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REPORT: Emerging Culture of Paranoia

Obama Derangement Syndrome epidemic on conservative airwaves

Summary: Conservative media have directed their violent, doomsday, and anti-intellectual rhetoric at progressives in power, and specifically at President Obama, whom fake populists in conservative media depict as a threat to their audience's very way of life.Â

In recent months, the violent, doomsday, and anti-intellectual rhetoric that has long been a staple of conservative media has taken a notable turn in at least three significant ways: previously confined to the right-wing media fringe, the rhetoric is now a constant across the full spectrum of conservative media; it is louder and meaner, with conservative media figures appealing overtly to feelings of anger and paranoia in their audience; and it is focused, tied to the specific political aim of undermining the Obama administration and the Congress.

None other than David Horowitz notes "an interesting phenomenon on the Right, which is beginning to cause me concern": "the over-top-hysteria in response to the first months in office of our new president." Horowitz calls this "hysteria" "Obama Derangement Syndrome."

Indeed, the rise of anti-government speech -- and the explosion of anti-Obama rhetoric -- on right-wing radio, Fox News, and among conservatives in other media outlets tracks directly with the arrival of the new administration and its broad efforts to address the myriad and interlocking problems confronting the country. Rather than engaging in substantive policy analysis and critique, the Glenn Becks, Sean Hannitys, and Rush Limbaughs of radio and television insult their audience with simplistic attacks on Obama and his administration's initiatives.

Far from informing the public, Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, and numerous others on Fox News and elsewhere launch attacks at Obama, progressives, and their policy proposals with accusations of any one or more "isms" that bear no relationship to reality or even to each other.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200904130024?f=h_top

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Obama Taps 5th RIAA Lawyer to Justice Dept.

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By David KravetsÂ

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President Barack Obama is tapping another RIAA attorney into the Justice Department.

Monday's naming of Ian Gershengorn, to become the department's deputy assistant attorney of the Civil Division, comes more than a week after nearly two-dozen public interest groups, trade pacts and library coalitions urged the new president to quit filling his administration with lawyers plucked from the Recording Industry Association of America.

The move makes it five RIAA lawyers Obama has appointed to the Justice Department.

Gershengorn, left, a partner with RIAA-firm Jenner & Block, represented the labels against Grokster (.pdf) and will be in charge of the DOJ Federal Programs Branch. That's the unit that just told a federal judge the Obama administration supports monetary damages as high as $150,000 per purloined music track on a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

In addition to Gershengorn, the other Jenner & Block attorneys appointed to the Justice Department include:

*Donald Verrilli, associate deputy attorney general — the No. 3 in the DOJ, who unsuccessfully urged a federal judge to uphold the $222,000 file sharing verdict against Jammie Thomas.

*Tom Perrilli, as Verrilli's former boss, the Justice Department's No. 2 argued in 2002 that internet service providers should release customer information to the RIAA even without a court subpoena.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/obama-taps-fift.html

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Goldman Sachs hires law firm to shut blogger's site

Goldman Sachs is attempting to shut down a dissident blogger who is extremely critical of the investment bank, its board members and its practices.

By James Quinn

The bank has instructed Wall Street law firm Chadbourne & Parke to pursue blogger Mike Morgan, warning him in a recent cease-and-desist letter that he may face legal action if he does not close down his website.

Florida-based Mr Morgan began a blog entitled "Facts about Goldman Sachs" – the web address for which is goldmansachs666.com – just a few weeks ago.

In that time Mr Morgan, a registered investment adviser, has added a number of posts to the site, including one entitled "Does Goldman Sachs run the world?". However, many of the posts relate to other Wall Street firms and issues.

According to Chadbourne & Parke's letter, dated April 8, the bank is rattled because the site "violates several of Goldman Sachs' intellectual property rights" and also "implies a relationship" with the bank itself.

Unsurprisingly for a man who has conjoined the bank's name with the Number of the Beast – although he jokingly points out that 666 was also the S&P500's bear-market bottom – Mr Morgan is unlikely to go down without a fight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/5137489/Goldman-Sachs-hires-law-firm-to-shut-bloggers-site.html

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Has Cheney been Murdering Americans?

by Jim Fetzer

The stunning revelation from our nation's premiere investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, that Vice President Dick Cheney was running an "executive assassination ring" directly under his control and outside of the normal chain of command has raised the specter that the Vice President of the United States may have been murdering Americans. As a scholar who has invested a considerable effort in the investigation of the death of US Senator Paul Wellstone, this comes as no surprise. I and other experts with whom I have collaborated long since concluded that the crash that took his life and those of his wife, daughter, three aides and two pilots was brought about deliberately, where Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Karl Rove are the principal suspects. Other cases in which assassination appears all too probable include those of NFL star Pat Tillman and of 9/11 activist Beverly Eckert.

According to Paul Joseph Watson, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) did not originate with Cheney but was founded in 1980, which suggests that it may have been initiated by our then-Vice President George H. W. Bush, a former Director of the CIA. It consists primarily of Delta Force soldiers and SEALs, who are stationed at Pope Air Force Base and at Fort Bragg, NC. According to Watson, this assassination unit is still active under President Obama. The very existence of an operation of this kind raises questions of the utmost seriousness about democracy in America. What has become of this country when the expression of your political convictions and the pursuit of what you think best for this nation runs the risk of bringing about your termination? When our elected officials, like Hitler and Stalin, have the power to decide whether we live or die depending on their whims, this country has ceased to be the home of the brave or the land of the free.

Outing an "Executive Assassination Ring"

The story broke on Minn Post.com (March 11, 2009), when Eric Black wrote of a "Great Conversations" even at the University of Minnesota, where, during the question and answer session, Hersh reported not only that the CIA has been "deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state" but that a special unit of our military called the JSOC was set up independently of the normal chain of command, reporting only to the Vice President and to neither the Joint Chiefs or even the Secretary of Defense: "Congress has no oversight of it," Hersh explained. "It's an executive assassination ring essentially, and it's been going on and on and on.… Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the Ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on in the name of all of us."

If the only targets were foreign terrorists who were threatening to attack the United States, of course, many Americans might be sympathetic and even forgiving. But, after publishing ten news columns, co-authoring a book, and following up with an expert in extending the scope of my research about the death of Senator Paul Wellstone, it would not surprise me whatsoever that Dick Cheney deployed one of these JSOC teams to bring about his death.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Has-Cheney-been-Murdering-by-Jim-Fetzer-090408-987.html

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Wash. farmworker complex could serve as model

By RICK STEIGMEYER

MALAGA, Wash. -- A new seasonal farmworker housing development near Malaga - government financed, but grower owned - may be the answer to the decades-old question of how best to house migrant farmworkers needed to pick local tree fruit crops.

The Sage Bluff Seasonal Farmworker Housing development will be up and running for farmworkers, who will soon arrive to pick cherries, thin apples and perform other orchard tasks. The development will house 126 residents in insulated, heated and air-conditioned cabins. The project is the first of its kind, said officials who gathered for an open house and tour of the site Thursday.

"This idea is only going to gain in popularity and demand," predicted Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, owner of the development. The Growers League is a Yakima-based nonprofit organization that represents growers on labor relations issues.

If successful, Gempler said the project will be a blueprint for more grower-owned seasonal farmworker housing developments in other agricultural areas.

The development - built by Blodgett Construction of Malaga - is made up of three circles of seven cabins each. Each cabin has six beds, a refrigerator, a table, chairs and lockers. Nothing fancy, but roomy, tough and energy efficient. The Growers League worked with the Office of Rural Farmworker Housing (ORFH) to secure about $2.5 million in grants and loans from the state Department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Development.

The nonprofit Farmworker Housing agency steered the project through a maze of government regulations. The Growers League also obtained a loan from Northwest Farm Credit Services. Total cost of the project was about $2.8 million.

Each resident will be issued a different numerical code to enter the cabin, said Nancy Danko, ORFH's housing development specialist. She said security guards will be on hand at night. Separate bathrooms and showers for men and women are located close to each circle, as is a laundry unit. A large communal kitchen area includes a walk-in refrigerator with locker space for each person's perishable foods and additional lockers for nonperishable foods. Long countertops have 16 built-in four-burner stoves, 12 sinks and six microwave ovens. There's an indoor eating space as well as a large screened-in canopy for outdoor eating and gathering.

Growers can lease space for their employees or workers can come and rent a bunk themselves for $9 a night. The complex will open later this month and probably remain open until November, Gempler said.

"This really is groundbreaking in more ways than one," said Marty Miller, ORFH executive director. The agency has orchestrated several long-term seasonal farmworker housing developments for families, but never bunkhouse-style housing for migrants who come to pick cherry and apple crops, he said. Farmworkers used to stay in orchard housing until the state clamped down on regulations, making it easier for growers to tear down their own housing and let workers fend for themselves, he said. It took years for government funded tent camps at Monitor and near Pangborn Memorial Airport to get started, but they were never meant to be more than a temporary solution to the housing problem, he said. The Pangborn tent camp closed last year. The new grower-owned camp is a unique and permanent solution, he said.

http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090410/NEWS04/704109949

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Thou shall play with your food! Creative Food Art

We all  know and love food…but some people have gone beyond the cooking and eating process and transformed food in …well…pure art. This resulted in an incredible number of compositions made entirely out of food that look amazing.  And here are  some of the artist that have created some outstanding creative food art.

Carl Warner is an amazing photographer working in London. He has 20 years of experience in photography and he is "guilty"Â for some of the most incredible food art. The following landscapes are entirely made with food. Prepare to be amazed !

Saxton Freymann is the creator of seven spectacular children's books featuring his fabulous food sculptures. He plays with vegetables and fruits in an simply delicious way.

Jason Mecier is a mosaic portrait artist. He transforms junk, candy, beans and anything he finds into great pieces of art.

Song Dong is an avantgarde installation artist from China. He has created in London this " Biscuit City".The scene depicts a traditional Asian city .An estimated 72,000 biscuits were used along with tea, caramels and fruit shortcake.

http://www.designioustimes.com/featured/thou-shall-play-with-your-food-creative-food-art.html

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Open-mindedness

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No credible evidence of Al Qaeda presence in Pakistan, says FO

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Spokesman says Pak embassy in London gathering details regarding arrests of certain Pakistani nationals in Britain

By Sajjad Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has not received any credible intelligence report about the presence of Al Qaeda leadership inside its borders, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit said on Thursday.

"We have not come across any authentic intelligence which would indicate that Al Qaeda leadership is in Pakistan, and we do not attach importance to speculations," Basit said in a weekly briefing.

He said the United States drone attacks might have achieved certain tactical gains but they were largely counterproductive and in violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. "We cannot condone these attacks," he said.

Basit said the next Pak-Afghan-US meeting would be held in Washington in May and Pakistan would raise the issue of drone attacks again.

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\04\10\story_10-4-2009_pg7_6

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Right-wing Group Invents Oppression by the "Homosexual Agenda"

By PA Staff Writers

In a statement exposing falsehoods contained in a TV ad against marriage equality produced by an anti-gay coalition, LGBT civil rights group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) accused the group of hiring actors to invent or distort social issues related to the question of same-sex marriage.

The National Organization for Marriage is set to run an expensive TV ad campaign on major cable news outlets in selected markets in the coming days. The ads will describe purported problems ordinary people encounter when opposing marriage for all people.

"What's next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda?" said Human Rights Campaign spokesperson Brad Luna. "This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods – and they don't even come out of the mouths of real people."

HRC established a new interactive website, EndtheLies.org, to counter some of the claims in the anti-gay attack ads and to help LGBT couples provide a real perspective on the issue.

A recent press release from HRC rebuts some of the myths and falsehoods in the TV ads. The general argument of the ad is that the push for marriage equality isn't just about rights for same-sex couples, it's about imposing contrary values on people of faith.

The ads cite three examples where the "homosexual agenda" undermined their religious freedoms. In one example, a California doctor claimed that she was forced to choose between her faith and her job after a court ruled that she could not discriminate against a lesbian by refusing to treat her. But the doctor chose a profession that promises to "first, do no harm," and the law requires her to treat a patient in need regardless of her religious beliefs. "The law does not, and cannot, dictate her faith – it can only insist that she follow her oath as a medical professional," HRC said.

In a second incident, a member of New Jersey church group described being punished by the state for refusing to allow a beachside pavilion that it rents out to the general public to be used for civil union ceremonies. But New Jersey law does not challenge the church organization's beliefs about homosexuality, it merely required that a pavilion that had been open to the public for years comply with laws protecting everyone from discrimination, including gays and lesbians.

In a third example, a Massachusetts parent claims to be forced to stand by helpless after unsuccessfully suing to end public school discussions of family diversity, including of same-sex couples. In this situation, the parent was not stopped from disagreeing or teaching her beliefs at home, or even educating her child in a setting that is more in line with her faith traditions. She simply was not allowed to dictate the curriculum for all students based on her religious views.

According to the HRC statement, "All three examples involve religious people who enter the public sphere, but don't want to abide by the general non-discriminatory rules everyone else does." The authorities in each case, HRC added, never hindered or mandated the personal religious beliefs of the people involved. On the contrary, each situation described in the TV ads appears to be a case where authorities prevented one person or group from imposing personal religious views on others or treating others unfairly in the public arena.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8378/

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Polish Politician Slams Zoo Over Gay Elephant

A Polish politician has blasted his local zoo for splashing out on a "gay" elephant.

Michal Grzes lashed out over the acquisition of Ninio, who prefers the company of other male elephants and is unlikely to procreate, local media reported.

"We didn't pay 37 million zlotys (£7.6m) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there," Mr Grzes was quoted as saying.

"We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?"

Mr Grzes, from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party, is a councillor in the western Polish city of Poznan.

The head of the Poznan zoo said Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females.

Ninio is only 10 years old but elephants do not reach sexual maturity until they are 14.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Gay-Elephant-Polish-Politician-Lashes-Out-At-Local-Zoo-For-Buying-Animal-Unlikely-To-Reproduce/Article/200904215259809?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_8&lid=ARTICLE_15259809_Gay_Elephant:_Polish_Politician_Lashes_Out_At_Local_Zoo_For_Buying_Animal_Unlikely_To_Reproduce

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Free speech is sacred

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Mexican ambassador: US should take marijuana legalization seriously

by Freedom_User

Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan joined CBS' Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation today to talk about the violence on Mexico's border resulting from the drug trade. Among other things, the senior diplomat told Schieffer that the U.S. should take the debate over marijuana legalization seriously.

"Those that suggest that some of these measures need to be looked at understand the dynamics of the drug trade; you have to bring demand down and one way to do it is to move in that direction [towards legalization]...There are many others who believe that doing this will just fan the flames," Sarukhan told Schieffer.

Some authorities close to the border violence are beginning to advocate for a legalization scenario. At the end of February, Terry Goddard, Arizona's Attorney General, said that while he's not in favor of legalizing marijuana, he thinks it should be debated as a way of curbing violence in the increasingly deadly clashes between Mexico's gangs. In addition, three former presidents of Latin America - Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo - have all urged the United States and Latin American governments to move away from jailing drug users, to debate the legalization of marijuana, and to place more emphasis on the treatment of addicts.

"This is a debate that needs to be taken seriously, that we have to engage in on both sides of the border: both in producing, in trafficking, and in consumption countries," he said of the marijuana legalization debate.

Guns coming across the border into Mexico are also a matter of concern. The ambassador believes that "90% of the guns we are seizing in Mexico...are coming from the United States."

This video is from CBS' Face the Nation, broadcast Apr. 12, 2009.

(Watch video here.)

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http://www.marijuana.com/legalization-decriminalization/118714-mexican-ambassador-us-should-take-marijuana-legalization-seriously.html

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Mexican Drug Lord Officially Thanks American Lawmakers for Keeping Drugs Illegal

by David Henry Sterry

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Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera reported head of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, ranked 701st on Forbes' yearly report of the wealthiest men alive, and worth an estimated $1 billion, today officially thanked United States politicians for making sure that drugs remain illegal. According to one of his closest confidants, he said, "I couldn't have gotten so stinking rich without George Bush, George Bush Jr., Ronald Reagan, even El Presidente Obama, none of them have the cajones to stand up to all the big money that wants to keep this stuff illegal. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say, Gracias amigos, I owe my whole empire to you."

According to sources in the Mexican government, President Calderon is begging American officials to, in the words of reggae great Peter Tosh, legalize it. "Oh yeah," said an official close to the Mexican president, "Felipe is going crazy. He's screaming at everybody who comes in, 'Why don't they make this sh*t legal already! You're killing me here!' Look, everyone knows, when you have Prohibition, you create gangsters. And the more you prohibit, the more gangsters you make. El Chapo is hero now to all those slumdogs who want to be millionaires. Kids in the street, when they play games, they all want to be El Chapo, the baddest man in the whole damn town."

Meanwhile, many speculate that rich and prominent Mexican families are in cahoots with American businessmen in the alcohol industry, wealthy industrialists who launder the unprecedented profits from the drug business with their legitimate enterprises, and lawmakers who get gigantic kickbacks and payoffs to make sure that these drugs remain illegal, so they can remain rich, fat and happy. According to sources on both sides of the border, tens of millions of dollars in payoffs and kickbacks are stashed in Swiss banks every year, blood money from the brutal business made possible by a corrupt system supported by laws that don't, and have never, worked.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-henry-sterry/mexican-drug-lord-officia_b_179596.html?view=screen

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Best toilet ever

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Georgia Max Coffee chose to redesign the toilets of a number of key ski resorts in Japan. The cubicles were fully wrapped on all sides, so that the person caught short would have a ski jumper's view when they were sitting on the loo. The person could look down at their skis (simply printed on the floor of the cubicle) and see the steep ski jump slope ahead of them. The toilet paper holder carried the only brand messaging in the cubicle, reading: "Seriously kick-ass intensely sweet for the real coffee super zinging unstoppable Max! Taste-explosion!"

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http://www.coloribus.com/paedia/prints/2009/03/11/290722/

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