MAYBE SOMEONE WILL ADDRESS THIS

I pretty much agree with the Zimmerman verdict but I've been wondering if there was some other law that could take into account the facts that Zimmerman got out of his car AND did not identify himself as a neighborhood watch member.  I think Zimmerman initiated the train of events that led to Martin's death and there should be some punishment for that.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall has a similar reaction:

I’m not surprised the jury didn’t convict Zimmerman of 2nd Degree Murder. I am surprised it doesn’t qualify as manslaughter. The law in Florida has some peculiarities which heavily favored Zimmerman. But this was a situation he created through actions that I don’t think anyone can credibly argue weren’t reckless and showing extremely poor judgment. If a kid who was literally minding his own business ends up dead as the result, it’s hard for me to see it as a just outcome if there’s no criminal culpability whatsoever.

ORSON SCOTT CARD

I posted back in 2007 that he was a rightwing wacko and now that people realize he's all for defending discrimination against gays, there's a movement to boycott the movie version of his novel Ender's Game.  This is fine by me.

THE ARMY FUCKS UP AGAIN

This negligence has really hurt some veterans...

U.S. Army promises to locate lost Iraq, Afghanistan records that keep veterans from getting benefits
By Peter Sleeth, ProPublica
Friday, July 12, 2013 17:15 EDT

The U.S. Army has conceded a significant loss of records documenting battlefield action and other operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and has launched a global search to recover and consolidate field records from the wars.

The moves follow inquiries from the committee’s leaders after a ProPublica and Seattle Times investigation last year reported that dozens of Army and National Guard units had lost or failed to keep required field records, in some cases impeding the ability of veterans to obtain disability benefits. The problem primarily affected the Army but also extended to U.S. Central Command in Iraq. 

A LITTLE MORE ON THE CONSERVATIVES' "GOLDEN AGE"

In 1912, Congress created the Commission on Industrial Relations and its final report in 1915 provided a glimpse into the economic realities of a time many conservatives think of as a virtual Utopia.  Here are a few highlights:

Elaborate studies of the cost of living made in all parts of the country at the same time have shown that the very least that a family of five persons can live upon in anything approaching decency is $700.

 First, with regard to the adult workmen, the fathers and potential fathers, from whose earnings, according to the "American standard," the support of the family is supposed to be derived.

Between one-fourth and one-third of the male workers 18 years of age and over, in factories and mines, earn less than $10 per week; from two-thirds to three-fourths earn less than $15, and only about one-tenth earn more than $20 a week. This does not take into consideration lost working time for any cause.

As a result of these wage distributions, it's no wonder that wealth distribution was so unequal:

The "Rich", 2 per cent of the people, own 60 per cent of the wealth.

The "Middle Class", 33 per cent of the people, own 35 per cent of the wealth.

The "Poor", 65 per cent of the people, own 5 per cent of the wealth.

HERE'S ANOTHER PUZZLER FOR THE CONSERVATIVES

They bemoan the loss of the terrific morality of the "good old days" without offering any real evidence.  This CDC paper on trends in homicide for Americans from the ages of 10 to 24 shows that the rate has declined since about 1993.  Here are the relevant graphs:

ONE WAY TO AVOID DEALING WITH THIS PAPER

I suspect many conservatives will accuse the AMA of being run by socialists or communists because they LOVE to claim that America has the best health care in the world. The Journal of the American Medical Association has made this study available to the public:

The State of US Health, 1990-2010
Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors
JAMA. 2013;():-. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.13805
Published online July 10, 2013

Here are two key figures from the paper: (Click for larger image)

YA THINK?

NYSE Euronext to take over scandal-hit Libor
By Kirstin Ridley

LONDON | Tue Jul 9, 2013 5:23pm EDT
(Reuters)

The U.S. owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYX.N) announced Tuesday it will take over the running of Libor, the benchmark interest rate at the center of a global rigging scandal, in a move that Britain's financial regulator said would restore its integrity.

A central cog in the world financial system, Libor rates are used as a reference for some $550 trillion in contracts ranging from complex derivatives to everyday credit card bills. Trust in the London interbank offered rate (Libor) was shaken by revelations last year that traders had routinely manipulated it, prompting an overhaul of the system by which it is calculated.

With uncertainty about the future regulation of Libor, and given NYSE Euronext is being bought by U.S. peer IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) (ICE.N) for $8.2 billion, not everyone was convinced the appointment was a good idea.

"We had a 'fox guarding the henhouse' issue here, and we should learn from that," said Bart Chilton, a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulator.

"I firmly believe that having a truly neutral third-party administrator would be the best alternative, and I'm not sure that an exchange is the proper choice," Chilton said.

"SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER" IS A CLICHE BUT...

(h/t Digby)

That's exactly what this woman did to a Texas legislature committee:



DKos has posted an interview with her.

ANOTHER FATS LIMBAUGH LIE

According to this POLITICO story, Fats denied that he ever cuts off a caller:

When Limbaugh got to the part about him cutting Tony off, he stopped.
“We don’t cut people off here, I simply said, ‘Oh, Tony,’ when he mentioned Cavuto and Charlie Payne, it’s like he’s watching Fox, and since it’s Payne, it’s got to be the Fox Business Channel. Maybe sometimes Payne crosses over, maybe sometimes Payne guests on Cavuto. But I said, ‘Tony, stop watching these people because they’re intended to make you question your sanity. You need to stop watching these people because they’re not going to change,’” Limbaugh said.

IS FATS LIMBAUGH AFRAID OF FOX NEWS?

He took some pains to deny he told a caller to ignore FOX News but that's exactly what he did.  He tried to blame this on his hearing impairment but he relies on a stenographer instead of his ears.  I suspect the real cause of his denial is financial - too many of his listeners watch FOX News.

MAYBE NOT 1500 AD

David Brooks writes again about the secularization of Western society, this time based on Charles Taylor's book, A Secular Age.  Taylor argues that society became less fundamentalist starting in 1500 and I think he's mistaken about even ordinary people, not just those who could read.  In fact, we could trace the beginnings of a secular society back to Epicurus (341-270 BC) and Lucretius (99-55 BC) in the West and Chuang-Tzu (ca. 4th Century BC) in the East. 

Previous posts on secularism here and here.

WE HAVE A PSYCHOTIC CAR CULTURE

The penalty for causing this woman's death is simply disgracefully inadequate.

Woman dies after minivan crashes into Tucson 7-Eleven
Veronica M. Cruz Arizona Daily Star
7-8-2013

A 58-year-old woman died Sunday evening after a car crashed into a midtown 7-Eleven.

Debra Newton was shopping inside the convenience store on East Speedway Boulevard at North Columbus Boulevard when a Kia Sedona drove off the roadway and hit a concrete trash can into the store that struck and injured her shortly before 10 a.m., Sgt. Chris Widmer, a Tucson police spokesman said in a news release.

The Kia then crashed into the store, the release said.

Investigators determined that prior to crashing into the building, the Kia was traveling east in the curb lane of Speedway Boulevard, ran a red light and was hit by a Hyundai Accent, the release said.

The Kia lost control, drove off the roadway and into the store, the release said.

The driver, 52-year-old Hassan Madex was cited for one count of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation, a misdemeanor offense.

CHANGING OF THE MEMES

I noted before that even Sean Hannity admits that America may be a center-left nation instead of center-right and now the Southern Baptists seem to have admitted that:

Southern Baptist official: Evangelicals are a ‘minority’ and seem ‘freakish’ to society
By David Edwards
Monday, July 8, 2013 9:30 EDT
The Raw Story

Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore on Monday said that evangelicals needed to realize that they were the minority and may seem “freakish” to the rest of the country.

“I think it says something to social conservatives,” he explained. “For a long time, social conservatives in America had kind of silent majority view of ourselves, and conservative evangelicals and conservative Roman Catholics had a moral majority view of ourselves as we somehow represents the mainstream of American culture, most people really agree with us, except for some elites somewhere.”

“That really isn’t the case,” Moore added.

Moore then goes on to claim the Christians in America are like the very earliest Christians, an embattled tiny minority, but this is just wishful thinking.

FIRST, A LITTLE ANCIENT HISTORY

From the WaPo:

1971

June 13 - The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers - the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War. The Washington Post will begin publishing the papers later that same week.

September 3 - The White House "plumbers" unit - named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration - burglarizes a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.

TODAY:
After blowing the whistle on State Dept. corruption, the law offices of the whistleblower were burglarized:

State Dept. whistleblower’s lawyers targeted by ‘Watergate-style’ break-ins
By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, July 8, 2013 10:37 EDT
The Raw Story

Then, last weekend, security cameras caught two unknown people repeatedly burglarizing Fedenisn’s attorney’s office in north Dallas. An office across the hallway that was left unlocked and was full of valuables was overlooked by the thieves, who only took three computers.
Speaking to Foreign Policy on Sunday, attorney Cary Schulman said he suspects the crime was political in nature. “It’s clear to me that it was somebody looking for information and not money,” he said. “My most high-profile case right now is the Aurelia Fedenisn case, and I can’t think of any other case where someone would go to these great lengths to get our information.”

ABOUT THE SENATE'S IMMIGRATION BILL, S. 744ES

Here's the plain text version

The penalty for illegal immigrants isn't much:

(C) PENALTY-

`(i) PAYMENT- In addition to the processing fee required under subparagraph (A), aliens not described in section 245D(b)(A)(ii) who are 21 years of age or older and are filing an application under this subsection shall pay a $1,000 penalty to the Department of Homeland Security.

`(ii) INSTALLMENTS- The Secretary shall establish a process for collecting payments required under clause (i) that permits the penalty under that clause to be paid in periodic installments that shall be completed before the alien may be granted an extension of status under paragraph (9)(A)(ii).

`(iii) DEPOSIT- Penalties collected pursuant to this subparagraph shall be deposited into the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund established under section 6(a)(1) of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

The applicants must also prove that they have paid all Federal tax liability:

`(2) PAYMENT OF TAXES-

`(A) IN GENERAL- An alien may not file an application for registered provisional immigrant status under paragraph (1) unless the applicant has satisfied any applicable Federal tax liability.

`(B) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY- In this paragraph, the term `applicable Federal tax liability' means all Federal income taxes assessed in accordance with section 6203 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

`(C) DEMONSTRATION OF COMPLIANCE- An applicant may demonstrate compliance with this paragraph by submitting appropriate documentation, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.

JONATHAN KARL IS WORSE THAN I THOUGHT

(h/t Nicolle Belle)

I noted before that Karl seems to be a wingnut hack who somehow infiltrated ABC News and FAIR has more evidence to back up that claim:

A Right-Wing Mole at ABC News
Peter Hart
July 1, 2011
FAIR

Karl came to mainstream journalism via the Collegiate Network, an organization primarily devoted to promoting and supporting right-leaning newspapers on college campuses (Extra!, 9-10/91)—such as the Rutgers paper launched by the infamous James O’Keefe (Political Correction, 1/27/10). The network, founded in 1979, is one of several projects of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which seeks to strengthen conservative ideology on college campuses. William F. Buckley was the ISI’s first president, and the current board chair is American Spectator publisher Alfred Regnery. Several leading right-wing pundits came out of Collegiate-affiliated papers, including Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Michelle Malkin, Rich Lowry and Laura Ingraham (Washington Times, 11/28/04).

After a stint at the New York Post, Karl soon found his way to CNN, but he was still connected to ideological pursuits; he was a board member at the right-leaning youth-oriented Third Millennium group and at the Madison Center for Educational Affairs—which, like the Collegiate Network, seeks to strengthen young conservative journalism. After moving to ABC in 2003, Karl contributed several pieces to the neo-con Weekly Standard, such as his April 4, 2005 article praising Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as out to “make her mark with the vigorous pursuit of the president’s freedom and democracy agenda.”

SNOWDEN MAY BE A RON PAUL GLIBERTARIAN

(h/t T. Steelman)

That's one tentative conclusion to be drawn from reading his IRC chat room posts from 2009 but for now, I'm thinking he's just another Bagger:

< TheTrueHOOHA> Somehow, our society managed to make it hundreds of years without social security just fine

As I noted below, "We got along before X" is a standard wingnut argument.

SHERYL ATTKISSON SHADES THE TRUTH

In her article about the GOP wanting to talk to Col. George Bristol about Benghazi, she wrote:

Another officer in the chain of command who was interviewed by the House Armed Services Committee in last month's closed session was Lt. Col. Michael Gibson.
Gibson led a team that was on the ground in Tripoli during the attacks. A U.S. diplomat testified the team was stopped from flying to Benghazi to help the Americans who were under attack. That account differed from the Obama administration's original version of events.
Administration officials contend that Gibson's team was stopped from going to Benghazi simply because it was needed more in Tripoli, and that even if it had flown to Benghazi, it wouldn't have made any difference.

Attkisson should have mentioned that the Col Gibson himself testified that he was NOT ordered to stand down.  This wouldn't mean very much except for the fact that the Baggers have touted this as more evidence for a coverup.

DUE PROCESS, JOBS & THE SECURITY STATE

No matter how strict the procedures for dismissing an employee are in principle, I've felt for decades that if a supervisor wants to get rid of you, he/she can always find an excuse.  In a so-called "right to work" state, even that minimum of justification isn't necessary.

I think the same applies to the Security State that America is morphing into and this article by Dan Gilmore confirms my suspicions:

As  many people have noted, we can  all be charged with something  if government wants to find something – the Justice Department under Bush and Obama has insisted that simply violating an online terms of service is a felony, for example. And now that our communications are being recorded and stored (you should take that for granted, despite weaselly government denials), those somethings will be available to people looking for them if they decide you are a nuisance.