Today's popular content
- The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform (75)
- Resources for Investigating ALEC/NRA Gun Bills (67)
- Wisconsin’s System Increasingly Rigged Against the Unemployed (60)
- Wisconsin Bill Would Treat Organic Milk, Sharp Cheddar, Brown Eggs as "Junk Food" (51)
- Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security (39)
- About ALEC Exposed (34)
- Harold Camping's Global Apocalypse PR Campaign (30)
- PBS Killed Wisconsin Uprising Documentary "Citizen Koch" To Appease Koch Brothers (29)
- More Corporations Drop Off ALEC's Conference Brochure (29)
- Why Do We Need Health Care Reform? Don't Ask George Will (24)
Readers' Comments
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Submitted by: AndrewG
I agree- if GMO salmon is approved, I will give up salmon for the rest of my life. No questions asked.
Maybe we could spread this idea (not that more people haven't already decided this).
How inspiring that citizens of modest means are so eager to make a small but heartfelt contribution to institutions that do the fat cats' bidding, and that said fat cats could easily afford to fund all by themselves without any help from the little guy. Remarkable!
It restores my faith in...uh...it restores my faith in something, anyway. :-)
"Why do they keep electing them?" ... uh... you realize that the point of gerrymandering is to prevent the voters from being represented fairly, right? If it was as simple as majority rule with fair district lines, they wouldn't elect these crooks.
Re:" When you point out that you can't continue on this path of debt creation to stimulate jobs, because govt. created jobs are paid for by taxes paid by private business and private workers,..."
is the tax payer myth.
The govt creates money but businesses use money.
Only deficit funding grows the economy and after 1971 USA is free to deficit spend without restrictions of the old balance
(tax = spending - "govt_debt"),
and change to the new balance
(Federal Deficits = Net Private Savings+ net imports).
Govt and private sector are on opposite sides of the equation.
In short, (govt debt) is (peoples' anti-debt) and (govt surplus) is (peoples anti-surplus)!
USA does not need to depend on taxes to fund anything. All deficits end up as private wealth anyway. All the above have been proved with real data from the treasury and fed.
http://pshakkottai.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/cumulative-deficit-vs-household-net-worth/
The debt ceiling is totally imaginary after 1971 even though it gives an opportunity to the congress to do nothing.
If spending is cut and taxes increased, the economy will suffer a depression.I repeat once more: Govt debt is peoples' savings. People own the money and collect interest. The govt has borrowed the money from itself and has to do NOTHING. The fed and treasury are both arms of the govt. See this plot of deficit vs. GDP in
http://pshakkottai.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/188/
Did R&R use the old balance in addition to cooking excel?
When media report on inept or corrupt government agencies or corporations, why not name names, so that readers know specifically who the members of those agencies or corporations are. Personal embarrassment may be a stronger motivator than the remote threat of legal action is.
I am interested in getting involved with you in AZ. I found out about ALEC months ago. Google: AZ Secretary of State, Left Hand side, hit legislative filings then hit 2012. I recently got done with a year and a half case in El Mirage, AZ. I ran a red and instead of ticketing me for it, they impounded by car after a blowing a .000 back, took blood, gave me a DUI, and then six months later, came and charged me with two counts of an illegal drug charge. No evidence. I have legal background and it was all fabricated. All about money and they are all in it together. So let me know. It also goes into the corporations, I have a lot of information about it all. Can't find a righteous attorney here if my life depended on it. I finally told them to throw me in jail and then the prosecutor came flying to cut a deal with my attorney and it was done. Would love to come after them. It is all about money. Have other court cases, but as said can't find anyone not in the ALEC pocket.
Very Sincerely and God Bless
and don't forget how he is selling our beautiful, pristine northern woods to a Florida mining company, which has already polluted Illinois. None of us was asked.
The people of WIs. did not vote for any of these jerks. ALEC and the koch bros. and the devos family got them in through gerrymandering, suppressing votes, rigging the machines, all with twit romney's help. So don't be blaming us voters for this shit. We hate them more than you do.
Update --- April 27th .2013.
Pictet & Cie Bank ---- List of Crimes.
1996 ----- F.S.A--- Breach in London.
2003 ---- F.S.A. -- States rogues operating in Pictet's London office. Ivan Pictet states that their documents were forgeries but were later proved to be genuine in the British Courts.( Ivan Pictet a proven liar) He had documents destroyed in their London office hoping to hide the crimes.
2007 .- - - The Securities and Exchange Surveillance issued a recommendation that the Prime Minister and The Commissioner of the FSA to take disciplinary action against Pictet Asset Management – Japan Ltd.
2008 .-- Dec. - Pictet Bank state - " We have never chosen any funds linked to Madoff.
2011 - - - Madoff Trustees sue Pictet & Cie. Bank for $156 ,000,000.( They lied again.)
2011- - - Pictet & Cie abetted a Bribery Scheme - Oil company sues Pictet for $350,000,000.
2012 - - - April – Geneva Bank Pictet used in Offshore Tax Scheme. ( USA.)
2012 -- - June. -- Published in Anglo INFO .Geneva.--- USA Trust Fund Investors were sent false and fraudulent documents by Pictet Bank in order to collect large fees. ( Like MADOFF)
Even after the SEC in the USA uncovered the fraud Pictet continued to charge fees and drain whatever was left in these accounts. Estimated that $90,000,000 lost in this Pictet Ponzi scheme.
2012 - - - July. -- De – Spiegel. -- states – Pictet Bank uses a letterbox company in Panama and a tax loophole involving investments in London to gain German millionaires as clients.
2012 - - - August ---- German Opposition Leader accuses Swiss Banks of "organised crime."
2013 --- Jan.--- Swiss MP' table motion to freeze Tiab Mahmud's assets of " criminal origins"
held in Swiss banks – $18,000,000. million held in 5 accounts at Pictet & Cie. Bank. Bahamas.
2013 -- The bank is now seeking to re-structure -- to cut the partners liability – hoping to off load their decades of criminal responsibilty – and protect their personal ill gotten wealth.. The Germans are right -- the bankers should go to prison if found guilty of financial crimes..
( Madoff got 150 years in prison --- why are the Pictet partners still at large.)
Ironically the Pictet & Cie.Bank partners are bigger criminals than the criminals who have accounts in the their bank.
Pictet & Cie Bank.--- Partners ---- (1996 --- 2013) --- Guilty.
Peters & Peters --- Partners ---- (1996 ---- 2013) --- Guilty.
The bank and it's officials/lawyers deliberately withheld crucial documents requested under a High Court Order. They also withheld evidence from the Police.
One of Pictet's accounts managers Susan Broadhead gave a false witness statement to the police. The banks Head of Alternative Investments --- Nicholas Campiche – concocted a letter pretending to be a client and closed his account.
The senior partner Ivan Pictet sought to have numerous crucial documents destroyed along with copies held in their London offices of Pictet Asset Management. Initially stating that these documents were forgeries.
Their lawyers – Peters & Peters . London --- lead by Monty Raphael Q.C. --- and the barrister Charles Flint Q.C. had to embarrassingly in Court admit that the documents were indeed genuine.
British Parliament. -- Hansard.
Barry Sheerman. M.P. -- quote:
" Constituents of mine have lost £2,000.000 through fraud. The fraudster used Pictet & Cie a French bank --- and Pictet Asset Management to back the fraud being perpetrated."
Both Ivan Pictet and Monty Raphael Q.C. conspired to withhold crucial documents requested by the High Court -- the F.S.A.-- and the Police Fraud Squad.
Written Parliamentary Questions received by the table office.
To ask the secretary of state what steps he is taking to ensure that Swiss Banks such as Pictet & Cie do not evade criminal prosecution under EU law even when the illegal act is committed by a London based subsidiary.
To ask the secretary of state what steps he his taking to protect the rights of U.K. Citizens who seek redress following criminal activities by Swiss banks with subsidiary offices located in London.
*** The consensus of opinion is that Pictet & Cie Bank should be prosecuted and that their U.K. Banking licence should be taken away.
*** Their solicitors at Peters & Peters .London - " Struck off and prosecuted."
In America they would have all been in prison for the last seven years.
Quote.( Top American Lawyer.):
" You can be the richest man in the world with the best lawyers that money can buy but you cannot win against a man who has got nothing left to lose and is telling the truth."
Full Story. --- Search --- Google or Yahoo.
Ivan Pictet. Banker.
Charles Pictet. Banker.
Nicolas Pictet. Banker.
Renaud de Planta.Banker.
Francois Demole. Banker.
Jacques de Saussure.Banker.
Philippe Bertherat. Banker.
I was debating whether or not to donate to SPN, since I had never heard of them before. Having read this piece, I'm assured that SPN will use my donation in a way of which I will approve.
My thanks to PR Watch.
If we don't know about the evading corporations and their methods of evasion how or why would we contact Congress?
You missed the point. This article and the website it links to gives citizens the information necessary to contact Congress with facts.
And your comment is nothing but unsupported characterizations and sweeping generalities. Would you care to name some of these "tremendous benefits to the 'enviornment'"?
Frankly, you sound like a flack who gets paid per comment posted.
They had to fight to get information released because something is being hidden. If all is well with GMO'S and
GMO's are safe and beneficial then there would be nothing to hide. We are supposedly given choice in this country
And even if GMO's are safe, I still have the right to know. It would seem a simple argument, why any argument at all, seems like a no brainer. The people want to know what's in their food, let them know, period. As far as the fish, you can eat Alll you like. If this salmon gets through, I vow to never eat any kind of salmon ever again, and I have that choice.
Madison always seems to be ahead of the game. I only wish we had such a progressive city to lead on issues in our state.
I understand that sounds reasonable on the surface, "debt crisis." However, it isn't what happens in real life. In real life, perhaps oddly and unlike household debt, national debt (which is borrowed at interest close to 0%, you know) takes care of itself. For example, remember the WWII debt? It shrank all by itself, and recently just disappeared through a crack in the floor.
The 1% has made a good thing for themselves out of saying, "If your household ran a deficit...," and gotten everyone who is not a mathematician or a reputable economist nodding. They are hoping you won't notice that national debt and household debt behave nothing alike, and are in many ways adverse in their behavior.
By the way, since there is no debt crisis, you might want to think about getting a different handle before someone notices that fact, and you disappear in a poof.
Nowhere in this piece is information stating specification of the state or university you are referring to. Please enlighten us. I am assuming that it is the U. of Wisconsin @ Madison, but others may not be aware of the institution, and can't count on the accuracy of the article without definite confirmation of the details.
Thanks.
@ "Mark"
Only about 11% of American workers belong to a union and the unions, it seems, have had little to no effect on the increase in income inequality and the increase in wealth inequality in the United States. The wealth and income at the very top of our society just keeps increasing while the bottom 80%, union and non-union continue to lose wealth and income.
Who Rules America: Where the Wealth is Concentrated in the U. S.
In the United States in 2010, the most recent data available:
The top one(1) percent own 42% of the privately held financial assets.
The top five(5) percent own 72% of the privately held financial assets.
The top ten(10) percent own 80% of the privately held financial assets.
The top twenty(20) percent own 95% of the privately held financial assets.
The bottom eighty(80) percent own 5% of the privately held financial assets.
The bottom forty(40) percent have no financial assets.
You say people need to "stop being so reactionary and instead try and understand the facts to make an informed opinion," yet offer no facts yourself. People would do well to avoid speakers such as this.
Did you miss the part where the computers were taken off-site to Michael Best & Friedrich?? Even if there was an auto backup for the State, it wouldn't extend to MBF. I'm so sick of the "both sides do it" argument. At least Dems most Dems take responsibility for their conduct and criticize their own. GOP simply continues to lie and coverup.
It is pretty ironic that the mantra for PRWatch is "reporting on spin and disinformation". This article is nothing but spin and disinformation. You present only the anti-GM side of the debate. The statements made by these politicians and anti-GM organizations are not scientifically sound. They are making it up as they go along. When will people stop being so reactionary and instead try and understand the facts to make an informed opinion? GM technology has provided tremendous benefits to the enviornment already. Why not expand this to animal production?
DD,
I'm so sorry to hear about the decline in the bee population in your yard. I think the best place to go to learn what pesticides might be on/in your nursery plants would be the nursery. They may redirect you to their supplier, but it would be a trail to follow. As the article points out, the issue of the decline in bee populations is a complex one, and neonicotinoid pesticides are not the only alleged cause. But more studies are discovering links between their use and decline in bee colony health. I hope that helps a little. Best of luck!
Bekah
I wonder if these same legislators would agree that all shareholders of a corporation should have full disclosure and a voice in where the political contributions of that corporation are to be spent...and an opt-out on their dividends checks.
After reading about how nursery plants are soaked in pesticides on Friends of the Earth site foe.org, I wrote asking some questions. Maybe some of you here could help? I’m not sure where to look to find the answers, so even directing me to a site would be helpful!
Here’s what happened:
We had thousands of bees visiting our yard in Tucson, AZ. Most of these bees live in the ground. A couple of years ago when the city dug up the alley, the bee population was immediately reduced to just a few hundred bees. Now this year there are only about TWELVE BEES!
More might come, but these bees were counted when our citrus trees were in bloom – Bees used to swarm our two trees every year!
I read recently that nursery plants are practically drowned in pesticides. I am an idiot and didn’t know this before, and thought all of my organic gardening habits for the last 8 years were helping, but I have planted stuff from nurseries.
Questions:
Could my plants be killing bees?
I recently bought plants from a nursery, should I dig them up and get rid of them?
What about the plants from years ago, are they still poisoning wildlife?
Are their seeds poisonous?
Are plants that have grown from those seeds poisonous?
What about the dirt? Is the dirt from the seedlings I bought poisoning the ground? (We also have toads that spend about 11 months out of the year hibernating underground.)
Do I need to dig up the dirt and get rid of it?
Is the groundwater and the whole area that was watered around these plants poisoned?
Seriously, if you could direct me ANYWHERE or have ANY answers, I would be extremely appreciative. I did notice this in the comment section, “The neonics get into the soil and dust goes into the field margins. All that operation pollinator will do is attract pollinators to high toxic crops and margins. The half life of some neonics exceeds the 120 days set by the EU. Even Bayer admit imidicloprid has a half life of 288 days, IF you remove the toxic agricultural waste product (formaly known as stubble) from the field.”
It makes me think I *should* dig up the recently plants, but I’m not sure what pesticides are doused on nursery plants.
Thanks for ANY help,
DD
It's obvious you've never worked for Wisconsin government. There isn't any auto backup, it's entirely at the individual's discretion. Some computers/servers, say at DOA are probably backed up automatically, but for individual offices, sorry, no. Same goes for email. There are three tiers. Employees of the state are required to keep certain emails for up to two/three years, some for a year and some others for only six months (I'm not certain about the exact time frames). And again, it's totally up to the individual. The only way anyone would get caught not following the email procedures would be if they were summoned with a FOIA request and didn't have emails accordingly. Sounds to me this is the case here. But I will reserve judgment because I know exactly how screwy/scary Wisconsin government is.
As the former president of an AFSCME local in the public sector and a current non-member, I witnessed numerous tactics used by unions to avoid the rights under Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292, 310 (1986) and Massachusetts law, viz, G.L. c. 150E.
By far, however, the most successful tactic involved the union and employer – at the time of hire - deceiving workers into believing that the required agency service fee must be paid through payroll deductions by conflating payment of an agency fee with payment through payroll deductions. The union, thus, evades the mandatory (in Massachusetts) written notice of demand for payment of the agency service fee and the accompanying information required under 456 Code Mass. Regs. § 17.00.
Another tactic is to not issue an annual Hudson notice to non-members or issue a notice in a Lilliputian font that the non-member cannot read with the naked eye.
If the non-member is persistent, however, the union and employer engage in a conspiracy of silence and only respond to the non-member, if and when litigation arises – knowing that few workers will spend thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to recoup less than a hundred in overpaid agency service fees.