UnrepentantLiberal
UnrepentantLiberal's Journal"We bought the son of a bitch and then he didn't stay bought."
One of the most significant issues Roosevelt confronted as president was how best to deal with the growth of corporate power. Between 1897 and 1904, a total of 4,227 firms merged to form 257 corporations. The largest merger combined nine steel companies to create U.S. Steel. By 1904, some 318 companies controlled nearly 40 percent of the nation's manufacturing output. A single firm produced over half the output in 78 industries.
Many Progressives feared that concentrated, uncontrolled, corporate power threatened Republican government. Public opinion feared that large corporations could impose monopolistic prices to cheat consumers and could squash small independent companies.
Roosevelt's Justice Department launched 44 anti-trust suits, prosecuting railroad, beef, oil, and tobacco trusts. Henry Clay Frick, the steel baron complained, "We bought the son of a bitch and then he didn't stay bought." The most famous anti-trust suit, filed in 1906, involved John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. It took five years for Roosevelt to win his case in the Supreme Court. In the end, however, Standard Oil was broken into 34 separate companies.
Theodore Roosevelt did not oppose bigness in and of itself. He only opposed irresponsible corporate behavior. He distinguished between "good trusts" and bad trusts" and advocated regulating big corporations in the public interest by means of a government commission.
More: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3141
Pakistani Taliban deny responsibility for Boston Marathon bombings
-snip-
A person briefed on the attack, which left the streets splattered with blood and glass, said the explosives were in 6-liter pressure cookers and placed in black duffel bags that were placed on the ground.
The person said the duffel bags contained shards of metal, nails and ball bearings. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
These types of pressure cooker explosives have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 joint FBI and Homeland Security intelligence report.
One of the three devices used in the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing was a pressure cooker, the intelligence report said.
More: http://www.hindustantimes.com/IndiaSectionPage/chunk-ht-ui-worldsectionpage-bostonblast/Boston-bombs-packed-with-gunpowder-shrapnel/Article1-1045474.aspx
Elizabeth Warren winning support for 2016 White House bid
By Hillary Chabot and Joe Battenfeld
The Boston Herald
April 15, 20!3
Just a few months into her first U.S. Senate term, Democrat Elizabeth Warren is generating increasing support among liberals as a White House contender — putting her on a potential collision course with presumed front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Warren’s tough stand against the Obama administration’s proposal to potentially cut Social Security benefits has become a lightning rod for progressive groups looking for a more liberal standard bearer in 2016.
“If Elizabeth Warren ran, millions of people would obviously support her candidacy enthusiastically,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, who helped draft Warren to run for U.S. Senate against GOP incumbent Scott Brown.
Green said Warren already has won huge support from progressives for her recent bold questioning of financial regulators who she said are protecting big banks over families. Her rapid opposition to Obama’s proposed cuts only added to her star power.
“If Hillary Clinton or others don’t firmly oppose these cuts, they open up a huge amount of political space for an insurgent to run and win,” Green said.
More: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2013/04/elizabeth_warren_winning_support_for_2016_white_house_bid
Elizabeth Warren Responds To Criticism Of Social Security Email
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded to criticism of an email she sent describing her brother David, who counts on Social Security for income, saying "not everyone has a sister who can help."
The email, which was sent on Wednesday, was a response to President Barack Obama's plan to cut Social Security benefits. Warren said she was "shocked to hear" of Obama's plan before describing how her brother David lives on the $13,200 per year he receives in Social Security benefits.
A reporter from Boston's FOX 25 questioned Warren on the email, asking the senator why she didn't help her brother.
"I do help him. This is a question about how much," Warren said. "He was worked for 40 years and paid into this system and that's all the money he has to live on. And there are literally millions of people around the country for whom that is the case."
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/13/elizabeth-warren-social-security_n_3076880.html
Man dies of strangulation after shirt catches in escalator
SEATTLE, Washington -- KHOU's sister station KING 5 News has learned a man died of strangulation over the weekend after his shirt got caught in Metro tunnel escalator in downtown Seattle.
Seattle Police Department’s report on the incident describes surveillance video which shows the man staggering and leaning on the side of the escalator. About three-quarters of the way down, he falls backwards, tries to raise his head, but his shirt appears caught. The police report describes him trying to sit up, struggling briefly, then being still.
A passerby hit the emergency stop button about 10 minutes after the incident, administered CPR and called for help. Police, fire department and Metro personnel quickly responded to the scene, but the man died.
Police later said they found a half-empty bottle of brandy in Bell’s back pocket.
While the police investigation is over, the state Labor and Industries Department has launched their investigation into the incident. Investigators say the escalator was overdue for repairs, beyond “normal maintenance,” and have shut down the escalator until all repair work on it is complete.
More: http://www.khou.com/news/national/Man-dies-of-strangulation-after-shirt-catches-in-escalator-202711271.html
Attempting to quit smoking today
I have a cold so that should help. I have Nicorette gum to take the edge off. I woke up at 6:00 and have only chewed one and am not dying for another.
President Obama has done more to promote world peace than anyone since Gandhi
Because I say so.
ExxonMobil is controlling Arkansas oil spill storyline
As Central Arkansas news stations continue to report on an oil spill in Mayflower, just north of Little Rock, there are concerns ExxonMobil, which owns the burst Pegasus pipeline, is controlling the storyline.
Mother Jones reports on the difficulties some reporters are facing — including threats of arrest — while covering the spill. On March 29, a 20-inch buried pipeline burst in the town, releasing oil into local backyards and streets and, as one local station discovered, a nearby lake.
TVSpy checked in with several Little Rock stations to find out how they’re covering the story. We reached out to FOX and NBC affiliates KLRT and KARK, ABC affiliate KATV and CBS affiliate KTHV.
KATV news director Nick Genty says none of his reporters have been threatened with arrest, but says reporting the story has been a challenge. “Some of the issues that we have run into are that Exxon is running the show at the site. When we try to get information from local law enforcement, they direct us to the PR from Exxon.”
More: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/little-rock-stations-grapple-with-covering-local-oil-spill_b86528
14 wounded in Texas college stabbing attack
Source: CBS NEWS
CYPRESS, TEXAS - More than a dozen people were wounded when a suspect went building-to-building in an apparent stabbing attack at a Texas college campus Tuesday, authorities said.
The attack about 11:20 a.m. on the Lone Star Community College System's campus in Cypress sent at least 12 people to area hospitals, including four people taken by helicopter, according Sheriff Adrian Garcia of Harris County. Of the 12 people hospitalized, two people were in critical condition, three people were upgraded from fair to good condition and one was soon released. Two people had refused treatment.
Garcia confirmed that one white 21-year-old male was in custody. Witnesses told the police department a man in a black hat was "on the loose" and attacking people. After reviewing video evidence, police have determined the rest of the student body is safe and that there are no other suspects.
Lone Star officials initially urged people on campus, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Houston, to take shelter and be on alert for a second suspect. But Gilliland said a short time later that authorities believed just one person was responsible. He did not say whether the suspect is a student.
"It was the same suspect going from building to building," Gilliland said.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57578677/14-wounded-in-texas-college-stabbing-attack/
Auto-trash question
With Google search you can use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. I was wondering if that is possible with DU Auto-trash? Say I want to keep up with news about Elmo but know that the phrase "Elmo culture" tends to cause one side of my brain to post a snarky reply before the rational side trashes the thread. Being able to auto-trash a phrase would eliminate that kind of thing.
I know, I could always learn to control myself. But you have to admit, being able to auto-trash a phrase could be useful to others as well.
Profile Information
Name: BradGender: Male
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Current location: Jersey City, NJ
Member since: Sat Mar 15, 2008, 12:21 PM
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