Less than one percent. . .

. . . A group of millionaires [200-plus people making more than $1 million per year (including actress Edie Falco and economist Nouriel Roubini, among others] believe that America has been good to them and that it is their duty to give back. "The government provided a foundation through which we could succeed," writes the group on their website. They visited Congress Wednesday to ask for higher taxes. Hard to believe. Well, it happened. Some of the more liberal-bent members actually welcomed them, some conservatives merely tolerated them.

Grover Norquist reportedly said, "If you think the federal government can spend your money better than you can, then by all means" pay more in taxes than you owe. (A real humanitarian, this guy.)

One of the millionaires told Norquist that if he wanted low taxes and less government, he should renounce his citizenship and move to Somalia where they don't collect any tax.

These millionaires want the panel to raise taxes on people who earn more than $1 million, even though most Republicans are committed to NOT DOING just that. So the millionaires tried to meet with ANYONE who would listen. The progressive caucus did meet with them.

Lawrence Benenson, vice president of Benenson Capitol Co., ran into freshman Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., in an elevator. "I'm with the Patriotic Millionaires and we want to pay more in taxes," he told her.

Then it was off, to see Norquist. For his part, Norquist was ready for the group with a lesson from the Torah: Maimonides and his "eight degrees of charity." That's what Norquist says the millionaires are essentially proposing with their tax-me-more pitch.

So Norquist made his colors quite clear. 'Let's stand on ceremony and F*^@k the people' is essentially what he said.

What will it take to make folks like Norquist SEE the light????




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The Bill of Rights, Karl. . .

(from truthout.com)
Karl Rove Flips Out at Protesters: "Who Gave You the Right to Occupy America?"
Wednesday 16 November 2011
by: Zaid Jilani, ThinkProgress | Report

Last night, former Bush official Karl Rove appeared at Johns Hopkins University to speak as a part of the annual Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Rove soon discovered that he wasn’t going to deliver his right-wing rhetoric unopposed, as a cry of “Mic Check!” rang out among the audience.

As the world rises up against economic injustice, Truthout brings you the latest news and analysis, free of corporate influence. Help support this work with a tax-deductible donation today.

“Karl Rove is the architect of Occupy Iraq, the architect of Occupy Afghanistan!” yelled the demonstrators. Occupy Baltimore had infiltrated the crowd and began chanting against Rove. “Who gave you the right to occupy America?” asked Rove to the protesters, apparently unaware of the Bill of Rights. As they repeated their slogan, “We are the 99 percent!” Rove petulantly responded, “No you’re not!” He snidely added, “You wanna keep jumping up and yelling that you’re the 99 percent? How presumptuous and arrogant can you think (you) are!”

Get with the program, Karl. You’ve been talking to polite (warranted?) audiences for too long. These people aren’t gonna listen to you drool for an hour or more and wait in line to ask you a question. Do you really expect that, Karl? Who is the BUFFOON here?

Note: And nobody got hurt.

Watch Occupy Baltimore confront Rove:





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Dish it out, baby. . .

The final version of a spending bill in Congress released late Monday will allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable in school lunches, which the USDA wanted to prevent.

Republicans were concerned about troublesome and costly regulations imposed by the USDA and said (get this) the bill will provide greater flexibility for school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals.

So, I suppose with this new vegetable, we can expect the appearance of new gastronomical delights like steak and pizza, fried green pizza, pizza soup, maybe split pizza soup too, tossed pizza, caesar pizza, mixed green pizzas, mashed pizza. . .

The Republicans are always trying to bring Ronald Reagan back in some form. This surely takes his ketchup-as-a-vegetable philosophy to new heights.




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"The First Amendment. . .

. . .DOES NOT bar religion from the public square and from government in general. Under the First Amendment, the resulting separation of Church and State puts restrictions on government but does not put restrictions on religion. . ."

(reaction to a recent blog by Howard Bess. See bottom)
The good Reverend seems to hit it on the head on a regular basis. He says that the current crop of republican presidential candidates, as well as the media 'reporting' on them, all miss the boat on their interpretation of the First Amendment. He would like to know how the religion of the candidates informs their views and intentions with regard to the following issues. "As president, would the candidate pursue the teachings of his religion?"

WAR AND PEACE - religions generally favor a path toward peace

POPULATION CONTROL, BIRTH CONTROL, AND ABORTION SERVICES - how long will the earth be able to sustain the needs of this huge (and growing) population so highly encouraged by their right to life 'philosophy'?

FULL RIGHTS FOR GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDERED AND BISEXUAL PERSONS - many/most organized religions do not favor these just and necessary rights

PRESERVATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORLD’S ENVIRONMENT - what will the candidate do when scientific knowledge directly confronts the teachings of his religion?

PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION - parochial schools have been known to practice discrimination

PROVISION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE - entitlements and being 'thy brother's keeper'

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is HYPERLINK "mailto:hdbss@mtaonline.net" hdbss@mtaonline.net

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING HIM!




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The poet said . . .

. . . trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

Innocence and wisdom coexist inside their minds
Together with appreciation for the the things we miss
In our haste and our big business
Always in awe of the wheels spinning round
With a laugh for the foolish things big men do

The poet said trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

Everybody thinks about the world and what the future brings
Who really knows the plan and all its subtleties
We're really smart at least that's what we think
Going our own way in blissful retreat
From the prospect of seeing things too clearly

The poet said trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

LITTLE MEN
©1992 Raymond M. Jozwiak


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Just because you're not a drummer. . .

. . . doesn't mean that you don't have to KEEP TIME.

(from T. Monk's advice. . . )
Pat your foot and sing the melody in your head when you play.

Stop playing all (that bullshit) those wierd (sic) notes, PLAY THE MELODY!

Make the drummer sound GOOD.

Discrimination is important.

You've got to dig it to DIG IT. YOU DIG?

All Reet!

It must be always NIGHT, otherwise they wouldn't need the LIGHTS.

Let's lift the bandstand!!

Avoid the HECKLERS.

Don't play the PIANO PART. I'm playing that. Don't listen to me. I'm supposed to be accompanying YOU.

The inside of the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound good.

Don't play EVERYTHING (or EVERYTIME); let some things go by. Some music (is) just imagined. What you don't play can be more important than what you DO.

A note can be small as a pin or as big as the world. It depends on your IMAGINATION.

Stay in SHAPE! Sometimes a musician waits for a gig and when it comes, he's out of shape and can't make it.

When you're SWINGING, swing some MORE!

Always leave them wanting MORE.

Don't sound ANYBODY for a gig, just be on the scene. Those pieces were written so as to have something to play and to get cats INTERESTED enough to come to rehearsal.

You've got it! If you don;'t want to play, tell a joke or dance, but in any case YOU GOT IT! (to a drummer who didn't want to solo)

Whatever you think CAN'T be done, somebody will come along and DO IT. A genius is the one MOST LIKE HIMSELF!

They tried to get me to hate white people, but someone would always come along and spoil it.





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Real change . . .

. . . we are all evolving. . .

(from THE SINS OF SCRIPTURE by John Shelby Spong
© 2005 John Shelby Spong)
". . . if change is the tactic to be adopted, the change cannot be simply cosmetic, an adjustment around the edges of our faith story. It has to be so total and so radical that many will think such a change is either impossible or will result in the death of the patient. It would be easier, some say, to start over by building an entirely new religious system than it would be to seek to reform this one so totally that continuity might be strained to the breaking point. . . Our task is not to build tomorrow's church. That is something into which we have to live one day at a time. Our task is rather to face the need for radical change and take the first, probably tiny step necessary to erect a totally new foundation. That step is found, I believe, in acknowledging our evolutionary origins and dispensing with any suggestion that sin, inadequacy and guilt are the definitions into which we are born. This also means that we rid ourselves of the idea that the world was created for the benefit of human beings, or even that the planet earth is somehow different or special in the universe. . . "




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