Protect Our Nation: Say No To The New McCarthyism

Rep. Peter King is holding misguided hearings that scapegoat American Muslims in the name of national security. 

What Rep. King is doing will make us less safe, by focusing on people, not threats; by alienating communities that the FBI and local police say are one part of any smart counter terrorism strategy; and by playing into the propaganda of Al Qaeda that America is indeed at war with Islam.

This needs to stop. Fight fear. Stand united.

Ask our Members of Congress to ensure that our national security experts are heard, and that we uphold American values.

[LINK: Ask our Members of Congress to ensure... ]

[LINK: In depth article Representative King’s hearing on “Muslim Radicalization” misguided and counterproductive 

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Tara

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It is easier...

It is easier to mislead a person away from what is right

than it is to convince them of what is right.

Some how we have become gullible puppets in

the theater of life.

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The House - Richard Wilbur

The House
by Richard Wilbur 

Sometimes, on waking, she would close her eyes
For a last look at that white house she knew
In sleep alone, and held no title to,
And had not entered yet, for all her sighs.

What did she tell me of that house of hers?
White gatepost; terrace; fanlight of the door;
A widow's walk above the bouldered shore;
Salt winds that ruffle the surrounding firs.

Is she now there, wherever there may be?
Only a foolish man would hope to find
That haven fashioned by her dreaming mind.
Night after night, my love, I put to sea.

[LINK: Poets.org Richard Wilbur ]

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How You Can Boycott the Kochs

The backlash against the Kochs' influence in Wisconsin is gaining steam, with labor supporters starting to boycott Koch Industries' many products (listed here).

Here's the colossal list of products being boycotted:

Angel Soft toilet paper

Brawny paper towels

Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups

Mardi Gras napkins and towels

Quilted Northern toilet paper

Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper

Sparkle napkins

Vanity fair napkins

Zee napkins

Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes

All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:

Dense Armor Drywall and Decking

ToughArmor Gypsum board

Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood

Flexrock

Densglass sheathing

G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)

FibreStrong Rim board

G/P Lam board

Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing

Blue Ribbon Sub-floor

DryGuard Enhanced OSB

Nautilus Wall Sheathing

Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing

Broadspan Engineered Wood Products

XJ 85 I-Joists

FireDefender Banded Cores

FireDefender FS

FireDefender Mineral Core

Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard

Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF

Wood Fiberboard

Commercial Roof Fiberboard

Hushboard Sound Deadening Board

Regular Fiberboard Sheathing

Structural Fiberboard Sheathing

(INVISTA Products):

COMFOREL® fiberfill

COOLMAX® fabric

CORDURA® fabric

DACRON® fiber

POLYSHIELD® resin

SOLARMAX® fabric

SOMERELLE® bedding products

STAINMASTER® carpet

SUPPLEX® fabric

TACTEL® fiber

TACTESSE® carpet fiber

TERATE® polyols

TERATHANE® polyether glycol

THERMOLITE® fabric

PHENREZ® resin

POLARGUARD® fiber and

LYCRA® fiber

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17 small business tax cuts that President Obama has signed into law

Here's the list of 17 small business tax cuts that President Obama has signed into law --

From the Recovery Act, HIRE Acts, and Affordable Care Act:

1. A New Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

2. A New Tax Credit for Hiring Unemployed Workers

3. Bonus Depreciation Tax Incentives to Support New Investment

4. 75% Exclusion of Small Business Capital Gains

5. Expansion of Limits on Small Business Expensing

6. Five-Year Carryback of Net Operating Losses

7. Reduction of the Built-In Gains Holding Period for Small Businesses from 10 to 7 Years to Allow Small Business Greater Flexibility in Their Investments   

8. Temporary Small Business Estimated Tax Payment Relief to Allow Small Businesses to Keep Needed Cash on Hand

From the Small Business Jobs Act:

9. Zero Capital Gains Taxes on Key Investments in Small Businesses

10. The Highest Small Business Expensing Limit Ever– Up to $500,000

11. An Extension of 50% Bonus Depreciation

12. A New Deduction for  Health Care Expenses for the Self-Employed

13. Tax Relief and Simplification for Cell Phone Deductions

14. An Increase in The Deduction for Entrepreneurs’ Start-Up Expenses

15. A Five-Year Carryback Of General Business Credits

16. Limitations on Penalties for Errors in Tax Reporting That Disproportionately Affect Small Business

And from the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act:

17. 100 Percent Expensing

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An Orchestra of Elephants

— By Emily Loftis

| Mon Feb. 28, 2011 3:45 AM PST

Prateedah the elephant plays the drum.

 Courtesy of David Soldier

Imagine building a xylophone for a 6,000-pound mammal. Columbia University neuroscientist slash experimental musicianDavid Soldier (aka David Sulzer) teamed up with elephant expert Richard Lair, and did just that. At the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), in Lampang, Thailand, the two men taught elephants to play oversized xylophones, drums, chimes, and even harmonicas. An American expat, Lair had worked with Ruby, an elephant that had famously learned how to paint pictures. He already knew that elephants loved music. After meeting Soldier, he asked him to join the Thai Elephant Orchestra project, an endeavor that, beyond science and art, was intended to draw attention to the elephants' plight. 
 

[LINK: An Orchestra of Elephants ]

Bonus LINK: Thung Kwian Sunrise < The elephants improvise the music themselves.

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Who's Behind the Bills that Could Legalize Killing Abortion Providers?

Who's Behind the Bills that Could Legalize Killing Abortion Providers?

by Nick Baumann and Daniel Schulman

First, it was South Dakota. Then Nebraska and Iowa. The similarly worded bills, which have quietly cropped up recently in state legislatures, share a common purpose: To expand justifiable homicide statutes to cover killings committed in the defense of an unborn child. Critics of the bills, including law enforcement officials, warn that these measures could invite violence against abortion providers and possibly provide legal cover to the perpetrators of such crimes.

That these measures have emerged simultaneously in a handful of states is no coincidence. It's part of a campaign orchestrated by a Washington-based anti-abortion group, which has lobbied state lawmakers to introduce legislation that it calls the "Pregnant Woman's Protection Act" [PDF]. Over the past two years, the group, Americans United for Life, has succeeded in passing versions of this bill in Missouri and Oklahoma. But there's a big difference between those bills and the measures floated recently in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.

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An Orchestra of Elephants

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Billionaire Koch Brothers Next Target of "Anonymous" Hacker Group

The hacker group says they are going after tea party financiers Charles and David Koch for their attempts "to usurp American Democracy."

February 27, 2011  |  

 

 

 

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The decentralized protest group "Anonymous" has a new target: no, it's not a middle eastern dictator, a major bank or even a bit player in the military-industrial complex.

It's none other than tea party financiers Charles and David Koch, who were being targeted, an open letter stated, for their attempts "to usurp American Democracy."

"Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin," an announcement posted to anonnews.org declared.

[LINK: The Raw Story ]

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