Nine out of 10 Americans do Christmas and three-quarters believe in
the biblical account of Jesus' birth — but only a little more than half
actually regard the holiday primarily as a religious celebration.
More than one-third say it's more a cultural holiday, a new poll from Pew Research's Religion & Public Life Policy found.
The
poll also found that generational differences in how Christmas is
celebrated abound. Younger adults generally see the holiday through
less religious lens than older Americans. And those under the age of 30
are far less likely to attend a religious service as part of the
holiday celebration.
Still, tradition plays a major role in how
Americans celebrate the holiday. Eighty-six percent of adults say they
will celebrate with friends and families — and the same number say
they'll trade gifts.
Ninety percent say that's how they celebrated in
their growing up years.
But not so many are sending out Christmas
cards or greetings — and that's a deviance from what was normal in past
generations. Meanwhile, caroling is on the decline, too.
By the
numbers: About 74 percent said they attended religious ceremonies
during their growing up years to celebrate Christmas. Only 54 percent
say they will do so now.
The survey was conducted Dec. 3-8 and included a representative sample of 2,001 adults.
A
Tea Party group’s use of a piece of zealous propaganda from the video
game Bioshock Infinite could underscore the flawed dogma at the
movement’s heart. – Mural of deity George Washington expelling ‘foreign
hordes’ from Bioshock Infinite
The above picture graced the Facebook page of the National Liberty Foundation
not too long ago, joining their rather anti-minority photo-stream.
However, as noted, this is not some patriotic symbol of years past, or
cherished words of wisdom. Instead, it is art from the video game
Bioshock Infinite.
Its use by the Tea Party affiliated group was
intended to be some kind of rallying point, but instead it revealed how
accurate the depiction of the fusion of politics and religion within
Bioshock Infinite truly is.
Bioshock, The Series Which Cast A Spotlight On The Darkest Corners Of Utopian Thought.
Bioshock Infinite was released to much fanfare in March of this year.
With years of anticipation, this continuation of the hugely successful
Bioshock series sold millions of copies
since release, and is considered a huge success. The Bioshock series
has been part of popular culture since the original title was released
in 2007, with references to it found in popular culture.
Every Bioshock title has picked on a radical element of society, and
cast a cold spotlight on to it. The original Bioshock was heralded for
its dissection of Ayn Rand Objectivism with its depiction of the final
and ultimate expression of Objectivism in the dystopia of Rapture.
Bioshock 2 turned this on its head, with a harsh critique of Altruism
and Communism, and its expression of their own impossibility in the
wreckage of Rapture. In both games, it was not the root philosophy at
fault, but that both philosophies requiring a super-human level of
perfection in order to work. Their systems fail not because of the
philosophy, but because those who are to implement and manage the
systems are flawed, imperfect humans.
Much
as with the earlier titles, Bioshock Infinite picked a segment of
society, in this case those who bring religious fervor to politics. Set
in the flying city of Columbia, Bioshock Infinite deals with a society
in which a fanatical religious cult controls all, with the base of their
tenants being that the founding fathers are akin to saints or gods, and
the Constitution is religious scripture. One could point out the
similarity of this deification of the founding fathers, with the fusion
of religion and politics, to the Tea Party and their absolute dogma that
this nation is one for theocratic rule and not democratic.
And as with
the earlier titles, while a theocratic state works in theory (who would
not love a nation ruled by the love and kindness of Jesus or the peace
and harmony of Buddhism?) they are being managed by people, and the
human element always destroys the utopian society in which the player
finds themselves.
In Bioshock Infinite, a radical religious group based on the idea
that America was divinely created as if god itself reached down the drew
the lines on the map, has seceeded from the Union. They view the
founding fathers as gods or saints, and worship them. They call those
who do not follow their narrow view of the nation as heretics, those who
are beneath contempt. The ideals of democracy and freedom are
perverted, replaced with blind loyalty and a slavery to their fanatical
leader.
Sounds like the Tea Party to me.
The launch trailer for Bioshock Infinite.
Should the Tea Party reach their pinnacle and reach the utopian
future they imagine, the results would be as tragic as the closed cities
found within the Bioshock games. That the National Liberty Foundation
took a prime piece of that failure and promoted it on their wall,
complete with its stated desire to eliminate any non-Anglo-Saxon from
the continent, speaks poorly of the group and their mission. The other
photos on their site show an ignorance for democracy, and the United
States form of government as found in the US Constitution.
Once they realized that they had used a piece of video game
propaganda which was criticizing their movement, the page took it down.
However, here is the evidence, preserved for us:
The Bioshock series is an excellent dissection of the insanity which
grips the fanatics across this nation. For the National Liberty
Foundation to confuse this dissection with reality is, at the least
disturbing. Or, do they honestly believe in the divinity of the founding
fathers, as the Latter Day Saints have proclaimed? Do they believe that the US Constitution a divine document, given by god?
Bioshock Infinite explored the dangers of such a utopic vision. It
would do the National Liberty Foundation, and all Tea Party groups in
fact, to learn from it.
Many Americans are still afflicted by the damages created by the
financial downturn in 2008.
Millions of Americans were put out of work,
lost their savings, and had their homes foreclosed. One of the most
prominent side effects stemming from the recession is a growth in poor
credit ratings.
Americans are now trying to get back on their feet,
however, being denied jobs because of poor credit ratings is all too
common. Elizabeth Warren has just introduced a bill in the Senate which
would bar prospective employers from checking and denying employment
based on credit scores.
However, the credit rating of individuals doesn’t necessarily predict
the potential productivity of their labor.
Let’s consider the logic used to deny Americans jobs based on their credit ratings.
A potential employer refuses to hire an individual because they have
shown an inability to pay their credit card bills, healthcare bills or
their mortgages. However, the credit report doesn’t explain why the
individual wasn’t able to pay their bills. Perhaps, like many Americans,
they are suffering from chronic unemployment since 2008. It is also
possible his/her home was foreclosed on improperly, which can hurt
credit reports by 250 points!
Now the individual is disqualified from employment because they didn’t
have the means to pay their bills, presumably because they didn’t have a
job in the first place. These metrics are unfair and unjust. Clearly,
low wage workers and the middle class are disproportionately afflicted
by such policies. Utilizing credit checks only exacerbates the issue of
chronic joblessness.
“A bad credit rating is far more often the result of
unexpected medical costs, unemployment, economic downturns, or other bad
breaks than it is a reflection on an individual’s character or
abilities. Families have not fully recovered from the 2008 financial
crisis, and too many Americans are still searching for jobs. This is
about basic fairness—let people compete on the merits, not on whether
they already have enough money to pay all their bills.”
Using credit scores for hiring is already frowned upon.
More than 40 citizen advocate organizations support the bill. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington currently have laws,
barring or limiting the use of credit checks for prospective employees.
There isn’t a justifiable reason to place more barriers in front of
individuals searching for a job.
Many Americans who possess poor credit
ratings have them due to unforeseen circumstances. Although there hasn’t
been any federal jobs bill passed in Washington, measures like the
Equal Employment For All Act can help millions of Americans looking for
work.
Paul Ryan’s budget deal heads to the House floor, while unemployment insurance remains missing from the negotiation. Ed Schultz and congressional panel discuss.
I don’t put much past politicians. I stay prepared for the worst. But
occasionally someone says something so insensitive that it catches me
flat-footed.
Charles M. Blow
Damon Winter/The New York Times
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said Sunday on Fox News: “I
do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they’re paid for.
If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.”
This statement strikes at the heart — were a heart to exist — of the
divide between conservatives and liberals about whether the social
safety net provides temporary help for those who hit hard times or
functions as a kind of glue to keep them stuck there.
Whereas I am sure that some people will abuse any form of help, I’m by
no means convinced that this is the exclusive domain of the poor and
put-upon. Businesses and the wealthy regularly take advantage of
subsidies and tax loopholes without blinking an eye. But somehow, when
some poor people, or those who unexpectedly fall on hard times, take
advantage of benefits for which they are eligible it’s an indictment of
the morality and character of the poor as a whole.
The poor are easy to pick on. They are the great boogeymen and women,
dragging us down, costing us money, gobbling up resources. That seems to
be the conservative sentiment.
We have gone from a war on poverty in this country to a war on the poor,
in which poor people are routinely demonized and scapegoated and
attacked, and conservatives have led the charge.
They paint the poor as takers, work averse, in need of motivation and incentive.
Well, that is simply not my experience with poverty. I have been poor,
and both my parents worked. I grew up among poor people, and almost all
of them worked. The problem wasn’t lack of effort, but low pay. Folks
simply couldn’t make enough to shake the specter of need.
In fact, the poor folks I knew growing up were some of the hardest
working people I have ever known — rising before dawn to pack lunches
and sip coffee, trying to get the mind right for a day of toil and sweat
that breaks the body but not the spirit.
They were people who wanted what most folks want — to earn an honest
wage for an honest day’s work; to live a happy, meaningful life that
leaves a mark on the world when they are gone from it; to raise bright,
healthy children who go further in life than they did; to be surrounded
by family and friends and neighbors — a village — where people support
and cared for one another.
That is why I have such a hard time with the conservative argument that
helping those in need diminishes their desire to do for themselves, that
it suckles them to passivity on a government teat. Hogwash.
To buy into this destructive lie about the character of the poor means
you’ve either had no experience being poor, or have no capacity to
empathize with their plight.
Being poor is a job unto itself. The daily juggle of supplying the most
basic needs — food, shelter, medicine — and the stress of knowing that
you are always just one twist of fate away from calamity.
James Baldwin put it best: “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”
Most people want to work. But sometimes, bad luck comes calling.
Sometimes you have a job, but you lose it. Sometimes, no matter how hard
you try, a new one proves elusive.
And following the Great Recession, that is a particular problem. Maybe
you are older and employers are less willing to take a chance. Maybe
your industry is shrinking and becoming more efficient, getting by with
fewer employees. Maybe the jobs you can find are farther from your house
than you can travel and you can’t afford to move. The problems are
plenty.
But what we shouldn’t do is to tell people who had jobs and lost them,
people who want work and can’t find it, that to help them does them a
“disservice.”
That is the height of arrogance and callousness. And it’s disrespectful.
Something is going down on YouTube
that is causing a headache for many of the channels that upload video
game-related footage. The automated Content ID system that finds
copyrighted material in the massive amounts of content uploaded to
YouTube every day suddenly began flagging videos that feature games like
Dead Space 3, Metro: Last Light, and more.
And this flagging could cost YouTubers potentially millions in lost ad revenue.
Total Biscuit
A content claim on Metro: Last Light from a company that does not own the rights to the game.
The odd thing is that YouTube Content ID is naming companies in these
complaints that do not hold the copyrights to many of these games, as first reported by YouTube news site Tubefilter. For example, one uploader got a notice for publisher Deep Silver‘s Metro: Last Light (a horror-themed first-person shooter) from a company called 4GamerMovie, which is some kind of Japanese gaming website.
A representative for Deep Silver has since confirmed that the
publisher fully permits YouTube creators to monetize videos featuring
their games.
YouTubers: If you are experiencing flagging issues with @deepsilver please get in touch with us! RT me!
— Stephanie Schopp (@AgentTinsley) December 10, 2013
We’ve reached out to YouTube to ask why this is happening, and we’ll update this post with any new information.
YouTube’s Content ID rampage is affecting some of the largest creators on the site. Popular YouTube gameplay channel TheRadBrad, which has nearly 2 million subscribers, is getting hit hard.
“YouTube is crippling gaming channels with third-party claims,” TheRadBrad posted to Twitter.
“Every video I’ve uploaded since 2010 is slowly being taken away from me.”
The issue is that once a video is flagged in YouTube’s copyright
system, the creator who uploaded it can no longer earn money from the
ads that show before the content. For TheRadBrad, someone who does this
for a living, that is devastating.
Well unfortunately this
cripples my channel at the moment. I wish I could upload but it seems as
if I won’t be able to until this is fixed.
— theRadBrad (@thaRadBrad) December 10, 2013
TheRadBrad, among others,
are under the impression this is part of YouTube’s recent attempt to
crack down on affiliates within multichannel networks (MCN). The way
YouTube works is that if a video gets enough views, Google will begin
sharing revenue with the creator if the content passes a check for
copyrighted material. If a YouTube user joins an MCN, however, they can
bypass that check and immediately begin earning from their videos.
Machinima
is a popular and massive MCN that splits revenue with tons of
creators. In January, however, YouTube plans to start randomly
pre-screening affiliates’ uploads for copyrighted content.
It’s possible
that this wave of Content ID conflicts is a part of that.
For now, people that create game-related content on YouTube are
wondering if the site even wants them around. Gaming continues to make
up a huge part of YouTube’s traffic. The site’s most-subscribed channel
is the game-playing PewDiePie … who
plays games while screaming. He has more than 17.6 million subscribers,
which is 3 million more than the next closest individual channel, Smosh, which also runs a lot of gaming content.
Is it just us — or has Pat Robertson
been on a roll lately? By roll, we mean he’s saying the sort of
outrageous things one would expect from, say, Rush Limbaugh, Hunter Moore, or my senile 92-year-old Uncle Ernie. His latest jawdropper came in response to a woman who had been through two very bad marriages:
TV preacher Pat Robertson this week advised a woman that
she wasn’t “marriage material” because her “character” made her choose
abusive men.
On Thursday’s edition of The 700 Club, a woman asked Robertson if God
would classify her as an adulteress and send her to Hell if she got
married for a third time after her first two husbands were alcoholics or
refused to work.
“You’ve got a serious problem,” Robertson told the woman. “And I
don’t think marriage is for you. You have picked a selection of losers.
There’s something in your character that draws you to these men who are
indigent or abusive. You don’t need to get married again.”
The televangelist said that the woman was probably not going to go to Hell but she was “making your own hell here on Earth.”
There’s nothing like bringing hope and inspiring to a caller in emotional need, Pat! Feel the warmth in this clip, courtesy Crooks and Liars.
The man who brought the world "2016: Obama's
America" tries and fails to be funny on Twitter By Elias Isquith
Disgraced
far-right polemicist and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza sparked an outcry on
Twitter on Tuesday with a racist tweet comparing President Obama to
Trayvon Martin. D’Souza eventually deleted the tweet, but here’s a
screen grab via MSNBC’s Adam Serwer:
D’Souza,
who was the president of the small evangelical school the King’s
College until he was asked to resign after being caught engaging in an
extramarital affair, is no stranger to controversy. His
pseudo-documentary, “2016: Obama’s America,” while popular among
right-wing audiences, nevertheless earned poor reviews and multiple charges of racism. The book on which the film was based, also by D’Souza, fared little better. It even garnered a negative review in the right-wing Weekly Standard.
Considering the source, then, D’Souza’s tweet is less than surprising. Still pretty terrible, though!
Elias Isquith is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on politics. Follow him on Twitter at @eliasisquith, and email him at eisquith@salon.com.
With many stores staying open during Thanksgiving this year thereby
forcing workers to miss out on spending the holiday with their families,
one store manager decided to take a stand on behalf of his employees —
and was promptly terminated.
Tony Rohr had held various position at the Pizza Hut in Elkhart, Indiana, since starting out as a cook there some ten years ago.
He
was eventually promoted to general manager of the franchise, but his
decision to refuse an order to open the store on Thanksgiving ultimately
cost him the job.
"I said why can't we be the company that
stands up and says we care about our employees and they can have the day
off," he told local CBS affiliate WSBT.
According to Rohr, the
store, owned by the franchise behemoth Franchise Management Investors
US, has typically been closed on Thanksgiving to give employees time off
to spend with loves ones.
When he was told to either open the
store or sign a letter of resignation, Rohr opted for a third option:
Sending his bosses a letter of protest.
"I am not quitting. I do
not resign however I accept that the refusal to comply with this greedy,
immoral request means the end of my tenure with this company," Rohr
wrote in his letter. "I hope you realize that it's the people at the
bottom of the totem pole that make your life possible."
WSBT says
the franchisee's director of operations insists Rohr quit, but also
acknowledged that the decision to keep doors open on Thanksgiving came
from corporate in response to other companies doing the same.
Pizza
Hut's corporate offices have so far remained mum on the matter, but its
Facebook page has been inundated with angry posts from customers
unhappy with Rohr's termination.
MILVALE, Pa. — The conduct of the Millvale police is
being questioned after a video surfaced of a cuffed man being TASERed at
Allegheny County Jail.
Thomas J. Smith, 27, is seen in the video
cuffed on the floor, and slamming his head against a wall before an
unnamed officer uses a TASER to stop him.
Smith was arrested in
September and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct,
aggravated harassment and public intoxication.
Smith's family
asked a lawyer, David Shrager, to speak on their behalf after seeing the
video, claiming the suspect has mental health issues, and TASERing him
was unnecessary.
"It's easy to armchair quarterback people, and I
get that, and people have to make split second decisions, but in light
of the entire part that I found; I did find it to be disturbing," said
Shrager.
Walmart
is turning toxic. With workers on strike in 12 states and sharp
scrutiny from the National Labor Board, their CEO stepped aside this
morning. – Photo of striking Walmart workers from OUR Walmart.
This is a bad week for Walmart. Not only have workers in 28 stores spread across 12 states gone on strike, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has announced the result of its probe, which went against the Benton, AK-based retail giant.
So it was no surprise when the CEO, Mike Duke, stepped aside this morning, ahead of the shareholders meeting on Tuesday, and just before the holiday shopping season begins on “Black Friday.”
Workers Gain The Upper Hand Against Walmart.
The company is under heavy fire for the billions it receives in corporate welfare.
On top of all the tax breaks, our government covers health care, food
stamps, and more for Walmart’s underpaid workers.
This costs US
taxpayers several billion per year, and the GOP keeps slashing those benefits,
which in turn is putting the squeeze on Walmart workers. The company
will need to pay more to prevent more turnover from angry workers.
Of bigger concern for the company are the findings by the NLRB. In the NLRB’s statement, they found that:
“During two national television news broadcasts and in
statements to employees at Wal-Mart stores in California and Texas,
Wal-Mart unlawfully threatened employees with reprisal if they engaged
in strikes and protests on November 22, 2012.” It also ruled that
“Wal-Mart stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio,
Texas and Washington unlawfully threatened, disciplined and/or
terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and
protests.”
After the NLRB decision, Walmart is facing the chance that it will
have to rehire workers that they fired — and pay them back wages — for
last year’s thwarted strike. On top of that, the Labor Board can force
the company to inform workers of their rights to unionize, and the
process by which they can bring unions into to the stores. This would be
a bitter pill for a company that has fought against unions for decades.
Mike Duke’s departure may signal the closing of this dark chapter in Walmart history. Doubtful, but one can hope.
Since George Zimmerman was arrested earlier this week for allegedly
threatening his girlfriend with a shotgun, many of his defenders have gone
silent or turned tail. Speaking on Fox News after Zimmerman's Tuesday arraignment,
Geraldo Rivera, a former Zimmerman booster, went so far as to call him
"borderline psychotic."
But Zimmerman's neighbor and de facto spokesman, Frank Taaffe, has pressed
ahead with the media crusade he began in the runup to Zimmerman's trial on
charges of murdering unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. And despite revelations that
Taaffe is a convicted criminal and unabashed racist who hosts
a white-power podcast, cable news networks have continued giving him a
platform.
Most recently, Taaffe appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight and argued that
Zimmerman was suffering from post-traumatic stress. Morgan asked Taaffe what
Zimmerman—who faces charges of aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic
violence battery, and criminal mischief—was doing in a house full of guns. "Boys
will have their toys," Taaffe replied. He also called Zimmerman's girlfriend,
Samantha Scheibe, and his ex-wife, Shellie (who has alleged that Zimmerman
threatened her and her father with a gun, too) "opportunistic."
Earlier this week, Taaffe appeared on HLN's Nancy Grace and Dr. Drew On
Call. "George is being oppressed by the press," he told an incredulous Grace,
who asked: "So according to you, what is it? A conspiracy between the...the ATF
officer, the girlfriend in 2006, the wife in September 2013, and me, I
guess?"
"No," Taaffe said. "He's allying himself with these women that he shouldn't
be with."
Here is the Nancy Grace segment:
Here's a segment from Dr. Drew On Call:
In media interviews during Zimmerman's trial, Taaffe made similar personal
attacks on Martin and posted virulently racist comments on Twitter—one read "the
only time a black life is validated is when a white person kills them."
Taaffe himself has been arrested (though never convicted) repeatedly on
stalking and domestic violence charges, and he served nine months in jail for
trespassing in his ex-wife's home. But there was no mention of his criminal
record on CNN or HLN, both of which have given him ample airtime in the past. As
Mother
Jones reported in August:
CNN and its sister network, HLN, have repeatedly
invited Taaffe to weigh in on legal and technical aspects of the Zimmerman case,
from the implications of witness testimony to the meaning of forensic
evidence….When Valerie Rao, Jacksonville, Florida's chief medical examiner,
testified during the trial that Zimmerman's injuries were minor enough to be
treated with Band-Aids—an assertion that cast doubt on Zimmerman's claims that
Martin had bashed his head repeatedly on the sidewalk—Taaffe appeared on the
Nancy Grace show and argued that Rao was wrong.
When Taaffe made these appearances, some still made the case that Zimmerman
was a community-minded neighborhood watch volunteer who perceived Martin as
a genuine threat. But this version of events seems far less plausible in light
of his recent actions. And giving Taaffe a platform to bash Zimmerman's alleged
victims is that much less defensible.
Turkeys must be kept at a safe temperature during “the big thaw.” While
frozen, a turkey is safe indefinitely. However, as soon as it begins to thaw,
any bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to grow
again.
A package of frozen meat or poultry left thawing on the counter more than 2
hours is not at a safe temperature. Even though the center of the package may
still be frozen, the outer layer of the food is in the “Danger Zone” between 40
and 140 °F — at a temperature where food-borne bacteria multiply rapidly.
There are three safe ways to thaw food: in the refrigerator, in cold water,
and in the microwave oven.
Safe Methods for Thawing
Immediately after grocery store checkout, take the frozen turkey home and
store it in the freezer.
Frozen turkeys should not be left on the back porch, in the car trunk, in the
basement, or any place else where temperatures cannot be constantly
monitored.
Refrigerator Thawing
When thawing a turkey in the refrigerator:
Plan ahead: allow approximately 24 hours for each 4 to 5 pounds in a
refrigerator set at 40 °F or below.
Place the turkey in a container to prevent the juices from dripping on other
foods.
Refrigerator Thawing Times (Whole
Turkey)
4 to 12 pounds — 1 to 3 days 12 to 16 pounds —
3 to 4 days 16 to 20 pounds — 4 to 5 days 20 to 24 pounds —5 to 6 days
A thawed turkey can remain in the refrigerator for 1 or 2 days before
cooking. Foods thawed in the refrigerator can be refrozen without cooking but
there may be some loss of quality.
Cold Water Thawing
Allow about 30 minutes per pound.
First be sure the turkey is in a leak-proof plastic bag to prevent
cross-contamination and to prevent the turkey from absorbing water, resulting in
a watery product.
Submerge the wrapped turkey in cold tap water. Change the water every 30
minutes until the turkey is thawed. Cook the turkey immediately after it is
thawed.
Cold Water Thawing
Times
4 to 12 pounds — 2 to 6 hours 12 to 16 pounds
— 6 to 8 hours 16 to 20 pounds — 8 to 10 hours 20 to 24 pounds — 10 to 12
hours
A turkey thawed by the cold water method should be cooked immediately. After
cooking, meat from the turkey can be refrozen.
Microwave Thawing
Follow the microwave oven manufacturer’s instruction when defrosting a
turkey. Plan to cook it immediately after thawing because some areas of the food
may become warm and begin to cook during microwaving. Holding partially cooked
food is not recommended because any bacteria present wouldn’t have been
destroyed.
A turkey thawed in the microwave must be cooked immediately.
World famous psychic Sylvia Browne -- who appeared on
all sorts of TV shows including "Montel" "Larry King Live" and "Unsolved
Mysteries" -- has passed away .. TMZ has learned.
Browne specialized in psychic detective work, and attempted to help on several missing person cases ... with varying results.
Browne's son, Chris, tells TMZ ... Sylvia passed away this morning in San Jose, surrounded by family and friends. She was 77.
Browne
most recently took heat after famously announcing that Amanda Berry had
died after she went missing in 2003 ... because, as we all know now,
she wasn't dead. Sylvia chalked up the misinformation as a simple
mistake.
The following message was just posted on Sylvia's Facebook page, "Sylvia
graduated today. She was surrounded by family and friends. What a
legacy. She shared so much. We will carry on her knowledge with hypnosis
and Journey of the Soul and her many books. What a great party they
must be having on the Other Side. Bless everyone."
Media outlets have been comparing the roll out of the Affordable Care
Act to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina.
Mike Papantonio
appears on The Ed Show on MSNBC to explain why the lazy media can’t
understand the difference between a website problem and an incompetent
Bush presidency.
Bernie Sanders has now stated that if no true progressive candidate emerges in
2016, he will run for the office of President of the United States.
Senator Bernie Sanders has long been the progressive voice out of his
home state of Vermont. There is one thing, however, which he has never
spoken of, a desire to be President of the United States. As he has put
it may times in the past, “There are people in this world who, ever
since they were 12 years of age, they decided they wanted to be
president of the United States.” But, with the lack of true progressive
candidates emerging for 2016, he made a startling revelation to the Burlington Free Press late Friday.
Bernie Sanders For President, 2016.
Do you hear that? That sound of panic from the right-wing? The
crescendo of noise which fills their ranks? It is the sound of panic.
They thought they had to deal with the conservative wing of the
Democratic Party, led by Hillary Clinton, and in a fight between center-right and far-right, the right-wing still wins in the end.
Now, they are facing a candidate who won in 2012 without running a single attack ad, in fact did not use television advertisement at all. He carried the state with 71% of the votes,
despite not having any party affiliation. A true independent, he turned
down offers from both the Democratic Party and Vermont Progressive
party to run as their candidate. His nationwide popularity remains high, with him being the third most popular Senator in the United States.
Socialism is alive in America, and winning.
And, him entering the race comes after a wave of progressive,
and dare I say it, socialist victories in elections already in the
United States. Seattle, Washington, the 15th largest metropolitan area within the United States, just elected Kshama Sawant, a Socialist, as their new city councilwoman. This victory prompted a wave of panic among the right-wing media sphere, even prompting Forbes Magazine to declare its absolute confusion over a socialist economist and politician.
Understand, this is not the right-wing taking some politician with a D
next to their name and proclaiming they are a socialist. This is an
actual Socialist, proud of that label, who ran under the label of Socialist Alternative and won.
Bernie Sanders just reshaped the election landscape in 2016, running Or not.
Senator Sanders is putting his money where his mouth is. He knows the
continuing swing to the right will only destroy the United States. For
years, no viable progressive candidate has stepped forward in the run
for President. The Democratic Party has regularly run center-right
candidates such as Hillary Clinton or centrist moderate candidates such
as Barack Obama. For this country to correct the damage done by decades
of right-wing destruction of our nation, he knows we need a true
left-wing candidate, a progressive, even a socialist. And if none step
forward, and force the debate sharply to the left, he will step up and
do it himself. And with his popularity above all anticipated candidates
from both parties, this puts all who would put their hats into the ring
on alert.
Socialism is on the march in America. Either the major parties have
to embrace it, or witness as they are trampled by it. After all, calling
President Obama socialist looks incredibly silly with real Socialists
and Progressives now entering the race.
Ultimately, that is what Bernie Sanders is doing. Even if he never
runs, he is forcing the debate to the left. He recognizes that the
debate in this country has for too long been dominated by the
right-wing. Our nation is greatest when it embraces its liberal nature.
By putting his name out there in this manner, he is forcing the rhetoric
to the people, to the middle class. After the victory of the liberal Democrat, Bill de Blasio
in New York City, and Socialist Kshama Sawant in Seattle, the time is
right to push back against the Conservatives attempting to destroy this
country.
As for the Vermont senator, we only have one thing to say.
