If Police Treated Protests As Parades...

Tensions Flare in Ferguson: Protesters Arrested, Journalists Threatened
Tensions flared around midnight local time last night in Ferguson, Missouri, after a mostly peaceful evening of protests as at least one protester apparently threw water bottles at the police. Journalists on the ground described a scene of disarray as police moved in on protesters with dogs and heavy weaponry, made arrests, and corralled off media.


COPTHINK: Pointing heavy weaponry while encased in armor will bring those damn protesters under control. OW: Got hit by a water bottle. MACE EM!



I wonder how Tea Partiers would respond if an unarmed Tea Partier were shot.. If they were searched, arrested & imprisoned at higher rates...- LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Obama: world is ‘appalled’ by James Foley killing
• UK 'urgently investigates' suspected British executioner in Foley video
• Gaza war rages on, Hamas says Israel tried to kill its military chief
• Pakistan cleric's supporters attempt to blockade parliament, but MPs escape
• Breaking news out of Ferguson: Police say they didn't lob tear gas last night

If Ike was alive he'd re-warn of the military-industrial complex; & then some local cops could run him over w/this cool tank they just got.- John Fugelsang

Why Isn't Fox News Trumpeting SUPPORT THE TROOPS!
President Barack Obama said the beheading of a U.S. journalist by Islamic radicals won't deter him from a bombing campaign aimed at driving them back.

"The United State of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people," he said. "We will be vigilant, and we will be relentless."



ISIS is trying to give America something we didn't have -- a reason to be in Iraq.- LOLGOP

Iraq, Gaza, Ukraine and Ferguson, Missouri have one thing in common. No justice, no peace. - AllHatNoCattle



The World Is Watching Ferguson, Missouri
Governments scolded by the United States over their human rights records have seized on racial unrest and a police crackdown in the Missouri town of Ferguson to wag their fingers back in disapproval.

Adversaries and uneasy allies from Russia and Iran to China and Egypt have accused the United States of hypocrisy as images of police brandishing lethal weapons and tear-gassing protesters have been shown around the world.



It'll be awkward for the Rapture folk when Jesus comes back & he's a homeless brown-skinned liberal who speaks no English.- John Fugelsang

Rand Paul says he's the best Republican at reaching out to black voters, which is like being the guy with the best AOL screen name.- LOLGOP




Republican Shenanigans

• Missouri GOP leader calls Ferguson voter-registration drive ‘disgusting’
• Missouri official apologizes for racist Facebook posts: ‘I was a very active Republican at the time’
• CNN host: Nat. Guard said ‘you never know’ what Ferguson ‘n*ggers’ are going to do
• Cop Tasers compliant teen into fit of seizures: ‘He was trying to kill my son,’ says mom
• Fox News suggests foxes are more objective than hens when assessing henhouse safety standards

Does Mitt Romney know there isn't a Mt. Rushmore for sorest losers -- and if there were it would be all John McCain.- LOLGOP

Cop Caught On Film Threatening Reporters: ‘I’ll Bust Your Head’



Wishing and Hoping, and Clucking and Flapping
A 23-year-old Republican staffer was arrested in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Saturday and charged with disorderly conduct after he repeatedly harassed two Democratic officials who were marching in the town’s “old home day” parade.

Weird. Fatherless black households weren't a problem until the drug war began. - LOLGOP



Rock The Voter News

• How schools’ delayed start in Ferguson is affecting kids
• No tea party break for Democrats in Alaska

The Justice Dept just declined to investigate CIA spying on the Senate-- a threat magnitudes greater to the republic  than ISIS. - JC Xtian

So what percentage of members of Congress taking the ice bucket challenge voted to cut funding to the NIH? - Andrew Kaczynski




Has Gordon Gekko Taken Over The NFL?
The halftime show at the Super Bowl is coveted by artists in the music industry, but this year the National Football League is asking potential performers to pay to play the high-profile gig, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposition has returned frosty responses from the three final candidates: Coldplay, Rihanna, and Katy Perry. The NFL does not usually pay the act that performs during the halftime ceremony, but has covered travel and production expenses, which can run into the multimillion-dollar range, The Journal reported.

Business/Tech News

• Brent holds near 14-month low on plentiful supply 
• BofA reaches $17B settlement with US
• Here's how much $100 is worth in your state
• Ballmer steps down from Microsoft board
• Australia tycoon blasts Chinese government 'mongrels'

Yesterday the Clippers' new owner, former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer, promised fans that the team will win an NBA championship. He says he has a great strategy for rebuilding the team — Control-Alt-Delete.- Jimmy Fallon

China Is Busy Building Stuff
Chinese investors are to plunge more than US$1 billion into developing Antigua and Barbuda’s first mega-resort, creating 1,000 jobs for the tiny cash-strapped nation.



You never hear about white-on-white crime or -- as I like to call it -- "trickle down economics."- LOLGOP

In response to criticism of its treatment of killer whales, SeaWorld said it will build them a larger habitat. When asked for comment, a killer whale said, "Hey, you know what's a larger habitat? The ocean!"- Conan O'Brien

____________

____________

Odd News

• George W. Bush takes ice bucket challenge
• Florida man, 83, admits hiding $1.1M from IRS
• Los Angeles port welcomes massive rubber duck
• Wanted man rear-ends Washington police detective
• ‘Touching therapy’ psychologist charged with sexual assault in Pennsylvania

Time To Deflate Photo

Meteora, Greece in winter.

Peace.

Sometimes the best defense is a strong offense.

6 more journalists arrested in Ferguson protests
Six journalists were taken into custody while covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday and early Tuesday, aggravating what one press freedom group has called a "concerted, top-down effort to restrict the fundamental First Amendment rights of the public and the press."


Shoot Arrest the Messengers! Let everyone become a messenger!


Conservatives are blaming the media for the escalation in Ferguson because cameras make tear gas magically appear.- LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Troops in Iraq Rout Sunni Militants From a Key Dam
• Iraqi forces launch string of attacks on Sunni militants
• Saudi Arabian beheaded for murder as Amnesty calls for halt to executions
• Florida woman shoots grandson, 7, after mistaking him for intruder
• CNN’s Don Lemon pushed around by St. Louis cops: ‘Now you see why people are so upset’

Nothing says "You should trust the police to make effective decisions" like snipers pointed at unarmed people.- LOLGOP

Honduran Kids Deported By US Are Now Dead
Between five and ten migrant children have been killed since February after the United States deported them back to Honduras, a morgue director told the Los Angeles Times. Lawmakers have yet to come up with best practices to deal with the waves of unaccompanied children apprehended by Border Patrol agents, but some politicians refute claims that children are fleeing violence and are opting instead to fund legislation that would fast-track their deportations.



John McCain & Lindsey Graham - 2 guys opposed to gay weddings who always look like they're about to announce one.- John Fugelsang

If Michael Brown had urged armed revolt against the US, had pals aim guns at law enforcement & been white Sean Hannity'd make him breakfast.- John Fugelsang



Republican Shenanigans

• Hillary Clinton is front and center in House super PAC ad
• Christie dances in the Hamptons
• Perry has no regrets about veto, critic tells CNN that’s not the point
• Perry’s prosecutor isn’t prone to partisanship, say those who know him
• Bill O’Reilly dismisses Ferguson protesters: ‘These people don’t want justice’
• Dinesh D’Souza tells Gohmert’s birthday party: Liberals think our wealth is ‘stolen Nazi art’
• Florida Gov. Rick Scott pulls campaign ad in which convicted human trafficker endorses him

It looks like Rick Perry's chances in 2016 might be in trouble. Or as Hillary put it, "One down, four more to go."- Jimmy Fallon

Georgia Police State Bitch Slaps Toddler
Officials in a Georgia county are refusing to pay medical expenses for a toddler badly injured during a police raid on the home where the boy was staying.

Bounkham Phonesavanh was hospitalized for weeks in a burn unit after a SWAT officer tossed a flash grenade into his crib during a no-knock raid May 28 in Habersham County.



What racism? - White people. - LOLGOP

For the Missouri GOP, the real danger of Ferguson is that it could encourage black people to vote. - LOLGOP



Rock The Voter News

• Rich White Woman Gets Five Days Community Service For Stealing $2,000 Worth Of Merchandise: This Is Why We Protest
• Hillary Clinton makes big political move, heads to Iowa

Two things the U.S. should thank Black folks for:
1. Building this country.
2. Not justifiably burning this whole country to the ground.

Bundy engaged in armed resistance to avoid paying fees. Compare that to peaceful protests responding to a lost life.
Last Wednesday night, I had snarked on Twitter about the lack of so-called “Tea Party” “patriots” — like those brave boys and girls who, earlier this year, pointed their big assault-rifles at federal officials to protect the “right” of a scofflaw rancher in Nevada to illegally graze his cattle for free on land that he did not own — failing to show up to protect the actual rights and freedoms of so many being denied them by actual Big Government Tyranny in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.

David Gregory is being replaced by a guy named Chuck Todd, which indicates to me that in order to host that program you have to have two first names.- David Letterman

People In Costa Rica See Suspicious Helicopters, Too!
Residents of Aguas Zarcas, Venecia, San Miguel and La Virgen de Sarapiquí in San Carlos in Costa Rica’s Northern Zone reported to authorities the presence of a suspicious low-flying helicopter on Saturday, according to regional police chief, Francisco Morales.


Conservatives are saying the media is causing the unrest in Ferguson and thermometers are to blame for climate change.- LOLGOP

Email
Subject: Comment On 'Toon

Hi Lisa,

Last week, you published a ‘toon that said, “It will be a great day when corporations treat their employees with the same respect that they treat their shareholders.”

Actually, there were such days prior to the late-80s and, yes, they were great days.  When I joined corporate America nearly 40 years ago, top managements were focused on the interest of the stakeholders: customers, employees, their suppliers, their communities, and their shareholders.

Managements understood that employees who were well-trained, well-treated, and well-compensated were more productive and loyal; their work was high-quality, and they delivered superior customer service.  Happy customers spent more money at the firm and were a major source of repeat business and referrals.  Suppliers who were treated well and paid promptly often went out of their way to help the firm meet its supply-chain objectives.

Communities relied on corporate support for everything from parks to performing arts centers, school programs, internships, and job opportunities for residents.  Those amenities and benefits attracted people who wanted to work for the firm, raise their families in the community, and send their kids to local schools. And shareholders were interested seeing their firms grow steadily over time, deliver consistent earnings and share price increases, and pretty consistent dividend increases.

Allocating the profits of the firm among these competing (but not opposing) interests was a multi-dimensional optimization problem for managements.  There was no set formula for doing it right and the optimal solution looked different each year.  But everybody got a piece of the pie and everybody pulled together so the pie would get bigger and bigger over time.

That all began to change in the mid-1980s.  That’s when corporations began to focus more single-mindedly on shareholder interests.  I won’t recite the history of those times, but you probably recognize some of the key players: “Neutron Jack” Welch at GE, “Chainsaw Al” Dunlap at Sunbeam-Oster, Carl Icahn, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Forstmann Little, Bear Stearns, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and many others.

The focus on shareholder value began in the mid-70s with an article by Jensen & Meckling [“Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure (1976)], and was extended with books by Bernard Reimann [“Managing for Value” (1987)] and Alfred Rappoport [“Creating Shareholder Value’ (1986)].

Reimann framed the issue succinctly on page 1 of his book: “To be successful in the 1990s, managers must also learn to compete in the market for corporate control.” Translation: Job #1 for every CEO is to keep the share price high enough that no corporate raider can afford to take over the firm and toss the CEO out on his pinstriped patoot.

Different companies and different industries reacted to this imperative in different ways.  Some chose to grow so big that no one could afford to buy them.  Others chose to diversify to the point where no one could understand them.  Still others cut costs to goose current earnings and share prices.  Some industries pressed Congress for deregulation so they had freer reins to grow their businesses.

Whatever approach they chose, the resource allocation issue for top managements became a one-dimensional maximization problem: maximize shareholder value.  Do it because you are surrounded by sharks who will kill your job and eat your firm if you don’t.

Since share prices are driven mainly by earnings, anything that eroded or diluted quarterly earnings had to be minimized, if not eliminated.  Thus began an era of downsizing, union busting, outsourcing, offshoring, benefits slashing, mergers and acquisitions, lax regulation, and much more that continues to this day.

Profits hit all-time highs, executive compensation went through the roof, while workers suffered benefits reductions, pay increases that failed to keep up with inflation, and loss of job security if not job itself.  Suppliers were squeezed to the point where some went out of business.  Communities stagnated as waning corporate support was accompanied by taxpayers’ demands for lower taxes.

And once-happy customers got used to a computer-generated voice: “Your call is very important to us.  Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.  Have a nice day.  Our average wait time is now … 26 hours.”

Yet that was all well and good (okay, so it wasn’t for everybody) until the financial near-collapse of 2008.  That’s when we saw just how much corporations had done – and not done – for the sake of elevated quarterly earnings and share prices. And they had to turn to us – “we the people” – to bail them out.

By 2009, even “Neutron Jack” Welch himself was saying, “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world.”

It reminded me of that old Pennsylvania Dutch saying: “Ve get too soon alt und too late schmart.”

Turning back the clock will not be easy, mainly because it will probably have to be driven by Congressional action. But I can foresee the day when top managements once again recognize the interdependencies among their various publics and decide that giving everybody a piece of the pie is a good way to ensure a bigger pie for everybody.

Then it will indeed be a great day when corporations treat their employees – and their customers, their suppliers, their communities, and their country – with the same respect they treat their shareholders.

Best wishes,
~Rick
--
Richard E. Wise, PhD, PMC


Thank you so much, Rick. Many are still waiting to get trickled down upon. Funny how that never happened.

Business/Tech News

• Duke Energy reports oil spill into Ohio river 
• Home building heats up as starts surge 15.7%
•  4 at slaughterhouse behind beef recall indicted 
• Democrat? Republican? There's an app for that

Singing Away The Pipeline

Neil Young and Willie Nelson will perform a benefit concert in September on land in the path of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The concert will take place at a farm near Neligh that's on the route of the proposed pipeline. It also crosses the historic Ponca Tribe "Trail of Tears."

Chinese Journalists Bemoan Decline Of Traditional State-Run Newspapers, Rise Of State-Run New Media. - The Onion Headline

_____________

______________

Odd News

• Love thy neighbor, it’s good for the heart: study
• $21,000 falls off money truck after casino pickup
• Man shows up for jail in T-shirt with mug shot
• China Eastern plane aborts landing as traffic controllers take a nap
• Police: Robber caught after shower and shave

Time To Deflate Photo

Don't miss the guy on the right. Chartreuse Mountains, France.

Peace.

Overkill.

Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times
Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer, sparking protests around the nation, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday found.



People are still fighting about immigration. Congress is suing the president. I'm not saying things are bad, but the Middle East just sent diplomats to negotiate peace in OUR country.- Jimmy Fallon

Stage 1: Bullying the messengers in Ferguson last week.
Stage 2: Threatening to shoot, then, bullies the messenger early this morning (see below)
Stage 3: ?





The right won't buy the military's story on Benghazi ever. But they buy whatever the police in Ferguson tells them -- no questions asked. - LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Backed by U.S. strikes, Iraq Kurds claim capture of strategic dam
• Fate of Gaza truce in balance as midnight deadline looms
• Dozens killed in attack on convoy, Ukraine says; rebels deny firing rocket
• Guns everywhere: Georgia man shoots self in hand outside bar, stray bullet kills woman
• Kansas man shot in buttocks by stray bullet fired by target shooter half mile away
• Pope leaves South Korea after urging peace

Waiting for the bipartisan movement to demilitarize John McCain.- LOLGOP

Baby Boomer's Protest In 1972

August 22, 1972: 3,000 protest against the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. Ron Kovic, a wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran, led fellow veterans into the Convention Hall, wheeled down the aisles, and as Nixon began his acceptance speech shouted, "Stop the bombing! Stop the war!"

We've spent the past two decades militarizing our police forces to respond to problems that never materialized. - Mother Jones' Kevin Drum



We're #1: You're more likely to get shot by a cop in the USA than anywhere else! 
THE shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American, by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, is a reminder that civilians—innocent or guilty—are far more likely to be shot by police in America than in any other rich country. In 2012, according to data compiled by the FBI, 410 Americans were “justifiably” killed by police—409 with guns. That figure may well be an underestimate. Not only is it limited to the number of people who were shot while committing a crime, but also, amazingly, reporting the data is voluntary.

Last year, in total, British police officers actually fired their weapons three times. The number of people fatally shot was zero.

Any other smears about Michael Brown we need to know before we find out about the guy who actually killed someone?- LOLGOP

The Great UFO Coverup

In a new documentary, US government agents claim they spent decades giving fake evidence of extraterrestrials to gullible ufologists. But why? And how can we trust them now?

Republican Shenanigans

• Fox expert defends Ferguson cop: Brown was shot in head because ‘bullets go that way’
• Ohio anti-abortion leader: Ban public nudity, breastfeeding because boobs promote Gay Pride
• ‘Not racist’ birther gadfly is shocked Obama hasn’t renamed it the ‘Black House’ yet

You call them "illegals" and future voters will call them "grandpa." So good luck with that.- LOLGOP



How Mexican-Americans Rioted
August 29, 1970, Chicano Moratorium. 20-30,000 Mexican-Americans participated in the largest antiwar demonstration in Los Angeles. Police are attacked with clubs and guns and kill three people, including Rubén Salazar, a TV news director and LA Times reporter

If you're going to call Wendy Davis 'Abortion Barbie' then you kinda have to call her opponent 'Coat Hanger Ken.' - John Fugelsang



Surrrrrre, The KKK Will Make Things All Better In Ferguson
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members from three different states are reportedly traveling to Ohio to hold a two-day fundraiser for the officer who shot unarmed teen Michael Brown, and to “guard white businesses.”

Rock The Voter News

• Obama to send Holder to Ferguson, claims progress in Iraq
• Behind Closed Doors, Obama Crafts Executive Actions

Is anyone telling the Chief of the Ferguson PD that talking may not be his thing?- LOLGOP

How White Rich College Students Rioted In 1967

If teens in the Eisenhower-era didn't have an official Spring Break destination, the 1960 beach-blanket flick Where the Boys Are, shot on the sands of Ft. Lauderdale, surely gave them one. Starring Connie Francis and George Hamilton, the film produced box-office bling-bling and firmly established Ft. Lauderdale as collegians' bachnallian hot-spot.

Each year thereafter, spring breakers arrived in ever-increasing numbers, pumping millions into Ft. Lauderdale's economy. It was win-win.
All that changed, however, over the three-day Easter-weekend in 1967, when a full-scale riot erupted between spring breakers and police





Remember: The real danger of marijuana use is it could lead you to becoming president of the United States.- LOLGOP







What could have possibly happened in the last week that would make people suspicious of the Ferguson PD? - LOLGOP

Business/Tech News

• Russian hacking suspect ordered held until trial
• Mercedes-Benz accused of 'price-fixing': China media
• Conservatives up in arms over video game with sovereign citizen Tea Partiers as the bad guys
• Ferguson Unrest Shows Poverty Grows Fastest in Suburbs

So you're ok w/cops killing unarmed black teens b/c they stole cigars?  Great, let's discuss what some unarmed white Wall St guys stole. - John Fugelsang

Kentucky Is Betting On U.S. Drinking More. Ha.
 In a business where patience is part of the process, Kentucky bourbon makers are making a big bet by stashing away their largest stockpiles in more than a generation.



After today, there will be no Jewish Republican members of Congress, which is clearly a sign that Jewish voters are drifting toward the GOP.- LOLGOP

______________

______________

Odd News

• Mr. T pities criminals as he awaits jury duty
• Owl kills canary during high-rise apartment raid in Idaho
• Captain of the corn maze: Farm honors Derek Jeter
• Sweet job: England seeks 'choc doc' to study candy
• Lucky cat survives 12-story fall in New York City

Time To Deflate Photo

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

During the raining season, water turns this Bolivian salt flat into the world's largest mirror. It's been called "the border between heaven and earth".

Peace.