About jclifford

A senior writer for Irregular Times. Formerly an antiaquarian speech pathologist.

Carbon Emissions From Fossil Fuels Reach New Record High

jclifford 5/26/2012
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The International Energy Agency reported that carbon emissions from fossil fuels increased by a gigaton last year, a 3.2 percent increase that made last year’s carbon emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas the highest ever in human history.

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Posted in Economy, Environment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

NY Republican Proposes Censorship Of All Anonymous Writing Online

jclifford 5/24/2012
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A bill by New York State Senator Thomas O’Mara would enable the censorship of almost any anonymous writing online, including the publication of anonymous medieval poetry.

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Posted in Liberty, Media, Republicans, State and Local | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Barack Obama Supports Big Brother Spying Powers Against Americans. Do You?

jclifford 5/23/2012
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In effect, President Obama is now saying that he has no intention to reform the FISA Amendments Act, ever. Obama is saying that, if he is given a second term in office, he will keep George W. Bush’s attack on the Constitution in place, and that he’s happy to do so.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Legislation, Liberty | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

5 Year Extension Of Warrantless Surveillance On Americans Advanced By Secret Senate Hearing

jclifford 5/23/2012
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There is no public evidence that the FISA Amendments Act is being conducted constitutionally, or even that it is genuinely targeting terrorists. The time has come for the FISA Amendments Act to expire. Years have passed in which reforms of the law could have been crafted. Yet, no reforms are even being proposed by the White House or Congress. Therefore, the only responsible vote for any member of Congress on any legislation that extends the FISA Amendments Act in any way is NO.

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Posted in Legislation, Liberty | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Presidential Candidate Taking Part In Anti-PGA Protest Today. Guess Who.

jclifford 5/23/2012
[7] comments
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The golf course on which the Senior PGA Championship is being played, starting today, was taken from the people of Benton Harbor. That land had been part of a public park, which was supposed to remain open to local citizens in perpetuity.

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Posted in Activism, Election 2012, Greens | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

You Don’t Create A Raging Business Flop Without Making A Few Enemies

jclifford 5/22/2012
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This afternoon, Facebook showed me an advertisement from a company bragging that it has the best frozen hog semen in all of America and Asia. That might interest me, if I was a pig farmer. I’m not.

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Posted in Media | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Infuriating Sherlock Holmes

jclifford 5/20/2012
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I very much enjoy the actors on the British TV show Sherlock Holmes, but the season 2 finale, broadcast tonight, infuriates me. We see Sherlock Holmes cast himself off a building, and bludgeon his head in a bloody mess that …

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Posted in Media | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Dozen Democrats Join House GOP To Demolish Nuclear Nonproliferation

jclifford 5/19/2012
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The issue isn’t what’s happening in Syria at the moment. It isn’t cutting spending. The issue is nuclear weapons. Too many members of Congress favor the expansion of America’s nuclear weapons, and don’t care to even try to control the spread of nuclear weapons out of Russia.

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Posted in Democrats, Legislation, War and Peace | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Green Party Presidential Candidate Joins Chicago Anti-NATO Protests

jclifford 5/18/2012
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Jill Stein will be out on the Chicago streets as part of the anti-NATO protests starting today and through the weekend. That’s the kind of presidential campaigning we liberals can appreciate.

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Posted in Activism, Election 2012, Greens, State and Local | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Will Democrats Make Equal Marriage Rights A Plank In Their Platform?

jclifford 5/17/2012
[12] comments
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It’s a nice thing that prominent individual Democrats are now indicating some openness to marriage equality. Such expressions aren’t what matter in the end, however. It’s the law that makes the difference.

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Posted in Democrats, Sex and Gender, Shirts | 12 Comments

Joe Wilson’s Odd Math On National Debt

jclifford 5/16/2012
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How could it be that dollar spent on schools for America’s kids increases the national debt, but a dollar spent on bombs and bullets used to kill people in America’s wars does not increase the national debt? Joe Wilson wasn’t able to explain how this freakish economic dynamic works.

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Posted in Economy, Legislation, Republicans, War and Peace | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Time For The USA To Pull Out From Europe

jclifford 5/13/2012
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If we could see more Republican legislation for cuts in military spending of the sort that Mike Coffman has offered, it would make the GOP claim of standing for fiscal responsibility a lot more believable.

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Posted in Economy, Legislation, Republicans, War and Peace | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Obama Now Has The Right Position, But Won’t DO Anything With It

jclifford 5/9/2012
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President Obama now says that he personally supports same-sex marriage, but intends to do nothing to stop states like North Carolina from prohibiting same-sex marriage. Like Abraham Lincoln before him, he is allowing Southern bigots to trample the authority of the national Constitution. We all know how well that strategy worked out.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2012, Liberty, Politics, Sex and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What Does Grassroots Mean Anymore?

jclifford 5/8/2012
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Big media organizations such as the New York Times have lost touch with what genuine grassroots organizations look like. What these corporate news operations describe with the the term “grassroots” nowadays is rather like their own organizations: Designed for consumption by individuals, but only though a system of distribution controlled from the top down, powered by large payments from a few sources with a lot of money.

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Posted in Activism, Democrats, Election 2012, Media | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Barack Obama Still Won’t Support Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriage, Despite Biden.

jclifford 5/7/2012
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Vice President Biden simply didn’t want to say Obama’s position on same sex marriage out loud, because to do so would be to remind Democratic voters that Barack Obama is ideologically much more like a Republican than they would like to admit.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2012, Sex and Gender | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Bigotry That Billy Graham and Barack Obama Share

jclifford 5/4/2012
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I suddenly remembered that Barack Obama had met with Billy Graham. How can Barack Obama reconcile Billy Graham’s opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians when Obama believes… and that’s where the thought fizzled out. Barack Obama, of course, has expressed opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians himself.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Sex and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Romney At The Ritz In Pentagon City

jclifford 5/2/2012
[5] comments
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Mitt Romney has announced that no one will be allowed to participate in tonight’s “policy roundtable” without giving a minimum of $10,000 to his presidential campaign.

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Posted in Economy, Election 2012, Politics, Republicans, War and Peace | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Jill Stein Wins South Carolina and Connecticut Primary Contests

jclifford 4/30/2012
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If you support equal rights for gays and lesbians, don’t do what Barack Obama does, privately hoping that someone else will make the change. You have to take your opinion public, and vote for a candidate who isn’t afraid to speak up for what’s right. If you support marriage equality, support the Jill Stein for President campaign.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Buttons, Election 2012, Greens, Politics, Sex and Gender | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment