really worried about such celebrity power being thrown behind the disinformationists. Everyday there are new sites popping up making fallacious claims like traffick911 that claimed as many as 100,000 trafficked women and children would be trafficked into the DFW area for the Super Bowl. You won't find much of that propaganda still up though. The site that was sick with it just before the Super Bowl, now seems to be conspicuously absent of it. Must be because the whole thing was exposed as a HOAX!
With all this disinformation and only a handful of sex workers right's advocates to refute it, it's no wonder a girl can get stressed. The good news it, after Ashton & Demi are done with it our work should be a lot easier. Someone please tell the real victims of human trafficking to be patient. The celebrities and politicians should be done making themselves feel better at their expense any day now...
In the late 90's one woman; Brooksley Born, saw the great financial crisis we are still trying to recover from coming and tried to warn us. Needles to say, no one listened. This is that story. As you watch this keep in mind that
Now; with the biggest tax cuts in this countries history at stake, the American people are being asked to sacrifice where the wealthy are not. Some of those wealthy are the very same people and corporations that helped to create this mess.
I have little or no love for Republicans but I am not so foolishly lead by propaganda that I do not see how the Democrats have contributed to this mess.
And if Obama was serious about getting this country in order he would put all his weight behind Elizabeth Warren.
How long will "We The People" stand by and watch those who started this crisis get off scott free while Republicans play bad cop and demonize TEACHERS! Well, I've made my decision. Until now I've had my money in a major bank. THAT ENDS THIS WEEK! I will no longer allow these plutocrats to put their grubby hands all over what little money I have! Once that's done I will encourage those around me to do the same.
I've never quite known what to think of Dr. West. I respect him without a doubt, but he has always seemed deliberately wordy to me and I'm an impatient, as blunt as humanly possible kinda woman. I have to say; though, I have gained a new found respect for the man. He had the courage to say what I've been thinking for a while now but people actually pay attention to him.
I voted for Obama. I had so much hope. But, he has proven himself to be no different & I can not claim to be a principled progressive and deny it. What will come of our country? With the village idiots running the right and neo-liberals (rather then liberals) in the lead on the left who knows. If a third party was ever going to have a chance for the presidency in this country, could this be the time?
This April 4th is a day to show solidarity with those who fight for human rights, labor rights, womens rights and anti-war. Please find an event near you and go. It is also on this day in 1968 that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot standing in solidarity with those who fought for the rights of sanitation workers to collectively bargain. In his honor and in the honor of those who continue to fight I made this video.
Thank you Dr. King. We won't let the world forget.
Despite what some may have you believe, the Boston Tea Party was NOT about defending the desires of large corporations to exploit those smaller then them as the video below will prove.
In honor of those who have taken up the patriots task today I made this video. Enjoy
