Good morning fellow Democrats.

from anchorage news:

"Johnston's arrest was oxycontin-related

Jan. 6 hearing: authorities remain tight-lipped about details.

By ZAZ HOLLANDER
zhollander@adn.com

Published: December 19th, 2008 10:04 PM
Last Modified: December 19th, 2008 02:00 AM

WASILLA -- Wasilla resident Sherry L. Johnston, mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend, faces a Jan. 6 court date for an oxycontin-related arrest at her home by Alaska State Troopers..."

so my only question is...was rush anal cyst boy dating the mother of the father of sarah's grand baby to be?? and if that baby is a born this week may it be a healthy and happy child.

Obama chooses top science advisers

Selections send signal that president-elect is set to reverse Bush policies

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama has selected two of the nation's most prominent scientific advocates for a vigorous response to climate change to serve in his administration's top ranks, according to sources, sending the strongest signal yet that he will reverse Bush administration policies on energy and global warming.

The appointments of Harvard University physicist John Holdren as presidential science adviser and Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will be announced tomorrow, dismayed conservatives but heartened environmentalists and researchers.

Like Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Holdren and Lubchenco have argued repeatedly for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate change. In 2007, as chairman of the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Holdren oversaw approval of the board's first statement on global warming, which said: "It is time to muster the political will for concerted action."...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28305772/

Wow, what a novel concept. Actually letting bona fide scientists fill these posistions as opposed to GOP cronies who were nothing more than paid off figureheads. It will be a welcome relief to actually have intelligent people running the science wing of government as opposed to political cronies. Thank you President-elect Obama for bringing science back to government.

(P.S. Tell these folks they may have to clean up the mess from all of the poker games and voodoo rituals the GOP used to call science)

wow bob, this is going to be like going from the fantasy of alchemy to the empiricism of stem cell research in 24 hours!

Electronic Arts to slash 1,000 jobs

Video game company will close at least nine
studio and publishing locations

The Associated Press
updated 3:41 p.m. ET, Fri., Dec. 19, 2008

NEW YORK - Electronic Arts Inc. plans to slash hundreds of jobs in addition to the layoffs it announced earlier this fall, with the total amounting to about 10 percent of its work force, or about 1,000 people.

The company, which had said in October it plans to reduce its work force by 6 percent — or about 500 or 600 people — said Friday it will close at least nine studio and publishing locations.
EA, whose games include the "Madden" football franchise and "Rock Band," had warned last week that its fiscal 2009 profit and sales will miss its earlier outlook because of weak holiday sales. The company said at the time it is planning further job cuts, but did not give a number.

The job cuts and restructuring will save EA about $120 million a year, and will lead to charges of about $55 million to $65 million over the next several quarters, the company said. Most of the layoffs will take place by the end of March...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28313278/

This is what they get for all of their outsourcing and it would not surprise me the least little bit that if and when these jobs "come back", they'll be sent to an Indian firm. How do I know this. I was laid off by these unAmerican, "Benedict Arnold", money worshipping bastards in 2002 when they shipped my, along with about 200 others, job to India. Their position was why pay an American $10-$20 an hour when some schmuck that barely speaks English will do it for $3 an hour. Electronic Arts is just another example of corporate greed run amok. Every damned corporate officer of this sellout corporation ought to have their U.S. citizenship revoked and be sent to downtown Bombay with nothing but a thong and a pair of flip flops.

Is it personal? You bet your arse it is.

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.
85
Johne on December 20, 2008 at 08:57 AM

gregg on December 20, 2008 at 08:45 AM

Hallelujah!

Johne on December 20, 2008 at 08:58 AM

While I hate to sound like the guy who bites the proverbial hand, don't be to quick to heap praises on Wal-Mart. They're probably just dumping all of their Chinese surplus lead-paint toys on the unsuspecting needy.

Bob,

They need to search the White House for hidden empty vodka bottles. My father used to hid wine bottles in our basement whenever he went on one of his binges.

And, oh yes, they will need to put a huge tent over the White House and fumigate the place. There is no telling what kind of critters have taken up residence in the walls.

Johne on December 20, 2008 at 09:02 AM

With the GOP's record on civil rights and the gutting of the Fourth Amendment, [Tinfoil hat mode: ON] I wouldn't be suprised if some of those bugs that need fumigating are electronic in origin. [Tinfoil hat mode: OFF]

Wreck the economy? What a bunch of lies.

I have heard people liken the new age of solar and wind energy to the dawn of the Industrial Age in Europe or when we switched from whale oil to light our homes to Coal oil or Kerosene.

It will be an exciting time and I am really looking forward to it.

Bob,

Do you really think that the repukes could have bugged the White House to spy on Obama. I wouldn't put it past these fascist pigs.

Obama should have the entire White House scanned for bugs.

In our Walmart store they have the stock price posted on the wall between the women's and men's restrooms. I remember the stock was hovering around $45 a share some time last year.

I noticed yester that the price posted was $58. They seem to be doing very well selling lead and melamine based toys and food.

Later, I have to walk the dogs. It's almost 33 degrees and clear. The painters will be back for a half day and the house is finally looking like a house after 6 years. The original contractor painted everything white.

'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies at 95

By Patricia Sullivan and Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 19, 2008; A02

W. Mark Felt Sr., the associate director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal who, better known as "Deep Throat," became the most famous anonymous source in American history, died yesterday. He was 95.

Felt died at 12:45 p.m. at a hospice near his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. where he had been living since August.

Felt "was fine this morning" and was "joking with his caregiver," according to his daughter, Joan Felt. She said in a phone interview that her father ate a big breakfast before remarking that he was tired and went to sleep.

"He slipped away," she said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/19/AR2008121900056_pf.html

Rest in peace, Mr. Felt. The nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

Johne on December 20, 2008 at 09:08 AM

We'd all be wise not to put anything past the Bush Administration in this final month. Trust nothing and no one associated with the GOP at this time.

However, in all fairness, it should be noted that the transition team has stated that the Bush Administration has been quite helpful in the transition process. The Clinton people pulled a few practical jokes in the end such as removing all of the W keys from the West Wing keyboards.

Good morning, ALL!

Bob, that "missing W keys" story is pure BS started by the professional liars of ChimpCo and fed to a lazy compliant MSM just looking for a juicy story even before Clinton started his administration.

From the GAO report:

Now it seems those closely detailed stories were largely bunk. Last week it was revealed that a formal review by the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative agency, "had found no damage to the offices of the White House's East or West Wings or EOB" and that Bush's own representatives had reported "there is no record of damage that may have been deliberately caused by the employees of the Clinton administration."

"the condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy."

GAO Report: The White House / Allegations of Damage During the 2001 Presidential Transition

(PDF)

Good morning, all.

In Private Memo, RNC Chief Concedes That GOP Is Bereft Of Ideas, Vows Change Of Direction

By Greg Sargent - December 19, 2008

In a frank and private memo sent today to Republican National Commitee members, the RNC chairman acknowledges that the GOP has grown too addicted to ideology, places politics before policy, and is bereft of ideas -- and that it's imperative that the party shift towards a genuine effort to develop concrete policy solutions to people's problems in order to rescue itself.

The memo, which we obtained from a Republican operative. was written by RNC chief Mike Duncan to explain the RNC's decision -- first reported by Politico -- to create a new in-house think tank called the "Center for Republican Renewal," which is devoted to coming up with new policies and ideas to chart a new direction for the party after November's devastating losses.

The memo -- which reflects just how deep a hole the party finds itself in -- also reveals some concrete details about the new think tank, including the appointment of Steven Duffield, the executive director of the GOP's 2008 Platform Committee, as the organization's new chief.

"Republicans have grown accustomed to having our party recognized as the `Party of Ideas,' but we must acknowledge that many Americans today believe the party is stale and does not deserve that label," reads one of the memo's starker assessments, adding that "we have not used our principles to provide solutions to the kitchen table concerns of middle-class America."...

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/in_internal_memo_rnc_chief_con.php

Party of Ideas? A Party of All Bad Ideas that don't work and have nothing to do with reality is more like it.

Note that they still can't bring themselves to consider that it's their ideology that is the problem. "We did not use our principles..." What principles? Bigotry, greed, fascism, lying, secrecy, or arrogance? I'd say they used them all.

The creation of an internal think tank is an acknowledgment that outsourcing and privatization failed even them...but they would never admit it.
There must not be enough money left in the cupboard (what with dealing with the aftermath of their own GOP-induced economic meltdown) to pass the responsibility along to others in the future when their "ideology ideas" fail the country yet again.

The only direction most Americans want the Republicans to take is south...way far south to Hell or worse. That's where they've been heading all along and thought they were going to take us with them, too?

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 10:20 AM

DPD,

Thanks for clearing up that Karen Hughes urban legend big lie. The Bush Crime Family told their lies so many times that even some of us have come to accept them.

Never, never believe a thing that was ever said by this corrupt administration. They didn't know how to tell the truth and are now bragging about it. Cheney is defiant to the end.

I hope he ends up regretting his bravado in the World Court.

Obama's weekly address. Did the sun just come out?

Obama commits to making U.S. leader in science once again

What is this new thing he calls "science". I haven't heard of it in 8 years.

And today is the 2nd anniversary of that Court ruling that schools can't "teach" ID mumbo jumbo in science classes. Good timing. All the fundies may now throw themselves on the floor and cry.

Levi Johnston's mother hit with drug charges

Arrested: her son was in the spotlight as father of bristol palin's baby.

By ZAZ HOLLANDER
zhollander@adn.com

(12/18/08 20:30:47)

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.

Troopers released no other information, including the kind or amount of drugs, because details could jeopardize an ongoing investigation, spokeswoman Megan Peters said...

http://www.adn.com/crime/story/628010.html

Gov. Palin (R-AK) is the gift that keeps on giving. So the governor has meth fiends for future inlaws. That's rich.

And yes, Ms. Peters (the AK State Police spokesperson quoted above), do not say anything else about this case because we see what happens to the governor's "enemies" in AK. The economy is too shaky to be unemployed right now.

So what's next for the AK soap opera? Will Bristol Palin give birth to an alien? Will we find out that Todd has a number of "love childs" scattered amongst the eskimo tribes? How about the governor herself in a porn movie? Oh wait, that's already happened, well, sorta...

http://digg.com/movies/The_First_Minute_of_Who_s_Nailin_Paylin_Safe_for_Work?FC=PRCQ0

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Great work on digging that up, Doo-Bee. Thank you for correcting me.

22
BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 10:41 AM

Come on now Bob, now you´re resulting to the same stupid tactics as the rest of the reg 8. I didn´t thing you would stoop so low as the rest of them.
Gee whiz, that means Al Gore Jr. is a burnt out druggy because his sonny boy is. Come on Bob, I thought you were a little better than the other Dingbats.

No prob, Bob. It just goes to show how dedicated ChimpCo was in smearing Clinton even before he was sworn in. And how compliant the lapdogs of the MSM were all along.

If either of those entities had dedicated 10% of that effort to actually doing their jobs this Country wouldn't be in the mess it is in today, and over 4,200 Soldiers would still be alive, not to mention the 3,000 killed on 9-11 and the million or so killed in Iraq.

And NOLA would still exist. (To name just a few of Chimpy's screw-ups.)

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 20, 2008 at 10:48 AM

No Burd, you're close though. It means that Al Gore is the father of a "burnt out druggy", not one himself. Nor am I accusing Gov. Palin (R-AK) of anything illegal or illecit in Ms. Johnston's escapade.

Variety is reporting that MTV is creating sixteen new reality shows for next season. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997667.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Hey, maybe we can get the two together. That would make one hell of a reality show. Al Gore III and Sherry Johnston starring in "Hey Dude, where's my sh*t?"

Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor labor. Scientific research is being moved to the front burner. If there can be a healthy relationship between these two events - we could develop here (not outsource) what we can discover and invent (once again). Free trade must also be fair trade. Standards have to be set (the safety of the work environment/just pay/environmental standards). These were all disregarded under the GOP's reign. If these can be set - and they better be - we can lead productive lives. We were not made to be consumer zombies - but creative producers. Ongoing environmental change - will also awaken us to these standards - where the dirty Walmart type products will be scene as very expensive to our planet - they will appear more and more like Madoff - a lie. Thanks for the postings that show signs of awakening. Lawrence Ferlinghetti - the poet wrote "I am continually awaiting a rebirth of wonder"....and these are times to wonder - about all these changes....and wonder how and the hell we've been in such a dark age....and move on....

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 10:39 AM

We'd better come up with something since most of our manufacturing jobs are being handled by the Chinese and their minions. Otherwise, we'll see a collapse of the U.S. akin to what happened to the British Empire in the 20th century.

Al gore wasn't going around proclaiming "small town values" and acting all "holier than thou" telling other people how they should live and raise their kids and neither was the Democratic party. Falin' was.

The hypocrisy of the Pugs is enormous. When that twit got elected mayor Wasilla wasn't the meth capital of AK. When she left it was, and still is. Maybe that moron should get her own house / state / city in order before she starts shooting off her empty headed harangues toward the rest of the country.

Moscow (CSM) - The collapse of oil prices and the Russian ruble have ignited relatively small protests against the government here. But reaction from the Kremlin has been fast and furious.

Nationwide rallies planned for Sunday are expected to draw even larger crowds and will be the next major test of a Russian leadership increasingly anxious over dissent.

Leaders of the still-influential Communist Party, which is staging the upcoming rallies, say the Kremlin's fears were on display during protests last weekend in Moscow and St. Petersburg, when thousands of riot troopers confronted a few hundred demonstrators from the Other Russia, a broad anti-Kremlin coalition, and arrested 150 of them.

"On its face it seems ridiculous to see thousands of cops beating up a handful of peaceful demonstrators; logic dictates that they ought to ignore us," says Eduard Limonov, leader of the banned leftist National Bolshevik Party. "But the authorities fear opposition and ... [as the economic crisis grows] they have good reason for that. They read the FSB [security police] reports and they know that we are very well organized and ready to lead in the case of mass social unrest."

Mr. Limonov was among those detained and allegedly manhandled by police last Sunday.

Communist Party leaders have called for a nationwide day of "anticapitalist" rallies Sunday against growing unemployment and price rises. Although it's never easy to predict how many protesters will show up, organizers feel safe in their forecasts that hordes of police will be on hand...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1220/p01s01-wogn.html

In Russia, it's a battle between the Communists and the quasi-Communists. It's gotta suck to be Russian these days. None the less, this is an internal matter of the Russian Government and should be treated like such. Meanwhile, I'm headed for the popcorn and soft drinks. This ought to be one heck of a show.

Hey, maybe we can get the two together. That would make one hell of a reality show. Al Gore III and Sherry Johnston starring in "Hey Dude, where's my sh*t?"
26
BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 11:01 AM

That would be cool, now that Cheech and Chong have retired.

29
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 11:08 AM

For DoPeyDoodle:It’s Time to Pull Out?

[At least one person thinks it’s much more dangerous to spend quality time in the Windy City, than the front lines in Iraq. He, she, heshe or it, submits the following assertions for your thoughtful consideration.]

Perhaps the U.S. should pull out of Chicago?

Body count:

In the last six months:

292 killed (murdered) in Chicago;

221 killed in Iraq.

Chicago.... Who Runs it:

Senators: Barack Obama & Dick Durbin

Rep: Jesse Jackson Jr.,

Illinois Gov: Rod Blogojevich,

Illinois House leader Mike Madigan,

Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike),

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley (son of Mayor Richard J. Daley)

.....our leadership in Illinois.....all Democrats.

Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago.

Of course, they're all blaming each other!

Can't blame Republicans; they're aren't any!

State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in country.

Cook County (Chicago) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. (Look 'em up if you want).

Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country.

This is the political culture that Obama comes from Illinois. And he's gonna 'fix' Washington politics for us?

Wake Up America!

SandyH on December 20, 2008 at 10:25 AM

Nah, skip the World Court in the Hague. That's for second and third world countries. Our DOJ, properly administrated by Eric Holder, is more than capable of prosecuting any criminal activites, war crimes or otherwise. It's our (the U.S.) problem and we should clean up our own mess.

Good. Stay out.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 20, 2008 at 11:17 AM

Then I suppose the POTUS can go to Baghdad with only the security required for him to go to Chicago on any given day. In fact, using your logic, he could go with a little less security. I believe the last time he tried that it was under the cover of a disinformational daily schedule provided to the press corps and when he got there, well, we've seen the video hundreds of times now. I'd rather take a walk through downtown Chicago then downtown Baghdad, Mosul, or Kirkuk any day of the week and so would you.

Obama names Holdren, Lubchenco to science post

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 15 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist to science posts, signaling a change from Bush administration policies on global warming that were criticized for putting politics over science.

Ok everybody, get ready to get the living bejesus taxed outta ya. maybe I should invest a few bucks and start breeding good riding and work horses. When these moonbats get full control, the teamsters will be pulling horse drawn wagons instead of driving a Kenworth; but just how in the hell are those eco terrorist going to replace a Locomotive?

The think tank that advocated so hard for all the free trade policies had some interesting things to say long time ago.

"What we've done in the Democratic Party is an intellectual leveraged buyout."

I looked up "leveraged buyout". It means about the same as "hostile takeover."

They started depending on corporations for their money and shuffled off the traditional interests in the party to the side. Their members fill the cabinet and administration.

That's called coming out on top.

Ever notice that when a Republican says "Everybody will be taxed." he is talking about the rich and greedy. I guess the REST OF US don't count, in their view of the world. You all are familiar with the Republican view of the world? Flat and everything's black and white and about 6 degrees off plumb.

Good morning all good Dems and Happy Holidays! I hope that you are all doing well.
Just a quick fly-by note before I go off to work:
1. If I found myself with the real possibility of being related (even by marriage) to S. Palin and her voice, I would need some oxy too! Her voice is painful. Just thinking about it gives me a headache! Gee Whiz!

2. I am so glad to see President Obama leading the way on science again because now maybe the 'stigma' that the repug fundies tried to attach to the study of science and math will be reversed. I couldn't believe that they managed - at least here in the Bible Belt - to make people think that studying science and math was sinful!

Well, time to go
bbl

34
BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 11:35 AM

Sorry to hurt your feelings Bob, but you couldn´t get me into Chicago at all. I´d rather visit Baghdad, Mosul or Kirkuk. At least in those Iraqi cities you have the chance of seeing and learning about a different Culture; over Chi-town and its Gang-Crime related History.

Bush mulling farewell speech with lessons to share Dec 19 11:23 AM US/Eastern Outgoing US President George W. Bush said Thursday he is considering a farewell speech to share the lessons of his eight-year term and to spur vigilance about the "terrorist threat." "Thinking about it. Thinking about it. A lot of presidents have, and I'm giving it serious thought," Bush said in an interview with C-SPAN television when asked if he was planning a farewell speech before he leaves the White House on January 20.

Bush said he has already talked it over with a speech writer.

"I don't want it to be -- you know, kind of a real emotional goodbye. If I give it, it's going to be trying to leave behind some lessons learned," Bush said...

http://comments.breitbart.com/0812191523320h9xunn4/?commentspage=1

Check out the feeding frenzy on Breitbart. For thos who aren't familiar, Breitbart is the news website by Andrew Breitbart, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breitbart.com , similar to the Drudge Report but much more right leaning. I see how President Bush got that approval rating in the teens. If this great nation of ours wasn't in so much of a pickle because of the Bush Administration, I'd be laughing a whole lot harder.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 20, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Fair enough however, if you make that trip to Iraq, please name me as the beneficiary on your travel insurance. With the economy in the condition it is in, I could use the extra cash.

41
BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 12:02 PM

Now thats a defeatist outlook on life.

Ever notice that when a Republican says "Everybody will be taxed." he is talking about the rich and greedy. I guess the REST OF US don't count, in their view of the world.
Butte

Butte, they didn't forget about you. It's just that you folks are on the other side of the equation. Wealthy pay taxes, you and those of your ilk suck up all the free government stuff out of the trough you can get in your gaping yaws.

Who Pays Taxes?

Percentiles Ranked by vs Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid:

Top 1% - 39.89%
Top 5% - 60.14%
Top 10% - 70.79%
Top 25% - 86.27%
Top 50% - 97.01%
Bottom 50% - 2.99%

Good morning,

Jan 20th be here now.

Saw the lame duck saying that he didn't want to leave his successor with a mess so that he is saving the big 3 with a loan. The smirk is as good as a wink.

You all are familiar with the Republican view of the world? Flat and everything's black and white and about 6 degrees off plumb.
37
Butte on December 20, 2008 at 11:51 AM

Trool alert!

Interesting suggestion for the financial crisis: debt forgiveness jubilee.

Or is it possible to fix debt crisis by issuing more debt?
---------

The age of obligation

By Niall Ferguson

Published: December 19 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 19 2008 02:00

***********

Excessive debt is the key to this crisis; it is the reason we are confronting no ordinary recession, curable by a simple downward adjustment of interest rates. It is the reason we still have to fear, if not a second Great Depression, then very likely the biggest recession since the 1930s. We are living through the painful end of an age of leverage which saw total private and public debt in the US rise from about 155 per cent of gross domestic product in the early 1980s to something like 356 per cent by the middle of this year.

With average household debt rising from about 75 per cent of annual disposable income in 1990 to very nearly 130 per cent on the eve of the crisis, a large proportion of American families are submerging under the weight of their accumulated borrowings. British households are in even worse shape.

Looking back, we now see just how big a proportion of US growth since 2001 was financed by mortgage equity withdrawals. Without that as a means of financing consumption, the economy would barely have grown at 1 per cent a year under President George W. Bush. Looking forward, we see just how hard it will be to stabilise property prices and the prices of the securities based on them. Already, at the end of September, one in 10 American home owners with a mortgage was either at least a month in arrears or in foreclosure. One in five mortgages exceeds the value of the home it was used to purchase.

The financial sector's debts grew even faster as banks sought to bolster their returns on equity by "levering up". According to one recent estimate, the total leverage ratios (on- and off-book assets and exposure divided by tangible equity) for the two biggest US banks were 88:1 for Citibank and 134:1 for Bank of America. The bursting of the property bubble caused such ratios, which were already too high on the eve of the crisis, to explode as offbalance-sheet commitments and pre-arranged credit lines came home to roost. Only by borrowing from the Federal Reserve on an unprecedented scale have the banks been able to stay in business.

With estimates of total losses on risky assets now ranging from $2,800bn (£1,850bn, €1,960bn) to $6,000bn, a chain reaction is under way that will leave no sector of the world economy untouched. The American economy is contracting at an annualised rate of 5 per cent.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/411f8da0-cd6f-11dd-9905-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

Bush giving a farewell speech on terrorism - but of course. GW had no other purpose his 8 years other than putting terrorism in our face. The two are bi-polar sides of a system that work together to distract you from social justice and real progress toward peace in the world. It is the great clash of fundamentalism - a real danger of ideological leaders (not faith!) - that perpetuate conflict in the world. Obama represents a move beyond that ideological dead end street. Certainly - ideological leaders will continue to threaten - but it is social justice - not war - that undermines their voices and awakens people to living.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 12:24 PM

I don't know about you, but I'd love to be in one of those higher tax brackets. Those figures you refer to there would be accurate if the top 10%, or so, would actually pay any taxes as opposed to hiring accountants to find loopholes in the tax code.

And speaking from the bottom 50% here, what does the GOP expect from us? Standing around on street corners selling apples and pencils while whistling the old depression era song, "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?". No wonder y'all find yourselves in the minority.

And don't start up with that crap about the rich being more productive therefore we're taxing success. How many burgers did the CEO's of McDonalds or Burger King flip today? How many computers did Steve Jobs of Apple put together today? How many shelves did the CEO of any supermarket chain stock today? Yet when these fatcat bozos screw up the management of a corporation, a la Bear Stearns, GM, Republic Windows, they float away on their golden parachutes to some exotic island and leave their employees holding the bag; usually an empty bag.

But y'all go ahead and keep harping on this; please do. And our Democratic majority will keep growing and growing.

Fromm,

The silencing the voices for peace and social justice has been catastrophic. Can you imagine if John Lennon or Martin Luther King were there to speak against this military violence madness?

There might have been some balance in the media and budgets and we probably could be working on stabilizing the population - the real challenge to human civilization.

35THE_EVIL_DR*BURD ON DECEMBER 20, 2008 AT
why do you care you dont live in the us worry about what happens in germany

Put on your tin foil hats, ladies and genlemen.

Mike Connell, Karl Rove's IT guru--who was compelled six weeks ago to testify in an Ohio vote-tampering case--was killed late Friday night in a solo plane crash. His plane crashed into the garage of an empty house.

Plane Crash Kills Rove IT Guy, Testified in OH Voter Fraud Case, Key in White House Email Scandal

It seems like a LOT of people who go after ChimpCo die in plane crashes.

War crisis finance but without war? How clever of US.
----------

Although commentators like to draw parallels with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, in truth the measures taken since the crisis began in August 2007 more closely resemble those taken during the world wars. After 1914, and again after 1939, there was massive government intervention in the financial system. Banks and bond markets were reduced to mere channels for the financing of huge public sector deficits. That is what is happening today, but without the stimulus to manufacturing that the world wars provided. We are having war finance without the war itself.

Yet the effect of these policies is essentially to add a new layer of public debt to the existing debt mountain. Added together, the loans, investments and guarantees made by the Fed and the Treasury in the past year total about $7,800bn, compared with a pre-crisis federal debt of about $10,000bn. The Treasury may have to issue as much as $2,200bn in new debt in the coming year.

For the time being, the distress-driven demand for dollars and risk-free assets is pushing down the cost of all this borrowing. Treasury yields are at historic lows. But it is not without significance that the cost of insuring against a US government default has risen 25-fold in little over a year. At some point, with most big economies adopting the same fiscal policy, global bond markets are going to start choking.

Is it really plausible that the cure for excessive leverage in the private sector is excessive leverage in the public sector?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/411f8da0-cd6f-11dd-9905-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

DooBee,

Is that for real? Wow. Chilling.

Classified coverup, accidental death and apparent suicide doctrine? Legacy.

I don't know about you, but I'd love to be in one of those higher tax brackets.
BobVADemocratHawk

No one's stopping you from sending in more Bob. Just cut them an extra check.

why dont you pay taxes swilrlybuthead

48
BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 12:50 PM

There's another question you need to bring up, too, Bob.
How many of the "productive" rich would have gotten where they were without their employees busting their humps for the company? Can you picture any of these guys working on an assembly line, drafting up plans for some new project, doing the pick and shovel work, or operating heavy equipment to build the infrastructure, public or company-owned that will house and service their corporations?
Producers are the guys who do the work, not the rich.

Those figures you refer to there would be accurate if the top 10%, or so, would actually pay any taxes as opposed to hiring accountants to find loopholes in the tax code.
Posted by an idiot in Virginia

Dipshit, those ARE actual PAID taxes. The top income earners and wealthy do pay the majority of taxes BY FAR!!!! You just refuse to accept that FACT because you somehow feel you and your wage bracket deserve more free shit you didn't earn.

You want to be in a higher tax bracket? Then don't waste you time posting your bullshit on this blog all day and go get another job you lazy assed dope.

51
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 01:28 PM

He said that he was loyal to the Bush family, but were they loyal to him?

whats it gonna be this xmas DuhSTy?, A new Spiderman lunchbox? or maybe a Scooby Doo? Oh wow, that rhymes with DoPeyDoodles doo-bee-doo-bee-doo! I always knew he was on the odd side of life. by golly you two would be a perfect match.

56
Butt on December 20, 2008 at 01:57 PM

Spoken like a true marxist.

I think a nice gift for duhsty with be a gift card for a three-beat electroshock treatment at the local mental hospital. Maybe a few $20s in there too to grease the palm of the technician so he'll turn the juice up extra high and make you smoke from head to toe.

Might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

ZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no that lunch box for you
i want new bike seat and some love from woman

I think a nice gift for sally with be a gift card for a three-beat electroshock treatment at the local mental hospital.

62
dusty2006 on December 20, 2008 at 02:10 PM

way to go duhsty! all the fags on this sight will be extremly dissapointed, but what are you gonna do with that bike seat?

alot people at 10 percent get out of it by hiding there money in the bahama

i want new bike seat and some love from woman
dusty2006

duhsy, if you get the bike seat just bolt it in without the saddle and then drop trouser, sit on the post and head for a bumpy road.

Then you'll get all the lovin' you could ever want without having to worry about the same of being seen with at woman at the homosexual rallies.

ride on it dumb shit i trough all the fags were after you evil dumb bot

come on now duhsty, I didn´t call you names

im not gay not like SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT and sally

i wonder if the palin clan uses the oxy to take the edge off the meth or the meth to pick up their spirits when the oxy/vodka martinis slow them down...?

Don´t forget now duhsty, I´ve defended you when some of those rotten liberals on our blog called you a trool.

im not gay ever i like woman very much

yeah then call me gay o thanks

im not gay ever i like woman very much
72
dusty2006 on December 20, 2008 at 02:19 PM

Go for it dude! Nothing beats a sweet little female bubble butt.

I never called you gay

duhsy, if you get the bike seat just bolt it in without the saddle and then drop trouser, sit on the post and head for a bumpy road.

Then you'll get all the lovin' you could ever want without having to worry about the same of being seen with at woman at the homosexual rallies.

then what this mean asshole
why did you bring up hompsexual rallies?

i ride bike with the seat on this post and im not gay

6
dusty2006 on December 20, 2008 at 02:26 PM

hey now, that wasn´t me dude, check out the names at the bottom of the posts.

sorry wrong person why is he swirly such ass ?

why did you bring up hompsexual rallies?
i ride bike with the seat on this post and im not gay
dusty2006

Don't woory duhsy, your secret in safe on here. These people love gays. hell, most of them are closeted queers too except for greggy and rj. They couldn't wait to tell us how they love the hershey highway.

I picture you as a Pee Wee Herman kind of gay with a balloon tire bike, a basket and tassel streamers on the handlebar grips.

That and you like to work the root in the back row at those nasty gay theaters.

79
dusty2006 on December 20, 2008 at 02:31 PM

come on now duhsty, get a grip on your self

Duhsty, when you walk out of the theater that ain't gum stuck to the bottom of your big clown shoes.

WIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT im not gay you ass maby you are that your secrete

sirwly big but where big clown shoes.

I wonder if the Kennedy clan takes credit for that alcoholic, drug addled multi-generational spawn of theirs. Ever since papa Joe made his money running bootleg down from Canada and underwriting Hollywood porn films that inbred bunch have quite the thirst for booze and sex.

Just look at Teddy. He set the family standard.

Just look at Teddy. He set the family standard.
86
SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 02:36 PM

Don´t forget Uncle Al´s junkie spawn

Too bad Mary Jo Kopechne told Teddy that she was pregnant that night. She'd still be alive had she waited until she was safe.

She should have known the jig was up when Teddy said "Don't worry Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it".

Dr. Bird, wasn't Al's kid roaring down the road at over a 100 mph in a Prius? Kind of ironic if you ask me. I bet those batteries were smoking!

Do you think Al bailed his ass out using carbon credits?

She should have known the jig was up when Teddy said "Don't worry Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it".
88
SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 02:39 PM

Or maybe not. Ole teddy just went ahead and drove off the deep end

im not gay you ass maby you are that your secrete
dusty2006

duhsty, there's no shame in your fondness for the smoked meat log. If you;d like I can give you gregg's phone number and maybe you two could hook up for the holidays.

You know, maybe do a ménage à trois with his goat. Watch out for hoof marks on your backside though.

Do you think Al bailed his ass out using carbon credits?
89
SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 02:41 PM

I bet those batteries was just short of critical mass. He might have used some poor assholes carbon credits, by golly I don´t have em, and don´t need em; because manmade global warmin ain´t nothin but a pile of liberal bull crap.

Yes, there are still a lot of Tory Royal Loyal Democrats out there. "We the people" need some People Democrats that can get behind Caroline Kennedy, and bring back Camelot in American Artmosphere of Creative "Made in America" thinking.

Yes, "We the people" of the streets, that are struggling on Bush's Prefabricated Hoover Great Depression, and Cheney Calculated Big Oil Inflation Recession that sent Wall Street spinning for Conservative think tanks that believe America cannot afford to have a Middle Class, but must revert back to 1930 Carnegie/Rockefeller Old Money control, where our homes become "At Will" property, yes we need an Angel.

Tory Democrats have corporate deep pockets that are not normally family businesses or small corporations but the Goliath Behemoths of Global domination that do not want any "We the people" David's.

Yes, I support Obama, but I may be looking for a "We the people" candidate in 2012 if his promises fail expectations. Plus if puts pressure on Obama to listen to an element of the Party, he may chose to ignore. For he has not expressed his willingness to talk to the Liberals of the streets. I pray he has JFK, RFK, and MLK values in him.

So why not have a Franklin wing in the Party fighting for U.S. Post Office Email Government Service with guarantees, elimination of ease dropping without warrants, and the re-introduction to the Scale of Justice in Checks and Balances against Blackwater and Dirty Water carpetbaggers.

In fact with all the fraud in Corporate America, and the money that one CEO makes, they can have a Trilogy of Concrete Accountability to "We the people" retirement funds that have no voices. Let US have CEO, CFO, and CLO of Executive, Finance and Law, much like the Constitution has with Scales of Concrete Accountability. You see when all three work for "We the people," we have a true picture of any company. It will be hard for one to become President again because of the Bush Blackwaters examples that breed greed and corruption.

Support the Blue Liberals, or the Franklin Liberty Bells, what ever you want to call them, but not the Blue Dogs Conservative Tory of political elements.

Rant
In Free Speech one creates a lot of enemies, for just opening up people to new ideas. In a land where can be Terminated for Poetry and also be banned in your own home the Free Verse of writing down something, then I say this country is more like Red China. They do not allow poets free Speech poets in Red China.

It makes it hard to get a job, when on a job application, they ask the reason you left your last job, and in Truth you have to say, “I was Terminated for Poetry.” How can anyone get employment with a Scarlet Letters Poetry hanging on them?

You would think Congress would look into how a business can Terminate a worker for issues not work related, and deny them a peer review without a federal court intervening. Seems that workers, still as employees, have Constitutional Freedom and Democracy of Free Speech inside their homes, maybe Congress needs to take on the “At Will” rule of corporate law, especially inside the Home Sweet Home.

My ex-employers is a German auto manufacturer that needs to be evaluated with Bush’s plan to lower American union worker wages. In fact a newspaper should look at all car companies, and the price of living and taxes they have to pay. You see in Alabama Mercedes Benz got Tax breaks, and their education taxes are some of the lowest in the nation.

Mercedes Benz does make a nice car but when they advertise with song, verse, and poetry, I wonder what was so wrong in doing it in my own home.

I wonder if the Kopechne family settled out of court for a major hunk of the Kennedy fortune after teddy tanked their daughter in the drink.

The river that is, not his vodka screwdriver.

Screwdriver? Hahaha... no, I mean he screwed his passenger. Twice.

Senate seat only part of case vs. Ill. governor

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 32 mins ago

CHICAGO – Corruption charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich focus on much more than the claim that he tried to sell or trade Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

That charge is the cream. But the meat and potatoes are buried deep within a 76-page affidavit prosecutors tacked onto the charges, and they have a familiar look.

Evidence of misuse of political clout, fixed contracts and illegal campaign fundraising — the basic staples of corruption in Illinois — proved persuasive with the jury at influence peddler Tony Rezko's fraud trial. He was convicted and awaits sentencing.

That same evidence is now coming back to bite Blagojevich. This time around it could be even stronger because Rezko — the political fundraiser who helped to bankroll the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama — may take the stand to point the finger at the governor.

Rezko, for example, was on hand while Blagojevich talked to a campaign donor about putting him on the state payroll with the donor's $25,000 check on the table, according to testimony at Rezko's trial.

This sure is turning into a steaming pile of goo!

Good afternoon, all.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 11:58 AM

Bob,

So Bush claims he's learned some lessons since he told the nation he couldn't think of a single mistake he's made as president? Now that is news.

His first mistake was thinking he was actually capable of running a lemonade stand much less the United States military and economy. His second mistake is thinking that anyone cares what he has to say now.

I hope he does gets real emotional when he makes that final address to the nation and offers everyone a drink from his private cache...the one that only he and Barney knows about (behind the dog treat canister). No wonder he's so fond of that dog. Bush thinks of Barney as a St. Bernard with a bottle tied around its collar.

I'll drink to Bush making a farewell address.

It seems like a LOT of people who go after ChimpCo die in plane crashes.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 20, 2008 at 01:28 PM

Maybe in some whacked out sort of bizarre way that's what the terrorists on 911 were trying to tell us? The Bush Crime Family will do whatever is necessary to keep the world under it's big oily thumb?

The plot thickens.

Allegedly Threatened by Rove, Now Dead in Small Plane Crash

Be sure to read all the internal links.

A TON of internal links here:

...key witness in Ohio '04 election fraud lawsuit, created parallel White House email system, recently said to have been threatened by Karl Rove...

Hey, Chimpy murdered over a million people so what's another schmuck who was too stupid or trusting to avoid that crime family at all cost?

Butte on December 20, 2008 at 01:57 PM

Butte,

Today's conservatives "work hard" at cutting wages and jobs while maximizing their shareholder return and stock options. Productivity to the rich means never being responsible for their actions...or being the last one holding an empty bag after each of them have taken turns stealing from it.

Life is all about timing. The Bush Crime Family's Ponzi scheme has just about run it's course and they intend to be long gone when the full impact of the greatest economic collapse in our history takes place. All planned and executed to form.

I personally think they're leaving behind a lot of poison pills. That's why Bush is so anxious to tell us all to go to hell with a farewell address...and then hide in a bunker somewhere in Kansas. He isn't going to live in Dallas when the terris know exactly where he is. Or even Paraguay.

I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't move in with the Saudi family. He looked pretty chummy with some of those sheiks he was holding hands with during the last trip to Saudi Arabia. Laura won't miss him and neither will Barney.

And neither will us.

SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT why don't you hooked with greag and smoked is meat log and why dont call gregg's phone number yourslef and get dATE FOR YOUR SLEF SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT im not interested in your sick perversion with other guys
i like woman and hope in time to have gf to love

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 20, 2008 at 03:01 PM

Are you cheering for Blago or for Rezko? I feel a lot of love going out from you toward both of these corrupt jerks. Birds of a feather?

Are you backing you bags yet to return to the Homeland? I'd suggest you get busy. Time is running out.

Sandy, Chimpy came up with ANOTHER freebie for the clowns on Wall Street that caused this whole global financial meltdown. BAIL OUT THE HEDGE FUND JOCKEYS!

Hedge Fund Bail Out

And please tell the trool that we have a relatively middle of the road sized moon.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 01:57 PM

You go ahead, with your sorry, money worshipping Republican arse, and tell that to some of those million, or so, people who were laid off in 2008Q4 as a direct result of Republican trade policy and Republican deregulation. By the time your party gets finished with that line, y'all will be lucky to have a hundred in the House and thirty in the Senate. Keep it up, big boy.

Class warfare? You bet your bitch ass it is and we've got the numbers.

Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 05:05 PM

Bwwwaaahahahaha! The Republicans are bitching about "guilt by association" for reporting on Gov. Palin's (R-AK) in-laws being a family of meth fiends? Your party's whole damn 2008 campaign was predicated on guilt by association. While I do not necessarily agree with the guilt by association tactic in campaigning, it takes gonads the size of, well, Alaska to make this argument. Waaaa, waaaaa, waaaa, whine on GOP, whine on.

Bob, as IF that clown isn't part of the lower 50% tax crowd. All talk just to be saying something.

SandyH on December 20, 2008 at 04:01 PM

Hit the link on that post and look at what the right wing idiots have to say. I think the only friends President Bush has left are Barney and Laura and, rumor has it, Barney is shopping his resume' around.

Isn't Bristol's spawn supposed to arrive today?

Sorry, I mean "it", as Palin's father Chuck Heath refers to "it".

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 20, 2008 at 02:36 PM

Pulling forty year old non-stories out your arse? Don't get my colleagues wound up or you'll be reading about GOP scandals for the rest of the weekend on here. If this is the best y'all have, you're going to be in the political wilderness for a very long time.

That twit won't make it through the Primaries. And she may be in jail by that time anyway, Yew betcha!

Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 05:20 PM

And Rev. Wright could be a conservative. Weak Sally, real weak...

wow are the times achangin....bye bye to head in the sand magical thinkers in the white house...hello to scientists:

from msnbc:

"...In their posts, the four scientists will confront challenges in global warming after years of inaction by the Bush administration, which opposed mandatory cuts of greenhouse gas pollution. Last year, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona testified to Congress that top Bush administration officials often dismissed global warming as a "liberal cause" and sought to play down public health reports out of political considerations.

Since 1993, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas, and global warming is accelerating. The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has already pushed past the level some scientists say is safe.

Holdren, 64, is a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington who has pushed for more urgent action on global warming. As Obama's top science adviser, he would manage about 40 Ph.D-level experts who help shape and communicate science and technology policy.

Colleagues say the post is well-suited for Holdren, who at Harvard went from battling the spread of nuclear weapons to tackling the threat of global warming. He's an award-laden scientist comfortable in many different fields.

"Global warming is a misnomer. It implies something gradual, something uniform, something quite possibly benign, and what we're experiencing is none of those," Holdren said a year ago in a speech at Harvard. "There is already widespread harm ... occurring from climate change. This is not just a problem for our children and our grandchildren."

Bush's view of science criticized
Lubchenco, an Oregon State University professor specializing in overfishing and climate change, will be the first woman to head NOAA. A member of the Pew Oceans Commission, Lubchenco has recommended steps to overcome crippling damage to the world's oceans from overfishing and pollution and has expressed optimism for change once President George W. Bush leaves office.

"The Bush administration has not been respectful of the science," she said earlier this year. "But I think that's not true of Republicans in general. I know it's not. I am very much looking forward to a new administration that does respect scientific information and that considers it very seriously in making environmental policies."

Click for related content
Analysis: Obama's Cabinet lacks reformers
Newsweek: Debate over Obama's intel czar

Varmus, who was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for his research on the causes of cancer, served as National Institutes of Health director during the Clinton administration. A former medical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, he helped found the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and chairs a scientific board at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lander, who teaches at both MIT and Harvard, founded the Whitehead Institute-MIT Center for Genome Research in 1990, which became part of the Broad Institute in 2003. A leading researcher in the Human Genome Project, he and his colleagues are using the findings to explore the molecular mechanisms behind human disease.

In his radio address, Obama said he planned early next year to more closely address the issue of engaging the nation's technology community to "harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America's competitiveness and advance our national priorities."

"It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology," he said."

ahhh the sound of good, god fearing, small town american secessionists tweaking and freaking....hopefully rushbo will take up this poor pilgrims cause on his show monday...after all he knows all about hilly billy heroin...

adn.com
WASILLA -- Wasilla resident Sherry L. Johnston, mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend, faces a Jan. 6 court date for an oxycontin-related arrest at her home by Alaska State Troopers.

Little additional information was available Friday on the case as authorities remained unusually tight-lipped about details. But Palmer court records listed her scheduled court date and a troopers spokeswoman said in a release late Friday afternoon that the charges "are in relation to the drug oxycontin."

Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old suddenly placed in an international spotlight in September when Gov. Sarah Palin -- who was then running for vice president on the Republican ticket with John McCain -- and her husband, Todd, announced their teenage daughter was pregnant and he was the father..."

Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 05:22 PM

I stand corrected, Sally. It was not meth, it was Oxycontin, aka "Hillbilly Heroin". Thank you for pointing that out.

Johnston's arrest was oxycontin-related Jan. 6 hearing: authorities remain tight-lipped about details.

By ZAZ HOLLANDER
zhollander@adn.com

Published: December 19th, 2008 10:04 PM
Last Modified: December 19th, 2008 02:00 AM

WASILLA -- Wasilla resident Sherry L. Johnston, mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend, faces a Jan. 6 court date for an oxycontin-related arrest at her home by Alaska State Troopers...

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/628916.html

Therefore, I must change my original statement to, "Gov. Palin's (R-AK) in-laws are pill popping junkies", not meth fiends. I formally apologize to the Governor, her junkie in-laws, whoops, alleged junkie in-laws, and the people of Wasilla, AK, a.k.a. the meth capital of AK.

Troopers dub Mat-Su area the meth capital of Alaska

WASILLA (AP) - The Matanuska-Susitna area is the methamphetamine capital of Alaska, according to Alaska State Troopers.

In 2003, authorities uncovered nine meth labs in the area. Last year, the number increased to 42, said Kyle Young, an investigator with the troopers who works with the Mat-Su narcotics team.

Officials with the Office of Children's Services in Wasilla said the problem affects children. The office receives about 40 calls a month from people reporting abuse or neglect involving some aspect of the highly addictive drug.

In late February, the Mat-Su narcotics unit arrested a couple at their Willow home. Michelle Motta said for years she tried to warn authorities that her three young nieces lived in the midst of a methamphetamine operation run by their parents, Phillip Dean and Laura Jackson.

Alaska State Troopers reported finding a "large active meth lab" in a detached garage shop. The house was a frigid mess, with piles of dirty dishes, clothes everywhere and frozen pipes, investigators said.

Through a hatch in the shop floor, the team found an underground room with a meth lab in one corner, as well as old marijuana root balls and lights from a past pot-growing operation.

An investigator said the team didn't find the children at home but saw signs of them there. Motta said the girls - ages 14, 8 and 6 - at times slept in the garage with the lab...

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/030805/sta_20050308002.shtml

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), the story of 2008 that keeps giving and giving. Please nominate her in 2012. Our campaign budget would have to consist of no more than a few scratch-off lottery tickets and some McDonalds gift cards.

Merry Christmas and\or Happy Holidays my fellow Democrats. Have a good weekend, even the pill poppers in the great state of Alaska. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 20, 2008 at 02:41 PM

I thought this argument started this morning with oxycotin dealing in Alaska not alcohol. Do you think Bush is abusing that, too?

Where is the proof that Sarah even associated with this bimbo?

Sally-* on December 20, 2008 at 05:20 PM

Bite your tongue. You are talking about the royal family of Alaska and their in-laws-to-be. The lovely and talented Sarah probably came in second to this bimbo in that beauty pageant.

I guess the new little Palin (not to be born a Johnston apparently) must not have come into the world yet. We haven't heard any reports of a star rising above the manger behind the jail where its grandmother is being booked.

Will they be breaking turkey necks in Wasilla in celebration? Let me guess. Those three corrupt GOP king pins, Stevens, Young, and Cowdery will bring meth, oxycotin, and booze as their gifts.

Guilt by association, sally*? Do you know something about Todd that you aren't telling us? He does travel all around Alaska racing on that snowmobile. Could he be a mule when he isn't building McMansions with his "friends" of a friend, Ted Stevens?

McCain knows how to choose them. So did Cheney.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 05:54 PM

Merry Christmas, Bob. Don't drink too much egg nog if you're driving tonight.

Her common sense will defeat B.S and foolishness...

Common sense? I thought Palin's entire agenda was based on B.S. and foolishness. Nobody was buying it this election cycle after living with the results of Spunky's "common sense" for the past eight years.

You think people will be willing to gamble on another GOP idiot in 2012 when we're still probably going to be dealing with the consequences? The rest of us don't have short term memory loss like you trolls. I do hope you have looked into that nursing home like I suggested.

Palin should be looking into an asylum for her clan.

MTV plans 16 new reality shows
As ratings drop, network overhauls lineup

May I suggest the Palin soap opera? Nancy Grace could be a celebrity judge along with Lou Dobbs and Keith Olbermann. What would be worth judging is beyond me, but it would keep the lovely and talented Sarah in the public eye for another 15 minutes.

Evening Dems.

Sandy, if that election period had gone any longer, the American voters would have been throwing shoes at Palin! every day saw her get a little more ridiculous and laughed at.
OH, how I pray they take her out again in a couple years, because I have a very very good memory and files filled with info on how truly stupid she was. I think SNL and the media are waiting with baited breath for her entry again too. We haven't had a good laugh since she slithered back up to alaska !

Good night folks. blog ya tomorrow !

and now we had weenie name bush and now we obama who be here for 8 years palin will never get chance to be anything but governor of nowhere

sally your the only mofos in this sight

129
PamB on December 20, 2008 at 08:19 PM

Gee whiz! Pamellla has files on Sarah Palin! Like who really gives a drizzly squat oh squirrelfaced one?

hi dr burd how are you tonight

Palin is Reagan? Come on, even you aren't that delusional.

Obama might be considered another Great Communicator who appeals to the masses, but voters already have Palin pegged as another Spunky...a totally screwball comedian.

Think of her as a younger version of Granny Clampett with the in-laws' oxycotin stash hid in the woods behind the snowmobile shed. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a meth lab brewing back there, too.

One more grandchild born out-of-wedlock and Palin’s witch-hunting preacher will come back and put a hex on the whole town. Maybe he already has? Those folks have about as much luck as the people who are living in that gated Dallas community where Bush's bought a mansion...now called Terris Central.

Palin's neighborhood is Dingbat Central.

"Geez, are you talking about Sarah or Pammy or Esmerelda? all have or soon will have bastard grand children. At least Sarah's grandchild will know who the father was."

This is true. Very true.

We would have a far greater country if voting were limited to property owners as was the original intent.
146
Sally-* on December 21, 2008 at 04:39 AM

I bet that excludes alot of the reg 8. DoPeyDoodle for one, that leach. Of course we would have to draw a line when it comes to property. A bunk at the Local ymca is not considered property.

137
SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 01:03 AM

I wonder what kind of skeletons you have hiding in your closet? I wouldn´t be suprized a bit if the things you accuse sarah of, was hiding in your very own garage. Na Sandy? never had a snort? never had a joint? Maybe a slave owner in your family tree?
Who did your ancestors fight for? The young American Nation? Or did they take money from the English in trade for traitorous secrets?

Oh yeah burd, Pammy keeps files on everyone. Mine is very thick and she is going to use it to publish a book. Watch for her on Oprah.
136
Sally-* on December 21, 2008 at 12:45 AM

I thought I saw her already on the Mike Douglas show. That was many years ago. He was hosting the The squirrelfaced One.

happy first day of winter, everyone. i've been up all night waiting to hear from my bird. bella stayed here with me while her mother went to the hospital straight from my dad's christmas party.

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

- Isaiah 54:10

Isaiah is a great book to read this holiday season.

At least Sarah's grandchild will know who the father was."

This is true. Very true.

147The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 05:24 AM

the fathers are not only listed as such, but the children have their father's names and the fathers were/are there to help during the delivery. they cut the cord and help raise the child(ren)in a family.

I have been blessed beyond measure.

she beast will have a bastard grandchild just as I do. the only difference is, my grandchildren's other grandmothers don't conduct a meth lab and sell the lethal product.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 05:52 PM

please forgive. oxyies, not meth.

152
Esmeralda on December 21, 2008 at 06:02 AM

who said that the "other grandmother" has a meth lab? Does one persons crime make another person guilty, if that other person has nothing to do with it? before certain accusasions are made, the facts should be explored.

All these so called compassionate liberals. Looking for any excuse they can find to put down a republican. They will go to all lengths to do it. Then they have the nerve to post scriptures. To say that the pray. half of them put down churches and people who go to church. What a bunch of hypocritics.

not a meth lab, selling oxyies. and when did I ever claim to be a liberal? you are such a wipe. you always twist and spin everything that the "regular 8" type here.

isn't your shift up? where is swirley?

I'm waiting on johne & gregg to stop by to share some pleasant morning conversation.

What a bunch of hypocritics.

155The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 06:37 AM

you're going to go to hell for posting on a blog with a bunch of hypocriticss. company you keep and all that jazz. hahahaha

run along and get some shut eye. swirley will arrive any minute then s* will wake up about 1-2 p.m. to take over.

well, dr*poopforbrains, I love knowing it makes your skin crawl when I post scriptures. here's another one.

Peace: A Weapon Against Satan
Psalms 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.

In the battles of the marketplace, your peace is actually a weapon. The marketplace creates many opportunities to rob us of our peace. Cash flow concerns, deadlines, relationships-all create stress on us. Your confidence in the God of peace declares that you are not falling for the lies of the devil. You see, the first step toward having spiritual authority over the adversary is having peace in spite of our circumstances. When Jesus confronted the devil, he did not confront satan with His emotions or in fear. Knowing that the devil was a liar, He simply refused to be influenced by any voice other than God's. His peace overwhelmed satan; His authority then shattered the lie, which sent demons fleeing.

There is a place of walking with God where you simply fear no evil. David faced a lion, a bear, and a giant. In this Psalm he stood in the "shadow of death" itself, yet he "feared no evil." David's trust was in the Lord. He said, "...for Thou art with me." Because God is with you, every adversity you face will unfold in victory as you maintain your faith in God! David continued, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" (Ps. 23:5a). The battle you are in will soon become a meal for you, an experience that will nourish and build you up spiritually. Only God's peace will quell your fleshly reactions in battle. The source of God's peace is God Himself. If fear has been knocking at your door, begin to face that fear with God's peace. It is God's secret weapon to destroy fear.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008544395_stim21.html

Obama goal: Create 3 million jobs

Faced with worsening forecasts for the economy, President-elect Obama is expanding his economic-recovery plan and will seek to create 3 million jobs in the next two years, up from a goal of 2.5 million jobs set last month, several advisers to Obama said Saturday.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/36521379.html

Pastor Rick Warren preaches love for all, defends his invitation to Obama inauguration

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081221/pl_politico/16776

Muzzle off, Biden breaks his record silence

All of the counties in Alaska and Oklahoma voted for McCain/Palen.

142Sally-* on December 21, 2008 at 03:23

How did that work out, btw!? heeheehee

good morning esmeralda. lots of snow here in the hudson valley and more to come.

the new york times has a great piece summarizing how the bush and his moronic idiotology destroyed the banking and housing markets which of course led to the destruction of the entire economy...

"...The president’s first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission promised a “kinder, gentler” agency. The second was pushed out amid industry complaints that he was too aggressive. Under its current leader, the agency failed to police the catastrophic decisions that toppled the investment bank Bear Stearns and contributed to the current crisis, according to a recent inspector general’s report.

As for Mr. Bush’s banking regulators, they once brandished a chain saw over a 9,000-page pile of regulations as they promised to ease burdens on the industry. When states tried to use consumer protection laws to crack down on predatory lending, the comptroller of the currency blocked the effort, asserting that states had no authority over national banks.

The administration won that fight at the Supreme Court. But Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s attorney general, said, “They took 50 sheriffs off the beat at a time when lending was becoming the Wild West.”

The president did push rules aimed at forcing lenders to more clearly explain loan terms. But the White House shelved them in 2004, after industry-friendly members of Congress threatened to block confirmation of his new housing secretary.

In the 2004 election cycle, mortgage bankers and brokers poured nearly $847,000 into Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, more than triple their contributions in 2000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The administration did not finalize the new rules until last month..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Morning Esme. Second snow storm just starting here. That Global Cooling is a real bitch! :)

I hope this works:

Jerry Brown: Gay-Marriage Ban Should Be Invalidated

In a surprise move, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to invalidate Proposition 8. He said the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage "deprives people of the right to marry, an aspect of liberty that the Supreme Court has concluded is guaranteed by the California Constitution."

It is the attorney general's duty to defend the state's laws, and after gay rights activists filed legal challenges to Proposition 8, which amended the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, Brown said he planned to defend the proposition as enacted by the people of California.

But after studying the matter, Brown concluded that "Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification."

http://www.truthout.org/122008Y

by: Jessica Garrison, The Los Angeles Times

All these so called compassionate liberals. Looking for any excuse they can find to put down a republican. They will go to all lengths to do it

Believe me, Burd brain, it does not take any lengths at all to find stuff on Criminal, corrupt, perverted Republicans!

If ANYBODY thinks that Palin's grandchild's daddy did not know what his mother was doing, please call me, I have a piece of land in FL to sell! And thus, little pieces of news like that were certainly pillow talk in the back seat of the car he and the Governor's daughter shared. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if that baby comes out hooked on Oxy or other drugs.

But then Republican Values are so much different than good clean Democratic ones!

good morning pam. heavy snow just started up again. going to be a white christmas fer sure. interesting poll at the wapo...here are some results:

require electricity companies to increase the use of renewable sources of energy....should 84%, should not 14%

implement policies to reduce global warming...should 75% should not 20%

make major changes in the u.s. health care system...should 77% should not 20%

and so on...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/12/21/ST2008122100258.html?at=u%3Dsinge1%26t%3D1229864474%26e%3Dgallina%40mhcable.com%26h%3DPTpuQdRa%2BdRItfR9SbOhww%3D%3D

Esmeralda--I see you posted something about the Warren controversy. There doesn't seem to be alot of commentary here, but it is certainly all over the progressive community. I wanted to leave an opinion here for the party. I support PE
decision. We are supposed to be inclusive and respectful, and he made a solidly progressive choice. Further, he was elected as everyone's president, not just us. Many in middle America voted for him too. And he did quite well with Evangelicals. If we insist that he do everything we want, he may not win next time. Besides, GLB community will do much better with OBama than they did under a Republican president. Right now, there is a document supporting GL human rights on a global scale in the UN. US did not sign it--that needs to be a goal. There are about 6 countries that still execute GL people.

Good morning, Essie... and everyone else even you self-proclaimed evil ones.

Looking for any excuse they can find to put down a republican...

We don't have to look for an excuse, your GOP incompetents are a factory working over-time. Their failed policies speak for themselves.

Somehow the weddings are now such a matter of controvesy when all they have to be is

Morning Essie, Pam and gregg,

Batten down the hatches. Global warming is getting worse. So far we are having a warmer winter and just like they predicted we have less moisture.

Here is a good Christmas story.

Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its

dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the

plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

B y the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

Sorry for the long post but I thought it was appropriate to remind our trolls of our humanity.

68% of the American public have high hopes for Obama's administration!!!! gee, does that mean our trolls are in the minority again??

Optimism, Hopes High for Obama White House

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/12/21/ST2008122100258.html

I get a kick out of the troll's coming in here constantly saying we are bitching and moaning!! Ever try lurking over at Malkin's blog? RedState? FreeRepublic? Newsmax? Urban Conservative? etc?

Now THERE are the bitchers and moaners and haters. Try it sometime. then Laugh your ass off at the troll's attempts to turn our Golden Joy at our Victory into something it is not!

Somehow the weddings are now such a matter of controvesy when all they have to be is

SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 09:36 AM

...is an affirmation of God's love. When two people come together in His Name, it's a marriage...it doesn't require any church issuing a certificate or any governmental approval.

The current political argument is over who has the power to decide what is purely a personal matter. In a democracy, all men are created equal...no if and or buts. We don't have to own a thing. We are citizens if we pay taxes, vote, and fulfill our duty as juries and citizen soldiers when threatened by foreign interests.

As usual, our GOP trolls revert to their ultimate, discredited fall-back argument that this is not a democracy and that property trumps liberty. To them marriage is a means to preserve wealth and power not a personal matter between God and Man.

Imho, it all stems from the conservative contention that slavery can still be possible in a free Republic...that some people can impose their will over others instead of embracing freedom of choice for all. It's a barbaric philosophy dependent on survival of (who they think is) the fittest...themselves.

I find it amusing that our working class trolls include themselves when speaking of the top 2%... as if they would be allowed to even deliver goods or services inside those gated rich communities. You guys aren't any more worthy than the rest of us Democrats in the eyes of these Republican multinationalists.

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

Johne on December 21, 2008 at 09:36 AM

Johne,

I remember one quote by Hubert Humphrey to that effect.

Essie,

Is Bella excited about the baby or is she more excited about Christmas? Those real little ones live in the moment. "That baby is nice...now where is my milk and Christmas cookies?" Oh, they are so cute at that age.

bbl.

So, these Islamic terrorists really just want to be left in peace? If we just drop our weapons and fall to our knees and beg their forgiveness they will smile and say "Yes, all is forgiven".

Then they will chop off our heads:

Text to be displayed Man pardoned by Karzai now suspected in ambush

Kirk Semple, New York Times
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Kabul, Afghanistan

It was one of the most humiliating attacks the Afghan security forces had ever suffered.

On Nov. 27, Taliban insurgents ambushed a supply convoy in the northwest province of Badghis, killing nine Afghan soldiers and five police officers, wounding 27 men, capturing 20 others, destroying at least 19 vehicles and stealing five, Afghan officials said.

The Afghan authorities quickly learned that the man suspected of having orchestrated the attack, Maulavi Ghulam Dastagir, had only weeks before been in police custody on charges of aiding the Taliban.

Dastagir had been personally released by President Hamid Karzai after assurances from a delegation of tribal elders that he would live a peaceful life, officials said this month.

The ambush, and the presidential pardon that allowed the insurgent to go free, have become the subject of a governmental inquest and the source of profound embarrassment for the Afghan government.

The case has also underscored the vulnerabilities of the Afghan security forces as the Taliban have multiplied their presence around the country and, in only the past few years, have gained strength in regions that were once relatively peaceful, like the northwest. Developing the Afghan security forces is a cornerstone of the U.S.-led effort to defeat the insurgents.

"This is an important subject for everybody because we haven't had these sorts of casualties before," said Gen. Zaher Azimi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

Karzai has publicly said little, if anything, about the case. His spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, acknowledged in an interview this week that the president had released Dastagir from detention in September after a meeting with a delegation of tribal elders and politicians from Badghis who appealed for his freedom.

From time to time, Karzai issues pardons for detainees, though these orders often happen without publicity. In traditional Afghan society, problems are often resolved through quiet discussions among tribal elders and other community leaders.

"They thought he was a good person and not an enemy of the state," Hamidzada said. "Based on their advice, he decided to release him."

"Many people are taken into custody illegally and are lumped with the Taliban and others," he added. "They're not all Taliban, they're not all terrorists."

The spokesman said it was not yet certain whether Dastagir had led the ambush, though Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman, said that the evidence indicated that he "played the main role."

Reached by telephone late Saturday, Dastagir laughed when asked whether he had been involved in the ambush. "Definitely!" he exclaimed, and laughed again. "I am a jihadist, I will continue my jihad," he declared. "My morale is very high."

The Taliban insurgency, which is based in Afghanistan's southern and southeastern provinces, along the border with Pakistan, has steadily expanded to other parts of the country, particularly in the west and northwest.

Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman, said the attack was "totally unexpected," in part because the commanders had taken the tribal elders at their word and believed that the local Taliban fighters would not launch any attacks after the release of Dastagir.

Since the attack, the government's top security officials have been called to testify before parliament on two occasions. Muhammad Eqbal Safi, a member of parliament and the chairman of the lower house's defense committee, said that the officials' explanations about the security forces' lack of readiness "did not convince us."

Rangeen Mushkwani, a senator from Badghis who attended the elders' meeting with Karzai, said the Taliban ordered the delegation to plead for Dastagir's release. "These people did not come by their own choice," Mushkwani said. "They were forced to come."

Mushkwani said that he attended the meeting only to protect his relatives in Badghis. "Because my relatives, my cousins, my family members are living under the authority of the Taliban, I couldn't say that I wasn't going," he said.

According to Hamidzada, Karzai's spokesman, the president has requested the names of the delegation's members. If the investigation determines that Dastagir was responsible for the ambush, he said, the government would hold the elders responsible.

"Karzai took a political gamble and released him," Yaqub, the lawmaker from Badghis, said of Dastagir. The president, he added, was deceived.

So asshats, you all still excited about THE ONE opening the gates of Gitmo and freeing all of these nice-nice terrorists?

Sorry for the long post but I thought it was appropriate to remind our trolls of our humanity.
Johne

How nice Johne. Now write another but use your usual string of filthy, vile profanities about the Republicans.

That version of your "humanity" is just precious.

Good morning (except to sore loser right wing nuts).

Looks like Franken is going to win:

Franken Statement: We Will Win By 35-50 Votes

Days after Al Franken was awarded dozens of votes in the official recount process, the campaign of the Democratic Senate challenger in Minnesota released a statement declaring that Franken expects to win the election.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/20/franken-statement-we-will_n_152594.html

Biden To Chair White House Middle Class Task Force

WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect Joe Biden will oversee a task force that will make recommendations on how to build the ranks of the middle class, that ambiguously defined segment of society in which most Americans identify themselves.

Biden said the task force will include other Cabinet members and it will present President-elect Barack Obama with a package of proposals designed to ensure the middle class is "no longer being left behind."

"We'll look at everything from college affordability to after-school programs, the things that affect people's daily lives," Biden said during an interview to be broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/biden-to-chair-white-hous_n_152651.html

Thank goodness that Chimpy and the right wing nut brigade are almost gone.

Speaking of the Heel of State:

White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire

WASHINGTON — The global financial system was teetering on the edge of collapse when President Bush and his economics team huddled in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for a briefing that, in the words of one participant, “scared the hell out of everybody.”

It was Sept. 18. Lehman Brothers had just gone belly-up, overwhelmed by toxic mortgages. Bank of America had swallowed Merrill Lynch in a hastily arranged sale. Two days earlier, Mr. Bush had agreed to pump $85 billion into the failing insurance giant American International Group.

The president listened as Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, laid out the latest terrifying news: The credit markets, gripped by panic, had frozen overnight, and banks were refusing to lend money.

Then his Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., told him that to stave off disaster, he would have to sign off on the biggest government bailout in history.

Mr. Bush, according to several people in the room, paused for a single, stunned moment to take it all in.

“How,” he wondered aloud, “did we get here?”

Eight years after arriving in Washington vowing to spread the dream of homeownership, Mr. Bush is leaving office, as he himself said recently, “faced with the prospect of a global meltdown” with roots in the housing sector he so ardently championed.

There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.

But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?hp

Nice work from Das Chimpenfuhrer.

Watch out for flyin shoes.

Speaking of governor Moose Brains Palin:

Palin soap opera: Drug in Levi's mom's case is oxycontin

candidate Governor Sarah Palin's (R-AK) daughter Bristol attends the third …

WASILLA, Alaska - Wasilla resident Sherry L. Johnston , mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend, faces a Jan. 6 court date for an oxycontin-related arrest at her home by Alaska State Troopers .

Little additional information was available Friday on the case as authorities remained unusually tight-lipped about details. But Palmer court records listed Johnston's scheduled court date and a troopers spokeswoman said in a release late Friday afternoon that the charges "are in relation to the drug oxycontin."

Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston , who Gov. Sarah Palin said was the father of Bristol Palin's unborn child. Levi Johnston joined the Palins at the Republican National Convention when Palin was running for vice president. It was during the convention that the governor and her husband, Todd, announced Bristol's pregnancy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081220/pl_mcclatchy/3127930_1

Interesting that the town Moose Brains Palin was mayor of is the drug capital of Alaska. I guess they must need lots to drugs to put up with her.

If this doesn't put things in proper perspective for the sheeple, I don't know what does...

Biden to oversee efforts aimed at middle class

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer
Sun Dec 21, 7:28 am ET

WASHINGTON – Vice President-elect Joe Biden will oversee a task force that will make recommendations on how to build the ranks of the middle class, that ambiguously defined segment of society in which most Americans identify themselves.

Biden said the task force will include other Cabinet members and it will present President-elect Barack Obama with a package of proposals designed to ensure the middle class is "no longer being left behind."

"We'll look at everything from college affordability to after-school programs, the things that affect people's daily lives," Biden said during an interview to be broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week".

Overseeing a task force has become tradition for vice presidents. Dick Cheney led a task force on energy. Al Gore had the task of reinventing government. George H.W. Bush, while serving as Ronald Reagan's vice president, oversaw a task force charged with reducing government regulation...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081221/ap_on_go_pr_wh/biden_middle_class

In the past 40 years the Republicans were interested only in helping Big Oil and deregulating financial markets to make it easier for speculators and swindlers to work their destructive magic. Those two facts speak loudly for themselves. The GOP helped the rich get richer instead of solving the real problems facing this nation.... and they fell flat on our face.

The Republicans have a failed ideology, make bad decisions, and do it with imcompetent leaders. The Republican Party offers you the complete package...guaranteed to result in the destruction of the economy, our military strength, and the American Dream.

During the same period, Democrats were streamlining government through new technologies and strengthening the middle class economy. That is where the potential lies with which we will regain our competitive edge in the world...now that the Republicans have rendered us a banana republic.

The choice has never been clearer.

If this doesn't put things in proper perspective for the sheeple, I don't know what does...

Biden to oversee efforts aimed at middle class
==================================================

Biden oversee's helping the middle class.

Cheney oversee's torture, starting wars over lies and ripping off the middle class.

That sure does put it in perspective.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 10:40 AM

So why did Spunky waste our time in Iraq when the terris were in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

He didn't know the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan like McCain? Or he was only interested in Big Oil? Or he couldn't care less about Bin Lauden? I believe that's what he even said at on point back in 2005...."I don't know or care where Bin Lauden and the terris are."

You sudden interest in al Queada after ignoring them for six years is fishy. And your sudden concern for Humanity is an outright joke.

Did those shoes flying by Spunky's head scare you into diverting to a quick change in strategy? NOW you are concerned that we are vulnerable after ignoring the terris threat for six years...just like you did back before 911?

The threat has always been there. There just hasn't been any real will within the Republican Party to deal with it or any other problems in this country. "Gimme more money. I need more money. Cookie Monster needs more war profiteering and fossil fuel money. Cut my taxes. Feed me. Feed me."

Your party is a joke. You are bought and paid for by foreign multinationals.

So asshats, you all still excited about THE ONE opening the gates of Gitmo and freeing all of these nice-nice terrorists?

geesh, MN Thomass, you REALLY don't get it, do you.

There are NO terrorists in Gitmo! If there were, do you think for a minute they would not have been tried and hanged? Open those beady little stupid eyes and understand what your leaders have done. rounded up all the men they could find and pretended they had caught terrorists. sheeshhhhhh, you guys are so gullible, so stupid

Obama Report On Blagojevich Contacts: Rahm Exonerated

Aides to President-elect Barack Obama will release a report this week exonerating incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of any wrongdoing in the controversy surrounding Gov. Rod Blagojevich, ABC's George Stephanopoulos reports.

According to the report, Emanuel had only one "pro-forma" courtesy call with the embattled Illinois governor. Also, Emanuel is on tape telling Blagojevich's chief of staff that Obama would not offer any favors to induce the governor to choose Obama's favored candidate.

More from Stephanopoulos:

Sources also confirm that Emanuel made the case for picking Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett during at least one of the conversations [with Blagojevich's chief of staff John Harris]. In the course of that conversation, Harris asked if in return for picking Jarrett, "all we get is appreciation, right?" "Right," Emanuel responded.

Bottom line: these sources say that Obama's report, which is expected to be released this week, will confirm what Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and President-Elect Obama have said -- and what Governor Blagojevich clearly believed: that Obama officials were not open to any kind of deal for the Obama Senate seat.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/obama-report-on-blagojevi_n_152664.html

Hey right wing nuts, I knew you would be disappointed about this. You have nothing on Obama. Give it up and accept that you lost in 2008:

YOU LOST THE ELECTION

YOU LOST IT BAD

GET OVER IT

Obama increases jobs goal to 3 million

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer – Sat Dec 20, 8:37 pm ET

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama has increased his employment goal with the nation's economic outlook worsening, seeking to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years instead of the 2.5 million he proposed last month.

More than likely, IF he can even get half of that figure going, it will be all in the defense sector. After all, when they send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan next year..........

TODAY IN HISTORY
1991 54 years after she becomes a noxious stain on humanity’s skivvies, Hanoi Jane marries Ted "Clinton News Network" Turner and mutual misery ensues.

Mexifornia Hall of Fame gives our veterans, our honored dead, the finger.

When she’s not guarding The Terminator’s detached nads, Mexifornia First Lady, Maria Shriver, perpetrates such things as the California Museum’s California Hall of Fame. Shriver created this blight in 2006 and is still an active participant.

In theory, this Mexifornia Hall of Fame exhibition allows the museum to ‘tell the narrative of California’s biggest names to be told in innovative and engaging ways’. No harm, no foul? Yes, and no. It’s no harm where most of the 2008 inductees are concerned: musician Dave Brubeck, author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, sculptor Robert Graham, record producer Quincy Jones, fitness guru Jack LaLanne, photographer Dorothea Lange, architect Julia Morgan, actor Jack Nicholson, scientist Linus Pauling, California founding father Leland Stanford and chef Alice Waters.

There is, however, that other inductee, Hanoi Jane Fonda. Her induction is a bitch slap to every Vietnam Vet, every right-thinking American, everyone who thinks this great nation is worth defending.

Probably one of the biggest traitors in our life time and responsible for God knows how many people's deaths during the Vietnam War has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. The transition from The Greatest Generation to The Airhead Generation is just about complete....

What ‘innovative and engaging’ elements will be included in Hanoi Jane’s display? That anti-aircraft gun she posed on? A photo of her pissing on the Vietnam War Memorial? The only innovative and engaging element that expresses our attitude about Hanoi Jane is the world’s largest one finger salute.

It’s time to flush this traitor down the crapper.

Obama Who Is Going To Be Your Robert Frost Poet

Upon the winds of America Obama, who will be your Robert Frost for the inaugural that dances their verse upon Washington to remind US of JFK’s Robert Frost’s magic. The American Artmosphere of creative “Somewhere Over The Rainbows” must have their Yellow Brick roads to the hearts of American verse, poetry, and music for the culture of America sings in God Bless American gifts of the soul being enlightened and spreading their wings among the currents of red, white, and blue musical verse.

I would suggest Caroline Kennedy, or maybe Alice Walker, for Obama, America needs its Poetry. They say you are like JFK, or maybe a Lincoln, but I pray you are a Washington patriot restoring our Civil Liberties from the Tory infestation of conglomerate greed and corruption that has bankrupt this nation in another Hoover (Bush) Great Depression against the Middle Class. President Elect Obama, “We the people” need small business, and corporation of Made in America, not Goliaths stomping David’s mainstream survival. Why did the Hoover Conservative Think Tanks create this world recession to bankrupt Constitutional Freedom and Democracy? Do they want a form of Chinese rule worldwide, where the people are a lower caste without Lady Liberty that was crushed with a Patriot Act.

Obama, should you choose not to have a poet, then you have used JFK’s image in vain. For as in World War II you have taken the Liberals and labeled them second class citizens of “We the people.” Then we can assume you are a Tory Royal American, not a General Washington, and are following in the steps of President Bush and are redefining “We the people” out of our government and our birthrights of History and Heritage.

Yes, Obama you have chosen your inner circle of Change of much of the same, people from the Fraternities of Privilege and Royalty in a new Country Club of economic exclusion of the people who walk the streets. Time will tell whether you are a Corporate King or a “We the people” President. My bet sorry to say, you will not have a poet, for fear it will send the wrong signal to those power broker of old conservative money. That is why we may say, Obama America is so much more than you, and in 2012 elect a “We the people” President. All that you have to do to avoid that and be elected is to have in you the Poetry of a Nation singing its verse in musical notes in how much, we need a “We the people” Obama.

President Elect Obama have your own Robert Frost like poet giving “We the people” hope. Let US teach our children about the American Artmosphere of toiling for our futures.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow (From Oz)

Can I fly with inner wealth floating among wind’s wings
Writing the currents setting sail upon heartbeats spring
Searching the horizon to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”
Dancing among dreams making love to canvas verse flows.

Green pastures and stilled waters of peaceful tranquility,
Where Freedom and Democracy reigns inside great versatility.
Never fearing the quill dancing among Free Speech vibrations
Fluttering characters on see shore furrowing line sensations.

Shangri-La germination with meadows full of wild flower dreams
Brilliant flickering butterfly breezes caressing warm sensual creams
Massaging the souls journey melting mind on motivational measure
With whispered desires singing notes harmony on melody’s pleasure.

Can one find a yellow brick road with a piece of creative enchantment?
Where sunrise songbirds dart music on independent accomplishments
With gravity’s footprints washing ashore grains waving definitions
Into evening sunset pastels lights slowly fading into heaven’s illusions.

American Artmosphere dynamic full spectrum painting illumination
Versus
Banned Patriot Act Civil Liberties Free Verse demolition
Into America’s Tory Dead Poet’s Society silence.

Note: If only fairy tales became real “Somewhere Over The Rainbow. But alas, it is time for a reality check, where one gives up on Santa Claus, there are no miracles in a Bush America, just filters.

David Lester Young 12/20/08©
De-Terminated poet, somewhere in America not on company time

Maybe Billy Boy could ask his Arab buddies to cut a check and pay off Hill's debts so that when she becomes Secretary of State she'll be able to better reach agreements that suit both their needs:

Clinton campaign debt now at $6.4 million

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton had $6.4 million in presidential campaign debt at the end of November, according to a report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.

The amount, though still significant, represents the lowest level of debt the New York senator's failed presidential campaign has reported this year. Clinton's campaign debt reached its peak, $12 million, at the end of June and has gradually fallen since then.

Clinton said she hopes to pay off her debt before her possible confirmation as secretary of state.

Clinton has also officially forgiven the $13.2 million she personally loaned her campaign. Under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, presidential candidates who loan their campaigns money from personal funds may only be paid back if they do so by the national party convention -- in this case, the Democratic National Convention held last August in Denver.

Clinton began November with $985,000 in her campaign account and raised nearly $290,000 by the end of the month. Her campaign paid out $1.2 million, mainly to unpaid vendors, ending the month with $188,000 in the bank.

The $6.4 million in remaining debt is owed to a total of 16 creditors.

The largest unpaid amount is owed to Penn, Schoen & Berland, a political consulting and polling firm that advised Clinton during her presidential bid.

The firm's president, Mark Penn, served as chief strategist to Clinton for most of her campaign until he was forced out of his position in April after revelations that he lobbied for a U.S.-Colombia trade deal on behalf of the Colombian government despite Clinton's opposition to the measure. However, he never left the campaign entirely.

Blago’s Big Dream
Source: San Francisco Chronicle [12/09/08]

We’d be remiss if we didn’t hit the high spots on the story of the week: Governor Rob "Let’s Make a Deal" Blagojevich. We thought that, at minimum, we needed to put the following tidbits on the official record:

The FBI said in court papers that the governor was intercepted on wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell the Senate seat for campaign cash or plum jobs for himself or his wife, Patti. He spoke of landing a job with a nonprofit foundation or a union-affiliated group, and even held out the possibility of a Cabinet appointment or ambassadorship for himself.

"I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden," he said of his authority to appoint Obama's replacement, "and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

Blagojevich also considered appointing himself to the Senate seat, telling his deputy governor that if "they're not going to offer me anything of value, I might as well take it," prosecutors said.

He said becoming a senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to court papers. And he allegedly said that he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the Senate.

Prosecutors said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees.

In court papers, the FBI said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being "stuck" as governor. "I want to make money," the governor, whose salary is $177,412, was quoted as saying in one conversation. (SFC)

Blago is a relentlessly fun guy, but he’s just a sideshow. The real fun is in the center ring, where Demoncrat officials are struck with political amnesia: "Blagojevich? I never heard of him, I haven’t met him and I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up."

If you need to escape the bitter, the economy is melting, realm of objective reality, you need to visit the News Nitwit Twilight Zone. That’s where news nitwits and Elected Tormentors pretend that corruption in Illinois politics is something new.

ere are NO terrorists in Gitmo!
184
PamB on December 21, 2008 at 11:58 AM

You´ve never been there, so you can´t say that. Quit trying to blow smoke up someones butt.

Op-Ed Columnist
Who Wants to Kick a Millionaire?

By FRANK RICH
Published: December 20, 2008

...On Friday, Geithner’s partner in bailout management, Paulson, asked Congress to give the Treasury the second half of the $700 billion bailout stash. But without transparency and accountability in Washington’s black box, as well as Wall Street’s, there will continue to be no trust in the system, no matter how many cops the S.E.C. puts on the beat...

We’ll keep believing, not without reason, that the whole game is as corrupt as the game show in “Slumdog Millionaire” — only without the Hollywood/Bollywood ending. We’ll keep wondering how so many at the top keep avoiding responsibility and reaping taxpayers’ billions while relief for those at the bottom remains as elusive as straight answers from those Mumbai call centers fielding American debtors.

This wholesale loss of confidence is a catastrophe that not even the new president’s most costly New Deal can set right.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opinion/21rich.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

I have a suggestion. Why doesn't Obama put Ralph Nader in charge of policing Wall Street? He doesn't trust anybody in corporate America and is as tenacious as a pit bull once he locks his jaw onto something that smells funny. He wouldn't give them a dime unless he could see inside all their Caymen Islands unnumbered accounts.

I'd also like to see the Financial Trusts broken up and regulated according to their area of expertise. It's time again that banks are restricted to banking, brokerages to stocks, insurance agencies to policies, and the media to reporting facts...instead of RNC copy points.

And derivatives and leverage buyouts should be outlawed instead of being governed by poorly- written computer software programs designed by cyber crooks...probably associated with the Russian Mafia or the usual suspects in the Bush Crime Family.

Greed is good alright...good and corrupt. Put things back to the way capitalism has always worked best. Make it simple, transparent, and without any betting on the side.

I thought Paulson wanted to save half of the latest bailout for the Obama administration to manage? Is he worried that the first quarter earnings reports from all the financial entities that he's already bailed out are still going to be in the red?

Why do I have the feeling that almost all of that taxpayer money has been funneled overseas and nothing has been done to stabilize our own economy? I want answers. Put Ralph Nader onto following the money trail...probably all the way to Dubai.

If we are going to continue to intimidate people in the Middle East, let's make sure we are going after the right bad guys.

bbl.

100% of Top International Terrorists are Muslim...

Yeah, and they are all in the financial banking business. Remember Chalabi? What's he been up to lately. Is he still making trips to Iran?

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 12:37 PM

You lost WW II, too, Burdbrain. Get over it. We Americans aren't going to waste our time fighting Vietnam all over again...not when Spunky has us wandering around in the Middle East looking for a way out.

SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 02:21 PM

oooooooooooooooooo! you must worship her traitorist being.

Sally-* on December 21, 2008 at 01:58 PM

So you want to continue basing our entire economic future on abstinence and fossil fuels when nobody else in the world are going to use them? If we wait long enough maybe all your Republican dinosaurs will rot and provide enough hot air to run turbines worldwide for generations?

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 02:24 PM

I never thought she was a very good actress.

SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 02:29 PM

I never thought she was a decent human.

Afternoon Sandy,

bush read the Bible. He thought that 40 days wandering in the desert was 40 years. I wonder where he learned to read. After eight years he is probably up to page 2 in My Pet Goat.

Boy, the turd is really flying around today.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 01:54 PM

Where are the convictions? Spunky can't even get one using his kangaroo military tribunal at Gitmo.

We didn't have any problem convicting any of your German relatives at Nuremberg. Is that when they sent you to South America to be schooled for your current avocation as a H1B visa troll?

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 02:34 PM

Takes one to know one. For someone who calls themselves Evil like they are proud of it, you must be the expert.

SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 02:44 PM

You can´t prove what you post

Johne on December 21, 2008 at 02:36 PM

Hi, Johne,

With 40 days left in office, Bush has found the Promise Land...in the wealthy suburbs of Dallas. And he's so stupid he's even shown the terris where he's going to be.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 02:48 PM

Wow, did I hit way too close to the truth?

Show us you birth certificate, Evil. I bet you have a fake one. Maybe we should petition the Supreme Court to make you cough it up.

I wouldn't put it past you or the GOP to go after Obama's vacant seat. Lord knows you probably have enough money to bribe Blago.

Good afternoon / morning, all!

There is NO such article in the SF Chronicle on that date. What there IS which throol C & Ped is a wing nut rant from "The Pig Gazette". Yew betcha, another OPINION PIECE that the trool can't recognize as just one guys stupid rant. And if it really came from the SF Chronille don't you think they would at least get ROD's name correct?

Here is the SF Chronicle archives for 12-9-08 this rant isn't in there at all. All this wingnut was doing was screeching about a news item and the trool wants us to believe (as he was fooled into doing) that "source" meant it came from the SFCHRON.

It didn't, and he can't figure that out.

And Sally* posted some tripe from 2000 which was changed for the 2004 election and now has been "updated" to the 2008 election allegedly from some Law Professor in MN.

Guess what? What the original 2000 column said was "the most recent election" and that has been changed every election cycle by typing in the latest date. Also, the "author" of that bit of wingnuttia is positing that thousands of square miles of desert and uninhabitable mountaintops mean something when it comes to elections, i.e. Flush comparing all the red areas on a map and claiming that "most of the country is red!" (It is, and nobody lives there.)

Back to the recycled bullshit from 2000, which the trool fell for:

The item cited above started circulating on the internet shortly after the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, reappeared briefly after the 2004 presidential election, and saw a strong resurgence (in a modified form which replaced the names "Bush" and "Gore" with "McCain" and "Obama") after the 2008 election...

(...)

Professor Joseph Olsen of Hamline University was not the source of any of the statistics or the text attributed to him above. When contacted via e-mail, Professor Olson confirmed that he had no authorship or involvement in this matter,...

(emphasis in original)

Snopes says...

Source and fact check, you trools.

You can´t prove what you post..

That sounds like dialogue from a St. Reagan B movie.
"You got nothing on me, Copper." So your family was on both sides of the law? Liberating and prosecuting?. Sounds like your family was waaaay too close to the action.

evil are you say your relative were natzi

Blow it out your ass, moron. FACT CHECK some time, asswipe. Source your bullshit rants sometime. The "Pig Gazette", indeed.

for those naive, easily led individuals who think that prisoners at Guantanamo are Terrorists, Read and weep !

http://www.reason.com/news/show/127368.html

http://www.latimes.com/la-na-gitmo22dec22,0,2294365.story

http://www.nccouncilofchurches.org/areasofwork/issues/peace/guantanamo_article.html

http://www.strange-loops.com/freexray.html

google----there are many many more from people who HAVE been there, and say they are people rounded up for rewards.

Great, Chimpy says Iraq is liberated, and since HE is the bad guy toss his sorry ass in Gitmo and let all those innocent people free. Keep the terriers there to live with Chimpy, and since he doesn't believe in trials, he should get along just fine there with all his new friends for life.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 21, 2008 at 03:06 PM

DPD,

They wouldn't know how to tell the truth even if they wanted to know what it was...which they don't. It so much easier to repeat other peoples' lies.

I just don't think it is good for the American tax payers to continue to pay the taxes for individuals to go to college and gain a Degree and those individuals want pay the tax payers back because they can't find an opportunity to make a decent pay to pay back the student loans that they have received. There are many people who have taken out a student loan and can’t pay it back simply because they aren’t allowed an opportunity to gain work because they are not experience, or the experience that they have is not comparable to what the employers are looking for. That is a problem but it doesn’t have to be a problem because the simplest solution is for the employers to provide training for those who have the knowledge and can just fit right on into the company with out any trouble at all.

I know companies don’t want to invest in employee training for new hire employees to fit into the company and onto a job position. It is cheaper for them to out source and invest in cheap wages and leave their own American citizens out in the cold with out a job and unpaid student loans (tax payer’s money). What employers have done with the word experience has been nothing more than a travesty that has cost the American people a lot of tax dollars that have been wasted under the name of education, student loans.

For all the Jewish lurkers, Happy Chanukah.

For all the Wiccans and Druids, here is a little song.

White Winter Hymnal

give sally and swirlybut couple of valiums and them calm down?

sally your only pathetic old fool. here

then who bad guy on here ?

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 03:19 PM

I thought that we established earlier that the Vietnam War is over.

So now you're contending that we are looking for bad Vietnamese in Iraq? You really need to get off this ethnic bias kick. All the world's evil exists in Korea, Iraq, Iran...and of course that old American favorite enemy, Vietnam?

I find it so odd that you never mention Communist China any longer...and you have mixed feelings about Russia. Either they are barbaric invaders in Georgia or you are looking into Putin's eyes and seeing your own reflective genius?

You Republicans see dead people everywhere because that's all you want to see. Try competently managing our economy for a change when you are in office. Your reliance on violence as the answer to everything doesn't work any more than supply side.

Eat shit, sally. Once again you were duped by an 8 year old debunked piece of trash BS-fest, but your Densa "brain" is too spongified by Ripple to know to FACT CHECK anything you read on your right wing crapola screeds.

"Duuuuuh, it wuz onna da innernezz"

Dope.

i troght sally evil db chactus jack and swirrly were trool

Hey, way to go, Chimpy!

The asswipe has FINALLY stimulated the economy.

In Turkey.

What's the hottest shoe on the market? The new Air Jordans? Not in the Middle East....

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The shoe hurled at President George W. Bush has sent sales soaring at the Turkish maker as orders pour in from Iraq, the U.S. and Iran.

The brown, thick-soled “Model 271” may soon be renamed “The Bush Shoe” or “Bye-Bye Bush,” Ramazan Baydan, who owns the Istanbul-based producer Baydan Ayakkabicilik San. & Tic., said in a telephone interview today.

“We’ve been selling these shoes for years but, thanks to Bush, orders are flying in like crazy,” he said. “We’ve even hired an agency to look at television advertising.”

"INCOMING!!!! (To a store near you)"

i don't think so evil you don't belong on american sight your from germany worry about german politics

Oops, linky no worky.

Shoe Hurled at Bush Flies Off Turkish Maker’s Shelves

And no, Senor Stupid, I don't post in code. Is this too tough for your tiny Densa "brain" to comprehend? FACT CHECK YOUR BULLSHIT!

Moron.

willjo1 on December 21, 2008 at 03:26 PM

So you're saying we should all move to China and they will pay our student loans? I'm sorry I don't get your drift. You're against education and think Americans are too expensive to train here?

Please clarify. I think there is a point you were trying to make, but it's not coming across. Maybe you think we should do whatever multinational corporations want us to do at some third world wage?

SALLY- must aid him self to know what it like to tell other people about it

yeah bush caught one of those shoes right across his kisser?

DooBee, the old man in the woods of MN has NEVER fact checked one single piece of crapola he has posted, including the first photo of a full term stillborn baby he called aborted! He ONLY finds sites which post lies, distortions, rhetoric, spin that fits his own twisted views of life. Some of these religious nut cases are beyond hope !

Why don't you GOP trolls post your opinions about Communist China?

Do you approve of them holding most of our national debt? Do you like the idea that they will probably nationalize all those factories American capitalists built over there...instead of here?

So are they the good guys with you Republicans or are they going to spread communism around the world...along with a lot more poisonous products?

Pam, he's not religious. Nut case is right. I don't have AIDs but he thinks that is some kind of humorous zinger to throw out.

Interesting, considering that he used to come on here and brag about luring men to an abandoned house for sex and tying them up to a radiator using a drapery cord, anally raping them and stealing their wallets so he could buy booze, and laughing about it all the whole time.

Until he finally figured out that he had admitted to several Class X felonies and that there is no statute of limitations on them.

OOPS! He had to keep changing his story trying to weasel out of it, but every time the story changed the noose kept getting tighter and he dropped it altogether.

Yup, he's nuts alright. But certainly noy religious in any sense of the term.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 21, 2008 at 03:48 PM

DPD,

It's a shame that Turkish shoemaker didn't have a month more to work with. I bet he could have gotten a lot of Americans to buy them for last minute holiday presents. Maybe he can market them as inauguration memorabilia? Give Bush the boot and all that jazz?

I can't believe that this will be the defining moment in Bush administration.

Or maybe it will be that time when a Senator made Condi Rice read that subject heading from an August PDA...."Osama Bin Lauden is going to crash airplanes into American buildings on or before September 11."

"Sorry, Senator, I was on vacation busy shoe shopping." How ironic. I know where you can now get a cheap pair without a lot of baggage attached to it, Dr. Rice. We can even arrange for them to be hurled at your head by one of those very grateful, liberated Iraqis.

There are NO terrorists in Gitmo! If there were, do you think for a minute they would not have been tried and hanged? Open those beady little stupid eyes and understand what your leaders have done. rounded up all the men they could find and pretended they had caught terrorists.
PamB

Guantanamo's Yemeni Detainees Epitomize a U.S. Security Concern

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 19, 2008; Page A16

The single biggest opportunity -- and potential difficulty -- for the incoming administration's plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, comes from the same group of Yemeni prisoners, who make up fully 40 percent of the detainees still held there.

Despite intensive diplomatic discussions in recent months, and the Yemeni government's promise to put released prisoners through a rehabilitation program, the Bush administration remains unconvinced that the impoverished Arab nation is capable of absorbing a group of men that officials believe includes hardened extremists.

Administration officials said President-elect Barack Obama will face the same daunting array of concerns about Yemen, a country where the terrorist threat from al-Qaeda is escalating and where extremists already have escaped prison and returned to the fight. Some have strong ties to Guantanamo detainees.

"There are still, I think, significant concerns throughout the U.S. government, amongst all the agencies, about the Yemenis' capacity to absorb and process any significant number of returned detainees," said a senior administration official who, because of the sensitivity of the issue, spoke on the condition of anonymity. "And then there are simply logistical and financial issues involved in setting up a rehabilitation center, which could take quite a long period of time."

The Yemeni government rejects U.S. criticism of its record of combating terrorism and insists that it can successfully handle the Yemeni detainees, who make up the largest national contingent at Guantanamo Bay.

"We are ready to receive all of them, and we hope President-elect Obama and the next administration will send them to Yemen," said Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington. "It is not to our benefit to simply let these people go free. Anybody who we see as a threat to Yemen or its people, and our allies, will be dealt with in an appropriate way."

In an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Obama said: "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that." But he has provided few details on how prisoners will be either prosecuted or released.

Of the 250 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, 101 are Yemenis, including two who have been convicted in military commissions and two who are charged with war crimes for participation in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"The remaining 97 are an eclectic group of intentional unrepentant combatants and accidental warriors," according to a forthcoming report in the CTC Sentinel, a publication of the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. "Yet separating the detainees into two groups and determining where different individuals fall on a spectrum of past and potential violence is a nearly impossible task."

Lawyers for the detainees, who note that only four of the 101 Yemenis at Guantanamo have been charged with any crime, said the United States should either prosecute or release the others. Much of the information about the detainees remains classified.

"The U.S. treats the Yemenis as a homogenous group of dangerous people; in fact they are not," said David H. Remes, a lawyer who represents 18 Yemeni detainees. "Having met the men and their families, we have not found any of them to be a threat to the U.S. or to be aiming to harm the United States."

Albasha said the Yemen government has formulated a rehabilitation program, including psychological counseling, religious dialogue and technical education, in which every returning detainee from Guantanamo Bay would be required to participate. The Yemeni government said detainees also would be subject to post-release monitoring, backed by guarantees from the leaders of their tribes that they would not pose a danger to either Yemen or its allies.

So Pammy, you'd like to see these fine young men released back into society so they can come back and kill our soldiers?

Do you ever wonder just whose side you are really on? Do you wear an Islamic headscarf and stay home because George won't let you drive?

sheeshhhhhh, you are so gullible, so stupid !

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 21, 2008 at 04:21 PM

The Third Reich is now daring us...and the Chinese...again? It would end up being the same result. You might as well save your breath. You don't have the nerve to do anything but torture people who aren't in a position to fight back.

What is it with these trolls and bondage?

bbl.

We can even arrange for them to be hurled at your head by one of those very grateful, liberated Iraqis.
SandyH

Pray tell Sandy you fat-assed old washed up gray haired windbag. Just how will you do this?

Do you have connections to the terrorists inside Iraq? Do you have a head scarf too?

pms must really be a bummer.
The_Evil_Dr*Burd

Dr. Burd, I think Sandy is far beyond the PMS stage in her life. Probably what she is experiencing is the effect of the formaldehyde injections she's having done to keep the flies off her rotting ass.

Pretty soon she'll be sitting on a park bench and some city worker will walk by and smack her on the head with a shovel then call for the sanitation truck.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 04:29 PM

Do you ever read anything you post?

Do you ever read anything you post?
SandyH

Yes, of course I do. I just posted a message that you have a rotting ass. I re-read it after it posted.

It's still true.

And another layer of change to your story. But you just again admitted to a Class X felony. (Assault in commission of a robbery, robbery in commission of assault and kidnapping, unlawful restraint and detention, etc.) Better change it again.

In some way you must feel proud that people realize that you are a liar, and pretty much dismiss your posts as bullshit that you C & P or make up and then claim to be "taunts" or "jokes" or purposely posted to see if anybody will fact them.

The fact of the matter is that you are just a lonely friendless loser who comes here and talks big just to feed your ego and let the rest of the world know that you still exist. We know, and we don't care.

Tell us again how you single handedly beat up a whole group of "hippies" at the MSP airport and it never made into the papers because you were so modest. And this allegedly happened several years before that phony "spitting at the troops" bullshit hit the right wing media. And how the US Army was just dumping Soldiers off in the middle of an airport nowhere near their debriefing points in California. Straight from Nam to the Twin Cities. Yep. That makes sense.

BTW, what were you doing there? "Tap dancing" or looking for those hot Military types that you like?

Give it up, asshole. You can't keep your bullshit straight from one lie to the next. No matter how hard you try to edit on the fly.

... slug the old perv and then we tied him to the radiator with the cord from the blinds. Then we took his beer, whiskey, money etc and congratulated ourselves for dealing with a pervert.
Sally-*

If you ask me, either you have realted a true story near and dear to the barely beating heart of the old DuPage Dope or you have actually found the old perv right here on our blog.

In either case DPD seems to know some facts of this case that weren't previously released for public knowledge. I would be suspicious of him.

Shouldn't you be up north shoving a vibrating object up your rump? Or is that next weekend's diaper fetish meet up?

lavender colored world anal sex is "normal" behavior. how does sally know about this to ?

old perv right here on our blog. is SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT

Shouldn't you be up north shoving a vibrating object up your rump? Or is that next weekend's diaper fetish meet up?
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo

Sorry Paul, I don't have any experience in that particular hobby. Perhaps you could enlighten our little group on the intimate details of this practice and those among us like greggy and duhsty can take notes.

Don't spare any details.

Hello fine Dems.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The fact of the matter is that you are just a lonely friendless loser who comes here and talks big just to feed your ego and let the rest of the world know that you still exist.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo

Paul, go easy on the criticism of intentions of bloggers on here. You have just described the entire membership of the Regular 8, whose numbers include you.

As you can plainly see there are very few people left on this site and your harsh talk may drive a few of the last remaining faithful away.

PS. that includes that crass talk of diaper fetish. You know who might be lurking.

And the plot thickens still.

“He Was Frightened”–Details in Rove’s IT Guru Connell’s Death Emerge

No wonder Obama is taking a train to D.C. Those ChimpCo thugs can't be trusted.

Oh, believe me, I DO know who's lurking.

Remember, it was YOU who forgot to close your R /O tabs when you were posting crap here assuming anonymity, remember? And if you think for one minute that I don't know where 230 S. Dearborn is, you are sadly and badly mistaken. Keep it up, Thumbass.

People ARE watching every keystroke you make.

only the troll talk about of diaper fetish.

Hey DPD,
Which one is Swirlyeye?

Is swirlyeye Cactus aka Dufus Dan?

yahhhhh. The lies about Science and Global Warming not being true will all come to an end. Gee, I wonder if even Sally will come to understand that Global Warming is very real and he will knock off that welding machine and the crap it fires out.

Obama Cranks Up Green Revolution
Sunday 21 December 2008

»
by: Geoffrey Lean, The Independent UK

US president-elect Barack Obama listens while Carol Browner speaks at a press conference in Chicago. (Photo: AFP / Getty)
The next US president is reversing Republican policy on global warming by putting leading scientists in key posts. Geoffrey Lean reports.

Barack Obama yesterday promised to end George Bush's "twisting" of science to suit "politics or ideology" in an extraordinarily outspoken address to the nation, and announced that he was putting top climate scientists in key positions in his administration.

The move, which signals perhaps his sharpest break with the outgoing administration, makes it clear that he was going to put climate change and the environment among the most urgent priorities of his presidency
http://www.truthout.org/122108E

(ps, Stevie. You have a senile, poor memory. That picture you had attached to your name, was a full term, plump fully developed baby all in one piece. And you were SO pissed that Jesse Berney erased you , that you just had to show him he could not do that and get away with it!!! You Narcisstics don't let anyone tell you what you can do!!!!! You are crazy as bats)

hey doobee, remember when the troll was going to SUE you and the DNC???? hahahahahaha. That was a good laugh for weeks. How did that ever turn out, btw? Did he get much money out of you? bwhahahahahahahahahhahahahahah. gasp !

Cheney: Senator deserved the f-word

The encounter during the 2004 presidential campaign, sources said then, was brought on by Leahy's criticism of the vice president over Halliburton Co. Cheney is the former chief executive officer of the oil field services company, and Democrats had suggested he helped win lucrative contracts for his former firm while serving in the Bush administration.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Go f**k yourself Dick "the turd" Cheney.
And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

And if you think for one minute that I don't know where 230 S. Dearborn is, you are sadly and badly mistaken. Keep it up, Thumbass.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo

Hahaha!!! Hell man, we're damn near neighbors, huh? How about I come over for New Years and we can knock a couple back and reminisce about the good ol' days on the blog?

Not sure just what you're talking about there Pauly, it seems you have me confused with someone else.

Tell me again about this R/O stuff. I like a good bedtime story. I'll make the popcorn.

People ARE watching every keystroke you make.

You're starting to sound as goofy as that woman on here who keeps files on everyone from Harpo to Sarah Palin. Must be a virus running around your political parties. You guys really should wash the silverware.

Oh, now Stevie, you were angry and threatening for weeks and weeks, how the DNC was going to pay for that slight ! I still would loved to have seen you explain to an Attorney, why you were called Sally, and what you were doing with posting all that filth on an opposing political blog! Gads, I would have paid big money to be in that court room, with my file full of your posts! They would have had you taken away in nets !

It's not like you even care about babies, Stevie boy. You left your own kid with no support, so her mother with her dinky small job had to move in with the kid's uncle to make ends meet! Remember how you bragged about how you defended yourself and got out of child support????????? I do ! Have it in writing, as a matter of fact !

Hey DooBee, you are on your own for a while. Pizza just arrived. BBL.........

Go f**k yourself Dick "the turd" Cheney.
And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Chicago

Careful there Chicago, DopeyD has this blog under surveillance and that kind of talk could get you a hard bunk in a small room with the Governor of Chicago.

Don't forget the Vaseline, I understand when they really corner him he may start porking everyone down your way.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 06:58 PM
Free Speech is still a right in this country, dupe.

I still would loved to have seen you explain to an Attorney, why you were called Sally, and what you were doing with posting all that filth on an opposing political blog!
PamB

I imagine a hush would have fallen over the courtroom when the DNC attorney called to the stand such credible witnesses for the defense like Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo, andhow, gemstone, justaguy, goodfoe, YoungPoet, virgo, jenar, Kombiz_Lavasany, Kombiz_Lavasany, etc. Not to mention dusty2006 whose testimony I am certain would've turned the tables on a blogger with the very unusual name of Sally.

I would have paid big money to be in that court room, with my file full of your posts! They would have had you taken away in nets !

Ummm... Pammy, I don't think you would have made it past the metal detectors. People with metal plates in their heads rarely slip by unnoticed except by the screening personnel with the nice white coats.

Free Speech is still a right in this country, dupe.
Chicago

I know, you needn't remind me of that fact. You might wish to dash off a memo to Pammy and DPD though, they're keeping files and runnin' surveillance teams.

Oh Crap! I think there's an unmarked federal sedan parked across my street as we speak!!!

"Swirly" (look it up in the urban dictionary)"Eye" (ibid) is Thomas from MN, a.k.a. Thomas in Minnesota, a.k.a. MNTHOMAS (look THAT up) and PLENTY more, but I will afford him a bit of anonymity, because he still uses some of his stupid "names" when he posts things on other sites , like on his "alternative lifestyle" sites, (where "swirlyeye" seems to be the standard invite) and his "I wish I was a cop so I could shoot brown people" type web sites. That's where he hooked up with the Tucson troll. He used it as a "cop / uniform" fetish site. The dude has "issues" especially with "Brown people".

Really it used to be a retired cop exchange board about leaving "the job" and dealing with life as WE see it, like retirement, insurance, etc. but these 2 nitwits turned into a neo-Nazi "KILL THE BROWNS" site.

Oh, BTW Cactus, every exchange you two did in your "wanna-be" "cops talk" site are also included in Thumbass's major screw up, and ALL you trolls are linked to him.

RAD---- OVE-----, my ass.

It's neither "R" nor "O" if the chief asshole LEAVES THE "CLOSE TAB" doo-hicky OPEN for at LEAST THREE FUCKING DAYS!!

Over the course of an entire WEEKEND!! With SEVERAL POSTS!

HE opened ALL of his files (AND YOURS, Danny, and other trools. Burd, you seem to be the SAME person. Close your tabs!)to the ENTIRE INTERNET thinking that he was hiding behind his proxy server,

OOPS! X 100000 Billion! To the Nth Power!

That way the asshole idiot CAN NOT claim that he just "made a mistake". He has a HISTORY of posting ****** *** ****, and ******** ** ****** *****'* *********! And the fact that he made SEVERAL posts on KA over the course of a holiday weekend means, HE WANTED TO DO IT. It wasn't just a one time "mistake". It was intentional.

And the asshole ALWAYS does it on weekends or during Holiday weekends, just because he thinks he hides behind R/O and "thinks" that the DNC isn't there. They ARE, and so are "OTHER EYES".

The DNC may or may not be there every second, but the Feds never sleep. Let the fools do something stupid (like Thumbass did--ARE all your sites 2257 compliant, Thumbass? The folks at 230 S. want to know).

Big shot.

Free Speech is still a right in this country, dupe.
Chicago

I know, you needn't remind me of that fact.
SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 07:26 PM

Well, Dufus, then why did you make your earlier stupid comment about me going to jail.
You really are a dumb-sh*t.

Hi Chicago.

These dumb F**ks mistake free speech with Cyber abuse and stalking that they do. I am dying for the day any one of them thinks he might charge us with taking away their free speech.

DooBee, believe me when I say that Toro of MN does not think Thomass is quite as smart or superior as he likes to think of himself. He leaves lots of trails, especially when he uses their machines. They told me they do not like that !!!

hey DooBee, expect to see Thomass around , because he has a lot of that 'use it or lose it" vacation time like last year, because he is too freaken poor to go anywhere !!! His poor pitiful family.

gotta log out for the evening, Dems.

blog ya tomorrow.

Sometimes, when discussing things with trolls, its a good idea to post some of their past opinions just to see if we are dealing with someone who is credible or someone who is really stupid.
-------------------------------------------------
So the undecided will vote for McCain because they do not want tell the pollster that they are not gonna vote for the Negro.
There is the other 7% who say they are gonna vote for the Negro but won't. These are the white racist liberals and a great many blue collar workers.
So that is a total of 14% that must be added to McCain's score.
McCain wins 56% - 44% For Hussein et al.
255
SALLY-* ON NOVEMBER 3, 2008 AT 10:51 PM
----------------------------------------------
BWahhahahahhahahahhha
Stupid republican dupe

BWahhahahahhahahahhha
Chicago

Chicago, BWahhahahahhahahahhha is the trademarked maniacal laughter of one PamB. You should be careful about using her material without express written permission. Also, in order to do it properly you have to stuff your mouth full of food or drink and as you cackle you blow it all over your computer screen and keyboard. Tonight we will be treated to her pizza glop.

That adds a nice effect.

How about this one...
________________________________________________
I´ve been saying all along that when McCain and the lovely and talented Sarah are elected, that our resident liberal moonbat clan will beshit themselves.
58
THE_EVIL_DR*BURD ON OCTOBER 4, 2008 AT 06:43 PM
------------------------------------------------
BWahahahahahaahahahahahhahhahah
Stupid republican dupe

These dumb F**ks mistake free speech with Cyber abuse and stalking that they do. I am dying for the day any one of them thinks he might charge us with taking away their free speech.
PamB

Pam, is that YOU sitting out in that unmarked car on front of my house? Wave hello and I'll bring out a carton of those moisturized butt wipes for you. Sitting on a fully loaded Depends for hours on end (get it? "On end"?) can really chaff a wide ass.

PS. What is a F**K?

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 08:11 PM

blog ya tomorrow.

293PamB on December 21, 2008 at 07:53 PM

I think Pam logged out, dumb-sh*t.

How about this little gem...
-----------------------------------------------
The Dnc will have to ban all of you anyway when Hilary takes over because Obama drops like a rock in next weeks polls.
Posted by Dan_A_Cactus** on August 17, 2008 at 03:47 PM
-----------------------------------------------
BWahahahahhahahahahahahha
Stupid republican dupe

I think Pam logged out, dumb-sh*t.
Chicago
Oh, she says that all the time and them sits in front of her food splattered screen and fumes at what's said after be "logs out". Sandy does the same thing. Kind of funny to see them come back on like they didn't previously leave.

Kind of like an annoying old relative on the phone who say "good-bye" and then keeps right on talking. At least with that example one can simply hang up on your end.

BTW, what does sh*t mean? If you are trying to avoid posting profane words on here don't sweat that. Just google democrat.org and any of a dozen profanities and you'll get 1000s of hits. Usually it's Johne from Belen, NM waking up on the wrong side of a cheap wine blow out.

Good evening, all.

Sorry for the long post, but it echoes something that has been eating at me for over 30 years now since I first noticed the wrong turn in values in this nation.

This one is for Marymac...

Op-Ed Columnist
The Madoff Economy

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 19, 2008

The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend. Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?

The financial services industry has claimed an ever-growing share of the nation’s income over the past generation, making the people who run the industry incredibly rich. Yet, at this point, it looks as if much of the industry has been destroying value, not creating it.

And it’s not just a matter of money: the vast riches achieved by those who managed other people’s money have had a corrupting effect on our society as a whole...

We’re talking about a lot of money here. In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America’s G.D.P., up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing — and it probably was — we’re talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse.

But the costs of America’s Ponzi era surely went beyond the direct waste of dollars and cents.

At the crudest level, Wall Street’s ill-gotten gains corrupted and continue to corrupt politics, in a nicely bipartisan way. From Bush administration officials like Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who looked the other way as evidence of financial fraud mounted, to Democrats who still haven’t closed the outrageous tax loophole that benefits executives at hedge funds and private equity firms (hello, Senator Schumer), politicians have walked when money talked.

Meanwhile, how much has our nation’s future been damaged by the magnetic pull of quick personal wealth, which for years has drawn many of our best and brightest young people into investment banking, at the expense of science, public service and just about everything else?

Most of all, the vast riches being earned — or maybe that should be “earned” — in our bloated financial industry undermined our sense of reality and degraded our judgment.

Think of the way almost everyone important missed the warning signs of an impending crisis. How was that possible?...The answer, I believe, is that there’s an innate tendency on the part of even the elite to idolize men who are making a lot of money, and assume that they know what they’re doing.

After all, that’s why so many people trusted Mr. Madoff.

Now, as we survey the wreckage and try to understand how things can have gone so wrong, so fast, the answer is actually quite simple: What we’re looking at now are the consequences of a world gone Madoff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/opinion/19krugman.html?_r=1&hp

Americans once trusted their instincts instead of those who call themselves family-values men. Beware of men who wear their values and fake religious beliefs on their sleeves.

Sinclair Lewis must again be incorporated into the curriculum of every high school English Lit class in America. And that Burt Lancaster "Elmer Gantry" film should be shown to the young who have no idea that this happened once before in our history...and voices spoke out against it and acted to end it.

And let's hope Senator Schumer takes as much note of Krugman's advice as he has of Madoff's greedy villiany. The Obama administration should make it a priority to assist him in writing the critically needed corrective legislation.

Kind of funny to see them come back on like they didn't previously leave.
300SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 08:34 PM
Sandy and Pam know you trolls have no honor and will say things about them AFTER they leave (as you did tonight, dumb-sh*t).

BTW, I call you dumb-sh*t because you are one. I leave out the "i" by my own choice. Not because I will get in trouble, but because I choose to.
Poor stupid republican dupe.

by my own choice. Not because I will get in trouble, but because I choose to.
Chicago

Aren't you special.

So, Swirlyeye,
What other names do you post under?
Cactus?
Neocon?
And why do you keep changing your name?

Hello Sandy,
Good to see you.

A unofficial running tally on the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Web site had Democrat Al Franken leading incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman by 251 votes
on Sunday — in a race in which nearly 2.5 million votes were cast — but Ritchie cautioned against pronouncing either candidate ahead until all votes are counted.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/21/minnesota-senate-recount-to-resume-this-week/

Kind of funny to see them come back on like they didn't previously leave....

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 08:34 PM

Women can multi-task. We also find it's necessary to sometimes pick up after those who litter. It's a chore made sorely necessary by those who regularly try to misrepresent progressive viewpoints.

You can lie and distort, but you'll never be able to get away with it here. We will outlast you. We have prevailed.

The Far Right sources you like to re-post here are even running out of RNC copy points to circulate in the blogosphere. The conservatives are doubting themselves. Only the zany zealots remain like Cheney and Limbaugh.

No brains; no common sense. All the neocons and multinationals have are failed policies and a discredited ideology that has been proved worthless by their own deeds.

Bristol Palin's boyfriend's mom arrested in drug case
Sherry Johnston, whose son is having a baby with the daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was arrested Thursday on drug charges, Alaska State Police said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/19/palin.boyfriend/index.html

Zakaria: GOP bereft of ideas or trapped by wrong ones
NEW YORK (CNN) -- On the day President-elect Obama visited the White House, a new national poll suggested that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first measured more than six decades ago.

Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job. That's an all-time high in polling by CNN or Gallup dating back to World War II.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/14/zakaria.republicans/index.html?iref=newssearch

Hi, Chicago.

Do you like sugar cookies? I'm trying a new recipe tonight that uses a cheesecake flavoring. I'm using a special English jam that has a Ameretto liquor as its base.

One of the best cheesecakes I ever had was in a restaurant in the Second City. It was much creamier than the New York variety. But I like them both.

Krugman was spot on today, don't you think? We wasted a lot more than money during the corrupt GOP speculation binge of the last 15 years. Too many of our bright young talents went down the tubes along with their morals and pyramid schemes.

Chicago on December 21, 2008 at 09:12 PM

I thought I heard that Bush had broken into the teens in one poll taken last week. That shoe incident seems to have given everyone (including Republicans) permission to let go on him.

It's a shame it's taken this long and so much destruction to wake up our nation from its Big Sleep. While so many were napping...someone stole America. O.K. let's get this right. Someone SOLD OUT America.

He was brazenly arrogant, corrupt, and greedy beyond belief and he was a Republican. And he wasn't even the guy that the pollsters have been asking people about. Dick Cheney has carved a special place for himself in history that will haunt his family's name for all time.

Move over Benedict Arnold. There's a new lower standard.

sally Your brain has rotted away.

What other names do you post under?
Cactus?
Neocon?
And why do you keep changing your name?
Chicago

Generally I post as rjsnj but I thought I would change it up. I find it boring to be the same make-believe person on here so I pretend to be a different make-believe person to increase my credibility.

Every so often I post as dlesterpoet and dusty2006, the former allows me to be creative in my words while the latter requires quite a bit of character preparation. I have to have someone slam me in the head with a sledgehammer.

We will outlast you. We have prevailed.
SandyH

Oh, OK. Truth is Sandy, this is just an amusing hobby for me, not a religion. But I am happy for you.

Bristol Palin's boyfriend's mom arrested in drug case
Chicago

Boy, aren't you quite the little reporter. They've been posting this news on here since yesterday morning.

You just get up?

Sandy,
I like sugar cookies, oatmeal-raisen cookies and chocolate cookies which we have been baking here today. I hope your new recipe turns out well.

Generally I post as rjsnj
313SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 09:46 PM
You're a liar.

You have no honor and no dignity.
It must be sad for you to be ashamed of yourself.
Typical republican dupe

311SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 09:29 PM
Sandy,
Right you are as usual. Bush will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the worst (if not the worst) presidents.

Boy, aren't you quite the little reporter.
You just get up?
315SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 09:50 PM

No, I'm just trying to make sure stupid little republican dupes like you get the word. I thought maybe you would wake up and smell the coffee. You know, these republican "values" candidates are using the fact that you are a dupe and a fool to get your vote. I guess they will keep getting it.

WIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT your idiot i have problems
your ass

Hello Dusty

WIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT your idiot i have problems
dusty2006

You said it, not me.

No religion? Well, maybe those Bible verses Butters posts will get to you yet.

You know, these republican "values" candidates are using the fact that you are a dupe and a fool to get your vote. I guess they will keep getting it.
Chicago

Yeah right, Governor Palin held interviews for her daughter's boyfriend's mothers and that woman made the cut.

See my earlier posts regarding the Kennedy clan. Now THAT'S family values.

See my earlier posts regarding the Kennedy clan. Now THAT'S family values.

324SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 10:32 PM

Yeah, you're a dumb-sh*t.

The Kennedy's don't run on "family values". They don't get votes by duping fools like yourself into believing that they have a higher moral standard. They get votes by promising to represent the people on the issues. Perhaps your too stupid to understand the difference.

The Kennedy's don't run on "family values".
Chicago

Yeah, I guess it would've been a hard sell considering the family fortune is based on bootleg, pron films and crooked politics. Teddy ditching the pregnant girlfriend in the Chappaquiddick and then leaving her to drown while he went home to sober up.

They get votes by promising to represent the people on the issues.

You know, that says soooo much. Promises promises.

SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 21, 2008 at 10:50 PM

Your right-wing psycho-babble does little to further your argument. The fact is, the Kennedy's must be representing the people well, or they would not keep getting elected. And as long as dupes like you keep voting for the repubicans... Oh wait... most of the other people have figured it out. That's why YOUR party lost the oval office and lots of seats in the house and senate. AHHAHAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHHA

Bush claims civil rights gains;
Trusts history to judge his record

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Declaring Barack Obama's election a "very hopeful moment for race relations," President Bush asserts his own administration did much to empower minorities, calling the No Child Left Behind education law "a piece of civil rights legislation" and saying his call to overhaul Social Security was aimed at giving blacks a greater stake in the nation's future...

"The philosophy behind my personal savings accounts and Social Security was aimed at encouraging and allowing individuals to take some of the money that normally would have gone into a system that is going broke and realize the benefits of compounding rate of interest so that they can see their assets accumulate," he said.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/21/bush-claims-civil-rights-gains/

NCLB has to be one of the major reasons why Bush and the Republicans lost the vote among young families. It handicaps teachers, makes kids feel like failures, has their vowing to wring some conservative's neck.

And Bush sees trying to kill social Security as a civil rights act? The only people who would be empowered with that scam are financial speculators who have already been given the right to steal by the GOP.

Bush's civil rights initiatives and ownership society can be summed up in one phrase: sub-prime foreclosures.

Somebody get a butterfly net. This guy needs to be put away where he doesn't do harm to himself.
I hope Dan has been doing some research on nursing homes. Spunky is on the brink.

Governor reveals tricks of the trade on '60 Minutes'

Schwarzenegger says that without his acting experience, his job in Sacramento would have been much more difficult. He also says he'd be interested in becoming president if it were possible.

By Michael Rothfeld

December 21, 2008

Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't said whether he would pursue another job in politics after his final term ends in two years. But there's at least one position he might be interested in, if he were eligible for it: president.

"Yeah, absolutely," Schwarzenegger said in an interview airing tonight on "60 Minutes" on CBS, when asked by correspondent Scott Pelley if he would like to be president. "I think that I am always a person that looks for the next big goal. And I love challenges. I always set goals that are so high, that are almost impossible to achieve."...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold22-2008dec22,0,4603515.story

Goals so high that they are almost impossible to achieve? Try impossible to achieve. Arnold doesn't have the capabilities to do anything but "act" like he's somebody that he's not. But if Bush can do it, I suppose the son of a Nazi can, too.

The Governor needs to go back to his orginal goal of groping ever woman interviewer he meets. Sooner or later one of his victims was going to make sure Arnold never "performs" again.

Maybe it's already happened. The Governor has just about bankrupt California. It's time for The Terminator to stop destroying his state's own economy. He's not President Bush yet.

Somebody get a butterfly net.
328SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 11:25 PM

Sandy,
They also need the white jacket with the straps and the room with the padded walls. Reality is becoming an alien landscape to this fool. 1/20/09 can't get here soon enough.

Sandy,
It's been nice blogging with you.
I'm off to bed.

God Bless President-elect Obama and the United States of America.

wow the giants just won one of the best games i have seen since, well since the last super bowl. too bad they won't get to play the hapless packers again...hahahahaha

One for the road...

Cheney Mocks Biden, Defends Rumsfeld in 'FOX News Sunday' Interview

In one of his last interviews before leaving Washington, D.C., Vice President Cheney, a 40-year veteran of Washington politics, tried to straighten out a few misconceptions about his tenure and the way the executive and legislative branches are supposed to work.

By Bill Sammon
FOXNews.com
Sunday, December 21, 2008

"The president of the United States now for 50 years is followed at all times, 24 hours a day, by a military aide carrying a football that contains the nuclear codes that he would use and be authorized to use in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States," Cheney said. "He could launch the kind of devastating attack the world has never seen.

"He doesn't have to check with anybody. He doesn't have to call the Congress. He doesn't have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in."...

"The nature of the world we live in" for the last eight years was made more dangerous because of a bogus Supreme Court edit which put crazy men like the Vice President into positions of power they were incapable of handling.

So here we have Cheney brazenly telling us that he (opps! make that the president) doesn't answer to anybody. Typical neocon logic? The Fourth Branch is the final authority at interrupting the Constitution even though there isn't any Fourth Branch.

The Man Who Would Be King screwed up big time and he knows it. He should have arranged an accident early in Bush's second term. It's too late to put out the pretzels now.

Good night, all.

Sally-* on December 21, 2008 at 11:46 PM

You don't know what a liberal is. You don't know what a conservative is. You don't know what you are. Go to some big box church and they'll tell you what you should be.

You are useless to the RNC the way you are.

i through bush was conservative leader he made a shitty mess of our country

bush had years to lie about science built on fluffy conservative pseudoscience and now we will have real science to go by and this will help fix the planet global warming and create car that run on solar and water

i met a nice woman where i live she very nice and beauitfull
i do know what real science is that not what bush perpatrated on the american people real science telling the truth not covering it up like bush did bush covered up global warming by telling his scientist to lie about

Barack is no Messiah,
only jesus christ is the messiah do you troll have that straight

im working on nice woman to be my freind and maby
in the future be more i hope

On Proposition 8, he was silent.
On the US Veto of the UN Resolution for the decriminalization of homosexuality, he was silent.
On Don't Ask, Don't Tell, he says wait.
And now associating with someone who compares me to a pedophile?

I never expected much from PE Obama on LGBT issues.
But I have to ask, "Where is the leadership?"

- Black Gay Americans Under the Obama Bus

No religion? Well, maybe those Bible verses Butters posts will get to you yet.

323SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 10:32 PM

good morning, sandy, everyone.

Christmas time, is here!

Christmas Means Peace with God

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 (NLT)

*** *** *** ***

Do you realize that if you’re trying to live your life without God, you are at war with him? You are at war with God, and you need a peace treaty. You need reconciliation because your relationship with God has been broken. Jesus Christ came to be that bridge, to be the reconciler between God and man.

When you trust Jesus, he makes it all go away. He says, “I’m going to completely wipe out everything you’ve ever done wrong. You’re completely forgiven. Come on home!”

The Bible says, “Now that we have been put right with God through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 TEV). Have you made peace with God? If you haven’t, you’d better, because one day you will have to face him. You need to make peace with God.

How do you make peace with God? You don’t do it by promising to be good or by being perfect. You can’t. The Bible says you make peace by faith – faith in God’s grace.

good morning friends. really cold here in the hudson valley but the storm is over. so glad we will have a real president soon.

sandy,

bella loves her cousin lily, we'll see how she reacts to her own sister when sisaroo comes home. There was some delivery trama on Sunday, so the Dr. stabilized the labor. Inducing is scheduled for today. I'm opposed to the doctor induced/doctor stopping labor and the use of epidural. I had both my girls natual, no medicine to stop or start pain. what happened to the good ole days?

sigh...it's going to be a long day.

enjoy it, everyone.

here's one for the eviltrool...(snicker)

Living a Life of Conviction
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5
For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.

Everyone lives a life of conviction. Whatever we give our greatest time, our greatest energies, and our greatest resources to is a good indication of where our convictions lie. Some live a life of conviction about sports. Some live a life of conviction around pleasure. Still others live a life of conviction about very little that matters at all.

Whenever God chooses to do a deep work in a life, a strong conviction is born of the Holy Spirit. Conversions in the early Church resulted in changed lives that held to a deep, life-transforming conviction regarding what they believed and how they lived out that belief. Paul explains that the gospel they received came not just in words, but also in power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.

In order to impact the marketplace for Jesus Christ, each of us must be reflecting a faith that is demonstrated through deeply held convictions. Are you living a life of deep conviction that spurs you on to reflect the power of Christ in your life and the lives of others? Paul was willing to suffer great persecution for his faith in a living God. God calls each of us to a life that is supernatural, not simply a good, moral life. The early Church understood the role the Holy Spirit played in demonstrating this power of the gospel. It was this deep work that resulted in living the gospel with great conviction. If you are not living the gospel with great conviction, ask the Holy Spirit to so fill your life today that the power of His Spirit is truly reflected in your life so that you may impact others in your marketplace.

Is Obama the one? you betcha. ;)

good morning, gg. in the single digits here, but no snow accumulation. brrrrr!

have a great day!

haha a great quote about our trools:

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

only sally is queer. i like woman

ESMERALDA hi

morning, Dems
(good luck today, Esme. brings back memories from 6 months ago, and after a complicated, long gestation period, we had a premature delivery filled with complications. But he is worth it.)

just finished my letter to editor .

morning paper had an article about an on line site of Sarah Palin fans! Was interesting, until you got to the part that said the membership was an offshoot of an anti-abortion, anti-gay group! The last sentence of the article was "with Sara, what you see is what you get"! HA ! That's the problem, you idiots!

Stevie's little links to "priestsfor life" live picture of aborted fetuses is a real credible source ! Are these the same ones who are feisted round and round the country after they are caught molesting children??? What do they think about 4200+ dead US boys and 1 million Iraqi women and children for lies? Do they even give a shit?

What is hilarious is, Stevie is all for ending Abortion, yet never paid his kid a dime in child support, instead forcing her to have to live with an uncle because he was too smart for the ex-wife and her!! That poor kid probably wishes her Mother had chosen a different option when she was conceived from this POS!

Good morning, all.

Way to go Joe!

Cheney says Biden hasn't asked for any VP advice

Dec 21, 9:49 AM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Joe Biden soon will succeed Dick Cheney as vice president. So does Cheney have any advice for Biden?

Not really, it seems.

Cheney says Biden hasn't asked for any advice.

Biden has called Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history." Biden also has said he couldn't name a single good thing that Cheney had done.

Cheney says he strongly disagrees with the idea that he dangerously expanded the powers of the executive branch. Cheney also says he doesn't think Barack Obama will give Biden as consequential a role as Cheney has had under President George W. Bush.

Cheney spoke on "Fox News Sunday."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081221/D9575GPO0.html

Cheney: I told Leahy to ‘f*ck’ himself because ‘I thought he merited it.’»

This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Vice President Cheney about his now infamous June 2004 exchange with Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), when he told Leahy to “f*ck yourself.” Cheney confirmed that he used the obscenity, saying, “I thought he merited it at the time”:

WALLACE: Did you tell Senator Leahy, “bleep yourself”?

CHENEY: I did.

WALLACE: Any qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment?

CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time and we’ve since patched over that wound.

Later in the program, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol remarked that he thought Cheney’s comments represented “a beautiful statement, really, of justice.” “Dick Cheney is going out defending justice in the end,” Kristol concluded...

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/21/cheney-leahy-bleep/

And there will be justice for all.

Dick Cheney is going out. And he can take his conservative Fourth Branch treason, torture, and that dimwit sidekick with him.

Gotta run. later.

Check out the feeding frenzy on Breitbart. For thos who aren't familiar, Breitbart is the news website by Andrew Breitbart, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breitbart.com , similar to the Drudge Report but much more right leaning. I see how President Bush got that approval rating in the teens. If this great nation of ours wasn't in so much of a pickle because of the Bush Administration, I'd be laughing a whole lot harder.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 20, 2008 at 11:58 AM

Btw, I meant all those comments on the Breitbart site, not here.

Hey, GregL.

Looks like the blog has gone bonkers again.

Oh you mean with the, "We put up new threads, but they didn't show up and no one cna get to them even when they do show up" thing? :shrug: Doesn't bother me, I kinda like having all my weekend poisonous bile in one place.

Good morning / afternoon, all!

This thing is buggier than the Nixon White House.

Good afternoon fellow Democrats.

It looks like the Pugs have finally realized that nobody is buying their crap any more. The (anti)American Enterprise Institute is purging all the neo-cons and PNAC morons.

Report: After Eight Years Of Promoting Bush, AEI Purges Prominent Neoconservatives From Its Ranks

Good riddance! Now if only the MSM would kick them all off those talking heads shows too.

Good afternoon, all.

Either everyone is out of work and going to the mall to keep warm or else they are doing holiday shopping on their lunch hour. It took me nearly half an hour to get off the highway and get past the traffic jam to get home.

They doth protest too much...

WH on Times: 'Gross negligence'

The White House on Sunday issued a blistering 500-word response to a scathing 5,000-word article on the front page of Sunday's New York Times that says President Bush and his style and philosophy of governing played a direct role in the mortgage meltdown that's crippling the nation's economy.

The response accused the nation's largest Sunday paper of "gross negligence."

"The Times' 'reporting' in this story amounted to finding selected quotes to support a story the reporters fully intended to write from the onset, while disregarding anything that didn't fit their point of view," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in an e-mailed statement.

In an unusual double-header, The White House later issued a document headlined, "Setting the Record Straight: The Three Most Egregious Claims In The New York Times Article On The Housing Crisis."

The article was part of the newspaper's "The Reckoning Series" about the nation's market implosion, and was headlined, "‘Ownership society’: White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire."...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081221/pl_politico/16787

Gross negligence? I thought that was the Bush Crime Family specialty. So it takes one to know one?

It seems like this White House spent more time defending itself than it did the country on 911 or after Katrina. I'm so sorry that Operation Legacy has fallen on its face. Perhaps if Bush had done something (anything) right in the past eight years nobody would be pointing out all their failures?

Sandy, I can't ever remember any other President having to take his show on the road like he's just starting out in his first primary run trying to sell his insane ideas. He's like those washed up bands who start doing the County Fair and rib fest circuit just to feel relevant.

If this Bozo wasn't such a horrible POS and a totally incompetent schmuck he wouldn't need to be going around the country on his "you're gonna miss me when I'm gone" tour.

No, Chimpy. We won't.

I never said a word about ending all abortion. I have said that any mother who would kill her child would be a real shitty mother. And the fact that 50 million bsbies have been slaughtered in this country is the reason S.S. is failing and the reason we need all those wetbacks.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 02:45 PM

This is the strangest observation you've made in a long line of them. I thought you were against abortion and hated illegals. And how dead fetus' are contributing to the cost of Social Security is beyond me. If they had been born, they'd probably be welfare and Medicaid.

Are you just feeling down this holiday season? Some say it's because of not getting enough sunlight. Are you missing your daughter who I thought you said had joined the military? Are you worried about your job? Your mortgage? Are you regretting all the hours you have spent defended those doorknobs in the Bush White House and the crooks at the RNC?

Try volunteering an hour at a food pantry. You could be a lot worse off. President Obama is going to make public service a cornerstone of his new agenda. You would be a good candidate. Too much time on our hands and no meaning to your life.

We are all praying for you.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - Five Muslim immigrants were convicted Monday of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11 determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages.

The defendants were acquitted of attempted murder charges but face life in prison for conspiring to kill military personnel. The federal jury spent about 38 hours deliberating over the past six days.

The men lived in and around Philadelphia for years. The government said after their 2007 arrest that an attack had been imminent and that the case underscored the dangers of terrorist plots hatched on U.S. soil.

Although investigators said the men were inspired by Osama bin Laden, they were not accused of any ties to foreign terror groups...

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D957U7UO0&show_article=1

Justice has been served. It did not require the invasion of another country. It did not require the use of nuclear weapons or the threat of such. It did not require a single one of the Bush Administration’s skirts around the Constitution. This was a result of good, old-fashioned police work.

Now lock these sorry wannabe terrorist bastards up for their rest of their lives and throw away the key! Make them eat Jello and Pork Skins for the rest of their life.

Ezworld on December 22, 2008 at 02:45 PM

I can't say that things are so bad here. We are all counting our blessings this year. The prospect of a new administration with someone in the White House who will actually address problems instead of create new ones is very uplifting.

What do you feel thankful for this holiday season?

Myth 1000,000,000

People really give a shit what "Ed Gillespie is the Counselor to President George W. Bush". says.

Chimpy's FIRST recession started 3 months AFTER Clinton left office.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:08 PM

And so the rewriting of history begins. Everyone who reads this "Bushian version" of history should ask themselves the following questions. Is the economy in better or worse shape than 20JAN01? Do you feel more safe now than on 20JAN01? As much as the Republicans are going to try to spin history, the end result will remain the same. George W. Bush will go down in history as the worst POTUS ever.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:08 PM

Don't look now, but you're creating your own reality.

I know that this is a bad habit that most of you neocons have, but as DPD just pointed out above even the AEI isn't buying into that crap any longer.

Try telling your tales to those who haven't seen their 401k's whittled down to nothing in this GOP Ownership Society and who are frightened that the Republicans are still talking about "reforming" Social Security. Privatization has done wonders for the country. Just look how the stock market and housing industry responded.

BTW, that myth/reality format is right out of the GOP spin machine public relations model. You could at least try to put the White House copy points into your own words. A little effort on your part would be appreciated by the Democrats here.

The information will still be irrelevant or completely wrong, but at least we will all know you aren't getting as bored with it as it appears on the surface. Forget the food pantry. I'd suggest the National Guard or the Peace Corps. You need a change of scenery.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 22, 2008 at 03:17 PM

DPD,

Everything went down hill by three months after Clinton left office.

The nation hasn't rebounded since; and in fact, it's tanking at a rather alarming rate these days. Obama may have to pick up our economy where Argentina left theirs in the 1980's.

The United States, a banana republic without bananas...since The Chimp ate them all and the rest of the Republicans stole the rest. What a legacy.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:12 PM

I always suspected you were Dusty. Thanks for proving it.

Under FISA, federal agents can conduct surveillance on potential terrorist targets - with or without secret court approval - and don't have to turn over evidence to the defense....

Why didn't Fitz use this against Scooter Libby?

The reason why the Republicans lost so badly in this election wasn't just because of Sarah - it was because Bush has taken this country and trashed it.

That's why we own Congress and the White House... but it will take years to fix what the Republicans and Bush has trashed - years...

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:42 PM

The moment Bush announced that he was cutting taxes for the rich it was a signal to the financial community that the budget would going to be unbalanced. Wall Street immediately started swindling instead of paying attention to creating capital.

The rest of the world's swindlers got on the bus and they all began driving like maniacs. Even if Greenspan hadn't been cutting interest rates for no reason at all, the stage was set for grand larceny. The banking and insurance deregulations that began with Poppy's administration took care of the rest.

You never look at the big picture because you are blind as a bat.

I had joint custody of my child and she was with me 1/2 the time so no child support necessary.

Now that was bullcrap and you know it. Your kid was there every other weekend. How is that 1/2? And did the judge say she could go to school 1/2 time in Hinckley, 1/2 time where her uncle lived? I think not. You don't even make enough to support yourself, say nothing about a kid. Save that for the gullible troools !

ezworld on December 22, 2008 at 03:49 PM

Can't think of one thing you are thankful for? That's pretty sad. How about offering up one mistake you've made in the last eight years and the lesson you've learned?

The biggest threat to this nation is internal and it's been dealt with by the voters in the last two elections. The NSA should be taking care of any terris problems...and apparently any internal problems, too.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:58 PM

There seem to be a wide variety of them posting here today.

The argument that the GOP's reign has been good for the ongoing protection of the US against further terrorists attacks reminds me of the cartoon from the days of the arms race - when our social infrastructure's programs were being dismantled and the person looks over at a load of tanks and missiles and says "Right! But, whose protecting me from you?!" War is a racket - Mark Twain. It has been a successful way to loot not only the means of production through military industrial contracts, and oil interests, but also in pillaging the taxpayers these last days to help fill the pockets of their cronies before they leave office.

Israeli blockade 'forces Palestinians to search rubbish dumps for food'

* Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
* The Observer, Sunday 21 December 2008

Impoverished Palestinians on the Gaza Strip are being forced to scavenge for food on rubbish dumps to survive as Israel's economic blockade risks causing irreversible damage, according to international observers.

Figures released last week by the UN Relief and Works Agency reveal that the economic blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza in July last year has had a devastating impact on the local population. Large numbers of Palestinians are unable to afford the high prices of food being smuggled through the Hamas-controlled tunnels to the Strip from Egypt and last week were confronted with the suspension of UN food and cash distribution as a result of the siege.

The figures collected by the UN agency show that 51.8% - an "unprecedentedly high" number of Gaza's 1.5 million population - are now living below the poverty line. The agency announced last week that it had been forced to stop distributing food rations to the 750,000 people in need and had also suspended cash distributions to 94,000 of the most disadvantaged who were unable to afford the high prices being asked for smuggled food...

Gunness also expressed concern about the state of Gaza's infrastructure, including its water and sewerage systems, which have not been maintained properly since Israel began blocking shipments of concrete into Gaza, warning of the risk of the spread of communicable diseases both inside and outside of Gaza.

"This is not a humanitarian crisis," he said. "This is a political crisis of choice with dire humanitarian consequences."...

The deteriorating conditions inside Gaza emerged as Tony Blair, Middle East envoy for the Quartet - US, Russia, the UN and the EU - warned explicitly yesterday that Israel's policy of economic blockade, which had been imposed a year and a half ago when Hamas took power on the Gaza Strip, was reinforcing rather than undermining the party's hold on power...

"The present situation is not harming Hamas in Gaza but it is harming the people," Blair said yesterday. Calling for a change in policy over Gaza, he added: "I don't think that the current situation is sustainable; I think most people who would analyse it think the same."...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/21/israel-gaza-strip-middle-east

So we have yet another problem that Bush refused to take a leadership role in solving.

While Condi was playing piano for the Queen, people were rummaging through garbage looking for food? If only Secretary Rice had time to do everything.

Perhaps Hillary Clinton will make time to look into this when she is sworn in as Secretary of State? I bet she makes it a priority.

ezworld on December 22, 2008 at 04:22 PM

A world-wide economic meltdown? A $1.5 trillion bailout of Wall Street and another $600 to 700 billion stimulus package to create jobs that have been lost to outsourcing and to shore up the still deteriorating credit and housing industry? A $11 trillion national debt when Clinton was working off a surplus in 2000?

Now that is one frickin' molehill.

And you want to start another war...already. Who are the lucky bastards this time? Russia has Iran's back so that ones out. I'd also suggest looking someplace other than China's sphere of influence.

P.S. Glad to see the RNC isn't laying anyone off until January 20.

I hope you've been able to squirrel away at least nine months of salary to hold you over. That was the estimate of how long it would take to find another job as of last August before the economic meltdown hit.

Maybe you should get in line at the food pantry now?

bbl.

Have All The Employees Make Japanese Car Manufacturing Wages

So the Tory Royal Republicans want the Whig “We the people” Unions to make what the Japanese workers make. Then in the name of equality have all workers make the same wages, especially the Tory Country Club Wealthy CEO’s. After all it is their mess of Bush Hoover Economics.

The unions need to sue the White House for "We the people" union discrimination of CEO Tory and worker Whigs.

This site is like a Republican screwed up. I get different things on different browsers. On forefox only Saturday loaded, On Explorer Sunday and Monday that did not work.

Four browers and two computers and none of them with the same results. Comments totals are different, and displays are also different.

Seems the Democractic Party is doing some thing in the background.

Wow, it is like one number of comments to another, and log in log out until you reach the magic number, and get the prize. Last one said I had too many submissions with one.

Four browsers and two computers and none of them with the same results. Comments totals are different, and displays are also different.

Seems the Democratic Party is doing some thing in the background.

Question, will it take it?

406
YoungPoet on December 22, 2008 at 05:10 PM

The Sunday & Monday Open Threads have never worked, ergo the ZERO comments listed.

If you are still using IE (for some reason) make sure you have the newest security patch. IE is all screwed up without it.

">http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500756&subSection=Vulnerabilities+and+threats"> Microsoft Issuing Emergency Patch For Internet Explorer

Without the fix, hackers have the potential to access a computer's memory space, causing IE to exit unexpectedly, in a state that can be exploited.

Try again.

Microsoft Issuing Emergency Patch For Internet Explorer

Merry Christmas everyone - even trolls. Anyone know what's up with the blog?

Good evening, all.

It looks like the Baby Boomers are going to have yet another bone to pick with the Republican Party, who insisted that pensions were old fashioned and there was a much better idea...

More U.S. companies cut matching retirement funds under 401(k) plans

By Mary Williams Walsh and Tara Siegel Bernard
Published: December 21, 2008

An employer's contributions to a traditional pension plan cannot be switched on and off at will. U.S. government rules set a firm contribution schedule, with deadlines and penalties for companies that fall behind. Employers also get significant tax and accounting benefits from operating a traditional pension plan, so they tend to think long and hard before freezing such a plan to save money when the economy cools.

In a 401(k) plan, by contrast, the employer has much greater freedom to stop making matching contributions when times are tough. The contributions are normally measured as a percentage of payroll, and the savings from any cuts are realized immediately. That greatly simplifies planning and making changes.

"Every percent you cut is a percent of payroll," Munnell said. "It comes down to the choice of laying people off, or cutting back on some fringe benefits."

Many of the latest 401(k) cutbacks are turning up in industries with obvious financial problems, like the auto industry, health care and newspaper publishing. Industries that depend on free-spending consumers, like resorts and casinos, are also seeing cuts. Often when one company in an industry cuts its benefits others will follow, to keep their labor costs competitive.

General Motors and Ford Motor have both suspended their matching contributions to their salaried employees' 401(k) accounts, although their pension plans for unionized workers are unchanged.

Motorola, struggling to stay competitive, stopped contributions to its 401(k) plan this month and froze its pension plan as well. Other recent cuts have occurred at Resorts International, Vail Resorts and Station Casinos.

In addition to stopping their 401(k) matching contributions, companies have been freezing salaries this autumn, shifting more of the cost of health care to their workers, and laying people off...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/21/business/retire.php?page=2

Just think what the Congressional Republicans and Bush would have done to Social Security. So their fall back position was faith-based retirements?

Hi, marymac.

I think the blog froze last night. Let's hope it thaws out by spring. Did you see Krugman's column this weekend? He was spot on...as usual.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 03:48 PM

Like the party you support, you're in the minority on that one, Sally.

Well, once again, the Pugs prove that they got nuttin'.

More proof that they are bereft of any brains ond just rely on lies to make a point.

Limbaugh’s Crazy Conspiracy Theory: Democrats Started The Economic Crisis To Help Elect Obama

He must have gotten into the Wasilla Oxy stash.

GOP Group In Panic Over Possible Franken Win

The possible, perhaps, impending victory of Al Franken to the Senate has sent GOP officials into a paranoid tizzy.

In an "urgent message" to supporters, the Republican National Lawyer Association accuses Franken and his "liberal allies" of "working feverishingly [sic] to steal the Minnesota Senate election."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/22/gop-group-in-panic-over-p_n_152894.html

It looks like the Baby Boomers are going to have yet another bone to pick with the Republican Party, who insisted that pensions were old fashioned and there was a much better idea...

More U.S. companies cut matching retirement funds under 401(k) plans
==================================================
Hi Sandy, I think most knew that 401K was no substitute for a defined benefit pension.

The "baby boomers" will have a "bone to pick" but the next generation will find it very hard to retire.

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials say they want answers from Russia on whether it is selling advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran. The U.S. insists such a move could threaten American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A senior military intelligence official said Monday the U.S. believes the sale of Russian long-range S-300 missiles is taking place. However, the official said it appears that no equipment has yet been delivered to Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Russia's state arms export agency said Monday it is supplying Iran with defensive weapons, including surface-to-air missiles.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. is seeking clarification from Russia.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Sandy, I think Secretary of State designate Clinton has bigger fish to fry than the Palestinians. This story is the stuff wars are made of.

In Their Own Words: Anatomy Of A Meltdown (SLIDESHOW)

WASHINGTON -- The global financial system was teetering on the edge of collapse when President Bush and his economics team huddled in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for a briefing that, in the words of one participant, "scared the hell out of everybody."

It was Sept. 18. Lehman Brothers had just gone belly-up, overwhelmed by toxic mortgages. Bank of America had swallowed Merrill Lynch in a hastily arranged sale. Two days earlier, Mr. Bush had agreed to pump $85 billion into the failing insurance giant American International Group.

Read the full story or check out the slideshow below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/22/in-their-own-words-anatom_n_152797.html

SandyH on December 22, 2008 at 05:53 PM
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I did not see Dr. Krugman's column - in fact - I haven't seen much news at all since last week. I'm back to working 2 jobs until Wednesday (that is absolutely the last day!) and we moved over Thanksgiving (back into the city - Thank God!) and I've got family coming into town to stay with us the day after Christmas! I don't think I got three hours of sleep in the last three days! Crazy - but I love it!
I'm so much happier in the city - being out in the country has it's up side but I'm more comfortable in the city with my hearing issues.
In any case, do you have a link to Dr. Krugman's column - I would love to read it and anything else that you feel is worthwhile.
By the way, I heard about a job that you can work from home - anywhere in the U.S. Let me know if you would like me to get some info for you.

408
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on December 22, 2008 at 05:40 PM
==================================================

Good old Internet Exploder. Seems like MS runs into these sort of "crisis" every year around the holidays. My advice ... switch to Firefox Version 3. The latest version is actually very stable.

Now, as we survey the wreckage and try to understand how things can have gone so wrong, so fast, the answer is actually quite simple: What we’re looking at now are the consequences of a world gone Madoff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/opinion/19krugman.html?_r=1&hp

Americans once trusted their instincts instead of those who call themselves family-values men. Beware of men who wear their values and fake religious beliefs on their sleeves.

Sinclair Lewis must again be incorporated into the curriculum of every high school English Lit class in America. And that Burt Lancaster "Elmer Gantry" film should be shown to the young who have no idea that this happened once before in our history...and voices spoke out against it and acted to end it.

And let's hope Senator Schumer takes as much note of Krugman's advice as he has of Madoff's greedy villiany. The Obama administration should make it a priority to assist him in writing the critically needed corrective legislation.

301
SandyH on December 21, 2008 at 08:45 PM

Sandy: Sorry - I just got that far 'back' on the blog. Thanks for the post.

bbl

Laissez-Faire Capitalism Should Be as Dead as Soviet Communism

The collapse of Communism as a political system sounded the death knell for Marxism as an ideology. But while laissez-faire capitalism has been a monumental failure in practice, and soundly defeated at the polls, the ideology is still alive and kicking.

The only place you can find an American Marxist these days is teaching a college linguistic theory class. But you can find all manner of free market fundamentalists still on the Senate floor or in Governor's mansions or showing up on TV trying to peddle the deregulation snake oil.

Take Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who went on Face the Nation and, with a straight face, said of the economic meltdown: "Unfortunately, it was allowed to be portrayed that this was a result of deregulation, when in fact it was a result of overregulation."

Or Gov. Mark Sanford, who told Joe Scarborough he was against bailing out the auto industry because it would "threaten the very market-based system that has created the wealth that this country has enjoyed."

If a politician announced he was running on a platform of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" he would be laughed off the stage. That is also the correct response to anyone who continues to make the case that markets do best when left alone.

It's time to drive the final nail into the coffin of laissez-faire capitalism by treating it like the discredited ideology it inarguably is. If not, the Dr. Frankensteins of the right will surely try to revive the monster and send it marauding through our economy once again.

We've only just begun to bury the financially dead, and the free market fundamentalists are already looking to deflect the blame.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/laissez-faire-capitalism_b_152900.html

Milton Friedmanism, which has often given rise to political facism, is every bit as wrong as Marxism. The "best answer" lies somewhere in the middle.

From Krugman's article:

We’re talking about a lot of money here. In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America’s G.D.P., up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing — and it probably was — we’re talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse.

=================================================

Unfortunately, Krugman doesn't go deeper. What does it say about our economy if financial services make up 8% of GDP? I think it says that we are a country that doesn't manufacture enough real products. Instead, we create financial products - some of which is fraudulent.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 22, 2008 at 06:05 PM

Bob,

I don't think you are seeing the forest for the trees here.

Iran would not feel the need to arm itself with a nuclear arsenal if the Palestinian problem was ever resolved with Israel. You seem to dismiss how much the Muslim world anguishes over the fate of the Palestinian refugees. It's grown stronger since Bush invaded Iraq.

They feel we are the key to resolving the situation in Gaza and we are dragging our feet. Starting a war with Russia over Iran would be more than counter productive. Wouldn't it be better to address the root cause of Islamic terrorism instead of looking for other places in the region to weaken our already stretched military?

Israel must make peace with its neighbors. They must start working with the democratically elected government in Gaza. You can't expect the Palestinians to ever bend to the will of foreign powers when it concerns their own internal affairs.

Israel wouldn't do it. Why are the Palestinians supposed to do it? Think about that. You are not looking at both sides. To find an answer to this impasse one must try to be objective.

Besides, Iran is not going to nuke Israel. They know we would annihilate them. They want us to stop the festering wound. Why don't we finally leverage the Israelis to do it if they want our continued support?

While we are putting all our resources in the Middle East, the Chinese and Russians are moving in on our southern flank. That could be a much bigger problem to our national security in the long run.

Many feel he's not conservative enough, even as gays call him prejudiced

Rick Warren is in a place he never expected to be: at the center of a culture war.

The pastor chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the inaugural invocation backed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in his home state of California. But he did so belatedly, with none of the enthusiasm he brings to fighting AIDS and illiteracy.

When other conservative Christians held stadium rallies and raised tens of millions of dollars for the ballot effort, there was no sign of Warren. Neither he nor his wife, Kay, donated any of their considerable fortune to the campaign, according to public records and the Warrens' spokesman.

In fact, his endorsement seemed calculated for minimal impact. It was announced late on a Friday, just 10 days before Election Day, on a Web site geared for members of his Saddleback Community Church, not the general public...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28354114/

This is a very good non-partisan article about Pastor Warren. Take five minutes and read this.

marymac_memphis on December 22, 2008 at 06:08 PM

mary,

Looks like you found Krugman's article. This country has indeed gone Madoff.

When the people running the country care only about money, you're going to have a lot of crooks running wild. And the people will follow the lead of their government even against their better judgment.

Greed is destructive to the soul as well as capitalism. Some many bright young talents were wasted in the last decades gambling away the future instead of creating something of worth.

I've been working from home for years. Contract work has its ups and downs. In this economy it's all down.

rjsnj on December 22, 2008 at 06:35 PM

rj,

It got to the point that they had computers creating these so called financial products. Nobody including the analysts understood what was going on...in the mind of the computer or in the markets. It was all theoretic and just like the junk bonds created in the 1980's designed to be temporary.

No wonder the crooks could manipulate conditions to their favor and move out before anyone knew what was going on. Deregulation insured that outcome. The Republicans knew exactly what they were doing. Voodoo economic is just white collar crime.

SandyH on December 22, 2008 at 06:45 PM

My good friend and colleague, this is one of those topics you and I have to agree to disagree on however, I always appreciate the debate and hope others find it useful.

Iran would arm itself with anything it can get its hands on becuase they are itching to become a world player. IMHO, they're power hungry and they see a vacuum developing because of the mismanagement of the Bush Administration. Just listen to Iran's rhetoric. They have made it clear, many, many times, that it is their goal to eradicate Israel. Certainly you wouldn't advocate ignoring that. That would be as bad as ignoring PDB's or reading a children's book while terrorists are driving planes into U.S. landmarks.

We agree that the Palestinian issue is the lynchpin to Middle East peace. But it will not be accomplished in the last year of a POTUS' term as Clinton and Bush 43 tried.

The onus of making peace should not be on Israel but, on the Palestinians. The Israelis did not start the 1967 or the 1973 wars nor have they been lobbing rockets over the Palestinian border nor sending suicide bombers into Gaza. The peace process must be entered into equally or it is destined for failure yet again.

And we firmly agree that the Chinese and the Russians, while we are stuck in the quagmire of Iraq, have been making significant inroads into South America. If we were smart, we'd get back into building good, working relationships with our South American neighbors lest we wake up on 1JAN20, or thereabouts, and find the whole darn continent has been bought, sold, or otherwise taken over by the Communists in China or the quasi-Communists in Russia.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year.

While Bush himself didn't fare nearly as well, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raked in at least $316,000 in gem-encrusted baubles from the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia alone, making her one of top recipients among U.S. officials of gifts from foreign heads of state and government and their aides in 2007.

Unfortunately for the Bushes, Rice and other recipients, they won't be able to enjoy the gifts as they have been turned over to the General Services Administration and government archives in accordance with federal law, which bars officials from accepting personal presents in almost all circumstances...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28354321/

It makes one wonder how many of these gifts aren't recorded.

Screw far leftist's asshats!!!!

Screw far rightie asshats!!!!!!!!!

The Republicans knew exactly what they were doing. Voodoo economic is just white collar crime.
426
SandyH on December 22, 2008 at 07:02 PM
====================================================
Sandy, it's Milton Friedmanism gone wild. How many more economies and nations need to be wrecked by Milton Friedman economics before our politicos admit that it doesn't work?

Screw everybody that is not in the middle of the road, that is where are President elect Resides.

All you folks that are arguing from one side to the other is wondering in space.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 22, 2008 at 07:11 PM

Let's see, who was in control of the Congress in 2003? That would've been the 108th Congress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108th_Congress

Y'all can duck, dodge, and attempt to rewrite history all you want. It will not work. The Bush-Republican Recession of 2008 is the direct result of deregulation started as far back as Reagan, and GOP economic policy of giving all of the significant tax breaks to the top 2% who, in turn, when into a specualting frenzy that send prices on everything from oil to navy beans on a roller coaster ride that has yet to play out.

Y'all did this and that is why you find yourselves in the minority. And we Democrats will keep reminding the sheeple of this for as long as we have to. And once the economy recovers, it will be on our watch and we Democrats will control the Congress for another forty year stretch as we did in the middle part of the 20th century.

The onus of making peace should not be on Israel but, on the Palestinians. The Israelis did not start the 1967 or the 1973 wars nor have they been lobbing rockets over the Palestinian border nor sending suicide bombers into Gaza. The peace process must be entered into equally or it is destined for failure yet again.
================================================
Bob, don't you think that's just a bit unrealistic? The Palestinians are walled in. They have no leverage to start the peace process. The Palestinians didn't start the 1967, 1973 wars - Egypt and Syria did that. The Palestinians were fall out from the re-drawn borders.

There is fault on both sides. Hamas is destructive while the right wing Israeli just don't want to make enough meaningful compromises.

Merry Christmas and\or Happy Holidays my fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

Screw Regan and his voodoo economics, and the horse he rode in on, it has never worked and never will. Trickle down economics is for the birds.

Screw Ronald Regan, and his wife Nancy, voodoo economics will never work.

Ronald Regan was a suck ass actor, and a worst president, why do people keep praising this failure?

Regan was nothing but a Pug Prick, and that's the end of that story.

The auto industry was put thur hoops, and loops to get 15 billion dollars, to save 3 million jobs. And the banks got 185 billion, and one insureance company got 150 billion, AIG and didn't get put thur hoops and loops.

Whats wrong with this bunch of B/S?

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 07:45 PM

I know that Regan was you all's hero, but that motherfucker destoyed this country.

BobVADemocratHawk on December 22, 2008 at 06:51 PM

Bob,

Thanks for the link to that article. I've often wondered how these big box churches grew so fast. I suspected that they were using modern marketing techniques in addition to on-air programming.

I assume his church like all others in this country try to help others in the community. I just get upset when they make so much money and start looking for new places to spend it.

This small reference in the article disturbs me:

The pilot project for this effort began in 2005 in Rwanda, which has been dubbed the first "purpose-driven nation."

Why is an American religious leader getting involved in nation building? A lot of these evangelicals seem to be doing it in Africa now. It's meddling in other cultures as well as infusing money in places where it could blow up and become a problem for our military someday.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that they want to help and that they believe that God wants them to do it. But when they grow to the size of a private army and begin setting up model societies, you have to figure someone is losing sight of that shoeless man from Galilee.

I personally don't see anything wrong with Warren giving a pray at the inauguration. He just better not make it about denying gays or anyone else basic human rights. But I assume he never had any intention to do that.

And I assume Obama was just reaching back to someone who reached out to him. You need to build coalitions with diverse areas of the population to get anything done politically. We’re really going to need all the support we can get to push through our middle class and alternative fuels agenda.

It’s clear from the article that Warren isn’t the Catholic Church nor is he Donald Trump. And he may not be the most tolerant person on the American religious scene either, but he seems to be trying a little harder than some of the others within the evangelical crowd.

I’ll tolerate him like I always tolerate religious people who offer blessings at these public events. They have become a tradition within our culture.

That being said, I’m not sure how I’d feel about this if I was gay. We shouldn’t be making anyone feel uncomfortable at a festive occasion.

Sally-* on December 22, 2008 at 07:52 PM

Yeah, she's already showing signs of dementia.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 22, 2008 at 07:11 PM

They were only suggesting accounting changes that would make it even easier to cook the books. We have discussed this time and time again. Nobody accepts anything you say as gospel. You Republians lie to cover your lies. Your chose the name, Evil, for Jiminy sake.

Pug, Deregulation, has got nothing to do with a (Capitalist Society). It means that crooks like Bernie, and Enron, and World Com is getting a free ride to scam working Americans, of there little bit of monies, that they are trying to do it the right way!

In other words it is not a level playing field, the rich think that they are superior, to the working folks, and think that they can scam them with not questions asked.

The rich get exuberant monies, to do nothing, but that is not enough for them, they want to rob the poor, to enrich themselves even more.

I say its time for the poor and the middle class to not buy nothing but necessities for about three years, and bring these mother's to there knees.

Sally you must drinking the sap out of your Maple trees, I'm not on the sauce, but maybe i should be to carry on a civilized conversation with you!!!!!

I always suspected you were Dusty. Thanks for proving it.

387SandyH on December 22, 2008 at 03:39 PM

me too. I liked it when they both posted double posts because s* runs with more than one browser open when he haunts here.

Just listen to Iran's rhetoric. They have made it clear, many, many times, that it is their goal to eradicate Israel. Certainly you wouldn't advocate ignoring that.

427
BobVADemocratHawk on December 22, 2008 at 07:10 PM

Bob,

Remember Bush calling Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the Axis of Evil? The nutjob in Iran is employing the same sort of rhetoric as our nutjob did. You don't start nuclear wars over rhetoric.

I don't think the Palestinians have had any power much less money to start wars with Israel over the past 50 years. It was the Islamic relatives in the neighborhood how attacked Israel. Hamas went political and won an election. I see that as a sign they want to negotiate. Bush decided to ignore it.

I guess we will just have to disagree on this, my old friend. But I know we both want to see Israel secure and Palestine a peaceful state.

Good night good Dems, and a ("Very MERRY CHRISTMAS") and a ("HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL")

I'll talk to you all after the new year, I'm looking for inauguration day, to really enjoy the new year.

Evening all good Dems,

This is an interesting article.

"The results of this freedom are evident. According to the book How the Great Religions Began, over two hundred denominations of Christianity exist in the United States. Clearly the outcry would be deafening if the followers of the most popular form of Christianity possessed the power to ban all others.

Yet today many of the minority sects of Christianity—that might not even exist if America had been created as a pure democracy—are hypocritically promoting the idea of “majority rule” when it comes to another fundamental right—the right to marry. This was in evidence during the November 2008 election, when many religious organizations in California successfully campaigned for the passage of “Proposition Eight.”

“Proposition Eight” banned same-sex marriages, which had been legal in California, via a constitutional amendment. But, in a paradox that is nonetheless true, this constitutional ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional."

More.....................

California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional

esme......what's the story with #3 ???

Hi, Essie.

How is your daughter doing? Has that grandbaby made her first appearance? I seem to have lost the capability to see half the posts made today.

I think sally* is more than one person...plus all its aliases. You'd think the RNC would use their collective genius solving national problems instead of playing games on the internet. The interns seem to be hitting the bottle pretty hard this holiday season?

("HELLO") Sally, global warming is real, take off your foil hat and wake up!!!!

Its 77 degrees where i live, and it should be in the 40's this time of the year.

In honor of President-Elect Obama calling the IL Gov situation "frustrating" today, here's my post from yesterday when I pointed out the same thing, only much less Presidential:

So Jesse Jackson Jr was an FBI informant on Blago for years? Why didn't they indict Blago before? After all this time, you would think that an indictment is easy, and he wouldn't need a criminal complaint... that earned a $4,500 bond?

It's being reported that Fitz told Obama NOT to comment on the "criminal complaint." However, the MSM is running around saying Obama has answering to do. That's real fair... make someone stay silent while the MSM questions his character and ethics. I don't like it one bit. Tie someone's hand while they are being attacked in the WORLD media? I don't think that's justice or ethical.

Fitz needs to come out in a HUGE press conference and say President-Elect Obama and Rep Jackson are in NO way a target of this investigation, and are likely victims of Blago's shinanigans.

3 Big_Yellow_Dog on December 18, 2008 at 1:28am

Low and behold,

All the panelists on Lou Dobbs, including Republican big whig Ed Rollins, just said the Fitzgerald owes Rahm an apology. I agree.

I have said since the "breaking" moments that this case was being tried in the media, and that's wrong for justice. I said it was not about justice, but a P.R. attack campaign designed for maximum exposure. I said Fitzgerald was running a circus, unlike the hush-hush charges against Scooter. I said it was a well-planned media stunt to make ALL Illinois Democrats look bad.

I agree with Ed Rollins. Fitzgerald has a lot of apologizing to do.

Furthermore, Fitz should apologize to ALL Illinoisans for what he said about the Great State of Illinois. IMO, Fitz has lost all integrity.

Gotta run!

Sally here is my zip code, 31750 check out the weather here, its going to be 77 on Christmas, this is not normal. Far from it. Don't just judge global warming from where you live in the coldest state, or one of the coldest, states in the country. ("HELLO")

Johne on December 22, 2008 at 08:23 PM

Johne,

I can't for the life of me understand what these churches are so frightened of. They have this overwhelming contempt for people who do not wish them any harm. I think there must be a lot of latent homosexuality among some of these sects. They can't face it, so they lash out against those who accept their orientation publicly?

As far as I'm concerned if two people come together in an affirmation of God's love and want to share a life together in marriage, we should afford them the same respect we do all others couples.

But I guess that's to simple for some people.

("MERRY CHRISTMAS"), and a ("HAPPY PROSPEROUSOS NEW YEAR") TO YOU SANDY H")

sissaroo (willow claire) was born today @ 11:17 a.m. two pushes! haha (epidural didn't take, real pain...bird said it helped knowing the time to push and just how hard) 7 lbs 4 oz. 21 inches long (I typed the wrong length in a picture I sent out) black hair, blue eyes (for now) looks like his sister, not like bella did (who looks like bird)

bird doing great! she will be back in her size 4 before her birthday on Jan. 1. lucky bird.

they always called my mom sissaroo. it fits so well.

I drink from my saucer.

Big_Yellow_Dog on December 22, 2008 at 08:32 PM

BYD,

I've hear what you've been saying...until we find out all the facts nobody should be jumping to any conclusions.

I didn't understand either the haste with which this thing unfolded outside of what Fitz said...that a crime was about to be committed and he by law had to inform the police. Why he had this big press conference to do it is another matter.

Don't look for any apologies from the Feds. And don't challenge them like Blago did. I think that might have been what triggered this whole episode...Blago saying at his press conference that anyone can wiretap him; he's never said anything that could be considered criminal. Right.

Obama saw which way the wind was blowing and wisely decided to do what Fitz told him. You need to cooperate with law enforcement. They always have the upper hand until you get into court.

I've got to log off, too.

Good night, all.

Merry Christmas, BOB

Merry Christmas, Sandy

Merry Christmas Gregg

Merry Christmas GreggL

Merry Christmas PamB

Merry Christmas MaryMac

Merry Christmas Doo Bee

Merry Christmas Johne

Merry Christmas Jacqueline

Merry Christmas Big Yellow Dog

Merry Christmas Sally

Merry Christmas Burd

Merry Christmas Swirley

Merry Christmas Cactus

Merry Christmas News Junkie

--------------------------------------------------

And i know that i have forgot several!!!

But Merry Christmas, and have a happy prosperous New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to Chassie and to all a good night.

Essie,

Your girl did good.

Evening Chassie and Sandy,

The weather has gone nuts. Here in NM it is warmer than normal too. Our son in San Antonio said it was 80 yesterday.

It appears that global warmning is close to the tipping point. Thank goodness that scalia didn't appoint the dink and dinkess to the presidency. Nothing would be done about it for another eight years.

They interviewed the governator on 60 Minutes last night. I didn't realize but those bas-tard CEO's from detroit sued California to prevent them from imnposing stringent mileage standards on their companies. These are the same assholes we lent billions of dollars. Fortunately they were shot down in Federal court by "activist" judges.

When is this oil company bullshit going to end? The governator is very strongly in favor of stamping out global warming.

Merry Christmas & the most Happiest of New Year to you and yours, Marvin.

8 degrees now, going to be in the 30's tomorrow and into the 50's on Christmas

I drink from my saucer.

462Esmeralda on December 22, 2008 at 08:46 PM

Jacq, isn't life great, I'm so proud for you, give your daughter a hug for me, and tel her I'm proud of her.

The Lord has blessed you and yours, thats so grand!!

Schwarzenegger was the one responsible for using his own money to develop the Hummer for GM after the military said it was impossible. Since then he has found religion and has spent his own money to develop a hybrid version which he was cruising in with the guy from 60 Minutes. This guy is really into stamping out global warming.

Screw far leftist's asshats!!!!
430
chassie on December 22, 2008 at 07:19 PM

Screw far rightie asshats!!!!!!!!!
431
chassie on December 22, 2008 at 07:21 PM

Covering your bases, eh? Careful chassie, you'll earn the wrath of many on here.

Thanks Jacqueline, I sincerely appreciate the flowers.

Sally here is my zip code, 31750 check out the weather here, its going to be 77 on Christmas, this is not normal. Far from it. Don't just judge global warming from where you live in the coldest state, or one of the coldest, states in the country. ("HELLO")
459
chassie

The average high for December in your area is in the upper 60s. 77 isn't that out of line. Remember, "average" isn't records.

Most of the United States in in a deep freeze. Don't kid yourself, the wheels are wobbling badly on the global warming wagon.

it's been a long day. I'm so glad these babies are finally here! maybe I'll sleep through the nights now.

I have a lot to teach my loverlies. dancing in our jammies sounds like a good start. (bella has that one down)

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

- John 1:9-13

enjoy the evening, everyone.

472SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 22, 2008 at 09:03 PM

("MERRY CHRISTMAS") and a ("HAPPY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR") Swirly!!

Evening Essie,

I can't believe it is so cold. It was snowing in Portland, Oregon today which hasn't happened in a very long time. It's 36 right now and the cells appear to be moving northeast and appear to be passing just north of ABQ.

This weather is really strange.

congrats, grandma!

everyone healthy! what more can you ask for!

merry christmas!

Schwarzenegger... This guy is really into stamping out global warming.
471
Johne

Hahaha. You idiots are so gullible. Yeah, Arnold is a real green guy. So is Al Gore, just ask him. Better hurry though, he's a guy who knows where the action is.

Whether it's crisscrossing the world in his private jet or riding in a long motorcade of SUVs with his entourage on his way from one 5-star hotel to another or taking over half of the seating of an expensive restaurant where he's stuffing his fat face with top of the menu foods and top dollar champagne, Al's aura is just screaming frugal lifestyle.

This weather is really strange.
477
Johne

Sure is Johne. It's global warming!!!

Just bundle up and go outside to check your thermometer. Take a hammer with you, you might have to break the ice off it so it gives you a more accurate reading.

HOTTER THAN A DIME STORE PISTOL!!!

Congratulations Essie. You are going to have a joyous Christmas.

All Trolls should be nice until January the 1st, don't you people have any goodness, in your souls?

Night, Dems..............

blog ya tomorrow.

Night Dems

Blog you all after the new year.

I'm goin fishin with the Grands.

Later.

Screw Detroit and the money grubbing oil companies.

Tesla to Build the “Model S” Electric Sedan Back in California

All Trolls should be nice until January the 1st, don't you people have any goodness, in your souls?
482
chassie

Screw Detroit and the money grubbing oil companies.
485
Johne

Ya hear that Johne? Take you laxatives before bed tonight and rid yourself of that shitty attitude by morning!!!

sally is out of control.

Weird hairy females seduce hot-blooded Caucasian men

Screw Detroit and the money grubbing oil companies.

Tesla to Build the “Model S” Electric Sedan Back in California
485
Johne

Tesla Model S On June 30 2008 Tesla Motors announced that the electric car formerly known by its codename, WhiteStar, will be a sedan known as the Model S.[1] It will cost approximately $60,000>/B? and have a range of 225 miles (362 km) per charge.

Right Jonhne, just what a mother of 4 kids needs to run them to soccer practice and grab 8 bags of groceries. That is if she had any money left to buy food after spending $60 effin' thousand dollars on an electric sports car.

Tell us Johne, just what color is the sky in your world?

Weird hairy females seduce hot-blooded Caucasian men
Johne

I guess that leaves DoPeyD out of the running.

wow poor green bay. they really stink. blew a lead and lost in ot to chicago...what a pity.

holy cow this is an interesting addition to the johnston-palin clan!!

http://static1.firedoglake.com/1/files//2008/12/mavpalin1.jpg

I want my money back. All that hard earned geld sent in to the DNC and this is the best that can do???

I wonder what she's hiding? Certainly not her voting records (not much there to work with) or her political experience (not a whole lot there either).

I think she'd make a fine senator.

a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/nyregion/23kennedy.html?em">Kennedy Declines to Make Financial Disclosure

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: December 22, 2008

If she were applying to be, say, an undersecretary of education in Barack Obama’s new administration, Caroline Kennedy would have to fill out a 63-item confidential questionnaire disclosing potentially embarrassing text messages and diary entries, the immigration status of her household staff, even copies of every résumé she used in the last 10 years.

If she were running for election to the Senate, Ms. Kennedy would have to file a 10-part, publicly available report disclosing her financial assets, credit card debts, mortgages, book deals and the sources of any payments greater than $5,000 in the last three years.

But Ms. Kennedy, who has asked Gov. David A. Paterson to appoint her to succeed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton — and who helped oversee the vetting process for Mr. Obama’s possible running mates — is declining to provide a variety of basic data, including companies she has a stake in and whether she has ever been charged with a crime.

Ms. Kennedy declined on Monday to reply to those and other questions posed by The New York Times about any potential ethical, legal and financial entanglements. Through a spokesman, she said she would not disclose that kind of information unless and until she becomes a senator.

“If Governor Paterson were to choose Caroline, she would, of course, comply with all disclosure requirements,” said the spokesman, Stefan Friedman.

Mr. Paterson’s office said his choice for the Senate would undergo the same background check as any cabinet-level officer in Albany, including verification of employment and education, a review of tax returns, and a criminal background check by the State Police. The governor’s vetting process drew criticism this fall when it surfaced that his top aide at the time, Charles O’Byrne, had failed to pay income taxes for five years. The Paterson administration has since said it is requiring more extensive background checks.

The Senate’s self-imposed ethics rules do not require any disclosure by potential appointees, although sitting senators are required to file financial disclosure statements by May 15 each year. (The latest filing by Ms. Kennedy’s uncle, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, showed a net worth of at least $43.8 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which ranked him the seventh richest senator.)

But several ethics experts, good-government advocates and scholars, who called Ms. Kennedy’s situation highly unusual — because of her overt pursuit of the job, her celebrity and her lack of previous political experience — urged her to reveal information on her finances now, if only for appearances’ sake.

Ms. Kennedy made headlines around the world last week after alerting the governor that she wanted the job. She then began a public tour, meeting with political leaders around the state, and quickly cemented herself as the dominant contender for the seat.

“Precisely because there is no campaign or election, she should be more willing to disclose and subject herself to a greater level of public scrutiny than is required,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a nonpartisan watchdog group. He noted that other major contenders for the Senate seat — officeholders like the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and Representative Kirsten Gillibrand — have mounted runs for office and filed public disclosures before.

Others wonder if Ms. Kennedy’s unwillingness to disclose personal information suggests she lacks the stomach for the kind of intrusive questions that could come her way as a candidate in 2010.

“If this were an open primary, and all the people seeking that position had to run, she’d have to make all those disclosures, so why not in the appointment process?” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a watchdog group that lobbies for tighter ethics rules. “She can’t simply ride in on her name recognition or place in history. The voters and people of New York deserve that full disclosure.”

Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, another watchdog group, warned that requiring financial disclosure by “anyone who is speculated about” for such a vacancy could be untenable. “I would think it would be up to her,” he said. But he called Ms. Kennedy’s campaign for the appointment “kind of unique.”

So far, on her tour, Ms. Kennedy has taken just 11 questions from reporters, has granted no interviews, and responded only in writing to inquiries about her positions on significant issues.

“She needs to deepen the public’s idea of who she is,” said Paul Light, a professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. “To the extent she can be more transparent, she dispels the notion that it’s all about her name. We obviously know that she’s quite wealthy, but beyond that, we don’t know much about where she gets her income, how she’s invested, whether she has followed her own principles in her investing activities, and so forth. That would be very useful to know.”

Ms. Kennedy also has not had to disclose the names and salaries of the people working for her in her bid for the appointment. Lawyers have assured her that federal campaign-finance rules do not apply in this situation, her aides have said.

Ms. Kennedy also avoided disclosing any information about her finances while working as chief fund-raiser for the New York City Department of Education. She took the three-day-a-week job — director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships — in October 2002 at $1 a year, intending at the time to step up to a $90,000-a-year salary, but she later decided to forgo the salary. Taking it would have required her to file disclosures with the city’s Conflicts of Interests Board, officials said.

Since then, Ms. Kennedy has been a vice chairwoman of the Fund for Public Schools, the nonprofit arm of the strategic partnerships office. A 2006 state law required that the board members of all nonprofits “affiliated, sponsored by or created by” a city government submit detailed disclosure forms. But on Dec. 10, the city told an Assembly committee that the Fund for Public Schools would be exempt from the law, reasoning that the Department of Education is, legally speaking, a school district, not a city agency — even though the mayor has control over the schools.

The upshot: Ms. Kennedy, for now, is not subject to those disclosure rules, either.

morning Dems.

Wouldn't this be so sweet, and another Christmas Present for us????

MINNEAPOLIS – With the state Canvassing Board ready to award the last pile of votes in Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount, Democrat Al Franken clung to a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. The final count, however, showed no sign of being settled soon.

On Tuesday, the board was scheduled to award votes from a remaining group of about 5,000 challenges that had been withdrawn by both campaigns. Based on a draft report released late Monday by the secretary of state's office, Franken will have earned 48 more votes than Coleman once those votes are allotted.

Franken's 48-vote edge fell in line with a prediction issued by his campaign over the weekend, when attorney Marc Elias forecast that the Democrat would end up with a lead of 35 to 50 votes"!

those poor fiscally irresponsible Republicans just do not know how to run a country, do they? This won't be the first time we have had to clean up their mess!

White House acknowledges leaving massive deficit

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President George W. Bush's administration acknowledged Monday that it would leave behind a massive budget deficit but could not say whether it would exceed one trillion dollars.

"The size of the budget deficit, whatever the number is, I can't predict whether it's going to be a trillion or something less than that," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Fratto said it would be a "very significant number."

He was commenting on a warning by vice president-elect Joseph Biden at the weekend that the incoming administration of Barack Obama could inherit a deficit exceeding a trillion dollars, the largest in US history.

The deficit hit 455 billion for the fiscal year that ended September 2008.

Fratto said that the burgeoning deficit stemmed from recession caused by financial turmoil fuelled by a home mortgage meltdown.

"And I think it's going to reflect two things. One is the downturn in the economy and the slowing of receipts coming into the federal government. It's also going to reflect the large increase in spending over the short term to deal with the financial crisis," Fratto said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081222/pl_afp/financeeconomyusbudget

(nothing to do with the Iraqi occupation, and 9/11 btw, like a lot of easily led Republicans like to cling to. No, just all mismanagement.)

hmmmmmm, I wonder if this could be the reason we have not caught Bin Laden yet, nor even seem to give a shit if we do or not! Ricey getting nice gifts from the Saudis it looks like! Isn't that a conflict of interest?

WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year. While Bush himself didn't fare nearly as well, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raked in at least $316,000 in gem-encrusted baubles from the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia alone, making her one of top recipients among U.S. officials of gifts from foreign heads of state and government and their aides in 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081223/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_gifts

Looks like we landed one more seat, Dems.......

:)

Perriello emerges from Va. recount

Democrat Tom Perriello was confirmed Wednesday as the winner in his race against Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.), as the recount in their race concluded

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/perriello-emerges-from-va.-recount-2008-12-17.html

"Washington, D.C. - On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible is currently part of the collections of the Library of Congress. Though there is no constitutional requirement for the use of a Bible during the swearing-in, Presidents have traditionally used Bibles for the ceremony, choosing a volume with personal or historical significance. President-elect Obama will be the first President sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its initial use in 1861.

'President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in,' said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau. 'The President-elect is committed to holding an Inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage.' "
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16813.html

"(CNN) — Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s biggest mistake of the presidential campaign: not enough time with the media, the Alaska governor said in an interview published Monday...

“I was not allowed to do very many interviews, and the interviews that I did were not necessarily those I would have chosen. But I was so thankful to have the opportunity to run with John McCain that I was not going to argue with the strategy decisions that some of his people were making regarding the media contacts..."

this is one funny bimbo...yup if she had just done some more interviews obama might have won 420 electoral votes! and i love the way she tries to slip the knife in mccain...what a babe! hey has that grandbaby been a born yet?? and how is the mudda in law doin?

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has been a major source of the Bush administration’s extreme neoconservative thought. AEI is the home, or former home, of Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Dick Cheney, John Bolton, and Doug Feith. With the help of Fred Kagan, AEI designed the Iraq “surge” strategy that Bush implemented in January 2007.

Today, AEI may be moving away from eight years of cheerleading for Bush policies. The National Interest reported Friday that there is a “purge” of neocons at AEI:

The neocon world has been rocked by recent events at AEI. Numerous neocons told me that a vicious purge is being carried out at AEI, spearheaded by vice-president for foreign and defense policy studies, Danielle Pletka.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/22/neoconservatives-aei/#comments

The Purge is working alright !!!

Morning Pam,

I can't believe the weather here. Weatherbug says it is supposed to be 20 degrees in ABQ. It is actually 44 degrees. They are way off base. The storm cells are moving northeast missing ABQ and blasting Santa Fe and points north and east.

This is turning out to be a very unusual winter. I hope you folks in the northeast can hold out without to much more extreme global warming caused weather.

I now know why our our only local clear channel radio station has nothing but asshat neocons like his limpness, hannity, cunningham and savage.

hannity owns the all. No wonder we have nothing but right-wing extremist viewpoints on the radio in ABQ.
We do have one progressive station which manages to hang on.

BRING BACK THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE AND ENFORCE IT TO THE HILT!

Go Franken!!!!!!!!!

Kick ass and take names.

ahahahahahahaha. It always comes back to Clinton, doesn't it???? You pathetic jerk, I'll see your three, and raise you 150 !!!

http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2005/11/republican-criminals.html

http://www.armchairsubversive.org/

http://hackenbush.org/hackenblog/blogives/00002689.htm

http://recoveringliberal.com/?p=593

http://www.republicancorruption.com/

http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/gopcorruption.html

http://senate2008guru.blogspot.com/2007/08/republican-culture-of-corruption-2007.html

pay attention to those involved with perverted, dirty sex scandals ! those family value men!
LMAO!

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october172007/repub_scandals_10_17_07.php

Morning Johne.

As Gregg will attest, a cold morning here in the Northeast, but not like some December Winters I remember in the past.

Over a 30 year period, one can certainly see the difference the warming has done to our planet.

ahhhh, you must thank goodness there are still a few Right Wing nut case websites around so you can scrounge up this nonsense! no links? hmmmmmm, too ashamed, I guess.

NOTE, if you check into Redstate, little green, FreeReublic, etc, you will see almost NO comments anymore. The last of the mentally ill have just given up! WE WON ! they lost! They lost Big!!!!!

Makes me smile and smile and smile !!!

In northern California I began to see the climate change in very subtle ways starting in the 1970's.

San Francisco started getting warmer in the summer whereas they used to have heavy fog most of the summer. It was a sort of natural air conditioning.

Governor Schwarzenegger was saying on 60 Minutes Sunday that Los Angeles used to have bad fires only during certain times of the year. Now it is all year.

I wonder what kind of death bed confessions bush and cheney will make when they croak someday? It will be interesting.

cheney has been admitting to his dastardly deeds lately. Maybe he will confess to setting up the 9/11 attacks and his lying about Iraq and everything else he has ever done.

That CIA guy confessed to having the Kennedy's and King killed. He will pay in hell for eternity just like all bushes and all cheneys will when they go south.

With global warming I'll bet hell is even hotter than usual.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

ETERNAL DAMNATION is bush's legacy.

The co-pedophile who filled in for limpballs yesterday stated that saint raygun is the best president we ever had.

GGAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

What a loser.

this year i came back to believing in god, santa claus, the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and that it oftens rains cats and dogs and here is why...only a universe that contains such realities could have brought me that sweet babe sarah palin to destroy john mcbush and the pelican party...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzXLYA_e6E&feature=channel

Trying to figure out what is going on with global warming by examining the weather of one winter in Cowtown Minnesota is like trying to figure out if you have a brain tumor by studying your recently clipped toe nail.

things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael Connell, the Bush IT expert who has been directly implicated in the rigging of George Bush's 2000 and 2004 elections, was killed last night when his single engine plane crashed three miles short of the Akron airport. Velvet Revolution ("VR"), a non-profit that has been investigating Mr. Connell's activities for the past two years, can now reveal that a person close to Mr. Connell has recently been discussing with a VR investigator how he can tell all about his work for George Bush. Mr. Connell told a close associate that he was afraid that George Bush and Dick Cheney would "throw under the bus."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3656747

i get a kick out of the only german in germany, who refutes glabal warming. it must kill him to pay taxes to fix it!!! ;)

there is a hilarious piece at the wall street journal that compares sarah to margaret thatcher...given that ms. t is totally bonkers and has now made at least seventy trips aboard klaatu's spaceship this seems right on!

I hear that the Burd's Mother gave the bride to be a lovely Road-kill hat she made herself on the wedding day! And impressed the German crowd with pictures of her beer can collection! What a gal! God bless her!

Good morning, all!

HAPPY FESTIVUS! We now start with the "airing of grievances".

Now here is MORE of Bush idiocy ! So when the terrorists get ahold of these, don't blame Obama !!!

News our own media neglects to print so the public can see who the real terrorist in the world is ! George W. Bush

Bush Pushes Persian Gulf Nuclear Agreement
Tuesday 23 December 2008

»
by: Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor

But critics say the US should go slowly on a deal that would help an ally of Iran.

Washington - The Bush administration is quietly advancing a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raising concerns in Congress and among nonproliferation experts about the deal's repercussions in a volatile region.

The deal to provide the small but strategically located country with the means to generate electricity through nuclear technology could be signed by President Bush before he leaves office, thus making the accord - similar to the much higher profile nuclear pact the administration reached with India - part of his legacy
http://www.truthout.org/122308M

Another ChimpCo success story!

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of existing homes plunged 8.6% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million, from a revised 4.91 million rate in October, according to the National Association of Realtors.

It was the slowest pace in nearly 18 years.

New and existing home sales fall again in November

Heck of a job, Chimpy! You dragged us all the way back to the bad old days of when your old man was stinking up the joint and your brother was robbing S & Ls.

Coleslaw fired his last magic bullet and missed. The MN Canvassing Board shot him down and Franken's lead holds. Next and possibly final meeting will be on 12-30-08. Then the whiney assed jerk will probably start a whole slew of Court challenges.

Coleman Camp Launches Last-Minute Effort To Undo Franken's 48-Vote Lead

It's nice to see that the blog is in good working order. It would be nice to give the appearance that the Democratic Party has got it together. How many months now has this blog been broken?

Geesh!

dpd, who gets to participate in the feats of strenght this year?? mcbush, sarah, rush???

sally get to work at torro and get off
thier computer

gee franken is winning. how could this be?

If we look back and see only a worse-than-normal recession, then the Bush legacy will depend on the future of Iraq, and its role in smoothing out the Middle East. In the best-case scenario, Bush will have been a good -- maybe even a great -- president.

550Sally-* on December 23, 2008 at 03:05 PM

hahahahahhahahahahahaha. Dream on, old man.

didn't even have the guts to post the link to the crazy old idiot that wrote that one. I just watched a Republican analyst on TV answer that question, about Bush's legacy, and he said because of ALL the mistakes, all the crimes they committed, the economy that was lousy the entire time, people's low morale due to gas prices, etc, that he will not be judged kindly! And I shall be around a long time to keep reminding everyone of every single stinking thing they did !!! environment, no stem cell, Katrina, their low approval ratings in low 20's, I think Cheney at 8%! You betcha your old ass, History will not be kind to this Evil Administration !

Well, I'm back. I went downtown with a friend who, after 19 years at the same job, was told she has to go to her County of birth in order to produce a birth certificate before she goes back to work in January after her vacation. She has 6 weeks of vacation time and NOW they want to see if she if she was born?

Pam, that BS fest came from some clown at the AEI as part of the "Rewrite Chimpy's Legacy" tour.

Matt Yglesias sums it up thus:

This is like saying that except for the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover had a good economic record. … Nine or so months later by far the largest terrorist attack on American soil was perpetrated. That’s a fantastically enormous failing. If you only look at Bush’s final seven years, you’ll see that he was as good as every other president at preventing terrorist attacks. And if you include his entire presidency, you’ll see that he was by far the worst.

AEI Scholar: ‘Bush’s Legacy May End Up Better Than You Think’

No matter how much lipstick they trowel on that pig's ass he will ALWAYS be known as "Chimpy, WORST PRESIDENT EVER!"

bush the worst president in history behind regan

bush is as bad as nixon and as criminal

sally like pig name sarah plain

anybody here but trolls

Good evening fellow Democrats.

Sally-* on December 23, 2008 at 05:14 PM

You keep telling yourself that. I was never a big fan of President Carter however, I'll take his administration over President Bush any day of the week. Furthermore, had we listened to President Carter's energy proposals, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now in relying on foreigners for 70% of our annual oil consumption. Maybe you like funding terrorist regimes in this manner as any Republican is always available to the highest bidder. I do not.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

anybody here but trolls
dusty2006

You rang?

sally like pig name sarah plain
dusty2006

So duhsty, you think you are in the position to pass judgment on others? What's the old saying?

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their over-sized clown shoes."

WIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT your talking about walking in over-sized clown shoes."
are you clown troll that funny

hmmmmmm, I wonder if this could be the reason we have not caught Bin Laden yet, nor even seem to give a shit if we do or not! Ricey getting nice gifts from the Saudis it looks like! Isn't that a conflict of interest?
PamB

Oh really Pammy, you think that is all it takes to take Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice off the hunt for Bin Dirt Bag? I wonder what Hillery will take for her payoff now that we know what Billy have been taking for his allegiance to the Saudis?

Someone sure got to him when he was supposed to be protecting America from terrorists instead of lining his own pockets.

Amar Singh, L N Mittal among donors to Clinton Foundation

New York Times Posted: Dec 20, 2008

Washington: Former US President Bill Clinton has collected tens of millions of dollars for his foundation over the last 10 years from governments in West Asia, tycoons from Canada, India, Nigeria and Ukraine, and other international figures with interests in American foreign policy.

Lifting a longstanding cloak of secrecy, Clinton on Thursday released a complete list of more than 200,000 donors to his foundation as part of an agreement to douse concerns about potential conflicts if Senator Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

The list offers a glimpse into the big-dollar world in which Clinton has traveled since leaving the White House as he jetted around the globe, making money for himself and raising vast sums for his ambitious philanthropic programs fighting disease, poverty and climate change. Some of the world’s richest people handed over large checks to finance his presidential library and charitable activities.

Saudi Arabia alone gave to the foundation $10 million to $25 million, as did Government aid agencies in Australia and the Dominican Republic. Brunei, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar and Taiwan each gave more than $1 million. So did the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Foundation, both based in the UAE, and the Friends of Saudi Arabia, founded by a Saudi Prince.

bush freind were lining thier own pockets in contracts in irac

Saudi Arabia alone gave money to bush

Christmas time, is here.

Christmas Brings the Peace of God
2008/12/23

You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

*** *** *** ***

Once you make peace with God, that’s spiritual peace, then you get the peace of God in your heart and that’s emotional peace.

This is the one you really need for daily living. The peace of God happens in your heart when you’ve made peace with God. All of a sudden, the stress in your life goes down. You’re not as angry as you used to be. Things don’t bother you as much. You’re a lot more patient. You’re filled with a lot more love and peace.

Why? Because once you have peace with God, you have the peace of God in your heart.

The Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). You have two choices in life: You can pray or panic, worship or worry. Those are your choices. Worry has never solved a single one of your problems. If you prayed as much as you worry, you would have a lot less to worry about! Prayer can change things. That’s why the Bible says, “Don’t worry. Pray!”

“Pray about everything. Tell God what you need. Thank him for all that he’s done. [And if you do this] You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6 NLT).

merry christmas and have happy new years to you all

then a democrat would in the other seat and then we have tow democrats in alaska that would be cool

neocon go away you don't belong here

god bless president barack obama

neocon you think your a normal human that laugh you very abnormal troll

i'm not robert i'm dusty im from minnesota i don't know robert

Marxist Messiah bush

this sight not for you trols it for democrats the conserative they did more for the Marxist then the democrats ever did

no neocon went to play with sally dingaling

nope i just wont to be freind with the nice girl i hope to fall in love with her then maby get married but all that in the future

what the point evil one

nope im not that type i want to be her freind that worth more freinds are hard to find

Blow it out your ass, Turd.

SNOPES SAYS "NOPE"

(...)

VARIATIONS: In 2007, the version in circulation changed the fictitious Lieutenant General Reinwald of the USA into the real General Peter Cosgrove of Australia...

ORIGIN: As great a tale as this is, it's pure fabrication. It began life in 1999, purportedly about an "LTG Reinwald...

(...)

National Public Radio had this to say about the matter:

We are aware of an erroneous story posted on the Free Republic Website, and possibly elsewhere...

Read the entire FACT CHECK at the link, trool.

So, the trool got DUPED yet again by "I Seek Jokes".

When will you children learn to SOURCE AND FACT CHECK? You are all like 2 year olds when it comes to this shit.

Well, as evidenced by soon to be FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA she doesn't need to carry things on her head. She has enough IN her head that she can hire staff to carry things.

That's what peons like you are for,

None, Stevie. I never said that. You made that shit up. But in keeping with your life's calling of being a chronic liar nobody older than 2 years old believes a word you say anyhoo, so who gives a shit?

Stories are already circulating that you are an asshole. Should we believe them?

Oh, that's right.

You ARE an asshole.

Tell us again about how you committed a Class X Felony. I like when you embellish it.

First it was only you, then you and a "friend" and now it's a "group of friends". (As if you ever had a single friend).

Regardless, YOU were there and aided and abetted in the commission of a Class X Felony. GUILTY, STILL!

Regardless of the number of perpetrators.

Maybe you should stop trying to impress your imaginary friends and drop dead.

NOBODY will notice you are gone until someone stumbles across your gnawed on bones several months from now.

The stench will more than likely be less than it is now.

More than STUPID you are dumb as shit! YOU fell for a fucking JOKE that was reposted (without attribution) on Free Republic.

YOU are dumber than shit.

And as a self proclaimed Military "man" do you really think a General would talk like that on the radio? Even if retired? Or how about the so called "transcript" that referred to the alleged NPR hst as "Female Interviewer"?

Like the author of that story can't Google the names of NPR hosts. Let's see, Susan Stamb... oh the Hell with it.

You trools are too stupid to do any actual research. That's why you are Pugs. Just little tiny "brained" sponges that suck it all up and spit out most of it.

And it's ALL bullshit.

Admit it. You Likey it.

AND you just (once again) admitted to a Class X Felony. Keep it up, Stevie.

There is NO statute of limitations on that.

I asked Stevie when his head was up his ass. I heard an echo, and since he is always full of shit I assumed that the echo came from the empty space between his ears.

Why do you want to know?

Shouldn't you be FACT CHECKING your JOKE sources?

Fool.

Eat shit and die, trools.

Prove that you aren't a child molester.

She left of her own accord, and we communicated for months via email. After PUma crashed and burned she decided to lay off politics until after the inauguration.

Not that it's any of your business.

Prove that you are not.

Isn't that the same underlying theme as your 5:13 post?

You trools have the mental capacity of 2 year olds.

Morning Dems. Happy Happy Holidays to you.

It amuses me to see the old MN troll dispute that snopes must be a liberal site, because they dare to print the facts and the Truth! Isn't that just like him, to link Truth and Liberals as a BAD thing! Better he get those few right wing nut cases he can google up from the bowels of the internet, to prove him sick points.

And the German-----to call someone else a godless heathen! ahahahahahahahaha. Here he is, cyber abusing, cyber stalking, googling people's names hoping to find something bad about them, posting filth, racism, homophobia, hatred, yet he dares to call us godless! Must be that Jewish God of his is not as picky as the Christian one! And at Hanukkah! a holy holiday, here he is posting hate and trash! Nice guy, the German is. Real nice guy! God will have fun with him when he gets to meet his maker!

today is my big party, so may not be back, or just in between cooking and set up, may stop to say HI and wish good holiday to you all.
talk to you later.

Here he is, cyber abusing, cyber stalking, googling people's names hoping to find something bad about them
PamB

Awww... you're just jealous because he's a whole lot better at it than you are.

Since it's now Christmas Eve you'll start posting your endless series of messages saying only lonely people with no family or life will be on this blog today.

And the other Regular 7 will post replies all day saying "yeah Pam, they gotta be losers".

good morning pam and dpd. icing here this morning. power went out for a few seconds. if it goes big time this time i am gonna drive to nyc and eat chinese food for a few days before coming back. hope all is well with both of you.

good morning pam and dpd. icing here this morning. power went out for a few seconds.
gregg

I bet somehow this fits into your all-encompassing theory of global warming.

Keep chanting "The world is warming, the world is warming" as you slowly freeze to death.

i see the management is having a bit of trouble running a blog that makes any sense. but then we did win 54 house seats, 13 ( or is it 14 norm??) senate seats and the white house in the last two years so i guess we'll forgive them for this mess.

hey did palin's kid have the baby?? word is they are gonna name it score...

hey Doo Bee, ask Sally to describe his other Crime. You know, the Mail Fraud one, that the government arrested and tried him for. I have nine pages of that court cases, where he tries to throw his brother under the truck to save his own dried up skin. Bet he wasn't so smug that day ! Cheating people out of their money when they tried to buy those tin can Seed cleaners, then filed for bankruptcy, if they tried to get their money back. And he thinks God will reward him by posting anti-abortion nonsense and lies, and over look all the bad he has done!

Looks like MN Thomass has another of those Use It or Lose it Days. You know, where he did not take vacation during the year because he doesn't have a pot to piss in. Oh, well, we KNOW that his family will be only TOOOOO happy to have him out of their hair today and tomorrow and for the weekend, so they will let him plant his hatred here, instead of kicking the shit out of them as usual ! LOSER with a big capitol L

back later maybe.

Good morning Pam, Gregg, DPD,
Good to see you all.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I can't stay this morning. Things to do. It's snowing AGAIN here in Chicago-land. But the temp is up to 33!

What is up with this blog?
BBL

gregg on December 24, 2008 at 09:00 AM

Gregg, I think what you are seeing is the gradual process of the DNC shutting down our blog. Face it, it really makes little financial sense to pay someone to maintain a blog like this for just a very few chronic malcontents.

Good morning, all.

I have a theory. This blog is on auto pilot. Notice how a new thread is added every day even though nobody can use them?

Good to see Krugman is telling it the way it is...we have to turn our trade deficit around. It's the plan Alexander Hamilton put into place and it's always benefited our economy. There is three things that need to be done to make it work again, imho.

Stop outsourcing our capital assets and jobs to our competitors' shores...and these other economic powers are now competitors, don't let the Republican mulitnationalists tell you otherwise.

Secondly, insist that the profits of American companies be re-invested in this country...and their headquarters be stationed on our shores if they want to do business here.

Third, make the top 2% pay the same tax rate ...without all those GOP loopholes added on since Reagan...that Eisenhower made them pay. Remember the economic engine that period ran?

I bet all the conservatives naysayers would be amazed at how our manufacturing and industrial base would grow. They and their ideology has been wrong about everything else they have forced on this nation.

Just go back and track how our economic power began to wane when all these Republican principles were put into effect one-by-one after Reagaonomics was instituted in the 1980s. It was a slow slide at first but excellerated under Newt's Contract for America in 1994. The proof is there for those who want to face it.

Instead of bailing out irresponsible stock brokerages, insurance companies, and credit card companies and giving banks money to sit on, we should be changing the laws that gave other countries the edge over our own nation's economy.

If we change the trade imbalance with common sense capital re-investment in this country, we will change our luck and again become a super power. Only losers like the Republicans want to be banana republics that pay low wages to their workers and import everything.

This isn't an elitist society. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to prosper from their labor.

Gotta run. later.

Tory Royal CEO’s Make What Japanese CEO’s Make

Yes, President Bush you set the example for America’s recovery
When you said that union “We the people” workers need wage
Concessions, so you have all your Tory CEO friends do the same thing
To overcome your Tory Fraternity Hoover Great Depression quagmire.
Oh your Enron and Chevron Big Oil Think Tank lie prefabrications,
Where a Tory religion needed to destroy the American Middle Class,
So they could follow your Chinese example of “We the people” workers.

So in a Proclamation of Independent Thinking shall we sue Wall Street
To demand the end to Tory Royalty Fraternity of Greed and Corruption
Upon the divine equality of all American class’s of economic segregation
That the billions on billions on billions of Blackwater vile venom filth
Will never profit from human Katrina tear suffering of political models
Whose fashions flaunt US with $200,000 wardrobes in a recession.
Oh Hollywood political stars of subprime pompous gases of utter stench
How your Bridges to Nowhere have hurt our mainstream economy
Where You have your VETCO sponsors help built your private homes
With a paycheck so lavish with bribes and reelection contributions.

So I am asking our political leaders to make what foreign politicians make,
After all your failed Homework helped create this financial disaster
Mission Accomplished political statement prefabricated planned thinking.
So let us have Concrete Audits on all political campaigning as to whom
Are buy our Politicians “At Will” to rape our economy of billions on billions.
So President “We the people” Whig workers are asking you for equality
Where your Tory Royal friends also join in the equation of responsibility
Where the Tory Prisons are closed and Royal serve Guantanamo hard time.

hey did palin's kid have the baby?? word is they are gonna name it score...

Gregg:

Really???

I heard they were going to name him Jeans ! You know, after his father Levi!!! hahahahaha

Hey Esme, if you touch base, did you just watch on CNN the segment on Baby Boom? where now Single Fathers are using their sperm and surrogate mothers to have babies of their own? I wonder if anyone of these yellow bellied trolls would have the guts to look those guys in the eye and call those bastard children! I highly doubt it. they are only brave when they are anonymous!

Greg, I told you with my luck, the CA moving van would show up today! Sure enough, my daughter and husband had to go over to her new house, to let them in ! Cripes! Good thing I have most of it under control until time to cook the ham and prime rib and last minute things. Gotta go do last minute wipe down and vacuum. bbl, maybe.

we have so many nice presents under the tree this year and it looks like al franken just dropped on off....

Merry Christmas, Dems!

Santa Claus just left Christmas Island. He has already been to Japan, Korea and eastern China.

I heard they were going to name him Jeans ! You know, after his father Levi!!! hahahahaha
PamB

A good thing you laughed. Someone should at the minimum. Don't quit your day job.

At least the child will have a last name.

where now Single Fathers are using their sperm and surrogate mothers to have babies of their own? I wonder if anyone of these yellow bellied trolls would have the guts to look those guys in the eye and call those bastard children! I highly doubt it. they are only brave when they are anonymous!
PamB

Any child born outside of legal marriage is a bastard:

Main Entry:
bas·tard
Pronunciation: \ˈbas-tərd\
Function: noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, probably of Germanic origin; akin to OldFrisian bost marriage, Old English bindan to bind
Date: 14th century

1: an illegitimate child
2: something that is spurious, irregular, inferior, or of questionable origin
3 a: an offensive or disagreeable person —used as a generalized term of abuse

illegitimate:
1: not recognized as lawful offspring; specifically : born of parents not married to each other

Sure enough, my daughter and husband had to go over to her new house, to let them in ! Cripes!

Found the scoundrel, eh? You going to back and reissue the birth announcement?

Just in time for the Joyous Christmas Holiday, those wacky scientists are at it again, running around screaming "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!"

A large lump of coal for the lot of them!!!

Christmas lights bad for the environment Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Scientists warn Christmas lights harm the planet
, causing global warming. Well duh. While they suggest using LED lights or buying from renewable energy power sources. I suggest anyone who takes being an environmentalist seriously can do without strings of lights, despite what the comments in the article say. Really- its not even a sacrifice, just don't put them up, find something else to do, check the air level in the tires on your Prius or something.

hey did palin's kid have the baby?? word is they are gonna name it score...
gregg on December 24, 2008 at 09:00 AM

gregg, why would an old faggot like you concern yourself with someone else's children? You have no spawn, not now, not ever. Why don't you go back to jerking off in an old sock you stupid turd?

Good afternoon, all.

I found this story and especially the photo interesting. Note that "Jesus" is reading the Funny Paper.

Hundreds in KC dress like Jesus at jobs, shops

(Photo and caption)
Shawn Johnston of Kansas City, Kan., browses a newspaper while having a cappuccino at Homer's Coffee House in Overland Park on Tuesday. The member of Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship starting dressing as Jesus about two weeks ago to
Shawn Johnston of Kansas City, Kan., browses a newspaper while having a cappuccino at Homer's Coffee House in Overland Park on Tuesday. The member of Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship starting dressing as Jesus about two weeks ago to "show people what Christmas is all about." (AP)

By Heather Hollinsworth
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
12/24/2008

KANSAS CITY — Just in time for Christmas, hundreds of people in the Kansas City area have committed to dress like Jesus in the days leading to the holiday, in what they say is an answer to a widening secularization of the season.

Members of Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship began showing up at their jobs, shopping malls and restaurants last week dressed in flowing robes and crowns of thorns as a hard-to-miss reminder of the holiday's religious roots.

Now the idea is generating interest in other states after video of Jesus-clad shoppers was posted on YouTube.

"We are just showing people on the outside what we are on the inside," said pastor Kelly Lohrke, whose members attend services in Kansas City, Kan., and nearby Lee's Summit, Mo.

In formulating the plan, the 41-year-old tapped into his own frustration over the removal of religious symbols like crosses and Nativity scenes from public displays...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/E31576DB8262EC5486257529001240FC?OpenDocument

I'm surprised he didn't dress like a baby. I guess I'm missing something here? The Crown of Thorns has always been most people's favorite part of the Nativity?

I was checking on the latest recount totals when I came across this interesting item.

Still wondering where Uncle Al's check is? Well, like they say... "It's in the mail". Yahhh... right.

Victims of Burnsville fire receive $17,500 checks

People displaced by a fire at a Burnsville apartment complex began picking up their shares of a $1 million anonymous donation. "Whoever it is, thank you so much," one resident said.

By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune

Last update: December 24, 2008 - 1:31 PM

A bleak holiday grew a bit brighter this morning for residents who returned to a fire-ravaged Burnsville apartment complex to receive their portions of a $1 million anonymous donation.

Each family from Building A, which was destroyed in Monday's blaze, will receive a check for $17,500, courtesy of the donor, whose only request was that the Burncliff Apartments residents would receive the gift in time for Christmas.

"I'm so happy that someone has a big enough heart to give that much," Ashley Stevens said after receiving her check.

Residents will also receive checks today from the Goodman Group, the company that owns and manages the property, to refund their security deposits and December rent payments. And yet another check will give residents money donated by Goodman Group Chairman John B. Goodman and fellow businessman Nasser Kazeminy, also well known in Minnesota as a political donor with close ties to Sen. Norm Coleman. Goodman and Kazeminy each donated $50,000 to the relief effort.

The cause of the fire, which started shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday, is under investigation by the Burnsville Fire Marshal. He has not said where it started nor speculated about the cause.

The blaze on a night when temperatures fell below zero sent nearly 200 residents of two buildings scurrying to a nearby shelter run by the Twin Cities Red Cross at Burnsville High School. Residents of Building A lost almost everything in the fire, but no one was injured.

The residents of Building B, which was evacuated but did not burn, were allowed to return on Tuesday afternoon. More than 100 residents of Building A are still homeless.

Many, like Maria Aguilar, are staying with family members until they can find new apartments.

Hey Pammy, since you have access to George's checkbook, why don't you cut this relief fund a nice fat check in the name of the progressive liberals? Al's reputation is pretty bad since it came out he thinks raping women and introducing his children to porn was a "funny" idea.

Al really isn't that funny.

I'm surprised he didn't dress like a baby. I guess I'm missing something here?
SandyH

Like a baby? You mean like in wearing a diaper? Hell, Pammy does that all the time. Wearing nothing but an adult catch-all and a smile she walks out to check her mailbox for another government check.

Scares the hell outta all the neighborhood dogs.

Hey, where's duhsty the village idiot? Still planning on spending the night sitting down the basement by the chimney clean out hatch waiting for Santa?

Ho, ho, ho, you dope!!!

Boy I hope we have some new bloggers come in to see what these two dispicable hairballs are posting...

Swirly you jest. If any new bloggers came in here and saw someone proudly calling themselves Evil, I'm sure they would be impressed by your concern for the Palin clan.

Besides, how could anybody new get into this blog? You have to have high speed instead of dial up because we are approaching 700 posts. Then you have to figure out the entry code that only those of us who have been experimenting with it for the past three months know.

And how do we know if Palin's daughter is really pregnant. She might just be trying to trap Levi. But that pillow sure fooled McCain?

Just a little epidural humor for the poor little lady as she approaches the delivery.

I'm sure the baby will enter the world healthy, wealthy, and wise...just like her grandmother. Not the drug dealer; the other one, you know the dingbat with a potty mouth?

I certainly hope this child has the Lord watching over it. It appears things seem to be stacked against it somewhat...what with the family situation.

Bathroom humor seems to be as much as you can handle?

Jesus reading the Funny Papers....it's funny. And he wasn't born full grown. Get it?

bbl, maybe.

Bathroom humor seems to be as much as you can handle?
SandyH

Sandy, your humor is fit for the bathroom. One good wipe and a flush is all it's worth.

Besides, how could anybody new get into this blog? You have to have high speed instead of dial up because we are approaching 700 posts. Then you have to figure out the entry code that only those of us who have been experimenting with it for the past three months know.
Posted by WideAss

Who has dial up anymore? Where do you live, in a homeless shelter? Buck up and crack open that old lady purse clamped tightly between your chubby knees.

Ahhh... an entry code? No shit? That might explain why the number of posters on here has dwindled to just the Regular 8 and their cast of characters.

If this keeps up there will be as many trools on here as there is asshats. Now, doesn't that just sound swell?

Ahhhhh, just the losers on here, just like last christmas. Is Chanukah over? I guess that explains why the German is here, but ole Thomass still has no friends, no family , no parties, no nice dinners. Just a sorry old loser who must spend his time on an opposing view blog. What do you think those Toro folks would think of you, there Thomass? Seriously! What do you think they think of you? Smug? Arrogant? cocky. conceited. loud mouth. Juvenile. You, Thomass, are a sad excuse of a man.

Stevie pretending to be very busy today with his many friends and family. Danny Cactus must have one of his kid's need something today, that is the only time they call him. Or else his obese heart finally went on him, who knows.

You two sad sacks knock yourselves out. You are pitiful.

ANY DEMS COMING IN FOR ONE LAST HURRAH BEFORE NIGHT, MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

WE GOT THE BEST PRESENT OF ALL------WE WON !
THE GRINCHES LOST! BOY ARE THEY PISSED!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HONK THAT YOU JERKS!

ANY DEMS COMING IN FOR ONE LAST HURRAH BEFORE NIGHT, MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

WE GOT THE BEST PRESENT OF ALL------WE WON !
THE GRINCHES LOST! BOY ARE THEY PISSED!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HONK THAT YOU JERKS!
674
PamB

One last hurrah? You mean like some type of vile comment about the yet-unborn grandchild of the Palin family? Now that's what I think of when I think Christmas.

Yeah Pammy, you have the greatest present of all. Now it's the democrats who are in charge and will be the blunt of all blame. Oh is this gonna be fun, seeing the HOPE fade to despair, the CHANGE degrade to the same old liberal gridlock.

THE ONE will soon be THE ONE TO BLAME and you all will turn on him with pitch fork and hay rakes.

But the Brother sure plays a mean pick up basketball game. He's got that going for him.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

In this Holiday Season, may God bless the United States of America, President-elect Obama and his incoming administration, President Bush and his outgoing administration, and all the other inhabitants of the good Earth. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

Christmas time, is here.

A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it toegether,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
- Isaiah 40:3-5

Christmas: Peace with Each Other
2008/12/24

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 (KJV)

*** *** *** ***

Once you make peace with God and have the peace of God in your heart, you’re able to make peace with other people.

God says, “I want you to be a peacemaker. I want you to be a reconciler.” The Bible calls this “the ministry of reconciliation.”

As I’ve traveled from country to country over the past few years, I’ve seen the same problem – conflict. Between husbands and wives, between generations, ethnic groups, religious groups, language groups – between nations. The greatest need in our world is reconciliation. “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”

God says, “Once I have shown you grace, I want you to show it to other people. Show them the grace I have shown you. Be a peacemaker.”

Jesus said it like this. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV). If you really know Christ the Prince of Peace, you’re going to be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker – at work, at home, or at school. You’re going to build people up, not tear them down. You’re going to compliment more than you criticize. You’re going to love people the way Jesus loves people.

Christmas is the perfect time to show grace to other people because we’re reminded of the grace God has shown us – that he gives us what we need, not what we deserve. So let me ask you a very frank question: Who do you need to restore a broken relationship with this Christmas? That’s the spirit of Christmas – “peace on earth, good will toward men.”

You say, “I can’t do it.” When families get together at Christmas, a lot of times it brings back a lot of bad memories and past hurts and things you just haven’t let go of. You say, “I can’t let go of it. They hurt me too bad. I can’t forgive them.”

You’re right. That’s why you need Jesus. You don’t have it in you to let it all go. That’s why you’re still holding onto it. You need to be filled with the love of Christ and the peace of Christ. Until that happens, you’re not going to have the ability to let it go.

I drink from my saucer.

462

Esmeralda on December 22, 2008 at 08:46 PM

A normal human would drink from a cup or a glass.

574neo_con on December 24, 2008 at 01:25 AM

Psalm 23:5 5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

I'm not normal, I'm blessed beyond measure. When your cup runneth over, you drink from your saucer. (because of the over flow)

Merry Christmas,

No white Christmas here, no snow, enjoying it too.

Enjoy your "global Warming" followers of Mr Al.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” - Isaiah 9:6

"Santa" has arrived here already. Stockings are stuffed to overflowing, the front living room floor is covered with toys and other goodies.

Banana nut & pumpkin bread baking tomorrow for our Christmas Holiday morning that will take place on Saturday morning when all the kids arrive. My 3 loverly granddaughters are the most wonderful gifts I could ever have. I love them so!

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Peace on Earth! Blessings and God's love upon each and every one.

Merry Christmas my dear friends.

you might think that toward the end he was careful not to do any real dumb stuff so as to increase the chances that at least a handful of voters might think him not a complete idiot...but you would be wrong...but then of course no one in the white house knew anything about this donors donations...they just thought of all the thousands of folks begging for a pardon this guy's case really stood out...yeah right!

"...President Bush took the remarkable step yesterday of reversing a pardon that he granted the day before to a Brooklyn, N.Y., real estate developer, whose relatives contributed more than $40,000 to Republicans before his clemency petition was filed with the White House..."

it's the last christmas eve of bush's reign. millions are out of work, one in ten mortgages are in trouble, people are taking in borders to try to get by, some go without the most basic health care, virtually nothing has been done in eight years to maintain or repair vital infrastructure, banks and automobile companies and so on are being nationalized lest a deepening recession goes deeper, nothing has been done to improve the environment our children will grow up in and a lot has been done to make it worse, red baiting and racial politics were rampant in the recent presidential election. in short we are way behind the eight ball and may or may not get back in front of it with a new administration...merry christmas george w and may a meteorite fall on your head while you sleep.

good morning and merry christmas. nice and warm here in the hudson valley and it is going to be a sunny day! it's like christmas knows that a new administration is coming to the white house and there really is some hope on earth.

i don't know about you but in my family the tradition is to all gather around the bat jelly machine and watch our favorite old movie on christmas morning...which of course is:

"It's a Wonderful Lie." A suicidal George W. Bailey, feeling guilty over leading his nation into war due to a lie about weapons of mass destruction, tells his guardian angel he wishes he had never been born. The angel shows him what the world would have been like without him: no 9/11, no Iraq War, no Katrina, no financial meltdown, no W movie. George W. Bailey decides to live life again, including the drug and alcohol parts.

thanks to 23/6

Next months movie,

Gumbee goes to Washington.

including the drug and alcohol parts.

great piece in "the nation" if you haven't had too much rum infused egg nog already...

The Nation.
A New New Deal?
By Robert L. Borosage & Eric Lotke

This article appeared in the January 12, 2009 edition of The Nation.
December 23, 2008

When Richard Nixon announced that we are all Keynesians now, stagflation was confounding liberal economists, and conservatives were about to take over the commanding heights. Similarly, when Bill Clinton announced that "the era of big government is over," economic conservatism was about to take us off the cliff. Now "the era of big government is over" is over.

Garry Wills says Americans think of government only as a "necessary evil," a last resort. Well, folks, all the other resorts are boarded up. In November, America shed more than 500,000 jobs, the worst single-month record in thirty-four years. We lost more than 2 million over the course of 2008--and the crash is accelerating across the globe.

At the same time, America is falling apart, literally. We've witnessed the ghastly spectaculars: failure of the levees in New Orleans, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, bursting of the steam pipe that shut down ten square blocks of Manhattan. But these tragic catastrophes are a small part of the growing costs of a conservative-era failure to invest in our future.

Conservative scorn for government has produced a crippling public-investment deficit. America's core infrastructure--roads, bridges, sewers, airports, trains, mass transit--is overcrowded, outdated and crumbling. The evidence, assembled by Eric Lotke in The Investment Deficit in America, issued by the Campaign for America's Future, is stark. Poor road conditions cost Americans billions in repairs and countless hours in delay. Though China opens a new subway system every year, and Europeans travel from Paris to Frankfurt on high-speed rail, American railroads don't have the funds needed even to maintain their outmoded infrastructure. Cities are suffering an epidemic of broken pipes and sinkholes, with the Environmental Protection Agency estimating more than 40,000 discharges of raw sewage into our drinking water, streams and homes each year from collapsing and overwhelmed sewage systems. The Education Department found that one-third of our schools are in such a severe state of disrepair that it "interferes with the delivery of instruction."

While the old basics are crumbling, twenty-first-century needs are being ignored. We maintain our addiction to oil while forfeiting our lead in renewable-energy technologies that will drive the green markets of the future. As two-income and single-parent families spread, we are failing to provide the high-quality childcare and pre-kindergarten programs vital to educating the next generation. Even as college or advanced training are deemed essential in the modern economy, more and more Americans find them priced out of reach. Our healthcare system is broken, consuming too many resources while providing care for too few. We invented the Internet, yet we rank about fifteenth among developed countries in access to broadband. In Japan, the average broadband speed is many times faster than our own. US federal investment in research and development is half what it was as a percentage of GDP in the 1960s.

It is time to invest in America. Recovery from this crisis provides the imperative; the investment deficit the targets. But turning the crisis into opportunity isn't sufficient. The fundamental question is whether the short-term response will lead to a new New Deal, a permanent expansion of the social contract.

read on at...http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/borosage_lotke/print

Merry Christmas, everyone. The carpenter & I have exchanged our gifts. He's so good to me! We'll enjoy a leisurely day together. The sun is shinning here in our tiny hamlet. We plan on taking a walk in the woods this afternoon, looking for sheds/antlers, and just take in God's glory all around us.

Christmas: Open Your Gift from God
2008/12/25

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. Romans 5:1 (MSG)

*** *** *** ***

You’re not reading this by accident. No, God knew before you were born that you would be here in this moment. He planned to get your attention for just a few seconds so he could say this to you: “I’ve seen every hurt in your life, and I’ve never stopped loving you. You matter to me. I love you more than you will ever know. I made you to love you, and I’ve been waiting for you to love me back.”

God is saying, “I want the rest of your life to be the best of your life. I’m with you, and I’m for you. I want to save you from your past. I want to save you for the purpose I made you for. And I want to save you by my grace. If you’ll let me do that, I will give you peace with me, peace of me, and peace with other people. But you’ve got to open the door and receive the Christmas gift.”

If you gave me a Christmas gift and I never opened it, you would be disappointed. And it would be a worthless gift because I don’t receive the benefit of a gift I never opened.

Jesus Christ is God’s Christmas gift to you. Yet some of us have gone Christmas after Christmas and never opened the best gift of all – God’s gift of salvation. Why even celebrate Christmas if you’re not going to open the biggest gift? It doesn’t make sense to leave unwrapped the gift of your past forgiven, a purpose for living, and a home in heaven.

Jesus Christ says to you, “I can replace the frustration in your heart with peace. I can replace the guilt, resentment, shame, and grudges with forgiveness. I can replace the worry and anxiety with confidence and faith. I can replace depression or despair with hope. I can replace emptiness with meaning and purpose. I can replace confusion with clarity. But I’m not going to break down the door of your heart. You’ve got to invite me in.”

God says: “It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from, if you want me and you are ready to do as I say, the door is open.”

It doesn’t matter what your religious background is – Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, Baptist, Hindu, or no religion. This is not about religion. God didn’t send Jesus to give you religion. He sent him so you could have a personal relationship with God. It’s all about relationship.

Emmanuel, God with Us

“Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel--which, when translated, means, God with us” - Matthew 1:23

Enjoy the day, everyone.

et vous esmeralda.

God loved the world so much that he came...

...and now Bush and Cheney are leaving. Joy to the World.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

This Editorial is for gregg who so often condemns Ayn Rand and her stinking conservative Republican ideology and philosophy...

Christmas and the failure of greed

12/25/2008

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/BB35182FFA7A72FD86257529006E0DFC?OpenDocument

May Ayn Rand, her ideology, and the GOP rest in peace this season of joy and love. They have all taken a Dicken's of a reality check this past few months.

Have a merry little Christmas, folks. Best wishes to you and yours.

Have a very Merry Christmas gregg, Essie and Sandy.

amen sandy, amen.

and you as well johne.

At the same time, America is falling apart, literally. We've witnessed the ghastly spectaculars: failure of the levees in New Orleans, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, bursting of the steam pipe that shut down ten square blocks of Manhattan. But these tragic catastrophes are a small part of the growing costs of a conservative-era failure to invest in our future.
gregg

Awwww... BULLCRAP!!!

Those levies were rotten long before Bush took office. Had Gore won the election (which he didn't) they would have burst just the same. The reason people died in New Orleans was because the city, parish and state government all failed in their duties to protect their citizens. Add to the the stupidity of the residents to heed a mandatory evacuation order. They stayed - they died.

That bridge fell solely because of a design flaw dating back to the 1960s and those steam pipes burst because they were a century old.

Stop blaming everything that goes wrong on the Republicans gregg. It only further demonstrates just how ignorant you truly are.

That is because they are all on automatic programs and nobody at the DNC gives a crap about our blog anymore. Nobody even checks to see if the blogs are working.
Sally-*

If you take a minute of your invaluable time asshats and if you're honest with yourselves, you'll have to admit that the DNC really can't justify the cost of this blog any longer.

Computer space on a mainframe server is expensive, the pay of a flunky to monitor it (hahaha!!!) is also costly. Why bother? No one new comes here anymore, it's impossible to register if you stumble across this site and manage to negotiate the labyrinth off the home page, past the many come-ons to send more $$$ to the DNC. Even after you sign on you have to do it again and again and again and again. No one new will bother with that ordeal.

Yes Sally, indeed the trools have won!!!

How Liberal People Ruined the Holidays for the Rest of Us!

by Knox

Reminisce with me of the days where Christmas carols were not offensive, where Santa could say “Merry Christmas” and where a town funded Christmas event was viable.

Further and further has the concept of ‘political correctness’ been advocated in our society as the only acceptable practice. And, although we all know there is a certain social courtesy that should be taken into consideration, what has happened has gone far passed reasonable limits.

For example, apparently the phrase black is offensive, so, liberal political correctness dictates that we refer to all black people as ‘African-American’, which is actually a statement of nationality, not race, and completely disregards the fact that the phrase in itself is far more racist (it assumes that all black people are from Africa). This is not because the majority of black people in America rose up and considered the word ‘black’ to be offensive. This is simply because a very small minority did so, and, no doubt, everyone has to be happy, so things are changed for everyone else.

Santa Clause can no longer say “Merry Christmas” because it may offend people who don’t celebrate Christmas. Some may mistaken this as the fault of religion; as if everyone of another religion (or lack of one) vehemently rallied about the streets, offended to the point of tears. But - this is not the case. Of course, a small minority claimed how offended they were, but, only could the prominent liberal ideal of political correctness have the audacity to change everything, to a major detriment, for a minuscule benefit.

According to an issue of the Boston Herald, Santa can no longer “make promises that he can’t keep”. That means, if a child sitting on his lap (wait, children can no longer sit on Santa’s lap) asks for, say, a toy train set, Santa has to reply with, “Well, kid, I aint making any promises.” Santa can no longer say “Ho, ho, ho!” because it may offend women. Obviously, when he chortles in such a manner, he is actually degrading a whole sex rather than expressing a fit of holiday induced joy. There are also rallies to have only a skinny Santa from now on, because it sets bad examples for our children.*

None of the above mentioned things have anything to do with religion. All of these senseless change that are “ruining the holidays” are nothing but a further perpetuation of the over-the-top, liberal idea of “political correctness” - not a fault of religion.

*In said newspaper, to somehow ‘defend’ the idea that Santa Clause is giving children a bad example, there were many quotes of children under the age of 13 saying things like, “Santa definitely needs to lose weight.” - Apparently, the editors did not think to realize that if children know that being overweight is not good for one’s health, and make it clear, it’s obvious that Santa isn’t setting a bad example. Why? Because children, rather than trying to emulate his weight, are saying he must lose it. - A counterproductive point in itself.

How the Liberals Stole Christmas

Liberals, like the Grinch, are ruining Christmas!

Liberals in Fort Collins, Colorado want to remove anything religious that pertains to Christmas (including green and red lights!) from public areas because it might "offend" people who aren't Christian. This, sadly, isn't a joke.

Jindal should not reject GOP calling
powered by
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
How the Liberals Stole Christmas
Liberals, like the Grinch, are ruining Christmas!

Liberals in Fort Collins, Colorado want to remove anything religious that pertains to Christmas (including green and red lights!) from public areas because it might "offend" people who aren't Christian. This, sadly, isn't a joke.

The holiday is Christmas! How can we celebrate Christmas without including religion? In case you don't know, Christmas is a FEDERAL HOLIDAY! This is our country. This is our tradition. Christmas is a major part of our heritage since the majority of the U.S. citizens are Christian. The crazy liberals in the minority shouldn't decide what is appropriate or inappropriate. The majority rules. A nation in which the minority rules would be in chaos! I wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia and tell them to change the way they celebrate Eid ul-Fitr just because I'm Christian. I would respect their traditions. Yet, the liberals want to attack our Christian heritage and change our traditions to the point where they don't resemble our traditions. To liberals, it's freedom FROM religion, not freedom OF religion.

The liberal Grinches want to ruin Christmas for children too!

A man who portrayed Santa Claus at a mall was fired because he said his famous phrase, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" According to the liberal who fired him, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" is offensive to women. Again, this isn't a joke.

"They're trying to kill the spirit of Christmas," said retired entertainer John Oakes, who has been a Santa for 10 years. "This is a case of politcal correctness going crazy."

"When the manager spoke to me she said my services were no longer required. "When I asked her why, she replied: 'You said ho ho ho and that's not appropriate.' "Not appropriate! How long has Santa been calling ho ho ho, for goodness sake?"

You can't say "Merry Christmas" any more. Now, it's "Happy Holidays" everywhere from schools (that don't allow Christmas carols) to stores (that refuse to have anything that says "Merry Christmas"). Liberal political correctness is out of control! We have to save Christmas, and our country from these liberals before it's too late!

we owe it to our children's children to get on top of this now. imagine how much we owe our grand parents and great grand parents for fighting against the abuse of coal miners and slaves and child labor and so on back in the late 19th century...this is our chance to give a shit about more than our own immediate pleasures:

washingtonpost.com

Faster Climate Change Feared
New Report Points to Accelerated Melting, Longer Drought

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 25, 2008; A02

The United States faces the possibility of much more rapid climate change by the end of the century than previous studies have suggested, according to a new report led by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The survey -- which was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and issued this month -- expands on the 2007 findings of the United Nations Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. Looking at factors such as rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic and prolonged drought in the Southwest, the new assessment suggests that earlier projections may have underestimated the climatic shifts that could take place by 2100.

However, the assessment also suggests that some other feared effects of global warming are not likely to occur by the end of the century, such as an abrupt release of methane from the seabed and permafrost or a shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system that brings warm water north and colder water south. But the report projects an amount of potential sea level rise during that period that may be greater than what other researchers have anticipated, as well as a shift to a more arid climate pattern in the Southwest by mid-century.

Thirty-two scientists from federal and non-federal institutions contributed to the report, which took nearly two years to complete. The Climate Change Science Program, which was established in 1990, coordinates the climate research of 13 different federal agencies.

Tom Armstrong, senior adviser for global change programs at USGS, said the report "shows how quickly the information is advancing" on potential climate shifts. The prospect of abrupt climate change, he said, "is one of those things that keeps people up at night, because it's a low-probability but high-risk scenario. It's unlikely to happen in our lifetimes, but if it were to occur, it would be life-changing."

In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could be as much as four feet by 2100. The IPCC had projected a sea level rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the past two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are now losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice that exists in the Alps.

Konrad Steffen, who directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was lead author on the report's chapter on ice sheets, said the models the IPCC used did not factor in some of the dynamics that scientists now understand about ice sheet melting. Among other things, Steffen and his collaborators have identified a process of "lubrication," in which warmer ocean water gets in underneath coastal ice sheets and accelerates melting.

"This has to be put into models," said Steffen, who organized a conference last summer in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of an effort to develop more sophisticated ice sheet models. "What we predicted is sea level rise will be higher, but I have to be honest, we cannot model it for 2100 yet."

Still, Armstrong said the report "does take a step forward from where the IPCC was," especially in terms of ice sheet melting.

Scientists also looked at the prospect of prolonged drought over the next 100 years. They said it is impossible to determine yet whether human activity is responsible for the drought the Southwestern United States has experienced over the past decade, but every indication suggests the region will become consistently drier in the next several decades. Richard Seager, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said that nearly all of the 24 computer models the group surveyed project the same climatic conditions for the North American Southwest, which includes Mexico.

"If the models are correct, it will transition in the coming years and decades to a more arid climate, and that transition is already underway," Seager said, adding that such conditions would probably include prolonged droughts lasting more than a decade.

The current models cover broad swaths of landscape, and Seager said scientists need to work on developing versions that can make projections on a much smaller scale. "That's what the water managers out there really need," he said. Current models "don't give them the hard numbers they need."

Armstrong said the need for "downscaled models" is one of the challenges facing the federal government, along with better coordination among agencies on the issue of climate change. When it comes to abrupt climate shifts, he said, "We need to be prepared to deal with it in terms of policymaking, keeping in mind it's a low-probability, high-risk scenario. That said, there are really no policies in place to deal with abrupt climate change."

Richard Moss, who directed the Climate Change Science Program's coordination office between 2000 and 2006 and now serves as vice president and managing director for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund-U.S., welcomed the new report but called it "way overdue."

"There is finally a greater flow of climate science from the administration," Moss said, noting that the report was originally scheduled to come out in the summer of 2007. "It really is showing the potential for abrupt climate change is real."

The report is reassuring, however, on the prospects for some potentially drastic effects -- such as a huge release of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, that is now locked deep in the seabed and underneath the Arctic permafrost. That is unlikely to occur in the near future, the scientists said.

"It's unlikely that we're going to see an abrupt change in methane over the next hundred years, but we should worry about it over a longer time frame," said Ed Brook, the lead author of the methane chapter and a geosciences professor at Oregon State University. "All of these places where methane is stored are vulnerable to leaking."

By the end the century, Brook said, the amount of methane escaping from natural sources such as the Arctic tundra and waterlogged soils in warmer regions "could possibly double," but that would still be less than the current level of human-generated methane emissions. Over the course of the next thousand years, he added, methane hydrates stored deep in the seabed could be released: "Once you start melting there, you can't really take it back."

In the near term, Brook said, more precise monitoring of methane levels worldwide would give researchers a better sense of the risk of a bigger atmospheric release. "We don't know exactly how much methane is coming out all over the world," he said. "That's why monitoring is important."

While predictions remain uncertain, Steffen said cutting emissions linked to global warming represents one of the best strategies for averting catastrophic changes.

"We have to act very fast, by understanding better and by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, because it's a large-scale experiment that can get out of hand," Steffen said. "So we don't want that to happen."

hi village idiot SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT you have to blame the republican they have been in power for 12 years in the house and 8 in white house dont blame the democrats they were in the minority al that tine

President-elect Barack Obama encouraged Americans on Wednesday to embrace the holiday spirit and be "my brother's keeper" during these trying economic times.

=================================================

I wonder what his brother, George, thought about that line as he looked at the corn mush in a dirty bowl, he was having for Christmas dinner.

SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT is big loser who come in here to be tough in fake name so he dont get hurt from what he says so when he goes out in the real world he is a coward hiding under wife skirt

who cares cactass why dont you help george your self if your so worred about him your a rich neocon

loser who come in here to be tough in fake name
==========

Well, loser, your mother had a strange since of humor, naming you Duhsty2006.

Where's Pammy?

Sucking the business end of a bottle of cheap wine while little rug rats of unknown blood lines tear up the house?

who mother would call thier loser kids cactass and ne con

With out Pammy and Robert posting under multible names this blog is dead.

Here you go Neo-Con, HOT DAMN the Lord has blessed me this Holiday Season, I got to spend 3 days with my deceased son's, children fishing in the gulf of Mexico, this is the best fishing trip that I have ever had, and i have had many, Hot Damn, this one took the cake. We caught all kinds of fish, and i got to teach them how to clean, and fillet fish! How to salt water fish, and on and on, what a great experience.

Thank you Jesus, I LOVE YOU, it don't get any better then this.

Here you go Neo-Con, HOT DAMN the Lord has blessed me this Holiday Season, I got to spend 3 days with my deceased son's, children fishing in the gulf of Mexico, this is the best fishing trip that I have ever had, and i have had many, Hot Damn, this one took the cake. We caught all kinds of fish, and i got to teach them how to clean, and fillet fish! How to salt water fish, and on and on, what a great experience.

Thank you Jesus, I LOVE YOU, it don't get any better then this.

Hot Damn, i think that I have been rejuvenated, this is the best Christmas in my life time.

Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sounds great chassie. glad to hear you enjoyed your grandkids and caught some fish.

725neo_con on December 25, 2008 at 03:24 PM

How dare you, to try and take my enjoyment, and my grandchildren's enjoyment away from us, over a certain frigging fishing hole, we filled up 5 150 quart coolers full of fish, which was all sent home to them, except one mess that i kept, for one meal.

You are a ultimate asshat!!!!!

You or no one could spoil the enjoyment, that me, and my grandchildren have had in the last three days. I'm elated, and so are they.

THANK YOU JESUS, and THANK YOIU JESUS!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Gregg, it has been three of the greatest days in my life.

Ahhhh....bad neo con,

You took away all chassie's enjoyment,

hey Chassie, I thought that was gone when you voted for Obama.

Merry Christmas, Dems ! Had a wonderful Christmas Eve party, and this morning went to the grandkids and saw them get their Santa gifts. We had a big breakfast there, and opened gifts. Came home and have the party stuff all cleaned up and even the Christmas linens washed and ready for next year! Great Holiday.

Hope you all did too. Blog ya either later or tomorrow. Hopefully, Matt will be back from his Christmas vacation and get this blog fixed. Be well, my friends............

neo con,

remember these liberals are fairy like and sensitive, they get hurt easy.

Last time we hurt greggy's feelings, he was gone for a week.

731PamB on December 25, 2008 at 03:39 PM

Pam, isn't life grand with the Grands, I didn't know life could be so good. I just wish that I could live long enough to see them grow into mature adults. And just maybe with the Lord's blessing maybe we can, and that would be so Grand.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and i hope that everyone had a half as good one as i did.

Blog you all whenever, i'm off to a Christmas party.

Ahhhh....bad neo con,

You took away all chassie's enjoyment,

Wrong, as wrong can be, no would could steal that from me short of losing their life. Bank on it.

i wonder what norm holeman is doing for the holidays?

did the palin kid drop her pup yet? it will provide another great mule for the mudda in law....ah the holidays!

does cheney get to keep the monthly fresh heart he has been getting from starved children in africa? if not better keep your dogs in at night!

SWIRLYEYEDOBAMABOT is big loser who come in here to be tough in fake name
dusty2006

I can just see your birth announcement:

BABY BOY: Duhsty, born to Bill and Malinda 2006. 12 lbs, 3 oz. Mostly forehead and very large feet. Donation being accepted for fund established for lifetime supply of Speak-N-Spell learning machines, large shies and metal Spider-Man lunchboxes.

LOL, Gregg. Some good material there! heeheehee.

I was expecting a huge star in the sky last night, and camels headed up to Alaska, where Missy Bristol was giving birth to her pup! I watched and watched! :)

The Palins would be considered white trash if they lived in any other REAL USA state. Good thing there are very few people up there, not hardly one brain amongst them all !

How dare you, to try and take my enjoyment, and my grandchildren's enjoyment away from us, over a certain frigging fishing hole...
You are a ultimate asshat!!!!!
You or no one could spoil the enjoyment
chassie

Easy does it... he didn't diss your family event. He just said that you were fishing in that Mexican cesspool G of M. Hey, all that poop from 2 entire countries flow into that craphole. I hope you had those coolers filled with ice cold Clorox bleach. Now, you want some real clean fish, dip your pole in the Pacific Ocean way, way north of that AIDS infested city of Openassfrancisco. Ain't enough Clorox in the world going to disinfect that crud outta your fishies.

MY O MY!!!!

Obama drawing approval of 82% of Americans! He must be doing something right! that means 18% of screwy Americans not too bright!

CNN Poll: Obama transition draws approval of 4 in 5 Americans

Eighty-two percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning approve of the way the Obama is handling his presidential transition. That's up 3 points from when we asked this question at the beginning of December. Fifteen percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Obama's handling his transition, down 3 points from our last poll.

The 82 percent approval is higher than then President-elect George W. Bush 8 years ago, who had a 65 percent transition approval rating, and Bill Clinton, at 67 percent in 1992.

"Barack Obama is having a better honeymoon with the American public than any incoming president in the past three decades. He's putting up better numbers, usually by double digits, than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or either George Bush on every item traditionally measured in transition polls," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/24/cnn-poll-obama-transition-draws-approval-of-4-in-5-americans/

Came home and have the party stuff all cleaned up and even the Christmas linens washed and ready for next year!
PamB

Christmas linens? Hahaha, oh my aren't you an Uptown Girl? Come on Pammy, we have that commercial here too, the one where the housewife wrings out the used paper towels for another go-around. Just keep the bathroom cleaning rags separate from the dining room "linens". That E. coli is a real bitch to twist out of a used paper towel.

The Palins would be considered white trash if they lived in any other REAL USA state. Good thing there are very few people up there, not hardly one brain amongst them all !
PamB

Pammy, if the Palins lived door to your house, then they would be considered white trash. As it is now, the Palin's live in a lovely house and in the future will be "moving up up" to even better digs">http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/whitehouse.gif">digs out east.

In the meantime Pammy, you'll still be living right where you are now, calling you folded paper towels "linens" and spending your summer out back staring at your 16' above ground Wal-Mart pool. Like it was a lake.

Good morning fellow Democrats.

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel moved closer to invading Gaza, saying Thursday it had wrapped up preparations for a broad offensive after Palestinian militants fired about 100 rockets and mortar shells across the border in two days.

Israel's foreign minister brushed off a call for restraint from Egypt's president, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a direct appeal to Gaza's people to pressure their leaders to stop the barrages. But the attacks showed no signs of ending. By nightfall, three rockets and 15 mortar shells had exploded in Israel.

Olmert issued his appeal in a rare interview with the Arabic language satellite channel al-Arabiya, saying Israel would not hesitate to respond with force if the attacks continued.

"I am telling them now, it may be the last minute, I'm telling them stop it. We are stronger," he said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081225/D95A1N7O3.html

The Palestinians have been warned, yet again. The Israelis have more patience than I do. IMHO, Israel ought to line up all of their bulldozers and tanks and push all of Gaza into the Med.

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI in his Christmas message Thursday warned that the world was headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity during tough economic times for both rich and poor nations.

Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, Benedict declared that the "heart of the Christian message is meant for all men and women."

The traditional papal Christmas Day message "Urbi et Orbi" - Latin for "to the City and to the World" - usually covers the globe's hot spots, but this year Benedict also addressed the gloomy economic conditions worrying many across the planet.

Amid near daily news of layoffs, failing companies and people losing homes they can no longer afford in many parts of the world, Benedict's words seemed tailored in part to the global economic crisis.

He said his Christmas message also applied to "wherever an increasingly uncertain future is regarded with apprehension, even in affluent nations."

"In each of these places may the light of Christmas shine forth and encourage all people to do their part in a spirit of authentic solidarity," Benedict said. "If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart."...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081225/D959O8800.html

The Holy Father gave a great address and, as always, the Midnight Mass, as broadcast on NBC, was beautiful.

The_Evil_Dr*Burd on December 26, 2008 at 06:27 AM

Sally-* on December 26, 2008 at 06:29 AM

The fact that we agree on this issue will not make it any easier to deal with. The "doves" will try to blame the Israelis. I imagine their tune would change were this Mexico lobbing missiles into TX, CA, AZ, or NM. Then again...

LONDON (AP)– Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivered a somber Christmas broadcast Thursday, acknowledging how the economic crisis has cast a shadow over the traditional festive season and calling for people to show courage in the tough times ahead.

The sober tone was in sharp contrast to last year's address when the monarch opined about the value of a happy family and the importance of helping the disadvantaged.

Britain has taken a significant hit in the global economic downturn with the collapse of several venerable retail icons such as Woolworths, unemployment nearing the two million mark and the value of the British pound dropping to a record low against the dollar.

"Christmas is a time for celebration, but this year it is a more somber occasion for many," the 82-year-old monarch said in the prerecorded message from Buckingham Palace's Music Room.

In this year's address, she stood in front of a grand piano covered with photographs of Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played the piano for the queen earlier this month...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081225/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_royal_christmas

Her Royal Highness gave a good Christmas address to our best friends on the planet, the people of the British Empire. Remember who your friends are and treat them as such.

States from Rhode Island to California are being forced to curtail Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, as they struggle to cope with the deteriorating economy.

With revenue falling at the same time that more people are losing their jobs and private health coverage, states already have pared their programs and many are looking at deeper cuts for the coming year. Already, 19 states — including Maryland and Virginia — and the District of Columbia have lowered payments to hospitals and nursing homes, eliminated coverage for some treatments, and forced some recipients out of the insurance program completely.

Many are halting payments for health-care services not required by the federal government, such as physical therapy, eyeglasses, hearing aids and hospice care. A few states are requiring poor patients to chip in more toward their care...

...In October, Virginia eliminated a small fund for indigent patients. For the coming year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has just proposed $245 million in cuts from the nearly $3.3 billion that the commonwealth devotes to Medicaid, including reduced payments to hospitals and new limits on home health care...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28389056/

The scary part is that VA is one of the best managed states in the union. Of course, a single-payer healthcare system will fix all of this however, it is still the policy of the GOP that healthcare is only for rich people.

WE GOT THE BEST PRESENT OF ALL------WE WON !
THE GRINCHES LOST! BOY ARE THEY PISSED!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HONK THAT YOU JERKS!
674
PamB

You know they're pissed by the way they come in to OUR blog and spew their hate...

Too bad little trollies - YOU LOST!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects.

The two devices under development by the civilian National Institute of Justice both build on knowledge gained from the Pentagon's controversial Active Denial System (ADS) - first demonstrated in public last year, which uses a 2-metre beam of short microwaves to heat up the outer layer of a person's skin and cause pain.

'Reduced injuries'
Like the ADS, the new portable devices will also heat the skin, but will have beams only a few centimetres across. They are designed to elicit what the Pentagon calls a "repel response" - a strong urge to escape from the beam.

A spokesperson for the National Institute for Justice likens the effect of the new devices to that of "blunt trauma" weapons such as rubber bullets, "But unlike blunt trauma devices, the injury should not be present. This research is looking to reduce the injuries to suspects," they say.

Existing blunt trauma weapons can break ribs or even kill, making alternatives welcome. Yet ADS has recorded problems too - out of several thousand tests on human subjects there were two cases of second-degree burns...

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16339-us-police-could-get-pain-beam-weapons.html

If 2nd degree burns are the worst case scenarios and then at a rate of 0.2%, then bring on the new technology. Ah science, gotta love it.

Artificial Human Bone Marrow Created In A Test Tube

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2008) — Artificial bone marrow that can continuously make red and white blood cells has been created in a University of Michigan lab.

This development could lead to simpler pharmaceutical drug testing, closer study of immune system defects and a continuous supply of blood for transfusions.

The substance grows on a 3-D scaffold that mimics the tissues supporting bone marrow in the body, said Nicholas Kotov, a professor in the U-M departments of Chemical Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering; and Biomedical Engineering.

The marrow is not made to be implanted in the body, like most 3-D biomedical scaffolds. It is designed to function in a test tube.

Kotov, principal investigator, is an author of a paper about the research currently published online in the journal Biomaterials. Joan Nichols, professor from the University of Texas Medical Branch, collaborated on many aspects of the project.

"This is the first successful artificial bone marrow," Kotov said. "It has two of the essential functions of bone marrow. It can replicate blood stem cells and produce B cells. The latter are the key immune cells producing antibodies that are important to fighting many diseases."

Blood stem cells give rise to blood as well as several other types of cells. B cells, a type of white blood cell, battle colds, bacterial infections, and other foreign or abnormal cells including some cancers...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222221558.htm

Kudos to the Univ. of MI! Well done! I wonder if the religious right will come up with one of their usual inane objections.

Yes Sally, indeed the trools have won!!!

707SwirlyEyedObamabot on December 25, 2008 at 01:31

yep, you won the white house, both houses of congress and many local democratic seats. thanks so much!

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.

"This is the first successful artificial bone marrow," Kotov said. "It has two of the essential functions of bone marrow. It can replicate blood stem cells and produce B cells.
BobVADemocratHawk on December 26, 2008 at 07:36 AM

Now Bob, it would be Mr Al objecting saying it causes "global warming".

Merry Xmas to all (except right wing nut trolls of course).

So now the German is not Jewish, but Protestent?????

bwhahahahahahahahaha. The German is NOTHING ! He has no spirit nor godliness in him at all. He is a filthy, racist, homophobic, angry, hate filled little man. And God IS watching you, you know. You think he LOVES you? Not a chance in hell. If you think you are going to get up there in front of him to be judged, and he's going to forgive you, you are wrong. Why then, would he try and make you be good all your life, if he is merely going to forgive it all in the end? NO, he rates what you do, and you, chump, had better be worried.

And Sally, one does not call the Clearwater and other fundie Churchs you have attended,Protestent by any means. You must call yourself a Holy Roller. You wither around the floor as God supposedly enters your body. Don't confuse the two. You are nothing in God's eyes, either. Believe me!!! Your judgement day will be here before very much longer. All that hatred tends to eat up the soul. Payment day is coming.

VA Bob. I am surprised at you! I know you are a Hawk, but I thought you had open eyes. If the USA were doing to Mexico what Israel has done to the Palestinians, then they would have the right to fire missiles at us ! You mention the bulldozers, but you neglect to mention how we have watched those pictures for years, of Israel TAKING the land away. You somehow think that is right? That displacing , even killing off women and children, all for more land is right? That somehow Israel has a right to it??? WHY do you think they are so despised in the Middle East and the rest of the world? Just because of their religious beliefs? I am ashamed for you. What on earth makes you think that the Pope, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Buddah, all those who live by Goodliness, who believe in PEACE, think your way is ok? I do not know why you think any country must flaunt strength, in any form, and that it is somehow alright with God. You are not paying enough attention to Esme's spiritual quotes.

On this holiest of holidays, it is sad to see that the trolls as usual, had no where to go nothing to do, no family, no friends, no dinners, no parties, just sitting here spewing hatred. It really really makes you feel sad that there are people out there like this. I am sorry for you.

TTYL, Dems. Have a great day.

Welcome to his hanging (Bush's own words):

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/story/2008/12/25/2201/1742/75/675223

Okay, where are the shoes ...

This is not a good thing:

Retail Sales Plummet

By ANN ZIMMERMAN, JENNIFER SARANOW and MIGUEL BUSTILLO

Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.

Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts, total retail sales, excluding automobiles, fell over the year-earlier period by 5.5% in November and 8% in December through Christmas Eve, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit.

When gasoline sales are excluded, the fall in overall retail sales is more modest: a 2.5% drop in November and a 4% decline in December. A 40% drop in gasoline prices over the year-earlier period contributed to the sharp decline in total sales.

But considering individual sectors, "This will go down as the one of the worst holiday sales seasons on record," said Mary Delk, a director in the retail practice at consulting firm Deloitte LLP. "Retailers went from 'Ho-ho' to 'Uh-oh' to 'Oh-no.'"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123025036865134309.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

Obama Christmas: Visits Military Families

KAILUA, Hawaii — President-elect Barack Obama visited military families while they ate Christmas Day dinner, thanking them for their service and posing for pictures.

Obama on Thursday visited Marine Corps Base Hawaii near his rented vacation home and briefly chatted with enlisted members who ate turkey, ham and roast beef. He didn't make formal remarks or speak to reporters during the stop, one of the few public sightings of the president-elect on what aides call a private family vacation.

"Hey," Obama said as he walked into the mess hall wearing a short-sleeved shirt and slacks. "Just wanted to say 'hi.'"

Obama lingered a few minutes at each table as the Marines and sailors and their families stood to greet their next commander in chief. At other tables, the visitors ate candied sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping, mashed potatoes and simmered corn and broccoli.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/25/obama-christmas-turkey-ha_n_153457.html

Give it up Normy, YOU LOST!

Coleman On Franken Victory: We'll Sue

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota's highest court on Wednesday ruled against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's attempt to keep dozens of possible double votes from Democratic-heavy precincts out of the long-running U.S. Senate recount, but left the door open for a lawsuit.

The state Supreme Court unanimously denied Coleman's request for a temporary restraining order to block the votes, which the Coleman campaign contended were duplicates that mostly favored Democratic rival Al Franken. The court upheld the state Canvassing Board's ruling on the matter.

The court's decision leaves Coleman with fewer ways to make up ground in the recount, where he now trails Franken by 47 votes. But Associate Justice Alan Page made it clear the issue of duplicate ballots was unresolved and said the court's ruling was not binding in a future lawsuit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/25/coleman-on-franken-victor_n_153458.html

PamB on December 26, 2008 at 08:18 AM

I do not recall any stories of Israelis sending in suicide bombers to Palestine. And while peace is always a preferable solution to war, the Palestinians have been anything but peaceful since they were defeated in 1947. Israel has been repeatedly attacked, not just in the past six decades, but for millienia because of their religious beliefs.

Furthermore, Hamas controls Gaza. The same Iranian backed Hamas that is notorious for their terrorism and their calls for the destruction of Israel and the U.S.. The world would be a much better place, a more peaceful place, without Hamas and their supporters in it.

Morning all good Dems,

I hope you all had a great Christmas. Among other things we visited the bird sanctuary along the banks of the Rio Grande at sunset on Christmas Eve. It was quite a sight seeing thousands of cranes and herons feeding and "bedding" down for the night. On top of this there was a beautiful sunset.

Just a few more days and we will seat our new president. I don't know if I can wait.

Stop the pardon of darth vader.

Stop the Pardon of darth vader

CHICAGO (AP)- In a move intended to force public testimony from President-elect Barack Obama's inner circle, a lawyer for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked the legislative panel considering impeachment of the governor to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses, including Obama's incoming chief of staff.

State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie told The Associated Press on Thursday that the House committee received a letter from Blagojevich attorney Ed Genson asking it to subpoena Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett and more than a dozen others, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Currie, the head of the committee, said she didn't yet know what the committee's response to Genson's request would be...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28387725/

My guess is this is nothing more than a bargaining chip for Gov. Blagojevich (D-IL). We already know that none of the President-elect's staff is implicated in any wrongdoing. Gov. Blagojevich is a blight on the great state of IL.

Have a good weekend fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

Furthermore, Hamas controls Gaza. The same Iranian backed Hamas that is notorious for their terrorism and their calls for the destruction of Israel and the U.S.. The world would be a much better place, a more peaceful place, without Hamas and their supporters in it.
793
BobVADemocratHawk on December 26, 2008 at 09:10 AM
=================================================
Merry Xmas Bob. I need to correct your history here. Hamas had no interest in attacking the United States UNTIL Bush classified them as a terrorist organization. They still have never attacked the US on it's own soil. Maybe we would be better off playing the role of the negotiator whose interest really is in peace rather than the hawk ...

Stop the Pardon of darth vader
795
Johne on December 26, 2008 at 09:18 AM
==========================================
Hi JE,

Cheney and Bush should be put on trial for murder.

It is interesting to study the Bush dynasty for during World War II it laundered money between the German power brokers and Dutch and/or American interests that the Bush's had stock in.

There are the Hoover Tory Republicans that bankrupts the Middle Class during 1930's, and both Bush Presidencies. Bush senior did it in the Savings and Loans disaster of deregulation and Bush junior in the Subprime disaster of deregulation. In all cases the banks were the winners of this shell game.

These Hoover policies have caused a meltdown each time for Wall Street and the wages of the "We the people." Seems they want US in two classes.

When you get a Bush in office, you get a Great Depression and billions get laundered to unknown places, where banks work with certain elements to keep the American Middle Class and unions subjecated. How much has America lost with Bush Presidencies?

So I have a question, how much were the Bush family worth after World War II, after Bush senior term and if can one estimated, what the Bush dynasty will be worth after Bush junior leaves office.

Also with a Bush in office the Free Speech dwindles, the songs become less patriotic, and the American Artmosphere suffers its Great Depression.

If anyone has spare time study the Bush dynasty during World War II. It seems that they use the same plan today. It would be a great book, it could be called the "The Great Depressions Of The Bush Dynasties."

I see Pammy and her pet Monkey, Robert, have been on posting their gibberish this morning.

Scott Jagow: The real car story of the morning comes from China. A Chinese company unveiled a new electric car. And our man Scott Tong was at the unveiling. Scott, tell me about the car.

Scott Tong: Well, the car doesn't look spectacular around the outside, I have to tell you. They unveiled it and it looks like a Corolla. But the magic is on the inside. This car has a plug-in battery that is said to be two years ahead of the competition, because it's on the mass market here. And it's superior to what the Japanese and to what GM are developing now. It goes longer, farther per charge, and it charges up faster than the competition's.

Jagow: OK, so where can I get one?

Tong: You can come join me in China, that would be the quickest way. Or you can move to Scandinavia, which is where they're going to export some of them next year. Or if you hang around, this Chinese company called BYD wants to export them within a couple years to these larger markets, like North America or Europe.

Jagow: Scott, what evidence do we have that this really will be a mass-market seller?

Tong: We have $230 million of evidence in the form of investment from Warren Buffett. So that's good enough for most of us. Earlier this year, he decided to invest this much money, and what it seems like is he believes this company is on the cutting edge of this battery technology. And what's interesting about this Chinese company BYD is it started out as a battery company, making mobile phone rechargeable batteries or making laptop rechargeable batteries. And some executives have actually come out and said, you know, making a mobile phone is really hard, making a car is easier.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/15/china_electric_car/
==============

Well, old Buffett invested in China, not Ford or GM.

Global warming dissenters dash scientific 'consensus'
Physicist fired by Gore adds name to Senate list of 650 anti-alarmists
Posted: December 23, 2008
10:32 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn

U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee minority report

The Republican minority of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee released a report with a growing list of over 650 international experts who soundly debunk the claim that there exists a "consensus" in science that human activity is causing a global warming.

The introduction to the 231-page Senate minority report states, "The chorus of skeptical scientific voices grew louder in 2008 as a steady stream of peer-reviewed studies, analyses, real world data and inconvenient developments challenged the U.N.'s and former Vice President Al Gore's claims that the 'science is settled.'"

The report includes links to dozens of news reports, statements and studies, and concludes, "Developments further secured 2008 as the year the 'consensus' collapsed."

The majority of the 231 pages, however, is composed of statements from the 650 scientists, meteorologists and experts who remain skeptical that carbon dioxide – or any other product of human activity – is endangering the earth through generating global warming.

Yesterday, a prominent Princeton physicist and former top government scientist – who says he was fired by Al Gore for resisting the vice president's alarmist agenda – asked to be added to the list of global warming dissenters
=====================

No free thinkers around Mr Al, if you disagree, your FIRED!

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes — followed by a request for more pills.

For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations...

...Such was the case with the 60-year-old chieftain who received the four pills from a U.S. operative. According to the retired operative who was there, the man was a clan leader in southern Afghanistan who had been wary of Americans — neither supportive nor actively opposed. The man had extensive knowledge of the region and his village controlled key passages through the area. U.S. forces needed his cooperation and worked hard to win it, the retired operative said.

After a long conversation through an interpreter, the retired operator began to probe for ways to win the man's loyalty. A discussion of the man's family and many wives provided inspiration. Once it was established that the man was in good health, the pills were offered and accepted.

Four days later, when the Americans returned, the gift had worked its magic, the operative recalled.

"He came up to us beaming," the official said. "He said, 'You are a great man.' "

"And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28389048/

I couldn't let this one pass. Bravo to the greatest military this planet has ever seen. This is how you win wars; by using your brains. Not to mention some other parts of the male anatomy.... ;-)

And now for the intelligent side of the environmental debate.

Don’t Count On Magic

The world's most prominent environmentalist on carbon taxes, clean coal and the dangers of illusion.

Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Dec 8, 2008
Former Vice President Al Gore—now a Nobel Prize winner and the world's most prominent environmentalist—isn't looking for another job in Washington. But his eloquent warnings about the dangers of global climate change have obviously helped shape the priorities of the incoming Obama administration. Gore sat down with NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria recently to talk about a bailout for Detroit, the greening of China and the elusive promise of "clean coal." Excerpts:

ZAKARIA: Would you bail out the carmakers?
GORE: Whatever assistance might be forthcoming should be focused on speeding the changes that are absolutely essential to ensure that our companies are competitive in the global marketplace. When I was vice president, I initiated a program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The federal government invested over a billion dollars in partnership with the Big Three to focus on the accelerated development of advanced high-efficiency vehicles. But as soon as they felt they were off the hook at the end of 2000, they pulled the plug and walked away.

How would you do it? Would you provide loans but force the automakers to raise fuel efficiency or speed up hybrid production?
I think the whole industry should be transformed. It's really tragic that General Motors, for example, allowed Toyota to get a seven-year head start on the hybrid drivetrain in the Prius. I personally believe that the U.S. auto fleet should make a transition as quickly as possible toward plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Oil prices have dropped to $50 a barrel. Are we back to the old cycle—oil gets cheaper, and demand for alternative energy dies?
I don't think we're going to fall for it this time. I was very impressed with the language used by president-elect Barack Obama in his "60 Minutes" interview. He said, This is our pattern: We go from shock to trance. After the Arab OPEC oil embargo of '73, and then the OPEC crisis of '79, when prices went up, we had this feeling of urgency. Then when the price goes back down, it dissipates quickly. We cannot allow ourselves to be vulnerable to that anymore.

You tried to raise the gasoline tax when you were vice president.
When I came in as vice president in 1993, I proposed a very large CO2 tax that would be offset completely by reductions in payroll taxes and an increase in the earned income tax credit. In terms of the total [government] revenue raised, it would be neutral. It wasn't a tax increase. But it would send a price signal that would help us get off our dependence on oil. It passed one house of Congress and then narrowly failed by one vote in the other house. It ended up, unfortunately, being only a small increase in the gasoline tax, which just made people mad and didn't really have any impact on the problem.

Should we try it again despite the economic downturn?
I don't think that's likely to happen, but that's my preferred alternative.

So you would put a tax on carbon, complemented by a tax cut for poor people?
Not only for poor people, but middle income people. We should tax what we burn, not what we earn. I understand why [my plan] is a very difficult lift for the American political system. There are other, indirect ways to put a price on carbon. The cap-and-trade system that president-elect Barack Obama is endorsing is also an effective way to go about it. I also think it's very significant, by the way, that China is now talking about its own domestic cap-and-trade legislation.

China and India have opted out of past agreements to curb carbon emissions. How would you convince the Chinas and Indias of the world that this is their problem, too?
China and India and other developing countries all have exactly the same excuse for not moving on the climate crisis. They say, the United States hasn't done anything. When the U.S. acts it will be by far the most effective way to improve the odds that China and India and other smaller developing economies will also act. They know that it's in their own interest to tackle this problem.

Yet China and India build a new coal-fired power plant every week.
Yes, but as the old saying goes, instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. There is a lot of positive momentum in both India and China. China is now actively preparing a version of cap-and-trade legislation. Their top leaders appear to get it. They have the largest tree-planting program in the world. They are actively building solar and wind and exploring carbon capture and sequestration. They are not doing enough by a long shot [but] the way to encourage them to do more is … for the United States to take the lead.

What do you think of "clean coal" as a solution?
Many in the industry are proposing to go forward with the construction of thousands of new coal plants on the assumption that they will at some point be retrofitted with this technology that does not yet exist. There is not a single large-scale demonstration [clean coal] plant anywhere in the United States ... [The technology shows] some promise but it is not anywhere near a stage that justifies building new coal-fired generating plants.

So industry leaders are acting with unwarranted optimism, in order to build more coal plants immediately?
It's beginning to resemble something that the auto companies did for years. Every few years they would show the cars of the future that run on hydrogen or whatever. [They say] they're going to be magical and pollution-free and they put them in the showroom—but then they never build them. We cannot allow an illusion to be the basis of a strategy for human survival.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/171252

One of the most vigorously debated topics on Earth is the issue of climate change, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) data centers are central to answering some of the most pressing global change questions that remain unresolved. The National Climatic Data Center contains the instrumental and paleoclimatic records that can precisely define the nature of climatic fluctuations at time scales of a century and longer. Among the diverse kinds of data platforms whose data contribute to NCDC's resources are: Ships, buoys, weather stations, weather balloons, satellites, radar and many climate proxy records such as tree rings and ice cores. The National Oceanographic Data Center contains the subsurface ocean data which reveal the ways that heat is distributed and redistributed over the planet. Knowing how these systems are changing and how they have changed in the past is crucial to understanding how they will change in the future. And, for climate information that extends from hundreds to thousands of years, paleoclimatology data, also available from the National Climatic Data Center, helps to provide longer term perspectives.

Internationally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), is the most senior and authoritative body providing scientific advice to global policy makers. The IPCC met in full session in 1990, 1995, 2001 and in 2007. They address issues such as the buildup of greenhouse gases, evidence, attribution, and prediction of climate change, impacts of climate change, and policy options.

Listed below are a number of questions commonly addressed to climate scientists, and brief replies (based on IPCC reports and other research) in common, understandable language. This list will be periodically updated, as new scientific evidence comes to light...

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

This comes from the scientists who have not been bought and paid for by the GOP and their big business cronies who want free reign on polluting us into oblivion.

I couldn't let this one pass. Bravo to the greatest military this planet has ever seen. This is how you win wars; by using your brains. Not to mention some other parts of the male anatomy.... ;-)

BobVADemocratHawk on December 26, 2008 at 02:42 PM

Bob,

I guess I get what you are saying here. But you do realize that this is drug pushing? I thought we were against the poppy harvests and drug trafficking? Isn't this sending a mixed message?

And there could be unforeseen side effects especially when the guy needs higher doses or he dies from complications? Who is he going to call out there from the caves when he has an erection that lasts four or more hours?

And what if his wives get together and take things into their own hands if the old geezer doesn't settle down? Perhaps our Special Forces will have to hand out morning after pills, too?

War is ridiculous. And, imho, this is just one of the more silly instances of why. What next? Are we going to send those cute little pharmaceutical supply reps to Afghanistan with free samples?

Bush's War on Terror needs a clear goal and objectives or it should be shut down just like Iraq. This isn't getting us anywhere.

the Palestinians have been anything but peaceful since they were defeated in 1947...

Defeated? I thought they were attacked internally by terrorists?

White House Religion Versus Bible’s Scale Of Truth

If politicians were preachers, priests, rabbis, or mullahs,
There would be religious Blackwater wars all the time.
They would use Abu Ghraib torture techniques “At Will.”
Countries would have Inquisitions like King Herod.

A political religion seems to be all about Golden Idol Profit,
Supporting Insurance companies over Katrina compassion,
Enron Chevron Cheney deals bringing Hoover Great Depressions,
Where billions disappear into secret carpetbagger accounts.

The Bible’s Scale Of Truth is Accountable to the Law.
Justice where prefabrications are exposed inside a courtroom
Those using God’s name in vain, punished to prison’s wrath
Upon the hard times, they gave their subservient congregations

Oh pulpits of those real religions of God’s divine Love,
Why do you again act like a Catholic World War II Vatican,
Seeing the Holocaust Abu Ghraib similarities of abuse
Where Jews this time, seem to agree, this was God’s Will,
And did nothing.

When did Jesus chose to be those Christian politicians of hate
Labeling Liberals as if World War II Jews or maybe 1930’s blacks.
Why do blacks today look down, Judge them, when some lost lives
Fighting the Conservative religion of segregation of His children.

Did not God create US equal in His image with divine diversity?
Yet today again, politicians are pointing fingers of vile blame.
When their empire grows in Greed and Corruption subprime preaching,
Who spout their Bible verses, while pillaging the religious coffers.

So I have one question, do you want these people on Sunday
To lead US among Bible verses of what their God is about?
Or would you have a Pope or preachers that should have said something
With pulpits against Patriot Act misinformation - hiding body bags
TRUTH.

Note: It is my opinion, America and maybe the world needs to have a similar Nuremberg trial that was done after World War II. Because what happened here in this country was a travesty, just a much a crime to the Bible’s Scale of Truth, that in every aspect of our Constitution, they “At Will” decimated Constitutional accountability by using President’s redefinitions, like with torture, Guantanamo, and other things. Where the Checks and Balances were obliterated by think tank power brokers with prefabricated war plans. People, whose main purpose was to destroy the Middle Class, and unions, thereby setting up a Tory Republic of Political and Conglomerate Royalty. Much like what Hitler tried to do by setting up in his conservative master race plan, while the rest are send to Gaza Strip America consecration camps as homeless, without any futures.

This is my own view, and with Free Speech you can have yours.


David Lester Young 12/26/08©
De-Terminated poet, somewhere in America not on company time

A Just War or just creating your own reality?

We've all seen how well that worked out in Iraq, with financial deregulation, outsourcing and globalization of our economy, and privatization of our government. Republican ideology is nothing more than a fractured fairy tale.

Just Wars are nothing more than profit centers for rich men and dysfunctional conservative dreamers. Let's tell it like it is...the Taliban came to power because Reagan allowed a vacuum to develop after the Soviets left Afghanistan. He should have encouraged the neighbors to move in. Instead the criminal element took over.

You Republicans always turn to military prowess to overcome your lack of tangible goals and objectives, prudent management, and hard-hitting diplomacy.

You were too stupid to realize that the argument for imperialism died with the British Empire. It's a bottomless pit of mistakes and futility. But you're still trying to tell us that the Taliban is a threat to a petting zoo someplace in Iowa? These are drug dealers. They don't care about our kids feeding goats.

The American people will not tolerate another eight years under Obama or anyone else who ventures down the same route in Afghanistan as Bush did in Iraq. As a people, we like the Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick philosophy...use it only when you need it and never get yourself into the position to need it.

All you Republicans want to do is walk around the globe aimlessly and hit yourself in the head with a big stick. The "reality you created" this time has exposed your unsupportable rear flank to even the Sheeple.

We'll be kicking it for decades to come...as we take back piece-by-piece everything you stole from the middle class in the name of Bin Lauden. Class warfare always ends up a losing proposition in a Republic...and since you're too incompetent to run a dictatorship, that will always be your fate. Live with us and spare us the talk of terris under our beds.

This comes from the scientists who have not been bought and paid for by the GOP and their big business cronies who want free reign on polluting us into oblivion.
808
BobVADemocratHawk on December 26, 2008 at 03:12 PM
=================================================
Bob, the right wing nuts have no credibility. The right wing nuts doing all the whining about global warming are the same ones that think the earth is 6000 years old. They think people walked with dinosaurs. What fools!

Hey right wing nuts:

YOU LOST THE ELECTION

YOU LOST IT BAD

EVEN YOUR BOY NORMY COLEMAN IS GOING DOWN

GO TAKE A DINOSAUR RIDE AND GET OVER IT

Germany Seeking U.S. Global-Warming Cooperation

WASHINGTON — 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.

“I think it is no coincidence that the first video message after his election given by the president-elect was on climate change and energy,” Scharioth said in an Associated Press interview ahead of an event promoting the German initiative, called “The Transatlantic Climate Bridge.”

The initiative is aimed at developing partnerships between the two countries to find new ways to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency. Germany already has talked to officials of individual U.S. states and local governments and now hopes to engage the new federal administration.

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.”

Obama, a Democrat, is stacking his Cabinet and inner circle with advocates who have pushed for deep mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas pollution and even with government officials who have achieved results at local levels.

The president-elect has said that one of the first things he will do when he gets to Washington is grant California and other states permission to control car tailpipe emissions, which the Bush administration denied.

And although congressional action may take time, the next Congress, with its larger Democratic majorities, will be more inclined to act on global warming.
=================================================

Hey right wing nuts, get used to it. The way we generate and use energy is going to change.

Clean coal? Not yet!

We can capture carbon emissions from coal and bury them underground Burying the carbon produced from the burning of coal, so called Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), isn't as simple as the coal industry would have us think.

New Scientist magazine recently provided a good overview of CCS technology. It quotes a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study called The Future of Coal, which concludes that, "the first commercial CCS plant won't be on stream until 2030 at the earliest."

Oil-giant Shell "doesn't foresee CCS being in widespread use until 2050."

In May, 2008 Greenpeace International released a comprehensive, in-depth report called "False Hope: Why Carbon capture and storage won't save the climate," detailing the fallacies of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

"Carbon capture and storage is a scam. It is the ultimate coal industry pipe dream,” said the report’s author, Emily Rochon, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace International. “Governments and businesses need to reduce their emissions—not search for excuses to keep burning coal.”

SandyH on December 27, 2008 at 01:53 AM
===================================================
Sandy, the Republicans have no answers. They proved that for decades now. The Iraq war was a huge mistake on many levels. Bush and the GOP were desparate to keep the war machine going. Meanwhile, the real threats keep growing in strength. I find it laughable that Bush claims there has been no attacks since he invaded Iraq. How convenient to forget about the attacks in Spain and the UK.

Faster Climate Change Feared

by Juliet Eilperin

The United States faces the possibility of much more rapid climate change by the end of the century than previous studies have suggested, according to a new report led by the U.S. Geological Survey.

[Ice sheets in the Antarctic and Greenland, above, are losing 48 cubic miles per year, pushing up sea level worldwide. (By John Mcconnico -- Associated Press)]Ice sheets in the Antarctic and Greenland, above, are losing 48 cubic miles per year, pushing up sea level worldwide. (By John Mcconnico -- Associated Press)
The survey -- which was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and issued this month -- expands on the 2007 findings of the United Nations Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. Looking at factors such as rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic and prolonged drought in the Southwest, the new assessment suggests that earlier projections may have underestimated the climatic shifts that could take place by 2100.

However, the assessment also suggests that some other feared effects of global warming are not likely to occur by the end of the century, such as an abrupt release of methane from the seabed and permafrost or a shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system that brings warm water north and colder water south. But the report projects an amount of potential sea level rise during that period that may be greater than what other researchers have anticipated, as well as a shift to a more arid climate pattern in the Southwest by mid-century.

Thirty-two scientists from federal and non-federal institutions contributed to the report, which took nearly two years to complete. The Climate Change Science Program, which was established in 1990, coordinates the climate research of 13 different federal agencies.

Tom Armstrong, senior adviser for global change programs at USGS, said the report "shows how quickly the information is advancing" on potential climate shifts. The prospect of abrupt climate change, he said, "is one of those things that keeps people up at night, because it's a low-probability but high-risk scenario. It's unlikely to happen in our lifetimes, but if it were to occur, it would be life-changing."

In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could be as much as four feet by 2100. The IPCC had projected a sea level rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the past two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are now losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice that exists in the Alps.

Konrad Steffen, who directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was lead author on the report's chapter on ice sheets, said the models the IPCC used did not factor in some of the dynamics that scientists now understand about ice sheet melting. Among other things, Steffen and his collaborators have identified a process of "lubrication," in which warmer ocean water gets in underneath coastal ice sheets and accelerates melting.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/26-7

Global warming right wing nuts is real.

It's absolutely laughable when right wing nuts screech about human rights violations. Hey boz, you are the ones who hate international groups that devote their efforts to stopping human rights violations! You hate intervention in the world based on moral grounds. You all criticized Clinton when he used the air force in Bosnia to stop their genocidal policies.

Bush didn't invade Iraq on "moral grounds". Get your story straight.

So strange this is that two computers show different images of the blog. Comments are larger on another computer than this computer that allows me to post without logging in now to Party Builder. I cannot log in or do anything on the other computer, except see all the post.

This computer crashes all the time, unless I turn off most of the programs. I still cannot put the Microsoft Security patches in, I need to and that Micro Trend says are needed. I have to go into Task Manager and delete every 10 minutes programs that hinder posting or reading Yahoo. It is like having a Iraq War with your computer. Two days ago it danced the jitterbug, and then froze up.

I will see when I post this as what number it will post it at. It is at 815 on this page.

So weird, 825 and I have not logged on for 12 hours.

On the other computer it is 823 omitting the last two comments.

test

Hey right wing nuts, stop rationalizing. The attacks in Spain and the UK proves that Iraq didn't work at all. You can't prove a the absence of something as evidence that a policy works. How do you know that 9/11 wasn't decades in the making? And what exactly did Chimp Bush do to prevent it given that he actually had alot of clues it was coming?

STOP MAKING EXCUSES

AND

STOP WHINING LIKE BABIES THAT OBAMA WON

YOU LOST THE ELECTION FOR GOOD REASONS

PEOPLE DON'T BUY INTO RIGHT WING NUTTISM ANYMORE

Israel demolishes Hamas compounds, over 200 dead

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing more than 200 people and wounding nearly 400 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years.

Most of those killed were security men, but an unknown number of civilians were also among the dead. Hamas said all of its security installations were hit, threatened to resume suicide attacks, and sent at least 70 rockets and mortar shells crashing into Israeli border communities, according to the Israeli military. One Israeli was killed and at least six people were hurt.

With so many wounded, the Palestinian death toll was likely to rise.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/27/israel-launches-air-strik_n_153664.html

Nice stuff. What does it accomplish?

Hamas is crazy for launching attacks on Israel.
Israel is crazy for their unmeasured responses that kill many innocent people.

This situation is just getting worse. There is NO military solution to Palestine. Just as there is no military solution to Iraq.

Right wing nuttism throughout the world hasn't solved anything whether it's Islamic, Christian or Jewish.

The strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza, as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory, ruled by Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children.

"My son is gone, my son is gone," wailed Said Masri, a 57-year-old shopkeeper, as he sat in the middle of a Gaza City street, slapping his face and covering his head with dust from a bombed-out security compound nearby.

He said he had sent his 9-year-old son out to purchase cigarettes minutes before the airstrikes began and now could not find him. "May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn," Masri
=================================================

This is why many of us criticize Israel and how they respond to Hamas. All this insures is that there will be new waves of Hamas retaliation against Israel. The cycle of violence continues and the US gets sucked in one way or the other.

25% of Retailers May Go Bankrupt

Retailing has always been a tough business. Now it's a brutal business. Some observers now predict that more than 25% of retailers may go bust in the the next two years.

Paul Kedrosky:

A great WSJ quote driving home how this truly is retail's Schumpeterian moment:

Analysts estimate that from about 10% to 26% of all retailers are in financial distress and in danger of filing for Chapter 11. AlixPartners LLP, a Michigan-based turnaround consulting firm, estimates that 25.8% of 182 large retailers it tracks are at significant risk of filing for bankruptcy or facing financial distress in 2009 or 2010. In the previous two years, the firm had estimated 4% to 7% of retailers then tracked were at a high risk for filing.

More here.

Granted, many retailers are perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy, but these are still unprecedented numbers. Retail, as we know it, is going to look very, very different a decade from now.

http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/25-of-retailers-may-go-bankrupt

This is the next wave of the Bush Depression.

Afternoon rj,

ezworld must be dreaming.

"they were supposed to occur while Clinton was in office but were scaled back and delayed due to pressure put on the terrorists by our intelligence organizations."

bush was apparently told by intelligence that an attack had been planned. So why didn't bush and cheney stop it. This only proves that they were asleep at the switch.

This only proves that they were asleep at the switch.
835
Johne on December 27, 2008 at 02:52 PM
================================================
Hi JE,

The right wing nuts are making up all sorts of conspiracy theories. Their baloney hot air hate radio jerks such as Hannity never met a conspiracy theory he didn't like.

The facts are simple. 9/11 happened on the Chimp's watch. For that, he gets the blame.

MAN UP RIGHT WING NUTS

YOU LOST THE ELECTION

YOU LOST IT BAD

GET OVER IT

Yet another fail from Chimpenfuhrer Bush - the worse PrezelNut in history:

Gaza Blowup Highlights Bush's Broken Peace Promise

In January, George W. Bush famously predicted he would broker a Middle East peace by the end of his presidency. Now with Israel's launch this morning of airstrikes in Gaza -- which so far have left 155 dead -- Bush's pledge of a two-state solution is just the latest failure of his disastrous tenure in the White House.

Tensions between Israeli and Hamas forces have been escalating since the expiration last week of a six-month truce negotiated by Egypt. The retaliatory tit-for-tat has included Israeli strikes against militants in Gaza, and Hamas firing rockets and mortars into Israel. And while Israel reopened border crossings Friday for deliveries of food, supplies and humanitarian aid, the AP reported that the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "wrapped up preparations for a broad offensive."

On Thursday, the scandal-plagued outgoing Prime Minister issued a warning to Palestinians in Gaza. As Reuters recounted:

"I didn't come here to declare war," Mr. Olmert told Al Arabiya, an Arab broadcaster widely watched in Gaza. "But Hamas must be stopped - that is the way it is going to be."

He issued what amounted to a public call to Gazans to overthrow Hamas, the Islamic group that controls the territory. "I'm telling them now," he said. "It may be the last minute. There will be more blood there. Who wants it? We don't want it."

That kind of rhetoric hardly suggests any imminent breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations during the 25 days remaining in the Bush presidency -- especially given this morning's airstrikes. Which is exactly what President Bush promised 11 months ago.

After years of malign neglect regarding the simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Bush launched his renewed peace effort at the November 2007 Annapolis conference. During a subsequent meeting on January 11, 2008 with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bush made his pledge of a signed agreement during his presidency:

"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office...I'm on a timetable. I've got 12 months."

http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/gaza-tensions-highlight-bushs-broken-peac

Now this is smart! But of course it's being done somewhere other than the US. It's time to jettison the right wing nuts from America so we can have meaningful change rather than right wing nuttism:

No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’

DARMSTADT, Germany — From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Bush Data Threatens to Overload Archives

By ROBERT PEAR and SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 27, 2008

WASHINGTON — The National Archives has put into effect an emergency plan to handle electronic records from the Bush White House amid growing doubts about whether its new $144 million computer system can cope with the vast quantities of digital data it will receive when President Bush leaves office on Jan. 20.

The technical challenge was an inevitable result of the explosion in cybercommunications, which will make the electronic record of the Bush years about 50 times as large as that left by the Clinton White House in 2001, archives officials estimate. The collection will include top-secret e-mail tracing plans for the Iraq war as well as scenes from the likes of Barney Cam 2008, a White House video featuring the first pet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/washington/27archives.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

There's going to be some interesting stuff found in the Chimp archives. Chimp better get a move on to his hideout in Paraguay.

Bush Flack Spouts Nonsense While Touting Success of Presidency

Last Monday, RealClearPolitics provided a forum for Bush White House Counselor Ed Gillespie to dissemble on "Myths and Facts About the Real Bush Record." This document should serve political science instructors well in the future as the epitome of dead end political propaganda.

I have not seen any debunking of this nonsense, so let me give it a try.

Gillespie is quite a piece of work. According to his Wikipedia entry, he rose from a Senate parking lot attendant to work as a "top aide" to Dick Armey and as a "principal drafter" of the 1994 Contract with America.

When his planned involvement in the George Allen Presidential campaign imploded, Gillespie joined the Bush Administration in 2007 and filled the b.s. vacuum caused by the departure of Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett. He was in charge of selling the surge and, most famously, wrote a letter objecting when NBC's Richard Engle had the temerity to ask Bush questions about Iran that were less deferential than W's usual fare, claiming that NBC had unfairly edited Bush's answer. This was the start of the War on NBC, escalated by Hillary Clinton and, regrettably IMHO, continued in this space by Jason Linkins (item 6 and, pretty much, item 5).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-kaus/bush-flack-spouts-nonsens_b_153617.html

Give it up right wing nuts. Chimp Bush is the worse President in history. No amount of spinning will change an administration that can be summed up in one word:

FAILURE

Got get going on the moose burgers ... later.

RNC chair 'shocked and appalled' by Obama parody

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Republican National Committee on Saturday admonished one of his potential successors for giving members a CD featuring a song called "Barack the Magic Negro."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081227/pl_politico/16876

Tory Republicans Conservative Magic Negro Parody

Oh, wail words of Conservative Rush Limbaugh “Hate” vile venom
Divide America blaming American Liberals, as if, World War II Jews
Blaming “Barack the Magic Negro” that they have their servant places,
Faces bowing to Republican Royalty mocking US with "Puff, the Magic Dragon."

Arch Conservative Tory patriarch staunch stalwarts of Right Wing values,
"We Hate the USA" Liberals, cause you are from da hood of Civil Rights.
Party of Lincoln, Bush Redefined Country Club of exclusive member bigots
Using a White House religion to segregate America back to Hoover’s time.

The Republican Party of 2008 are Rush Limbaugh satires of prejudiced America
That like Nashville CEO’s, it would rather write "The Star Spanglish Banner,"
Than a new “Star Spangled Banner” uniting US with Country Music’s Love
Affairs singing among God’s verses hugging divine diversity in brotherly compassion.

So Chip Saltsman, your Christmas Gift to America and the Republican Party Future
Was a CD featuring a song called "Barack the Magic Negro" Christmas message
That our children can hear in what Gov. Mike Huckabee's former campaign manager
Stated was appropriate for a Tory Republic Elite, minus respected blacks, like Colin Powell.

Even George Wallace changed from the 1930’s, where Bush wants US to travel back to.
Hoover Great Depressions of decimating the Middle Class restoring the Old Money Saviors.
Conservative who use there Enron Chevron Cheney pawns with Chess prefabricated inflation
Using Subprime calculations to bring in another Bush wave of Hoover inspired bankruptcies.

Power Brokers, who know that American will not invest in America, for their children sake
That the Goliaths of music will never create a patriot song for the World to see US united.
They know as long as we blame segments of America in Hate, there is no patriot harmony
And their Patriot Act demands Civil Liberties be a crushed Lady Liberty by Tory oppression.

Can the miracle of the womb born of this soil toil together in singing a miracle melody
Setting sails among the heavens of our creative American Artmosphere to come together
In times when the world sees US as weak, and easily conquered from the inside fear
That in having Security giving US a China clone, “We the people” have to give up the rest.
R.I.P the United States of America.
We have a new Tory Republic Incorporated.

Note: I like Liberal God loving Conservatives, it is the Tory Conservatives, I cannot trust with the “Truth” prefabrications redefinitions that lies to our faces.

Can you imagine Russ Limbaugh as President? Why even Bush might be seen as a Liberal.

David Lester Young 12/27/08©
De-Terminated poet, somewhere in America not on company time

I think it is time for Colin Powell to stand up and say Tory Republicans to not run the Republican Party. General Powell can you ask Nashville Tory CEO's to make a USA patriot song for the world to see.

829
ezworld on December 27, 2008 at 12:01 PM

Thanks

Democratic Senators, and Representatives along with "We the people" heartbeats of both parties, can I ask a favor of you. That you ask the Tory CEO's of the Music City (Nashville) to come up with some patriotic songs uniting all of US in its harmony, where the melody is about our children's future needing all of US to unite in fighting for them against those that will divide US and conquer US as Tory rulers.

Can Nashville be flooded with my Christmas wish? Since, I did not receive any Christmas gifts, except seeing the stars over Music Row on Christmas Eve. When earlier that day were reigning down overcast skies. Could my present be that someone write a song for America and its "We the people?"

Being a David, I had a slingshot wish that I sent with my prayers into the heavens. As two homeless men stood nearby, almost to say, there is a lot to do to rebuilt this country, and if it had a working song of magical notes radiating in what America needs and is about; Love, and our children's dreams. Children having futures, no matter who they are, for are they not all God's children given the divine gifts of free minds birthrights as free Speech patriots.

Can the Goliath walls of Nashville crumble in the need for "Made in America," "We the people" songs of divine inspiration inspired from a real God that Loves rather than a political God that Hates and divides.

Is Nashville a Rush Limbaugh satire song or of those Angels of Music that caresses America's soul? The sooner Nashville agrees, the sooner this poet can goto Florida, to transfer Hoover dwindling retirement accounts into a bank to pay for a credit card, so I can the live on it, until early SS. It is almost maxed out upon the dream, and Thank God the gas will not send me into a Cheney bankruptcy.

Okay, what the heck, my other Christmas wish dream is for Nashville start a non-profit foundation of volunteers of singers, songwriter, poets, writer, and on down the line, where creative artists can twice a year, in an hour session, they go into our schools to sing, play guitars, fiddles, and play the instruments of musical notes of motivation to those children who have nothing seeing the stars in their eyes shine, as role models give then the gift of having the dreams to try to succeed. Can you remember that mentor? To think that in one hour, a life could be changed, and what artist can not spare two hours a year. My choice for a name of this place would be the (Ben)Franklin American Artmosphere Foundation. If Nashville does not want the idea then maybe nearby Franklin Tennessee is a better Music City Dream.

Artmosphere is more that atmosphere it is the HeArt of America dancing among its Free spirits.

I keep planting seeds and they keep being these Liberal duds, but what if one could make a difference to "Yes We Can."

I wonder how many emails it would take RCA, Columbia, and others to respond to patriot David's of all names and genders? IS Bah Humbug a Scrooge McTory record label?

Is there anyone there? Did all it take was Jeb Bush saying he won't run to get this blog up and running again?

Well, I guess I can say....First?

Matt,

If you haven't moved on to a new post, it's two weeks till D Day. Obama's kids got off to their first day of school and Blago's plant didn't make it to his first day at the Senate.

Why is Washington always caught up in those sticky legal details instead of getting the big agenda items rolling? We need a stimulus package now and the financial bankers need to be tasered until they tell what they did with OUR bailout money. That's all I want with this inauguration...action on the big problems.

Two weeks and we'll see if Obama is The Change he said he would bring. I'm hopeful. It even appears that his friend Tim Kaine is getting the blog back up and running.

bbl, maybe...if the stars can align properly after I get dinner fixed and return.

Come on, Somebody reply. I’d like to know whether I'm not the only one left in that room with the guy from "2001 The Space Odyssey."

Well now. If it doesn't looks like those screeching monkeys waving sticks around at The Obelisk haven't shown up.

I suppose you are planning to be at the Inauguration Parade doing the same thing as Obama's motorcade goes by the Washington Monument on January 20? With McConnell & Company already acting like your typical GOP baboons I doubt anyone will notice.

So the lovely and talented Sarah has gotten herself and Levi in hot water already with the baby not even one-week-old. The new dad doesn't have a high school diploma, has lost his lucrative apprenticeship because of Grandma Palin, and he can't pay child support. Can't any of those frickin Alaskan Republican politicians keep from lying, cheating, and abusing their power?

It's a good thing People Magazine is willing to pay three figures for pictures of the Wasilla hillbillies. I personally can't wait to see a pix of Todd giving Tripp a ride on his snowmobile as it crashes into Grandma Johnson's meth lab.

Those poor kids deserve better than the grandmothers on both sides of the family. And Alaska deserves a better Governor.

Some Republican ideology failures besides nation building in the Middle East, globalization (outsourcing/privatization/deregulation/underemployment/lack of a national health care policy) and attacks on science and technology at home need to be remembered by posterity, too...

20 Forgotten Bush Scandals

The Bush administration will leave the annals of presidential disrepute several times thicker than it found them. There’s Iraq, the hospital visit to John Ashcroft, the US attorney firings. But historians will note that those are only the beginning of the Bush administration scandals. Does the name Jeff Gannon ring a bell? Boxgate? What about the anti-prostitution AIDS tsar who purchased the services of—wait for it—the D.C. Madam? The Daily Beast has put together 20 of Bush’s greatest forgotten scandals...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-06/forgotten-bush-scandals/

The perils and joys of self-esteem

Garrison Keillor
January 7, 2009

When you look at the audience numbers for TV and then add up the incarcerated felons, Alzheimer's patients and confirmed barflies in America, it dawns on you who is watching TV these days—people unable to lead normal productive lives—and yet they give out awards for this stuff. TV is wallpaper nowadays and those talking heads might as well be talking to the smoked trout in Murray's Deli, but we allow them their delusions.

And we allow the Current Occupant to leave the Mansion d'Blanc with a big grin in a couple weeks, his self-esteem apparently fully intact, imagining that his legacy will emerge golden and shining in a hundred years after all of us are deceased. He is one of the cheerfullest idiots you ever saw, a man who could burn down his own house and be happy that the patio was still standing. Had Congress impeached him, his defense would have been that he was not capable of understanding the charges...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0107keillorjan07-column,0,1780146.column

It makes one wonder about the past presidents power lunch today at the White House and what exactly any of these past presidents have to offer the new one in advice.

If Spunky is hosting such an affair, you know it's a big waste of time...just like McCain's move to suspend his campaign and rush to Washington to meet with Spunky's crack treasury team.

Note that the cold dreary rain drove them out of the Rose Garden and into the Oval Office...and Spunky's aides abruptly turned off the lights when Obama tried to speak. Between the five of them they handled that emergency pretty well?

How about the the newest Great Depression? Do any of them have a clue?

George W. Bush and the talking heads are one an the same?

Gee, I think the German should be contacting his Government and PM about no global warming, etc. They are putting a lot of his money into fixing it, as his whole country believes it is very real. but then, I betcha he does not have the guts to argue with them, he is only brave when anonymous.

Hi, Pam.

I appears that someone is monkeying around with getting the blog moving again or it just thawed out for a day or two?

The German has his own theory: What me worry about anything till we Republicans need a sudden $1.5 trillion bailout with no strings attached. The thaw really worked them, didn't it?

No one at the DNC gives a crap about this dopey blog, its the source of endless complaints from moon bats like pammy calling and e mailing constantly to remove the posts of others.

If you want to keep it, grow up.

If you want to keep it, grow up.

859CactusBarrack on January 7, 2009 at 03:44 PM

well, I see the new year did not intensify the intelligence of the trolls! bwhahahahahahaha.

Grow Up???

This from an old man, who came in here 2 years ago, right after we kicked ass in the 2006 election , and started spewing his hatred and homophobia and racism???????????????

this from an old man who thinks Dems won AGAIN in 2008, just because of the economy (of what naturally, Republicans had nothing to do with). that refuses to believe and continues to defend an administration that destroyed this country?????

Come on , Danny, old boy. It is YOU who should grow up, and if you do not like your posts and name deleted, then beat it !!!

what a pathetic idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!

Testing...

Good evening fellow Democrats. I see Mr. Ortega is back from vacation.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama hailed a rare Oval Office gathering of all U.S. presidents as an extraordinary event on Wednesday as the current occupant, President George W. Bush, reminded his predecessors and successor that the office "transcends the individual."

"I just want to thank the president for hosting us," the president-elect said, flanked by former President George H.W. Bush on one side and his son on the other.

Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both smiling broadly, stood with them.

"All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office," Obama said. "For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary."

In a swift photo opportunity, the current president wished Obama well before all five men headed to a private lunch...

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95IFF780&show_article=1

I would've loved to been the proverbial fly on the wall for this luncheon. This is a snapshot of history worthy of keeping.

(FNS) - Like many other protests of Israel's campaign in Gaza, this one ended badly — police had to cool an ugly fight between supporters of Israel and Gaza, breaking up the warring sides as their screaming and chanting threatened to turn into something worse.

But some protesters at this rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., took their rhetoric a step further, calling for the extermination of Israel — and of Jews.

Separated by battle lines and a stream of rush-hour traffic outside a federal courthouse last week, at least 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators faced off against a smaller crowd of Israel supporters.

Most of the chants were run-of-the-mill; men and women waving Palestinian flags called Israel's invasion of Gaza a "crime," while the pro-Israel group carried signs calling the Hamas-run territory a "terror state."

But as the protest continued and crowds grew, one woman in a hijab began to shout curses and slurs that shocked Jewish activists in the city, which has a sizable Jewish population.

"Go back to the oven," she shouted, calling for the counter-protesters to die in the manner that the Nazis used to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust.

"You need a big oven, that's what you need," she yelled...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477450,00.html

I see the anti-semites were out in full force in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Perhaps these pro-terrorist organizations like ANSWER should try their protests in Israel.

Happy New Year everyone, a belated one thanks to this excuse for a blog.

Only thirteen days left until the inauguration, and then we get are country back from the lame pugs, that destroyed this country.

I can hardly wait, YYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a pathetic idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!

632PamB on January 7, 2009 at 04:06 PM

I couldn't of said it better myself!

If the blog is so dopey, why are you here whining constantly?

I've actually seen some of our comments picked up by the talking heads and one of our catch phrases adopted by the Bush administration to their chagrin...The Ownership Society. It now hangs like an albatross around the RNC's neck for all time. I will be eternally grateful to know that we in some way pointed them in a direction that would eventually hang them.

They were just so arrogant and conceited that they jumped at the bait outdoing themselves when it came to showing how "dopey" their conservative ideology is. Bush proved to Middle Class Americans for all time that all Republicans are nothing more than Material Girls.

And then Palin came along and proved to America's younger generations that even when you dress one of them up, they're still "dopey, corrupt bigots.

Bob,

Let's hope that Obama earns some political capital from that meeting. We're going to need it to get our Democratic recovery agenda into place ASAP without any Republican obstructionism.

The employment picture is growing extremely grave and sentiment in the country has turned glum since the election. We need action and we need it soon. I'm afraid we are about to hit rock bottom and all the safety nets have been cut by the GOP.

Bush proved to Middle Class Americans for all time that all Republicans are nothing more than Material Girls.

And then Palin came along and proved to America's younger generations that even when you dress one of them up, they're still "dopey, corrupt bigots.

640SandyH on January 7, 2009 at 07:19 PM

That's one hell of a mouth full Sandy, but so true. I couldn't agree with you more. (Material Girls HEE HEE)! Kinda like girlie Men, HEE HEE. But corrupt girlie men. The Chimp wouldn't even make a good girlie man, i hope Obama never invites him back to Washington D. C. for nothing, he don't deserve anything, but a bullet, right between his lying eyes.

THE CHIMP: THE BY FAR WORST RESIDENT IN HISTORY. OF THIS COUNTRY, WHICH HAS BEEN A FAILURE AT EVERYTHING THAT HE HAS EVER TRYED TO DO.

HOW ANYBODY WITH ONE LITTLE BRAIN CELL COULD STILL SUPPORT THIS IDIOT IS BEYOND STUPID. THOSE OF YOU THAT STILL SUPPORT HIM HAVE GOT THE WORST CASE OF IGNORNACE KNOWN TO MANKIND!!!!

AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE IGNORNANT BANK!

NEWS ALERT TO ALL TROOLS.

ANN COULTRE HAS GOT A NEW BOOK COMING OUT TOMORROW.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT GETTING IN LINE TO GET IT, YOU GOT PLENTY OF TIME, AS IT IS DESIGNATED TO BE A WORST SELLER.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!!

BobVADemocratHawk on January 7, 2009 at 04:57 PM

Bob,

We have been seeing similar anti-Semitic incidents spreading throughout Europe in the last few days. The world saw it before as an off-shoot of the last Great Depression. I don't like the similarities that are beginning to crop up here on all levels.

Perhaps it's time for Israel to compromise with Syria over the Golan Heights just like they did with Egypt over the Sinai...three decades ago? It would go a long way towards undercutting support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israel needs a sane, secure Palestinian state created with which it can build a future for both of their peoples. The time has come to end this cycle of violence in the Middle East and it begins with settling the Six Day War.

Hillary Clinton stands at the pentacle of peace if she can push Obama in a new direction. If anybody can end this madness, I’d put my money on her being the one.

Jim Cramer, on mad money profiled building a white collar crime prison, in Ohio, however it could be anywhere as far as I'm concerned for all the crooks on wall street, from the bankers, hedge fund operators, ect. And he also profiled building a 5 star hotel next to it, for the crooked lawyers next to the prison, to represent the crooks. As a way to help the economy, and said that both would fill up in short order, if Obama would appoint some hard nose prosecutor like Fitzgerald, to prosecute these white collar crimes.

I couldn't agree with him anymore, there is so many crooks in the investment community, its not even funny.

I wish that Obama had of appointed Jim Cramer as SEC Chairman, he would of made it a level playing field for everyone, and 100's of heads would of rolled.

To many people regard him as a radical, and he is, but hes one hell of a smart radical in his expertize, and would of been a great SEC Chairman. Obama has screwed up by not appointing him.

Anybody know when were going to get another thread that works?

Sandy it dont look like there is anybody here but you and me, why are you ignoring me?

Chassie,

Sorry, if you thought I was ignoring you.
I was making diner and just finished the dishes.

I don't see any reason why these white collar criminals can't be sent to the big house along with other felons. Crime and punishment should be the same for everyone.

Jim Cramer, along with a lot of other financial "experts" and economists, was caught off guard and even outright wrong about predicting a lot of what ended up happening during the past year.

I'd rather keep those who are very vocal like Cramer on the outside keeping watch over the Fed and SEC. He at least seems to understand the significance of what's at stake for the average investor and consumer. And he won't cave when it comes to calling out the thieves.

Army apologizes for hurtful message to survivors

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
Jan 7

WASHINGTON – The Army said Wednesday that 7,000 family members of soldiers killed in the Iraq or Afghan wars mistakenly were sent letters addressing them as "John Doe." Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., was sending a personal letter to all the families who received the improperly addressed letters as the result of a printing error, the Army said.

The 7,000 original letters were sent late last month to inform survivors about private organizations that offer gifts, programs and other assistance to families that have lost soldiers in Iraq or other countries where they are deployed for the war on terrorism.

It was sent from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command's Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Center in Alexandria, Va., which issued a formal apology Wednesday.

The letters, which were printed by a contractor, were to have been automatically addressed with the specific names and addresses of survivors, said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman. Instead, they contained the placeholder greeting — "Dear John Doe."

"It's our fault for not catching it," he said. "We are certainly sorry."

Casey's personal note to the families alluded to the fact that he lost his own father in Vietnam and it said the Army is extremely sensitive to family grief.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_apology

What a sorry lot indeed. Note that an outside contractor sent out the letters. This is what happens when you farm out responsibility to people who don't give a damn about anything except getting paid on time...at an outrageously exaggerated amount of money.

Anything that is going to the families of the fallen should be personal and be handled by military personnel. Any idiot should know that.

I have a early day tomorrow. Good evening, all.