George Zimmerman waives hearing on Florida's 'stand your ground' law

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/03/06/Zimmerman-waives-stand-your-ground-hearing/UPI-79231362576496/

SANFORD, Fla., March 6 (UPI) -- George Zimmerman, the Florida man who killed an unarmed black teen, waived his right to a "stand your ground" hearing that could end his case, attorneyssaid.

However, the defense during Tuesday's hearing left open the likelihood it could seek a hearing on the Florida law before trial begins in June, ABC News reported.

does this speak to how sure the defense was that stand your ground would save their client?

is this a ploy to bolster chances by disallowing the cross examination that would come in a hearing before the big one, certain evidence would not be admissable under a plain self defense plea. slick or miscalculation by eliminating stand your ground plea.

Jason Collins' former fiancee, Carolyn Moos, had no idea he was gay | Ball Don't Lie

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jason-collins-former-fiancee-carolyn-moos-had-no-170001023.html

Carolyn Moos says she had no idea that Jason Collins, her longtime boyfriend and fiancee, was actually gay.

In the Sports Illustrated piece featuring his groundbreaking revelation, the 12-year NBA veteran wrote, "When I was younger I dated women. 

I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue."

Moos, however, didn't know. The former WNBA player told TMZ that she only found out about Collins' orientation a couple of days before the world did:

Carolyn tells TMZ, she never once suspected he was gay, so the news is shocking. She says Collins eventually revealed everything last weekend — just days before his big announcement — and said that his homosexuality was the real reason he ended things with her.

At the time of their breakup, Carolyn says Jason gave a bunch of BS reasons for calling it quits ... and she could never understand what went wrong, until now. [...]

"It's very emotional for me as a woman to have invested [eight] years in my dream to have a husband, soul mate, and best friend in him. So this is all hard to understand."

i've always wondered aboutthose who were close say they didn't know whatever was exposed for x anount of years, seems you would have to have at least a moment of hmmmmm, i think they don't want the association to be known as complicit of sorts.

Moos, 34, met Collins while the two were both students at Stanford, where she played on the women's basketball team before embarking on a pro career that included stints with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, Miami Sol and Minnesota Lynx. The couple dated for seven years and got engaged; Collins ended the engagement in 2009.
"Calling off the wedding was obviously a tough decision," Collins said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." "But it was the right one because I knew I wasn't getting married for the right reasons."
While Moos told TMZ she had a hard time processing the real reasons behind the relationship's ending, she doesn't harbor ill will toward Collins.
"I care about [Jason] tremendously and only want the best for him," she said. "I want Jason to be happy for a lifetime and stay true to who he really is, inside and out."

i don't envy one in that position but i feel it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude, good luck Jason. may all your critics get perpetual lock jaw.

An Afghanistan high

http://jimhightower.com/node/8018#.UYBAnHrD-AI

After 11 years of war, $664 billion expended so far, 2,210 Americans dead, more than 35,000 of our troops maimed and shattered, and our good reputation spent – what have we built in Afghanistan?

According to a top international law enforcement official, you and I have built "The world's first true narco-state." Congratulations! "The opium trade," he added, "is a much bigger part of the [Afghan] economy already than narcotics ever were in Bolivia or Columbia."

You might recall that under both George W's and Obama's war strategies, eliminating Afghanistan's poppy production was one of America's chief goals, for that crop generated billions of dollars in annual income for the Taliban insurgency we're fighting, even as it fueled drug addiction here and around the world. So to combat the drug trade, the US has: (1) destroyed thousands of acres of opium poppies, (2) tried to shift the country's impoverished farmers to wheat and other alternative crops, and (3) paid million-dollar "Good Performers" awards to provinces that achieved the coveted poppy-free status.

if you pull the stinger out of a scorpion will he still try to sting you?  i remember in the beginning that this was a futile attempt, i've never been a fan of trying to replace centuries of tradition with a couple of century of what is now a dysfunctional plan called democracy.

how do you convince people to accept a way of life they perfected with the copy that is a failure and contradiction to who you say you are.

i wrote this on this blog a couple of years ago, it ask how can you teach those who you adopted from what you are trying to teach?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

VERY SIMILAR

Hello, just thinking middle east men notorious for lack of women's rights, hmmmm republicans notorious for trying to take women's rights, right to choose,equal pay,denigrate them in porn showing full body, wonder why men don't "a little shy maybe" or fear of being laughed at can't really condemn them when you are so similar? TAKE A STROLL THROUGH YOUR MIND, YOU'LL BE SURPRISED AT WHAT YOU MAY FIND, (courtesy of the Temptations) but oh so true

Posted by nick johnson at 7:51 AM 

republican pipe dream (Urban Dictionary: pipe dream www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pipe%20dream n : a fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe);

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/30/1205933/-America-s-Dumbest-Congressman-melting-down-before-our-eyes

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)—who has spent the weeks following the bombing arguing that Obama’s “political correctness” prevented the FBI from stopping the attacks—appeared on the Glenn Beck radio show to argue that Holder’s history of defending terrorists allowed the judge to Mirandize Tsarnaev:

GOHMERT: Think about it, when your attorney general spent more of his legal career helping terrorists than defending the country, then you know we all have certain biases and lean certain ways.

Gohmert then went on to reiterate his belief that the Obama administration is guided by the Muslim Brotherhood. “[The administration] know who’s in there advising them,” Gohmert said, “either they lie under oath or they do know the extent of Muslim Brotherhood infiltration into our government.”

since we hear nothing or see anything slightly resembling change in the republican org. is it safe to think they have abandoned the mind fart formally known as changing how the talk while keeping the same values which is tantamount to admission of intent to lie.

While addressing the FBI’s work in Boston, Gohmert said that it was “amazing” that the FBI was able to do any investigative work at all because, according to Gohmert, they are being advised by “Muslim Brotherhood members.”

He said that the Obama administration is promoting “radical Islam” and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and in the US, maintaining that “Muslim Brotherhood advisers” have made it “virtually impossible to properly and adequately investigate and defend this country.”

they are really confused first Allen West said 88 of the progressive side of congress are communist, this guy says we have been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, whats next??   

let's put something outthere about MR. Gohmert and say it's true ok here we go 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exl0oSfTSoY

The United States of Sequestration

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/sequestration-cuts-in-united-states

they couldn't shut the gov't down so they settled for the country.

some who are blaming the Pres. will never see that end to fruition because it's not him it's the right wing congress that signed also and dared to allow such a horrendous thing to take place because they just can't get their hands out of the asses of big business, we are suffering because of right wing political posturing no matter how they spin it if tey had worked with the progressives who knows how low the unemployment would be?

Starting March 1, federal programs and their state and local beneficiaries began grappling with $85.4 billion in cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Some programs have been spared—Congress voted to restore tuition assistance for members of the armed services and, just last week, restored funding to the Federal Aviation Administration to forestall flight-delaying furloughs. 

But for the most part, the cuts have remained intact. Six weeks in, we took a look at how sequestration is has impacted 50 states, from canceled festivals to shuttered Head Start programs to massive layoffs.

Alabama

Birmingham: North Albama public defenders office furloughing 11 of 15 employees.

Huntsville: Huntsville Housing Authority, which provides heating, plumbing, and financial assistance, to serve 300 fewer people.

Jefferson County: Head Start program closing for 10 weeks, affecting 276 kids. Fifteen staffers will be furloughed.

Alaska

Sitka: Bill Brady Healing Center, which treats Native Alaskans for drug and alcohol addiction, closed as part of $3.5 million in cuts to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Corporation.

Fairbanks: Alaska Volcano Observatory is cutting back on volcano and earthquake monitoring.

Eielson Air Force Base: 18th Aggressor Squadron will be grounded until the end of the fiscal year.

Arizona

Window Rock: School district eliminated 40 positions due to budget cuts, considering eliminating 65 more and closing three schools.

Holbrook: Hiring freeze at Petrified Forest National Park delays filling five spots.

Phoenix: 30 research engineers at a defense contractor laid off.

keep in mind the republicans chose this over your well being and taxing the rich, you are now suffering until 2014 Nov. 4th, any longer will be on you, they are driving us to hell are you looking forward to the trip?

notice how the first 3 states are controlled by the republican politicians, they are not protesting or doing anything but pointing fingers in the wrong direction while you circle the drain 2014.

North Carolina Under-Reported Worker Deaths And Ignored Multiple Workplace Safety Violations

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/04/30/1940271/north-carolina-under-reported-worker-deaths-ignored-safety-violations/

The number of North Carolinians who died at work in 2012 is likely more than three times the original number reported by the state Labor Department. While the state estimated 35 worker fatalities last year, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) put the number at 150.

 Released in the wake of the deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion enabled by massive regulatory failure on the state and federal levels, COSH’s report holds North Carolina’s weak workplace regulations accountable for these 150 deaths. While the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration covers workplace safety in about half the states, North Carolina uses a far more lenient state program.

this is the result of right wing rule at the top and why they always talk about returning the law and decisions to the state, the state is corrupt and allows for such deregulation as this to exist and kill workers for the sake of a few dollars more by the owners.

In one of the highlighted cases, 39-year-old Luis Martinez died in a trench cave-in while installing a water line at NC State University. The trench cave-in could have been prevented with the use of proper equipment like a trench box that supports the sides. Yet the state essentially ignored repeated violations by Martinez’s employer for years before his death:

• August 22, 2007: As part of a planned inspection, NC OSHA finds that J.F. Wilkerson has violated trench safety standards and assesses a fine of $1,175. But the penalty is reduced to zero as part of an “informal settlement” with the company.

• November 14, 2007: After a worker files a complaint of unsafe conditions on the company’s jobsite, NC OSHA investigates and finds five serious violations. The company is fined $7,920 but the penalty is reduced to a paltry $1,820.

• February 23, 2011: Another worker files a complaint of unsafe conditions on a J.F. Wilkerson jobsite. NC OSHA inspects but does not cite the company for any violations.

• November 19, 2012: Unsafe conditions persist at the worksite and Luis Martinez is killed. NC OSHA’s investigation is still in process.

NC OSHA’s fines for companies that violate workplace safety standards are far lower than federal penalties. Repeat offenders pay just $1,906 in North Carolina, while they would pay $7,487 in a state covered by federal OSHA.

and still the population votes back in the deregulating gov't and smile all the way to their graves.  really a blissful state.

Sequester hits Smithsonian exhibits

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/sequester-hits-smithsonian-exhibits-90764.html?hp=r7

The Smithsonian Institution is shutting down some exhibits because of the sequester starting Wednesday.

The Smithsonian Castle’s Commons, National Museum of African Art’s “African Mosaic” and some Hirshhorn Museum galleries on its third floor will be closed because of the $1.2 trillion cuts in federal funding over a decade implemented March 1, according to a Smithsonian statement out Monday.

my first and only question why the African Arts, that seems a little mysterious to me of all the crap they have there they want to close an exhibit of such cultural significance.

if it's a matter of money then i wold think it was important enough to high high maintenance then it should be one of it's more popular exhibits. it cost 900,000.00 out of a 42 million budgt, republicans spnd more than that at their witch hunts.

The cuts come because Smithsonian officials had to scale back on a security contract they have with a supplemental security agency that assists Smithsonian’s security team.

“All Smithsonian museums will remain open, with all major exhibitions open to visitors. The safety and security of the public and collections will not be compromised,” according to a Smithsonian statement.

so African Cultre is not a major exhibit and not that many visitors come to see it. this stinks

If You Think The Religious Right Wants A Cure For AIDS, You’d Be Dead Wrong

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/29/if-you-think-the-religious-right-wants-a-cure-for-aids-youd-be-dead-wrong/

From The Telegraph:

Danish scientists are expecting results that will show that “finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible”.

They are conducting clinical trials to test a “novel strategy” in which the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and destroyed permanently by the immune system.

The move would represent a dramatic step forward in the attempt to find a cure for the virus, which causes Aids.

This may or may not be finally happening. But let’s say this is true. If not now, then in the near future. What will the reaction be? Elation from the LGBT community, celebration on the left and a sigh of relief from the health insurance industry (HIV treatment is expensive). But what about the right-wing? Well, if history tells us anything. the GOP will deeply opposed to a cure. Especially a cheap one.

Why? You won’t like the answer.

Conservatives, particularly religious conservatives LOVE HIV. They absolutely love it. They love it because it disproportionately affect homosexuals and IV drug users and anything that hurts “sinners” is perfectly fine with them. Added bonus? It also hits “fornicators” and mostly leaves married monogamous couples alone.

I guarantee you, and I’ll place a money bet on it, that even if this one turns out to be a bust,when a real cure for HIV is announced, the religious right will throw a hissy fit and the GOP will kowtow to them. My proof of this deeply cynical and anti-human stance? HPV.

In 2006, an extremely effective vaccine for HPV (human papilloma virus) was created and put into widespread distribution. HPV is a very common sexually transmitted virus (upwards of 80% of American women reportedly have it) and while for most it is harmless, in some it causes cervical cancer.

like any other business demand drives supply at a cost not friendly to you, they make billions.  so why would they want to release a cure, they are apathetic to your care and driven by treatment, squeeze the dollatr bill till the eagle grins.

What happened when politicians put the vaccine into widespread use? The religious right freaked out because eliminating an STD “promotes” promiscuity. I’m dead serious.

Via Slate:

Much less understandable, though, is the position taken by many opponents: namely, that a cervical-cancer vaccination would “promote promiscuity” among teenage girls. Implicit in this argument is the assumption that good girls don’t get cervical cancer; only “loose” ones do—and they may get what they deserve. Earlier this year, State Sen. George Runner of California told the Los Angeles Times that American money would be much better spent on other types of vaccines, since cervical cancer is a result of lifestyle choices, rather than bad genetic luck.

Can you even hold in your mind the lack of compassion and empathy required to want to use cervical cancer as a way to punish women for having sex? Oh sorry, I meant “promote abstinence.” And from “Christians” no less?

well that confirms that the war on women as denied by republicans is a live and well and rumors of it's nonexistence have been greatly exaggerated.

Sanford, Colbert Busch Square Off in South Carolina Debate

http://jjohnson3157491.newsvine.com/_news/2013/04/30/17984939-sanford-colbert-busch-square-off-in-south-carolina-debate-us-news-and-world-report#discussions

The philandering fiscal conservative and the hard-charging Democratic businesswoman faced off before a fired up crowd Monday in the only debate in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District special election.

The race pits former Gov. Mark Sanford, who famously lied about taking a hike on the Appalachian Trail while he was actually courting his Argentine mistress (and now fiancee) in her home country, versus Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister to comedian Stephen Colbert.

Colbert Busch pulled few punches against Sanford, who awkwardly pretended to miss her jab about his time in Argentina.

"When we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose," she said to whoops from the audience.

"I couldn't hear what she said, repeat it," Sanford said.

When someone from the audience shouted, "Answer the question," Sanford replied, "What was the question? OK, but anyway, on the sequester - I'll go back to the sequester."

well he still has the republican answer to
what to do when caught in the headlights", it never happened, contiue on wiith what you were saying.

then if all else fails use the "the other side did it too"

Later, he tried to acknowledge moral misgivings voters in the heavily Republican district might have for him.

"Do you think President Clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life based on a mistake he made in his life?" Sanford said. "You don't go through the experiences I had without a greater level of humility."

two wrongs do make a right wing answer, who knew?

Sanford, who trails Colbert Busch by as much as 9 percent in recent polling, tried to land blows against the political neophyte for being bought by labor groups and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both of whom have given hundreds of thousands to her campaign. But Colbert Busch offered a firm rebuke of his suggestion.

"I want to be very clear, Mark, nobody tells me what to do, except the people of South Carolina's 1st District," she said.

can he say that with any eleent of truth?  the right wing trying to call somebody on contributions?  pot kettle syndrome. the right wing side of the SCOTUS gave them the gift on undeclared contribution and that to failed to buy the gov't so are we seeing green sour grapes or just looking for a slick out if so he needs another greasing not slick enough.

they want more war, do you?

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/#51707383

all the rhetoric we hear from the right wing in reference to Pres. is either too weak, or too strong, or leading from behind well we have gone full circle again, he's back to not doing enough.

if you aere ok with another war send your kids or if you are young enough volunteer, or just sit here in safety and rant about what should be done when it's not your call or expertise.

some of our politicians in office have too many opinions that are not based in facts but more a buzz word trigger to attack Pres. and open your mouths and letting the world know how uninformed you really are.

if you only subscribe to one train of thought you will always be half cocked.

we all need to thank God the majority of us voted for common sense and sense and sensibility and not a hat full of lies and we would be on the brink of another impending war that we would probably already be fighting problem is they would not as history teaches us taken time to see how deep the elephant dung pile they are getting ready to wade through really is

Don’t be a jerk, Sen. Cruz.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/04/29/dont-be-a-jerk-sen-cruz/?tid=pm_pop

It is a shopworn technique of hard-line conservatives to declare themselves men and women of principle in contrast to those other Republicans — the ones, you know, who pass legislation and try to represent their constituents. 

It is both self-serving (presuming principles are of no matter to opponents) and lazy in that it is always easy to say no, ridicule compromise and remain pristine rather than trying to improve legislation or introduce an alternative.

I’m sorry to say Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is too often falling into the reflexive habit of voting no on everything and then mocking his colleagues.

has the golden boys layer been revealed as thin gold plated tin?  if he gets this off track in the preliminary time think how ape crap he'll be if he ever made the step up.

one thing about rising stars they always come back to the starting line.

The latest example comes from his talk to the conservative group FreedomWorks in Texas:

We've had probably five or six lunches with a bunch of Republican senators standing up and looking at Rand and Mike and me and yelling at the top of their lungs — I mean really . . . And they said: 'Why did you do this? As a result of what you did, when I go home, my constituents are yelling at me that I've got to stand on principle.' I'm not making that up. I don't even bother to argue with them. I just sort of let them yell. . . . They said: 'Listen, before you did this, the politics of it were great. The Democrats were the bad guys. The Republicans were the good guys. Now we all look like a bunch of squishes. Well there is an alternative. You could just not be a bunch of squishes."

getting to big for your britches only leaves you embarrassed when they fall around your knees.  the trouble with him was to many early attaboys, he needs to know even with a thousand attaboys it only takes one aw crap to bring you back to realization that your breath stinks in the morning too, especially after a night of spewing garbage.

FBI looking into relationship between McDonnells, donor

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-looking-into-relationship-between-mcdonnells-donor/2013/04/29/c97fec10-b115-11e2-9a98-4be1688d7d84_story.html?hpid=z1

FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.

The agents have been asking associates of the McDonnells about gifts provided to the family by Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. and actions the Republican governor and his wife have taken that may have boosted the company, the people said.

why not that has always been the GOP's MO, does that make tem incapable of actually earning a win or do they always have to resort to purchases of suport to get votes?

Among the topics being explored, they said, is the $15,000 catering bill that Williams paid for the 2011 wedding of McDonnell’s daughter at Virginia’s historic Executive Mansion. But questions have extended to other, previously undisclosed gifts from Williams to Maureen McDonnell as well, they said.

has their brazen arrogance come home to roost are they too bold and in your face with their devious agenda that it's now starting to cave in on itself?  we can do more then hope so, 2014.

 if true then Gov. ultrasound coupled with bribery, he can kiss his seat goodbye and cancel the the Xmas party.

Senators Lose Support After Opposing Gun Background Checks, Poll Shows

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/gun-background-checks-poll_n_3177865.html

Between 2009 and 2012, states cut a total of $4.35 billion in public mental-health spending from their budgets. According to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, significant cuts to general fund appropriations for state mental health agencies have translated into a severe shortage of services, including housing, community-based treatment and access to psychiatric medications. "Increasingly, emergency rooms, homeless shelters and jails are struggling with the effects of people falling through the cracks," the report says, "due to lack of needed mental health services and supports."

South Carolina ($187.3 million in 2009 to $113.7 million in 2012, -39.3 percent): The director of the local NAMI chapter says the state’s mental-health department is “approaching crisis mode with funding at 1987 levels.” After closing community mental-health centers and reducing services at its remaining facilities, the department is now serving thousands fewer patients.

Alabama ($100.3 million in 2009 to $64.2 million in 2012, -36 percent): Alabama has one of thelowest numbers of psychiatrists [PDF] per capita in the nation. Despite rising demand for psychiatric hospital beds, Alabama plans to close most of its state mental hospitals this spring, laying off 948 employees.

Alaska ($125.6 million in 2009 to $84.7 million in 2012, -32.6 percent): Alaska has the nation’s No. 2 suicide rate—and a massive mental-health workforce shortage. Sometimes there is not a singlepsychiatrist or psychiatric nurse [PDF] available at the mental-health center in Fairbanks, the state’s second-largest city.

while instead of harsher gun laws we debate the need to clamp down on the mentalli ill, but th states don't sem to think it very important or they just don't care if you or members of your family die by guns, that accsessment should be made by those in the states that put little value on who gets a gun in their hand.

it's safe IMO to say there are not enough states or politicians the care but let's be fair if they don't why haven't those voters kicked them out leaving the question of who really doesn't care the ones that are stagnant or the ones that condone it by re-electing?

MAP: Which States Have Cut Treatment For the Mentally Ill the Most?

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/map-states-cut-treatment-for-mentally-ill

Between 2009 and 2012, states cut a total of $4.35 billion in public mental-health spending from their budgets. According to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, significant cuts to general fund appropriations for state mental health agencies have translated into a severe shortage of services, including housing, community-based treatment and access to psychiatric medications. "Increasingly, emergency rooms, homeless shelters and jails are struggling with the effects of people falling through the cracks," the report says, "due to lack of needed mental health services and supports."

South Carolina ($187.3 million in 2009 to $113.7 million in 2012, -39.3 percent): The director of the local NAMI chapter says the state’s mental-health department is “approaching crisis mode with funding at 1987 levels.” After closing community mental-health centers and reducing services at its remaining facilities, the department is now serving thousands fewer patients.

Alabama ($100.3 million in 2009 to $64.2 million in 2012, -36 percent): Alabama has one of thelowest numbers of psychiatrists [PDF] per capita in the nation. Despite rising demand for psychiatric hospital beds, Alabama plans to close most of its state mental hospitals this spring, laying off 948 employees.

Alaska ($125.6 million in 2009 to $84.7 million in 2012, -32.6 percent): Alaska has the nation’s No. 2 suicide rate—and a massive mental-health workforce shortage. Sometimes there is not a singlepsychiatrist or psychiatric nurse [PDF] available at the mental-health center in Fairbanks, the state’s second-largest city.

while instead of harsher gun laws we debate the need to clamp down on the mentalli ill, but th states don't sem to think it very important or they just don't care if you or members of your family die by guns, that accsessment should be made by those in the states that put little value on who gets a gun in their hand.

it's safe IMO to say there are not enough states or politicians the care but let's be fair if they don't why haven't those voters kicked them out leaving the question of who really doesn't care the ones that are stagnant or the ones that condone it by re-electing?