Scumbag Walmart Lawsuit Caught, Scumbag Goldman Sachs Email Guilty, Scumbag GOP Denies Scumbag Reform - News Headlines 26 Apr 2010

From Denny: Walmart has been successful at avoiding the inevitable for nine years. Now they are whining at getting caught for their deceiving lying ways - all the while claiming to be the pillar of the Christian community. Hyena hypocrite is more like it.



I quit purchasing from them years ago when I found out they were refusing to hire full time employees AND coaching them to get on state welfare in order to avoid paying for health insurance.



"Scumbags" is the kindest name I can think of for this company as it sucks the life out of the working poor, most notably desperate single mothers and women in general. Maybe we will get lucky and this lawsuit will finally break their monopoly in so many communities where they have run small businesses into bankruptcy and ruin.





Appeals Court Rules Walmart Sex Discrimination Case Can Go to Trial: (ABC) Walmart Fears Suit Could Cost The Chain Billions



A class action lawsuit representing more than 1 million women got the green light to proceed today against Walmart Stores Inc.



giant chain store discriminates against female employes, could cost it billions of dollars if it is upheld. The reputation of an iconic company is also on the line.



It is the largest class action suit in American history, and Walmart indicated today it may take the fight to the Supreme Court.



The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the case against one of the country's largest private employers could go to trial, nine years after the suit was originally filed in 2001.



The suit, filed on behalf of six women who worked in 13 of Walmart's stores, alleges that the women employed by the company face systemic sexism -- that they're paid less than men in comparable positions, receive fewer promotions and wait longer for promotions -- according to the court documents released today...











Speaking of scumbags, these guys over on Wall Street take the prize for the cardinal sin of greed bringing personal moral decay and corruption...





Senate Panel Says Goldman Sachs 'Misled the Country,' Helped Create Housing Bubble: (ABC) Sen. Carl Levin: Goldman Sachs Helped Inject 'Toxins' Into Financial System



Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs helped create a housing bubble by selling securities backed by risky subprime mortgage loans and then profited off that bubble's bursting by secretly betting against the market, a Senate investigation has found.



A day before a high-profile hearing featuring numerous Goldman Sachs officials, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a flurry of excerpts from internal bank documents that the panel says show that the embattled firm misled the American public about its role in the build-up to the financial crisis in September 2008.



"The evidence shows that Goldman Sachs helped build and operate that conveyor belt that fed toxic mortgages and mortgage securities into the financial system and then made large bets against the market that it helped create -- taking the big short, and reaping the profits from it," the panel's chairman Sen. Carl Levin said at a briefing today...



















Like this was any surprise from the Republicans who are the puppet politicians of the lobbyists... And Obama keeps trying to work with these people: "Why?" It's amazing how the Republicans speak out of both sides of their mouths. One minute it's "balance the budget and financial accountability and fiscal responsibility" and the next minute it's "Let the greedy business man whores have their way with American taxpayers' wallets."





Republicans Hand Senate Financial Reform Bill Early Defeat: (ABC) Obama 'Deeply Disappointed,' That GOP Blocked Vote to Debate Financial Reform Bill



Senate Republicans blocked a key vote today that would have sent the financial reform bill to the full Senate for debate.



The most extensive new Wall Street regulation since the Great Depression is aimed at preventing another financial crisis, but failed an initial procedural vote, 57-41, three short of the 60 needed to bring the bill to the floor.



Democrats accused Republicans of siding with Wall Street banks.



Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared the vote with deciding "whether party unity is more important than economic security."



President Obama said he was "deeply disappointed' in the vote...











It's good to see the majority of the public have their heads screwed on straight and are demanding financial reform in America...





ABC News Poll: Two-Thirds Back Financial Reform; The Question: How Far to Go (ABC) Trust in Obama to Handle Financial Reform a Possible Caution Flag for GOP in Election Year





Two-thirds of Americans support stricter federal regulation of banks and other financial institutions, and by a double-digit margin the public trusts President Obama more than the Republicans in Congress to handle financial reform, which could be a caution flag for the GOP in an election year.



The public supports reform overall by 65-31 percent, a broad margin that's been steady since midwinter, and trusts Obama more than the Republicans to handle financial reform by 52-35 percent, a 17-point advantage for the president in this new ABC News/Washington Post poll.



Click here for a PDF with charts and questionnaire.











Here's a strange yet compelling story about not sleeping well...





Fatal Insomnia: When Sleeplessness Kills: (ABC) Rare Genetic Disease Prods Scientists to Explore Mysteries of Sleep



Most people can relate to the occasional sleepless night, but for sufferers of a rare form of insomnia, sleeplessness can be fatal.



Silvano, an Italian man who suffered from such a condition, lost the ability to sleep at age 53. Four months after checking into a sleep clinic in Bologna, Italy, in 1984, Silvano went into a coma and died. Through Silvano's case, Italian scientists discovered an extremely rare genetic disease called fatal familial insomnia, or FFI.



FFI sufferers fall into a state in which they are neither fully asleep nor awake. The inability to sleep wreaks havoc on their lives. Sleeplessness deteriorates into exhaustion, dementia and, ultimately, death. There is no cure.



For scientists, why a lack of sleep could kill you is still an unsolved mystery.



"Sleep is the most extraordinary mystery, the most elusive biological function that we have," said Daniel Max, author of "The Family That Couldn't Sleep," who has chronicled Silvano's story and family lineage. "We know very little about how we sleep. But we know even less about why we sleep..."











And here's a negative mindset or maybe a prophetic announcement for our distant future when we may finally encounter aliens for real on planet Earth... Of course, Hawking is basing his assumption guess on the fact aliens think and behave as humans. How likely is that? Either way, Hawking is always good for an interesting read.





Stephen Hawking: Alien Contact Could Be Risky: (ABC) In Discovery Documentary, British Astrophysicist Warns Alien Life Could be Hostile



Alien encounters may seem like sure-fire winners to Hollywood, but one of the world's most famous scientists thinks they may be "too risky" be be worth seeking.



The world-famous astrophysicist theorizes that alien life will not be friendly.



In a new Discovery Channel documentary, which premiered Sunday night, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said that communicating with aliens could be a threat to Earth.



Hawking said it is likely that alien life exists, but a visit from extraterrestrials might be similar to Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.



"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said. "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."



In the new program, "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking," he speculated that aliens' capabilities "would be only limited by how much power they could harness and control, and that could be far more than we might first imagine."



He said it might even be possible for aliens to harvest the energy from an entire star.



"Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach," Hawking said...

















And for a funny... Check out one of the videos





*** Colbert Lampoons Immigration and Pot Smokers - Roundup of Late Nite Comedy 26 Apr 2010





*** Colbert pokes jabs at the state of Arizona for passing controversial bold new immigration bill which basically legalizes the harassment of Latinos. Colbert thinks the new strategy is one to irritate and frustrate the Latino community to the point they will get fed up and leave on their own.

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Colbert Lampoons Immigration and Pot Smokers - Roundup of Late Nite Comedy 26 Apr 2010

























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News Headlines Roundup 10 Mar 2010

Patrick Kennedy vs the News Media: ABC’s Jonathan Karl reports: In a fiery speech on the floor of the House, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-RI, lashed out at the news media for focusing on trivial issues and ignoring a Congressional debate over the war in Afghanistan.

“It’s despicable, the national press corps right now,” Kennedy bellowed.
Kennedy’s outburst came as the House debated a measure sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, that would set a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

“If anyone wants to know where the cynicism is, there's two press people in this gallery,” Kennedy yelled as he gestured up to the press gallery above the House floor. “We're talking about Eric Massa 24/7 on the TV. We're talking about war and peace -- $3 billion, 1,000 lives -- and no press, no press.”

“You want to know why the American public is fit?” he continued. “They're fit because they're not seeing their congress do the work that they're sent to do. It's because the press, the press of the United States is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that's the laying of lives down in the nation for the service of our country. it's despicable, the national press corps right now.”

As Kennedy spoke, the floor of the House was almost as empty as the press gallery, with only about a dozen of the 431 members of the House in attendance.

Before lambasting the press, Kennedy harshly criticized the Obama Administration’s policy in Afghanistan.

“I hear my colleagues talk about the flag of Afghanistan, as if Afghanistan is a country,” he said. “In case anybody has bothered to look at it, it's a loose collection of 121 different sovereign tribes, none of them get along with each other, and it's a mountainous terrain of rock and gravel and the notion that our soldiers are over there laying down their lives to secure ground. We ought to be after the Taliban and the terrorists, anybody who is organizing to strike in our country, I am for that.

“But I am not for organizing an organized military campaign where we're having to go in and take in these towns and subject our soldiers to unnecessary threats where we are putting our treasure and our lives and our men and women in uniform on the line unnecessarily.”






Out-of-Control Toyota Reports Multiplying: (CBS) his Toyota Prius down a southern California highway when he experienced something now familiar to many Toyota owners: his car was accelerating past his intended speed and wouldn't slow down.


That's when Sikes grabbed his phone dialed 911. (Listen to his call below left) While trying to keep the car under control and hold the phone to his ear, the Prius sped up to 94 miles per hour. Eventually the emergency dispatcher sent a California Highway Patrol car to him, and officers instructed him how to reduce his speed before they accelerated in front of him and — driving bumper-to-bumper — guided the car to a complete stop.


Just two weeks before the alarming incident, Sikes had brought his Prius into a dealership, recall notice in hand, to have a technician look under the hood, but the dealership turned him away.


Watch CBS News Videos Online



Women fliers honored 65 years after war efforts: Washington (CNN) -- Some 65 years after their service, a group of former civilian women pilots whose unheralded work was key to helping the U.S. effort in World War II are being honored Wednesday with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Fewer than 300 Women Airforce Service Pilots are still alive. About 175 of them, along with thousands of family members, have traveled to Washington for the ceremony at the Capitol.

Jane Tedeschi is one of the WASPs who will be recognized.

"I think it is wonderful. I think it really is," she told CNN, saying it's especially meaningful because "so many of us are still alive to get this honor."

The Women Airforce Service Pilots was born in 1942 to create a corps of female pilots able to fill all types of flying jobs at home, thus freeing male military pilots to travel to the front.

"I think that this is important. It is hopefully something that people will remember," Tedeschi told CNN last week. "It is another thing to honor the women who lost their lives at that time and of course what it did to persuade people that women could do this."


Dalai Lama: China Aims to Annihilate Buddhism: (ABC) The Dalai Lama lashed out at China on Wednesday, accusing it of trying to "annihilate Buddhism" in Tibet and rebuffing all his efforts to reach a compromise over the disputed Himalayan region.

China shot back, accusing the Tibetan spiritual leader of using deceptions and lies to distort its policy in the region. The passionate back-and-forth highlighted the distrust, anger and frustration that separates the two sides and leaves little hope for success in recently resumed talks.

Beijing has demonized the Dalai Lama and accused him of wanting independence for Tibet, which China says is part of its territory. The Dalai Lama says he only wants some form of autonomy for Tibet within China that would allow Tibetan culture, language and religion to thrive.




Michael Jackson: Inside His Finances and Family: (ABC exclusive) While the Jackson family portrayed a unified front at Michael Jackson's funeral, three of his former bodyguards said Jackson did not often see his family in the two years prior to his death.

"They didn't come around much and when they did, they came unexpected. And we'd say, 'Mr. Jackson, one of your family members is at the gate [and] would like to see you,' and he'd ask, 'Do they have an appointment?'" Bill Whitfield, one his former bodyguards, said.

Whitfield said family members were not allowed in if Jackson was "being creative," but that did not stop Jackson's youngest brother, Randy, from trying to see him.






How You End Up on the U.S. No-Fly List: (AP) It starts with a tip, a scrap of intelligence, a fingerprint lifted from a suspected terrorist's home.

It ends when a person is forbidden to board an airplane — a decision that's in the hands of about six experts from the Transportation Security Administration.

The no-fly list they oversee constantly changes as hundreds of analysts churn through a steady stream of intelligence. Managing the list is a high-stakes process. Go too far in one direction and innocent travelers are inconvenienced. Go in the other direction and a terrorist might slip onto an airplane.

It could take minutes to put a name on the list. Or it could take hours, days or months.

That's because the list is only as good as U.S. intelligence and the experts who analyze it. If an intelligence lead is not shared, or if an analyst is unable to connect one piece of information to another, a terrorist could slip onto an airplane. Officials allege that's just what took place ahead of the attempted Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound jet.



"Granny D," Political Activist, Dies: (AP) Doris "Granny D" Haddock, a New Hampshire woman who walked across the country at age 89 to promote campaign finance reform and later waged a quixotic campaign for U.S. Senate, has died. She was 100.

... In 2000, Haddock walked 3,200 miles to draw attention to campaign finance reform. In 2004, at age 94, she ran for U.S. Senate against Republican Judd Gregg. The subtitle of her autobiography, written with Dennis Burke, was "You're Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell."

"Her age wasn't a factor in what she did," Salinger said. "She never gave up. Until the end, she advocated for public funding. She would wanted people to know that democracy and government belongs to us."



2010 Elections: Ten Races to Watch in 2010: When President Obama swept large Democratic majorities into Congress in 2008, the 2010 midterm elections looked as if they might be a snoozer.

But in the wake of Obama's declining poll numbers and the Democrats' shocking loss of the seat once held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the 2010 midterm elections are now shaping up as a critical showdown which could fundamentally alter the balance of power in Washington and in statehouses across the country.

Although Election Day 2010 is still 8 months away, here is an update on ten statewide contests -- three for governor and seven for the U.S. Senate -- that we identified as races worth watching in December.


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Catch Up on Posts at Dennys Global Politics 6 Dec 2009

From Denny: It's been a busy week with only the time to load these posts into draft form. Finally had the time this weekend to finish these writes and post them! Nothing like the busy holiday season...

Assassins Security Recipe For Disaster: Obama State Dinner - Then the worst scenario of all: A well-trained or motivated assassin could have cleaned house on the top tier of our government - President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and Chief of Staff. That would have left us with Senator Pro-tem, Senator Byrd from West Virginia to run the country, an aging 90 years plus man in poor health.

Obamas Unwelcome Afghan Strategy, Reactions and a Lame Congress - Republicans complained about Obama not wanting to continue the war indefinitely while Democrats worry about the cost of a protracted war, circulating the lame idea of a war tax to fund the recent surge on an already burdened depressed economy.

Prez Obama Lays Out Bleak New Afghanistan Strategy - "And Karzai is a sorry excuse for what passes for good government. What started out with great promise years ago has become a farce. He now looks like a bejeweled weasel sitting on a pile of gold: American foreign aid money."

UKs Brown Overlooks Slain Soldiers: Again

Obama Family Lights National Christmas Tree of Hope

Obama Doing His Positive Affirmations: Hosts Jobs Summit

Pakistan Unknown Heroes Work to Defend Country Against Taliban

Iran Jails Irani-American Woman Protesting Elections - An Iranian-American female grad student went to Iran to study and document women's issues in Iran. That didn't sit well with the local government soon after she arrived and they threw her into jail.

Funny Miss Speak Known as Malapropisms

Latest Political Foibles - Editorial Cartoons 5 Dec 2009

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Iran Jails Irani-American Woman Protesting Elections

From Denny: An Iranian-American female grad student went to Iran to study and document women's issues in Iran. That didn't sit well with the local government soon after she arrived and they threw her into jail. These guys have issues with being American-phobic and female-phobic. Heaven forbid if women are as capable of being their equals. Their egos can't handle it.

But I figure there is really more here than keeping the females controlled in Iran. It sure looked like they were keeping her on the back burner as a bargaining chip or pawn for an international incident they could turn to their favor. Whatever the motivation this young woman was lucky to get out alive and in one piece. Take a look at her story.

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Video: Afghanistans Abusive Marriages Drive Women to Suicide by Fire

From Denny: In a country still in the Stone Age on so many levels, Afghanistan is not winning any high marks in how they treat young women when they marry them. Granted, the average life expectancy is only age 44 here so it goes to the need to marry 13 year old girls. The same was true in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The problem is that 13 year old girls are simply not equipped emotionally or physically for the rigors of adulthood. As young girls they are not prepared for abuse, not knowing which way to turn. Worse, the culture is such that their own family members turn on them, victimizing them repeatedly. When a young married woman complains her husband pimps her out to his friends, trading sex for money, she gets no quarter from the local authorities or her family members.

There are too many horror stories of abuse and tales of extreme amorality to document here today but rest assured that slowly some of these young women are beginning to walk away anyway. Foreign aid agencies have stepped in to help these abandoned and abused women, offering them hope and a new life.

Afghanistan has a long way to go to improve its culture and standing in the world when it comes just to basic human rights for their wives, mothers and daughters. There is so little hope in this country for women. In the end, it will have to be the women who stand up for the women. They must defy tradition and culture in order to survive. One day they will thrive.

Take a look at this video as a French aid doctor is clearly upset at what he treats on a regular basis. Do what you can to help, if only to pray every day for the women in Afghanistan.

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