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POPSNot your father's democrats Thus the task before Obama and Biden this week is threefold. They must feign toughness on foreign policy and moderation on values. At the same time they must present their enthusiasm for bureaucracy as sympathy for the economic challenges of the middle class. They must persuade the country that they are not what they are: the most left-wing ticket their party has run in 36 years. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time; 51 percent may be more feasible.
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POPSWhat are Political Philosophies? # Anarchism fails to minimize coercion because it favors liberty's theoretical inviolability over its practical protection. Anarchism fails to * Prevent coercion by strong persons and aggressive foreign states * Prevent aggressive use or pollution of unowned resources * Prevent unfair treatment of creditors by bankrupt debtors * Regulate natural monopolies * Prevent anti-competitive artificial monopolies * Provide aid and sustenance to the indigent * Prevent torture and extinction of organisms
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POPSPrayer At The Pump Here's one you'll never hear: Oh most merciful Jesus, forgive us Bush LUVIN' fools for our "family values" by slashing social spending and bankrupting the government to pay for tax breaks for the rich, corporate welfare, and an insane, cold war-style buildup, for reversing a half century's work of hard-won environmental protections and ignoring the constitution, for making a human being a king, and for making our "moral values" our issues to shroud our wickedness in Godliness. Please forgive us for our vision, oops, hallucination that we are officially authorized by YOU to decide which values are "family" and "traditional" and how everyone should live by not promoting better wages, work conditions and job security. Forgive us Father, for we have sinned. And please lower the price of gas? AMEN.
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POPSMost Ethical Destinations? Worried about your travel footprint? Want to support tourism in a developing country but don't want to support bad environmental practices or human rights abuses? Check out this list of "most ethical destinations" compiled by ethicaltraveler.org.
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POPSThe Long March "much of the wacky, upside-down, right-is-wrong, black-is-white stuff we see in the news these days is directly or indirectly inspired by Gramsci: the attacks on Christianity, the family, individual freedom, morality and moral judgements; multiculturalism; the cult of victimhood, "tolerance," political correctness, the replacement of the roles of family, religion, individual responsibility and choice with government rules, laws, and regs; the expansion of the State and the Welfare State and the Nanny State; anti-tradition, anti-capitalism, anti-success, anti-nationalism, anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism, etc - all the stuff that makes me echo Bob Grant with "It's sick out there, and getting sicker." I am sure Antonio never anticipated that a Green movement would emerge to become an ally of the slow, incrementalist and thus less-alarming Gramscian revolution."
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POPSObama Turns FDR Upside Down assuming the same life expectancy. But the principle remains that as workers’ wages rise so do the taxes they pay, and so do the benefits they will get from the system. Although the formula connecting benefits to tax payments or “contributions” has evolved slightly over time, it still adheres to this basic message. Today, what Social Security terms a “low-wage” worker will pay (in present value terms) $77,197 over his or her lifetime and get $112,261 in benefits. A median-wage worker earning $42,000 will pay $171,550 and get back $187,085. A “high-wage” worker making $67,000 will pay $274,480 and get back $245,085. Sen. Obama would do away with this principle by requiring higher-end workers to pay taxes without getting any extra benefits linked to their higher contributions. This would be a big step toward turning Social Security from a contributory pension scheme into just another welfare program.
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POPSBuying Power of Food Stamps Declines The declining buying power of food stamps has not gone unrecognized in Washington. In May, Congress passed a farm bill that would raise the minimum amount of food stamps that families receive, starting in October. The bill, which was passed over President Bush’s veto, will also raise for the first time since 1996 the amount of income that families of fewer than four can keep for costs like housing or fuel without having their benefits reduced.
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POPSRon Paul Launches "Campaign For Liberty" In "The Libertarian Voter," David Boaz, Cato executive vice president and author of The Politics of Freedom, writes: "Recent polls suggest that 10 to 20 percent of Americans hold 'fiscally conservative, socially liberal' or libertarian views. Indeed, libertarians are a bigger share of the electorate than the much-discussed 'soccer moms,' and they are increasingly a swing vote.
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POPS2008-06-12: Senate voting on an 18-month extension of Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding In 1996, Congress signed into law the Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act, or "welfare reform." Attached was the provision, later set out in Section 510(b) of Title V of the Social Security Act, appropriating $250 million dollars over five years for state initiatives promoting sexual abstinence outside of marriage as the only acceptable standard of behavior for young people. Five Years of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Education: Assessing the Impact Note: REAL Act = Responsible Education About Life Act .
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POPSPat Buchanan 1971 memo: Use Abortion to Split Catholics, Social Liberals The Nixon White House didn’t enact all of these recommendations, but it would be hard to find a more succinct and unapologetic blueprint for Republican success in the conservative era. “Positive polarization” helped the Republicans win one election after another—and insured that American politics would be an ugly, unredeemed business for decades to come. A strategy that has been very effective, using the citizens of the country as pawns in their power game. Pretending to care about abortion, taxes and welfare - when they could actually care less. As with race, those issues elicit highly emotional responses and well reasoned arguments will not work because of anti-intellectualism fostered by an elite. And the game is still open and the pawns are still playing. Imagine that.
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POPSArizona Illegal Alien Laws Produce Far-Ranging Rewards Although Arizona’s Democrat Governor Janet Napolitano has vetoed most illegal immigration bills since 2002 when she entered office, Arizonans have bypassed her by sending initiatives directly to the ballot. In 2004, voters passed four illegal immigration measures with over 70% yes margins. A law targeting drophouses was signed into law earlier this month. An even stricter employer sanctions measure is currently underway to be on the ballot this fall. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas are leading the local law enforcement efforts in Arizona against illegal immigration. Arizona is also home to State Representative Russell Pearce, who is responsible for spearheading possibly more laws against illegal immigration than any other state representative in the country. It is also home to Chris Simcox, President of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.
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POPSRIP Irena Sendler - Lost Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore "Mrs. Sendler used her contacts at orphanages and convents to keep Jewish children safe until the war's end, often under Christianized names. To alert nuns to a new group of children ready for pick up, she could write, "I have clothing for the convent." The intention was to return all the children to their parents, although the death rate of the adult population made the task largely impossible. But for years Mrs. Sendler guarded the real names of the children and their parents, writing them on tissue paper and burying the lists in jars under an apple tree at an associate's home. "
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POPSBunnies and Other Small Creatures The welfare of all rabbits, rodents and ferrets is our primary consideration. We believe that all are equally valuable regardless of breed purity, temperament, state of health, or relationship to humans.
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POPSThe Equal Rights Party It's been nearly 128 years, and still no woman has made it to the White House. No person of color has even made it to the Vice Presidency. Money is still a major obstacle for candidates. The private lives of public figures are still an issue. Victoria Woodhull and Frederick Douglass are two very key figures in our nation's history, sadly, not many people know about them. They are both very interesting people who lived extraordinary lives, click the links and read about them, I have included links for both.
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POPSPods or clods? Another area in which liberals give every indication that they’re from another galaxy is the second amendment. For well over 30 years, Sen. Ted Kennedy, to name one of our more prominent left-wingers, has made it his mission to disarm law-abiding Americans. He would contend that he wants all guns confiscated, but any sensible person knows that the criminal class will always have access to contraband, be it drugs or weapons. But, wouldn’t you think, considering his own personal history, that Kennedy would devote his time and energy to doing away with automobiles and bodies of water? Republicans wonder why I support John McCain and, in spite of his faults, will vote for him in November. It’s because even if he’s not as conservative as I’d wish, I am convinced he’s an earthling and not a pod. When it comes to presidential elections, I am a realist, not an idealist. From my vantage point, it comes down to settling for half a loaf rather than ending up with a couple of crumbs.
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POPS'Silence must be broken in SEXUAL ABUSE of Children' "We must call on the rabbis to tell their population to be more open about what is going on. It is not lashon hora ," added Kadman. "People who keep quiet are partners in the abuse." Asked whether the case in Beit Shemesh and the one two weeks ago of a US immigrant family accused of severely abusing their six children indicated a rise in abuse within the haredi community, both Slutzky and Kadman concurred that it was more a case of increased awareness and reporting. Kadman noted that child abuse cases have gone up in recent years, but that this was the case in all of society, not particularly in the Haredi community. ...JPost
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POPSThe scourge of global neoliberalism and the need to reclaim democracy With power loosened from traditional modes of politics, public policy has been hijacked by global corporate elites and the state has been forced to abandon its comprehensive social welfare agenda in order to cater to the needs of the plutocrats. Wedded to the belief that the market should be the organizing principle for all political, social, and economic decisions, neoliberalism wages an incessant attack on democracy, public institutions, and non-commodified values. Privatization, deregulation, commercialization, and cuts in social spending rule the day and the prevailing mentality is that everything is for sale and what is not has no value as a public good or practice.
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POPS"Nothing to do With War" At one point, they had to shut down a house full of prostitutes, chucking out one john as he was half-dressed in the middle of an appointment. Other stories are more touching, like the family that wanted to personally thank one of Crider's platoons for making the neighborhood safe enough for their son to get married, preparing a feast of chicken, rice and cake for the men. There was also an older lady who proudly showed Captain Nicholas M. Cook, one of the better-known American soldiers in the neighborhood, a photograph of herself decorated by the minister of defense under the old regime. She had been one of the only female generals under Saddam but was too afraid to even display the photograph in the privacy of her living room. But she felt secure with Cook. Says Cook, "we've become so close to all the families. There are some families I'm genuinely going to miss." His unit will be going home in April.
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POPSGillard's war on poverty A move in the right direction. Even corporate bodies are concerned about the way they have destroyed motivation in the slave class.
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