0
POPSChevron: Will You Join Us? Don’t Be Stupid
It’s time to recognize Chevron for the hypocritical, phony, band-wagon-jumping, contemptible, lying, bastards they are. The con game they are manufacturing against America’s common sense to make us believe they care about what is happening to the environment and us while providing a lifeline for the oppressive and murderous Burmese regime is disgraceful. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071002_chevrons_pipeline_is_the_burmese_regimes_lifeline/ They orchestrated a coup against the US House of Rep last year in the wake of the juntas crackdown on it’s citizens by arguing that if they didn’t maintain access to Burma’s rich gas fields then someone else will. And our fool reps, with dollar signs in their eyes instead of compassion in their hearts, bought it. This has only emboldened Chevron to pull that same wool over the publics eyes so they can stay in a business that enslaves indigents and props up a Fascist government all in the name of profit. Please, don't support the
3
POPSNature Words Dropped From Children's Dictionary There are probably 1,000's of obsolete words in this and many other dictionaries that could have been dropped without being missed. Is this a reflection of changing attitudes towards nature? Are we failing our children by giving them electronic substitutions for what nature use to teach us? When we lose touch with a thing we lose respect for what it has to offer. Maybe the publishers are simply making a statement.
4
POPSObama Budget Would Create Health-Care Fund I especially like the idea of competitive bidding by private insurers. Also, drug companies would be required to increase the rebate they now provide for medications sold to Medicaid patients from 15% to 21%. This plan will increase spending on Medicare and Medicaid from 5% to 12% of GDP by 2050. Not a huge surprise. If it will allow more people to receive medical care than are currently getting it then it works. If we continue to delay healthcare reform it will only cost us more later. In the meantime, here is one reason why healthcare costs us some much: http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3769/healthcare.jpg
0
POPSNeglected Diseases 'Need Sustainable Funding' A lack of sustained funding means patients with sleeping sickness, for example, must endure toxic and dangerous treatments for just a chance of survival, even though a better treatment has shown some positive results in the lab, said the medical humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres, urging political leaders to do more to assure funding. Stimulating innovation and delivering effective, affordable treatments for diseases that affect the world's poorest populations, and that fall outside the mainstream market interest, remains a tremendous challenge for DNDi and its partners given the lack of sustainable and predictable funding sources. More than 500 million people are at risk from these three parasitic diseases.
2
POPSU.S. arrests 755 in Mexican drug cartel raids This may hurt a little, but it is definitely not going to stop it. This is likely a small percentage of what is out there. Right now there are a lot of people looking for new connections. And many of them starting to go through withdrawals.
0
POPSCoal: The Great Leveler For some reason I cannot get the video to clip. Check out the link, it is a parody using John Denvers song Country Roads about the destruction of West Virginia coal mining. It will be worth it.
3
POPSPolice State 101 Practiced in Baltimore This latest policy is an attempt to nopt have to answer all those pesky questions, like, was the shooting justified? The population of Baltimore will now have to have total and complete faith in their police department that no police officer will use his weapon against any citizen without legal justification. Guaranteed, if this policy is allowed to stand, other jurisdictions around the country will soon adopt it. Do we really have that much faith in our police?
3
POPSRachel Maddow Responds to Bobby Jindal Hilarious! 1. I'm just like Obama. 2. Tax cuts cure everything. 3. Tax cuts and prayers are far more effective than monitoring possible natural disasters. 4. Sarah Palin and I are running for President in 2012 along with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Republicans rock!
2
POPSFood Dangers Increasing. Frankenfoods Are Stealing Our Nutrients. In 1935, our nation boasted more than 6.8 million farms. By 1964, with the advent of pesticides, fertilizers and other new technologies, that number fell to fewer than 3.2 million farms. And they call this progress? In 1935, one farm fed about 18 people, by 1964 one farm fed 60 people. In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 2.2 million farms remained, each one feeding 137 people on average. A study in HortScience Review cites three studies showing that fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they were a few decades ago. Because farmers want food to grow faster, for quicker profit, crops no longer have time to absorb natural nutrients and chemical-based fertilizers can’t provide those nutrients. Money wins out again. And consumers lose, again.
5
POPSA War Fought in Ignorance There are reports that the Taliban provided American emissaries with opportunities to take bin Laden, which the U.S. failed to do because it was culturally blind to the signals being given. No one is forcing the Afghans and the Pakistanis to adopt the Taliban’s deplorable practices; the people of those two nations are making the choice to do so. America feels it has to destroy “Islamo-fascism,” and the Taliban was the only radical Islamic fundamentalist group that Washington knew about. U.S. leadership was seriously unaware of the difficulties of invading other countries to stamp out objectionable forms of native religion. Why does the U.S. insist on forcing its views on other cultures? We have no business interfering in foreign nations religion, politics, or civil traditions. Hasn't it been proven enough that peace is better than war?
0
POPSThis is not your father's country anymore The baby boomers are starting to retire and will consume an ever larger share of these entitlement programs. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Paying into it paid off current recipients. When it is our turn to retire there won't be enough money to cover us all, meaning we were funding a promise that could not be paid back. At the end of the day, we are going to have to settle for less. Less money, smaller houses, smaller cars and smaller dreams.
1
POPSFood Safety Program Needs Restructuring The Dept of Agriculture should inspect anything grown or raised on a farm, domestic and imported. The FDA should cover everything else that enters the human body (drugs, etc) domestic and imported. They need to agree on a schedule of inspections and they both need the ability to shutdown operations if a threat is discovered. It seems reasonable that if any manufacturer has to face the possibility of a shutdown (cutting into their profits) then it would be in their best interest to ensure their product is safe. Raw food inspections covered by USDA, this covers growers. Processed foods covered by FDA, this covers processors. An additional safety net would be provided by the health department to inspect facilities and ensure workers are following safe food-handling procedures. Did I leave anything out? We don’t need another bureaucratic agency to add to the nightmare, just shore up practices already in place. It doesn’t matter how old a law is, as long as it works.
4
POPSInheriting Halliburton's Army In the last eight years, many of the tasks formerly associated with the U.S. military have been privatized and outsourced in a wholesale way—from guard duty for U.S. diplomats to peeling potatoes and delivering the mail, not to speak of building and maintaining the U.S. bases that now dot the Middle East and Afghanistan. Without its private crony corporations, the Pentagon might, in fact, be on something like life support.
0
POPSDawn of a Newt Age So who is the real Newt—the Web-savvy wonk toiling to revitalize government, or the canny political strategist gathering ammo and identifying wedge issues for the gop? The answer, of course, is both—and neither Democrats nor Republicans ought to forget that Gingrich pulled off a political revolution once before.
0
POPSOrganic gardeners need more info I have given up my lawn care service this year. I have already committed myself to feeding my lawn with organic fertilizer. Last year I was told my lawn looks much improved over the previous owners attempts (I had been chemically feeding it for three years) so I figured with a clean slate, so to speak, I'll see if I can keep it looking good using organic practices. I have been encouraged by the growing organic movement and the increased availability of organic materials.
4
POPSNAACP calls for firing of NY Post cartoonist Characterizing the NAACP as opportunists in this case is wrong-minded. The general public is not ignorant of the fact that linking blacks with monkeys has been a racial slur for ages. Both the cartoonist himself and the editor both knew full well how this cartoon would be perceived and chose to run it anyway. It is repugnant to still find this type of blatant racism forced onto the public and it is an affront to our collective intelligence for these individuals to expect us to believe they did not present it in a racist manner. The media is considered a voice of the people that seeks to reach or influence the public. This type of back alley behavior is to be vehemently condemned. We strive to be a civil society, any media that is allowed to ‘get away’ with blatant racism runs counter to that goal. I enjoy political humor, I do not enjoy unmasked racial slurs such as can be found in this particular cartoon. It demeans us all.
0
POPSChurch Attendance is up for….Money Advice Whatever it takes to get people into church. Hey, if a little ‘love thy neighbor’ rubs off then it will have been worth it. You don’t have to even believe in God if you don’t want to, just learning some compassion for your fellow man is what it is mostly about anyway. Talking about your financial burden and getting help to manage it can improve relationships within a marriage, family and neighbors. Sounds good to me.
5
POPSLet the Coffins Be Seen Supporters of the Iraq war have long argued that media images of the fallen are nothing more than political statements But suppressing these images is the more blatant political ploy. The ban by the first President Bush was especially handy for his son after it became excruciatingly clear that his mission was far from accomplished in Iraq. Instead of manipulating the media for political purposes, the US should honor the freedom its service members fight for Why not trust the American people to make up their own minds about the meaning of those flag-draped coffins? Obama indicated at his news conference last week that he is considering lifting the ban.
0
POPSThe Dysfunctional Duo The Bush Administration sure left its global imprint. But most of our real problem started when America lost its manufacturing base. The economy today is another domino sacrificed in the long-range plan of one world economy. The US dollar has been systematically devalued for the last decade and since 1934 when the gold standard was phased out we've been living on promissory notes. American real estate (commercial and residential) used to be a sure thing until 2004 and now China is buying our junk bonds like we by toilet paper. Last October, Asian and European leaders met to draw up rules for a stronger regulated global monetary and financial system. See: http://answersforthefaith.com/2008/10/26/one-world-economy/ What has happened during the past year only reinforces their resolve to make it happen.
2
POPSPelosi, pope meet in Rome She considers herself an “ardent” catholic? The pope does not. Neither do I. She can call herself a part-time practicing catholic, but that’s it. There are many people who consider themselves “ardent” believers in one religion or another. But if you get to pick and choose which of the foundations of a religion best suits your own viewpoint then you are indeed NOT an “ardent” follower. I don’t understand how she can stand in front of the highest (earth bound) symbol of her religion and say she is 100% catholic and not follow everything he stands for. I also don’t understand why, in this time of economic stress, she gets to take an entourage to Italy, using public money to fund the trip (along with her husband) of an eight day visit to the Italian Republic. What is the purpose of this visit? And why isn’t the media outraged? Can someone shed some light on this? It seems to me this is a personal vacation with a little ‘business’ so she can write the expenses off.
2
POPSImpact of Factory Farms on Humans & Environment Many of the states with large numbers of factory farms have weak policies when it comes to pollution control and other issues. These factory farms have replaced the visions of what many people have of family farms taking their livestock to market. The treatment these animals receive is inhumane and it is adversely affecting humans and the environment. The author of the article wants us to start a petition or sign an existing one, and write to your government officials.
2
POPSMore than peanuts The author goes on to demand more regulation to protect our food safety. More regulation will not help. The root of the problem compares with the revolving door justice given to drunken drivers as they go through the legal system. They are continually allowed back on our roads until someone finally is killed due to their reckless irresponsibility. I think the last judge who set them free should be held responsible just as the bar tender who gave them the last drink is. The FDA allowed PCA to continue shipping salmonella-tainted product 12 times in 2007 and 2008. PCA is the drunk driver in this case. Why do we drag our feet on these blatant violations and then call for more of the same type of legislation that won’t get enforced. We do not need more regulation what we need is someone with the intestinal fortitude to punish these immoral characters for cocking a loading gun and aiming it at the general public.
7
POPSThe Republican Party Must Die More right-wing crazy talk: That you can pay down the deficit by cutting taxes, and that the God of Love who embraced lepers and prostitutes is really the God of Gay-Bashing. It's almost hilarious the things these guys come up with. John McCain was supposed to be the sane one, but he has now embraced the fringy kookiness that, over the last two decades, has become part of the DNA of the Republican party. They'll do everything they can to undercut the confidence essential to a recovery while attacking the patriotism of their opponents. The Republicans are witch-hunting again. They're on a crusade for purity. The Katrina Party must be crushed. For the good of the country, for the good of the Republicans themselves, it must die to be born again. And, really, these politicians shouldn't come back until they come up with at least one new idea about how to govern, because hearkening back to the grand old days of small government and lone cowpokes just ain't gonna to cut it anymore.
1
Clips
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update