Post Scripts

Posted by Tina

For your consideration in the next years race for governor:

Whitman makes first public pitch for governor, by Carla Marinucci SF Chronicle

** Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, in her first public campaign appearance as a 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tuesday warned that the state’s top political job is “not a popularity contest” and said that California desperately needs an experienced business executive to rescue it from what she called the “insanity” of its current budget crisis. *** “Californians can no longer afford the government they have,” Whitman told an invited audience about 150 business leaders, who gave her a warm reception at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. “I will give them the government they deserve.” *** Whitman, a billionaire who has never run for public office and is funding her own campaign, told the crowd the reason she aspires to the state’s top job is “really very simple. I refuse to let California fail.” *** “We need a governor who knows what she believes, a governor who is committed to holding the line on taxes … a governor who has actually created jobs,” she said. *** She said she would govern guided by four principles: “by streamlining regulations, by structuring and cutting taxes, by spending less and by spending smarter.” **

Ms Whitman was a Romney supporter in the presidential race and served as one of his financial advisors.

Posted by Tina

UPDATE: Apparently Mr. Stanford is nowhere to be found…stay tuned!

Libby did us all a big favor today by calling attention to the next big fraud case in the financial arena. This scandal is a bit different, however, because of an interesting twist.

R. Allen Stanford of Stanford Financial Group has given big donations to Barack Obama and Tom Daschle, the ex Senate Majority Leader/Health and Human Services nominee who was to take on the task of nationalizing healthcare for the president. The twist is that Stanford Financial Group is the principle stock holder of the company Health Systems Solutions, a software technology company. This has all the makings of the cozy dance of a political deal making machine. Is it any wonder President Obama was so eager to put our personal health information on the information superhighway?

Continue reading “Obama, Health Care, Daschle, and R. Allen Stanford Shall We Dance?” »

Posted by Tina

** GENOA, Italy Atheists’ first rolling advertisement in Italy got off to an ignominious start Monday when the bus touting their doubt in God, perhaps inexplicably, conked out. No sooner had the bus — carrying the message “The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression” — headed out onto the streets of Genoa then it developed a battery problem… UPI **

Posted by Tina

Miami banker gives $60 million of his own to employees, by Martha Brannigan

** MIAMI — Lots of bosses say they value their employees. Some even mean it. *** And then there’s Leonard Abess Jr. *** After selling a majority stake in Miami-based City National Bancshares last November, all he did was take $60 million of the proceeds – $60 million out of his own pocket – and hand it to his tellers, bookkeepers, clerks, everyone on the payroll. All 399 workers on the staff received bonuses, and he even tracked down 72 former employees so they could share in the windfall. *** For longtime employees, the bonus – based on years of service – amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, more than $100,000. *** At a time when financial titans are being paraded before Congress to explain how they blew billions on executives’ bonuses even as they received a taxpayer bailout, the big-hearted banker’s selfless deed stands out. *** “I retired seven years ago, and all of a sudden I get this wonderful letter and phone call,” said Evelyn J. Budde, who spent 43 years at City National Bank of Florida, rising to vice president. *** “I was shocked,” said William Perry. In 43{ years at City National, he climbed from janitor to vice president. Like many longtime City National employees, he forged an unbreakable bond with the bank that continued into retirement. Perry returns regularly for the annual employees’ dinner. *** Abess didn’t publicize what he had done. He didn’t even show up at the bank to bask in his employees’ gratitude on the day the bonus envelopes were distributed. He was inundated with letters soon afterward. *** Asked later what motivated him, Abess said he had long dreamed of a way to reward employees. He had been thinking of creating an employee stock option plan before he decided to sell the bank. **

Posted by Tina

Israel launches covert war against Iran, by Phillip Sherwell in New York Telegraph (UK)

** Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed. *** It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime’s illicit weapons project, the experts say. *** The most dramatic element of the “decapitation” programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran’s atomic operations. *** Despite fears in Israel and the US that Iran is approaching the point of no return in its ability to build atom bomb, Israeli officials are aware of the change in mood in Washington since President Barack Obama took office. *** They privately acknowledge the new US administration is unlikely to sanction an air attack on Iran’s nuclear installations and Mr Obama’s offer to extend a hand of peace to Tehran puts any direct military action beyond reach for now. *** The aim is to slow down or interrupt Iran’s research programme, without the gamble of a direct confrontation that could lead to a wider war. **

Posted by Tina

Emboldened Hugo Chvez to speed up his Bolivarian Revolution, Hannah Strange in Caracas Timesonline (UK)

** An emboldened Hugo Chvez vowed to speed up the construction of true socialism in Venezuela after winning the right to stand for reelection indefinitely a measure that opponents say puts the country on the path to dictatorship. **
Continue reading “Chavez Win Marks Path to Dictatorship” »

by Tina Grazier

Strategy: the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal

Strategies in politics are important. Anyone running for office must have a strategy if he hopes to win an election. Political parties adopt specific strategies to win as many positions of power in government as they can. Our past history is filled with interesting elections, including some riddled with unethical, underhanded or illegal methods and tactics. Most, however, have stayed within the boundaries of what Americans trust as being favorable to our process. But what happens when a political party has been taken over by a group of thinkers whose methods and strategy are designed not just to gain the upper hand but to radically change society and our form of government? What happens when these strategies aim to destroy the rights and freedoms we enjoy? Since weve elected a man steeped in the methods and practices of radical strategies we may soon find out.

Continue reading “What is the Cloward/Priven Strategy?” »

Posted by Tina

More good news for the reputation and standing of America around the world comes to us from China:

** “We hate you guys…” Mr. Luo Ping, director general at China’s Banking Regulatory Commission, speaking in New York on Wednesday, shared his opinion of U.S. bailout policies: “Once you start issuing $1 trillion-$2 trillion …we know the dollar is going to depreciate, so we hate you guys but there is nothing much we can do.” Reports in the press this week say that China is considering ways to diversify out of the dollar. – The Daily Reckoning (AU) **

Change we can ill afford right now. *** (chinese symbols for economy and economics)

Posted by Tina

If you lack confidence in the economy after the “stimulus” billl you’re not alone!

Rasmussen Consumer Index – Following Passage of Stimulus Bill, Consumer Confidence Falls to Record Low

** Following Congressional passage of the economic stimulus bill, consumer confidence has fallen to another record low. *** Only 8% of American adults now rate the economy as good or excellent while 67% rate it as poor. Just before Lehman Brothers collapsed last September, 18% rated the economy as good or excellent. *** Just 9% now say the economy is getting better while 70% say it is getting worse. **
Continue reading “Consumer Confidence at Record Low” »