Overnight Caption Contest (new)

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 31 May 2009 09:44:53 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

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Overnight Caption Contest

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 31 May 2009 09:44:53 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

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Suspect Identified in Tiller Assassination

post from Daily Kos on 31 May 2009 09:40:45 PM. © Daily Kos

Several news sources are now reporting the name of the suspect in the murder of Dr. George Tiller. According to KWCH-TV:

Deputy Chief Tom Stolz w/ Wichita Police Dept. says Dr. Tiller died of a single gunshot wound. The Associated Press says the man detained in the Kansas City area is 51-year-old Scott Roeder of Merriam, Kansas, according to Law Enforcement authorities in the area. Roeder has not been formally charged with the killing at this time. Police say he was arrested without incident after a traffic stop.

Via diarist FreeStateDem, Militia Watchdog previously reported of Roeder:

July 7, [1997], Kansas: Scott Roeder is sentenced to sixteen months in state prison for parole violations following a 1996 conviction for having bomb components in his car trunk. Roeder, a sovereign citizen and tax protester, violated his parole by not filing tax returns or providing his social security number to his employer.

He was also an active member of Operation Rescue; in 2007 a "Scott Roeder" posted this on the Operation Rescue website (which has been down throughout the day, probably more as a result of increased traffic than any sense of collective shame):

[May 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm] Bleass everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp. Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there? Doesn’t seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller.

The Lawrence Journal-World and News relays that Kansas City station KMBC reported a post-it note with a phone number for Operation Rescue in his car at the time of his arrest.

So a bombmaker, tax protester, member of the "sovereignity" movement, anti-abortion zealot and Operation Rescue member: the arrested suspect manages to fit every stereotype of right-wing militia teabagger.

No doubt much more information will be forthcoming later; Roeder is not expected to be formally charged until Monday.

There will be a candlelight vigil honoring Dr. George Tiller in Wichita at 8:00pm in Old Town Square.

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-Tiller-Assassination

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The Future of Manufacturing, GM, and American
Workers (Part II)

post from TPMCafe on 31 May 2009 09:37:00 PM. © TPMCafe

Symbolic analysts have been hit by the current downturn, just as everyone else has. But over the long term, symbolic analysts will do just fine – as long as they stay away from job functions that are becoming routinized. They will continue to benefit from economic change. Computer technology gives them more tools for thinking, creating and communicating. The global market gives them more potential customers for their insights.

To be sure, symbolic analysts are popping up all over the world. More than half of all Fortune 500 companies say they're outsourcing some software development or expanding their own development centers outside the U.S. But apart from recessions, demand for symbolic analysts in the U.S. will continue to grow faster than the supply. Innovation creates that demand, and demand for it, in turn, generates more innovation.

It's simply wrong to assume a zero-sum game among nations. There is no finite amount of symbolic-analytic work to be parceled out around the globe. There is no limit to the capacity of the human brain to discover new problems needing to be solved, or to create better solutions to old problems. And no limit to the number of problems needing solutions.

In decades to come, nations with the highest percentages of their working populations able to do symbolic-analytic tasks will have the highest standard of living and be the most competitive internationally.

America’s biggest challenge is to educate more of our people sufficiently to excel at such tasks. We do remarkably well with the children from relatively affluent families. Our universities are the envy of the world. and no other nation surpasses us in providing intellectual and creative experience within entire regions specializing in one or another kind of symbolic analytic work (LA for music and film, Silicon Valley for software and the Internet, greater Boston for bio-med engineering, and so on).

But we’re in danger of losing ground because too many of our kids, especially those from lower-middle class and poor families, can’t get the foundational education they need. The consequence is a yawning gap in income and wealth which continues to widen. More and more of our working people finds themselves in the local service economy -- in hotels, hospitals, restaurant chains, and big-box retailers -- earning low wages with little or no benefits. Unions could help raise their wages by giving them more bargaining leverage. A higher minimum wage and larger Earned Income Tax Credit could help as well.

Not all of our young people can or should receive a four-year college degree, but we can do far better for them than we're doing now. At the least, every young person should have access to a year or two beyond high school, in order to gain a certificate attesting to their expertise in a particular area of technical competence. Technicians who install, upgrade, and service automated and computerized machinery -- office technicians, auto technicians, computer technicians, environmental technicians -- will be in ever-greater demand.

Some argue that even if I’m correct about all this, the erosion of traditional manufacturing impedes the capacity of Americans to learn important symbolic-analytic tasks, because such learning depends on an intimate understanding of the manufacturing process. This may be true for a few of these tasks: manufacturing engineers surely need to know manufacturing inside out and some design engineers need that knowledge as well. But most symbolic analysts do not. Whatever they need to learn about manufacturing can usually be discovered online.

Others argue we need more manufacturing in the U.S. because our national security depends on it. That seems doubtful. U.S. military contractors subcontract all over the world. As long as they diversify their sources so as not to be dependent on one location or country, we’re safe. In the unlikely event that much of the rest of the world where manufacturing is now done suddenly turns on us, we can create the factories and equipment we need. We’ve mobilized for war before, quite successfully.

Still others say that eventually the dollar will drop so low that global firms will find it profitable to locate traditional manufacturing assembly in the United States. Don't hold your breath. But if and when that should happen, Americans will be far poorer than even low-wage workers are today, because everything we purchase from anywhere will be far more costly.

Obviously, the market is fallible, as we’ve recently and painfully experienced. And sometimes we need to consider what’s good for our economy and society as a whole regardless of where the market may lead us. But that’s exactly where I depart from those who believe we need to protect or bring back traditional manufacturing in the United States. To do so would be enormously costly. I just don’t get how those costs can possibly be justified.

Tomorrow: Where does GM come in?

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Instant Victim Mode

post from Kmareka.com on 31 May 2009 09:21:00 PM. © Kmareka.com

This just in…

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer ? Sun May 31, 4:42 pm ET
NEW YORK ? Anti-abortion leaders voiced concern Sunday that the Obama administration and other Democrats may try to capitalize on the murder of Dr. George Tiller to defuse the abortion issue in upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Many anti-abortion groups condemned the killing of Tiller, a prominent abortion provider who was shot dead at his church in Wichita, Kan. But they expressed concern that abortion-rights activists would use the occasion to brand the entire anti-abortion movement as extremist.
They also worried that there would now be an effort to stifle anti-abortion viewpoints during questioning of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Her exact views on abortion aren’t known, but conservatives fear she supports abortion rights.
Said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, an anti-abortion activist: “No one should use this tragedy for political gain.”

It?s about six hours since the murder was committed and the anti-abortion activists are already in spin control. Politician?s careers have been made by invoking the label, ?pro-life?. The rhetoric is extreme– the language violent. But when someone takes it to its logical conclusion their hands are clean.

The body is not yet cold, a family is bereaved. And politicians are already revising their attacks on the Supreme Court nominee.

?No one should use this tragedy for political gain.? Indeed.

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http://kmareka.com/2009/05/31/instant-victim-mode/

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Sunday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 31 May 2009 09:17:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Aside from the utterly repugnant and insulting notion that Dr. George Tiller's "notoriety apparently cost him his life" (uhh...gee, maybe he lost his life because of a MURDEROUSLY DERANGED WINGNUT, and there's no equivalency between his "notoriety" and whether or not he deserved to die...ugh - more from Hunter here at The Daily Kos...and if anyone thinks Operation Rescue isn't at least tangentially involved here, think again).

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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This Week: In Memoriam

post from Crooks and Liars on 31 May 2009 09:15:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! DOWNLOADS: (49)
PLAYS: (26)
(h/t David E)

This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of activist Gérard Jean-Juste, television producer Jack Reilly and writer Amos Elon. In addition, the Pentagon released the names of ten servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army Maj Jason E George, 38, of Tehachapi, CA
Army 1LT Leevi K Barnard, 28, of Mount Airy, NC
Army SGT Paul F Brooks, 34, of Joplin, MO
Army CWO Brent S Cole, 38, of Reedsville, WV
Army SFC Brian Naseman, 36, of New Bremen, OH
Air Force Lt Col Mark E Stratton II, 39, of Houston
Air Force SrA Ashton L M Goodman, 21, of Indianapolis
Navy CDR Duane G Wolfe, 54, of Port Hueneme, CA
Army 1SG Blue C Rowe, 33, of Summers, AR
Army SPC Chad A Edmundson, 20, of Williamsburg, PA

The total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is now 4,622, in Afghanistan, 1,162. During this same week, Iraq Body Count lists 89 Iraqi civilian deaths.

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Israel Gearing Up For Iran

With Bibi in charge, the rhetoric is heating up.[...]

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Suspect in Custody

The AP has now reported the name of the man in custody on suspicion of murdering George Tiller: 51 year old Scott Roeder. Hunter at Dailykos and others have done some initial googling. And it seems there's a good deal of information already out there[...]

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Village People Cop Declares Heterosexuality

Victor Willis
Former Village People Cop

cc:
Rep. Patrick McHenry
United States CongressCharlie Crist
Candidate, US Senate

Dear Mr. Willis,

Thank you for finally coming out of the closet and declaring your heterosexuality. I've always discounted the rumors that the Village People were homosexuals. I mean, just look at you; a cop, a cowboy, a construction worker, and Indian chief, a sailor, and a guy who looks like Joseph Farrah and likes to wear leather--you can't get more heterosexual than that.

I'm also very relieved to hear you've cleared-up all the confusion about that YMCA song you wrote. I don't know how anyone could hear that and come away thinking that it was anything but a song about hangin' out with a bunch of straight guys at the gym. I mean, how else could lyrics like this be interpreted:

You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.

They have everything that you need to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys

This hetero thing seems to be giving your career a bit of a boost, and I'm wondering if you could use your revitalized celebrity to to help others. Specifically , I'm thinking about helping conservative leaders who've been erroneously outed as being the gay--you know, guys like Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, and Bob Allen who like to celebrate their heterosexuality by slurping on some random guy's todger every now and then. We all know there's nothing wrong with that as long as you pass a few anti-the-gay bills while they're at it.

So anyway, I was thinking you could do a fundraiser for one of these guys, maybe Charlie Crist, at a place like the YMCA but much more political--Rep. Patrick McHenry's Hostel for Young, Strapping, Republican Lads would be the perfect place.

What do you think? Can you get up for it.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

Read The Full Article:
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2009/05/village-people-silorcop-declares.html

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