Don't Fall For It!!

Today, Obama signed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Don't be fooled by the title of this bill!!

Obama says, "If we stay focused, as Lilly did, and keep standing for what's right, as Lilly did, we will close that pay gap and ensure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to pursue their dreams as our sons." That is a slap in the face to every woman!! This bill does NOT force employers to pay women equal wages. It doesn't close any pay gap. And it sure as hell doesn't ensure that we have the same rights as men.

The only thing this bill does is that it changes the 180 day period in which a complaint can be filed. Previously employees only had 180 days from the date of their first "unfair" paycheck to file a complaint. This bill changes that to 180 days from the date of their most recent paycheck.

It's not going to help us get an equal and fair wage. In fact, it keeps intact the burden on the employee to PROVE that they received an unequal and unfair wage instead of forcing the employer to pay an equal and fair wage in the first place.

Ladies, don't fall for this!! It's just another attempt by Congress and Obama to look like they care about women. They don't!!

Screwing New York Over One Senator At A Time

David Paterson has to be either the dumbest governor alive, or he's getting his strings pulled by the new administration!!

Pro-gun US Senate pick makes some NY pols unhappy

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – If Gov. David Paterson thought announcing his choice to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate after nearly two months of deliberation would bring an end to the political strife, he was clearly mistaken.

Even before the governor took the podium Friday to introduce little-known upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand as his pick, a Long Island congresswoman elected on a pledge to stem gun violence was telling reporters she would either challenge Gillibrand in the Democratic primary next year or find someone who would.

"I don't think someone with a 100 percent NRA rating should be the next senator from New York," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who ran for Congress after her husband was killed and son wounded in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting massacre. "The majority of New Yorkers believe in trying to reduce gun violence."

After the announcement, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a lukewarm endorsement of Gillibrand, noted his "strong disagreement with one area of her record as a member of Congress: illegal guns."

The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor, who has been one of the nation's most vocal gun control advocates, said Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-ih-brand) "has actively opposed the efforts of New York City, and cities around the state and nation, to enact commonsense measures that keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals."

Bloomberg and McCarthy both said Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation to deny information cities and police need to track illegal gun criminals. The legislation passed in the House but was never considered by the Senate, McCarthy said.

Recently sworn in for her seventh two-year term, McCarthy conceded that Democratic leaders have warned her to temper her remarks, but she appeared unrepentant: "I told the governor my feelings. I said I am strongly against one person and I gave him my reasons for it. Believe me, this is a personal issue for me."

A group called New Yorkers Against Gun Violence also criticized Gillibrand. "In fact some of her gun control stances are detrimental to law enforcement and their efforts to prevent crime by going after illegal guns," the group said in a statement.

Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said Paterson's first year in office, after succeeding the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, has been so hectic that he has not had time to establish himself as the unchallenged leader of his party.

"He's had to manage one crisis after another, from the economic meltdown to the search to replace Hillary Clinton," Sheinkopf said. "He needs to find the time, find the people and put an operation together to make clear who's the boss."

Lawrence Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, said it was possible Gillibrand might change her views on gun control now that she represents the entire state.

"She's no longer representing a district with an 80,000 margin of registered Republicans, so who knows?" he said. "She has to ask herself if she is going to modify her position, how much risk is involved."

Jay Jacobs, the Democratic leader in Nassau County, where McCarthy lives, agreed.

"I'm hopeful as our new senator begins to recognize she now represents the entire state of New York rather than a small Republican congressional district, that she will modify and moderate her views," he said.

Gillibrand appeared to offer an olive branch to McCarthy during her news conference after being introduced by the governor. She complimented the state's entire female House delegation, saying McCarthy has "provided outstanding leadership in fighting against gun violence and keeping our children safe. I pledge to work with her on her signature bill for updating background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals."

A spokesman for McCarthy said afterward that the congresswoman's position had not softened.

Who the hell do these people think they are telling Carolyn McCarthy to tone down her remarks against Gillibrand? Excuse me? Carolyn McCarthy has every right to be pissed about having a Senator who doesn't believe in gun control. This is a woman whose husband was murdered and whose son was injured by a lunatic with a gun. She has a right to say that this is bullshit. I have no doubt that Gillibrand would have supported that lunatic's right to have a gun.

Forget the gun issue for a second. That's just one of many issues with this woman. This woman has repeatedly refused to truly acknowledge what her position is on many issues. She is supposedly pro-choice, but do we really know that? After all, she never voted on an abortion related bill while in the House. She supposedly supports gay rights. How do we know that? She's never voted on a gay rights related bill while in the House.

Here's what we do know about her. She was a Representative in the House for two years. She has a 100% rating from the NRA. She claims to support the withdrawl of troops from Iraq, yet continues to fund the war. She didn't vote on a bill that discussed troop withdrawl from Iraq, permanent base bans, and limiting interrogation techniques. She voted to repeal the D.C. firearm ban, which among other things, would allow people to possess semi-automatic weapons.

She was picked for two reasons. She brings in money for the party, and someone is most definitely pulling the strings here. The people of New York don't know her. The people of New York wanted Andrew Cuomo. Clearly Paterson didn't listen to the people which doesn't bode well for his election hopes in 2010. Keep pulling those strings Rahm!! Keep pulling those strings!!

And So It Begins

Four days, that's how long Barack Obama has been the president of the US.

And it took him only three to kill as many civilians as he could in one go.

Was there any doubt that he would do this?

I mean, I only said that he wanted to bomb Pakistan, what, a year ago?

Someone told me that that would be insane.

Really? You think?

Here we go again.

Is this change?

Despite all of the window-dressing (supposedly limiting lobbyists from running roughshod over his administration or disallowing anyone from lobbying his administration after they've left; check this one out if you want to have a laugh; the closure of the Guantanamo Gulag, etc.), there are some things that never change.

US policy is to bomb the shit out of anyone that can't stand up and fight back. That doesn't change just because the president changes.

The people in North Waziristan are basically a people without a country, even if Pakistan still claims the region. While the Pakistani government gets upset about the US murdering the people there, they don't declare war on the US and they have yet to fight back, to defend their own people.

Barack Obama is no different than George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or any other thug that has ever lived in the White House.

Congratulations, America.

Get Over It Michelle!!

They haven't even been in the White House a week, and Michelle Obama is already bitching about a toy company.

Michelle Obama: 'Inappropriate' to use daughters to sell dolls

WASHINGTON (CNN) – They’ve been in the White House less than a week, but the first daughters have already been co-opted by marketers — and Michelle Obama isn’t happy about it.

Ty, the toy company responsible for the popular Beanie Babies dolls, is now marketing “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls.

The first lady’s office said Friday Ty was out of line. “We feel it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” said a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama in a statement.

A Ty representative told CNN the company generally avoids naming dolls for “any particular living individual,” because doing so might interfere with how kids use their imaginations to play with them. But they wouldn’t reveal the source of their inspiration for the new figures, telling CNN that information relating to the development of the company’s merchandise — including how it comes up with products, product names, and trademarks – is proprietary.

What the hell is her problem? She can't sue the company for anything. These dolls look nothing like her daughters, so she can't claim that TY stole their likeness. They haven't promoted these dolls as being that of Sasha and Malia Obama. She can't sue because of the names. What is she going to do? Copyright their names so that nobody can ever use the name, or name their children Sasha and Malia? Talk about being on a fucking ego trip!!

The Obamas have had no problem exploiting their children. They talk about wanting to keep them out of the public eye. But they're constantly paraded out in front of the cameras. You don't hear them bitching about the exploitation of Barack Obama's image on everything from earrings and candles to clothing and more.

God forbid that a toy company decides to make two African American dolls!! Who the hell is it hurting? Nobody!! Yet TY is accused of exploiting the Obama children.

If the Obamas were getting a cut of the profits, would Michelle Obama be bitching?

A Slap In The Face

Remember back in the summer of 2005 when New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina? Remember when there were questions raised about the Army Corps of Engineers and the levees? Well have no fear people!! The Army Corps of Engineers will finally be working. Wait, it gets better!!

Will they be working on the levees in New Orleans? Nope!! Will they be working on the levees somewhere else in the United States? Nope!! They'll be put to work for ISRAEL!! That's right!! ISRAEL!!

Never mind that they haven't done shit since Hurricane Katrina hit, and people in New Orleans pray every hurricane season that they don't get another one. Never mind that our levee system in this country is complete and total shit!! They can't be bothered!! They have more important things to do for ISRAEL!!

U.S., Israel agree on plan to halt Gaza weapons smuggling

WASHINGTON — The United States has agreed to Israel's request to lead an international effort to halt weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip , raising the prospects for a cease-fire in a conflict that's claimed more than 1,000 lives, U.S. officials and diplomats said Friday.

Under the agreement, the outgoing Bush administration pledged to help track and interdict weapons shipments before they reach Gaza , which the militant Palestinian group Hamas has used as launching pad for rocket attacks on Israel .

The deal was being signed Friday in Washington by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , in one of her last official acts in office, and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni .

Rice said Friday that the U.S.-Israeli memorandum of understanding "should be thought of as one of the elements of trying to bring into being a durable cease-fire, a cease-fire that can actually hold."

Israel , which began attacks on Gaza three weeks ago in response to the rocket fire, has said it won't reopen the territory's border crossings until steps are taken to stop arms smuggling.

The deal seems likely to provide a boost for cease-fire talks in Cairo, Egypt , that the Egyptian government is mediating. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Thursday that while the talks were making progress, it could take several more days to reach a deal.

The United States and Israel also have discussed having the Army Corps of Engineers build some kind of barrier — such as trenches or a submerged wall — to prevent the digging of underground tunnels for smuggling weapons from Egypt into Gaza , officials and diplomats said.

The diplomats and officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

I propose that the first thing the Messiah should do after taking the oath is to rename this country The United States of Israel. Might as well!! Israel clearly takes precedence over people, cities, and states in our own country.

Snapshots Of Future Past, Part One

In a 2002 interview with CNN, Eric Holder, soon-to-be Attorney General, said:

"One of the things we clearly want to do with these prisoners is to have an ability to interrogate them and find out what their future plans might be, where other cells are located; under the Geneva Convention you are really limited in the amount of information that you can elicit from people. It seems to me that given the way in which they have conducted themselves, however, that they are not, in fact, people entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention. They are not prisoners of war."

For those of you in the anti-war, anti-torture movement, such as it is, the following question:

Still feel jubilant, still hopeful about the so-called change coming in a week's time?

Israel Bombs UN Schools, Blames Hamas

As if we haven't heard the same old excuse from Israel a million times, now they've bombed two UN schools in Gaza and they're shouting to anyone who will listen that Hamas shot at them from the schools.

BULLSHIT!!

Israel: Hamas mortars prompted attack near U.N. school

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Three artillery shells believed to have been fired by Israeli forces struck near the perimeter of a U.N. school in northern Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 55, a U.N. official said.

The Israeli military said Hamas militants had fired mortar shells at Israeli forces, prompting return fire, according to its initial investigation.

U.N. Relief and Works Agency Director John Ging said most of the casualties were outside the school in the Jabalya refugee camp.

"It's a very built-up area, so of course it was entirely inevitable that if artillery shells landed in that area there would be a high number of casualties," he said at a U.N. briefing from Gaza City.

Palestinian sources said 44 were killed in the attack.

The Israeli military said it is checking the report. The Israeli government has barred CNN and other news from entering Gaza.

A short time later, another artillery shell struck inside a second U.N. school in Jabalya, but Ging said the boys' prep school was empty at the time.

It was the third Israeli strike affecting a U.N. school in Gaza. Three Palestinian men, all members of the same family, were killed Monday night in Gaza City by a direct hit on an elementary school, the U.N. agency said.

The schools were in use as shelters for civilians fleeing the military operation. The buildings were "clearly marked" with U.N. flags, and the agency said it had given the global-positioning coordinates of all its schools to Israeli authorities.

The U.N. agency said 400 Palestinians were staying in the Asma Elementary School at the time of Monday night's airstrike.

The latest incidents came as Israeli ground forces surrounded densely populated Gaza City after at least 50 airstrikes pounded the region overnight.

Other airstrikes hit the homes of people linked to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, including the Wadi family in Jabalya, Hamas security sources said. Eight people were killed in that strike. An overnight airstrike hit the Jabalya home of Imad Siam, one of the leaders of Hamas' military wing.

Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed 130 Hamas fighters since beginning a ground offensive at dusk Saturday. An Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday morning in northern Gaza City, the Israeli military said, bringing to six the number of Israeli forces who have died in Gaza since Israel launched its ground incursion.

As Israeli forces encircled Gaza City -- which has a population of about 400,000 -- diplomats turned up the heat for a cease-fire.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed President-elect Barack Obama on Monday about American diplomatic efforts in the conflict, her spokesman said Tuesday.

Rice will confer Tuesday at the United Nations with officials including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said. iReport.com: Share reactions to "all-out war" in Gaza

Abbas plans to present a resolution drafted by the Arab League to the U.N. Security Council. The resolution will call for Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza and for Hamas to cease firing rockets at the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Israel wanted a "full solution" to the conflict, not just a cease-fire that allowed Hamas to fortify itself, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said.

"Before the last cease-fire with Hamas began, Hamas had missiles with a range of 20 kilometers," Regev said Tuesday. "By the end of the cease-fire, the range of the missiles grew to 40 kilometers. Israel does not want the next cease-fire to allow them to get missiles with a range of 60 kilometers."

A Hamas rocket penetrated farther than ever before into Israel on Tuesday, landing in the town of Gadera, about 23 miles (36 kilometers) north of the Gaza border, the Israeli military said. On Monday, a rocket hit a kindergarten in Ashdod, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) north of Gaza.

Hamas had fired 30 rockets at Israel by Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli military said. Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida has warned Israel that the militants will continue rocket attacks "for many months" and vowed to strike deeper into Israeli territory. iReport.com: Families walk in charred rubble, broken glass

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated. Hundreds of wounded people swarmed into Gaza's largest hospital.

The Israeli military said 80 trucks with humanitarian aid would be allowed to pass into Gaza on Tuesday at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Before the second school attack, Palestinian medical sources said 23 people were killed Tuesday in Gaza, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 555 since Israel commenced airstrikes December 27.

Remember boys and girls, Israel never lies. Israel is never guilty of anything.

Over on another blog, a commentor actually had the audacity to state "If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have and could have killed far more than 500 Palestinians." Gee thanks for sharing that with the rest of the world. Isn't it wonderful to hear that if Israel wanted to commit genocide they could have and would have already? Isn't it great to know that it would be considered acceptable? Self defense right?

It's now day 11 and the Messiah has nothing to say other than "The loss of innocent civilian lives concerns me. But, there's only one President at a time in the United States." Ooh, great leadership there Messiah!! I can't wait to hear what you have to say when you're in office. What's that I hear? Oh yeah, SILENCE!!

The Messiah will continue to allow Israel to murder anyone they want to without any consequences. If you think I'm joking, just wait!!

Israeli Propaganda Comes To A TV Near You!!

Did you see it? Israeli propaganda has come to US television!! As I was watching the news this morning, I believe on MSNBC, they aired a commercial. Or I should say, Israeli propaganda. In this propaganda piece, they were talking about how Israel is in desperate need of help and we must help them now. They had the audacity to ask for money to give to Israel.

Welcome to the United States of Israel!! Get set for more propaganda pieces to air because there WILL be more.