Elizabeth Warren running for Senate to ‘f*ck some sh*t up’

Scott Brown is soooo wrong about Liz! Get them clothes off, baby! Here, let me help... Ohhhhh...

Via Raw Story>:

Corporate Court Cockblocks Consumers

From YubaNet:

WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 11, 2011 - Alliance for Justice today released a report exposing repeated and aggressive efforts by the conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court to radically rewrite the laws governing arbitration in order to shield corporations from liability.

Arbitration Activism: How the Corporate Court Helps Business Evade Our Civil Justice System details ways in which the Supreme Court's rulings in cases like AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion and Rent-a-Center West v. Jackson have "allowed big business to abuse forced arbitration contracts, building up a privatized legal system that robs everyday Americans of the chance to be heard by an impartial judge and jury." The Court's actions can ripple through the legal system in a very short time, and the report tracks the harmful impact that the AT&T case has already had on civil and employment rights and constitutional protections in the five months since it was decided.

The Corporate Court's rulings have systematically distorted existing federal law, allowed corporations to establish arbitration procedures that free themselves from class liability, and have removed many legal disincentives for corporate misbehavior. Most importantly, the Roberts Court has willfully undermined the fundamental principle that all Americans should have access to the courts, ensuring that all parties stand equal before the law.

[...] "Our nation is facing a crisis where our most cherished notions of fairness and the rule of law are being slowly chipped away by those who seek to concentrate all power in the hands of giant corporations and financial institutions. The aggressive expansion of forced arbitration by this Supreme Court is just one more example of how even the most routine aspects of our lives, from signing up for a cell phone or applying for a job, are being rigged to favor business interests and to disempower everyday Americans. We call on Congress to restore fairness and balance to the system of resolving consumer, employment, and civil rights disputes, before it is too late."

Fat fuckin' chance. The one-third of government that cannot be elected out and from which there is no recourse is firmly in corporate hands. We're screwed. The Corps. paid for it and they're getting it.

The report is attached and available for download here.

Schadenfreude of the Day

Tennessee sponsor of guns-in-bars bill arrested for DUI with gun

Police said that Tennessee state Rep. Curry Todd (R) was pulled over at around 11:15 p.m. in Nashville, according to WSMV-TV . Officers found a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 Special hidden between the driver’s seat and center console.

An affidavit charged that the lawmaker was “almost falling down at times” and “obviously very impaired and not in any condition to be carrying a loaded handgun.”

Heh. Shoulda made DUI legal while you wuz at it, Sparky. Probly coulda done it - hey, Kansas just made wife-beating legal.

Heh ...

Been saying this for years:

Pic stolen from my friend Evelyn on the Facebook.

Quote of the Day

This lady:

Na-na ...

Na-na-na-na, hey, hey, hey, good bye!

Cowardly Geraldo runs away:

Big tip o' the Brain bucket to Watertiger for the video.

It's cheaper ...

To buy it than stop it. Our pal Montag makes far more sense than the Obama administration's Afghanistan policy does:

...

By these numbers, the entire crop could be purchased for about $560 Million which is far less than we spend each year to stop Afghan poppy cultivation. And if we left them alone and bought all their crop each year they would be much happier and friendlier to us than they are now. And it would be much cheaper.

I'm glad ...

They got these idiots before innocent Americans got hurt, but I certainly don't give a god damn if they assassinate some Saudi prince. In fact, I encourage the Iranians to do more of that, just not here.

Tuesday blahs...

Lotsa shit goin' on as usual but nothing's blowin' my skirt up. Yawn. Best thing so far is:

PORN GIRL BLOWS STATE TROOPER (video)

She got the ticket anyway. Heh.

Busy, busy ...

Trying to take care of most of the shit I let slide while I was on jury duty. Later.

Now THAT'S crash protection!

Inside the Shadow Economy

Salon

Employers’ new ruse: “Independent contractors”

This is nothing "new". I was a motorcycle mechanic for most of my working life. I've worked at large dealerships and two-man operations, which were by far the more fun of the two.

The dealerships played by all the rules - paychecks, deductions, maybe some benefits. The bikes came in broken and left fixed. Yawn.

The small indie shops were the best! Health plan? Drag ya out inta the street and call 911. The only bennie was unlimited use of the ubiquitous "stoner bench". Heh. General ambiance was loose and freewheeling. The bikes came in broken and left fixed. Whee!

The only "paperwork" was the transfer of some small pieces of green paper from the boss's hand to mine on payday or right after the customer had paid his bill. Short and sweet "paper trail". Untraceable and tax-free to whatever extent you chose. One guess as to that choice. Heh.

That's the reason I only get $577 per month Social Security. Oh, well...

There was nothing so formal as any declaration of "independent contractor". It was the way we wanted it and it's the way it was. Cash on the barrelhead. Next case. Hey, if the gummint had gotten its hands dirty fixin' bikes, we'da kicked 'em some down. Fair's fair, but they never showed up.

The "underground" or "shadow" economy appears to be alive and well. The real American Way!

B of A and their cronies lurk just outside your wallet...

US Senator Dick Durbin Tells Americans to Boycott the Bank of America for Ripping Off Customers

Lemme tell ya another unethical thing BofA did just last week.

My computer techs took McAfee virus protection off my computer for some obscure (to me, that's what they're there for) reason and installed another one they liked better that didn't cost anything. Fine with me.

I had agreed to a deal with McAfee that renewed the anti-virus service automatically. That's standard. You have to go out of your way to cancel it and that's the way they want it.

The credit card I used was from (shame) BofA. I don't like sending money to BofA and haven't used it in years and it expired early in the year. When I got the request from McAfee for a new expiration date, I ignored it and thought that would end it. I had received a new card from BofA but never called to activate it. I didn't close the account on the theory that I might need it someday.

I had this credit card I couldn't use because it had expired and I never activated the new one. Ya get that, right?

So imagine my surprise to get a statement from BofA with a $49.99 charge from, guess who, McAfee. I can't charge anything on the card, but McAfee can. Nice. They can call BofA who happily gave up a new expiration date without my permission.

I called McAfee and had them reverse the charge, which the guy was a little reluctant to do until I brought up the fact that I thought it was highly unethical of both them and BofA to do what they had done. I have the feeling that he'd heard this before.

Later that day, McAfee actually called us on the telephone. Mrs. G took the call. They wanted to know why we didn't want the service any more. She told them we had one that was just as good that didn't cost anything and also that we felt it was unethical for them and BofA to do what they had done with my un-activated expired credit card. The McAfee person said they "worked closely with the credit card companies". Yeah, Willie Sutton "worked closely" with banks too. Robbing them at gunpoint was more honest than the way they do business.

Until I get another BofA statement showing that 50 bucks as well and truly reversed, I'm keeping this credit card account, expired and unusable to all but Big Corpora, open. The day I get it, I'm gonna close that account so fast it'll make their heads spin. Like they'll even notice.

Banks and Big Biz are always looking for new ways into your wallet in barely legal and seldom ethical ways. Close one door, they blow a hole in the wall next to it and continue pumping.

Occupy Wall St., anyone?

Panic of the Plutocrats

Paul Krugman

It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.

And this reaction tells you something important — namely, that the extremists threatening American values are what F.D.R. called “economic royalists,” not the people camping in Zuccotti Park.

The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is.

What’s going on here? The answer, surely, is that Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. [...]
...

This special treatment can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny. Anyone who points out the obvious, no matter how calmly and moderately, must be demonized and driven from the stage. In fact, the more reasonable and moderate a critic sounds, the more urgently he or she must be demonized, hence the frantic sliming of Elizabeth Warren.

So who’s really being un-American here? Not the protesters, who are simply trying to get their voices heard. No, the real extremists here are America’s oligarchs, who want to suppress any criticism of the sources of their wealth.

That slight scraping noise you hear is the sound of pitchforks and scythes being sharpened...

(Big smiley face with a killer look in its eyes)

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

CLASS WARFARE BREAKS OUT ACROSS COUNTRY
Rich, outnumbered 99 to 1, fight on heroically.

To Save Money Topeka, Kansas May Stop Prosecuting Domestic Violence Cases
Hopes it can attract tax-paying Americans to move there and beat their wives.

Romney's Mormon Faith Gives Evangelical Christians Pause
Not sure his wacky beliefs jibe with their wacky beliefs.

New Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Arkansas
Near Steven Spielberg's ranch.

The one you've been waiting for...

A little about my LAST trial of the year at Fixer & Gordon.

Who else?

Dr. Krugman on the Occupy Wall Street protests:

...

There will, of course, be the usual attempts to dismiss the whole thing based on trivialities. Look at the oddly dressed people acting out! So? Is it better when exquisitely tailored bankers whose gambles brought the world economy to its knees — and who were bailed out by taxpayers — whine that President Obama is saying slightly mean things about them?

Or, why don’t they try to work within the system? Well, how’s that been going for those who did indeed try? When palace intrigue undermined the likes of Elizabeth Warren even within the Obama administration, and Republicans have thrown their full backing behind the malefactors of great wealth, why shouldn’t protesters go outside the usual channels?

...

Americans, unlike what the conservatives portray them as (white, Midwestern, Christian), are all sorts. A note to our politicians: The "real Americans" are out in the streets in your cities and towns and they come in every color and every type of dress. Disregard them at your peril.

Figures ...

Our local dope has something to say:

Pic stolen from our friends PE Nolan and Jersey Guy on the Facebook. Click to make big.

This from a known terrorist.

Quote of the Day

Drifty, as he disassembles Bobo Brooks once again:

...

For last 40 years, Mr. Brooks' Party and Movement have sprinted flat-out, full-tilt into the embrace of hucksters and demagogues who traffic in nothing more than "obscurantism and illiteracy, raised to the level of dogma". Have preached nothing but a doctrine of remaining "as ignorant today as you were yesterday" from every pulpit and husting and media megaphone, while keeping the Pig People in a constant state of terror that the woods are indeed not only just full of "monsters and aliens" but their dirty Commie Liberals with whom they are who are in league with.

...

We are ...

The 99%.