Obama Limits When U.S. Would Use Nuclear Arms
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self-defense.
To set an example, the new strategy renounces the development of any new nuclear weapons, overruling the initial position of his own defense secretary.
The BackChannel Blog 
Love him or hate him, you can’t this is a president who recoils at taking on the tough issues!
He’s gutsy – and seems to always be ready for a challenge from the repugs and his own party. It will be very interesting when the time comes to replace Justice Stevens. The repugs are already having a conniption fit and making plans to gum up the works.
Erickson Shotgun-Census Remark: Commerce Dept. Pushes Back
The Commerce Department is pushing back against census critics, subtly reminding conservative blogger and CNN contributor Erick Erickson that the workers whom he’s threatened to pull a shotgun on are simply doing required, temporary and important work.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/erickson-shotgun-census-r_n_526002.html
Another proud moment for CNN
Maverick: John McCain And His Forsaken Nickname (VIDEO)
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/maverick-john-mccain-and-his-forsaken-nickname.php?ref=fpa
This is pretty funny:
New Survival Seed Bank
Lets You Plant A
Full Acre Crisis Garden!
“Indestructible Survival Seed Bank Can Be Buried To Avoid Confiscation.”
http://www.survivalseedbank.com/
I guess they think the black hawks are coming for their seeds too!
morning peeps
I think I’ll order my survival seed bank first thing tomorrow. LOL
Order extras nanny, they make great stocking stuffers for all your teabag buddies!
I’ll be sure to get an extra for you, Brian…. can’t have you going hungry when Armageddon hits.
yeah, I’ll turn the fire escape into my survival garden!
Hey, I saw an article recently in the Times about a guy who grows veggies on his fire escape. He had quite a little farm going there. So don’t rule it out. And, of course, roof gardens are quite popular in the city, too.
Here ya go Nanny:
I’ve been looking around the net to see if I could find anything regarding the safety record of union mines versus non-union mines. Haven’t been able to find much, but it does seem most of the big mine accidents have taken place in non-union mines.
New commercial by the group my nephew works for:
OMG, dnd!! That is so funny! I’ve got to send it to all my Catholic friends, especially the nuns. 🙂
I saw a program the other night on PBS with this photography teacher that got a grant to photograph the “seed bank” There are two of them and one is near the North Pole and is located underground. Evidently there are only two people that have access to these vaults. I had never heard about these things.
I am re-doing my computer today. Just got back online. Yippee
David Shuster Suspended From MSNBC Indefinitely
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/david-shuster-suspended-f_n_526699.html
That’s too bad, I like Shuster.
I am so sad about the miners. Maybe a teachable moment on safety regulations and the real cost of coal (if companies actually followed same regs) for country at large.
But such a tragedy for the families.
I think MSNBC is making a big mistake. As that HuffPo article points out, Shuster has been their “go to” guy for most daytime coverage. IMO he’s done it well and will be sorely missed.
I wish CNN would drop its deplorable US coverage (save Fareed Z’s fabulous show), go with CNN International, which rumor says is way better, and bring David Shuster on as a daytime correspondent on that. Aaron Brown comes back too.
There has got to be a market for non-infotainment and non-24/7 punditry.
Studies find patterns of Catholic clergy sex abuse
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJdg9DchbbG0HNYd3yNIoi25OLaAD9ESO4OG5
Tom Coburn taking on Fox News myths during a town hall with his constituents.
Kudos where they’re due. Good for Senator Coburn.
This fits with the “More Change” theme. Suspect you’re seeing pushback against the Tea Party fringe.
(Found this via Washington Monthly. Story was about Coburn standing up for Pelosi, but his comments on the Fox News generation stood out more to me.)
http://www.capitolnewsconnection.org/?q=node/14443
“… After a woman in the audience railed against the possibility of being put in prison for not obtaining health insurance under the Democrat’s [sic] new law, Coburn dismissed her remark and questioned the accuracy of Fox News reports on health care reform. The meeting was recorded by radio station KGOU in Norman.
“The intention is not to put any one in jail. That makes for good TV news on FOX but that isn’t the intention,” Coburn responded.
… “What we have to have is make sure we have a debate in this country so that you can see what’s going on and make a determination yourself,” Coburn added and then again warned the crowd against the myths perpetrated on FOX News.
“So don’t catch yourself being biased by FOX News that somebody is no good. The people in Washington are good. They just don’t know what they don’t know,” Coburn said.
… Coburn closed the town hall by telling the crowd to read broadly and warned the mostly conservative audience about the danger of getting all their information from the same source.”
Coburn is a tad bi-polar if you ask me, sometimes he comes off as trying to be reasonable, then at other times he’s just a GOP noise machine.
From that study you linked to, Brian:
OLD CLAIMS: Nearly all of the people coming forward now with abuse claims are adults who say they were molested as children long ago. Only a tiny fraction of the new claims involve alleged victims who are still children.
THE PRIESTHOOD: Because victims often wait decades before speaking out, most of the clergy who are being accused now are dead or have left the priesthood. About 4 percent of all clergy who served in the U.S. since 1950 have been accused of molesting children.
THE VICTIMS: The overwhelming majority of the victims were adolescents. That means very few guilty priests were pedophiles, a term mental health professionals reserve for those who target pre-pubescent children. The distinction is important in deciding how to prevent potential abuse.
HOMOSEXUALITY: Even though about 80 percent of victims were boys, the John Jay researchers and other experts on sex offenders say it does not mean the perpetrators were gay. Priests had more access to boys, which likely explains the high percentage of male victims, researchers say.
Here’s more about the abuse of children. Please not, that it is NOT just a church problem.
“Sexual abuse is indeed horrible, but there is no empirical evidence that it is a uniquely, predominantly, or even strikingly Catholic problem. The sexual abuse of the young is a global plague. In the United States, some 40 to 60 percent of such abuse takes place within families—often at the hands of live-in boyfriends or the second (or third, or fourth) husband of a child’s mother; those cases have nothing to do with celibacy. The case of a married Wilmington, Dela., pediatrician charged with 471 counts of sexual abuse in February has nothing to do with celibacy. Neither did the 290,000 cases of sexual abuse in American public schools between 1991 and 2000, estimated by Charol Shakeshaft of Virginia Commonwealth University. And given the significant level of abuse problems in Christian denominations with married clergy, it’s hard to accept the notion that marriage is somehow a barrier against sexually abusive clergy. (Indeed, the idea of reducing marriage to an abuse-prevention program ought to be repulsive.) Sexual abusers throughout the world are overwhelmingly noncelibates.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/235885
There are THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of these cases, involving clergy of ALL faiths. I DO NOT defend the abuse or the response of my Church. But it’s time we deal with the underlying truth. This is NOT just a “Catholic Church” problem. Abuse of children occurs in all religions, in homes, schools, and every single other place where children and adults are together. As a Catholic, I have spoken out LOUDLY to denounce what has happened in my Church. I have also worked in the field as an RN providing care to abuse victims. Now I am sick of the constant refrain against the Catholic Church that does not include equal recognition and condemnation of rabbi’s, ministers, teachers, coaches, babysitters, parents and parental figures, and every other low life who would dare to harm a child.
Here are the first few cases from a VERY LONG list of rabbis and cantors accused of molestation. If anyone would like, I can post lists and links for any and every other group you’d like.
Cases of Clergy Abuse and Other Trusted Officials
Case of Rabbi Yoram Aberjil (Netivot, Israel) (Accused of cult like practices and sexual harassment of young women and treatening the lives of the survivors and those who support them.)
Case of Rabbi Shlomo Aviner (Beit El, Israel) (Two women accused the rabbi of creating emotionally intimate relationships with them. These relationships included his expressions of his love for them during regular late-night phone conversations, extracting details from them of their sexuality and promoting an unhealthy emotional dependence on him).
Case of Rabbi Aryeh Blaut (AKA: Louis Blaut, Louis Steven Blaut, Louis A. Blaut, Louis S. Blaut) (Seattle, WA) (Convicted sex offender on federal charges of possession of child pornography. According to the United States Department of Probation, Louis Blaut is not allowed contact with anyone under the age of eighteen on the internet or in person).
Case of Rabbi Jerry Brauner (Boro Park, Brooklyn, NY) (Convicted on the charges of Sexual Abuse-1st Degree and Sexual Abuse-3rd:Subject Another Person to Sex Contact Without Consent. He was sentenced to 11 years probation, with the condition he must participate in a sex offender treatment program. Brauner has been on probation since 2002 for the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy. On December 27, 2006, Jerry Brauner was arrested on charges of stealing a half-million-dollar home from a cancer-stricken woman, using a forged power of attorney to sell it and pocket the profits. Brauner is being held in lieu of $85,000 bail for lying about prior sex-abuse convictions when he applied for his notary’s license.)
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/clergyabuse.html
Case of Rabbi Lewis Brenner (AKA: Lippa Brenner) (Brooklyn, NY) (Convicted of child molestation. The original charges included 14 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of sodomy in the third degree, a Class E felony, in exchange for a sentence of five years’ probation.)
Nanny I think you’re losing sight of something. The rage against the church is not solely about the abuses of the children. The systematic cover up IS A CHURCH PROBLEM.
Yes, it is, Brian and I have stated so MANY times. But it has been the same in every other organization. Educational institutions, scouting, protestant and evangelical churches, synagogues, day care centers, etc. have all done their damnedest to cover up. And THEY ARE ALL WRONG!!!! So don’t you dare tell me I’m losing sight of anything here. I’m not. I’m willing to denounce my church for its failures. When the hell have you done the same regarding your religious leaders? You post links about my church but NOT ONE about yours.
Rabbinic Leaders Silent On Child Sexual Abuse
Tuesday, March 09 2010 @ 11:32 PM EST
Views: 18
by Ben Hirsch Special To The Jewish Week
Last week The Jewish Week reported that Gov. Paterson had allocated $500,000 to be channeled to an as-yet-unnamed organization in the Brooklyn Orthodox community.
The money is to be used to help address what many now believe is an epidemic of childhood sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox world. While in theory we as a community should welcome governmental support to help us solve our social problems, how does one explain the apparent absence of rabbinic and lay leadership on this issue?
Here’s the link to that piece.
http://www.thecatholiccoverup.com/article.php/20100310233208557
Nanny my interest in putting up the link to the story was because it debunks the “this is a gay issue” that is being tossed about many people. Nothing more, apparently you saw it as something else.
Well, when you post things without giving any context that’s what happens.
However, my point is still valid. This issue needs to be about ALL children and a condemnation of ALL groups, organizations, and individuals who abuse them and then seek to re-victimize them by concealing the abuse. Until we get serious about protecting our children and punishing those who harm them, this problem will never end.
So far, I see not one single word of acknowledgement from you or anyone else that this is a problem that goes far beyond the Catholic Church. The silence is deafening….
Geez nanny, I think you’re in the mood for a fight today! Of course this is not a problem strictly limited to the Catholic church.
No, Brian, I’m not in the mood for a fight. I’d just like to see some balance and intellectual honesty. Did you read any of the material I posted? If so, why do I hear no condemnation of the rabbis and other Jewish leaders involved? Again, the silence is deafening.
Deafening silence, you say?
This one is systemic.
A huge problem is the deference to the Vatican for guidance and oversight, which too often looks out only for the organizational church and its prestige.
Most Protestant faiths have parish structures more accountable to the local community.
Couple that with taking women, for the most part, out of the power structure. I’m looking for a great article from a few years ago about how the Taliban did that, purposefully, because women are frequently a brake on radicalism. (And yes, there are some twisted nuns, but they — like predatory priests — are a small minority and likely unstable individuals who could benefit from a richer personal life.)
Ensure that you only take in male priests who believe they can forgo family intimacy and sexual love for life, a decision they make far too young.
This is not a scandal that catholic in its scope or depth.
It’s also not to be laid at the feet of all Catholics, as one priest wrote in to the NYTimes.
Please realize, I love many of the Catholic teachings and appreciate my Catholic upbringing.
But one human life is very short, and the Catholic Church is centuries behind on too many issues.
One can appreciate its many fine points, but no false equivalency here. This is not happening systemically in other faiths, at least not the major ones.
yes I read them, I didn’t think they required comment or I was under any obligation to comment. In the future it might be wise to post a cheat sheet to the mail list so I know what’s expected of me!
And frankly I think there is a quite a difference in scale going on here too.
Bull crap! Look up the statistics. Percentage wise, abuse by Catholic clergy is no higher than among other clergy.
Ok fine. I have no reason to look it up, I’ll take your word for it.
Nanny – you need to visit me in Tempe. We can go to Late Night Catechism in Scottsdale. I’ve been to LNC #1 3 times, but never #2. It really is hysterical. Even though I’m a fallen-away Catholic, it brings back lots of memories and lots of laughs. This was only supposed to be a short term run, and has been going for several years now.
Soul Betrayal
It’s not just priests who abuse youngsters. Clergy of all faiths are guilty of sexual misconduct with children and adults.
“….says that based on his experience and a review of others’ statistics he believes that 2 to 7 percent of Catholic priests molest minors–the same percentage as molesters in the general population.”
“While the media focuses on pedophile priests, what’s being lost is the sad reality that sexual abuse of both children and adults is a serious problem among clergy of all faiths.”
“Myth #4: The Catholic Church is alone in covering up instances of sexual misconduct of its clergy.
Institutions, with very few exceptions, tend to circle the wagons to protect its own. Take the case of Swami Rama, an Indian yogi who came to this country in 1969. In 1974, yoga students accused the swami of inappropriate sexual behavior, falsification of his background, and financial improprieties.”
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2002/03/Soul-Betrayal.aspx?p=1
I’d love to do that, Bev. It would be fun!!
“One can appreciate its many fine points, but no false equivalency here. This is not happening systemically in other faiths, at least not the major ones.”
That’s not true.
But when are we all going to get real about the abuse of our children? I don’t give us shit WHO does it!!!! They are all wrong and need to be exposed and punished.
The abuse of children isn’t about religions. It’s about depraved people and a society that fails to value children enough to protect them in their homes, places of worship, schools, sports programs, and on the streets.
When the hell is anyone going to care about THAT?
It’s too damned easy to blame the Church only.
“The Associated Press has a disturbing report……concerning the plague of sexual misconduct perpetrated by teachers against their students. The number of teachers molesting children makes the cases of priests and pastors who molest look miniscule by comparison.
http://mainstreambaptists.blogspot.com/2007/10/growing-plauge-of-child-molestation-by.html
nanny, most people care deeply about children or others being victimized. by anyone.
Neither fact removes the obligation to confront squarely a major problem that is in plain sight.
No one is blaming the Church only.
But no punting and saying “but they all do it.” In terms of number, scope and escaping, for decades, culpability, that does not seem to be factual.
The article you put up had a major disclaimer on how hard it is to come by statistics.
The settlements, requiring closure of some parish churches and sale of real estate, are a matter of fact.
Are you making a case for home schooling?
Dog, I’m not punting. I have been and continue to be a LOUD and PUBLIC critic of the Church in this instance. The point I keep trying to make is that we have to look at the entire issue of child protection… in our churches, in our schools, in our social groups, in sports and other activities, and in our homes. If we continue to focus only or even primarily on the Catholic Church, we are missing the larger picture. And we are failing our children. While the abuse perpetrated by priests and covered up by the Church hierarchy is horrific, so, too, is abuse perpetrated by anyone, anywhere.
Not a day goes by that we don’t hear something new about the Church and abuse. Rightly so. But where are all the major stories about the abuse by teachers? By parents? There should be mobs in the street demanding that this stop!! But all I hear is silence….. except when it comes to the Catholic Church.
Dog, no way would I ever make a case for home schooling. I’m dead set against it. Children need the social interaction they get at school. They also deserve to be taught by qualified teachers.
7.8 magnitude quake near island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040603259.html?hpid=topnews
Armageddon!
I hope there isn’t another tsunami. The earthquake is bad enough.
Good Evening all,
Very good reading,Nanny just lov u!! It does seem as though the Catholic Church is the organized religion most often chosen for criticism! I defend no organized religion,i was brought up a Mormon,it sucks!..
I’ve been very busy but been keeping up here,lov this place ,Brian your a GEM!,no i haven’t been drinking! I do remember a time during the Dem primaries when i was blogging after a few Margarita’s,you called me out!! You are funny!
D,thanks for the Nun link,so funny!
Dog,
Very nice to read you also,your so smart! I’ve always been amazed at your writing.Great points about CNN,i love the CNN International feed.I first got to watching when i spent that 2 months in Australia,we finally got it here on are Brighthouse Cable.Yep A.Brown,what a good journalist! Now,Shuster,i can do without,but he is i suppose good television..
http://www.taylormarsh.com/2010/04/06/newt-to-gop-leave-michael-alone/
“Newt to GOP: Leave Michael Alone”
“There’s nothing like the smell of Republican pandemonium in an election year, especially one that is looking up hill for Democrats. From bondage to Michael Steele blundering in his answer to George Stephanopoulos yesterday; when Steph repeated a question he’d received from someone on his blog that asked whether, as an African American chairman of the RNC, Mr. Steele had a “slimmer margin of error.” Steele replied emphatically “yes,” then went on to invoke Barack Obama, which brought a swift response from the White House.
“I think Michael Steele’s problem isn’t the race card, it’s the credit card.” – Robert Gibbs
Playing the race card falls flat for Steele, because no one has been given more opportunity to fix his screw ups than Mr. Steele. If this is an example of a “slimmer margin of error,” well, I want to know what it takes to fire someone. If Republicans don’t come close to taking the House we may well see.
The Republicans are eating up all the oxygen with loads of negative press, while Obama struts his non-proliferation commander in chief stuff, leaving the wingnut weenies to whine amongst themselves.
So, here comes Newt to the rescue:
Gingrich said Tuesday he thinks “it’s foolish for Republicans to focus on Michael Steele as a person and it’s better to focus on Democrats.” – AP”
Yeah I’m a real CZ in the rough.
Hi, Tony. It’s good to see you. My SIL is Mormon. She’s been trying to convert everyone else in the family for decades. So far, no takers.
As for Brian being a gem…. hmmmm! I need to think about that…. LOL
CNN was crazy to get rid of Brown. I guess he wasn’t pro war enough back then. I wonder what he’s doing these days.
It’s hard to take Newt’s defense of Steele seriously. In fact, it’s hard to take anything he says seriously.
He’s nothing more than an opportunist who keeps injecting himself into the debate in a pathetic effort to be relevant.
Folks, I have a question for you, who do you think wrote the following:
“The tragic mine disaster spotlights coal just when the President least needs it. The energy debate he recently sparked mostly focused on his call for more oil drilling, downplaying his bid to shift our transportation fuel from oil to electricity – which means even more reliance on how we produce electricity: Coal. Already, nearly half of our electricity comes from coal, the dirtiest and, as we are now being reminded, the deadliest fuel of all.”
A) Glenn Beck
B) Sean Hannity
C) Bill O’Reily
D) Craig Crawford
Craig.
Yes nanny, that’s the thread he put at 3:25 this afternoon, while they still haven’t pulled the poor victims out of the mine he’s trying to somehow link this horrible tragedy to Obama, it’s disgusting.
Also it’s inaccurate, the president is not calling for expanded use of coal as he seems to imply.
So my question is this….
If corporations now have the same rights as American Citizens can we then charge the owner of the Mine Disaster with 25 counts of Premeditated Murder?
After all he has a long history of safety violations and the ignoring of safety regulations and is therefore guilty of premeditated murder of those who died in his mine.
God Bless.
That’s an excellent question, A-P. I’d love to see that mine owner pay for this.
Well before I hit the sack and turn the lights out ponder me this….
We now have to stories about possible war crimes by out troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The video that appears to show two Reuters reporters, a camera man and photographer being killed by US Gunship fire and the shooting of two Samaritans trying to help a wounded figure on the ground. There were also two children in the vehicle that were shot as well.
The other story is about a night raid were two men and three woman were killed. Two of the woman were pregnant and it appears that the US and NATO troops dug the bullets out of their bodies to cover up that they were killed by US forces.
Under any circumstances these were clearly War Crimes and as usual we covered them up.
Are are troops and military now any different than the military’s of any other dictatorship that kills innocent civilians?
I do not think so anymore. No wonder why America is hated around the world. They are worried that if they oppose us we will do the same thing to them that we did in Iraq and are doing in Afghanistan.
Britain and Russia got defeated in Afghanistan and what makes us think we are any better then they were. Our country will be destroyed if we don’t get the fuck out of there soon.
Thank God I’m getting old, but I truly worry about what our children will end up living through because of these Evil Republican Fascist, Racist, Bigoted Christian American Taliban Terrorist, Nazi’s and their Jewish Kapo Collaborators.
Good night gang and …
God Bless.
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