November 5, 2012

KBR Negligent, Ordered to Pay $85 Million to Soldiers

Federal jury finds former Halliburton corporation negligent of exposing soldiers to carcinogen while guarding water plant in Iraq in 2003



On Friday, a federal jury found notorious defense contractor KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) negligent of exposing soldiers to the carcinogen hexavalent chromium at the Qarmat Ali water facility in Iraq in 2003.The lawsuit brought by a dozen Oregon Army National Guard soldiers against the former Halliburton corporation charged that the company acted with "conscious indifference to the health, safety and welfare" of the soldiers.



The Oregonian explains:







The lawsuit "was about showing that they cannot get away with treating soldiers like that," said Rocky Bixby, the soldier whose name appeared on the suit, according the Army Times. "It should show them what they did was wrong, prove what they did was wrong and punish them for what they did."





cont'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/03-1


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November 5, 2012

WHOA! - Ron Paul THREATENED by Mitt Romney (Doug Wead)

November 4, 2012

Mitt Romney: Desperate and Deceptive in Ohio

November 4, 2012

President Obama: What We're Fighting For

November 4, 2012

UNIONS Claim Romney PAYING THE PRICE For Labor Fights In Ohio, Wisc

The fights picked with organized labor by the Republican governors of Wisconsin and Ohio are coming back to haunt Mitt Romney in the final days of the presidential race, unions say.Labor groups say their internal polling shows labor support for President Obama in the all-important battleground state of Ohio and the electoral vote cash cow of Wisconsin is as high or higher than it was in 2008. They attribute the numbers to residual fallout from the 2011 SB 5 collective bargaining fight in Ohio and the Wisconsin battle between labor unions and Gov. Scott Walker.



The biggest effect may be in Ohio, where Democrats and labor beat back SB 5 at the ballot box following the anti-collective bargaining law’s passage by the Republican-controlled state legislature and Gov. John Kasich. Internal numbers from AFSCME show an increase in union household support for Obama in Ohio in the upcoming election versus internal polling from 2008.


Ohio progressive blog Plunderbund first reported the AFSCME Ohio numbers Saturday:








AFSCME’s numbers out of Wisconsin are less pronounced. Internal polling conducted Oct. 21 and shared with TPM showed Obama leading union households in the Badger State by a margin of 69-26 versus Romney. In the union’s 2008 poll, Obama won union households by a margin of 68-30 vs John McCain.Polling from labor PAC Worker’s Voice shows Obama approaching his 2008 exit poll totals among union voters in Wisconsin and Ohio. The group says the union fights in both states have boosted support for Democrats among GOP-leaning union members, as well as helped labor build out election infrastructure in both states much earlier than usual.



“From a mechanics stand point we’ve had our full field operation set up and running in those places for years, instead of just setting up for election,” Worker’s Voice spokesperson Eddie Vale told TPM. Union voters who are more likely to be Republicans in police, fire building trades and teaching are turned off after the state battles, Vale said. “Attacks on collective bargaining pushed them away from Republicans, who they supported in the past,” Vale said. AFSCME is confident their polling shows Romney suffering from the anti-collective bargaining effort led by Republican governors.





cont'

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/unions-say-romney-paying-the-price-for-labor-fights-in-ohio-wisc.php?ref=fpnewsfeed


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November 4, 2012

Judge Orders 1 Fla. County to EXTEND Early Voting

A judge extended early voting hours in one Florida county on Sunday after the state Democratic Party sued in an effort to give people more time at the polls. Some voters had faced waits several hours long on Saturday, the last scheduled day of early voting. The judge ruled on a lawsuit filed late Saturday in Orange County after an early voting site was shut down for several hours. The Winter Park library was evacuated when a suspicious package — a cooler — was found outside. It was later detonated by a local bomb squad. Bill Cowles, the Orange County elections supervisor, said that voters who show up on Sunday will be asked to use a provisional ballot because the Republican Party of Florida had appealed the decision. The extra hours will be offered at just the Winter Park library.





The state party also filed a federal lawsuit Sunday morning seeking more voting time in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Voting in Miami-Dade County didn't wrap up until around 1 a.m. Sunday because voters standing in line when the polls closed were allowed to vote. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson as well as other Democrats asked Gov. Rick Scott this past week to use his emergency powers to extend early voting. The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature last year cut the number of days available for early voting from a maximum of 14 days to eight days. Scott and state election officials, however, turned down the extension requests. Secretary of State Ken Detzner maintained that there was not a true emergency that justified the extension.




The federal lawsuit says counties should offer absentee ballot voting at local election offices if early voting cannot be extended. Christina White, deputy supervisor with Miami-Dade County, said the county had already planned to accept absentee ballots for four hours at its main office. "That's a service we already provided," White said. "We are hoping that (the Democratic Party) is happy with that." Absentee ballot voting differs from early voting in that voters must fill out their ballot, place it an envelope and then sign it. The ballot envelopes are opened later and then fed into voting machines. During early voting, voters place their ballots directly into the voting machines.




The Orange County lawsuit asked that early voting be extended at Winter Park and that the court ask local television and radio stations to let voters know about it. The lawsuit included sworn statements from several voters who said they waited in line for hours and were turned away because voting was suspended at the site. A volunteer with the campaign of President Barack Obama said that the crowd of voters dwindled from 300 to just 40 after voting was halted.



http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fla-democrats-early-voting-extended-county-17636899#.UJaSroaQmuI

November 4, 2012

TRUST US: Vote YES on PROP 37

To learn more about Prop 37 and Food & Water Watch's campaign to make GE Labeling the Law, and to help raise money to broadcast this public service announcement and others like it far and wide, visit www.voteyes37.org.

"Trust Us" is an ironic public service announcement by Consumer Advocates for Safe Food and Water, sponsored by Food & Water Watch, in support of Proposition 37, California's ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods.

A diverse, all-star cast including Danny DeVito, Emily Deschanel, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, KaDee Strickland and Kristin Bauer van Straten, impersonate scientists at leading biotech firms speaking their "subconscious minds" about why the general public should just trust them and not fight for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).

November 4, 2012

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA - Irony: Registered Republican Tries to Vote Twice, GETS ARRESTED!!

It turns out that voter fraud is tough to get away with, so Republicans should relax. That is, unless they are the people trying to vote twice.



A registered Republican was arrested by the FBI on Friday for trying to vote twice in Henderson, Nevada. Roxanne Rubin tried to vote twice at two different polling locations. At the second location, they checked her name in the database and her name came up as having already voted. Ms. Rubin tried to claim their database was wrong, and that she hadn’t voted. But they weren’t buying it.



An investigation ensued and she was arrested at the casino where she works on Friday. Voter fraud is a felony. It’s always been a crime, this is nothing new. Republicans should know this, since they have billboards around the country warning voters about the fact that voter fraud is a felony. So far this year, we’ve had a rash of Republicans under investigation and/or arrested for a myriad of voter and election fraud charges. It’s a good thing Republicans drew so much attention to this issue. Much of America never knew just how much criminal activity the Republican Party was engaged in, but now, thanks to their attempts to disenfranchise minorities, they are making headlines as alert officials take election and voter fraud more seriously.



Due to concerted efforts by Republicans’ to intimidate and disenfranchise voters, the UN will be monitoring our election closely and the DOJ has been dispatched to several states. Of course, if Republicans really cared about voter fraud, they might think twice before voting for Mitt Romney, who claimed to be living in his son’s basement in January of 2010 so that he could register and vote in the Massachusetts special election to replace Senator Ted Kennedy. Romney did buy a townhouse in the state in July of that year, after the special election. However, it is alleged that he was actually living in California at the time of the election and therefore did not meet the residency requirements of Massachusetts.





Republicans are being hoisted on their ACORN petard this election cycle. Schadenfreude anyone? James O’Keefe, where ever you are, thank you.




Watch Republican 'moran' being frog marched out in cuffs.

http://on.aol.com/video/woman-allegedly-tries-to-vote-twice-in-nevada-517524662








http://www.politicususa.com/irony-registered-republican-vote-twice-arrested.html

November 4, 2012

Mitt Romney's Buddy and Legal Adviser Has A VICIOUSLY ANTI-GAY, ANTI-CHOICE Agenda In Africa

This ultra-right-wing legal adviser to Mitt Romney
has an agenda for Africa that is no different than his agenda for America.





Jay Sekulow is a legal adviser and friend to Mitt Romney, a conservative who apparently had no qualms about the candidate's ideological credentials. He advised him in the 2008 run, too. Sekulow's own credentials put him in the extremist camp when it comes to gay rights. He is chief counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice, the Christian rightist claptrap organization established by evangelical television personality Pat Robertson in 1990. As Andy Kroll documents, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/mitt-romney-jay-sekulow-outlaw-homosexuality-abortion-africa ACLJ and its affiliates are on a tear in Africa to outlaw gay sexuality where that isn't already the case and to ensure that marriage equality does not come to pass on the continent.





When Kenya rewrote its Constitution, it included language allowing abortion to save the life of the woman. Sekulow called the language tantamount to abortion on demand. ACLJ's African agenda isn't any different than its agenda in the United States. While the rhetoric here at home may be a bit softer, the goals are same. Like Romney's advisers on economics, energy, foreign policy, this legal adviser and pal of his is an extremist, far outside the mainstream of American thought, on the fringes even within the Right.




cont'

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154478/-Mitt-Romney-s-buddy-and-legal-adviser-has-a-viciously-anti-gay-anti-choice-agenda-in-Africa

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November 4, 2012

Department of Justice Sending ATTORNEYS To MONITOR POLLS – Campaigns Prepare For Election Litigation

As the 2012 Presidential Campaign enters the last few days before the November 6th General Election, tensions are rising to a fever pitch over the likelihood of a closely contested outcome and; neither the Federal Government, nor the two campaigns are leaving anything to chance. Concerned over possible voting irregularities, the Department of Justice is dispatching nearly 800 attorneys and staff to monitor voting in the most hotly contested jurisdictions in 23 states. It is widely expected that tempers will be short in many areas, thanks to exceedingly long lines—as well as the real possibility of open confrontations of voters trying to cast their ballot—being challenged by partisan ‘poll-watchers’ http://t.news.msn.com/politics/will-poll-watchers-help-or-hinder-voting-in-the-elections-1 from various right-wing groups, such as True The Vote, which is now the subject of criminal investigations.




Further, in many areas, the voting procedures are being closely monitored by the DOJ and the Obama campaign, as Team Romney has employed poll watching operatives who have been trained to mislead voters on their right to vote! While one hates to predict that this could result in violence at the polls…it is certainly a possibility. As reported by msn.com, citizens who wish to vote should be aware of how they can respond to voter interference or outright intimidation, which is a FEDERAL CRIME…








In Florida, there is already grave concern being expressed over early voting irregularities over substantial early tally changes, five-hour waits to vote and missing absentee ballots not being received by voters, some of whom made their requests over a month ago! There are also concerns that voters who may not have been able to cast an absentee ballot but show up in-person to vote, will be provided ‘provisional ballots’ in many jurisdictions and that those ‘provisional ballots’ may never get counted.



Moreover, if long lines persist on election day, it is all but certain that injunctive relief will be sought in state and/or federal courts in places like Florida and Ohio (as happened in 2004) to keep the polls open long after their scheduled closing times.




cont'

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/11/03/d-o-j-monitor-polls-campaigns-prepare-litigation/


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