Bradley Manning not "in" this year, says SF Pride

Bradley Manning, the brave soldier who exposed US war crimes to Wikileaks, just had his honored hero status revoked by San Francisco Pride. In 2011, many marched in the SF parade showing support for Manning, and demanding that he be freed. But this year, it seems he has been rejected as "too-controversial," and marchers are carrying Verizon and Bank of America banners instead.

"I and many other LGBT Manning supporters are deeply disappointed by this sudden change in position on the part of the committee," supporter Rainey Reitman said. "Bradley is a gay American hero who sacrificed a great deal so we could learn the truth about our government, and he was fairly elected to serve as grand marshal in the parade."

Manning, who is still in custody at a military prison in Kansas, was notified of his selection earlier this week. It was only an honorary distinction, since he would not be released from prison in time to appear in the parade on June 30. However, SF Pride President Lisa Williams revoked that honor from Manning, saying the nomination was "a mistake" and "as an organization with a responsibility to serve the broader community, SF Pride repudiates this vote." She gave no specific reason why, but SF Pride's partnerships with wiretapping giant Verizon and Rush Limbaugh's radio station Clear Channel might give us some insight which "broader community" Lisa was talking about.

Considering gun control...

"The American murder rate is roughly 15 times that of other wealthy countries, which have much tougher laws controlling private ownership of guns."

As Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We are the only industrialized country that has this problem. In the whole world, the only one.”

As the prime minister of Australia said, “We do not want the American disease imported into Australia.”

Read more at the New York Times.

Daylight Slavings Time

Do you hate waking up in the dark even when the days start getting longer, or do you just dread that lost Sunday hour when you're forced to turn your clocks forward every year? Either way, you'll probably appreciate these facts about Daylight Savings Time:

1. The Germans in World War I were the first to use Daylight Savings Time. Pushing daylight hours forward meant more hours that working troops didn't need lights, so the army saved on energy costs. After Germany enacted it, Britain and other European nations quickly followed suit.

2. Car accidents and heart attacks increase the Monday after DST goes into effect. Scientists explain that "the sleep deprivation on the Monday following the shift to daylight saving time in the spring results in a small increase in fatal accidents."

3. Even though DST is supposed to save energy, it no longer seems to do so. A 2008 paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the time switch actually increases electricity usage. "Consistent with Benjamin Franklin's original conjecture, DST is found to save on electricity used for illumination, but there are increases in electricity used for heating and cooling."

4. So if it doesn't actually save energy, why do it? Daylight savings supports capitalism. Longer light in the evening hours encourages people to shop and spend money after work, and was estimated to boost the European leisure economy by as much as 3%.

5.  A better alternative might be permanent DST, increasing daylight hours without causing heart attacks and car crashes...Check out this radical proposal and write your senators if you like it.

Until then, you can blame German soldiers and capitalism for messing with your clocks. And in case you still doubted that imperialist capitalist powers were the main force behind DST, check out this map of who's using it today:

Fish Fraud

Fish is commonly mislabeled in the USA, sometimes more than 50% of the time!

Fish is mislabeled so that unhealthy fish sells as healthier types...or threatened fish species are sold under the name of a sustainable fish species.  This means people trying to make purchasing choices based on their health or environmental concerns are not able to make accurate choices and fish sellers are profiting from trickery.

A group of 500 professional chefs has petitioned the federal government to enact stricter labeling rules so that they can actually buy the fish that they want.  Apparently the free market needs a bit of regulation;  consumer choice kinda fails to regulate things when people can't make accurate choices!  Remember this, the next time someone tells you that government regulation hurts the "free" market.

These results were found by Oceana, an international ocean advocacy group, who tested fish in stores and restauraunts across the nation from 2010 to 2012.

Valentine's Propaganda

Happy Valentine's Day, from Liberal Propaganda! Remember to celebrate in a safe and socially responsible manner!