Month: January 2012

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Martin Luther King Politics United States washington

The Legendary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr – Free At Last…

January 15, 1929 – The day that gave us Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man of courage, vision, passion, and fortitude to see equality come for all mankind. There were many who helped during the Civil Rights Movement, but Dr. King was someone with such a dynamic presence that it was hard to not be moved by the conviction of his words. A bold leader who promoted unity through a peaceful force, Dr. King became the recognizable face of the Civil Rights Movement.

Growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was all too aware of the social and economic inequities and racial discrimination directed towards minorities. He believed African-Americans were indeed “entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens”.

As a true activist, Dr. King spent over a decade dedicating his energy and efforts into making strides towards freedom for all. His imminent wish for change would not allow him to rest as continued injustice spread throughout America.

“I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Dr. King went on to lead the Montgomery bus boycott, the Birmingham Campaign, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Despite being threatened and arrested on several occasions, Dr. King never tired in his desire for change through peaceful demonstrations, nor did he cease preaching both love and reconciliation to America and its lawmakers.

“The end of violence or the aftermath of violence is bitterness. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community. A boycott is never an end within itself. It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor but the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption.”

That relentless energy eventually paid off as President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended previously legal segregation practices and disavowed discriminatory voting laws towards African-Americans.

Dr. King was taken away from our world when James Earl Ray assassinated him on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April, 4, 1968. Except, James Earl Ray was too late. Dr. King’s message and momentum was already instilled in many and the soul of his movement continued on for change in America up until this very day.

We cannot forget that Dr. King did not and could not do it alone without the bravery of those who were willing to follow his lead, yet he was, and is admired for his willingness to be the face of change for many.

Today, we must continue to spread his message and possess the courage and resilience needed to strive for freedom for the oppressed here in America and our fellow nations.

I will leave you with the powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. …all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Dear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

We will never forget.

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Rick Santorum

Judge Rules Against Rick Perry And Other Republican Candidates In Virginia Lawsuit

Judge John Gibney heard the case brought by Rick Perry and the other Republican candidates who joined the law suit, and he made the decision. Perry and the other candidates will not compete in Virginia. They knew the rules and did not do what was necessary to get their names on the ballot in a timely fashion.

“They knew the rules in Virginia many months ago; the limitations on circulators affected them as soon as they began to circulate petitions,” he writes. “The plaintiffs could have challenged the Virginia law at that time. Instead, they waited until after the time to gather petitions had ended and they had lost the political battle to be on the ballot; then, on the eve of the printing of absentee ballots, they decided to challenge Virginia’s laws. In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair.”

The decision means Perry, as well as Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman, will not appear on the ballot in the state’s March 6 primary.

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Mitt Romney Politics Republican

Some Dumb Things Mitt Romney Have Said

This man wants to be you president. God help us all!

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Boston Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

Mitt Romney Also Took Jobs Away From South Carolina – Made Millions For Doing It

David Wren writes: 

Boston-based Bain Capital LLC more than doubled its money on GS Industries Inc. [of South Carolina] – the former parent company of Georgetown Steel – under Mitt Romney’s leadership in the 1990s, even as the steel manufacturer went on to cut more than 1,750 jobs, shuttered a division that had been around for 100 years and eventually sank into bankruptcy.

Bain Capital spent $24.5 million to acquire GS Industries in 1993, according to an investment prospectus for the company that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times and reviewed by McClatchy Newspapers. By the end of that decade, Bain Capital estimated its partners had made $58.4 million off its investment in GS Industries, according to the prospectus.

Bain Capital’s partners also earned multimillion-dollar dividends from GS Industries and annual management fees of about $900,000. But by the time GS Industries filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001, it owed $553.9 million in debts against assets valued at $395.2 million.

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Republican Rick Santorum

Conservatives Have Made Their Choice – It’s Rick Santorum

 

David Brody Writes: After a two day meeting at a ranch outside of Houston a group of 150 Christian leaders, business leaders and conservative activists have coalesced behind Rick Santorum.

Friday night surrogates from every GOP campaign (except that of Jon Huntsman) attended the meeting and made the case for their candidate.  Saturday leaders took part in a “passionate time” of discussions about what they’re looking for in a conservative leader.  After three rounds of balloting Santorum emerged as the candidate leaders feel they can support.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council says conservatives are looking for a candidate who will repeal the nation’s health care law, fight for pro family values and address the national debt.

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Barack Obama Politics United States weekly address White House

Weekly Presidential Address: Helping American Businesses Succeed

In his weekly address, President Obama highlighted companies and businesses that are bringing the jobs back home.

This week, I invited executives from businesses that are insourcing jobs to a forum at the White House. These are CEOs who take pride in hiring people here in America, not just because it’s increasingly the right thing to do for their bottom line, but also because it’s the right thing to do for their workers and for our communities and our country.

And the President spoke about the tax incentives he is offering to these businesses;

I will put forward new tax proposals that reward companies that choose to do the right thing by bringing jobs home and investing in America – and eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.

Just another move by the President to put the American people back to work.

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Barack Obama Politics United States White House

The S.O.P.A Debate And The White House Response

There is a big debate going on right now about a few pieces of legislation in Congress geared to fight online piracy. The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN) are making their way through the legislative body, but another bill called SOPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) – has created a firestorm of controversies because of its wide and far-reaching powers.

If enacted and signed into law, SOPA, according to opponents of the bill, will (among other things) have the authority to tell Internet Service Providers to block the Domain Name Systems (DNS) of most law-abiding websites – including websites that operate under the Creative Commons License – simply because the site may have used contents protected under the Commons License, but not explicitly authorized by the content’s owner.

The author of the bill Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and those in favor of SOPA maintain that only sites outside the United States that violates the owner’s intellectual property, will be affected.

The debate over this particular piece of legislation cause the White House to put out the following statement, detailing their where they stand on the issue. The statement was issued by Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra, and Howard Schmidt.

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity. Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing.

We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.

Let us be clear—online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation’s most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs.  It harms everyone from struggling artists to production crews, and from startup social media companies to large movie studios. While we are strongly committed to the vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, existing tools are not strong enough to root out the worst online pirates beyond our borders. That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response.  We should never let criminals hide behind a hollow embrace of legitimate American values.

This is not just a matter for legislation. We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.

So, rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don’t limit your opinion to what’s the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what’s right. Already, many members of Congress are asking for public input around the issue. We are paying close attention to those opportunities, as well as to public input to the Administration. The organizer of this petition and a random sample of the signers will be invited to a conference call to discuss this issue further with Administration officials and soon after that, we will host an online event to get more input and answer your questions. Details on that will follow in the coming days.

Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.

Moving forward, we will continue to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation. Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this important process. We hope you’ll continue to be part of it.

Victoria Espinel is Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Technology at the Office of Science and Technology Policy

Howard Schmidt is Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics

Gingrich Explores Romney’s French Connection – Ad

Newt Gingrich, one of the most vocal attackers of the Republican frontrunner Willard Romney, is being convinced by the Republican establishment to end the attacks. It appears that asking questions about Romney’s time at Bain Capital is a no-no for other Republicans, so the often outspoken Gingrich is beginning to tone down the rhetoric. He is falling in line.

But we are not scared to question Mitt about his poor “job creation” record at Bain Capital or any French connections the former Massachusetts governor had, and we will use Gingrich’s own ads to ask these questions.

Exhibit A:

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

Mitt Romney avoids U.S Tax by using Offshore bank accounts

The man who will be the eventual Republican presidential nomine is apparently defrauding the United States government. ABC News reports on offshore bank accounts that Mitt Romney uses to avoid paying taxes on his income.

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Boston Church Mitt Romney Politics

Did Mitt Romney Force A Mother To Give Up Her Baby?

From Yahoo News:

Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, long considered a potential issue in his presidential campaign, came under scrutiny this week whenVanity Fair published excerpts from an upcoming book that delves into Mitt’s history as a lay leader in the church. The Real Romney, authored by Boston Globe reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, suggests that Mitt once threatened a single mother with excommunication if she didn’t give her soon-to-be-born baby up for adoption — an account the Republican frontrunner denies. Here, a brief guide to this unsettling story:

In the early 1980s, Romney was serving as bishop of a Mormon congregation near Boston. Peggie Hayes, a 23-year-old divorced single mother, became pregnant with her second child. Knowing she needed help, Romney arranged for Hayes to get odd jobs from other church members. But as bishop, Romney also bore the responsibility of briefing Hayes on church doctrine. As quoted in the book, she claims he showed up at her apartment and encouraged her to give her baby to the church’s adoption agency. According to Hayes, Romney said: “This is what the church wants you to do, and if you don’t, then you could be excommunicated.”

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Black people Newt Gingrich Politics Republican Rick Santorum United States

Poverty In America – More Whites In Poverty Than Blacks

 Edward Wyckoff Williams writes: The leaders of today’s Republican Party are expert storytellers. When it comes to manipulating racial stereotypes for political gain, they are akin to animation artists of the 1920s: coloring the lines in black and white.

Last Thursday Newt Gingrich told a crowd of senior citizens in New Hampshire, “The African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.” Rick Santorum was even more egregious, claiming he doesn’t “want to make black people’s lives better by giving them other people’s money” (although he later claimed that he never intentionally said “black”).

Gingrich’s latest offense comes only weeks after he received widespread criticism for saying that poor children should work as janitors and clean toilets. He specifically made a point of addressing “inner city” youths — which has become conservative code for black and brown people everywhere, from the South to the coasts, the suburbs to the metropolises, regardless of where they actually live.

The report states;

Of the 46 million people living in poverty in America in 2010, the U.S. census revealed that 31 million were white. Ten million were black. Of the 49 million people without health insurance coverage, 37 million were white; 8 million were African-American. The face of poverty in America is overwhelmingly white, but as a 2009 study on children in poverty [explained], the white American poor, especially those in rural areas, are “forgotten.”

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

Romney Holds Small Lead Over Gingrich In South Carolina

With just days to go before the South Caroina prmary begins, new polling shows some good news for Gingrich and some bad news for Romney, as conservative Republicans still questions the moderate record of Mitt Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor’s lead is so small in the Palmetto State that he’s essentially tied with Newt Gingrich, according to a poll conducted for The Augusta Chronicle by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research. Romney’s 23 percent and Gingrich’s 21 percent fall within the 3.6 percent margin of error. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who came in second in the Iowa caucuses is in third place in South Carolina with 14 percent, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the runner-up in New Hampshire, is effectively tied with him at 13 percent.

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