The USA Oligarchy-Austerity-Schadenfreude Thread

[MacCruiskeen]

A feast of phoniness:


(Keep a bucket handy.)

Henry Rollins identified this Ingratiation Strategy 15 years ago. Watch him tell the truth:

[justdrew]

from a google news search:

Police: Mom drunk at Chuck E. Cheese
Muncie Star Press - 12 hours ago
MUNCIE — A Muncie woman was jailed Tuesday night after she allegedly took children to the local Chuck E. Cheese restaurant while heavily intoxicated

Police Searching for Chuck E Cheese's Thief
WIBW - 3 hours ago
... in the parking lot of the Chuck E Cheese 2215 SW Wanamaker Rd. The burglary and thefts from the vehicles occurred April 2, at approximately 5:30 pm.

Man charged with exposing himself at Chuck E. Cheese
ABC2 News - 5 days ago
BEL AIR, Md. - Police arrested a 67-year-old man who witnesses say was exposing himself in the children's play area of Chuck E. Cheese in Bel Air.

Melee disrupts Matteson Chuck E. Cheese's
Chicago Sun-Times - Casey Toner - Mar 29, 2011
The Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Matteson, 106 Town Center Road, was the site of a brawl Saturday, March 26, 2011, police said. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times

Police Investigate Battery at Chuck E Cheese's
KSNT - Apr 3, 2011
Police in Topeka are investigating a battery and several car break-ins that occurred last night at Chuck E. Cheese's. Around 6:00 pm officers responded to

[MacCruiskeen]

BBC, 15 April 2011 Last updated at 20:30 GMT

Postal Service in Statue of Liberty stamp photo mix-up


A detail of the new stamp. Details shown in the stamp are more sharply defined than on the statue.

The US Postal Service regrets issuing a stamp featuring a photo of a Las Vegas casino's replica Statue of Liberty rather than the original in New York harbour, a spokesman has said.

But the postal service printed three billion of the first-class stamps and will continue to sell them, he said.

And the agency would have selected the photograph anyway, he said.

[...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13101814

The White House

[barracuda]

[Canadian_watcher]

there are... no ... words. I have..... no words.

[norton ash]

I hope the border collies can organize the rams and monkeys and go Spartacus on his ass.

[justdrew]

[Laodicean]

12-year-old Michigan girl charged with attempted robbery needed cash for family’s mortgage

An event last Friday night in Highland, Michigan—a quiet, semi-rural community 35 miles northwest of Detroit—provides a chilling glimpse of American reality. A 12-year-old girl allegedly walked into a small grocery store armed with a loaded hand gun with the aim of getting money to help her mother pay a house mortgage.

The child is in the sixth grade and turned 12 a month ago. When the attempted robbery was first reported, authorities said they would charge her as an adult, but adult charges are not currently being sought. If she had been charged with armed robbery as an adult, she could have faced up to life behind bars.

Employees at the market—who recognized her because she frequently shopped there—overpowered the girl, took away her handgun and held her down until the police arrived. She can be heard sobbing in the background on the 911 emergency call. No one was injured in the incident.

The girl, whose name has not been released, is being held at Oakland County’s Children’s Village without bond. She was charged with armed robbery during an informal arraignment over the weekend and was ordered jailed without bond, according to Oakland County Sheriff’s officials.

She faces a petition hearing April 26. The hearing is the equivalent of a preliminary hearing for adults. She will remain jailed at Children’s Village pending the petition hearing.

In addition, she faces charges of stealing a 9mm handgun from a neighbor’s house. The neighbor is an elderly man whom her family assisted with grocery shopping and other errands and so had a key to his home.

The girl’s father told the media he and his wife are currently going through a terrible divorce. One can only imagine the pressures that may be bearing down on this family.

News reports and blogs on the attempted robbery seek to blame the parents for the child’s behavior. A young girl allegedly tries to steal money to prevent losing a place to live, and this is treated primarily as a criminal matter. A family experiences serious difficulties, and not a single authority or official steps in to offer the family any help—either in the way of financial assistance or counseling services.

Highland, Michigan, on the western border of Oakland County is a pleasant area. It is a mix of open farmland, state recreation land and more than 25 lakes. But it is no more immune than any other part of the country to the current economic crisis.

An Internet search on the present state of the housing market near the grocery store the young girl allegedly tried to rob shows dozens of homes in foreclosure. Moreover, many homes in the area show drastic reductions in price as homeowners try to sell them. The majority of homes are “underwater,” that is, because of the drastic drop in value—between 20 and 35 percent—the mortgage owed is greater than the value of the home.

For example, one home near the store is described as a three-bedroom ranch with a deck and a view of the lake, and is selling for $40,590. In 2006, it sold for $133,000. Another home with three bedrooms on 1-1/2 acres of land is for sale with an asking price of $106,000. In 2005, the owners paid $232,000.

The same week as the incident in Highland, Michigan, the US Senate released a lengthy report documenting systematic criminal activity on the part of the mortgage lenders and banks, whose practices helped bring about the collapse in housing prices. Not a single senior executive at a major US bank, hedge fund, mortgage firm or insurance company has gone to jail. Not one is being held without bond.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr20 ... -a21.shtml

[vanlose kid]

re another 12 year old girl, long ago.



the Palin you don't see.



*

[Pele'sDaughter]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/news/co ... n&hpt=Sbin

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money' (Ya think?)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Lately, they're "running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.

"Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month even more than last year," Duke said. "This end-of-month [purchases] cycle is growing to be a concern.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), which averages 140 million shoppers weekly to its stores in the United States, is considered a barometer of the health of the consumer and the economy.

To that end, Duke said he's not seeing signs of a recovery yet.

With food prices rising, Duke said Wal-Mart is charging customers more for some fresh groceries while reducing prices on other merchandise such as electronics.

Wal-Mart has struggled with seven straight quarters of sales declines in its stores.

Addressing that challenge, Duke said the company made mistakes by shrinking product variety and not being more aggressive on prices compared to its competitors.

"What's made Wal-Mart great over the decades is 'every day low prices' and our [product] assortment," he said. "We got away from it."

[crikkett]

re another 12 year old girl, long ago.

Who is this guy who seems to be Russia Times' answer to Glenn Beck?
How does he feel, working for Russian TV? (probably better than the folks at CNN, which might as well be Soviet TV)

[justdrew]

what is the deal with RT ?

anyone have any idea what their exposure is like? It seems their studios are not in Russia; who's funding it?

[JackRiddler]

what is the deal with RT ?

anyone have any idea what their exposure is like? It seems their studios are not in Russia; who's funding it?

AFAIK it's the Russian version of Deutsche Welle. Or BBC International. So the Russian govt. funds foreign-language programming for an international audience. Obviously not on the same scale as Germany's or Britain's version, let alone Qatar's recent ridiculously successful entry. The extent to which it's really editorially free or on a government line will be hidden in backrooms, in the conditions of editors' contracts, and in object lessons that arrive when there is a controversy.

[Pele'sDaughter]

Oklahoma again, lol. Kern just will not learn to STFU.

http://newsok.com/kern-apologizes-for-c ... le/3562825

Rep. Sally Kern on Thursday apologized for comments she made a day earlier during a debate on affirmative action.

"I want to humbly apologize for my statements last night about African-Americans and women,” Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said in the statement. “I believe that our government should not provide preference based on race or gender. I misspoke while trying to convey this point last night during debate."

House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, said he called Kern to express his concerns, but said he will not ask her to step down.

“I told her I disagree with her comments,” Steele said. “She's done the right thing in issuing that apology.”

Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma chapter of the NAACP, said the apology is not enough. He said Kern should resign immediately.

“You cannot commit racism and then offer an apology for the racist statement that you make,” Douglas said. “The citizens of Oklahoma, the constituents can no longer stand by and allow this type of action to happen.”

Kern, who infuriated homosexuals three years ago, irritated minorities and women with her comments Wednesday night.

She said minorities earn less than white people and women earn less than men because they don't work as hard and have less initiative. She made the comments while debating for Senate Joint Resolution 15, a ballot measure that would allow the state to not abide by affirmative action guidelines.

Kern, who drew fire three years ago when she said the homosexual agenda is a bigger threat than terrorism or Islam to America, said equal opportunity should be based on ability regardless of color and gender.

“What about personal initiative? What about personal drive? What about hard work?” she asked. “Doesn't that enter in somewhere?

“It's character that ought to count,” she said.

After Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, argued against the measure partly because one in four black males are in prison or on some type of probation, Kern said, “Is this just because they're black that they're in prison or could it be because they didn't want to work hard in school?

“I taught school for 20 years and I saw a lot of people of color who didn't want to work as hard,” she said, reading from notes. “They wanted it given to them.”

Kern said she didn't worry about equal pay during her career. She said some studies show women are underpaid, but when actual hours worked and work hazards are factored in, women earn more than men.

“Women usually don't want to work as hard as a man,” Kern said. “Women tend to think a little bit more about their family, wanting to be at home more time, wanting to have a little more leisure time.

“I'm not saying women don't work hard,” she said. “Women like ... to have a moderate work life with plenty of time for spouse and children and other things like that. They work very hard but sometimes they aren't willing to commit their whole life to their job like a lot of men do.”

Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, one of the youngest members of the Legislature, said discrimination still occurs against women. She said she and her brother applied for home loans about the same time; her loan took longer to process and she had to make a larger down payment.

“I don't want a handout and I don't think any woman does,” she said.

Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, D-Tulsa, said, “I don't believe women have reached their equal rights in Oklahoma.”

SJR 15 would ask people to vote on barring discrimination by state agencies. It would prohibit any official action that discriminates against or gives preferential treatment to minority communities. Set-asides, which favor contract bids made by firms owned by minorities, would be illegal under the proposal.

The House passed the measure 59-14. It now goes to the secretary of state's office to be placed on the November 2012 general election ballot.

Rep. T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, who presented the measure, said it's fundamentally unfair to have two separate standards. Affirmative action policies send a wrong message to minorities, he said.

“It's not the remedy it was proposed to be and it's time to move past,” he said.

Morrissette said it wasn't that long ago — 1965 — when separate water fountains were in place for blacks and whites. “Let's call it what it is,” he said of the measure. “Garbage.”

[norton ash]

Superman announced today in Action Comics #900 that he is renouncing his US citizenship.

http://boingboing.net/2011/04/27/superm ... ces-h.html