Dear Fellow Descendants of Confederate Veterans

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday July 11, 2015 · 7:21 AM PDT

2015/07/11 · 07:21

Dear Fellow Descendants of Confederate Veterans,

The Confederate battle flag came down at the South Carolina capitol. Good. Now let's tear down all the social relics of the Confederacy and the American slave system it was formed to protect. Our great-great-grandfathers bled and died for the slave holding aristocracy. It's time we stop carrying water for the political descendants of that aristocracy.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 05, 2013 · 12:11 PM PDT

2013/10/05 · 12:11

no image description available — Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN, doesn't know whose pay he's blocking)

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) does not know that essential federal workers, including the Capitol Police, are not paid during the government shutdown.

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN, doesn't know whose pay he's blocking)

In a post on his Facebook page in response to the shooting at the Capitol on October 3rd, Rep. DesJarlais said:

My staff and I are OK. Please pray for the Capitol Police Officers who protect us and keep us safe.

Some of DesJarlais' constituents pointed out that, in addition to praying for the Capitol Police, the congressman could stop helping to block their pay. Essential workers have to show up for work during the government shutdown, but they are not paid until the government re-opens.

Apparently DesJarlais doesn't know that, because in reply to these comments, he posted on October 4th:

Capitol Police are essential workers and are receiving their pay during the shutdown.

There's proof, if you need any, that the very people responsible for the shutdown literally do not know what they are doing! The Tea Party at its finest.

GOP Shutdown Quote of the Day

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 03, 2013 · 5:43 PM PDT

2013/10/03 · 17:43

At first I thought this might be the shutdown quote of the day:

"We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is." - Rep. Marlin Stutzman R-Ind.

In other words, the hostage takers don't know what their ransom request is, but it better be nice!

But then I saw this:

"I need my paycheck. That's the bottom line." - Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), who won't be deferring her paycheck during the shutdown as some lawmakers have done.

I think I speak for 800,000 federal workers when I say, We do too.

A Socialist Sunday

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 11, 2011 · 2:47 PM PDT

2011/07/11 · 14:47

Cross-posted from Better Than Machines

My wife is 9 months pregnant with our first child, so we've been taking it pretty slow with our last few weekends.

On Saturday we were busy running errands, but I had Sunday off too, thanks to the labor movement, the folks who brought us the weekend. So on Sunday, the taxpayer-funded National Weather Service told us the weather was going to be nice, and we decided to hit the road. We took off on public highways, buckled into seat belts which come standard now on all cars (Thanks Ralph Nader!). I should mention we were driving a car we bought during the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program, which helped us trade in our gas guzzling SUV for a fuel-efficient coupe, more than doubling our gas mileage. Our navigation was aided by a constellation of satellites developed, launched, and operated by the US Air Force.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 02, 2011 · 4:52 AM PDT

2011/06/02 · 04:52

(Cross-posted from Better Than Machines)

I watched the Glenn Beck show, in full, four times in late May. I was interested because he was focused like a laser on Israel all week. It's funny, he obviously doesn't know much about Israel-Palestine and also doesn't seem curious to learn. But he's convinced that Obama has betrayed Israel in a way that will probably lead to either genocide or Armageddon. Never mind that Obama was simply re-articulating the traditional US stance on the issue (two states, pre-'67 borders, etc), with which the world is in nearly unanimous agreement. Glenn Beck portrays the Israel-Palestine issue as a stark dichotomy: You either "stand with Israel" and are thereby following God's commandments from the Bible, or you stand with the Palestinians, spit in the face of God, and want all Jews to die. And of course he's very emotional, on the verge of tears, about it.

What's scary is that I think a lot of people agree with him on this. Heck, based on a number of comments I've seen on Facebook, I personally know plenty of people who agree with him.

So I'd just like to throw out five thoughts to help pull this discussion in a more sane direction.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 18, 2011 · 5:52 AM PDT

2011/03/18 · 05:52

(Cross-posted from Better Than Machines)

Should progressives and leftists really support military strikes by the most powerful forces in the world against yet another Muslim country? I think this position stinks, but it stinks much less than the alternative.

The alternative is that we continue to use words and money to support the rebels and undermine Gaddafi. Maybe in the long term that would help the Libyans overthrow Gaddafi and begin a democratic transition. But in the short term it would mean Gaddafi crushes this uprising with air, land, and sea power. It would mean a siege and heavy bombardment of the second largest city in Libya. It would mean mass executions in the cities that supported the revolution (which is most of them). Are we willing to watch all that happen so that we can take a principled stand for pacifism or non-intervention? Not me.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday February 10, 2011 · 8:07 AM PST

2011/02/10 · 08:07

(Cross-posted from Better Than Machines)

First of all, I think these protests are the best and most hopeful political news to come out of the Middle East in years. Here we have the largest country in the Middle East, the leader of the Arab world, in the middle of a homegrown democratic revolution. This is something people everywhere should be excited about. All across the Middle East, people are asking themselves, "If it can happen in Egypt, why not here?" There are the beginnings of new protests, new movements, and a number of dictators are offering up preemptive concessions in an attempt to stop movements before they start. And a new spotlight is cast upon Western governments' support for the very authoritarian regimes that help fuel radical Islamic terrorism.

So why have more than half of US citizens (52%) heard "little or nothing" about the events in Egypt?

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 09, 2010 · 12:40 PM PST

2010/11/09 · 12:40

Cross-posted from Better Than Machines

I think we can reasonably expect that Boss Hogg himself will receive a committee chairmanship in the new Republican-led House of Representatives.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Think about it. Jefferson Davis (J.D.) "Boss" Hogg merged political, corporate, and judicial power in a way that even today's Republicans would have to admire. He was the perpetual commissioner of Hazzard County and the owner of virtually all property and business in the county. But because no amount of money and power was enough, he continually engaged in criminal schemes to rob and defraud the public.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 05, 2010 · 10:29 AM PDT

2010/11/05 · 10:29

Cross-posted from Better Than Machines.

Ok, everybody has a rant on this topic, so here's mine...

After this election, the predictable knee-jerk reaction from the media is going to be that President Obama and the Democrats "overreached" and they now need to scale back their agenda and "compromise" with Republicans. In fact, we're already hearing that. Obama himself used the word "overreach" in his post-election press conference, bowing to the conventional wisdom of the Beltway pundit class.

This is like a bad movie you've seen 10 times, and it's completely wrong. "Move to the center," what Democrats are being told by the GOP and the media, is a recipe for more of what lost in 2010. So let's talk about what really led to the loss before we decide how Democrats should react.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 22, 2010 · 12:02 PM PDT

2010/10/22 · 12:02

Today about 200 workers at ten Minneapolis-area Jimmy John's sandwich shops will vote on joining the Industrial Workers of the World and creating the first fast-food union in the United States. The workers have been meeting for over a year to talk about a Jimmy John's Workers Union. They are fighting for a raise above minimum wage, sick days, consistent scheduling and minimum shift lengths, regularly scheduled breaks, no-nonsense workers compensation for job-related injuries, an end to sexual harassment at work, and basic fairness on the job. The owners, Mike and Rob Mulligan of Miklin Enterprises, have so far refused to meet with workers' negotiating committees.

Sign the support petition!

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday May 08, 2010 · 5:47 PM PDT

2010/05/08 · 17:47

(Cross-posted from Better Than Machines)

Last Friday, April 30th, I was flying from DC to Atlanta to visit family. Standing at the gate at Reagan Airport, waiting to board my flight, I began getting strong readings on my Republidar (radar for detecting Republicans). I looked around and noticed an unusual number of middle-aged white men in suits. They all seemed to know each other, all seemed really satisfied with themselves, and all were wearing matching lapel pins. There were even a couple in light-toned suits with cowboy hats. I knew they had to be Republican congressmen.

daveUSA

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 13, 2010 · 7:56 PM PDT

2010/04/13 · 19:56

Crossposted from Better Than Machines.

Whitesville, West Virginia: 29 dead after an explosion in the Massey Energy Co.'s "Upper Big Branch" coal mine.

Shanxi province, China: At least 35 dead after a flood in the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Company's Wangjialing mine.

It's time for a new paradigm in mining. Neither profit-hungry corporations nor authoritarian governments can be trusted when it comes to safety policies in the mines. Neither should we trust traditional government regulation, which the mining company will always seek to undermine or avoid. Instead, the mine workers themselves--the ones actually risking their lives--should be in charge of safety decisions. The best way to accomplish this is to make the mine workers also the mine owners and managers.

I'm talking about mining cooperatives.

Newer
Older

RSS

Dear Fellow Descendants of Confederate Veterans

GOP Rep Doesn't Know Essential Workers Are NOT Paid During Shutdown

GOP Shutdown Quote of the Day

A Socialist Sunday

5 Things To Remember About Israel-Palestine

Why Progressives Should Cautiously Support The Libyan No-Fly Zone

Why 52% of Americans Know "Little or Nothing" About Egypt's Revolution

Here Come The 'Boss Hogg' Republicans

Why Democrats Lost, And What It Means

Workers Vote on First Fast-Food Union!

Republicans on a Plane: Things Overheard

Want Safer Mines? Democratize Them