Brilliant - I’m Voting Republican

via Shameless Agitator

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It pretty much says it all

via MoveOn.org

Technorati Tags: moveon, McCain, 100 years, Iraq

When it comes to mandatory arbitration in a dispute between you the public and a large corporation, you will nearly always, unless you are one of the lucky ones chosen at random to prove that sometimes J.Q Public wins, lose.

What if a judge solicited cases from big corporations by offering them a business-friendly venue in which to pursue consumers who are behind on their bills? What if the judge tried to make this pitch more appealing by teaming up with the corporations’ outside lawyers? And what if the same corporations helped pay the judge’s salary?

It would, of course, amount to a conflict of interest and cast doubt on the fairness of proceedings before the judge.

Yet that’s essentially how one of the country’s largest private arbitration firms operates. The National Arbitration Forum (NAF), a for-profit company based in Minneapolis, specializes in resolving claims by banks, credit-card companies, and major retailers that contend consumers owe them money. Often without knowing it, individuals agree in the fine print of their credit-card applications to arbitrate any disputes over bills rather than have the cases go to court. What consumers also don’t know is that NAF, which dominates credit-card arbitration, operates a system in which it is exceedingly difficult for individuals to prevail.

kudos to Business Week for publishing this. I know it’s entirely a dream but i hope an Obama presidency will do something about consumer rights, and being to reign in the power of corporations. Certainly refusing PAC money is a start but legislation is definitely required to bring back any sense of justice in the system..

Technorati Tags: conflict of interes, arbitration, National Arbitration Forum, NAF, credit-card arbitration, Business Week, you are so screwed, usury, unbridled greed

Spread the truth

Technorati Tags: fight the smear, obama, barack, right wing swift boating

Well at least one of the first things Obama should do come January 21 is kill all the Blackwater contracts

Blackwater’s Iraq contract was extended in April, but the company is by no means betting the house on its long-term presence there. While the firm is quietly maintaining its Iraq work, it is aggressively pursuing other business opportunities.

In September it was revealed that Blackwater had been “tapped” by the Pentagon’s Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office to compete for a share of a five-year, $15 billion budget “to fight terrorists with drug-trade ties.” According to the Army Times, the contract “could include antidrug technologies and equipment, special vehicles and aircraft, communications, security training, pilot training, geographic information systems and in-field support.” A spokesperson for another company bidding for the work said that “80 percent of the work will be overseas.” As Richard Douglas, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained, “The fact is, we use Blackwater to do a lot of our training of counternarcotics police in Afghanistan. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job.”

In every aspect of the war on liberty in the US if you turn over a rock you’re sure to find that ultra right wing Christian mercenary company Blackwater. It’s time to put those bastards out of business. Read the whole article in The Nation but a warning, take some Gravol^® first to avoid puking

Technorati Tags: Obama, Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office, war on liberty, US, Blackwater

It is 7:45 am Saturday morning. I just realized, too late, it is actually Saturday and I DID NOT NEED TO GET UP, HAVE COFFEE, SHOWER, SHAVE, AND GET READY FOR WORK.

Technorati Tags: I am an idiot, life is unfair, the universe hates me, wtf am I doing up at this hour on a weekend

Or, choosing between columns and rows.

logic is a wonderful thing.

[tags]global climate change,how lucky do you feel,what’s the worst that can happen/tags]

Technorati Tags: choosing between columns and rows, logic is a wonderful thing

In light of the USSC decision (.pdf) to grant the right of habeus corpus to Gitmo prisoners I offer this quote by MLK Jr.

“We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. We shall overcome because Carlisle is right: No lie can live forever. We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right: Truth crushed to earth will rise again. We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right: Truth forever on the scaffold/ wrong forever on the throne yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadows keeping watch above his own.”

Suck on that Bush. Be afraid George, be very, very afraid come January 20th, 2009

Technorati Tags: USSC, habeus corpus, Gitmo, MLK Jr, Suck on that Bush

Ubuntu is giving me grief. If anyone who reads this uses Ubuntu (Greg?) with a wireless connection I could use some help.

• Loaded as a dual boot with XP Pro
• Wireless card is Dell 1390 mini wireless card
• When rebooting from XP Ubuntu frequently has problems connecting to my wireless router (WRT54G)
• checking network setting finds it has been reset to WAP instead of WAP2 Personal and after a reboot sometimes the password will be there other times it’s disappeared altogether (and that’s usually good news as once I put it back in it usually works)
• I had it working for a bit tonight then part way through writing this post, twice, it simply stopped working

I’m at a total loss as to what is going on here.

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu

You want me to spell what?

Technorati Tags: spelling bee, numb nuts, numnah, humor, comedy, funny

From The Daily Green (hat tip to regular reader Ian G. for the link)

Every year the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts research on pesticide use and risk associated with various crops, such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat, and the body then releases its data files. That data is used by chemical groups, trade groups, public interest groups and government agencies to track pesticide use and safety, and several advocates say it is the only reliable, publicly searchable database of its kind.

In 2007, however, the USDA scaled back its data collection, and only gathered information on cotton, apples and organic apples. Now, the USDA has announced it will completely eliminate the program in 2008, due to budget cuts, and won’t be collecting any data.

You can bet that Monsanto and the other chemical companies are behind this. They don’t want you to know how they are poisoning you. Get on to your congress critter and take action on this now! Take this to the Democratic Party candidates - make them see the evil in this. The USDA funding should be increased. Every single foodstuff produced should be thoroughly tested, yearly. Nothing less is acceptable.

Technorati Tags: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, NASS, research on pesticide use, risk, USDA, Monsanto, chemical companies

The RealMcCain.com takes a look at John McCain on reproductive rights

Technorati Tags: John McCain, reproductive right

Dan Rather at the 2008 National Conference On Media Reform (same conference as Bill Moyer’s clip yesterday)

Technorati Tags: politics, MSM, Dan Rather, 2008 National Conference On Media Reform

Technorati Tags: insane, snowboarding, death wish

Bill Moyers outwits Fox reporter . O’Reilly sent a henchman to try and corner Moyers, he failed utterly and it’s all on tape - unedited. It’s a beautiful sight.

Technorati Tags: Bill Moyers, Fox