World News Korner

Courtesy of Business Insider:

The U.S. government does not represent the interests of the majority of the country's citizens, but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful, a new study from Princeton and Northwestern universities has concluded.

The report, "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens" (PDF), used extensive policy data collected between 1981 and 2002 to empirically determine the state of the U.S. political system.

After sifting through nearly 1,800 U.S. policies enacted in that period and comparing them to the expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), affluent Americans (90th percentile), and large special interests groups, researchers concluded that the U.S. is dominated by its economic elite.

The peer-reviewed study, which will be taught at these universities in September, says: "The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."

Researchers concluded that U.S. government policies rarely align with the preferences of the majority of Americans, but do favour special interests and lobbying organizations: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it."

Of course this accusation has been flying around for decades, but I think this is the first time that anybody launched a study which confirmed it.

How to combat this is going to be incredibly challenging, and in the short run virtually impossible.

This realization does drive a number of grassroots organizations, but ultimately they have limited impact as the big money donors drive public policy in the directions that benefit them and their companies.

And of course all of this will now be exacerbated by the Citizens United and McClutchen Supreme Court decisions.

This does not bode well for the future of politics, or the future of this country, and it is definitely NOT what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

P.S. Before the Right Wing gets too excited about this, since they have been accusing President Obama of being an oligarch for years, they may want to pay attention to the fact that this study was based on data gathered from between 1981 and 2002.

You know, before the black guy made himself available to be blamed for everything.

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Courtesy of Fox 25:

A new Metro business, slated to open this spring, is taking the steps needed to serve liquor on-site.

Owners say the state-of-the art indoor gun range will make history in Oklahoma, although across the country the concept is not new.

At 40,000 square feet co-owner Jeff Swanson says Wilshire Gun will be a full-fledged destination.

"As a group we wanted to build a place, the first one in Oklahoma, where you could go in, shoot, enjoy the retail area and then go to the café," he said.

The plan calls for 24 firearm lanes, 10 archery lanes, a simulation room, classrooms, and VIP Lounge.

But it's the cafe that's raising some eyebrows. Swanson says they want to serve food and alcohol.

"I've not seen a business that does the firearms that has a liquor license," said ABLE Commission spokesperson Capt. Brent Fairchild, "but it's possible that if they apply they could be the first one."

But don't worry the new facility has a plan for keeping things safe.

Folks with the range insist it can be done safely. They say they're working with several ranges from California to Texas who have never had a problem.

They just have to ensure folks shoot, then drink, and not the other way around.

Yes because reasoning with an armed drunk ALWAYS has a positive outcome.

My father was a raging alcoholic, from a proud tradition of alcoholics, and even HE knew better than to mix alcohol and firearms.

I once saw the man take his quarter horse over a jump with a can of Old Milwaukee in his hand. Never spilled a drop.

But he did not take out his gun if he was under the influence of alcohol. And he was almost ALWAYS under the influence of alcohol. Some things were just too risky, even for an old cowboy.

Introducing alcohol into an environment with massive amounts of ammunition and multiple firearms seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

And according to a 2011 study there is already evidence that gun owners have a propensity toward alcohol abuse, so inviting a bunch of potential heavy drinkers into an environment which combines deadly weapons and deadly force, seems akin to inviting pyromaniacs into a match and gasoline store.

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Courtesy of Raw Story:

According to the Religious News Service, the “Museum of the Bible Curriculum” created by Hobby Lobby’s President Steve Green (pictured above) will be beta-tested in Oklahoma’s Mustang Public School district beginning in the Fall of 2014.

Green hopes the program — which will be overseen by Jerry Pattengale, head of the Green Scholars Initiative — will be placed in “hundreds” of high schools by 2016, and “thousands” by 2017. It is a four-year elective course in which students will study the narrative, history, and impact of the Bible on Western Civilization. Because the book is being taught within an academic purview, it does not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Abington School District v. Schempp.

“Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible,” the Court decided, “when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”

I actually agree with the judge up to a point.

An elective course that studies the impact of the Bible on Western civilization could be an interesting and informative class.

However since this is coming from the ultra religious Hobby Lobby people, it's goal is far more subversive than simple education about the impact of the book.

“The goal is to show that the impact of this book, when we apply it to our lives, has been good, because it has. So it’s good, and it’s true,” Green said, before moving on to discuss the other section of the curriculum, which would be “the story of the Bible.”

“We’re as ignorant [as] we’ve ever been, would be my argument,” Green said, “because we aren’t teaching it in our schools.”

“That would be the goal,” he continued, “to reintroduce this book to this nation, because it is in danger, because of its ignorance, of what God has taught. There is [sic] lessons of the past that we can learn from the dangers of ignorance of this book. We need to know it, and if we don’t know it, our future is going to be very scary.”

Green also labeled the Bible a "reliable historical document" which is far from the truth as you can get.

In my opinion, if this course is offered in Oklahoma public schools then it opens up the door for a course about Islam, in which the Koran is describes as a "reliable historic document."

Or a course about Sikhism where the Adi Granth is taught as a "reliable historic document."

Or perhaps an elective course that studied the Vedas as a "reliable historic document."

Each and every one of them deserve the same consideration in an academic environment, unless it can be proven, scientifically, that one book is more reliable than another.

And THAT should be the test before this course is introduced into the Oklahoma public school classrooms.

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Courtesy of The New York Times:

Michael R. Bloomberg, making his first major political investment since leaving office, plans to spend $50 million this year building a nationwide grass-roots network to motivate voters who feel strongly about curbing gun violence, an organization he hopes can eventually outmuscle the National Rifle Association.

Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, said gun control advocates need to learn from the N.R.A. and punish those politicians who fail to support their agenda — even Democrats whose positions otherwise align with his own.

“They say, ‘We don’t care. We’re going to go after you,’ ” he said of the N.R.A. “ ‘If you don’t vote with us we’re going to go after your kids and your grandkids and your great-grandkids. And we’re never going to stop.’ ”

He added: “We’ve got to make them afraid of us.”

This is good news for all of those who thought that gun control legislation was a non-starter after the last attempt was blocked in the Senate.

Bloomberg is right that the only way to combat the NRA is to outspend them, out lobby them, and out threaten them.

If politicians find themselves facing a lobby as aggressive as the NRA they might just be willing to start making the hard choices, by creating gun legislation that makes sense and preserves constitutional rights, while protecting American lives from gun nuts and the mentally deranged.

I think it is well past time for politicians to stop fearing the NRA, and start fearing the people victimized by the NRA.

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Courtesy of Raw Story:

A leading advocate of the patriarchal Quiverfull movement groomed a teenage girl as his “personal sex object” and then used the purity culture to shame her into silence, according to a lawsuit filed by his victim.

Douglas Phillips resigned last year from Vision Forum and Vision Forum Ministries over what he described at the time as an extramarital affair.

But the lawsuit, reported by Right Wing Watch, revealed more details about this relationship and the ways that women are treated in the Quiverfull movement – which has been popularized by the prolific Duggar family and their TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.

Attorneys claim Phillips, a close friend to the Duggar family and an associate of actor Kirk Cameron, “methodically groomed” Lourdes Torres since she was 15 years old and led her to believe they would be married.

Phillips told the girl this was possible because his wife, Beall Phillips, “was going to die soon.”

Philips manipulated her into sexual situations with him, while at the same time telling her that her submission to his desires made her "damaged goods."

The suit claims Phillips repeatedly groped and touched Torres inappropriately and masturbated on her, “against her wishes and over her objections,” over a period of years.

“While Ms. Torres would have felt compelled to submit to Douglas Phillips, the purity culture would have meant at the same time, her submission made her ‘damaged goods’ in her eyes, the eyes of her family, and her community — raising the cost for her to come forward to call him to account,” the suit claims. “She was, in fact, in a ‘no-win’ situation.”

He also assured her that he had done nothing wrong, and their sexual encounters were not wrong, the suit claims, but he also said that if their relationship was indeed wrong, “it was completely her fault.”

This guy is a sick POS who garnered control over this young girl, and probably others, by using religion and the fact that the Quiverfull movement demands that women remain submissive to men.

This is why these assholes do not want their children in public schools, where school nurses might pick up signs of abuse, and where they will learn to question authority and think for themselves.

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Courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

WorldNetDaily manages to fit criticism of President Obama into nearly everything it publishes, including its story on Monday’s lunar eclipse.

Citing the president's comments from January — “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone” — about using executive orders and executive actions in the face of congressional obstruction, right-wing pastor Mark Biltz told WND today that the “blood moon” is a divine warning to Obama that God has “more than a pen and a phone in his hand.”

“In the book of Joel it mentions three times about the sun and the moon going dark and in context it also mentions Divine wrath against all countries that want to divide or part the land of Israel,” Biltz said, touching on a frequent Religious Right claim that Obama administration efforts to broker a Mideast peace deal will lead to divine punishment.

You know I am supposed to make some kind of smart ass comment right about here, but I literally don't have anything to add.

The idea that there is an omnipotent being in the sky that creates indecipherable celestial warnings to direct the actions of human beings is so ridiculous that it makes my head ache.

I mean seriously WTF? It is simply the sun reflecting off of the earth, not a sign for Armageddon.

Oh wait, I stand corrected.

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Courtesy of ABC Columbia:

Lexington County deputies say a 5-year old accidentally shot and killed a 7-year old and injured a 5-year old at a birthday party in Gaston Saturday.

Investigators say the child accidentally grabbed a loaded rifle when he was looking to grab a toy gun stored in the trunk of a car.

Deputies say the bullet struck the 7 year old girl in the chest and a 5 year old boy on the arm.

Investigators are not sure if anybody will be charged or not, you know because accidents happen.

Of course accidents like this happen only in places where people believe that owning a gun is a God given right, and where children's toys are modeled after deadly weapons.

After all the only difference between a child's toy gun in America and an adult's gun toy in America, is that one only LOOKS dangerous.

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Courtesy of Raw Story:

In a statement to Fox News on Monday that was first flagged by Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, former Sheriff Richard Mack talked about his strategy to put women on the front lines if a gunfight broke out between “rogue federal agents” and rancher Cliven Bundy, who reportedly owes the taxpayers more than $1 million for allowing his cattle to graze on government land.

“We were actually strategizing to put all the women up at the front,” he recalled. “If they are going to start shooting, it’s going to be women that are going to be televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers.”

Speaking to radio host Ben Swann later on Monday, Mack explained his plan.

“It was a tactical plot that I was trying to get them to use,” Mack said. “If they’re going to start killing people, I’m sorry, but to show the world how ruthless these people are, women needed to be the first ones shot.”

“I’m sorry, that sounds horrible,” he continued. “I would have put my own wife or daughters there, and I would have been screaming bloody murder to watch them die. I would gone next, I would have been the next one to be killed. I’m not afraid to die here. I’m willing to die here.”

“But the best ploy would be to have had women at the front. Because, one, I don’t think they would have shot them. And, two, if they had, it would have been the worst thing that we could have shown to the rest of the world, that these ruthless cowards hired by the federal government will do anything.”

This guy wanted to put women on the front line hoping they would be shot, and it's the FEDS who are the "ruthless cowards?"


Just in case you not familiar with this whole Bundy Ranch brouhaha here is the Atlantic's synopsis:

Twenty-one years ago, rancher Cliven Bundy stopped paying his grazing fees.

Bundy does not recognize federal authority over land where his ancestors first settled in the 1880s, which he claims belongs to the state of Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management disagreed and took him to federal court, which first ruled in favor of the BLM in 1998. After years of attempts at a negotiated settlement over the $1.2 million Bundy owes in fees failed, federal land agents began seizing hundreds of his cattle illegally grazing on public land last week.

But after footage of a BLM agent using a stun gun on Bundy's adult son went viral in far-right circles, hundreds of armed militia supporters from neighboring states flocked to Bundy's ranch to defend him from the BLM agents enforcing the court order. The states'-rights groups, in echoes of Ruby Ridge and Waco, came armed and prepared for violence. "I'm ready to pull the trigger if fired upon," one of the anti-government activists told Reuters. Not eager to spill blood over cattle, the BLM backed down Sunday and started returning the livestock it had confiscated. The agency says it won't drop the matter and will "continue to work to resolve the matter administratively and judicially."

Bundy has been egged on by the likes of Sean Hannity, and the Koch brother funded Americans for Prosperity, who are clearly hoping for some kind of fatal incident in order to fan the flames of anti-government sentiment.

These Right Wing groups and conservative media types are being incredibly irresponsible, and potentially placing people's lives in danger in order to inflame passions and then manipulate it for their own use.

This rancher and his supporters are NOT heroes, they are simply pawns being used in a game from which they will ultimately receive no benefit. In fact if they were to lose their lives in this endeavor then it would be all the better for the folks pulling their strings.

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Courtesy of TPM:

Call them the shoe truthers.

Some conservative media figures are openly wondering if Hillary Clinton staged an incident during a speech in Las Vegas on Thursday in which a woman in the audience threw a shoe at her. The shoe appeared to miss the rumored 2016 presidential hopeful, who ducked and made light of it, while the reported thrower, Alison Michelle Ernst, was booked by the authorities.

A blog post published Monday at the website of Fox News commentator Bernard Goldberg speculated that Clinton probably "calculated it beforehand," as is "almost always true" with things that happen to her.

"So it would not be stretching logic to suppose that Hillary arranged to have the shoe thrown at her," wrote Arthur Louis at Goldberg's site. "Remembering the Bush incident [when an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President George W. Bush], she may have calculated that this would make her seem presidential. This would explain why Ms. Ernst was not pounded to a pulp by Hillary's bodyguards, and why she seems on the verge of getting off scot free. Don’t be too surprised, the next time you visit Phoenix, if you see her sitting at a table in a downtown Hillary for President store front, stuffing and sealing envelopes."

Rush Limbaugh chimed in with much the same theory:

"I'm sorry, I'm ill-equipped to comment," Limbaugh said, adding: "Maybe it's because, in my subconscious, I think it was staged, or set up, or whatever. ... I don't know why anybody would be throwing a shoe at Hillary unless -- maybe it's an attempt to make the Benghazi people look like nuts and lunatics and wackos."

Well he's right about one thing, he is indeed "ill-equipped to comment."

Okay to start off the woman IS being charged with two criminal activities, that could see her spend a year in jail.

Second she has a history of mental problems which include believing that the Aurora theater shooter, enters her mind like Dennis Quaid from "Innerspace" and "zooms" to her heart making her care about him.

This is perhaps one of the stupidest theories I have ever heard from the Right Wing, and let's face it THAT is really saying something.

You know perhaps if Clinton had reached up and caught the shoe their skepticism might make some modicum of sense, but since she seemed completely oblivious to the incoming footwear until after it passed by her head, there is nothing suspicious in her reaction.

Gee, if only these same people would have been half as skeptical of all the bullshit shoveled out by the Bush administration.

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