Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee approved President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee
Sonia Sotomayor by a 13-6 vote, and this week the full Senate is expected to vote and to confirm her nomination before heading
into the August recess.
A
handful of Republicans have said that they will vote yes to confirm Sotomayor, but the majority of the Senate Republican’s
plan to vote no because of their disproval of her “wise Latina women” comment that she made more than ten years
ago.
What
the Republicans on the judiciary committee had showed during the confirmation hearings was that they themselves are racists.
They didn’t care that she’s the most qualified and experience nominee for the Supreme Court in fifty years, and
with more experience than Bush’s two nominee’s, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito put together, no, all
they wanted to talk about was her RACE and that she was a Latina women.
To
try and cover their racism they have been screaming “reverse racism”, you know, minorities have kept the white
man under their thumbs and have prevented white men from advancements in their particular fields for decades.
They
were more concerned with her statement then the more than 3000 rulings that she had made while on the Federal bench.
Republicans
have been quick to point out that we have a Black man in the White House, a Black man as the Attorney General and now we are
going to have a Latina woman on the Supreme Court.
The
Supreme Court is currently a right leaning court with five of the nine justices usually voting in favor of conservative positions.
Sotomayor who with be replacing Justice David Souter who retired at the end of the last Supreme Court session is expect to
be one of the four left leaning justices if she is confirmed.
In
the end, not much is expected to change with the issues that currently divide the court. What we have seen and found during
the hearings is that Republicans only prefer colors similar to themselves.
Update:
Senate votes to confirm Sotomayor: 68-31 August 6, 2009
By a vote of 68-31, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the US Senate late Thursday afternoon.
With this historic vote, Sotomayor will now become the Supreme Court’s 111th justice. She is also the first Hispanic
justice, and only the third female justice in the court’s history.
She is slated to be sworn in on Friday, and President Obama said he was “pleased and gratified” with the
vote.
“I’m filled with pride in this achievement and with great confidence that Judge Sotomayor will make a great
justice,” Obama added
Blue Dog Democrats helping to slow Health Care Reform
Congressional Quarterly Today:
“Democrats
in the Blue Dog Coalition might have drawn the ire of party liberals for putting the brakes on the fast-moving health care
overhaul, but their political action committee has been raking in contributions from business interests with an eye on reshaping
President Obama’s signature initiative.
“The Blue Dog Political Action Committee has collected
$1.1 million for the 2010 election cycle, more than any other leadership political action committee on Capitol Hill, according
to CQ MoneyLine.
“The total includes about $300,000 from health care interests, including $158,000 from
doctors and other provider groups; $87,000 from makers of drugs and medical devices; and $50,000 from health insurance interests.”
Top Ten Things Overheard At The White House
Beer Summit...Dave Letterman
10. "Don't worry, Biden will clean up the empties"
9. "Guys stop me if I try to drunk dial Nancy Pelosi"
8. "Smoking, drinking. Suddenly our president is Artie Lange"
7. "Let's call Limbaugh and take this party to the next level"
6. "I feel dizzy and confused — just like Bush! Hi-yoo!"
5. "I don't want to freak anybody out, but I just saw Nixon walking
down the hall"
4. "Tell Geithner to put his shirt
on"
3. "Sen. Larry Craig asked if he could have his
beer brought to the men's room"
2. "You guys wanna
see where Clinton used to get freaky?"
1. "Excuse
me while I take a presidential leak"
The Dictator Hugo Chavez contiunes to Silence Critics
By MATT MOFFETT
Venezuelan radio broadcasters vowed to fight a move by President Hugo Chávez to yank the signals of
34 stations in a growing government crackdown on independent media.
The Venezuelan government forced a Caracas radio station, CNB,
to go off the air on Saturday. Thirty-three other stations have also been told they must stop transmitting because they failed
to comply with licensing regulations. Courtesy of Reuters.
The shutdown of the radio stations, which the government accused
of licensing irregularities, came as Mr. Chávez pressed legislation to punish so-called media crimes with prison sentences
of up to four years. Human-rights groups criticized the government for trying to strangle dissent as the president moves to
impose a socialist economic model.
Nelson Belfort, director of the Venezuelan Radio Broadcasting
Chamber and owner of one of the affected stations, said he will appeal the president's move. In the meantime, some of the
stations said they will try to continue broadcasting via the Internet.
Mr. Chávez defended the move against the stations and said "the
radio broadcasters now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie." Some 200 other stations are under investigation and
face the prospect of losing their licenses.
The action against the radio operators follows Attorney General
Luisa Ortega Díaz's introduction Thursday of a measure in the Venezuelan legislature called the Special Law Against Media
Crimes. The bill would prescribe up to four years in jail for those using the media to provide "false" information that causes
panic or produces "damage to the interests of the state."
Earlier in July, the government announced other restrictive measures,
including pulling from the airwaves television and radio advertisements that were critical of the government's legislative
proposals and proposing a new law forcing cable television channels to make live broadcasts of Mr. Chávez's speeches.
José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch,
called the actions "the most comprehensive assault on free speech in Venezuela since Chávez came to power," in 1999.
The move to close the radio stations came as a jolt to broadcasters
such as Caracas station CNB 102.3 FM, run by Mr. Belfort. Early Saturday morning, three regulators from the Venezuelan communications
agency showed up with a notification that the station would have to go off the air, CNB officials said. The station manager
barely had time to play the national anthem before the signal was yanked. Some residents in the station's neighborhood gathered
to protest the move. CNB continued to broadcast over the Internet.
Take
back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon
* Story Highlights
* Military contractor has been awarded $83.4 million
for its electrical work in Iraq
* Dems ask to reclaim bonuses in light of report blaming KBR in part for death
* Report says KBR failed to ground water pump, leading to soldier's electrocution
* KBR defends its performance, says safety and security
is its "top priority"
From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two Democratic senators called on the Pentagon to take back more than $83 million
in bonuses paid to military contractor KBR after a Defense Department report criticized its electrical work on U.S. bases
overseas.
"I want them to tell
us on what basis can they possibly continue to justify having paid $83 million of the taxpayers' money for shoddy work that
resulted in risk to our soldiers," Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota told reporters Friday.
Dorgan said he and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are pressing Defense Department
officials to reclaim $83.4 million in bonus payments it awarded KBR for its work in Iraq.
Based on the findings of a report issued Monday by the Defense Department's
inspector general on the electrocution deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq, Casey said the Pentagon should fine KBR and "make it
hurt and make it count."
"These
are just absolutely stunning conclusions about failures by KBR as well as failures by our government," Casey said.
The Houston,Texas-based military contractor defended
its performance, saying Friday that Dorgan and Casey "are wrong in their assertion that we have been derelict in our duties
to protect the troops."
"The safety
and security of all employees and those the company serves remains KBR's top priority," KBR spokeswoman Sarah Engdahl said
in a statement.
The Pentagon report
concluded that the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a decorated Green Beret from Pennsylvania, stemmed from failures both
by the U.S. military and by KBR. The company did not properly ground and inspect electrical equipment, the report found, while
Maseth's commanders failed to ensure renovations to the building where he was quartered had been properly done and the Army
did not set electrical standards for jobs or contractors.
ExxonMobil profit slumps 66 pct to 3.95 bln dlrs
AFP
ExxonMobil said Thursday its
second quarter profit slid 66 percent from a year ago, reflecting a tumble in energy prices from last year's record highs,
to 3.95 billion dollars.
The net earnings also reflected special charges linked to damages paid for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that
despoiled the Alaskan coast.
Excluding special items, the profit amounted to 81 cents a share, below analyst forecasts for a profit of 1.02 dollars
per share.
Revenues
also fell sharply from a year ago, sliding 46 percent to 74.45 billion dollars, but were better than Wall Street forecasts
of 71.29 billion.
"Global economic conditions continue to impact the energy industry both in the volatility of commodity prices and reduced
demand for products," said chairman Rex Tillerson.
"In spite of these challenges, ExxonMobil achieved solid results. We continued our capital investment
program at near record levels while returning over 16 billion dollars to our shareholders during the first half of the year."
The Free Market is Dead...
Deregulation and Greed there is no
real free market, the free market controls the market in most every industry...Energy, food, healthcare, etc, the free market
was gobble up and all that are left are behemoth corps in each major industry that collude to control price because the competition
has been gobbled up...
Deregulation, the root that is all bad about a TRUE free
market, I know that doesn’t make sense regulations and FREE markets, but it is clear to everyone that a market left
to its own rule will F#%K YOU IN THE ASS...
The Leadership of the GOP
Malkin
distorts Michelle Obama biography to attack her and her father as corrupt
In her new
book, Culture of Corruption, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin claims that first lady Michelle Obama "was literally born
into the Chicago political corruptocracy," suggesting that because her father was a volunteer precinct captain and held a
city job, she was a party to cronyism and embraced the practice. In fact, the biography of Michelle Obama that Malkin cites
to make this case actually argued that the first lady's experience in the "powerful political machine" of Richard J. Daley
made her and her family "extremely cynical about politics and politicians" until they met "Barack [Obama], whose political
career was pushed in part by a coalition of people who had grown up in opposition to Daley and whose goal was breaking the
Machine."
“These men were the ones that said what we need to do is get Doug Hampton's home paid
for, and we need to get Doug Hampton some money. We need to get his family to Colorado.” --Doug Hampton, former aide
to Sen. John Ensign, “Face to Face,” 7/8/09
These men, these
men of Christ, these men of C Street, these Family men who always preach morality and occasionally practice infidelity told
Sen. John Ensign in February 2008 to give his cuckolded aide money and help him relocate.
So Doug Hampton has
asserted. And Jeff Sharlet, who knows more about The Family than any outsider, thinks Hampton is telling the truth, and believes
this conclave was grooming Ensign for greatness because of his telegenic presence and upward mobility within the Club of 100.
“I have no
reason to disbelieve Doug Hampton,” Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American
Power, said Thursday on “Face to Face.” “ When you go to a place like C Street, you become a member of what
The Family in their internal documents call ‘prayer cells,’ an outlandish word, but that's their term for it.
That's what (Oklahoma Sen. Tom) Coburn and Ensign and (Kansas Sen. Sam) Brownback, all these guys... what it is is a small,
private meeting of like-minded men who believe that their prayers are better heard by God if they pray with men of equal status
and power.”
The AP reports that Lou Dobbs has “become a publicity nightmare for CNN,
embarrassed his boss and hosted a show that seemed to contradict the
network’s ‘no bias’ brand. And on top of all that, his ratings are
slipping.” Dobbs, who has given favorable coverage to the “birther” conspiracy, is forcing CNN President Jon Klein to offer
untenable defenses of his conduct:
Klein said Dobbs does a smart newscast that explores
issues that get little in-depth attention elsewhere, such as trade with China, health care funding and the stimulus plan.
He suggested Dobbs’ CNN work is unfairly lumped in with his unrelated radio show,
and that he’s judged on the show he did a couple of years ago, when
Dobbs became a political target for his campaigning against illegal
immigration.
Media Matters notes that Dobbs’ “smart newscast”
is a regular fount of misinformation.
Moreover, Klein’s claim that Dobbs’ radio show is “unrelated” to his TV
show is false. Media Matters also reports that Dobbs frequently promotes his CNN show and hosts his CNN colleagues on his radio show.
This
morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by “angry, sign-carrying mobs
and disruptive behavior” at local town halls. For example, in one
incident, right-wing protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and
forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety.
This
growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently,
right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside
of his office. Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who
have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.
The
lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier
this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to
create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from
Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer
with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members
should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of
Congress:
– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is
to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if
not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”
–
Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat
early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out
and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”
–
Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared
script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities
before he even takes questions.”
The
memo above also resembles the talking points
being distributed by FreedomWorks for pushing an anti-health reform
assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by
Americans for Prosperity, is currently busing people all over the country
for more protests against Democratic members. Rep. Pete Sessions
(R-TX), chairman of the NRCC, has endorsed the strategy, telling the
Politico the days of civil town halls are now “over.”
Meanwhile,
AHIP, the trade group and lobbying juggernaut representing the health insurance industry is sending staffers to monitor town halls and
other right-wing front groups are stepping up their
ad campaign to smear reform efforts. The strategy for defeating reform
— recently outlined by an influential lobbyist to the Hill newspaper as
“delay” then “kill” —
is becoming apparent. By delaying a vote until after the August recess, lobbyists are now seizing upon recess town halls as
opportunities to ambush lawmakers and fool them into believing there is wide opposition to reform.
Michael Vick has been reinstated but so far no
teams have shown any interest and with the pre-season about to kick off, it seems that Vick who may be out of prison, is still
in the dog house...As he should be...
But my guess is that some team out there will find
themselves in need of a quaterback sooner rather than later and they will have to decide if the bad press that will come to
any team that hires, him will have to make the choice of whether he is worth it...
Stay
tuned...
VARIOUS LATE NIGHT QUOTES
"Vice President Biden showed up too. I did not know he was going to be a part of
it. I guess they wanted to even things out racially." --Jimmy Kimmel
"But they sat around a table in the
Rose Garden, and drank. And I'm starting to think the President cooked this whole thing up because he didn't want to ask Michelle
if he could have a poker night or something." --Jimmy Kimmel
"Tomorrow morning will heretofore be known
as Racial Harmony Hangover Day." --Jimmy Kimmel
"And I guess next week, Obama is going sit down with Jon
and Kate to see if he can't patch that up too." --Jimmy Kimmel
"President Obama held his first beer summit
at the White House today. Obama wanted Bud Light, Crowley wanted Blue Moon, Gates wanted a Red Stripe, and Joe Biden wanted
whatever fits in his beer helmet." --Jimmy Fallon
"The beer summit was good. But we all know that the best
stuff goes down at the after summit." --Jimmy Fallon
"Obama wants to make this a regular thing. He's already
invited Ahmadinejad over for Appletinis." --Jimmy Fallon
"Yesterday, Vice President, Joe Biden held a series
of closed door meetings. Not because they were secret. He just couldn't figure out how to open the door." --Jimmy Fallon
"But Obama really cut loose at the kegger. He was wearing baggy dad jeans and sipping a Bud Lite." --David Letterman
"Things really went nuts at the kegger and about 8:00, everybody was a little tipsy, and they drunk dialed Ben
Bernanke." --David Letterman
"And then things got completely out of hand and everybody took a leak in the
Rose Garden." --David Letterman
"Everybody in Washington, DC, helped out to make the big kegger quite a
success. And I thought this was nice. To show that there are no hard feelings anywhere, toward the end of the evening, Bill
Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, that Bill Clinton, brought over a stripper." --David Letterman
"This
week, Fox commenter Glenn Beck said that President Obama 'has a deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture.' Very
controversial. In the President's defense, the White House cited the time Obama had John Tesh over to play Scattergories."
--Conan O'Brien
"Earlier this week -- this is weird, I just found out about this -- Shaquille O'Neal stopped
by the White House unannounced to see President Obama, but a Secret Service agent turned him away. That really happened. The
agent told Shaq to make an appointment and to someday make a free throw." --Conan O'Brien
"Interesting
announcement just came out. Next month, a 95-year-old Crow Indian chief will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When
asked about it, the chief said, 'Great, that should pretty much make up for everything.'" --Conan O'Brien
The powerful and secretive group known as the Fellowship Foundation or the “Family” is quickly gaining notoriety,
due to its links to two scandal-plagued Republicans, Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.
According to the Washington Post, however, the Fellowship Foundation is itself linked to an even more secretive
religious organization — Youth With a Mission (YWAM), whose Washington, DC branch owns the “C Street House” where Ensign has lived and where Sanford has participated in Bible study.
A diarist at Daily Kos points out that “YWAM founder leader Loren Cunningham has publicly outlined a vision for Christian
world-control,” which involves establishing domination over government, education, business, the media, and other areas.
YodasWorld.org is updated each Monday. Some of the items from
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YodasWorld.org.
Copyright 2000-2009 YodasWorld.org. All rights reserved
on original works. Material copyrighted by others is used either with permission or under a claim of "fair use."
YodasWorld.org is updated each Monday. Some of
the items from the previous week are added to the various topic links on the left side of the main page. Links embedded
should be good for at least the date posted. After the posting date, link reliability depends on the policy of the linked
sites. Some sites require visitors to register before allowing access to articles. Material presented on this page represent
the opinion's of YodasWorld.org.
Copyright 2000-2011 YodasWorld.org. All rights
reserved on original works. Material copyrighted by others is used either with permission or under a claim of "fair use."
The AP reports that 
