Monday Morning Open Thread
Good morning!
Comments (71) «
— Philippians 2:14-15 —
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
Life is good.
Good morning, folks.
Just stopping by...
Iran recount seen as bid to placate opposition
By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
___
In an attempt to placate protesters, Iran conducted a partial recount Monday of votes cast in its disputed presidential election, and the hard-line president asked for an investigation into the shooting death of a young woman who has become a potent symbol of the opposition's struggle.
The regime's standoff with the West over its crackdown on demonstrators sharply escalated Sunday when Iran announced it had detained nine local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran. Both Britain and the European Union condemned what they called "harassment and intimidation."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said five of the Iranian embassy staffers had been released and the remaining four were being interrogated...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election
Iranian has been exposed as a dictatorship to its own people and the world. The religious extremists and military overplayed their hand. It's too late to blame others or recount votes that were clearly never counted.
What a sham. I hope the people of Iraq are watching this closely. Don't lay with dogs unless you want fleas, too.
Spiritual adviser: 'Darkness' gripped Sanford
By ALLEN G. BREED, AP National Writer
Jun 29
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Each Sunday afternoon in May, Gov. Mark Sanford and his wife hosted five other couples at the executive mansion for a spiritual "boot camp." Topics discussed during the hour-and-a-half-long sessions included forgiveness and "not loving your wife as Christ loved the church."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_governor_spiritual_boot_camp
Why not just admit that you want out of this marriage instead of beating around the Argentinian bush? And blaming it all on some spiritual darkness? This guy is no King David or even David Niven.
His "darkness" gripping this guy's political policies is even worse than the way he's been treating his wife. He's not helping the people of his state. He's making some of he weirdest excuses for his incompetence of any of the Republicans seeking the presidency in 2012.
Get a lawyer and leave he Bible out of it.
later.
High Court Rules for White Firefighters in Discrimination Suit
Ruling Reverses High-Profile Decision by Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor
By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 29, 2009 12:07 PM
The Supreme Court today narrowly ruled in favor of white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who said they were denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision by Judge Sonia Sotomayor and others that had come to play a large role in the consideration of her nomination for the high court.The city had thrown out the results of a promotion test because no African Americans and only two Hispanics would have qualified for promotions. It said it feared a lawsuit from minorities under federal laws that said such "disparate impacts" on test results could be used to show discrimination.
In effect, the court was deciding when avoiding potential discrimination against one group amounted to actual discrimination against another.
The court's conservative majority said in a 5 to 4 vote that is what happened in New Haven.
"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the liberals on the court and said the decision knocks the pegs from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
She read her dissent from the bench for emphasis. "Congress endeavored to promote equal opportunity in fact, and not simply in form," she said. "The damage today's decision does to that objective is untold."...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062901608_pf.html
This was never a case of racism. It was a case of intelligence versus less than such. To deny these firefighters a promotion was just plain wrong. This society needs to recognize the intelligent amongst us and reward them for such. Nothing else matters; not race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, or anything except intelligence.
This is the 21st century. We have a duly elected African-American POTUS. The time for affirmative action has come and gone. It served its purpose in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. It's time to move on. Either you have the brain to do the job or you don't. It really is that simple.
Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison
By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writers Tom Hays And Larry Neumeister,
Associated Press Writers 14 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP)– Historic swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for a fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment.Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who said he lives "in a tormented state now, knowing all the pain and suffering I've created."
Chin rejected a request by Madoff's lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the fraud were seeking mob vengeance.
"Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll," Chin said.
The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than $13 billion was conservative because it did not include money from feeder funds.
"Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering," he said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_madoff_scandal
It serves him right. Bernie Madoff was a disgrace to everything and everyone he interacted with over his career as a criminal. Since he got 150 years, I hope they send him to a maximum security installation as opposed to one the minimum secruity "country clubs". An example was made today. I hope the fat cats heard it loud and clear. We need more convictions like this one.
7
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 01:44 PM
Sorry Bob, but what Sotomayor did was uphold the existing Law. If she had ruled differently she would have been overturning Titie VII of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Act of 1964.
What those Pug Justices did today was the classic example of Judicial Activism. They negated Standing Law in order to serve their own prejudices and once again offer a ruling for one case only which will have ramifications for any case that had been ruled on for the past 45 years.
Sotomayor did exactly what the Law required.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 02:02 PM
While I'm not going to second-guess Judge Sotomayor's ruling nor is there any reason to believe any type of malfeasance in said ruling, the time has long past, IMHO, to allow anyone to be promoted or demoted because of race. Nor am I going to change my support for Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the SCOTUS because her ruling was overturned nor should anyone else.
Race is completely irrelevant. Furthermore, in this case, a test was administered to guage intelligence and competency at firefighting. How one could factor in that race could've played a factor is beyond me. Either a fireman passed the test or he didn't.
We're the firemen who passed this test all African-American and I would've had the exact same position. IMHO, Title 7 was correctly applied in this case by the SCOTUS because the firemen were denied promotion based on race. This must end in all quarters. Either you're smart enough or not. That should be the only factor.
I see one of our resident trolls are spreading lies again about the POTUS' citizenship. Not one of these bogus lawsuits or allegations have been founded.
People who are determined to keep us divided start these rumors about President Obama's birth certificate to manipulate us into thinking he is not an American citizen.
The fact is Barack Hussein Obama II was born in the state of Hawaii in 1961, a native citizen of the United States of America.
Learn the facts and see the birth certificate for yourself:
Central banks seek rankings for financial products
On Monday June 29, 2009, 8:30 am EDTBy Huw Jones and Krista Hughes
BASEL (Reuters) - Financial products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe to prevent a repeat of last year's financial meltdown, the world's central bankers said on Monday.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which acts as a forum for central banks, said government efforts to revive the global economy might have only a temporary impact because banks are not being pushed hard enough to fix their underlying problems.
Banks' lending and other practices, including the approval of risky mortgages in the United States, led the global economy into the worst recession in decades. Governments have poured trillions of dollars into rescuing the financial system and easing a recession that has cut through company workforces.
A rise in Japanese industrial output and a pick-up in euro zone economic confidence showed the unprecedented government spending is having an effect.
But policymakers said it was too early to conclude a recovery was taking root and officials in the United States, Europe and China said the need for further stimulus measures should not be ruled out.
"I think that we are not out of the woods yet," said Guillermo Ortiz, Mexico's central bank governor and the BIS board chairman. "One important question is whether these green shoots actually take root.
Global recovery hopes have pushed world stocks more than 20 percent higher in the second quarter. But the rally has stalled recently on worries that markets may have been too aggressive in their bets on the strength and timing of the nascent upturn.
U.S. stocks are expected to open flat to higher following mixed signals from Asia and Europe. Tokyo shares fell 1 percent, but European stocks were up 0.9 percent by 1200 GMT...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Financial-products-should-be-rb-3429682211.html?x=0&.v=1
I agree. Much more transparency and regulation is needed in the financial sectors.
Sotomayor did exactly what the Law required.
10
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo
Not exactly Mr. Doo-Bee as I don't believe that the constitutionality of Title VII has ever been established as adhering to the 14th amendment Equal Protection Clause.
Since the conservatives only believe in money when dealing with the world's issues, here is a report from the Association of British Insurers detailing the financial impact of climate change.
http://www.abi.org.uk/Display/File/Child/552/Financial_Risks_of_Climate_Change.pdf
The science is in. Man-made global warming is real. The alleged scientists that the Republicans keep trotting out are bought and paid for. But if you're one of those people who need to have an ocean wash up in your back yard or you enjoy inhaling smog and other pollutants, then the Republican position is what you aspire to.
I believe that this reversal of the lower court decision by Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a sound decision in that her ruling that a basis that a person's racial background must be considered in the qualification for employment is reverse discrimination.
In the case of a firefighter's exam the best candidates should be accepted. When it comes to putting out a fire or rescuing people trapped in a building one's skin color does not matter at all.
Good afternoon, all.
World tells Honduras to reinstate ousted president
By WILL WEISSERT and FREDDY CUEVAS, Associated Press Writers
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras' newly appointed leader vowed Monday to resist pressure from across the Americas to reinstate the president ousted in a military coup, as protesters burned tires outside the occupied presidential palace.
Leaders from Hugo Chavez to Barack Obama called for the reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya, who was arrested in his pajamas Sunday morning by soldiers who stormed his residence and flew him into exile. Eight leftist countries pulled their ambassadors from Honduras...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup
Since he couldn't sell torture, Cheney has been busy offering his other "unique" services around the globe to other dictators? Who would have thought the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an Iran/Contra military junta and Cheney would have so much in common?
18
IowaHenry on June 29, 2009 at 03:15 PM
There has been 45 years, and myriad cases about the same thing. At every point the Lower Court Ruling stood.
When a Case makes it to that point, the Judges are not retrying the facts of the case but weighing in on what is called "The TRecord" and comparing the briefs and arguments from both sides as they fall under existing Law. It is not for the Judge at that level to weigh in on the particulars of individual cases, but only to Rule as the evidence and Record fall under Stare Decisis (remember that old chestnut during previous SCOTUS hearings? It is a thinly veiled way of asking "Will you overturn Roe"?).
Sotomayor did the right thing. The Supremely Corrupt Court broke the Law, once again.
Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a "victory."...
"The American forces' withdrawal is something awaited by every Iraqi: male, female, young and old. I consider June 30 to be like a wedding," said Ahmed Hameed, 38, near an ice cream bar in Baghdad's upmarket Karrada district...
The government has declared June 30 a national holiday, "National Sovereignty Day."...
..."Maybe they could leave us some electricity?"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090629/ts_nm/us_iraq
Our troops still aren't being greeted with candy and flowers...even as the leave the cities. Who could have known?
It's been six, long years and we are still there? When will this be over? The Surge still hasn't worked? And the sewers and electricity don't work.
Obama touts new lighting rules, energy policyPush follows House approval of climate bill that now moves to Senate
WASHINGTON - Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put a plug in for administration efforts to make lamps and lighting equipment use less energy.
"I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses," the president said, standing alongside Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the White House.
Obama said the new efficiency standards he was announcing for lamps would result in substantial savings between 2012 and 2042, saving consumers up to $4 billion annually, conserving enough energy to power every U.S. home for 10 months, reducing emissions equal to the amount produced by 166 million cars a year, and eliminating the need for as many as 14 coal-fired power plants.
The president also said he was speeding the delivery of $346 million in economic stimulus money to help improve energy efficiency in new and existing commercial buildings.
Republicans took issue with Obama's pitch...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31619524/ns/us_news-environment/
Of course the Republicans took issue with the POTUS new plan. It means less money for their cronies in the energy business. To hear the Republicans tell it, they'd be happy with more pollution and higher energy bills.
If you haven't already put energy efficient light bulbs in your home, why? Do you like paying higher electric bills? Do you like American money going to fund dictators of oppresive regimes? It's time to go green, America.
Sheri Coleman lawyer seeks court order against Joyce Meyer
By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/29/2009
Attorneys for Sheri Coleman's family filed papers today demanding a court to order Joyce Meyer Ministries to cooperate with a wrongful death lawsuit against Christopher Coleman, the ministry's former security chief...
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Christopher Coleman shortly after he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police allege Coleman strangled his wife and sons, Garett and Gavin. They were found dead in their bedrooms on May 5 in their home in Columbia, Ill.
Joyce Meyer Ministries said some of the material requested contains "sensitive information" pertaining to the ministry or information the ministry is "required by law or contract to keep confidential."...
Christopher Coleman resigned from his job at the ministry last month, just after the Post-Dispatch disclosed he was having an affair with Tara Lintz, a friend of Sheri Coleman's living in Florida.
Law enforcement sources told the Post-Dispatch Coleman also met up with Lintz in Arizona and Hawaii while he was working for the ministry. A ministry spokesman said the resignation was due to an unspecified "violation of moral conduct."
These spiritual "boot camps" are certainly making a lot of family-values men go off the deep end in "exotic" places. I guess Jenny Sanford is lucky she and her children are still alive. These fundie ministries are spawning some of the craziest psycho conservatives around.
Look out, the trolls will be flogging this asswipe non-stop because he wrote a memo denying Global Warming. Of course, as is typical with the trolls, they NEVER check out just who this guy is. Just because he has "Dr." in front of his name they think he's a scientist.
He is on the payroll of the Cato Institute, works for the AEI and teh oil company funded Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Oh, and his Doctorate is in ECONOMICS. He's NOT a scientist.
With Assistance, Foxaganda Finds Another Denier,/a>
It took me about 1 second to find his official bio. Why can't FOX or the trolls do that?
To hear the Republicans tell it, they'd be happy with more pollution and higher energy bills....
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 04:20 PM
That's exactly what they have been telling the American consumer for the last 35 years. Most peopled refused to believe anyone would be that craven...until gasoline went up to $4 plus a gallon and their 401ks suddenly disappeared.
Now the fossil fuel guys and the Republicans are telling us "clean" coal will work even better than oil...to increase their profits.
The increased pollution and higher electricity rates can be hidden behind their usual dire propaganda warnings about "increased taxes and deficits"...which they always create not us Democrats.
They are playing the same old shell game but the pea and the shells continually change to meet the occasion. Don't buy anything that T. Boone Pikens is selling or you will most certainly live (and die of cancer) regretting it.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 04:08 PM
DPD,
Them five "activist" conservative judges are certainly making a record for themselves. It really started getting out of hand with Chief Justice Rehnquist and Bush vs. Gore and continues with Roberts. It's like they are creating their own Fifth Branch.
I have never seen such a win win as the new power plants in mexico and canada WE get clean air, sell our coal, build new transmission lines lots of jobs.
31
SandyH on June 29, 2009 at 04:53 PM
Not to mention the Schiavo ruling.
The latest piece of Pug crapola which is being spewed by that obese limp dicked drug addicted sex tourist on the radio is that "ALL NINE JUSTICES RULED AGAINST SOTOMAYOR!!!" so, expect the terminally uninformed trolls to be here with that line of BS.
IF, as they say "Ignorance is Bliss" then the trolls must be in a permanent state of ecstasy. They are willfully ignorant, and too stupid and lazy to do anything about it.
Rush got his talking point about 9-0 in a 5-4 ruling from the bullshit factory known as the National Review Online. Ed Whelan took his first stab at 10:52 with a post titled “Supreme Court vs. Sotomayor,” Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network and the NRO advances the ball with a post titled “Not a Single Justice Agreed with Sotomayor,” language that can be understood even through an oxycontin haze.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 05:07 PM
Troll BS doesn't stand a chance against you, Doo-Bee. Way to track that down, again. Well done.
Afternoon all good Dems,
I met personally with Senator Udall today in the office next to mine. I laid it on him about wanting a public option to reign in the insurance criminals. He agreed completely and will work to get a public option for us. That's two senators from New Mexico who will insist on a public option.
The Senator's aid told me that they wanted to try something new by meeting with people who were notified by email on Friday. Quite a crowd showed up and I would say that the majority were for a public option for health care.
Senator Udall took a tour of the city with the Mayor and State Senator Chavez. Hopefully this will free up some money for projects. We are in need water and sewer system repairs and street repairs.
Bob,
The crap in the trolls pants must have dried up for they appear to be stuck to their chairs.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 05:07 PM
DPD,
They don't know their numbers? I guess that's why the conservatives' sub-prime/derivatives/deficit/deregulation economy policy didn't add up and the banks failed?
Or maybe they are just out-and-out lying as you said? After 911 nobody on our side in Congress dared to call them out as liars or be accused of being a terrorist sympathizer. It took a strong progressive grass roots effort to put a stop to that cowardly behavior.
Let Rush and the rest of their leadership continue to lie. They will just look as pathetically arrogant and psycho as Sanford. Young Americans just laugh at them...and will continue to vote against them knowing it's the only way to stop the madness.
We did our job well. The facts, pointing out the outrageous nature of their lies, and our schooling in the importance of registering and voting have really paid off.
Let them continue to lie, cheat, and gamble. People have inquiring minds when it comes to that sort of sensational greed and corruption. The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Conservatives suits our purposes well.
Lie, Rush, lie.
Chavez threatens military action over Honduras coupSun Jun 28, 2009 5:50pm EDT
By Frank Jack Daniel and Enrique Andres Pretel
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday put troops on alert after a coup in Honduras and said he would respond militarily if his envoy to the Central American country was kidnapped or killed.
Chavez said Honduran soldiers took away the Cuban ambassador and left the Venezuelan ambassador on the side of a road after beating him during the army's coup against his leftist ally, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
The Honduran army ousted Zelaya and exiled him in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the army by trying to win re-election.
Chavez said on state television if his ambassador to Venezuela was killed, or if troops entered the Venezuelan Embassy, "that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war. We would have to act militarily ... I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, part of a coalition of leftist governments headed by Chavez that includes Honduras, said he would support military action if Ecuador's diplomats or those of its allies were threatened.
The socialist Chavez has in the past threatened to use his armed forces in the region but never followed through. He said that if a new government is sworn in after the coup it would be defeated.
"We will bring them down, we will bring them down, I tell you," he said, while hundreds of red-shirted supporters gathered outside Venezuela's presidential palace in solidarity with Zelaya...
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55R1S820090628?sp=true
Bwwwahahahahahaaha! Venezuelan troops going into Honduras? Their navy is eight bums and two row boats and their army is nothing more than drug gang militias. Mr. Chavez, mind your own business. Let the adults handle this.
Johne on June 29, 2009 at 05:23 PM
Glad to see you doing you're civic duty, Johne. We all have to up the pressure on our elected officials to stop the profiteers wanting to run the healthcare industry only for the rich and infamous.
Air Force tests missile in launch from California coast
Associated Press - June 29, 2009 8:24 AM ET
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - The Air Force has successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from the California coast to an area in the Pacific Ocean some 4,200 miles away.Lt. Raymond Geoffroy says the ICBM was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 3:01 a.m. Monday and carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles to their targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The missile, configured with a National Nuclear Security Administration Test Assembly, was launched under the direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron.
The Air Force says the launch was an operational test to check the weapon system's reliability and accuracy, and the data will be used by United States Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10610182
Well done to the United States Air Force for a successful launch and a reminder to Kim Jong Il that we can eradicate his sorry arse from anywhere on the planet.
China's banks are an accident waiting to happen to every one of us
Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous water
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Published: 5:38PM BST 28 Jun 2009China's banks are veering out of control. The half-reformed economy of the People's Republic cannot absorb the $1,000bn (£600bn) blitz of new lending issued since December.
Money is leaking instead into Shanghai's stock casino, or being used to keep bankrupt builders on life support. It is doing very little to help lift the world economy out of slump.
Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous waters, but its latest report is even grimmer than bears had suspected.
"With much of the world immersed in crisis, China appears to be one of the few countries where the financial system continues to function largely without a glitch, but Fitch is growing increasingly wary," it said.
"Future losses on stimulus could turn out to be larger than expected, and it is unclear what share the central and/or local governments ultimately will be willing or able to bear."
Note the phrase "able to bear". Fitch's "macro-prudential risk" indicator for China threatens to jump from category 1 (safe) to category 3 (Iceland, et al). This is a surprise to me but Michael Pettis from Beijing University says China's public debt may be as high as 50pc-70pc of GDP when "correctly counted"...
Well, it look likes it's time to fire up the U.S. printing presses. China is out of money. Prepare for double-digit inflation. The POTUS would be wise to get out in front of this.
Then again, it could be Wall St.'s way of suckering them in like we did with the Japanese in the 80's. Time to tell the Chinese, "Well, that's business".
And as if we didn't know this would happen, Big John Cornyn, the stupidest man in D.C. put out a statement:
Telegraphing what is certain to become a major issue in Sonia Sotomayor's upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Cornyn pointedly noted that "all nine justices were critical" of the trial court ruling that Sotomayor, as a member of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, had voted to uphold.
Swiss Banks Shun Americans as U.S. Compels DisclosureJune 29 (Bloomberg) -- Swiss banks are shutting the accounts of Americans as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service accelerates the hunt for tax dodgers.
UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, the country’s biggest banks, have told Americans to move their money into specially created units registered in the U.S., or lose their accounts. Smaller private banks such as Geneva-based Mirabaud & Cie. are closing all accounts held by U.S. taxpayers.
While the banks declined to say how many people are affected, more than 5 million Americans live abroad, including about 30,000 in Switzerland, according to estimates from American Citizens Abroad in Geneva. Swiss banks must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide services for those customers.
“My bank doesn’t want to do that, so we wouldn’t accept an investment account for a U.S. person,” said Pierre Mirabaud, chairman of Mirabaud & Cie. and the Swiss Bankers Association, during a lunch at the American International Club of Geneva.
SEC registration means clients don’t enjoy the protection of Swiss banking secrecy laws, which make it a crime for money managers to disclose the names of clients without their consent. Switzerland said in March it would cooperate with international tax evasion probes after Zurich-based UBS admitted helping U.S. clients avoid taxes.
The IRS has since increased pressure on Americans to disclose offshore accounts as it seeks to recoup an estimated $50 billion in unpaid taxes. The agency set a deadline of Sept. 23 for taxpayers to declare all foreign accounts or face possible criminal prosecution that could result in as much as 10 years in prison and $500,000 in penalties...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a_8VwpO5m0WQ
Give 'em hell, Mr. President! It's way past due for the fat cats to pony up or roll out. If you want to keep your money in a Swiss account, apply for Swiss citizenship. Lock up all of these anti-American traitors, seize their assets, and be done with them.
Johne on June 29, 2009 at 05:23 PM
Johne,
It's good to hear the good news from New Mexico. We're still dealing with that jerk Senator Kit Bond in our state, but he chicken out and isn't running for re-election.
Rep. Roy Blunt will run for his seat which should make for a real ballyhoo in our state. Everyone (including Republicans) is still so angry with his imbecile son, our former Governor, that we figure we can leverage it big time against his old man. And then there is that not so small detail of Blunt's connection to DeLay's K Street corruption machine.
I'm not too sure the fundies will be all that "forgiving" as those in South Carolina. He’s a divorcee and his new wife and all three of his children are lobbyists. There is a Mark Twain-type cynical streak that runs through all Missourians. With the right candidate it could be like Beauty vs.The Beast?
I sure hope Lt. Gov. Robin Carnahan runs. She knows how to castrate bulls....honestly. Her father, the former Governor (the dead man that beat John Ashcroft), owned a cattle ranch and made sure his daughter knew how to do everything necessary.
And it just might be necessary? For joy for joy. I'd pay to see that go down...and so would even the teabaggers in our state. She can do with a whip and a knife what Palin only dreams she could do with a rifle...and is twice as pretty and smart as Palin, too.
We're talking about a real Truman Democrat here to go along with Senator Claire McCaskill. Old Sam Clemens would love it. Blunt is Bush League and we’re going to make sure everyone remembers it.
bbl
Good night fellow Americans. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 05:54 PM
Well, Bob. The Chinese could always nationalize all those American corporate holdings that the Republicans graciously gave to them by way of offering those traitors tax incentives...and which have since driven our economy into the ground.
I don't see this as good news for anybody especially us. Who are we going to borrow from to pay for Bush's deficit much less the one we are having to run up to set things back into the right direction?
Illegal aliens? They can't even afford to pay for corn to eat...and maybe we are heading that way, too? If it wasn't for Essie posting the Good News here there wouldn't be any. But then maybe that's the way it's suppose to be?
later.
Give 'em hell, Mr. President! It's way past due for the fat cats to pony up or roll out. If you want to keep your money in a Swiss account, apply for Swiss citizenship. Lock up all of these anti-American traitors, seize their assets, and be done with them.
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 06:02 PM
Bob,
Now that's the spirit going into the 4th of July. It's a grand old flag and these rich conservative multinationals like Limbaugh need to start acknowledging it instead of exploiting it.
Either they are with us paying their fair of taxes or they should be deported. Illegal workers in this country pay more than most of these conservative tax cheats.
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From womb’s first wail, echoing wills last swallow.
Poets verbal vibration core heartbeat seer window,
Searing canvas vision impregnating mind’s furrow
Seeding lines, germinating blossoms quill creation.
Light waves Walking Wounded barefoot quicksand
Night mare quagmire quake bleeding grains into sands
Inquisition of the Dark Ages tortured scream sandstorm
Cursed skeletal frame, abused scale of justice sandblast
In Judeo-Christianity Terminated for Poetry quill creation.
Hollowed out holy Holocaust hearts political redefinition
Weathered Constitution torn in humanity diverse definitions
In savage civilian non-combatants White House distinctions
Of history’s Indian Military Tribunal trials military retribution
WWII Japanese American internment persecution quill creation.
Guantanamo civilian camps ethnic cleansing separation might,
God/Allah’s lost children due process Human and Civil Rights.
Scar-let L-etter judgments of discriminate water boarding nights
(goD) Leaders denying human Civil Liberties compassion birthrights
Patriot Act mandated Abu Ghraib secrecy, Washington quill creation.
Gods blanket of tears reigning down Katrina thunder lightning pain.
Tory American CorPoliticians of the Shame Ole Same Thing blame.
Digging nails into prayers in why they have forsaken Americas reign
Need of Trilogy’s Three Branches of Checked and Balanced power veins.
Instead using goD’s name in war’s vain of profit’s body bag quill creation.
Oh America that bans the poetic questioning voice in history’s conscience.
That the Holocaust is a sin in images, Abu Ghraib a savior of secret abuse.
Serbian ethnic cleaning camps a travesty, Guantanamo a national necessity.
WWII German due process - criminal, White House John Yoo law- cherished.
America’s Tory HooverNomic Inquisition of economic cleansing, two classes.
American CorPolitical Union conquest of Whig’s birthright Constitution deed.
Tory Country Fashion Club Model, needs Whig GM busted, face of Madoff Justice.
America that bans Corporate worker’s home by eminent domain quill creation,
NUTS WORDS
N.ever U.nderestimate T.alons S.word – W.ordplay O.rchestration R.eigning D.own S.ound
In America’s Poetic Declaration of Independence De-Termination being Terminated for Poetry:
Hell (Haunted Elocution Living Lost).
David Lester Young 06/29/09 © all rights owned by author
De-Terminated poet, somewhere in America not on company time
There has been 45 years, and myriad cases about the same thing. At every point the Lower Court Ruling stood.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 04:08 PM
==================================================
Regardless of whether this was tries successfully in the lower courts when it is allowed to be brought as high as the Supreme Court the justices can overrule the decision.
Supreme court justices did not break a law in reaching their decision. They did their job.
Sorry, but the basis of Stare Decisis MEANS "Standing Law".
What the Pugs of the Supremely Corrupt Court did is over-ride STANDING LAW put into effect by the LEGISLATURE in an Ex Post Facto Decree.
In this matter there are only two types of law that matter, Statuary Law (enacted by a Legislature, which means it was LEGISLATED and becomes a Statute) and "Case Law" (meaning a ruling from the Bench which sets a precedent because there is NO pre-existing Law extant).
What the bigots and racists did today was another example of "Activist Judges Gone Wild".
YOUR 'opinion' doesn't matter one whit, unless you were involved in the Case, because you have ZERO "Standing" in the Matter.
Sotomayor upheld the existing Law, (which she was legally bound to do). The Pugs on the Pug dominated Supremely Corrupt Court over-ruled Stare Decisis and as a result overturned decades old Law.
I don't EVER want to hear another word from the mouth breathers and shit eaters of the Pug Party after Chimpy v. THE PRESIDENT, Schiavo sanity v. THE PUG ASS SUCKERS LIKE HANNITY and now THIS abomination.
Don't try to let your own prejudices or "feelings" get in the way of the FACT that this Ruling was nothing but "Judicial Activism".
There have been several Cases over the past 5 decades, and ALL of them have upheld the Law.
These ChimpCo cocksuckers just told the entire Country that if Sotomayor isn't approved, the Pugs will run rampant.
It actually turned out to be a gift from the STUPID to the ones who have brains.
THE PUGS ON THE SUPREMELY CORRUPT COURT ONCE AGAIN OVERTURNED EXISTING SETTLED LAW TO FAVOR ONE GROUP OVER ANOTHER.
Giuliani pondering gubernatorial bid
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/29/giuliani-pondering-gubernatorial-bid/
Run, Rudy, Run...
Run, Rudy, Run...
Yep, and there will be a bus bearing down on him the whole time, driven by serial adulterer Newt, loose limbed and brainless Sarah, crook-a-palooza Haley, Fundie Huckabee, and the Mormon piece of wood. ALL of which are ready able and willing to run him down without even having to throw him off the bus.
The Pugs. What a bunch of zeroes and losers.
HAHAHAHAAA!
Hey, Sox Fan. The best the Chubs can hope for is a 3/3 split series when they play their make-up game in September.
My prediction still holds, Sox over Cubs 4-2.
YOUR 'opinion' doesn't matter one whit, unless you were involved in the Case, because you have ZERO "Standing" in the Matter.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on June 29, 2009 at 07:38 PM
=================================================
Therefore your opinion would likewise have no bearing whatsoever unless you yourself were personally involved in "The Matter". Correct Doo?
As for the remainder of your statement I am not sure this applies to me as a response to what i has posted, you seem to have thrown some things out at me that were not applicable.
IowaHenry on June 29, 2009 at 08:32 PM
By the way, Henry, welcome aboard. It's good to see the great state of IA represented here. You're doing fine with your posts. Each post rises or falls on its own merit. Hang in there. Don't take anything personally here. We'll all disagree with our fellow Democrats from time to time but all that fades away come election time.
As far as the Republican trolls goes, by and large, ignore them. They'll show the world exactly what they are; dark echoes of the past. Once again, welcome aboard.
By the way, Henry, welcome aboard. It's good to see the great state of IA represented here.
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 08:41 PM
===================================================
Hello Bob, thank you for your warm welcome. This isn't my 1st time here although it has been quite a while since I last ventured here. Yes, the great state of Iowa it is! Born and raised there and by the grace of God above that's where I intend to die and be planted like good seed corn.
I expect I can hold my own in a discussion although I was a bit confused at the reply to my past post as it appeared he (was it a he? hard to ascertain that from the name) was hunting ducks while loaded for bear.
I'll watch out for trolls and if they can engage in a reasonable discussion then I will as well. If they have low cards in their hands they'll play them soon enough.
IowaHenry on June 29, 2009 at 08:55 PM
...I'll watch out for trolls and if they can engage in a reasonable discussion then I will as well. If they have low cards in their hands they'll play them soon enough.
They always do, Henry.
As an active and committed member of our movement, I want to let you know first about a great opportunity to personally ask President Obama a question on health care reform.This Wednesday, the President will be answering health care reform questions during an online town hall. Last week, he recorded a short video explaining the town hall and asking people like you to submit a question.
To ask your health care question, simply record a 20-30 second video and post it to YouTube as a reply to the President's video.
Watch the President's video and get started today.
In his video, the President said, "real change doesn't come from Washington; it comes from the American people." You're one of the millions of Americans in our movement who have demonstrated just how true that is -- thank you.
Don't miss this opportunity to pose your health care reform question directly to President Obama. Watch his video and submit a video response today:
http://my.barackobama.com/onlinetownhall
Thank you,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
This just in from the team handling the healthcare issue. Take a shot, post a question. I did.
"Mr. President, why not institute a not for profit healthcare system and be done with the people who try to make a buck off of our health or lack thereof?"
Good evening all. Looks like the curtain is about to fall on Normy Coleman:
MN-SEN: Pawlenty expects to sign certification within days Hotlist
by Jed Lewison
Mon Jun 29, 2009 at 09:41:12 AM PDT
It's clear that 8 months after the election, Tim Pawlenty wants to clean his hands of Norm Coleman's doomed election challenge.
Pawlenty thinks a decision will come within days. Can you say 60?
Big Al is coming to town.
Michael Jackson was almost completely bald and only weighed about 116 pounds. There was nothing in his stomach except undigested pills. Bury the creep and figgidaboudim.
61
Cleveland on June 29, 2009 at 08:32 PM
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Hello Cleveland. From what I have been reading about this guy he was a pretty sick individual but in body and mind. I remember him from years ago when he was a cute little kid, a hell of a singer and dancer and very talented but somewhere along the way into adulthood he got all twisted up and went goofy.
I hardly recognized him when he was older what with all that surgery and odd clothing he wore. Then there was that court stuff with him sleeping with little boys he was apparently giving alcohol to. He wasn't convicted because he has enough money to buy their silence but around here he would have been found ties to a fence post and half eaten by wolves.
I am trying to forget about him but damned if the news isn't shoving him down our throats endlessly since he died.
rjsnj on June 29, 2009 at 09:01 PM
60! When that happens, the Republicans in the Senate will be exactly where they deserve to be, irrelevant.
Sanford Women: Article Alludes To Multiple Affairs
Maria Chapur has admitted to being South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's mistress. But is she the only one?
Libby Spencer, a blogger at the Detroit News, points out that Sunday's article in The State describing how the affair blew up alluded to multiple affairs.
A reporter called a Sanford staffer, saying the paper had e-mails that outlined an affair between the governor and Maria. Unless Sanford would address the issue privately, The State would have no choice but to ask him -- with TV crews filming -- if he knew Maria at his press conference that afternoon.
The names of two other women tumbled into the newsroom. [...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/29/sanford-women-article-all_n_222280.html
Oh noes ... So much for the "party of family values".
Iraqi Forces Assume Control Over Cities From US Troops
BAGHDAD -- (AP) Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities.
"The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/29/us-troops-to-withdraw-fro_n_222387.html
About time. Keep bringing the troops home from Bush's folly.
60! When that happens, the Republicans in the Senate will be exactly where they deserve to be, irrelevant.
70
BobVADemocratHawk on June 29, 2009 at 09:02 PM
================================================
Evening Bob. If our coalition hangs together and supports their President, the GOP will be irrelevant (as they deserve to be).
Iraqis cheer US troop withdrawal Hotlist
by kos
Mon Jun 29, 2009 at 02:47:04 PM PDT
Got a ways to go before we have full withdrawal, but this is an important step.
Iraqi forces assume formal control of Baghdad and other cities on Tuesday after American troops hand over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country.
Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.
"All of us are happy — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds on this day," Waleed al-Bahadili said as he celebrated at the park. "The Americans harmed and insulted us too much."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a public holiday and proclaimed June 30 as "National Sovereignty Day." [...]
The gathering at the Baghdad park was unprecedented in size for such a postwar event in a city where people tend to avoid large gatherings for fear of suicide bombers. They ignored an appeal by Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi to stay away from crowded places during the U.S. pullback, which has seen more than 250 people killed in bombings over the past 10 days.
Cheney is sad.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/29/748154/-Iraqis-cheer-US-troop-withdrawal
Buck up there DickHead Cheney, we can always send you for a weekend hiatus in Abu Ghraib ... waterboarding included.
75rjsnj on June 29, 2009 at 09:13 PM
So now, if the suicide bombers continue in the cities, they will be attacking their own people, not US. I don't think they'll continue. They will still be trying to attack us. But it should be much harder for them now.
Cheney is an idiot and a fool.
So, IowaHenry,
What do you think of Health Care Reform?
Is it needed or should the status quo be maintained?
Support Whig Democrats.
My God Life Is Poetry
A)
God Bless Made in America Poetic Free Speech,
Home Sweet Home of Freedom and Democracy.
Warrior Poets of humanities questioning minds,
Who never surrender the quill of the Constitution.
Our voices aren’t eminent domains property of others,
Where Corporations censor our poetic personal world,
Banning its Uni-Verse ability to write any form of verse,
Fingers amputated of its Civil Liberties free expressions.
OH shut up Cleveland, you stupid fool.
Your stupid predictions are so lame, I can't believe you're stupid enough to keep making them.
Remember THESE:
McCain with the fair Sarah will win 60% - 40%.
Posted by Sally-* on September 1, 2008 at 05:22 AM
This place is gonna be damn funny on election night when Hussein Obama loses 60 - 40%.
Posted by Sally-* on August 30, 2008 at 01:41 PM
Well DoPeyDoodle, ABC is not a reliable news source and it matters not who is collecting the most money from service people. If Hussein is collecting more it is because he is collecting it from people who are fired up about his candidacy. McCain doesn't fire anyone up but when it comes time to vote, the military will vote 60% - 40% Republican just like always.
Posted by Sally-* on August 27, 2008 at 08:01 PM
It does not matter how much money Obama raises, the American people are not going to elect a communist, racist, unqualified and inexperienced asshat, who happens to be a Negro. Those are the kind of qualifications it takes to get nominated in the moonbat dominated Democrat Party.
Posted by Sally-* on August 16, 2008 at 03:12 PM
Bwuh-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
What an utter FOOL!
Morning all good Dems,
It seems that imhoff (R, OK) is a total asshole. I'll bet he never said DOA over any of chimp's war and torture bills. He most likely voted yes to kissing bush and cheney's asses. He probably kissed raygun's ass too. I think this is a phrase that asshole used. All these republicans need to grow up and shut the f**k up. The party of NO just signed their death warrant. It will no longer be a viable party and will remain as such for the next thousand years give or take a few centuries. They will be laughed out of Congress. They could even be refused entry into OUR chamber since they only vote for republican trumped up bills which are usually the wrong thing to do. vis a vis welfare for the rich, allowing the coal industry to flourish and destroy our atmosphere, endless wars for oil, enriching China at the expense of American workers, screwing the middle class, letting illegals into the country to take our jobs then denying they did it, raping our national parks, raping our national forests, destroying our economy with their stupid trickle down economics stuffed down our throats by a demented asshole president, allowing cheney and bush to torture innocent muslims, by spying on the American people, by destroying our retirement accounts to enrich the already obscenely rich, by destroying our auto industries, by giving trillions to bankers so they can f**k us some more, inflicting on us the palin bitch and her dysfunctional family, by trying to ram a mcprick down our throats as president when he isn't fit to be a dogcatcher, destroying the American Dream, destroying America, and eventually killing all life on the planet so limpballs can be their leader..
This asshole is also no scientist like that asshole from EPA who is an economist. WTF does he know about Republican Global Warming?
IT'S THE CLIMATE YOU REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES AND NOT THE WEATHER. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES?
No republicans are christians as they purport. If they were they would know that God gave us this planet to take care of and not trash. The repugs just like to trash it.
If they succeed in destroying our atmosphere, they will die too along with the rest of us.
Let me tell you, they will be sent directly to Hell to shovel coal into the fires of Hell for eternity.
Meanwhile, good Democrats will live the life of luxury in Heaven watching the asshole repugs suffer in Hell for eternity.
And of course the never ending scourge of lobbyists will be in Hell too, right alongside the asshole republicans wiping the sweat off their butts.
Just before the last human on the planet dies. A plaque will be erected in front of the Capitol in Washington reading:
"THE ASSHOLE REPUBLICANS CAUSED THIS GLOBAL CATASTROPHE. NO ONE ELSE IS TO BLAME. THEY DID IT FOR GREED AND SELFISHNESS PROTECTING THEIR OIL AND COAL BUDDIES. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THEM IT IS TOO LATE, GOD SENT THEM ALL TO HELL TO BE WITH THEIR BUDDIES IN THE BUSH AND CHENEY CRIME FAMILIES. THEY LEFT NO FORWARDING ADDRESS. TRY GOOGLE.HELL"
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