Evening Open Thread
Chat away...
Comments (136) «
Reposting from previous thread
YouTube Christmas light show display videos
Happy Holidaze, {{good Democrat Lassies and Laddies}},
We wish you a Merry Christmas (on
bagpipes, aye!)
Kindness, Joy, Peace and Love to all --
and a little Amazing Grace
by Richard Holdman.
Another favorite oldie song: Music Box
Dancer.
May your days be merry, and bright.
Try it again.
69
Eli_B on December 19, 2008 at 04:47 PM
Oh, so your daughter has 2 years of temperatures for a high school science project and that confirms the theory of global frickin warmin.
It proves that you're a twit, Stevie!
You still refuse to understand the difference between weather and climate!
t proves that you're a twit, Stevie!
You still refuse to understand the difference between weather and climate!
5
Barbi on December 19, 2008 at 06:22 PM
There is no difference between weather and climate, weather is what the climate is made out of. Duh
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 19, 2008 at 06:00 PM
Those "screechers", as you put it, are the majority in CA (52%), and everywhere else for that matter. If you were correct in your assertion, then CA Prop 8 would've failed in CA, again, arguably the most liberal state in the union.
As far as your disdain for organized religion goes, that's between you and God. But it is just a wrong for you to insult someone else's religion as it is for someone to insult your lack of religion or, at bare minimum, your disrespect of religious leaders especailly the ones you named as they represent probably more than 80% of all Americans. Like it or not, agree with or not, those who believe in gay marriage are in the minority and will be for at least one more generation in America.
*Yawn*
You're boring, Stevie. Maybe Santa will bring you new material.
9BobVADemocratHawk on December 19, 2008 at 06:33 PM
Bob, do you believe that America was founded on the belief that 'majority rules'?
If the founders of this nation believed in that schoolyard mantra, do you believe they would have instituted three branches of government? Why even have a Supreme Court? In fact, why didn't the founders of this country just make nice in England?
I don't give a rats behind what the "majority" wants. I believe in the Constitution and that document holds that Americans are given equal protection under the law. If we do not uphold the Constitution and simply throw up our hands when the "majority" yells, we may as well go back to England.
Have a nice night.
BobVADemocratHawk on December 19, 2008 at 05:44 PM
Bob,
Do you think the wording of the Equal Rights Amendment had anything to do with why it was so badly beaten up? I didn't realize it at the time, but it does provide LGBT a life line, doesn't it?
But the Far Right did know it and began working under the radar back then arguing that passage would force women into combat or use the same bathrooms as men as an excuse to kill it. They obviously never cared about either. Bush's blunder in Iraq made both possibilities a very necessary reality.
So who is the Far Right really worried about here...gays or women...or both? All this talk about marriage. Is it the new wedge issue or excuse for denying all but rich white males power to control their future?
I smell fear and I'm thinking it's economic...as usual. If the GOP can divide women, middle class males, and gays while discriminating against them all, then they have the upper hand. Gay marriage is a red herring. It really makes no common sense that gays marrying gays threatens hetro marriages.
So this is all about control and always has been. But with the number of single, divorced, and widowed women increasing and economic conditions deteriorating, I'm not sure we will have to wait too long for all women to catch onto what the Republicans are doing...this is the largest and fastest growing voter block.
And, imho, it's not the Baby Boomer generation that is holding up action on stopping sexism, it's the Rat Pack generation. Younger generations and older women are going to be pushing even harder for change in the decade to come. You betcha.
A small taste of freedom can ignite a very lethal weapon.
And I do not believe Baby Boomers who elected a black president are going to let the gay community be used as a punching bag any more than we are going to let the Old White Rich Geezer Boys Club to continue running the show.
Change was always closer at hand then Rove or Obama ever realized. All we had to do is embrace it...just once.
Gov't Toughens Bail Conditions For Bernard MadoffWife to Pay for Round-the-Clock Monitoring By Security Firm
By RICHARD ESPOSITO and BRIAN ROSS
December 19, 2008
The U.S. Government moved today to tighten the bail conditions of alleged financial fraudster Bernard Madoff, eliminating a provision that allowed the man behind an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme to freely walk the streets during the day and remain confined to his home only at night. The new security measures include a requirement that Madoff's family hire a security firm to monitor the posh penthouse address at 133 East 64th Street where Madoff is confined on a $10 million bond......The new measures come after the original bail conditions agreed to by prosecutors came under harsh public criticism. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan said the office had no comment when queried on whether the altered conditions were in part or whole requested because of that criticism. The spokesperson said that the U.S. Attorney had no comment beyond what is contained in the two page request to modify bail conditions...
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6498850&page=1
Had this bum robbed the local liquor store, he'd probably have no bail yet he is accused of bilking at least $50 billion and can maintain his posh lifestyle. Poppycock! The American Judicial System is still the best that money can buy. Just ask the GOP.
the troll must have missed this one. I shall repost, and maybe, just maybe he will read this information, look at these facts, review these pictures and not come off as a red neck iignoramous !
Top Five Cities Experiencing Winter Warming Trends
NOTE WHO #1 IS !!!!!!!!!!!!
#1 Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minnesota
Annual Trend Temperature: 0.2°F
Over 30 Years: 6.4°F
It’s not Minnesota summers that bring in the tourists. Winters are the bread-and-butter for the state.
Warmer winters are bad news for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The cities host winter
http://www.weatherbill.com/static/content/temperature_trends_summary_2007-09.pdf
We are now observing real changes due to higher temperatures. Here are some examples:
The Mt. Kilimanjaro glacier, which has survived the past 11,000 years, is currently at risk of disappearing by 2020 if present rates of melting continue;
Enormous tracts of Siberian peatlands, with vast stores of carbon, are beginning to thaw and release carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere;
The Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica has lost volume as large chunks (some as large as the state of Rhode Island) have recently broken free and melted;
The annual surface area of Arctic sea ice has declined eight percent over the past several decades;
Large-scale increases in ocean temperatures have been detected over the past 45 years; and
Plants and animals are changing their habitation ranges, sometimes dramatically, such as robins and mosquitoes in the Arctic that were previously unknown there.
Antarctic ice core records vividly illustrate that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels today are higher than levels recorded over the past 650,000 years (see figure below). Atmospheric CO2 levels have risen 30 percent in the last 150 years, with half of that rise occurring only in the last three decades. It is a well-established scientific fact that CO2 (and other gases emitted from industrial and agricultural sources) traps heat in the atmosphere, so it is no surprise that we are now witnessing a dramatic increase in temperature.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/hockeystickFAQ.html
AND THEN SOME PHOTOS. WORDS MAY CONFUSE, BUT PICTURES DO NOT !!!!!
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/
http://www.effectofglobalwarming.com/global-warming-pictures.html
http://www.alaskastock.com/Global-Warming-Pictures.asp
http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/exhibitgcc/intro01.jsp
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=global+warming+in+pictures&fr=yfp-t-809&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
But the troll will be out there googling New Zeland blogs to see if he can find some looney like himself who swears we are COOLING, not heating up !!!!!
So really, save a little of your self esteem, And just knock off on the subject, because you are SOOOOOOO wrong, it is pathetic and pitiful to watch.
sally brains our going to north poll for vacation from his stupidity
BlueinIdaho on December 19, 2008 at 06:59 PM
If the majority does not rule then who does, Blue? Elections are decided by majority. Laws are passed and repealed by majority. Appellate decisions are decided by a majority of the sitting judges. In the judicial and legislative branches of government, the majority rules and if the executive branch gets out of line, the super majority rules (i.e. veto overrides and impeachment). And that is the reason we left England. We left England because one person ruled, not the majority.
I hate I have done nothing wrong politicians in all the spectrum of politics
I Have Done Nothing Wrong
Oh scrooge politicians of Lay’s corruption
That the Enron is that they did no wrong
That their Subprime interest was for America
Bankrupting up in Cheney concessions of inflation
Where Bush’s Hoover Economics defines wealth
With Think Tanks of Patriot Act concessions
Where we all have become Katrina like victims.
I have done nothing wrong National Anthem
Of Political religions defining America today.
I have been saved over and over and over again,
I had America’s interest in mind for that bribe.
After all I need to profit from my position.
Yes, these are the Models of America Fashion
Getting $200,000 clothing allotments - tax free.
(As a poet, I need a clothing allotment to eat.)
Why Washington is in its own Hollywood star scene
Seems they forgot mainstream needs in “Washington”
Version of a Dallas soap opera of rich and famous Ewings
Running a Bernard Madoff like giant Ponzi scheme
In Blackwaters of hidden billions of carpetbaggers.
Why its cowboys running amuck in accounting quagmires.
Mission Accomplished are the Tory Royals of Royalty.
This criminal element of utter greed and corruption
Have outsourced “We the people” to total oblivion
Their WMD has attack devastated our children’s dreams
They are the viral venom disease infestation of devastation
For their prefabrication of “Truth” lies to our face,
Their Intelligence is despicable to the Scale of Justice,
They are the “I Have Done Nothing Wrong”
That is totally wrong with America.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich,
Illinois needs you and others to resign.
“We the people” have to restore
Our children’s dreams
Before they are destroyed by more
“I Have Done Nothing Wrong” politicians.
David Lester Young 12/18/08©
De-Terminated poet, somewhere in America not on company time
What is a Tory politician one that believes in themselves and not "We the people."
SandyH on December 19, 2008 at 07:02 PM
You may be on to something there, Sandy. I had not considered that. The ERA would've gone all the way in insuring equal treatment for all people. It would not suprise me one little bit that the GOP, and our side for that matter, had figured that out as the LGBT movement was still in its infancy when the ERA was proposed.
But statistics show that those over fifty voted heavily in favor of Sen. McCain (R-AZ) especially in the Applachian mountain range. My dear ol' Mama (79 yo from WV) took three months getting over Secretary of State designate Clinton's (D-NY) defeat in our primary and another month to get past her upbringing to vote for President-elect Obama.
You also point out the obvious in as much as the GOP uses wedge issues to maintain their influence. They are partially correct when they say our party is conglomeration of special interest groups. And they use those wedge issues to pick off segments of our coalition when they have the opportunity. We turned the tables on them this time.
That is why I'm not opposed to having Rick Warren deliver the inauguration invocation because, it'll make the Evangelicals look at us a second time at least on the issues we can agree on such as poverty, AIDS research, and the environment.
Things change slowly, though. And I'm afraid we've still got one generation to go for the LGBT community to get all they deserve. I hope I'm wrong.
still we entertain the troll...ice milk for the lot of you!!!
meanwhile a real american hero emerges:
"SALT LAKE CITY - An environmental activist tainted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases Friday by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars without any intention of paying for them, a federal official said.
The process was thrown into chaos and the bidding halted for a time before the sale of 132 parcels covering 164,000 acres was concluded.
"He's tainted the entire auction," said Kent Hoffman, deputy state director for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Utah..."
what a surprise i got a christmas card from the palins!! by the way did the war on the war on christmas start yet??
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/12/cartoon_sarah_palins_official_christmas_card.html
PamB on December 19, 2008 at 07:02 PM
Well ya old fool. I have told you repeatedly and provided links, that the temperature of cities does go up and will continue to go up as they grow, pave roads and build buildings. That is because they absorb heat and radiate it and are heat sources. Accurate readings, for proving or disproving global frickin warmin, can only be taken from rural areas.
Barbi,
I have a feeling you are caught in a time warp or have become a cast member on "Lost". We can all see your posts.
Try leaving the website and then come back to post something with preview. Hopefully, you'll see your earlier posts there and be on the inside. If not, we'll see you in January on that damned island with the rest of The Others.
The same fate is possible with Bernard Madoff as Kenneth Lay. That will end all legal proceeding hiding the others responsible. He will never see any jail time and if he does it will not be at a maximum penitentiary for real criminals, he was his Royal Tory Fraternity brothers to assure that. You see like America classes the Scales of Jutice has two scales of law enforcement that is why they can get away with it and fear nothing but a country club prison sentence.
BobVADemocratHawk on December 19, 2008 at 06:33 PM
Sorry for the late response, Bob, but Crazy Pie Lady stopped by and (as I have said before) GOD CAN SHE YAK! (Pineapple upside down cake, so it's all good.)
FUCK the California voters. HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS CAN NOT BE "GIVEN" BY WAY OF A POPULARITY CONTEST! That is why they are called "RIGHTS" and not "accommodations" or "privileges".
If I took a "poll" of a small group of people and we decided by a vote of 50% + 1 that ALL Pugs should be kicked in the balls because I don't like them, and the vote passed, is it right? Or acceptable?
(Please say "yes". There will be SO many dickwads trying to walk around Wheaton with their balls kicked so high that people would think it's "Wear a Bow Tie for Billy Graham Day".)
RIGHTS are NOT a popularity contest.
If THEY get nothing, neither do the heteros. And FUCK those tax free freeloaders who are using their IRS status to control the agenda. Once those stone throwers realize that they can be on the receiving end of it then maybe they will get a clue.
A SMALL group of "Jeezez TV" self proclaimed "preachers" have had the entire Country kowtowing to them for at least 20 years, and for what? So they can RUIN this country and turn it into a Theocracy?
Fuck THEM! They can start paying taxes or move to Iran. It's either that or they can shut up. I guess the mass suicide thing is on hold until Hale-Bopp comes by again.
PAY UP OR SHUT UP is the new "religion".
Remember to stay vigilant of "the tyranny of the Majority".
Popularity contests have NOTHING to do with someone's God given RIGHTS. No TV preacher, NO Pug sleazeball, NO BODY!
So your lame ass reasoning of "a popular vote" is PURE bullshit.
CIVIL RIGHTS ARE NOT POPULARITY CONTESTS.
Online Jihadists Plan for 'Invading Facebook'By Noah Shachtman December 18, 2008 | 4:53:03 PMCategories: Info War
Online jihadists have already used YouTube, blogs and other social media to spread their propaganda. Now, a group of internet Islamic extremists is putting together a plan for "invading Facebook."
"We can use Facebook to fight the media," notes a recent posting on the extremist al-Faloja forum, translated by Jihadica.com. "We can post media on Facebook that shows the Crusader losses."
"We have already had great success in raiding YouTube," the poster adds. "American politicians have used Facebook to get votes, like the house slave Obama."
Groups like al-Qaida were pioneering users of the internet — to train, share ideas and organize. But some observers, like George Washington University professor Marc Lynch, see a reluctance to embrace Web 2.0 tools like Facebook. "One of the biggest problems for a virtual network like AQ today is that it needs to build connections between its members while protecting itself from its enemies. That's a filtering problem: How do you get your people in, and keep intelligence agents out?" he asks.
But as Jihadica.com author and West Point Combating Terrorism Center fellow William McCants notes, the proposed Facebook invasion "is not an attempt to replicate [existing] social networks." Instead, "the members of the campaign want to exploit existing networks of people who are hostile to them and presumably they will adopt new identities once they have posted their material."
The al-Faloja poster suggests seven "brigades" work together within Facebook. One will distribute videos and writing of so-called "martyrs." Another will spread military training material. Most of them will work in Arabic, presumably. But one of the units will focus just on spread English-language propaganda through Facebook.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/online-jihadist.html
Welcome to the 21st century.
Good Evening and Merry Christmas to all you great, great Dems!
could it be that the whole palin clan is bunch of tweaked up breeders?
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 19, 2008 at 07:53 PM
Just see a psychiatrist DoPeyDoodle, they can cure your homo tendencies these days. And then you will have equal rights. The right to marry a woman as all other real men have.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 19, 2008 at 07:53 PM
Here's hoping you enjoy the pineapple upside down cake though it sounds like you paid a fair price for it. ;-)
Now on to the subject at hand. Every piece of legislation that is passed is a "popularity contest", as you put it. Popular legislation passes, unpopular legislation fails. If our elected representatives pass unpopular legislation, we vote them out. If they pass popular legislation, we vote them back in. That is the foundation of our democratic republic.
Fu*k the CA voters? And if President Bush decides on the night of 19JAN09 fu*k the U.S. voters and the electoral college, declares martial law, and has the President-elect arrested then what? You, me, and every other sensible American would be absolutely livid and ready to fight the second civil war. Yet, by your own argument, this is exactly the type of behavior you're advocating. And IMHO, it's just plain wrong.
But we agree wholeheartedly that houses of worship must abide by the seperation of church and state or they should lose their tax exempt status. When a house of worship uses its internal mechanisms to involve itself in elections, it is in direct violation of the law, IMHO, and I'm sure yours.
And if you're successful in getting that legislation passed about kicking all Republicans in the balls, starting with the five SCOTUS justices that handed President Bush the election in 2000, I'll be more than happy to stand in line with you with my brand new steel-toed boots!
gregg on December 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM
And genectically inferior ones at that...
Still trying to smear Sarah I see, y'all must be possessed by extreme fear of her.
greggy has temporarily quit talking to the trools and he expects everyone else to do the same.
Sally-* on December 19, 2008 at 08:26 PM
In a way, you're correct. We fear what she represents; governance by an individual that has the intellectual depth of a fruit fly much like what we experienced over the past eight years.
Sarah Palin = George W. Bush - a Y chromosone
Merry Christmas and\or Happy Holidays my fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will (even if it takes a generation), and yes we did!
31
BobVADemocratHawk on December 19, 2008 at 08:11 PM
Not at all, Bob, and quite a lame dodge on that point.
If Chimpy declared Martial Law or nullified the election, CA would have nothing to do with it because he CAN do it any time he wants.
He has a "signing Statement", doncha know?
And the Courts routinely toss out "popularity contest" ballot initiatives because RIGHTS can NOT be decided by a small collection of yahoos. Even if that collection equals 50% + 1.
Remember, the "tyranny of the Majority".
BTW, "steel toed boots"? I like your style!
those who believe in gay marriage..
BobVADemocratHawk on December 19, 2008 at 06:33 PM
Bob,
I thought most Judeo-Christian Americans "believe in God" not any man-made idols. So why is protecting an institution like marriage become more important than one's faith in the Almighty? It's elevating a social issue above The Commandments and Jesus' instructions that we must all love one another like ourselves.
The sin is not in what others do that you think is sinful, it's in how you react in response. If you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, and just about every other major religion I know of you don’t throw stones. Using religion to justify your social prejudices is not religion at all.
This issue is really all about tradition and customs. People used religion to support slavery. Others used Bible verses to say blacks and whites shouldn't date or marry. Now some zealots are saying gays are unfit to be married.
I think DPD made a very valid argument. If any religious figure or church wants to interject their social prejudices into the political arena, then they should be paying taxes on the money spent on ballot initiatives. Trying to build power and glory for oneself should not be tax-exempt.
Rick Warren or the Mormon Church can think or "believe" in whatever they want. But they shouldn't think they can wage political wars on others without being taxed on the amount used for delivering their weapons.
That being said, I look forward to hearing what Rev. Warren prays for on January 20. I hope he takes the occasion to be consolatory to those he has attacked. He better not be praying for discrimination against any other human beings. The world will be watching him and so will his Savior.
38
SandyH on December 19, 2008 at 08:58 PM
Sandy, I'm going the whole 9 yards. If those so called "religious" assholes want to involve or inject their own personal superstition or interpretation of "duh Babble" then they have to pay taxes on EVERYTHING!.
Real Estate, personal income, "gifts", corporate revenue, inheritance, EVERYTHING!
The Cook County Archdiocese owns several landfills, a few Country Clubs (some are still "restricted" THOUSANDS of acres of land and a whole slew of gold, bonds, cash and other assets. Including a few mansions on the Gold Coast and in Lincoln Park, etc.
Open their books and TAX THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!
Then they won't have as much payoff money to feed the families of their child sex abuse victims in order to shut them up.
It would take care of several problems all at once. No money, no payoff money.
OR they can shut their "Holier than Thou" mouths on matters of government policy/laws and go back to that good ol' mumbo jumbo that they preach so well.
yes the churches that have taken political positions in support of particular candidates should pay taxes. got my vote.
The Cook County Archdiocese owns several landfills, a few Country Clubs (some are still "restricted" THOUSANDS of acres of land and a whole slew of gold, bonds, cash and other assets. Including a few mansions on the Gold Coast and in Lincoln Park, etc.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 19, 2008 at 09:14 PM
DPD,
It really makes you wonder, doesn't it? All these big box churches new and ancient seem to acquire far too many funds for those who like to talk about being servants of God. Some even take a vow of poverty...and ignore it.
Then you have these younger, hip ministers who tell folks if they pray in their church, in their way, and without questioning anything they are told that God will make them rich and successful.
Greed is God?
No wonder our economy is on the skids, our President is torturing people, we waged war against the innocent in Iraq, and our national reputation is in shreds. We might as well have a Rick Warren doing the invocation on January 20. He's part and parcel of how we came to this divide with the Lord.
And to think that people actually choose to go a house of worship that denies entry to those they feel unworthy. It all smacks of another couple who were once turned away because there was no room for them at the inn...when you bet there was plenty of room for the rich or socially favored of their time.
Bless the good Lord for trying so hard (even to go so far as to send is own Son to this Earth) to save the souls of these corrupt and arrogant hypocrites. The lesson is so simple yet their hearts are so hard.
Sally-* on December 19, 2008 at 11:30 PM
and here is one of them now.
Evening all good Dems,
gregg - keep your snow shovel handy. It looks like you are going to get hit again on Sunday. These weather extremes really suck. Thanks bush.
Governor Richardson got us a company from California which builds thin-film solar panels for nationwide distribution. They are going to build a factory in our town and will hire 200 employees now and about 600 when they get into full production. In fact they are going to install two power producing satellites in the city hall parking lot to power city hall.
I am confident that Richardson will do the same for the nation as Secretary of Commerce. He was a good choice by Obama.
Remember, the "tyranny of the Majority"...
Indeed we should, DPD.
The last eight years have been keen reminders of what that sort of absolute power does to a great power or to any republic that suppresses its minority viewpoints. You lose your bearing and start to falter if not entirely crash.
I'd like to think this is what Obama is working from, but I suspect he's more concerned with getting re-elected. I'm going to pray for that young man...real hard. I hope he's better than he has to be.
That trip home to visit his dying grandmother may be the only thing that saves us in the end.
I'm turning in. Good night, all.
42
SandyH on December 19, 2008 at 11:30 PM
39
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 19, 2008 at 09:14 PM
Religious freedom is what the Constitution gives us. Then whacko´s like you come in and start slinging crap on anyone that even looks like they might be religious, all the while saying you´ll "pray" for this and that. Ya Sandy, just tell us about arrogant hypocrites.
If you want to bitch and moan about churches, then why don´t you take a look at Scientology? Now THAT is supossed to be a church?
The mother of Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, has been arrested on drug charges, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.
5gregg on December 19, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Hi Gregg,
now if you were about to have your son married off to a easy teenage floosie, who's mother is a known dingbat, and who's kid does not know what Birth Control means, wouldn't you think about some drugs to relieve the pain????
8
PamB on December 19, 2008 at 11:49 AM
################################################
Pamellla, don´t forget this little tidbit!
Al Gore III
Substance Abuse & Driving Record
North Carolina incident
Two days before the Democratic National Convention in August 2000, Gore received a speeding ticket for driving a 2000 Oldsmobile 97 MPH, more than 40 MPH over the posted limit. He was fined $125 for speeding and driving privileges in the state of North Carolina were suspended. Also, he was initially charged with reckless driving as well, but those charges were later dropped.[1][3]
Virginia incident
On September 5, 2002, he was ticketed for driving under the influence by military police just outside Fort Myer in suburban Virginia. He was driving a Ford Mustang. He was not taken into custody.[1][4][5] The U.S. national news media did not report Gore's arrest for a full eight days.[6]
Maryland incident
On December 19, 2003, Gore was arrested and charged with marijuana possession in Bethesda, Maryland. He was pulled over by an officer because he was driving a Cadillac without having his headlights on. A plea deal was reached in February 2004 and he was sentenced to a substance abuse program.[7][8][9]
Washington, D.C. incident
Jill Lawrence, a journalist with USA Today[10], and Bill Turque, a journalist with the Washington Post,[11] have reported that in 1996, when Gore was 13 years old, he was suspended from St. Albans, an exclusive private school in Washington, D.C., for smoking marijuana during a school dance.[12] He then transfered to the Sidwell Friends School where he graduated in 2001. Turque, in his biography of Al Gore entitled Inventing Al Gore, also reported that Al and Tipper Gore contacted news outlets right after the incident and asked them not to publish the story and "all complied."[1][13]
California incident
On July 4, 2007, Gore was arrested in Laguna Hills in Orange County, California for speeding over 100 MPH in a Toyota Prius. Gore admitted to recently smoking marijuana and was found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana along with Xanax, Valium, Vicodin, Adderall, and Soma. Police reported that Gore had no prescriptions for the pharmaceuticals.[14][15] Gore was also arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs without a prescription.[16] His father, Albert Gore, Jr. indicated that that his son had posted a $20,000 bond and admitted himself into a treatment facility for substance abuse.[17]
On July 20, 2007 Gore was charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana, and a traffic infraction for driving at a speed greater than 100 miles per hour.[18][19] According to a report from People.com and FOX News, Gore, when pulled over, had 140 Vicodin with him in the car.[20] On July 30, 2007, Gore pleaded guilty to two felony counts of drug possession, two misdemeanor counts of drug possession without a prescription and one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession, according to the district attorney's office.[21]
83 BobVADemHawk on December 19, 2008 at 05:44 PM
Bob, thanks for your reply. I see your entire post addressed the GLTF subject. I don't see this as a GLTF issue. I see this as a Constitutional issue, and the need to send the message to Americans and the World that the Constitution deserves respect. I also see this issue as the worst time to rub core Dem groups the wrong way, to say it nicely.
On your marriage/CU focus, the CA AG is taking the issue to court on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. I agree. Nazi Germany, using "tyranny of the Majority, could pass a law that it's legal to exterminate Jews and Catholics. I'm sure you would agree that referendums are subject to Constitutional law?
As I was saying, I see this as a Constitutional issue, an Equal Protection Under the Law issue, and a Privacy issue with regards to choice. This is why I feel obligated to speak up. (And you will be hard pressed to find me saying ANYTHING against our elected leaders or party line over the last 6+ years.) But this issue, Civil Rights, speaks to my core values. It's my duty to speak up, and say I disagree with having Warren on stage as the face of the NEW Democratic Party to America and the World on this historic day.
I'm not gay, and the GLTF issue does not affect me. I'm not a woman, and the choice does not affect my life. However, I'm an American, and I think we must defend the Constitution from these right-wing bigots who use religion to get rich, and legislators who pander to people's fears and insecurities.
IMO, if we allow laws that strip other's rights, it's only a matter of time before we get a bunch of politicians making a big stink about someone like Terri Schivo, while a woman can't make a personal decision regarding her health with her doctor. (Thankfully, Obama admitted that he was wrong on Schivo.)
As you know, Legislation that allowed woman and people of color to vote did not ensure that all people could vote. Thus, we need to watch how laws are followed, and make sure individual rights are not trampled by the tyranny of the majority.
In closing, this is about Warren, and respecting the Constitution, and not the GLTF, as the MSM would have us believe. I disagree with the Warren selection because I think that he will send the message that the Constitution is still not respected. And after Gitmo and Habius Corpus and 43, I think it's high time we send the message to Americans and the World that the Constitution is respected now.
You must agree, certainly America has better Christian leaders, that are not so controversial, who could send a better message to all, who wouldn't slap GLTF, pro-choices, and egalitarian Democrats in the face, and doesn't say such stupid things in a recent interview on NBC? For cryin' out loud, Bob, have you heard this guy? He says such stupid things that he could be a troll.
You're a party person, Bob, and I'm thinking in the best interest of the Party too. IMO, President-Elect Obama just used up some political capital with Democrats, and if he makes some right leaning judicial nominations, you can expect all hell to break loose. And FYI, it wasn't Warren's flock who elected Obama. Rule number 1, Bob, protect your base, and make they feel important.
The mother of Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, has been arrested on drug charges, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.
5gregg on December 19, 2008 at 11:28 AM
I won´t mention that Teddy killed Mary Jo while driving drunk.
Are Liberals Bigger Drug Users?
Monday, June 16, 2008 12:47 PM
By: Jim Meyers Article Font Size
Author Peter Schweizer wanted to know if there could be a link between a person’s political leanings and illegal drug use. His eye-opening finding: Liberals are five times more likely than conservatives to use marijuana and cocaine.
His findings are explored in his latest book: “Makers and Takers: Why Conservatives Work Harder, Feel Happier, Have Closer Families, Take Fewer Drugs, Give More Generously, Value Honesty More, Are Less Materialistic and Envious, Whine Less … and Even Hug Their Children More Than Liberals.”
Schweizer, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, writes in his new book “Makers and Takers”:
“Academic studies have found that those on the political left are five times more likely to use marijuana and cocaine . . . Another survey found that Democrats were five times more likely to use marijuana than Republicans . . .
“A study published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse found that among heavy drug users, the ratio of Democrats to Republicans was more than 8-to-1.”
Yet another survey found a “direct and linear relationship” between liberalism and the use of any illicit drug.
Schweizer, whose other books include “Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy,” observes: “The liberal search for autonomy and the credo ‘if it feels good do it’ have a strong influence on who uses drugs and why. Many liberals denounce drug use as a danger while at the same time engaging in a wink-wink attitude towards its actual use.”
Drawing on extensive attitude surveys, Schweizer also details in his book how liberals are more motivated by money than are conservatives, are angrier than conservatives, give less to charity, and are more likely to believe in ghosts, ESP, and reincarnation.
Global Warming Hits Southwest
While Al Gore screams that the polar ice caps will be melted within 5 years, and AP demands totalitarian measures, back in the real world, it keeps getting colder.
In Las Vegas:
A rare winter storm swept through Southern Nevada Wednesday, dumping the most snow on the valley in nearly three decades, grounding flights at the airport, forcing the closure of major highways and closing schools for today.
"This is the most snow we've had in Las Vegas in almost 30 years," said Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
In balmy California:
Snow snarled major mountain highways and even dusted Malibu on Wednesday as a cold storm hit parts of California. … Styming thousands of commuters and travelers, snow shut Interstate 15 over 4,190-foot Cajon Pass east of Los Angeles and roads through the San Gabriel Mountains connecting metropolitan Los Angeles to the commuter suburbs of Palmdale and Lancaster in the high desert to the north.
Los Angeles commuters haven't seen anything like it in 15 years. Even the San Diego area has been hit. It may be fun for snow boarders, but there is a downside:
Freeze warnings were issued for late Wednesday through Thursday morning for the Sacramento Valley, the northern San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region, among others.
"A freeze warning means subfreezing temperatures are imminent or highly likely. These conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation," the NWS said.
Freeze warnings were also issued for north San Francisco Bay area valleys, and a combination of frost advisories and freeze warnings were issued for parts of southwestern California.
As humans have known since before we could talk, cold weather is a bigger problem than warm weather. Unfortunately, our cooling climate is real, whereas global warming is an increasingly preposterous farce.
malibu-snow.jpg
Big_Yellow_Dog on December 20, 2008 at 03:16 AM
Shut up Robert. I am sick of all this fag talk on our blog. Why don't you and DoPeyDoodle get a room for some cornholin and then just shut up.
The concept of fag marriage is just simply totally ridiculous. Marriage requires a man and a woman not to woman like men or two man like women.
Ice melting across globe at accelerating rate, NASA says
* About 2 trillion tons of ice have melted in Greenland, Antarctica, Alaska since 2003
* Lost amount of water could fill up Chesapeake Bay 21 times, NASA scientist says
* Most came from Greenland, where losses raised global sea levels .5 mm annually
* Scientist says sea levels rising 50 percent faster than 15 years ago
By Emanuella Grinberg CNN
(CNN) -- Between 1.5 trillion and 2 trillion tons of ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted at an accelerating rate since 2003, according to NASA scientists, in the latest signs of what they say is global warming.
Using new satellite technology that measures changes in mass in mountain glaciers and ice sheets, NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke concluded that the losses amounted to enough water to fill the Chesapeake Bay 21 times.
"The ice tells us in a very real way how the climate is changing," said Luthcke, who will present his findings this week at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, California.
NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, mission uses two orbiting satellites to measure the "mass balance" of a glacier, or the net annual difference between ice accumulation and ice loss.
"A few degrees of change [in temperature] can increase the amount of mass loss, and that contributes to sea level rise and changes in ocean current," Luthcke said.
The data reflects findings from NASA colleague Jay Zwally, who uses different satellite technology to observe changing ice volume in Greenland, the Arctic and Antarctica.
In the past five years, Greenland has lost between 150 gigatons and 160 gigatons each year, (one gigaton equals one billion tons) or enough to raise global sea levels about .5 mm per year, said Zwally, who will also present his findings at the conference this week.
GRACE measured that mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska lost about 84 gigatons each year, about five times the average annual flow of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, according to NASA.
"Every few extra inches of sea level have very significant economic impacts, because they change the sea level, increase flooding and storm damage," said, Zwally, ICESat Project Scientist. "It's a warning sign."
Melting ice, especially in Greenland and the Arctic, is also thought to contribute to global warming, Zwally said. When the vast ice sheets and glaciers melt, they lose their reflective power, and instead, oceans and land absorb the heat, causing the Arctic waters and the atmosphere to warm faster.
"We're seeing the impacts of global warming in many areas of our own lives, like agriculture," Zwally said.
As an example, he cited the pine beetle infestation of this summer in the forests of Colorado and western Canada.
"They were believed to be spreading because the winter was not cold enough to kill them, and that's destroying forests," he said.
In the 1990s, Greenland took in as much snow and water as it let out, Zwally said. But now, about 15 years later, sea levels are rising about 50 percent faster, making the global climate situation even more unpredictable.
"The best estimates are that sea levels will rise about 18 to 36 inches by the end of the century, but because of what's going on and how fast things are changing, there's a lot of uncertainty," he said.
Nasa is not a reliable source Robert. They are as reliable as the United Frickin Nations.
In the 1200's Viking settlers raised wheat and potatoes on Greenland.
The Pentagon, after much research, has found that global warming/climate change pose a severe threat to our National Security. Considering the source, I do not think that the Pentagon would hype this issue, since they are a mojor culprit. It's real, and everybody knows it except for the scientists in the pocket of industry.
Thus, people who ignore global warming, work to spread fossil-fuel industry lies, and impede America's ability to solve global warming and climate change are threat to National Security. These people who ignore science are more of a threat than Russia, and should be considered enemies of America.
It's sad how some people, who call themselves Patriots, will ignore science, ignore facts, and ignore the Pentagon's report in order to support special interests who are only concerned with making more money. It's totally disgusting. They are not true Americans. They are money-grubbers, and only worship corporate profits. What a bunch of traders! Like the Commies and Chinese, they seek to destroy America.
I hope hell has a special place for people who sell out America to make a dollar... or repeat morons like Rush "the idiot" Limbot, who only care about big business profits. Straight to hell!
The Pentagon researched the effects of global frickin warmin WERE IT TO OCCUR. Just as they try to anticipate all threats. they took no position on whether it is actually happening or not
(OH the JOY in living in a country that acts like a first-world country, shows global leadership, confronts the real threats to America's future, respects science and technology, and works to solve these serious threats. Joy to the World!)
Now this is the kind of choice I like to see:
*** Obama picks global warming expert as science adviser***
By Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Dec 19, 6:19 pm ET
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's choice of John P. Holdren as his science adviser sends a strong signal that Obama sees global warming as an urgent problem and wants bold suggestions for action.
The Harvard University environmental policy professor has argued that the world already is experiencing dangerous climate change as a result of fossil fuel combustion. He's said there's still time to avert catastrophe, but only with a strong and rapid global effort.
At a recent talk in Washington, Holdren boiled it down to this:
"Without energy there is no economy. Without climate there is no environment. Without economy and environment there's no material well-being, there's no civil society, there's no personal or national or international security. And the problem is that the way we've been getting the energy our economies need is wrecking the climate that our environment needs. That is the essence of the problem."
He said at the time that he hoped that the next administration would "really break its spear on the question of can we get a sensible climate policy with the Congress and the public behind it" in time to go to the final round of negotiations on a new international treaty late next year "and finally have a voice that is respected by other countries."
Harvard issued a news release Friday saying that Obama is expected to announce Holdren's appointment Saturday. The science adviser heads the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.
Holdren has gone to China half a dozen times a year since 1984 to meet with Chinese climate and energy officials. Tsinghua University , one of China's most prestigious schools, named him this year as a three-year nonresident guest professor.
Holdren has said he thinks that if the United States leads with emission reduction requirements, China and the rest of the world will follow, because their countries already are suffering from water and agricultural problems.
Holdren has also said that scientists need to get better at explaining what's happening with more urgency. The term "global warming" could be part of the problem, he argued, because it implies something uniform, gradual and benign, and it's none of those.
"It is rapid compared to the capacity of ecosystems to adjust and, alas, rapid compared to our capacity as a society to adjust," he said.
"We should be calling it global climatic disruption."
Holdren is a professor of environmental policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the director of the science, technology and public policy program at the school's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs . He also is the director of the Woods Hole Research Station .
He earned Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering and plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University . He's a specialist in nuclear arms control and nonproliferation as well as global climate change and energy policy.
"John is the very model of a policy-relevant scientist," Belfer Center Director Graham Allison said in a statement Friday. "He has a deep understanding of the dynamics of science and technology as drivers of the challenges society faces — from climate disruption to nuclear danger — and new opportunities for feasible solutions."
-----------------------------------
(I'll say it again... Oh the JOY in living in a country that acts like a first-world country, shows global leadership, confronts the real threats to America's future, respects science and technology, and works to solve these serious threats. Now that's leadership that really works to keep America safe. Joy to the World!)
But there is no point in arguing with fools who think the earth is warming when it is obvious that it is cooling.
Global cooling is a much greater threat than warming but the liberal moonbats dropped that as a scare tactic 30 years ago in favor of global warming cause a red colored earth looked a lot more threatening than a blue colored earth.
But look out!! DoPeyDoodle says the Arctic Circle has moved southward to Nebraska.
A so-called "man" who calls himself "Sally" is calling me a "fag?" HAHAHA! coo-coo! coo-coo!
Talk about one seriously mixed-up poor pathetic person who has sexuality issues. And the hatred to woman proves it too.
Rue Paul on line one for the troll... he says he wants his high heels back... and wants Sally to role play as the "fabulous (giving) frosty" again. HAHAHA!
I suppose some people have never seen the pictures of major lakes that are deserts? Or massive glaciers that have melted? Idiots!
Why is it so hard for people to understand why we have major climate change, and difference in weather and climate? Idiots!
Like Eli said, "it's like standing on a plain in Kansas and saying the whole world is flat."
Could these nay-sayers really be this stupid... or are the really agents of China or Russia?
I'm so glad we Democrats kicked so much ass.
Republicanism is dead. Republicans have ruined the country. Thankfully, we have another democrat to fix things, just like Bill Clinton.
Record surplus with Democrats to a record deficit with Republicans. Only a fool would trust them again. Look at what deregulation has done to important business sectors. Republican greed has wrecked America's economy.
Only 32 more days of Bush... THANK GOD!
CHANGE IS HERE! THANK GOD!
"We're not in a recession. We're in a slow down." I'm waiting for Bush to say... "I gave Ford Mustang some money, and now we can go gitty-up."
1-19-09 will be the last day of the worst approval rating President of all-time. That's sad.
Come on 1-20-09! Obamanos!
God bless Gov. Howard Dean!
66
Big_Yellow_Dog on December 20, 2008 at 04:32 AM
Look Thumper, Climate change is a natural thing. It´s always happened, and always will happen. Its not the total cataclismic end of the world that Uncle Al preaches. That liberal Dingbat has all you liberal dingbats crapping your pants over a natural thing. Plus he thinks he´s gonna get rich on you liberal dingbats.
But look out!! DoPeyDoodle says the Arctic Circle has moved southward to Nebraska.
62
Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 04:25 AM
DoPeyDoodle is a brainwashed liberal dingbat.
Harry Truman remains the worst approval rating President on record.
Jimmy Carter remains the worst President ever.
69
Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 04:47 AM
Harry Truman killed hundreds of thousands of humans with the Atomic Bomb. Harry Truman got us into the Korean War, which by the way, still isn´t officially over yet.
In the past five years, Greenland has lost between 150 gigatons and 160 gigatons each year, (one gigaton equals one billion tons) or enough to raise global sea levels about .5 mm per year, said Zwally, who will also present his findings at the conference this week.56
Big_Yellow_Dog on December 20, 2008 at 03:47 AM
Any body that says they can determine a .5mm raise in the sea level is trying to blow smoke up somebodies butt.
CNN Meteorologist: Manmade Global Warming Theory 'Arrogant'
Network's second meteorologist to challenge notion man can alter climate.
By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
12/18/2008 11:02:44 PM
Unprecedented snow in Las Vegas has some scratching their heads – how can there be global warming with this unusual cold and snowy weather?
CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers had never bought into the notion that man can alter the climate and the Vegas snowstorm didn’t impact his opinion. Myers, an American Meteorological Society certified meteorologist, explained on CNN’s Dec. 18 “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that the whole idea is arrogant and mankind was in danger of dying from other natural events more so than global warming.
Dr. Jay Lehr, an expert on environmental policy, told “Lou Dobbs Tonight” viewers you can detect subtle patterns over recorded history, but that dates back to the 13th Century.
“If we go back really, in recorded human history, in the 13th Century, we were probably 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than we are now and it was a very prosperous time for mankind,” Lehr said. “If go back to the Revolutionary War 300 years ago, it was very, very cold. We’ve been warming out of that cold spell from the Revolutionary War period and now we’re back into a cooling cycle.”
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia would come under crippling financial pressure and may need to raise money externally if oil languishes at an average of $30 a barrel over the next two years, the World Bank predicted Friday.
The bleak scenario would mark a rapid unraveling of Russia's oil-fueled economic gains over the past eight years, during which time the government has paid down most of its foreign debt and built up a vast stockpile of international reserves.
"If oil prices in 2009 and 2010 average $30 a barrel, that would be a nightmare scenario for a global economy," Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's chief economist in Russia told investors on Friday. "The pressures on the current account and public finances in Russia would quickly rise to a point where the financing constraint would become so sharp that it's possible even to envisage Russia's return from a creditor to international organisations to (that of) a borrower."At $50 a barrel, Russia could drain much of its reserve funds and run budgetary deficits, but would not face a "meltdown" scenario, said Bogetic.
Oil prices took a sharp turn downward this week, with the February light sweet crude contract trading just over $42 a barrel—more than $100 lower than its July peak—despite a large output cut pledged this week by oil producers' cartel OPEC.
Some major oil-importing countries have criticized OPEC's move to push up prices during a global slowdown...
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D955PMC80&show_article=1
Aaawww, this breaks my heart. NOT! Putin and the rest of his quasi-communist cronies are getting the comeuppance they deserve. The people of Russia have a history of dealing with failed heads of state during unpopular times. Just ask Gorbachev how his "retirement" is going.
The Bavarians must make that little cirlce with their finger around their heads, when the Zugroaste comes around! He must be the only German who is not on board with Global Warming! But then, he has proven he is not the sharpest tack in the box, so they smile embarassingly , and tolerate him!
Germany seeking US global warming cooperation
Germany is looking for ways to nudge the United States, and the incoming Obama administration, to step up efforts to slow global warming.
The German government has launched an initiative to engage American businesses and the government and find ways to cooperate on reducing carbon emissions, which most scientists believe are causing temperatures to rise.
After years of U.S. inaction on global warming, European officials are hoping President-elect Barack Obama will commit to mandatory cuts in emissions.
Germany's ambassador to Washington, Klaus Scharioth, said Tuesday that he is optimistic that Obama will move quickly on the issue.
In December 2009, diplomats are to forge a new treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set limits on greenhouse gases and which the United States did not ratify. This time European officials have high expectations for the United States to take the lead.
"We are very much aware of the fact that we can only succeed in convincing the rest of the world that something needs to be done about climate change, if we can convince the United States," Scharioth said. "The Obama administration will work extremely hard."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/16/national/w161406S18.DTL&type=science
morning Bob
We have about a foot of snow here.
my day will be busy, as usual
Me too Pam - need to finish up on a few things before Wed and Thurs arrive. It's going to get pretty cold today and tomorrow - wind chills of
-25 to -30!
U.S. hits China with trade violation caseAccuses China of violating global trade rules by use export subsidies
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Friday filed a trade case against China over its use of export subsidies to promote Chinese products.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in announcing the case, said China was violating global trade rules administered by the World Trade Organization in the way it operates a "famous brands" program to promote the sale of Chinese goods in other countries.
"We were disturbed to find that China still appears to be using WTO-illegal measures to promote its exports, ranging from textiles and refrigerators to beer and peanuts," she said in a statement...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28315525/
Screw the WTO. Impose tariffs and be done with the unfair advantages that China has. If China wants to have a billion peasants, let them have such. But this is the United States. And the current trade policy with China is so skewed that, eventually, the U.S. will be Chinese peasants as well.
I have a 6 month old on my arm, Obamamma, and it is hard to type. Not only have our shoveling and snow blowing to do, but my daughter's new house which is currently unoccupied until the moving truck hits here this week, but needs to be cleared.
Have to share this one provided by my friend via email: (BRING HER ON !!! I CAN'T WAIT)
Just think about this for a moment:
In early October, Sarah Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck for Philly Flyers and they ended up on a two week losing spree. Then Sarah Palin drops the ceremonial first puck on October 24 for the St. Louis Blues. Shortly thereafter, the Blues goalie, Manny Legace, slipped on the carpet put down for Palin and suffered a hip injury.
In September-October, threats against then-Presidential contender (and now President elect) Barack Obama and his family increased dramatically. A report released by the Secret Service attributed the sharp rise in threats to the stump speeches/hate speeches delivered by Palin.
In 1996 when Palin took office as mayor of Wasilla, the city seemed to not have much of a drug problem. By the time Palin left in 2002, Wasilla was well on its way to becoming the meth capital of Alaska. Maybe this little mess all started when Palin fired the long-time police chief?
Even something as benign as Thanksgiving became something far more sinister around Sarah Palin.
Add to this some additional tid-bits, like her husband's DUI, her association with anti-Semitic garbage and a secessionist party , and all sorts of black magic crazy, and you start to get a sense that something is not entirely kosher in Palin's world.
And I don't have to tell you what Palin did to the McCain campaign, not to mention the GOP.
So here is the latest (emphasis mine):
WASILLA -- A 42-year-old Wasilla woman was arrested Thursday at her home by Alaska State Troopers with a search warrant in an undercover drug investigation. Sherry L. Johnston was charged with six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old who received international attention in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their teenage daughter was pregnant and he was the father. Bristol Palin, 18, is due on Saturday, according to a recent interview with the governor's father, Chuck Heath.
Troopers served the warrant at Johnston's home at the "conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation," said a statement issued Thursday by the troopers as part of the normal daily summary of activity around the state.
Troopers charged Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance -- generally manufacturing or delivering drugs -- as well as fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession.
In addition, consider this latest scandal against the backdrop of the number of other scandals, the amount of bad luck, and the seemingly dark forces that appear to be part of this woman's life, and a strange pattern seems to emerge.
Maybe it is just simply that corruption attracts corruption? My father always says that if you want to understand a person, look at the people with whom they keep company. Maybe this is just another indication of Palin's character?
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/12/a-hillybilly-succubus-or-simply-a-magnet-for-corruption.html
Morning all good Dems,
It is finally getting light. I think this is the shortest day of the year. Now we can look forward to warming weather and longer days.
My local town is going to host a new solar factory where they build thin film solar panels for the entire nation.
Thanks to Bill Richardson.
I was really impressed by the generosity of the local people and Walmart. City hall was stuffed with huge bags of toys for the needy. Despite how bad things are, SOME people still give their all to help their fellow man unlike most REPUBLICANS.
For those who don't believe the climate is changing, please be sure to volunteer for flood clean up next spring - you know the floods that come only every 100 years...oops every few years....
hmmmmm quiet around here....i wonder if santa claus stopped by....
santa stopped here, gg. I also found my first shed! I was stoked. it was a great day to walk in the woods. (the ones behind my dad's house - I played in as a young girl)
nice esmeralda i wonder if the fort we built in the woods on long island fifty years ago is still there? anyhow gonna go try to find some chow out in the world. peace and mirth be with you and yours.
evening friends. it is nice and peaceful here. sighhhhh, my Christmas wish is for the trolls to drop off the face of the earth. (I mean that in the nicest way, don't get me wrong!)
Long day yesterday and today. Leftovers for dinner tonight. Wish you lived closer, Gregg.
Matt is on Christmas vacation this week. He set up the threads on Automatic, and there is a glitch and no one else left in the office can fix it. We are stuck until Monday, I guess.
Have a great evening. TTYL........
looks like palin's kids mother in law was a sad low level dealer. they ought to give her a walk.
What kind of person sells drugs to kids, Gregg? or even to addicts. My Goodness, couldn't she find a waitress job or something? There are big fish canning companies up there, she could have gone and packed some tuna in cans.
they ought to give her a walk.
91gregg on December 25, 2008 at 10:08 PM
good morning, gg.
I disagree. I've witnessed what oxys do, when prescribed and when abused! they should take all drug dealers and lock them up/fine them/make them do community service.
she probably has the habit too. hellova grammy there! drug dealers will sell to anyone. and once people are hooked, they steal any thing they can get their hands on to satisfy their need.
bob from va and kathy are on the other thread. do either of you have their email addresses?
going to be in the 50's & 60's this weekend. in se ohio, where we used to have a foot of snow over the Christmas holiday!
while it's nice for me on my long drive to work, it makes you wonder why the weather is so messed up.
;P
Esme, yes, I have Kathy's and I told her last night where we would be. I do not have Bob's.
Merry Xmas to all (except right wing nut trolls of course).
Looks like Normy's goose is cooked:
Coleman On Franken Victory: We'll Sue
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/25/coleman-on-franken-victor_n_153458.html
Give it up Normy:
YOU LOST!
Bush's Official Portrait Unveiled Hotlist
by BarbinMD
Thu Dec 25, 2008 at 07:00:05 PM PST
And that means...
...caption contest!
(The only prize offered will be appreciation.)
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/25/2201/1742/75/675223
Welcome to Bush's hanging (paraphrasing Bush).
Good morning, all.
The family gathering was special this Christmas, because one of my nieces became engaged. As she gaily cruised around the house towing her young man behind her showing off her ring, I felt vindicated. They are the adults we raised them to be.
All the nieces and nephews are grown up now. The house overflowed with these rowdy young people and their significant others. It was so much fun finally being able to talk to them as adults and catch their enthusiasm.
While this was not the best of years for the family because of health problems and layoffs, yesterday it seemed like there was hope again. The children are making plans despite the setbacks. But then Christmas is always a time for hope. This one was no different although the challenges we face are so obvious.
I wonder why the Republicans thought this younger generation would just blithely accept the world the way they had broken and crippled it. These young adults are determined to make it better. Some have faithfully answered the call militarily. Others have become active in the community as they pursue their ideals. They all seek something better. They feel a sense of purpose and pride in themselves and each other.
It reminds me of something that happen to me this summer. At diner one evening an Australian woman reached across the table and touched my hand saying, "Don't be concerned. Your country is going through a tough patch. Unscrupulous people set you on the wrong path. You'll find your way back. This too shall come to pass."
To think that the rest of the world still sees the promise in America so clearly...even as we see it our children. All we need to do is believe that change can happen and continue working hard to make sure it does.
I hope the majority of our countrymen had as good a Christmas as I did. As long as we have family and friends, we are wealthier than the top 2% could ever imagine. We will find our way back. Yes, we can.
I have errands to run. bbl
All the nieces and nephews are grown up now. The house overflowed with these rowdy young people and their significant others. It was so much fun finally being able to talk to them as adults and catch their enthusiasm.
Sandy, I was lamenting on Christmas Eve how I miss the old days. We have been doing this Open House for about 30 years. My two girls friends would come in after their own family parties were over, and at 3:00 in the morning, they would all still be out in the garage my husband had decked out, digging out the food again, and singing Karaoke . Now they all have children of their own and family duties and it is much more low keyed here. Thank Goodness for the grandchildren now and a second time around! :)
Good evening, Pam.
I'm a tweenie. I'm between children and grandchildren. It's really relaxing. I'm actually planning a New Year's Party for other empty nesters this year. I can try a new recipe that looks good to me...not make what the kids would like.
It's been ages since I've looked forward to entertaining without having to worry about one of the kids running around crazy, falling down, and breaking open their skull. Well, it's actually been a few years since then. It's more like I've been worrying about what happens to them on the the football field the last few years.
Now they are in college, out of sports, and how and why they fall down is their problem.
But you get my drift? I have a lot of girlfriends that I've only kept in contact off and on through the years. We're now getting re-acquainted and it's like old times. We are planning trips together and letting the men in our lives fend for themselves more.
I guess when the grandchildren come I'll get that "merry all the way" spark back. Right now, I'm chillin' and lovin' it.
Good evening
Tito the Builder...We're gonna miss you, buddy
As the year comes to a close, 23/6 takes a moment to say goodbye to all the bit players and historical footnotes who helped make 2008's news extra special. We'll probably never see them again, so before they go we'd like to say... "We're gonna miss you buddy."
Okay, so Joe the Plumber didn't quite work out for McCain-Palin. It ended up that he wasn't really a plumber, that he doesn't pay his taxes, but if he did he would be much better off under an Obama tax plan than McCain's. Live and learn, right?
After that mis-step, the McCain campaign knew they had to be much more careful about who they picked to be their citizen spokesman. They looked far and wide until they found a grainy Youtube video of a man screaming at journalists in a heated parking lot argument that looked like it might come to blows at any moment. The minute they saw him the McCain campaign said, "That's our guy. If he's not presently wanted by the police, let's have him introduce Sarah."
And thus, Tito Munoz was reborn "Tito the Builder."
http://www.236.com/news/2008/12/24/tito_the_builderwere_gonna_mis_10880.php
LMAO!
Ahhh Mooseburgers!
Bristol Palin's Future Mother-In-Law's Drug Arrest: Trooper Says Election Delayed Case
WASILLA, Alaska -- The mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend sent text messages discussing drug transactions less than a month after the young woman's mother, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, according to court documents filed this week.
An affidavit from an Alaska state trooper, filed Monday, states that Sherry L. Johnston referred in her messages to two police informants to "coffee" as a code for the drug OxyContin.
Johnston, 42, was arrested on felony drug charges last week after state troopers served a search warrant at her Wasilla home. She allegedly sold OxyContin tablets to the informants on three occasions this fall, the affidavit states. Police said two of the meetings were recorded by a hidden camera and a microphone.
Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, 18. Sarah Palin announced in September that her daughter Bristol, also 18, was pregnant and that Johnston was the father. Their child was due to be born Dec. 18, her grandfather Chuck Heath told the Anchorage Daily News recently.
Authorities say the case against Sherry Johnston began in the second week of September, when drug investigators intercepted a package containing 179 OxyContin pills. That led to the arrest of the suspects, who agreed to be informants.
According to the affidavit, Johnston sent a text message to one informant Oct. 1, writing: "Hey, my phones are tapped and reporters and god knows who else is always following me and the family so no privacy. I will let u no when I can go for cof."
The trooper's affidavit indicates that Sarah Palin's candidacy factored into the investigation, with state officials delaying execution of a search warrant until this month, when Johnston was "no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service."
Time to flip the moose burgers.
Hi, rj.
I don't even remember Tito the Builder. His tick must have ticked off the MSM?
Well, it does look like there will be a long honeymoon between Obama and the press....
Life's Not Necessarily A Beach for Press Corps
Obama Reporters Try to Hang Loose
By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 26, 2008
...For the White House press corps, covering Obama's 13-day Hawaiian sojourn is a departure from past holidays hunkered down near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex. They've upgraded their offices from highway hotels in Waco to the Westin Moana Surfrider Resort on Waikiki Beach. They've traded a backdrop of rusted farm equipment and bales of hay for sailboats, longboards and crashing waves.
And they've hung up their winter coats.
"What a difference a year makes," exults NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie, leaning back in a padded armchair on a veranda overlooking the Pacific.
"No offense to the people of Crawford, Texas, but taking the presidential retreat from Crawford to Honolulu is change anyone can believe in," Henry says, borrowing a phrase from Obama's campaign...
Isn't a reality-based world much better than a fake ranch with fake props and a fake president?
The trooper's affidavit indicates that Sarah Palin's candidacy factored into the investigation, with state officials delaying execution of a search warrant until this month, when Johnston was "no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service."....
Wouldn't it be a felony for any of the Secret Service agents to be sheltering a person they knew was dealing drugs? Did the lovely and talented Sarah know about this monkey business and keep it from McCain?
The Governor also had an obligation to let the police know about any dealing. I can't believe the son and his girlfriend didn't know. But then they kept the baby a secret from Brisol's mom, too? Or did they?
Everyone in authority seemed to have wanted to keep this secret (and who knows how many more) from coming out during the election. Palin might not make it to 2012 without an indictment of some kind of her own.
Apparently, Wasilla is no small town ideal...or the Real America the Far Right and Palin like to tell us it is.
She's going to bring down what's left of the Republican Party if the Bush Crime Family doesn't find some way to throw her under the bus. Sarah is making enemies faster than she is collecting expensive clothes.
So this is what 4,500 American troops died for and tens of thousands have been disabled?
Iraq Unsettled by Political Power Plays
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: December 25, 2008
With provincial elections scheduled for the end of January, Iraq appears to be plagued by political troubles that seem closer to Shakespearean drama than to nascent democracy.
There is talk of a coup to oust the prime minister. The speaker of the Parliament has abruptly resigned, making angry accusations on his way out the door. And there have been sweeping arrests of people believed to be conspiring against the government, both in Baghdad and Diyala Province.
“Maliki is monopolizing all the political, security and economic decisions,” said Omar Abdul Sattar, a Sunni member of Parliament. ... “It’s simply the story of the transformation from a democratic prime minister into a dictator,” he said...
Deep resentment at these attempts to bolster his power and especially his exclusion of all but a small inner circle from decision making is prompting serious discussion of forcing Mr. Maliki out by holding a no-confidence vote in Parliament. A no-confidence vote removes the prime minister and requires the appointment of a new one. In 2007, an effort to depose him failed, but this time the talk seems more serious.
About two weeks ago the leaders of the major political factions in the government met in northern Iraq to discuss Mr. Maliki and whether they could muster the votes to get rid of him, according to high-ranking Iraqi politicians and Western diplomats. “We have been counting the votes, and we have enough votes to withdraw confidence and nominate a new prime minister,” said a senior member of the United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of Shiite parties and independents that forms the largest bloc in Parliament. What they do not have, however, is agreement on who would get the top jobs, which the parties want to nail down before making any moves...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/world/middleeast/26baghdad.html?_r=1&hp
I can see no reason why our military continues to prop up a region that cannot or will not embrace stability. It appears that all we are accomplishing is the training of Iraqi soldiers to stage a military coup at a later date.
So it's going to be Back to the Future with another Saddam-style dictator? It appears that the average Iraqi man-on-the-street likes the idea far better than what they have seen in the last six years.
Whoever controls the new Iraqi Republican Guards will inherit the oil fields? Who has Petraeus chosen to ascend to the throne? How much of say did Cheney and the neocons have in this decision?
Good morning
Check this out, the right wing nuts are trying to organize a grassroots "resistance" to Obama's policies:
The Obama 'resistance': Wingnuttery never sleeps
By David Neiwert Friday Dec 26, 2008 9:15am
Steve J. at Radamisto notices that even though Barack Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet, Sean Hannity is organizing the wingnuts already into a would-be force to attempt to stop him from enacting "radical" policies:
Since the election, Hannity has described his radio show as the outpost of "the conservative underground," as if a show that's legally on over 500 stations could be underground in any real sense of that word. There is little doubt that there are many conservatives who think America will become a radical country under the Democrats and last night I heard on Mike Gallagher's show of a group that is trying to organize these people - Grassfire. They ask people to "join the resistance" and sign a petition that opposes what they mistakenly think will happen if unopposed.
They hope to have 1,000,000 signatures on the petition by Inauguration Day and right now, they are quite a bit short of that goal ...
Hannity has been embarrassing himself regularly lately by promoting every conspiracy theory in sight about Obama. Expect the pace to pick up as the Inauguration approaches -- and really take off afterward.
Conservatives are expected to oppose Obama, naturally. But only wingnuts will believe every bit of garbage thrown at him and spin it into a massive belief system about the looming oppression of a socialist state, yadda yadda yadda. It probably would happen to any elected Democrat, but it will be even worse for Obama.
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/obama-resistance-wingnuttery-never-s
Stupidity, right wing nuttism and destructive GOP "populism" never sleeps. When are people going to wake up and realize that the GOP is lying to them. They don't care about the public - they never did and they never will.
I don't even remember Tito the Builder. His tick must have ticked off the MSM?
==================================================
Hi Sandy, I recall Moose Brains Palin mentioning him once. Joe The Plumber has become quite a joke. To me, the Joe The Plumber case represents the stupidity of GOP populism. Here's a person collecting food stamps screeching about socialism!
Right wing nuts all supposedly "hate socialism" until they need some of it!
108
SandyH on December 27, 2008 at 12:47 AM
==================================================
Sandy, Maliki isn't going to last. The reason is simple - he was a Bush behind kisser.
Good morning, rj.
The bigots have been given full reign over at the RNC. Now they are calling racism "satire".
Rebecca Sinderbrand
CNN
(CNN) -- A candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship said Friday the CD he sent committee members for Christmas -- which included a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" -- was clearly intended as a joke. The title of the song about President-elect Barack Obama was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column.
"I think most people recognize political satire when they see it," Tennessee Republican Chip Saltsman told CNN. "I think RNC members understand that.".
The song, set to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," was first played on conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007.
Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested President-elect Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans. Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times.
The CD sent to RNC members, first reported by The Hill on Friday, is titled "We Hate the USA" and also includes songs referencing former presidential candidate John Edwards and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, among other targets.
According to The Hill, other song titles, some of which were in bold font, were: "John Edwards' Poverty Tour," "Wright place, wrong pastor," "Love Client #9," "Ivory and Ebony" and "The Star Spanglish Banner."
Saltsman was national campaign manager for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential bid in 2007 and 2008. Before that, he held a variety of posts, including a number of positions under former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/26/rnc.obama.satire/index.html
Yeah, even those of us who didn't get a copy understand what this record represents and it isn't the spirit of Christmas. So Huckabee and his gang are going to try to out do Palin's bigoted act as their ticket to the White House?
The younger generation looks at these sorts of minstrel show antics and rolls their eyes. Way to go you RNC doorknobs. Keep making fools of yourself in front of "your" kids and angering our growing, ever widening base.
rj, so Hannity is rallying the troops against "radicalism" with this sort of RNC crap flooding the airways...being sold as "satire" by the leadership? Above everything else it makes them look like sore losers.
Can't they do anything right? Even younger white supremacists are turned off by these Yee Haw attempts to look "cool" to younger GOP voters. Hitler was more sophisticated when he was rounding up the Jews.
The bigots have been given full reign over at the RNC. Now they are calling racism "satire".The bigots have been given full reign over at the RNC. Now they are calling racism "satire".
================================================
Sanyd, I read all about it. If you can stomach it, check out their right wing nut "resistance" web site grassfire.org. It's an entertaining look into the insanity of right wing populism; it's all based on racial hate, denial of science, denial of human rights. Charming stuff.
Way to go you RNC doorknobs. Keep making fools of yourself in front of "your" kids and angering our growing, ever widening base.
==================================================
That is a very good point. The right wing nuts are an isolated group. The Democratic party now owns the left and the center. The RNC can choose to go down the path of appealing to nothing but right wing nuttism and if they do they will continue to lose. They risk becoming irrelevant.
Retailers to consumers: "Thanks for nothing, jerks!"
Check out some of the signs:
http://www.236.com/news/2008/12/24/retailers_to_consumers_thanks_1_10883.php
This is getting bad. Real bad as the Bush depression gets worse.
George W. Bush Will You Please Go Now!
n our fondest dreams, the Worst. President. Evah. would have been out the door the day after Nov. 4.
Seems a large majority of Americans feel the same way:
A new national poll suggests that three out of four Americans feel President Bush's departure from office is coming not a moment too soon.
Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday said they're glad Bush is going; 23 percent indicated they'll miss him.
"Earlier this year, Bush scored some of the lowest presidential approval ratings we've seen in half a century, so it's understandable that the public is eager for a new president to step in," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director.
CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider added, "As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel."
The only point about this poll I found puzzling: "Twenty-eight percent of those polled say President Bush is the worst president in U.S. history."
That seems way too low. Expect it to climb in the coming years.
Of course, Bush's legacy tour has been trying to repair the damage. But it's like a cat kicking some sand over its just-completed dump. Hot air and B.S. simply can't cover over the economic wreckage, the foreign-relations deterioration, and the long-term disaster that has been W.
This is getting bad. Real bad as the Bush depression gets worse.
rjsnj on December 27, 2008 at 01:36 PM
rj,
I didn't know it was getting THAT bad! Haha.
Really, I look at the ads and nothing even looks appealing any longer. I don't need any more clothes or electronics. I worry about not being able to do routine maintenance on my car and paying utilities with two kids in college. Why would I want to buy stuff I don't need?
The economy is not going to perk up until there are more good paying-jobs on the horizon and people know they will have affordable health care and a secure retirement.
The Republicans found a way to make necessities a luxury with their Ownership Society based on unrealistic cheap credit. It drove up the cost of education, health care, and housing while getting everyone into debt.
It just got worse with irresponsible speculation by the idle rich, outsourcing of our nation's assets/jobs, that stupid Big Oil War on the Middle East (which just keeps on expanding), and welfare for the rich. It gave the world the perfect blueprint for destroying the American Dream and much of civilization as we know it.
Cheney: Merry Christmas, you dumb Sheeple. I got mine. It's too bad you didn't get anything in your Christmas stocking but T. Bone Picken's trying to sell you clean coal technology. I'd take that one with a grain of salt if I was you.
No wonder unemployed Reagan Democrats have been pushed to the limit and are torching Christmas parties. They'd much really rather be throwing something at Bush...but he's dodged taking responsibility for every fool thing he and the GOP have done in the last 40 years.
CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider added, "As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel.".....
rj,
Isn't it amazing how even GOP plants like Bill Schneider are now taking pot shots at the Texas Homeboy and his RNC team? Back after 911 they groveled at his feet like he was a genius...even when they knew he let it all happen by ignoring the threat the CIA kept cautioning against.
Look back at those photos of Spunky at Ground Zero wearing a hard hat and yelling out at the workers with a mega horn. This is what Chris Matthews assures us was Bush's finest hour. Now it looks just like what it really was...an incompetent clown acting like a big shot while others clean up after his mistakes.
I hope the American electorate remembers this like disaster for generations just like they did Pearl Harbor and the Crash of '29. To think the Republicans managed to incorporate two world-wide disasters in the space of only eight years... this time around.
Most conservatives are just plain pathetic doorknobs who are incapable of doing anything right or even understanding how badly they screwed up.
Essie,
I know that you have been posting verses. Let us pray that they have finally be read and heard by the right people?
Good morning Dems! Looks like the rabid repug trolls have been just sitting by their computers, waiting and watching for it to come back up, so they can rid their guts of that Sore Loser, Sour grape taste in their mouths! Sally's dog must be black and blue from the kicking it took, when he had no place to put that hate!
As the Inauguaration of our New DEMOCRATIC President gets closer, they will become shriller and shriller. Bet they loved watching all those new Democrats get sworn in yesterday ! What a gleeful sight. Did my heart good!
Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and New Year. Here's to 2010 and another new swarm of Democrats replacing the Evil swill that was bent on destroying us.
Here is the list of Senators up for re-election in 2010. Pick a Repug and start working on getting rid of him.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?Class=3
well i guess this is kinda like having the blog back. good morning. ice storm going on here, hope the lectric holds up...
apparently bush is going out with his lips firmly attached to the crack pipe...his biggest accomplishment...why making privatization of social security a safe topic for unemployed right wing nuts...
"Speaking of Bush’s legacy, Barnes reports that the president cited his push to privatize Social Security as his biggest domestic policy accomplishment:
On domestic policy, Bush was asked if he made progress in some areas for which he hasn’t and probably won’t get credit. Topping his list was his unsuccessful drive in 2005 to reform Social Security. Bush said his effort showed it’s politically safe to campaign on changing Social Security and then actually seek to change it.
He also said it was important to have raised private investment accounts as an attractive option in reforming Social Security..."
yeah with the collapse of the economy due largely to the antics of banks and markets i bet putting our social security funds in Bernard Madoff and his friends hands...someone slip bush some thorazine quick!
Well, I guess this is what has to pass as "working" for now.
LPL @ 10:45. Really?
Federal housing data back up this conclusion — that “the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.” As Center for American Progress Senior Fellows Michael S. Barr and Gene Sperling explain, Freddie and Fannie weren’t even securitizing subprime mortgages en-masse until 2005:
The subprime boom was led by investment banks and mortgage brokers, not by government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie and Freddie became unhinged in the middle of this decade when they tried to play catch-up. Their shareholders and managers pushed them to recover the securitization market share they had lost to unregulated investment banks getting absurd AAA ratings for packaging subprime dross. From 2005 to 2008, Fannie Mae purchased or guaranteed $270 billion in loans to risky borrowers — triple the amount in all its earlier years combined.
(bold in original)
Cox, Greenspan, Snow Agree: Freddie Mac And Fannie Mae Did Not Cause The Financial Crisis
Freddie and Fannie were extremely, rigidly regulated, and their total of loans to the working poor was only a minuscule percentage of their outlay. Those loans, in fact, have a lower default rate than the general housing mortgage default number for the industry at large.
The collapse was due to the UNregulated investment banks bundling Credit Default Swaps as "investments".
Lehman was the first joker to be pulled out of the bottom of Phil Gramm's house of cards and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Lehman failed months before Fannie or Freddie started getting into trouble, and therefore months before the Pugs could use them as a convenient scapegoat for the absolute failure of their Randian deregulation wet dream.
Using (yet again) Pug "talking points" (aka LIES) and trying to blame the Chimpco mess on the poor (read: "blacks") is what you always do. You are a veritable fount of Pug talking points.
And then you have the gall to tell people to be "truthful and accurate"? HAH!
Not at all. In fact it was pretty darn good.
Why do you ALWAYS immediately have to jump in with some contrarian post and follow up with some lame Pug talking point? That is ALL you do. You jump on someone's post with a "nyah nyah" attitude and can't back up your talking points with links.
Nice to "see" you, too. But where are the links backing up your Pug talking point in your 10:29 post?
Try this out for a while:
“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work."-Christopher Cox, Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission
The program Mr. Cox abolished was unanimously approved in 2004 by the commission under his predecessor, William H. Donaldson. Known by the clumsy title of “consolidated supervised entities,” the program allowed the S.E.C. to monitor the parent companies of major Wall Street firms, even though technically the agency had authority over only the firms’ brokerage firm components.The commission created the program after heavy lobbying for the plan from all five big investment banks. At the time, Mr. Paulson was the head of Goldman Sachs . . .
SEC: Brokerage Collapse Was Our Fault
So, yes. Chimpco OWNS this mess, and once again the taxpayers have to bail out the Pug "big boys" just like we had to when his old man was stinking up the Oval Office and Chimpy's brother was robbing S & Ls.. Unfettered greed can not work. There needs to be heavy regulation.
Which in no way backs up your assertion that poor people caused the financial meltdown. Fanny & Freddie were HEAVILY regulated. The other "Big 5" were NOT regulated at all. How did poor people cause Lehman Brothers to go belly up months before F & F got into trouble?
MAJOR HACKING OF PROGRESSIVE WEB SITES HAPPENING NOW!!
Soapblox sites hacked? Info gathering thread
I guess we can expect this kind of stuff for the next 8 years.
YOU did:
They were pressured to loan money to people with poor work history and bad credit just because there was this undefined "right" to own a home as a part of the American dream.
Those major banks which did the vast majority of sub-prime loans were (once again) UNregulated. I'll try to "talk" like Chimpy/
Ya see, they were what is called un-reg-u-lated. Ya see, that means thaey weren't regulated.
Here is a pie chart illustrating just who is at fault for the financial collapse.
So, fact checked sites with internal links are "known left wing radical propaganda sites"?
This coming from the assclown who relies on Newsbusters and other fact free sites.
The point is that relying on the Pug talking point (lie) that the meltdown is because of a few bad loans is pure bullshit. (See that chart).
The economic disaster was caused by the fat cats on Wall Street and their unchecked greed, all with the blessings of Chimpco; NOT the low income workers who took out mortgages.
Speaking of sticking things in certain places, shouldn't you be heading north soon?
Heck of a job, Chimpy!
Private-sector employers shed 693,000 jobs in December, a private employment service said on Wednesday in a report that was far worse than expected and pointed to more ugly news from the government’s jobs data due later this week.
Your Daily Affirmation that we’re all screwed
Why doesn't the Chimpster just go on another vacation and let the guy with brains take over 12 days early?
Good afternoon and Happy New Years (to all but right wing nuts).
Hey lookie here right wing wings. Al Franken is the winner! You right wing nuts will enjoy having two Democratic Senators in Minnesota:
Franken declares Senate race win after state ruling
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Democrat Al Franken declared victory in the hotly contested Minnesota Senate race Monday, saying the win is "incredibly humbling."
A Minnesota board says Al Franken won his U.S. Senate race against Norm Coleman by 225 votes.
A Minnesota board says Al Franken won his U.S. Senate race against Norm Coleman by 225 votes.
The Minnesota State Canvassing Board on Monday certified the results of the recount of Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's fight to retain his seat against Franken. The results showed Franken with a 225-vote lead.
"I am proud to stand before you as the next senator from Minnesota," Franken told reporters Monday night. "It's clear that we have a lot of important work to do ... I'm ready to go to Washington and get to work as soon as possible."
Coleman's attorney, Tony Trimble, said shortly after the ruling that the campaign will officially file a lawsuit. The Minnesota Republican's campaign later announced that he will make a public statement on Tuesday afternoon.
Coleman's campaign contends the recount should have included about 650 absentee ballots it says were improperly rejected in the initial count.Video Watch Coleman say he will take his fight to the courts »
The initial count from the November 4 election put Coleman, a first-term senator, 215 votes ahead of Franken, who is known for his stint on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and as a former talk-show host on progressive radio network Air America.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/05/minnesota.recount/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Coleman Versus Franken: Minnesotans Say Enough Already!
Coleman Versus Franken: Minnesotans Say Enough Already!
By Justin Horwath / St. Paul Wednesday, Jan. 07, 2009
Al Franken, with his wife Franni, speaks to the media
Al Franken, with his wife Franni, speaks to the media
Dawn Villella / AP
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Tom Scanlon surveys the scene from the bar he owns, just across a recycling plant on the industrial outskirts of St. Paul, Minn. "You just get used to it," he says. But he's not just talking about the state's notoriously long and frigid winters. Scanlon, 63, breaks into a laugh with a slightly Irish lilt. He's also talking about the unending senatorial contest the state is going through. "It just keeps going on and going on," he says. Indeed, in this northern state, patience is not a virtue — it's a necessity. Minnesotans, nevertheless, long for warmer weather and one clearly identifiable junior U.S. Senator. "I think [Republican incumbent Norm] Coleman should just resign," Scanlon adds.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1870054,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Get over it Normy.
Get over it right wing nuts.
YOU LOST THE ELECTION.
AND
YOU LOST IT BAD.
Just 13 more days of the right wing nut Chimp Bush.
Roland Burris: Reid Embraces Him, Says No Deal (VIDEO)
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Roland Burris will not likely take Barack Obama's Senate seat until a court in Illinois rules on a dispute surrounding his appointment.
While Reid embraced Burris, he said the Senate is awaiting a court ruling in a case that tests whether the signature of the Illinois secretary of state is needed for Burris to take the seat. He suggested that would be a step toward seating Burris.
"One of the first things he said to us was, 'Hey, this is nothing racial, do you understand that?'" Reid said. "A lot of people tried to make this a racial issue. Roland Burris has not, and will not."
"He's not trying to avoid any responsibility to hide anything," Reid added.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who also met with Burris, praised the man and said he hoped the legal matters would be resolved "so we can fill all the vacancies and have a full compliment of the Senate."
"That decision will be before the Illinois Supreme Court today or tomorrow. We are hoping that they act on it in an expedited fashion. I called the Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, yesterday, as well as the Secretary of State, and urged them not to delay the decision," Durbin said. "Whatever the decision of the Supreme Court, we want it to be made on a timely basis, and we both agreed that was their intent as well."
Democrats had claimed the appointment was tainted by allegations that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich attempted to sell the seat.
================================================
Burris WILL be seated and the Dems WILL have a majority of 59. Looks like Mitchy McConnell's filibuster plans are coming apart.
Oh, God!
More wingnut welfare.
This guy is already 10 minutes over his allotted 15.
Schlomo the Dumber to be Israeli "War Correspondent".
(For Pajamas Media! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!! Talk about a fact and source free site!)
Maybe he can take Levi and his downed zipper with him as his erstwhile Jimmy Olsen.
Joe The Plumber To Become War Correspondent
TOLEDO, Ohio — Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook.
The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR'-zuhl-bah-kur) says he'll spend 10 days covering the fighting.
He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel's "'Average Joes' share their story."
Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan.
He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.
================================================
Ha! Why doesn't he report on Sarah Moose Palin?
Joe The NOT a Plumber, what a joke!
Good ole Moose Palin just can't keep out of trouble:
Bristol Palin's 'unqualified' boyfriend is now jobless
New York, Jan 7 : Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's 17-year old-daughter's baby, has quit his oil field job after questions arose concerning his eligibility for the post.
According to Anchorage Daily News, the 18-year-old worked in Milne Point oil field with ASRC Energy Services Inc.
Johnston's father confirmed that he has quit his job after questions arose concerning his eligibility.
Employees in the electrical apprenticeship program in which Johnston worked are required to have a high school diploma, which he does not possess.
A local radio host, Dan Fagan, questioned his eligibility in a newspaper column.
"He felt it was the best thing to do to kind of calm the waters, so to speak," the New York Daily News quoted Johnston's father Keith as saying.
Rumours were also rife that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helped the father of her grandson Tripp get the job, which she denied.
Keith has also denied that the Sarah helped his teenage son with the job.
"Sarah had nothing to do with him getting hired on the Slope. If there was any help getting him on up there, it was because of my associations and no one else's," he said.
================================================
Yeah right! More hijinx from the Tundra Queen.
Global warming just tip of the iceberg]
January 05, 2009
James R. Lee
Hamilton Spectator Wire Services
The Cold War shaped world politics for half a century. But global warming may shape the patterns of global conflict for much longer than that — and help spark clashes that will be, in every sense of the word, hot wars.
We’re used to thinking of climate change as an environmental problem, not a military one, but it’s long past time to alter that mindset. Climate change may mean changes in Western lifestyles, but in some parts of the world, it will mean far more. Living in Washington, I may respond to global warming by buying a Prius, planting a tree or lowering my thermostat. But elsewhere, people will respond to climate change by building bomb shelters and buying guns.
“There is every reason to believe that as the 21st century unfolds, the security story will be bound together with climate change,” warns John Ashton, a veteran diplomat who is now the United Kingdom’s first special envoy on climate change.
“The last time the world faced a challenge this complex was during the Cold War. Yet the stakes this time are even higher because the enemy now is ourselves, the choices we make.”
Defense experts have also started to see the link between climate change and conflict.
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/491080
The military takes global warming seriously.
Hey right wing nuts, global warming is for real.
149
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on January 7, 2009 at 02:19 PM
=============================================
Hey Doo-Bee, isn't that a riot! Joe The Not A Plumber now thinks he is a journalist. He should report on the Tundra Queen's Alaskan hijinx ...
Ann Coulter's "Today" Show Appearance Canceled, Rescheduled (UPDATED)
FINAL Update Wednesday 8:45 AM: Coulter appeared in the 7 AM hour of "Today" Wednesday morning, and Matt Lauer opened the interview by acknowledging "this little controversy."
When Lauer asked whether Coulter was behind the report that she was banned for life from the "Today" show, she responded, "I didn't say that. That was from a reliable news report that, by the way, has never had to retract a report on exploding GM trucks...like NBC."
Coulter then told Lauer, "It apparently took the 'Today' show eight hours to remember that there was a Wednesday show that I could be invited back to."
"We traded you out for Tony Blair yesterday," Lauer said, accusing Coulter of drumming up controversy to sell books. "And I think that's a pretty good switch."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/05/ann-coulters-today-show-a_n_155393.html
Coulter is right wing nuttism at it's worse. Who cares about her trash books.
140
rjsnj on January 7, 2009 at 02:25 PM
He's going to have the thickest imaginary resume in history.
He's (not) a plumber
He's (not) a candidate
He's (not) a country music star
He's (not) an author
He's (not) a talk show host
He's (not) a journalist.
He's not even a "Joe".
Entirely phony, just like the entire GOP. All smoke and mirrors hiding an empty void.
Next we'll see him being a (not) professional wrestler.
The Goopers are so scared of having their total lack of anything made visible that they THREW C-SPAN OUT OF THEIR MEETING!
Maybe their next Chairman should be Joe the (not) Head of the RNC?
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