Caterpillar Executives 2012 = Pullman Co. 1894?

Sun. July 29, 2012:

Companies squashing labor union strikes:
Are we living in 2012 or 1894?

                                                     July 1894:  Anti-Pullman Cartoon

Note this past week's hard line from industry leader Caterpillar, Inc.:

"Caterpillar, which has significantly raised its executives’ compensation because of its strong profits, defended its demands, saying many unionized workers were paid well above market rates. To run the factory during the strike, the company is using replacement workers, managers and a few union members who have crossed the picket line."

                                      July 2012: Strikers vs. Catterpillar in Joliet, Illinois


It's one thing to keep your workers' wages low, to "remain competitive."
But given Caterpillar's huge profits, shouldn't its executives keep their own salaries relatively low -- if only as a symbol of support & sympathy for its workers?
Caterpillar's answer would almost certainly be the same as George Pullman's in 1894:
"Salaries have to remain competitive [upward] too, or we could lose some of our executives."


You be the judge.
We live in a conservative Republican era.

New Insights on Climate Change: Still Deny?

Sat. July 28, 2012:

Two of the best in a long time:




1.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/opinion/krugman-loading-the-climate-dice.html
Weather variability and the road to environmental ruin.

2.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/were-all-climate-change-idiots.html
Our brains are wired to deny climate change?

_______________________________________________________________________________


Worrisome indicators, tucked away in articles about other topics:

1.  Off the coast of Brittany lies the French island named Ile de Sein.  Inhabitants have lived through hunger, a terrible flood, two cholera epidemics, and refused to accept Nazi occupation.  But:
"Today, the residents of Ile de Sein are confronted by a more existential threat.  With increasingly rough storms and a global rise in sea levels of 0.14 inches per year since the early 1990's, the exisence of the island -- just five feet above sea level, on average -- seems increasingly at risk."
A big storm could virtually sink it.

2.  "With Warming, Peril Underlies Road to Alaska":
" . . . But climate change is most worrisome of all [for the Alaskan Highway].  Not only is the world warming:  it is warming fastest in high northern latitudes.  And the problem is getting worse, with no easy solutions.

"A Barbie Doll for Men": The Guns & Ammo Debate

Fri. July 27, 2012:       [Part 2]


_________________________________________________________________________________

"I have an issue with people being able to buy ammunition and weapons on the Internet," Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey of the Philadelphia police . . . I don't know why people need to have assault weapons.  There needs to be reasonable gun control put in place.
And we talk about this constantly, and absolutely nothing happens, because many of our legislators, unfortunately, at the federal level, lack the courage to do anything."


                                             -- Charles H. Ramsey, Philadelphia Police Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________________

       "Consoling, not gun control, is all President Obama, Mitt Romney, and Congress are offering.
       Tragically, this is as far as our nation is willing to go to confront our hysterical gun obsession. 

 No nation so avoids facing its problems as does America, given the power of special interests.
       Whether it's gun control, health care, banking and financial scandals, regulatory and tax reforms or foreign policy, there is a special interest that corrupts our government and political campaigns to ensure that its issue is protected.
       The fault is ours, the people, who have succumbed to irrational fears, modern anxieties and faulty beliefs about our freedoms, while surrendering our government to special interests.                             Our politicians fear the National Rifle Association more than they fear us."
   
                                              -- Letter to the Editor, from Winchester, Virginia
_________________________________________________________________________________

I.

In the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings, plenty to depress Gun Controllers among you readers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/us/online-ammunition-sales-highlighted-by-aurora-shootings.html?pagewanted=all

Lowlights catalogued in the above article:


"Unhindered by federal background checks or government oversight," the Colorado shooter "was able
to build "what the police called a 6,000-round arsenal legally and easily over the Internet . . .
 . . . With a few keystrokes . . . It was pretty much as easy as ordering a book from Amazon . . .
 . . . a purchase that would have been restricted under propposed legislation that has been stalled in Washington for more than a year . . . 
 . . . sellers are not required in most cases to report sales to law enforcement officials, even unusually large purchases.  And neither Colorado nor federal law required [the shooter James E. Holmes] to submit to a background check or register his growing purchases."

The same article gives evidence to support BOTH sides of the gun/ammo debate:


"On June 25, Mr. Holmes e-mailed an application to join the Lead Valley Range, prompting the owner, Glenn Rotkovich, to call back, to invite him to a mandatory orientation meeting.
. . . Mr. Holmes never called back about joining . . . "
[The gun-range owner's phone calls deterred the shooter James E. Holmes from joining that range, BUT, it did not deter the shooter from his shooting spree in the Aurora theatre].

"In early July, Mr. Holmes ordered a Blackhawk Urban Assault Vest, a knife and two magazine holders from a Web site called Tactical Gear, according to an order slip provided by the company's chief executive, Chad Weinman . . .
. . . adding that the company was 'deeply saddened' it gear had apparently been used in a mass killing."


"Gun groups replied that stricter controls would not make the nation safer, but would only restrict constitutional rights."


"After the Colorado shooting, Democrats and Republicans cast doubt on whether tougher laws could have averted the killing, diminishing the political stomach for any immeiate changes in gun laws . . ."


                                  

"Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, told CNN . . . that the killer might have built a bomb or found some other lethal device if no assault weapons had been around.  And Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, defended people's rights to own large-quantity ammunition magazines."
                                 _______________________________________

II.

Nicholas Kristof represents multitudes who favor gun control:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/kristof-safe-from-fire-but-not-gone.html

                                 ________________________________________

III.

See also tidbits from "Obama & Romney Do Not Change Course Over Outcry on Gun Violence"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/us/politics/obama-and-romney-dont-heed-new-call-for-gun-laws.html:

Obama's press secretary Jay Carney said that President Obama's main purpose was to
"protect the 2nd Amendment."

"If he had said almost anything else it would be used in a fundraising appeal by the NRA . . . in this political climate," said Representative Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon."

Conservative Representative Peter T. King, a New York Republican who favors a federal ban on the type of assault weapon used in the Aurora, Colorado shooting massacre:
"The political reality is at this point the American people have made the decision that gun control is ineffective, that people have the right to have weapons, and the government can't be trusted and they'd rather trust themselves with a gun . . . 
It's taken me a while to figure this out.  The majority of American people are very attached to their guns.  They look on any attempt to regulate or control them as an infringement . . . 
It's almost something not debated.  It is just accepted."
                                             _____________________________________


IV.

Also instructive:  "Aurora Gunman's Arsenal: Shotgun, Semiautomatic Rifle and, at the End, a Pistol"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/us/aurora-gunmans-lethal-arsenal.html:

"Weapons like the AR-15 [Assault Rifle] were tightly restricted under a 1994 law known as the assault weapons ban.  The law expired in 2004 . . .
. . . The weapon is popular among collectors, military veterans and target shooters who say it is easy to handle and can be modified in numerous ways.  Some soldiers call it
'a Barbie doll for men' because it has a wide range of accessories and replacement parts . . . "
                                         _________________________________________

V.

The New York Times's moderate, reasonable conservative on its Op-ed page,

David Brooks, speaks AGAINST gun control after the Aurora massacre.

Excerpt from 3 days ago:

These days, people are trying to use the Aurora killings as a pretext to criticize America’s gun culture or to call for stricter gun control laws. (This doesn’t happen after European or Asian spree killings.) [bitesfromedwin: Gee, I wonder why!]  Personally, I’ve supported tighter gun control laws. But it’s not clear that those laws improve public safety. Researchers reviewing the gun control literature for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, were unable to show the laws are effective.  [bites: Several easy, simple steps would at least reduce chances, and hurt no one except maybe gun & ammo industry]

And gun control laws are probably even less germane in these cases. Rampage killers tend to be meticulous planners. If they can’t find an easy way to get a new gun, they’ll surely [bites:  maybe, maybe not] find a way to get one of the 200 million guns that already exist in this country. Or they’ll use a bomb or find another way.

Looking at guns, looking at video games — that’s starting from the wrong perspective. People who commit spree killings are usually suffering from severe mental disorders. The response, and the way to prevent future episodes, has to start with psychiatry, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/kristof-safe-from-fire-but-not-gone.html

NYT on Religions, III: A N.J. Case Study

Fri. July 27, 2012:          [Part 1]



Noble Readers, you'll love this one, I promise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/nyregion/in-a-tree-trunk-in-new-jersey-some-see-our-lady-of-guadalupe.html

And, true to form for the Human Condition, by the end of the story, the Faithful & the Skeptics

are -- you guessed it -- fighting each other:

NYT on Mormons, II: "Being Fair" or "Whitewash"?

Wed. July 25, 2012:

One of Bitesfromedwin's most discerning readers has asked,
Which religion is the worst [on the Murderous Index]?
To be fair to Mormonism, it is not even close to the #1 spot.
Here are 2 nominees, in one story earlier this week -- or maybe it is NOT the religion, but its
 believers' poverty and lack of schooling?

"India:  Muslim-Hindu Clash Is Deadly

A clash between Muslims observing the holy month of Ramadan and Hindus who were offering alms to one of their gods left one man dead and 20 people injured in northern India.  The police imposed a curfew on Bareilly, a town in Uttar Pradesh State where the violence occurred.  Officials said Muslims offering morning prayers on the second day of Ramadan were upset by devotional singing by Hindus who were on their way to a temple for a regular ceremony offering water and milk to Lord Silva.  The two sides hurled stones at each other, and a 22-year-old Muslim man was shot to death."






In contrast, check out Jim Rutenberg's July 17, 2012 NYT piece, "Mormons' First Families Rally Behind Romney."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/us/politics/support-for-romney-by-old-mormon-families.html?pagewanted=all

Early Mormonism was the victim of murder, not vice versa.  But Rutenberg's article mentions no motive for the killing of founder Joseph Smith and his brother in 1844.  NYT readers could deduce that it was unprovoked.

Murder is never justifiable, but was it unprovoked?  Mormons' murderous neighbors said they
FELT provoked -- by Mormons' polygamy, and even more by having to compete as individual farmers & merchants against Mormons' clannish economic practices and Mormons' political bloc voting.
In 1844, the prophet Joseph Smith's and his Mormons' city of Nauvoo -- complete with a huge Temple

overlooking the western-Illinois bulge in the Mississippi River -- was the largest city in Illinois.  Even larger than Chicago.

Rutenberg's profile of 21st-century Mormonism gives testimony to the power of Mormons' decades of clean living, cohesiveness, hard work, and tithing.  Now, Mormonism's "First Families" include the

                                                                     Bill Marriott

Marriotts, Rollines [CEO of Dell Computers], Gardners, and others.  One of JetBlue's founders is a Mormon.  Bain Capital has several Mormons in its leadership.

Mormons, says Rutenberg, started "as vilified outsiders."  But no word as to why.  Unprovoked?
Ask their 19th-century neighbors.  "Misunderstood," as the "Hill Cumorah Pageant" at Palmyra, NY, faithful worried?  Or "understood" a little bit too well?

"Many of Mr. Romney's major Mormon backers," writes Rutenberg, "are tied to businesses with robust agendas in Washington -- lobbying on tax, aviation and tourism policy, according to ferderal filings -- and have something to gain by having a friend in the White House.  [Italics added].

Rutenberg does not say it -- just the facts, no judgmentalism -- but should we readers/voters Follow The Money?

"But several of these donors say that their giving has nothing to do [emphasis added] with their business interests."  Although the word "nothing" may be a stretch, Rutenberg agrees that Mitt's faith, brought to the White House, would be a huge validation for all Mormons -- donors or not.

Another Mormon, Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, also ran for the presidency this year.
But "throughout Mr. Huntsman's primary campaign some on his team reported
receiving [from whom? Rutenberg does not say] a subtle but clear signal:  This is Mr. Romney's year."

"In interviews," continues NYT reporter Rutenberg, "several of Mr. Romney's supporters expressed their concers that attention to the financial support he has received from other early families of the religion would raise old prejudices [does Rutenberg mean "postjudices," AFTER experiencing life as neighbors to Mormonism?] and accusations of clannishness [unfair?  Rutenberg judgeth not!] that followed their forebears."

Bill Marriott, "whose family built a single A&W Root Beer stand into one of the largest hospitality companies in the world, said it was not lost on him that Mr. Romney's pending nomination is a major moment for his fellow Mormons.
 'It is a great story, and we want the world to know [the pluses, not the minuses?] about our religion,' said Mr. Marriott.  'We really feel like we're coming out of obscurity.' "  [Unfair obscurity? 
Or well-earned, featuring a new Christian prophet after Jesus?]

Rutenberg continues:  "On the manifests of the wagon carts that made the difficult trek with [Brigham Young] and then helped settle Utah were names that now dot the campaign filings for Mr. Romney and the political groups that support him."


Mr. Marriott:  "The sacrifice and the people who died along the way [exodus, martyrdom, pilgrimage, suffering -- staples of almost every religion?] were incredible."

Back to Rutenberg:  "Through those tough times [1820's-1850's especially], the early Mormon settlers came to rely on one another closely, at times drawing suspicion from non-Mormon neighbors.  [Understatement, still true in 2012?]


Romney's modest title for his book about his stewardship of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics?
"Turnaround."

"With [prominent Mormon Kem C.] Gardner and the Utah Olympic bid's local marketing chief, Don Stirling, Mr. Romney succeeded in raising millions of dollars from other Mormon families with pioneer roots."  [Is this a voter concern:  Will President Romney be beholden?]

"When he ran for governor of Massachusetts after the Olympics, Mr. Romney seemed tentative about relying too much on his Utah network, given the sense among his aides that [incumbent opponent
Senator Edward M.] Kennedy had used his Mormon ties against him."  [Legitimate concern, by both Romney & Kennedy?]


Two prominent Mormon business friends -- Don Stirling and W. Craig Zwick --   followed Romney from the Salt Lake Olympics "to help his nascent presidential effort, quickly seeking donations from his waiting network of Mormon supporters, as well as from other worlds."

"This year, with Mr. Zwick at Mr. Romney's campaign, Mr. Stirling is working at Restore Our Future [the immensely successful -- and anonymous, 'unconnected-to-the-campaign' fundraising SuperPac, which may well buy the election instead of Obama's similarly 'unconnected' SuperPacs]."
                           ___________________________________________________

The New York Times's Jim Rutenberg has researched & written the story above.
Does he bend over backwards to be fair?  Or is he whitewashing aspects of Mormonism in politics about which U.S. voters should be concerned?  In 1928 with Al Smith and 1960 with JFK, similar worries surfaced about too much influence from "Irish Catholic cronyism" and even "the Vatican."
The Vatican fears, at least, did not materialize.

NYT Too Fair to Mitt's Mormonism?

Mon. July 23, 2012:


I.
This post's topic is delicate, but the subject must be addressed.
No one wants to condemn any religion -- Mormonism or any other -- because of
SOME of its fundamental beliefs which, to put it politely, strain scientific credulity.
                                         

Fundamentalist Christians ask us to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin & that he walked on water.
Orthodox Jews:  Earth was created in 6 days; Noah's Ark saved all species, pair by pair.
Fundamentalist Muslims:  Muhammad was a prophet sent by Allah with a new dispensation in the Koran, which, as holy writ, must be taken literally.

Mormons:  In the 1820's, God chose one Joseph Smith, a western New York farm boy, as His new Prophet, and sent the Angel Moroni to visit him near Palmyra, New York; the angel guided the farm boy to dig up sacred tablets in the "Hill Cumorah," and then helped him translate God's new dispensation from behind a partition.

Ultimately, this led to building "temples," with secret temple rituals, plus mandatory cultural, economic, political, and social solidarity -- including, until a new "revelation" in the early 1890's [convenient for U.S. statehood in 1894], polygamy.

II.
Then there is the worry, from each religion, about past horrendous misdeeds.

Christians' slaughters of innocents -- as an article of faith -- during the Crusades, during Portugal's conquests along the Indian coast, during Spain's conquests in the Americas.
Jews' multiple killings of innocents in, say, the West Bank of the River Jordan.
Fundamentalist Muslims' perpetration of 9/11, and mass murders of Jewish victims since the postwar founding of Israel.

Mormons:  If respected historian Leonard J. Arrington's Great Basin Kingdom is to be
believed -- along with Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven and countless other anti-Mormon

accounts -- Mormons perpetrated the "Mountain Meadow Massacre" in southern Utah in 1857, and even after 1894 have turned a blind eye to polygamous abductions including child brides,

continuing into the 21st Century.
 

III.
A week ago, the NYT ran a piece by Sharon Otterman who was reporting from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' annual Book of Mormon pageant near Palmyra, in western New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/nyregion/a-showy-spectacle-draws-the-mormon-faithful.html

It portrayed the festival as the clean, confident, family-oriented, happy, turn-the-other-cheek event that it likely is.

Like all religions, the overwhelming majority of the Faithful are decent, God-fearing, peaceful folks.  Like most religions, believers feel so much better because of it, that they are eager to invite ["proselytize"] nonbelievers to join the fun and perhaps live -- literally --  happily ever after.


The 3 most memorable tableaus from Sharon Otterman's story:

1.  Young LDS "greeters," in "colorful ancient-Hebrew-meets-Mesoamerican-Indian
garb" --  circulating along with many of the 750 actors & special effects portraying the Book of Mormon -- through the festive crowd:  "Have you been greeted?"

2.  "Outside the pageant," Ms. Otterman writes, "a small band of evangelical protesters drives around town in a yellow sign truck marked 'WhatMormonsDontTell.com," and shouts warnings of damnation near the performance each night.

" 'You need to repent, Mormons, you are going to hell!'shouted one protester through a megaphone, from the roadside near the parking field after a performance ended.  The lights of the local sheriff's car flashed in the darkness.

"The Mormon families ignored the noise.  A light-up Frisbee flew through the sky.  A blue sign by the barbecue tent reminded the families to meet criticism with kindness, and no one shouted back.

" 'As you enter and exit the Hill Cumorah Pageant," the sign said, "please be courteous to those who may attempt to disrupt the special spirit you will feel at this historic site.' "

3.  "Debra Munk, 62, a high school principal visiting from Kensington, Md., said she saw both threat and opportunity in the added focus [that Mitt Romney's presidential nomination brings] on the church.  'It's positive in that it helps people to understand us more, but negative in that it really exposes us, and anytime you put under a microscope things that people don't understand,
it can get misinterpreted,' she said."

IV.
Mitt Romney is an avowed & proud Mormon, faithful to the Latter-day-Saint practice of annual tithing.  To this blog, NOTHING about Mitt's Mormonism is a worry -- with ONE MAJOR EXCEPTION.

The Mountain Meadow Massacre happened long ago.
Church-sanctioned polygamy ended long ago.


Nevertheless: 
The LDS Church still conducts much of its business -- and all of its Temple rituals -- in secret.

Mormon cultural, economic, political, and social cohesiveness prevails today -- much of it to the benefit of all mankind.  Global relief efforts & organization.  JetBlue Airlines.  Marriott Hotels.

On the other hand:  There is also Bain Capital, for better and worse.  How many Mormons were, and still are, holding key positions there?  How big a role is the Church playing in Mitt Romney's campaign and fundraising?  How many will play top roles in a Romney administration?

V.
The New York Times, so far at least, is NOT asking these questions.
In this blog's next post, we shall analyze its latest front-page story,
"Mormons' First Families Rally Behind Romney."


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/us/politics/support-for-romney-by-old-mormon-families.html?pagewanted=all

Conservative Views from NRO & WSJ

Sun. July 22, 2012:



As promised, today's post comes from Conservative sources:


1.  Obama's "You Didn't Build That" gaffe:  It was NOT a gaffe, but a revealing look at Democrats'
authentic -- and anti-Ayn Rand --  admiration for dependency on the federal government:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310166/golden-gateway-dependency-mark-steyn

2.  Andrew McCarthy rips Senator John McCain for lambasting Michelle Bachmann and 4 other members of the House:

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310198/questions-about-huma-abedin-andrew-c-mccarthy

3.   Wall Street Journal -- "Why Obama Is Still Ahead":

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/06/27/political-wisdom-why-obamas-still-ahead/


4.  Wall Street Journal --  Science is on Fracking's Side, Not on Critics' Side:

http://online.wsj.com/article/APcef00570f618477d8e9fcb53579af91c.html?KEYWORDS=70+faces+obama+doesn%27t+want+you+to+know

GUN Control NOW? Obama, Romney, SILENCE

Sat. July 21, 2012:     

                         [Tomorrow's Post = Entirely CONSERVATIVE Sources]





[After yesterday's shooting massacre in Aurora, Colorado,
the National Rifle Association issued a statement:

"Our condolences to the victims & their families.
No further comments at this time."

So far, the only politician to even mention "a new discussion" about Gun Control has been the
Democratic Congressman representing Aurora.
Not a word from Obama.  Not a word from Romney.

                             __________________________________________

Last post mentioned bullying from the Right, cowardice from the Left.

Readers have called attention to 3 recent exceptions to the Left's cowardice -- but only in the form of
3 liberal NYT columns, from the safety of their computers:
                             __________________________________________


  I.  ON THE "FOG" FROM U.S.A.'s MEDIA "BALANCE" REGARDING POLITICS:

"Perhaps in a better world we could count on the news media to sort through the conflicting claims.  In this world, however, most voters get their news from short snippets on TV, which almost never contain substantive policy analysis.  The print media do offer analysis pieces -- but these pieces, out of a desire to seem 'balanced,' all too often simply repeat the he-said-she-said of political speeches.

Trust me:  you will see very few news analyses saying that Mr. Romney proposes huge tax cuts for the rich, with no plausible offset other than big benefit cuts for everyone else -- even though this is the simple truth.  Instead, you will see pieces reporting that 'Democrats say' that this is what Mr. Romney proposes, matched with dueling quotes from Republican sources."
                                                                                             -- Paul Krugman, "Policy & the Personal"



 II.  ON ROMNEY'S SEEMINGLY SECRETED LIFE:

"Aside from his time running the Salt Lake City Olympics, which he's happy to publicize, 
Romney's whole life, from his $250 million fortune to his tenure at the cultish Bain to his 
Mormonism, seems as though it's secreted in a hidden shelter." 
                                                                                   -- Maureen Dowd, "Who's On America's Side?"


III.  ON ROMNEY'S VEEP CANDIDATES AS BOOK AUTHORS:

"Tim Pawlenty:  'Courage to Stand' 

Pawlenty is said to have bonded with Romney when they were both passed over by John McCain in favor of Sarah Palin.  That seems like a sort of pathetic foundation on which to build a relationship,
but this book [Courage to Stand] demonstrates that the two men actually have a lot of other things in common.  


"For instance, they were both governors.  In Pawlenty's case, of Minnesota. ('Minnesota is an interesting place.')




"They are also both proud of having a lively sense of humor.  In his book, Pawlenty tells readers that once when he was introduced to a man who had just gotten a new hearing aid, he cracked up the room by 'moving my lips as if I were talking but without saying anything so he'd think something 
was wrong.' "

Do-Gooders vs. the Bullies: The Liberal Side

Fri. July 20, 2012:           [PART 2:  Bullies in Red, Wimpy Do-Gooders in Green]

The Bullies are well-represented in last week's New York Times issues.
And the Wimpy Do-Gooders sound off against them:


1.  Labelling Obama "un-American" towards entrepreneurs & "successful business people."
John Sununu:  "I wish Obama could learn to be an American."

Ad-makers in both campaigns are actually proud of their lies, because it makes them look "tough."
See Maureen Dowd, "Who's On America's Side?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/opinion/dowd-whos-on-americas-side.html

2.  Disdain for the 30,000,000 uninsured in health care.

Bill Keller, "Five Obamacare Myths"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/opinion/keller-five-obamacare-myths.html?pagewanted=all

3.  Senate Republicans filibustering to death a bill to demand transparency in political fundraising -- a point that even conservative Justice Scalia & the 2010 Citizens United 5-4 majority in the Supreme Court recommended!

NYT editorial, "The Power of Anonymity"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/opinion/the-power-of-anonymity.html
and
U.S. Campaign Finance regulations are an absolute mess:
Jonathan Weisman, Tax-Exempt Group's Election Activity Highlights Limits of Campaign Finance Rules"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/us/politics/hope-growth-and-opportunity-shows-limits-of-disclosure-rules.html


4.  Willful blindness -- despite one hot-weather crisis after another -- against curbing
carbon emissions.

Mark Bittman, "The Endless Summer"
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/the-endless-summer/

5.  Sean Hannity does a sympathetic interview with Trayvon Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, who says he's sorry for the death but does not second-guess any of his actions that night.

6.  TMZ.com this month posted a video that captured Gov. Chris Christie taunting a man who had apparently criticized the governor's battles with teachers one evening on the Jersey Shore.
As the man walked away, Mr. Christie, who was eating an ice cream cone, followed him, repeatedly hollering, "You're a real big shot" and "Keep walking," until another man put an arm around the governor and led him away.

The taunted man should have replied,
"My whole point is, I'm NOT a big shot.  You are the big shot, and you use your size to
bully the little shots who are just trying to teach New Jersey's kids."





7."If Little Else, Banker's Trial [of former midlevel banker Brian Stoker] May Show Wall St. Foolishness"

8.  SHERIFF JOE ON TRIAL!

"Five years after he started 'crime suppression' sweeps that terrorized Latino neighborhoods across Mexicopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is finally having to explain himself.
Not to TV crews in Phoenix or to fawning hosts on Fox News, but before a federal judge."