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Violent protests break out in Libya
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Economy
Calif gov. freezes hiring, drops minimum wage suit
Gov. Jerry Governor Moonbeam Brown
... those who ignore history are bound to repeat it ...
on Tuesday ordered a state government hiring freeze amid Caliphornia's $26.6 billion fiscal crisis, hours after he dropped a lawsuit filed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over whether the governor has the authority to pay state workers minimum wage.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2011 09:58 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was curious of this news because we have been on a hiring freeze for a long time. Nothing new.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 02/17/2011 15:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Wisconsin state capital in lockdown over vote
Posted by: mom || 02/17/2011 15:43 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A good way to put an end to this shit (and I have seen it done elsewhere) is to make it so the vote goes forward. Anyone not there gets No Vote.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/17/2011 15:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Shame on the firefighters who showed up wearing gear. Shame on your dirtying the symbols of response and protection. Wear your unofficials, wave your signs, whatever. Wearing your work gear to political activism is disgusting.

Green Bay Press Gazette has the percentage of volunteer firefighters in Wisconsin at 85%, nationwide 70%. I am embarassed at such flagrant breech of trust by such a minority.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2011 16:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Darth they need 20 to have a vote. There are only 19 republicans
Posted by: Beavis || 02/17/2011 16:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh yeah. Seems all the Dems in the Legislature left the state, so the bill couldn't be passed.

I wonder if they have to let them back in? I can see the Donk refugee camps in Illinois, now.... with CA, MA and HI all saying they'd like to take some in, but don't have the resources..... sounds familiar, don't it?

Posted by: Tarzan Glomomp1754 || 02/17/2011 16:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Suboena ALL the dems to testify on something, and then issue a bench warrant, have them arrested and dragged back in chains to do what they were elected to do - sniveling cowardly bastards
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar || 02/17/2011 16:56 Comments || Top||

#6  How long do the teachers, for instance, need to be off the job before they can be fired?
Posted by: eLarson || 02/17/2011 17:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Anyone else remember when Texas Dems did the same thing a few years back?
Posted by: Clyde Sleager3535 || 02/17/2011 18:20 Comments || Top||

#8  If they strike, fire them. If they called in sick to participate in the protest - fire them. If they brought students as human shields - fire them. Roll the first wave and they'll cave or all be fired
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 18:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Dude, the weasels fled the state during a legislative session, abandoning their offices, in violation of their oaths. Declare their seats vacant and announce special elections.

Better yet, order their homes and all their assets seized and auction them off to pay for the elections. Bet ya they come back damn quick.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton || 02/17/2011 18:33 Comments || Top||

#10  I wonder if they have to let them back in? I can see the Donk refugee camps in Illinois

maybe then the UN will declare them a 'separate people' much like they did the Palieo's. Perhaps call them Cowardstinians or Assholestinians...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/17/2011 18:39 Comments || Top||

#11  the GOP should issue milk cartons with "have you seen me" pics of the Donks, and ridiculing their cowardice and obstruction if elections results.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 18:41 Comments || Top||

#12  THey finally spotted the missing Wisconsin Democrats in their escape bus

Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar || 02/17/2011 19:03 Comments || Top||

#13  Great idea, Frank. :-D

They just need to be able to prove that they didn't use taxpayers' money to get them made. I'll make a donation! (Ya' listing, Governor?)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 02/17/2011 19:03 Comments || Top||

#14  The Illinois TEA party has chased them back to Wisconsin.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/17/2011 19:25 Comments || Top||

#15  SInce I'm soooo freaking computer illiterate, every time I try to post this, i get sent to roadsideamerica.com.

thought this would be of interest, via samizdata:

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/2/12/the-heretic-a-review.html#comments

This is an anti-gw play in ENGLAND????whaaa????

Book your tickets now, this play is a must-see comedy.
It has everything - more accurate climate science than a BBC documentary (ok, that's not exactly hard), brilliantly funny and wonderfully staged.

The drama centres on university climate scientist, Dr Diane Cassell, played superbly by Juliet Stevenson, whose research on sea levels in the Maldives shows no rising trend in sea levels.

This puts her at odds with Professor Kevin Maloney, Head of Dept Earth Sciences, played by James Fleet (sinisterly morphed from Hugo, in the Vicar of Dibley) whose main aim is to attract more funding to the department by toeing the consensus line on Climate Change.

When she publishes her research and expresses her skeptical views, notably on Newsnight to Jeremy Paxman, she becomes the focus of some very direct persecution.

Posted by: anonymous2u || 02/17/2011 19:44 Comments || Top||

#16  while Roadside America is indeed fascinating in its' own right, it is generally a clue that there is a "flag word" linked to spam or other nefarious activities. Looks like you made it through
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 20:26 Comments || Top||

#17  HT to Insty - a new blog on the missing Donk Senators: The Badger "14": Escape From Wisconsin
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 21:51 Comments || Top||

#18  By act and deed they've abandoned their seats. Certify that by the Secty of State and have new elections to fill the vacant seats. Let them fight for the seats in court or on ballot.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2011 22:03 Comments || Top||

#19  "The Illinois TEA party has chased them back to Wisconsin."

Do you have a link, NS?

I've read the the TEA party found the weasels (who then left the golf resort where they were hiding), but no word on where they'd gone to. Supposedly the TEA party people were following them.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 02/17/2011 22:41 Comments || Top||

#20  Here's a link, Barbara. Just keep scrolling down. I think it's more a matter of the Tea Partiers herding them. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2011 22:48 Comments || Top||

#21  Thanks, tw.

If anyone can herd cats cowards, it's the TEA party. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 02/17/2011 22:57 Comments || Top||


Profiles in Courage: Wisconsin Democrats Run Away
Police officers were dispatched Thursday to find Wisconsin state lawmakers who had apparently boycotted a vote on a sweeping bill that would strip most government workers of their collective bargaining rights.

The lawmakers, all Democrats in the state Senate, did not show up when they were ordered to attend a midday vote on the legislation.
I read someplace that they went to Illinois, to spend a few pleasant hours in Chicago.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/17/2011 14:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7054781

September 12, 2008

“Many fugitives know that if they can cross state lines, there’s a good chance they can escape justice. This is inexcusable,” said Senator Biden, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime & Drugs. “We owe it to our communities to take track these dangerous fugitives, take them off the streets and extradite them to face justice so that they end up where they belong: behind bars.”

“We cannot afford to have 2.8 million charged felons at-large in our communities,” said Senator Durbin. “Our bill addresses serious problems we face bringing fugitives to justice. It will give law enforcement offices the resources to protect innocent civilians by ensuring that fugitives are arrested and detained even if they cross state lines.”


The article is...ironic, if you dare the site and give traffic, leads with "Who's the Party who cares about public safety and government efficiency?"

I know the party which will argue the intent and how it relates to this situation, but perhaps someone more clever than I might argue that the situation being created by the legislatures' absence will create a menace to the public.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2011 19:17 Comments || Top||

#2  found in their burrow at the Rockford Il Best Western. Tae Partiers are trailing their short bus and taking pictures
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 19:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Poultry in motion.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2011 20:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Rockford is closest cross border escape from Madison. Spent two years driving that route. This simply shows how pre-meditated this was. It will get real interesting if they get the Illinois machine involved somehow, particularly if the Wisconsin sgt at arms gets serious. I expect the GOP to be far smarter than that, especially given that the Potus already stuck his foot into it uselessly. Wisconsin GOP should just wait them out.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division || 02/17/2011 21:17 Comments || Top||

#5  be interesting if the WI donks used their state credit card to book their escape rooms...I can think of a misappropriation of funds charge that might be a good PR move
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 21:37 Comments || Top||

#6  They were at a pub, The Tilted Kilt. How honorable of them.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 02/17/2011 22:03 Comments || Top||

#7  They have abandoned their sacred duty. Fire them and elect new.
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2011 23:52 Comments || Top||


Obama 2012 support slips; Now, any generic Republican ties him
President Obama's done a lot of talking recently about Winning the Future. Trouble is, he's not. Politically.

At this moment -- 57% of the way through a first term with only 628 days left until the 2012 presidential election -- the Democrat can only tie any conceivable Republican candidate.

The GOP doesn't even need a frontrunner to catch the incumbent of the most powerful political office in the world. No wonder Obama's bringing fresh blood into the White House and shipping out aides to kick-start the billion-dollar campaign back in Chicago.

A new Gallup Poll finds Obama a little worse off in that generic presidential ballot category this year than he was last year at this time.

And -- this'll get the ex-state senator chewing the nicotine gum faster -- the new Gallup numbers show Obama significantly behind the same standing of his Republican predecessor, that Texas guy who still refuses to reciprocate Obama's criticism of hiObama enjoys a good Laugh, files two terms.

Last February Obama led a generic Republican 44-42. This February, after the invisible "Recovery Summer" and Democrats' historic midterm election shellacking, any Republican ties Obama at 45-45.

At this same calendrical point in George W. Bush's first term, the Republican led any Democrat 47-39. And Bush went on to win a second term against a Massachusetts senator who docks his yacht in Rhode Island. (Anyone remember how Bush won that year? He took the 20 electoral votes of Ohio, which explains Obama's frequent forays there.)

Gallup's numbers show Obama maintaining his voter strength among blacks. Women still prefer him more than men do.

But the youth vote, so crucial to the Democratic ticket last time, is evaporating. Going into the 2008 election Obama had 63% of the registered voters aged 18 to 34. Today, he's got only 51%. Likewise, Obama's support among 35-to-54-year-olds has crumbled from 53% in 2008 to 43% today.

Don't get cocky, Republicans. We are still pissed at you. Play nice in 2011 and get some tea party goals met and we'll vote for you.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/17/2011 14:02 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The problem is that there are no generic Republicans. Just a lot of McCainish RINOs.
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar || 02/17/2011 16:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Baby steps, folks. Let's not overreach like 1994 (?) when Clinton shellaced the Trunks and Newt was consumed.

He STILL strikes me as a very bright guy!
Posted by: Bobby || 02/17/2011 21:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Newt is very bright - a good ideas guy - and totally unelectable. He's abrasive, his treatment of ex-wives is appalling, and he's arrogant.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2011 21:52 Comments || Top||


HUD to rental policy groups: Sign agreement, stay quiet
Obama administration officials told a group of housing proponents this month that they must sign a confidentiality agreement to continue participating in talks — a highly unusual request that has drawn criticism from a top Republican lawmaker who is investigating the matter.

The agreement, obtained by POLITICO, bars participants from disclosing details discussed at meetings of a rental policy working group, but it has angered some lobbyists and drawn congressional scrutiny.

“How can they go around and pat themselves on the back as the most transparent administration in history and then turn around and ask lobbyists to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep their meetings secret,” said a lobbyist whose organization was at the Feb. 4 meeting. “It’s like extortion. We’re not going to be able to do our jobs unless we have secret meetings with them.”
Posted by: Beavis || 02/17/2011 13:14 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Then resign.

Or go, then tell all. According to Assmange and the UN you are a reporter/journalist due all the protection such as they can protect you.

Or we can sit back and accept Hugo news: rent freeze, fed gov $ for repairs and back rent and utilities of those who qualify to not make payments...unless that is not true. I mean, what is the big deal keeping the QB's play from the WR, eh?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2011 23:12 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Baghdad Wants Baksheesh for Blast Walls
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/17/2011 13:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2011-02-17
  Violent protests break out in Libya
Wed 2011-02-16
  Bahrain mourner killed in funeral march clash
Tue 2011-02-15
  Mufti warns of revolution in Saudi Arabia
Mon 2011-02-14
  Iranian protesters rally as Arab unrest spreads
Sun 2011-02-13
  Saeed Al-Shihri, Deputy Leader of AQAP Dead in Yemen
Sat 2011-02-12
  Police in Aden disperse ‘day of rage’ protests
Fri 2011-02-11
  Mubarak resigns
Thu 2011-02-10
  Mubarak still there
Wed 2011-02-09
  Suleiman: Mubarak Forms Panel to Pilot Constitutional Changes
Tue 2011-02-08
  Egypt sees largest demonstrations since start of revolt
Mon 2011-02-07
  Egypt: beginning of discussions between government and Muslim Brotherhood
Sun 2011-02-06
  Mubarak resigns as ruling party head
Sat 2011-02-05
  U.S. envoy to Egypt: Mubarak 'must stay' for now
Fri 2011-02-04
  Egypt PM Apologizes for Tahrir Square Clashes, Vows Probe
Thu 2011-02-03
  Mubarak's snipers flee Cairo square


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