Don't be confused, and don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't talk about this. TO BE CLEAR: THE PUBLIC HAS BOTH THE RIGHT TO INSPECT BALLOTS AND THE RIGHT TO A SECRET BALLOT
We have a right to BOTH. Some election officials have been conflating these two issues, claiming that if we examine ballots we can see how people voted. Now, this raises a stunning question: If this is so, that means that election officials and vendors can also figure out how you voted.
We all need to grab a cleaver and chop these two rights into the two distinct rights that they are. The right to inspect; the right to privacy.
Black Box Voting: Judge Threatens Gag Order On Effort To Restore Privacy Of Ballot
Prairie2: Blood and Feathers
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is after the our friends over at JP Morgan Chase for rigging wholesale electricity prices to the tune of $73m. You thought that activity went away with the collapse of Enron? These crooks will steal anything that isn’t nailed down, well okay, they will pry up the nails too.
They aren’t the only people the FERC has been going after, Obama was delayed in appointing people by Republicans in the Senate, but things are finally starting to happen.
The Anger Agenda – Don’t Fall For It
We’re all pissed off in some form or another. No question. No one can sit idly by with any level of consciousness and not be ticked off by the insanity, inequities and atrocities going on around us. That’s righteous anger and there’s nothing wrong with it.
But we must keep it in its place.
The targeted audience? The general populace is being set up and baited for violent response.
Bob Alexander: Hooray! We Won Something ... Maybe.
Before the Affordable Care Act came to pass almost fifty million Americans were uninsured. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld President Obama's signature health care law … 26 million Americans will remain uninsured. But how many more millions of Americans can barely afford the coverage they now have?
Depending on your personal outlook on life … the glass is half full or half empty. But who wants a sip? Where I live it is unimaginable that people can’t afford health coverage. it is unthinkable that a person can’t get health care.
Prairie2: Fungus is predictable, it grows from rotten things
Markets Crash as the Obamacare Tax Increase is Approved by the Liberal Court, this was the screaming headline on the so-called news from the right. The markets did take a big plunge before clawing back, but it probably had to do with it leaking out that JP Morgan’s losses aren’t $2 billion as reported. Current internal estimates put the losses at $9 billion, and there’s no guarantee that is even close to the actual size of this cash hemorrhage.
When we say “too big to fail“, that’s not what we mean exactly.
Black Box Voting: Colorado Supreme Court Decision Assures That Ballots Remain Public Records
The Colorado Supreme Court's decision has reaffirmed that election ballots are open public records. As a result, the public will be able to verify that untraceable votes are accurately interpreted and counted. This decision comes as election officials are preparing for the 2012 presidential election.
In September, 2011, the Colorado Appeals Court ruled that ballots are indeed open public records. The City filed requested that the Colorado Supreme Court reverse the decision. The Supreme Court has now decided not to hear the Koch v. Marks case. The Court chose to end the controversy in favor of election transparency.
Barclays Execs Get No Criminal Charges for International Manipulation of Interest Rates, But You Can Go to Jail for Smoking Pot
Okay, so the Associated Press (AP) just reported that "Barclays and its subsidiaries have agreed to pay more than $450 million to settle charges that it tried to manipulate key global interest rates."
That might seem like a lot of money, but remember that this is basically the shareholders of the bank footing the bill for criminal actions of the bank officers. According to the AP:
- The rates affect the costs of hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans and investments such as bonds, auto loans and derivatives.
- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Wednesday that the incidents occurred between 2005 and 2009 and sometimes took place daily.
- The CFTC said Barclays senior management and multiple traders were involved and that they coordinated with traders at other banks to make false submissions.
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