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The Fright Wing: Why So-Called Conservatives Get So Wild and Crazy.

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By Bob Dorn

Until recently, I’ve been mystified by the emotional fits and righteousness that seems to dominate the politics of people who identify themselves as conservatives. From sneering condescension right up to murderous invective, the rhetoric of those who consider themselves more holy than the rest of us has blown past the bounds of realism and into a sort of hallucinatory inferno of loose hatred and speculation.

And it hasn’t taken much to set it off.

Mention the U.N. or World Court, or the possibility of expanding voting hours, or improving our infrastructure and you’re likely to unleash an avalanche of accusations and epithets– one worlder, voter fraud, socialist idiot, moron, traitor.

Infrastructure? Voting? Are those bad?   [Read more…]

Typhoons, Cyclones, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Flooding Increase in 2012

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In 2011 more than 80% of all the deaths around the world caused by natural disasters occurred in Asia. The Phillipines were the epicenter with 33 natural disasters, more than any country in the world. Typhoon Washi claimed more than 1200 lives in late 2011. Super Typhoon Bopha which struck December 2012 took 900 lives.

Super Typhoon Bopha packed winds of up to 100 miles per hour bringing torrential rains that destroyed villages and left 320,000 homeless. A total of 184 had perished in Compostela Valley, including 78 villagers and soldiers who died in a flash flood that swamped two emergency shelters and a military camp. Most of the typhoon’s victims appeared to have drowned or been hit by falling trees or flying debris, officials said.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line(ish): A Gun In Every School

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NRA to push for guns in schools; Speaker Boehner puts one foot over the fiscal Cliff; Scott Peters to serve on Armed Services Committee

So this is what the NRA meant by “offering meaningful contributions to ensure this never happens again?” They probably should have stayed silent like they did for the first five days after the Newtown, CT, school shooting. After going completely radio silent, shutting down their Facebook page and Twitter account, earlier this week the National Rifle Association released a statement promising to be a constructive partner in the debate over what to do in the wake of the latest, and most horrifying mass murder at the hands of a deranged gunman.   [Read more…]

Brown Announces New Oil Industry Regulations Ahead of “Promised Land” Release

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by Dan Aiello/California Progress Report

The Brown administration Tuesday proposed new draft regulations that would require the oil industry to disclose where its California oil extraction operations are using hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” in advance of a new movie meant to bring public awareness to the environmental destruction caused by the practice.

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Is the Political Tide Turning … for the Oceans and the Environment?

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By David Helvarg / Blue Notes / December 17, 2012

We just had an election in which the public seemed to see the need for larger changes in society. And of course changes of any kind tend to come in waves. Along with the emergence of a new demographic profile of the U.S. electorate we saw people in a number of states voting for Gay marriage equality, legalized use of marijuana and in California, a tax increase to help save public education.

At the same time Super Storm Sandy’s impact on the shore put climate change front and center on the public policy agenda for any politician willing to take the heat from the fossil fuel industry. Unfortunately, while average people may be open to big changes the two party political system has become far more polarized and incremental than it once was. That’s why the keystone laws that protect America’s oceans like the Clean Water Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coastal Zone Management Act and others are now close to middle age. The Clean Water Act is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Source: NRA Comeback on Gun Control Will Be Assault on First Amendment

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Five days after the shooting deaths in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association public relations machine emerged from its bunker, promising a press conference on Friday “to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.”

Despite public defections by usually supportive legislators over the past week, it seems unlikely to me that NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre will offer up any proposals weakening that groups’ rigid stance that virtually all legislative efforts to regulate firearms are attacks on American Freedom.

It’s more likely the NRA will fight back against calls for legislation banning assault type rifles and large ammo clips, using the “best defense is a strong offense”

More on this story inside…

(Psst- The Starting Line will be taking a break for the holidays. See you next year.)   [Read more…]

“Covered California” Health Benefit Exchange Wraps Up Productive Year

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by Linda Leu/California Progress Report

The Board of Directors of Covered California, the state’s new Health Benefit Exchange, met yesterday in Sacramento to continue its work implementing a reformed healthcare market in compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010. The 15th and final Board meeting of 2012 wrapped up a productive year with little sign of slowing down as we race toward the January 1, 2014 mandate.

In his Executive Director’s Report, Peter Lee reported that Covered California has had positive conversations with the federal government related to the state’s Exchange Establishment grant request submitted last month. Covered California staff also reported on the progress of the development of the IT system, the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention System (CalHEERS), and the Service Center. Regarding the establishment of Stakeholder Advisory Groups, Lee announced that the list of those chosen to serve on these groups will be announced on Friday.   [Read more…]

Elections Have Consequences

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Michigan voters are stuck with the electoral choices they’ve made, whether they like it or not.

Last week the Michigan Legislature slammed through a Right-to-Work bill, becoming the 24th state to have such a law on the books. The lame duck legislators passed it with no debate, no discussion. It was a cookie cutter law that almost word-for-word matched a template provided by the extreme right wing group ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). The very next day, Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed the bill into law.

What Right-to-Work laws are purported to do is give workers the “freedom” to not join a union if they choose not to. Conservatives claim that if a workforce is primarily unionized, but if individual workers decide that they don’t want to pay dues or participate in union activities, they shouldn’t have to. If a union is making contributions to a campaign or a particular political cause, the worker shouldn’t be forced (indirectly) to contribute to those causes via his or her union dues. It’s all about choice, they say. It’s about freedom.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Mayor Calls San Diego Summit in Response to Sandy Hook Shooting

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Mayor Bob Filner, along with representatives from the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Unified, hosted a sit-down yesterday to talk about local responses and precautions in the wake of Friday’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

The Mayor cited his own struggle over talking with his two grandchildren about the Sandy Hook tragedy as being a motivation for calling the meeting. Police Chief William Landsdowne mentioned his opposition to legal assault weapons as the video tape from NBCNews7 rolled, quickly qualifying his statement as being a political matter not necessarily germane to the matters at hand.

A video monitoring system installed throughout San Diego schools over the past couple of years will now be interfaced with laptops in police cars, giving them the ability to see situations in real time as they respond to a situation. One thousand cameras are in place, covering hallways, lunchrooms, offices and building exteriors, according to SDUSD police Lieutenant Joe Florentino.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – We Can Do Better Than Singing Kumbaya and Waiting for America to ‘Come Together’

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Enough of all this talk. We live in the ‘World’s Greatest Country’ and ‘America’s Finest City’ and the best we as citizens can do is, according to our local daily newspaper’s editorial board:

 ** …resist the temptation to see what took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as an indictment of America.

**perhaps we need to have a debate about identifying and helping the mentally ill, or about making schools safer, or about reassuring worried schoolchildren that they are safe.

** This is not the time to take advantage of tragedy. This is not the time for shouting. This is the time for this nation to come together. We have done it many times before in the wake of horrible news. What we need to do is to cherish our children and our families, to reach out to our loved ones, our neighbors and our community. This is the time for the goodness of the American spirit to shine through, to get us all through these sorrowful days and to a brighter tomorrow.

I say horseshit. I’m mad as hell and I’M GONNA SHOUT ABOUT IT. You should, too.
  [Read more…]

This Is Where Democracy Goes to Die

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Now that labor has been squashed, the right’s next moves in Michigan includes draconian anti-abortion laws and, sit down for this one, loosening the restriction on concealed weapons in places like churches and schools to please the gun lobby.

While liberals were busy gloating over their electoral victory and crowing about the demise of the right, Grover Norquist, the Koch Brothers, and company were busy going for blood—democracy be damned. Despite getting spanked at nearly every level, the plutocratic wrecking crew kept their eyes on the prize and jammed through a “right to work” law in Michigan, exacting sweet revenge on the Democrats and their labor allies.   [Read more…]

Thinking the Unthinkable: ‘I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother’

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By Liza Long
Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.

“I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

“They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.”

“They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!”

“You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.”

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.   [Read more…]

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