Military Bans Flash Drives, CDs, etc.

The United States Military is no longer allowing any current member of the military to use any form of removable media (such as flash drives, removable hard drives, cds, etc). After being told this information by a member of the Marine Corps who wished to remain anonymous it was easy to find credible news sources which validated the claims made.

Editorial Cartoon. 2010 Universal Press Syndicate Copyright

CBS News reports that on December 3, 2010 a "Cyber Control Order" was issued by Major General Richard Webber, commander of Air Force Network Operations.

Wired Magazine reports that the Cyber Control Order:

Directs airmen to “immediately cease use of removable media on all systems, servers, and stand alone machines residing on SIPRNET,” the Defense Department’s secret network. Similar directives have gone out to the military’s other branches.

“Unauthorized data transfers routinely occur on classified networks using removable media and are a method the insider threat uses to exploit classified information. To mitigate the activity, all Air Force organizations must immediately suspend all SIPRNET data transfer activities on removable media,” the order adds.


The reasoning behind this is because of WikiLeaks. As CBS News confirms:



The move is probably in direct response to an earlier investigation that implicated former Army PFC Bradley Manning as the source of WikiLeaks' Iraq and Afghanistan war documents, leaked earlier this year. Manning later claimed he downloaded a trove of documents off SIPRNET onto a CD marked "Lady Gaga." Manning also claimed to have downloaded the hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables recently leaked by WikiLeaks, as well as other unknown materials.

Manning worked in the intelligence operations of the 2nd Brigade in Baghdad. He was supposed to be examining intelligence relevant to Iraq, but defense officials said he was using his "Top Secret/SCI" clearance to download classified documents, CBS News reports.




So, this is how it begins. This just makes it seem like there is more that needs to be hidden; obviously to an extent to protect the country and the national security and troops there needs to be secrecy, but isn't there some information that after a period of time SHOULD be released? And by serving this country as a part of the military does that mean serving the GOVERNMENT or serving on behalf of THE PEOPLE?

Metrodome Roof Collapse: Roof Maker Recommended Replacing It This Year

At 5 am CST Sunday December 13, 2010, the roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome collapsed due to high winds and up to 24 inches of snow that collected on it overnight. The damage to the roof caused the cancellation of several events, and one, the Vikings game against the New York Giants, to be moved to Detroit.

While the disaster took the public, and thanks to New Media, the World, by surprise, featuring a dramatic video of the action as it happened, a document that is the meeting notes from the
"Regular Meeting of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission" Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 9:30 a.m this blogger obtained online and is linked to here reveals that the roof was inspected in April of this year by Birdair, the roof maker.   Before I continue, here is that video:



In a report to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which manages and obtains financing for the Metrodome, Birdair explained that the roof should be replaced, and that while it's outer fabric "is performing well as compared to the original fabric specification," the inner membrane "has exceeded its service life of 20 years."

The stadium is 28 years old and the roof has collapsed four times over that period, including Sunday's disaster.

This part of the Commission report is particularly troubling:

Birdair also noted the inner liner is dirty and has some holes in it. Birdair recommends monitoring the areas with holes to avoid large tears from enlarging. Birdair rated the inner liner’s condition fair to poor. In addition, Birdair noted some minor areas on the outer membrane that needed repairing. Those areas have been repaired by staff.

What this means is, taken as a whole with both inner and outer membrane conditions, the roof was not in good condition, and had "large tears" that could enlarge.  Apparently, under the weight of a tremendous snowstorm, they did.  Moreover, it's not clear to what degree the condition was worsening in the time between the inspection in April and the roof collapse of Sunday.

Finally, Birdair recommended roof replacement, stating "As in the prior inspection report of five years ago, Birdair suggests the Commission consider planning for replacement of the roof fabric." In other words, the roof has been in a state where it needed to be replaced for at least five years, and the Commission was aware of it.

Birdair also attached an estimated cost to replace the roof at $12 million to $15 million, and said that it took five years to plan and implement a roof replacement.

With all of that, staff of the stadium believed the "roof continues to have serviceable life and will schedule testing again in another four years." Or, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission was willing to just have the stadium operate with the roof in condition where it needed to have been replaced long ago.

Until Sunday's events, that is.  

Now, the stadium is arguably unsafe to be in, and even though work is underway to make the stadium ready for the planned ESPN Monday Night Football Game pitting the Vikings against the Chicago Bears, next week, given the events, will patrons want to watch the game under a roof that just collapsed the week before?

Stay tuned.

More Interracial Marriages in America Than Ever Before

The Pew Research Center reports that in 2008, 1 in 7 marriages, or 14.6 percent, were interracial or interethnic. Moreover, over one-third of those surveyed report that someone in their family is married to someone else outside their race.

That proves what this blogger has said before, that the American mainstream is diverse and to not approve of diversity is to fall outside the norm of what people think in The United States.

In other words, for all practical purposes, no one in their right minds cares about this stuff anymore. That's something to celebrate.

How to Pay for Unemployment Benefits: In One Easy Step!

So how do you pay for unemployment benefits in one easy step? The following is a guest post from Bud Meyers - graphics extraordinaire and founder of http://acompanyofone.org

[In fact Bud Meyers is responsible for the great graphics in this article here]

December 12, 2010 - Last year at this time the GOP had bitterly complained (as I did) that the Democrats were ramming Obama's healthcare plan down our throats. But now it's the GOP who wants to ram tax cuts for the rich down our throats! Both are equally costly to the deficit and it's the working-class Americans who will have to pay for it all, one way or another.

The "bosses" had generous increases in their incomes over the past 30 years. But had their "workers" also received an equally proportionate raise, there would be no deficit today. In fact, it would be just the opposite - we would have either an unbelievable and massive surplus, or at the VERY least, we'd have a perfectly balanced budget.

And all the social programs (such as Social Security, Medicare, and UI benefits) would all be 100% paid for (and even with a growing population base and many more retirees). We'd also have an infrastructure that needed no repairs at all. Because all along those workers (with their higher incomes) would have been paying more in income taxes.

And maybe there wouldn't have been all the fuss about the cost of Obama-Care. But the "bosses" gave themselves massive raises while wages for the "workers" remained almost stagnant, and didn't even keep up with the cost-of-living index. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer - the people had less to spend, the economy went into decline, the country fell. History repeats itself. It's the same old story, but our government leaders have either never learned, or were complicit with this mass re-distribution of wealth to the richest people in this country.

And it's still happening today, right now, at this very moment.

On Fox and Friends this morning Alisyn Camerota emphasized that some working-class Americans will get a tax cut of up to $1,000 a year if we kept the tax rate as it is, and extended the "Bush Tax Cuts" for everyone. ($1,000 a year = $19.23 a week).

First of all, nobody is getting any tax cut - we'd get a tax increase if "the Bush tax cuts" are allowed to expire at the end of the year - everybody's taxes will just go back to the previous tax rate. And some working-class Americans might see a little less in their pay checks.

And EVERYBODY in the media is ignorantly reporting that unemployment benefits are being "extended", and averaging working Americans believe this - but it seems it's ONLY the jobless that knows this to be patently untrue...only the funding for the present UI program is being "extended".

The GOP is trying to scare all of us poor working-class people by threatening us with an income tax Armageddon and a total collapse of the economy if all the tax rates aren't kept as they are, thus "extending the Bush tax cuts" for everyone is necessary for the survival of the American people and of the nation.

The GOP is saying that if you only raise taxes on the wealthiest 2% (i.e. the investment bankers at Goldman Sachs and AIG, or the CEOs of Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft), no jobs will be created and America's "weak" economy will go into a double-dip recession. But they had these tax cuts for ten years, yet instead they laid off people and out-sourced jobs until we had 15 million unemployed Americans. Just who are these supposed "job creators"?

The GOP complains that extending the funding for current unemployment benefits for 13 months (for those who still qualify) will only add to the deficit, as if extending tax relief for the wealthiest 2% for 24 more months (and denying the U.S. Treasury this additional funding) doesn't affect the deficit at all!

The GOP lies and claims this will affect all small business owners, when an alternative proposal was only to tax personal income a mere 4% above $1,000,000 a year. The average small business owner's personal income averaged less that $250,000 a year as of 2007, and business taxes are separate - as are corporate earnings. Business expenses such as expansion and inventories are not directly related to personal income taxes (And instead of the big corporate CEOs getting a 20% raise next year, they might only get a 15% raise. Boo-hoo!)

The GOP wants to convince you that allowing capital gains taxes to remain at 15% instead of going to 20% for the wealthiest 2% is good for America, but it's mostly the big corporations and stock traders who benefit from this. The "bone" that they threw at working-class Americans was to allow them a one-time exemption when they sell their principal place of residence without paying any capital gains taxes. The blackmail they use is your 401k plans and pension funds that rely on the value of stock prices. Big real estate tycoons like Donald Trump and big bankers and CEOs get most of the breaks with deferments, stock options, and other accounting tricks that most average working Americans don't enjoy. (And instead of big corporate CEOs paying 15% in taxes on their stock options, they may have to pay 20%. Boo-hoo again!)

The GOP thinks that it's fair and patriotic to allow the average working-class worker to pay an additional $19.23 a week in incomes taxes if those that are earning over $19,230 a week are taxed an additional 4% over that amount. And also, that 2 million Americans who still qualify for federal unemployment benefits should be cut off if the wealthy don't get what they want (hence, the term "hostage"). And the GOP won't even consider feeding 5.5 million Americans who have already exhausted all their unemployment benefits. For the GOP, that's a non-starter.

Yes, funding unemployment benefits does raise the cost of the deficit, and as the GOP as been bitterly complaining about, this MUST be paid for. I agree. So by NOT extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%, the added income to the U.S. Treasury will ensure that not one dime will be added to the deficit for unemployment benefits - for those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own (BUT instead, for the fault of the wealthiest 2% in this country).

The current "compromise" isn't a compromise at all, it's another give-away to the wealthy - a continuation of the disparity of wealth between the haves and have-nots - a continuation of the massive re-distribution of wealth to the richest people in this country. Has anyone else but me noticed the Republican's giddy and upbeat demeanor since Obama had announced his proposal at his press conferences? It was as though they were in Las Vegas and had just hit a jackpot on a slot machine..."compromise" my ass!

How do we pay for unemployment benefits in one easy step? Easy!

All we'd have to do is just let the tax breaks for JUST the wealthiest 2% expire. Nothing is added to the deficit and no working-class Americans will have to pay any additional income taxes. Who knows, maybe even the 99ers might be able to get some relief and another chance at survival too....instead of ending up being either homeless or dead.

And another added benefit for the average working-class American: With the additional income from the wealthiest 2% (who haven't been creating jobs) Social Security and Medicare will also be saved, so the GOP won't need to raise your retirement age to 80 - essentially forcing you to work until the day you drop dead!

If the tax breaks for the rich are allowed to expire for those making over $1 million a year, then the next time you receive an unemployment check, you need not feel guilty or ashamed. You can look your friends, your family, and the GOP right in their eyes and tell them:

I leave you with the following food for thought - also from Bud Meyers:

The Make-Believe "Obama Compromise" The GOP only offered 13 months of continued funding for UI benefits (for those who still qualify) in exchange for 24 months of tax cuts for the very rich. (As an aside: Why not 13 months for them and for 13 months for us - - - to be equal and fair?)

The Dilemma Nothing was ever mentioned about the 5.5 million 99ers and "exhaustees". (Even though eventually everyone will have been incrementally swept under the carpet and soon forgotten.

The Cost $30 billion IS ADDED to the deficit to fund UI benefits (for varying lengths of time for 2 million people) over the next 13 months + another 150 billion in tax breaks that's NOT ADDED to the treasury to help pay down the deficit for the next two years = $180 billion more in debt.

The Solution If we just stopped extending tax cuts for the rich for only 2 years we would have the difference of $150 billion for UI benefits for the next 13 months AND enough to help the 99er and "exhaustees" (until the rich create jobs)

And doing all this WITHOUT ADDING ONE PENNY to the deficit!

So, why aren't we doing this?

****GREAT Question Bud and VERY WELL SAID as usual.......

Unemployed Alexandra Jarrin’s “Letters to Bernie Sanders” Campaign Makes National News

Unemployed Alexandra Jarrin’s “Letters to Bernie Sanders” Campaign made National News via CNN on Friday, as Senator Sanders spoke for nearly 9 hours on the floor of the Senate to stall passage of the Tax compromise bill. [Better known to the 99ers as the Obama “Bend Over”]

IMPORTANT NOTE: We love our President but we are disgusted that he caved-in to the very rich at the expense of millions of hurting Americans - left with no hope. The idea that the tax cuts for the rich, if continued another 2 years will create over a million jobs is ludicrous at best and the reality of the past 10 years, undoubtably destroys the credibility of such claims.

Unemployed and homeless, Alexandra Jarrin is asking 99ers, concerned Americans and all those who have also lost their job and exhausted all weeks of federal and state benefits -- to write to Senator Sanders, tell him their stories and thank the Senator for standing up to help the non-wealthy in America. The email address is: dearberniesanders@gmail.com

Ms. Jarrin is part of a hard-luck group of jobless Americans whose members have taken to calling themselves “99ers,” because they have exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they can claim. Ms, Jarrin was the topic of a New York Times article back in August 2010.

CNN unfortunately misstated that Alexandra Jarrin, a former client relations director is one of 1.5 million Americans who are expected to max out on their unemployment benefits this year. Fact is that at least 4 million and likely well over 5 million Americans have exhausted their UI benefits already in 2010 - but like the real unemployment rate - no government agency is willing to be honest about the numbers.

"I will hand deliver the letters every day until this is over," Jarrin wrote in an e-mail to 99ers earlier this week. "Whether I have one letter or thousands of letters, I will take them to the local office of Bernie Sanders and show him and his staff that we are standing up and asking him to speak up for all of us."

For Jarrin, the campaign is personal. She lost her job in 2008. She lost her unemployment benefits in March, now she is homeless and sleeping on her friend's couch.

"We just need jobs," said Jarrin. "And we need help until we get jobs." Jarrin says she's applied to "well over 3,000 places." (although CNN reported that incorrectly as only 1,000)



Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has vowed to delay passage of the proposed tax cut deal between the White House and Congressional Republicans. While the proposal would extend benefits for 13 months for those currently receiving unemployment insurance, it does nothing for those who have already run out of benefits.



"This recession was caused by the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street. How can I get by on one house? I need five houses, 10 houses. I need three jet planes to take me all over the world.
The immediate cause of this crisis is... it just gets me sick thinking about it, and that is what the crooks on Wall Street have done to the American people," said Sanders in his lengthly speech on the Senate floor, Friday.



Jarrin told CNN the number of letters she has received continues to grow. "I'm not going to stop as long as they come in," said Jarrin. "I'm going to print them out and take them up there."

Alexandra has continued to be a leader in the 99er movement, even though she herself has been homeless since July. Anyone and everyone who has not yet done so is urged to send your story or plea/demand for help for the UI exhaustees to be included in this so called Deal with the Devil.

Email dearberniesanders@gmail.com and please spread the word.

[Please use the donation button below to help Paladinette KEEP FIGHTING for the 99ers! Thank you.]

LSU Pizza Girl Reportedly Kicked Off Campus

The college woman now called "The LSU Pizza Girl" and who went off on LSU commissary staff over a Papa John's Pizza she asserted should be made a certain way, has been kicked off campus according to a posting on the forum for the Tigerdroppings.com website.

If you haven't seen the now famous video, you have to, before anything else makes sense. Here it is:



The video description tells the rest of the story:

She thought they were making her pizza wrong so she went nuts. She told them the cheese goes on before the meat, but they told her she was wrong. They offered to make it how ever she wanted it, and even offered to let her make the pizza herself. Her pizza was already coming OUT of the oven by the time she flips out.


She throws a sandwich, and two bags of chips at James


Then after he throws the chips back at her, she pulls out her phone, and says "I'm calling the police"

A poster named "Afreaux" (not the person's real name) explained that he or she actually met the LSU Pizza Girl, and learned she was kicked off campus:

Was waiting in line at the LSU post office, when she turned around and started talking to me.

She asked if I knew who she was, I smiled and said yes. She told me that she is now banned from living on campus Spring semester, so she was trying to change her mail arrangement since she won't be getting mail at the campus post office.

I asked her if she was going to drop out next semester, she wasn't sure. She said that Anderson Cooper was the straw that broke the camel's back. Now everyone sees her as a villain, and James as a hero. She then asked the postal worker if she knew who she was.

I wished her luck, and she held the post office door open, still talking about Anderson Cooper to no one in particular.

Without going into detail, one of the workers there said that everyone dreads seeing her in line. I then told the worker what to search for on Youtube to find the pizza girl video.

Apparently the woman was kicked off LSU campus, not just for the Pizza incident, but other episodes too.  The LSU Pizza Girl's now so famous, she has a listing in Urban Dictionary.  

In a way, this event may have been the best thing to happen for her.  Now that it's recognized that she does have some kind of mental / emotional problem, she can get the help she needs.

The Lord works in strange ways.

Yelp Hammers Oakland Parking Service

Yelp has become the go-to site for ratings on businesses of all types, including the "City of Oakland Parking Service System." That's everything from the Parking Department Office at City Hall Plaza, to the parking enforcement employees on the street, and everyone in between. The collective gets a nice "one-star" rating on Yelp. And the comments are something to read. Here's a sample:

Several weeks ago I received a parking ticket for parking at an expired meter in Oakland. When I went to pay it today, I was surprised to see another citation that was past due associated with my license number... Then I remembered: many months ago, I found a parking ticket on my car when I failed to move it for street sweeping. The next day, I tried to pay for said ticket, both online, and using the over-the-phone method. Neither worked. Several days later, I tried once more to pay the ticket, again to no avail. I was told several times that no such ticket existed in the system.


Now, I don't mind paying for the tickets, but I think it's ridiculous that a ticket would take more than a week to show up in the system and furthermore, I do not appreciate having to pay additional charges associated with "late" payment for a ticket that I tried in good faith to pay the day after I received it. I know other people who have experienced the same problem and I think it's time that Oakland stop jerking us around with opaque and vague parking policy.

Did I mention there are 97 Yelp reviews and 96 of them are bad? Here's another:

If I can, I would give them negative stars.
They are thugs, cheats, and this is proof of injustice of the highest kind in the most advanced country in the world - even in India things would not be this bad, and that's saying a lot since India is super corrupt.
Anyways, ticket was invalid, so I contested via US mail. Got another reminder, so contested via email. Got an automated response so I waited. Next thing I know I get a DMV hold letter from them. Also now the fine is doubled.
At this point, I am spending so much effort in this that it's not worth it, and I feel I should pay, but there's a voice inside me saying I should fight for justice and my rights.
Lesson learned - Oakland, I will NEVER eat in your city by choice, and if I do end up going there for my work related events I will park in a parking structure or take the BART.
You are an awful city - I feel for the people - they are stuck with an awful ,awful bureaucracy.
I am going to write letters to whomever I can.
You lost my business, Oakland. Big Time.

The Yelp Oakland hit parade continues:

I just got my registration renewal in the mail, and there is an unpaid parking ticket on it from april 09, lets not get into why it did not show up on october 09's renewal...in any case, I paid this ticket via check 24 hours after I received it. My bank printed out proof (for $5) that the city of Oakland did indeed cash this $30 check, way back in April 09. Nevertheless, it now shows up unpaid, and at triple value. DMV will not let me pay for my renewal until I either pay the $100 citation, or get it cleared by the Oakland Parking Assistance Center.


I have tried three times to reach them by phone, each call was an endless phonetree with no correct option, and in all attempts I ended up being on hold for 15 minutes plus before I gave up OR got disconnected on their end.


I cannot afford to take a day off from work to deal with this, I am poor and on a limited budget.


The DMV cannot help me...
I cannot figure out if there is a way to make an appointment...
There is nothing helpful online....
I am convinced if I go in person the wait time will exceed the metered parking nearby...


Does anyone have any answers for me?

This Yelper's claiming that the City of Oakland's not following a rule posted on its metered parking tickets.  You know.  The ones you get from the machines.  The Yelper reports:

Mark my words, this is not an opinion it is a fact. Those new permit machines, you know where you get a little paper permit and put it on your dashboard. Every one of them has a bright green sticker that says "For you convenience, unexpired permits for this machine can be used at (underlined) *any* metered space in Oakland."


If you buy an hour. Use ten minutes, then drive to another part of Oakland and park near an old sidewalk meter that is working, DO NOT USE YOUR UNEXPIRED PERMIT. Yes it is a metered space, yes, logically it counts as a member of the set that is designated by "any metered space in Oakland", but if you use your unexpired paper permit and don't feed the meter with coins, you will get a ticket.


If a lawyer is reading this. Please think about suing the city for this misleading information. They are obviously desperate for the money but they shouldn't use their position in power to bait and switch, it is deceptive.

And this Yelper called Alix Rosenthal at the Oakland City Attorney's Office and got the ticket dismissed:

I don't live in Oakland.


I almost never go to Oakland.


I especially don't go to Oakland in the middle of the night.


Yet over the course of the last two years I have received four parking tickets for parking in Oakland in the middle of the night. Tickets for my license plate, but with "Ford" listed as the make (I drive a Honda).


Their tickets say you can contest them via e-mail. However they just ignore the e-mails.


I'm getting tired of this BS. Getting ready to sue the City.


Update:


If you have a legitimate complaint I suggest calling the city attorney's office to try to get it straightened out. I spoke with Alex Rosenthal (city attorney's assistant) yesterday and I received a call from parking enforcement today to let me know that my ticket was dismissed.


The number is 510-238-3601.

Ok, Alex. Get ready for a flood of phone calls from irate Oakland Parking Enforcement victims!

Stay tuned.

Oakland, CA Parking: Still Predatory, Getting Worse

This is yet another email sent to this blogger about the Oakland Parking problem. From the way it reads, Oakland, CA's predatory parking practice (say that three times fast) is still with us.

Hello,
I am speaking out because this just started this past Tuesday.
Please see all the pictures and my letter to the Parking Citation place. thank you.There are 6 - 12 cars parked here 7 days per week. i have lived here for 6.5 years and NEVER gotten a ticket here until NOW. we all are getting tickets daily. Double Parking in a Culdesac? this is unjust. how do we fight this now? How sad that the City Of Oakland would stoop this low to get money. and calling the number to get help is a waste of time. Please let me know if you can help or what we can do. There are a few of us here in the neighborhood that are disabled. AND people who work and visit people at Highland Hospital park here. they also get tickets. hmm.. the parking people ONLY come once per day. WE ARE A NEWLY TARGETED NEIGHBORHOOD.

This is the letter of protest that was sent to the Oakland Parking Department. The name of the person was removed and the adress slightly altered to protect her identity.

Good day,


I am contesting the two tickets that I received December 8th and 9th, 2010


At the address: 1472 East 33rd street Oakland, California 94602


The area I live in is a Cull de sac; I and my neighbors park here.


I have never received a ticket for parking in the Cull de sac UNTIL


As of December 8th, 2010,


I have been parking in the Cull De Sac for 6.5 years and


never gotten a ticket here for anything including


"Double Parking “as of the above date, I received a $75 ticket for "double parking" @ 11:42am. December 9th, 2010,


I received yet another ticket for $75"Double Parking" @ 9:24am.


I am disabled and on crutches pending a knee replacement. ALL of us who park here received tickets! This just started. I called the number I was given on the ticket and I never spoke to anyone the first call I was on hold for 11 minutes. The second call..., I waited more than 30 minutes I spoke to a Cheryl who told me that there was nothing she could do and that I would need to write a letter and be very detailed and include pictures. I took pictures of the area and nothing is marked here at all. It's a Cull de sac.
Please see the included pictures of this area I am referring to with regard to this being a Cull de sac.


Thank you

With all of the yelling,...



...parking enforcement time rolled back from 8 PM to 6 PM, and threats of voting Oakland elected officials out of office, Oakland still has the same parking enforcement problem. The saying "If you like what you're getting, keep on doing what you're doing," applies here.

Cam Newton wins The Heisman Trophy

Cam Newton can smile and put all of the comments behind him; he's won The Heisman Trophy. The Auburn Quarterback won in what ESPN called "a blowout" over Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck, Oregon running back LaMichael James and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore.

Cam Newton, shown below, leaving the Heisman ceremony, is now officially the best college football player in America.



This blogger has stated the reasons why Cam Newton should win the Heisman.

Here are more reasons, in video form:



Congratulations, Cam! You deserve it.

Unemployed 99ers get Support from Congressional Black Caucus

The Unemployed 99ers yesterday received strong support from members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Attempting to breathe life into the idea of a Tier 5 for unemployment extensions for 99ers has been a thankless task for 9 months now, but the stakes are so high for those who have exhausted all UI benefits - we have no choice but to fight for a way to survive until there are jobs for us to support ourselves.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) was joined by CBC members Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Donald Payne (N.J.) and Donna Christensen (V.I.) in announcing the CBC's position on the package, which Lee said she made clear at House Democrats' meeting on Wednesday with Vice President Biden.

"We are simply here to say that we want a fair deal," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.). "You know, there was the New Deal under Roosevelt, and then there was a Fair Deal under Truman. Every new deal is not necessarily fair, and we see this new deal as not necessarily fair."

Per Bobby Scott: “I for one believe that we should let all the tax cuts expire...(but) an overwhelming majority of the caucus is against the President’s proposal, as it currently stands....we do support the 13 month extension of emergency Unemployment benefits, but we all agree we should also extend benefits for the so called 99ers.”

Watch the entire CBC news conference here: http://tinyurl.com/2bpwgd8

All 99ers are urged to contact the Congressional Black Caucus and members of Congress listed below to assist us in our fight for survival via a Tier 5 of UI benefits. They may be the 99ers best and last hope before complete annihilation of our desperate members.

Congressional Black Caucus Telephone: 202-226-9776. Fax: 202-225-9817
Barbara Lee Phone: (202) 225-2661 FAX: (202) 225-9817
Donald M. Payne Phone: (202) 225-3436 FAX: (202) 225-4160
Bobby Scott Phone (202) 225-8351 FAX (202) 225-8354

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said on the House floor Thursday that any deal to preserve tax cuts for the rich ought to include help for people who have exhausted 99 weeks of benefits and still haven't found work.

President Obama on Monday cut a controversial deal with congressional Republicans to preserve extended unemployment benefits for 13 months in exchange for two years of continued tax breaks for the wealthy.

Jackson Lee said the deal should "further include those who have run up against a brick wall, the '99ers,' as they call them, [who] don't have any more resources but still have mortgages and food to pay for and bills to pay."

Watch Representative Sheila Jackson Lee’s interview on The Ed Show (video below)

All 99ers are encouraged to contact Ms. Jackson and offer our voices to her fight to help the 99ers: On Twitter @JacksonLeeTX18 By phone: 202-225-3816 Fax: 202-225-3317

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

[Please use the donation button below to help Paladinette to KEEP FIGHTING for the 99ers! Thank you.]

Nikky Raney Interviews Seth Majka of 'The Casting'

Seth Majka's solo project 'The Casting' has its album 'I Am The Dirt' available on iTunes. This interview gives the audience a little sneak peek of the album as well as getting to know how much effort and time went into this two year project. Seth is extremely talented and he truly does deserve recognition for what he has accomplished.

Please send me "fan mail" messages of questions you'd like me to ask Seth during our next interview. You may remember Seth from previous videos as Majkatvboi - and there will be more of those fun videos in the near future.

Maddow & Olbermann Finally Jump into Fight for 99ers on MSNBC

Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann finally lent their MSNBC media presence to the fight for the 99ers this week.

Keith Olbermann in a scathing Commentary on December 7th (video below) left no doubt on how he feels about the Obama “Bend Over” in favor of the richest Americans, at the expense of those hit hardest by the “Great Recession” - the 99ers.

Olbermann: “In exchange for giving tax cuts for the rich which the nation cannot afford, and extending their vintage through the next election and thus promising, at best, a reenactment of this whole sorry, amoral, degrading spectacle during the 2012 presidential campaign, when the sides will be climbing over each other to again extend these cuts -- In exchange for this searing and transcendent capitulation, the President got just thirteen months of extended benefits for those unemployed less than 100 weeks. And he got nothing, absolutely nothing for those unemployed for longer, the 99ers.”

A tip of the hat to Mr. Olbermann, who likely feels as though the 99er Nation has been ‘cyber stalking’ him for months - requesting, even begging him to lend his incredible and eloquent oratory talents to our fight for survival - without benefits now for 9 months. Let’s hope and pray that Washington was listening.

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Rachel Maddow this week too had the opportunity to corner Austan Goolsbee on her show this week to ask him point blank about the plight of the 99ers. Goolsby, Chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, admitted that a tier 5 for the 99ers would be one of the best economic stimulus for America at this time of crisis.

“The 99ers are in a very difficult spot...the 99er question is a vexing question that we have got to address cuz [sic] the long term unemployment problem is as high as it has ever been...and it is critically debilitating...my heart goes out to people in that situation,” Goolsby said.

Mr. Goolsbee faired much better in this interview than he had in the debacle on The Ed Show earlier this week - when he completely avoided the question.

SCHULTZ: So why not throw $120 billion at the 99ers? I mean, if it‘s just short term and we‘re throwing billions of dollars around, why not do that?

GOOLSBEE: Wait. We‘re not trying to throw billions of dollars around. The point is not just to throw money around. This is a 13-month extensions of unemployment benefits.

SCHULTZ: For two million people, right?

GOOLSBEE: For seven million people, yes.

SCHULTZ: OK. But there‘s 4.5 million people to 5 million who are 99ers that have been caught up in this wave as well that have nothing in this package.

GOOLSBEE: I‘m not arguing with you about things that could be good. We are having to deal in the reality of the president was able to negotiate two and a half times as much stuff which is on the priorities of the administration—the Obama tax cuts, extending unemployment benefits beyond what anybody thought they would be able to be extended, as well as middle class tax relief and incentives for companies to invest in this country. And at a moment like this, if you have an opportunity like that, you‘ve simply got to take it.

First of all Goolsbee got his facts WRONG on 7 million UI recipients being helped and it certainly would NOT take $120 billion to help the 99ers.

According to CNN, The federal government has already paid out $109 billion in unemployment insurance during this recession. $109 Billion in extended benefits for the entire recession! Not all that much when you consider They are about to borrow $900 billion to give Tax cuts to Millionaires & Billionaires for the next 2 years and we are borrowing that money from China, The middle east oil exporting Countries, Iran, Venezuela and the list goes on!

AMERICA needs to be outraged. Fact is that a Tier 5 for the exhaustees would only cost about $32 billion dollars and put back into the economy twice that amount in economic stimulative effect. So what is the downside? The inability to work into this lame tax giveaway for the rich - help for millions of Jobless Americans hurting the worst is unconscionable, unacceptable and just plain weak negotiation on behalf of the White House.

Still Goolsbee's attempt at "slight of hand" during the Schultz interview was better than the Biden staffer who went on National TV touting his opinion that -“the 99ers do not need UI benefits - they need retraining to get back into the work force.”

Excuse me Mr. Advisor to the Vice President, but.... without any UI income now for 9 months and counting - after 2 years plus of trying to survive on UI benefits only - how the hell are those 99ers supposed to survive let alone retrain and retrain for what jobs? Unless Congress stops the outsourcing of every American job and FAST - any job creation in this country is like putting a band-aid on an amputated limb. We are hemorrhaging jobs in America and unless or until Washington stops rewarding corporations for off shoring our jobs - we will never again have normal employment levels in this country.

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