HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW REVISITED

HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW REVISITED

PRELUDE:
Years ago, I use to read the Harper's Weekly Review "religiously" I
had it delivered to my email address so I wouldn't miss it. Then
during computers going kaput, new email addresses replacing old
ones and whatever… I lost track of it.

Since, Comcast threw (they deny it) Keith Olbermann under the MACK TRUCK I now have time on my hands without Keith Olbermann's Voice Of Reason to
blog about and since I am now so disillusioned with politics,
advertising and plain ole mind manipulation from Mr.& Mrs.
Corportatehood; I renewed my subscription to relieve some of the
pressure my squished brain is feeling under the weight of
despair. (I am hoping that by reading Harper's Thumbnails of
Crazy World Events it will take my mind off the tragedy of losing
my favorite political show, COUNTDOWN. So here it is, my first
blog on Harper's Weekly Review. There will be more to come.
thinkingblue

On his radio show back in November, Glenn Beck correctly predicted
that an NBC-Comcast Merger would mean no more Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

---

We live in a world full of mentally strange happenings, images, words, etc. and
Harper's Weekly Review tries to bring to our attention a mere
Scratch The Surface bit of these bizarre goings on played out by
the Homo sapiens who exist upon this planet. Read and weep,
shudder or laugh at what our species, the supposedly Most
Intelligent Animal link, on the food-chain shackle, does in their
daily routines around the globe. thinkingblue

PS: JUST A THOUGHT:

I despise, Marketing style politics where politicians hire a
Marketing Manager (Case In Point-Frank I. Luntz
(born February 23, 1962) is an American political consultant and
pollster. His most recent work has been with the Fox News Channel
as a frequent commentator and analyst, as well as running focus
groups after presidential debates. Luntz's specialty is
“testing language and finding words that will help his
clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or
a candidate.” He is also an author of business books dealing
with communication strategies and public opinion. Luntz's current
company, The Word Doctors, specializes in message creation and
image management for commercial and political clients. LINK) to come up with newspeak that
can manipulate our minds into thinking they (THE POLITICIANS, THE
CORPORATIONS, BIG PHARMA AND ANYONE ELSE WHO IS TRYING TO GET
BLOOD FROM A STONE (CHOKE THE LAST PENNY OUT OF US) want only the
best for We The People. All the while they are stabbing us in the
back (I know politically incorrect). What A Laugh!

Harper's Weekly Review
January 25, 2011
By J. Gabriel Boylan

A suicide bomber struck Moscow's Domodedovo airport, killing
as many as 34 people and leaving at least 168 injured.
“From the preliminary information we have, it was a
terror attack,” said Russian president Dmitry Medvedev
in a televised briefing. Former Department of Homeland
Security official Stephen A. Baker noted, “They’d
like to be bombing planes and they can’t, so
they’re bombing airports.” Artyom Zhilenkov, a taxi
driver, claimed he was about 10 yards from the bomber, a
short, dark man carrying a suitcase. “How did I manage
to save myself? I don’t know,” he said. “The
people behind me on my left and right were blown apart. Maybe
because of that.” For the first time in five years,
Chinese premier Hu Jintao visited the United States: he
received a 21-gun salute, attended a gala dinner, and
participated in a live news conference. He also hugged a
small child. Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier
attempted to return to Haiti after a 25-year absence, only to
be detained and charged with stealing millions during his
15-year rule. “I don’t think,“ said Duvalier's
lawyer, ”this was a very successful trip." A police
trade union was upset that Italian prime minister Silvio
Berlusconi's “bunga bunga” parties, held at his
villa near Milan, featured women wearing sexy policewomen's
outfits. Senator Joe Lieberman announced plans for his
retirement, Keith Olbermann abruptly left his cable-news
show, “Countdown,” Regis Philbin announced that
after 28 years as a co-host he wouldl be leaving “Live
with Regis and Kelly,” and Steve Jobs took indefinite
medical leave from Apple. The word “App” was chosen
as word of the year by the American Dialect society. MORE HERE

---Harper's Weekly Review
January 18, 2011
by Claire Gutierrez

President Barack Obama, speaking at a memorial service in
Arizona for the six killed during Jared Loughner's shooting
spree, urged Americans to be better people. “I want our
democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it,” Obama
said, referring to 9-year-old victim Christina Taylor Green.
“All of us—we should do everything we can to make
sure this country lives up to our children’s
expectations.” The president then choked up, pausing for
51 seconds. “I had her heart in my hand,” said Dr.
Randall Friese, the surgeon who operated on Christina.
“We filled it with blood. It still didn’t want to
beat. So, it was over. We’re finished.” Sales of
Glock semi-automatic pistols, the model of handgun used by
Loughner, surged. Four Arizona Republicans resigned from
public office, fearing violence from Tea Party activists, and
Clear Channel removed a Tucson billboard that described Rush
Limbaugh as a “straight shooter.” Gabrielle
Giffords opened her eye for the first time since the
shooting, and the Safeway where the shooting took place
reopened. MORE HERE

Another Good Read On The Effects Of Marketing and Public Opinion manipulation.BART removes anti-Palestinian ad

Offensive advertisements promoting a right-wing Zionist viewpoint of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict were removed from all BART
stations this week. “They could be commonly interpreted
as disparaging or demeaning to Palestinians as a whole,”
according to BART spokesperson Jim Allison told us, saying
the violated the district's advertising standards. More Here

Previous Posts

Keith Olbermann Interview's Kevin Spacey

OLBERMANN - VOICE OF REASON, tax breaks for the rich

Repeal health care? Give up your own first!

He's Back, Good Ole, Keith Olbermann is back on MSNBC

Phil Griffin's Kangaroo Court Suspends Keith Olbermann

DST Ends More Darkness Begins

Why Do Americans Have Amnesia At Election Time

Chilean Miners Were Rescued But The Truth Remains Entombed

Ahhh, a return to the Good Old Days

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Here's what a genuine rally looks like.

AND SO MUCH MORE

Hold on to your hats while you watch an interview with some of
Glenn Beck's Followers.

MOVE TO AMEND

Watch A Fracking Mess 'GASLAND' here

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on 'Fear'

Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important

petition "demand question time" (of our political leaders) HERE..
We really need more dialog from those at the top... The
Republicans have got to be made to realize they can't hide behind
"NO" any longer! thinkingblue

Let's keep our heads, while we continue

to watch THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

Republican Approval Plummets

Republican Approval Plummets

Whad'ya Know? There are more thinkers out there than previously thought
(my previously). What an encouraging bit of news this is. When I see Boehner and his sycophants using talking points from their rehearsed playbooks, I can’t help it but my mind feels like screaming “ARE THESE PEOPLE FOR REAL? ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS UNDOING THE ONLY HEALTHCARE BILL THAT THE USA HAS MANAGED TO PASS IN NEARLY A CENTURY OF FALSE STARTS AND UNKEPT CAMPAIGN PROMISES! IT’S SO OBVIOUS!”

Perhaps there’s a new phenomenon happening in America… Finally for the first time in many, many years the proletariat are grouping together and realizing that it’s all about what is best for We-The-People (starting with jobs) and not about making the medical insurance industry richer (which is what the Republican Corporatehood of the USA presses for). Hey maybe now John Boehner will finally have something real to cry about.

YA THINK?

thinkingblue

Proof is in the Polling: Republican Approval Plummets As They Ignore The Economy

The polls tell the tale.
Republican approval ratings are plummeting as the American
people see them ignoring the economy and wasting time with
political stunts that have zero chance of passing. NBC's
First Read summed it up: "The House GOP's first
impression isn't on jobs".

As Republicans choose to spend the first days of the new
Congress trying to re-open the donut hole and take away tax
breaks from small businesses, two polls in the last 48 hours
show that they are severely out of step with the American
people.

* CBS News poll: "House Republicans may be focused on
fulfilling their campaign promise to work to overturn the
health care reform law, but a new CBS News/New York Times
survey finds that a plurality of Americans prefer they focus
instead on creating jobs. The poll finds 43 percent of
Americans believe the most important thing for the new
Congress to focus on is job creation - compared to just 18
percent who say the top priority should be health care...The
Republican Party is seen favorably by 40 percent of Americans
and unfavorably by 49 percent."

* NBC News poll: "Only 25% say the Republicans in
Congress will bring the right kind of change (versus 42% who
said that about the Dems in Jan. 2007, and 37% who said that
about the GOP in Jan. 1995)... And then there's this: The
GOP's fav/unfav has gone from a net positive in December
(38%-37%) to a net negative now (34%-40%). 'I think this has
been a pretty short Republican honeymoon,' McInturff says.
Hart adds, 'I think the president has the benefit of the
doubt, and the Republicans -- based on this data -- have the
burden of proof.'"

Not exactly an auspicious start for Republicans. We hope they
will take the hint, drop the political charade, and start
working with the other side of the aisle to create jobs and
build a prosperous middle class.

Keith Olbermann To Leave MSNBC,

Keith Olbermann To Leave MSNBC, Wait Up Keith, I'm Leaving Too!

Say it isn't so!! I keep searching; hoping to find out that it is a joke. But it appears to be another kick to the head, by the powers that be, for those of us who enjoy truth delivered by one with so much integrity that his very presence oozes goodness & honesty. Now, for me anyway, there's no reason to keep the package Dish charges me for delivering MSNBC. Without Countdown MSNBC will just be too sad to watch. :-(
Please sign statement: THANK YOU KEITH

thinkingblue

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The Night The Lights Went Out On NBC

Russell Simmons gives props to Keith Olbermann for speaking truth to power!

NBC is a great institution based in the landmark Rockefeller Plaza where TV and Radio began in this country. On Friday night, a bright light was dimmed for no explicable reason, when Keith Olbermann delivered his final show of Countdown on MSNBC. It is being reported that the deal for his removal from the network has been in the works for weeks. Maybe it was someone’s ego, maybe he was too honest and forthright. But I can’t help but feel that the less honest the right extreme is, the more heavily they get promoted; the more honest and the progressive voices are, the more they get silenced. This is where Edward Morrow’s American media is at today. KEEP READING

---

Keith Olbermann Leaves MSNBC

Keith Olbermann, the controversial host of
MSNBC's "Countdown," abruptly announced his departure
at the end of last night's show.

The cable news network's officials released a statement saying
that they and Olbermann decided to end his contract, but no
further explanation was given.

In saying goodbye, Olbermann thanked his fans for sticking with
him through good times and bad, especially over the last few years.

"There were many occasions particularly in the last
two-and-a-half years where all that surrounded the show, but
never the show itself, was just too much for me," said
Olbermann. "But your support and loyalty and, if I may use
the word, insistence, ultimately required that I keep going."

Olbermann was suspended for two days last November for donating
money to Democratic candidates, a violation of NBC News policy.

He later claimed he was being punished for violating what he
called an "inconsistently applied" rule he had known
nothing about.

---

Olbermann and MSNBC: a failing relationship

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – Sat Jan 22, 6:17 pm ET
NEW YORK – Keith Olbermann's exit from MSNBC appeared abrupt to viewers of his show, but the talk-show host and his network were involved "in a relationship that's been failing for a long time," an NBC Universal executive said Saturday.

Olbermann's announcement at the end of Friday's "Countdown" that it would be his last show quiets, at least for the moment, the most dominant liberal voice in a cable-television world where opinionated talk has been the most bankable trend over the past several years.

As Olbermann read from a James Thurber short story during a three-minute exit statement Friday night, MSNBC simultaneously e-mailed a statement to reporters that the network and host "have ended their contract." Neither indicated a reason nor addressed whether Olbermann quit or was fired.

But the NBC Universal executive characterized it as a mutual parting of the ways, with Olbermann taking the first step. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because settlement talks were kept confidential.

Olbermann was nearly fired in November but instead was suspended for two days without pay for violating an NBC News policy by donating to three political campaigns, including the congressional campaign of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He returned and apologized to his fans, but not the network.

Last fall, Olbermann saw his role on NBC's `Sunday Night Football" eliminated. Olbermann, a former sports anchor, had willingly worked six days a week to be involved with the highly rated football telecast. NBC said he was removed so he could concentrate on his MSNBC job.

MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines insisted Olbermann's exit had nothing to do with the acquisition of parent company NBC Universal by Comcast, which received regulatory approval Tuesday. That deal marks the exit of NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who saw Olbermann's value in turning around a once-unprofitable network, despite headaches the mercurial personality sometimes caused his bosses.

Olbermann and his manager did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. MORE HERE

“Desert Storm Commanders Together Again”

Brian Williams’ Round Table Discussion With

The Desert Storm War Mongers.

I don’t know about you, but this latest NBC series

“Desert Storm Commanders Together Again”

(this title almost makes me want to sing the old drinking song
"TOGETHER AGAIN" by Buck Owens)

with Brian Williams, just made me want to puke. The War Mongers and Oil
Moguls (best embodiment: Dick Cheney) had gathered together in
one room to discuss their motivations back in 1991 when they took
our country to (A Televised) war.

These Commanders (war-mongers) are quite old now and perhaps have lost
their lust for war a little but they still maintain that the
reasons behind thrusting so many people into certain death, in a
haphazardly decided war, was just.

As they sit stoically, as so many old powerful men who have come to the end
of their lifetime usually do, not lamenting but rationalizing
(still trying to save face) their reasons why war is not only
necessary but beneficial.

As they speak I look at their wrinkled faces and hear their cracked
voices (men who were once so arrogant and sure of themselves, who
held so much power in the palms of their hands over so many of
the world’s population) I think to myself… “Will we as a species ever evolve away from our past evolutionary roots of kill or be killed; the rudimentary basics embedded in the food chain instincts of all animal life forms?”

We, the species who have the power to reason and figure out how not to be
eaten by a carnivore much larger than ourselves, without
destroying all of Earth’s carnivores in order to keep us
safe. Since we can do that then why can’t we figure out how
to get along with our own kind? How can we still be so enslaved
by the food chain’s instinctual bondage?

It’s mind boggling to me but if we as a society of intelligent beings
keep on allowing those who have clawed their way to powerful
world positions, to keep using us like chess pieces in a chess
game, we have only ourselves to blame. Tell them NO I will not fight your wars over oil or whatever you deem necessary to keep you rich, or powerful, or satisfied. When we can stand up to the powerful and tell them No More War, maybe then our evolutionary process of intellectual greatness will begin. (Once again, I can dream can't I?)

Please watch the clip below if you can stomach it. thinkingblue

Please watch the clip below if you can stand it. thinkingblue

Video can also be seen at this link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#41182130

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BRIEF EXCERPTS BELOW ON THE REASONINGS OF THE GULF WAR:

NBC News and news services

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Former President George H.W. Bush defended the decision to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in the first Gulf War on Thursday and said his own adviser's criticism of his son's policies and invasion of Iraq in 2003 didn't bother him.

Bush said disagreements on policies "go with the territory" as president.

Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security adviser under the elder Bush, maintained in the run-up to the invasion that it wasn't clear that Hussein was part of the global terrorism network

"You can't worry about that," Bush told NBC News anchor Brian Williams in a roundtable discussion on the 20th anniversary of the start of the war. "You can't worry about the differences. They're bound to happen, bound to take place." MORE HERE

___

The Persian Gulf War (August 2, 1990 –
February 28, 1991), commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War,
was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from
thirty-four nations led by Britain and the United States, against
Iraq.

The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops
from Kuwait began with an aerial bombardment on 17 January 1991.

Reasons and campaign for intervention

The United States and the United Nations
gave several public justifications for involvement in the
conflict, the most prominent being the Iraqi violation of Kuwaiti
territorial integrity. In addition, the United States moved to
support its ally Saudi Arabia, whose importance in the region,
and AS A KEY SUPPLIER OF OIL, made it of considerable
geopolitical importance. Shortly after the Iraqi invasion,
Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney made the first of several visits
to Saudi Arabia where King Fahd requested US military assistance.
During a speech in a special joint session of the U.S. Congress
given on 11 September 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush
summed up the reasons with the following remarks: "Within
three days, 120,000 Iraqi troops with 850 tanks had poured into
Kuwait and moved south to threaten Saudi Arabia. It was then that
I decided to act to check that aggression."

The Pentagon claimed that satellite photos
showing a buildup of Iraqi forces along the border were the
source of this information, but this was later shown to be false.
A reporter for the Saint Petersburg Times acquired commercial
satellite images made at the time in question, which showed
nothing but empty desert...

There was some criticism of the Bushadministration, as they chose to allow Saddam Hussein to remain in power instead of pushing on to capture Baghdad and
overthrowing his government. In their co-written 1998 book, A
World Transformed, Bush and Brent Scowcroft argued that such a
course would have fractured the alliance, and would have had many
unnecessary political and human costs associated with it.

In 1992, the United States Secretary of Defense during the war, Dick Cheney, made the same point:

"I would guess if we had gone in there, we would still have forces in Baghdad today. We'd be running the country. We would not have been able to get
everybody out and bring everybody home. And the final point that
I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don't
think you could have done all of that without significant
additional U.S. casualties, and while everybody was tremendously
impressed with the low cost of the (1991) conflict, for the 146
Americans who were killed in action and for their families, it
wasn't a cheap war. And the question in my mind is, how many
additional American casualties is Saddam (Hussein) worth? And the
answer is, not that damned many. So, I think we got it right,
both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the
President made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and
we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying
to take over and govern Iraq".
(Said, in 1991, by the world's biggest hypocrite) – Dick Cheney

Gulf War controversies:

Gulf War Illness, Effects of depleted uranium, Highway of Death, Bulldozer assault, Killing of unarmed Iraqi Soldiers, Coalition bombing of Iraq's civilian infrastructure, Abuse of coalition POWs, Operation Southern Watch, Gulf war sanctions

MORE HERE

Will The Tucson Tragedy Teach Us To Just Kind Of Get Along?

Will The Tucson Tragedy Teach Us To Just Kind Of Get Along?

The below story is a heart wrenching tale of the times we live in.

Ariz. shooting victim arrested, taken to hospital
Will there ever be an end to the sadness of January 8th 2011 when a madman bought a gun and went on a shooting rampage in Tucson Arizona? Probably, time heals all, so they say. But not for the victims; whether you believe right-wing hacks are responsible or the left-wing’s inability to put an end to the hateful rhetoric that is BOUGHT AND PAID FOR by Big Corporate- hood of the USA, the sorrow and pain lingers on.

The article tells it all. From the poor man who became a victim just because he wanted to be part of the American political fabric, so he attended a constituent meeting on that Saturday morning. To the little girl who’s innocent, young mind was filled with the enthusiasm of living in a representative democracy in which our leaders act in our interests, so that is why she was there. (She so deserved to live, starting out so young, possessing critical thinking skills that are lacking in too many of our Nation’s adults.)

Everyone sees this tragedy in different ways, some, like myself, are drawn into the complete senselessness of it and struggle to find answers as to why such a horrible event could occur.

Others want to blame something or someone which really isn’t possible. If we could point a finger and claim “THAT’S WHY IT HAPPENED!” it would be so simple. We could then eradicate the cause and it would never happen again.

But like the Wild Kingdom, there are dangers in being alive. There are predators amongst us and someone will eventually come face to face with one of them and fall victim to their psychopathic mindset.

Perhaps, changing some of our gun laws would help or maybe toning down the rhetoric of hate that fills our airwaves. I wish there were easy answers but one thing we should all note is that we as a species are sliding backward into our evolutionary past of reactionary FIGHT OR FLIGHT...

(FIGHT OR FLIGHT –noun Physiology, Psychology -. the response of the sympathetic nervous system to a stressful event, preparing the body to fight or flee, associated with the adrenal secretion of epinephrine and characterized by increased heart rate, increased blood flow *reference.com*)

due to the lack of critical thinking skills.

(Critical thinking consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. It includes possible processes of reflecting upon a tangible or intangible item in order to form a solid judgment that reconciles scientific evidence with common sense. In contemporary usage "critical" has a certain negative connotation that does not apply in the present case. Though the term " analysis thinking" may seem to convey the idea more accurately, critical thinking clearly involves synthesis, evaluate, and reconstruction of thinking, in addition to analysis.Critical thinkers gather information from all senses, verbal and/or written expressions, reflection, observation, experience and reasoning. Critical thinking has its basis in intellectual criteria that go beyond subject-matter divisions and which include: clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance and fairness. *reference.com*)

Maybe there is a solution, maybe if our schools would teach students to think instead of just memorize, we would then start to develop the minds of our young and stop them from emulating the adults in an endless and mindless bickering match.

Just imagine a world where, mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation ruled instead of mob mentality. From genius to idiot, critical thinking is possible, if taught and then maybe we could all just kind of get along. thinkingblue

Ariz. shooting victim arrested, taken to hospital

The self-described liberal and military veteran became distraught Saturday, authorities said, when he began ranting at the end of a televised town hall meeting about the tragedy. He took a picture of a local tea party leader and yelled "you're dead" before calling others in the church a bunch of "whores," authorities said.

Deputies arrested him and called a doctor. They decided he should be taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation, said Pima County sheriff's spokesman Jason Ogan said.

No one answered the door Sunday at Fuller's home.

Fuller was one of 19 people shot at a Safeway store Jan. 8. Six people died and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured with a bullet wound to the head.

In media interviews and on the Internet, Fuller, a former limousine driver and Census worker, has said he worked hard to get Giffords re-elected in her conservative-leaning district. He was going over questions he had prepared for the congresswoman, wondering whether they were worthy, when the shooting began, he said in an interview with the television show "Democracy Now."

He was shot in the knee and back and drove himself to the hospital, where he spent two days.

"I didn't know how to calm myself down," he said on the TV show, "so I wrote down the Declaration of Independence, which I memorized some time ago. And that did help to organize my thoughts."

He also lashed out at conservative Republicans for "Second Amendment activism," arguing it set the stage for the shooting.

Fuller returned to the Safeway supermarket Friday, telling KPHO-TV he had always considered trauma a figment of imagination until the events of Jan. 8.

"Today I'm back on my feet, more or less, and I'm in a combative mood," Fuller said as he limped across the store parking lot. "It's helping me. I've never had any trauma like this in my life."

Later, he showed up at the home of accused gunman Jared Loughner, who lived within a half-mile of Fuller.

"He said he was going to forgive him for shooting him," Richard Elder, 86, a retired medical mechanic who lives next door to Fuller, told The Associated Press Sunday. "If anyone shot me, I don't think I'd say, 'Hey feller, that's alright.'"

Fuller posted about eight campaign signs in front of his house during the last election, including one for Giffords. And although Fuller was friendly, he acted odd sometimes, Elder said. Once, Fuller asked him if he was going to vote.

"I told him there are two things I don't talk about: politics or religion. I told him that, and he walked off without another word."

He said Fuller had shown him his bullet wounds and seemed to be dealing with the shooting well.

The man Fuller is accused of threatening, Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries, said he was worried about the threat, and the dozens of other angry e-mails he has received.

"I had nothing to do with the murders that happened or the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords," Humphries said. "And I wonder, if he (Fuller) is crazy or is he the canary in a coal mine? Is he saying what a lot of other people are holding in their hearts? If so, that's a problem."

Humphries believes the heated political rhetoric that ignited shortly after the shooting should be toned down, and was trying to express that at the event when Fuller began booing.

"I said I don't know if now is the time to start being political about this, that we still need to bury the dead," said Humphries, who was on his way Sunday to attend services for his friend Dorwin Stoddard, 76. He was killed in the rampage after he dove to the ground to cover and protect his wife.

At the Safeway, the makeshift memorial of flowers, teddy bears, candles and cards was growing, more than a week after the tragedy.

Becky Chowning, of Louisville, Ky., laid a rose and stepped back. She put her hand over her heart and began to sob.

"It's just so moving. I wanted to pay my respects," Chowning said, barely able to get the words out. "Seeing these people here today, and all the flowers, it's just amazing. I hope it helps the families to heal."

Eduardo Ibarola sat quietly off to the side with a colorful beaded rosary in his hand. He had been praying all week but drove from Phoenix with his 5-year-old grandson to set his heart right.

"We came just so I could say my rosary. All I want is for those upstairs to hear my prayers," Ibarola said, adding that he had been thinking all week about the youngest victim, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.

The girl's father told The Boston Globe some of her organs were donated to a young girl in the area there, but he didn't have any other details.

He said they were once again proud of their daughter, "who has done another amazing thing."

A Gift That Was Not Theirs To Give

A Gift That Was Not Theirs To Give:

I received this email and thought it quite worthy of a pass around. Please help the “People For the American Way” to help undo what the Republican Supreme Court Has Done To Our Nation's Freedom. If we just sit back and do nothing we will eventually not have a 2 party system, there will only be ONE! A SYSTEM OF CORPORATE RULE!

Please sign the petition below. Thanks, thinkingblue

Dear PFAW Member,

Last year, the five-justice conservative majority on the Supreme Court decided to reaffirm its inclination to rule on behalf powerful corporate interests by giving corporations a gift that was not theirs to give: the People's democracy.

January 21 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Citizens United v. FEC decision, which reinterpreted the Constitution to give corporations the same First Amendment rights as people and opened the floodgates of limitless, undisclosed spending by corporations and their shadowy front groups to influence elections.

PFAW's marking the anniversary by joining with our friends at the Coffee Party, Public Citizen, MoveOn and others to hold a weekend of events in Washington and promote citizen-organized local events around the country.

Please be a part of next week's grassroots actions to take our democracy back for the People.

Find a local event near you here:

http://www.movementforthepeople.org/get-involved/organize-locally/distributed-events/find-an-event/

If you know of an event that is not on this list, please add it or contact Sergio Lopez at slopez@pfaw.org.

If there is not an event near you, and you think you can organize or hold something yourself (anything from a street protest or a small rally to a house party or a town hall-style meeting at a public venue), also please contact Sergio at slopez@pfaw.org for help doing that.

After the D.C. rally on January 21, we'll be joining with our allies to deliver hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to Congress calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Roberts Court's disastrous decision by giving lawmakers explicit authority to limit corporate spending in elections.

If you have not yet had a chance to join our petition, please do so now.

And ask others to join at http://www.pfaw.org/Amend.

Thank you for your activism to reel in the corrupting influence of unlimited corporate spending, and to take our democracy back for We the People.

-- Diallo Brooks, Director of Field and Mobilization

A Wake Up Call For Fox News

Amplify’d from www.dailykos.com

The Catastrophe In Arizona Brought On By Society's Failures

There is so much rhetoric (false and true) going around these days after the Arizona assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords’ life. Such a tragedy and all everyone seems to be doing is accusing or defending. I have a facebook page where someone posted the story with a statement that Fox News, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck should share some of the blame because they promote HATE, FEAR and REVENGE. Jumping jehosaphats did he ruffle some feathers. Below is the posting:

"Fox news should be held responsible for the violence they have promoted. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ was shot in the head at a town hall meeting she conducted today in Arizona. Glenn Beck from Fox always talking about arming yourself and prepare to fight your own government. Sarah Palin putting a target on her during the recent campaign saying "It's time to reload."

a wake-up call for Fox News, Sarah Palin and all the Glenn Becks out there in media land. Read more at www.dailykos.com

 

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IT'S NOT ABOUT GUN CONTROL; IT'S ABOUT THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF OUR GUN CULTURE.

IT'S NOT ABOUT GUN CONTROL; IT'S ABOUT THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF OUR GUN CULTURE.

Mrak Karlin, Editor of
BuzzFlash at Truthout, offers one of the best explanations for the gun and weaponry mentality that has grown and flourished for too many years in our Nation. It’s a sad testament to
the false reasoning that we must include guns as a part of our rights as we go in pursuit of happiness. All of us who use commonsense should not succumb to the bullying of the NRA or anyone who claims that guns are good and guns are necessary for peace and happiness. The gun enthusiasts claim they have a right to own as many weapons as they wish. NO THEY DON’T because the rest of us have a right to assemble peaceably without the fear of being shot by someone who can only view the existence of others, in a GOOD or EVIL realm. i.e. People are only good if they agree with me, they are evil if they don’t. I’M TIRED OF IT! thinkingblue

IT'S NOT ABOUT GUN CONTROL; IT'S ABOUT THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF OUR GUN CULTURE.

TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES

It's not about gun control; it's about the devastating impact of our gun culture.

As an advocate of gun control, I believe in the strong regulation of lethal weapons. It's just common sense.

But until we start changing the gun worship of far too many American males, we are going to have a difficult time stopping the ravaging of our society by bullets.

More than 10,000 Americans die in gun homicides each year, a figure that far surpasses any Western nation.

In Arizona, obtaining a gun is about as easy as getting a drink from a water fountain. Arizona gun laws are so lax that firearms stores in the state are a leading supplier to the drug cartels in Mexico, where guns are difficult to legally purchase.

The shooter in the horrific Arizona massacre on Saturday had a legally purchased Glock - that some reports say was converted to an automatic weapon - with a 30 round mega-clip. That means he could shoot almost continuously until his 30 bullet magazine was emptied.

Gail Collins of The New York Times points out that technology increases the lethality of guns over time and the remedy is clearly not to put such killing machines on a pedestal and argue that they are protected by the Second Amendment.

For far too many gun proponents, the Second Amendment has come to mean the right to use a gun against perceived wrongs.

It's a deadly travesty that won't end soon, because too many Democrats - and almost all Republicans - don't want to lose the votes of angry white males.

The result: arming ourselves to the teeth has too often shot down democracy.

Mark Karlin
Editor, BuzzFlash at Truthout

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NOW A WORD OR TWO FROM SARAH PALIN:

Below Sarah Palin offers one of her hypocritical excuses (to the highest degree).

"No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace EVIL and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults." **Sarah Palin**

More of Sarah Palin's hypocrisy:

"America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to RESPECTFULLY embrace our differences in a POSITIVE manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country."

This from a person who said: "Obama Is Palling Around With Terrorists". And of course her infamous chant: " Don't Retreat, Reload" and cross-hairs ad)

Below is an excerpt from this article: Sarah Palin Accuses the Media of Creating a 'Blood Libel' Against Her

I've mentioned personally that Palin must look in the mirror when assessing whether or not she contributed to what happened to Gabrielle Giffords. Even if her words didn't inspire Giffords' shooter, they certainly influenced the many death threats being received by President Obama and Democrats who've supported him. Palin can scream and yell about the injustice all day, but nothing compares to the suffering being endured by Gabrielle Giffords and the people who were shot this week. Perhaps Sarah Palin needs to sit down and be quiet for a while, it might be time to retreat.

---

Highlights from Obama's speech at Tucson memorial

"What we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. That we cannot do. That we cannot do. "

"As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."

THE CATASTROPHE IN ARIZONA BROUGHT ON BY SOCIETY'S FAILURES

THE CATASTROPHE IN ARIZONA BROUGHT ON
BY SOCIETY’S FAILURES.

There is so much rhetoric (false and true) going around these days after the Arizona assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords’ life. Such a tragedy and all everyone seems to be doing is accusing or defending. I have a facebook page where someone posted the story with a statement that Fox News, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck should share some of the blame because they promote HATE, FEAR and REVENGE. Jumping jehosaphats did he ruffle some feathers.

Below is the posting:

“Fox news should be held responsible for the violence they
have promoted. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ was shot in
the head at a town hall meeting she conducted today in Arizona.
Glenn Beck from Fox always talking about arming yourself and
prepare to fight your own government. Sarah Palin putting a
target on her during the recent campaign saying "It's time
to reload."

Sounds like a logical opinion with all the hateful rhetoric we have had to endure during the last two years since Obama was elected to the highest office in the land.

The Republicans cannot stand the fact that a Democrat took power away from them and what is more stuck in their crawl is the fact that he happens to be black. They try to paint him as a liberal (which he is not), they try to say he is not an American (which he is), they try with all their might to accuse him of being a Socialist (which of course he isn’t but it would do well for all us working class if he leaned just a little bit toward socialism instead of towards Corporate Control) They (the Republicans) do this to get all the hardcore bigots aroused so they might help them gain back their power (Sad for all of us that it works so easily) Below is a little bit of enlightenment on Socialism and what the Opposite looks like:

---

Is the USA Becoming a Socialist Country? What is the Opposite of
Socialism? by Vince Robertson

I continue to hear accusations that President Barack Obama is
making our great country a socialist country. I would like to
explore this debate. Many times over the past 6 months I've heard
the argument that Big Government is the precursor to socialism
and ultimately communism. This is certainly un-American! Those
making the argument typically take the position that if socialism
and communism are on one end of the spectrum, then we who love
God and country should run as fast and as far as we can to the
other end of the spectrum. In my crude, text-graphic format, this
is what the spectrum looks like:

-----|-------------|----------------------------------------------

Communism Socialism ----------------------Run!!!

Let me be clear, I am not making the case for communism nor for
socialism, but I believe that clear thinking individuals need to
understand the complete argument.The facts are that there are
opposites of communism and socialism, and I propose to you that
the opposites are class oppression and slavery. Class oppression,
or classism, is defined as mistreatment on the basis of
socioeconomic class. Slavery is blatant abuse and oppression to
the benefit of the master. Understanding this, the spectrum is
more accurately represented as:

---|------------|--------------------------------|------------|---

Communism Socialism --------------Classism------Slavery

When this is understood, the question is no longer how far do we
as Americans want to get away from Communism, but rather where is
the proper balance? I believe this is the heart of the
intelligent debate.

(intelligent being the operative word)

READ MORE HERE: http://kerplop.com/Post461986-Whats-The-Opposite-Of-Socialism-Is-The-Usa-Becoming-A-Socialist-Country.htm

---

Anyway, TV has offered up many different slants on this tragedy in Arizona and I
being one who would rather hear rationality than misrepresentation (mendacity on Fox News) gathered my information from those (with truth on their side) who delivered A VOICE OF REASON. Here are a few that I have uploaded to my youtube channel for a bit of TV's look into the causes of this catastrophe
brought on by society's failures. thinkingblue

First up is Democracy Now’s Look At This Human Tragedy:

Now for Ed Schultz's VOICE OF REASON.

And Finally Keith Olbermann's VOICE OF REASON With His Special Comment.

Divided We Fall! Did The Hate Mongers Win In Tucson?

Tucson rampage casts light on toxic political tone

Divided We Fall! Did The Hate Mongers Win In Tucson?

I wonder? Do you think all the Obama Bashers and the Palin, Beck, Limbaugh ilk are happy yet? They've succeeded so will they revel in their victory?

They say the hatred has spewed from both sides of the aisle but I haven't seen it that way. So much malevolence and bigotry has been spawned by too many leaders of the Tea Party that any sane mind has most assuredly felt as though it might (and has) erupt in some sort of violence.

Is only the Republican Tea Party at fault? The Republican leaders outside the Tea Party should also share in some of the blame. Blame because they remained silent during all the hateful rhetoric from the likes of the Palins, Becks and Limbaughs.

Do you think that with all this mayhem and extreme grief there will come a day of reckoning and those who allowed (and encouraged) such hate to spill forth will feel shame?

I think not!

Oh, maybe for a short period while it circulates the Internet and is touched upon by mainstream media but when the dust settles, their chicanery will again return and perhaps it will be even more aberrant because the bottom line is winning.

WINNING AT ALL COST!

The saddest part of this equation is the fact that they have so large an audience; quite an adoring “crowd" that is so full of hate that they hunger to find a victim they can thrust all their sick revulsion upon; And right-wing talk radio, Fox news and the leaders of the Tea Party movement eagerly try to conjure up a victim to placate their flock (remember Bill O’Reilly’s excessive chant “Tiller the Baby Killer”).

No one wins though, not the suspected shooter, Jared Loughner, for sure not the instigators, not any of us who wish to live in a civilized place have won, we as a nation are all losers! America has turned on itself and divided we fall. thinkingblue

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Unbelievable, Bill O'Reilly Exposes Himself!

This is UNBELIEVABLE. Bill O'Reilly exposing his stupidity but what's even sadder is PEOPLE LISTEN AND HANG ON HIS EVERY WORD. What is wrong with our country???

Amplify’d from www.thethinkingblue.com

BILL O'REILLY EXPOSES HIMSELF

This is UNBELIEVABLE! Bill O'Reilly exposing his stupidity but what's even sadder is PEOPLE LISTEN AND HANG ON HIS EVERY WORD. What is wrong with our country??? thinkingblue Read more at www.thethinkingblue.com

 

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Neoliberalism and The Twilight Of The Social State

Here we sit FAT/FATHEADED, DUMB/UNTHINKING and LAZY/INACTIVE... While the evil forces within our government weaves the web of deceit and destruction all around us and for what? TO MAKE THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER. Sound too bizarre? Sound too simple? Read the two articles within this post and then judge for yourself. I don't know what we can do about it but if we do not at least acknowledge that it is happening, future generations are going to suffer the consequences of our indifferent ignorance! (Listen up Tea Party!!!)

Two must reads for anyone who thinks (No let me rephrase, FOR EVERYONE WHO CAN THINK) http://www.thethinkingblue.com/neoliberalism.html

Amplify’d from www.thethinkingblue.com

Neoliberalism?

EXCERPTS: "Neo-liberalism" is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. Although the word is rarely heard in the United States, you can clearly see the effects of neo-liberalism here as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer.

AND

The main points of neo-liberalism include:

1. THE RULE OF THE MARKET. Liberating "free" enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers' rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say "an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone." It's like Reagan's "supply-side" and "trickle-down" economics -- but somehow the wealth didn't trickle down very much.

2. CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

3. DEREGULATION. Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminsh profits, including protecting the environmentand safety on the job.

4. PRIVATIZATION. Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed, privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs.

5. ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF "THE PUBLIC GOOD" or "COMMUNITY" and replacing it with "individual responsibility." Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves -- then blaming them, if they fail, as "lazy."

In the United States neo-liberalism is destroying welfare programs; attacking the rights of labor (including all immigrant workers); and cutbacking social programs. The Republican "Contract" on America is pure neo-liberalism. Its supporters are working hard to deny protection to children, youth, women, the planet itself -- and trying to trick us into acceptance by saying this will "get government off my back." The beneficiaries of neo-liberalism are a minority of the world's people. For the vast majority it brings even more suffering than before: suffering without the small, hard-won gains of the last 60 years, suffering without end.

---

Then read this amazing article “In the Twilight of the Social State: Rethinking Walter Benjamin's Angel of History”

by: Henry A. Giroux, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544

EXCERPTS: Like the angel of history in Benjamin's rendering of Klee's painting, the American public is surrounded by another catastrophe of history visibly invisible in the horrible suffering produced by two unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the current economic recession exacerbating already high levels of poverty, homelessness and joblessness now spreading like a poisonous blight across the American landscape. But unlike the forces constricting Benjamin's angel, the storm that pins the wings of the current diminutive angel of history is more intense, more paralyzing in its hyper-materialistic visions and more privatizing in its definition of agency. The historical forces producing this storm and its accompanying catastrophes are incorrigibly blind to the emergence of a "pulverized, atomized society spattered with the debris of broken inter-human bonds and their eminently frail and breakable substitutes." This is best exemplified in the now infamous and cruel tenets of a harsh neoliberalism stated without apology by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s in their mutual insistence that "government is the problem not the solution" and "there is no such thing as society."

AND

Not only has the American public lost its ability, perhaps even its will, to talk about public values such as sharing, caring and preserving, but it can no longer distinguish between a market-driven society and a democratic society. As Sheldon Wolin has insisted, the supportive culture for a viable democracy - "a complex of beliefs, values and practices that nurture equality, cooperation and freedom" is incompatible with the market-driven values of neoliberalism and their emphasis on a crude consumerism, over-the-top materialism, brutal competition, a culture of lying, a possessive individualistic ethic and an aggressive battle to privatize, deregulate and commodify everything.

It's time to pull the WOOL FROM OUR EYES and realize what is happening to the us in THE US! thinkingblue

Words of Wisdom for the New Year 2011

Why are we still in the dark...? The Enlightenment occurred during the 1600's yet we (the lost crowds) still fight against it. What keeps so many of us ignorant? Is it fear or are certain minds incapable of maturing? With advancements in science happening at any given moment, this unenlightenment and vagueness of mind, should have been eradicated years ago but yet it still continues. That is why I ask…WHY ARE WE STILL IN THE DARK? BTHOM???

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE NEW YEAR 2011

I have heard of HL Mencken but never really investigated his works. In today’s excerpt at Delanceyplace.com there is a brief but profound eulogy of sorts, to a magnificent mind belonging to a man of deep conviction and forethought. Hey, Mencken nailed it, didn't he? His thoughts back then in 1918 are exactly what’s happening in America Today i.e.

**grave concerns about anti-intellectualism in American society, which he viewed as being found most prominently in organized religion (from CHRISTIAN TO MUSLIM - the optimal word being 'organized') and political discourse (TEA PARTY comes to mind)**

Here's a suggestion, for a new year resolution why don’t we (those of us who think) try researching the great minds who saw the writing-on-the-wall. Perhaps, it won’t do much in the scheme of things but for sure it will remind us THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. Happy New Year! thinkingblue

EXCERPTS FROM DELANCEYPLACE.COM

Mencken comments on the impact of crowd psychology Read more at www.thethinkingblue.com

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