There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

Test 12/23/11
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 818.62Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 8.77kb/s

There were 29 packets retransmitted, 7 duplicate acks received, and 12 SACK blocks received
The connection stalled 6 times due to packet loss
The connection was idle 1.73 seconds (11.53%) of the time
This connection is network limited 99.97% of the time.

Test 12/24/11
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 819.76Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 9.88kb/s

There were 8 packets retransmitted, 8 duplicate acks received, and 8 SACK blocks received
The connection stalled 2 times due to packet loss
The connection was idle 2.64 seconds (12.57%) of the time
This connection is network limited 99.98% of the time.
Excessive packet loss is impacting your performance, check the auto-negotiate function on your local PC and network switch

So far I’ve spent four hours on the phone with Verizon Tech support. The problem has been escalated again to main office engineers but it has not yet been fixed.

Progress = advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern condition.

Think Progress is a News Blog that I read. Perhaps you may like it too. Here are some of the current headlines:

POLITICS
• BREAKING: House Republicans Again Delay Payroll Tax Cut Vote, May Resort To Procedural Gimmicks

JUSTICE

• Gingrich PAC Took $7.6 Million From One Donor, Used Money To Fly Across The Country For Public Events

ECONOMY

• Under Romney, Bain Capital Made Millions From South Carolina Business That Shut Down, Laid Off 150 Workers

POLITICS

• New Hampshire GOP Lawmakers Propose ‘Warning: You Are About To Enter Massachusetts’ Border Signs

ECONOMY

• 70 Percent Of The Cuts In GOP Sen. DeMint’s Deficit Reduction Plan Target Low-Income People

HEALTH

• In 2010, Romney Said He Wouldn’t Repeal The Individual Health Mandate In Obamacare

ECONOMY

• What Happens To The Economy If The Payroll Tax Cut Expires

ECONOMY

• Study: Wealth Inequality In America May Be Worse Than It Was In Ancient Rome

JUSTICE

• Video: 1994 Mitt Romney Explains How 2011 Mitt Romney’s Wall Street Donors Will Corrupt Mitt Romney

SECURITY

• Last Flight Out Of Iraq: ‘It’s Great Being A Part Of History. It’s An Even Better Feeling To Be Going Home’

NEWS FLASH

• PRO-ADULTERY WEBSITE ENDORSES GINGRICH

It appears the third Westell 7500 modem from Verizon has a life span of 11 months. Maybe the next one will get 6 months of use. What another waste of time.

I am NOT happy.

The police will eventually regret their roll after they discover that their pensions are un-funded. They are the 99% too.

Deutch’s amendment, called the Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Amendment, would overturn the Citizens United decision, re-establishing the right of Congress and the states to regulate campaign finance laws, and to effectively outlaw the ability of for-profit corporations to contribute to campaign spending.

“No matter how long protesters camp out across America, big banks will continue to pour money into shadow groups promoting candidates more likely to slash Medicaid for poor children than help families facing foreclosure,” said Deutch in a statement provided to ThinkProgress. “No matter how strongly Ohio families fight for basic fairness for workers, the Koch Brothers will continue to pour millions into campaigns aimed at protecting the wealthiest 1%. No matter how fed up seniors in South Florida are with an agenda that puts oil subsidies ahead of Social Security and Medicare, corporations will continue to fund massive publicity campaigns and malicious attack ads against the public interest. Americans of all stripes agree that for far too long, corporations have occupied Washington and drowned out the voices of the people. I introduced the OCCUPIED Amendment because the days of corporate control of our democracy. It is time to return the nation’s capital and our democracy to the people.”

via ThinkProgress

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According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”

Here is a PDF of the actual memo.