Warning to Women about the GOP: Close Your Eyes and Close Your Mind

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/stephen-pizzo/42016/just-close-your-mind

JUST CLOSE YOUR MIND
By Stephen Pizzo

I'm not into beating dead horses. But this horse ain't dead. Not even close. It's alive and well and trying to drag American women back a century or two.

Of all the things I feared religious conservatives would pull, I never dreamt they'd try to return the nation's contraceptive laws to where they were in the late 1800s. But that's exactly what they are up to.

Do we need any further proof that Afghanistan's Taliban have their equal in American evangelical Christians? Both groups have, shall we say, "issues" -- big ones -- with all things woman and all things sexual.

Both the Taliban and American evangelicals dream of the day when they return their world to the way it was when great-grandpa called the shots and great-grandma did what she was told -- or else. Back when grown women were considered part household appliance and part puppy-mill. Ah, those were the days. When men were MEN and women were -- well, not men.

The "Grand Old Party," -- GOP -- now stands for Gynecologically Obsessed Patriarchs -- who are -- apparently way off their meds and on the loose.

Women beware. These Brooks Brother Mullahs are drawing up search warrants, and it's not your home they want to search. No. They know where sluts hide stuff from fellas ... you know, "up there." And, dammit, they want a look. (Can Egyptian-style virginity checks be far behind?)

Anyway, here is more on this. Have a nice weekend. Oh, and ladies, keep your legs crossed tightly if should you run into a GOP candidate out there on the stump. He's interested in you.. but not in a good way.

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Thoughts about Santorum

Santorum is working hard to drag women (and men, who also have an interest in birth control..D'uh!) back into the dark ages.  I find it difficult to believe that Republican women are still wanting to vote for him.  Yet, obviously many of them do, especially in the south and midwest where fundamentalist Christianity is strong.  Even Cheney has gone beyond the belief systems of Santorum and Company.  He has changed his mind about gay and lesbian rights, since his daughter was born with that sexual identity. But that's not an option for fundamentalist Christians who have gay people in their family and are told they must "hate the sin and love the sinner."  Too bad they have to believe their dear relatives are sinners. What a harsh thing religion can be!  Cheney may not be a fundamentalist Christian.  If he is/was, he has violated so many Biblical/Christian edicts in his political life, he has excommunicated himself from Christianity, as defined by the teachings of Christ.  But, then, by their actions and beliefs, so have many of the fundamentalists themselves -- and they don't realize it. 

I love the title of the book Calvin Trillin wrote about Bush a few years ago.  "Obliviously On He Sails."  I think the same thing about the Republican women and men who are voting against their own interests by following Santorum:  "Obliviously On They Sail."  If by some miracle that man becomes President, there will be a lot of dark surprises in store re. women's rights and separation between church and state.  All the things Republicans worried about when Kennedy was running that didn't come to pass after his election, WILL very likely come to pass if Santorum and the Vatican get into the White House.

Isn't it amazing that, here in the 21st century, we are actually devolving as a species, instead of evolving?  All you have to do is look at the Republican slate of candidates for proof of that. 

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SANTORUM: KEEPING WOMEN IN THEIR PLACE----------------------AND TIME.

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Majority of Americans want Rush Limbaugh fired

OH BOY, DO I AGREE WITH THAT!!!  I'll bet a lot of Republicans do, too -- at least, the thinking ones. 

A majority of Americans say that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh should be off the air after he called a Georgetown University law student a “slut” and a “prostitute” over her support for contraception, according to a recently released poll. An even larger majority said that birth control should not be part of the national political debate at all.

In a survey of likely voters, Bloomberg found that 53 percent — including 56 percent of women and 49 percent of men — thought Limbaugh should be fired. Nearly one-third of Republicans believed it was time for the conservative icon to step down.

In a statement on his website early this month, Limbaugh said he “sincerely” apologized to Sandra Fluke, who he disparaged after she testified before Congress about the need for contraception coverage at colleges and universities, even if they are owned by religious institutions.The U.S. Army is among 141 advertisers that have pulled out of Limbaugh’s radio show since the controversy began.

A majority of likely voters told Bloomberg that the issue of contraception was about women’s health instead of religious liberty. Women, at 68 percent, were 11 points more likely than men to view the issue that way.

Overall, 77 percent — regardless of their view on the issue — said contraception should not even be a part of the national dialog.

The survey also found that President Barack Obama holds a slight four point lead over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney among women. Obama’s lead grew to nine points when compared with GOP hopeful Rick Santorum.

Democrats were seen favorably by 49 percent of female voters, while only 44 percent held a favorable view of Republicans.

A Washington Post survey released on Monday found that Democrats were perceived as caring more about issues that are important to women by 25 points, 55 percent to 30 percent.

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Quotes about politicians

The reason Politicians try so hard to get reelected  is that they would 'hate' to have to make a living  under the laws they've passed. --- Socratex  I think Congressmen should wear uniforms, you know, like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors. --- Socratex 

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A Woman's Voice

Hello to all my girlfriends and to the few men I know who honor women and support women's rights:

I just saw a great music video, made especially for and about us women.  We are so often forgotten and ignored by the men in politics -- and even abused by callous, crude men like Rush Limbaugh.  This year it's time to make our voices heard!  The more women we have in Congress, the more chance we have of turning our world around from the dangerous war course on which it is now set. 

Senator Barbara Boxer and her PAC for a Change just released their first "official" music video, "A Woman's Voice," written by Oscar-winning songwriters Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch, to showcase the incredible women running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

It's a powerful video that highlights how far we have come in creating a more equal society -- and the impact we could make by electing the most women in history to the U.S. Senate this November. Especially with what's been going on in Congress lately, I hope you'll watch the video and join Senator Boxer's WinWithWomen2012 campaign.

http://www.winwithwomen2012.com/womans-voice

If you find this a valuable message, please pass it along to all your women friends.  Thanks!

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Don't ever use ROUNDUP on weeds in your yard or eat foods sprayed with it.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/13/active-ingredient-glyphosate-in-roundup-herbicides-found-in-peoples-urine.aspx?e_cid=20120313_DNL_art_1

The "Safe" Garden Product that Can Destroy Your DNA

EXCERPT:  It's important to avoid the use of Roundup on your lawn and garden, but on a larger scale the best way to fight back against this chemical is by boycotting the GM crops that were developed for its use. Several organizations, including Mercola.com, the Organic Consumers Association, the Institute for Responsible Technology, and the Environmental Working Group, are working to generate a tipping point of consumer rejection to make GMOs a thing of the past.

Here's how you can get involved:

• If you live in California and are willing to attend a short training session and then start collecting petition signatures (you will be part of a team of 2-4 people) for the California Ballot Initiative, sign up here. (For more information see: The California Ballot Initiative: Taking Down Monsanto.) Also remember to share this information with family and friends in California!
• Whether you live in California or not, please donate money to this historic effort
• Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content. You can also download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

In the meantime, the simplest way to avoid GM foods is to buy whole, certified organic foods. By definition, foods that are certified organic must never intentionally use GM organisms, must be produced without artificial pesticides and fertilizers and come from an animal reared without the routine use of antibiotics, growth promoters or other drugs. Additionally, grass-fed beef will not have been fed GM corn feed, although now that GM alfalfa is approved, grass-fed will not always mean GMO free.

You can also look for foods that are "non-GMO verified" by the Non-GMO Project.

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Catherine Crier has an excellent suggestion

She suggests that American women should listen to Santorum and accommodate him and Republican men by only having sex within marriage and only when wishing to procreate, just as Santorum has stated it should be.  In other words, women will stop having sex with men except in marriage and then only when they want to make a baby.  Otherwise, sex is out of the question.  I wonder how long that would last -- and how many Republicans would want to vote for Santorum then.   Watch Catherine on the Bill Maher show at:

► 5:58► 5:58

www.youtube.com/watch?v=15cG8SihV8Q

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Mark Twain, man of wisdom

"Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out... and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel.... And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" - with his mouth."      --Mark Twain

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Blessed silence during commercial breaks on Limbaugh's show

Now there are beautiful, long silences during the commercial breaks in the online streaming of Limbaugh's show on WABC, the flagship station for his broadcasts. Here are the amazing stats:

• A total of 86 ads aired during WABC's online streaming broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show yesterday;
• 77 of those ads were public service announcements donated free of charge by the Ad Council;
• Of the nine paid spots that ran, seven were from companies that have said they have taken steps to ensure their ads no longer air during the program;
• WABC's online feed included about 5:33 of dead air when ads would normally have run.

Click here to listen to the silence during the commercial breaks on Rush Limbaugh's program, and be sure to share it with friends over Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else.

In the most important way, Limbaugh has killed himself. Ding dong, the evil loudmouth clown is dead! Women everywhere are rejoicing!  May he and his stinkin' cigar NEVER resurrect!

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Do you want to subsidize the antiquated religious beliefs of a small minority?

If the only place you have heard about this is FOX News or Rush Limbaugh, please read the underlined parts below to get a true understanding.

How Republicans Are Trying to Force You to Pay for Others' Religious Beliefs

By Joshua Holland

We shouldn't have to subsidize the antiquated religious beliefs of a small minority.

March 6, 2012  |  

 

Last week, the Blunt-Rubio Amendment, which would have allowed any employer to refuse to cover any medical goods or services he or she found “morally objectionable,” went down to a narrow defeat, but Republicans aren't giving up on the issue. They appear to be intent on using the power of government to force the vast majority of Americans who have no problem with birth control to pay for a small minority's personal beliefs through higher insurance premiums.

I should make one thing clear: religious liberty is bedrock principle, and people whose faith leads them to oppose the use of birth control have that right. But that's not the issue – nobody is being forced to use contraception contrary to their beliefs, and the “accommodation” the Obama administration came to with the Catholic bishops means that religious institutions don't need to get involved.

In fact, many states have long mandated that prescription drug plans cover contraceptives, and the issue of “religious liberty” was never even raised until it became a partisan talking-point. Mitt Romney didn't carve out an exception for employers that are affiliated with a church in Massachussetts, nor did Mike Huckabee when he was the governor of Arkansas.

In New Hampshire, Republican lawmakers are trying to do away with just such a requirement. The law has been in effect for 12 years, since it was passed by a Republican legislature. As NPR noted, “nobody at the time, it seems, saw the policy as a blow against religious liberty.” State Rep. Terie Norelli, who co-sponsored the law in 2000, told NPR, "There was no discussion whatsoever — I even went back and looked at the history from the bill. There was not one comment about religious freedoms." According to the report, “It wasn't just lawmakers who were silent; religious leaders were, too.”

No, this is about health insurance. And the simple fact is that it costs insurers a lot more to cover a population without offering that population birth control than it does to pick up the cost of contraceptives. What will insurers do if they have to pay extra not to cover birth control? They will, of course, pass the extra costs onto the rest of us through higher premiums.

And this is fundamentally unfair. The vast majority of Americans don't have a moral objection to using birth-control (99 percent of women who are at risk of becoming pregnant have done so), and as long as the devout's right to practice their religion as they choose – to only engage in “procreative sex” if they so choose -- is not in danger, then we shouldn't have to pay for their superstitions through higher premiums.

Religious conservatives are desperately trying to turn this argument on its head, claiming it is they who would have to pay higher premiums to cover others' birth control. “It’s not really about whether contraception would be included in insurance coverage,” Tim LeFever, head of the Capitol Resource Institute, a religious-right group, told Salon. “It’s that with our country’s tradition of religious liberty, Obama would step in like he did. Very few people consider the compromise anything more than a wink and a nod. Most of us say, ‘Of course we’re still paying for it. You’re still going to war against our conscience.’”

He's right that most conservatives say exactly that, but it couldn't be further from the truth. As I wrote recently, it costs significantly more to insure a population without offering contraception because the cost of unwanted pregnancies is so high – higher, in fact, than the cost of planned pregnancies, which are associated with lower risk of complications. For the cost of the average childbirth in the United States, you could cover a woman's birth control pills for approximately 293 years.

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A real crime that radiation therapy actually causes cancer

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/radiation-therapy-linked-development-secondary-cancers-heart-disease/story?id=15864706#.T1fC4_U0iSo

What a sad state of affairs when there are many alternative treatments that actually cure cancer without being harmful to the patient--but Big Pharma and the controlled FDA don't want you to know about them, so they persecute and prosecute practitioners using these therapies.  Such a world we live in--it is driven by greed of the 1% who can never get enough $$ to satisfy them. 

For proof, see the film Burzynski about a doctor who has been hounded through decades by Big Pharma, the AMA, and the FDA, all of whom want his patents for their own.  They are still pursuing him through the courts, even though in every case they have brought against him, the judges ruled in Dr. Burzynski's favor and have even questioned the prosecution in wonderment as to why they are persecuting this good doctor who has cured hundreds of patients of brain cancer (as well as several other types of cancer), for which no hope was given by western medicine.  You can see the documentary in full online at: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/burzynski-the-movie-cancer-is-serious-business/

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Kucinich goes down -- a sad day

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/marcy-kaptur-dennis-kucinich-ohio-primary_n_1325014.html

The Repugs finally got rid of him by the sneaky strategy of gerrymandering the districts.  Their intent for years has been to get Kucinich's voice and his integrity out of Congress.  One has to admit that a lone man with integrity no longer belongs among the weasels who now occupy the Senate and House.  If only it were the other way around!!!!

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Rush Limbaugh and the Right Wing Nervous Breakdown

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/eric-boehlert/41797/rush-limbaugh-and-the-right-wing-nervous-breakdown
Honestly, would you really want to belong to a party that had Rush Limbaugh as its spokesman? It's enough to make any sane person flee in horror!

EXCERPT: It's no secret Republican leaders live in fear of Limbaugh and over the years have found it almost impossible to publicly criticize even his most outlandish and hateful statements. Those few who did stop forward were often forced to then quickly reverse course and apologize to Limbaugh. Just like Republicans have had to bow down to kingmakers at Fox News and embrace their lowest common denominator programming. Incredibly!, Large portions of the right-wing media complex saw nothing wrong with that kind of behavior; saw nothing wrong with the 53 bullying smears Limbaugh unloaded on the student in front of his national radio audience. Not only did they defend Limbaugh, they lashed out at anyone who suggested the titan talker lacked common sense. And then they stomped on Sandra Fluke's reputation some more....  The Republican Party years ago made a Faustian bargain with the right-wing Noise Machine. And now it's paying the price.

RUSH LIMBAUGH AND THE RIGHT WING NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
By Eric Boehlert

It turns out that even in cases of emergency, the GOP Noise Machine has no off switch.

Republicans learned that painful lesson as the Rush Limbaugh "slut" fiasco made headlines for days on end. With the Voice of the Republican Party engulfed in one of the most damaging (and self-inflicted) controversies of his career, and with parts of the GOP Noise Machine scrambling to actually defend Limbaugh, as well as to echo his misogynist taunts, it's been the larger conservative movement that has been absorbing the worst blows.

For a Republican Party already suffering from a yawning gender gap, Limbaugh's hijacking of the news cycle last week must have been unwelcome news. But this is what happens when Republicans sponsor an irresponsible media Noise Machine that's designed to offend and attack and is designed to dehumanize its political enemies. This is what happens when the wheels fall off in spectacular fashion, like Limbaugh spending three days smearing, by name, a Georgetown University Law School student as greedy nymphomaniac having so much sex "it's amazing she can still walk."

It's no secret Republican leaders live in fear of Limbaugh and over the years have found it almost impossible to publicly criticize even his most outlandish and hateful statements. Those few who did stop forward were often forced to then quickly reverse course and apologize to Limbaugh. Just like Republicans have had to bow down to kingmakers at Fox News and embrace their lowest common denominator programming.

The truth is the conservative movement in America has become a media-based one, delegating an absurd amount of influence to bloggers, cable channels and talk show hosts. In turn, that movement suffered a collective collapse last week. Incapable of self-reflection, player after player, including those at Fox News, rushed forward to condemn the law student and/or to insist the AM talker had done nothing wrong by, A) insulting the young woman, B) mocking her parents C) demanding she post videos of herself having sex online, and D) suggesting she was using condoms when she was in elementary school.

Large portions of the right-wing media complex saw nothing wrong with that kind of behavior; saw nothing wrong with the 53 bullying smears Limbaugh unloaded on the student in front of his national radio audience. Not only did they defend Limbaugh, they lashed out at anyone who suggested the titan talker lacked common sense. And then they stomped on Sandra Fluke's reputation some more.

A sample of the swill:

-Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin denounced Fluke as a "femme-agogu tool."

-The right-wing site Jawa Report illustrated a post about Fluke with a picture of a tattoo that reads "Semen Demon."

-Pam Geller wrote that Fluke is "banging it five times a day" and that "calling this whore a slut was a softball."

-Accuracy in Media's Don Irvine called her a "skank."

-Former CPAC Blogger of The Year, Ace of Spades, called Fluke a "shiftless rent-a-cooch from East Whoreville."

-Michelle Malkin guest blogger Doug Ross used "Got Slut?" in a headline and suggested Fluke suffered from "nymphomania."

-Dana Loesch complained the controversy surrounding Limbaugh's three-day "slut" campaign represented a "manufactured" story. (This, before Limbaugh responded to the "manufactured" story by issuing a rare public statement.)

This is nuts. (What word would you choose?) A law student testifies about contraception and within days conservative commentators are sprinting towards their microphones and keyboards in order to find ways to call her a slutty, semen demon?

That's what a nervous breakdown looks like and that's what has been broadcast across AM talk radio, Fox News and the Internet since last Wednesday.

Some conservative voices did acknowledge the errors of Limbaugh's ways and condemned Republicans for cozying up to him.Wall Street Journalist Peggy Noonan called his performance "crude, rude, even piggish." And on ABC's This Week, George Will coined Sunday's best phrase when he pointed out Republicans leaders "want to bomb Iran, but they're afraid of Rush Limbaugh."

A Washington Post editorial suggested that, "For the good of U.S. political culture -- or at least its own political self-interest -- the GOP must distance itself from Mr. Limbaugh." But few members tried, even timidly, to do the right thing.

Ron Paul dismissed Limbaugh's misogynist taunts as being a "little crude," Rep. John Boenher gently chastised the talk show host for using "inappropriate" language, and Mitt Romney said simply that Limbaugh's brutal name-calling didn't include "the language I'd use."

The Republican Party years ago made a Faustian bargain with the right-wing Noise Machine. And now it's paying the price.

Blogger Tod Kelly made this observation in the wake of Limbaugh's "slut" debacle:

The people behind the people in the GOP aren't idiots. They know perfectly well that this whole battle on contraception is going to kill them in a few months; they certainly know that the Right's most visible pundits lamely and uncomfortably trying to rally around Limbaugh is especially bad news for them.

Republicans know this "slut" controversy has been a disaster for them politically, yet they were powerless to do anything about it. Powerless to stop it.

That's because Republicans can't turn off the Noise Machine, even when it's in the throes of a nervous breakdown.

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Excellent article: How America Returned to the Gilded Age

Many Americans still wonder how it happened, how did a country admired for its Great Middle Class, which sustained strong democratic institutions, end up with Third-World-style wealth inequality and a democracy to match?
Read more of The Winners Take Everything at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/02/29/the-winners-take-everything/

EXCERPT:  How It Happened

The authors of Winner-Take-All Politics, Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, have put together a thesis that tries to tell the great untold story of the last 30 odd years. That is, how did the redistribution of wealth in this country become so concentrated in the highest echelons, to the point that, in the wake of the collapse, the middle class — or what is left of it — simply does not have the purchasing power to recharge the economy?

Hacker and Pierson spend the first part of the book proving this is so. And they do that in a very convincing manner, through an array of statistical charts that show that the concentration of wealth today is at a point unsurpassed since the Gilded Age, the Age of the Robber Barons — like Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J. P. Morgan and John Rockefeller Sr. — the days when there was no middle class and when these men essentially owned the government through outright bribery.

That was also a time when there were no strong unions to hold the Robber Barons in check. There also were no real laws regulating banking and the stock market. Because of all this, the Robber Barons were allowed to do as they wished with no regard to anyone else. According to Teddy Roosevelt, they even arranged economic downturns to hurt presidents who were opposed to their total dominion. There really was no democracy, since elections were bought and sold.

As notorious Republican campaign manager Mark Hanna once said, “The single most important thing about winning elections is money. I forgot the second thing.” Therefore in the key election of 1896, Hanna backed William McKinley against the full-throated populist William Jennings Bryan, who crisscrossed the country by train, hitting as many as four cities in a day. McKinley sat on his front porch with his mother and wife, while Hanna brought the media to him. Bryan got more votes than any previous candidate for president, but McKinley still won.

What Hacker and Pierson are arguing here is that, for all intents and purposes, the USA is now back in the Gilded Age. Even though we have a president who is a Democrat, and even though Democrats control the Senate, it does not matter. The intent of the book is to show why the top 1 percent really does not care about party affiliation.

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Good article on the purpose of the right wing to keep the public dumbed down

Why Teaching People to Think for Themselves Is Repugnant to Religious Zealots and Rick Santorum

By Henry A. Giroux,  truthout.org

Democracy cannot function without an informed citizenry, and an ignorant public is just what Santorum and his allies count on.

February 27, 2012  |  

 

Right-wing fundamentalists such as Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum hate public schools, which he suggests are government schools wedded to doing the work of Satan, dressed up in the garb of the Enlightenment. Santorum, true to his love affair with the very secular ideology of privatization, prefers home schooling, which is code for people taking responsibility for whatever social issues or problems they may face, whether it be finding the best education for their children or securing decent health care.

Actually, Santorum and many of his allies dislike any public institution that enables people to think critically and act with a degree of responsibility toward the public. This is one reason why they hate any notion of public education, which harbors the promise, if not the threat, of actually educating students to be thoughtful, self-reflective and capable of questioning so-called common sense and holding power accountable. Of course, some progressives see this as simply another example of how the right wing of the Republican Party seems to think that being stupid is in. But there is more going on here than the issue of whether right-wing fundamentalists are intellectually and politically challenged. What makes critical education, especially, so dangerous to radical Christian evangelicals, neoconservatives and right-wing nationalists in the United States today is that, central to its very definition, is the task of educating students to become critical agents who can actively question and negotiate the relationships between individual troubles and public issues. In other words, students who can lead rather than follow, embrace reasoned arguments over opinions and reject common sense as the engine of truth.

What Santorum and his allies realize is that democracy cannot function without an informed citizenry and that, in the absence of such a citizenry, we have a public uninvested in either thinking reflectively or acting responsibly. There is nothing more feared by this group of fundamentalists than individuals who can actually think critically and reflectively and are willing to invest in reason and freedom rather than a crude moralism and a reductionistic appeal to faith as the ultimate basis of agency and politics. What Santorum and his appeal to theocracy longs for is a crowd of followers willing to lose themselves in causes and movements that trade in clichés and common sense. This is the Tea Party crowd with their overt racism, dislike for critical thought and longing for outlets through which they can vent their anger, moral panics and hatred for those who reject their rigid Manichean view of the world. This is a crowd that embraces the likes of Santorum and other fundamentalists because they provide the outlets in which such groups can fulfill their desire to be amused by what might be called the spectacle of anti-politics.

As the anti-public politicians and administrative incompetents in Arizona made clear in their banning ethnic studies and censoring books critical of a conflict-free version of American history, critical pedagogy is especially dangerous. Not only does it offer students a way of connecting education to social change, it also invokes those subordinated histories, narratives and modes of knowledge in an attempt to give students often rendered voiceless the capacities to both read the word and the world critically. But the religious fanatics and privatizing fundamentalists do more than censor critical thought; they also substitute a pedagogy of punishment for a pedagogy of critical learning. Too many children in America now attend schools modeled after prisons. Schools have become places where the challenge of teaching and learning has been replaced by an obsession with crime, punishment and humiliation. Too many young people are being charged with criminal misdemeanors for behaviors that are too trivial to criminalize.

To read more of this article, go to: http://www.alternet.org/story/154312/why_teaching_people_to_think_for_themselves_is_repugnant_to_religious_zealots_and_rick_santorum?akid=8348.1075525.kJiRO_&rd=1&t=2

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Santorum: Contraception is a grievous wrong

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/04/santorum-contraception-a-grievous-moral-wrong/

I am wondering what my Republican friends are thinking about this man?  Do they actually think he would make a great President with views like this?  It's hard to imagine anyone in the 21st century voting for this guy--and yet he has a big following.  It makes me cringe when I contemplate the average intelligence of the American voter.  The slate of Republican candidates shows the lack of evolution in our population. We have met the enemy--and he is us.  Woe is us!

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Important documentary trailer gives reasons for chemtrails

Watch this very short trailer for a new documentary called Why In the World Are They Spraying?  Through interviews with knowledgeable people about the government's HAARP program, this film gives answers to some very important questions.  I consider weather control to be one of the most important issues on our planet today and yet millions of people are still unaware of the spraying of chemtrails all over the world (even though you can see them being laid down by high-flying jets and spreading across the skies on an almost daily basis).  Watch this trailer video and share it with others if you think it is valuable for us to know what is going on in our world:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3__ssxTvNc

If you would like further information about chemtrails, you can watch online the full-length documentary that preceded this latest one, entitled WHAT in the World Are They Spraying?   Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARt9ccu8no&feature=related

Now, think about the ferocity of storms (latest tornadoes in the U.S., no snow in the Sierras, no rain in California's winter this year, mild winter on east coast, ferocious winter in Europe, trees and plants dying all over the world, etc.)  This documentary is shining light on the subject that our mainstream media isn't touching.

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On the subject of Iran: Foster Gamble

A short video by Foster Gamble re. what is really behind the saber rattling against Iran:
http://www.thrivemovement.com/thrive-movie-foster-gamble-analysis-of-war-with-iran-follow-the-money.blog

Foster Gamble is the man who made the documentary Thrive. He is a member of the Procter-Gamble Gambles, a man raised in privilege but who has questioned all of his adult life, wondering why, with all of high technology available in our world, the planet and its peoples are not thriving.  His film, which gives answers to that question, can be bought on amazon.com or seen online at www.thrivemovement.com for a fee of $5.

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Mormon Beliefs Will Gradually Permeate the Government if Romney is President

I've read several articles by ex-Mormons who tell of the plan within that religion to become much more influential over the U.S. government.  Their first goal is to get a Mormon into the White House.  Then he will follow the bidding of "the elders" to whom no Mormon ever says No. Have you noticed that no matter which religion they are, the Republican presidential contenders want church and state to be melded together? To hell with the Constitution (which they claim to revere above all else.  Go figure!  Nothing they do or say makes any sense).

This whole thing about denying women insurance coverage for birth control prescriptions is a throwback to caveman times. (Hmmm..isn't Viagra prescribed and covered by insurance? Oh yes, but MEN need that!)  And the demand for a non-optional vaginal probe ultrasound for every women seeking an abortion reveals for all to see how right wingers really view women. You have to wonder if a non-optional anal probe or penis probe were required for men to obtain their insurance-covered Viagra, how many male votes would that get in Congress?  What kind of rage would rise up in males across the country in protest to such a thing?  Yet, Republican males think nothing of making such intrusive demands on women--and believe it is just fine to exclude women from Congressional hearings on the subject of birth control for women.  They don't believe in abortion and they don't want women to use birth control, which would be the greatest prevention of abortion.  By any practical standard, the far right wing is certifiably insane.  And dangerously so.  Read on:

THE GOP: IT ONLY GETS MORE AND MORE DANGEROUS
By Stephen Pizzo

Like you, I've been watching this curious spectacle of grown up Republicans tripping all over one another to embrace a 1950s attitude toward women and birth control.

The latest to support this backwards march is Mitt Romney, who came late to the game. Of course Mitt always waits to see which way the wind is blowing before he plants his feet and stakes a claim to whatever the hell appears popular at any point in time.

But then former Mormon Bishop Mitt has a lot of experience when it comes to saying one thing while doing - and profiting - from just the opposite.

Before I explain where I am going with this, a question; Have you ever spent any time in Salt Lake City? If not you've missed a place extremely important to see and experience. SLC, and Utah itself, is as close to a theocratic state you'll see in America. (And, may I add, I hope we ever see.)

Mormons have a of lot rules they claim were handed down straight from the Big Guy itself to their felonious little guy, Joseph Smith. And, since in Utah, Mormons rule, many of those rules tend to find their way into state and local laws. With such a high percentage of Utah's resident-members being practicing Mormons, the laws are passed and defended on the same grounds as the current GOP conception debacle: that religious folk should not be forced to provide products and services they consider "sinful."

Chief among the devil's products and services in Utah is booze. It's verboten. Well, okay, conditionally verboten. If the Mormon "church" is about anything, it's about making money. So you can buy alcohol in Utah. If you want a bottle of gin to make life in SLC bearable, you can buy it, but from a state monopoly - a state liquor store. I went into one of these stores in SLC and was bowled over. It was the size of our local Costco warehouse store. Within these state-sanctioned confines you can buy sin by the case - anything from 3% beer to 100 proof rotgut to the finest brandy on the planet.

And, like all cases where someone has a monopoly, you will pay more - up to 30% more than in California, for example. (To reinforce, apparently, the message that sin, while fun, comes at a high price.)

The Mormon-manipulated Utah legislature seems to have no problem accepting the windfall from the sale of all this Satan-juice. (In fact, sales of booze in Utah is up 60%, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune) So, in all, the theocratic state of Utah raked in over $100 million from alcohol sales in 2010. For a Republican, free enterprise loving state, it seems some socialism is just fine. (As long as it lines the pockets of the rulers)

Of course Mormons are known for their entrepreneurial skills, and there are plenty of Mormon-owned bars and restaurants in SLC. So, it should not come as a surprise that the anti-booze laws have been crafted in such a way that these business owners are allowed to dip their beaks into the alcohol sales pot - but not without masking it with a bit of religious-disapproval-theater.

During a visit to SLC a few years ago we decided to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner. We sat down and ordered a pre-dinner mixed drink. Everything was normal, as in normal 21st century America, until that point. This is where you feel the hand of Mormon first. Even if you're 98-years old, in wheel chair and on oxygen, the server must demand to see your ID to confirm you are over 21. Then, while they will take your drink order, you will not get your drink until the dinner is served. Because, under Utah law, mixed drinks must only be consumed with the meal, not before, not after.

Silly? Of course. But religion is a show and the show must go on.

I only mention this because, if right wingers get what they say they want on this whole birth control/religious rights nonsense, this is the kind of world it will thrust upon all American women. If they Utah-ize contraception sale laws, walking into a drug store to fill a contraception prescription will become a kind of humiliating game of Russia Roulette: "Sorry Ma'am, we don't sell THAT kind of thing here."

Off to the next drug store.

And be assured, when you do find a drug store that sells contraceptives, there will almost certainly be additional doses of humiliation on tap. "Photo ID please," and "Please fill out this form explaining that you have been advised of all the health risks," and, "Do you have a signed note from your doctor showing he has performed a pelvic exam during the last calendar year?"

Some states, like Utah -- and take your pick of any other red state -- will almost certainly decide, if allowed by law to do so, that contraceptives are dangerous (aka, sinful) like booze, and should be sold like some kind of controlled substance. Only at drug stores specially licensed will be allowed to sell them only, of course, after women are forced to jump through the appropriate number of humiliating hoops. (The little "sluts')

The number of such authorized contraceptive outlets in any given area might be allocated on a formula - one-store-for every 25,000 residents -- for example. Such limits would be proposed and supported on the grounds that young girls and boys need to be protected from the temptations presented by easily acquired rubbers and pills and such.

If you think this is all hysterically implausible, spend a couple of weeks in Salt Lake City. Then get back to me.

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