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July 31, 2008
Couch Potato to Buff Potato?
Posted by Tina
Can you enjoy the benefits of exercise without the pain of exertion? The answer may one day be yes — just take a pill that tricks the muscles into thinking they have been working out furiously. Researchers at the Salk Institute report they have found two drugs that do wonders for the athletic endurance of couch potato mice. - NYT
Good news for compulsive bloggers...LOL!
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:32 PM | Comments (1)
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I know that some of you don't like to read long drawn out missives, so here's the executive summary.........
Congress and Military
John McCain 26 Years and 22 Years
Barack Obama 143 Days and 0
Summary Concluded!
Posted by Post Scripts at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)
A.N.S.W.E.R.S. MEETING INVITATION
Join us for a report from two Iranian American-activists just back from Iran. They will make presentations on the lies, myths and realities about life in Iran today, the continued U.S.BushCo-European aggression against the peace loving peoples of Iran and the danger of a new war being forced on them. They will discuss the plans for an emergency response (blocking entrances to military installations) in case of a U.S. or U.S./Israeli military escalation.
Iran is one of the most peace loving nations on earth with good will towards all and they are being victimized by the Bush Administration because of their vast oil reserves. U.S. Imperialist aggression for Iran's oil must be stopped! No more blood for oil.
Our two Iranian American-activists will also announce a plan how you can become a soldier for peace with training in Iran provided free by the Iranian Islamic Foundation for Enlightenment.
$5–10 donation (no one turned away for lack of funds, we will also take I.O.U.'s) Wheelchair accessible. Call to reserve free childcare and as a special bonus children over 6 will be given a free coloring book, Why the Communists are our Friends. Children over 10 will be given our special bedtime story book, 101 Reasons Why Capitalism Must Die.
We have all the ANSWERS...just ask us!
Sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R.S. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racisms)
415-281-6545 • www.ANSWERScoalition.org • answer@ANSWERs.org
and now this word from an A.N.S.W.E.R. friend who want's you to consider something very important...
Manifesto of the United Socialist Front
Introduction
We the comrades of the United Socialist Front do ordain this manifesto in order to establish an international commune that knows no boundaries. The specter1 of communism has been aroused once more for the sole purpose of liberating the proletariat. The dictators that have oppressed the people of this world have continuously impeded this spirit's progress while several petty tyrants have manipulated it to their own designs. In both situations, communism has been restrained; however, that is not the case for the times to come. The leaders of the so-called 'democracies' have oppressed their citizens for centuries and have recently extended their power over them further, so now is the perfect time to educate the proletariat, for the reactionary states do not possess as much credibility as they once did. Nor do they view communism as a threat, for they are more interested in their crusade against Islam. The replacement for the western leaders shall be outlined throughout this manifesto that we hope to distribute throughout our own nation and to our foreign comrades.
Article I: The Socialist Revolution
In order for one to understand the Revolution forthcoming, one must first possess a rudimentary knowledge a select two philosophers. The first of these is Hegel. This philosopher discovered a certain process present throughout mankind. This was defined by Hegel as a series of revolutions in which a thesis would exist, and would then be challenged by an antithesis. These two opponents would struggle until they created a solution. This solution would then become a thesis itself which would then struggle with another antithesis, and the process continues. However, Hegel did say that eventually this would create perfection, a solution that could not be opposed. Using these beliefs, the philosopher Karl Marx discovered that human society goes through phases and then struggles within itself to produce a new type of society. Tribalism can be used an example of the first type of society, where clan leaders eventually arise from the barbaric, but relatively equal society. These elders revolutionize tribalism to create a different civilization where several petty lords are the rulers of their particular district; namely feudalism. Eventually, these nobles battle against each other until one noble comes out of the skirmishes more powerful than his fellow lords, and then proclaims himself the ruler of the lords as well as all of their subjects. While wielding this great power, this Emperor expands his Kingdom out of greed, creating Imperialism. During this interval, more common people are educated as a result of the increase of wealth in the merchant classes, and they soon discover secrets of industry. These intellectuals then decide that nobles are unnecessary to society, that they do not need lords to overpower them when they could be the ruling classes. These bourgeois then revolutionize society to force it to become beneficial to themselves. By doing so, they create a civilization that is reliant on trade; namely, capitalism. In this stage of society, the intellectuals become the ruling classes and oppress their underlings, the proletariat. By doing so, the proletariat is forced to work in squalid conditions for unreasonably long hours and an unreasonably low salary. The proletarians then are supposed to realize that all society is equal in merit, and they (outnumbering the bourgeoisie) revolutionize society in order for the working classes to dominate civilization. From this point, the rulers oppress no one, as a result of their having no social underlings. The proletariat instead continues to change their culture after their original triumph (at this point, the civilization is deemed Socialist) in order to make the State less and less necessary. Eventually, the State completely withers away simply because the need for it has lessened as history during Socialism progressed.*
This process was discovered in the middle of the nineteenth century, at a time when factory workers' numbers were rapidly increasing. However, today the numbers of these proletariat have decreased to be replaced by lower middle class members (as well as field workers), both of whom do not earn more capital than the current factory workers. In principle, this group of people is still lower class. The members of it earn the wages of a proletarian, and there is a large margin of capital between themselves and their uppers. However, what differentiates them from the lower class is that they can hope for promotion, but how realistic are these hopes? A man working in a cubicle may eventually join the upper middle class and earn quadruple their present salary, but almost never can they rise above their financial worries (although they may be less urgent when they do advance in their careers), yet even this seemingly stable position is put into jeopardy in times of economic decline. Many people who hold jobs of managerial importance lose their salaries and underlings if the economy happens to drop. Although they may hope to hold the same position that they once possessed, there is no such guarantee. They are only pawns to the Generals of Industry, expended and gained at their whim.
These impoverished and oppressed classes must rebel against their harsh capitalist masters. The time has come for them to realize their ill-treatment. Although there are members of society who are seemingly socially inferior to themselves (such as the proletariat), this lower middle class must recognize their true comrades in the lower class. It is necessary for them to unite to defeat the oppressive bourgeois forces (the defenders of harsh Capitalism), and establish in this system's stead Socialism. However, it must be moderate Socialism in order for the state to be able to adapt without requiring an oppressive leader to force society to do so. The later part of this manifesto will discuss this government.
Article II: Economic Questions
In order to establish a stable, yet benevolent society, economic equality must be achieved. The way to reach this goal is by creating a heavy income tax for some. The taxes will be lowered for the proletariat and the rest of the plebeians, duties shall be raised slightly for the petty bourgeois, and the taxes shall be increased greatly for the upper-middle class and the aristocracy (for sake of argument, a plebeian is one who earns**$50,000 or less per annum, a petty bourgeoisie is one who earns** above $50,000 to $150,000 per annum, and the upper-middle class one who earns** above $150,000 per annum). The rationale behind this revolutionary tax policy is based on the differing employment of capital regained through tax-cuts by different socio-economic classes. The proletariat is forced by relative poverty to pour his tax-rebates into the economy. Whereas, the wealthy capitalist hoards his ill-gotten gains in off-shore tax shelters or invests them in overseas factories, taking advantage of cheap labor and lax environment laws to oppress the poor of the third world. By doing so they take away jobs from their fellow citizens as well as oppress fellow human beings. The State will gain wealth as a result of it drawing a large portion of the upper class' riches. This economic restriction will help both the economy and the government, which allows for more government-sponsored programs.
Many ask, "Why strive for capital parity? Surely those who work hardest and hold more important roles in society should reap the most material rewards? Would not such actions be the downfall of Capitalism?" The solution to the second question answers the first inquiry. Firstly, the second question is based on a false assumption. No role is greater than another; all jobs are dependent upon one another, a mistake that both Marx and the bourgeois theorists made. Consider the surgeon: what is his most valuable capital? His instruments. Does the doctor send raw metal through a factory and personally supervise it until it has been shaped into his physician tools? The suggestion is preposterous. The proletariat performs this work, as well as making his automobile, latex gloves, surgeon's mask, et cetera. Marx and other Communist leaders undoubtedly made the assumption that the interdependence halts there, that the working class has no need of the bourgeois’ efforts. This is only a half-truth. The proletariat undoubtedly can function without their current superiors, but not effectively. To use the previous example, they can use their limited medical knowledge to practice among themselves; the result of which would produce mortality rates similar to those of the middle Ages. All roles are equivalent and capital equality must be fought for. In order to answer the second question, one must learn the truth of this world; namely that no class works harder than another (some individuals work harder than others, but some members of the proletariat work harder than some bourgeois as well as vice versa). In order to answer the third question, one must ask oneself what Capitalism is. Capitalism, in reality, is a philosophy that calls for an educated class to work hard and to earn more money than a lower, less educated class; the superior beings will rise above their inferiors, survival of the fittest, Darwinism applied to a social philosophy. However, this text has already shown that all classes are equal; therefore, Capitalism, as a practice, is not the greatest achievable political system.
Article III: Upon Several Social Issues
It is a general (and correct) consensus that there should be racial and ethnic equality. It is also a common consensus that racism is a result of making stereotypes about groups. However, stereotypes are completely incorrect. Are all white men the same? No, therefore, why should all African Americans be the same (the African Americans are an example)? There is no reason why they should; therefore, one cannot judge an entire group, and everyone is equal.
Individuals have the inalienable right to choose their religious beliefs; the identity of prophets, messiahs, and the number of gods that exist; however, it is no one's duty to apply their opinions (for their can be no certainties in Faith) when judging others. Therefore, there must be complete religious equality and a separation of church and state (the latter in order to not have a government try to impose a particular set of beliefs on a minority).
There is nothing immoral about homosexual wedlock. The religious foundation of the belief that homosexuality is immoral can be found in the book of Leviticus (for those of the Abraham based faiths), where God supposedly tells Moses that it is an abomination for a man and a man to lie together. However, one must test the plausibility of this book to see if it applies to modern society. If one searches, it also directs the proper sacrificial rites (assuming that one should always sacrifice animals before praying). How strictly are those "laws" followed by the homophobes, nay, how much is that "law" taken seriously? The probable reason for this rule (as well as other messages of the same and different faiths) was because it is common knowledge that a man and a man or a woman and a woman cannot have children. This law discourages unions on two people who cannot reproduce together, thus lowering the population of their faith. Homosexuals are as equal as heterosexuals and deserve equal treatment, and they also deserve the State to recognize their unions as marriages. Reactionaries argue that there is a tradition of marriage. That is a true statement; however, until a few thousand years ago, it was customary for nearly all religions to sacrifice something before praying. If this tradition can be broken, the tradition of heterosexual marriages can be bent to allow homosexual marriages to be recognized by the State. The other just solution is to prevent the State from having any religious influence, namely by recognizing all state marriages as civil unions and by allowing churches recognize unions as marriages according to their beliefs.
Free speech shall always be protected as well as freedom of religion and expression.
Article IV: The Structure of Our Socialist Society
The structure of the future Commonwealth shall be similar, yet somewhat unique from previous existing governmental structures. At the lowest level, the executive branch shall be created by having towns and cities elect members for an executive council that shall fulfill and carry out all of the duties of the city government. This board shall then choose one member to join the county council, this council shall in turn elect a representative to appear in a state or region council, which shall in turn elect a member to appear in a national council, which will choose a member to appear in a continental council, which shall in turn elect a member for the World Council (terms for administrative districts within the current national entities shall be interchangeable with others, for example, a state council can also be called a provincial council). In order to carry out their duties, they must vote on all issues and acts, agreements, and actions and may pass decisions by a simple majority. The amount of members for each council may vary. There shall be a set term for council members that lasts four years. The members of executive councils must have earned at least one doctorate degree from a university, must be a citizen of the country they are living in, and must be an inhabitant of the area they are representing.
There shall also be a legislative branch. A legislative branch shall exist for a regional (state) level as well as at the national level. In the legislative branches, there shall be two houses, a House of Commons and a House of Intellectuals. In order to qualify for the House of Commons, one must be a citizen and an inhabitant of the area being represented as well as their yearly salary must be under a certain amount of money. The purpose of this is to give the lower class a direct voice in the government. In order to be a member of the House of Intellectuals, one must follow the above criteria (except for a lack of restrictions on income), and in addition, one must have earned a Master's Degree from a university. The terms shall be three years.
There shall be a set of courts for every executive council (except intercontinental) that shall interpret the law, minister justice, and act as the judicial branch. The respective executive council shall elect judges. The terms are for life. However, in the county and town levels, juries shall decide the verdict for legal cases.
Members of all branches of government may be impeached and given trial by their own branch; however, the motion must be passed by a unanimous decision (excluding the member in question). Members of a branch may also be impeached by members of the other two branches of government if these members gather within their specific sessions and vote to see if a member is to be expelled (each branch must pass the vote of the other branches by at least a three fourths majority).
The World Council shall act as the executive, legislative, and judicial branch for the world; however, it shall rarely meet and shall be established for negotiation and consultative purposes, and the members shall serve for ten years.
Conclusion:
Upon these pages lie effective solutions. The solutions to bring equality to our troubled globe; the solutions to present humanity with complete justice, the solutions to help all comrades that suffer and die as a result of injustice! Too long have the so-called liberators of the mistreated quarreled amongst themselves, and even betrayed their own principles! I speak of Lenin and Stalin's corruption of Marxist principles in creating the Soviet Union, Mao's distortions in China, Castro's in Cuba, and other leftist leaders around the world! These radicals may not have established dictatorships. However, they betrayed the working class by squandering their political energies on internal dissent, so that all but the reactionaries became politically crippled! The Socialists, Communists, and the Anarchists, all struggled fruitlessly! The time has come to unite; to unite in the name of the proletariat; to unite in the name of the oppressed; to unite in the name of humanity, to unite under one banner! Raise high banner of the United Socialist Front; the banner of the future United People's Democracy; the banner of the future Commonwealth! The time has come, Comrades: the time for the Revolutionary Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat; the time for all of the Revolutionary Bourgeois forces and all of the Proletariat forces to unite as one! In the words of Karl Marx:
"Working Men of all Nations, Unite!"
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:53 AM | Comments (10)
GOLDEN RETRIEVER HAS LITTER
Isabella the dog nurses three 3-day-old white tiger cubs July 30 at the Safari Zoological Park near Caney, Kan. The cubs' mother abandoned them.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
70 MIL FIRE CAUSED BY SMOKER
Posted by Jack
An investigation by the Navy has concluded that a fire aboard a nuclear-powered carrier that caused $70 million in damages was caused by a crew member smoking in an unauthorized area. Here, crew members aboard the USS George Washington battle the May 22 fire.
Note: The offending sailor has been advised he could be liable for damages and his release date from the service depends on the payoff date. Let's see at $1733 mo. with 1/3 going for damages the sailor should be elgible for discharge in May...2190.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)
July 30, 2008
Changing the Greatest Country to....?
"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it". - Barack Obama
Posted by Post Scripts at 05:17 PM | Comments (47)
Minutemen Demand Mayor Resign - Shouted Down by Radicals
SAN FRANCISCO—About a dozen members of an anti-illegal immigration group gathered Wednesday in front of San Francisco City Hall to call for the mayor's resignation over the city's sanctuary policy. But the protesters from the Minuteman Project demanding the City obey federal laws were drowned out by the nearly 200 professional protesters from the radical A.N.S.W.E.R. group yelling, "Go home, racists!"
The Southern California-based group came to protest the city's policy of not turning over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities.
The decades-old sanctuary policy came under close scrutiny in July after 21-year-old Edwin Ramos, slaughtered three San Francisco family members with an AK-47 because of road rage. This AK-47 wielding gangster boasted allegiance to the notorious MS-13 street gang, said Jim Gilchrist, President of the Minuteman Project, Inc.
I am calling upon all minutemen and women nationwide to join in this rally at city hall at 11: 00 am Wednesday morning, July 30 in downtown San Francisco,” Gilchrist said.
On June 22, in a traffic jam, a 21-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador allegedly opened fire on the Bologna family with a 30-round, magazine-fed, AK-47 assault rifle. Anthony Bologna, 49, and two of his sons, Michael, 20, and Mathew, 16 were fatally shot as they sat in their vehicle.
The Mayor of San Francisco commented that the incident was unfortunate he saw no connection between the city's sanctuary policy and the (alleged) homicides.
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:15 PM | Comments (4)
Lawmakers Say No to Marijuana Raids
(July 30) - The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said Wednesday, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance. Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
7 Mile Ice Sheet
Ice drifts off Canada's Ellesmere Island on Sunday after separating from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The shelf lost a sheet of ice that covers seven square miles. A scientist said the cause was a "different climate" that isn't rebuilding Arctic ice, though he stopped short of directly blaming global warming.
Posted by Post Scripts at 01:13 PM | Comments (1)
President Signs Multi-Billion Dollar Home Loan Bailout
by Jack Lee
(PAID ADVERSTISEMENT) Got a heavy debt load on that new house you just bought? Are you thinking you made a mistake and deserve a break? Never fear Nanny-Mae is here!!! Never a qualifiying check, no points, no service fees, we're practically giving away money!
Guaranteed best rates - you just can't fail with this loan!
Before you go broke cause you made a bad decision pick up that phone and call me now, President George W. Bush, your authorized Nannie Mae agent, 1-800-BIG-LOAN. Se Habla Espanol.
Note: July 30 -- President George W. Bush signed into law legislation that gives special loans to over 400,000 homeowners facing foreclosure and extends a $25 billion dollar line of credit to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:26 AM | Comments (26)
Quote of the Week
When seconds count... the cops are just minutes away.
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:04 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
Quick Clips from Around the World
Posted by Tina
A secret nuclear bomb manufacturing center at Al-Zarqan Area in Al-Ahwaziya Region, which was first established in 2000, was discovered recently, highly reliable sources told Al-Seyassah. Sources from Al-Ahwaziya claimed Tehran has started building a secret nuclear plant for manufacturing atomic bombs in Al-Zarqan Area near Al-Ahwaz City in southwest Iran and its border with Iraq. – Arab Times (Kuwait City)
Despite expanding markets for organic farm products, Norwegian farmers are leaving the ecological branch of agriculture as fast as others are joining. They claim they can't make enough money at it. *** Those giving up blame the paperwork and bureaucracy they must contend with in order to document their operations. ''You get the feeling you're not being trusted,'' said former organic farmer Turid Wenche Åsum. - Aftenpost (Norway)
OSLO – Ruins recently discovered on Greenland may mark the Vikings' most northerly year-round hunting outpost on the icy island, a researcher said on Monday. Knut Espen Solberg, leader of 'The Melting Arctic' project mapping changes in the north, said the remains uncovered in past weeks in west Greenland may also be new evidence that the climate was less chilly about 1,000 years ago than it is today. - Reuters
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)
Senator Indicted
Prosecutors indict Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, on charges related to thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home. Stevens, the first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993, is running for re-election this year. He has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:52 PM | Comments (1)
IQ and Religion (one academic's view )
People who have high IQs are less likely to believe in God than people of average and below average intelligence, according to Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ireland's University of Ulster. Lynn claims that the general decline in religious observance over the last century is directly related to a rise in average intelligence. The smarter we are the more likely we are to shun religious services?
Editors note: I'm wondering which religion has the smartest membership and which has the dumbest? My guess is Christians (includes Jews) are among the very smartest and I won't say who I think has the worlds dumbest members because they might chop my head off or drive a bomb laden truck into my house.
Posted by Ryan at 06:26 PM | Comments (3)
July 28, 2008
PATRIOTS MEMORIAL
"There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed..."
I received this in an email and thought it was worth posting in case some of you haven't seen it. Unfortunately I lost the artists name but if I recall correctly he was about 18 or 19 when he did the painting.
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)
What’s the Skinny on T. Boone’s Energy Claims?
Posted by Tina
By now you have probably seen or heard the commercials by oil man T. Boone Pickens. He’s thrown a considerable amount of time and money into harnessing wind power and using natural gas to wean ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. His commercials, however, have been shown to include a few misleading “facts”. In fact, Steven Malloy at the popular website “junkscience.com” is asking the question:
Is T. Boone Pickens 'Swiftboating' America?
Formerly reviled for funding the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" campaign against Sen. John Kerry, he's now adored by the Left — unfortunately, for trying to gaslight the rest of us on energy policy. *** This column recently spotlighted Pickens' proposed plan to get America off foreign oil by substituting wind-generated electricity for natural gas-generated electricity and then using the natural gas to replace gasoline. *** Already having addressed the proposal's flaws — and Pickens' plan to profit at taxpayer expense from it — let's consider how Pickens' marketing shades the truth. *** On his Web site and in TV commercials, Pickens tries to frighten Americans about being "addicted to foreign oil." *** "In 1970, we imported 24 percent of our oil. Today, it's nearly 70 percent and growing," he intones. *** Aside from the fact that the Department of Energy (DOE) puts the import figure at a more moderate 58 percent, Pickens gives the impression that imported oil is scary because it all comes from the unstable Mideast. *** His TV commercials feature images of American soldiers fighting in Iraq and he likens the annual $700 billion cost of foreign oil to "four times the annual cost of the Iraq war." *** But hold the phone. Only 16 percent of our imported oil comes from the Persian Gulf — barely up from 13.6 percent in 1973, according to the DOE. Imports from OPEC countries are actually down — from 47.8 percent in 1973 to 44.5 percent in 2007.
Mr. Malloy's full article contains additional examples.
More information and opinion about Pickens’ plan can be found HERE and HERE.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:59 PM | Comments (2)
Church Shooting - Hatred Against Liberals
Posted by Jack
Tennessee church shooting blamed on a mentally unbalanced man with a hatred for liberals. The shooting took place at the Unitarian Universalist Church during a childrens musical. No children were hurt, but as of today two adults were killed and at least 9 others were wounded.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:10 AM | Comments (13)
Can't Trust Polling
Posted by Jack
With roughly 100 days before Election Day, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama holds his highest lead ever against GOP rival John McCain, according to a new Gallup poll. The survey shows Obama at 49 percent and McCain at 40 percent.
De Ja Vu....It was June of 1988 and Gov. Michael S. Dukakis held a 15-point lead over Vice President Bush in an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, largely on the strength of overwhelming support for Mr. Dukakis among women.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:05 AM | Comments (1)
July 27, 2008
Meet Dr. NO
“It is easy to vote on something that sounds good. It is hard to stand against it and say there is a bigger principle.” - "Dr. NO"
Posted by Tina
MONDAY PM - UPDATE:
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - An effort to break a Republican hold on U.S. election-year legislation that would aid medical research, help crack down on child pornography and advance other popular measures failed in the Senate on Monday. *** In a mostly party-line vote of 52-40, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle and move toward passage of a package of 35 bills that enjoy wide support.
Apparently we Americans have a very good friend in the Senate. The Democrats in power have dubbed him “Dr. NO” but his actual name is Senator Tom Coburn, a physician in service to America from Oklahoma. His mission seems to be to hold our representatives in the Senate accountable, regardless of party, for the bills they pass and the money they propose to spend. The story comes to us via the New York Times hence the headline:
“Democrats Try to Break Grip of the Senate’s ‘Dr. No’,” by Carl Hulse
Congress has dealt for decades with catchall bills known as omnibus legislation. Now, for the first time, comes the Tomnibus. *** A product of Democratic frustration with the tactics of Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and physician who has become the Dr. No of the Senate, the Tomnibus is a $10 billion collection of Coburn-blocked measures assembled by the Senate leadership in an effort to break his solitary grip on the legislative process. *** Engineered by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, the bill includes 35 of the most irresistible-sounding measures stuck on the docket, including the Mothers Act and the Protect Our Children Act. *** There are items to commemorate “The Star-Spangled Banner” and to try to curb pornography, cut drug use and help victims of Lou Gehrig’s disease. *** Officially known as the Advancing America’s Priorities Act, the catchall legislation includes a measure to improve life for victims of paralysis, which Mr. Reid calls the Superman bill in tribute to the late Christopher Reeve. *** The obvious intent is to apply a little legislative Kryptonite and embarrass Mr. Coburn into dropping his procedural objections to the measures while highlighting his willingness to put roadblocks in front of bills that have support from all corners — a textbook case of what Democrats view as extreme Republican obstructionism. *** Well, as they say, good luck with that. *** “I am not a go-along, get-along guy if I think it is the wrong way to go,” Mr. Coburn said, not stating anything his peers did not already know. “I am O.K. taking the consternation of my colleagues. I take my oath seriously.”
Coburn says the Senate is shirking it’s duties by failing to carefully scrutinize bills before bringing them to the floor by unanimous consent. He also said:
“We ought not be borrowing and expanding the federal government unless we get rid of stuff that is not working,”
Amen to that! Head on over to the NYT using the link above to read the rest of the article. It’s a well written piece of journalism (the real kind – surprise!) filled with information that will increase your understanding of how the Senate operates.
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:58 PM | Comments (2)
Will This Scandal Have Legs?
by Tina Grazier
Quick…how many politicians involved in scandal, or supposed scandal, can you name in thirty seconds? Now, how many on that list are democrats and how many republicans? Chances are if you’re over thirty the list of republican names will be considerably long…the democrat side pretty short.
Is this because temptations that come with power and position only affect republicans? Is it because democrats are too angelic to become involved in scandal? Is it because democrats are more willing to expose republican scandals and create show trials to highlight them? Is it because republicans are reluctant to highlight democrat scandal? Is it because the media becomes a co-conspirator in efforts by democrats to discredit republicans? Is it because the media hide democrat scandals by omitting the “democrat” designation, excusing the behavior as a normal human failing, or by placing a 4 line story in the bottom left corner at the back of the real estate section?
Whatever the reason or reasons, it’s clear that scandals involving democrats are played down when it's possible to do so while republican failings make headlines for weeks even when the charges are of an equal nature and stories about republicans are sprinkled heavily with unflattering adjectives.
There’s a story that’s been investigated by a tabloid for a year. It’s the same tabloid that first featured the Monica Lewinski story that Matt Druge dredged up . It involves a man who is reportedly being considered for a spot in Obama’s administration…possibly a VP spot. Will the story “have legs,” as they say?
One paper in America has chosen to pick up on the rumors of this potential scandal. The story, out of Hartford Connecticut, features Elizabeth Edwards and spends 4 paragraphs setting the scene for how coverage of the Democrat convention might play out. Health care, a major platform issue for the Democrats, would get a big boost if Elizabeth Edwards, bravely fighting cancer, should be featured as a speaker. It’s a nice homey piece. If anyone bothers to continue reading beyond this point though I’d be surprised and if they do the next few sentences could cause an eyebrow to rise…ever so slightly. The paragraph begins with the sentence, "An appearance by Edwards would give a nod to decency," and then launches into the rumors about John Edwards:
“A Star Turn For Elizabeth Edwards,” by Kevin Rennie – courant.com (Hartford CT)
...A story involving her husband John Edwards has been developing since late last year. You may grimace when you read that it's been coming from the National Enquirer. Early last week, Enquirer reporters observed Edwards skulking his way into the Beverly Hills Hotel, where they heard he was to rendezvous with the mother of his new baby. *** Edwards serpentined around the hotel, before reaching the rooms where both his alleged paramour and baby were staying, according to the Enquirer, which appears to have had a platoon of reporters in strategic spots. Edwards probably thought he would not be noticed when he left at 2:30 in the morning, so he alighted upon the lobby from an elevator. Reporters greeted him when he stepped out. *** The former presidential aspirant and vice presidential nominee took refuge in a men's room until hotel security could escort him out and block the five reporters who wanted a few words with him. Edwards later issued a brief statement criticizing the tabloids. He didn't address the love child story, though it was the right time to deny it if it isn't true. Whether it's true or not, his behavior was bizarre for a potential attorney general.
Bizarre…bizarre? It’s a word that could easily describe a church fund raiser in a quaint New England town! How about tawdry, cheap or at least suspicious or indecent? Oh well, no matter, we’re at the conclusion of the article now. The writer believes the story will be as big as the Dick Morris toe sucking (tee hee) scandal of 1996. Mr. Renee, a lawyer and ex-state legislator (Republican), acknowledges the differences in reporting between this story about John Edwards and the Larry Craig bathroom incident in Idaho and then concludes:
The curse of ambition is compromise. Elizabeth Edwards, like every other political spouse, probably had a lot of them imposed on her. She's emerged from a decade of campaigning for her husband as a dignified and compelling force, as well as a cautionary tale. She would stir a national audience weary of a long campaign with an address to a convention that will hail her ascent to the platform.
Well good for Kevin Renee. He’s attempting to create a positive for Elizabeth Edwards in anticipation of media coverage on her husbands “bizarre” behavior…my question? Are his efforts even necessary? Will coverage of Edwards’ behavior come with the ferocity of the Larry Craig story or will it, if it comes, spin and spin and spin on a media cloud of explanations and excuses, smoothed and soothed, until it’s made to seem “normal”?
After all, he’s just a powerful man and powerful men are victims…what with women throwing themselves at them and plying them with pizza and...er....other stuff!
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:34 PM | Comments (4)
Green Humor
How many Greenpeace activists does it take to change a light bulb?
None.
They'd rather sit around in the dark feeling morally superior.
Hat tip: Ian Robinson, Calgary Sun
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)
Quote of the Week
Anger is a condition that works the tongue faster than the mind.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)
Teens Abused by Boyfriends and Girfriends
Love isn't supposed to hurt. Nearly one in 11 U.S. high school students is physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend every year, Reuters reports of a new survey of almost 15,000 teenagers conducted by the National Center for Injury Prevention.
Physical violence among teens who are dating includes punching, kicking, or slapping, as well as shaking, pushing or grabbing hard enough to cause discomfort. It can escalate to an attack with a knife, gun or other weapon. It's also important to note that any physical act that is unwanted or hurtful--even if it's just tickling or hugging--is a form of abuse.
The study: Led by Dr. M.C. Black, the team analyzed data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which included students in grades 9 through 12 from 158 schools located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They examined the answer to this one question: During the past 12 months, did your boyfriend or girlfriend ever hit, slap or physically hurt you on purpose?"
The results: Specifically, 8.9 percent of boys and 8.8 percent of girls reported physical victimization, which the authors estimate to be 1.5 million U.S. high school students, reports Reuters.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
Put This on Burgers. Prevent Cancer?
Sprinkle rosemary extracts on your burger, and it can break up cancer-causing compounds that can form when the meat is cooked, especially when grilled. Rosemary, a member of the mint family, appears to be a cancer-prevention
agent, according to researchers from Kansas State University. Carcinogenic compounds known as HCAs (heterocyclic amines) form when meat is grilled. The KSU team, led by food science professor J. Scott Smith, discovered that rosemary extracts can stop HCAs cold in cooked beef patties, with a success rate that ranges from 30 percent to 100 percent. "Put a little bit on the surface," Smith advises backyard chefs. "Rosemary extracts shouldn't have much of an aroma to them. Most people don't want a rosemary-flavored burger. So if you get the extract, you don't really know it's there."
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2008
Wanton Charges of Racism - UGLY and CHEAP
by Tina Grazier
Racism used to be associated with angry murdering thugs hiding like cowards under pointy hooded garments…now apparently all it takes is a vote for a different (non-black) candidate. Recent examples:
New York governor David Paterson recently suggested at the national meeting of the NAACP that an Obama loss is a racist victory.
Andrew Greeley says that black Americans (all, apparently) and the rest of the world will "scream racism" if Obama is defeated by John McCain. Greeley says that "Only the innocent and the naive think that the November election will not be about race."
Joe Klein “hinted” at racism in a blog post when he said Obama’s polling slump following his foreign travels might be associated with presumptuousness: “The emerging conventional wisdom seems to be that the trip is a bit too grand, too...presumptuous and voters are wary of that. (And presumption, of course, always comes with the subterranean tinge of racism.) Maybe so.
The ugly thing about these cheap shots at American voters is that most Americans abhor racism and believe legitimate charges should be taken very seriously. Comments like those above water down and lessen the nature of legitimate claims and demean those victims who make them honestly. Shame! The vast majority of Americans will choose their new president based on character, platform, and credentials.
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:17 PM | Comments (4)
Desert Storm Vet Challenges Murtha Seat…BIG time!
Posted by Tina
Here’s a quote from an article by Michelle Malkin (Attn Jack…this one’s for YOU)
“I believe in the sovereignty and security of this one nation, under God. I believe the primary role of government is to provide for the common defense and a legal framework to protect families and individual liberty. … I believe that no one owes me anything just because I live and breathe.” - William Russel
“Murtha Faces A Tough Challenge,” by Michelle Malkin – Daily News Record
A JAW-DROPPING political miracle may be on the horizon. No, I’m not talking about the second coming of the Obamessiah. I’m talking about the long-deserved comeuppance of troop-smearing, pork-feasting, scandal-tainted Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania. *** The 18-term congressman’s challenger, staunch conservative Republican newcomer William Russell, raised nearly $670,000 in the second fundraising quarter. Earmark king Murtha scraped together a measly $119,000. Russell’s underdog campaign bested Murtha without the perks of incumbency, national name recognition, big PAC donations or mainstream media support. *** Even more amazing: The 45-year-old Russell, a Desert Storm veteran, former Army lieutenant colonel and Army reservist who survived the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, was not even publicly campaigning during the quarter. He is on active duty with the Army until after Aug. 1 and is barred from actively campaigning until then. *** If all that didn’t make this enough of an inspiring David and Goliath story: In February, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that Russell had failed to collect enough signatures to make the primary ballot. But Russell refused to give up on his goal of permanently redeploying Murtha from his entrenched seat of power in Washington. *** The GOP neophyte persevered on a shoestring budget and won more than 4,000 write-in votes in the spring to earn a spot on the general election ballot. According to Russell’s campaign manager and veteran GOP activist Peg Luksik, the bulk of contributions from about 16,000 donors in the second quarter were less than $50.
They are sharp...they are committed and disciplined...and they are coming home to wage a different kind of battle for the America we love. God bless 'em.
Posted by Post Scripts at 05:03 PM | Comments (2)
Dealing with Unreasonable GREENS
Posted by Tina
The majority of Americans are in favor of pursuing all possible avenues for producing energy, including alternatives, drilling, and nuclear. The only thing standing in the way is a small minority of extremists in the green movement and the politicians that are beholding to them. It is absurd that they continue to get away with holding Americans hostage considering high gas prices and a need to end our dependence of foreign oil. It is also absurd to set aside all economic considerations in a rush to pursue alternative solutions only.
The above might be considered an exaggeration, a figment of my imagination, or an expression of prejudice against “BIG GREEN”. But it is none of these. It is an opinion based on observations over several years of what BIG GREEN extremists do and say. One of the latest examples to confirm the validity of my observations is reported in the Wall Street Journal:
“Virginia Is Sitting on the Energy Mother Lode,” by Max Schulz - WSJ
Amid the rolling hills and verdant pastures of south central Virginia an unlikely new front in the battle over nuclear energy is opening up. How it is decided will tell us a lot about whether this country is willing to get serious about addressing its energy needs.
Virginia is one of just four states that ban uranium mining. The ban was put in place in 1984, to calm fears that had been sparked by the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979. ** In Pittsylvania County, just north of the North Carolina border, the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States -- and the seventh largest in the world, according to industry monitor UX Consulting -- sits on land owned by neighbors Henry Bowen and Walter Coles. ** Messrs. Bowen and Coles, who last year formed a company called Virginia Uranium, are asking the state to determine whether mining uranium really is a hazard and, if not, to lift the ban. But they've run into a brick wall of environmental activists who raise the specter of nuclear contamination and who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue.
Since when do “scientific studies” pose a problem to the environment? What are the BIG GREEN nuts afraid of in opposing this study? Could it be that a study might prove that the fears and claims made by BIG GREEN are bogus?
Who knows what lurks in the mind of an unreasonable green extremist? What comes out of their mouths, however, offers a clue as to the method behind their motive…
The Piedmont Environmental Council is one of the leading opponents. It warns of the "enormous quantities of radioactive waste" produced by uranium mining. ** Jack Dunavant, head of the Southside Concerned Citizens in nearby Halifax County, is another outspoken critic. He paints a picture of environmental apocalypse. "There will be a dead zone within a 30 mile radius of the mine," he says with a courtly drawl. "Nothing will grow. Animals will die. The radiation genetically alters tissue. Animals will not be able to reproduce. We'll see malformed fetuses."
The truth is less dramatic and considerably more compelling:
James Kelly, who directed the nuclear engineering program at the University of Virginia for many years, says that fears about uranium mining are wildly overblown. "It's an aesthetic nightmare, but otherwise safe in terms of releasing any significant radioactivity or pollution," he told me. ** The situation is rich with irony as well as uranium. While you can't mine yellowcake, it is perfectly legal in Virginia to process enriched uranium into usable nuclear fuel…A subsidiary of the French nuclear giant Areva operates a fuel fabrication facility in Lynchburg 50 miles from Chatham. It has been praised by Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, as a good corporate citizen. The state is also home to four commercial nuclear reactors, which provide Virginians with 35% of their electricity. And, of course, the U.S. Navy operates nuclear ships out of Norfolk, Va.
The tactics used to persuade politicians and the good citizenry to vote against reasonable plans in the pursuit of energy are meant to be inflammatory. It is up to us to become informed citizens so that emotional claims no longer play on our fears. Armed with information we can put BIG GREEN scares in proper perspective. More importantly, we can grab the reins of persuasion and press politicians in Washington to finally listen and respond to the majority.
Posted by Post Scripts at 01:25 PM | Comments (5)
Thoughts to Ponder
Posted by Jack
Jim Jubak and Tim Middleton over at MSN, must be brilliant...they think at lot like me! lol Check this out:
"Sweeping debt woes... Today's financial meltdown defies comprehension because so much of it is packaged into exotic derivatives, such as collateralized debt obligations and structured investment vehicles. These were bundles
of risky loans such as subprime mortgages put together and sold by institutions eager to spread risk and keep lending.
Now, they embrace possibly $2 trillion or $3 trillion dollars of indebtedness spread far beyond banks and savings and loans to insurance companies, pension funds and the like around the world.
The marketplace for these exotic bundles has seized up. Meanwhile, other asset-backed securities are plunging because defaults are rising amid the sickened economy. More and more homeowners and consumers simply can't repay their loans."
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
OBAMA LEAVES GERMANS FLAT
by Jack Lee
Berlin - 25 July 08... Barack Obama's Berlin speech was full of rhetoric and gave no specifics. This is what many
of the 200,000 Germans thought after the 20 minute long diatribe. In his tired voice he flung cliché after cliche'
while taking shots at his own country. He was frequently caught making promises without offering any details how he would accomplish them. In the part of his pseech that was about "we must tear down the walls" ...where's the plan, asked the Germans? They left the rally feeling kind of disappointed and flat. Good thing they were still serving beer and had plenty of bands to justify their trip.
NOTE: If Obama is so hot to withdraw troops now why not withdraw troops from Germany? They've been there since 1945 and I think we can safely say victory over Germany in now in the bag, Iraq is still pretty fresh and unstable.
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Locate Failed Banks - Money Tip
posted by Jack
Click this link to see a list of failed banks. Click here.
Tip: Did you know you can buy loans from the FDIC? When the FDIC takes over a failed bank they also manage the banks assets and this includes their loan portfolio. These loans can be sold to the public. A bank loan portfolio may include well secured commercial and private properties and sometimes excellent personal notes. The loans can range from under a thousand into the millions.
It is possible to buy a 1st deed of trust from the FDIC for a dscounted price and resell it to someone else for a profit or hang on to it and collect the interest plus principle.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:43 AM | Comments (4)
July 25, 2008
Observations of Islam
An essay in pictures....
In 2007 Islam and Judaism's holiest holidays overlapped for 10 days. Muslims racked up 397 dead bodies in 94 terror attacks across 10 countries during this time... while Jews worked on their 159th Nobel Prize.
They teach restraint in Madrass Schools
You know the ol saying, "Spare the rod, spoil your woman"
Islam leads the world in moral clarity.
Posted by Post Scripts at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Bush as Batman?
Posted by Tina
In case you missed Rush talking about it today please take a moment to read the excellent article by Andrew Klavan in the Wall Street Journal.
Here's a sample:
A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W." ** There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past. ** And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.
Holy mind meld Batman…this is exactly what I told my husband upon leaving the theater. Great movie…great article…click on the link below and enjoy!
“What Bush and Batman Have in Common”
Posted by Post Scripts at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
FISCAL PRUDENCE ISN'T SEXY
by Jack Lee
This week's economic news has been pretty rough and back here in California, where the national trend always starts, well, the news was absolutely the worst. We're still 15 billion in the hole and our State's budget in now weeks overdue with no resolution in sight. . . .
The reality train is speeding headlong into a democrat spending train overloaded with passengers seeking a free ride! This pending (or should I say spending) train wreck is going to hurt a lot of people, but the damage should be more than enough incentive for voters and party leaders alike to make smarter choices for our future. For any bureaucrat with an IQ two points above a rock California's spending woes should be seen as a mandate for change!
From little Chico with its millions in red ink right up the line to the Capitol in Sacramento with billions in red ink, it's all about gross over-spending. As Senator Tom McClintock recently said, and I paraphrase, “Sometimes when government has gotten so far out of whack it's not enough to merely reform, you have to tear it down and start over." Fiscal prudence and saying no to social programs isn't what our increasingly immature AND whiny voters wanted to hear in past elections, but it's what they needed to hear in order to grow up. As the commercial goes, "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"
It's time to GROW UP Californians and let go of those failed policies that led us here and start voting out those spendy incumbents every chance! We need to begin anew with fresh faces and ideas....unless you LIKE train wrecks every few years?
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:08 AM | Comments (14)
HOME PRICES EXPECTED TO FALL 15%
Posted by Jack Lee
"Foreclosures push all home values down by an estimated 6 percent, and will contribute to national prices declining another 15 percent by the end of 2009, Ethan Harris and Michelle Meyer, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. economists in New York, said in a report yesterday." Bloomberg News
Buyers are showing hesitation because this doesn't seem the best time to buy, home prices are still falling and they could be off another 15% by the end of 09. That could represent a $60,000 loss in a little over 18 months from now on a $400,000 home purchase. And if it were not buyers hesitating, we have lenders unsure who to lend to and that has the real estate market in bad shape!
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)
California, Nevada and Arizona - Foreclosure News
Posted by Jack Lee
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier as falling home prices left borrowers owing more on mortgages than their properties were worth.
One in every 171 households was foreclosed on, received a default notice or was warned of a pending auction. That was an increase of 121 percent from a year earlier and 14 percent from the first quarter, RealtyTrac Inc. said today in a statement. Almost 740,000 properties were in some stage of foreclosure, the most since the Irvine, California-based data company began reporting in January 2005.
``Rising foreclosures are putting downward pressure on prices, increasing the possibility that homeowners will go upside- down on their mortgages,'' said Sheryl King, chief U.S. economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. ``That will cause more losses in mortgage portfolios and less willingness from investors to securitize mortgages and therefore fewer mortgages.''
About 25 million U.S. homeowners risk owing more than the value of their homes, according to Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. That would make it impossible for them to negotiate better loan terms or sell their property without contributing cash to the transaction.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)
Cracks Forming Around Global Banking
Posted by Jack
25 July 08 0945 a.m. PST: The following is condensed from MarketWatch and is minutes old -- European financial stocks were in retreat after a profit warning from Munich Re and a prediction from Citigroup that the British economy was about to enter a recession. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell 0.2% to 281.76 as a short-lived rally in the financial sector sputtered. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% to 5,352.60, while the German DAX 30 dipped 0.1% to 6,436.71. The French CAC 40 gained 0.7% to 4,377.18. Banks finished broadly lower after Citigroup slashed earnings estimates throughout the British banking sector by more than 40%.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2008
PROP 13
Posted by Tina
Since this measure passed in 1978 with overwhelming support it has been blamed for every state funding problem under the sun including a collapsed Bridge in the 1988 Bay Area earthquake and a lousy coroner in the OJ Simpson trial in LA. But school funding, police and fire, the prison system, and healthcare are the biggest sticks used by politicians and big government progressives as they attempt to beat the taxpayer into guilty acquiescence over
prop 13. Before buying into their claims it would be wise for the taxpaying public to gather a few facts and consider other points of view.
Let’s begin with a simple explanation of Prop 13 from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association:
“Proposition 13: A Look Back,” by Joel Fox
On June 6th, 1978, nearly two-thirds of California's voters passed Proposition 13, reducing property tax rates on homes, businesses, and farms by about 57%. Now, according to the newly amended state constitution property tax rates could not exceed 1 percent of the property's market value and valuations couldn’t grow by more than 2% per annum unless the property was sold. ** Prior to Proposition 13, the tax rate throughout California averaged a little less than 3% of market value, and there were no limits on increases either for the tax rate or property value assessments. Some properties were reassessed 50% to 100% in just one year and their owners’ tax bills jumped correspondingly. ** Under the tax cut measure, property tax valuation was set at the 1976 assessed value. As stated above, property tax increases on any given property were limited to no more than 2 % a year as long as the property was not sold. Once sold, the property was reassessed at 1% of the new market value with the 2% yearly cap placed on this new assessment. Thus, the new buyer is aware of what the taxes will be and knows the maximum amount property taxes can increase each year for as long as he or she owns the property. ** In addition, Proposition 13 required that all state tax rate increases be approved by a two-thirds vote of the legislature and that local tax rates also have to be approved by a vote of the people. The people's right to vote on taxes is a key taxpayer protection.
Proposition 13 has been successful at what it promised to do. It prevented people from being taxed out of their homes and for the first time gave taxpayers a measure of certainty over their taxes. ** A study by the University of California at Davis found that under Prop 13 low and middle income people, on average, pay less in taxes than they would have paid under the former property tax system. ** The study's authors wrote that if Los Angeles County reverted to the market value property tax system in which property was revalued every year at its current value, and the tax rate were lowered so that the revenue collection would be equal to what was collected from the property tax the year before: "We estimate that this policy would adversely affect elderly and low-income households. In fact, according to our calculations, 92% of the elderly would lose under this revenue neutral reform."
Next I turned to the Cato Institute where I found two very informative articles. The first article was posted at cato.org in July of 1998
“Proposition 13 Then, Now and Forever,” by Stephen Moore
Within five years of Proposition 13's passage, nearly half the states strapped a similar straitjacket on politicians' tax-raising capabilities. Almost all of those tax limitation measures remain the law of the land today. ** Money ran a cover story back in 1994 by Richard Reeves titled "The Tax Revolt That Ruined California." The article blamed the recession, the loss of 600,000 jobs and the decline in family incomes in the early 1990s on the cumulative effects of Proposition 13. No mention was made of the fact that in 1991 California passed the biggest tax increase ($7 billion) in the history of any state in the Union. ** The argument that Howard Jarvis's brainchild wrecked California was recast by a National Public Radio "news" segment earlier this month. Proposition 13 "drained the California school system of money," noted the NPR piece. "Since then California's test scores have gone from near the top of all the states to near the bottom." ** But what is not said…is that Proposition 13 ushered in a second California gold rush in the 1980s. California's economic surge in the years following Proposition 13 was to become the envy of the nation. In the 10 years after the passage of Proposition 13, incomes in California grew 50 percent faster than in the nation as a whole; jobs grew at twice the national pace. Even supporters of Proposition 13 never envisioned that it would unleash the spectacular entrepreneurial and commercial explosion that it did over the next decade. ** Did Proposition 13 really starve state and local services? Hardly. In real dollars, California's budget climbed from $55 billion in 1980 to $97 billion in 1992 -- a 75 percent increase above inflation! Only in government would a 75 percent real spending hike be considered inadequate and neglectful. What about revenues? In the 1980s state tax revenues as a share of Californian's incomes actually rose -- from 11 to 12 percent. ** The major effect of Proposition 13 has been to save the average homeowner in California tens of thousands of dollars in property tax payments over the past 20 years. That is money that would have fueled an even more rapid buildup in California's state and local public bureaucracies if it had been sent to Sacramento and city hall.
The problem isn’t that Californians don’t give the state enough revenue; it’s that the state is a very poor manager of our money. Politicians, driven by a desire for power and job security ask for more money and promise to improve services (and even our lives) but they fail to adequately assess all of the consequences of the laws they pass. They also fail to take into consideration the waste and fraud that is bound to occur in a bloated bureaucracy when no one is minding the store. I’d rather they adopt a higher sense of civic responsibility, keeping government small so that oversight might begin to have a prayer:
“Proposition 13 and State Budget Limitations: Past Successes and Future Options,” by Michael New
Although Proposition 13 limited property taxes, it failed to impose long-term discipline on state and local budgets in California. Indeed, total state and local revenues (including federal aid) in California have risen from 19.4 percent of personal income the year after Proposition 13 passed to 24.6 percent today. Rapidly expanding spending since the mid-1990s has put the state into a fiscal crisis with record budget gaps currently being reported. ** Proposition 13's focus on property taxes was too narrow to limit overall state and local government budgets in California. However, a number of states in the past decade have enacted broader tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) that attempt to control overall government growth. This paper discusses how well-designed TELs can restrain spending and provide tax relief. TELs combined with other mechanisms to terminate unneeded government programs should be pursued in all state and local jurisdictions to close current budget gaps and counteract the tendency of governments to collect ever-larger shares of Americans' income.
Granted, these articles are not al current but they represent an overall view of both the intent and the effects of proposition 13.
The problems facing California today have been brewing for a very long time. The causes are many and varied but the bottom line is irresponsible spending and lack of accountability at all levels of state government and government that tries to do too much. Tax policy that has the potential to remove families, including the poor, middle class, and the elderly, from their homes is not a tax policy that serves the people. Prop 13 was a necessary measure designed to end this consequence and restrain the whims and proclivities of politicians. We could use a few more such measures.
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:30 PM | Comments (5)
Homes Sales, Unemployment and More (news you can use!)
Posted by Jack
24 July 0835 a.m.: Just in.... Adding to pressure on stocks and the dollar, the National Association of Realtors said resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos fell 2.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million, the lowest level in 10 years. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected sales to fall to 4.95 million. Other data from the government showed a large rise in first-time jobless claims, which jumped 34,000 to 406,000 in the week ended July 19.
Thursday's currency trading looks like a contest of which currency has the worst economic fundamentals, as the euro, sterling and kiwi are all falling against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen due to fresh evidence of deteriorating economic data.
Shares of Washington Mutual Inc. were among the hardest hit of bank stocks, with shares of the nation's largest thrift recently down 15.1%. The Seattle-based company, which late Tuesday reported a loss of $3.33 billion, is now down 32% so far this week. Bank of America was down over 5% by mid-day trading.
Shares of home builders fell in the wake of the data, with shares of Pulte Homes Inc. down after the builder reported a quarterly loss of $158.4 million.
Automakers took a big hit today with slumping sales and more layoffs expected. GM wad off over 7% and Ford was down over 13%! These are monumental swings in value and a clear indication of worse to come.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:33 AM | Comments (5)
July 23, 2008
Planning For the Future
Posted by Jack
You wouldn't want to be driving in a new city without a map would you? Well, having a career management plan is exactly like having your map so you can move from what you are doing today to what you want to be doing tomorrow. A good career management plan helps you navigate your job or career change more effectively.
A good plan should help you understand:
1. where you want to be
2. where you are today
3. and what the main gaps are so you can develop an action plan to close them.
Your career management plan should also take into account your career interests and needs, your knowledge, skills and your work-life-balance needs.
Finally, if you are considering staying with your present employer as you change your career (which is a safe strategy) then you also need to understand if your new direction is something you can pursue within the same company and the best way to go about it.
A good place to start is by asking yourself where you want to be ...in the future.
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
ECONOMIC NEWS - STATES FALTERING
Posted by Jack
States are all running into financial trouble:
States are being forced to slash spending and cut jobs in order to close a projected $40 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year. That gap, more than triple the size of the previous year's, is the result of broad economic weakness at the state and local levels that could cause pain throughout this year and into 2010, a report found.
The democrats answer...we must raise taxes and block oil drilling!
Obama is predicted to win 54% of the popular vote:
Pundits tell us that it's too early to give any credence to general election polls, but what about economic models? Source: Macroeconomic Advisers Macroeconomic Advisers today released the results of its election model, predicting that Democrat Barrack Obama will win 54.8% of the popular vote compared to 45.2% for Republican rival John McCain.
Beige Book only has a few bright spots and they are dimming:
The Fed’s latest beige book didn’t have many bright spots in it, but even those isolated glimmers may be beginning to dim.
Consumer spending was reported as “mixed, weak, or slowing” in nearly all regions in the report. Exceptions were seen in New York City, where a weak dollar has boosted foreign tourism, and the discount sector.
However, today Costco, one of the nation’s leading discount chains, surprised investors with a profit warning on inflation concerns. The company’s stock declined nearly 12% in midafternoon trading after it said higher fuel costs were cutting into profit margins and inventories remain elevated.
The democrats answer to high oil prices...we must raise taxes and block oil drilling!
Meanwhile, the dollar is starting to pick up some ground against major currencies as oil prices decline and indications build that the Fed’s next rate move will be up. A stronger dollar and continued economic weakness overseas have the potential to dry up foreign tourism in the U.S.
However, there are some sectors that may be immune to downturns. The beige book reported that although spending on services was generally weak, health care and IT industries partially offset the declines.
The price tag for the nation's housing crisis escalated again with reports Tuesday that a record number of Californians lost their homes to foreclosure in the last three months and that a potential bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach $25 billion.
The figures were released as the House prepared to vote as early as today on legislation aimed at staving off foreclosures, stimulating the troubled housing market and providing a government backstop to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The democrats answer once again...we must raise taxes and block oil drilling!
The borrower escape rate has shown a sharp decline. This is when a homeowner finds himself in trouble and sells or refinances to escape his debt burden before final foreclosure. The Escape rate is show below and its alarming:
Quarter # of defaults in Cal. "escape rate"
2Q 06 20,909 88%
3Q 06 27,218 80.9%
4Q 06 37,994 71%
1Q 07 46,760 52%
2Q 07 53,943 54.6%
3Q 07 72,571 45.9%
4Q 07 81,550 41%
1Q 08 113,809 32%
2Q 08 121,341 22%
Foreclosures were up 261% since 2007. Foreclosures statewide jumped 33.5% in the three months ended June 30, compared with the same period last year, DataQuick Information Systems reported. The 63,061 homes taken back by lenders were the most for a three-month period since the firm began tracking this data in 1992.
And the democrats answer is (drum roll please) ...we must raise taxes and block oil drilling! Yes, it is a broken record!
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
LOOKING FOR A GOOD CAREER?
Posted by Jack
Thinking of making a career move, thinking of going back to college? Better make the right choice to make sure it's worth your investment in time and money. College costs a lot these days and if the investment in your education pays low dividends then you may want to reconsider your career field. Here are the top 20 career fields with a BA degree from "Payscales" Special Report:
1. Chemical Engineering
Average Starting Salary:$61,800.00
2. Computer Engineering
Average Starting Salary:$60,500.00
3. Electrical Engineering
Average Starting Salary:$59,900.00
4. Computer Science
Average Starting Salary:$54,200.00
5. Civil Engineering
Average Starting Salary:$52,600.00
6. Economics
Average Starting Salary:$48,100.00
7. Finance
Average Starting Salary:$46,900.00
8. Accounting
Average Starting Salary:$44,600.00
9. Mathematics
Average Starting Salary:$43,500.00
10. Business Management
Average Starting Salary:$40,900.00
11. Marketing
Average Starting Salary:$39,400.00
12. Political Science
Average Starting Salary:$39,400.00
13. Biology
Average Starting Salary:$37,900.00
14. History
Average Starting Salary:$37,600.00
15. English
Average Starting Salary:$36,700.00
16. Communications
Average Starting Salary:$36,400.00
17. Sociology
Average Starting Salary:$35,700.00
18. Graphic Design
Average Starting Salary:$34,700.00
19. Psychology
Average Starting Salary:$34,700.00
20. Criminal Justice
Average Starting Salary:$34,200.00
Cost of a four-year degree from a public university is $6,185 per year, according to the College Board. And while most students pay less than $9,000 a year, costs at private colleges and universities can skyrocket beyond $33,000 for tuition, room and board.
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:38 AM | Comments (4)
July 22, 2008
Media Donations – How Much and to Whom?
Posted by Tina
While conservatives complain of media bias, successfully demonstrating that bias often proves difficult. The giving of cash, however, offers solid and significant evidence of political leanings and affiliations and that's what the following article does. The messenger of such “news” is often labeled a whiner but, when William Tate at the American Thinker backs the claim with research that causes such a label to lose much of it's weight. The article breaks out various categories of giving within the industry and includes links to sources. I hope you’ll be pleased that you bothered to read: “Big Media Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is,” by William Tate – American Thinker.
The New York Times' refusal to publish John McCain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's Iraq Op-Ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen, but true proof of widespread media bias requires one to follow an old journalism maxim: Follow the money. ** Even the Associated Press--no bastion of conservatism -- has considered, at least superficially, the media's favoritism for Barack Obama. It's time to re-visit media bias. ** An analysis of federal election records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 margin over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans. ** And while the money totals pale in comparison to the $9 million+ that just one union's PACs have spent to get Barack Obama elected, they are more substantial than the amount that Obama has criticized John McCain for receiving from lobbyists: 96 lobbyists have contributed $95,850 to McCain, while Obama -- who says he won't take money from PACs or federal lobbyists -- has received $16,223 from 29 lobbyists.
Please consider this obvious bias as you watch and listen to political reports during this election…choose to be truly informed and do vote wisely.
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)
Jesse Jackson Gets a Boost from Fannie and Fred
Posted by Tina
I guess I shouldn’t be jumping up and down pointing my finger so much but when the story’s finally makin’ headlines, what’s a girl to do? It seems the head honcho’s over at Fannie and Fred's have not only been giving in to BIG temptation but have also been under all kinds of pressure from another BIG player:
“Freddie, Fannie Funded Jesse Jackson’s Pet Projects” – CNSNews
(CNSNews.com) - Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have come under fire for making contributions to programs headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson at a time when their own survival is at stake. ** The NLPC (National Legal and Policy Center) says the management teams of both companies made sizeable contributions to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund Annual Conference, Jackson’s main fundraising event of the year. The conference took place June 28 through July 2 in Chicago. ** According to the conference program…Freddie Mac, as a “Platinum Sponsor,” paid $150,000. Fannie Mae paid $100,000 to be listed as a “Diamond Sponsor.” ** The NLPC noted that the contributions came at a time when the value of the companies’ shares had declined by approximately 85 percent.
The NLPC has criticized the companies for funding Jackson’s projects since 1998, the first year that Freddie Mac contributed. Flaherty (President of NLPC) said the contributions came after Jackson accused Freddie Mac of racial discrimination and encouraged major shareholders to sell stock in the company. ** Freddie Mac began financial support for Jackson’s organizations, and his criticism of Freddie Mac stopped,” the NCLP said. ** After Freddie Mac signed a $1 million contract for Rainbow/PUSH to run an “Economic Literacy” program, Jackson’s nonprofit coalition turned around and charged churches $1,000 to enroll in the program, the NCLP said. ** Freddie Mac also pledged to earmark $1 billion in mortgage loans specifically for minorities. ** In 2003, an independent report commissioned by the Freddie Mac board criticized the company’s accounting practices, singling out 13 improper transactions involving Ron Blaylock, Jesse Jackson’s longtime financial backer. According to the report, Blaylock received fees of $250,000 for making some phone calls. ** The NLCP also criticized what it called the “incredibly generous ‘golden parachute’” that Fannie Mae provided to fired CEO Franklin Raines in 2004. Raines was accused of manipulating the company’s earnings over a six-year period to meet earnings’ targets and receive hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses. ** “The unfortunate thing about these [government-sponsored enterprises] is that they’ve provided good jobs for underemployed politicians and they’ve been slush funds for liberal groups. And the Jesse Jackson gifts, as the companies are melting down, is a dramatic example of that,” Flaherty said. ** …Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested over $348 million in the Washington area since 1991. ** Over the past five years, Fannie Mae and its foundation have contributed over $100 million to organizations and initiatives in Washington, D.C.
I just thought you should know.
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Obama’s “Managed Media” Trip
Posted by Tina
By now we all know that several bigwig stars of the MSM have traveled with Barack Obama to cover the grand tour but apparently they aren’t getting the access they had counted on. NewsBusters reports on comments made to Chris Mathews during a Hardball segment:
“Andrea on Obama Trip: 'What Some Would Call Fake Interviews',” by Mark Finkelstein – NewsBusters
Andrea Mitchell might be a doyenne of the liberal media, but she has her reporter's pride and principles, both of which have been trampled by the way the Obama campaign has managed the media during the candidate's current trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Mitchell let loose on this evening's Hardball, speaking of "fake interviews" and indicating we don't know the truth of the trip because we don't know what was edited out of the video that's been released. *** MITCHELL: Let me just say something about the message management. He didn't have reporters with him, he didn't have a press pool, he didn't do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you're seeing is not reporters brought in. You're seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they're not interviews from a journalist. So, there's a real press issue here. Politically it's smart as can be. But we've not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before. (emphasis per NewsBusters)
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:46 PM | Comments (4)
THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME
by Jack Lee
As a departure from our norm I wanted to bring you this brief summary of the Battle of the Somme. It has to be one of greatest testiments human fallability of all time. As you read the tragic mistakes made by trusted leaders contrast that against today's high expectation of surgical warfare fought without error and a bare minimum of friendly casualties. Try to imagine the reporting and the impact on our society a battle like Somme would have today.
The year was 1916; WWI had stalled into trench warfare where the combatants were often within yelling distance of each. Near the Somme River in the north of France two massive armies gathered along a stretch of land about 12 miles wide. Both sides dug rows of zig zag trenches and deep underground fortifications. Between the trenches was no man's land. It was devoid of trees, pock marked with shell holes and laced with an exaggerated form of barbed wire with sharp 1 inch spikes designed not injure but to snag just long enough for the opposing machine gunner to cut the trapped soldier in half.
The ancient tactics of cavalry charges and human waves used to overwhelm the enemy were about to become the monumental blunders of aging generals, still fighting the last war as old generals so often do.
The British plan called for an artillery barrage completely off the scale of anything previously experienced in war, 1.7 million shells were fired into the concentrated German lines. After this Hellish shelling it was assumed the German's would be virtually obliterated and resistance would be light. Then the combined forces of British and French could merely walk across the open area to occupy the enemy trenches.
What was not expected or factored into the plan was the fact that many of the artillery shells would not explode., As many as 1 in 3 failed, not because of sabotage, but because they were poorly assembled. On the British home front inexperienced workers, mostly women without adequate instruction, assembled the shells improperly. There was also a serious shortage of high explosive shells that could effectively tear apart the soldier stopping barbed wire directly in front of the German trenches, but the plan was taking on a momentum that could not be stopped for such minor events like artillery shells being mostly the wrong type for the mission. They were shrapnel
type designed to be used against an exposed enemy. Another deadly factor was the British order for the advancing infantry to walk close abreast when they left the safely of their trenches. At the time it was felt that chaos would ensue if they charged the enemy. The generals concluded it was necessary for the infantry to carry 70 pound packs and this would also make a running charge impossible. All this was to have drastic consequences for the allies at the Somme.
If the German lines had been decimated as they had expected this slow march forward might have worked well enough, it would certainly have been more orderly than dropping packs and running zig zaging across open ground to avoid being cut down easily. The British no doubt would have moved the needed supplies forward for occupation and fortification quickly and efficiently. However, when zero came on 16 July at 7:30 a.m. the British and French moved over the top into the open ground only to discover to their great surprise tand horror the German forces were still in tact! As the allies marched without cover the German machine gun nests poured out hot lead cutting down the well formed waves of soldiers advancing in steadly right into their gun sights. In that first assault some allied regiments suffered over 90% casualties. The first day's tally was a horrific 57,470 wounded 19,240 dead. The French prefered to send small units crawling forward under the cover of darkness and then when in place and the main assault was launched they would spring forward causing chaos in the enemy trenches. This was great tactic not accepted by the British until much later in the war.
Among the dead was an American by the name of Alan Seeger. He was a 1910 graduate of Harvard and the Uncle of folk singer Pete Seeger. Alan was in France and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion when the war broke out and wrote this prophetic poem the day before his death.
"I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air--
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair."
The battle ended with the onset of winter when it became clear no side could achieve victory. In the beginning the allies committed 13 British divisions and 11 French and the Germans defended with 10.5 divisions. Before it was over the British has spun up 51 divisions, the French 48 against the German's 50.
The battle of the Somme was the bloodiest in history. 620,000 dead, wounded, missing, or captured, 100 tanks destroyed and 782 aircraft shot down. For all their effort the allies gained about 2 miles of ground!
WWI was a (1) wasteful contest that was ignited over the death of one man. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria who was shot by a single anarchist. This young nobody asassin was part of a small group of nobodies who conspired against the ruling class because of social grievances. Distrust, alliances and poor communications fueled by disinformation, accusations and other events quickly spiraled out of control. This forced the mightiest nations of Europe to war against each other and it changed our world forever. Germany's expansionism and the issues from the previous Franco-Prussian war were also factors in WWI.
1. I have now eliminated the word "pointless" just before the word wasteful. While I believe WWI was largely a pointless war done more to satisfy a few militarists, there were some serious points of contention that could have provoked war. Ironically it was not [those points] that was the rational for war, it was the assassination of the Archduke by pawns in the greater game.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:02 AM | Comments (3)
July 20, 2008
FDIC Part of Mortgage Mess
Posted by Tina
Turns out the government was one of the lenders making high-interest subprime mortgage loans:
“FDIC Faces Mortgage Mess After Running Failed Bank,” by Mark Maremont – WSJ
“Federal officials heap much of the blame for the subprime mortgage mess on lenders, claiming they recklessly made too many high-cost home loans to borrowers who couldn't afford them. *** It turns out that the U.S. government itself was one of the lenders giving out high-interest, subprime mortgages, some of them predatory, according to government documents filed in federal court. *** The unusual situation, which is still bedeviling bank regulators, stems from the 2001 seizure by federal officials of Superior Bank FSB, then a national subprime lender based in Hinsdale, Ill. Rather than immediately shuttering or selling Superior, as it normally does with failed banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. continued to run the bank's subprime-mortgage business for months as it looked for a buyer. With FDIC people supervising day-to-day operations, Superior funded more than 6,700 new subprime loans worth more than $550 million, according to federal mortgage data. *** The FDIC then sold a big chunk of the loans to another bank. That loan pool was afflicted by the same problems for which regulators have faulted the industry: lending to unqualified borrowers, inflated appraisals and poor verification of borrowers' incomes, according to a written report from a government-hired expert. The report said that many of the loans never should have been made in the first place. *** Hundreds of borrowers who took out Superior subprime loans on the FDIC's watch -- some with initial interest rates higher than 12% -- have lost their homes to foreclosure, data on the loans indicate.”
The article is long but well worth the read.
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:49 PM | Comments (1)
Florida Regulators Gave Ex-Cons OK for Peddling Mortgages
Posted by Tina
Jack, Here's an example of low standards and ethics in governement officials meeting up with criminals to create costly havoc in the mortgage industry and tough times for consumers:
“Ex-convicts active in mortgage fraud,” by Jack Dolan, Rob Barry and Matthew Haffman – Miami Herald
During Florida's housing boom, state regulators allowed thousands of mortgage professionals with criminal records into the industry -- costing consumers millions. *** State regulators allowed thousands of ex-convicts to enter a profession that gave them access to the most sensitive and personal financial information: credit cards, bank accounts and Social Security numbers. *** Those criminals went on to commit nearly $85 million in mortgage fraud, the newspaper found. They stole their customers' identities. They stole their money. They even stole their homes. *** From 2000 to 2007, regulators allowed at least 10,529 people with criminal records to work in the mortgage profession. Of those, 4,065 cleared background checks after committing crimes that state law specifically requires regulators to screen, including fraud, bank robbery, racketeering and extortion. *** During the peak of the housing boom, the Office of Financial Regulation ignored a state law enacted in 2006 that compelled it to perform nationwide criminal background checks on applicants. That failure allowed people convicted in other states -- and in federal court -- to peddle loans in Florida without any scrutiny.
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:01 PM | Comments (2)
OK, But Can We Trust Iran?
Posted by Tina
The deputy to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was now a friend of the US and Israel, Iranian news agencies reported Sunday, July 20 -- a day after nuclear negotiations with the West came to nothing. ''Iran wants no war with any country, and today Iran is friend of the United States and even Israel. ... Our achievements belong to the whole world and should be used for expanding love and peace,'' said Iranian Vice-President Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei… - Deutche Welle
Sounds like a “turn down the heat” game to me. Placing a bet on an Obama win and hoping that would facilitate desires to be less scrutinized…Iran would have a real shot at developing Nukes under cover. Ahhh yes…the illusion of peace and safety.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:57 PM | Comments (6)
Oil Business Gearing Up
Posted by Tina
In La Marque, one shop is offering $5,000 signing bonuses and $90,000 annual salaries to skilled machinists. Even at those terms, it’s having to dicker with candidates from as far away as Chicago. In Texas City, refineries desperate to fill $28-an-hour jobs are snapping up college students before they’ve earned their process operator degrees. In Hitchcock, a petrochemical engineering and construction management firm is locked in a recruiting war with competitors
DEMAND has that effect on the markets. Anybody qualified that needs a good paying job should head on down to Texas for a look see.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:54 PM | Comments (24)
Columbia, Israel, France and US as Joint Planners
Posted by Tina
The war has been fought in many ways and on many fronts as is indicated by this Spanish newspaper report:
“The Mossad secret service was involved in the operation to free hostage Ingrid Betancourt from Colombian rebels, AFP quoted a Spanish newspaper as reporting on Sunday. According to the report, American and French secret services were also involved. 'Mossad, the US, and French intelligence services worked for more than a year with the Colombian authorities to develop the plan,'” – Jerusalem Post (Israel)
In many ways, on many fronts…and NOT “unilaterally”!
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2008
Campaign to Educate Eco-friendly Cocaine Users in US
Posted by Tina
The Shared Responsibility program aims to educate US and European cocaine users about the environmental damage of cocaine production. *** Millions of Americans use cocaine, but few of them consider the millions of acres of forest that have been cleared by coca growers in all corners of Colombia or the blue-billed curassow, a turkey-sized bird that is losing habitat to coca farming. *** Ana Maria Caballero believes that many recreational cocaine users are well-educated professionals who also recycle, drive hybrid vehicles, and buy fair-trade products, but that they just don’t understand what cocaine is doing to Colombia’s environment. *** Ms. Caballero works for Shared Responsibility, the Colombian government’s effort to raise consumer awareness of cocaine’s impact on one of the world’s most biodiverse nations. The project is led by Vice President Francisco Santos Calderón, who has more than a passing interest in narco-traficking – he was once kidnapped and held for months by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel. *** Colombia’s decades-old, drug-funded, armed conflict is complicated, says Caballero, but environmental devastation is apolitical. “When you talk about deforestation, when you talk about a specific species being threatened because coca is encroaching upon its sole habitat, there’s no political argument there,” she says. “It’s absolutely black and white. You are destroying natural treasures that belong to the world.” *** According to Shared Responsibility, 43 square feet of forest are cleared to produce one gram of cocaine, and coca growers have cleared an area the size of New Jersey…Clandestine cocaine laboratories, which use an array of toxic chemicals, pollute once-pristine waters in remote areas. And slash-and-burn clearing for coca farms is one of the country’s largest sources of air pollution. The clearing also accelerates global climate change, which is shrinking Colombia’s mountaintop glaciers.
The debate over legalizing drugs continues. This effort, to create awareness, has proven effective in the anti-smoking and green movements…will it work for (guilt ridden) eco-friendly drug users?
Posted by Post Scripts at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
Corn Prices Fall After Taxes Cut
Posted by Tina
Corn prices fell, capping the biggest weekly drop in 12 years, after Argentina revoked escalating taxes on some grain exports, ending a dispute with farmers that had disrupted shipments. Argentina is the world's second-largest corn exporter. Futures are down 19 percent from a record in June. (Snip) This week, the price tumbled 11 percent, the most since July 1996.
Cutting (or ending) taxes that punish business helps businesses AND consumers!
Posted by Post Scripts at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
Iran Faces a Common Problem
Posted by Tina
GENEVA - The United States said on Saturday after inconclusive international talks with Iran's nuclear envoy that Tehran must choose between cooperation or confrontation and give up sensitive nuclear work. "We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement after the talks. - MSNBC
Will Iran choose a cooperative path or one fraught with confrontation and struggle? (Weren’t we just talking about that in terms of American politics?) Consequences that follow choices in life can be quite severe. Stubborn adherence to an uncooperative stance will always lead to confrontation. Iran is asking for trouble…begging for a fight and determined to be right. (Sounds a lot like many progressives in America.)
Posted by Post Scripts at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2008
Submarine Packed with Cocaine Seized
Posted by Tina
Mexico City - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday that U.S. intelligence led Mexican forces to a small submarine captured this week packed with 5.8 tons of cocaine. Chertoff called the vessel's seizure Wednesday off Oaxaca state in southern Mexico ''a great example of our cooperation.'' ''We shared information with the Mexican navy, but the Mexican navy acted alone in actually executing the seizure,'' - AP
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
Jerry Brown Hates Urban Sprawl
Posted by Tina
“Jerry Brown’s War on California Suburbs, by Joel Kotkin – WSJ
, Mr. Brown is taking aim at the suburbs, concerned about the alleged environmental damage they cause. He sees suburban houses as inefficient users of energy. He sees suburban commuters clogging the roads as wasting precious fossil fuel. And, mostly, he sees wisdom in an intricately thought-out plan to compel residents to move to city centers or, at least, to high-density developments clustered near mass transit lines. *** Mr. Brown is not above using coercion to create the demographic patterns he wants. In recent months, he has threatened to file suit against municipalities that shun high-density housing in favor of building new suburban singe-family homes, on the grounds that they will pollute the environment. He is also backing controversial legislation -- Senate bill 375 -- moving through the state legislature that would restrict state highway funds to communities that refuse to adopt "smart growth" development plans. "We have to get the people from the suburbs to start coming back" to the cities, Mr. Brown told planning experts in March. *** The problem is, that's not what Californians want.
This article both informed and inspired me as you will discover in my post, “Urban Sprawl Ain’t Bad”.
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
Urban Sprawl Ain’t Bad
by Tina Grazier
One of the big issues for the “sustainable” crowd is URBAN SPRAWL. They hate it! Urban sprawl is said to create a “blight” on the landscape...the word is issued as if spit from the mouth. We are supposed to cringe at the very thought. Urban sprawl, they say, is responsible for the “excessive” use of cars...and cars, as we are told again and again, are responsible for THE deadly greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the entire planet to die. And there is only one thing to do...change everything and of course, do without!
Most who follow this line of thinking offer a twofold solution. First get folks to stop driving and take the bus or train. Next, in order to put a halt to the “sprawl,” we must give up our “sprawling” yards, “sprawling” houses and sprawling malls with their sprawling parkinglots. We must move into little boxes built one on top of the other…sitting right next to another stack of boxes…and another and on down the street. We won’t mind, they say, because we'll be able to walk or cycle to shopping, doctors, schools and jobs. (Rarely a mention of churches, but we won’t nit pick.) Some of the people who push this agenda are so bold as to tell us that since this plan is for our own good we will be forced into adopting it whether we like it or not…we might as well just give in and take our medicine…hmph!
Well! I found a great website, "newgeography.com," where I discovered a fantastic article, "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policy: From Rhetoric To Reason,” by Wendell Cox. Anyone who is seriously interested in finding solutions that work, rather than merely being rabid about pushing the green agenda, will want to read this article and probably bookmark the site. Here’s a taste:
There are at least two ways to comprehensively reduce GHG emissions --- not surprisingly, a right way and a wrong way. *** The wrong way is typified by the conventional wisdom among many puritanical urban planners, These social engineers have been frustrated for decades, failing to herd automobile drivers into transit and new residents into pre-War densities. All the while, their demons --- the expansion of home ownership that could only have occurred by building on cheap land on the urban fringe and the greater mobility provided by the automobile --- have been major contributors to the democratization of prosperity. Throughout the first world, from the United States to Western Europe and Japan, poverty levels have fallen markedly as more households take part in the quality of life mainstream. Women have been liberated to become near-equal economic players and low income households, including many that are African-American or Hispanic, have entered the middle class and beyond. *** There is a better way. It involves careful examination of the potential, costs and benefits of competing strategies to reduce GHG emissions. This is the right way, because it allows using the least expensive strategies, while minimizing economic harm (read minimizing the expansion of poverty). *** The consulting firm, McKinsey and Company has set out an impressive blueprint that accomplishes just that (Reducing US Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much and at What Cost? Note 2). Taking the International Panel on Climate Change