HorsesAss.Org

Wednesday Night Open Thread

by — ,

– The situation at Penn State is still a huge shock to me. Before all of this news broke, it was hard to imagine the kind of scenario that could lead to Joe Paterno being fired. My sister is an alum, and I’ve been there a number of times. People not familiar with the school and the town of State College have trouble understanding the level of reverence that community has for “JoePa”. It’s intense to the point of being creepy. I’m not even remotely surprised by the reaction. Or that the story itself was largely buried until after Paterno broke the all-time wins record last month.

– There’s so much irony here, it’s hard to know where to start.

– Tim Fernholz has a good overview of the latest in the Obama Administration’s medical marijuana crackdown.

– It would probably shock us to know exactly how many people are arrested like this by corrupt cops.

– Can anyone explain how this man was actually elected governor of a state?

Comments

  1. 1

    There were a couple guys outside the Walmart in Chehalis with I-502 petitions the other day. I didn’t ask if they were paid..I should have. Though the only signature gatherers I’ve ever seen in that location have been..

    The reason I bring this up is because in all my years living in Lewis County, I had never once seen a pot petition. I trust this is an indication that the I-502 people are much better organized and financed than all the other past efforts..

  3. 3

    In a way, the most distressing part of the drug-planting story is the mention of New York’s Finest having “arrest quotas”. Everyone’s heard of ticket quotas for traffic cops, but most of us don’t think of the possibility that law enforcement plays the same kind of “numbers games” all the way up the scale to felony arrests. How “keeping the peace” and assuring that people obey the law is best accomplished by viewing everyone as a criminal escapes me. Why try to be a law-abiding, upstanding citizen when you’re going to get screwed sooner or later anyway?

  4. 4

    # 3: That story IS depressing. Add it to the following scary things:

    (a) small-town police forces who use planted drugs as an excuse to use drug-forfeiture laws to seize any out-of-state vehicles who happen to pass through town, and not give them back when the charges are later dropped. In a few cases, it’s the only industry in town, making a few police and judges very rich in the process.

    (b) police who make a mistake (raiding wrong house, shooting wrong person) planting illegal drugs on the “suspect” to cover up their mistakes.

    Of course, what’ scary about the new story posted here is it’s randomness – they could simply arrest anyone who happens to get within their vision when they feel they haven’t yet met their quota.

    A surprising number of such “heros” in TV and movies engage in such conduct, and most of us end up taking some satisfaction for watching them find a way to make sure the bad guys pay, working through the system or outside of it. Kind of the “Dirty Harry” syndrom. That simply encourages such behavior – cops feel that since the person they arrest probably has gotten away with a crime at one point or another, then it’s okay to make up a sham case against them. In such cases minorities usually suffer the most.

  5. 5

    Maybe this is what we need (disclaimer: I proudly consider myself a hippie!):

    Gravy called his rather unorthodox security force the “Please Force,” a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order (“please don’t do that, please do this instead”). When asked by the press what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at the event, his response was “Cream pies and seltzer bottles.”

  7. 7

    “Can anyone explain how this man was actually elected governor of a state?”

    Texas isn’t a state, it’s a cow pasture with voting rights in Congress.

  8. 8

    Texans are also a bunch of cowards who feared an invasion of Sandinistas from Nicaragua back in the ’80s.

    Brownsville braces for Sandinista invasion

    ROWNSVILLE – Cameron County, mindful of President Reagan’s warning that the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua is “only two days’ drive from Harlingen,” is taking steps to prepare for an invasion.

    Taking heed of the president’s warning, local authorities are resolutely doing what has to be done – while trying to keep straight faces.

    Sheriff Alex Perez’s stalwart men already have a half-dozen Uzi submachine guns and a stack of M-16s.

    If only he could convince county commissioners to spring for a dozen or so riot helmets and shields, the sheriff quipped, his deputies willingly would man the trenches as a first line of defense against any Sandinista invasion.

    Houston Chronicle Archives 03/27/1986

  9. 9

    A journalist working the Penn State story is hinting the scandal may get much worse. Two storylines lurking in the shadows that might become breaking news are:

    1. Fired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky allegedly pimped boys to rich donors; and
    2. Sandusky allegedly was told to retire in exchange for a coverup.

  10. 10

    # 9: You might add to that the story which is surfacing today. It seems the prosecutor who was deciding whether to press charges in this case dissapeared in 2005, after “going for a drive”. His laptop was found in the river, minus the hard drive.

    Of course, this might not be related to the Sandusky case – by all accounts he was a pretty hard-driving prosecutor, and there were lots of people who would have been quite happy to learn that he had dissapread. But it does add a degree of mystory, does it not?

  11. 11

    According to a snippet floating around on Face Book:

    There was more property damage in last night’s pro-child rape riots at Penn State than all 100+ Occupy protests combined

  12. 12

    Roger Rabbit:

    Dan Thiesdel is reporting from London for Flight Global. He says that International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol, in London for the IEA World Energy Outlook report, says that security and social development concerns may reduce investment into oil production in North Africa and the Middle East as a result of the “Arab Spring” uprisings. If investment in oil production in those areas stays the same or decreases, there will be a shortfall in the face of rising world energy demands. The result will be $176 p/bbl oil by the summer of 2013.

    Any investment advice based on this prediction? Remember that not all oil stocks are equal – if you pick the wrong ones, you might find yourself betting on an oil company that is facing decreased supplies, rather than one which has plenty of supply and is profiting from the higher prices.

  13. 13

    This is quite funny.

  14. 14

    @12
    North Africa was spiraling out of control long before Arab Spring and investment there would have gone down as the region became more dangerous.

    Investment will go down in post Arab Spring N. Africa as now the oil companies have to deal in the open, with legitimate governments, share more of their profits, and clean up more of their messes.

  15. 15

    @9 If the awareness raised by the Penn State fiasco doesn’t die away, the media and the public just might bring an end to the wink-and-a-nod treatment of the human trafficking that happens in connection with the Superbowl.

  16. 16

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Poor Timmeh.

    (Warning, contains self-serving rationalizing self-pity from amoral fucktard.)

  17. 17

    Here is a VERY funny comment thread from Stefan’s sucky little blog, discussing the RINO-ness of Huntsman, and fretting about Mitt, among other Schadenfreudilicious topics.

  19. 19

    Yep, looks like Mary Verner’s lost the mayor’s race in Spokane.
    She’s down 21,726 to 23,871.

    David Condon, the apparent winner of the mayor’s race is a lacky of Kathy McMorris Rodgers’ and was heavily funded by the WSRP.

    From the Spokesman Review:

    The GOP contributed $38,000 to Condon’s campaign on Saturday, according to reports filed to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Late last month, the party gave his campaign $25,000.

    Condon, the former district director of Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, is challenging incumbent Mayor Mary Verner in Tuesday’s election. Last week, the executive director of the party said the GOP opted to contribute to Condon to help “take out” Verner to prevent her from challenging McMorris Rodgers in the future.

    The late contribution takes Condon’s total tally to $288,000. Verner has raised about $125,000. Independent groups have spent about $26,000 on her behalf.

    Please note the bolded area above. Why can’t the WA-Dems think like this? Why can’t they see a good progressive candidate in trouble and come to her aid so that she can challenge McMorris Rodgers in the future?

  20. 20

    The Spokane Mayors race is the second race we’ve lost to a McMorris-Rodgers underling. We need to shut that down.

  22. 22

    @20
    Does anyone really believe that McMorris-Rodgers doesn’t have underling #3 waiting in the wings?

    We’ve got a ton of Democrats serving in offices and they’ve gotten, as far as I can tell, zero underlings elected.

    We’ve lost the 3rd CD, we’ve failed to retake the 5th CD, we’re still striking out in the 8th CD. We’ve got Dem’s that are willing to cut Basic Health and unwilling to tax the extremely wealthy. We’re underfunding transit, freight rail, pedestrians and cyclists and over funding SOV’s. The GMA is a nice feel good measure, but in reality it’s like Mick Jagger’s mom, “A toothless pitted hag.” Housing’s in the toilet and we’re still losing farmland to sprawl. How is that even possible?

    Don’t get me started on higher ed. spending… We keep that shit up and we’re going to part of the third world real soon.

    And the WA-Dem’s sat back and watched a good Democrat get out spent and go down.

    Maybe it’s time to give Dwight Pelz his walking papers?

  23. 23

    @22
    Forgot to mention that Democrats, including the freaking head of of state senate, led the charge to scuttle the Clean Energy Act. Also, that a Democratic governor, the Democratic head of the state senate (again!) and gaggle of other select Dem’s decided to baselessly forward a letter from a union to the state patrol to have the union prosecuted. Fortunately for the union, the WA-Dem’s have yet to make political hardball a criminal offense.

    We need new Democrats!

  24. 24

    @23
    Run, Michael, RUN!

    (Only half tongue-in-cheek)

  26. 26

    I have a new video!

    As your president, I will do my part to reduce joblessness in America. I will personally conduct job interviews for various positions in the White House. Big tits and shorts skirts a plus.

    Remember to support Herman Cain for president.

  27. 27

    @24
    I’ve worked with a public officials before and have noticed two things about them.
    1. I’d be a lousy one.
    2. The occasional thrashing does them good.

  28. 28

    @27

    Chicken. ;)

  29. 29

    @25
    And why is that an “oops”?

  31. 31

    @29 Hmmm, good question, how did GOPers know about it and who redirected the link to a potentially embarrassing site? Was this a dirty trick?

  32. 32

    @30

    Altogether Savage has been the target of 22 internal investigations and has had 30 findings of misconduct–everything from conduct unbecoming, to insubordination to inappropriate use of authority.
    While patrolling Vashon Island in 2009, Savage racked up so many complaints the Sheriff’s Office moved him off the island after just nine months.

    Shouldn’t we set the bar a little higher for retention in law enforcement? 30 fucking findings of misconduct? Sheesh – they shouldn’t tolerate 1. These are people we authorize to carry weapons and potentially physically coerce people – who even in the case of suspects are innocent until proven guilty – not to mention menacing witnesses.

    We have grown too tolerant in this culture of being told what to do by people in uniform.

  33. 33

    @31
    You’re right – I was merely calling into question the condemnation of porn.

  34. 34

    The King County Sheriff has sacked an allegedly rogue deputy after “22 internal investigations and … 30 findings of misconduct.”

    Only 30? Shiiiit…

  36. 36

    Well, it looks like the Senate passed the amendment to give a tax credit to employers who hire veterans. It’s generally a good idea – returning veterans are finding themselves with among the highest unemployment rates, and facing discrimination against them in the job market, apparantly due to concerns that they might be called up again for active duty. Returning WWII veterans received various employment assistance, including having a bonus added to their civil service scores so they would have a slight advantage in government hiring.

    So, the day before Veterant’s day, nobody would dare vote against giving returning Iraq and Afganistan veterans a little leg up on the hiring ladder, would they?

    Wrong. GOP Sen. Jim DeMint called it a “Democratic Trick”, and voted against the amendment. He says he’s opposed to any tax credits which benefit specific groups, no matter how desearving they might be. You know, lay-down-your-life-for-your-country deserving.

    My first thought upon reading the headlines was that DeMint was mad that the Democrats thought of it first. Republicans like to pretend that they are the ones who care about our servicemen and women, and this went against their preferred narative.

    But when I saw his explanation, I was a little dumbfounded. Here’s how he explained it, in part:

    “DeMint argued that passing such a tax break was simply catering to an interest group and predicted little hiring would come from the measure. “Despite the overwhelming evidence that these tax credits do not stimulate hiring for targeted groups, the Obama administration continues to push Congress to pass another tax credit, this time exclusively for veterans,” he said. “By using a politically sensitive group the day before Veterans Day, the Democrats are hoping they can trick Republicans into further complicating the tax code.”

    Okay, lets get past the fact that DeMint thinks simplifying the tax code is more important than doing anything we can to help returning veterans get jobs. I guess we could expect as much – during the Bush administration Romney opposed measures to improve the economy because he thought that a poor economy helped keep more people in the military. That party’s seriously got their priorities screwed on backwards, and we’ve come to expect such nonsense from them.

    But note that DeMint says that

    “…Despite the overwhelming evidence that these tax credits do not stimulate hiring for targeted groups…”

    If DeMint believes this so strongly, then surely he also believes that giving tax breaks to corporations which are more general in nature, with no targeted beneficiary identified, is unlikely to result in jobs for Americans in general, does he not?

    But don’t expect ideological consistency from a cretin like DeMint.

  38. 38

    Wrong. GOP Sen. Jim DeMint called it a “Democratic Trick”, and voted against the amendment.

    DeMint is a fucking asshole, and I’m SURE he called it a “Democrat trick.”

  39. 39

    @36
    The last thing you want is a bunch of young folks who’ve been trained to be warriors and are good at killing people and destroying things standing around idle.

    Demint’s a fool.

  40. 40

    If I could draw better, I would draw a cartoon. An employer at a construction jobsite would be offering a veteran a job, his wife and young children standing beside his pickup truck (they gave him a ride to the interview). DeMint jumps out of his limosine, rushing towards them:

    “Stop! Don’t take that job! It’s a Democratic trick!”

  41. 41

    # 39:

    “The last thing you want is a bunch of young folks who’ve been trained to be warriors and are good at killing people and destroying things standing around idle.”

    Don’t expect the Repubilcans to understand this. The first thing Rumsfield did in Iraq was to order the Iraqi army to be disbanded. For the next decade you have a bunch of young trained killers in a country with 50% unemployment, and nothing to do but shoot at people and make IED’s. That’s one mistake I saw coming as soon as I heard about it. But Republicans never seem to learn from their mistakes, they just keep muttering the mantra and doubling-down on their mistakes.

  42. 42

    well it looks like the losers with occupy seattle at the seattle central CC are about to get kicked out.

    Here is a list just some of complaints by both school officials AND students:

    – drugs and drug paraphernalia, including needles are littering the ground
    – trash everywhere
    – occupy losers are entering school building and disrupting classes
    – vandalism
    – school restroom being used and abused
    -fights
    – the school lawn has been destroyed, which will need replacing
    – school costs to deal with the losers is upwards of $20k per week for extra security, trash hauling, etc…does not include costs to repair items vandalized and destroyed by the losers.

    hate to say it, but we told you so…just a bunch of losers and rejects….no wonder they cant find any work…hell, who would hire them?

  43. 43

    Brian Williams’s new show has spent it’s first two shows with segments devoted to the enormous opportunities (jobs & a century’s worth of natural gas) available in N. Dakota. They barely touched on (and dismissed) any controversy.

    But today it was revealed that testing in Wyoming was finding concentrations of carigins and a chemical usually used in fracking – found in home’s well waters.

    ‘Fracking’ chemical found in town’s aquifer

    It looks like the oil companies are racing to get the wells dug before more comprehensive studies reveal the extent of the dangers. Then afterwards, they could shrug and say “well, it’s already done, no sense crying over spilt milk”.

  44. 44

    43 – Oil is being fracked in North Dakota.. Gas comes out with the oil but very little at this point is being recovered. Most of it is being flared. North Dakota is just too darned remote it seems or it’s just not economic.

    The oil is then trucked from well-head storage to train transport to refineries.

    Gas is being fracked in Wyoming I believe. The Marcellus formation in PA seems to be shallower and more of a threat to water tables. Not sure about the situation in Wyoming.

    The whole fracking process is an enviromental minefield. If you’re not super careful and sweat the details the damage is just out of control.

    The Brian Williams stories on the fracking boom are just warmed over industry PR as far as I can see.

  46. 46

    sheot, you and lee rujax rosenberg got the hate market cornerd.

    and I dont just play…I win…..you ever wonder what thats like? I bet you do……

  51. 51

    @50

    you must be getting me confused with your drunk ass pops…mexicans do like their tequila..

    I dont drink often, but when I do I make sure its the good stuff.

  54. 54

    46. the lazy castillian spews:

    sheot, you and lee rujax rosenberg got the hate market cornerd.

    and I dont just play…I win…..you ever wonder what thats like? I bet you do……

    11/10/2011 at 6:39 pm

    There’s that big bad brave old emperor max-minidick and swingin’ 11 centimeter meat and his BIG ol’ $IX-FIGURE INCOME from his business…delivering shitty rim-jobs…to his BIG connections with union-busting multi-national corporations.

    Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a heartless ignorant scum bastard like the emperor max-minidick. Fortunately, I’ll never have to find out.

    http://www.thestand.org/2011/0.....litz-cops/

    Ports go silent as ILWU president surrenders to Cowlitz cops

    The following news release was distributed Monday by the ILWU:

    ——————————————————————————–

    LONGVIEW (Sept. 26) — Robert McEllrath, President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, added his voice to the growing chorus calling for an end to police brutality and harassment in Longview by surrendering himself today at 11 a.m. to authorities, Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson and Prosecuting Attorney Susan Baur, at the Cowlitz County Hall of Justice in Kelso.

    McEllrath waited about 20 minutes and was cited on misdemeanor charges of trespassing in the second degree and blocking or delaying a train, both related to a protest in rural Cowlitz County on Sept. 7. He was released after being cited.

    The show of solidarity from East and West Coast dockworkers was strong. All machinery and equipment in West Coast ports stopped for 15 minutes as McEllrath turned himself in, and the presidents of the local unions at the ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver accompanied him through the front door of the Hall of Justice. Also with McEllrath were two representatives from the International Longshoremen’s Association, including its International Vice President, Ken Riley.

    “Longshore workers stood down in silence today to express their anger about Cowlitz County law enforcement’s unfair treatment of our international president,” said Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman.

    By surrendering today, McEllrath follows in the footsteps of the 200 ILWU Local 21 members who attempted to turn themselves in at the Cowlitz County Hall of Justice on September 16, only to have their offer ignored and be ambushed by law enforcement in the following days. The ILWU filed a civil rights lawsuit on September 22, alleging harsh tactics and retaliation on the part of Longview Police and the Sheriff’s Department. McEllrath had been advised by his attorney, Tom Phelan, that there was a warrant for his arrest, and Phelan accompanied McEllrath to the courthouse.

    “Today I’m standing with Longview’s longshore workers and their supporters who have been harshly punished for standing up to multinational bully EGT,” said McEllrath, a Vancouver longshore worker who was elected as ILWU International President in 2006 and re-elected in 2009. “Sheriff Mark Nelson needs to start accepting our offers to process arrests peacefully, and stop sending out multiple squad cars on Sundays to make over-the-top arrests and rack up the overtime costs. The Sheriff’s current program is totally unnecessary and clearly designed to intimidate and harass union members for exercising their free speech and associational rights.”

    The ILWU, through its legal counsel, has made several attempts to arrange the orderly and peaceful arrests of anyone who may have an outstanding warrant due to the protest of EGT on rural Port of Longview property. Sheriff Mark Nelson has denied to the media that such attempts were made, though correspondence from Nelson to union counsel shows that the sheriff acknowledged and refused the union’s offer to make such arrangements.

    About 135 longshore workers and their supporters have been arrested this summer in the struggle to stop EGT from violating its lease agreement with the Port of Longview in which the company committed to hire longshore workers. EGT is a multinational joint venture owned by three global companies: Bunge, which operates in more than 30 countries and profited $2.5 billion in 2010, Itochu from Japan and STX Pan Ocean from Korea.

    The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents 50,000 men and women on the docks, in grain terminals and in other industries in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and Hawaii. Union longshore workers have worked in all Northwest grain terminals for the past 80 years and recently reached a new tentative collective bargaining agreement with all of the other region’s grain export terminals after just three days of negotiations.

    How much do the emperor max-minidick’s shitty rim-job customers have to pay to BUY a police department? Hmmmmmm…..

  55. 55

    How much do the emperor max-minidick’s shitty rim-job customers have to pay to BUY a police department? Hmmmmmm…..

    Lee, its more than you can afford.

    say hello to bellow-mediocre land for me….

  56. 56

    http://www.ilwu.org/?p=3214

    Longview prepares for the long-haul

    October 19, 2011 2:55 pm

    ILWU Local 21 members are continuing their fight for fairness at the EGT grain terminal in Longview, Washington, where the
    high-stakes struggle continues to generate some dramatic twists and turns.

    “The fight for justice in Longview involves a lot more than just our little town – it’s about corporate greed and the future
    of America’s middle class,” said ILWU Local 21 President Dan Coffman.

    ■Over 200 ILWU members have now been arrested, including International President Bob McEllrath who was charged on September 26, and Local 21 President Dan Coffman who was cuffed on September 21 along with a dozen local women. Most are charged with trespassing and blocking EGT grain trains.
    ■Responding to complaints of police harassment and discrimination, The ILWU filed a lawsuit in federal court that charged local
    law enforcement officials with violating the civil rights of union members and supporters in Longview.
    ■In response to the ILWU’s Civil Rights suit, the Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s office finally took action against an EGT employee who assaulted two ILWU picketers with his Chevy Suburban on August 29th. Although the man was charged with two counts of felony hit-and-run driving (instead of felony assault with a deadly weapon), the prosecutor refused to have him arrestedlike so many union members who have been charged with minor offenses. Unlike union members, EGT’s violent driver was allowed to receive a summons in the mail for his violent attack on two workers. Law enforcement officials had refused for weeks to arrest the driver; instead deputies arrested union members who allegedly kicked the car driven by EGT’s employee who tried to run over picketers then fled the crime scene and went to work in the outlaw grain terminal.
    ■A community rally on September 29 sponsored by Jobs With Justice attracted 1,000 supporters who gathered in front of the Longview City Hall. Concerned community members from throughout the Columbia River area and beyond
    joined with local small business owners and union supporters to show their solidarity.
    ■On September 30, a federal judge imposed a $250,000 penalty on the ILWU, saying the union should reimburse EGT, local law enforcement and government attorneys for expenses he attributed to events on September 7and 8 when union members allegedly blocked trains and entered EGT’s facility on Port property. The ILWU is appealing the judge’s ruling and penalties.
    ■ In a separate Federal Court ruling on October 7, the same judge rejected EGT’s motion for summary judgment and determined that EGT was “acutely aware of the (ILWU Local 21) Working Agreement, and of the Port’s (and ILWU’s) belief that it established union longshore jurisdiction over the property to be leased – both on the docks and on the land side of the facility.” While the ruling was positive, it was only one decision in an extensive legal battle.

    The fight for good jobs at EGT seems to be entering a phase where legal and courtroom battles compete for attention with events on the ground. The announcement of the $250,000 penalty and threat of future fines attracted predictable media attention and fodder for anti-union outlets including Rush Limbaugh and Wall Street Journal editorial writers who are trying to use the Longview story to turn the public against unions.

    Rough justice for workers

    The September 30 court ruling against the ILWU by theFederal Court in Tacoma was not unexpected because federal labor laws generally favor business and commerce over workers and the community. ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet was quick to make that point when the court issued their ruling and he criticized the method used to arrive at the $250,000
    penalty, explaining, “The judge took the NLRB’s proposed damage amount of nearly $300,000 and rounded
    it down to $250,000 without any findings of fact or ruling on our evidentiary objections. This kind of ‘rough justice’ and imprecise decision-making is exactly what the law is supposed to prevent. But this court used back-of-the-napkin guestimates. There was also not even an attempt to determine which, if any events, were arguably connected to what the union allegedly did on the 7th and 8th of September.”

    Court’s questionable accounting

    The court-ordered penalty includes reimbursement to local law enforcement for the cost of police uniforms that were purchased in July before a court order was in effect. Other questionable expenses included the purchase of weapons by public and private police forces, overtime pay for unnecessary and wasteful staffing by the Cowlitz County Sheriff, exorbitant travel and salary costs for EGT lawyers – including time billed at over $400 an hour and first class airfare, and the reimbursement of government lawyers at hourly rates exceeding $400 – which is far more than they’re actually paid. The ILWU issued a statement saying that the union will appeal thedecision and expects the ruling to be overturned.

    Rally shows strong support

    The Large Rally on September 29 offered convincing proof that support for ILWU Local 21 has deep roots. Jobs With Justice worked with the AFL-CIO Labor Federations in Oregon and Washington to spread the word and encourage attendance. Jeff Johnson, President of the Washington State AFL-CIO, summed up the fight to more than one thousand supporters who gathered in the park: “We’re going to win this fight because we’re right. We’re going to win this fight because this work – loading and unloading ships – is Longshore labor. And we’re going to win this fight because we’re going to stay out here one day onger,” he said.

    Faith community comes forward

    On Sunday afternoon, October 2, a smaller group of 100 gathered at the same park where the large rally met a few days earlier. The Sunday event featured local churchgoers who gathered quietly in the park with their heads bowed and eyes closed to offer prayers for a peaceful resolution to the conflict with EGT.

    The group was convened by the Kelso Longview Ministerial Association which represents many local churches. Freda Everdell, 84, joined the prayer vigil and told a local reporter that she’s supported the International Longshore and Warehouse Union since her husband joined in 1946.

    “This is a good thing for the whole community,” she said, referring to the prayer vigil. “I think the whole community needs it.” James Gaulke, a member of the local electricians’ union, said he hopes the jobs at the grain terminal will eventually go to the ILWU and that the Operating Engineers will support the Longshoremen’s cause.

    “In my opinion, EGT is pitting one union against another that is wrong,” said Gaulke. He hopes that the Operating Engineers will stand down and “join in solidarity with the ILWU.”

    “As a Christian, with strong Biblical convictions, I’m confident that my God is bigger than EGT,” Gaulke said.

    Resuming contract talks is key

    EGT and ILWU Local 21 participated in collective bargaining negotiations between September 2009 and May 2011. In April 2011, contract negotiations got stalled over EGT’s demand to have longshoremen work 12 hour shifts without any overtime pay and the company’s refusal to recognize maintenance, repair, and master console jurisdiction. To date, EGT has not returned to the
    negotiating table and continues to refuse to agree to the Grainhandlers Agreement – even though ILWU Local 21 expressed its willingness to modify the agreement to meet EGT’s particular needs.

    These are regular working American men and their families getting SCREWED…

    http://www.thomhartmann.com/bl.....ddle-class

    Submitted by Thom Hartmann A… on 8. November 2007 – 21:27

    Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class

    The American middle class is on its deathbed.

    Ordinary folks who put in a solid day’s work can no longer afford to buy a house, send their kids to college, or even get sick. If you’re not a CEO, you’re probably screwed.

    In his latest book, Thom Hartmann shows how the American middle class that was so carefully constructed by our country’s founding fathers has been systematically dismantled over the past quarter-century, and, under the guise of “freeing” the market, replaced by a system designed to line the pockets of the super-rich and corporations

    …by EGT is multinational joint venture owned by three global companies: Bunge, which operates in more than 30 countries and profited $2.5 billion in 2010, Itochu from Japan and STX Pan Ocean from Korea.

    Rat Bastards, like the evil fuckers at Penn State, and like the emperor max-minidick.

    It’s all ok…if you put a buck in your pocket, everything goes.

  57. 57

    anybody who reads Thom Hartman is already a fool….and a tool.

    and Lee, geezus, your jealousy(and associated anger) towards others is really spewing over tonight….

    can I be your facebook friend?

  61. 61

    57. the lazy castillian spews:

    anybody who reads Thom Hartman is already a fool….and a tool.

    11/10/2011 at 7:49 pm

    So maybe the emperor mini-dick would like to tell the class (and stop playing with that mighty 11 cm) just where Mr. Hartmann is incorrect?

    Hmmmmmmm?????

  62. 62

    Herman Cain, the Koch-embedded Kosmic Komic Kandidate, hired a libel lawyer who’s threatening to SUE anyone who accuses him of SEXUAL HARASSMENT:

    “A high-profile defamation lawyer retained by Republican presidential contender Herman Cain said Thursday that he was not hired to scare, intimidate or threaten anyone from making statements, but to monitor accusations and respond accordingly. …

    “‘I would certainly at some point and time give him my legal evaluation of whether any of these particular statements are potentially actionable,’ Wood said in a separate interview with Reuters. ‘But I was not hired to run out and file a lawsuit against anybody.'”

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45.....sion_2012/

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: I’m not a high-profile defamation attorney, but I don’t need to be; this is first-year law student stuff.

    Mr. Wood’s advice to Cain will go like this: “You’re a public figure, so you can’t sue for defamation absent actual malice; and, of course, truth is always an absolute defense against any defamation claim.”

    This is strictly for show, folks, meaning this lawyer was hired to sway voters not juries.

  63. 63

    @36 So employers — you know, those Republican-voting patriotic folks — have to be bribed with tax credits to hire veterans? They won’t hire veterans unless taxpayers PAY them to?

  65. 65

    Yay!

    Wall Street critic Elizabeth Warren will join financial reform legislation architect Sen. Maria Cantwell for a Dec. 9 fundraiser at the Paramount, under the title: Fighting for Main Street over Wall Street.

    Warren worked at the White House to organize the new consumer protection bureau created under the 2010 Wall Street reform legislation. Warren was not nominated to direct it after Senate Republicans vowed a lengthy filibuster to block her.

    Instead, she has become one of Democrats’ star recruits in the 2012 election cycle — so much that a major Republican “SuperPAC” has just launched a $569,000 anti-Warren TV buy in Massachusetts.
    http://blog.seattlepi.com/seat.....-cantwell/

    That’s the way to do it, make the Republicans spend, spend, spend.

  67. 67

    @54 Those kinds of “cops” usually sell themselves cheap. They’ll do the bidding of Big Bad Bidness for $3,200 a month.

  68. 68

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....f=homepage

    For Bank Of America, Debit Fees Extend To Unemployment Benefits

    First Posted: 11/10/11 07:20 AM ET Updated: 11/10/11 09:12 AM ET

    CORDOVA, S.C.– Shawana Busby does not seem like the sort of customer who would be at the center of a major bank’s business plan. Out of work for much of the last three years, she depends upon a $264-a-week unemployment check from the state of South Carolina. But the state has contracted with Bank of America to administer its unemployment benefits, and Busby has frequently found herself incurring bank fees to get her money.

    To withdraw her benefits, Busby, 33, uses a Bank of America prepaid debit card on which the state deposits her funds. She could visit a Bank of America ATM free of charge. But this small community in the state’s rural center, her hometown, does not have a Bank of America branch. Neither do the surrounding towns where she drops off her kids at school and attends church.

    She could drive north to Columbia, the state capital, and use a Bank of America ATM there. But that entails a 50 mile drive, cutting into her gas budget. So Busby visits the ATMs in her area and begrudgingly accepts the fees, which reach as high as five dollars per transaction. She estimates that she has paid at least $350 in fees to tap her unemployment benefits.

    “It really boggles my mind,” she said. “This bank is taking little bits of money out of thousands of pockets, including mine.”

    Bank of America recently aborted plans to charge ordinary banking customers $5 a month to use their debit cards in the face of national outrage. But the bank has quietly continued to mine another source of fees: jobless people who depend upon the bank’s prepaid debit cards to tap their benefits. Bank of America and other financial firms — including U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase — have secured contracts to provide access to public benefits in 41 states. These contracts typically allow banks to collect unlimited fees from merchants and consumers.

    In short, the same banks whose speculation delivered a financial crisis that has destroyed millions of jobs have figured out how to turn widespread unemployment into a profit center: The larger the number of people who are out of work and dependent upon the state for sustenance, the greater the potential gains through administering their benefits.

    “It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, a Columbia nonprofit that represents low-income people facing foreclosure, food insecurity and other problems. “It should not cost you any more to use a debit card than if they had issued you a check.”

    The emperor max=minidick just loooves this kinda shit. His kinda guys. Guys that would get Unions fighting with each other. Guys that would look the other way while big shots molest boys.

    That emperor max-minidick, he’s really something.

  69. 69

    Isnt this website supposed to be about politcal issues? I already heard about this on espn.

  70. 70

    69 – There are weighty political issues surrounding the Paterno/Sandusky controversy. This is topic of discussion EVERYWHERE. On sports talk radio as well as right wing or left leaning political talk radio.

    Penn State is not an insignificant institution and this tragedy goes to very heart of the place.

    Get out more.

  71. 71

    Over here in Asia, this Penn State Scandal had legs back in April 2011. Funny how the standard news media is all appalled now when the evidence was first presented back then.

  73. 73

    Speaking of ESPN…

    Then of course there is the old media fallback explanation of “hypocrisy” (used most often to justify more coverage of Republican sex scandals than the Democratic variety). Paterno, the reasoning goes, needed to be held to a higher standard because we thought he was so much better than everyone else in this rotten business.

  75. 75

    Politics (from Greek πολιτικός, “of, for, or relating to citizens”), is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society. It consists of “social relations involving authority or power”[1] and refers to the regulation of public affairs within a political unit,[2] and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.[3]…

    Political scientist Harold Lasswell defined politics as “who gets what, when, and how”.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics

    74 – All of these guys called for lower taxes and smaller government, rugged individualism, blah, blah, blah:

    http://republicanoffenders.com/Pedophiles.html

    When institutions cover this kind of behavior up and look the other way – politics is involved..

    PERIOD.

  76. 76

    Lmfao…..I get it bleeder…everything in your little wrld revolves around politics………

    Btw…papa joe voted for obama in08….so there, how about that for some politics.

  77. 77

    @76 How do you know? We vote by secret ballot in this country. And if he did, so fucking what?

  79. 79

    Maybe there’s some hope for Republicans after all. New Iowa polls show Cain’s popularity plunging in that state. Perhaps threatening to sue the victims of his sexual harassment doesn’t go over so well even in that crowd?

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