Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New Year--ho, ho, ho!

Greetings,
gentle Dot Calm Readers and fellow Truth Crusaders!

I am working on something big that I hope will  benefit teh Internetz when I post it. This is one reason I have been trying to leave everyone a day or two to digest between posts. However, there are some items I couldn't resist posting today.

Don't forget to read CADOF, Conservative Clown Car, Betty Bowers, and FB God.

Cheers; be good to yourselves and those you love!

- Dot Calm's shadow

********************************************
From Alan Grayson:
"Abortion is not murder."

The question from my GOP colleague still rings in my ears: “Do you feel good about all the babies you’ve killed?”

Not too long ago, I was walking back to my DC office after votes, through the tunnel underneath the Capitol. Next to me was a GOP Member of Congress from the Midwest. I didn’t know him too well, so I started what I thought would be a polite conversation. Where are you from, what did you do before you were elected, do you have a family, etc., etc. Just normal stuff. We reached the end of the tunnel, and boarded the elevator to our offices. In the elevator, when we were alone, he “popped the question”:

“Do you feel good about all the babies you’ve killed?”

I told him that I don’t see it that way. Abortion is not murder.

Then the elevator doors opened, and he walked away.

Here are some things that I feel good about:

(1) I feel good about it when women can decide when they want to have children, and when they don’t. 

(2) I feel good about protecting the most fundamental right of all, the right to control your own body. 

(3) I feel good about women making up their own minds about birth control, rather than male-dominated institutions dictating to them.

(4) I feel good about more children being brought into this world who are wanted and loved, like my five children.

If that Member of Congress was expecting me to apologize for being a proud supporter of women’s rights, including reproductive rights, then he was sadly mistaken. If he was expecting me to rethink my position because of his hit-and-run hyperbole, then he was just naïve -- and mistaken.


I have never — and I will never — back down on this issue. Women in America should not have their decisions on health and childbearing stolen from them by men in government. If you want to have a child, that’s fine. If you don’t, that’s fine. It’s really none of my business. And if you help me elect me to the U.S. Senate, then I’ll help to keep it that way.

A few months ago, some protesters who thought that they could stick their nose in other people’s business showed up at my office. They started shouting obscenities, demanding I end my support for Planned Parenthood. My answer was one word:

“No.”

And isn’t it time that someone said this to them? Isn’t it time?

As FDR said, I welcome their hatred.


Courage,

Rep. Alan Grayson

********************************************
Did you know that...?

At least 83 unarmed Christians were killed by police in America in 2015. 

                                           ...Now you know.
 
According to http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/, police killed at least 101 unarmed Blacks in 2015. 39% of unarmed people killed by police were Black in 2015 despite Black people being only 13% of the U.S. population. Unarmed black people were killed at six times the rate of unarmed whites in 2015. Only 7 of the 101 cases resulted in officer(s) being charged with a crime.

According to http://blackdemographics.com/culture/religion/, 83% of Blacks are Christian.


Hey, Christians--

doesn't it bother you that so many of your brethren were gunned down, beaten to death, or killed in custody by police in America?

Or are you too busy equating
 
Black = thug
 
to remember that these people
were your fellow Christians?
********************************************
 
From Salon
 

Paul Krugman has Bernie’s back: “Hard to imagine a better refutation of anti-tax, anti-government economic doctrine”

Conservatives get it wrong:

Denmark has amazing benefits,

high tax rates and a thriving economy,

says Krugman

 
Paul Krugman has Bernie's back: "Hard to imagine a better refutation of anti-tax, anti-government economic doctrine"
Paul Krugman (Credit: AP/Heribert Proepper)
Paul Krugman has news for those who think European-style democratic socialism wouldn’t work here: “The Danes get a lot of things right, and in so doing refute just about everything U.S. conservatives say about economics.”
In his New York Times column this morning, Krugman continues the conversation about Denmark which led to one of the big compare-and-contrast moments between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during last week’s Democratic debate. And he has some facts for Republicans who think every European economy looks like Greece’s.
Denmark maintains a welfare state — a set of government programs designed to provide economic security — that is beyond the wildest dreams of American liberals. Denmark provides universal health care; college education is free, and students receive a stipend; day care is heavily subsidized. Overall, working-age families receive more than three times as much aid, as a share of G.D.P., as their U.S. counterparts.
All this happens, he notes, with a very strong economy — despite tax rates that would cause Grover Norquist to pass out.
Strange to say, however, Denmark doesn’t look like a set from “Mad Max.” On the contrary, it’s a prosperous nation that does quite well on job creation. In fact, adults in their prime working years are substantially more likely to be employed in Denmark than they are in America. Labor productivity in Denmark is roughly the same as it is here, although G.D.P.per capita is lower, mainly because the Danes take a lot more vacation.
Nor are the Danes melancholy: Denmark ranks at or near the top on international comparisons of “life satisfaction.”
It’s hard to imagine a better refutation of anti-tax, anti-government economic doctrine, which insists that a system like Denmark’s would be completely unworkable.
Read the entire column here.


********************************************

From The Onion
Nation’s Oppressed Christians Huddle Underground To Light Single Shriveled Christmas Shrub
The gathered Christians listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Carol Of The Bells” at low volume for fear that someone on the surface might hear.

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION—Persecuted and driven into hiding because of their beliefs, the nation’s oppressed Christians reportedly huddled in a secret underground bunker late Wednesday night to decorate and light a single withered Christmas shrub.
 
At great personal risk, the Christians were said to have smuggled in a few strings of colored mini lights, tinsel, popcorn garlands, Hallmark Keepsake ornaments, and other contraband in order to trim the shrub inside the subterranean chamber, the last place in America where they were safe to celebrate Christmas.
 
“We have come together today to observe a Christian holiday that has been all but stamped out on the surface,” said a man who wished to be identified only as “Greg,” after hanging a figurine of Mickey Mouse dressed as Santa Claus from one of the shrub’s boughs. “I can’t say this humble bush is much of a Christmas tree, but it was the largest we could manage to get here, given the circumstances. Let us remember, though, that to merely celebrate Christmas—to exchange gifts and eat our candy canes in peace—without the government or the powerful secular elite coming in and destroying it is a blessing in itself.”
 
“They want to bring an end to our holiest day,” he added, as several others erected a 3-foot-tall light-up Grinch and plastic signpost bearing the words “Santa Stop Here” behind him. “It is up to us to keep Christmas alive.”
 
After double-checking on the chamber’s entrance hatch to ensure it was tightly closed and locked, Greg then reportedly led the gathered Christians in hushed renditions of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas” as the shrub was lit.
 
Those in attendance, many of whom had trekked hundreds or even thousands of miles, spoke of the great sacrifices they had made solely so that they could look upon an actual Christmas tree with their own eyes. A number of the Christians recounted how they had secretly carried a brightly painted plastic nativity scene and an inflatable 7-foot-tall snowman to the secret site, the latter item having been trafficked across three states in a truck with a false bottom. Others mentioned how they had sewed a few star- and wreath-shaped sugar cookies into the linings of their coats to avoid detection by the masses who sought to erase their holiday—and ultimately, their entire faith—from American life.
 
Reports confirmed that many who had arrived in the hidden underground sanctuary immediately broke down in tears upon being greeted with the forbidden words “Merry Christmas,” a phrase none had heard spoken openly in years for fear of harsh reprisals.
 
“It was difficult and dangerous to get here, but it’s all worth it to actually be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus,” said a 42-year-old teacher from Virginia who refused to give her name as she helped flock the shrub with a spray can of fake snow and arranged gifts of Yankee Candles and Amazon gift cards underneath its meager branches. “Unfortunately, this is the only way we can practice our beliefs now that corporations, the media, and our elected leaders have all conspired to remove every trace of Christmas from the country.”
 
“I just want to make sure my kids know what Christmas is really about,” she continued, adjusting the plush reindeer antlers atop her head and switching on her glowing Rudolph nose.
 
After the Christmas shrub was lit, the Christians were reportedly grateful to partake in other sacred traditions without fear of interference or abuse, such as the reading of the 2005 storybook classic The Elf On The Shelf and the viewing of grainy VHS copies of A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Santa Clause, and other beloved films that had been passed down through the generations.
 
Sources confirmed that as the evening drew to a close, all of their wrapping paper, Christmas cards, and fabric Santa hats were burned in trash cans to erase any evidence of the shunned celebration. The wary Christians then reportedly removed all incriminating green-and-red items from their persons and dispersed in small groups so as not to attract attention from federal authorities.
 
“Make sure your little ones destroy their stockings before you leave and empty their pockets of any trinkets or bells—they mustn’t have anything on them that jingles,” one man was overheard saying tearfully to a friend before embracing him and slipping off into the night. “I’ll see you again next December, God willing. Stay safe out there.”
********************************************

From "Democracy Now!"


In the nearly seven years since President Obama ordered Guantánamo's closure, Republicans have blocked him at every turn. Now a new report sheds light on another ... Read More →
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From Daily Kos

  • Huckabee lies about his love affair with Josh Duggar

  • Cartoon: Thank goodness for Goodguy-With-A-Gun
  • Arrest warrant issued for Bill Cosby in sexual assault case
  • Sign if you agree with CREDO: It’s irresponsible and dangerous for MSNBC and CNN to provide Trump with a free national platform to bolster his campaign fueled by bigotry and racism.

  • Affluenza teen who killed four people and fled to Mexico faces shockingly light punishment

  • President Carter first to use solar panels on the White House in 1979. Guess who took them down?

  • How racist do you have to be before some people finally admit that it's racism?

  • Snarky, pseudo customer service comedians punk gun extremists in Texas
  • After firing Martin Shkreli, pharmaceutical company officially files for bankruptcy
  • Gun violence kills more than 33,000 Americans every year. Sign the petition from CREDO if you’re ready for gun control reform.
  • Sanders, Clinton, O'Malley. Who do you support? Vote now!
  • Cartoon: Sign language
  • Long-duration Mississippi River flood event underway
  • Cartoon: Year in review
  • Cartoon: Holiday gift warnings
  • Sign the petition from CREDO if you agree: All women deserve access to safe, legal abortion.
  • New York Times: How the very rich have lobbied for, and built, their own tax protection racket
  • George Pataki walks away from the Republican primary kiddie table
  • Stunning maps showing how much you need to earn in each state to afford a two-bedroom rental unit
  • Shocking storm in North Atlantic could push temperatures more than 50 degrees above normal
  • GOP Congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories
  • This is what ‘black privilege’ looks like
  • Why Snowden's Hillary tweet matters

  • Bobby Jindal is being exposed by his old friend’s 21-year-old son—over and over and over again
  • Donald Trump gets into Twitter war with Modern Family writer—is obliterated
  • Michael Moore nails every racist, war-mongering, pseudo-Christian, right-wing gun extremist
  • Stunning maps showing how much you need to earn in each state to afford a two-bedroom rental unit
  • Ted Cruz is the biggest a**hole in America
  • Sign if you agree with Bernie: Do not sell sacred Native American land to foreign corporations, pass the Save Oak Flat Act.
  • Florida police murder black computer engineer as he listens to music; attempted coverup exposed
  • Arizona drug-tested 87,000 welfare recipients and found they are flushing taxpayer dollars
  • Wyoming can now put you in jail for sharing nature photos with the government

  • Dominican Republic to be ‘socially cleaned’ in two days
  • This is what ‘black privilege’ looks like
  • A black man and a white woman switch mics, and the result is amazing
  • Sign if you agree with Bernie: Give everyone the option to bank at the Post Office.
  • Why race is the main reason the murderous bloodbath in Waco was handled with velvet gloves
  • An open letter to Asian-Americans
  • The absent black father myth—debunked by Center for Disease Control
  • Shocking new video shows unarmed Utah man was listening to headphones when killed by police

  • The most racist areas in the United States
  • GOP Congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories
  • Jon Stewart rips Dick Cheney a new one

  • To the anti-choice coward who keyed my car & left a note, here’s a note for you
  • Jimmy Carter: ‘Losing my religion for equality’
  • Sign if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association: Voting should be easier—move Election Day to a weekend.
  • Super El Niño likely as huge warm water wave hits West Coast
  • Stephen Colbert shocks South Carolina schools by funding every single teacher-requested grant
  • Dr. Phil schools Fox host on racial inequities, and telling the truth

  • I am a Christian business owner in Indiana
  • Stirring photo: Little girl surrenders when she mistakes camera for gun
  • Sign if you agree with Democratic Governors Association: Elizabeth Warren in our champion in Washington.
  • Breathtaking photos of the human species
  • Australian comedian tries to make sense of American gun laws—nailed it!
  • Michigan high school students toured Florida colleges, ended up as targets for racism
  • Watch a Baltimore protester hand Geraldo Rivera (and the media) his ass
  • The dominant white response to Baltimore shows why black residents are justified in their anger
  • Shocking storm in North Atlantic could push temperatures more than 50 degrees above normal
  • Why Snowden's Hillary tweet matters
  • Muslim woman sets up 'Ask a Muslim' stand in Massachusetts. Here's what happened next.
  • CNN's Michaela Pereira destroys Trump's attack on Hillary
  • Racism on America’s highest court is unacceptable. Join CREDO in telling your member of Congress to censure Justice Antonin Scalia for his remarks about African-Americans.
  • Ethan Couch, the affluenza kid too rich to go to jail, has been arrested
  • Watch: Bernie Sanders nails clueless media on their Donald Trump obsession
  • This news from France will help you understand just what a raw deal Americans get with health care
  • A rare bipartisan Congress does something good for the planet
  • Media excited about Trump's sexist attacks on Clinton
  • The media’s obsession with Donald Trump has gone too far. Sign the petition from CREDO if you’ve had enough.
  • Cartoon flashback: Escape from Ronald Rump
  • In big news: Very significant part of the civil forfeiture program is shutting down
  • Bernie Sanders flies coach and there's a hashtag about it #SandersOnAPlane

  • The high cost of just being a woman
  • Germany is employing 8,500 teachers for their new refugees--U.S. still has Republican Party
  • Sign the petition from CREDO if you agree: All women deserve access to safe, legal abortion.

  • For the 20th time since 1993, Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in the U.S.
  • Stunning maps showing how much you need to earn in each state to afford a two-bedroom rental unit
  • GOP Congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories
  • This is what ‘black privilege’ looks like
  • Bernie Sanders counters Andrea Mitchell's shallow interview by redirecting the narrative
  • The Dunning-Kruger effect illustrated: The stupid do not know they are stupid

  •  
    ********************************************
    From AlterNet
    Janet Allon, Jonah Allon, AlterNet
    The indefatigable right-wing loony factory pumped out some doozies this year. READ MORE»

    Kali Holloway, AlterNet
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    Another attempt by DC's "very serious people" to fan fake generational warfare. READ MORE»

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    The popular ideas about women with guns exist chiefly in the minds of men with guns. READ MORE»

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    Republicans have two paths to overcoming their 2016 demographic troubles: Naked resentment or outright deception. READ MORE»

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    The Democratic frontrunner has praised George W. Bush for his post-9/11 response to Islamophobia. READ MORE»

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    New Year's Eve gatherings staged outside of jails are intended to bring noise and cheer to those behind bars. READ MORE»
    Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
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    What world is it that our leaders claim to lead? READ MORE»

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    Recent viral stories paint a picture of a dystopia, but how much is fact and how much is paranoia? READ MORE»

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    The vision has a utopian spin that is incredibly seductive in a world where both government and big business have let us down. READ MORE»

    By Peter Beaumont, The Guardian
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately condemned its 'shocking images.' READ MORE»

    By Phillip Smith, AlterNet
    Under the District's Initiative 71, you can't legally sell marijuana, but you can give it away. What a stocking stuffer! READ MORE»

    By Carrie Weisman, AlterNet
    An orgasm is a great way to ease the pain. READ MORE»

    By William N. Grigg, The Free Thought Project
    In familiar fashion, law enforcement officials insist that the victim of this police shooting – at least the 960th to occur in 2015 – was to blame. READ MORE»

    By Bethania Palma Markus, Raw Story
    Martin Rezac, 59, was indicted on felony charges of possession of explosives with criminal intent. READ MORE»

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    Number three: Understand that capitalism has no Incentive to work for poor people. READ MORE»

    Amanda Holpuch, The Guardian
    Democratic presidential hopeful says Trump has taken real fears based in income inequality and ‘converted them into anger’ against Mexicans and Muslims. READ MORE»

    Hilary Lewis, Earthworks
    Over 1,000 families have chosen to relocate and the school district recently authorized the two local schools to move out of the area. READ MORE»

    By Jen Sorensen, AlterNet
    Fill in the blanks. READ MORE»

    By Ben Norton, Salon
    Outrage after 55-year-old and 19-year-old "accidentally" shot dead by cops in Chicago. READ MORE»

    By David Waldman, Daily Kos
    Example: A delivery worker was accidentally shot at a customer’s home by—get this—a gun knocked off a table by his dog. READ MORE»

    By Justin Gardner, The Free Thought Project
    Florida police department has a pattern of commanding K-9 dogs to attack people without provocation. READ MORE»