From Think Progress
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson “was awarded a $4 million bonus in 2008” and was granted 225,000 shares of restricted stock. He will also receive a 10 percent increase in his annual salary in 2009, raising his base salary to $2.06 million.
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SMH=Shaking My Head
NEW YORK — Odetta, the folk singer with the powerful voice who moved audiences and influenced fellow musicians for a half-century, has died. She was 77.
Odetta died Tuesday of heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital, said her manager of 12 years, Doug Yeager. She was admitted to the hospital with kidney failure about three weeks ago, he said.
In spite of failing health that caused her to use a wheelchair, Odetta performed 60 concerts in the last two years, singing for 90 minutes at a time. Her singing ability never diminished, Yeager said.
"The power would just come out of her like people wouldn't believe," he said.
With her booming, classically trained voice and spare guitar, Odetta gave life to the songs by workingmen and slaves, farmers and miners, housewives and washerwomen, blacks and whites.
First coming to prominence in the 1950s, she influenced Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and other singers who had roots in the folk music boom.
An Odetta record on the turntable, listeners could close their eyes and imagine themselves hearing the sounds of spirituals and blues as they rang out from a weathered back porch or around a long-vanished campfire a century before.
"What distinguished her from the start was the meticulous care with which she tried to re-create the feeling of her folk songs; to understand the emotions of a convict in a convict ditty, she once tried breaking up rocks with a sledge hammer," Time magazine wrote in 1960.
From Think Progress
In its “sprint to the finish,” the Bush administration is working tirelessly to enact or alter a wide array of federal regulations that would weaken government rules protecting consumers, workers, and the environment.
As Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told the Wall Street Journal, “This administration will stop at nothing to jam through as many reckless proposals as they can before the clock runs out.”
The Wonk Room and ThinkProgress are keeping a close eye on Bush’s Backward Sprint to the Finish, and have compiled a document to keep tabs on both the proposed and already enacted changes. Here are some examples:
Cutting back Medicaid: New rules “narrowed the scope of services that can be provided to poor people under Medicaid’s outpatient hospital benefit.”
Allowing mining near the Grand Canyon: A proposed rule by the Bureau of Land Management would prevent Congress from ordering emergency withdrawal of federal land from mining claims. The House Natural Resources Committee “issued such a withdrawal order in June for about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon.”
Allowing more emissions from power plants:: The Environmental Protection Agency is “finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas” by weakening the Clean Air Act.
A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job discrimination laws.
Hillary and Patty Murphy Are trying to Stop Bush's BullShit
The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or to assist in the performance of abortions or sterilization procedures because of their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” It would also prevent hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices and drugstores from requiring employees with religious or moral objections to “assist in the performance of any part of a health service program or research activity” financed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The counsel, Reed L. Russell, and two Democratic members of the commission, Stuart J. Ishimaru and Christine M. Griffin, also said that the rule was unnecessary for the protection of employees and potentially confusing to employers. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already prohibits employment discrimination based on religion, Mr. Russell said, and the courts have defined “religion” broadly to include “moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong, which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.”
The anti-union movement is on, and it all is centered around the automotive industry's quest for a rescue package/loan from the government. Limbaugh leads the charge in his Monday, Nov. 17 broadcast.
As the clip unfolds it appears that his own boss was trying to get him to change the topic. A caller who self-identifies as a Republican tries to shoot down some of the myths of the UAW that Limbaugh pushes on his flock on a daily basis. When asked about working past 67, he spins it by saying you shouldn't retire at 55.
It's a long clip, but this is what's being said. His boss even freaks out on him at the end:
Limbaugh: You're a nice guy and I'm sure that you are a salt of the earth guy but since you asked, What I am supposed to do, go back to work at 67? No, you're not supposed to retire when you're 55. You sound to me like you are totally capable of still working. Unless you work for a place that forces you out and says 55 you can no longer do the job, you got no business retiring at 55 IF you can't afford to retire. What's wrong....My boss is having a conniption there. What's wrong? Is that the unpolitick thing to say? I have not ... the American Dream. I have not redefined the American Dream. The American Dream is retire at 65. People are retiring now at 50 and 55 and so forth when they are still capable of working. According to the tables at 55, you've got 22 years left...
I have not redefined the American Dream. I have not redefined it. ... I don't understand what I said that's wrong here.
What planet is this man living in? He keeps digging deeper and deeper. Does he even know what the American Dream is?
h/t to C&Ler Dan for sending in the audio and says:
Rush basically tells auto workers that if their pension plans go bankrupt, they should go back to work.
Limbaugh obviously has no idea what concessions the UAW has already made. "GM, Union Agree on Contract to End Strike"
For General Motors (GM), a new labor contract represents a step forward. For the United Auto Workers, a big step back.
The two sides came to a tentative agreement on a new, four-year labor pact at 3:05 a.m. EDT Sept. 26, ending a two-day strike. If UAW President Ronald Gettelfinger can get the deal ratified by his 74,000 GM workers in the coming days, the contract will pull the automaker much closer to Toyota's (TM) cost structure. But for the UAW, it will roll back contract benefits and wages won over years of collective bargaining.
Many in the progressive movement did not like these concessions, but they happened. We can debate that later, but to gasbags like Limbaugh, if you work for a company for 30 years, you shouldn't get a pension and should work till you die. Does he hate policemen and firemen as well? Should they not be able to retire with a pension after trying to keeping us safe for thirty years on the job?
Bill O’REILLY: So you can see the debate over gay marriage is now a full fledge national battle. As talking points said last night the election of Barack Obama has emboldened secular progressives who feel it is their time. Gay marriage just the beginning. Other cultural war issues will also be in display very shortly. These include limiting gun possession, legalizing narcotics, unrestricted abortion and the revocation of the Patriot Act.
From Think Progress
Last night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow showed a clip of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) complaining about being criticized by “some blogger” sitting “in their parents’ basement.” Maddow — who later said she saw herself as “a blogger on TV” — did the show in her pajamas to show solidarity with bloggers
"What do you think of Community
Organizing now, Pasty-Assed Mother-effers?"
-- Wolcott in Vanity Fair
Dole's 'Godless' ad causes stir
(CNN) — The already-contentious North Carolina Senate race took a brutal turn Wednesday after incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole released a television ad suggesting challenger Kay Hagan is "Godless."
“A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser for Kay Hagan,” the 30-second ad says before showing clips from members of the group declaring God and Jesus do not exist.
“Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took godless money,” the ad's narrator also says. “What did Kay Hagan promise in return?”
Watch: Dole hits airwaves with 'Godless' ad
The ad ends with an unidentified female voice declaring, "There is no God."
The Dole campaign says it's basing its charge on Hagan's attendance at a fundraiser that was in the home of an advisor to the Godless Americans’ political action committee, a group that promotes rights for atheists.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Hagan said she has never heard of the Godless PAC "before Lydie Dole sent out a press release on this," and said the fundraiser in question had more than 40 hosts, including Sen. John Kerry. She also said she has contacted her lawyers to issue a cease-and-desist order on the commercial.
"I am absolutely appalled at Elizabeth Dole's vile tactics," Hagan said. “This is politics of the worst kind, and I know it has been rejected by North Carolinians at every level. It is so unbecoming of a woman like Elizabeth Dole. This is a fabricated, pathetic ad."
Hagan went on to strongly defend her faith: "I am a Sunday school teacher, I am an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, my family has been going to this church for over 100 years, I have raised my children there. I have been involved in youth missions."
A National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman defended the ad.
"Kay Hagan recently attended a fundraiser held in the home of a founding member of the Godless Americans PAC," Online Communications Director John Randall said. "Now Hagan believes it is unfair to associate her with the group even though the soiree raised her thousands of dollars in campaign cash. I guess money is more important to Hagan than principles."
Recent polls suggest Hagan — a Democratic state senator from Greensboro who began the race at a major money disadvantage to Dole — is now leading the incumbent slightly with only days remaining before Election Day.
Obama had a huge rally in Pittsburgh last Monday. I didn't go cause I hate lines and people started lining up out side the Mellon Arena at 5am. The Area (where the Penguins Hockey Team Plays) holds 18,000 people. Not everyone could get in. The Pictures are from 2politicajunkies website.
Obama - "Lately he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can give some tax relief to the middle class. I don't know what's next. By next week he'll be calling me a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
While Politico reports on the RNC spending $150,000 to 'accessorize' Palin and her family, I stumbled upon this picture of Senator Obama .
He's got holes in the bottom of both his shoes from walking so much on the campaign trail. And as the caption explains, he's already resoled them once.
from Think Progress
Right-Wing Florida News Anchor Asks If Obama Is A Marxist; Defends Questions As ‘Probing'
Yesterday, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) sat for an interview with Barbara West of WFTV Orlando. West loaded her interview questions with right-wing smears, likening progressive tax policies to Marxism. Biden responded to West’s ridiculous line of questioning with disbelief:
WEST: You may recognize this famous quote, “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” That’s from Karl Marx. How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?
BIDEN: Are you joking? Is this a joke? … Or is that a real question? (LAUGHTER).
“I don’t know who’s writing your questions,” Biden told West later in the interview. When West asked if Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wanted to “turn America into a Socialist country like Sweden,” Biden said, “I don’t know anybody who thinks that except the far right-wing of the Republican Party.”
According to Los Angeles Times, Gov. Sarah Palin’s “approach to government was business as usual.” One quarter of state posts went to campaign donors or relatives — “without regard to qualifications.” Leading donors “received state-subsidized industrial development loans” and an ethics complaint is pending against Palin “for allegedly helping another donor and fundraiser land a state job.”
Yawn! Thats right folks, The RNC spent $150,00 to dress up Palin. I wonder why these idiots on Fox never mentioned all the time they spent talking about Edwards $400 haircut or Clintons Haircut on Airforce 1? The Hockey Moms I know buy their clothes at K-Mart. I know I promised to post only about the Issues of this Election but I couldn't let this sillyness go - wolf
From Daily Kos
On FOX News Channel, they are truly hilarious in their spin on the Palin wardrobe shopping spree, initially spinning that the shopping budget is the reason why she looks so good, and then quickly sputtering themselves into a strange rant on sexism and how TV personalities always get free clothes anyway.
In the book "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" Hunter writes about how he was ejected from the Nixon press plane. One of my favorite scenes in "Where The Buffalo Roam" Bill Murray as H.S.T. brilliantly recreates that passage from the book. My favorite scene happens when Bill as H.S.T. pisses on Nixons feet in the bathroom at the airport. I doubt if this really happened and it is deleted from the DVD. Now McCain has kicked Joe Klein off the McCain plane.
From Politico
Time columnist Joe Klein, who’s been a forceful critic of the McCain campaign (and already said he’s unwilling to accept a post-election apology), has found himself without a seat on the McCain or Palin planes the past four months.
In June, Klein was kept from boarding the McCain plane over what they said had been a security issue. More recently, when trying to fly on the Palin plane last week, Klein told Politico over e-mail that the campaign's response was he “couldn’t be accommodated at this time.”
“I’ve done nine presidential campaigns and this is the first time this has ever happened to me,” Klein said. “I was even allowed—I won’t say welcomed—on the Clinton plane in the summer of 1996 after I was revealed as the author of Primary Colors.”
“I rode with McCain during the primaries, but not since I asked him—at a June press conference—whether he really believed Ahmadinejad was the ‘leader’ of Iran, since he has no control over foreign policy or the nuclear program,” Klein continued. “That was when they suddenly told me that I hadn’t called in time to get secret service clearance. (I had called more than a day in advance.)"
But he’s not the first high-profile critic to get the cold shoulder.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that she had been “banned” by the campaign for what they told her was “the foreseeable future.” Despite Dowd being kept off the planes, The Times continues to have reporters travel with the campaign. Similarly, other Time magazine staffers, including Washington bureau chief Jay Carney, " reporter Michael Scherer, and Mark Halperin (The Page), have not had a problem with access.
I wrote about this after the Biden, Palin debate. It's seems she hasn't learned anything about the US Constitution yet or just doesn't give a Damm.
From Think Progress
Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:
Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”
PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.
Indeed, while Palin suggests that questions about what the Vice President does is something only her daughter Piper would ask, Palin herself asked this very question on national television in July. Apparently, she still hasn’t learned the correct answer.
Article I of the Constitution establishes an exceptionally limited role for the Vice President — giving the office holder a vote only when the Senate is “equally divided”:
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
Moreover, the U.S. Senate website explains that the modern role of Vice Presidents has been to preside over the Senate “only on ceremonial occasions.” ThinkProgress contacted Senior Assistant Paliamentarian Peter Robinson, who also disputed Palin’s characterization of the Vice President’s role:
In modern practice the Vice President doesn’t really control the Senate. … If anyone has a responsibility to try to govern the Senate, it’s the responsibility of the two leaders.
Watch Palin’s interview below (exchange 0:45 from the end): Read the rest of this entry »
I'm not Surprised that Fox News, Rush Bimbo and others are calling Colin Powell a Racist.
From Think Progress
A new cartoon by syndicated cartoonist Gordon Campbell hits Gen. Colin Powell for endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). The cartoon shows a picture of Revolutionary War general Bendict Arnold — who infamously committed one of U.S. history’s greatest acts of treason — in blackface, followed by the line: “Benedict Arnold…Race Patriot“:
Politicker reports Campbell also stated that Powell “wishes to see someone who looks like himself in the White House.” Similarly, Rush Limbaugh is now saying that Powell endorsed Obama only because they are both African-American, and a prominent Maine GOP activist claimed, “If Obama was a white man, Powell would not have made the endorsement.”
So, now that a Republican has been arrested and charged with voter registration fraud, I'm sure that the GOP will be claiming that Republicans are trying to "rig the election," right?
SACRAMENTO -- The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario late last night on suspicion of voter registration fraud.
State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California.
Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department comes after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by his firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM. The voters said YPM tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters. The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.
Oh, that's right. When fraud is committed against ACORN, that's Democrats trying to steal an election. When Republicans are arrested for voter registration fraud, that's a different story...
In his efforts to attack Barack Obama, John McCain appears to have turned to the same political consulting firm that was responsible for spreading vicious smears about the Senator during the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary.
The Robo Call
Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans. And democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his democratic allies lack the judgement to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain/Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 
(202) 863-8500
.
BTW: Bill Ayers and the rest The Weather UnderGround never KILLED anyone. After The Weathermen broke up a former member that was in another group called the Black Liberation Army killed a policeman. He is in prison doing Life in Attica State Prison. Three Weathermen died in a Townhouse in NYC when the bomb they were making went off accidentally. For information about the Weathermen check out the Documentary "The Weather Underground."
This Story from Think Progress really really pisses me off! Are we ready to go back to Red Baiting and the McCarthy Era of Politics because we have a different view than the Right Wing Aholes?
Appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball today, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) attacked the patriotism of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), based on his alleged relationship to former Weather Underground member William Ayers and the values of Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views,” said Bachmann. “That’s what the American people are concerned about.”
She then went further, suggesting that all liberal views — held by people such as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, professors, and all Americans who identify themselves as “liberals” — are “anti-American.” When host Chris Matthews, stunned by her remarks, asked Bachmann how many people in Congress hold anti-American views, she responded, “You’ll have to ask them.”
Bachmann called on the media to conduct investigations into the anti-American activities of members of Congress, similar to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s discredited House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the 1950s. “I think people would love to see an exposé like that,” she claimed.
Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) made similar comments at a fundraiser yesterday, saying that she loved to visit “pro-America” areas of the country — “small towns” where “hard working” people are “very patriotic.”
WASHINGTON - The federal government on Friday determined that a species of beluga whale native to an inlet off Anchorage, Alaska, is endangered and will require additional protection to survive.
The finding could even have presidential implications: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's running mate, had questioned scientific evidence that the population was declining.
"In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering," James Balsiger, assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said in a statement
Follow the Link for the rest of the story
I have been off Line for awhile. Looking into a better net connection. Look at the Difference between McCain supporters and Obama supporters. The Racist Money person at the Palin Johnstown Pa Rally vs The Polar Bear Protesters protesting Palin in Pittsburgh this week because Palin wants polar bears to be hunted from planes and taken off the Endangered Spices List.
Ever since last weekend, when Palin first accused Obama of "palling around with a terrorist," referring to 1960s radical William Ayers, rowdy crowds have called Obama a liar, terrorist and worse.
At an event Friday in Lakeville, Minnesota, McCain referred to Obama as a "decent person" and praised him as a "family man" after two voters expressed fear over Obama being elected.But the Arizona senator was met by a sea of boos when asking the crowd to be more respectful toward Obama.
When the crowd began to boo, McCain told them "No, no. I want everyone to be respectful."
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I don't know if this is true where you live but I am still seeing those Obama hangs around with terrorists ads on my TV. - wolf
And today in Philly Obama said:
"But here's the thing Philadelphia. They can run misleading ads, and pursue the politics of anything goes, they can try to change the subject. They can do that what they want to do because the American people understand what's going on -- but it's not going to work. Not this time."
Palin is so wrong. Do we really need another self absorbed power hungry VP?
Body blow for McCain as Palin found to have abused powers
At the end of the 10-week investigation into the so-called Troopergate affair, Palin was found to have breached the ethics rules which govern her conduct as governor of Alaska. The findings, delivered by an investigator who had been hired by the Alaskan state legislature before she was picked as McCain's running mate, are certain to lead to questions over his judgment, and to queries and challenges as to her suitability for national office.
Today, President Bush gave an eight-minute speech on the economy, which was meant to reassure the markets. “This is an anxious time,” said Bush. “But the American people can be confident in our economic future.” However, ABC News notes that during those eight minutes, the Dow Jones dropped another 107 points. The Dow was down 78.70 at the beginning of Bush’s address, but at 185.66 by the end.
from think progress
Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic notes that when Republican presidential nominee John McCain asked supporters in Albuquerque yesterday "who is the real Barack Obama," a man shouted out "terrorist!" Marc has the video/audio evidence here. As CNN's Political Ticker notes, it's unclear whether McCain heard the shout. The candidate did not respond. Also yesterday, someone shouted out "kill him!" when GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was talking about former Weathermen Bill Ayers to a crowd in Clearwater, Fla. And So, McCains Negitive Bullshit Has Come To This - It's Sad -Wolf
I will close it again if people refuse to follow these simple rules.
I really wanted to stick to the issues on the blog but since Palin wants to take it to the gutter lets do it!
The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government...and I won't be buried under their damn flag...I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions.
Palin's complete dealings with the group isn't entirely clear, and unfortunately we can't ask Mr. Vogler about it since he was murdered in a plastic explosives sale gone bad," but we do know this: Sarah Palin probably attended the AIP convention 1994, the McCain campaign admits she attended in 2000, and as governor, Palin taped a welcoming message to them in 2006, saying:
Your party plays an important role in our state's politics. I've always said that competition is so good, and that applies to political parties as well. I share your party's vision of upholding the constitution of our great state... So I say good luck on a successful and inspiring convention. Keep up the good work, and God bless you.
Add to that, Todd Palin, aka, the "First Dude," was a registered member of AIP from 1995 until 2002, coincidentally changing his party affiliation when she began her first campaign for public office.
McSame is losing so it's time for him and his soulmate to step up the personal attacks. Where did the man go who said he was going to run a respectable campaign?
Fact Checking the Obama/Ayers connection.
The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is "someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.
Billy Ray finally made his way to the Pittsburgh Zoo today to check out the tiger cub that was named for him. To play with his 40-pound namesake, Billy Ray had to don a protective coat. Yes, that's him in the black above.
Billy Ray told the news: "As I was petting him, I was telling him he's here for a reason -- to bring more attention to his species. There are only 300 to 400 left in the wild."
Billy Ray (the tiger) has had to be bottle fed since his mother rejected him. He was born on Mother's Day and has become somewhat of a celebrity. Check out the rest of the story and video here.
