SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) Affairs In Washington State.

NORTH BEND, Wash. (AP) — After a 22-hour standoff, police blew the top off a rugged mountain bunker near Seattle on Saturday, only to find their target — a man believed to be a murder suspect who holed up there — dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside.

Authorities had not positively identified the body as 41-year-old Peter Keller, who hadn't been seen since his wife and daughter were found shot to death last weekend, King County sheriff's Sgt. Katie Larson said.

[Break]

The constant rain of the Washington Coast will make you snap; especially if you were not all that stable to begin with.

Man, Woman Take Baby On String Of Burglaries

 WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio:

"PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - A man and woman were behind bars Friday charged with a number of southern Ohio break-ins.

Matthew Jarrells and Heather Bays, both of Portsmouth, are accused of breaking into homes and buildings in Scioto and Lawrence counties and taking their infant child along for the spree. The two allegedly stole TVs, gaming systems, power and hand tools, guns and jewelry."

'via Blog this'

[Break]

Some people just do not get the concept of "Take your child to work day."

Commie, Pinko, Bedwetting Socialists

Everything old is new again gentle reader. Not only has the Reactionary Right attempted to drag us back in to the sexual and social mores of the 1950’s. No, not satisfied with wiping out the successes of liberation movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s; they want to return to the politics of the 1950’s.

You may have missed it, but Communism, dead and buried since 1989 is back. Well, at least it is back in the fevered imagination of TEA Party Politicians and Fox News commentators.

It is passing strange that the Red Menace has returned, I thought that the Sainted Reagan had single-handedly torn down Communism, and its Berlin Wall, with his bare hands, in a feat of super-human strength and will. After all, Don Reynaldo had told the evil Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” and Gorby complied. How did the evil, rotten, feral, traitorous, soulless, and no-good Commies come back after the Gipper had stomped them flat? It is a puzzle.

But we have the word of Congressman Allen West that the nefarious Commies, those  termites of liberty, are at again. They have regrouped, they have reformed, and true to character (or is that caricature?) have taken up false colors to fool the unwary. They have gained electoral office and become the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

No, seriously, this is the talking point. I hardly believed it myself. How any person conflate the highly disciplined, ideologically committed, and organizationally brilliant men and women who followed V.I. Lenin with the feckless lot of Congresscritters manning the battlements of the CPC is beyond me. Lenin had a will of hardened steel; the Congressmen and Women of the CPC are political jellyfish.

But this is state of play with the Rigid, Reactionary, Right. This is the authoritarian mind set laid bare. This is “my way or the highway” on steroids. This is the death rattle of the Conservative Movement. Bankrupt of new ideas, seeking only the destruction of their “enemies,” the default has become name calling. The default has become an abandonment of logic or debate. The default has to become political bullies.

This style of politics has a very long pedigree. It is the politics of Richard Nixon and Joe McCarthy. It is the politics of resentment; a resentment rubbed raw. It a politics that brooks  no opposition at all. Opposition to the Radical Reactionary Right is seen as illegitimate. The opponents to the right are seen as deliberately evil. The opponents are seen as other.

This ugly messaging of the right has really taken off since the election of Barak H. Obama. At first the messaging was muffled, well as muffled as the Authoritarians of the right could mange-- that is to say not much. Words like “Marxist” and “Socialist” were whispered sotto voce by pundits and others as dog whistle politics to substitute for the politically incorrect “The President is a Ni-CLANG!”

But with the victory of the TEA Party, and their capture of the Republican Party, what was whispered is now shouted from the rooftops. And is no longer just a black president who is catching the flack; it is the entire Democratic Party. When challenged about their toxic messaging, TEA Party types just double down with old canard about “Liberal Media Bias.”

At a certain point outrage is not enough. At a certain point only sarcasm and out-right contempt are an adequate answer. Communism is dead, it exist exactly nowhere: not in China, not in Vietnam, not even in North Korea. Marx is dead. Lenin is dead. Stalin survives in a oddball rouge state that depends on the kindness of strangers to survive. No one in the US calls themselves a Communist, the CPUSA is now the Committees of Correspondence. The CoC is perhaps still Marxist, but even the geriatric Reds of the CoC know that the Old Soviet model is a rotted corpse, and a new ideology, a truly democratic Marxist model, must be built from the ground up.

The mainstreaming of this meme, of the opposition being traitorous Communists, is flat out wrong. The men who give this idea legitimacy by forwarding it are bullies and demagogues; yes, I’m talking to you Bill, the shill, O'Reilly. You are not “cultural warriors.” You are the exact opposite,  Philistines,   uncultured louts. Robert Reich need not respond to Bill O’ Lie-ly and the charge of Communism. The former Labor Secretary of Labor should not engage BIll the Bloat in a debate. Bill does not do debate, he does shouting matches. If the idiot Irishman could not show the President of the U.S. the kind of deference the office demands, do you think he going to show any kind of manners to a Cabinet Secretary?

No, the only possible response is  confrontation with these troglodytes. manners will get you exactly nowhere. Call them out. Get in their grills. Most of all, mock them unmercifully. Turn them into laughing stocks. Point out the absurdity of their talking points. Do not give an inch, give them only push-back. They are not here for a conversation, do not engage them in one. The only response to “you’re a Commie” is “and you are a total idiot.”

Tossed Under The Bus

LOS ANGELES — Bill Lee Jr., who had stepped aside as police chief during the investigation of the shooting of unarmed African American teenager Trayvon Martin, has officially resigned as the top cop of Sanford, Fla., a city commissioner said Monday.

Commissioner Patty Mahany said the chief submitted his resignation over the weekend; Lee temporarily left his post last month amid complaints about how his department handled the investigation of the Feb. 26 shooting. The city commission is scheduled to hold a special meeting late Monday afternoon to discuss Lee's severance package, Mahany said.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146410/sanford-police-chief-quits-is.html

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146410/sanford-police-chief-quits-is.html#storylink=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146410/sanford-police-chief-quits-is.http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146410/sanford-police-chief-quits-is.html

The End Of The Prison-Industrial Complex In CA?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Aided by a rapid decline in the state's inmate population, California prison officials are proposing a dramatic change in the way they do business and moving to take control of the system back from the federal courts.

In a plan announced Monday to close one prison, revamp others and scrap most of a $6 billion prison construction plan, officials say they will save the state billions of dollars in coming years.

"It's a massive change," Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said at a Capitol news conference.

Among the proposals:

- Close the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, where about 1,200 correctional employees work and 3,900 inmates are housed.

- End contracts with out-of-state prisons and return 9,500 inmates to California by 2016.

- Eliminate about 6,400 positions.

- Halt most of a prison expansion program, saving $4.1 billion in building costs.

The goal is to improve conditions inside California's prison system so that, by the end of 2013, the state may no longer be under the oversight of federal courts that have ordered improvements in medical, mental health and dental care.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Aided by a rapid decline in the state's inmate population, California prison officials are proposing a dramatic change in the way they do business and moving to take control of the system back from the federal courts.

In a plan announced Monday to close one prison, revamp others and scrap most of a $6 billion prison construction plan, officials say they will save the state billions of dollars in coming years.

"It's a massive change," Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said at a Capitol news conference.

Among the proposals:

- Close the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, where about 1,200 correctional employees work and 3,900 inmates are housed.

- End contracts with out-of-state prisons and return 9,500 inmates to California by 2016.

- Eliminate about 6,400 positions.

- Halt most of a prison expansion program, saving $4.1 billion in building costs.

The goal is to improve conditions inside California's prison system so that, by the end of 2013, the state may no longer be under the oversight of federal courts that have ordered improvements in medical, mental health and dental care.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Aided by a rapid decline in the state's inmate population, California prison officials are proposing a dramatic change in the way they do business and moving to take control of the system back from the federal courts.

In a plan announced Monday to close one prison, revamp others and scrap most of a $6 billion prison construction plan, officials say they will save the state billions of dollars in coming years.

"It's a massive change," Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said at a Capitol news conference.

Among the proposals:

- Close the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, where about 1,200 correctional employees work and 3,900 inmates are housed.

- End contracts with out-of-state prisons and return 9,500 inmates to California by 2016.

- Eliminate about 6,400 positions.

- Halt most of a prison expansion program, saving $4.1 billion in building costs.

The goal is to improve conditions inside California's prison system so that, by the end of 2013, the state may no longer be under the oversight of federal courts that have ordered improvements in medical, mental health and dental care.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146481/california-prison-officials-move.html

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/146481/california-prison-officials-move.html#storylink=cpy

Say What??!

http://www.news.com.au/business/worker-injured-during-sex-gets-compo/story-e6frfm1i-1226333292525


 WOMAN who was injured while having sex in her hotel room during a work trip is entitled to compensation.
In the Federal Court today Justice John Nicholas ruled that the woman was injured during her “course of employment”.

The woman’s barrister argued that sex was an “ordinary incident of life” in a hotel room, much like showering and sleeping.

[Break]

Um, Ok, What-Ever.

Let It Burn

Detroit Fire Department Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin said he's proposing the city allow vacant buildings and homes to burn themselves out - but under conditions.

“We are in no way looking to 'let the city' burn, this is about saving lives and money,” Austin said. “My department is strapped, the budget is strapped, and it’s time to look at a new way of doing things."

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Detroit-fire-boss-Let-some-vacant-buildings-burn/-/1719418/11537346/-/ocxal0z/-/index.html

[Break]

"As we have seen, it is not just Detroit that is burning down. Cities and states across the country are slashing core programs and selling off parks and government buildings to cover their budgets as Congress and the White House continue to write checks for these wars abroad — while discussing the possibility of a war with Iran on behalf of Israel. It is unclear when the American people will say enough, but it is a testament to the strangle hold of the two parties on this country that we are discussing letting buildings burn rather than deal with billions gushing abroad in disastrous wars."

Jonathan Turley

Just Another Day At The TSA

Omer Petti and Madge Woodward expected the alarms to go off at the airport security's metal detector when they were flying home to Detroit after visiting family recently near San Diego.

After all, Petti, who is 95 years old, has two artificial knees and Woodward, at 85, has had her hip replaced. But they sure didn't expect to be subjected to accusations, extreme pat-downs, and most importantly, to be missing $300 in cash.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120418/OPINION03/204180345

[Break]

Exactly how many 95 year old terrorists do you think are out there in the world? For that matter how many 85 year old women are terrorist threats? Someone please tell me why this elderly couple needed to be scanned in the first place, then tell me why TSA was not able to return all the items they had the couple place in their bins. Oh, and if a "security tape" can't keep track of $300.00 worth of bills, how is suposed to spot a small explosive device. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Fukushima Foul Up

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/04/2012423133539728838.html


Over a year after the nuclear accident triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami contaminated large swathes of land in northeastern Japan, the future of the largely agricultural area and those who have been evacuated from it remain uncertain.


The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday that residents will not be able to return to at least seven of the municipalities around the damaged Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima for at least five years.


According to a government report released on Sunday, it is estimated that six of the seven municipalities will have dangerous levels of radiation - above 20 millisieverts of radiation (mSv) per year - for a decade.

[Break]

You think that has anything with Fukushima daiichi exploding during the accident? Oh, wait, that was only "hydrogen gas"  Nothing to worry about good citizen, those glow-in-the-dark radishes are nothing to worry about.

Running neck-and-neck with flesh eating bacteria

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57418386-503544/poll-just-three-percent-have-favorable-view-of-john-edwards/


CBS News) With opening arguments in the trial of former U.S. senator and presidential candidate John Edwards set to begin on on Monday, a CBS News/New York Times poll shows that public opinion of him has plummeted since he was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007. Now, he is now most known for cheating on his wife.

The CBS/NYT poll reveals that only 3 percent of those polled hold a favorable view of Edwards, who has been charged with misusing campaign funds. That is down from 30 percent in 2007 when he was running for the Democratic nomination, which is also the last time the question was asked among registered voters.

Since 2007, Edwards' unfavorable ratings have risen eleven points, from 30 percent to 41 percent today. However, half of those polled are undecided or don't have an opinion of Edwards.

Women, however, especially dislike Edwards, with just 2 percent holding a favorable view of him compared to 45 percent who view him unfavorably.

[Break]

You think Edwards'cheating on his terminally ill cancer-stricken wife had anything with his low numbers among women? Na, I'm sure they had no problems with his deserting Elizabeth for two-bit floozy and  New Age air-head deluxe Rielle Hunter.

Maybe There Is A God After All

GOP is threatened with eviction at St. Paul headquarters


http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/148535875.html

Baird Helgeson and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

The cash-strapped Republican Party of Minnesota has been served eviction papers at its St. Paul headquarters.

State Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge notified GOP activists late last week that the party had not paid rent since last August. He said negotiations with the building owner did not prevent the landlord from taking the matter to court.

“We’re not going to be evicted,” Shortridge said in an email. He added that they are “continuing to negotiate on the back payments as well as on a lease that better fits both our space needs and our budget.”

The possible eviction is the latest blow for a state Republican Party that has been swamped with debt and financial problems for more than a year. Along with being more than $1 million in debt, state Republicans are being investigated by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board for inaccurate campaign reporting and have amended two years of filings to both the state campaign finance agency and the Federal Election Commission.

[ Break]

Karma is a blue-eyed, baby-faced bitch.

Well, You Knew This Would Happen Sooner Or Later

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/21/146284/controversial-fla-pastor-weighs.html

SANFORD, Fla. — In front of the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center where George Zimmerman was granted bond, Pastor Terry Jones, the Gainesville, Fla., church leader who burned a Quran last year, gave a fiery speech Saturday in which he demanded the constitutional rights of Zimmerman be protected as his case moves through the judicial system.

"I am in no way taking a position on whether Zimmerman is guilty or innocent. I am here for truth and justice and standing up for the constitutional rights," said Jones, who heads Dove World Outreach Center and carries a pistol for his own protection. "Some of the black community just decided Zimmerman is guilty. I say there has to be due process. In America, you are innocent until proven guilty."

[Break]

Standing in front of about two dozen supporters, Jones said he traveled to Sanford to directly address simmering racial tension in the community which he blamed on "poisonous" black leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He said the two hijacked the controversial shooting case, fanned race-based fears and helped divide the town. Jones later acknowledged that he had not heard Sharpton, in particular, say anything racially provocative related to the case but said his response was based on comments Sharpton made in the past.

[Break]

Sweet Baby Jesus On A Pogo Stick, I think we just jumped the shark. 

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/21/146284/controversial-fla-pastor-weighs.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/21/146284/controversial-fla-pastor-weighs.html#storylink=cpy

That noise you just heard was millions of fundi heads exploding.

Jesus was a Hebrew rabbi. Unusually, he was unmarried. The idea that he had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene is the stuff of fiction, based on no biblical evidence. The evidence, on the other hand, that he may have been what we today call gay is very strong. But even gay rights campaigners in the church have been reluctant to suggest it. A significant exception was Hugh Montefiore, bishop of Birmingham and a convert from a prominent Jewish family. He dared to suggest that possibility and was met with disdain, as though he were simply out to shock.

After much reflection and with certainly no wish to shock, I felt I was left with no option but to suggest, for the first time in half a century of my Anglican priesthood, that Jesus may well have been homosexual. Had he been devoid of sexuality, he would not have been truly human. To believe that would be heretical.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/apr/20/was-jesus-gay-probably

Lights Out.

TAIPEI - The Taiwanese are feeling inflationary pressures, with a government-enforced rise in the electricity price, previously the lowest in Asia, about to follow already implemented fuel price increases averaging about 10%. 

The result will drive up prices and slow economic growth say critics, who charge that the government has misled the public and misread the need for the price rises. The big power companies are also being blamed for costly crony deals with independent power producers, driving up costs.



Snip


Although the predicted CPI rise seems relatively low, there are some signs of panic-level domino-effects: bakers, whose water and electricity costs make up 10% of total costs, have been telling TV audiences that they fear mass bankruptcy; rice wholesalers are mulling a price surge of more than 20%; local eateries have cut back on food portions; restaurant chains like Pizza Hut creatively implement "cancellation of promotions"; and karaoke businesses and love hotels already bemoan a significant drop in customers. 


Snip

Well, this can not stand, the Taiwanese have a god-given right to Karaoke and well, you know, eh-hem; say no more.

Not to worry, no way this could end up badly; honest.

MANILA - China has beefed up its naval might around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, threatening a clash as the United States and Philippines hold joint military exercises in the vicinity of the potentially energy rich disputed maritime territory. 

In a show of force, a state-of-the-art Chinese vessel, the Yuzheng 310, is now on patrol near the Scarborough Shoal, raising the strategic ante as its maritime standoff with the Philippines heads into a second week. Certain news reports have suggested as many as five other Chinese patrol vessels are now in the area. 

In contrast, a lone US-made Philippine Coast Guard ship

remains on alert in a lopsided faceoff with the Chinese fleet, while Manila's other warships joined the two-week joint drills, known as Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) the US is leading near the contested islands. 

The US has deployed 4,500 marines, the bulk of them from its military base in Okinawa, Japan, and battleships in the biggest contingent since the joint war games began in 1983. 

In an unprecedented exercise held near the Philippine island of Palawan on April 19, US and Philippine forces rehearsed retaking seized offshore oil and natural gas platforms. Philippine officials said the exercise was relevant in the context of Chinese harassment of energy exploration teams last year near the contested Reed Bank. 

The US has issued assurances that the combined military exercise is not aimed at any country or rising territorial tensions. China, however, clearly remains wary. A recent Chinese military paper has warned that the US-Philippine joint exercises increase the potential for an armed confrontation in the region. 


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ND24Ae01.html

The Maxium Value Of A Black Teenager In Florida

It's been set.

And it's $150,000.


http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/20/2758885/zimmerman-to-ask-for-bond-in-trayvon.html

SANFORD -- -- George Zimmernman will be eligible for release from jail on $150,000 bail and a host of conditions including electronic monitoring, Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester announced Friday.

It was unclear when Zimmerman, the volunteer watch captain accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, would actually be released, assuming he can meet the conditions. State prosecutors had asked for bail to be set at $1 million.

Zimmerman also unexpectedly took the stand in court Friday during his bond hearing, causing gasps in the courtroom, and told Trayvon’s parents he is sorry for their loss. He spoke, almost two hours into the hearing in Sanford, telling the court that his statement was for “the mother and the father.”

“I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. And I did not know if he was armed or not.”

This Is What Astroturf Looks Like

All photos by Spincitysd, all rights and most wrongs reserved. No comercial duplication nor resale without the express permission of the copyright holder. Copyright 2012. Don't make me release the flesh eating lawyers.

Relevant Data:

Population Of San Jose, CA 964,695
Population Of Santa Clara County, CA 1,787,694
Population Of San Francisco Bay Area 7,150,739

Depending on the reach of the Right-Wing radio station that put this affair together, the TEA Party conclave in San Jose, California this Sunday of April 15, 2012 (Tax Day no less) only gets more pathetic. My guess is that more people showed up for Mass at the Basilica next door than to the TEA Party Protest. Extra irony points for the immigrant bashing, know-nothing conclave for holding its shindig at Cesar Chavez Park. 

Indian Ocean Hots Up

India has returned to the elite club of countries with a nuclear-powered submarine when by inducting a new
vessel leased from Russia.

AK Antony, the Indian defence minister, formally commissioned the INS Chakra II on Wednesday at its base in Visakhapatnam, a naval shipyard on the country's southeast coast in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

India is particularly keen to strengthen its maritime capabilities, given China's pursuit of a powerful "blue water" navy which Delhi sees as a threat to key shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and Indian energy assets in the South China Sea.

"This will be a big boost for the Indian navy," Antony told reporters. "The INS Chakra will ensure security and sovereignty of the country," he said in televised remarks.

The 8,140-tonne submarine, capable of firing a range of torpedoes, as well as nuclear-tipped Granat cruise missiles, was offered to India by Moscow on a 10-year lease - a deal greeted with alarm and anger by arch rival Pakistan.

India is currently completing the development of its own Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarine and the INSChakra II is expected to help crews train for the domestic boat's introduction into service later this year.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/04/201244143536357132.html

I see US Navy Destroyers spending a lot more time in the I.O. And I see out shared base in Diego Garcia becoming much more important. Would not be surprised to see a USN fast attack submarine showing up in Diego Garcia's lagoon fairly soon.

Long Time Coming.

Five former New Orleans police officers have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for their roles in deadly shootings of unarmed residents in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina.

The presiding judge lashed out at prosecutors for two hours on Wednesday on their handling of the case in which police shot six people at a bridge on September 4, 2005, killing two, less than a week after Katrina made landfall.

To make the shootings appear justified, officers conspired to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports. The case became the centerpiece of the US Justice Department's push to clean up the troubled New Orleans Police Department.

Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon were convicted of federal firearms charges that carried mandatory minimum prison sentences of at least 35 years. Retired officer Arthur Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the shootings, was convicted of helping orchestrate the cover-up.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/04/201244232716640162.html

Better late than never I suppose.

Trayvon Martin's death was murder, Rep. Frederica Wilson claims

McClatchy: "MIAMI — Trayvon Martin's death is "definitely" a case of murder, Miami Congresswoman Frederica Wilson told The Miami Herald during a sit-down video interview Tuesday.

Wilson appeared on an online video program hosted by Miami Herald World Editor John Yearwood. In her appearance, Wilson described racial profiling as a pervasive force in this country, and said she fears for the safety of her black son and three black grandsons.

Of the Martin case, Wilson said, "Oh, definitely Mr. Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin ... you can tell from the 911 tapes, and from the girlfriend's conversation. You can tell from Mr. Zimmerman's past."

"He murdered Trayvon," Wilson repeated. "He hunted him down like you hunt a rabbit.""

'via Blog this'

Oh Sweet Baby Jesus On A Pogo Stick, here we go again! Yet another hack pol exploiting this tragedy for political gain. Rep Wilson, let the DOJ and the FL grand jury figure this one out. No need to pour gasoline on an already raging fire.