Mike-Politik

Why do people often vote against their own interests?

2010-01-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

BBC has an interesting piece on why American voters often vote against their own interests. It has always boggled my mind since I became a voter back in 1996. At that time I was serving in the US Army and our "leadership" was more interested in mediocre pay increases than peace. I recall asking questions like "who the hell wants to go to combat and war?" The answers from some of the neanderthals I served with told me that maybe some people should not be allowed to vote.

"Why are so many American voters enraged by attempts to change a horribly inefficient system that leaves them with premiums they often cannot afford?

Why are they manning the barricades to defend insurance companies that routinely deny claims and cancel policies?

It might be tempting to put the whole thing down to what the historian Richard Hofstadter back in the 1960s called "the paranoid style" of American politics, in which God, guns and race get mixed into a toxic stew of resentment at anything coming out of Washington.

But that would be a mistake.

If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them.

They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best."

ARE YOU SERIOUS? People hate being told what to do.....like not killing one another, or having auto insurance, or paying taxes? America needs a civics lesson in the worst way. We do not live on our own personal islands where our actions do not impact others.

To quote Plato, “People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.”

A Truly Great Loss to America

2010-01-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

The death of Howard Zinn yesterday marks an important point in American history. Howard was not only one of the few honest truth tellers American's could rely on, but a shining example of a true American patriot. He will be missed.

I will leave you with his last op-ed from The Nation (HT Drudge Retort):

"I' ve been searching hard for a highlight. The only thing that comes close is some of Obama's rhetoric; I don't see any kind of a highlight in his actions and policies.

As far as disappointments, I wasn't terribly disappointed because I didn't expect that much. I expected him to be a traditional Democratic president. On foreign policy, that's hardly any different from a Republican--as nationalist, expansionist, imperial and warlike. So in that sense, there's no expectation and no disappointment. On domestic policy, traditionally Democratic presidents are more reformist, closer to the labor movement, more willing to pass legislation on behalf of ordinary people--and that's been true of Obama. But Democratic reforms have also been limited, cautious. Obama's no exception. On healthcare, for example, he starts out with a compromise, and when you start out with a compromise, you end with a compromise of a compromise, which is where we are now.

I thought that in the area of constitutional rights he would be better than he has been. That's the greatest disappointment, because Obama went to Harvard Law School and is presumably dedicated to constitutional rights. But he becomes president, and he's not making any significant step away from Bush policies. Sure, he keeps talking about closing Guantánamo, but he still treats the prisoners there as "suspected terrorists." They have not been tried and have not been found guilty. So when Obama proposes taking people out of Guantánamo and putting them into other prisons, he's not advancing the cause of constitutional rights very far. And then he's gone into court arguing for preventive detention, and he's continued the policy of sending suspects to countries where they very well may be tortured.

I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president--which means, in our time, a dangerous president--unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction."

Hi, my name is:

2010-01-24T23:18:00.000-08:00

Chris Matthews:

Evan Bayh Imparting Wisdom.....

2010-01-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

"If you lose Massachusetts and that's not a wake-up call, there's no hope of waking up."--Bayh Warns "Catastrophe" If Dems Ignore Massachusetts Senate Race Lessons

HT--Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

Jim Cramer Correct? Hell Must Be Getting Chilly

2010-01-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

"The market rallied on Tuesday, with the Dow up about 100 points and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 climbing over 1% each. The move seemed to anticipate a Republican win in Massachusetts’ special Senate election, which would kill the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber and pause what Wall Street sees as an anti-business agenda."--Cramer: ‘Brown Better Win’ MA Senate Seat

This should not be a surprise to anyone. Obama and Rahm "I sell votes" Emanuel have been running this moderate "change we can believe in" campaign since the inauguration. The White House is not too concerned with what the American people think.....for they can resell this dog feces to the American public again in 2012. Dont believe it?

Michael Steele and Karl Rove are giddy with excitement.....

Michael Steele's Job is Safe

2010-01-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Look at his track record. He is winning elections. It speaks volumes for the Democrats complete inability to deliver the goods they promised to the American public.

There is only enough room for one Rush Limbaugh.....the Democrats are the equivalent of Ann Coulter. Nobody cares.

Yaaaaawwnnnn

2010-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have not posted for some time. I feel like waking up and stretching my arms.

Iraqi PM Says "We're Good"

2009-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

"Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki assured visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday that his country’s security will be unaffected by the planned American troop withdrawal from Iraqi cities.

“We don’t need big numbers of (US) military forces inside the cities after we get control of them,” Maliki said in a statement after talks with the top US lawmaker, who arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit.

“The responsible withdrawal (of US troops) will not affect the security situation,” Maliki added.

A fierce critic of the 2003-US invasion ordered by former president George W. Bush, Pelosi’s one-day visit came as US troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq’s urban areas by the end of next month despite a spike in violence.

The withdrawal is a key part of a military accord signed by Baghdad and Washington last November that will also see US troops leave the country by the end of 2011.

Maliki said Iraq’s military efforts were now concentrated on improving its intelligence services.

The US Congress, for its part, should try to develop bilateral relations focused on the scientific and economic agreements signed by the two countries, he said.

“Under stability, we are seeking to develop our economy, especially the oil industry, after multinationals have already come to work and invest in the sector,” he said.

Pelosi said that Washington would stick to its part of the agreement on troop withdrawals."--Iraqi PM tells Pelosi: We don’t need US troops in our cities - The Raw Story

Seems it would make sense to have the UN provide some police activity and training for the Iraqis. At the same time the US should be working on ensuring Iraqi economic stability so as to prevent blowback. We saw what the Reagan did to Afghanistan and we are still living with his failures today.

Swine Flu....Update

2009-04-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Swine Flu Outbreak Could Be Linked to Smithfield Factory Farms
"The outbreak of a new flu strain-a nasty mash-up of swine, avian, and human viruses-has infected 1,000 people in Mexico and the U.S., killing 68. The World Health Organization warned Saturday that the outbreak could reach global pandemic levels......"

"Residents [of Perote] believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to "flu." However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms. It was unclear whether health officials had identified a suspected pathogen responsible for this outbreak."

"De acuerdo con uno de los habitantes de la comunidad, Eli Ferrer Cortés, los desechos fecales y orgánicos que produce Granjas Carroll no son tratados adecuadamente, lo que genera contaminación del agua y del viento en la region."

Any questionss?

Do Republicans Know What "Legal" Means?

2009-04-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Again......the argument is that the intelligence provided by using torture worked.

I do not think the question is whether or not it "worked" but rather it's legal or not.

The Bush Admin broke the law and put our US troops in harms way by opening the door for other countries to use the same techniques.--Where 'Those Methods' Lead

Swin Flu Outbreak and American Pork Producer.....

2009-04-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Grist

"The outbreak of a new flu strain—a nasty mash-up of swine, avian, and human viruses—has infected 1000 people in Mexico and the U.S., killing 68. The World Health Organization warned Saturday that the outbreak could reach global pandemic levels.

Is Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer, linked to the outbreak? Smithfield operates massive hog-raising operations Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. The operations, grouped under a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carrol, raise 950,000 hogs per year, according to the company Web sit.

On Friday, the U.S. disease-tracking blog Biosurveillance published a timeline of the outbreak containing this nugget, dated April 6 (major tip of the hat to Paula Hay, who alerted me to the Smithfield link on the Comfood listserv and has written about it on her blog, Peak Oil Entrepreneur):--Swine-flu outbreak linked to Smithfield factory farms

Legalizing Drugs Can Work......In Some Countries

2009-04-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Portuguese Experiment: Did Legalizing Drugs Work?

"Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws? (Hint: It's not the Netherlands.)

Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze–filled "coffee shops," Holland has never actually legalized cannabis — the Dutch simply don't enforce their laws against the shops. The correct answer is Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? Under Portugal's new regime, people found guilty of possessing small amounts of drugs are sent to a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker and legal adviser for appropriate treatment (which may be refused without criminal punishment), instead of jail.

The question is, does the new policy work? At the time, critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate Portugal's drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggest otherwise.

The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."

Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana.

The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half. In addition, the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well.

Portugal's case study is of some interest to lawmakers in the U.S., confronted now with the violent overflow of escalating drug gang wars in Mexico. The U.S. has long championed a hard-line drug policy, supporting only international agreements that enforce drug prohibition and imposing on its citizens some of the world's harshest penalties for drug possession and sales. Yet America has the highest rates of cocaine and marijuana use in the world, and while most of the E.U. (including Holland) has more liberal drug laws than the U.S., it also has less drug use.

"I think we can learn that we should stop being reflexively opposed when someone else does [decriminalize] and should take seriously the possibility that anti-user enforcement isn't having much influence on our drug consumption," says Mark Kleiman, author of the forthcoming When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment and director of the drug policy analysis program at UCLA. Kleiman does not consider Portugal a realistic model for the U.S., however, because of differences in size and culture between the two countries."--The Portuguese Experiment

A Cure for Blindness? Of Course from Stem Cells....

2009-04-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

"BRITISH scientists have developed the world’s first stem cell therapy to cure the most common cause of blindness. Surgeons predict it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six or seven years’ time.

The treatment involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells. It was pioneered by scientists and surgeons from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital.

This week Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical research company, will announce its financial backing to bring the therapy to patients.

The treatment will tackle age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness. It affects more than 500,000 Britons and the number is forecast to increase significantly as people live longer. The disease involves the loss of eye cells."--Blind to be cured with stem cells

This is truly great news if it turns out to be true. I wonder if this will be enough to shut the religious right up about being "pro-life". We all know they could care less about a fellow human once you are born.

"Boy, these Conservatives are really something. They're all in favor of the unborn, they will do anything for the unborn, but once you're born you're on your own!"--George Carlin

Let Them Eat War - More Poor to fill the Army's Ranks

2009-04-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

"The Army last month stopped accepting felons and recent drug abusers into its ranks as the nation's economic downturn helped its recruiting, allowing it to reverse a decline in recruiting standards that had alarmed some officers.

While shunning those with criminal backgrounds, the Army is also attracting better-educated recruits. It is on track this year to meet, for the first time since 2004, the Pentagon's goal of ensuring that 90 percent of recruits have high school diplomas.

The developments mark a welcome turnaround for the Army, which has the military's biggest annual recruiting quota and had in recent years issued more waivers for recruits with criminal records. That, coupled with unprecedented strains from repeated deployments, led some senior officers to voice concerns that wartime pressures threatened to break the all-volunteer force.

Now, though, rising unemployment, security gains in Iraq and other factors have helped make military service more attractive and have allowed recruiters to be more choosy, according to military officials and Pentagon data."

Continued.....

Above all, the economic crisis has increased unemployment and reduced job opportunities -- particularly in sectors that tend to employ young people, said Curtis Gilroy, the Pentagon's top recruiting official.

When the recession hits the service sector, "everything from McDonald's to cutbacks at Best Buy and some of the more entry-level jobs . . . this impacts young people more. Those who are last hired tend to be first fired," Gilroy said. "They would then view the military option more favorably."

Another factor has been improved security in Iraq, officials said. "Casualties are way down, neighborhoods are safer, and that has proved a significant factor," Gilroy said.

American youth are increasingly likely to join the military, recent Pentagon polling has shown. Those ages 16 to 21 who said they would "definitely" or "probably" serve in the military in the next few years rose from 9 percent in December 2007 to 13 percent last December, according to Defense Department Youth Polls.

The gains in recruiting are leading the Army to cut its recruiting budget and scale back some bonuses and incentives. The service plans to cut 1,100 active-duty, Reserve and contract recruiters over the next two years, Anderson said."--Army More Selective as Economy Lags

The Bush Admin had so many problems getting willing people to fight their wars that they started to accept Category IV soldiers. Now that the wealth controllers of this country have done their best to purge the middle class they can now find more admirable and respectful people to serve....for what purpose it's hard to tell.

The military is being used as a stop gap for rising unemployment or people with no immediate opportunity straight out of high school....much like I went through when I finished high school. You can probably expect another military campaign in the near future in hopes that we can see post WWII 'prosperity' again.

How Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates - Time Mag

2009-04-19T11:23:00.001-07:00

"Amid the current media frenzy about Somali pirates, it's hard not to imagine them as characters in some dystopian Horn of Africa version of Waterworld. We see wily corsairs in ragged clothing swarming out of their elusive mother ships, chewing narcotic khat while thumbing GPS phones and grappling hooks. They are not desperate bandits, experts say, rather savvy opportunists in the most lawless corner of the planet. But the pirates have never been the only ones exploiting the vulnerabilities of this troubled failed state — and are, in part, a product of the rest of the world's neglect."

Continued......

"High-seas trawlers from countries as far flung as South Korea, Japan and Spain have operated down the Somali coast, often illegally and without licenses, for the better part of two decades, the U.N. says. They often fly flags of convenience from sea-faring friendly nations like Belize and Bahrain, which further helps the ships skirt international regulations and evade censure from their home countries. Tsuma Charo of the Nairobi-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, which monitors Somali pirate attacks and liaises with the hostage takers and the captured crews, says "illegal trawling has fed the piracy problem." In the early days of Somali piracy, those who seized trawlers without licenses could count on a quick ransom payment, since the boat owners and companies backing those vessels didn't want to draw attention to their violation of international maritime law. This, Charo reckons, allowed the pirates to build up their tactical networks and whetted their appetite for bigger spoils.

Beyond illegal fishing, foreign ships have also long been accused by local fishermen of dumping toxic and nuclear waste off Somalia's shores. A 2005 United Nations Environmental Program report cited uranium radioactive and other hazardous deposits leading to a rash of respiratory ailments and skin diseases breaking out in villages along the Somali coast. According to the U.N., at the time of the report, it cost $2.50 per ton for a European company to dump these types of materials off the Horn of Africa, as opposed to $250 per ton to dispose of them cleanly in Europe.

Monitoring and combating any of these misdeeds is next to impossible — Somalia's current government can barely find its feet in the wake of the 2006 U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion. And many Somalis, along with outside observers, suspect local officials in Mogadishu and in ports in semi-autonomous Puntland further north of accepting bribes from foreign fishermen as well as from pirate elders. U.N. monitors in 2005 and 2006 suggested an embargo on fish taken from Somali waters, but their proposals were shot down by members of the Security Council." -- How Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates

--These people were not the 'Johnny Depp' pirates as most ignorant Americans would think. This is what many would call a naval militia. Formed to protect their immediate self-interests as the country's government cannot. I find it disturbing that we are yet again in the middle of encouraging countries to fail. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia are just the latest examples.....?

Mythology is Taking its Last Gasp? Maybe....

2009-04-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

The End of Christian America

"The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become.

It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the point he could not get out of his mind: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, "this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified." As Mohler saw it, the historic foundation of America's religious culture was cracking."

Maybe America can be defined by actual culture not a mainstream religion? How tolerant of a people can we be if we let one religion pervert an entire country?

Pitchforks?

2009-04-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

Courtey of TG

"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."--Politico

FBI Warns America of Mortgage Fraud.....in 2004!

2009-04-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

FBI warns of mortgage fraud 'epidemic'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rampant fraud in the mortgage industry has increased so sharply that the FBI warned Friday of an "epidemic" of financial crimes which, if not curtailed, could become "the next S&L crisis."

Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker said the booming mortgage market, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, has attracted unscrupulous professionals and criminal groups whose fraudulent activities could cause multibillion-dollar losses to financial institutions.

"It has the potential to be an epidemic," said Swecker, who heads the Criminal Division at FBI headquarters in Washington. "We think we can prevent a problem that could have as much impact as the S&L crisis," he said.

In the 1980s, many Savings and Loans failed because of poor management, risky loans and investments, and in some cases, fraud. Taxpayers were left with a $132 billion tab to cover federal guarantees to S&L customers.

The FBI has dispatched undercover teams across the country in an urgent investigation into dealings by suspect mortgage brokers, appraisers, short-term investors, and loan officers, Swecker, flanked by FBI executives and Justice Department prosecutors, revealed.

"The Best Way to Rob a Bank, is to Own One"......

2009-04-05T10:51:00.001-07:00

"William K. Black suspects that it was more than greed and incompetence that brought down the U.S. financial sector and plunged the economy in recession — it was fraud. And he would know. When it comes to financial shenanigans, William K. Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, has seen pretty much everything.

Now an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, William K. Black tells Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL that the tool at the very center of mortgage collapse, creating triple-A rated bonds out of "liars' loans" — loans issued without verifying income, assets or employment — was a fraud, and the banks knew it.

And while there is no law against liars' loans, Black points out that there are, "many laws against fraud, and liars' loans are fraudulent. [...] They involve deceit, which is the essence of fraud."

More about the Savings and Loan Crisis

Here is the video:William K. Black interview

*You know, I get so enraged that people openly vote for an ideology that believes man is inherently evil and then do nothing to prevent such evil. About 50% of Americans should be walking around with their noses cut off...to spite their face.*

I guess we have to purge the septic tank before we can fill it back up again?

1 Outta 10 Americans Need Food Stamps?

2009-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

One in 10 Americans gets help to buy food

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A record 32.2 million people -- one in every 10 Americans -- received food stamps at the latest count, the government said on Thursday, a reflection of the recession now in its 16th month.

Food stamps, the major U.S. anti-hunger program, help poor people buy groceries. The average benefit was $112.82 per person in January.

The January figure marks the third time in five months that enrollment set a record.

"A weakened economy means that many more individuals are turning to SNAP/Food Stamps," said the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group, using the acronym for the renamed food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in February, the highest in 25 years. New claims for jobless benefits totaled 669,000 last week, the highest in 26 years, the government said on Thursday."

Ice shelf about to break away from Antarctic coast

2009-04-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is probably not a good thing. I imagine we will probably be cooked to death once all the methane hydrates start releasing into the atmosphere......

"As the Wilkins Ice Shelf is at risk of breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula, ESA’s Envisat satellite is observing the area on a daily basis. The satellite acquisitions of the ice shelf are updated automatically on this website to monitor the developments immediately as they occur.

In late November 2008, new rifts developed on the ice shelf that scientists warn could lead to the opening of the ice bridge that connects the ice shelf to the Charcot island. If the ice bridge were to open, it could put the entire ice shelf at risk of further disintegrating."

This is great news for news

2009-03-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post Launches Investigative Journalism Venture

"NEW YORK — The Huffington Post said Sunday that it will bankroll a group of investigative journalists, directing them at first to look at stories about the nation's economy.

The popular Web site is collaborating with The Atlantic Philanthropies and other donors to launch the Huffington Post Investigative Fund with an initial budget of $1.75 million. That should be enough for 10 staff journalists who will primarily coordinate stories with freelancers, said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

Work that the journalists produce will be available for any publication or Web site to use at the same time it is posted on The Huffington Post, she said."

This is good stuff.....it will fill the massive void corporate newspapers have left in this country for the last few decades.

Investigate the crooks!

G.O.P = Got 0 Plans

2009-03-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

BWAHAHAHA...actually a decent article:

"The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water. Obama is trying to handle an immediate crisis while also laying the foundation for long-term growth. The Republicans are doing neither. They have no plan to stop the loss of jobs or to get capital markets functioning properly -- and they certainly have no plans for health care, education or energy, which are the keys to both long-term economic growth and long-term deficit reduction.

All the energy -- indeed all debate -- is on the progressive side of the aisle. The Obama administration's only intellectual challengers are on the left, where economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others are offering a vigorous critique and proposing alternative solutions. But where are the Republicans? Doing nothing but complaining. Unless and until they do offer an alternative, they really have no right to whine about the president. For now at least, GOP stands for "Got 0 Plans."

Newspapers closing up shop....good riddance! Next up...our local "5 o' clock news"

2009-03-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

A lot of talk about the destruction of democracy etc etc with all these newspapers closing up shop. I believe BuffaloGeek said it best....

"The problem with newspapers is that we don’t need journalists to report, we need them to investigate. Reporting is a crowdsourced function done by millions of bloggers and TV/Radio reporters. There is little value in waiting for The Buffalo News to show up on my doorstep 18-24 hours after something happened with a basic 5 W rundown of an event or news item. I’ve already read it online, watched the pundits opine on it, heard talk show hosts dissect it and personally synthesized it by the time the ink is dry on the newsprint. Much of what I get in the daily paper are reprints of AP wire stories and articles featuring content I’ve already consumed in various other medium. What’s the added value?

I’m not breaking any new ground here, but I do think I have an idea for how newspapers shall remain relevant.

Stop reporting and start investigating."

As Lawrence would say from Office Space..

Backup plan, contigency plan, disaster recovery, fault tolerance? Que?

2009-03-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of TP

This dude's optimism is great and all....but it would be nice to know that the guy who is responsible for bringing us out of this recession had a few backup plans....this guy is scaring the shit out of me

BTW....this BS rally in the market is obvious proof that the "investor class aka top 2%" is in total control and is leaning all over Geithner to please them.

I am glad I have not voted Rep/Dem since 1996.

O'reilly re-mix.....for old times sake.

2009-03-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my buddy Joe for pointing this out.....

Bill O'reilly is reading from his novel...the only thing that comes to mind is, gross dude

Bill O'reilly is still on teevee? I guess so.....and advocating murder of people he doesn't like.

2009-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

I was totally unaware that Sy Hersh was a "muckraker" as opposed to an investigative journo.

Courtesy of TP

" The other day, left-wing muckraker Seymour Hersh went on MSNBC and said he had information, provided by the usual anonymous sources, that Dick Cheney was running an assassination squad out of the White House.

I have but one simple observation: If Cheney really had such a crew, Hersh would have been dead a long time ago, and so would most everybody at MSNBC."

Timothy Geithner Uses Turbo Tax?

2009-03-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Change We Can Believe In?

2009-03-22T11:06:00.001-07:00

-image from bizzyblog

Can someone please explain how Geithner's plan is any kind of change we can believe in? This bail out plan has gone so horrendously wrong that it's truly hard to see the bottom. The reason why it is now so hard to see bottom is we are so damn deep down the well that sunlight no longer reaches our eyes.

The Obama Admin has incredibly "misunderestimated" the complete and utter collapse of our economic system.

Note: When you play catch up, its because you didn't do your homework.

Obama asking for more oversight on executive pay....finally.

Obama has not accounted for credit debt defaults as well as all the mortgages with ARMs that reset at the end of 2009.

-ARMs reset end of 2009

-Credit Card Defaults Explode

Harry Reid....in trouble and it's a good thing.

2009-01-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

If you are as pissed off as I am at the Dems in the Senate....here is some good news:

"WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid will command the biggest party majority of any Senate leader in a quarter century when the new Congress convenes in January. But the Nevada Democrat is already worried about his own re-election fight in 2010.

Sen. Reid, perhaps the most-vulnerable Democrat who will face re-election in a midterm race that is likely to favor his party once again, began interviewing campaign managers last week. The Senate majority leader also recently stepped up fund-raising.

Starting early could help Sen. Reid avoid the fate of his predecessor, Tom Daschle, who was Democratic leader for a decade before losing his re-election bid in South Dakota in 2004. The current Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, narrowly won re-election in Kentucky this year." --
Sen. Reid Hits the Ground Running in Uphill Re-Election Bid

Take the quiz: Daily Kos:Harry Reid sucks

NSA Creating Scary Lists These Days......

2009-01-22T20:22:00.001-08:00

"On Wednesday night, when former NSA analyst Russell Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that the Bush administration's National Security Agency spied on everyone in the United States, specifically targeting journalists, the Countdown host was so flabbergasted that Tice was invited back for a second interview.

On Thursday, he returned to the airwaves with expanded allegations against the NSA, claiming the agency collected Americans' credit card records, and adding that he believes the massive, warrantless data vacuum to be the remnants of the Total Information Awareness program, shut down by Congress in 2003."--Whistleblower: NSA even collected credit card records

Will Obama change his tune on this?

Yet Another Instance of Liberal Media.....

2007-08-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

from Greg Sargent

"Media Outlets That Went Nuts Over O'Hanlon Ignoring Cordesman's Pessimism About Iraq"

Here is a list of the big news orgs and network shows -- compiled from here, here, and here -- that lavished coverage on Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack over their now-infamous Op-ed saying that we just might win the war in Iraq:

As noted here yesterday, national security analyst Anthony Cordesman went to Iraq with O'Hanlon and Pollack, and reached a strikingly different conclusion. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, where Cordesman works, just told me that they sent out a release about this yesterday morning."

And yet the Bush Admin can only manage to get abour 26% of the people to believe this garbage......USA! USA! USA!

This is why I havent voted for Dems since 96....

2007-08-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

I am so ashamed of this country.

Roll Call for the Dems who let down their constituents once again....

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are your Democratic traitors.

Altmire
Barrow
Bean
Boren
Boswell
Boyd (FL)
Carney
Chandler
Cooper
Costa
Cramer
Cuellar
Davis (AL)
Davis, Lincoln
Donnelly
Edwards
Ellsworth
Etheridge
Gordon
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hill
Lipinski
Marshall
Matheson
McIntyre
Melancon
Mitchell
Peterson (MN)
Rodriguez
Ross
Salazar
Snyder
Space
Tanner
Taylor
Walz (MN)
Wilson (OH)

This will go down as the most insidious political ploy ever devised. Rove tricked his opponents into believing this was for fighting terrorism. We will find out after the Bush Admin leaves office that they were wiretapping and spying on the Democrats. Ever wonder how Rove seems to be able to out maneuver the Dems so easily and frequently?

Prescott Bush Planned to Overthrow Roosevelt?

2007-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

"The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression."--The Whitehouse Coup via BBC Radio

Are you suprised that a bunch of right wingers would think Hitler had the best economic model for getting out of the depression? They also forget that the depression was caused by Republican malfeasance to begin with.

"Hoover and the Republicans saw aid to corporations as being different. Whereas they believed that helping the individual citizen weather the Depression would corrupt him or her, aiding corporations and other business was different. To many, it appeared that the Republicans were only interested in the rich. The newly-created Reconstruction Finance Corporation aided only the large corporations.."

Lets not forget who Prescott Bush was....

Can this week get any worse?

2007-07-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Verdict is out on that one.....

I am almost in support of people being on a cocktail of anti-psychotic medications. I must be unwittingly in possession of a "crazy magnet".

Why Do Right-Wingers Hate Kos?

2007-07-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Think Progress:

"Every Democratic presidential nominee is going to the DailyKos convention," said Kristol. "That’s the left-wing blogger who was not respectable three or four years ago. The Howard Dean kind of sponsor. Now the whole party is going to pay court to him and to left wing blogs."--Bill Kristol July 22, 2007

From Bill O:

"O’Reilly went on to compare the YearlyKos blogger convention to "a David Duke convention" while calling DailyKos "hatemongerers" like "the Ku Klux Klan" and "the Nazi Party."--Bill O'Reilly July 17, 2007

Here is why Cons hate Kos:

"After high school, Moulitsas served in the U.S. Army (1989-92) as a 13P -- Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Fire Direction Specialist. He trained at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and served the remainder of his three-year enlistment in Bamberg, Germany. While he entered the Army as a Republican, he abandoned the GOP soon after his enlistment."

Chickenhawks like to push pencils as opposed to doing push ups.

David Brooks.....aka The Shill Who Luvs GWB

2007-07-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Via Think Progress

David Brooks is confused about Iraq?

"Let me say, I’m more uncertain about what to do than I’ve ever been in this war," he said. "I really have no clue. So I almost have no judgment on what we should do, stay or go. I really am so confused."--NewsHour with Jim Lehrer-July 20, 2007

Remember when David "the shill" Brooks thought he know WTF he was talking about when it came to Iraq?

"The country wants to get out of Iraq, but they don’t want to get out precipitously. They want a managed withdrawal. The majority just isn’t there. So the majority in the Congress had to accede to those two realities."NewsHour with Jim Lehrer-May 25, 2007

Ohhhh but wait...there's more....he even goes as far to help the Bush Administration out with "connecting the dots" on Iraq and 9/11 back in 2003.

"You're in a context, post-September 11 where everybody is blaming you for not bring all the information together, to think about a theory of how the World Trade Centers got blown up. So you want to be aggressive in connecting the dots. They were aggressive and they did take this Niger thing seriously. But to me, that's what I want my president to be doing in those circumstances because nuclear bombs could be months away in Iraq." NewsHour with Jim Lehrer-July 18, 2003

Mushroom clouds anyone?

Republican Obstructionism or Treachery?

2007-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Republican's say one thing and do another.....typical in the land of self-loathing hypocrisy. Lets look at this little tidbit of how the Republican mantra of "Party Before Country" has wreaked havoc on the country.

"WASHINGTON — This year Senate Republicans are threatening filibusters to block more legislation than ever before, a pattern that's rooted in — and could increase — the pettiness and dysfunction in Congress.

The trend has been evolving for 30 years. The reasons behind it are too complex to pin on one party. But it has been especially pronounced since the Democrats' razor-thin win in last year's election, giving them effectively a 51-49 Senate majority, and the Republicans' exile to the minority."--Senate tied in knots by filibusters

Republicans, what are they good for? Not you or me....

Over 1000 Subpoena's Issued to Investigate President Clinton

2007-03-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

from Rep Brad Miller

"In other words, they think we’ll act like Republicans. After Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, the House Government Reform Committee issued more than 1000 subpoenas to investigate alleged misconduct by the Clinton Administration and the Democratic Party, or two for every day Congress was in session.

Are Republicans worried that congressional investigations will be burdensome? The Clinton Administration produced two million pages of documents, an average of 4,000 pages of documents for every day Congress was in session."

.....you heard right...Republican's issued TWO SUBPOENA'S for every day they were in session and Clinton produced 4,000 pages of documents for the same. What did all this "Matlocking" uncover? Hmm...Clinton cheated on his wife (see Newt Gingrich) and found that Clinton had done nothing illegal in the Whitewater Investigation. By the way....Republican's wasted $50 million.

But Clinton Did It........

2007-03-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Tony Snow Thinks Executive Privilege Pertains to Republican's Only...

"What kinds of conversations does executive privilege protect?…What are the limits on privilege?'' a newspaper columnist wrote in the spring of 1998 on a subject strangely familiar today."

"Evidently, Mr. Clinton wants to shield virtually any communications that take place within the White House compound on the theory that all such talk contributes in some way, shape or form to the continuing success and harmony of an administration,'' the columnist wrote. "Taken to its logical extreme, that position would make it impossible for citizens to hold a chief executive accountable for anything.''

More from the Chicago Tribune:Snow swallows own old words

Thanks to Aravosis

By the way, Clinton did let his aides testify UNDER OATHE.

Guerilla News Latest......Please Watch.

2007-03-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

"Directed by GNN’s Ian Inaba, American Blackout chronicles the recurring patterns of voter disenfranchisement witnessed from 2000 to 2004. Told through the life of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney who took an active role investigating the scrubbing of the Florida voter roles and then found herself in her own election debacle after publicly questioning the Bush Administration about the terrorist attacks of 9-11. American Blackout travels from Florida to Georgia to Ohio examining the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence political dissent.

Winner – Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2006

Winner – Best Documentary Feature, Cinequest Film Festival 2006

Winner – Stand Up Audience Award, Cleveland International Film Festival 2006

Winner – Special Jury Prize, Independent Film Festival of Boston 2006

Winner – Audience Award, Columbus Alive Deep Focus Film Festival 2006

Winner – Best Documentary Feature, Urbanworld Film Festival 2006"

Courtesy of Guerilla News Network

Conservatives Cannot Govern.....Incompetence is by Design

2007-03-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."--Grover Norquist (Honest Jerk)

"Donald Rumsfeld has been axed. Tom DeLay cut and ran. “Scooter” Libby stands convicted. Michael “you’re doing a heck of a job” Brown was tossed. Newt Gingrich disgraced himself. And now the clueless Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, is surely the next to go."

......continued

"What is it about conservative administrations that lead them into disgrace and indictment? Incompetence isn’t at the core of these scandals—ideology is."

more from Robert Borosage at TomPaine

Cant See the Forest, Thru the Trees...

2007-03-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Pretty much sums up the mentality of Iraq War advocates aka Republicans and the Democratic sell-outs (Hillary, Lieberman, Kerry) when it comes to the attrocities being committed in our name.

"March 19, 2007 | One-year-old Shams was brought to the National Iraqi Assistance Center with her uncle to seek plastic surgery in the US. Her mother was killed in the blast that burned her face.
(Photo: Eros Hoagland / The New York Times)" Courtesy of Truthout

Read the story here

Watergate Cover-Up 2.0

2007-03-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."--Richard Nixon (during Watergate investigation)

"In DOJ documents that were publicly posted by the House Judiciary Committee, there is a gap from mid-November to early December in e-mails and other memos, which was a critical period as the White House and Justice Department reviewed, then approved, which U.S. attorneys would be fired while also developing a political and communications strategy for countering any fallout from the firings."

.........more below

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the Judiciary panel, noted that six of the eight fired prosecutors were involved in corruption investigations focusing on GOP lawmakers or officials, and she questioned whether the firings were an effort by Republicans to protect their own."

Courtesy of The Politico

BOYCOTT YAHOO!!!!

2007-03-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

'Yahoo Betrayed My Husband'
"FAIRFAX, Virginia -- Early one Sunday morning in 2002, a phone rings in Yu Ling's Beijing duplex. She's cleaning upstairs; her son is asleep, while downstairs, her husband, Wang Xiaoning, is on the computer. Wang writes about politics, anonymously e-mailing his online e-journals to a group of Yahoo users. He's been having problems with his Yahoo service recently. He thinks it's a technical issue. This is the day he learns he's wrong."

Continued:

"Moments later, government agents swarm through the front door -- 10 of them, some in uniform, some not. They take Wang away. They take his computers and disks. They shove an official notice into Yu's hands, tell her to keep quiet, and leave. This is how it's done in China. This is how the internet police grab you."

I encourage all Americans to boycott Yahoo. Kill your IM accounts and refuse to use their search engines and news services.

The Oscars...groupthink at its best.

2007-02-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

A film that receives an Oscar is by no means a guarantee to potential viewers that its a great film. When my fellow Americans start electing intelligent leadership then I will listen to their opinions on their entertainment selections.

group·think-noun:

1. The practice of approaching problems or issues as matters that are best dealt with by consensus of a group rather than by individuals acting independently; conformity.

2. the lack of individual creativity, or of a sense of personal responsibility, that is sometimes characteristic of group intereaction.

Americans Support Killing Civilians? A New Low For America

2007-02-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

A new poll reported in CS Monitor:

The myth of Muslim support for terror

WASHINGTON - Those who think that Muslim countries and pro-terrorist attitudes go hand-in-hand might be shocked by new polling research: Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians than any major Muslim country except for Nigeria.

The survey, conducted in December 2006 by the University of Maryland's prestigious Program on International Public Attitudes, shows that only 46 percent of Americans think that "bombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians" are "never justified," while 24 percent believe these attacks are "often or sometimes justified."

Contrast those numbers with 2006 polling results from the world's most-populous Muslim countries – Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Terror Free Tomorrow, the organization I lead, found that 74 percent of respondents in Indonesia agreed that terrorist attacks are "never justified"; in Pakistan, that figure was 86 percent; in Bangladesh, 81 percent.

Do these findings mean that Americans are closet terrorist sympathizers?

US Intelligence on Iranian Nukes Completely False

2007-02-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

From Sunday's L.A. Times

VIENNA — Although international concern is growing about Iran's nuclear program and its regional ambitions, diplomats here say most U.S. intelligence shared with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency has proved inaccurate and none has led to significant discoveries inside Iran.

The officials said the CIA and other Western spy services had provided sensitive information to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency at least since 2002, when Iran's long-secret nuclear program was exposed. But none of the tips about supposed secret weapons sites provided clear evidence that the Islamic Republic was developing illicit weapons.

Interesting...considering the U.N. was correct on Iraq's WMDs (or lack thereof) it's hard to grasp why the Bush Admin thinks they can polish a turd and call it jewelry. This is the same Bush Administration that outed CIA operatives working on Iranian Nuclear Proliferation.....

How Many Days........?

2007-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

till Bush pardons Libby?

Rove Tells America How Republicans Really Feel...

2007-02-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

about immigrants.....

"According to a congressman's wife who attended a Republican women's luncheon yesterday, Karl Rove explained the rationale behind the president's amnesty/open-borders proposal this way: "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."

There should be no need to explain why this is an obscene statement coming from a leader in the party that promotes the virtues of hard work, thrift, and sobriety, a party whose demi-god actually split fence rails as a young man, a party where "respectable Republican cloth coat" once actually meant something. But it does seem to be necessary to explain."

Courtesy of NRO

I guess Republicans really have a disdain for blue collar workers.

Condi Rice the Most Over-Rated Person Ever?

2007-02-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

Wow...Iran actually has more diplomatic skills than the United States.

Courtesy of Newsweek.

An Iranian Peace Proposal?

A document faxed to the State Department in 2003 sets out terms for comprehensive negotiations between Iran and the United States.READ

I DONT CARE.....

2007-02-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

about anything that has to do with that trainwreck Anna Nicole Smith. Proof positive our media is nothing more than a detractor from our government's inept policies.

Flying Across Country?

2007-02-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

With all this time in the media being spent on Speaker Pelosi's taxpayer funded plane, shouldnt we take a look at Congressman Hunter's transport and see if he, like Pelosi, takes non-stop flights from the 52nd to DC? It appears that most California reps do indeed fly non-stop...contacting Congressman Hunter's office.

How Many More Days?

2007-01-29T23:20:00.000-08:00

Till Dick Cheney is charged with treason?

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 115 > § 2381

"Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

Courtesy of Cornell Law

Biting the Hand (Bush Admin) That Feeds

2007-01-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it had signed an initial deal worth $10 billion (5.1 billion pounds) with Spain's Repsol (REP.MC: Quote, Profile , Research) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the South Pars gas field.
Iran signs initial LNG deal with Repsol, Shell -report

Does the Bush Admin view Shell Oil as an enemy of the state?

True Lies.....a Poem by Taalam Acey

2007-01-29T19:46:00.000-08:00

Taalam Acey

Bush Admin Push Iran/Iraq Weapons Deal?

2007-01-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

Could it be possible that the Bush Admin either thru sheer incompetence or skilled planning allowed the Iraq/Iran weapons deal in order to make a statement such as this?

"If Iran escalates its military action in Iraq to the detriment of our troops and/or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly," said the President, who also remarked, "I take the Iranian nuclear threat very seriously, even though the intel on Iraq was not what it was thought to be." Bush warns Iran

Let's not forget that Iraq and Iran signed a military deal:

"Former foes Iran and Iraq have said they will sign a military cooperation agreement that will include Iranian help in training Iraq's armed forces." Iran and Iraq to sign military deal

When the Iraqi Defense Minister was asked about US opposition to Iranian involvment:
"Nobody can dictate to Iraq its relations with other countries"

Not All Facism Looks Like Adolf Hitler (You Tube)

2007-01-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

Jan 24th...."Most Depressing Day of the Year"

2007-01-22T22:22:00.000-08:00

LONDON - Is the midwinter weather wearing you down? Are you sinking in debt after the holidays? Angry with yourself for already breaking your New Year's resolutions? Wish you could crawl back under the covers and not have to face another day of rain, sleet, snow and paperwork? Probably. After all, it's Jan. 24, the “most depressing day of the year,” according to a U.K. psychologist.

Dr. Cliff Arnall's calculations show that misery peaks Monday.

Arnall, who specializes in seasonal disorders at the University of Cardiff, Wales, created a formula that takes into account numerous feelings to devise peoples' lowest point.

The equation is broken down into seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since failed quit attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.

Courtesy of MSNBC: Jan. 24 called worst day of the year

The Ticket

2007-01-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

President

Vice President

4 Days Past 29

2007-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

It is now four days past my 29th Birthday. I have decided I will write. I have no regrets.