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Having a successful Hollywood producer with a track record of successfully embarrassing big companies and governments as a supporter can't hurt.
Except that his movies made at least one completely false statement that I know of for sure. He said that factory that was making the Titan IV was making ballistic missiles. It is not and has never been a ballistic missile. It was based on the Titan II which was ballistic missile but was retired from service long ago.
When he purports to be creating "documentaries," yes, it kind of does.
You see, documentaries are generally held to be factual representations of some aspect of life that the filmmaker wants to... document. Now, if Mr. Moore titled his movies with such names as "The Conspiracy that I, Michael Moore, am sure is behind the 9/11 attacks!" then you could say that they are documentaries: documenting his views and opinions.
But he represents these opinions and views and interpretations as objective, factual depictions of a situation, and they are demonstrably not in many cases. How much trust can you give to the work of a documentary filmmaker who is known to be distorting the truth, or even deliberately lying, in order to bolster his own viewpoint?
Would you trust the Discovery Channel to tell you the truth if they released a documentary purporting to show the reality of how lions and other animals interact in the wild, and that movie turned out to be Disney's The Lion King, complete with musical numbers?
No but it erases all trust. The US has not made any new ICBMs since the MX in the late 80s. All the production lines have been closed for a while. Our current ICBMs are Minutemen which where produced in the 60s and maybe early 70s. We have updated the electronics of course. The MX was retired to meet treaty obligations.
The Trident is an SLBM and those are also out of production but we are making spare parts for them too keep them in service.
Other sites list many other errors in his movies but that was the
I started reading that, but the first "lie" was merely dramatic license. I've seen lists like this before and they're all like that.
Moore's use of dramatic methods to tell the story are not lying, not in the way that the right wing's diversions, obfuscations, and blatant lies are lying.
In the end, Moore tells you the truth, and the GOP and its corporate masters and its gibbering minions take your money and move on to their next lie.
This is the same guy who has insinuated that George W. Bush is pals with Osama Bin Laden
Well, we can only go on what we know and we know that Bush and Bin Laden, certainly through his family, have invested in a lot of companies together. The Bin Ladens are very well known, wealthy and extremely well connected in Saudi Arabia. The notion that Bush knows nothing about him is just plain fishy.
...and specifically sent too few troops into Afghanistan to make sure Bin Laden escaped and wanted to keep his Taliban friends safe.
Well, all we know is that not a trace of Osama Bin Laden has ever been found. Not a single lead. Not a sausage. Nothing. This is from a guy and his supporters who are supposed to be propping up a worldwide terrorism network who are well connected and well funded. Oh, and there's a lot of companies with directors who are friends of George Bush who are making quite a bit of money from the 'rebuilding' of Afghanistan. Basically, it's in their interests to keep the whole thing going.
I think people are more then entitled to ask what the hell is going on. The trouble with this stuff is that you almost get a kind of 'reverse conspiracy theory' effect and governments have learned to use this phenomenon, especially when they do something bare faced and obvious. Basically, it's so unbelievable for most people that no amount of evidence will convince them that there is even the smallest thing wrong. Note, we're not talking about grand conspiracy theories here, we're just talking about admitting that something is wrong. The notion that there is something wrong and the consequences would rock their cosy little world too much, and so, they will go into denial and even defend the status quo in order to protect their own bubble of perceived security.
This is the same guy who has insinuated that George W. Bush is pals with Osama Bin Laden and specifically sent too few troops into Afghanistan to make sure Bin Laden escaped and wanted to keep his Taliban friends safe.
Do you have a citation for these claims? From what I remember of the movie, the points you refer to are:
The Bush/Bin Laden family and business connection stuff is documented fact. The President's special "fly" approval enabling the Bin Laden's to leave the U.S. immediately after the 9/11 attacks is documented fact. The decision to send fewer than 30 soldiers to pursue Osama, when they knew (or claimed to know) where he was, is documented fact. What is so outrageous about Moore's statements here?
No, standing behind liars doesn't make you a hero and a paragon of truth. It makes you a hypocrite.
If you truly believe in the pursuit of truth, then you need to focus on the truth. I know that is a crazy concept in this partisan society of ours where we want to side with anyone who picks a fight with the other side.
One can be successful without being good or honest. By most standards, Mr Moore is very, very successful.
My understanding is that it's a collection of public and private individuals funding Assange's bail, not Wikileaks.
I wouldn't expect Wikileaks to seek to defend criminal charges on staff members that are entirely unrelated to their operations, although I could probably argue why they should
The Shell Oil Company claimed it had inserted staff into all the main ministries of the Nigerian government, giving it access to every movement of politicians. Ann Pickard, then Shell's vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa boasted that the Nigerian government had "forgotten" about the extent of Shell's infiltration and was unaware of how much the company knew about its deliberations.
You do not have to post any actual money when you provide a surety in the UK. You only have to show that you have the sum available and are liable for the sum in the event the (alleged) offender breaches bail conditions in some significant manner. See http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/the-rights-of-defendants/bail.html [yourrights.org.uk] for a further explanation.
If would be sweet, sweet irony if it turns out that Wikileaks has something on Michael Moore, like that's he a paid corporate shill, or that he has an account on iheart12yoldboys.com.
Journalist John Pilger and socialite Jemima Khan are putting up $31,600 surety each, with bail set at $380,000. It looks like enough people like Michael Moore have guaranteed the bail money as he has been bailed pending appeal [bbc.co.uk] (the prosecutors have 2 hours to appeal). He should be released by the end of the day.
He has had his passport confiscated, been electronically tagged, is under curfew and house arrest during the evenings, and must report to the police station every day. This is fair enough, it is no different to any other offender afaik. Certainly not the Guantamo Bay scenario he has had the past week, with "absolutely no access to any electronic equipment, no access to the outside world, no access to outside media" and no correspondence allowed.
The fast tracking through political influence, and the imprisonment for an as yet unfounded allegation in a foreign country, is a blot on our country's record, but it's good to see our strong and mostly fair legal system reassert itself after a short delay.
Sorry to reply to my own post, but things have changed. Sweden have now decided they want to appeal against the bail, but have declined to provide any evidence as to any crimes committed. It looks like a vindictive attack is in process to keep him in jail and incommunicado as long as possible. Also the courts aren't taking cheques as they take 7 days to clear, so $380,000 has to be found in used pound notes. Looks like restaurant designer Sarah Saunders, who is putting up $237,000 of bail money, is going to be making a large withdrawal.
In addition to conditions above, curfew from 10am-2pm and 10pm-2am according to the BBC. What a coincidence these are the hours that cover the prime-time news slots.
In addition to conditions above, curfew from 10am-2pm and 10pm-2am according to the BBC. What a coincidence these are the hours that cover the prime-time news slots.
That part isn't really a concern, since he doesn't have to be in studio to do a live interview. And of course, a taped interview can be recorded anytime.
If Assange goes missing and Moore puts on another 90lbs, I think we can chalk this up as the most expensive Take-Out meal ever
Surely it's worth it, for only be feasting on his flesh may he gain his powers.
um... [huffingtonpost.com]
"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is back in court today, and has been granted bail by a British judge. He has been in a British prison for a week after being denied bail last week. Assange is wanted for questioning for alleged sex crimes involving two women in Sweden. It is thought that one of the women, Anna Ardin, may no longer be cooperating with prosecutors."
It is thought that one of the women, Anna Ardin, may no longer be cooperating with prosecutors."
It should be mentioned that this statement stems from the fact that she is currently on a three month stay in Israel with an ecumenical Christian group. She has been blogging how excited she is about this trip for months.
"It is thought that one of the women, Anna Ardin, may no longer be cooperating with prosecutors."
It should be mentioned that this statement stems from the fact that she is currently on a three month stay in Israel with an ecumenical Christian group. She has been blogging how excited she is about this trip for months."
Assange was excited about posting the documents for quite some time, but when he was busy doing so rather than reporting to those same police he was "not cooperating with police." Why is this
I'd mod you up if I hadn't already posted in this topic. Really, the only things you should say to a police officer are the following:
COP: Is that your penis in the drive-thru window?
COP: Did someone force you to do that?
No, officer.
COP: Why is your hand in your ass cheeks?
Officer, I'm getting my wallet from my pocket now.
COP: Why are you bending over like that?
Officer, I'm getting my registration/insurance documents from the glove compartment.
COP: I think you lost your mind. Let's look for it.
I do not consent to any searches.
Do you have a warrant, officer?
COP: Did you ask me if I have a warrant?
I will not answer questions without a lawyer.
Great point -- however, if one has a weapon of any variety (even one that might be in plain sight), it's wise to tell the officer that before making any moves that might possibly be construed as reaching for a weapon. Things like, "Officer, I am wearing a pistol on my hip, which is near my seatbelt" or "I have a pistol in my glove compartment" or "I have a hunting knife on my belt", followed by a question about how you can most safely comply with their directions might help their peace of mind (and your safety) a lot.
Heh...more the fool you.
Here's a gem that shoots down the premise you're trying to promulgate here...
Part 1 [youtube.com]
Part 2 [youtube.com]
These are videos of a lecture given by Professor Duane, an instructor at Regent Law School and a Experienced LEO that's moving into the Legal profession on just precisely WHY you don't do what you're talking about.
Pay particular attention to how fast someone can be deep-sixed in a courtroom on flimsy crap, stuff that a Jury would have some difficulty discounting.
Regardless of "if you don't have anything to hide"...anything can and WILL be used against you at any time.
Go watch the Youtube videos "Never talk to the police" and then come back to the thread.
"I have nothing to say"
"My lawyer's name is [their name here]"
The problem with that is, most cops in the US are corrupt dickheads who will beat you down or arrest you on the "fuck it we'll find something to charge you with later" principle if they don't think you are being properly "respectful" to them.
And yes, this includes telling them "no, I don't consent to any searches." Their actual response isn't "well then I can't search you", it's "well fuck that, I'll beat you up, throw you in my car in cuffs, and while you spend 48 hours in jail we'll break your window and search your car anyways."
They all start out on the lowest rung, making ticket quota. They quickly learn every trick in the book to make it "my word vs yours" - pointing their car's nose wrong-way to block off dashcam, leaning into your car to muffle the audio recording, and so on.
By the time they graduate from traffic ticket quota days, there's no saving them - they're about number of arrests and convictions, not whether they actually did their job right, or followed the law, or got the real culprit. The goal of the police interrogator isn't to find out what you know and determine if your alibi checks out, it's to get you to say something that can be used to incriminate you, and to do so, they will pull any underhanded trick they need - drop a hint in the hallway [youtube.com], sit there "waiting for your lawyer" with the tape off for hours while bugging you about how "all you have to do is talk to us and you can go home", and on and on and on.
I never wanted to admit this growing up, but cops - at least, cops that come up through the corrupt US system - are slime. If not 100% of them, better than 90% of them, easily.
In UK, you pay taxes so that people can *always* afford legal representation.
It's another one of those little "socialist" provisions you'll complain about until you need it.
And in the US, you pay taxes and are given a court-appointed attorney to represent you if you can't afford to hire one of your own.
Or are you suggesting that in the UK, your taxes get you legal representation from lawyers on par with Alan Dershowitz and William Rehnquist?
I used to think the same thing. A friend of mine was recently arrested in an airport for saying the wrong thing. (It turns out that the officer misheard what he had said but that's another story.) This friend makes $13K a year. He was denied access to a public defender. Apparently, in some jurisdictions the judge gets to decide who can afford a lawyer. The incident happened during a layover on an international flight so the charges were in a city 1000's of miles from my friend's home. He had to pay to fly himself 1/2 way across the country to appear at his court date. Travel costs alone were a huge fraction of his yearly income. Still, they denied him a public defender.
My understanding is he's wanted for some non-standard local law having to do with wearing a condom, and that that "crime" is specifically not rape. Having seen this in at least a couple dozen news articles, you'd have to show me quite a bit of alternative stories saying the charge is RAPE, in order to convince me.
My problem with him on a personal level is he doesn't let the evidence speak for itself...he seems to find it imperitive to make sure that you know that he's the one saying it.
Like I said, I absolutely support and love the work he does, but the man's need for attention pisses me off.
My problem with him on a personal level is he doesn't let the evidence speak for itself...he seems to find it imperitive to make sure that you know that he's the one saying it.
Moore is a counterpoint to places like Fox News and CNN which screech really loudly their views. They sure as hell aren't letting the evidence speak for itself -- they speak for it, and sometimes, in lieu of it.
I don't think Moore has ever denied that he has an agenda, and that he's telling the story his way.
Like I said, I absolutely support and love the work he does, but the man's need for attention pisses me off.
Well, Sarah Palin is no different, really
Heck, I remember watching some guy on CNN several years ago saying that the crash of 2008 was coming because of all of the crap credit out there. He basically got shouted down by a bunch of arch-conservative guys who believed that it could never happen.
People can hate both Moore and Palin.
No, you have to choose. You get to pick either Moore, abortion, gun control, gay marriage support; or Palin, destroying terrorists, bailouts and conservative values.
You can't pick and choose a la carte. This isn't a restaurant. This is America.
Yes, because, in a state that has such a large dependence on tourism based around nature, most bullets sold are primarily for the purpose of murder rather than hunting, wildlife management, or target shooting.
In 2009, there were 175 murders in Colorado. In 1981, the year with the greatest number of murders on record, there were 239. These are total counts for murder, they do not delineate gun murders from any other method. In 2008 approximately 41,000 pheasant roosters were harvested. That's just pheasants. I'm not even going to take the time to find out the bag totals of other animals/hunting seasons.
Nobody's "pretending" that the majority of bullets sold are for hunting.
so this is different from fox news, all the corporate news channels, how ?
Moore works to expose corruption, while corporate media generally helps enable it. I'd say that's a pretty big difference.
the man engages in ideological arguments that don't guarantee any financial return. he could take the money he earns and lead a much more lucrative life, not doing things like, for example, springing for assange's bail
look: you don't have to like michael moore, but you have to admit that he is a man of conscience, that what motivates him is belief, not greed. to say that someone like michael moore is really just motivated by money, when he clearly is a shining example of a person motivated by ideology, is just a lame weak ignorant smear on your part
I enthusiastically applaud his work in pulling off the lamb outfit from world governments and corporations.
What purpose is served in releasing the fact that Hilary Clinton worries about the mental health of other world leaders? How does that aid in our international relations?
That's just one of 1000's of items that were released that are not crimes, are not important for the American people to know, and still undermine our government's ability to operate on the world stage.
Releasing those kinds of documents doesn't serve a greater good. It doesnt expose any wrong-doings. It doesn't help create stability, ensure -anyone's- safety, or promote any kind of cooperation between nations. It was released to embarrass the US government and garner sensationlistic attention from a little weasle.
Not to mention that this guy released the names of confidential informants in the middle east. In doing so he signed the death warrants of those people. What greater purpose was served by releasing their names? What good will come of that? What crime did they commit? What evil are they responsible for? Where are your indignant tears for them and their families who will almost assuredly be slaughtered?
What purpose is served in releasing the fact that Hilary Clinton worries about the mental health of other world leaders? How does that aid in our international relations?
That's just one of 1000's of items that were released that are not crimes, are not important for the American people to know, and still undermine our government's ability to operate on the world stage.
Releasing those kinds of documents doesn't serve a greater good. It doesnt expose any wrong-doings. It doesn't help create stability, ensure -anyone's- safety, or promote any kind of cooperation between nations. It was released to embarrass the US government and garner sensationlistic attention from a little weasle.
If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to worry about...right? I mean, that's what they told us with the Patriot Act and warrentless wiretapping, so...
Not to mention that this guy released the names of confidential informants in the middle east. In doing so he signed the death warrants of those people. What greater purpose was served by releasing their names? What good will come of that? What crime did they commit? What evil are they responsible for? Where are your indignant tears for them and their families who will almost assuredly be slaughtered?
Can you find me one single recorded instance of anyone over there being killed directly because of the Iraq/Afghanistan war docs?
The law isn't always used for justice. It's also used for revenge and control.
How does it aid your international relations?...
Fuck you and your country's international relations.
People in a lot of countries are getting a wakeup call on how the US really views them and their elected (or not elected) leaders, and while it has been 'known' by those in the know... Still to have it exposed to the public in such a manner means it's much harder to try hiding it from the people.
Much of it is just embarrassing and not really 'relevant' stuff, true. Yet being a 'crime' is not really the standard by which we should filter them... Cause in that case even talk of acts of torture would be considered not interesting considering what the US has been up to lately.
Remember; these leaks are not primarily for the American people. They are for the rest of the world.
I despise Moore as a person.
Michael Moore went through a mass character assassination to similar to Julian Assange. Note that as the stream of negative publicity backfired as the ulterior motives were exposed and people stopped swallowing so much shit, the pictures attached to news articles changed from an seedy looking, sneering, oily Gollum lookalike into a reasonably normal looking guy. They could both be asshats or great guys, I have no idea but I certainly don't intend to allow two faced news rag peddlers dictate my opinions of anyone.
Lacking the opportunity to meet these people within my normal social circles, I prefer to form my own opinions based upon unedited and unbiased interviews of a reasonable enough length to prevent any contextual manipulation. Sadly that's not how the news will ever portray someone, it doesn't sell so well.
I hear this all the time, "He makes some good points but makes them badly." I don't understand this at all. You agree with him, but the way he says things makes you not want to agree? How does that work? What is it about his communication style that makes you want to disagree with things you actually agree with?
Are you sure you agree with what he is saying? Maybe you do agree with him, but you really don't want to agree with him? Maybe you don't want a fat hippie liberal slob to be right, because it sets a bad precedent and then other fat hippie liberal slobs might start speaking up? I don't know, I'm just guessing here. Maybe it is because he is a populist, and you are an elitist, and even when populists are correct, elitists have to put them down, to maintain their elite status? Maybe "He makes some good points but makes them badly." is some sort of code for "I really don't want to agree with him, but I have pretensions of intellectual honesty I am loath to give up, and I have to admit that he is telling the truth even though I don't want to."
And I think your mother was a llama. What do I base that on? Absolutely nothing, which appears to be the standard of proof you are using.
Moore made his argument. Your rebuttal to his argument is "He lies and uses bad logic." which isn't really any kind of rebuttal or argument at all, it is just an unsupported opinion. Remember, that which can be claimed without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. So, consider yourself and your opinions dismissed until you come back with some evidence.
Uh, wow. Just... wow. You saw this movie? You saw a movie named "Bowling for Columbine," and you watched the whole thing? Really?
I am reminded of a scene in A Fish Called Wanda and a line that goes "The central theme of Buddhism is NOT 'Every man for himself.'" You think the central theme of Bowling for Columbine is gun control?!? Really?!?
I just have to ask, what about the whole last half of the movie? What about Canada? Micheal discovers that gun control isn't the answer, because guns were never the problem in the first place, and he makes that very clear.
So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you right there and ask you to actually watch one of Micheal Moore's films before you critique him.
Please point out where MM is lying. I hear this all the time, but his work has been fact checked left, right, up, down and sideways and no one can find the glaring lies that some people claim are there. Please, you seem quite upset by him, so I just know you have actual factual, verifiable examples of him lying.
The reason that I want specific examples, rather than a general fucking google search, is that I can rebut specific examples. Thanks for wasting everyone's time with your useless contribution to the discussion. Give me some specific examples of Micheal Moore lying so I can prove he isn't, or shut the hell up.
So, since he's fat, he's lazy? Piercing insight, that.
I don't care much for Moore, but he's doing the right thing here, so maybe store the venom up for a day when he's not?
Right, it's the worst atrocities, or nothing. Nobody's supposed to condemn any of the other stuff in between. Certainly they're not supposed to address the issues that they, personally, find important. What the hell would we have then? Freedom? The hell with that.
Good point. There isn't really a health care crisis in this country and we weren't lied into the Iraq war. Thanks for clearing that up.
You know, Michael Moore may resort to half-truths and tugging at the heart strings, but if you have a brain you can see beyond that while still finding a valid message.
If you're an idiot, I'd still rather have you following Michael Moore's rhetoric than Glenn Beck's.
You know, Michael Moore may resort to half-truths and tugging at the heart strings, but if you have a brain you can see beyond that while still finding a valid message.
The thing is, there IS a valid message, and he doesn't need to resort to half-truths to get that message across. The message should speak for itself. Embellishments and falsehoods are only going to cloud the validity of that message.
..Micheal Moore actually exposes real crimes carried out by all the unpleasent dictatorships around the world. Though that might require him getting off his fat backside and doing some real investigative reporting and even putting himself in real danger , as opposed to the manufacturered danger he conjures up to keep up viewer interesr on his lame expose films.
So, you do not agree that he should try to clean up his own yard first, then go elsewhere?
You'd prefer him to clean Zimbabwe's yard, for example, while ignoring shit that is happening in his own?
Brilliant logic. I wish I had your brain for a week, so I can get a lifetime's rest...
Why doesn't Michael Moore just move to a country more to his liking since he clearly hates the one he is a citizen of? Cuba, perhaps?
A lot of people here like this country just the way it is and don't want anyone, Moore, Obama, or anyone else changing it in to something else.
Leave, Michael! You'd be happier, and we'd be happier.
If you think that allowing a government to flat out lie to us is 'loving your country', then I'd personally rather YOU leave. I don't care for Moore, but I care even less for all the sheep begging to be shorn!
Your distaste for Michael Moore is causing you to lobby against THE TRUTH for crying out loud. And I'm sorry, but that's just morally bankrupt.
You're not fit to judge which laws are valid and which are not unless you're likewise prepared to back that up with full strength of government.
So, yes, that is a double standard. It is the very definition of a double standard to say that China is not permitted to have secrets while we are. That's insane.
And just because the law has details within it does not mean that the secrets being exposed were worth keeping.
I believe in a government without any secrets. Governments aren't people, so they have no ri
I guess he's much like me. I love the US. I love the country, I love the people.
I just hate the government and the way it's run.
Michael Moore finds way to stay relevant
Michael Moore was never relevant.
Although I don't like Michael Moore (he's comparable to a propagandist) he sometimes does the right thing. His mid-90s movie about manufacturing an excuse to declare war (and give the president a boost in popularity) was very good. And this act to bail a Reporter out of jail and protect the Right to a Free Press is also very good.
Without wikileaks we wouldn't know that US Soldiers were killing innocent journalists and children (the Pentagon denied the event happened). That Hillary Clinton was stealing credit card numbers from foreign diplomats. The content of the ACTA treaty to make backing-up your CDs or DVDs or MP3s and illegal act. And on and on and on.
Democracy can not work when the people are kept in the dark about what their public servants are doing.
I have a better idea:
Let's bring the soldiers home so they can't accidentally kill children, journalists, or innocents. Or get killed themselves. And I don't mean two years from now ('bama's schedule) but immediately. Tomorrow. The Soviets wisely stopped fighting in Afghanistan when they realized it's hopeless to civilize that mountain country, and we should too. We'd save a LOT of lives.
>>>you didn't know that in war civilian sometimes get killed?
Of course. But that doesn't excuse the Pentagon lying about it and pretending war is as clean as a hospital room ("surgical precision to avoid civilian casualties" they claimed). It's good to have these videos exposed to reveal the lie.
from the outside, we see moore a hero. maybe its possible that the endless propaganda perpetrated by corporate owned mass media have twisted you american people's views about moore
The problem is that most of Moore's "facts" which he presents in his movies turn out to be no more than elaborate fabrications. He routinely takes quotes out of context, overlays a speech over video from another event, re-arranges video and audio, creates set-up interviews where he asks the guy one question and then re-shoots himself asking another question so the answer is presented in the manner which Moore wants, and many more methods of turning real events into fictional ones.
There are plenty of websites out there that take Moore's movies and show, "fact" by "fact", just how badly Moore manipulates reality. Now this doesn't mean that Moore's topics aren't worth investigating, it just means that you can't take anything he says as the truth. Do your own investigation into the truth and you'll be far better off than relying on Moore to do the job for you.
Isn't that pretty much the modus operandi of most American "news" sources, not to mention government institutions and politicians ?
His version of the Iraq War? That the United States
1) Manufactured intelligence about WMDs
2) Ignored all international inspectors who said there were no WMDs
3) Kicked the inspectors out so they could have their war
4) Lied to the American people about the cost and length of war, with Rumsfeld publicly stating that it won't last "much longer" than 5 months or cost more than 50 to 60 billion dollars
5) Ended up torturing Iraqis in the same prisons where Saddam did his dirty work
6) Pretended that we hadn't supported Saddam right through his worst atrocities in the 80s, including supplying him with "dual use" technology to wage a war with Iran that killed a million people and
7) Removing Iraq from the State sponsors of Terror list in 1982 so US firms could also sell him biological weapons to kill Kurds with
If you were born in Germany in 1920, you would have died wearing a belt buckle that read "GOTT MIT UNS." Blind fealty to the flag is fucking pathetic.
Nothing seriously needing George W. Bush's attention was actually happening.
What the fuck? No, seriously, what the fuck?!?! Fucking A, do you really believe this?
9/11 just happened, and it wasn't anything seriously enough happening to require our President's attention?!? God damn man, seriously?!?!?
Like, maybe getting informed as to what was happening beyond shit whispered in his ear? Calling up National Guard, declaring disaster areas, etc? He's not supossed to do any of that? What is this England, and he's royalty, some figurehead?
Seriously, I am just mouth agape at this point. My god.
What the fuck? No, seriously, what the fuck?!?! Fucking A, do you really believe this?
Yeah, there wasn't much he could do at the current time. There was no source of attack known and he can't personally gather intelligence on this. Someone will tell his secretary if Russia calls, and the CIA will be informed, and he will get a notification immediately.
Like, maybe getting informed as to what was happening beyond shit whispered in his ear?
Already happening, that's what the intelligence community does. If they know it, he'll know it.
Calling up National Guard, declaring disaster areas, etc?
Well, generally the state of new york and the locality of new york city are going to respond first. Nobody claimed an attack yet, so we're not automatically at war. Plane crashes are considered a "disaster," not an "attack." So the governor of New York State or the mayor of New York City would be calling in the New York National Guard, fire department, etc, and setting disaster areas.
At this point, it's the President's job to either run around going "what what I'm confused did somebody blow shit up what's happening?!" or kick his feet up on his desk smoking a cigar telling "the boys" to keep him informed. There's no cigars allowed in first grade classrooms.
Like, maybe getting informed as to what was happening beyond shit whispered in his ear? Calling up National Guard, declaring disaster areas, etc? He's not supossed to do any of that?.
No.... He wasn't really supposed to do any of that. Seriously.
Intelligence activity takes time to come up from analysts through the various levels of filters until it gets to the President. We have entire agencies of analysts whose job it is to figure out what is going on and inform him. At that point him doing his job is saying "keep me informed".
And more importantly, the rest of those responsibilities mostly fall under the State and local government. Specifically the National Guard would have had to have been called up by then Governor Pataki. Local emergency response was handled at the municipal level by Giuliani (quite aggressively I might add, he had to be evacuated from several command posts during the course of the day because buildings were falling down around him).
Unless and until a State Governor officially requests federal assistance, the President literally has no authority to send federal troops or resources. Given the number of times this came up during GWB's Presidency, I am shocked that more people don't understand this.
First of all what you are saying is not true. He offered the State department the chance to redact the documents, which they declined, then worked in conjunction with respectable papers such as the Guardian and New York Times to publish them.
Secondly, the job of a journalist is to find stories in the public interest and publish them. They aren't all caped crusaders. At least Wikileaks is only publishing information that is anonymously sent to them. In the UK journalists are quite happy to break the law, hack into people's private information, and do whatever it takes to get a story. News of The World in the UK hacked into the voicemail of celebrities, politicians and royal family to get stories (list of victims here [guardian.co.uk]).
I would trust Julian Assange to be more apolitical than Michael Moore.
However, Assange is NOT a journalist. Journalists are supposed to have a sense of responsibility. All Assange does is release documents no matter what they are, without apparently trying to determine if they NEED to be leaked.
I don't think you know what the word "journalist" means. A journalist is anyone who reports the news as an occupation. That's it. No other qualification needed.
And journalists who worry about "sense of responsibility" are everywhere -- they're the folks writing bland, instantly forgettable wire service stories; they're the interchangeable talking heads on TV; they're the soothing voices on the radio that you couldn't put names to if your life depended on it. The very few journalists who dig deeper, who know there's always more muck to rake, who have the intelligence and dedication and raw courage to speak truth to power, are the ones whose names are remembered, and rightly so.
Woodward and Bernstein are still household names long after most of their contemporaries have been utterly forgotton. So will Assange be. And while people like you may continue to whine, those of us who want to live in a better world will remember why.
He sure does. Sigh. I wish the truth were capable of changing the minds of most people, but it isn't. That's too bad, but until individual humans reject nontruths, at least the side of morality and reason has a liar to rely on. Moore is a rare liberal, the kind that would rather convince than tell the truth, and in that he does the world good. I bet you would agree with me that the optimal world would be one in which the truth is more convincing than a lie. Alas, we will have to long for that world, while we settle for this one.
What the hell is it about Wikileaks that brings out the nutbag libertarians?
I'm a nutbag anarcho-capitalist, and I donate to Wikileaks.
And Ron Paul supports Wikileaks as well. Good old Wikileaks, bringing the nutbag socialists (myself) and nutbag libertarians into agreement. But really, why should government transparency be a right-wing/left-wing issue? The ones who paint it as a liberal/conservative issue are just trying to demonize their opponents. A sad effect of the two-party system in the U.S.
"Michael Moore falls prey to a mistake in ethical reasoning by failing to expound that taxation is immoral as well as the rest of my trite ideological drivel."
People with more extreme views are louder, and their supporters are more dedicated (since they tend to focus on their pet peeve while the rest of us have more important things to do), so we tend to see them more.
They're not the majority though. I'd be willing to bet that most Slashdotters don't hate Moore or Assange... they're just not posting about their moderate stance as much as the extremists are yelling about theirs.
This process can check if this value is zero, and if it is, it does something child-like. -- Forbes Burkowski, CS 454, University of Washington


text:
Showcasing Texture with a Neutral Palette
Posted by
Becky |
View all posts by Becky
1 Comment » | Published in Color Palettes, Design Magazines, Design on the Web, Design Press, Interior Designers | 1 Comment
I miss Vogue Living magazine. Every now and then, Vogue will throw me a bone with some heart-stoppingly gorgeous interior spread. I was just giving an issue from a few months ago a last flip before it hit the recycling bin, and I had to pause. The home of Michael and Alexandra Misczynski left me in awe. It seems so simple; with its limited palette of neutrals and black. However, the clever use of a variety of textures makes every piece and surface stand out. In spite of this, it is all perfectly balanced. This is not an easy feat my friends. It's hard to tell on the screen, but the glass in the piece below is exquisite – old and warped. It stands out because of the way they have every element in that room perfectly arranged.
I'll give you a little teaser of Francois Harland's gorgeous photos, then link on over and enjoy the entire slideshow yourself.
Photos by Francois Halard for Vogue, as seen on style.com
Hi, I'm Becky. I live in Atlanta. Besides acting as the Editorial Director here on Hatch, you can find me talking design over at Houzz. Make me happy — leave a comment!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Badge of a Fire Fighter is the Maltese Cross. The Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection and a badge of honor. Its story is hundreds of years old.
When a courageous band of crusaders known as The Knights of St. John fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land, they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. It was a simple, but horrible device of war. It brought excruciating pain and agonizing death upon the brave fighters for the cross.
As the crusaders advanced on the walls of the city, they were struck by glass bombs containing naphtha. When they became saturated with the highly flammable liquid, the Saracens would hurl a flaming torch into their midst. Hundreds of the knights were burned alive; others risked their lives to save their brothers-in-arms from dying painful, fiery deaths.
Thus, these men became our first Fire Fighters and the first of a long list of courageous men. Their heroic efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded each hero a badge of honor – a cross similar to the one fire fighters wear today. Since the Knights of St. John lived for close to four centuries on a little island in the Mediterranean Sea named Malta, the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross.
The Maltese Cross is our symbol of protection. It means that the Fire Fighter who wears this cross is willing to lay down his life for you just as the crusaders sacrificed their lives for their fellow man so many years ago. The Maltese Cross is a Fire Fighter's badge of honor, signifying that he works in courage – a ladder's rung away from death.
History of the Star of Life
Star of LifeThe Blue "Star of Life" — The Emergency Medical Care Symbol
by Arline Zatz
Just as a pharmacists has the mortar and pestle and doctors have the caduceus, Emergency Medical Technicians have a symbol, its use is encouraged both by the American Medical Association and the Advisory Council within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The symbol applies to all emergency medical goods and services which are funded under the DOT/EMS program.
Designed by Leo R. Schwartz, Chief of the EMS Branch, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the "Star of Life" was created after the American National Red Cross complained in 1973 that they objected to the common use of an Omaha orange cross on a square background of reflectorized white which clearly imitated the Red Cross symbol. NHTSA investigated and felt the complaint was justified.
The newly designed, six barred cross, was adapted from the Medical Identification Symbol of the American Medical Association and was registered as a certification mark on February 1, 1977 with the Commissioner of Patents and Trade-marks in the name of the National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration. The trademark will remain in effect for twenty years from this date.
Each of the bars of the blue "Star of Life" represents the six system function of the EMS, as illustrated below: The capitol letter "R" enclosed in the circle on the right represents the fact that the symbol is a "registered" certification.
The snake and staff in the center of the symbol portray the staff Asclepius who, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Apollo (god of light, truth and prophecy). Supposedly Asclepius learned the art of healing from the centaur Cheron; but Zeus – king of the gods, was fearful that because of Asclepius knowledge, all men might be rendered immortal. Rather than have this occur, Zeus slew Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Later, Asclepius was worshipped as a god and people slept in his temples, as it was rumored that he effected cures of prescribed remedies to the sick during their dreams.
Asclepius was usually shown in a standing position, dressed in a long cloak, holding a staff with a serpent coiled around it. The staff has since come to represent medicine's only symbol. In the Caduceus, used by physicians and the Military Medical Corp., the staff is winged and has two serpents intertwined. Even though this does not hold any medical relevance in origin, it represents the magic wand of the Greek deity, Hermes, messenger of the gods.
The Bible, in Numbers 21:9, makes reference to a serpent on a staff: "And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (NAS)
Who may use the "Star of Life" symbol? NHTSA has exclusive rights to monitor its use throughout the United States. Its use on emergency medical vehicles certifies that such vehicles meet the U.S. Department of Transportation standards and certify that the emergency medical care personnel who use it have been trained to meet these standards. Its use on road maps and highway signs indicates the location or access to qualified emergency care services. No other use of the symbol is allowed, except as listed below:
States and Federal agencies which have emergency medical services involvement are authorized to permit use of the "Star of Life" symbol summarized as follows:
- As a means of identification for medical equipment and supplies for installation and use in the Emergency Medical Care Vehicle-Ambulance.
- To point to the location of qualified medical care services and access to such facilities.
- For use on shoulder patches worn only by personnel who have satisfactorily completed DOT training courses or approved equivalents, and for persons who by title and function administer, directly supervise, or participate in all or part of National, State, or community EMS programs.
- On EMS personnel items – badges, plaques, buckles, etc.
Books, pamphlets, manuals, reports or other printed material having direct EMS application.
- The "Star of Life" symbol may be worn by administrative personnel, project directors and staff, councils and advisory groups. If shoulder patches are worn, they should be plain blue "Star of Life" on a white square or round background. The function, identifying letters or words should be printed on bars and attached across the bottom separately. The edges of the basic patch and functional bars are to be embroidered.
Special function identification and physical characteristics must be adhered to when applying the "Star of Life" to personal items, as follows:
- Administrative and dispatcher personnel must use a silver colored edge, and the staff of Asclepius should be with a silver colored serpent. These items do not need a white background.
- The shoulder patches and other EMS patches may be displayed on uniform pockets and the symbol can also be placed on collars and headgear.
This article was taken from Rescue-EMS Magazine, July-August 1992
Each of the six "points" of the star represents an aspect of the EMS System.
They are:
- Detection
- Reporting
- Response
- On Scene Care
- Care In Transit
- Transfer to Definitive Care
The staff on the star represents Medicine and Healing


text:
Pat Shepherd can remember when her daughter, Sheraton, would dance on the coffee table in their living room. Sheraton's audience would be her dad, John, and she'd wear out the coffee table showing him the dance moves she'd learned.
Pat Shepherd can remember when her daughter, Sheraton, would dance on the coffee table in their living room. Sheraton's audience would be her dad, John, and she'd wear out the coffee table showing him the dance moves she'd learned.
"That was her stage," the owner of Pat's School of Dance said.
Sheraton Shepherd, 27, has a new "stage" now, right alongside her mom at the Hendersonville dance school. After several years of dancing in New York and abroad, Sheraton Shepherd came home. In June of 2011, the younger Shepherd became a part owner of Pat's School of Dance, a community fixture for the last 42 years.
Dancing is life
Sheraton Shepherd began taking dance classes when she was 2, but Pat Shepherd contends that her daughter's dancing truly began at age zero.
Pat Shepherd started her dance school in 1971. As a junior in high school, she began teaching class in her parents' basement. The elder Shepherd has spent the last 40-plus years teaching girls and boys the art of dance.
Sheraton has been one of her best students, Pat Shepherd said, and she has pushed her daughter to go after her dreams.
"She's been the greatest influence in my life," Sheraton Shepherd said. "She always pushed me to be the best I could be."
When she graduated from Hendersonville High in 2003, dancing was the objective. Shepherd got a scholarship and spent a year learning dance at Virginia Intermont College.
While there, however, she received an invitation to dance for First Floor Company in Germany in 2004. She began taking online courses through Blue Ridge Community College while dancing professionally in Germany.
That was just the beginning for Sheraton Shepherd. In 2005, she danced in New York and Tokyo. In Tokyo, she danced female lead in "Tap Happy Two" for Tokyo Disney Sea and "Cape Cod Jamboree Nights" for Tokyo Disney Resort. She followed that up with a stint with Universal Studios in Orlando Florida.
In 2007, she decided to return home and teach full-time.
Sheraton Shepherd spent the next two years teaching for her mother's studio full-time and traveling on weekends. She'd spend those weekends teaching master classes at conventions and doing guest choreography.
"It's just fun to see the kids accomplish and how much they grow in a year," she said.
Teaching is about giving back to students, while performing is all about self, she said, which is why teaching is what she enjoys most.
In 2009, Sheraton Shepherd took a break from teaching in Hendersonville and traveled to Shanghai, China. She was one of the first foreign dancers to enter the country to teach. She taught tap to Chinese kids, who were obsessed with tapping to the musical "42nd Street," she said.
Since that trip, Sheraton Shepherd has been in the Hendersonville studio full-time, and traveling on weekends.
The studio puts out a strong product year in and year out. Pat's School of Dance has won the Titanium and President's Cups from Dance Educators of America for nine consecutive years.
The close-knit, family atmosphere plays into that, Pat Shepherd said. All the teachers at the school are either family, or like family, because they've taken dance there since they were small, she added.
Family, teaching, dancing are life
John Shepherd has watched his wife and daughter bond artistically and loves what he sees.
"I think it's real special to do what you love to do," he said. "It's even more special with a family member."
The proud father also remembers watching his daughter wear out the table in their living room.
"She's gone from dancing on a coffee table at home to dancing on a stage," he said. "It's great that she's taken her career to that level."
Students at Pat's are getting a taste of that skill twice over as the mother-daughter duo invests in the lives of little tappers, jazz dancers and any other kind of dancing you can think of. Before every class, the two talk out their good cop–bad cop routine. Who's going to be the tough teacher that day?
More important for the students is the blend of new and old ideas that results in a fresh approach, helping to take the dance company to the highest levels.
"Mom and I are really great together," Sheraton Shepherd said. "We just work great together. It's just a wonderful blend here."
"I don't know how to put that into words," Pat Shepherd said. "It's a mother's dream come true."
For Sheraton Shepherd, home is always where her heart was.
"I always knew I wanted to do this," she said. "Even when I was performing, I was here."
Reach Millwood at 828-694-7881 or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Sometimes you cannot simply pull a tree branch out of the way to illuminate a gravestone that is difficult to read. Many times a mirror can throw some light on a gravestone, creating shadows in the carved letters.
Do I carry a mirror in my cemetery kit? Nope. But I do carry a roll of aluminum foil.
See how nicely a bit of foil can be used to reflect light onto a gravestone?
This gravestone was not impossible to read without the light enhancement, but I wanted to see every mark on it: It is the gravestone of my 4g grandfather.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Let there be (more) light
2 comments:
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text:
Now if only they'd use that on the TSA
you mean the USA
Although I guess they are strongly convergent and will be synonymous ina year or two. The United Security Agency, sounds good yes.
So when do the sanctions roll out against ourselves? I'd say "repressive regime" that "monitors dissidents" applies directly to the US, no?
Bingo. The USA is the bad guys in too many peoples eyes. Time for a little self reflection.
So, do you oppose the sanctions on the grounds that they're hypocritical, then? Or are you just happy that you can point out the hypocrisy?
Sorry, i dont understand your points. Are you suggesting that mearly commenting on a chat board implies freedom? Or are you suggesting that the NSA has ONLY harvested this information and added my dissidence to its profile on me, and not used it against me YET, is a form of freedom?
Freedom is freedom FROM government, not freedom OF government.
Critisism of ones government does not imply freedom, nor necessarily its ability to act against you... Yet.
The worm is turning in the USA. Facism is half a goosestep
it's not democracy, or republic, and far away from fascism yet. i prefer to call it "elected dictatorship". you elect a group of people to rule you dictatorially for few years, while ensuring whoever succeeds them, will have the same agenda.
What you described IS a republic.. which is exactly what the US is. Here's the dictionary definition [reference.com]:
1. a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.
In other words, we all vote people into office, then those people do whatever the hell they want as our representatives.
If you don't like the morons in office, then why do you (we) keep putting them into office?
it's not democracy, or republic, and far away from fascism yet.
Spit it out. It's (so far, dependant upon who you are) a "benevolent dictatorship", with *a lot* of the stink of fascism. They just haven't bothered to come for you yet. That "benevolent" bit can change in a heart beat however. Keep watching.
This is turning out to be a very interesting century (as in the Chinese curse - "May you live in interesting times").
I didn't MAKE a point. I asked a question with the hope of clarity. Do you oppose the idea of imposing sanctions just because the entity doing the imposition is hypocritical?
That's different than well, anything that you responded to at all. Do you think I'm defending the current and past actions of the U.S. government vis a vis its own citizens' rights? I don't get it.
Bingo. The USA is the bad guys in too many peoples eyes. Time for a little self reflection.
Says the guy openly criticizing the USA with absolutely no fear for his safety or the safety of his family as a result.
He is not saying that openly unless his slashdot handle is his real name.
Say this stuff in an airport and see if they let you on a plane.
Says the guy willfully ignorant of the fact that the U.S. has had innocent people kidnapped, tortured, [salon.com] or killed: [cnn.com]
The prime minister of Canada apologized Friday to Maher Arar and agreed to give $9 million in compensation to the Canadian Arab, who was spirited by U.S. agents to Syria and tortured there after being falsely named as a terrorism suspect.
Arar, 36, a former computer engineer who was detained while changing planes at a New York airport in 2002 and imprisoned in a Syrian dungeon for 10 months, said
Are you really comparing the killing of one man, on foreign soil, conspiring with and surrounded by enemies of this country, who had openly declared war on the country and was actively trying to find ways to kill as many Americans as possible with the hanging of hundreds or thousands of men in the streets found guilty of being homosexuals?
See, this is the kind of moral equivalence bullshit you guys pull all the time and it really makes you look seriously mathematically challenged at best. You truly see the
Are you really comparing the killing of one man
Are you really expecting your fake outrage and filibustering to fly here? The Federal Government targeted an American citizen for execution without bothering to even indict him. Which alternates between insisting that no one should question this killing because there was so much evidence that he was a bad guy, and then refusing to give a shred of said evidence when pressed to do so.
Then you uncritically accept their storyline without bothering to cite anythi
In the 1990s sanctions against Iraq caused 1 million people to starve to death (the Secretary of State acknowledged that stat to be true, but she said it was necessary), and led to 9/11. Now we are going to starve another million Syrians and Iranians. Knocking off innocent people is a perfect way to provoke anger & spark a war.
In the 1990s sanctions against Iraq caused 1 million people to starve to death
No, Saddam Hussein caused every single one of those people to starve to death. Not least by diverting the aid meant for them, but in general by never honoring the commitments he made when he was being pushed back from his invasion of Kuwait. His regime was sanctioned because of its conduct. His people were offered food and other support, but he prevented that from being used well or at all. His continued actions in that regard were part of what motivated his final ouster from power, as eventually even the
Well actually a 1/2 million. And they were a secondary cause of 9/11, the primary cause was our support for the Saudi government against their internal rebels.
And this is about computer technology sanctions against Western / US companies not food sanctions against opposed countries.
Do you think you could come up with a list of foreign governments that you think are actually responsible for their own behavior, and that of their country? Are there any that have even a smidgen of influence over the activities within their borders? Or is everything the fault of the United States? The mass starvation in North Korea? The slaughter in Syria? The dreams of regional hegemony and genocidal inclinations of Iran? Do the leaders of these countries have their own dreams, their own goals? Ar
Strawman argument. I never said the U.S. is responsible for "all" the bad things in the world..... only those countries where blood is very clearly on its hands. Such as the blatant slaughter (or maiming) of 1 million Iraqis, half-a-million Afghanis, and who knows how many victims of our Yemen and Libyan bombings.
Maybe we ought to find a better solution than going-round and murdering our neighbors. The amount of corpses the U.S. has created in the last two decades would create a mound higher than most bu
Is this the same administration that has been falling all over itself giving retroactive immunity [wikipedia.org] to telcos and other companies violating the civil rights of American citizens?
I get what you (and a bunch of ACs or one really bored AC apparently) are saying, but I think the argument is going to be a hard sell when you're forced to recognize the categorical difference between the technocratic repression of a modern megastate and the repression of shelling cities where resistance is detected.
That said, there's another powerful argument as to our hypocrisy, which is the double standard we hold our allies to versus these states we sanction.
Just playing devil's advocate here:
What would the US government's response be if a small (or a significant) portion of the population resisted/rebelled against the government?
Well, the Whiskey Rebellion [wikipedia.org] was put down with violence. If you say that that doesn't count because the US is democratic, well, especially early on, the US was not very democratic, and that was a feature, not a bug. In fact, it was sort of like Syria, or Iran today, with elections, but also with features designed to perpetuate an existing ruling establishment.
Second, take the Civil War, put down with hundreds of thousands of deaths, and then probable war crimes [wikipedia.org]. Is Syria's war not a war between two factions in the same country, i.e., a civil war? Would Washington have taken kindly to London helping the Confederate States of America [wikipedia.org]?
Finally, take the Occupy Wall Street movement, also put down violently. If Egypt had cleared out Tahrir Square claiming "health code violations", most international media would have laughed. But, in New York, it was done with a straight face.
The message just seems to it's OK if we do it, bad if they do it.
What would the US government's response be if a small (or a significant) portion of the population resisted/rebelled against the government?
Depends what form the resistance takes. There's a fairly large portion of the population actively resisting US policy of one kind or another, and there's a small bug significant portion of the population preparing for revolution of one kind or another. Since these are mostly impotent threats to the status quo, they're largely ignored, but with some repression to remind the resisters what the state is capable of.
Well, the Whiskey Rebellion [wikipedia.org] was put down with violence. If you say that that doesn't count because the US is democratic, well, especially early on, the US was not very democratic, and that was a feature, not a bug. [snip]
Second, take the Civil War, put down with hundreds of thousands of deaths, and then probable war crimes [wikipedia.org].
You'll note that in neither of these cases was the US a "modern megastate" which employed "techno
I still don't think it rises to the level of shelling cities which house resistance.
Too many rich Americans in cities. Now, a small farming commune is another story...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege [wikipedia.org]
I guess that is totally different from the situation in Syria though. After all, the Branch Davidians were religious extremists.
I don't understand why the replies I'm getting seem to treat me like I think the US gov't is all sunshine and daisies. Yes, it is brutal. It is far, far more brutal than any odd dictatorship. All the more reason for us to sharpen our arguments.
Waco is a good example of what happens when the state perceives a genuine threat, even just out of pure paranoia. That is an example of "it always reserves the opportunity to drop the other boot". But it's also an outlier in terms of typical internal US behavior.
I can
Waco was an example of a group that had shot 4 federal agents trying to administer a court order and then refused to surrender. You don't have the right to violently resist police enforcement. You comply and after the fact sue if there were civil rights violations.
I don't understand why the replies I'm getting seem to treat me like I think the US gov't is all sunshine and daisies.
Maybe because you're being overly literal. The point of making analogies other comparisons isn't to say two things are identical, but to, you know, compare them where they are comparable.
In other words, you are sounding the like sort of person who hears a comparison between the wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam and proceed to spend your time complaining that there is no draft, jungle, or comm
Finally, take the Occupy Wall Street movement, also put down violently.
In what world do you get your news? How can you possibly compare the scale of violence that occurred in Tahrir Square to the removal of protestors in any of the Occupy camps?
It's actually a shame, because your post was making some decent (if IMHO flawed) points up to this point, and then you go and completely blow your credibility.
How can you possibly compare the scale of violence that occurred in Tahrir Square to the removal of protestors in any of the Occupy camps?
Easily. Cracked skulls, bleeding heads, mass arrests, use of mounted police, tear gas, macing peaceful protesters (even ones sitting down) in the face with pepper spray....
So, on what world do you get your news?
You have no sense of scale.
You've got willful denialism. Thousands of peaceful protesters arrested, police brutality, cracked skulls, mounted police (both motorcycles and horses), mass use of tear gas and pepper spray....
It's all there man, whether or not you choose to ignore it.
You also have no sense of context.
You're really this intellectually lazy? Hand waving and 7 word tautologies do not an argument make.
were not simply "peaceful protesters", they were also squatters.
Nonsense. What unoccupied dwellings were they located in for the purpose of residency? See also, the First Amendment: [wikipedia.org]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
You're really this intellectually lazy?
Arguing with someone who thinks that the Occupy xxx protests and the Tahrir Square protests were similar beyond being a bunch of dissatisfied people seems like a waste of time, and in that regard yes I'm being lazy.
What unoccupied dwellings were they located in for the purpose of residency?
Tents aren't "dwellings"? How about you discuss the gist of my argument instead of arguing about whether my use of the word "squatter" is appropriate? They were living in the park(s), not simply "protesting" - that is the important distinction I was trying to make.
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble
Care to point to the part of the
Arguing with someone who thinks that the Occupy xxx protests and the Tahrir Square protests were similar beyond being a bunch of dissatisfied people seems like a waste of time, and in that regard yes I'm being lazy.
Which part is your lazy mind having a hard time understanding?
The mass evictions under laughable pretenses?
The use of tear gas against peaceful protesters?
The mass arrests of hundreds of peaceful protesters?
The many acts of police brutality against peaceful protesters?
The use of mounted police ag
The mass evictions under laughable pretenses?
I have no problem with the evictions, only with the methods used in some of the cities.
The use of tear gas against peaceful protesters?
Agreed that tear gas is out of bounds. It's not deadly force however.
The mass arrests of hundreds of peaceful protesters?
They got away with violating local laws for months before they were arrested. I'd say people were extremely lenient for the most part with the Occupy xxx protesters, only breaking it up when it had lost any semblance of momentum or purpose.
The many acts of police brutality against peaceful protesters?
Many is a weasel word. Document the brutality. I can count the really outrageous stuff on one hand, though the Oakla
Many is a weasel word. Document the brutality.
As you have documented the brutality in Egypt?
The government may place restrictions on the right to assemble that will maintain law and order, facilitate traffic, protect private property and reduce noise congestion. It does not guarantee freedom of assembly wherever and whenever you want to assemble. It also does not guarantee total free speech - yelling "fire" in a crowded theater and all that. Do some very basic reading before you lecture me on the first amen
As you have documented the brutality in Egypt?
Yes, exactly.
facilitate traffic
Irrelevant to the Wall Street protests.
You are wrong here. The incident where the NYC cops used the pepper spray on the girls was during an operation where they were trying to keep people on the sidewalk and off of the street with orange snowfence - the "barricades".
reduce noise congestion
Irrelevant to the Wall Street protests. Also hilarious, given the use of LRAD audio cannons to break up the protests. You were saying?
So law enforcement tools should be chosen not based on effectiveness of the technique, but on how hypocritical the method might sound to Uberbah? I'm going to disagree with you there. If a guy is using a weapon in a crime I have no problem with the police also using a we
Yes, exactly.
No, not exactly. Unless you are referring to some past conversation which only took place inside your head.
You are wrong here. The incident where the NYC cops used the pepper spray on the girls was during an operation where they were trying to keep people on the sidewalk and off of the street with orange snowfence - the "barricades".
According to the same police commissioner responsible for cracking down on the protests when he's not busy spying on hundreds of people for suspicion of not being
No, not exactly. Unless you are referring to some past conversation which only took place inside your head.
Are you just trolling me? LOL. From our conversation:
Over 600 dead in Egypt. Thousands of terrible injuries, including gunshot wounds. Arrests were for whatever the police felt like and people, including journalists, were held without charge, in secret, and tortured by the regime. The entire duration of the protests were met with violent resistance by the regime, with dramatic running battles. The protestors had many and varied demands, but all coalesced around a single common one: Mubarak had to go. Once h
Second, take the Civil War, put down with hundreds of thousands of deaths, and then probable war crimes [wikipedia.org]. Is Syria's war not a war between two factions in the same country, i.e., a civil war? Would Washington have taken kindly to London helping the Confederate States of America [wikipedia.org]?
Nice moral equivalency shenanigans, there. The US South was defending the indefensible, and the Baathis regime in Syria is defending the indefensible. Your attempt to flip things around backwards is (or should be understood to be, if you're paying attention) embarassingly lacking in a moral compass and any sort of intellectual integrity.
Finally, take the Occupy Wall Street movement, also put down violently.
Oh, please. They were completely indulged at every turn, and completely abused their fellow citizens' patience as they squatted on public property that was not theirs to e
Your analogy of the whisky rebellion is fair.
I had friends at Tahrir square. After they were arrested they were sent to jail for extended periods of time. At occupy they were mainly out within 24 hours with minor fines. In Syria the police are clearing the square with thousands of deaths. In the USA were are upset someone got hit and hospitalized and a few people got hit with tear gas.
We have problems but they are orders of magnitude different. And as an aside, London did assist the Confederate States
Sometimes the government will order others to do things on its behalf, and sometimes, these things may fall on its ass. No one will listen to the government if there's a chance that they can get sued for following orders, so the government can do things such as limit liabilities or to assume the liabilities resulting from these actions. If the government wants to spy, it has to have the telcos comply so the government will provide retroactive immunity. If the government wants airplanes made, it wouldn't do
"a new executive order that will allow the U.S. to specifically target sanctions against individuals, companies or countries who use technology to enable human rights abuse"
Good, start directly with yourselves, US Gov't. You're one of the worst offenders on this fucking planet.
"a new executive order that will allow the U.S. to specifically target sanctions against individuals, companies or countries who use technology to enable human rights abuse"
Good, start directly with yourselves, US Gov't. You're one of the worst offenders on this fucking planet.
This kind of ignorance is what keeps mass-murder from happening across the world. Does the US government have its share of problems? Heck yeah. Is it reasonable to compare it to what is going on in Iran and Syria? Far from it.
The next time civilians get gunned down systematically by our government on a daily basis you can bring up this point. Until then, leave politics at home and allow us to save lives.
The US doesn't currently have a system of government, so anything useful that can come from this complete breakdown of government
We'll know they're serious when the President repeals the National State of Emergency [wikipedia.org] that we have been in since September 2001. It has to be renewed every year and it has been renewed every year. The SoE grants the Executive Branch several hundred additional powers reserved for a state of emergency.
Is that the U.S. or European company that manufactures the products? Oh, no. They don't sell to customers in embargoed countries! Hold on a sec. I see a large order of "corporate internet filtering" products for shipment to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain that needs attention. Amazing how much tech stuff those guys use!
Where was I? Oh, yes. Those nasty gray-market distributors. You know, the shell companies incorporated a couple of months ago? Yeah. Those guys are ruining it for everyone!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a large order of CALEA equipment for delivery to U.S. telecom firms to ship out. Between that and the systems on order by the U.K. and China the bonuses should be fat again this quarter!
They should start with the good old USA.
The NSA is currently building a huge data center to capture email, phone, sms, etc. data.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/23/more_secrets_on_growing_state_surveillance [democracynow.org]
This includes an interview with hacker Jacob Appelbaum, who has volunteered for WikiLeaks and now works with Tor Project and others.
Since WWII the US Government has sanctioned entire economies and betold woes on those who would deal with them.
What, you want a list?
(note: this is by no means exhaustive. Just the ones that actually made the news. Source: own research)
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Belgian Congo 1964
Guatemala 1964
Dominican Republic 1965-66
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Lebanon 1982-84
Grenada 1983-84
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1981-92
Nicaragua 1981-90
Iran 1987-88
Libya 1989
Panama 1989-90
Iraq 1991
Kuwait 1991
Somalia 1992-94
Bosnia 1995
Iran 1998
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia - Serbia 1999
Afghanistan 2001
Libya 2011
Like I said, not exhaustive... Iraq should be there near the bottom again, unless you account for the fact that the US has maintained a military presence there since the invasion of Kuwait... Gulf War II is just Gulf War I: The Sequel much like Kill Bill Volume 2 is the sequel to Kill Bill Vol. 1.
We're already sanctioning Iran because they will take Euros or Yen for oil.
This is another straw for the camel; the American public is tired of invading Middle Eastern countries to keep the price of Texas oil high, so we need them to attack us.
Blood is already in the water, the sharks are circling.
We're already sanctioning Iran because they will take Euros or Yen for oil.
The Europeans, like the US, say that they are sanctioning Iran due to its outlaw nuclear program. But lets go with what you assert, that it is about dollars versus euros. So are the Europeans sanctioning Iran [bloomberg.com] because they take Euros for oil too? Wouldn't that be kind of stupid for the Europeans to do, to punish Iran for accepting their currency to pay for oil? And that's what you claim? Shouldn't they be punishing the Iranians for accepting their currency for other goods besides oil too? Or do they th
You seem to have mistaken me for some caricature you have built in your mind. I have never in my entire life said the US invaded countries to get cheap oil - that is your narrative, not mine, my friend.
I don't know why people believe such illogical things, but reducing the supply of something never makes it cheaper, and turning a major oilfield into a series of flaming holes always reduces the supply of oil. Did you think Bush fils and pere were both unfamiliar with basic economics? Did you think their T
Can we start with HP?
In Palestine, HP is deeply involved with the Israeli occupation. HP develops and profits from population-control systems that assist the Israeli government in the restriction of Palestinian movement, ethnic-based discrimination and segregation, and human rights violations.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/703/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1232244 [democracyinaction.org]
"Through its subsidiary EDS Israel, HP is the prime contractor of the Basel system, an automated biometric access control system installed and maintained by HP in checkpoints in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt).
Another control mechanism HP is involved in is Israel's ID card system, which reflects and reinforces its political and economic asymmetries and tiered citizenship structure. HP will manufacture biometric ID cards for the citizens and residents of Israel (Jewish and Palestinians) for the Israeli Ministry of Interior. In addition, HP also provides services and technologies to the Israeli army.
Furthermore, two of HP's technological services providers in Israel are Matrix and its subsidiary, Tact Testware, which are located in the illegal West Bank settlement of Modi'in Illit. HP is also taking part in the "Smart city" project in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel, providing a storage system for the settlement's municipality."
Not gonna happen.
Nor will we go after the Saudis, these are the folks our government likes. In the case of Israel they even have their own senator Joe Lieberman. I am sure the Saudis have a couple too.
Americans will never see the Palestinians as victims.
The reason is simple too. They aren't. They have played the role of terrorist for so long now Americans find it difficult to separate the words Palestinian and terrorist. To be honest, the Palestinians have never given the world any reason to separate the two words either. No reasonable person believes that they want to be anything more than terrorists. If it walks, quacks and shits like a duck
Oh, cry me a river. First you complained that border controls were too slow so they added biometric controls to speed things up. Now you're crying that there are biometric controls.
PS: The "occupied territories" are neither Palestinian nor occupied, but don't let facts get in the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGYxLWUKwWo
Palestine is a terrible example. The US directly sells arms to assist in Israeli actions, and those actions have broad support in congress and moderate support in the population at large.
Especially as repressive regimes more effectively monitor their dissidents online (rather than simply blocking access), the sanctions focus on companies that help them do that."
So then US gov, what you're saying is you should place sanctions on yourself and the companies that aid you?
But when Iran & Syria do the exact same thing - buying snooping gear from the free market to keep their population in check - they are suddenly "evil"
No, I'm afraid you are quite wrong there, Syria and Iran have been evil regimes for quite some time. The 1982 Hama massacre [abovetopsecret.com] is a good taste of what the Syrian regime is capable of. It also serves as an example of what the Arab & Muslim world will tolerate in silence, but when an Israeli soldier kills one Palestinian Arab suicide bomber it is decried as a massacre and war crime. Iran has long practiced state sponsored terrorism [cfr.org].
This seems somewhat hypocritical, unless this legislation can also be used against the US Government and companies like the RIAA.
Sanctions? I thought that was political speak for "shame on you". They don't do anything real.
Can anyone name an international issue or conflict that was resolved by sanctions?
Can anyone name an international issue or conflict that was resolved by sanctions?
Any day now, Fidel Castro will see the light!
Aaaaaaaany day now.
TSA, NDAA, Executive Orders his inside circle buddies of Corzine of MF Global fame I could go on and on.
Human Rights Abuses Indeed, Obama should look out his WH window.
PS: Oh, and just as a closing point. If you think gun sales are hot now, wait till Romney and his cohorts get into office. TSA will need every single one of those Hollow Point bullets....at last count, over 200 Million ordered for delivery....right between the eyes of every man women and child in USA.
Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed. -- Neil Armstrong


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In-depth study of the components of the input and output electrical power delivery systems for wind generation. This course will include blades, rotors, generators, controllers, brakes, wind vanes, gear drives and anemometers. This course will also include a geothermal power discussion to provide information on bottom hole temperatures, water injection, binary cycles, heat exchanges and energy converters.
-Course instructor credentials not provided-
-Course hours accreditation not provided-
A Home Power staff member will review all newly-submitted events before they're made public.


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Value Line is regarded as the best independent research available. More than just recommendations, Value Line provides the rationale behind its picks for greater understanding.
This screen focuses on stocks with good current dividend yields that have average or better prospects for relative price performance over the next three to five years. This combination resulted in a group of stocks with worthwhile total return potential, such as Golar LNG Ltd. (GLNG) and Intersil Corp. 'A' (ISIL).
In the first two steps of the selection process, we limited the field to equities ranked 3 (Average), or better, for Safety and Timeliness (i.e. relative price performance over the coming six to 12 months), two of Value Line's proprietary metrics. Next, we pared our universe with respect to income generation. We selected issues with current dividend yields of at least 4.1%, and projected 2016-2018 dividend yields were pegged to be at least 2.6%. At that point, equities with three- to five-year projected price appreciation of less than 70% were cast aside. We then selected the remaining issues with a projected average annual total return to 2016-2018 (price gains plus dividends) of at least 17%, which is quite favorable in light of the fact that we may experience a period of lower economic growth with a reduction in available investment returns. Finally, to be included in our list (see below), a company had to have a Financial Strength rating of B or better.
Investors seeking above-average current income, along with worthwhile three- to five-year total return potential, might find the two equities our screen returned of interest. Nonetheless, we would encourage subscribers to consult each company's most recent review in Rating & Reports before making new commitments.
Golar LNG Ltd.
Golar LNG, through its subsidiaries, operates as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping company. It engages in the acquisition, ownership, operation, and chartering of LNG carriers, and also develops liquefaction projects. As of April 2012, the company operated a fleet of nine LNG carriers and four floating storage regasification units.
We are upbeat about Golar's prospects in both 2012 and 2013. Indeed, there has been a global shift away from higher-emissions coal and expensive crude oil toward natural gas as a source of energy generation. Nuclear power has also fallen out of favor, following the disaster with these facilities in Japan. That country is now constructing eight new LNG import terminals, and others have followed suit. Meanwhile, energy companies are eager to export LNG from sources like North America and Australia, which should provide employment opportunities for carriers such as Golar.
The stock's dividend tends to vary, subject to cash flow and the board of directors' discretion. For example, during 2007, when earnings were quite strong, Golar paid a dividend of $2.25 a share. But there was no distribution in 2009, given a challenging business environment. It is also worth mentioning that ''special dividends'' have been paid, the last one of $0.85 occurring in the first quarter of 2013.
Intersil Corp. 'A'
Intersil Corp. 'A' designs and manufactures high performance analog semiconductors, and is a supplier of power management solutions for all computing platforms. It serves the communications, computing, industrial, and high-end consumer markets. The company's customers include such well-established firms as Cisco (CSCO - Free Cisco Stock Report), Nokia (NOK), Dell (DELL), and Intel (INTC - Free Intel Stock Report).
We believe that Intersil registered a per-share deficit in 2012, quite a drop from the year before. That's primarily because of difficult economic conditions, which squeezed the Industrial and Infrastructure operations, as well as the Personal Computer division. But the California-based company stands to return to profitability in 2013 if the business environment exhibits some improvement. Furthermore, management is committed to implementing aggressive cost-control measures. Successful new product introductions seem likely, due to adequate spending on research and development.
The stock offers a very high quarterly dividend, which is currently yielding 5.61%. But it seems that Intersil is content with keeping the payout at that level, which has not changed since 2008. Meanwhile, these shares' price-recovery potential looks appealing, when compared to the Value Line median. Of course, that's based on our expectation of a brighter earnings picture in the years ahead.
At the time of this article's writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.


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Daily archives: Thursday, December 12, 2013
Bring Back Single-Column Dashboard
After updating to WordPress 3.8, the single-column Dashboard disappears with no options to bring it back. For years, users could set the number of columns in the Dashboard to suit their needs, but apparently some brilliant decision was made to just remove it. Personal opinions and feelings aside, here is a quick snippet to bring back single-column Dashboard layout for those who were using it and wish to continue doing so.


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Did you read today's front page stories & breaking news?
From the Wires
Health Inventures Partners with ZirMed to Provide Revenue Cycle Solutions to ASC and Surgical Hospitals
By: PR Newswire
Dec. 31, 2012 10:11 AM
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Inventures, LLC, a leader in the surgical services and practice management industry for 17 years, guiding clients through the complexities of launching and operating their surgery centers, today announced that it has selected ZirMed, a nationally recognized provider of revenue management solutions for the healthcare industry, as a preferred business partner.
Under this partnership, Health Inventures will offer their ASC and Surgical Hospital clients a full EDI solution suite including eligibility, electronic remittance, patient invoice e-delivery, lockbox services, and online patient portal access for billing inquiries, online bill pay, and management of automated payment plans.
"ZirMed was selected as a preferred revenue management solutions partner for two very important reasons. One is their broad technology solutions, from eligibility verification to claims processing to auto-posting of payments received from thousands of payers including Medicare. The second being their commitment to customer support, with more than 50% of their employees concentrated on client service," stated Dan Hamilton, Vice President Supply Chain Management of Health Inventures.
"ZirMed shares Health Inventures commitment to enhancing the efficiency and quality of surgical service providers through superior revenue cycle management, clinical performance and outstanding client support. We're thrilled to be partners with Health Inventures and look forward to bringing immediate value to their clients," said Kent Rowe, Vice President of Sales at ZirMed.
Health Inventures and ZirMed already have several customers using their systems in tandem. Formalizing this partnership further solidifies the commitment to provide technology and support to ACS and Surgical Hospital Services.
About ZirMed
ZirMed is a nationally recognized leader in delivering revenue cycle management solutions, serving more than 150,000 healthcare providers. ZirMed leverages the power of technology to cure administrative burdens and increase cash flow, enabling providers to not just survive but thrive. ZirMed solutions include eligibility verification, credit/debit card processing, check processing, claims management, coding compliancy and reimbursement management, revenue cycle analytics, electronic remittance advice, patient statements, patient e-commerce solutions, and lockbox services. ZirMed is rated among the top in KLAS, and has been a multi-year recipient of Inc. magazine's 500/5000 fastest growing companies and Healthcare Informatics magazine's Top 100 Companies awards. For more information about ZirMed, visit www.zirmed.com.
About Health Inventures, LLC
Health Inventures is a surgical and physician services company driving financial and clinical performance through physician-hospital alignment. Founded in 1995, the company has guided hundreds of clients through the complexities of launching and operating surgical facilities, improving teamwork and workflows, controlling costs and increasing efficiencies, and achieving well-defined clinical and revenue-focused goals through a variety of interconnected solutions, such as ambulatory surgery center (ASC) development and operations, physician practice management, hospital perioperative and anesthesia performance improvement, and human resources advisory and employment services. Health Inventures' surgical facility network produces clinical outcomes, patient and physician satisfaction, and financial performance above industry standards. The company is privately held and located in Westminster, CO. For more information, visit www.healthinventures.com.
SOURCE ZirMed
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Google "rainy day fund" and you'll find the predominant and traditional advice given today is that you need to have three months of living expenses saved for an emergency. Some even recommend six months or more.
Many financial advisors recommend a money market account, a simple checking account or a savings account as the best place to store this money. That way, it is quickly accessible when the "rainy day" arrives.
Interestingly enough, the average cost of annual financial emergencies only runs around $2,000 per household, according to the Consumer Federation of America (CFDA). That means if you follow the predominant and traditional financial advice, you're going to have a lot of money sitting around not working for you. Here are some better things you might consider doing with that money:
1. Pay Down Credit-Card Debt
The average credit-card debt in the U.S. has an APR of nearly 17 percent.1 That means you will pay more interest on revolving debt than you'll ever earn on money stuck away in some rainy day fund. Remember, money saved is money earned.
2. Think Before You Buy
making purchases if you don't have a need or a known use for them. The same strategy applies to buying in bulk – purchase what you need, not what you might need. Don't become a warehouse; let the store be your warehouse and save your money.
3. Start Thinking Percent, Not Dollars and Cents
A dollar today is not worth what a dollar was yesterday or what a dollar will be worth tomorrow. For example, "Forever Stamps" can be a huge way to save. A rise in postage from 45 cents to 46 cents is a 2.22 percent difference in cost. If you purchase "Forever Stamps" instead of 45 cent stamps, you'll win when the price of stamps goes up – and they will go up, guaranteed.
4. Become Aware of Cash Flow
Recognizing your cash flow can make an incredible difference down the road. For example: Don't cut up your credit cards or hasten to get out of debt too quickly. Why? It might actually end up costing you thousands of dollars. Paying extra principal, the predominant and traditional financial advice given to those trying to eliminate debt, is not always best.
For example, if you have $10,000 of revolving debt at 6 percent interest with a $150 monthly minimum payment, you'll pay that debt off in 82 months. In so doing, you'll pay a total of $12, 300: $2,300 in interest and $10,000 of principal. If you pay an extra $50 a month in principal on that debt, you will cut 24 months off your payments and pay a total of $11,600: $1,600 of interest and $10,000 of principal.
However, if instead, you pay yourself that extra $50 of principal each month, allowing it to earn just 4 percent, you'll still pay off your revolving debt in 82 months, but you'll also have $4,706.11 at your fingertips. That's $4,006.11 more than what you would have saved by applying that extra $50 to your revolving debt.
As chiropractors, we've all learned to think outside the predominant and traditional medical orthodox box of disease and sickness. Applying these same reasoning skills to money and finances will allow you to enjoy a wealthier and more prosperous financial future. If you want to experience different results than what everyone else is experiencing financially, you have to think and act differently than everyone else. It's that simple.
- Woodruff M. "You Could Be Thinking About Your Saving Entirely Wrong." Yahoo Finance, Jan. 17, 2014.
Dr. Tomas McFie, a 1985 graduate of Palmer Chiropractic College West, has owned four wellness clinics in three states in his 25 years of practice. He is the founder of Life Benefits, Inc., and writes and lectures extensively on how to understand the banking equation and reap the financial rewards.


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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown will no longer seek steep cuts in home care for the elderly and the disabled, ending a prolonged court battle spawned by the state's persistent budget crisis.
The Brown administration reached an agreement with unions and social service advocates to allow an 8% cut in service hours, less than half the 20% reduction the state tried to enact last year.
State funding for workers' salaries will not be reduced, and Sacramento will not further restrict qualifications for receiving the services under the settlement — two changes originally sought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009.
Over the years, courts have blocked these cuts in the program, known as In-Home Supportive Services, which pays for 350,000 workers to provide hygienic and other personal care, housecleaning, grocery shopping and other forms of aid to 448,000 Californians who might otherwise have to live in nursing homes.


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An agreement enabling the Nevada Highway Patrol and other agencies to quickly move ahead with about $11 million in equipment purchases to replace a flawed radio communications system was approved Tuesday by a state panel.
The state Board of Examiners, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn, approved the agreement with Massachusetts-based M/A-Com Inc., which will provide nearly 1,800 radios to the NHP and the other agencies. The exact amount of the deal is still being negotiated.
Besides the radios, radio towers and other equipment will bring the total to about $15 million to get rid of the old system and comply with a Federal Communications Commission order to stop using more than 140 unauthorized radio frequencies.
The NHP had spent $14 million on a contract with Motorola to build the existing computer radio system linking troopers with one another, dispatchers and other police agencies. That system was activated in 2000 - but nobody applied to the FCC for the frequency licenses.
NHP Chief Dave Hosmer, who inherited the flawed system, has overseen a massive investigation to determine whether prosecution is warranted. After Tuesday's Board of Examiners meeting, he said about 1,300 pages of reports and back-up materials will be turned over to Attorney General Brian Sandoval by Friday.
Asked whether he thought criminal charges could result, Hosmer said he thought so when the probe opened but with the investigation nearly done there's "no smoking gun to it."
By January, the state hopes to have the new system operating in the major population centers of Las Vegas and Reno. Outlying areas of Nevada should be linked to the new system by next fall.
The FCC had threatened to levy big fines unless Nevada quickly set up the new system, and Hosmer said that even with the progress that's been made he doesn't expect the federal agency to be "totally happy."
"The ball's clearly in our court," Hosmer added in stressing that a rapid resolution of the problem should improve the state's chances of avoiding penalties.
"Nobody is pleased or proud we're in this situation," said Greg Smith of the state Purchasing Division, who explained the M/A-Com agreement to the Board of Examiners.
"Everbody learned a lesson here," Guinn said as he joined with Sandoval and Secretary of State Dean Heller, the other two Board of Examiners members, in endorsing the deal.
More discussion of the spending is expected at next month's Interim Finance Committee meeting. The legislative panel is chaired by Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, who has said the state "boondoggled" the $14 million system that started up only a few years ago.
Arberry said his concerns about the NHP radio system stem in part from a major change in the state's computer system for welfare programs several years ago - a project that started out at about $13 million and wound up costing more than $100 million.