Wednesday, August 31, 2011

To Balance the Budget, Do Nothing

UPDATE II: "[T]here’s an uncomplicated way to fix America’s medium-term debt woes. All Congress has to do is … nothing. At the end of 2012, the Bush tax cuts would automatically lapse. As inflation rose, the alternative minimum tax would hit more and more Americans. A whole slew of business tax breaks would expire. And the Sustainable Growth Rate formula in Medicare would trigger large automatic cuts to payments to doctors." Read the Washington Post, Doing nothing is still an option, which includes this graph:




UPDATE: Another way to balance the budget, end tax expenditures, better known as tax deductions. Tax expenditures amounted to about $1 trillion in 2009. Read Random Observations for Students of Economics, Spending Hidden in the Tax Code.

One difference, "non-defense discretionary spending tends to be skewed quite progressively while tax expenditures are often quite regressive." In other words, the tax deductions like that for corporate jets disproportionally benefit the rich.

As I've said before, the NoBullU solution for the federal deficit and debt is: restructure the federal government (to end Congressional free lunchism), reform the federal tax code (so that revenues pay for ALL government spending), and amend the Constitution to require a balanced federal budget (because Congress can't control its spending).


"The single most important fact about our projected deficits is that if Congress does nothing, they go away. You might not like how they go away — it’s mostly higher taxes and sharp cuts to Medicare — but they go away." Read the Washington Post, We have a Congress problem, not a deficit problem, in one graph:

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Republi-CON Jeff Miller, R-Hypocrite-ville

UPDATE II: Shouldn't be long now until Miller endorses "Perry, a former West Texas cotton farmer, [who] received at least $83,000 in federal farm subsidies between 1987 and 1998, during the time he was in elected office, according to his tax returns."

For more instances of Perry hypocrisy, read The New York Times, As a States’ Rights Stalwart, Perry Draws Doubts.


UPDATE: "A town hall meeting at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church brought out at least 300 people, many of whom attacked U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller's vote to raise the debt ceiling." Read the Pensacola News Journal, Miller takes heat for debt deal.

From the Pensacola New Journal, Rep. Jeff Miller speaks out on the debt showdown:

"Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, said he voted for the Boehner proposal even though its spending cuts weren't as deep as an earlier version of debt-limit legislation because President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats aren't serious about cutting the debt."

Did Boehner's bill end farm subsidies for wealthy farmers?

I think it's a fair question because Republi-CON Jeff Miller's family, who collectively own thousands of acres in the local area, has received millions in farm subsidies. Even he collected some before he first ran for public office.

Just curious if CONgress Miller is trying to con us into believing he is a fiscal conservative.

May You Live in Interesting Times

"HOLD onto your hats and your wallets. Since the end of the cold war, the global system has been held together to a large degree by four critical ruling bargains. Today all four are coming unstuck at once and will need to be rebuilt. Whether and how that rebuilding happens — beginning in the U.S. — will determine a lot about what’s in your wallet and whether your hat flies off.

Now let me say that in English: the European Union is cracking up. The Arab world is cracking up. China’s growth model is under pressure and America’s credit-driven capitalist model has suffered a warning heart attack and needs a total rethink. Recasting any one of these alone would be huge. Doing all four at once — when the world has never been more interconnected — is mind-boggling. We are again 'present at the creation' — but of what?"

Read The New York Times, All Together Now.

What Next in Libya?

UPDATE X: "Libya, in the wake of this damage, was a risk for President Obama. There were many reasons for not intervening — a third war in a Muslim country was not what America needed and the homegrown quality of the Arab Spring has been central to its moral force. But to allow Muammar el-Qaddafi to commit a massacre foretold in Benghazi would have been unforgivable.

The intervention has been done right — with the legality of strong United Nations backing, full support from America’s European allies, and quiet arming of the rebels. The Libyan people have been freed from a crazed tyranny. Unlike in Iraq, burdens were shared: America flew the intelligence missions and did the refueling while the French, British, Dutch and others did most of the bombing."

Read The New York Times, Score One for Interventionism.


UPDATE IX: "It’s remarkable how reluctant Obama’s opponents are to acknowledge that despite all the predictions that his policy of limited engagement could never work, it actually did." Read the Washington Post, Obama can't win for winning in Libya.


UPDATE VIII: "The fall of Tripoli is a foreign policy triumph for which President Barack Obama won’t hold a ticker-tape parade: no flight suit, no chest-thumping, no 'Mission Accomplished' banner.

But the low-profile, inexpensive ouster of Col. Muammar Qadhafi marks an important milestone for the administration, foreign policy analysts say — perhaps the most concrete evidence that the more modest American foreign policy approach that has become Obama’s hallmark and perhaps his biggest area of contrast with his more interventionist predecessor might actually work."

Read Politico, Libya a victory for 'leading from behind'?


UPDATE VII: And how was it done? Read The New York Times, Surveillance and Coordination [and Training] With NATO Aided Rebels.


UPDATE VI: Mission accomplished in Libya? Read The New York Times, Mystery of Qaddafi’s Whereabouts Looms Large in Conflict’s Endgame.

I guess the Republi-cons will be for the war again, after they were against it, after they were for it.

It is also interesting to compare the efforts in Libya to Iraq.

And it reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators.


UPDATE V: "Despite a fumbled communication strategy, President Obama is actually taking a prudent course in trying to undermine Qaddafi." Read The New York Times, The Defection Track., which suggests:

"There are three plausible ways he might go, which inside the administration are sometimes known as the Three Ds. They are, in ascending order of likelihood: Defeat — the ragtag rebel army vanquishes his army on the battlefield; Departure — Qaddafi is persuaded to flee the country and move to a villa somewhere; and Defection — the people around Qaddafi decide there is no future hitching their wagon to his, and, as a result, the regime falls apart or is overthrown.

The result is a strategy you might call Squeeze and See."


UPDATE IV: "Libya is just the first of many hard choices we’re going to face in the 'new' Middle East." Read The New York Times, Looking for Luck in Libya, which included this observation:

"There is an old saying in the Middle East that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. That thought came to my mind as I listened to President Obama trying to explain the intervention of America and its allies in Libya — and I don’t say that as criticism. I say it with empathy. This is really hard stuff, and it’s just the beginning."

UPDATE III: Why are Republi-cons undermining U.S. military and foreign policy objectives, after year of incessant moral blackmail regarding Iraq?

The U.S. has the power to do something constructive, and Gaddafi is good reason to try it.

He
reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators.


UPDATE II: Damned when he didn't, and damned when he did, from the Washington Post:




UPDATE: "President Obama's bombing of Libya without congressional authorization or debate puts us on a dangerous path. A minimum standard for transparency in government is that the House and the Senate go on the record for or against a new war." Read the Christian Science Monitor, If Obama can bomb Libya, a President Palin can bomb Iran without Congress's OK.

"In the West’s preferred chain of events, airstrikes enable a democratic revolution. One expert expects the opposite." Read The New York Times, Hopes for a Qaddafi Exit, and Worries of What Comes Next.

Why? "[B]ecause there are two kinds of states in the Middle East: 'real countries' with long histories in their territory and strong national identities (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Iran); and those that might be called 'tribes with flags,' or more artificial states with boundaries drawn in sharp straight lines by pens of colonial powers that have trapped inside their borders myriad tribes and sects who not only never volunteered to live together but have never fully melded into a unified family of citizens. They are Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The tribes and sects that make up these more artificial states have long been held together by the iron fist of colonial powers, kings or military dictators. They have no real 'citizens' in the modern sense. Democratic rotations in power are impossible because each tribe lives by the motto 'rule or die' — either my tribe or sect is in power or we’re dead." Read The New York Times, Tribes With Flag.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Republi-CON Tax Hypocrisy

UPDATE II: "It is hard to find a tax cut that Congressional Republicans dislike. Unless it is a tax cut pushed by President Obama." Read The New York Times, For Some in G.O.P., a Tax Cut Not Worth Embracing.


UPDATE: "America’s presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes. Come January, the Republicans plan to raise the taxes of anyone who earns $50,000 a year by $1,000, and anyone who makes $100,000 by $2,000." Read the Washington Post, The GOP will raise taxes — on the middle class and working poor.

"News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes. Impossible, right? GOP lawmakers are so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earner starting Jan. 1, right?

Apparently not."

Read the Washington Post, GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block.

Why would Republi-CONs allow this?

It's election time!

'Karl Marx Was Right'

"There's an old axiom that goes, "wise is the person who appreciates candor almost as much as good news." With that as a guide, place the forthcoming decidedly in the category of candor.

Economist Nouriel 'Dr. Doom' Roubini, the New York University professor who four years ago accurately predicted the global financial crisis, said one of economist Karl Marx's critiques of capitalism is playing itself out in the current global financial crisis.

Marx, among other theories, argued that capitalism had an internal contradiction that would cyclically lead to crises, and that, at minimum, would place pressure on the economic system.

Companies, Roubini said, are motivated to minimize costs, to save and stockpile cash, but this leads to less money in the hands of employees, which means they have less money to spend and flow back to companies.

Now, in the current financial crisis, consumers, in addition to having less money to spend due to the above, are also motivated to minimize costs, to save and stockpile cash, magnifying the effect of less money flowing back to companies.

'Karl Marx had it right,' Roubini said in an interview with wsj.com. 'At some point capitalism can self-destroy itself. That's because you can not keep on shifting income from labor to capital without not having an excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand. We thought that markets work. They are not working. What's individually rational ... is a self-destructive process.'

Roubini added absent organic, strong GDP growth -- which can increase wages and consumer spending -- what's needed is large fiscal stimulus, agreeing with another high-profile economist, Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, that, in the case of the United States, the $786 billion fiscal stimulus approved by Congress in 2009 was too small to create the aggregate demand necessary to advance the U.S. economic recovery to a self-sustaining expansion.

Absent additional fiscal stimuli, or unexpected strong GDP growth, the only solution is a universal debt restructuring for banks, homes (essentially households/families) and governments, Roubini said. However, no such universal restructuring has occurred, he added.

Without that additional fiscal stimulus, that lack of restructuring has led to 'zombie houses, zombie banks and zombie governments,' he said."

Read the International Business Times, Nouriel 'Dr. Doom' Roubini: 'Karl Marx Was Right'.

But as discussed in the past, Republi-CON zombie ideas live on.

P.S. He also predicts that the global economic crisis will cause more social unrest and "absent a return to the right balance between markets and public goods, conditions are likely to get substantially worse. . .

The Tea Party, and other conservatives are, by-and-large, in addition to their opposition to more, short-term fiscal stimulus, also opposed to vital investments in human capital, skills, and the social safety net to increase productivity that enable workers to compete, be flexible, and thrive in a global economy."

Read the International Business Times, NYU's Nouriel 'Dr. Doom' Roubini-Social Unrest Will Spread.

Local Republi-Con Corruption Scandal?

UPDATE VIII: Another article explaining the incestuous relationships. Read the Northwest Florida Daily News, Local development interests connect people named in federal subpoenas.


UPDATE VII: The my poop don't stink defense.

"Santa Rosa County commissioners . . . expressed confidence that the county has nothing to fear from the FBI investigation that has ordered volumes of county documents surrounding land deals, travel and other issues over the last decade. The subpoenas seemed to focus on issues related to Navarre developer Bill Pullum, his sale of an industrial park to the county, and trips to his private island in Honduras." Read the Pensacola News Journal, Santa Rosa commissioners confident probe will find no wrong-doing by county.


UPDATE VI: More on the federal investigation of land deals, developer ties. Read the Pensacola News Journal, FBI probe widens to commission, TEAM Santa Rosa.


UPDATE V: One of the subpoenas also requests "[a]ny information regarding Mike Roger's appraisal of 90 acres owned by Bill Pullum to be sold the county." Read the Pensacola News Journal, Travel, land records sought in Santa Rosa probe.


UPDATE IV: My, my, the feds are investigating. About time don't ya think.

"Investigators with the U.S. Attorney's Office paid a visit to the Santa Rosa County Administrative complex Tuesday morning and served two subpoenas. . .

The U.S. Assistant Attorney requested a wide variety of documents dating back several years as part of a federal grand jury investigation.

Some of the items listed in the two subpoenas include any and all information, files, notes, memos, electronic communications, references, letters, correspondence, meeting munutes, and recordings relative to: . . .

Any present or past SRC Commissioner's travel to Honduras, Guanaja, and or Clark Cay, honduras with or at the request of Bill or Bart Pullum to include inforamtion on travelers imvolvement with the Honduran Government and any transacted business with or on behalf of Bill Pullum, Team Santa Rosa, any U.S. company, corporation and or Santa Rosa County. . .

Any SRC Commissioner's travel (personal or business) provided by Bill or Bart Pullum via aircraft (private or commercial) or vehicle since Jan. 2001."

Read the Santa Rosa Press Gazette, Federal investigators visit Santa Rosa County (subpoenas included).

I wonder if the feds will agree that a four day trip for two, in a private plane, to stay in a two-bedroom beach cabin on the private island of Clarks Cay, Guanaja, Honduras, is valued at $1,000.


UPDATE III: A follow-up for long-time listeners who remember this oldie but goodie:

[After more than two years, "t]he Florida Commission on Ethics has found probable cause to believe that former Santa Rosa County Commissioner Gordon Goodin violated ethics rules, but the commission plans no sanctions against Goodin.

Goodin 'failed to timely report as a gift a trip he received that was valued in excess of $100,' the commission announced in a news release today.

However, 'the commission found no probable cause to believe that the trip was intended to influence his vote on a purchase of property. No probable cause was also found concerning an allegation that the trip constituted a prohibited gift from a lobbyist of the county.' . .

In 2009, Goodin, a Navarre Republican, admitted that he had mistakenly failed to report a 2005 trip on which he and his wife, Jean, traveled with Navarre developer Bill Pullum to Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. The group ultimately traveled to Pullum's nearby private island, Clarkscay, and spent four days there.

He valued the trip at about $1,000."

Read the Pensacola New Journal, No sanction for ex-Commissioner Goodin.

You might remember that soon after this matter became public, I took reservation for these '$1,000' trips. And a commenter to this most recent story noted:

"His reasons for not reporting it make sense, though the value he associated with the trip show how crooked he is and how stupid he thinks the electorate is. Plane fare for two and 4 days on a private island is $1000.

Where can I make reservations?"

Should I dust off the reservation list?


UPDATE III: Some have come to the defense of a local businessman -- the island's owner, who took the county commissioner on a four day trip for two, in a private plane, to stay in a two-bedroom beach cabin on the private island of Clarks Cay, Guanaja, Honduras, before the business man sold the county, for $3,000,000, 90 acres of land appraised at one point to be worth $900,000 -- by reminding everyone people from a local church did mission work in Guanaja, Honduras.

I've reviewed the photos of three mission trips, and except for a few nails being hammered, it didn't appear that much of lasting value was accomplished on the trips to the "luxurious island get-away." (That is the businessman's description of the island, not mine.)

Some people spend a lot of money to fly to remote locations and talk, with the delusion that their effort justifies the expense. In foreign aid there was a term for these people, the Marriott Brigade. These people profited greatly from their so-called humanitarian efforts, but rarely had a lasting impact.

If you want to make a difference, and engage in a successful charitable effort that has a long term impact, then read The New York Times, Clean, Sexy Water, for an example.

But if the overall purpose of your trip is to talk with poor people in poor countries, then stay at a "luxurious island get-away," don't expect sympathy or understanding from me.

That said, read the Northwest Florida Daily News, Ex-county employee: 'This mess is so corrupt', for more on this developing story of possible local Republi-con corruption.


UPDATE II: Read the Pensacola New Journal, Forgive me for I have sinned and Northwest Florida Daily News, Complaints widening in Santa Rosa.

In a comment to the PNJ editorial, MrsDoubtfire wrote:

WEBY 1330 was running a sign up program for all citizens of SRC. Anyone wanting to sign up for a $1,000 five day vacation to a South Carribean island with private bungalo and food, fun, and surf provided could put their name on the list and be considered for selection by the Goodin Travel Agency. Quite a deal don't ya think?
7/11/2009 10:04:47 AM

Actually, it was a four day trip for two, in a private plane, to stay in a two-bedroom beach cabin on the private island of Clarks Cay, Guanaja, Honduras. No promises were made regarding food, fun, and surf, but we can work out the details later. And it is still quite a deal. Continue the sign up here by posting a comment.


UPDATE: Certain individuals who were the subject of much discussion today were none too pleased with the program. I won't repeat what they have said, but I make this offer. If Mike will let me, I'll host a two hour program with said certain individuals to discuss the issue(s) and allow them to clarify their positions, and I'll make a correction(s) to what I said if appropriate.

I always endeavor to be as accurate and truthful as possible. So if certain individuals want to continue the discussion, give me a call to arrange the show.

What is the value of a four day trip, in a private plane, to stay in a two-bedroom beach cabin on the private island of Clarks Cay, Guanaja, Honduras?

Need a little help, then visit the Clarks Cay website for a preview.

Better hurry cause a local politician forgot to report his free trip to the island before he voted to purchase of 90 acres of land from the island's owner earlier this year for $3 million and I'm thinking the owner's gonna pull the plug on the website soon. Why? Cause now that the trip has been made public, the politician would like you to believe the value of the trip was only $1,000. And after you preview the trip on the website I'm bettin that you will agree, the value of the trip was much higher.

And some in the community now claim the land the county purchased was not worth the money paid. It is déjà vu all over again just one county over. But instead of a collard greens pot with money, we have a swanky private island.

I'm predicting resignation and criminal prosecution on this one.

See these related articles: Pensacola New Journal, Goodin 'sorry' for omission and Northwest Florida Daily News, Commissioner's island trip: Ethics violation? (<-with photos the owner and politician can't hide).

Recession Humor

From and email:

The recession has hit everybody really hard...

My neighbor got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can't afford batteries.

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.

I saw a Mormon with only one wife.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.

A picture is now only worth 200 words.

When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.

The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.

And, finally....

I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call centre in Pakistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business/Event Shout-Out: 3rd Annual Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival, Featuring 80+ Songwriters, 18 Stages, 200+ Performances!, September 28 through October 3, 2011, also on Facebook


Follow-up: TBD


Fact-free fantasies of the shrieking hatemongers of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery: don't be duped by the Birthers, including our very own Pastor Dred Scott (you may remember the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which asserted that African Americans were "beings of an inferior order" who "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." That ruling declared that African Americans could never be U.S. citizens and therefore could never be President), and

Church support for slavery and opposition to civil rights (4 major American Churches split over the issue of slavery, forming northern and southern factions, including:

The Methodist Church: In 1861, the North Carolina Christian Advocate wrote of "the demon spirit of abolitionism" and how Southern Methodists had "tested it fully, and found it to be heartless, inhuman and Christless." Although the two factions reunited in 1939 as the Methodist Church, they retained racial segregation.

The country's Presbyterian Church also split into two.

The Baptist Church: The Southern Baptists are the largest and most reactionary christian denomination in the USA. They split away from the Baptists in 1845 over slavery, because they thought that slavery was okay. After the civil war, some Southern Baptists founded the Ku Klux Klan. In the 1960s, the Southern Baptists supported segregation laws and opposed the black civil rights movement. In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention issued an apology to all African-Americans and asked for their forgiveness.
)


Local and regional: Go Argonauts?, the Feds are investigating the Santa Rosa County good ol' boy network, we first discussed this local Republi-Con corruption scandal, is it fraud, waste or abuse at the Studer Park, it back, oil that is, discovered floating near Deepwater Horizon well, God and local government, again,


Lance Cpl. Travis Nelson, R.I.P.;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and who's responsible for the debt

Be Very Very Afraid of 'The Invisible [Republi-CON] Bond Vigilantes'

Republi-CON Want to Crucify the Middle Class 'Upon a Cross of Gold', Part of the Republi-CON War on the Middle Class

The Republi-CON stimulus myth

How About a Fake Alien Invasion Stimulus

Let's play the Republi-CON game of 'spot the contradiction', can you explain the Republi-CON contradiction as regards the economy, the debt ceiling, or deficits, or national security, or health care costs, or or even jobs

The myth of expansionary austerity

Told ya so: economic stimulus

Republi-CON tax hypocrisy

Beware federal pensioners, your day of reckoning is coming

The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


What Next in Libya?


150 years later


And the Republi-CON Race is On,

Still Searching for the Ideal Republican Candidate: Conservative, Interested, Electable

President Sexpot?

More premarital sex and another shotgun wedding for the Palin clan

Obama the One Term President, hell hath no fury like a liberal chumped again


A great write up on the bin Laden raid


1 to 1 in the COA, health care lawsuit update

The health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-CON want to repeal the new health care law


The Republi-CON 'Climategate' myth


Believe it or not: DUI/DWI at the demolition derby

CSI dog poop,

Who you callin a Neanderthal

Giving new meaning to navel gazing,

Another Republi-CON myth buster, no the government isn't banning incandescent light bulbs

and

Big brother is watching you,


Fun stuff: My Mother's Wisdom

Best speeding excuse ever

A new test, are you Smart or Stoopid!

That's How the Fight Started

No kidding, an 'amazing' ad campaign featuring vaginal puppeteering

Doo Wop test

Twelve things that a motorcycle can teach, and cute little cats in 'It Could Be Worse';

and

Donate to a good cause: read "the story of a 9-year-old girl who teaches us adults about maturity truly renews our faith in humanity" at The New York Times, Rachel’s Last Fund-Raiser.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Republi-CON 'Climategate' Myth

"The National Science Foundation has found no evidence of research misconduct by Michael Mann, the Pennsylvania State University climatologist who has faced waves of attacks from foes of action to curb greenhouse gases." Read The New York Times, Federal Inquiry Is Latest to Clear Assailed Climate Scientist.

You may recall "that last year Fox News ran a breathless 'exclusive' about the National Science Foundation unleashing its Inspector General to investigate potential impropriety by Michael Mann, the Pennsylvania State University climatologist who for years has been a target of foes of restricting greenhouse gases.

According to the Fox reporter, Ed Barnes, such an investigation 'will be the first time that climate studies here will be scrutinized by an independent government organization with the skill and tools to investigate effectively.'

Now that the results of this landmark investigation are out, one would think that a 'fair and balanced' news outlet would be obliged to cover the outcome? Or not…
"

Maybe after Hedgehog News issues a correction, they can tell us what happens to 35 gigatons of CO2 each year.

I wouldn't hold my breath though.

God and Local Government

"The American Civil Liberites Union last week called into question the City of Milton’s sponsorship of the Santa Rosa County God and Country Rally." Read the Santa Rosa Press Gazette, ACLU challenges Milton's sponsorship of God and Country Rally. [Spelling incorrect in original.]

The rally is meant to distract the locals from an ongoing federal investigation of the Santa Rosa County good ol' boy network.

Still Searching for the Ideal Republican Candidate: Conservative, Interested, Electable

UPDATE IV: "If the Republican presidential candidates fail to offer substance, it's because they're giving the public what it wants -- empty calories." Read The Atlantic, Gluttons for Punishment: Blame Voters for the Dismal GOP Field, which notes:

"So if those GOP debates have reeked of rhetorical homogeneity, he suggests, maybe it's because the campaigns have been hearing the same things in their focus groups and polling of, yes, real people.

As with all-you-can-eat buffets, the political system has long ago seen the utility of producing and consuming empty political calories."


UPDATE III: With campaign promises like $2 a gallon gas, even one of the the Republican presidential candidates knows that "two of his major rivals were 'extreme' and 'unrealistic.'" Read The New York Times, Huntsman Calls His Rivals `Unelectable'.


UPDATE II: "You call tell how unhappy Republicans are by reading the Wall Street Journal editorial page, the one-stop shop for conservative orthodoxy. It fretted on Monday that Republicans and independents are 'desperate' for a unifying candidate, and that if 'the current field isn’t up to that, perhaps someone still off the field will step in and run.'" Read the Washington Post, The GOP’s summer of discontent.


UPDATE: Is he the one?:



"The entire campaign has been about the Republican Party searching for a candidate who is (a) capable of running a strong race against Barack Obama, (b) reliably conservative, and (c) actually interested in running." Read The New York Times, Pondering Perry’s Electability, which sums it up with this graph:


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

For the Canadian Readers

From a Canadian cousin, subject: Only in Newfoundland!:

Two Newfoundlanders were looking at a Sears catalogue and admiring the models.

One says to the other, 'Have you seen the beautiful girls in this catalogue?'

The second one replies, 'Yes, they are very beautiful.. And look at the price!'

The first one says, with wide eyes, 'Wow, they aren't very expensive. At this price, I'm buying one.'

The second Newfie smiles and pats him on the back. 'Good idea! Order one and if she's as beautiful as she is in the catalogue, I will get one too.'

Three weeks later, the one Newfie asks his friend, 'Did you ever receive the girl you ordered from the Sears catalogue?'

The second Newfie replies......

'No, but it shouldn't be long now. I got her clothes yesterday!'

Monday, August 22, 2011

Republi-CON Want to Crucify the Middle Class 'Upon a Cross of Gold', Part of the Republi-CON War on the Middle Class

UPDATE: Until recently, a "bargain — which emerged in stages between the 1890s and 1930s — established an institutional framework to balance the needs of the American people with the vast inequalities of wealth and power wrought by the triumph of industrial capitalism. It originated in the widespread apprehension that the rapidly growing power of robber barons, national corporations and banks (like J.P. Morgan’s) was undermining fundamental American values and threatening democracy. . .

The terms were straightforward if not systematically articulated. Capitalism would endure, as would almost all large corporations. Huge railroads, banks and other enterprises — with a few exceptions — would cease to be threatened with nationalization or breakup. Moreover, the state would service and promote private business.

In exchange, the federal government adopted a series of far-reaching reforms to shield and empower citizens, safeguarding society’s democratic character. First came the regulation of business and banking to protect consumers, limit the power of individual corporations and prevent anti-competitive practices. . .

The second prong of reform was guaranteeing workers’ right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining. The core premise of the 1914 Clayton Act and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 — born of decades of experience — was that individual workers lacked the power to protect their interests when dealing with large employers. For the most poorly paid, the federal government mandated a minimum wage and maximum hours.

The third ingredient was social insurance. Unemployment insurance (1935), Social Security (1935), and, later, Medicaid and Medicare (1965) were grounded in the recognition that citizens could not always be self-sufficient and that it was the role of government to aid those unable to fend for themselves. The unemployment-insurance program left unrestrained employers’ ability to lay off workers but recognized that those who were jobless through no fault of their own (a common occurrence in a market economy) ought to receive public support.

Read the Washington Post, The real grand bargain, coming undone.

"Gov. Rick Perry of Texas said earlier this week, referring to Mr. Bernanke: 'If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous — er, treasonous, in my opinion.'

In the 19th century the agricultural sector, particularly in the West, favored higher prices and effectively looser monetary policy. This was the background for William Jennings Bryan’s famous 'Cross of Gold' speech in 1896; the 'gold' to which he referred was the gold standard, the bastion of hard money — and tendency toward deflation — favored by the East Coast financial establishment." [Cross of Gold link changed.]

Read The New York Times, A Second Great Depression, or Worse?

All part of the Republi-CON war on the middle class!

As I stated before, the Naive-ocrats have been too stupid to call the bluff -- give the public what it claims it wants until they don't want it anymore.

'The Great Stagnation' and Our Broken Political System

UPDATE: "Today’s crisis was completely avoidable. You can blame it directly on the fools who brought our country to the brink of defaulting on its debts in the name of saving us from . . . I’m not sure what.

Yes, the tea party types bear primary responsibility — but they couldn’t have done it without the cowardice and incompetence of the Obama administration, which let things get way out of hand. This whole fiasco just enrages me. And it ought to enrage anyone who wants the United States to act like a real country rather than some third-rate failed state run by fanatical factions that hate one another."

Read the Washington Post, This time, the economic crisis is no one’s fault but the government’s.

As society tries to adjusts to a new economic reality, "the most debated nonfiction book so far this year," "The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History,Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better," offers a frank evaluation of the situation, and hope for the future:

"America is in disarray and our economy is failing us. We have been through the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, unemployment remains stubbornly high, and talk of a double-dip recession persists. Americans are not pulling the world economy out of its sluggish state -- if anything we are looking to Asia to drive a recovery. Median wages have risen only slowly since the 1970s, and this multi-decade stagnation is not yet over. By contrast, the living standards of earlier generations would double every few decades. The Democratic Party seeks to expand government spending even when the middle class feels squeezed, the public sector doesn’t always perform well, and we have no good plan for paying for forthcoming entitlement spending. To the extent Republicans have a consistent platform, it consists of unrealistic claims about how tax cuts will raise revenue and stimulate economic growth. The Republicans, when they hold power, are often a bigger fiscal disaster than the Democrats. How did we get into this mess?Imagine a tropical island where the citrus and bananas hang from the trees. Low-hanging literal fruit -- you don’t even have to cook the stuff. In a figurative sense, the American economy has enjoyed lots of low-hanging fruit since at least the seventeenth century: free land; immigrant labor; and powerful new technologies. Yet during the last forty years, that low-hanging fruit started disappearing and we started pretending it was still there. We have failed to recognize that we are at a technological plateau and the trees are barer than we would like to think. That’s it. That is what has gone wrong. The problem won’t be solved overnight, but there are reasons to be optimistic. We simply have to recognize the underlying causes of our past prosperity—low hanging fruit—and how we will come upon more of it."

Also read several articles about the book, including:

The Washington Post, 'The Great Stagnation', which notes:

“The political system -- and even the economics profession -- tends to be most comfortable talking about the things it knows how to talk about. Immigration, education, health-care costs, tax policy, labor density and so on. The major contribution of Cowen's book is to focus our attention on an explanation for our economic woes -- or at least some of them -- that's not currently central to the debate, and that's somewhat difficult to talk about. I don't think the book has enough data to say definitively how central the declining pace of innovation is to our economy. But there's more than enough to suggest it's a real factor, and one we need to do a better job thinking about and discussing:

1. How do you accelerate the pace of innovation? . .

2. How do we make developing countries into advanced countries? . .

3. How do we get more value out of our health care and education dollars? . .

4. How do we improve our political system?”

And The New York Times, The Experience Economy, which asks

"What happens when wealth and living standards diverge?"

The book may also be relevant to the health care debate. Read the Washington Post, How penicillin fooled us, which states:

"The problem with medicine is that it's very hard to say no, and that means we often end up paying a lot for treatments that do us very little good, and that squeezes the resources available to sectors that could do us a lot of good but are easier to say no to."

Friday, August 19, 2011

Best Speeding Excuse Ever

When asked by a young patrol officer "Do You know you were speeding?" a 83-year-old woman gave the young officer an ear to ear smile and stated:

"Yes , but .... I had to get there before I forgot where I was going."

The officer put his ticket book away and bid her good day.

Makes perfectly good sense to me.

My Mother's Wisdom

From an email:

1.. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE:
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION:
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL:
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC:
"Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC:
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT:
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY:
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS:
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISTS:
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA:
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER:
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY:
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE:
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION:
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY:
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16.. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION:
"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING:
"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE:
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP:
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR:
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT:
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS:
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS:
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM:
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

And my favorite:
25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE:
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business Shout-Out: TBD


Follow-up: TBD


Fact-free fantasies: my so-called 'obsession' with the shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred,

don't be duped by the Birthers, including our very own Pastor Dred Scott (you may remember the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which asserted that African Americans were "beings of an inferior order" who "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." That ruling declared that African Americans could never be U.S. citizens and therefore could never be President), and

Church support for slavery and opposition to civil rights (4 major American Churches split over the issue of slavery, forming northern and southern factions, including:

The Methodist Church: In 1861, the North Carolina Christian Advocate wrote of "the demon spirit of abolitionism" and how Southern Methodists had "tested it fully, and found it to be heartless, inhuman and Christless." Although the two factions reunited in 1939 as the Methodist Church, they retained racial segregation.

The country's Presbyterian Church also split into two.

The Baptist Church: The Southern Baptists are the largest and most reactionary christian denomination in the USA. They split away from the Baptists in 1845 over slavery, because they thought that slavery was okay. After the civil war, some Southern Baptists founded the Ku Klux Klan. In the 1960s, the Southern Baptists supported segregation laws and opposed the black civil rights movement. In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention issued an apology to all African-Americans and asked for their forgiveness.
)


Local and regional: Go Argonauts!, Republi-CON Jeff Miller, R-Hypocrite-ville, Republi-CON Health Care Hypocrisy;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and who's responsible for the debt

The debt ceiling deal farce

The civil war continues: Republi-CON establishment v. Republi-CON rage

The Republi-CON's economic no recovery plan: destroy jobs and pay workers less

Be Very Very Afraid of 'The Invisible [Republi-CON] Bond Vigilantes'

Republi-CON Want to Crucify the Middle Class 'Upon a Cross of Gold', Part of the Republi-CON War on the Middle Class

The Republi-CON stimulus myth

How About a Fake Alien Invasion Stimulus

Let's play the Republi-CON game of 'spot the contradiction', can you explain the Republi-CON contradiction as regards the economy, the debt ceiling, or deficits, or national security, or health care costs, or or even jobs

The myth of expansionary austerity

Beware federal pensioners, your day of reckoning is coming

Government Profiteering

The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


150 years later


And the Republi-CON Race is On,

Still Searching for the Ideal Republican Candidate: Conservative, Interested, Electable

President Sexpot?

More premarital sex and another shotgun wedding for the Palin clan

Obama the One Term President, hell hath no fury like a liberal chumped again


A great write up on the bin Laden raid


1 to 1 in the COA, health care lawsuit update

The health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-CON want to repeal the new health care law


Believe it or not: DUI/DWI at the demolition derby

CSI dog poop,

Who you callin a Neanderthal

Giving new meaning to navel gazing,

Another Republi-CON myth buster, no the government isn't banning incandescent light bulbs

and

Big brother is watching you,


Fun stuff: a new test, are you Smart or Stoopid!

That's How the Fight Started

No kidding, an 'amazing' ad campaign featuring vaginal puppeteering

Doo Wop test

Twelve things that a motorcycle can teach, and cute little cats in 'It Could Be Worse';

and

Donate to a good cause: read "the story of a 9-year-old girl who teaches us adults about maturity truly renews our faith in humanity" at The New York Times, Rachel’s Last Fund-Raiser.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

How About a Fake Alien Invasion Stimulus

"[Y]ou know what would end the economic slump in 18 months? Aliens." Read Time, Paul Krugman: An Alien Invasion Could Fix the Economy:

"While talking off the cuff on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS program (Zakaria is also a TIME Magazine contributor), Krugman conjectured about what would happen if aliens landed on earth and attacked us.

'If we discovered that space aliens were planning to attack, and we needed a massive build-up to counter the space alien threat, and inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months,' Krugman says, referencing an episode of The Twilight Show in which an alien threat was manufactured to bring about world peace."

Actually, it was "an episode of similar 1960s sci-fi series The Outer Limits, titled 'The Architects of Fear.'" [Link added.] Read Comic Alliance, Economist Paul Krugman Endorses 'Watchmen' Alien Invasion Plan for Fiscal Recovery, where "[y]ou can watch the full Outer Limits episode 'The Architects of Fear' now, via MGM Digital on Youtube."

The "[l]essons from WWII, [are] wasted on some people." Read The New York Times, Oh! What A Lovely War!

Black Guy With Muslim-Sounding Name Plays Along With Birthers to Distract His Political Opponents and the Press, and Gets the Country’s Number Foe

UPDATE IV: "What happened that night in Abbottabad." Read The New Yorker, Getting Bin Laden.


UPDATE III: "The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama over their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating legal principles." Read The New York Times, Bin Laden Sons Say U.S. Violated International Law "by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea"


UPDATE II: The black guy with Muslim-sounding pulled "off an execution of the execrable Osama that would make Mario Puzo proud, with plenty of room for a sequel." Read The New York Times, Cool Hand Barack.


UPDATE: It is a small, small world, communications-wise.

Did you know that "one of the most important, secretive, tightly managed covert operation in U.S history — and it was on tweeted in real time"? Read the Washington Post, Sohaib Athar’s Tweets from the attack on Osama bin Laden.

After years of claims that he is "weak, indecisive and insufficently committed to defending America," and despite a relentless smear campaign, "Obama made the long-awaited decision to launch a ground operation in Pakistan in pursuit of bin Laden." Read the Washington Post, Bin Laden killing caps extraordinary week for Obama.

Rumor has it that Trump is saying bin Laden was not really dead because the long form death certificate has not been released.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Government Profiteering

Washington D.C. residents "now enjoy the highest median household income of any metropolitan area in the country, and five of the top 10 jurisdictions in America — Loudoun, Howard and Fairfax counties, and Falls Church and Fairfax City." Read the Washington Post, Government dollars fuel wealth: D.C. enclaves reap rewards of contracting boom.

Time to reform Washington.

Friday, August 12, 2011

That's How the Fight Started

From an email:

One year, I decided to buy my mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift.
The next year, I didn't buy her a gift.
When she asked me why, I replied, "Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"
And that's how the fight started.


My wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed.
I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have Sex?"
"No," she answered. I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And that's how the fight started.


I took my wife to a restaurant.
The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. "I'll have the rump steak, rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?"
"Nah, she can order for herself."
And that's how the fight started.


My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.
I asked her, "Do you know him?"
"Yes", she sighed,
"He's my old boyfriend. I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn't been sober since."
"My God!" I said, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"
And that's how the fight started.


When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the shed, the boat, making beer. Always something more important to me.
Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.
When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors.
I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."
And that's how the fight started.


My wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels.
She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And that's how the fight started.


Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 5 years replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's how the fight started.


My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.
She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."
I bought her a bathroom scale.
And that's how the fight started.


After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security.
The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age.
I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, "Unbutton your shirt."
So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair.
She said, "That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me" and she processed my Social Security application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, "You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability too."
And that's how the fight started.


My wife was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.
She was not happy with what she saw and said to me,
"I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment."
I replied, "Your eyesight's darn near perfect."
And that's how the fight started.


I rear-ended a car this morning.the start of a REALLY bad day!
The driver got out of the other car, and he was a DWARF!!
He looked up at me and said 'I am NOT Happy!'
So I said, 'Well, which one ARE you then?'
And that's how the fight started.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Republi-CON Health Care Hypocrisy

"Gov. Rick Scott, a critic of the federal health care overhaul, is paying less than $400 a year for [government-subsidized] health insurance for himself and his wife." Read the Pensacola News Journal, For Gov. Rick Scott, no Obamacare, no problem.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Thursdays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

But I can't make it today. I'll be back next week to deprogram you.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Smart or Stoopid!

Take this short test and see how you compare to the average person. You only have 8 seconds to answer each question. You better be quick!

Republi-CON Immigration Hypocrisy

You've heard the claim that Americans won't do the jobs that corporations are force to hire immigrants to do.

But did you know that "a Tea Party favorite and president of the House Republicans’ freshman class . . . showed his true allegence to his corporate overlords by defending] a company in his district that discriminates against U.S. citizens in favor of Mexican migrant workers. Scott introduced the bill abolishing Legal Services exactly three days after it became public that Legal Services had won a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determination that Georgia’s Hamilton Growers 'engages in a pattern or practice of regularly denying work hours and assigning less favorable assignments to U.S. workers, in favor of H2-A guestworkers.' Hamilton also 'engages in a pattern or practice of discharging U.S. workers and replacing them with H-2A guestworkers,' the EEOC determined." Read the Washington Post, How Rep. Austin Scott betrayed his Tea Party roots, which noted:

"As one of the American plaintiffs put it: 'We worked hard at our jobs and really wanted the work, but Hamilton didn’t want Americans to work in their fields.' Americans, after all, would be more likely to know the laws and to complain if they’re being exploited.

Instead, Scott chose to side with a large employer of foreign migrants in his district — against his out-of-work constituents."

Friday, August 5, 2011

Health Warning

From an email:

To Help Balance the Federal Budget, Should the Blue Angels Be Cut?

"[T]he Blue Angels' budget is about $30 million." Read the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Could the Blue Angels be grounded -- forever?

Republi-CON Sexual Health Hypocrisy

Republi-cons oppose free birth control because they claim it "will wipe out the American race and instantly turn daughters into wanton harlots with insatiable sexual appetites."

Of course, Republi-cons support insurance paid "real, necessary medical expenses, like boner pills."

Watch The Colbert Report, Women's Health-Nazi Plan.

Priceless: A Republi-CON Candidate Caught Trying to Con the Other RepubliCON Candidates

"Allegations arise that 80% of Newt Gingrich's Twitter followers aren't real, but making up people may be the key to keeping his campaign alive." Watch The Colbert Report, Newt Gingrich's Twitter Scandal:

Israel Should Make Peace With the Palestinians ASAP

UPDATE II: "Welcome to the Arab Spring, Arab-Israeli chapter. Commentators sometimes talked as if the Facebook revolutionaries had forgotten about the Palestinian issue. Not so: The 'dignity revolution' is connecting, as in last week’s frightening riot at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, with the ever-flowing font of Arab shame and rage toward the Jewish state. Bidding for regional leadership is Erdogan, who thundered Monday, 'Israel cannot play with our dignity.' . .

When you strip away the posturing on all sides, what’s happening is that Israel now lives in an Arab neighborhood where public opinion matters. For decades, Israelis have dismissed the 'Arab street,' as if presidents and kings were the only decisive voices. That approach worked so long as dictators could suppress popular opinion, but no more. . .

[The] bottom line on the collision of the new Arab Spring and the old animosities: Israelis may ultimately be more secure in a world of Arab democracies. But it will be a world where compromise is part of survival."

Read the Washington Post, Israel’s new problem with the Arab Street.


UPDATE: "If you think Congress is obstructionist on the debt ceiling, look at the Middle East. But there’s hope." Read The New York Times, Seeking Balance on the Mideast.

"The struggle today across the Arab world is between the 'I will make you afraid' leadership and the 'We are not afraid anymore' citizens." Read The New York Times, The New Hama Rules.

Union Busting, Part of the Republi-CON War on the Middle Class

UPDATE VII: "The decline in organized labor’s power and membership has played a larger role in fostering increased wage inequality in the United States than is generally thought, according to a new study." Read The New York Times, Labor’s Decline and Wage Inequality.


UPDATE VI: There wasn't always Republi-con distain for labor unions. in 1983, Ronald Reagan said: “where collective bargaining is forbidden, freedom is lost.” Watch the mythical Reagan says it himself:




UPDATE V: "Since the early 1980s, when General Electric's widely admired chief executive, Jack Welch, declared that the primary goal of the corporation was to increase shareholder value, America's corporate managers have been faithfully rewarded for treating their employees as necessary - or unnecessary - evils, to be shed whenever possible, or replaced by foreign or temporary workers, and most certainly not allowed to form unions or receive wage increases. Thirty years later, this form of shareholder capitalism has swept the field of nearly all opposition, with results - chiefly, the eclipse of the decent-paying job - that grow more glaring with each passing day." Read the Washington Post, Where's the economic recovery?


UPDATE IV: Stephen Colbert's proposal for two America's -- America Plus and Poor America. Funny, but unfortunately true:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - New Country for Old Men
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogVideo Archive


UPDATE III: "In the raging battle over union rights in Wisconsin, those seeking to curtail collective bargaining for state employees have advanced an argument that seems hard to resist: It will make it easier to reward those workers who perform the best [as judged by a performance review]. What could be fairer than that? . .

Performance reviews are held up as objective assessments by the boss, with the assumption that the boss has all the answers.

Now, maybe your boss is all-knowing. But I’ve never seen one that was."

Read The New York Times, Why Your Boss Is Wrong About You.


UPDATE II: "Madison, Wis., is looking a lot like Baghdad in 2003, with government officials exploiting fiscal crises for fun and profit" to benefit our corporate overlords. Read The New York Times, Shock Doctrine, U.S.A.

The real objective -- "reward the G.O.P.’s wealthiest patrons by crippling what remains of organized labor, by wrecking the government agencies charged with regulating and policing corporations, and, as always, by rewarding the wealthiest with more tax breaks." Read The New York Times, Why Wouldn’t the Tea Party Shut It Down?


UPDATE: Wisconsin Gov. Walker has been caught "eagerly recounting his efforts to crush collective bargaining in Wisconsin to an out-of-state billionaire backer," who supported his election and has current (rules on pipeline transport) and possible future (no-bid sell-off of any state-owned heating, cooling, or power plants) business interest in the state. Read The Business Insider, Why A Reporter's Prank Call To David Koch Is No Laughing Matter.

Here is Jon Stewart's take:


"Republican talk of balancing budgets is cover for the real purpose of gutting the political force of middle-class state workers." Read The New York Times, Spreading Anti-Union Agenda.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business Shout-Out: Holy Smoke LLC, 11532 Old Ganey Road, Stockton, Alabama, "Planning a loved ones final arrangements can be a challenging responsibility, one you want to do with care and consideration. Allow Holy Smoke to help you create a tribute to your outdoorsperson like no other."


Follow-up: for long-time listeners who remember this oldie but goodie, "a $1,000 five day vacation to a South Carribean island with private bungalo and food, fun, and surf provided could put their name on the list and be considered for selection by the Goodin Travel Agency"


Fact-free fantasies: my so-called 'obsession' with the shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred,

don't be duped by the Birthers, including our very own Pastor Dred Scott (you may remember the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which asserted that African Americans were "beings of an inferior order" who "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." That ruling declared that African Americans could never be U.S. citizens and therefore could never be President), and

Church support for slavery and opposition to civil rights (4 major American Churches split over the issue of slavery, forming northern and southern factions, including:

The Methodist Church: In 1861, the North Carolina Christian Advocate wrote of "the demon spirit of abolitionism" and how Southern Methodists had "tested it fully, and found it to be heartless, inhuman and Christless." Although the two factions reunited in 1939 as the Methodist Church, they retained racial segregation.

The country's Presbyterian Church also split into two.

The Baptist Church: The Southern Baptists are the largest and most reactionary christian denomination in the USA. They split away from the Baptists in 1845 over slavery, because they thought that slavery was okay. After the civil war, some Southern Baptists founded the Ku Klux Klan. In the 1960s, the Southern Baptists supported segregation laws and opposed the black civil rights movement. In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention issued an apology to all African-Americans and asked for their forgiveness.
)


Local and regional: park bait and switch, the GOB network at work in Podunkville-cola, the sad case of the Avalon Middle School principal, and the sadder case of Warren Williams;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and who's responsible for the debt

The debt ceiling deal farce

The civil war continues: Republi-CON establishment v. Republi-CON rage

The Republi-CON's economic no recovery plan: destroy jobs and pay workers less

Republi-CON Jeff Miller, R-Hypocrite-ville

Obama the One Term President, hell hath no fury like a liberal chumped again

The Republi-CON stimulus myth

Let's play the Republi-CON game of 'spot the contradiction', can you explain the Republi-CON contradiction as regards the economy, the debt ceiling, or deficits, or national security, or health care costs, or or even jobs

The myth of expansionary austerity

Beware federal pensioners, your day of reckoning is coming

The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


Fear, anger, and hatred = violence, again


150 years later

Congressional government reform hypocrisy

More Republi-CON family values hypocrisy

Name that Florida Republi-CON,

Beware the so-called fair tax


The myth of voter fraud

Who is your favorite 2012 GOP candidate, or do you have a favorite not-yet-a-candidate?, or none of the above,

President Sexpot?

More premarital sex and another shotgun wedding for the Palin clan


The health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-CON want to repeal the new health care law

Believe it or not: DUI/DWI at the demolition derby

CSI dog poop,

Who you callin a Neanderthal

Giving new meaning to navel gazing,

Another Republi-CON myth buster, no the government isn't banning incandescent light bulbs

and

Big brother is watching you,


Fun stuff: No kidding, an 'amazing' ad campaign featuring vaginal puppeteering

Doo Wop test

Twelve things that a motorcycle can teach, do I look fat responses before the divorce, random thoughts, questions a dog might ask God, did you ever wonder . . ., the liquid nitrogen burger, paraprosdokians, the Y Generation, Husband Day Care, and cute little cats in 'It Could Be Worse';

and

Donate to a good cause: read "the story of a 9-year-old girl who teaches us adults about maturity truly renews our faith in humanity" at The New York Times, Rachel’s Last Fund-Raiser.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.