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Rocknation
Rocknation's Journal
Rocknation's Journal
July 2, 2012
Roberts did NOT "change his mind" about striking down the law, only the mandate. He upheld the mandate by defining it as a tax -- by CBS's own admission, Roberts was NEVER against the rest of ACA. Apparently leaks to sympathetic media was part of the "conservative bloc's" campaign to get Roberts to "switch views" -- up to and including insinuations about his health by referring to him as "wobbly." Most important, keep in mind that the "sources" for the CBS story could very well be the conservative judges themselves.
Another piece of political mythology is born, like Al Gore's invention of the Internet.
rocktivity
SWITCHED views?
"...Roberts was against the individual mandate when the justices took their initial votes following oral arguments in March. He, along with the other four Republican appointees, believed it was an inappropriate use of Congress’s power to regulate commerce...But the justices did not reach an agreement on how much of the law to strike down...(T)he conservative bloc pushed hard to throw out the entire statute...Roberts...voted to uphold the law...
Roberts did NOT "change his mind" about striking down the law, only the mandate. He upheld the mandate by defining it as a tax -- by CBS's own admission, Roberts was NEVER against the rest of ACA. Apparently leaks to sympathetic media was part of the "conservative bloc's" campaign to get Roberts to "switch views" -- up to and including insinuations about his health by referring to him as "wobbly." Most important, keep in mind that the "sources" for the CBS story could very well be the conservative judges themselves.
Another piece of political mythology is born, like Al Gore's invention of the Internet.
rocktivity
July 2, 2012
rocktivity
For me, the 1984 Summer Olympics set a record for the most weird names on the US team
Sunder Nix (Track & Field)
Nancy Hogshead (Swimming)
Karch Kiraly (Volleyball)
Rich Duwelius (Volleyball)
Rowdy Gaines (Swimming)
Roger Kingdom (Track & Field)
Pernell Whitaker (Boxing)
Meldrick Taylor (Boxing)
Chandra Cheeseborough (Track & Field)
...and a swimmer named Jeff Float!
And speaking of swimmers:
rocktivity
June 29, 2012
The difference with paying the private health industry is that the difference fattens the pockets of its execs, lobbyists, and stockholders while they invent excuses for not covering people (or even paying their employees) so they can turn an even bigger profit.
I don't mind paying for health care, which is why your post does not offend me. However, I do mind paying to further enrich those who do NOT "trickle down" the money via "job creation." I'd rather spend it on preventing EVERYONE from getting sicker than they need to -- and dying sooner than they ought to.
rocktivity
"Does it really matter if an insurance company or the government provides the coverage
if the care is the same?"The difference with paying the private health industry is that the difference fattens the pockets of its execs, lobbyists, and stockholders while they invent excuses for not covering people (or even paying their employees) so they can turn an even bigger profit.
I don't mind paying for health care, which is why your post does not offend me. However, I do mind paying to further enrich those who do NOT "trickle down" the money via "job creation." I'd rather spend it on preventing EVERYONE from getting sicker than they need to -- and dying sooner than they ought to.
rocktivity
June 19, 2012
Which Obama also did by refusing to take any additional questions once he was done: the military "if ONE of you has screwed up, then ALL OF YOU have screwed up" principal. Think of all the "evil eyes" Munro must have gotten after that -- even Fox News had to dump on him!
Click here if you are not familiar with DUer Plaid Adder's superb post on the subject:
Munro may have thought he was "defying and outwitting the powerful" by condemning the executive order before Obama was done explaining it. But in a textbook example of "seriously warped understanding," Munro ended up "mocking the vulnerable" by accusing Obama of issuing an order that made its recipients "more powerful" than "real" Americans.
This thread has thrived because it strangles Munro on his own rhetoric: you can thrust his arrogant posturing and obnoxious attitude into ANY situation (even the very birth of the universe!) -- and he comes across not as a passionate, professional truth-seeker, but as a self-serving, partisan, overgrown frat brat!
rocktivity
DING DING DING! Spitfire, you're our grand prize winner!
What needed to happen was to make this guy an embarrassment to not only them but to the very concept of professional journalism.
Which Obama also did by refusing to take any additional questions once he was done: the military "if ONE of you has screwed up, then ALL OF YOU have screwed up" principal. Think of all the "evil eyes" Munro must have gotten after that -- even Fox News had to dump on him!
Liberals are at their best when they attack with humor because the Right Wing has no sense of humor.
Click here if you are not familiar with DUer Plaid Adder's superb post on the subject:
...(W)hy is it that so much right-wing political humor just plain doesn't work -- even for its target audience?...I think..(it)...has to do with the basic conflict between comedy and authority...(D)isrespect for authority is the foundation of real comedy...
Mocking the powerful has the positive effect of reminding everyone that though these figures may be powerful, they are not superhuman, and can be resisted/outwitted/defied; it also has the therapeutic effect of validating the anger and pain we feel as we suffer for these people, and reminding us that in fact, it's not us, it's them.
Mocking the vulnerable is just bullying, and all it does is pander to the audience's worst instincts. Right-wing pundits in the main either don't understand this rule, or have a seriously warped understanding of who's vulnerable and who's powerful...
Munro may have thought he was "defying and outwitting the powerful" by condemning the executive order before Obama was done explaining it. But in a textbook example of "seriously warped understanding," Munro ended up "mocking the vulnerable" by accusing Obama of issuing an order that made its recipients "more powerful" than "real" Americans.
This thread has thrived because it strangles Munro on his own rhetoric: you can thrust his arrogant posturing and obnoxious attitude into ANY situation (even the very birth of the universe!) -- and he comes across not as a passionate, professional truth-seeker, but as a self-serving, partisan, overgrown frat brat!
rocktivity
June 5, 2012
They call him the S-word because it's literally the next best thing to the N-word
Saying that you shouldn't vote for Obama because he's black is not an option because it's as irrational as it is racist.
Saying that you shouldn't vote for Obama because he's a communist is not an option, either -- it's too obvious that you're saying it simply because you can't say that you shouldn't vote for Obama because he's black.
Calling him a socialist, however, splits the difference perfectly -- it gives you all the advantages of calling him both the N-word AND the C-word without actually using them. The S-word provides just the right touch of "reasonable doubt." And the mainstream media is either too chicken or profit-hungry to call anyone it -- after all, controversy sells.
rocktivity
June 4, 2012
rocktivity
Well, which of these scenarios sound more realistic?
Based on the bail revocation motion:4/17: From Post #21:
4/20: First passport (expiration May 2012) turned over to the court.
5/1 (approximately): Zimmerman and wife find second passport (valid through May 2014) while cleaning house, and give it to O'Mara.
6/1: Bail revocation motion filed. Bail revocation hearing. O'Mara says he has had the second passport for about a month, but forgot to turn it in. He turns it over to the court.
In a prison conversation, he said, "I think my passport in is that bag"; she said, "I have one for you in safety deposit box"; and he said, "Okay, you hold onto that."
4/20: First passport (expiration May 2012) turned over to the court.
5/1 (approximately): Zimmerman and wife find second passport (valid through May 2014) while cleaning house, and give it to O'Mara.
6/1: Bail revocation motion filed. Bail revocation hearing. O'Mara says he has had the second passport for about a month, but forgot to turn it in. He turns it over to the court.
6/1: Bail revocation motion filed. O'Mara reads in the motion that Zimmerman has a second passport, and about "prison talk" which leaves the impression that it's being concealed deliberately. O'Mara contacts Zimmerman and shrieks, "GET THAT PASSPORT THE #*%$ OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" O'Mara turns in passport at revocation hearing, and takes the rap in an effort to preserve Zimmerman's credibility.
rocktivity
June 2, 2012
Since Mitt can longer run on his public sector record, his private sector record, his Olympic record, his religion, or his financial transparency, he's left on running on the promise of restoring the natural order of politics: with him as president, you will be able feel better about yourself and America's future because it will be a WHITE guy who is screwing you over. And if he can convince enough independent voters of that, he can win. Surely a lack of change from a white president is superior to a lack of change from a black one!
rocktivity
They call him a socialist because they can't call him a black guy
They can't say, "Don't vote for Obama because he's a black guy." But note how close R-Money comes to saying "Vote for me because I'm a white guy" in this commercial:
[center]
“...But there’s something more than legislation or new policy. It’s the feeling we’ll have that our country’s back, back on the right track. That’s what will be different about a Romney presidency.”
Since Mitt can longer run on his public sector record, his private sector record, his Olympic record, his religion, or his financial transparency, he's left on running on the promise of restoring the natural order of politics: with him as president, you will be able feel better about yourself and America's future because it will be a WHITE guy who is screwing you over. And if he can convince enough independent voters of that, he can win. Surely a lack of change from a white president is superior to a lack of change from a black one!
rocktivity
May 30, 2012
Someone with problems that prevented him from being re-deployed and puts him on medication for nearly four years was asked to work on a suicide prevention project? They really ARE short-handed!
Nonetheless, if it was required by law, he should have done it. Or did he not want to take the "risk" of losing his weapons due to his mental condition?
I once dialed 911 when I meant to call 411. I explained my mistake and apologized. Then, because I'd seen episodes of Cops when they were sent to check on people who had called 911 and hung up, I made a point of saying goodbye AND waiting until they said goodbye to me before I hung up. They called me right back.
You'd think that someone allegedly studying crisis intervention would know better than to hang up on a hotline like that at midnight. And if the hotline operator was so sure that he was suicidal, how come it took four hours for the cops to turn up? I know that the Washington DC area isn't used to major snowstorms, but don't their response vehicles have all-weather tires?
Part 2 of the story, meanwhile, reads like an episode of Reno 911. I'm not unsympathetic towards the guy, and I hope that all charges are eventually dropped. But this arrest didn't happen out of the blue -- there's enough blame to go all around.
rocktivity
This story is bizarre even by Moonie Washington Times standards
Sgt. Corrigan volunteered to serve for a year in Iraq from 2005-2006...Among other duties, the sergeant would go out on patrol with the Iraqis, clear routes of IEDs...Sgt. Corrigan never fully recovered emotionally from the combat and continues to have vivid nightmares that gave him insomnia...He says that in his daily life now, he’s still looking for the “IED triggerman”...The Veterans’ Affairs (VA) hospital gave him medication...(H)e was tasked to prepare a mental health manual for his soldiers on mild traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention.
Someone with problems that prevented him from being re-deployed and puts him on medication for nearly four years was asked to work on a suicide prevention project? They really ARE short-handed!
On a pamphlet from VA hospital, he saw a link to a website VeteransCrisisLine.net. On it, he found a number for a counseling hotline, which turned out to be a suicide hotline...When he called it a little before midnight...The woman asked for his name, address, phone number, whether he was active duty, if he was using alcohol or drugs, and his unit. Then she asked if he had any firearms...He had recently moved...but had not registered them because he thought the process was too convoluted and risky.
Nonetheless, if it was required by law, he should have done it. Or did he not want to take the "risk" of losing his weapons due to his mental condition?
“I told her, ‘I don’t have the gun out.’ And she kept saying, ‘Put down the gun.’ She talked like I had the gun in one hand and my cell phone in the other...She insisted I repeat the words, ‘The guns are down,’” he said. “I finally got agitated and said, ‘I shouldn’t have called’ and hung up.” Then, Sgt. Corrigan took a prescribed sleeping pill and went to bed. (He was) jolted awake four hours later...
I once dialed 911 when I meant to call 411. I explained my mistake and apologized. Then, because I'd seen episodes of Cops when they were sent to check on people who had called 911 and hung up, I made a point of saying goodbye AND waiting until they said goodbye to me before I hung up. They called me right back.
You'd think that someone allegedly studying crisis intervention would know better than to hang up on a hotline like that at midnight. And if the hotline operator was so sure that he was suicidal, how come it took four hours for the cops to turn up? I know that the Washington DC area isn't used to major snowstorms, but don't their response vehicles have all-weather tires?
Part 2 of the story, meanwhile, reads like an episode of Reno 911. I'm not unsympathetic towards the guy, and I hope that all charges are eventually dropped. But this arrest didn't happen out of the blue -- there's enough blame to go all around.
rocktivity
May 27, 2012
Here's how to link to a YouTube page with a start time:
rocktivity
I never thought I'd miss the marquee
Anyhoo, here's how to link to a YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?=VyqzPu5pX6U
Here's how to link to a YouTube page with a start time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1m35s&v=VyqzPu5pX6U
rocktivity
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: New Jersey
Home country: USA
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 44,576
