Thursday, May 03, 2012

Romney is a dedicated Mormon. That's fine, until he brings those biases to the country.

Former Massachusetts Governor Romney has a history with Gay Rights. He makes his position very clear. Romney is not a Civil Rights proponent. I think that reality needs to be clarified. Perhaps, not only in regard to Gay Rights, but, also women's health. 


Former Governor Romney is a Republican and has fallen into the Right Wing during this nomination process without resistance.


April 29, 2012
By Matea Gold and Melanie Mason, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Ten months into his term as Massachusetts governor, (click here) Mitt Romney was abruptly confronted with an emotionally charged issue: The state's highest court ruled that gays had the legal right to marry, thrusting the state into the forefront of the same-sex marriage debate....
...Romney had vowed while running in Massachusetts to defend and expand the rights of gays and lesbians, although he opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions. When the court ruled, he initially promised to follow its decision, while also seeking a state constitutional amendment to overturn it....


The Former Governor has a clear position on civil rights. He has stated there will be no recognition of the GLBT as equal to those of the heterosexual community. They are 'equal, but, separate.' He doesn't even endorse civil unions, so Romney has a long way to go to even begin to recognize civil rights of the gay community. That falls in lie with his Mormon faith, by the way.
There is no doubt Mitt Romney provides millions to his religious preference.



By MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk) and BRIAN ROSS (@brianross)

Jan. 18, 2012

Underscoringthe prominent, (click here for article and video) if little discussed role that Mitt Romney played as a Mormon leader, the private equity giant once run by the GOP presidential frontrunner carved his church a slice of several of its most lucrative business deals, securities records show, providing it with millions of dollars worth of stock in some of Bain Capital's most well-known holdings.

Romney has always been a major donor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which requires that members "tithe," or give 10 percent of their income to the church. His family charity, called the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past five years, including $1.8 million in 2008 and $600,000 in 2009. But because Romney, whose fortune has been estimated at $250 million, has never released his personal tax returns, the full extent of his giving has never been public.

Newly uncovered stock contributions made during Romney's Bain days suggest there is another dimension to Romney's support for the church -- one that could involve millions more than has been previously disclosed....



Let there be no shadow of doubt regarding Mr. Romney and his faith. That would be a mistake. He is a devout Mormon and Mormon's do not consent to recognition of 'same sex' anything. This lines up with Right Wing Republican 'STANDARD.' The Bush/Cheney administration lined up with anti-gay rights even in the face of Log Cabin Republicans. So, Romney, just because he is from Massachusetts doesn't carry any view different than Bachman or McDonald. I believe his time in Massachusetts was a departure from his roots and an interesting staging for a Presidential run, but, that is pure speculation. His position regarding Gay Rights is not speculation.


...Frequently, a gay or lesbian (click here) who has been raised a Mormon will disassociate themselves from the Church because of Mormon doctrines, but a gay Mormon community is growing.  There are also many gay Mormons who wish to overcome their same-sex attraction in order to have a successful eternal marriage and gain all the blessings promised by the Lord. It is a long and difficult struggle to change one's sexual orientation, but despite the denial of many pro-gay groups and psychologists, there are many formerly gay Mormons that have done it....


Now, if indeed this is accurate information regarding Mormon Doctrine, then it lines up with Rep. Michele Bachmann's spouse's professional psychology business. So, Romney’s religious doctrine directly coincides with Right Wing extremism. A man that goes to the level of financial support of his religious central authority is not a minor worshiper.


3:16 p.m. Thursday, May 3, 2012
By RACHEL ZOLL 
SALT LAKE CITY — As 20,000 Mormons (click here) streamed from the church conference center, a ragtag group of protesters stood across the street shouting that the Latter-day Saints were going to hell. Mormon families, who had gathered here for two days of speeches and spiritual guidance called General Conference, ignored the hecklers or laughed and kept walking....
...That will give them a chance like no other to explain their tradition to the public, but the church's many critics will have a bigger platform, too. And the vetting will take place amid the emotion of what may well be a nasty general election.
"People who have opposed Mormonism forever will use this as an opportunity," said Robert Millet, a religion scholar at Brigham Young University who co-founded a pioneering evangelical-Mormon dialogue. "I don't know if we're ready for this kind of deluge."
At the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, officials are preparing to defend the church.
It's an effort that began before Romney officially announced his first, ultimately unsuccessful, 2008 bid for the GOP nomination. Mormon officials met with journalists around the country about the church's nonpartisanship. Leaders were worried that any statements they made to clarify doctrine would give the impression of aiding Romney....
Nothing that happened with Richard Grenell was a mistake. Grenell was a Bush advisor. He is also sexist. There is a place for sexism in the ranks of Republicans. That is a fact. Women do produce the economic growth in the way of babies everyone seeks. Babies cause economic growth from the time of conception. Nearly immediately there is spending affiliated with the little darlings, whether it be an unwanted pregnancy or not. I have given birth to two little American darlings, myself, it is a topic I am well familiar with. It ain't cheap growing up American. Believe me, I know.


So, hiring Grenell by the Romeny campaign was a desirable move to provide policy that matched Bush's. Everyone can debate whether that is a good thing or not, but, that was the Romney campaign's reason for hiring Grenell. There was no mistake in that direction. Not even Grenell's well known sexism was a deterrent for the Romney campaign. The ambivalence regarding Grenell surrounds his homosexuality, not his sexism, his political views or his value as an advisor. Grenell's homosexuality was the issue and the Romney campaign has made that clear. 


If one is to realize Romney is a devout Mormon, then living within the faith is paramount to any political affiliation and he has made that obvious. His position on Gay Rights in Massachusetts is well stated. 


So, let there be no doubt, while 'mild mannered' Romney is difficult to unzip, he is as much a right wing extremist as Bachman and McDonald when it comes to whom has civil rights in the USA and whom does not.


Kindly, get this correct. 


Thank you.

Romney, Bachmann, McDonnell: Turning Back the Clock on Women's Health





Photo by: Jae C. Hong
Republican presidential candidate, (click here) former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, from right, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell arrive at a campaign stop in Portsmouth, Va., Thursday, May 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)


...All three slammed Mr. Obama’s energy policies, and Mr. McDonnell andMr. Romney also keyed on the military — a major employer in veteran-rich Hampton Roads....


"The Washington Times" is an amazing news rag. It quotes and requotes Right Wing Political rheotric. The First Amendment will never be exercised at The Washington Times. It seems appropriate today to have the trio of oppression of women noted here.

USA Immigration and Customs Enforcement lost two officers to gun this year.

Two senseless deaths and a 14 year old facing the death of his father. Was it an accident? Was the 14 year old ever abused if it was not an accident?


Slain ICE agent's 14-year-old son arrested on suspicion of murder (click here)


May 3, 2012  7:46 am
"This was a domestic violence incident," she said.
ICE agents and sheriff's homicide investigators were at the house this morning. Police tape blocked access to the house, in a residential neighborhood of one- and two-story homes. About two dozen ICE agents gathered for a few minutes and then left, some wiping away tears.
"I am deeply saddened to report that one of our ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents died tragically at his home in the Los Angeles area overnight," ICE Director John Morton said in a statement.

"This is a difficult time for the family and loved ones of the agent, and for everyone at ICE," he said. "Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers."
It was the second fatal shooting of an ICE agent in the Los Angeles area this year....


Then in February of this year an agent was angry about a job review. Like, what? A job review? What is the stress level like in the culture of the agency? The Secretary of Homeland Security needs to assess the culture on a regular basis. 


I can't imagine an agent found unsuitable for the job within ICE can't be placed in a lateral move in a different department. Options for 'burn out' should be looked into as well. It is important the agents are doing well within their work environment and not taking their stress or their jobs home with them.


This maybe a premature worry, but, it is just one aspect that may need review. I realize agents working for the federal government have dangerous work, but, this isn't about danger so much as stress related. 


Drug cartels are ruthless and there maybe psychological tactics proving to wear agents down. The cartels have been very successful within the infrastructure of Mexico to estrange law enforcement there, so I don't know why that would not be a possibility here, too.

KTLA News
8:31 a.m. PSTFebruary 20, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) -- More details are emerging (click here) about an incident last week when one Immigrations and Customs Enforcement opened fire on a supervisor, prompting a third agent to shoot the gunman.

It happened shortly before 6:00 p.m. Thursday on the 7th floor of the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building....


According to the FBI, 45-year-old Ezequiel Garcia shot and injured 51-year-old Kevin Kozak during a discussion about job performance....

Jose Rodriquez states as early as 2002 the Bush Administration knew where bin Laden went following Tora Bora.


Photo Courtesy United Press International
Many CIA officials see water boarding as a poor interrogation method because it scares the prisoner so much you can't trust anything he tells you. Senator John McCain, who was tortured as a POW during the Vietnam War, says water boarding is definitely a form of torture. Human rights groups agree unanimously that "simulated drowning," causing the prisoner to believe he is about to die, is undoubtedly a form of psychological torture. The international community recognizes "mock executions" as a form of torture, and many place water boarding in that category. In 1947, a Japanese soldier who used water boarding against a U.S. citizen during World War II was sentenced to 15 years in U.S. prison for committing a war crime.

If Rodriguez is saying they obtained information regarding a courier for bin Laden as early as 2002, then what took so long? Why were there two wars that have lasted more than a decade each and two decades in total?

No one in the media asks the tough questions when Rodriquez is selling his book, so much as play Rove politics to sell a "W"rongful administration that liked torture for torture rather than the ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE the soldiers in the field needed. 


I have watched several of Rodrequez interviews and they are all the same, they attempt to raise controversy to sell the book for political reasons, rather than address the very facts that obviously are inconsistent with advocating waterboarding as legitimate. I have yet to hear an interviewer ask why it took so long for Bush to use the information to capture or kill bin Laden and END THE WAR before al Qaeda spread its tentacles throughout the world. The manifestation of al Qaeda in Iraq occurred after 2002 and not before!
...But these assertions just don’t pass muster. (click here) One reason might beRodriguez himself. As professional interrogator Mark Fallon points out, “Like other torture advocates, Rodriguez wasn’t a trained interrogator and lacked meaningful experience with Al Qaeda.”
Rodriguez’s claims that torture worked hinge on a flimsy premise: that KSM, Abu Zubaydah, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, and the other so-called high-value detainees who were waterboarded and subjected to other forms of enhanced interrogation needed to be made “complicit” before their interrogations could proceed. According to Rodriguez, these detainees were not cooperative and resisted CIA interrogation when they arrived. As this story goes, after the CIA subjected them to EITs, the detainees became cooperative and started answering questions....
...And there’s the rub. According to its advocates, enhanced interrogation works when traditional interrogation won’t, but only so much. In real life, professional interrogators use non-coercive interrogation methods with high-value detainees and get the reliable, actionable information they’re after, without torturing or abusing anyone. And in real life, EITs and torture get you false information. The false link between Saddam Hussein
 and al Qaeda, a major motivation for the war in Iraq, came largely from interrogations that involved torture....

The point is waterboarding is not necessary to get ACTIONABLE intelligence. So, why would the USA commit human rights violations when it didn't have to and other methods of interrogation PROVED to work more effectively.

Waterboarding has proven to eschew interrogation. The technique was so intense it caused the detainee to answer with any answer rather than the correct answer. That has been proven. So, why risk false information out of desperation of the detainee that will then act as a threat to provide information along the same theme.

Updated 5/5/2006 2:13 AM ET


BAGHDAD (AP) — Abu Musabal-Zarqawi (click here) is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader.
The U.S. command showed the footage to reporters at a time when it is stepping up operations against al-Qaeda in Iraq and making overtures to other Sunni groups. The Americans hope to isolate religious extremists from insurgents they believe are more likely to cut a deal to end the war....


Rodriquez claims the knowledge of bin Laden's courier came during 2002, the same year of the tapes he destroyed. So what is the truth? Is Rodriquez capable of telling it as the tapes from that time were destroyed by him in 2006. In 2006, Rodriquez also fired Robert Grenier for not being aggressive enough.

He was involved with Iran-Contra under Reagan, too. 

There are a dozen questions to ask Rodriquez rather than raising controversy to debate a defunct method of interrogation.

June 8, 2006
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, (click here) al Qaeda's leader in Iraq who led a bloody insurgency of suicide bombings and kidnappings, was killed in an airstrike Wednesday, north of Baghdad.
U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, confirmed that the operation which ended in al-Zarqawi's death was the result of "tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network."
A senior U.S. military official said on Wednesday afternoon U.S. forces tracked al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser for two hours as he headed to a meeting with al-Zarqawi.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North says the intelligence report was forwarded on to two F-16C pilots who were told to strike a building in which there was "a high target of interest."...

The USA media is not doing their jobs. They are acting as political gossip rags rather than getting to THE TRUTH. The methodology of extrapolating controversy for monies has made the USA media a 'tool' for entertainment rather than protecting the knowledge base of the electorate of the USA.

The facts according to Rodriquez's rantings is the knowledge of bin Laden being in Pakistan with a courier dates back to 2002. Bush and Cheney hadn't yet entered Iraq and the USA military had subdued al Qaeda. It was before any escalation by al Qaeda in a global methodology to destroy the civilized war. Bush/Cheney had an agenda and it involved war and not peace. That theme existed through the eight years of the Bush Administration while the electorate remained in fear of the truth for the possibility of the return of al Qaeda.

Elizabeth Warren consented to run for the Senate seat in Massachusetts.

Elizabeth is a genuine expert on Public Policy and was the best choice for the DNC for a run for the Senate in Massachusetts.


WASHINGTON — Officials in the Democratic Party are wooing (click here) Elizabeth Warren to run for the Senate against the Massachusetts Republican Scott P. Brown rather than have her continue to set up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau....
...In seeking to enlist Ms. Warren for a different campaign, Democrats are taking aim at two birds. They can lay the groundwork for a potential compromise over a different candidate to lead the new agency and, they hope, they can increase their chances of reclaiming Mr. Brown’s seat by sending against him a woman who has won considerable acclaim and popularity among liberals for taking on the financial industry....


How can Brown adequately represent Massachusetts now that he has proven to be a hypocrite in order to keep his "Tea Party Darling" status. Brown voted against the Affordable Care Act and voted for repeal while enjoying its benefits. The facts are clear. He says one thing and does another. Now, being a typical Republican, he is walking back the truth through political demands for apologies and attacks on the character of his opposition.


No one denies keeping health insurance for his daughter is the best idea for a family, but, Brown needs to examine the facts. He voted against the very benefit he finds valuable. It is just that simple. It is hypocritical to use benefits of bills passed in Congress when one has voted against it. He is not living his values. He would deny parents throughout Massachusetts this very benefit, yet given a chance to use it he does. 

May 03, 2012|By Glen Johnson
Senator Brown said today that “it’s sad” for rival Elizabeth Warren to criticize his decision to continue insuring one of his daughters through the Obama administration health care law that he has opposed and tried to repeal.

“For her to call me a hypocrite as to how Gail and provide for our family, it’s sad,” Brown told reporters after a speech at Bunker Hill Community College. His wife is former Boston television reporter Gail Huff.

Warren, Brown’s likely Democratic challenger this fall, never personally applied that label to the senator. Instead, she said during a speech Tuesday that “it is wrong” for him to oppose the law while using it keep his 23-year-old daughter, Ayla, on his congressional health plan….


We are losing our civil rights in the USA. The DEA needs to be sued and a recent law repealed!

This is the section in question. Is there a loss of accountability for any detention with such a law in the USA?  The DEA is a federal and international agency.

H.R. 1540: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (click here) 

Title X -- General Provisions
Subtitle D--Counterterrorism
    SEC. 1021. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.
    (b) Covered Persons- A covered person under this section is any person as follows:
      (1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.
      (2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

      (c) Disposition Under Law of War- The disposition of a person under the law of war as described in subsection (a) may include the following:
      (1) Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

      SEC. 1022. MILITARY CUSTODY FOR FOREIGN AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS.

      (2) COVERED PERSONS- The requirement in paragraph (1) shall apply to any person whose detention is authorized under section 1021 who is determined--

      (A) to be a member of, or part of, al-Qaeda or an associated force that acts in coordination with or pursuant to the direction of al-Qaeda; and

      (B) to have participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.



Daniel Chong (click here) appears at a news conference where he discussed his detention by the DEA. Photo/ AP


College student forgotten in cell for five days

2:44 PM Thursday May 3, 2012

A college student picked up in a drug sweep in California was never arrested, never charged and should have been released. Instead he was forgotten in a holding cell for four days and says he had to drink his own urine to stay alive.
Without food, water or access to a toilet, Daniel Chong began hallucinating on the third day.
He told The Associated Press in an interview that he saw little Japanese-style cartoon characters that told him to dig into the walls to find water. Chong tore apart the plastic lining on the walls.
"I ripped the walls and waited for the room to flood for some reason," said the 23-year-old University of California, San Diego, student, three days after he left the hospital where he was treated for dehydration and kidney failure. "I can't explain my hallucinations too well because none of them make sense."
Later he added, "I felt like I was completely losing my mind."...

What investments are the wealthy making to benefit a country's economic growth?

No. 

Nothing in the way of infrastructure or high speed rail that will give a country's citizens work for 20 or 30 years, but, they are investing in increasing their wealth faster.

...According to its New Jersey-based (click here) operator, Hibernia Atlantic, the $300 million Project Express will be 5.2 milliseconds faster than the AC-1, with an execution time of 59.6 milliseconds. That will make Project Express the world’s fastest transatlantic cable when it opens in 2013 and the first to achieve round-trip trading speeds of less than 60 milliseconds. Unless someone beats them to it....


So much for "Giving Back" after being bailout of complete market collapse. No austerity for the wealthy. Indeed.


As a matter of fact, the bailout of 2008 made by the USA, facilitated the monetary accumulation within the wealthy and allowed greed to dominate faster and better ways to DEAL. If it weren't for the global economic 'to big to fail' phenomena, these 'wealth projects' designed to accumulate wealth faster are funded by the seclusion of the money supply at the top of the food chain, while governments struggle to provide for their citizens.

Now, why isn't this degree of greed being returned to a nation's treasury for the benefit of debt payment in the way of taxes? It is all backwards and the more this continues the more the poor will be deeper into poverty while nation's struggle. This is the most ridiculous project of EXCLUSIVITY and STATUS and GREED I have ever witnessed.


...Hilt has sworn to keep secret (click here) the identities of his trading firm customers, who use high-powered mainframe computers and sophisticated algorithms to sift through volumes of financial data flows in search of price discrepancies and split-second trading opportunities. The quant-driven world of computerized trading has received some unflattering attention lately, thanks to the botched initial public offering by Lenexa (Kan.)-based Bats Global Markets, which operates two electronic exchanges, and a new Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the business practices of high-frequency firms....


That is precious beyond any value system I have ever witnessed. There are no human beings making investments. Computers are dominating the way money is moved around the world. It is a process to accumulate wealth and not make business INVESTMENTS. There is nothing benevolent about this to the global economy. It is about robbing the 'process' of investment. 


Wall Street and its family around the world was organized to bring together investors to facilitate a nation's growth. To provide platforms for investment that could sustain not only a nation's growth, but, the outcomes of investors. Stock dividends. This isn't about investment, this is about harnessing 'the process' of money movement and stealing incremental amounts of currency before anyone has a chance to invest otherwise.


This fiber-optic cable connection isn't about trading stocks for investment and growth over time, it is about etching out any opportunity to steal a companies 'loose change.' This process will hurt the companies that use IPOs for expansion and possibly destroy them. What will occur is 'cash flow' to private equities. It will be taking cash out of the stock market for wealth accumulation so isolated trading firms can control cash flow/liquidity. It is about the power of money and the liquidity companies need to transact business. 


I strongly suggest companies hold onto their own liquidity/cash. Ford Motor was the smartest company on Earth. They saw cheap money before the Global Depression and they survived without relying on a dime of money from anyone. Any corporation that wants to survive to the decade of 2020 needs to have their own liquidity. Corporations need to hold on to their monies and 'stand pat' for their own good, their employees and stock holders. 


This is not an improvement, it is further degradation of the morality and ethics of Wall Street and a further isolation of economic opportunity for a country's growth.