WELCOME TO OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
&
THINGS YOU
MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
YEAR THREE
Name
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Published
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OVERVIEW
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 14
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Dec 18, 2012
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 15
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Jan. 02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 16
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Jan. 08, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 16
EXTRA
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Jan. 11, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 17
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Jan. 15, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 18
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Jan. 22, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 19
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Jan. 29, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 20
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Feb. 05, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 21
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Feb. 14, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 22
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Feb. 20, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 23
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Feb. 27, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 23 SPECIAL
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Mar. 06, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 24
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Mar. 07, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 25
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Mar. 12, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 25-EXTRA
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Mar. 14, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 26
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Mar. 19, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 27
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Mar. 26, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 28
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Apr. 02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 29
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Apr. 08, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 30
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Apr. 17, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 31
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Apr. 23, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 32
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Apr. 30, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 33
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May 07, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 34
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May 18, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 35
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May 21, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 36
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May 30, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 37
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June
05, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 38
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June
11, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 39
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June
18, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 40
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June
25, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 41
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July
02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 42
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July
09, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 43
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July
16, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 44
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July
23, 2013
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Opening thoughts.
2. War on freedom of the Press.
3. Suppression of voter rights.
4. Remind the President - Keystone XL NO.
5. Keystone XL could cost us $3 to $4 billion
per yr.
6. Detroit
OPENING THOUGHTS
from FLOYD
The articles in this
posting, seem to me, to provide more evidence that there are movements a-foot
to change our Democratic Government. I
don't know what form of government they are wanting, but it would appear to be
one along the lines of Dictatorship, Totalitarianism, or Fascism , or the
selfness of the teachings of Ayn Rand.
In other words, it is important to read and consume what they are trying
to tell us.
I have been a strong
Obama man, but I am extremely disappointed in him now. He was gong to change Washington ,
but I think Washington
The Constitution has
worked pretty well for 200 years. Don't rewrite it as a candidate for Governor
of Virginia
INTERESTING TID BIT:
Mitch McConnell, (R) Kentucky
~~~
Obama’s
Escalating War on
Freedom of the
Press
Norman Solomon
Norman Soloman / Op-Ed
Published: Monday 22 July 2013
The part of the First Amendment that prohibits “abridging
the freedom … of the press” is now up against the wall, as the Obama administration
continues to assault the kind of journalism that can expose government secrets.
Last Friday the administration got what it wanted
-- an ice-cold chilling effect -- from the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals, which ruled on the case of New
York Times reporter James Risen. The court “delivered a blow
to investigative journalism in America
The Executive Branch fought for that ruling -- and is now
celebrating. “We agree with the decision,” said a Justice Department spokesman.
“We are examining the next steps in the prosecution of this case.” The Risen
case, and potentially many others, are now under the ominous shadow of the
Appeals Court’s pronouncement: “There is no First Amendment testimonial
privilege, absolute or qualified, that protects a reporter from being compelled
to testify … in criminal proceedings.”
At the Freedom of the Press Foundation, co-founder Trevor
Timm calls the court ruling “the most
significant reporter’s privilege decision in decades” and asserts that the
court “eviscerated that privilege.” He’s not exaggerating. Press freedom is at
stake.
Journalists who can be
compelled to violate the confidentiality of their sources, or otherwise go to
prison, are reduced to doing little more than providing stenographic services
to pass along the official story. That’s what the White House wants.
The federal Fourth Circuit
covers the geographical area where most of the U.S.
That court decision came seven days after the Justice
Department released its “News Media Policies” report announcing “significant revisions
to the Department’s policies regarding investigations that involve members of
the news media.” The report offered assurances that “members of the news media
will not be subject to prosecution based solely on newsgathering activities.”
(Hey thanks!) But the
document quickly added that the government will take such action “as a last
resort” when seeking information that is “essential to a successful
investigation or prosecution.”
Translation: We
won’t prosecute journalists for doing their jobs unless we really want to.
Over the weekend, some news accounts described Friday’s
court decision as bad timing for Attorney General Eric Holder, who has scrambled
in recent weeks to soothe anger at the Justice Department’s surveillance of
journalists. “The ruling was awkwardly timed for the Obama administration,”
the New York Times reported. But the ruling wasn’t just “awkwardly
timed” -- it was revealing,
and it underscored just how hostile the Obama White House has become toward
freedom of the press.
News broke in May that the Justice Department had seized records of calls on more than 20
phone lines used by Associated Press reporters over a two-month period and had
also done intensive surveillance of a Fox News
reporter that included obtaining phone records and reading his emails. Since
then, the Obama administration tried to defuse the explosive reaction without
actually retreating from its offensive against press freedom.
At a news conference two months ago, when President Obama
refused to say a critical word about his Justice Department’s targeted
surveillance of reporters, he touted plans to reintroduce a bill for a federal
shield law so journalists can protect their sources. But Obama didn’t mention
that he has insisted on a “national security
exception” that would make such a law approximately worthless for reporters
doing the kind of reporting that has resulted in government surveillance -- and
has sometimes landed them in federal court.
Obama’s current notion of a potential shield law would
leave his administration fully able to block protection of journalistic
sources. In a mid-May article -- headlined “White House Shield Bill Could
Actually Make It Easier for the Government to Get Journalists’ Sources” -- the
Freedom of the Press Foundation shed light on the duplicity: As a supposed
concession to press freedom, the president was calling for reintroduction of a
2009 Senate bill that “would not have helped the Associated Press in this case,
and worse, it would actually make it easier for the Justice Department to
subpoena journalists covering national security issues.”
Whether hyping a scenario for a shield law or citing new
Justice Department guidelines for news media policies, the cranked-up spin from
the administration’s PR machinery does not change the fact that Obama is
doubling down on a commitment to routine surveillance of everyone, along with
extreme measures specifically aimed at journalists -- and whistleblowers.
The administration’s efforts to quash press freedom are
in sync with its unrelenting persecution of whistleblowers. The purpose is to
further choke off the flow of crucial information to the public, making
informed “consent of the governed” impossible while imposing massive
surveillance and other violations of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Behind the assault on civil liberties is maintenance of a warfare state with
huge corporate military contracts and endless war. The whole agenda is
repugnant and completely unacceptable.
~~~
SUPPRESSION OF VOTERS RIGHTS
By Mark Giangreco
Democratic Governors Association.
Floyd,
Republicans across the country are seizing on the Supreme
Court’s decision against the Voting Rights Act to implement new laws aimed at
disenfranchising Democratic voters.
Here are some of the
most troubling developments since the Court’s decision last month:
- Republican officials in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama,
and
- Florida Governor Rick Scott is reportedly resuming his
outlandish effort to purge eligible citizens from the voting rolls.
This is exactly why we created the Voter Protection
Project—to stop attacks on voting rights before it’s too late. Over 110,000 have joined the Project since we
started it two years ago.
The project has two
simple parts: 1) Fight voter suppression laws wherever they pop up and 2)
Defeat the Republican politicians who are pushing them. Republicans hold 30 governorships right now,
but 24 of those are up for grabs between now and November 2014. If we can win our key races, we’ll put an
automatic veto on top of voter suppression laws.
We cannot let the right to vote for every citizen become a
relic of a bygone era. Together we can fight voter suppression laws and the
Republican politicians who are shamelessly pushing them.
Sincerely,
Mark Giangreco
Democratic Governors Association
~~~
WE MUST REMIND THE
PRESIDENT
KEYSTONE XL
NO
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
NRDC Senior Attorney
Dear
Floyd,
Last month, President Obama made news by promising to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline if it will drive more global warming pollution and more climate chaos. Well, we already have clear and compelling evidence that it would do just that. But it's up to you and me to deliver that message loud and clear to the White House this summer. Tell President Obama to keep his word and reject the Keystone XL! Even industry insiders and Wall Street banks agree that the Keystone XL is the linchpin of Big Oil's plan to triple tar sands production over the next 20 years. That rapid expansion will drive 250 percent more global warming pollution than it did just three years ago! Yet, the State Department is still whitewashing the true dangers of tar sands. Its latest environmental review parrots Big Oil's bankrupt assertion that the Keystone XL will not drive tar sands expansion or increase global warming. That is a giant red flag because the State Department is charged with deciding whether or not the pipeline is in our national interest. I can't tell you if President Obama will go along with the State Department's charade -- or if he will have the courage to slam shut the floodgates on a river of climate-destroying, tar sands crude. But I can tell you this: Both the State Department and the White House will be under ferocious pressure this summer from Big Oil and its climate-denying friends on Capitol Hill. That means it's up to you and me to hold the President to his promise on climate ... and we must do so swiftly, loudly and relentlessly. Please join me in sending a message to President Obama. Tell him to keep his word and reject this destructive pipeline once and for all. Thank you for standing with me and NRDC in strong opposition to the Keystone XL. Sincerely, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. NRDC Senior Attorney |
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~~~
Approving
the Keystone Pipeline Could Cost US Consumers $3 to $4 Billion Per Year in
Higher Gas Prices.
Ryan Koronowski
Climate Progress / News Investigation
Published: Tuesday 16 July 2013
Refiners
in the Midwest are taking advantage of the glut of supply in Alberta and the
corresponding low prices, but that savings is not being passed down to the
consumer at the pump.
There are many good reasons why approving the Keystone XL pipeline is a bad idea. But not higher gas prices into the equation.
According to a new
report from Consumer Watchdog, that is likely to happen. In particular, drivers in the Midwest would see increases at the pump ranging from 25
to 40 cents per gallon. This dovetails with another report by Public Citizen earlier this
year.
Why would this happen? Isn’t the global oil market immune to changes
in where oil comes from, or even better, wouldn’t more oil supply on the market
make prices drop? Right now, the price
of Canadian tar sands oil is lower than it otherwise would be because refining
the substance into usable oil is an energy-intensive process, and Alberta does
not have an easy way to transport it all to refining and
export facilities. As the report says, “The tar sands oil price won’t go up
without substantially more exports.”
Refiners in the Midwest are taking advantage of the glut
of supply in Alberta and the corresponding low prices, but that savings is not
being passed down to the consumer at the pump. At the same time, gas prices in
the Midwest have been similar to or higher than prices nationwide this
year.
The construction of the pipeline would mean much of it
would likely be sent down to refineries in Teas, bypassing the Midwest and reducing supply. According to the report, this means that local
gas prices would rise by 20-40 cents in the region and a few cents nationally. All told, the cost to Americans could range
from $3-4 billion, according to the Consumer Watchdog report:
In the Midwest alone,
each year of only a 20-cent-a-gallon increase could rip $3 billion to $4
billion from more productive spending. The
up to $4 billion in Midwest economic loss is close to the amount that
TransCanada would spend on the pipeline project, canceling a major claim of
U.S. economic benefit. While the company
says it will spend $7 billion, so
me of that will be spent in Canada
Backers regularly make the case that approval of the
Keystone XL pipeline will drop gasoline prices, even though the pipeline would
take years to build even if the Obama administration approved it today. A comment from Rep. Fred Upton last year that
Keystone would help lower gas prices earned a “Pinocchio” from the Washington
TransCanada and other stakeholders that want to extract
the oil sands out of Albertan soil see the Keystone XL pipeline as the best way
to be able to charge more for the Canadian tar sands oil. That is, at root, what this fight is about. So they try to move the debate away from how
it would affect gas prices, and onto U.S.
Meanwhile, American Automobile Association and the Energy
Information Administration officials told Congress Tuesday that current gas
prices remain high and are only likely to get higher despite increasing
domestic production.
ABOUT Ryan Koronowski
RYAN KORONOWSKI is
Deputy Editor of Climate Progress. He grew up on the north shore of Massachusetts
and graduated from Vassar
College Hopkins
Canadian tar sand oil was never intended for the US Canada to Louisiana
Refineries in "tax-free" zones ( no US
I wonder which community will be next to play Canadian
Tar Sand Oil roulette with the lives of it's citizens?
sunflowerbio
Two minor corrections. The destination of the tar sands oil is Texas , not Louisiana ,
and the oil in the derailed train in Canada
actually came from North Dakota , not Canada US China
~~~
Detroit bankruptcy on
hold, Snyder admin. smacked down by judge for “cheating good people who work”
Yesterday afternoon, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, with the blessing of Governor Rick Snyder, filed bankruptcy paperwork for the city at 4:06 p.m. An emergency hearing by attorneys representing city pensioners was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in the court room of
The State lawyers literally tricked the legal team
representing people receiving pensions from the City of Detroit so
that they could file their bankruptcy paperwork.
An attorney for the
pension funds who was seeking a temporary restraining order in Ingham County
During
those five minutes, he said, attorneys filed the bankruptcy petition in Detroit
The judge said the bankruptcy filing was made
at 4:06 p.m., five minutes before her emergency hearing began.
A
furious Ronald King, a lawyer representing Detroit’s General Retirement System
and the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System, said he agreed to the
five-minute delay that he now believes was not requested in good faith.
The basis for the emergency hearing was a
pending lawsuit claiming that the bankruptcy is illegal because public employee
pensions are protected by the state constitution. And they are:
Title IX § 24 – Public
pension plans and retirement systems, obligation.
The accrued financial benefits of each pension plan and retirement system of the state and its political subdivisions shall be a contractual obligation thereof which shall not be diminished or impaired thereby.
The accrued financial benefits of each pension plan and retirement system of the state and its political subdivisions shall be a contractual obligation thereof which shall not be diminished or impaired thereby.
Financial benefits arising on account of
service rendered in each fiscal year shall be funded during that year and such
funding shall not be used for financing unfunded accrued liabilities.
Judge Aquilina is furious. In a hearing today,
she put an immediate halt to the State’s effort to take Detroit
into bankruptcy:
Ruling that the
governor and Detroit ’s emergency manager
violated the state constitution, an Ingham
County Circuit judge ordered Friday
that Detroit
“It’s absolutely needed,” said Judge Rosemary
Aquilina, observing she hopes Gov. Rick Snyder “reads certain sections of the
(Michigan) constitution and reconsiders his actions.” [...]
Prior to her ruling on Friday, she criticized
the Snyder administration and Attorney General’s Office for what appeared to be
hasty action to outflank pension board attorneys.
“It’s
cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told
assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin. “It’s
also not honoring the (United States )
president, who took (Detroit
Aquilina said she would make sure President
Obama got a copy of her order.
“I know he’s watching this,” she said,
predicting the president ultimately will have to take action to make sure
existing pension commitments are honored.
There’s more:
“I have some very serious concerns because there was this
rush to bankruptcy court that didn’t have to occur and shouldn’t have
occurred,” Aquilina said.
“Plaintiffs shouldn’t have been blindsided,”
and “this process shouldn’t have been ignored.” […]
Aquilina said the Michigan Constitution
prohibits actions that will lessen the pension benefits of public employees,
including those in the City of Detroit
“We can’t speculate what the bankruptcy court
might order,” said assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin, representing the
governor and other state defendants.
“It’s a certainty, sir,” Aquilina replied. “That’s why you filed for bankruptcy.”
Tea party Attorney General Bill Schuette has
now involved himself and is appealing the Judge’s rulings to the Court of
Appeals.
While I am still in support of the City of
Detroit going through a managed bankruptcy, this sort of childish “Neener,
neener, I win!” stunt to file paperwork mere minutes before a hearing could
take place is insulting on so many levels. If the governor and his Detroit
Instead, Governor Snyder and his administration
seem intent on playing whatever games are necessary to keep them from being
heard.
I’m embarrassed that our state government is
playing games like this with people’s lives and you can be very sure that as
Election Day 2014 roles around, you will hear about this stunt again and again
here on this site.
When they said that Detroit
Stay tuned. This is very far from over.
~~~
If the good Lord is
willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again next Tuesday, July
30, 2013.
God Bless you All
&
God Bless the United States of America
Floyd
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