Clipmarks | zizzy's clips

Nobel Laureate Yunus: 'Capitalism has degenerated into a casino'

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:44:13 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

these castles don't exist at all. That was the point at which the financial system collapsed."

Also true during the '90s tech boom and bust with all that betting on little companies not even worth the paper their IPOs were written on. And let's not forget all the employees working like slaves for promises. Oh when will we learn?

Clip Source: current.com

Interview with Nobel Laureate in Economics Muhammad Yunus. A few excerpts:

"Today's capitalism has degenerated into a casino. The financial markets are propelled by greed. Speculation has reached catastrophic proportions."

"The fundamental difference is that our business is very connected to the real economy. When we provide a loan of $200, that money will go to buy a cow somewhere. If we lend $100, someone will maybe buy some chickens. In other words, the money goes to something with concrete value. Finance and the real economy have to be connected. In the US, the financial system has completely split off from the real economy. Castles were built in the sky, and suddenly people realized that these castles don't exist at all. That was the point at which the financial system collapsed."

What Must Change: Intentionally Misleading Voters is Legal

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:51:30 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.866ourvote.org

Every state provides some method to challenge the eligibility of a voter. However, bad-faith challenges may cross the line and can constitute voter intimidation, particularly when mass challenges are based only upon a voter’s race or status and the challenger lacks personal knowledge of the voter’s eligibility

State laws differ regarding who can make challenges, when challenges can be made, what are the proper grounds for a challenge, which party has the burden of proof, what evidence is relevant, and who decides challenges

Deceptive practices deliberately mislead or intimidate voters in order to alter the outcome of an election

Instead of employing physical threats, those who wish to intimidate voters have turned to more sophisticated and nuanced tactics to fraudulently prevent turnout in targeted communities

Disturbing example

armed gunmen intimidating, mocking and misinforming voters at heavily Latino precincts in Arizona

providing false information about where to vote

deceptive fliers

McCain: I'm Glad I Deregulated Wall Street

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:26:49 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

In the wake of last week’s financial meltdown, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been calling for more regulation and criticizing lax oversight of Wall Street, despite the fact that he and former senator Phil Gramm passed much of the deregulatory reforms that led to the current crisis. Interviewed on CBS today, however, McCain said he does not “regret” championing the deregulation of Wall Street:

Q: In 1999, you were one of the senators who helped pass deregulation of Wall Street. Do you regret that now?

McCAIN: No. I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy.

Watch it:

[Video]

Royal Dutch Shell to go to Trail for Complicity in Torture and Murder of Nigerian Protesters

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:32:35 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Nigeria has been chief among Shell’s assets for many years. Critics charge that with the aim of production at any cost, regardless of the damage to the surrounding people and land, Shell disrupted thousands of lives and wreaked havoc on the environment. In the early 1990’s, the people of Nigeria began to protest. Shell made payments and provided arms to security forces that they knew to be abusive to local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations and arrested and bribed witnesses. Nine leaders of the demonstrations were murdered, including the aforementioned well-known activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Clip Source: www.earthrights.org

Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York set a trial date of February 9, 2009 for a human rights and racketeering case against the Royal Dutch Shell company (Shell) and the head of its Nigerian operation, Brian Anderson

The cases charge the corporation and this key official for their complicity in the November 10, 1995 hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders in the nonviolent opposition to Shell’s pattern of human rights abuses and environmental destruction

Ken Saro Wiwa

defendants are charged with complicity in human rights abuses against the Ogoni people in Nigeria, including summary execution, crimes against humanity, torture, inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest, wrongful death, assault and battery, and infliction of emotional distress

The case against Royal Dutch/Shell also alleges that the corporation violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Know Your Voting Rights

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:45:06 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: Go to site for State specific voting rights information.

Clip Source: www.aclu.org

The Voting Rights Project of the ACLU is dedicated to providing citizens with information and assistance in exercising their right to vote! We are urging citizens to ACT this election year. For more information or to voice a voting rights complaint, call 1-877-523-2792, email us at vrp@aclu.org, or click below. Know your voting rights. Act!

GENERAL VOTING RESOURCES
> www.866ourvote.org (off-site)
> Breaking Barriers To The Ballot Box
> Democracys Ghosts
> Voting With Mental Disabilities
> Providing Help to Voters with Disabilities

Alabama contact

Alaska contact

David Brooks: Sarah Palin "Represents a Fatal Cancer to the Republican Party"

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:01:15 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era. Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices.

Obama Transition Project Code of Ethics

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:05:08 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: 4. I understand that in my Obama Transition Project-related activities, unless given specific authorization, I am not permitted to make any representations on behalf of Senator Obama or the Democratic nominee for Vice President, their designees, or any official of the Obama Transition Project, and in all my service to the Transition, I will identify myself only as acting on behalf of the Transition Project on transition-related matters.

5. I understand that authorization is required from the Obama Transition Project's Executive Director or the Executive Director's designee before seeking, on behalf of the Obama Transition Project, access to any non-public information.

6. I will hold in confidence any non-public information provided to me in the course of my duties with the Obama Transition Project and ensure that such information is used exclusively for purposes of the Obama Transition Project.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

1. I will disqualify myself from involvement in any particular Obama Transition Project matter which to my knowledge may directly conflict with a financial interest of an immediate family member, partner, client, or other individual or organization with which I have had a business relationship within the past 12 months. Should there be no such direct conflict, but the potential for the appearance of a conflict, I will address this issue for resolution to the Project Executive Director.

2. I will disqualify myself from involvement in any particular transition matter if I have engaged in regulated lobbying activities with respect to such matter, as defined by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, within the previous 12 months.

3. I will not solicit or accept any money or things of value in exchange for a promise to support or use influence on behalf of any person who is a candidate for any appointive office or place in the United States Government.

Hitler's Influence on G. Gordon Liddy, McCain's Terrorist Associate

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:32:43 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Clip Source: mediamatters.org

The Fuhrer was G Gordon Liddy's first political hero. Liddy was a sickly, asthmatic child when he grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930s. The town was full of ethnic Germans who idolized Hitler. Liddy was made to salute the Stars and Stripes Nazi-style by the nuns at his school; even now, he admits, "at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm.

When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

after reading the writings of the notorious anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh, Liddy decided to pick his wife on eugenic grounds

He used to take his kids to see Leni Reifenstahl's Nazi propaganda movie 'The Triumph of the Will

Liddy's seems to believe -- as his childhood icon did -- that life is an eternal war against Absolute Enemies

The View Gets Uglier: Barabara Can't Stop Elisabeth's Obama-Bashing

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:53:19 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Preceding the clip below, Barbara called for a move away from gutter politics towards a discussion of what really matters. Elisabeth then kept talking about Obama's connection to Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Tony Rezko, called Wright a "hate-monger" and asked of Obama, "Are you a liar or do you have poor judgment?"

Soon after, Sherri jumped down Elisabeth's throat (as she sat expressionless) asking about McCain's first wife with, "can we talk about poor judgement?"

The argument escalated and Joy (celebrating her birthday today) pretended to get up and leave.

Elisabeth interjected, "When did this get personal? Wow. This is super personal," and she told Sherri to "relax."

Barbara again asked to no avail, "Can we stop slinging mud around?"

Elisabeth then brought up Obama and claimed Democrats pushed subprime loans, to which Joy called out, "You're listening to Sean Hannity too much!" With that, Whoopi quickly took the show to break.

Watch, as no blow-by-blow will do it justice:

[Video]

How race is used in this election to divide workers

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:15:36 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: resistracism.wordpress.com

AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka speaking about racism in the context of the election. I especially appreciate the part where he talks about how race has been used to divide workers

[Video]

Obama Hatred at McCain-Palin Rallies: "Terrorist!" "Kill Him!"

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:01:01 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent), and McCain asked the crowd "who is Barack Obama?" Immediately you hear someone yell "terrorist." McCain pauses, the audience laughs, and McCain continues on, not acknowledging, not chastising, not correcting

[Video]

Judging by McCain's slightly startled reaction, he clearly didn't anticipate that reaction, and McCain's in no way responsible for the utterances of anybody in his audience. But he must have some idea of how deeply this fear/outsider/other meme has spread

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports on a similar moment at a Palin rally today:

Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

A White Guy Reflects on White Anti-Intellectualism

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:54:11 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

What else but a deep contempt for education (or book learnin' as we sometimes jokingly refer to it in the South) could explain why Barack Obama's Harvard Law School education can be mocked as elitist and out of touch, while John McCain's bottom-feeder academic record and Sarah Palin's four colleges in six years and degree from the University of Idaho, makes them ready to lead, and more like "normal people?" (And please, don't tell me how it isn't his education that poses the problem, but rather his comments about rural folks clinging to God and guns when times are tight, since a week after he made that comment, Dick Cheney implied that West Virginians were all a bunch of inbreds, and rural whites didn't seem to care, since at least he isn't an uppity black guy).

Clip Source: www.redroom.com

what I have always found interesting about the anti-intellectualism charge coming from whites and pointed at persons in the black community, is how readily it emanates from a group of people (white adults) who seem to actually revel in anti-intellectualism, as evidenced by our voting behavior and political sensibilities

What else but a deep contempt for education could explain the free pass given to George W. Bush for bragging at a Yale commencement a few years ago that he had been a C student, but that was OK, because even with a mediocre academic record you could go on to be president

the white love of anti-intellectualism in politics goes back quite a ways further than that

when Ronald Reagan decided to skip out on a policy briefing during an important overseas trip, all so he could watch The Sound of Music on television

most white folks still loved him and considered him a great leader. Perhaps it was because he had a ranch, liked to wear cowboy hats, and had that folksy aw-shucks grin

No Script: Java Script Blocker for Firefox (FREE)

Tue, 13 May 2008 02:04:02 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: I use No Script because it allows me to choose which sites to allow to execute JavaScript. It's free and so are the updates.

Clip Source: noscript.net

There's a browser safer than Firefox...
...it is Firefox, with NoScript!

The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and others mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser.

NoScript's unique whitelist based pre-emptive script blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even not known yet!) with no loss of functionality...

You can enable JavaScript, Java and plugin execution for sites you trust with a simple left-click on the NoScript status bar icon (look at the picture), or using the contextual menu, for easier operation in popup statusbar-less windows.
Watch the "Using NoScript" video kindly contributed by John Wilkerson.

Bigots Demand Context. Whine that We Just Don't Understand

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:04:14 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: Ha!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Rush is upset that the Obama camp is portraying him as being a bigot.

By quoting a bigoted statement he's made.

The Obama campaign is running new Spanish language ads in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico which quote Limbaugh as using the phrase "stupid and unskilled Mexicans" and telling Mexicans to "shut your mouth, or get out" of America

In his WSJ piece Limbaugh doesn't deny making the statements. His issue is that the statements are taken out of context.

Context?

What is it with bigots that makes them think there is a context for bigotry? When much was made of that paragon of virtue Bill Bennett's assertion "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country,"

Bill and his supporters claimed that statement was taken out of context.

what's missed by the chattering classes is that these are actually -- according to Rush -- "humorous monologue(s)" or "parody

You know, the way Amos and Andy was penetrating social satire

The Obama Relationship: A Major Benefit Nobody's Talking About

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:07:49 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

For Americans, one of the most important aspects of an Obama presidency is being overlooked: the model of a healthy relationship. In the 28 years of our own marriage, we've worked with more than 4,000 couples in our office and seminars, so we have a reasonably good idea of what kinds of behavior one sees in a healthy relationship. For example, Michelle and Barack do something we've never seen before in a presidential couple: they actually look directly at each other when they're speaking to each other. They also laugh at each other's humor, and they allow their sexual attraction for each other to be visible. Contrast that with other presidential marriages, in which the sexual attraction to each other was not visible but their sexual attraction to others became highly visible. Michelle and Barack talk openly about their feelings for each other. They're real.

Clipmarks | zizzy's clips

Nobel Laureate Yunus: 'Capitalism has degenerated into a casino'

What Must Change: Intentionally Misleading Voters is Legal

McCain: I'm Glad I Deregulated Wall Street

Royal Dutch Shell to go to Trail for Complicity in Torture and Murder of Nigerian Protesters

Know Your Voting Rights

David Brooks: Sarah Palin "Represents a Fatal Cancer to the Republican Party"

Obama Transition Project Code of Ethics

Hitler's Influence on G. Gordon Liddy, McCain's Terrorist Associate

The View Gets Uglier: Barabara Can't Stop Elisabeth's Obama-Bashing

How race is used in this election to divide workers

Obama Hatred at McCain-Palin Rallies: "Terrorist!" "Kill Him!"

A White Guy Reflects on White Anti-Intellectualism

No Script: Java Script Blocker for Firefox (FREE)

There's a browser safer than Firefox... ...it is Firefox, with NoScript!

Bigots Demand Context. Whine that We Just Don't Understand

The Obama Relationship: A Major Benefit Nobody's Talking About

There's a browser safer than Firefox...
...it is Firefox, with NoScript!