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Thom,
I don't care how you classify the victims...a hate crime, is a hate crime, is a hate crime...plain and simple! To discern what victim class is worthy of protection is just another reich wing attempt to draw the focus away from the source of the problem...BIGOTRY!
I attended a town hall meeting by Arlen Specter while he was still a Republican. Being in the same room with him solidified my opinion that the man cannot be trusted. He told us that he came to Washington to collect the $5000 bonus that the government had promised his father. I say, instead of electing him to the Senate as a Democrat, we take up a collection to raise the $5000 - even adjusted to today's dollars and with interest, and send him back to Philadelphia.
Hate crimes- Doesn't the 'terror' an employer puts on any employees that try to form a union- Isn't that act of 'terror', a hate crime on a group of people- the working people?
Thom,
S. Carolina's defiintion of "lynching" is indeed very broad: (from Alternet) Under South Carolina law, the crime of lynching is defined solely as an act of violence by two or more persons against another, no matter the race of the victim.
Hey Thom it was Waterford, MI. the little dog ended up it the woods across I75 from where it was blown away from.
Dateline did an investigative report on electronic waste being sent to China from the U.S.A..They tracked the waste to the place it was being dumped. The guest was either ignorant or lying. This is a moral issue and must not be left to to be left to bottom line economics.
Here we go again, talking to Stephen Hayward is like asking a car salesman what the best car is, it's what he is selling that day. He has figured out what he thinks pays the best for his talent (limited), no one else will pay him so much for so little knowledge or education. Waste of my time, crap is crap.
Talking with Princela Smith is like talking to a butcher about not eating meat, what good for Princella as to be good for everyone, talkinfg taxes cuts make her money and she'll talk about anything as long as it makes her money.
As Thom sugested, watch the BBC The Trap (television documentary series) by Adam Curtis. The series consists of three one-hour programmes which explore the concept and definition of freedom, specifically, "how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's idea of freedom. Google it and watch Google video-F*k you buddy (11 March 2007)- "The Lonely Robot" (18 March 2007) and "We Will Force You To Be Free" (25 March 2007).
This video series helps one understand how their brains work (or doesn't work).
What's up with the Republican party? The same thing that's been wrong with them for 35 years, they stopped listening to everyone. They are more interested in telling you what your opinion should be than listening to what your opinion is. Everything is about what is incorrect about your viewpoint and not about what merits a particular viewpoint may have versus others.
Dear Thom,
I'm very disappointed in you. You totally talked over Princilla. You were asking her if you were going to get a chance to speak, but you were talking over her. You're better than that. She was only on for 10 minutes (if that) and you barely let your audience hear her. I don't agree with what she was saying, but then I only heard about a third of what she said. Again, you're better than that. Don't do to your guests what Bill O'Reilly does to his. Thanks.
Dear Thom,
I enjoyed listening to you while you were on Air America. I learned a lot from you.
I agree with just about everything you say except on the issue of global warming, or, now called climate change. After months of research and listening to both sides, I believe the changes we are seeing in our climate is natural. The earth is constantly going through changes and the most likely culprit is the sun. Sun fluctuates in intensity and it affects the earth. Myself, along with nearly 32,000 scientist (please see here http://www.petitionproject.org/) believe GW is a natural process. The sun is causing the changes, not man. That explains why other planets in our solar system are going through the same warming process. Plus, CO2 only makes up .038% of all greenhouse gases. Of that only .013% is man-made. The whole GW hoax is another money making scheme. Nothing more. Also, please watch the movie, "The Great Global Warming Swindle." Far more scientific and credible than Al Gore's, "Inconvenient Truth."
The American People are not up to speed on science. It is important that
we understand the significance of H1N1. I am hearing the same dismissive
comments I received when I told my peers that the economy was based on
pure debt illusions. Everybody rolled their eyes! Our wolrd has become truly complicated and the Renaissance mentality of interdisciplinary studies must
be fostered. We all need to be amateur Virologists, Climatologists and Economists to survive this 21St Century. This is my fist post and I have been
listening to Thom for years. We need more people like him!!!
Swine H1N1 Transmission From Human to Swine
Recombinomics Commentary 07:10
May 3, 2009
The pigs in Alberta were thought to be infected by a farm worker who returned from Mexico on April 12 and began working on the farm two days later. Officials noticed the pigs had flu-like symptoms April 24, Evans said.
Approximately 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm have been infected, Evans said.
The above comments describe the transmission of the H1N1 swine flu from an infected farm worker to swine in Alberta, Canada. This efficient transmission from human to swine suggests that much of the speculation in the past week is overly optimistic.
The virus is swine, WHO newspeak notwithstanding, and contains six swine gene segments as well as a human PB1 and an avian PB2 that have been in swine for more than a decade. Therefore, although swine to swine transmission is not unexpected, the trans mission from human to swine is striking. The H1N1 is called swine H1N1 for scientific reason. It is not a “nickname” as some media accounts mis-report, but a descriptive name that defines its normal host. The species differences in sequence are easily determined, and species jumps are rare, but can be deadly. Usually the virus replicates most effectively in is host species.
The jump to humans is cause for concern. The last time as swine flu jumped to human and was efficiently spread in the new host was in 1918.
The fact that the virus can jump from human to swine as well as swine to humans suggests this virus is not going to fade away. It has already moved into the southern hemisphere. Suspect cases have been reported in Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand, where the seasonal flu season is just beginning.
Co-circulation of human and swine H1N1 provide significant opportunities for adaptation to the human host via recombination. Two polymorphisms are already fixed in seasonal flu, H274Y for Tamiflu resistance, and E627K in PB2 which allows the virus to more efficiently replicate at lower temperatures.
These changes can lead to adaptation in humans, as well antiviral resistance. Therefore, the evolution of the H1N1 over the summer will be closely monitored. The current H1N1 has already acquired tandem human H1N1 polymorphism in HA, which may have led to the species jump from swine to human.
Thus, the efficient transmission from swine to human and vice verse, raises concerns that further adaptation to humans can lead to a fall pandemic similar to 1918. The species jump indicates the virus can adapt to a new host, and additional acquisitions over the summer continue to be a cause for concern.
Right, Nora! Overall, corporations are bad business, but if the devil is in the details, what is really inefficient, or ineffective about corporations? The question arises after a while, whether or not the 'shield' against certain types of law suits, isolates corporations from specific information, usually presented in court's discovery, which would otherwise help corporations increase profits, employee benefits, and philanthropic allocations?
I sent the following thoughts to each of the 12 "Democrats" who voted against Sen. Durbin's mortgage renegotiation amendment last Thursday:
I watch the way a few greedy hedge funds force Chrysler to have to declare bankruptcy; I sigh at the dozen or so Democrats who support their financial backers by voting against the ability of strapped homeowners to be able to renegotiate the value of their homes in order to save them and I realize there's nothing left for those of us who built this country. There's no way UP anymore. And we die like dogs without health care...
This country was founded to throw off these yokes. Now we are bound, hand and foot, into a life of servitude and little else. We are truly "whipped." French farmers have more right to protest than working men and women in this country.
What is left --- A life of crime?
A British study analyzed life under a "conservative" government and under a "liberal" government. It found there were many more suicides under the conservative government.
When will "the people" matter?
P.S.
The 12 who voted against the amendment are:
Why not name all 12 of the “Democrats” voting against this helpful housing/mortgage relief amendment? They were:
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Byrd (D-WV)
Carper (D-DE)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Specter (D-PA)
Tester (D-MT)
Looks like Senator Specter hasn’t crossed the aisle yet.
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/05/01/among-democrats-a-rift...
P.S. We were glad to be able to contribute to one of the causes you mentioned, in honor of your mother.
Thom, I am so sorry for the loss of your mom. Like you, I grew up in Michigan---in Montcalm County, "Little Denmark," and my mother passed away last summer at the age of 92 after a blessed life of compassionate service to others. Your mother must have been a remarkable woman to raise a son like you, Thom! My thoughts are with you as you return to the Lake Country to bury her. All the best to you and your family at this sad moment, KH
Thom I was at the Pentagon later in the day on Sept11th. By the afternoon they were loading up all the pieces of the plane onto trucks and carting them off somewhere. There was a plane there that day. What kind? I don't know. But there was a plane.
Help push populist by agendas ie by calling the rep. Talk shows posing as a republican. (tax lobying $ ) stop big buisness from hiring illigal workers. The GOP is reinvinting itself , we need to give them some ideas.
Hi Thom. :)
Couple of things.
1. My very sincerest condolences about the loss of your mom. Many big hugs. If I weren't broke and unemployed, I'd contribute to the fund you mentioned (sorry, I can't remember the name tho you just mentioned it).
2. Re: Hate Crime legislation. First, I'm all for it. I would submit that those against the bill are those who are afraid of it. They seem to be applying a kind of reverse McCarthyism: guilt by association. Seems to me that they may view this Hate Crimes bill as an attack on their own guilt, their own hatred. Like fear-mongering about the H1N1 virus, they're overreacting. But bigotry isn't a rational view, so that's probably to be expected. Sadly.
Relatedly: While the Hate Crimes legislation includes "gender" in the bill, I would submit that crimes against women are every bit a hate crime as they are against race, homosexuality, gender identification, and religious affiliation. While there is violence done against men by women, it's defense and retaliation, not reverse misogynism--in that it has been forced on women by a male-dominated culture. We live in a Patriarchal culture, which devalues and dehumanizes women as a core principle. Until that is rectified, and until our society moves into an egalitarian system (and I grant that may take a 1,000 years since the removal and subjugation of Matriarchal systems didn't happen overnight), crimes against women will never be accepted as a hate crime.
We're heading in the right direction, however. I am heartened by the Hate Crimes bill. There may yet be hope for us. And I agree with the woman caller you had on today who said that we need this bill as a tool to root out the accepted and tolerated bigotry. It's also why I think a federal law declaring homosexuals are equal under the law is required. Leaving that up to voters, bigoted voters, would be as disastrous as leaving it up to voters on interracial marriage. It's absurd. Civil Rights laws were passed to force people out of their bigotry. A "gay law" (for lack of a better slang term) is just as required. A hate crime bill is a step in the right direction. And perhaps in five or ten years' time, I hope that we get a law that federally protects the LGBT community in every way, not just with crime.
Dear Thom,
I couldn't get through because of a curt and unduly preemptive call-screener. I had wanted to share 2 comments, one small and the other a bit bigger. The small comment is that I was very pleased to hear President Obama call the funds that the car companies got from the government what they are; tax payer money. Pardon the pun but thank you Obama for calling a spade a spade.
The bigger comment is this. For 3 years now I've listened to your show and Air America, and I get angry every time I hear the phrase "the war against the middle-class". I'm reminded of the story of the priest in Hitler's Germany. When the SS came for the gypsies, he said nothing because he wasn't a gypsy. When the SS came for the homosexuals, he said nothing because he wasn't gay. And when they finally came for him, there was no one left to say anything for him because he didn't speak up for his "brothers" when he could. I've been lower-class (i.e. poor) all my life. I don't resent this as it has taught me great fortitude, humility and gratitude for the things I do have. But, from a global perspective, I have felt for decades that if the middle-class had done more for the lower-class in the 60's, 70's, 80's and/or the 90's, instead of concentrating on trying to join the so called upper-class, then they wouldn't be fighting a rear-guard action on their assets now. The middle-class is just now getting a taste of what I've feasted on my whole life. I've never had medical insurance a single day in my life, but folks didn't erupt until their own insurance was threatened. The same holds true for jobs, education, housing and so many other parts of American society. And the sad part is that we can be so much better than this. We have the potential. We just need to wake up and grow up.
All one. Take care, Anna (Portland,OR)
Is this the chatroom or is that someplace else and where?
Bigotry needs to be extracted from our institutions. If we had a sufficient federal 'hate-crime' law, that would work to set a benchmark against bigotry in law.
I think school segregation could even be considered another version of a hate-crime; and unequal pay based on gender, or denial of civil rights to gays, anti-worker outsourcing practices -- these too are cultural bigotry enforced by/in our institutions to keep bigotry alive. Exposing this is what the bigots fear, and they do not want a benchmark hate-crime law passed that will change the national acceptence of bigotry throughout our culture!
RE: Corporate "PERSONHOOD"
I like your post, Frank Smathers@10:2AM. Excellent.
Something sure needs to be done. The laws licensing and regulating corporations need to be overhauled and made more stringent because the corporations are out-of-control to the point of fascism. We need to jettison corporate personhood altogether. But in the meantime, I go for your suggestion.
One of the big things that irks me about the corporate 'personhood' sham, is that it permits individuals who make corporate decisions to do all sorts of immoral stuff and hide behind the 'personhood' of their corporation. When someone challenges the activities/deeds/failures of a corporation, the challenge should apply to BOTH the corporate business entity AND the executives who made the coroporate decisions.
I loved seeing the Stanford Students asking Condeleeza Rice the tough questions that the main stream media won't. These confrontations will become more common now due to the widespread use of the digital cell phone camera and the proliferation of YouTube. I look forward to seeing more of these "truth sessions" on YouTube in the future.
South African president Jacob Zuma says we don't need condoms, it is sufficient to just shower after sex. The Pope says the use of condoms increases AIDs. Now we possibly find ourselves at the beginning of a flu pandemic. I can't help wondering, if these guys are right..., should we outlaw kleenex?