(from http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/house-judiciary-approves-bill-ending-bulk-nsa-data-collection/130970)
". . . The House Judiciary Committee on a voice vote has unanimously approved the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361). The bill would end bulk data collection by the National Security Agency, as well as boost transparency and reporting requirements for targeted data requests, require more specificity in those requests, and minimize retention and dissemination of nonpublic data.
The compromise version hashed out over the past weekend was said to be a compromise between Judiciary chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.). The bill was sponsored by Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
The White House has taken some steps to reign in NSA data collection, but not enough for critics, including a host of groups planning a day of activism June 5, the anniversary of the first story about NSA surveillance, based on info from leaker Edward Snowden.
At the bill's markup Wednesday, the recurring theme was that the legislation would end bulk data collection that had been conducted, but shouldn't have been, under The PATRIOT Act.
An amendment was defeated that could have led to private companies having to retain customer data longer than they currently do. . ."
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
. . . how your reps voted on cutting military pensions in Congress? . . .
. . . then you probably saw this . . .
(http://reason.com/24-7/2014/01/21/senate-could-vote-to-restore-military-pe)
The Senate may consider a proposal to restore cuts to the pensions of working-age military retirees as early as Monday, according to a Senate aide.
The measure was inserted in an omnibus veterans bill sponsored Thursday by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and would repeal the $6 billion in cuts made to veterans’ pensions included in the 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) invoked “Rule 14” last Thursday, which will allow the bill to bypass committee votes and go straight to the Senate floor, an aide for Sanders said
(from bernie@bernie.org)
It is not acceptable that a handful of right-wing extremists in the House have shut down the government and are now pushing for the United States, for the first time in our history, to not pay its bills -- precipitating a likely international financial crisis. It is widely believed that there now exists in the House a majority of members (virtually all Democrats and some moderate Republicans) who are prepared to vote for a clean continuing budget resolution which would immediately re-open the government. House Speaker Boehner must allow the House to have that vote.
It is also important that people understand that the real issue here is not just the desire of Republicans to defund Obamacare. At a time when the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing, these right-wing ideologues want to repeal virtually every piece of legislation passed in the last 80 years which protects the elderly, the children, the sick, the poor and the environment. The truth is that ending Obamacare is just a small part of the right-wing extremist agenda, which is heavily funded by the Koch brothers and other very wealthy and powerful special interests. Their full agenda includes privatizing Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, slashing Medicaid funding, eliminating the EPA and the Department of Energy and abolishing the concept of the minimum wage. Needless to say, they also want more tax breaks for the rich and large corporations. It should be clear to everyone that their long-term goal is to move this country into an oligarchic form of society in which billionaires completely control the economic and political life of this nation.
(from wikipedia.com)
Bernard "Bernie" Sanders is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Vermont. Before serving in the Senate, he represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives and served as Mayor of Burlington.
(Can't help but mention that one of the comments on YouTube about this video, "It's a bad time when satire does a better job of reporting the story than the actual news reporters" hits it right on the head.)
(by Charlie Reese, a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper)
"Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. ( The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.)
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?( John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. ) If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. [The House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time. ]
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ..
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees... We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!"
. . . you say? And it's not even Halloween yet (let alone election day). . .
(By Martha C. White, http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/15/14454865-koch-brothers-to-workers-vote-for-romney-or-suffer-the-consequences?lite)
". . . As a contentious election season enters its final weeks, a flurry of communication from corporate leaders to rank-and-file workers strongly implies that voting for Obama could imperil their jobs and their financial stability.
Employees of a paper company owned by the outspoken billionaire Koch brothers received a mailing warning that they could “suffer the consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation, and other ills" if they voted for candidates not supported by Koch-owned companies or its political fund-raising arm.
The company also provided workers with a list of those candidates it supports. At the top: Mitt Romney, according to media outlet In These Times, which broke the story. “The packet also included an anti-Obama editorial by Charles Koch and a pro-Romney editorial by David Koch,” it said.
“This is in no way an attempt to ‘intimidate’ employees,” Greg Guest, senior director of corporate communications at Georgia-Pacific, said in a statement on the site kochfacts.com.
"It's free speech. On the other hand, while it's maybe not directly intended to be intimidating, it can be intimidating," said Izzy Kushner, president of consulting firm HR Impact and president of the Human Resources Association of New York.
Although the Koch brothers are known for their outspoken support of the GOP, “Our support is not based on party affiliation, and we support both Republicans and Democrats who support market-based policies and solutions,” Guest’s statement said. . ."
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AMBIENCE & WINE
(from http://truth-out.org/news/item/11792-the-israel-lobby-and-how-it-operates)
". . . Step One: A lobbyist, in this case someone from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), approaches Congresspersons or Senators. At some point in time that means every single one of them has been approached: all 435 voting members of Congress and every one of the 100 voting members of the Senate. Party affiliation is not an issue here.
Step Two: The lobbyist offers to organize financial campaign assistance, positive media coverage, briefings on situations in the Middle East, trips to Israel, etc.
Step Three: All that is asked in return is that the recipient consistently vote in a pro-Israel way. In other words, AIPAC wants the politician to surrender a part of his or her mind to them — that part that might exercise critical and considered judgment on issues pertaining to Israel.
Step Four: There are several unspoken, but publicly acknowledged, consequences of turning down this offer, or alternatively, managing to get elected on your own and then voting the wrong way.
1. If you say no, the same offer will be made to your opponent both at the primary and general election levels.
2. If you are elected and vote against Israel, AIPAC will do all it can, sooner or later, to see you defeated. It has a good record of turning such people out of office.
Step Five: If you sign up for this Faustian bargain and are elected, the lobby becomes your permanent partner. It is a constant presence. Its agents are always hovering about, rating your performance, letting you know they are there. Prove yourself reliable and they will underwrite you for life. . .
President Obama made this bargain as solidly as have most other politicians in Washington. . ."
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You can NOW download
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AMBIENCE & WINE
(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/paycheck-fairness-act-senate-vote_n_1571413.html)
". . . Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have ensured women are paid the same amount as their male counterparts.
The Senate failed to secure the 60 votes needed to advance the
Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have required employers to
demonstrate that any salary differences between men and women doing the
same work are not gender-related. The bill also would have prohibited
employers from retaliating against employees who share salary
information with their co-workers, and would have required the Labor
Department to increase its outreach to employers to help eliminate pay
disparities.
The final vote was 52-47, with all Republicans opposing the bill.
That included female Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Susan Collins (Maine),
Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe
(Maine).
President Barack Obama called it "incredibly disappointing" that Republicans would block a bill relating to equal pay for women. . . "
Note: Guess Ayotte, Collins, Hutchinson, Murkowski and Snowe have no problem being second-class citizens at the mercy of a 'Man's World'. Opponents say this is a political move designed to court the womens' vote. I say GOOD. Who was it that said, "Women are people too."?
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Also download
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AMBIENCE & WINE
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Jozwiak
Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just three things:
BREAD and CIRCUSES and GONZO PIANO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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