Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Sicily Pitchfork Movement in Revolt

We're overdue, methinks and I'll vote for their demands.

The arrest of all corrupt politicians

Reduction in the number of Parliamentarians

Removal of the provincial bureaucracy (local crooks), as most of these politicians have been there for over forty years

Drastic cuts in the salaries and privileges of Parliamentarians and Senators

Restricting politicians to only two terms in office

Via The Dorkfish Express

Could Sicily Provide the World with a Mass Revolt Template?

On January 16th, middle class Sicilians began a popular uprising appropriately called the ‘Pitchfork Movement’…’Movimento Dei Forconi’.

There are shades of the Occupy movement within it, but the core is not dissatisfied unemployed youth with no property or businesses to lose.


They are middle aged and older. They know that what they have left has been targeted by their own elites to bear the economic pain.


The other difference is size. Sicily’s five million people, their grass roots people, have occupied themselves.
So of course the story caught my eye and I then checked the mainstream media sites to look at what I was sure to be some great video. Wrong! So far, there is almost nothing.

I went back to check my date…and yes it started on the 16th and took two days to shut the island down, nothing going in or out. That was almost two weeks ago and I just learned today, and I can assure you I am not a hermit.

Can you image the Occupy Wall street people having shut Manhattan down of two weeks with no European coverage? Sure, it’s Sicily and not Manhattan…but it’s big, 25,000 sq km. That is what I used the space station feature photo.

What could corporate media possibly be afraid of? Well grab your seats, and here it is:

“Our vote is not for sale.”

Amen, Ron Paul man.

Godfather Politics
Verbatim Post

Florida’s Republican primary was one wasted primary.

Romney won it in something hailed as a “huge win.” But is it?

Of the 4 million registered Republican voters in the state, only 1.5 million voted in the primary. The 775,000 voters for Romney gave him a very small “huge victory”; among the total of registered Republicans they amount to less than 20%. All we know that among those interested in the primary, almost half voted for Romney. But they are not a majority even among all the Republicans, let alone among the population.

Is it worth it?

A grim reality is slowly but surely dawning on Romney, and on the Republican establishment that is promoting him: Romney can not win the general elections against Obama. He can only win among the small number of die-hard Republican voters whose philosophy can be summarized as “our party right or wrong.” That’s in the primaries. But what about the general election?

Well, there are the evangelical voters. As South Carolina demonstrated, Romney won’t probably find a way to convince those to vote for him. His religion is one thing. And then, of course, is his total lack of charisma; that thing is very important for evangelicals, even if the candidate is a serial adulterer who converted to Roman Catholicism.

Then there are the Tea Partiers. The godfather of Obamacare has not much to say to them. Neither does the candidate with Goldman Sachs as his best sponsor. Neither does the East Coast establishment liberal who became a governor of Massachusetts by promising all kinds of liberal policies – and later acting on this promise. A few Tea Partiers may swing to voting for him. That’s it.

And of course, the worst part of it, the nightmare of the Republican establishment, the Ron Paul’s supporters. More and more it is becoming obvious that no Republican can win without them. They are the only ones that can create a counterbalance to the enthusiasm of what’s left of Obama’s supporters. Even FOX News pundits admit it. And high level GOP functionaries admit it; and suggest that the Republican Party allows Ron Paul a prime speaking spot at the national convention. In fact, as The Hill reported, there is a plan devised to get the Ron Paul’s supporters toe the party line (good luck with that). Long-time Republican sponsors like Jack Welch admit it. Romney himself knows it very well; he carefully avoided throwing darts at Ron Paul all the debates, hoping to win the hearts of his supporters.

But those Ron Paul’s supporters remain obstinate in their support for the man. More and more, they talk about writing him in rather than voting for whoever the establishment wants to sell to them. A young Ron Paul organizer from California said it the other day: “Our vote is not for sale.”

The Republican establishment wants to keep the momentum it gained from the Tea Party in 2010. But Romney is not the man for that. In fact, if anything, he would energize the Obama voters more than the Republican voters. He just can’t become a President, period.

So the vote of these 775,000 Republicans in Florida was completely wasted. They voted to continue the agony of the Republican Party; and probably to re-elect Obama in November, if Romney gets the Republican nomination. Romney is unelectable, and he realizes it. And so does everyone who knows what actually is going on in reality. It’s just the Republican voters who don’t get it yet.

Harry Reid owes America $10 billion

That’s the amount taxpayers have been forced to throw away in the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility, which sits unused because of the Nevada Democrat’s opposition. Because that’s a refund check we’re never going to see, lawmakers should act promptly on a set of recommendations released Thursday to limit the damage, ensuring further billions set aside for nuclear waste are not misspent.

Sherman & The Battle Hymn

The Moneychanger

On 1 February 1865 the war-criminal & genocide William T. Sherman & his invading army marched on South Carolina. Before the rape ended, he would burn out, rape, & kill civilians and the open city of Columbia. He probably just had an eye to his future, where undoubtedly lay a lot of fire for a long time.

On 1 February 1862 Julia Ward Howe first published the bloodthirsty war propaganda song, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Pardon me if I share not the enthusiasm of ignorant Christians who still sing this abomination that calls for washing your feet in the blood of Southerners. Not my idea of a hymn, or patriotism. But maybe Bill Sherman still likes it.

Should Southern Christians Sing This?

Battle Hymn Of The Republic — Mark Twain Version

Celebrating Might Makes Right, BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC


The Battle Hymn Of The Republic Unmasked


The Battle Hymn Of The Republic. What Does It Really Mean?

Right To Work States: The Solid South

Via Old Virginia Blog

Big Labor backed Indiana Senate Democrats shrilly-repeated inaccurate talking points as they made last efforts to let union bosses know that they tried their best to stop worker freedom from coming to Indiana. But, they failed. Indiana passed Right To Work – union bosses will no longer be able to force most private sector employees to pay them without their willful consent.

From the National Right To Work Committee release:

Today, Mark Mix, President of the 2.6 million-member National Right to Work Committee, praised the Indiana House and Senate for passage of the Indiana Right to Work Law.

Mr. Mix said, “This is a great day for Indiana’s workers and taxpayers.

“After a ten-year struggle involving hundreds of thousands of mobilized Hoosiers, Indiana will finally be able to enjoy all the benefits of a Right to Work law,” said Mr. Mix.

“Today, the Indiana Senate passed the Right to Work Bill by a vote of 28 to 22. The bill has already passed the House, so it now goes straight to Governor Daniels, who has vowed to sign it, making Indiana America’s 23rd Right to Work state,” continued Mix.

Mr. Mix continued, “The Right to Work Law will free nearly 200,000 Hoosiers who have been forced to pay tribute to a union boss for the privilege of getting up everyday and going to work so they can provide for their families.”

Proponents of the bill expect that passage of the Right to Work law will provide significant economic benefits for Indiana and Indiana workers.

For the past decade, non-agricultural employment in Right to Work states grew twice as fast compared to that in non-Right to Work states like Indiana, according to data from the Department of Labor.

“On the job front,” said Mr. Mix, “virtually every site selection consultant on record has testified that as many as half of their clients will not even consider expanding or relocating to non-Right to Work states.”

Governor Daniels experienced this problem firsthand, reporting recently that when Volkswagen was looking to build a production facility in America, he was unable to get the company to even return his phone calls.

Volkswagen ended up choosing to open its new facility in the Right to Work state of Tennessee.

MORE

Speak No Bush

Jaded Haven
Verbaim Post

Rod Dreher speaks a harsh truth.

Can you find a single significant point on which Romney, Gingrich, or Santorum differ substantially from George W. Bush? It’s amazing. If Bush were considered a successful president, they would be bringing him up all the time. That they do not, even as they have an incumbent Democrat they deride as a failure, tells you that they know Bush and his legacy are poison. And yet, they may not believe in Bush, but they sure believe in what he stood for. And so does the GOP base, evidently.


Here’s the precise point where I take flight from the base and my lifelong political party. I’m no longer willing to support non-conservative, unconstitutional, financially unsustainable domestic or foreign policy agendas simply because of their Republican origins.

I don’t want a disastrous repeat of the Bush years and can’t imagine why anyone of sound, conservative mind ever would.

The GOP has pushed me into the contrarian Ron Paul camp this season, I wish more would follow because the grand old party needs a serious overhaul.

GOP to Jobless: Send Obama Your Resume


Republicans are mocking President Barack Obama for telling an unemployed semi conductor engineer’s wife to send him a resume so he could try to discover why the man has been out of work for three years.

Obama made his offer to Jennifer Wedel, a 29-year-old mother-of-two from Fort Worth, Texas, after she questioned him during an experimental Google+ question and answer session from the White House.

Now the Republican National Committee has launched a website, NotBetterOff.com, in which it offers to drop off any resume to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"We’re pretty sure the 12 million jobless Americans would all love to send their resumes to the White House for some help," RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.

Second suspect in McKees Rocks home invasion turns himself in

Via Tom

The second suspect in a violent McKees Rocks home invasion surrendered to police today, but the assault rifle and grenades stolen in the incident haven't been recovered, police said.

Rodney Grant Jr., 22, was arraigned today on charges of theft, burglary, robbery, conspiracy, terroristic threats and other crimes in connection with the Monday home invasion and was released from the Allegheny County Jail after posting $10,000 bond, court records show.

McKees Rocks police on Tuesday obtained an arrest warrant for Cameron Russell, 22, and Franklin Park police took him into custody after a traffic stop yesterday afternoon. Russell, of the Bellevue/West View area, is charged with theft, burglary, robbery, conspiracy and other crimes.

Russell remained in the Allegheny County Jail today in lieu of $10,000 bond.

Parker Gresh, 25, said his 25-year-old girlfriend, whom he declined to identify, was in their Gardner Street home alone about 7 p.m. Monday when she heard someone insert a key into the lock and open the front door.

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Historic Lotz House - Battle of Franklin

Penguins and their young

Via Cousin Colby