October 2011 Archives

Above is a picture of former Marine Scott Olsen after he was seriously wounded by Oakland police yesterday as they attempted to break-up the Occupy Oakland effort.Mr. Olsen was hit in the head with a projectile of some kind.The folks who helped bring about this recession with economic crimes and fraud don't go to jail, but you see above what can happen when you advocate for economic fairness.YouTube has a video up that strongly suggests police...

It is time for our Houston municipal elections.(Above--Houston City Hall.)Early voting runs October 24-November 4. General Election Day is November 8.Here is a link to help you find out where to vote.Who can a liberal or progressive support in these elections?As is so often the case in Houston, the pickings are slim.Houston city elections are low-turnout affairs in which an electorate not representative of Houston's demographics chooses from candidates who discuss a very narrow range...

Tune in to just about all of what attempts to pass itself off as "news" these days and you're likely to hear this question raised about Occupy Wall Street, 'What do they want?' A perfect example is this from Erin Burnett, CNN's bubble-headed brunette: <br />What does OWS want? Seriously, Erin? How about that once upon a time American notion of justice--for all. I'll defer to those who can make the point better than I...

 A statement from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan (with appropriate commentary inserted): We support the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement [you have a strange way of showing it]: we have high levels of unemployment and we have high levels of foreclosure that makes Oakland part of the 99% too. We are a progressive city and tolerant of many opinions [where are my hip waders when I need 'em]. We may not always agree, but...

Dear Mr. Selig,If you are anything like me, you sometimes run hot and cold with your emotions. When that happens, I am practiced at the art of writing the scathing letter where I get out all of my emotions and use every dirty name in the book. Then, I crumple up the paper and start over. I did that once and then published my second draft over at Bleacher Report. As you might have suspected,...

...we've been down this road before. This is where it leads:...

The right to peaceable assembly is now restricted to between the hours of 6am and 10pm. So says Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department. Mayor Quan also commended the police chief for "a generally peaceful resolution to a situation that deteriorated and concerned our community." I guess it depends on what your definition of "generally" is. OPD also said some  things in a press release yesterday that appear to be contradicted...

Who says crime finding loopholes doesn't pay? "As the housing market began its collapse, Wall Street firms and sophisticated investors searched for ways to profit. Some of them found an easy method: Stuff a portfolio with risky mortgage-related investments, sell it to unsuspecting customers and bet against it.Citigroup on Wednesday agreed to pay $285 million to settle a civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had defrauded investors who bought just such...

A few weeks ago, I attended a job fair that was sponsored by the Houston Chronicle. The funny thing was that it was broken into three sections: nursing, engineering, and general. They wouldn't even allow me into the nursing or engineering section even though those companies were also hiring people that weren't nurses or engineers. Heck, I even tried to sneak into them to give them my resume and I was rebuffed.That being said, I...

From Jared Bernstein:            ...