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POPSBig (but healthy) baby denied health insurance We as a culture have gone completely insane on the issue of obesity. See my recent clips about how research shows obesity has NO EFFECT on longevity. What does? Being fit and active . It doesn't matter if you're shaped like an apple, a pear, or a string bean - get yourself moving!
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POPSThe Mystique of 'Free-Market Guy' Obama
Read the rest for the full value... Recent U.S. history shows that you can't serve corporate interests at the same time you're seeking reform - of healthcare or Wall Street or any other sector. Not when big corporations are the problem . . . and the major obstacles to change. Placating big business en route to social reform is like downing a flask of whiskey en route to kicking alcoholism. Yet there was the Obama White House this summer entering into secret deals with the pharmaceutical lobby protecting that industry's outsized profits. That's why he received more Wall Street funding than any candidate in history and why - before he was a front-runner in early 2007 - he was raising more money from the biggest Wall Street banks than even Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, presidential candidates from New York. That's why - as soon as Hillary left the race - he went on CNBC and assured big business: "Look: I am a pro-growth, free-market guy. I love the market." That's w
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POPSCorporatism, Fascism, and Capitalism it is not Capitalism that is wrong but that we live instead in a Plutocracy where the top 2% rig the game - including Washington. She begs the Presaident to see what is really going on - not a right versus left conflict but a social revolt driven by desperation.
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POPSInsurance companies: "Domestic violence is a pre-existing condition." Your partner hit you? No health insurance for you, ever! This is WRONG. More: “In 1995, the Boston Globe found that Nationwide, Allstate, State Farm, Aetna, Metropolitan Life, The Equitable Companies, First Colony Life, The Prudential and the Principal Financial Group had all either canceled or denied coverage to women who’d been beaten.” Source
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POPSLow-wage workers are often cheated by their employers More: The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries… The study found that women were far more likely to suffer minimum wage violations than men, with the highest prevalence among women who were illegal immigrants. Among American-born workers, African-Americans had a violation rate nearly triple that for whites… The report found that 57 percent of workers sampled had not received mandatory pay documents the previous week, which are intended to help make sure pay is legal and accurate. Of workers who receive tips, 12 percent said their employer had stolen some of the tips."
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POPSA "Dark Winter" for Public Health: Meet Homeland Security's New Bioterror Czarina Before being pegged by the Obama administration to head DHS's Science and Technology division where she will oversee the department's billion dollar budget, with some 45 percent of it going towards chemical and bioweapons defense, O'Toole, as previously mentioned, was the CEO and Director of UPMC's Center for Biosecurity, a satrapy which describes itself as "an independent organization dedicated to improving the country's resilience to major biological threats."
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POPSThe emergent danger to personal liberty More: (Unfortunately, the use of government as a tool to enhance liberty is anathema to conservatives, focused as they are on the eighteenth-century threat alone.) If we lose this health insurance battle—or even if we win it—I’m still a progressive. I’ll still be pushing to right the balance. I expect to work on it all my life. …3. I worked for a while with a sister of one of the McLibel defendants. I know how bad it can get. Click through to read the whole thing, including footnotes 1 & 2.
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POPSSorry Snobs: Townhall Rage IS Real Democracy
Then, public opinion intervened. Obama is now on the wrong side of a genuine grass-roots revolt by people who feel ignored by everyone who is supposed to be representing them. Consider the AARP. It has all but endorsed a plan to slash several hundred billion dollars over 10 years from Medicare. It is providing cover for the creation of a new system that, if it ever succeeds in "bending the cost curve," will have to scrimp on expensive end-of-life care. The AARP is overwhelmingly favorable to a plan opposed by the elderly more than any other age group. Who is the more authentic voice of seniors -- the AARP playing along with its Democratic allies, or the elderly at town-hall meetings wondering what the Medicare cuts will mean for them? The inside-Washington players are easily co-opted and cowed. The American Medical Association came out in opposition to a public option in June, and then -- after a stern talking-to by Washington's political barons -- immediately backtracked.
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POPSUC Regents demonstrate tone deafness with raises
More: I think reasonable people could agree the current job descriptions of the aforementioned federal employees are just as demanding as the UC employees who received stipends on top of their salaries because they had to assume additional responsibilities. …When I hear the "You got to pay good people" argument, three things come to mind: First, I agree, assuming all things are reasonably normal, which is clearly not the case in California today. Second, good people would know the timing for these raises are poor and if everyone is having to sacrifice, they would at least be amenable to waiting for a more appropriate time. Third, if they can't wait along with the other 180,000, then maybe they are not as good as advertised, and it might be a good idea if they did go somewhere else. …The increased salaries reflect a body insulated from the impact of the abominable timing and perceived arrogance of their actions — a group severely tone deaf of the justifiable public outcr
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POPSFederal court: Yes, SF can ban sale of tobacco in drugstores More: "The problem with your argument is that any time the government bans the sale of anything, it becomes a First Amendment issue," Kozinski told Collins. The ordinance, the first of its kind in the nation, prohibits sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products at San Francisco's nearly 60 drugstores. It exempts supermarkets and big-box retail stores that also have pharmacies, the basis of a separate suit by Walgreens claiming unconstitutional discrimination. A San Francisco Superior Court judge denied Walgreens' request for an injunction to keep the ban from taking effect. A state appellate court is preparing to hear the company's appeal. Philip Morris also sued unsuccessfully to halt the ordinance. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland ruled in December that San Francisco was free to prohibit conduct, such as tobacco sales, and was not trying to regulate speech. The appeals court did not say when it would rule on Philip Morris' appeal of Wilken's decisio
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POPSCourt rules for Fox News: It's perfectly OK to lie and distort the news More: The court did not dispute the heart of Akre's claim, that Fox pressured her to broadcast a false story to protect the broadcaster from having to defend the truth in court, as well as suffer the ire of irate advertisers. Fox argued from the first, and failed on three separate occasions, in front of three different judges, to have the case tossed out on the grounds there is no hard, fast, and written rule against deliberate distortion of the news.… In its six-page written decision, the Court of Appeals held that the Federal Communications Commission position against news distortion is only a "policy," not a promulgated law, rule, or regulation. Fox aired a report after the ruling saying it was "totally vindicated" by the verdict.
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POPSThe scope – and dangers – of GE's control of NBC and MSNBC More: In 2006, The Boston Globe reported: "General Electric Co. spent $21.5 million last year trying to influence the US government, the most of any corporation, as total lobbying costs rose even as Congress began looking at ways to rein in such activities." GE's relationship with the U.S. Government is a vital aspect of its business: "Federal contracts for General Electric, based in Fairfield, Conn., rose to $3.8 billion during the two years ending Sept. 30, 2004, the last period for which figures are available." In June of this year, in an article headlined "General Electric is Once Again the Lobbying Champion," The Washington Times reported: "General Electric spent more on lobbying in this year's first quarter than any other company, newly filed federal lobbying reports show. The company shelled out $7.2 million for lobbyists in April, May, and June--that's $160,000 each day Congress was in session."
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POPSI will never rent from Horizon Group Management in Chicago An apartment management company is suing a former tenant for saying on Twitter that the apartment had mold. "We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization" said the management company's spokesperson. I'm sure prospective tenants would be glad to know that, so I'm all in favor of spreading this story widely. BTW, the former tenant in question had 20 Twitter followers when she tweeted; if the management company had not sued, 20 people would know about it. Now? Well, how many people read the Chicago Sun-Times ? Hah. :lol:
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POPSFake Steve Jobs: When you buy "made in China", this is what you're buying More: Well, this is the world we are living in. These are the people we are dealing with… We can't make these products in the United States. Nobody could afford to buy them if we did. And, frankly, the quality would be about half what we get out of China. But these guys play rough. They really do. They are not nice people. And, though we talk a good game about how we insist on workers being treated with dignity, blah blah blah, well, I mean, come on. Have you ever been to China?… We know what goes on there. We know how they open your mail, and listen to your phone calls, and let their factories pollute like crazy and exploit workers, all in the name of progress. And we turn a blind eye to it. We let them know when we're coming to visit, and they give us a tour and put on a little show of how great things are, and how wonderful the dorm life is, and afterward we pretend to keep an eye on them -- but it's all theater. It is. We know it. What's more, you know it. Everyone knows it.
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POPSFascism USA ---14 Points
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. 5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, tradition
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POPSThe "Generation M" Manifesto More: There's a tectonic shift rocking the social, political, and economic landscape. The last two points above are what express it most concisely. I hate labels, but I'm going to employ a flawed, imperfect one: Generation "M." What do the "M"s in Generation M stand for? The first is for a movement. It's a little bit about age — but mostly about a growing number of people who are acting very differently. They are doing meaningful stuff that matters the most. Those are the second, third, and fourth "M"s… I was (kind of) kidding about seceding before. Here's what it looks like to me: every generation has a challenge, and this, I think, is ours. It's Gen M's job to foot the bill for your profligacy — and create, instead, an authentically, sustainably shared prosperity.
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POPSNAIS – it's not about food safety, it's about favoring big agribusiness More: Producer objections to NAIS involve issues of cost, privacy, and liability. Some producers are worried that meatpackers would transfer liability for bacterial contamination of processed meat back to the farm of origin. Others see NAIS as a threat to the confidentiality of producer records; they're concerned that foreign governments, packers, or other buyers might gain access to those records for their own benefit. Tags that remain on an animal throughout the supply chain could be scanned, and the data retained by buyers to build a database of a producer's products and values. Some worry that packers might use the information they gain from RFID tags for an unfair advantage… Owners of independent livestock markets are concerned about the bookkeeping and reporting burden NAIS creates for them. Some states have already required FFA members to comply with NAIS before they're allowed to participate in livestock projects.
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POPSInfographics: Organic Industry Structure Did you know that Odwalla is owned by Coke? Or that Naked Juice is owned by Pepsi? Spectrum Organics, Garden of Eden, Celestial Seasonings and others- owned by Heinz. Boca Foods and Back to Nature- owned by Kraft. Dagoba Chocolates- owned by Hershey. Morningstar Farms- owned by Kellogg. Horizon and White Wave - owned by Dean. Nature's Farm- owned by Tyson. Annie's Naturals- owned by Solera Capital. Maranatha- owned by American Capital Strat. Ltd. Power Bars- owned by Nestle. Seeds of Change- owned by M&M Mars.
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POPSBarbara Ehrenreich - Welcome to Cancerland More: The effect of this relentless brightsiding is to transform breast cancer into a rite of passage -- not an injustice or a tragedy to rail against, but a normal marker in the life cycle, like menopause or graying hair. Everything in mainstream breast cancer culture serves, no doubt inadvertently, to tame and normalize the disease: the diagnosis may be disastrous, but there are those cunning pink rhinestone angel pins to buy and races to train for… cheerfulness is more or less mandatory, dissent a kind of treason. Within this tightly knit world, attitudes are subtly adjusted, doubters gently brought back to the fold… What has grown up around breast cancer in just the last fifteen years more nearly resembles a cult -- or, given that it numbers more than two million women, their families, and friends-perhaps we should say a full-fledged religion… I know this much right now for sure: I will not go into that last good night with a teddy bear tucked under my arm.
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