Last Call

It took nearly ten and a half years, but somebody finally said it out loud.

The number of homegrown terrorism plots hatched by Muslim-Americans has declined over the last three years and remain relatively rare despite public fears, according to a study by a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill sociology professor.


Charles Kurzman has used data from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Center on Law and Security at New York University, as well as media sources such as CNN, to chronicle homegrown terrorism over the past 11 years.

Kurzman concludes that the number of Muslim-Americans who engage in violence against the United States has remained "tiny" compared to the more than 2 million Muslim residents.

"The public perception of threat does not match actual case-by-case attacks," he said in an interview. "We're getting a skewed perception of the prevalence of these figures."

Kurzman's eight-page report released this week shows how many violent plots have been carried out or were interrupted by federal agencies, and the number of fatalities related to each one.

Twenty Muslim-Americans were charged with terrorism crimes in 2011, down from close to 50 in 2009, a year Kurzman calls an "anomaly." That was the year that a group of eight men in Johnston County were charged with helping to fund and train for jihadist attacks against "enemies of Islam."

Kurzman also found that the number of Muslim-Americans charged with supporting terrorism, with money or information, had declined to 8 in 2011, the lowest number since the 9/11 terrorism attacks in 2001.

Kurzman acknowledges that "homegrown radicalization is still a problem," but says Americans need to remain vigilant "while maintaining a responsible sense of proportion."

Gosh, I wonder where Americans got the idea from that the vast majority of Muslims are terrorists, even though the number last year was 20 out of 2 million, or 0.001%.  I wonder if that percentage is higher or lower with white Christian terrorists as a percentage of total white Christians in the US.  Just curious, since one out of one hundred thousand is enough to condemn an entire population by the standards of the wingers.

Also, I wonder how long before we're seeing Prof. Kurzman's countertops as proof he's "one of them" and that UNC should fire him because he's History's Greatest Monster.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/09/138467/muslim-american-terror-rare-study.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

Rick Rolling The Country, Part 3

The latest PPP poll finds Rick Santorum up by double digits nationally over Romney and Gingrich.  I can't stop laughing.

Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul.

Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. Romney's favorability is barely above water at 44/43, representing a 23 point net decline from our December national poll when he was +24 (55/31). Gingrich has fallen even further. A 44% plurality of GOP voters now hold a negative opinion of him to only 42% with a positive one. That's a 34 point drop from 2 months ago when he was at +32 (60/28).

Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney.  Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.

It used to be that Gingrich was leading with all these groups and Romney was staying competitive enough with them to hold the overall lead. No more- a consensus conservative candidate finally seems to be emerging and it's Santorum. 

Oh please let this happen.  Let the Tea Party backlash against Romney finally ignite a party civil war where Rick Santorum would lose by 20 points to President Obama.  Don't think it could happen?  If Gingrich drops out, the same poll finds Santorum would hit 50% to Romney's 28%.  Game over.  BooMan does provide some warning over this:

And, even worse, I am beginning to think that Santorum is a much stronger candidate against Obama than Romney. I think Gingrich is a stronger candidate than Romney. I just can't exaggerate how bad I think Romney is as a politician and as an alternative to the president. 

It means we're going to have to work at beating him.  But Santorum's ascendance assures that the misogynist, racist, Christian Dominionist class warfare platform is now the default mode of the GOP.  I want to see Santorum win the nomination so that America finally reaches the point where they admit the Republicans have no redeeming qualities any more and they are broken, lost in the wilderness.

A Santorum candidacy may finally give President Obama the Congressional majorities he needs to truly change the country.

Go for it, Republicans.

Day To Day Stupidity: Epic Win

This article from Mental Floss serves up eleven brilliant tips that just about anyone can use with a little tweaking.  Here's a sample, with more genius to follow if you click the link:

1. Take scratches out of your CDs and DVDs using a banana

1. Peel the banana
2. Rub the banana on the CD in a circular motion
3. Use the underside of the peel and rub the banana in deeper
4. Wipe away the residue with a lint-free cloth, like you’d use to clean your car windows
5. Using another cloth, remove smudges with a spritz of Windex
6. Voila, she is like new!

The only thing I thought could be added is using sliced cheese to pick up tiny glass particles when you are trying to clean up a broken bottle or glass.  I was a clumsy child, and I've used cheese many times.  Bread can be used, but it doesn't hold up as well as cheese, and you can't check it to see what it's picked up.

Do any of you have lifehacks to share?

Celebrity Divorce Really Is Shocking

I have a soft spot for Katy Perry, I admit it.  I wish she'd sing stuff a little more... substantial, but once in a while you just like a celebrity, and she's on my list.  I didn't expect her marriage to Russell Brand to last forever, but a silly part of me hoped they might just because they looked so darn in love.  Once in a while, marriage really does last forever, so why not them?  However, the announcement was not shocking in itself.

The shocking part is how it was handled.  Two known free spirits fall in love, marry in a whirlwind, and are fair and reasonable when dissolving the union.  I don't know that I have ever heard of such amicable and noble behavior, especially from celebrities, and even more especially from the generation of celebrity that is privileged, proud and generally spoiled.

There was no prenup, unheard of for two young people who may be at the beginning of huge careers.  Katy Perry brought in $44 million during the time of their marriage.  Brand not only passed on his chance to take his half, but was appalled at the idea of taking money he didn't earn.  They've both been good to each other in the media, and were too smart to fall into the normal paparazzi traps.  They both speak of mutual respect and go no further.

I'd respect any couple who could end a marriage on such good terms.  There are so many emotions in divorce, even ones that begin on a reasonable note.  These two had money worth squabbling over, intense public scrutiny and whatever led to the split to contend with.  Yet they showed some real character and I have a whole new respect for both of them (Russell, I loved Arthur, I don't know what the hell those people are talking about).

How The GOP May Have Just Lost Women For Good

The reality is that at some point in their lives, about 98% of American women will use birth control.  This fight was settled long ago, and by dredging it back up as their new crusade against women, the Republicans have all but lost 51% of the voters.  Igor Volsky at ThinkProgress:

Earlier [Friday], in response to criticism from Catholic groups, the White House altered its regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide no-cost contraception coverage as part of their health care plans. Churches and religious nonprofits that primarily employ people of the same faith are still exempt from the requirement, but now religiously affiliated colleges, universities, and hospitals that wish to avoid providing birth control can do so. Their employees will still receive contraception coverage at no additional cost sharing directly from the insurer.

But Republicans and some conservative Catholic groups are not satisfied with the accommodation and hope to use their false claim of “religious persecution” to deny women access to preventive health services. Despite Obama’s decision to shield nonprofit religious institutions from offering birth control benefits, next week Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) is expected to offer an amendment that would permit any employer or insurance plan to exclude any health service, no matter how essential, from coverage if they morally object to it.

Now the game becomes what will the GOP attach the Blount Amendment to?  A cursory examination indicates with the deadline for the payroll tax cut expiration on February 29, Republicans will insist on this poison pill and then blame the President for "raising taxes on tens of millions of working class American families" or leaving him to rightfully suffer being torn apart by his base.  The GOP believe either way, they have won it all.

They couldn't be more wrong.  Scott Lemieux:

As of now, employees will be entitled to exactly the same substantive benefits they were last week, and there’s no reason for insurance companies to object because covering contraception actually saves them money. Nor is true that refusing to make these symbolic non-concessions would somehow make it less likely that the policy will be changed for the worse in the future. Precedents created by Obama will mean less than nothing to President Mittens or President Zombie-Eyed Granny Starver. The only way to preserve political gains going forward is to create powerful allies, and to the extent that they matter today’s changes are a net positive: they created new allies among Catholic health care providers without giving up anything, they didn’t create any new opponents, and they politically undermined the remaining opponents, forcing them to fight on political terrain that is extremely inhospitable.

And the Blount Amendment would allow employers to opt out of covering anything they "object" to.  It's a plan to pit Americans against each other in a race to the bottom where we all lose.  Voters will see that and they will turn on the GOP like lightning.

I can't wait for this to come up.  It's political suicide for them and they know it.

The View From Up High

Here is an awesome video, linked to by Wired, that shows the view from space.  It includes amazing footage of cities, the auroras and the Milky Way.  The video below is the North American coast.  The link above will take you to more views from other places around the world.  It just gets cooler the further in you go.  Hope you science nerds enjoy!

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• GOP Presidential hopefuls head to Maine today for that state's caucuses, where Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are expected to do well.
• The Navy will name a warship after former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona.
• Suicide bombings that killed at least 28 yesterday in Syria are being blamed on the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda, according to US intelligence officials.
• Apple stands to benefit from the US Air Force looking to buy as many as 18,000 tablets for flight crews to replace heavier laptops.
• Google's latest hardware rumor is a "personal communications device" according to filings.

Last Call

Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker would never hold a grudge against the people trying to recall him.  Why, what would even make you think that?

Wisconsin will use a chunk of its $140 million share of a national settlement over foreclosure and mortgage-servicing abuses to help the state budget rather than assist troubled homeowners, Gov. Scott Walker and state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday.

Walker and Van Hollen said the majority of the settlement amount earmarked to Wisconsin under a $25 billion proposed nationwide agreement announced Thursday still would go to aid consumers in Milwaukee and other communities struggling with the specter of home foreclosure.

But of a $31.6 million payment coming directly to the state government, most of that money - $25.6 million - will go to help close a budget shortfall revealed in newly released state projections. Van Hollen, whose office said he has the legal authority over the money, made the decision in consultation with Walker.

"Just like communities and individuals have been affected, the foreclosure crisis has had an effect on the state of Wisconsin, in terms of unemployment. . . . This will offset that damage done to the state of Wisconsin," Walker said.

And why is there a budget shortfall all of a sudden?  Because Walker's budget games have led to a $140 million plus deficit that will require more "emergency" measures to fix.  Walker's budget team was projecting a surplus just four months ago.  Then reality hit.

A large reason for the change is a $273 million drop in projected tax collections, the memo said.

And now struggling homeowners get shafted again.   Walker cannot be kicked out of office fast enough.

I Can't Quite Put My Finger On It, But...

MoJo's Nick Baumann again does us an invaluable service by pointing out the obvious fact that President Obama's "unprecedented assault on America's religious freedoms" by requiring church-related hospitals and universities to cover contraception at the federal level has actually been on the books for, oh, about 12 years now.

In December 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided prescription drugs to their employees but didn't provide birth control were in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex. That opinion, which the George W. Bush administration did nothing to alter or withdraw when it took office the next month, is still in effect today—and because it relies on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it applies to all employers with 15 or more employees. Employers that don't offer prescription coverage or don't offer insurance at all are exempt, because they treat men and women equally—but under the EEOC's interpretation of the law, you can't offer other preventative care coverage without offering birth control coverage, too.

"It was, we thought at the time, a fairly straightforward application of Title VII principles," a top former EEOC official who was involved in the decision told Mother Jones. "All of these plans covered Viagra immediately, without thinking, and they were still declining to cover prescription contraceptives. It's a little bit jaw-dropping to see what is going on now…There was some press at the time but we issued guidances that were far, far more controversial."

After the EEOC opinion was approved in 2000, reproductive rights groups and employees who wanted birth control access sued employers that refused to comply. The next year, in Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co., a federal court agreed with the EEOC's reasoning. Reproductive rights groups and others used that decision as leverage to force other companies to settle lawsuits and agree to change their insurance plans to include birth control. Some subsequent court decisions echoed Erickson, and some went the other way, but the rule (absent a Supreme Court decision) remained, and over the following decade, the percentage of employer-based plans offering contraceptive coverage tripled to 90 percent.

This fight has been long settled based on Title VII law.  Clinton put it on the books on the way out without controversy, and it was on the books for every single day of the Bush 43 administration without controversy.  It was on the books for three years under the Obama administration, without controversy.  Nine out of ten businesses in the country, including religiously affiliated hospitals, schools, and charities, provided contraception coverage.  27 states went on to put similar provisions on their books without incident.

It wasn't an issue at all until an African-American Democrat in the White House decided during an election year that "Hey, this is a good idea, let's put this on the books for all 50 states" just after getting yet another monthly unemployment report that showed that his policies were starting to bring the jobs numbers back around, and that his prospects for re-election were improving along with that uptick on what basically everyone agreed up until that millisecond was the most important issue of the day, the economy itself.

Then, the existing rules of the game for the last dozen years changed literally overnight to fit the theory that the President was "declaring war on Americans' religious freedoms."  Then the rules immediately changed to create "a firestorm of controversy".  Then the rules changed so that people questioned why Catholics in the Obama administration, including the Vice-President and the Secretary of Defense, hadn't resigned in protest yet.

It wasn't an issue until the GOP started openly asking if they were going to lose big in November and Newt Gingrich had melted into babbling radioactive slag and Rick Santorum became the latest Anti-Romney, revealing the fatal weakness of "the frontrunner".

Only now do the god-botherers and the institutional misogynists and the bigots and the pinheads and the weasels have an issue.

Only now.  They are this desperate to defeat President Obama.

Dear America:

"I honestly can't possibly begin to fathom why America isn't rising up to demand liberals be tarred and feathered across the country by this point. And I totally can't believe you people are about to destroy my dreams of a permanent conservative majority where we dismantle decades of progress just for your own greed, ego, and bigotry!"

--John Hindraker, Power Line

Bonus Verbatim Stupid(tm):

Optimism about the economy is growing at the same time that the Republican Party is, in most peoples’ eyes, making a fool of itself, so it is hard to identify the main cause of Obama’s resurgence.

Yeah, it's terribly difficult to determine whether the President's policies or working, or if Republicans are just complete assholes.  Meanwhile, keep going after birth control and lunch breaks, guys.

A Special Place In Hell, Police Edition

I know we have both praised and criticized cops on ZVTS, but this is beyond reason. This guy deserves everything they can dish out, and then some.  His name is Skeeter.  I just have to point that out, because as hillbilly and inbred as my neck of the woods can be, I've never actually known an Skeeter.  Way to keep it fresh, Seattle.

SEATTLE -- A Lakewood police officer was charged with embezzling more than $120,000 from a fund for families of four colleagues who were shot to death while on duty then spending some of the money on trips to Las Vegas, the U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday.

Officer Skeeter Timothy Manos also is accused of making purchases of several thousand dollars at Costco and Home Depot with the money.

"This is a sad day for our community," U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said in a statement. "These acts betrayed the memory of our fallen heroes, their families, fellow officers and all who supported the fund."

News From From Across The Pond

Naomi Watts is going to play Princess Di.  I searched for images, and all I found were some put together side-by-sides, nothing official.  However, I do see that Watts has some similar mannerisms.  There is this one look, that is one we all recognize.  Watts can resemble her without trying, which gives us hope.  I loved Di, for my generation she was like an aunt we all loved fiercely but never got to see at Christmas.  Anyone who dared to play her would be braving criticism.  Watts has a good start, and this would earn her some fans if she can pull it off.

In other news, Prince Harry is now a trained Apache pilot, and will be spending more time in Afghanistan.  For security reasons, there are no official dates or comments, but "Captain Wales" has not only earned recognition from the military, but his peers.  Despite a rocky partying beginning, the young prince has become an accomplished soldier and earned the respect of his peers.  One can only hope Di would be proud.

Rick Rolling The Country, Part 2

And Rick Santorum gets ever closer to self-parody of wingnut ignorance, fear-mongering, and utter stupidity.

Santorum's disdain for environmentalists was palpable and largely shared by the crowd of nearly 1,500 people here at the Meridian Convention Center. Perhaps sensing he was preaching to the choir, Santorum expounded upon his position that manmade global warming is a myth and a plot by the left to take freedoms away from the American people.

"This was a politicization of science," Santorum said, of the science behind global warming. "You hear all the time, the left – 'Oh, the conservatives are the anti-science party.' No we're not. We're the truth party. The absurdity and the politicization and the manipulation of data, why? Because the left is always looking for a way to control you. They're always trying to make you feel guilty so you'll give them power so they can lord it over you."

Connecting this position to foreign policy, Santorum said that by catering to these "radical environmental groups" President Obama has forced the country to increase its reliance on foreign oil, and he's signaled to Middle Eastern foes that we'd need their help in the future.

"We're throwing Israel under the bus because we know we're going to be dependent upon OPEC," Santorum said. "We're gonna say, Oh Iran, we don't want you to get a nuclear weapon, wink, wink, nod, nod, go ahead just give us your oil. Folks, the President of the United States is selling the economic security of this country down the river right now."

Rick Santorum is insane.  And millions share in his mass delusion that scientific fact doesn't matter, "truth" does.  And truth is whatever Ricky says it to be.  These retrograde, reactionary pinheads are one really bad voting day away from controlling this country.  If these assholes get power in November, you can kiss decades of progress and civil rights goodbye for the rest of your lifetime.  If they get enough power to enact Santorum's agenda, you can kiss generations of progress goodbye for your kids and grandkids too.

Time to pick a side, people.

Greek Fire, Part 51

And so the Greeks are left with their own Pompeii of Austerity, and it just blew up today.

Greek political leaders said they had clinched a deal on economic reforms and spending cuts needed to secure a second bailout, but euro zone finance ministers demanded more measures and a parliamentary seal of approval before providing the aid.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have been exasperated by a string of broken promises and weeks of wrangling over the terms of a 130 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout, with time running out to avoid a default.

Finance ministers of the 17-nation euro zone meeting in Brussels warned there would be no immediate approval for the rescue package and said Athens must prove itself first.

Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup, set three conditions, saying the Greek parliament must ratify the package when it meets on Sunday and a further 325 million euros of spending reductions needed to be identified by next Wednesday, after which euro zone finance ministers would meet again.

And so it goes.  Another Greek "deal" equals another EU austerity shakedown and another promise to bury the Greek people under the ashes of debt.  How long before the Greeks actually stop going on daily strikes?

It's going to get ugly fast, folks.  Keep an eye on this one.

StupidiNews!

• Thousands of Syrians are expected to protest Russia's UN resolution veto as activists continue to face a bloody crackdown by the al-Assad regime.
• A New Hampshire Republican wants to get rid of the state's lunch break law, saying it's unnecessary over-regulation of business.
• The Pentagon announced some 14,000 service jobs that would now be open to women, bringing the age of women soldiers in combat closer.
• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may dissolve the country's ruling party and create a new one to consolidate his power base after next month's elections.
• A Texas jury has delivered a stinging rebuke to the "biggest patent troll case in US history".