wlsc

Good work - you hit all the right-wing propaganda talking points in one reply! It seems the only way forward is to get rid of those dastardly unions and then pay workers chinese pay rates. No other solution is available.

...Contrary to right-wing propaganda, decent pay for workers helps the economy and boosts job creation. Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, has introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.80 from its present level of $7.25. Polls are showing many voters in favor, though they are confused about what it would mean for the job market. The truth is that a move would be good for a slow economy and have a positive impact on the jobs crisis. ..

...Next Tuesday, the publication of a Commons select committee report will see if MPs believe the Murdochs misled Parliament when they gave evidence about the phone hacking. More worryingly from the Murdochs' viewpoint, the scandal is threatening to ignite in the US, where it could truly damage them and their empire, although if so, the fuse is long and slow. Mark Lewis, the London solicitor who has done as much as anyone to take the fight to Rupert, said yesterday that he was bringing more cases against News Corp in the US. "The suggestion in the US that people have stood up to a News Corp subsidiary has bolstered the confidence of others who claim that they are victims of the company." Among them is Koo Stark, the photographer, author and TV presenter, who was reported to be suing the Murdoch empire after allegations that her phone had been hacked while she was on US soil. The revelation that the Leveson inquiry was pressing the Murdochs to allow Burton Copeland, the London law firm called in to advise them on the phone-hacking allegations, to hand over potentially incriminating documents about an alleged cover-up could have major ramifications for the Murdochs in the US...

...Israel's former security chief has censured the country's "messianic" political leadership for talking up the prospects of a military stike on Iran's nuclear programme. In unusually candid comments set to ratchet up tensions over Iran at the top of Israel's political establishment, Yuval Diskin, who retired as head of the internal intelligence agency Shin Bet last year, said he had "no faith" in the abilities of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the defence minister, Ehud Barak, to conduct a war. The pair, who are the foremost advocates of military action against Iran's nuclear programme, were "not fit to hold the steering wheel of power", Diskin told a meeting on Friday night. "My major problem is that I have no faith in the current leadership, which must lead us in an event on the scale of war with Iran or a regional war," he said. "I don't believe in either the prime minister or the defence minister. I don't believe in a leadership that makes decisions based on messianic feelings. Believe me, I have observed them from up close ... They are not people who I, on a personal level, trust to lead Israel to an event on that scale and carry it off. "They are misleading the public on the Iran issue. They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won't have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race."...

Possibly - that seems to be supported by people calling 911 vs intervening. Which is what Zimmerman should have done.

...It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe", said Francois Hollande, the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as French president. If elected, Mr Hollande says that he will not pass the fiscal austerity pact agreed by the leaders of 25 European nations, unless it contains measures to spur on growth. His stance puts him on a collision course with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. She hit back at the French Socialist candidate's plans, warning the deal is "not open to new negotiations". "The fiscal pact is negotiated, it was signed by 25 government leaders and has already been ratified by Portugal and Greece," she told a German newspaper. "Parliaments across Europe are on the verge of passing it. Ireland is having a referendum at the end of May." While her relationship with Mr Sarkozy has not been smooth, his replacement by Mr Hollande threatens to blow apart the partnership that has seen their two nations push through tough reforms across the region...

...I will also add this in defense of Keynesianism ... The Austerians love to point at the 1930s as "proof" that Keynes was wrong. Look at the huge "New Deal," they say. Look at all those expensive public works projects. Look at all the spending the government did to try to get us out of the Great Depression, and it never really worked. What got us out of the Depression, the Austerians smugly observe, was World War 2. But what was World War 2 if not an absolutely gigantic Keynesian stimulus? The Federal deficit in World War 2 was massive—much bigger than any time during the Great Depression. And we built up a huge Federal debt load. And ... we set the stage for two decades of amazing prosperity, in which we worked off those debts...

You should have put manslaughter up as well.

...There are nearly 1.7 million children under 20 years of age living on farms and ranches in the United States. Farm children are often needed and expected to help with chores or handle responsibilities at a young age. Due to this fact, and the nature of farming, they are exposed to potentially dangerous situations much more frequently than children in towns or cities. Here are some startling statistics about child safety on the farm: • An estimated 300 children die each year in farming accidents • Farm children are twice as likely to die from an accident than their urban counterparts • An estimated 30,000 children under 20 years of age are injured each year in farming accidents • If children who visit or work on non-family farms are added the total is estimated to be close to 100,000 injuries • Nearly 950 farm children suffer some type of permanent disability because of farm accidents annually • Approximately 90% of the fatalities and injuries occur to male children • Children under the age of 16 comprise 20% of all farm fatalities The three primary agents responsible for deaths and injuries to children on the farm are: tractors, farm machinery, and livestock. It is important to realize that children on farms may be exposed to other situations capable of producing health hazards in the future. Some of these exposures are: noise, vibration, pesticides, dangerous gasses, and airborne irritants...

...Former neighbourhood watch captain George Zimmerman's attorney says a website created to raise money for his legal defense has raised more than $200,000 in donations. Mark O'Mara said on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Thursday night that he learned about the money on Wednesday and will inform a judge at a Friday hearing. Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin, was released from jail this week after paying 10 percent of $150,000 bail. O'Mara says the bail amount may have been higher if the judge knew Zimmerman had raised $200,000...

..."I don't know what they can charge me with," Canoles said late Monday afternoon, before the interview with authorities. "This is my Second Amendment right. Look, this is the country out here, and we protect our own."...

Sniffs Zimmerman's story. Yep.

If I was told by a school crossing guard not to help the children cross the road then I wouldn't try to help the children cross the road.

...You may remember this story about Jean Kalonji and his wife Angelica, the purchaser of a foreclosed home in Newton County GA. While changing the locks on their new home, they were threatened and held at gunpoint by two of their white neighbors. When the local sheriff deputies arrived they arrested the Kalonjis without checking to find out if they were the homeowners, and took no action against the men who threatened and assaulted Jean and Angelica with their firearms and held them against their will for no apparent reason other than that 61 year-old Jean Kalonji was black. Well, it seems the Newton County Sheriff's Department has had a change of heart about the actions of these two vigilantes (though the Kalonji's lawyer's meeting with the Sheriff and the local DA on Monday may have helped clarify the situation for them). Yesterday, Robert Canoles and his son, Branden, were taken into custody and charged with "aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespass."...

I'm sure the jury will read it and take it into account when giving their verdict.

You stick to Zimmerman's paranoid world where every black kid is a suspect. He should have followed the good advice he was freely given. But no, his paranoia got the better of him. That black kid was just too suspicious, what with his skittles and all, not to chase down.

The advice he was given was very good advice. He shouldn't have disobeyed. Instead he profiled Trayvon and armed, followed him.

He should have stayed in his truck like he was told to.

Jyst like austerity plunged the world into recession in 2008. No, that was sheer greed by the financial services sector. Then we must outlaw greed. Or heavily Tax it.

...NYC’s aggressive arrest-driven policing aimed at minor offenses has effectively caught up hundreds of thousands, perhaps actually millions, of individuals in the criminal justice net in recent years. Last year, for example, the city’s police made over 400,000 arrests, most occurring in New York’s low-income communities of color. For example, although the majority of people who use marijuana are white, 86% of the individuals arrested for marijuana possession last year were black or Latino...

War is the longterm effect of austerity.

The 'message' is that there is a decent chance Zimmerman will be found guilty.

No, thats not what i said. Blues, Dave Then please explain how it's so hard to come down from 'flight or fight' but evidently so easy to switch from one to the other, especially given how it's well known how hard it is to stop a panicked flight (crowd panics, military routs, etc). No. We've helped you enough.

...Brussels is concerned about the pace of tightening in Spain, Italy, Holland and Belgium. The policy debate is a recognition that synchronised cuts in much of Europe risks creating a self-feeding crisis. The region is already in a double-dip recession, playing havoc with debt dynamics. Mr Buti floated the new ideas in a policy paper over the weekend at the VoxEU website, but this has yet to percolate beyond academic circles. He said the EU framework calls for "an 'in-depth analysis' of the reasons behind a country's failure to meet the budgetary targets". It allows for "the possibility of extending deadlines". Commission officials are relative "doves" within the EU policy establishment, proposing a pro-growth Marshall Plan to lift the Club Med off the reefs. The austerity drive has come chiefly from Berlin and Frankfurt. One official said the new plans can be reconciled with the EU's Fiscal Compact and the so-called "Six Pack" regulations covering deficits, debts and macro-imbalances. "It is not about changing the framework but about using our tools more sensibly," he said...

...Friedrich August Hayek CH (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈaʊ̯ɡʊst ˈhaɪ̯ɛk]) (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992), born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought. In 1974, Hayek shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (with his political rival, Gunnar Myrdal) for his "pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and... penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena". He considered the efficient allocation of capital to be the most important factor leading to sustainable and optimal GDP growth, and warned of harms from monetary authority manipulation of interest rates. Interest rates should be set naturally by equilibrium between consumption of goods or capital stock.[1] Hayek is considered to be a major economist and political philosopher of the twentieth century.[2][3] Along with his mentor Ludwig von Mises, he was an important contributor to the Austrian school of economic thought. Hayek's account of how changing prices communicate information which enable individuals to coordinate their plans is widely regarded as an important achievement in economics.[4] He also contributed to the fields of systems thinking, jurisprudence, neuroscience and the history of ideas...