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April Fools We begin with the Brick TeeVee Crew's WAR ON BEER DEPARTMENT from zerohedge contributor Wolf Richter of www.testosteronepit.com The Beer War on American Soil Disclosure: I love beer. Particularly certain kinds of what the industry calls craft beer. I’m a sucker for a good IPA, or an amber, or a pale ale. For special occasions, there is the expensive stuff. If I’m traveling, I try to discover local brews. And the first swig is one of the simplest great pleasures in life. But for now, I’ll stick to the numbers. And they’re morose for the US beer industry. Yet there is an astonishing exception: craft brewers. There are a lot of them in the US: 1,989 last year, up 11% from prior year, and up from ONE in 1976, according to the Brewer’s Almanac. They employed 103,500 workers. 250 new breweries opened and 37 closed—it's still dog-eat-dog out there, and just because you know how to brew a good beer doesn't mean you get to stick around. The phenomenal re-birth of an ancient industry: .... Three multinational corporations own most of the 20 gigantic, highly industrialized breweries that produce the vast majority of American beer. It’s been a great Wall Street bonanza, but the results are sobering. The largest brewer in the US, Anheuser-Busch, belongs to Brazilian multinational InBev, the largest brewer in the world. American number two, Miller, is part of SABMiller, headquartered in London, the second largest brewer in the world. Coors was acquired by Canadian brewer Molson, now the Molson Coors Brewing Company, fifth largest in the world. As if that weren’t enough deal-making, SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company formed the joint venture MillerCoors. However, Pabst Brewing Company is still independent. But craft beer brewers operate in their own micro climate. In 2011, production jumped 13% to 11,468,152 barrels, for a 5.7% share of the US beer market in volume, according to the Brewers Association. With craft beers being more expensive, retail sales jumped 14.5% to a record $8.7 billion—for a 9.1% share of the $95.5 billion US beer market. .... Click over for all the cool graphs! There's a big shake-up at fledging Current-TV and this is NOT an April Fool's joke. Keith Olbermann Fired By Current TV; Replaced By Eliot Spitzer reads the headline at HuffPoAOL. Read Olbermann's statement and more. Here's one we missed from a few weeks ago at Reuters Vatican bank image hurt as JP Morgan closes account The bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), enacted major reforms last year in an attempt to get Europe's seal of approval and put behind it scandals that have included accusations of money laundering and fraud. Italy's leading financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported at the weekend that JP Morgan Chase in Milan had told the IOR of the closing of its account in a letter on February 15. The letter said the IOR's account in Italy's business capital would gradually be phased out starting on March 16 and closed on March 30. In Milan, JP Morgan Chase declined to comment and the Vatican also had no comment. .... The financial newspaper, which gave the number of the IOR account, said some 1.5 billion euros passed through it in about 18 months. It said the account was a "sweeping facility," meaning that it was emptied out at the end of each day with funds transferred to another IOR account in Germany. The closure move by JP Morgan Chase, which was also reported by two leading general newspapers on Monday - Corriere della Sera and La Stampa - was a further blow to the IOR, whose image has been tarnished by a string of scandals. In September, 2010, Italian investigators froze 23 million euros ($33 million) in funds in two Italian banks after opening an investigation into possible money-laundering. The bank said it did nothing wrong and was just transferring funds between its own accounts. The money was released in June 2011 but Rome magistrates are continuing their probe. ....
PAUL KRUGMAN gives some national exposure to the now infamous ALEC in Lobbyists, Guns and Money Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. And it’s tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations. Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence (only recently, thanks to yeoman work by the Center for Media and Democracy, has a clear picture of ALEC’s activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martin’s killing, it is that it might finally place a spotlight on what ALEC is doing to our society — and our democracy. What is ALEC? Despite claims that it’s nonpartisan, it’s very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesn’t just influence laws, it literally writes them, supplying fully drafted bills to state legislators. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 ALEC-written bills have been introduced, many almost word for word. And these bills often become law. Many ALEC-drafted bills pursue standard conservative goals: union-busting, undermining environmental protection, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization. What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism. .... Did I mention that ALEC has played a key role in promoting bills that make it hard for the poor and ethnic minorities to vote? .... Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesn’t just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population. Now, ALEC isn’t single-handedly responsible for the corporatization of our political life; its influence is as much a symptom as a cause. But shining a light on ALEC and its supporters — a roster that includes many companies, from AT&T and Coca-Cola to UPS, that have so far managed to avoid being publicly associated with the hard-right agenda — is one good way to highlight what’s going on. And that kind of knowledge is what we need to start taking our country back. In Wisconsin it's official for Koch'd-up Fool Walker! Board certifies signatures for Wis. recall election reports Ben Jones, USA TODAY The Government Accountability Board cleared the way for a recall election against Walker, certifying 900,939 recall petition signatures. The board also certified recall petitions for Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators. A Democratic primary will be held May 8, if needed, followed by a general election June 5. .... Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said in his statement, "This was the greatest petition campaign in American history for a reason — Scott Walker's radical overreach and abuse of power."
Joe Romm at ThinkProgress ClimateProgress desk reports Civilization Is At Risk Absent ‘Urgent And Large-Scale Action’ Warns Planetary Summit The Planet Under Pressure conference began with an urgent warning of fast-approaching tipping points like the "compost bomb." It ended with a plea by the conference leaders for urgent and large-scale action. The conference website reports, "Scientists issue first ‘State of the Planet’ declaration at the world’s largest gathering of experts on global environmental and social issues in advance of the major UN Summit Rio+20 in June." The language is unusually blunt for scientists — or it would have been considered unusually blunt before humanity chose to ignore decades of warning by scientists (see Lonnie Thompson on why climatologists are speaking out: "Virtually all of us are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization"). The statement begins:

Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources: these threats risk intensifying economic, ecological and social crises, creating the potential for a humanitarian emergency on a global scale…. The defining challenge of our age is to safeguard Earth’s natural processes to ensure the well-being of civilization while eradicating poverty, reducing conflict over resources, and supporting human and ecosystem health…. As consumption accelerates everywhere and world population rises, it is no longer sufficient to work towards a distant ideal of sustainable development. Global sustainability must become a foundation of society. It can and must be part of the bedrock of nation states and the fabric of societies.While some bloggers have tried to suggest that this statement endorses a do-little, R&D-centric approach, in fact the reverse is true. The statement makes clear, "Society is taking substantial risks by delaying urgent and large-scale action." Further, the Conference’s Board of Patrons — 18 leading figures including scientists, CEOs, and major politicians — took the unusual step of endorsing the entire statement and adding their own blunt assessment: ... Read the rest of this and many more urgent posts at Joe Romm's Climate Progress including Conservative Trust Of Science At All Time Low, Study Confirms Chris Mooney Thesis and March 30 News: Koch Brothers Linked To Anti-Obama Gas Price Ads which leads us to Elizabeth Kolbert at The New Yorker discussing more fools in
A Lot of Gas Last week, Mitt Romney, who, it now seems, is going to become the Republican nominee whether anybody likes it or not, called on President Barack Obama to fire three of his Cabinet members .... Romney’s remarks came just days after Louisiana’s governor, Bobby Jindal, also on Fox, accused the Administration of driving up the cost of gas in the service of its "radical" agenda. .... Romney and Jindal, meanwhile, were echoing comments made by Newt Gingrich, who accused the President of adhering to a "radical ideology, which wants to artificially raise the cost of energy." And Gingrich was following Rick Santorum, who, back in February, declared that Obama’s energy policies are based on a "phony theology" that "elevates the earth above man."Like almost anything that the Republican candidates can manage to agree on, the Obama Administration gas-price-hike conspiracy theory is nearly a hundred-per-cent hokum. The fakery begins with the theory’s premise: that the President could, if he wanted to, reduce the price of oil. Oil, as it is well known, is a global commodity traded on a global market. Gasoline prices have risen—they are up roughly fifteen per cent since the start of the year—mostly because demand is climbing in countries like China and because instability in the Middle East has prompted worries about supply. (Since sabre rattling on Iran tends to increase those worries, candidates like Santorum, who calls the Administration’s policies toward Iran "appeasement," are almost certainly aggravating the very situation they decry.) But an idea doesn’t have to be true, or even especially convincing, to be politically effective, and nowadays it’s the most rational policy options that seem to have the hardest time getting heard. When it comes to gas prices, it’s been clear for, well, let’s just say forever that the cost of gasoline in America is actually too low. Cheap gas generates sprawl and traffic. It discourages the use of mass transit and the development of alternative fuels. It contributes to regional smog and to global climate change. The easiest and most obvious solution has long been to raise the federal gasoline tax, which now stands at only 18.4 cents a gallon. Among economists, there’s widespread support for this idea, including from Greg Mankiw, a Harvard professor who happens to be a top adviser to Romney. Writing in the Times earlier this year, Mankiw observed, "Economists who have added up all the externalities associated with driving conclude that a tax exceeding $2 a gallon makes sense." He went on, "By taxing bad things more, we could tax good things less." More truth at The New Yorker. Then AP's Vicky Smith reports Judge: EPA veto of W.Va. mine permit overreached (KTAR.com) MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority last year in revoking water pollution permits that another agency had issued for one of West Virginia's largest mountaintop removal coal mines, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday. In siding with St. Louis-based Arch Coal, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson declared the permits were valid. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had issued the permits for the 2,300-acre Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County. .... The EPA said the agency and the Department of Justice are reviewing the decision, which "does not affect the EPA's commitment to protect the health of Appalachian communities who depend on clean water." The EPA in January 2011 used its veto power for only the 13th time since 1972 to overturn a permit the corps had issued under the federal Clean Water Act. It was the first time the EPA had acted on a previously permitted mine. The agency said at the time it reserves that power "for only unacceptable cases." A coalition of environmental groups issued a joint response to the ruling, calling it a sad day for not only people who live near mountaintop removal mines, "but for all Americans who understand the need to protect our waterways, and the health of communities that depend on them." The Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy urged EPA to appeal, arguing the agency must be able to fully protect the region's waters. "Appalachian people are struggling to stop the permanent destruction of their treasured waters and communities," they said. "We urge the EPA to continue exercising its full authority under the law to protect these iconic landscapes and waters." Jeff Biggers has more at HuffPo Spruce Mine Reversal Signals Mountaintop Removal Permits Are Not Slowing to a Trickle including this ... Last month, besieged and frustrated Appalachian residents launched a new health care campaign--Appalachian Community Health Emergency--in Washington, DC, calling on the Obama administration and the US Congress to enact an immediate moratorium on reckless mountaintop removal operations and hold long-awaited hearings on the mounting deathtoll and humanitarian crisis. ... UPDATE: In a joint statement, several Appalachian citizens groups, including Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Sierra Club, represented by attorneys at Earthjustice and Appalachian Mountain Advocates noted:

It is a sad day not only for the people who live near mountains and streams threatened by mountaintop removal coal mining, but for all Americans who understand the need to protect our waterways, and the health of communities that depend on them. We are deeply disappointed and concerned about the effect of today's court ruling because mountaintop removal mining has already caused widespread and extreme destruction to the mountains, waters, and communities of Appalachia. The Spruce No. 1 Mine permit, in particular, was one of the largest mountaintop removal permits ever proposed in Appalachia, and it is located in an area of West Virginia that has already been devastated by several large mountaintop removal mines. We urge the EPA to appeal today's ruling and continue to exercise its full authority under the Clean Water Act to protect waterways and communities. The Army Corps should also exercise its authority to recognize the clear science and revoke or suspend the permit. Severe harm would occur if the company is allowed to dump mining waste. Our groups are committed to fighting for clean water and justice in Appalachia until the people in Appalachia get the protections we so deserve. The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne pointed out some fools in his op-ed last Sunday The right’s Etch a Sketch imperative Rep. Paul Ryan made absolutely clear that he is not now and never was interested in deficit reduction. After a couple of years of being lauded by deficit hawks as the man prepared to make hard choices, he proposed a budget that would not end deficits until 2040 but would cut taxes by $4.6 trillion over a decade while also extending all of the Bush tax cuts, adding an additional $5.4 trillion to the deficit. Ryan would increase military expenditures and then eviscerate the rest of the federal government. .... Robert Greenstein, president of the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is tough on deficits, careful in his use of numbers, and measured in his choice of words. These traits make his assessment of Ryan’s proposal all the more instructive. "It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times (and possibly in the nation’s history)," Greenstein wrote. "Specifically, the Ryan budget would impose extraordinary cuts in programs that serve as a lifeline for our nation’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens, and over time would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health insurance or become underinsured." ..... Last week the nation also focused seriously on the "Stand Your Ground" laws that the National Rifle Association has pushed through in state after state. .... These laws perfectly reflect the NRA’s utopia. No longer will we count on law enforcement to preserve the peace. Instead, we will build a society where all citizens are armed and encouraged to take the law into their own hands. If you feel threatened, just shoot. Since when did conservatives start believing that laws should be based on "feelings" and subjective judgments? What kind of civilization does this create? Surely this moment should inspire the peaceable majority to challenge the entire gun lobby worldview — and that most certainly includes the legions of timid Democrats who have been cowed by the NRA. There was, finally, that toy metaphor from Eric Fehrnstrom, a top aide to Mitt Romney. ... "It’s almost like an Etch a Sketch," he added, "you can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again." The context matters because Romney later said Fehrnstrom was talking about post-primary changes that would be made "organizationally," a claim that is plainly untrue. Ironically, the semi-denial reinforced the lesson Fehrnstrom taught: To win, Romney is willing to change not only his own positions but also reality itself. More fools abound like Pat Boone claims Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years (PolitiFact) The 60 Plus Association, an advocacy group that bills itself as "the conservative alternative" to the AARP, has a fondness for golden oldies. The group hired singer Pat Boone as its pitchman in an ad that targets the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, the health reform bill often called Obamacare approved by Congress in 2010. In the ad, Boone warns seniors of potential dangers in the bill and urges them to call Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Look-alike versions aired in other states target four other Democratic senators. PolitiFact already has run several of Boone’s claims in the ad through the Truth-O-Meter. A statement that an independent payment advisory board created by the health care act "can ration care and deny certain Medicare treatments" was rated Pants on Fire, as was the claim that the IPAB is "like a Medicare IRS with the power to cut Medicare in order to pay for new government programs." And the statement that the health care law "will cut $500 billion from Medicare" was rated Mostly False. .... That leaves us with another alarming assertion: "Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years, but Washington politicians, like Sherrod Brown, are ignoring the problem, putting their own re-elections first." The second part of the statement is subjective political rhetoric that we can't rate. We can, however, examine the foundation of the claim about Medicare going bankrupt. .... What we do know from research that 60 Plus cited is that that Boone’s claim -- that Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years -- takes a projection for one trust fund and applies it to all of Medicare. By doing so, Boone’s claim overstates what the CBO reports forecast. The Hospital Insurance Trust Fund supports just one of the four parts of Medicare. The portions of Medicare that cover regular doctor visits and prescriptions are covered by a different trust fund that trustees say is in good shape. On the Truth-O-Meter, Boone’s claim rates False.
♦ FOOL in PA State Senator Jane Orie Pa. GOP senator accused of using staff for campaign work convicted of services theft, forgery (AP via WaPo) Republican state Sen. Jane Orie, accused of using her state-funded legislative staff to perform campaign work for herself and a state judge who’s her sister, was convicted Monday on 14 counts of theft of services, conflict of interest and forgery and likely will be forced from the Senate. Orie, acquitted of 10 other counts including perjury and election code violations, declined to comment after the verdict but appeared to be shaken. .... Prosecutors said Orie, who’s from McCandless, just north of Pittsburgh, had illegally used her legislative staff since 2001 to benefit herself and state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who wasn’t charged. One legal expert who has followed the trial said Orie’s chances of successfully appealing are slim. "Any serious convictions like this are exactly what the prosecution sought, and the senator is now probably going to jail," University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff said. "Convicted of 14 different counts is a lot. It’s serious judgment against her." .... A third sister, Janine Orie, is expected to stand trial later this year on charges that she conspired to misuse the senator’s staff to campaign for Melvin and on charges that she similarly directed Melvin’s former Superior Court staff to work on campaigns in 2003 and 2009. She’s fighting the charges.
♦ Birther FOOL Dave Mustaine of Megadeth Dave Mustaine Reveals 'Birther' Opinions (Rolling Stone) Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine revealed his "birther" opinions on a Canadian talk show recently, saying he doubts President Barack Obama was born in the United States and voicing admiration for Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum. Mustaine sat down with George Stroumboulopoulos, host of The Hour, and explained that he has "a lot of questions about him [President Obama], but certainly not where he was born. I know he was born somewhere else than America." Stroumboulopoulos then asked him if he was a birther, to which Mustaine demurred, but Stroumboulopoulos pushed the point: "Well, then you’re a birther," he replied to Mustaine's statement.....
♦ FOOL in IL Rep. Joe Walsh Joe Walsh: Tammy Duckworth A 'Wounded Veteran -- What Else Has She Done?' (HuffPo Chicago) U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh was criticized by veterans groups this week after making a dismissive remark about his opponent -- Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth -- in a Politico interview. .... "Tammy is a heroic veteran; Walsh a Tea Party icon who’s so extreme he’s doubling down on his extremism," DCCC chairman Steve Israel told The Huffington Post last week, adding that Walsh is "badly out of touch" with voters. While in Iraq in 2004, Duckworth lost both of her legs and part of her arm when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Walsh mentioned his opponent's service in an interview with Politico this week, but seemed less-than-impressed by Duckworth's credentials: ... "What else has she done? Female, wounded veteran … ehhh," he continued. "She is nothing more than a handpicked Washington bureaucrat. David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel just picked her up and dropped her into this district." ... "If you think working for America's veterans at the VA both in Washington and Illinois is nothing, if you think working to improve the economic lives of veterans is nothing, then Joe Walsh's record is below nothing," Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org PAC said in a statement. He represents the do-nothing, obstructionist, extreme Tea Party wing of the GOP, not the values that Tammy stood up for."
♦ FOOLS in D.C. Robert Scheer at TruthDig.com Five Hypocrites and One Bad Plan The Supreme Court is so full of it. The entire institution, as well as its sanctimonious judges themselves, reeks of a time-honored hypocrisy steeped in the arrogance that justice is served by unaccountable elitism. My problem is not with the Republicans who dominate the court questioning the obviously flawed individual mandate for the purchasing of private-sector health insurance but rather with their zeal to limit federal power only when it threatens to help the most vulnerable. The laughter noted in the court transcription that greeted the prospect of millions of the uninsured suddenly being deprived of already extended protection under the now threatened law was unconscionable. The Republican justices seem determined to strike down not only the mandate but also the entire package of accompanying health care rights because of the likelihood that, without an individual mandate, tax revenue will be needed to extend insurance coverage to those who cannot afford it. The conservative justices, in their eagerness to reject all of this much needed reform, offer the deeply cynical justification that a new Congress will easily come up with a better plan—despite decades of congressional failure to address what is arguably the nation’s most pressing issue. In their passion to embarrass this president, the self-proclaimed constitutional purists on the court went so far as to equate a mandate to obtain health care coverage with an unconstitutional deprivation of freedom; to make the connection they cited the spirit of a document that once condoned slavery. These purists have no trouble finding in that same sacred text a license for the federal government to order the young to wage undeclared wars abroad, to gut due process and First Amendment protections, and embrace torture, rendition and assassination, even of U.S. citizens. Now they hide behind the commerce clause of the Constitution to argue that the federal government cannot regulate health care coverage because that violates the sacrosanct principle of states’ rights. ..... Of course he's referring to the R.A.T.S. Roberts. Alito. Thomas. Scallia.
Taradacktyl from RepublicanDirtyTricks.com suggests you "go to Youtube and search "Team Mike Malloy in DC as SCOTUS ponders Obamacare" for the scenes from our trip to DC. Interviews with Teabaggers... Mike's interview with Spike Ward... There's 3 videos!" Here's the first one! Team Mike Malloy in D.C. as SCOTUS ponders Obamacare Part 1 of 3 See Taradacktyl's latest post CONSERVATIVES: The Enemies From Within
"MEMBERS NEED TO REMOVE THEIR HOODS OR LEAVE THE FLOOR." Now at first blush one might think this came from the Grand Wizard of the KKK. Close. From Think Progress Congressman Gets Kicked Off House Floor For Wearing Hoodie For Trayvon Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) donned a hoodie and took to the House floor this morning to speak out against the murder of Travyon Martin, but was shouted down and removed from the floor by the Republican speaker pro tem for violating House rules prohibiting the wearing of hats. As Rush spoke about the murder and racial profiling, he removed his suit jacket to reveal a grey hoodie, while saying, "just because someone wears a hoodie, [it] does not make them a hoodlum." Rush flipped up the hood, put on a pair of sunglasses, and began reciting Bible verses, prompting Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), acting as speaker, to bang his gavel and demand that Rush stop speaking. "The member is out of order," Harper scolded. "The member is no longer recognized." "The chair will ask the Sargeant of Arms to enforce the prohibition on decorum," Harper said. "Members need to remove their hoods or leave the floor." Watch it: VIDEO at link!
We strongly urge you to read Chris Hedges at TruthDig.com The Polite Conference Rooms Where Liberties Are Saved and Lost which begins I spent four hours in a third-floor conference room at 86 Chambers St. in Manhattan on Friday as I underwent a government deposition. Benjamin H. Torrance, an assistant U.S. attorney, carried out the questioning as part of the government’s effort to decide whether it will challenge my standing as a plaintiff in the lawsuit I have brought with others against President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), also known as the Homeland Battlefield Bill.... including an exchange he recorded during the deposition. Chilling. Hedges mentions Glenn Greenwald "the columnist and constitutional lawyer, has done the most detailed analysis of the NDAA bill." We direct you to Obama takes Bush’s secrecy games one step further and The Most Transparent Administration Ever™ Next Digby has a book review Twilight of the Elites I've been writing about the failure of our American elite institutions on this blog since I first started it. It's a recurring theme, starting with the abject foolishness of impeachment, to the response to 9/11 and the Iraq war, the financial crisis of 2008 and the years of whining and complaining by the 1% that followed. It's clear that something has gone terribly wrong. Chris Hayes has tackled this question with his new book Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy. And today, his publishers have released the first excerpt. I urge you to read the whole thing, but I've pulled a couple of paragraphs I think are particularly important:

One Percent Pathologies

Is that true or what? In fact, this is one of the most startling insights of the past couple of years, although it actually goes back a couple of decades. (See, the below post.) In terms of the economic meltdown, the fact that the elites were willing to trade insanely complicated financial instruments which they obviously did not understand, while crossing their fingers and hoping against hope they were able to ride the wave long enough to make their own millions before the whole thing crashed to the shore was astonishing. It turns out that most of those guys weren't all that smart after all --- they were thrill seekers, not rational investors. And they thought nothing of the long term consequences of their actions because, like children, they couldn't think beyond the moment. These people shouldn't have the power they have. I'm greatly looking forward to reading Hayes' book. This thesis is absolutely fundamental to understanding the central problem of our time --- and perhaps forming the basis for how we figure out what to do about it. GOOD ITEM! Kevin Zeese gets our LAST WORD from GlobalResearch.ca THE "AFFORDABLE CARE ACT": The Supreme Court Debates the Health Insurance Mandate I was standing outside the U.S. Supreme Court holding a sign that said "Single Payer Now, Strike Down the Obama Mandate." It was the second day of argument on the Affordable Care Act. As I watched the crowds it was evident this was an organized partisan event. As the Washington Post reports, the mandate was a Republican idea that originated with conservatives: "The tale begins in the late 1980s, when conservative economists such as Mark Pauly, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business, were searching for ways to counter liberal calls for government-sponsored universal health coverage. Pauly then proposed a mandate requiring everyone to obtain this minimum coverage, thus guarding against free-riders...Health policy analysts at the conservative Heritage Foundation, led by Stuart Butler, picked up the idea and began developing it for lawmakers in Congress. The Heritage Foundation worked with then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) to pass Massachusetts’ 2006 health reform law, which required all Bay State citizens to purchase coverage." Someone from the Heritage Foundation came up to us, wanting to take a photo of our sign. I asked him – does the Heritage Foundation oppose the mandate? He said "yes." I told him that the idea came out of the Heritage Foundation. He looked confused, mumbled an unclear answer "not since 2006" and walked away.
Of course, Democrats opposed this Republican idea. They saw it for what it is: a massive giveaway to the insurance industry that will lead to their entrenchment and continued domination of heath care. The idea was used by Republicans to oppose the Clinton health plan. Of course, the Clinton’s opposed it. But, by the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton supported the mandate (by then the insurance industry was a big financial backer of hers), but candidate Barack Obama opposed it. One of his campaign advertisements said: "What’s she not telling you about her health-care plan? It forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can’t afford it, and you pay a penalty if you don’t."
So, while I was out there watching groups like the National Organization for Women, who supports single payer favoring this pro-insurance law, as part of a coalition of Democratic Party aligned groups, I thought, what if President McCain had passed this law. My conclusion, we’d have the same people out here protesting, they’d just reverse sides. This was really not about healthcare, it was about Obama vs. the Republicans in this 2012 election year.
The people protesting followed their leader’s orders, said the chants they were told to say, and held the signs they were given to hold, but they were confused. When we talked to people on both sides the partisan confusion was evident.
My colleague, Margaret Flowers, asked two women carrying an Americans for Prosperity sign (a group opposed to Obama’s law) whether they were on Medicare. They said "yes." "Do you like it?" Again, "yes." "Do you know Medicare is a government program?" A confused look. "Do you know the Republicans want to end Medicare, make it into private insurance?" "You don’t know what you’re talking about. You probably support Obama" and they started to walk away. "No, we oppose ObamaCare," the women stopped and listened again, "we think everyone should have Medicare. Don’t you think it would be a good idea if every American could have the Medicare you have and like?" "Hmm, yes" then, more confusion in their faces.
Then, talking to the Democrats showed equal partisan confusion. I explained: "We oppose the Obama mandate because we want to end insurance control of health care. We support single payer, Medicare for all?" Response: "So do I." I asked: "Single payer ends insurance, and Obama’s law entrenches insurance more deeply in control of health care, aren’t those opposites?" Response, obviously not understanding what ‘opposite’ means: "It’s a step in the right direction." I ask: "How can it be a step in the right direction when it is going in the opposite direction?" No longer able to say it is the right direction, spouts another talking point: "This is the best we can get, we can build on this." Me, trying to figure out the Democrat thinks there is to build on, asks: "But, if we want to end insurance domination, how do we build on a law that is based on insurance?" Unable to explain it, the Democrat answers: "We can’t get what we want." I say: "Of course, not, if people like you and organizations like yours who support single payer, spend their time advocating for the insurance industry, we can’t get what we want. But, if people who support single payer work for it we could." Answer "But, we have to re-elect President Obama." Partisan confusion reigned. And, sadly partisan confusion dominates our airwaves as well. Of course, the right wing radio continues to attack Obama and confusingly calls a market-based, insurance-dominated health law socialism. But, sadly the "liberal" media sends out equal partisan confusion. We were able to go into Radio Row, where all the liberal radio outlets were interviewing "experts" on health care. The talking points, like in the conversation, were repeated and repeated. When one radio host wanted to interview me, really debate me since he was a Democratic apologist, I sat down. An organizer in the room asked the host to speak with her. She came back and told me I had to leave. This was private property and only people allowed to be here were allowed to be here. I explained I was invited by a station to be interviewed. She explained – "I tell them who to interview. The stations have slots and we fill them." I asked – "do you mean only people who support Obama can be interviewed." She explained "The Republicans do it to."
So, partisan confusion reigns and it permeates the airwaves leaving many people confused. We need to clear the FOG (Forces Of Greed) and get the truth on the air.
Despite all this supermajorities of Americans have consistently supported single payer, whether inaccurately called socialism or correctly described as "Medicare for all" 60% or more support it. Why? For the same reason that the great salesman President Obama and his his superb marketing team have been unable to sell forced purchase of health insurance: Every family, business whether large or small; and every doctor or other health care provider have suffered insurance abuse. Two thirds of those who go bankrupt from a health problem have health insurance. The American experience is that health insurance is expensive, provides inadequate coverage and tries to avoid paying for health care. We all know this. So, no matter what the politicians say – Americans do not trust the health insurance industry. But, one thing the two parties in Washington agree on – they will protect health insurance at all costs. After-all, they are a a great source of campaign contributionss – as the two politicians responsible for forcing Americans to buy insurance, President Obama and Mitt Romney, well know.
Kevin Zeese is co-director of Its Our Economy and is an organizer with the National Occupation of Washington, DC which begins on March 30.
So go get MORE CONFUSED by watching the Beltway Bubulas on the Sunday Morning Funnies!! Did we see this right HOWARD DEAN on FAKE SNOOZE? With Sick Sanatorium? Meet the David has a bunch of navel-gazers who "Got Iraq All Wrong" (oops) including Freidman, Meacham & Ford (some law firm?) AND MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski! SPECIAL: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Prof., Johns Hopkins of the Trilateral Commission , who served as national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter, is on Bloomberg’s Political Capital: "Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski talks with Bloomberg's Al Hunt about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's foreign policy stance." Okaaaaay. This Snufagopolis asks PAUL "What's a deficit" RYAN "how does this help the average Jane & Joe?" Sure he does! Face the Bob goes long FOR THE FIRST TIME EVAH with their FIRST ONE-HOUR SHOW featuring our VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN followed up with troglodytes GNEWT and RONPAUL. Yay! State of the Candy gets MITCH "no neck" MCCONNELL to back up RYAN'S BULLSHIT. Good brick targets everywhere! Pay no attention to The Man Behind The Curtain and instead be sure to listen to SCOTT HORTON'S AntiWarRadio interview with John Horgan (mp3) who speaks of "why war is a solvable scientific problem, not the inevitable result of resource struggles, religious differences, or biological imperatives" AND Jason Leopold DHS Turns Over Occupy Wall Street Documents to Truthout (mp3) plus Pap's interview with journalist Rachel Tabachnick on her article at alternet The Religious Right's Plot To Take Control Of Our Public Schools on Ring of Fire and much more! Go see! The Brick TeeVee crew is still in SHOCK how the Buckeyes choked away a 13-point lead. Oh, that's right, miss yer first 12 of 14 shots to open the 2nd half! Say when was the last time a school in a BLUE STATE was in the Final Four? Just askin'. ENJOY MLB Opening Day this week wherever you are! Go Tribe! Get out there and occupy somewhere!

R.I.P. Earl Skruggs

Skruggs

Earl Eugene Scruggs

January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012

BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©

Monday, March 26, 2012

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti & Rabbi Arthur Waskow @ Democracy NOW! Boycotting Israel: Mustafa Barghouti vs. Rabbi Arthur Waskow on BDS Movement, Palestinian Solidarity
Thomas Drake & Jesselyn Radack @ Democracy NOW! Part 2: Former NSA Employee Thomas Drake and Jesselyn Radack on Obama Admin. Whistleblower Crackdown

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler & Dr. John McDonough @ Democracy NOW! Healthcare Debate: As Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case, Does Law Do Enough to Fix Health Crisis?
Reporter Mark Benjamin @ Democracy NOW! Pentagon Stays Silent on Whether Suspect in Afghan Massacre Took Controversial Anti-Malaria Drug
Darryl Cherney @ Democracy NOW! Judi Bari Revisited: New Film Exposes FBI Coverup of 1990 Car Bombing of California Environmentalist

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wendell Potter @ Democracy NOW! March 22, 2012 Industry Whistleblower Wendell Potter: However Court Rules on Healthcare, Solution is Single Payer
Electronic Privacy Information Center's Marc Rotenberg & ProPublica reporter, Michael Grabell @ Democracy NOW! Lawsuit Seeks Halt to TSA’s Use of Full-Body Scanners at Airports amid Safety Concerns
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid @ Democracy NOW! "Pakistan on the Brink": Ahmed Rashid on Perilous Ties Between the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Chamberlain’s son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. @ Democracy NOW! Killed at Home: White Plains, NY Police Called Out on Medical Alert Shoot Dead Black Veteran, 68
Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed @ Democracy NOW! Ousted Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on the Coup that Ousted Him & His Climate Activism

Friday, March 30, 2012

Natalie Jackson, attorney for Trayvon Martin’s family @ Democracy NOW! Trayvon Martin Family Attorney on Mounting Evidence Against Killer & the Attacks on Trayvon’s Memory
Cynthia Dagnal-Myron @ Democracy NOW! Walking While Black: Killing of Trayvon Martin Evokes Memories of Civil Rights Martyr Emmett Till
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist Alice Walker @ Democracy NOW! "Trayvon Martin Was Ours"–Author Alice Walker on How Killing is Symptom of Unaddressed Racism

»»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders
»»» FEATURED SHOW The Laura Flanders Show...coming soon! After three years in daily production, GRITtv is transforming into the Laura Flanders Show, for distribution online and on public TV later this year.
»»» Jeffrey Sachs: Population Controller? In a March 1 op-ed in the Washington Post Columbia economist Jeffrey Sachs made his pitch to be the next president of the World Bank promising to “lead the bank into a new era of problem-solving.” John Cavanaugh and Robin Broad have laid out a raft of righteous concerns about Sachs’s candidacy. The “solutions” Sachs proposes to poverty, they point out, can be summed up in the not very-new words: “aid” and “trade.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s Sachs’s other favorite problem solver: population control. That’s taking us to a new era, alright: right back to the nineteenth century of Thomas Malthus. Read the full article at The Nation. BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©
»»» NCAA Women's Final Four Basketball Tournament on ESPN 6:30 p.m. #1 Connecticut vs. #1 Notre Dame then 9:00 p.m. #1 Stanford vs. #1 Baylor from the Pepsi Center in Denver.
»»» NASCAR on FOX It's the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville! Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday
»»» NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS It's #1 Kentucky vs. #2 Kansas! Tune in Monday night!
»»» NBA on TNT Thursday double-header Knicks @ Magin 8 pm et then Celtics @ Bulls!
»»» MLB OPENING DAY The World Champion St. Louis Cardinals open at the new Miami Marlins ballpark 7 PM on ESPN Wednesday (in a rare made-for-tv one-game homestand to feature the new 37,000-seat Marlins Park) then on Thursday it's the Red Sox @ Tigers 1 pm et ESPN2 plus Marlins @ Reds 4 pm et and more openers on Friday Giants @ Diamondbacks 7 pm et followed by Royals @ Angels 10 pm et both on The Deuce.
BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!_©
The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:

Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress
Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.

NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org A Push for Privacy in the Wake of the Carrier IQ Controversy Remember Carrier IQ, the company that makes the secret spying software that’s installed on more than 140 million phones? You know, the software that can record our most sensitive personal data? ... Thanks in part to the 22,000 people who joined Free Press’ call for a congressional investigation, some of those questions are closer to being answered and mobile users are closer to being protected. The protection comes in the form of a bill from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey. Markey released a draft of a bill called the "Mobile Device Privacy Act" that would require phone companies to disclose to users just what is being done with all of their data. If the bill passes, an opt-out provision would go into effect a year later and would require companies to allow users to opt out of data-collection schemes like the one developed by Carrier IQ........
CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org
MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com
SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! Kevin Zeese on ANTIWAR RADIO Kevin Zeese March 22, 2012: Kevin Zeese, Executive Director of VotersForPeace and Co-Chair of Come Home America, discusses his article "Dismissal Is the Only Option in Bradley Manning Case;" the prosecution’s withholding of government damage-assessment reports, which could help disprove Manning’s "aiding the enemy" charge; statements from President Obama and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey (last paragraph) that bolster an "unlawful command influence" defense; and whether Judge Col. Denise Lind will rule fairly, resisting the government pressure and bribes that accompany cases of this magnitude. Kevin Zeese is the Executive Director and co-founder of VotersForPeace . He also served as the Executive Director of Democracy Rising, is an attorney, and a long term peace advocate. He took a leave from VotersForPeace for most of 2006 while he was running for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. Zeese was a founding member of the Montgomery County Coalition Against the War in Maryland and has worked with various non-profit organizations on peace, justice, and democracy issues since 1978.
DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATIONHelp save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org
CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E

_{image ©2006 arkysue}
THEY report. YOU throw bricks. ©
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The essential guide for watching government propaganda

IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of March 30, 2011
AFGHANISTAN: 1,922 US Military Dead as of March 30, 2012
The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative

This Week (ABC) anchor George Stephanopoulos
• Fact Checking ABC's "This Week" at NPR "On the Media" - Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC's "This Week," liked the idea of fact-checking his guests' comments, so he set up a partnership with Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking organization. See Politifact Statements ABC News 'This Week'
• Rep. Paul Ryan
• Rep. Chris Van Hollen
• ROUNDTABLE: George Will, conservative commentator Ann Coulter, former White House environmental advisor Van Jones, author of "Rebuild the Dream," Matt Bai of The New York Times Magazine, and "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran.
Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer: The first hour-long episode of "Face the Nation" with
• Vice President Joe Biden
• Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich
• Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul
60 Minutes (CBS)
• Hard Landing - Seven thousand employees of the Kennedy Space Center lost their jobs when the final Space Shuttle was launched last July, a loss of income that's hit the local economy hard. Scott Pelley reports. Robert Anderson and Nicole Young are the producers.
• Sugar - A prominent doctor who treats childhood obesity believes the high amount of sugar in the American diet, much of it in processed foods, is killing us. And as Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, new studies seem to support his theory that sugar is toxic. Denise Schrier Cetta and Sumi Aggarwal are the producers.
Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
• Meet the Facts at NPR "On the Media" - Last December, NYU professor Jay Rosen proposed something simple yet revolutionary: why don't the Sunday morning chat shows fact check their guests? After "Meet the Press" host David Gregory declined, two college students launched a website to do it for him. One of them, Chas Danner, explains what they're trying to accomplish. See their website MeetTheFacts.com updating soon!
• White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe.
• Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
• ROUNDTABLE: Tom Friedman and David Brooks of the New York Times, Fmr. Newsweek Executive Editor Jon Meacham, Fmr. Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) and MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski.
State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
• Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
• Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)
• House Intel Chair Mike Rogers (R- Michigan)
• Ranking Member C.A. Ruppersberger (D-Maryland)
• ROUNDTABLE: New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny and CNN Sr. Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.
HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid

Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of Conversation Radio on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email bob [at] headonradio [dot] com during the show!
• FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Bob recaps his week in D.C covering the SCOTUS hearings! Plus all the regulars chime in! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW! Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!
YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT

The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
• 'Green News Report' - March 27, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Warning - world water crisis (and wars?) ahead; Senate to vote on repeal of Big Oil subsidies; New EPA rules: the beginning of the end for coal?; Climate scientists warn the planet is approaching tipping points; PLUS: It's confirmed - BP's oil still killing in the Gulf of Mexico... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
• IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): 2 UK offshore drilling platforms evacuated due to gas cloud; Japan Shuts Down Its Next-To-Last Nuclear Reactor; The financial bubble is nothing compared to the $22 trillion 'carbon bubble'; US states propose 3 new water pipelines; Judge overturns EPA veto of mountaintop removal Spruce Mine; Panel says MSHA partially responsible for Upper Big Branch Mine disaster; New bird-friendly wind energy designs; Enviros sue to see 'proprietary' fracking chemicals; Denizens of the Deep: James Cameron's deep-sea dive ... PLUS: Think solar power can't compete with big utilities? Think again ... and much, MUCH more! ...
• BRADCAST! Brad on KPFK: Interview With the Ron Paul 'Revolutionaries' from MO and GA Today, on my KPFK/Pacifica Radio show, I was joined by two of the key players at both of those of remarkable scenes. My guests were Brent Stafford, the Paul organizer seen, incredibly enough, being arrested while trying to reconvene the aborted caucus in St. Charles after pandemonium had broken out inside, and Lori Bone of Athens, who was seen (also on video, thankfully) trying to demand an explanation from Republican Party officials in GA after they'd rammed through a slate of delegates at the Clarke County GOP convention, and then ended the proceedings, ignoring the Paul supporters majority --- all in blatant violation of the official rules.
• BRADBLOG UPDATE: War for Wisconsin: Can't Beat 'Em? File Ethics Complaints Against 'Em! Reeling from court defeats on attempted polling place Photo ID restrictions, WI GOP attacks the judges...
• BRADBLOG UPDATE: Green Bay Newspaper Publisher to Employees: 'Support Walker Or Else!' Journalists at Gannett Wisconsin Media-owned paper disciplined for signing recall petitions against WI's Republican Governor...
• BRADBLOG UPDATE: GOP's Battle Against Voters in the 'War for Wisconsin' The BRAD BLOG's legal ace Ernie Canning explains it all for you...in a new interview by Joan Brunwasser at OpEdNews...
• Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Now up to 9,200+ Election Protection posts! Reference yer background/research at Who's Counting? too.
The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!

Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
• Holiday Break and Website Changes
• PBC Podcast 420 Boiling Frogs: Peter van Buren Speaks Out for Whistleblowers As He is Being Drummed Out of State Dept. Preview audio In this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds, we explore and update a landmark case against illegal wiretapping with attorney Jon Eisenberg.
• PBC Standard Podcast Author Ross Jackson’s Vision for the World Economy; Gary Chew Reviews “Salmon Fishing” and Will Durst on Obamacare and Supreme Court Ross Jackson, author of Occupy World Street, offers his vision for a new world economy; Gary Chew reviews Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; Will Durst makes fun of the Supreme Court.
• PBC Standard Podcast Harper’s Charles Glass on Mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan; Truthout’s Jason Leopold’s Exclusive on DHS Surveillance of Occupy Charles Glass, former ABC News Mideast correspondent, on his story in April Harper’s about armed military contractors; Jason Leopold’s FOIA requests produce doc dump from Homeland Security.
Ring of Fire Radio

Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
This Week on Ring of Fire! March 23, 2012
• former Congressman Alan Grayson joins us for an update on the murder of Trayvon Martin.
• Journalist Rachel Tabachnick will be here to tell us how the Religious Right is trying to take over our public schools.
• Nation Magazine legal correspondent David Cole will tell us why the Affordable Care Act is 100% Constitutional.
• And Senator Tom Harkin will join us to discuss how progressives can help sell the Affordable Care Act to their constituents.
• VIDEO! Papantonio: Did Sanford Police Ruin Chance of Zimmerman Prosecution? Mike Papantonio appears on the Stephanie Miller Show to talk about how the Sanford police department completely bungled the Trayvon Martin murder, essentially allowing a murderer to walk free.
• VIDEO! Papantonio: Republicans Misrepresent Basics of Affordable Care Act Mike Papantonio talks with Stephanie Miller about the many, many misrepresentations coming from the Republicans regarding the Affordable Care Act, which is currently being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
• Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the "Podcast" tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."
Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!

• Cliff Schecter on SCOTUS v Obamacare, the Trayvon Martin smear campaign + more [03•30•12]
• Senator Tom Harkin on SCOTUS vs. Obamacare [03•28•12]
• Cancer Survivor Spike Ward on Healthcare in America [03•28•12]
• Ethan Rome on the Obamacare / SCOTUS case [03•28•12]
• Adam Serwer on Obamacare's Supreme Court Disaster [03•29•12]
• Matt Taibbi on the Bank of America Con [03•22•12]
• Cliff Schecter and Sam Seder discuss Trayvon Martin, Gun Laws, Paul Ryan's Budget + more! [03•23•12]

MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityreport.official.fm!
On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!

"HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts "The Truth About Markets" on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s "People & Power" series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
• VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
• NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
• EThey have become abattoirs where the real wealth of the nation is taken and slaughtered by maxkeiser - READ When the Abuse of Insider Information and Control Grows So Large as to Become the Market BTV jessescrossroadscafe
• VIDEO! How America Avoided Fascism in 1933 by maxkeiser WATCH How America Avoided Fascism in 1933 jessescrossroadscafe
• VIDEO! Max Keiser, the host of RT’s Keiser Report calls Smith’s diatribe an "embarrassing confession of the firm’s wrong doings" by maxkeiser GO TO Goldman Sachs exec leaves sinking ship in disgust on rt
• KEISER REPORT [KR267] Keiser Report: Muppets Hunting Muppets | [01] Keiser Report en español: los muñecos cazan muñecos We discuss rising tides of incontinence and cultural revolutions while muppet hunting with Lloyd Blankfein and the seething masses worshiping Ben Bernanke. In the second half of the show Max talks to bestselling author, Charles Goyette, about bi-partisan debtors, peasant pitchforks and a warmongering state.
• KEISER REPORT [KR268] Keiser Report – Backstage Wall Street We discuss multi-camera fraud live from Parliament, push button autocracy from the global central banks and losing granny’s 5000 peanut butter money on Wall Street. In the second half of the show Max talks to Josh Brown about his new book, Backstage Wall Street.
• KEISER REPORT [KR269] Keiser Report: Kamikaze Banking We discuss global economic passengers strapping on the parachutes to protect themselves from central bankers going berserk and the rich getting richer. In the second half of the show Max talks to Aaron Krowne of ML-Implode.com about transferring fraudulent mortgages to the Federal Housing Administration and getting SLAPPd for reporting on it.
• ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Ed Harrison Stacy Summary: Dang, where else can you find such consistently amazing information and thought-provoking ideas!? My primary question to you the viewer regarding this interview with Chris Cook is – do you agree with his analysis regarding oil prices and his prediction that they will collapse in the second half of the year?
• THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-359] Truth About Debtflation Download show HERE (mp3)
• Donate to ResonanceFM here!
ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
Listen at antiwar.com/radio
• Jason Leopold March 27, 2012: Jason Leopold, lead investigative reporter of Truthout and author of News Junkie, discusses his article “DHS Turns Over Occupy Wall Street Documents to Truthout ;” using FOIA to pry public records from secretive government agencies; internal DHS concerns about spying on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights; and coordination between DHS and local law enforcement on OWS infiltration and camp closures.
• Eric Margolis March 27, 2012: Eric Margolis, internationally syndicated columnist and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses his article “The Dangerous Mess in Syria Grows Murkier ;” the foreign forces instigating regime change by supporting Syria’s rebellion; why fractured Arab nations – which are mostly colonial relics – can’t be made whole again; how Republican warmongering has finally gone too far, alienating the electorate and damaging the party; and the US’s waning international influence, evidenced by India’s refusal to abide by sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.
• John Horgan March 27, 2012: John Horgan, former senior writer at Scientific American, discusses his new book The End of War; why war is a solvable scientific problem, not the inevitable result of resource struggles, religious differences, or biological imperatives; the near-abolition of slavery, another ancient barbaric practice; preventing war by fighting militarism first, and working for social and economic justice second; and the reason why men take up arms, at the behest of chickenhawks, to fight people on the other side of the world.
• Muhammad Sahimi March 28, 2012: Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of chemical engineering and political columnist for PBS’s Tehran Bureau, discusses his article on the IAEA chief, “Yukiya Amano: Minion of the Empire;” the former IAEA officials accusing Amano of a pro-Western bias on Iran; how Amano has fallen into the “Cheney trap” by relying on a small group of advisors and eliminating dissent within the IAEA; and the latest bogus allegations that Iran “refuses to cooperate” with the IAEA’s attempt to inspect the Parchin facility.
• Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!
fauxnews
• Rick Santorum
• Haley Barbour
• Howard Dean (HUH? -Ed.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Brick TeeVee and April Fools!

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