Be INFORMED

Monday, March 07, 2011

Unilever Recalls Peanut Butter

    The Unilever Company has issued a recall for its flagship peanut butter brand “ Skippy “ due to some jars which may be contaminated with salmonella. Two varieties are affected in the recall, those being the Skippy reduced-fat  creamy and the reduced-fat chunky peanut butter.

CSMonitor

Sixteen states are affected by the recall: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

   So kiddies, if you live in one of the above states check your  Skippy UPC code or the date stamped on the lid.

UPC codes:  048001006812 or 048001006782

Used-By-Dates:  MAY1612LR1, MAY1712LR1, MAY1812LR1, MAY1912LR1, MAY2012LR1. or MAY2112LR1

   Happy Hunting!

Sunday, March 06, 2011

The American Taliban

  This is just a preview/test post of what I have been working on for the past few weeks. I’ll have much to say about the Conservative’s who wish to mess up the average citizens living standards. Included in this group, which I call “ The American Taliban “ are not only all of the conservative movement, but many from the Democrat Party as well as from big business. All of the major players who are stealing our jobs, our wages, and our rights as people of the United States will be included. Plan on seeing the Wall Street crowd along with the Bankers who ripped you and I off.

   Right now, I am gathering pictures of the American Taliban members as well as more information, so you will be seeing various pics throughout the next few days as I size them to fit this space.

    What you see below will not necessarily be what you see when the chapters are completed.

john-boehner

John Boehner, current leader of the American Taliban ( R ) controlled House majority.

 

Rick Scott

   Rick Scott, current Florida Taliban leader posing as the states Governor. It is rumored that Florida is where all of the Taliban members train before going national in the political arena, much like the Al Qaeda airplane pilots did before 9/11.

    Scott is a special Taliban leader having experience running a company which was A+ at ripping off the taxpayers by way of overbilling the federal government. Scott more than likely holds the record for pleading the 5th Amendment some 75 times when dragged into hearings over his participation in this scam.

    Scott will be the first Florida governor to drag the state of Florida down to 4th world status, a first for anyone governing a state in America. I will note that Arizona is not so far behind.

The Republican Scare Machine

   You and I have been hearing over the past few weeks about the communist Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s ongoing attempt to bust the public-workers unions because of the state deficit which he and the state assembly created with some tax cuts that they created for businesses. We have heard all of the media take by American media, but what about the thoughts from overseas?

Watching America

Le Figaro, France
Republicans: The Red
Scare Is Back


By Jean-Sébastien Stehli
Machiavelli could never have imagined this.
Translated By Zachary Hebert
23 February 2011

Edited by Patricia Simoni

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)
The United States and the USSR were at odds for 45 years, but during that time, the two superpowers had many things in common. Today, the USSR is no more, and we suddenly are witnessing a strange phenomenon. The dream of American conservatives is to create an oligarchical system similar to the one that ruled over Russia: power for a few, deconstruction of regulation, and privatization of all that could be sold. That is the ideal of the GOP and its tea party allies. The Wisconsin story, seen as that of a courageous governor’s refusal to accept the shameful advances of unions, at a time when the entire country has to tighten its belt, is a huge farce and an untruth. Here’s an explanation.
For over a week, Wisconsin’s civil servants, professors among them, have been on strike. The state’s governor, Scott Walker, wants to increase the percentage of civil servants’ salaries that goes toward their retirement pensions and to increase their contributions to their health insurance premiums, two propositions that do not at all please the unions, but which were accepted. But the governor, who is close to the tea party moment, wishes to limit unions’ negotiation power and obligate them to accept a system in which employees would annually vote to say whether to continue to be union members.
In reality, what is going on in Wisconsin has nothing to do with the official reasons invoked by the governor and his supporters. As Nobel Prize for economics winner, Paul Krugman, highlights, what Scott Walker is “trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy.” The hypocrisy is flagrant: Although the governor admits that it is necessary to reduce the deficit, he is trying to pass tax cuts for a portion of the population (always the same one), which does nothing but exacerbate the deficit.
The governor, elected six weeks ago — thanks to the financial help of the super-conservative millionaire Koch brothers, financiers of the tea party, in the hope that the movement would abolish pollution regulation — simply wants to erase the unions and, above all, their ability to speak on behalf of the employees of an industry. Above all, the unions that do not think like he does, because he is not as hot-headed toward the unions that are closer to the Republicans.
The political system that Scott Walker and his allies want is not American democracy, in which the rule is one person, one vote. The political system admitted by the new GOP darling is one in which some powerful entities have all the rights. The irony is that those who, like the tea party, claim to speak on behalf of the scorned people, wish to eliminate the power that truly speaks on behalf of the poorest and the middle class: the unions — whether or not unions should be agreed with is a different issue.
Another irony, this one a little crueler, brought up by Paul Krugman: It is precisely this oligarchy that, in pushing for more and more deregulation, has provoked the very financial crisis that America is facing today; it was not the unions. And now, the oligarchy is using the pretext of the crisis in order to eliminate the modest forces of opposition that continue to be against such a form of government. Machiavelli could never have imagined this.

CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL VERSION

GOP Senators try to block stricter rules for for-profit colleges

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sat Mar 05, 2011      by  Joan McCarter for Daily Kos

A handful of extremely right-wing Senators are trying to block implementation of rules designed to curtail deceptive marketing and recruiting by for-profit colleges. Senators Jim Risch (ID), Tom Coburn (OK), Jim DeMint (SC), Ron Johnson (WI), and Mike Lee (UT) are all seemingly fine with taxpayer dollars, in the form of federal student loans, lining the pockets of these profiting colleges that aren't delivering on education. For example:

Bridgepoint Education Inc., a publicly-traded for-profit company based in San Diego, with online and traditional programs that have grown quickly in recent years.

Bridgepoint . . . experienced a 167 percent increase in profit in 2009, from $81 million in 2008 to $216 million in 2009, according to HELP Committee data. But between 2008 and 2009, more than 60 percent of its bachelor’s degree students withdrew by the summer of 2010....

On Feb. 4, the Education Department released new data showing that for-profit students account for nearly half of all student loan defaults, even though they account for less than 15 percent of students nationwide. The department has also published data showing that some for-profit schools overcharge students and offer inadequate training, leaving them burdened with heavy debt and unable to get jobs after graduation.

Here's what that looks like:

student loan defaults

And here's what it means, from James Kwak at The Baseline Scenario.

Though increased enrollment appears to imply increased opportunity, many students are in higher risk of drop-out and loan default when choosing a for-profit college. The for-profit education sector is in large part to blame for the sharp rise in student loan defaults, accounting for almost half of total defaulters. In the graph [above], the Department of Education has concluded that despite only having 12% of total enrollments, for-profit schools disproportionally account for 48% of total student debt defaults. Since for-profits are so effective in securing Federal loans and grants for their students, this means that the schools are in essence receiving an indirect subsidy from the government and taxpayers, while leaving students in the red.

While an increasing number of students enroll in for-profits and take on large amounts of student debt, they also increase their risk of drop-out. A report published last year by the Education Trust shows how devastating dropout rates are, with only 22% of students enrolled at for-profit four-year universities graduating within six years, as compared to 55% and 65% at public and private non-profit universities, respectively. Many students enrolling in these institutions are left without credentials and burdened with debt, yet the schools are able to retain their profits made from students’ tuition.

The high rates of both drop-outs and defaults in these colleges should be enough for responsible lawmakers to demand some accountability—as the Department of Education has done with these rules. Responsible lawmakers, obviously, are not part of the teahadist wing of the GOP, which doesn't want to pay public school teachers, but has no problem with public money subsidizing the ripping off of millions of American college students for the private good of a few. Same old GOP story.

Saturday, March 05, 2011

Koch’s “ Stand With Walker “ Bus Tour…

    ….is just another piece of fodder for the media.

    Once again, as mswsm points out over at DKos, the numbers for the supporters which Walker had on this tour just don’t add up. That is, if you do not count the wildlife which makes up more of Northern Wisconsin than people do.

The conservative television channel in Milwaukee announced the fabulous "Stand with Walker" bus tour -- disclaimer and all:

The conservative group Americans for Prosperity will take a pro-Scott Walker blitz on the road beginning Thursday. . . .

"They can't necessarily come to Madison and protest," said Matt Seaholm. "We're hitting everywhere. with the purpose of letting people know that there are people in Wisconsin that are supporting Scott Walker and what the Republicans in the legislature are doing. . . .

Americans for Prosperity is funded by outside donors like the billionaire Koch brothers, who also contributed heavily to Scott Walker's run for governor.

   Now, let us move forward to 2 days after this tour started.

Day 2
This morning in Green Bay area:

The group stopped in Ashwaubenon Friday morning, but they were met with some opposition.

A handful of Walker supporters with Americans for Prosperity are taking their efforts behind the wheel and traveling around the state.

The group's leadership includes David Koch. The businessman contributed to Walker's campaign and is the executive vice president of Koch Industries. He's the chairman of the AFP's foundation board. . . .

Coordinators say so far since the tour began, they've had around a thousand people sign a "Stand for Walker" petition. And they expect that number to at least double by the time they reach Madison on Sunday.

   By the end of this tour, organizers were claiming some 150,000 signatures on a petition which shows support for Governor Walker, but the numbers do not calculate correctly.

So hours after leaving the Green Bay Area with 1,000 signature in support of Walker and hoping for 2,000 by Sunday's arrival in Madison they stopped in Wausau to see 200 supporters. Please note that in 2000 Wausau had a population of 38,426. Then hours later they landed in Rhinelander with 115,000 signatures.

Yep . . . just reported!

Seaholm says the group has a petition with over 115,000 signatures supporting the Governor.

He says Governor Walker has tremendous support throughout the state.

Now Rhinelander is a lovely town and one of the "major" locals north of Green Bay, but it only had 7,574 in July 2009. So where did the 114,000 signitures come from?

Let me rub our collective lying eyes!!!!!

Updated by mswsm at Sat Mar 5, 2011

UPDATE: Rudy VA said in the comments that "Online petition at stand with walker.com which is where they claim the 100k+ number. Link includes what appears to be a letter from AFP-W with the details. The petition itself allows for sign ins from any state, but no way to tell if the 100k number is pared down from the world-wide number, or if it IS the world-wide number.

http://www.wisconsinconservatives.com/...

Friday, March 04, 2011

Saturday Satire

   No comments on the weeks events. We will just let the late night talk show hosts say it all.

Conan O'Brien :

"Moammar Gadhafi gave a rambling speech that lasted nearly three hours. So now we know where all of Charlie Sheen's cocaine went."

"People from all 50 states and 14 foreign countries have donated pizzas to the protesters in Wisconsin. Someone asked, "How can we fix things in Wisconsin?" and someone else said, "I know. More cheese."

"Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi described President Obama as an African of Arab and Muslim descent. After the speech, Gadhafi was given his own show on Fox News."

Jimmy Fallon:

"Bristol Palin is releasing a book called 'Not Afraid of Life.' Meanwhile, Sarah Palin is releasing a book called, 'I'm Afraid of Books.'"

"Sarah Palin is going to a political conference in India next month. Palin said she's loved India ever since she saw 'Hoosiers.'"

Jay Leno:

"Economists say that with all this unrest, gas prices could rise to $5 a gallon. The good news is that instead of this money going to ruthless America-hating dictators, it will go to ruthless America-hating democracies."

"The king of Saudi Arabia announced that he is giving his people $37 billion in subsidies and payments. It's not a stimulus package, it's a 'don't overthrow me' package."

"Sarah Palin is going to India to make a speech. She’s hoping to visit some of those Indian casinos she’s heard so much about."

What Walker And Republicans Really Want?

Original Article

Fri Mar 04, 2011

Are US Workers Headed Toward Sweatshop Labor Wages?  by cc

GOP agenda is becoming blatantly clear. Reduce the Middle Class wages, benefits & pride so low that they'll literally work for sweatshop labor wages. GOP absolutely INSIST on Tax CUTS for Top 1% and CUTS in Middle & Lower Class jobs, wages & benefits.

Here's the Deal:
Corporation's hire Lobbyists to Collectively Bargain politicians, whose campaigns they own & fund, to garner awesome Corporate Deals. 

As a result of the Corporate Lobbyist's Collective Bargaining Deals, Corporations are REWARDED to ship US jobs to sweatshops overseas. Here are just some of the

Partial Corporate Lobbyist's Collective Bargaining Deals:
* Corps get more than $92 BILLION of Taxpayer cash YEARLY.
----- Digest that, Corporations who send US jobs to sweatshops overseas GET more than $92 Billion in Taxpayer cash YEARLY.

* Same Corps pay little to ZERO in Federal & State Income Tax

* Same Corps get all the perks of "living" & having their headquarters in the USA - Income Tax Free

* Same Corps Quarterly post Historic Record Profits

* Same Corps pay their management Millions, sometimes BILLIONS, in yearly bonuses.

* Same Corps, in 2008, got $1 TRILLION of Taxpayer cash to bailout greedy bankers & Corps who caused a Global Economic MELTDOWN - ($1 Trillion -Interest FREE & Tax Free)

* Same Corps, in 2008, got BILLIONS of Taxpayer Cash when they played Russian Roulette with the Workingman's home mortgage and LOST ALL THE WORKINGMAN'S MONEY on their Derivative Wall Street Scam.           Read More...

Palm Trees anyone?

Friday Funnies, Early Edition: American Taliban

   This time of the day is a great time to poke fun at the Tea Party and their moron supporters, so HERE are some of the signs that supporters have carried while marching around as if they have common sense. By the way, the Tea Party is at its 2 year anniversary, so send them something intelligent to read or watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 03, 2011

About Governor Walker And His Anti-Union Position

Tom Jensen/PPP:

Wisconsin closely divided, but against Walker

On the biggest picture question: do you side with Governor Walker or do you side with the public employee unions 51% of voters in the state go with the unions to 47% who stand with the Governor. On another broad question: do you side more with Governor Walker or with the Democrats in the state Senate, 52% of voters go with the Senate Democrats to 47% who go for Walker. And perhaps the clearest indication that Walker has lost a majority of the voters in the state in this conflict, if only a narrow majority, is that 52% of voters now disapprove of him to only 46% who like the job he's doing. Those numbers are basically the inverse of last fall's election results.

When it comes to broader questions about rights for public employees in Wisconsin the margins are less narrow. 57% of voters think that workers should have the right to collectively bargain for wages, benefits, and working environment rules compared to only 37% who think they shouldn't have those rights. And 55% of voters think that public employees should have at least the same rights they have now, if not more, compared to only 41% who believe they should have fewer rights.

E.D. Kaine:

I’m not sure what all is entailed in ‘loving’ unions. I think it’s more important to understand the benefits unions provide not just their members, but workers across the board. Unions may have all sorts of problems – just like any other organization – but unions do have a legitimate role, and it goes beyond wages and benefits. Union membership provides the middle class with more opportunities to become politically involved and powerful. That’s why it’s so important for people like Walker to bust the teachers unions, and why his poor calculation in this matter may end up helping the Democrats in ways the Democrats never could have helped themselves.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Walker Gives budget Address To A Full House…

   …. but he is so damned popular that he had to bus in some supporters to make himself look good for television (FoxNews)?

DKos

Wed Mar 02, 2011

Suppressing Dissent: An Inside View of WI Governor Walker's Budget Address      by lil bird

This afternoon Governor Scott Walker gave his budget address, in which he presented his proposed budget for the next two years. This comes on the tail of the union-busting bill that has had hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites out in the streets and occupying the Capitol for the past two weeks.

Walker seems to like to pick a fight with the people of Wisconsin, but like many tyrants he goes to great lengths to pretend that the public is on his side. I thought folks might be interested in the reports I heard from the few members of the general public let into the chamber where the address was given.

The Capitol has been on lockdown for the last few days, with very limited entry and exit and thousands of people outside trying to get in. Most of us on the inside have been here for days, and we're certainly not here because we are Scott Walker fans. So, to provide a friendly audience for his speech today Walker bussed in a crowd of right-wing supporters to pack the chamber.

The Governor apparently wanted to be able to claim that members of the general public were also allowed to attend, because he had officers hand-pick 20 clean-cut, mostly older individuals out of the crowd outside to receive special passes to watch his speech. These people were shepherded inside, in some cases without being told where they were being taken.

When they reached the chamber in which the governor's address was to be delivered, these individuals were not offered any of the regular seating already filled to capacity with nearly 200 right-wing activists. Instead they were put in a row of uncomfortable folding chairs behind the normal seating area, and surrounded by state troopers who watched them like hawks the entire time.

After the pledge of allegiance and a prayer, the Governor began his address. The rest of the audience cheered and applauded throughout the whole thing, but those in the back were told not to so much as make any expression in response to what the Governor was saying. One middle-aged woman I spoke with said she was very frustrated with being herded into the chamber and having to listen to the address without being permitted to react in any way, especially given the loud cheering allowed for everyone else.

Near the end of the speech everyone rose to their feet, with most of those in the chamber applauding wildly. One woman in the back stood up with the rest of the crowd but booed softly, at which point the state troopers surrounded her and told her she had to leave. The troopers also rounded up two other nearby individuals who had not been doing anything besides standing, and told them they would be escorted out as well.

One of these two asked whether the address was over, and when she was told that it was not, she said that she had a ticket and wanted to stay. The officer refused. She asked what she had done wrong, but rather than answer the trooper grabbed her, twisted her arm painfully behind her back and told her she was under arrest. He would not tell her why she was being detained, and when she asked if someone could bring her jacket along as she was led out, he refused. She and the others were escorted from the chamber, and then from the building.

Another person I spoke with was one of several who stood and turned their backs at the end of the speech in silent protest. They were also forcibly removed from the chamber by the state troopers, who roughly pushed one short woman because she was not moving fast enough.

That was the situation inside the chamber during the Governor's address today - members of the public being used as props for the Governor's speech but manhandled and arrested at the slightest sign of disagreement. However, despite the Governor's iron-fisted enforcement of approval within his audience, those of us inside the building, but shut out of the chamber, chanted and beat drums so loudly throughout the speech that we could be heard within it. So despite the Governor's best efforts, the voice of the people still made it to the Governor's ears - I only hope that it makes it into the media coverage as well.

    FoxNews will have a great spin on all of the public support that Walker had at this little charade, bet on it.

House Republicans Vote For Big-Oil Subsidies

Tue Mar 01, 2011

House GOP votes unanimously to protect big oil subsidies     by Joan McCarter for Daily Kos

So check this out.

oil/gas donations to congress

That helps to explain this: 0: Number of Republicans Who Voted To Cut Taxpayer Subsidies for Big Oil.

With Big Oil raking in record profits, House Democrats offered a Motion to Recommit to the House Republican short-term spending bill this afternoon making a responsible cut to the budget: putting an end to taxpayer-funded subsidies to large oil companies. Repealing these subsidies would save taxpayers tens of billions over the next decade and even ex-Shell CEO John Hofmeister agrees saying “with high oil prices, such subsidies are not necessary.”

Rep. William Keating (D-MA) offered the motion on the House floor saying “let’s stop sending taxpayers’ money to the most profitable companies in the world.”

...Republicans voted unanimously against the motion, defeating it by a vote of 176-249.

That's your GOP. They're willing to cut that deficit on the backs of the poor, the elderly, women, the middle class, public employees . . . For all of us, it's "so be it" as jobs disappear. But they sure as hell won't endanger the massive profits of their Big Oil friends.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

David Koch: An Op-Ed Line Of Crap…

    ….which is always to be expected by this billionaire conservative moron who wishes to kill off what is left of the middle class and the poor, to an extent. He and his brother would still need the poor workers in America to keep their company going.

   Anyway, the asshat did an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal which is basically his instructions to the lesser equals in the land. His wish list of things that American companies should do with the help of the congress, GOP governors, and whatever.

   Anonymous had a few things to say about Koch’s number crunching and the sources which he used.

    First Koch:

Years of tremendous overspending by federal, state and local governments have brought us face-to-face with an economic crisis. Federal spending will total at least $3.8 trillion this year—double what it was 10 years ago. And unlike in 2001, when there was a small federal surplus, this year's projected budget deficit is more than $1.6 trillion.

   I take it that Koch does not care for the help that government provides for the retired and the poor of America. Let’s not forget the medically needy either.

For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously.

    Koch’s way of saying that that his familia has done its best to keep the American worker down and that thanks to Republican governors like Scott Walker, the familia can march forward towards victory over the lesser classes. The Koch clan would be more than happy to roll workers rights back a hundred years or so. Of course, all of that sacrifice that the Koch ilk are always spouting off about will not apply to the rich and infamous, only to you and I.

   Anonymous

I'm very concerned with numbers and economics, personally, so let's evaluate some of the claims half of the dynamic duo has put into his op-ed:

Koch: "Federal data indicate how urgently we need reform: The unfunded liabilities of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid already exceed $106 trillion."

I haven't the slightest what "federal data" indicates anything in the slightest. However, I do know of a National Center for Policy Analysis article claiming this:

NCPA: "The 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports show the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached nearly $107 trillion in today's dollars!  That is about seven times the size of the U.S. economy and 10 times the size of the outstanding national debt." http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba662

So, what does the 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report actually say? Well, it says the unfunded liability is only $5.3 trillion:

Trustees Report: "For the 75-year projection period, the actuarial deficit is 2.00 percent of taxable payroll, 0.30 percentage point larger than in last year’s report. The open group unfunded obligation for OASDI over the 75-year period is $5.3 trillion in present value, and is $0.9 trillion more than the measured level of a year ago."

Furthermore, the Trustees Report notes that even if you extend the horizon out to infinity, the deficit is only $15.1 trillion:

Trustees Report: "The values in table IV.B6 indicate that extending the calculations beyond 2083 adds $9.9 ($15.1 - $5.3) trillion in present value to the amount of the unfunded obligation estimated through 2083. That is, over the infinite horizon, the  OASDI open group unfunded obligation is projected to be $15.1 trillion."

And the final kicker? The report notes that the rather large jump in unfunded liability occurred largely because of the economic downturn:  more

Voting In Tampa Today

    Today ( Tuesday ) some voters will be heading to the local voting booths to cast their votes for the next mayor of Tampa, Florida. They will also be voting for the next crew of crooks for city council.

    Voting in a democracy would be a great thing if one had some competent candidates to vote for. That is not necessarily the case here in Tampa.

     I will go out and vote. For mayor? None of the above. City Council? None of the above.

    There is also a vote on a tax break for new businesses or those that expand. My vote on that issue? Hell No! Businesses that do not pay hardly any tax at all, if any, do not need another “ free ride “ card. Tax breaks for any business is not going to help with jobs here in Tampa or anywhere else. Get over it!

       On the mayor issue. If the voters in Tampa are idiot enough to re-elect former asswipe Dick Greco as mayor once again, you deserve the screwing that you will be getting.  Maybe I will vote for one  of the other lesser of the evils.