Monday, December 01, 2008

You know what is 'flyin' amazing about this? I mean for real, now.



They actually had to be told that there is a recession.

Hello?

And...whom exactly is getting all this 'bailout' mess?

Right !

PS: Its still within reach of 8500. Hm?

Has everyone seen the new Harry Potter trailers? Cool stuff. "The Chosen One." July 17, 2009 - put it on the calender !




Impeccable Timing - The 'Strength' of this Administration is Evident

There is every reason to believe that President-elect Obama is putting every American at the heart of his decisions. There is nothing to indicate his choices are ego driven so much as made in dedication to extensive experience to place the USA back at the forefront of the future.

His timing is impeccable. He put his security team at the center of Americans' attention at a time when a terrorist network wanted nothing more than to fill any populous full of fear of their potential after attacks in Mumbai. I'll discuss this issue more extensively in the future, but, to believe those attacks were backed by the Pakistan government is nonsense. Pakistan recently had a change in government, these terrorists as they come by sea from a Pakistani terrorist group was incubated under Musharraf (click here). It is my estimation that the attacks into India by a Pakistani terrorist group served Musharraf's future ambition to destablize the current FREELY ELECTED Democratic Bhutto leadership.

To return to the USA, I like the diversity of the choices of President-elect Obama, but, wish there is precise recognition by him of the lack of extensively experienced minorities in our federal government to help fill his ranks. I believe whomever he chooses for the Secretary of Education need to examine the graduation of minorities at high levels of achievement that can enter the ranks of public policy in the future. One of the most ludicrous statements coming from 'the Right' after Barak's election is that this election has to end 'EEOC.' Oh, really? Well, let's be sure that the end of EEOC is based in solid statistics and the upward movement of our minorities and not simply an election of the best qualified man to the office of the President of the USA.

I believe we are on our way to achieving the goals set by grossly ignored segments of our society and look forward to all the considerations of those that have agreed to serve this unique administration. I appreciate the loyalty of each member of the Obama administration and their willingness to put the future of our Constitution and citizens at the heart of all their decisions. I thank all of them.

May 9, 2007 (202) 224-5042
**Remarks as Prepared for Delivery**
United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Opening Statement in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

(click title to entry - thank you)
Hearing on Climate Change – A National Security Threat



Obama's security line-up (click here)
The O team
Dec 1st 2008 NEW YORKFrom Economist.com
Barack Obama introduces his national-security team

THE phrase “team of rivals” has been on every pundit's lips since it became clear that Barack Obama would make Hillary Clinton his secretary of state. Coming from the title of a book about Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, it seems to highlight that Mr Obama wants to hear dissenting opinions, including from his biggest personal rival, Mrs Clinton. But a look at his national-security line-up, which was officially announced on Monday December 1st, suggests a team that will probably gel reasonably well....

The Los Angeles Times (click here - video)


..."The national security challenges we face are just as grave, and just as urgent, as our economic crisis," Obama said during a Chicago news conference where he was surrounded by his newly chosen team. "We are fighting two wars. Old conflicts remain unresolved, and newly assertive powers have put strains on the international system. The spread of nuclear weapons raises the peril that the world's deadliest technology could fall into dangerous hands. Our dependence on foreign oil empowers authoritarian governments and endangers our planet."...








...He introduced his team one by one, starting with Senator Clinton, his former bitter rival for the Democratic presidential nomination; then Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who will stay on, at least for a time, in the new administration; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, to be national security adviser; Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona to be secretary of homeland security: Susan E. Rice to be ambassador to the United Nations, and Eric H. Holder Jr. to be attorney general....

World AIDS Day - "Sari's mother" should be downloaded to You Tube for the world to witness the travesty !


Sari's Mother (click title to entry - thank you) is a true story about an Iraqi boy that contracted AIDS through a tainted blood transfusion. In this documentary, his mother has attempted every way possible to treat her son with anti-retrovirals only to be denied.


This is Iraq. This is the country we occupy with our military and children can't receive treatment for HIV/AIDS ?


There is something very, very "W"rong here !

...In his 22-minute documentary "Sari's Mother," Longley follows the daily life of an Iraqi mother. It's a life full of difficulty and deprivation as she tries, amidst the war and the occupation, to save the life of her son, who has contracted AIDS as a result of an infected blood transfusion....


...She has to be strong: she doesn't have any anti-viral drugs for her boy, and it's a long way to the nearest hospital in Baghdad. But she's prepared to make the trip. Together with Sari, who, as a result of his illness, seems physically like a five-year-old, she sets off, only to find out from the Iraqi authorities that any attempt to help her son with medicine will be useless....


James Longley shows how Sari and his mother try to keep their heads above water in a situation dominated by daily terror and the occupation by US troops


Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (click here)
The U. S. Global AIDS Coordinator's mission is to lead implementation of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR). The Emergency Plan is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease -- a five-year, $15 billion, comprehensive approach to combating the disease around the world.

Why is Palin effective in Georgia? Because it has a strong Neocon base. She ONLY inspires 'the RNC base' in elections.

Chambliss on Fox News Sunday: Still Denies Tough Economic Times For Families, Veterans (click title to entry, thank you)

What are they coming home to when Barak deploys them out of Iraq? Without firm support for the people that defend our country, unemployment levels will rise and they should be the last to be disaffected. Expanding the tax base means INCLUDING Veterans.





Time for Democrats to 'Get Out the Vote.'

Poll: Chambliss with ‘solid’ lead, but… (click here)
Monday, December 1, 2008, 02:01 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Public Policy Polling of North Carolina has released a final poll of the U.S. Senate runoff, giving Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss a “solid” 53 percent lead over Democrat Jim Martin, who weighs in at 46 percent.
But PPP also attaches a caveat.
The survey of 1,276 likely voters was conducted Nov. 29 and 30, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.7 percent.
Here are two cogent paragraphs from the PPP analysis:
Chambliss is up 71-28 on Jim Martin with whites. For Martin to win the runoff with that performance, the electorate would have to be 34% African American. Given that it was only 30% for the general election with Barack Obama at the top of the ballot and that early voting was less than 23% black, that does not seem particularly likely….
Martin leads with voters under 45, but trails 68-31 with voters over 65. Senior citizens are the most reliable group of voters and likely to make up a larger portion of the electorate than they did on November 4th for this comparatively low interest election. That’s just one more hurdle to climb for the Democratic challenger.
But here’s a statement that Tom Jensen, communications director for PPP, posted on the firm’s blog, noting the difficulty of polling a post-holiday runoff:
So we have data from the poll this weekend suggesting black turnout could be as high as 33-34% and turnout from early voting suggesting it could be as low as 23-24%.
Our poll the previous weekend, not over the holiday, looked like blacks would make up 27-29% of the electorate and we’re sticking with that for our projection.
But because we’ve seen evidence to the contrary in either direction, really nothing between a 2-point Martin victory and a 16-point Chambliss victory would absolutely shock me. That’s just the nature of the uncertainly with an election like this....





Palin can't win a national race. She doesn't have the backing of enough people and all the experience in global affairs won't matter. She is too extreme and openly biased.


Chambliss leads, but Martin close behind, Democratic poll says (click here)
Friday, November 14, 2008, 12:50 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A
Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll this week is showing Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss leading in the U.S. Senate runoff, with Democrat Jim Martin close behind.
The poll commissioned by the Democratic-oriented web site puts Chambliss at 49 percent, and Martin at 46 percent. Margin of error is 4 percent.
A separate poll by Survey USA has no horse race figures, but the poll had something else: 15 percent said a visit to Georgia by former GOP presidential candidate John McCain would make it more likely that they would vote on Dec. 2.
But 30 percent said a visit by President-elect Barack Obama would encourage them to head to the polls.....





50 Days until Inauguration - The decline in government spending is to be expected.

This is what happens when government doesn't live in the same world as its citizens and DECIDES to allow future growth to be over estimated.


...He said tax revenue across the state is far short of the forecast set by lawmakers last winter. Collapsing construction activity, plummeting real-estate sales and thousands of job cuts at large employers forced the belt-tightening....





New Jersey Gov Corzine: We're in a recession (click here)
Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:45pm EDT
..."I certainly concur with the view that we are in a recession," Corzine said in an exclusive interview at Reuters' U.S. headquarters in New York. "We have pretty strong indications that we have seen a major, major downshift in the economy. I think we'll find we started in the last quarter of last year."...


The BOSS in the Oval Office ONLY figured this out now? Really? I can't wait to hear when we are finally in a depression.


US recession 'began last year' (click here)
Page last updated at 18:32 GMT
Monday, 1 December 2008
The US entered a recession in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Its business cycle dating committee, which is considered the arbiter of whether the US is in recession, met on Friday to make the decision.
The NBER says that the US economic expansion lasted 73 months, from November 2001, before contracting.
It used a broad range of economic indicators, such as employment and production, to make this judgement....


National Bureau of Economic Research (click here) is a private institution. It is behind the curve in its prediction and why government has to redefine its responsibility in calling it like it is rather than as the private sector wishes it would be. We aren't in Kansas anymore. Bush, no different than his father or Reagan or Nixon attempted to turn the entire government infrastructure, including the military, to privatized organizations.

IT DOESN'T WORK !!!

The USA economy can't be sold to the highest private bidder by decentralizing the authority of the government, be it federal, state or local. The USA economy has to be based in PRODUCTION, not faux 're-organizing' of government infrastructure. In decentalizing the authority of government it is simply shifting 'that aspect' of the USA economy to the private sector while diminishing the tax base. It is a hideous way to approach a viable economy, no different than 'de-regulation' of USA natural resources. The power of the USA economy is in innovation and not EXPLOITATION.

Employees fail in challenging outsourcing decisions before GAO (click here)
By ELISE CASTELLI
September 07, 2008
Since Congress allowed federal employees to challenge outsourcing decisions at their agencies, beginning this past January, many employees have done so.
But so far, none has been successful.
Employees can challenge an outsourcing decision before the Government Accountability Office. Before January, only contractors could challenge an adverse agency contracting decision — also, before the GAO.
Since January, GAO has seen a doubling in the number of challenges being lodged over competitive sourcing decisions. GAO has decided 14 cases protesting decisions and solicitations issued under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, the rulebook that governs how agencies can outsource work.
Eight of those cases have been brought by employees since January — the rest are challenges waged by companies. In fiscal 2007, GAO handled just seven cases for the entire year....
...Outsourcing at Sheppard air base
A recent large outsourcing decision by the Air Force is likely to prompt another employee protest.
The Air Force announced last month it will outsource 180 civilian jobs — mostly civil engineers — at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.
AFGE is waiting to be briefed on the decision before it files a protest.
The union contends the Air Force broke the law by allowing the competition to continue beyond the 30-month statutory time limit for public-private competitions....