Source: Business Week

Tens of thousands of people rallied in the Czech capital on Saturday to protest government reforms and austerity cuts in one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations here since the collapse of communism almost 23 years ago.

The protesters from all over the country urged the government to abandon the cuts and resign. They also are demanding early parliamentary elections.

Blowing vuvuzelas and beating drums, the protesters marched to Prague's Wenceslas Square, disrupting downtown traffic.

"The government must go," said Jaroslav Zavadil, head of the country's major umbrella organization of unions, the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U9APLO0.htm

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Tens of thousands protesting against the right-leaning government austerity cuts.

This kind of real protest inspires workers around the world. Just say NO to right-wing budget cuts that harm people. Glad to see young Czechs standing up!

High School kids should not be playing with guns.



(Actual photo of Mitt with a handgun, as a teen.)

From this page:
http://thegloss.com/beauty/mitt-romney-gun-514/

You want to see how f*%$'d up things are in Washington D.C.?

Michigan Senator Carl Levin owns a Chev Volt. But there are no plug-in car chargers in the Congressional parking lot.

So Senator Levin introduced a bill in the Senate, to tell the parking lot people that it is OK to install an electric car Volt charger.

No cost involved, mind you, not a taxpayer dime is at risk. The bill simply said it would be ok to designate several parking spots inside the Senate parking lot, to have someone install an electric car charger. Designated electric car area. Only that it's o.k. to do that.

Guess what?

A REPUBLICAN BLOCKED THE BILL.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/30/sen-levin-tries-to-legislate-a-parking-place/

This is what is wrong with America people- REPUBLICANS BLOCKING CRAP SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S SPONSORED BY A DEMOCRAT- EVEN IF IT IS EXCELLENT POLICY, HELPS PEOPLE, AND DEMONSTRATES GOOD
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.



Petty, petty guys, aren't these horse & buggy republicans?

I wonder how we ever managed to get from the days of horses...to the days of cars. It's like they continue to intentionally try and take us back into the 19th century....

Suspect in TEXAS Senator Davis(D) attack was once a teacher who "mentally snapped"

By Deanna Boyd

dboyd@star-telegram.com

The homeless man accused of tossing a bag of Molotov cocktails at state Sen. Wendy Davis' office door is a college graduate and one-time middle school teacher who "snapped" some 15 years ago, his older brother said Wednesday.

"All the way through college, we used to be like best friends," said Curtis Steele III of his brother Cedric, 40, who was in custody Wednesday facing a charge of arson of a building.

"Then he just mentally snapped and just wasn't mentally there. ... Unfortunately it's gotten worse. His whole reality is different."

Davis was not at the Fort Worth office during the attack Tuesday afternoon, and no one was injured.

Curtis Steele, 42, of Grand Blanc, Mich., said his brother believes that he develops weapons for the Pentagon, writes children's books and is, at times, a preacher.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/21/3826147/brother-suspect-in-davis-attack.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

The issue of "Rush on Armed Forces Radio" is a problem that I have a unique perspective on. You see, I served for four years working for Armed Forces Radio, and served a 21 year military career that included multiple assignments dealing in public affairs in some capacity, both as an enlisted soldier, and as an officer.

What to do about Rush is a major problem from a number of angles. First of all, all programming is, and always has been, strictly independent of any political influence. The Armed Forces Network has always prided itself on it's being independent of political direction, and instead, strove by regulation to be representative of all sides of the American political spectrum. Yes, Rush is aired, and was put on after members of it's military audience specifically asked for it to be added to the line up. Others of different political tilts also appear.

The best and easiest way to end Rush is NOT for political pressure to be forced from outside, but rather for those within the military to tell the network that they would prefer Rush no longer be on. I understand some of that is now going on.

Outside political interference is the LAST thing you want to do- because if they took Rush off because of the President or Senator Levin's specific request, then what happens if and when the other side gains political power?

No, outside political influence is the worst answer to the problem. The best is to have men and women in uniform express their views to AFN directly, and then let AFN management decide how best to resolve the situation.

It's been almost a decade since I worked for them, but I can tell you that the AFN leadership most likely is looking for a way to end Rush's broadcast without a lot of fanfare. It's not an easy task.

A controversial land deal by the presidential candidate robbed a vets' home of tens of millions of dollars.

—By Andy Kroll Motherjones News

Like any good presidential candidate, Rick Santorum heaps praise on America's soldiers and veterans. He's pledged to "make veterans a high priority" if elected president, adding, "This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue, it is an American issue." But as a US senator, Santorum engineered a controversial land deal that robbed the military's top veterans' home of tens of millions of dollars and worsened the deteriorating conditions at the facility.

The Armed Forces Retirement Home, which is run by the Department of Defense, bills itself as the "premier home for military retirees and veterans." The facility sprawls across 272 acres high on a hill in northern Washington, DC, near the Petworth neighborhood. The nearly 600 veterans who now live there enjoy panoramic views of the city—the Washington monument and US Capitol to the south, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to the east. At its peak, more than 2,000 veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War lived at the Home.

But with the rise of the smaller all-volunteer military, the Home began to run into serious financial problems. It was clear that one of its primary sources of revenue—a 50-cent deduction from the paychecks of active-duty servicemembers—wasn't enough to keep the Home operating fully. In the 1990s, the Home scrambled to find ways to avoid insolvency, trimming its staff by 24 percent and reducing its vet population by 800. Still, the money problems began to show, with its older historic facilities slipping into disrepair and decay. To grapple with its worsening shortfall, officials running the Home eyed a valuable, 49-acre piece of land worth $49 million as a potential financial lifeline.

(READ THE STORY OF HOW RICK SANTORUM STOLE VETERANS LAND HERE: http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/how-rick-santorum-ripped-off-american-military-veterans )

Indiana issues threats to parents and children in Indiana who attempt to "opt out" of mandatory testing.

Tells them it will send them to jail if they refuse to allow student testing.

"Parents should be reminded of Indiana’s Compulsory School Attendance Laws, Ind. Code 20-33-2. Specifically, section 28 of the compulsory school attendance chapter provides that it is unlawful for a parent to fail, neglect, or refuse to send the parent’s child to school for the full term, and section 27 of the statute provides that it is unlawful for a parent to fail to ensure that his/her student attends school as required under the compulsory school attendance chapter and establishes the process of initiating an action against a parent for violation. Finally, section 44 provides that violation of the compulsory school attendance chapter is a Class B Misdemeanor. Any absence by a student on scheduled testing dates for the purpose of avoiding testing constitutes an unexcused absence and may constitute a violation of the compulsory school attendance laws. "

Read more about the (R) threats and intimidation in Indiana here:

http://unitedoptout.com/uncategorized/response-to-indiana-doe-scare-tactics/

"This is not a Catholic School, and we are not children, and they are not children." Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D)79th District Wisconsin

Republicans in Wisconsin throw all the gallery visitors out. They reject public viewing of their Wisconsin Assembly meeting.

Good entertainment value, particularly towards the end when Joel Kleefisch loses his stuff completely. (his wife is the current Lt. Governor, who was just petitioned to be recalled)


More on the story of how republicans rushed through a mining bill today.
http://www.progressive.org/wis_republicans_rush_pro_mining_bill.html

By Josh Katzenstein
The Detroit News

Detroit— Texana Hollis still can't go home.

Four months after the federal housing department said the 101-year-old could return to her foreclosed west-side home of nearly 60 years following public outcry over her eviction, the front door of the house remains padlocked.

And it remains unclear when, or if, she will ever return to the home on the 8300 block of Carbondale Street. She was forced to leave in September after her son, Warren Hollis, 65, failed to pay $7,000 in property taxes to keep a reverse mortgage taken out in 2002, despite months of warnings.

"Here I am, 100 years old, and don't have a home," Hollis said, rounding off her age. "Oh Lord, help me."


More:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120122/METRO01/201220308/1409/rss36