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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

14 November - Surfing Notes

, Ohio Secretary of State, Ohio Secretary of State (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The first page of the Voting Rights Act.The first page of the Voting Rights Act. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: sticker passed out to voters by the O...English: sticker passed out to voters by the Ohio Secretary of State (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Quote of the Day

“The Court also notes, with grave misgivings, that [Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted]  changed an election rule on a Friday evening for an election scheduled for the following Tuesday, after repeatedly asserting, to both this Court and the Sixth Circuit, that he could not comply with injunctive relief ordered by this Court because he lacked sufficient time prior to the election. The surreptitious manner in which the Secretary went about implementing this last minute change to the election rules casts serious doubt on his protestations of good faith. Thus, in addition to the Plaintiffs’ successful legal arguments, the equitable doctrine of judicial estoppel is grounds for denying the relief sought by the Secretary and granting that sought by Plaintiffs.”
Federal District Judge Algenon Marbley, in today’s provisional ballot ruling.



Florida As Election Disaster Area: Exhibit 1000

WSVN: “Nearly a thousand ballots that were not included in Florida’s final count have been found in a warehouse in Broward County.”
Don’t worry.  Election officials tell us this is “routine” in Broward.


“Friends in Congress Have Helped Drug Compounders Avoid Tighter Rules”

NYT: “Despite two decades of dire health warnings and threats of federal intervention, the specialty drugmakers at the center of the nation’s deadly meningitis outbreak have repeatedly staved off tougher federal oversight with the help of powerful allies in Congress.”


“Judge Rules in Favor of NEOCH Plaintiffs in Ohio Provisional Ballot Case”

Moritz: “Nov. 13 (6:45 PM) - U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley today issued an opinion and order granting a motion by the plaintiffs in NEOCH v. Husted. Judge Marbley agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that a directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted violated an April 2010 consent decree. The state has already filed a notice of appeal.”
A spokesperson for SOS Husted told BuzzFeed that Husted is appealing because the ruling, if allowed to stand, would “allow potentially fraudulent votes to be counted.”
( Ah, yes. The promotion of voter disenfranchisement as righteous custodian of the public trust. )

“Roberts’ Iffy Support for Voting Rights:” Revisiting My 2005 LA TImes Oped

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision to consider the constitutionality of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act this term, I thought it might be useful to reproduce my August 3, 2005 Los Angeles Times oped, which for some reason is not available on the newspaper’s website. [UPDATE: It looks like it is now available here.]  It is below.
Roberts’ iffy support for voting rights
By Richard L. Hasen
At the beginning of the 1980s, African American voters made up about one-third of the electorate of Mobile, Ala. Studies showed clearly that these black voters preferred different candidates than white voters, but the nature of the electoral system in the city — in whichcandidates for city commissioner were elected by majority vote throughout the entire city –meant that the candidates backed by blacks were never elected. The two-thirds of the electorate that was white always outvoted the one-third that was black.
African American civil rights organizations sued, claiming that the at-large voting system unconstitutionally “diluted” their votes. But the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, holding that Mobile’s election system did not violate the 14th or 15th Amendments because there was no evidence it had been designed with the intent of discriminating against minority voters. In response, the civil rights community pushed to have Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 amended to allow such a “vote dilution” claim to go forward without proof of discriminatory intent. It would be enough to show that election laws such as Mobile’s had a discriminatory effect.
In the Reagan administration at that time was a 27-year-old lawyer named John Roberts. As a special assistant to Atty. Gen. William French Smith, Roberts was a major force behind the administration’s efforts to oppose the new Section 2, according to newly released papers. He drafted Op-Ed articles, questions and answers for senators and documents aimed at defeating the new Section 2.
In these documents, Roberts wrote that the new Section 2 would “establish a quota system” and “provide a basis for the most intrusive interference imaginable by federal courts into state and local processes.” He added that it “would be difficult to conceive of a more drastic alteration of local government affairs.” Imposing the new Section 2 nationwide, he concluded, would be “not only constitutionally suspect, but also contrary to the most fundamental [tenets] of the legislative process on which the laws of this country are based.”
One could perhaps argue that Roberts’ writings did not reflect his personal views and weresi mply the arguments of a zealous advocate for a client. But the papers I have seen suggest otherwise.
During the Senate debates, for instance, Roberts wrote that the attorney general had to “get something out somewhere soon” [original emphasis] explaining the administration’s position because the “frequent writings in this area by our adversaries have gone unanswered for too long.” He called on the administration to take an “aggressive stance” against the changes to Section 2. When it was over and Section 2 had been amended, Roberts wrote that “we were burned.”
None of these statements absolutely proves that Roberts is hostile to expansive voting rights legislation, but as he wrote in his talking points for the attorney general, circumstantial evidence (rather than a “smoking gun”) should be enough to prove intent.
How many fewer minority legislators would be in office in Congress and in state and local legislatures if Roberts’ position had prevailed in 1982? It is hard to say. But this is not just about the past; Roberts’ view of voting rights may also have an effect on the future. Portions of the act (though not Section 2) are set to expire in 2007, and Congress is expected to reauthorize them in some form. The most important provision up for renewal, Section 5, requires jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination — for instance, many cities and counties in the South — to get “preclearance” from the Department of Justice before making any changes in voting procedures. The Justice Department grants preclearance only when the jurisdiction shows that the changes have neither a discriminatory purpose nor effect.
When Congress reauthorizes Section 5, will the Supreme Court uphold it against charges that it tramples states’ rights? Some worry the court may not.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s votes in these federalism cases have been pivotal, and her vote in 2004 to uphold a provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act had given those in the civil rights community grounds to be optimistic that a renewed Voting Rights Act could pass constitutional muster.
Roberts’ writings, on the other hand, show much more skepticism of congressional power, particularly on voting rights. Because Roberts viewed the “effects” language in Section 2 as an “intrusive interference” that is a “drastic alteration” of American government and “constitutionally suspect,” why would he look charitably on a renewed Section 5?
I would not count on him to uphold it.
Credit: Richard L. Hasen teaches election law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. The documents he referred to are posted on his website, electionlawblog.org.

Many Americans know that the United States is not a Republic but a “corporatocracy,” in which we are ruled by a partnership of giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite and corporate-collaborator government officials. However, the truth of such tyranny is not enough to set most of us free to take action. Too many of us have become pacified by corporatocracy-created institutions and culture.

Tell Romney to Explain His Role in Sweatshop Brutality




Save Our Crops Coalition SELLS OUT to Dow's Agent Orange Corn



Petition here if you haven't had a chance to sign. I'd like to have many more to send to the USDA and include SOCC as well.

Stop Approval of Agent Orange Corn

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/STOP-2-4D-CORN/ 


Inflammation ; the main cause of many diseases
 In this section of Seattle Organic Restaurants I’m going to talk about inflammation. There are many illnesses and chronic diseases like cancer, dementia and adverse cholesterol level that are caused because of systemic inflammation. Life style changes and change in diet could help to prevent chronic inflammation of different organs in the body.


RT shared a link.


Framework of the cosmic game explained: Here's what matters for consciousness, personal growth, your soul, the afterlife and more. An overview of "how stuff works" in the cosmic realm:http://www.naturalnews.com/037948_cosmic_game_consciousness_framework.html


Knowledge of Today shared Collective Evolution's photo.
The planet is going through a dimensional shift. She is currently in the process of raising her vibrational frequency to shift into a new reality, human beings are doing the same.












Knowledge of Today shared True Activist's photo.
http://www.trueactivist.com/what-if-we-adopted-a-system-where-the-banks-did-not-create-our-money/ - What If We Adopted A System Where The Banks Did Not Create Our Money?












http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/11/13/us/politics/100000001901378/timescast-politics-nov-13-2012.html

Google published statistics from their latest analysis of requests from governments around the globe this week, and the findings show that it is hardly just the inboxes of the Pentagon’s top-brass that are being put under the microscope.

BP and the U.S. government portrayed in public a united front as a runaway well spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. But they privately sought to withhold potentially critical information from each other, possibly slowing efforts to solve the crisis, according to new testimony. Last month's closed-door testimony by Marcia McNutt, head of the U.S. Geological Survey, in the ongoing litigation over the disaster could complicate a Justice Department probe that has focused on whether BP and its partners obstructed justice by lying to investigators.

"It could have impeded the investigation, and both sides may share some blame in that regard," said Blaine LeCesne, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans who has followed the case.

Motivations aren't clear from transcripts the Houston Chronicle obtained of McNutt's two-day deposition in New Orleans, but the British oil giant's pocketbook and the government's ability to punish the responsible parties remain on the line more than two years later.

To date, only a low-level former BP engineer has been charged with a crime, accused of deleting text messages exchanged after the disaster. And the government has yet to assess billions of dollars in expected fines and penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

( And what of the often secret spreading of  dispersant Core-Exit 9500 by the Coast Guard, magnifying toxicity, making containment impossible...and killing oil eating bacteria  and  sea life?  What is the effect of clearing a sea area for uncontested  population by high temperature anaerobic life ?  But hey...the food's safe, right ?  If you believe that, it's time to sell you seafront property...in Arizona. )

Today, Texas State Representative Lyle Larson introduced House Bill 149 (HB149), the Texas Liberty Preservation Act. This might be the strongest anti-NDAA bill introduced yet. But, the Texas legislation takes it a step further, codifying into State law criminal penalties for violation of the act by even federal agents.

If you live in Texas, contact your state representative and senator, and encourage them to support HB149. You can find legislative contact information HERE. http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/11/texas-ndaa-nullification-bill-includes-criminal-charges-for-federal-agents/















You bet they should. Buncha leeches and too greedy to share.
Republican governors who have threatened to deprive poor people in their states of health care coverage under President Barack Obama's health care reform law are feeling increasing pressure to participate in an expansion of Medicaid.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/obamacare-expansion-medicaid_n_2117452.html#slide=more245293
Republican governors who have threatened to deprive poor people in their states of health care coverage under President Barack Obama's health care reform law ar
e feeling increasing pressure to participate in an expansion of Medicaid.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/obamacare-expansion-medicaid_n_2117452.html#slide=more245293






Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized Israeli leaders over the airstrikes in Gaza, accusing them of heating up the conflict to score political points ahead of elections.

In its statement, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party referred to Israel as a "Zionist occupier" and a "racist state", placing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the "fringes" of the "far right".
http://aje.me/XCe2Iv
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