Forgiveness is a form of peaceful consensus. Why do Muslims have to victimized by 19 terrorists?

Trinity Church is no more entitled to be 'near' ground zero than a mosque. The Islamic Cultural Center is at 96th Street in Manhattan.

I haven't heard any good reason to insist that building a Mosque invites another attack on Lower Manhattan.

Former Governor Pataki does not have a good argument.  He attacked the Imam.  If there is an issue with an Imam that has nothing to do with a building where worship takes place.

A Mosque is not an Imam and an Imam is not a Mosque.  Nor should words of hate of any kind that advocates actions of murder of others be tolerated.

Quite frankly, Palin's religious bigotry is nothing more than hate mongering and an expression of cowards.  It is important the 'culture of fear' remain a viable part of their rhetoric. 

Fear works.  And as noted with the Tea Party Group it moves them to tote guns as well.  There is no reason for any words of hate surrounding religion in the USA.

I believe the 'statement' New York City has made in providing 'room' for a Mosque/Community Center near Ground Zero is a remarkable expression of forgiveness and inclusion in seeking a 'common peace' between all religions.

While the attacks on Ground Zero will never be erased from the memory or history of the country, in generations from now, with the inclusion of a Muslim community on 'tainted ground,' it will be a total mystery why extremists could ever establish the 'hate' necessary to carry out terrorist attacks against innocent people. 

Now, looking down the road to our childrens' futures, do you want to view this building as an expression of peace and inclusion or an act of fear in not being able to contain the hate of extremists.  Who, then, wins?  How long is the 'fear' suppose to continue to victimize all Americans and the global community? 

I believe the answers are simple and an insult not to realize.

There should be no confusion to realize there are 'issues of gender discimination' within many religious doctrines.  The building of a Mosque near Ground Zero should not be overshadowed by political agenda or dogma.  It may be that this Mosque will be the one that ends the 'stereotype,' so why risk the opportunity to provide a venue for the change the future demands?  Clouding construction of a Mosque with other agendas will not solve them nor settle them because concrete was poured.

The Climate Crisis is real and it won't go away by itself !

Disease Threatens Pakistan Flood Victims
13 August 2010

...Health officials Friday said the lack of clean drinking water and sanitation is spreading diarrhea and other diseases that could threaten lives.
An estimated 1,600 people have died from over two weeks of record flooding in the country brought on by heavy monsoon rains. More storms are expected in the coming days across much of the country....

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Disease-Threatens-Pakistan-Flood-Victims-100611299.html


12 August 2010
Last updated at 13:02 ET

In pictures: Pakistan's flood victims

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10950599

Thousands have fled their homes for fear of floods and landslides [AFP]

More Flood Misery in China as Mudslides Trap Thousands

Daniel Schearf


Beijing
 
13 August 2010
 
Fresh rains in western China have caused more flooding and mudslides, adding at least 20 people to a death toll well over 1,000 in Gansu Province alone. In addition, more than 10,000 people in the province are trapped in rising flood waters. Rescue workers have already been sent to the affected areas and more rains are expected in the coming days....
 
Link below has audio report.
 
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Deadly-Mudslides-Continue-in-China-100608914.html


Better predicting is nice, but, the Climate Crisis needs to addressed in EFFECTIVE measuares that reduce emissions of ALL Greenhouse Gases including methane.

Fires, flooding fit into climate change predictions



This summer's weather disasters fit into the pattern forecast by climate scientists in key 2007 report on global warming  (click title to entry - thank you)
 
By Charles J. Hanley
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010

NEW YORK — Floods, fires, melting ice and feverish heat: From smoke-choked Moscow to water-logged Pakistan, the planet seems to be having a midsummer breakdown.
The weather-related cataclysms of July and August fit patterns predicted by climate scientists, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization says — although those scientists always shy from tying individual disasters directly to global warming.
The experts now see an urgent need for better ways to forecast extreme events like Russia's heat wave and the record deluge devastating Pakistan. They'll discuss such tools in meetings this month and next in Europe and America.


"There is no time to waste," because societies must be equipped to deal with global warming, British government climatologist Peter Stott said.
The U.N.'s network of climate scientists — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — has long predicted that rising global temperatures would produce more frequent and intense heat waves, and more intense rainfalls. In its latest assessment, in 2007, the Nobel Prize-winning panel said these trends "have already been observed."...

The RNC 'miracle workers' had to put Cheney back together with mechanical parts, so the RNC is sending in the second string.

About five months after the house went up for sale Rove dumps his 'DC Wife.'

All the kings horses and all the kings men find it easy to divorce when their party in out of power and there is little to no focus on their 'misgivings' as moral men.

So, Rove decided he wasn't pleased with Limbaugh's lack of impulsion as measured by the 'bye-gone days' of George W., so he takes over the microphone to 'fine tune' the propaganda.  Believe me, if Rove didn't feel things weren't going well he wouldn't be 'on the air.'

...Rove, who didn't know the show's call-in phone number, also admitted that he didn’t know what he had on tap for the program.

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1008/rove_yuks_it_up_on_rush_.html


July 25, 2009
Former presidential advisor Karl Rove places his five-bedroom, Federal-style house in Washington, DC on the market for $1.585M
 
http://www.bergproperties.com/blog/former-presidential-advisor-karl-rove-places-his-five-bedroom-federal-style-house-in-washington-dc-on-the-market-for-1-585m/

I have to agree, if there is anything the Bush's love, it is the USA military.

Dallas, TX) -- Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, yesterday made a surprise visit to U.S. troops.



The former First Couple showed up at the USO in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, mingling with returning soldiers and thanking them for their service.


The former president chatted and posed for photos, which were posted on the USO's Facebook page.


The Los Angeles "Times" reports that those commenting on the photos appreciated that the former President and first lady took the time to encourage the returning troops.


"What an AWESOME moment," Robert Rowe wrote. "If anyone can't see the President and First Lady's love for our nations troops, they must be dead or blind.


May God Bless them ALL !" Richard Cruz wrote: "The look on that kid's face says it all...." And Shirley Lovely Fry added: "A President and First Lady who love their country and their country's military."

http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=185885

Why is it the women of the GOP support Same Sex Marriage, but, the men run and hide?  Mary Cheney is gay and in a relationship with a child, Megan McCain and her Mom speak out loudly for the right to marry for same sex couples and even Laura Bush provides emotional support. 

But, why are THE MEN removed from making a difference in their own children's lives?  States Rights is a cop-out.


....After more than eight years of silence on the controversial issues, Mrs. Bush said in an interview with CNN's Larry KingTuesday, that gay marriage and abortion were points of contention with her husband, former President George W. Bush.
Mrs. Bush in recent weeks has been promoting her memoir "Spoken from the Heart," in which she writes about her life both before and after becoming first lady....

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/laura-bush-supports-gay-marriage-abortion/story?id=10629213

I guess the 'distaff' side can openly embrace their children and their children's CIVIL RIGHTS, but, it ain't 'politically correct' for the men to do the same.  Gee, what a bunch of two faced political puppets.

What is the difference between One United Bank and GM? RACE !

This is NOT playing the 'race card' either.

I don't want to hear it anymore.  GM was bailed out with huge amounts of money from the USA Treasury and its CEO left with a golder parachuet. 

Wall Street is racist and they may as well admit it !!!!!  If ya ain't the 'color' of money the way they like it, ya ain't nobody,

OneUnited Bank has been criticized as having a poor record of lending to people in some low-income areas. It also paid for a luxurious lifestyle for its chairman despite posting huge losses.

This is absolutely no different than the issue with Countrywide.  The minority banks cater to a very challenged patron and it was fine so long as it served the purpose of the Wall Street Wealth Merchants, but, now that they and the Republicans need 'scapegoats' so it all changes and there is EVERYTHING worng with issues of the 'same challenged' American populous.

The 'American Dream' is mostly unattainable by the people represented in Congressional districts where poverty exists.  I have no doubt the Congressional people representing these districts seek to provide 'an edge' in the market place to minority citizens.

You know, I remember when President Clinton was in the White House, one of the issues he addressed was how to move minority citizens out of an impoverished status to where they can enjoy the American Dream.  I believe it was Hillary at the time that had an interest in Wal-Mart and proposed to build them in stressed population areas. 

Then there was a study indicating that Walmart did not improve the status of impoverished citizens, but, reinforced it.  The reality was that Wall Street enjoys its profits and CEOs like the bonuses regardless of how poor their employees and contractors 'quality of life' remainds.

5. POVERTY RATES
Counties that have gained Wal-Mart stores have fared worse in terms of family poverty rates, according to this study.

Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty - by Stephan Goetz and Hema Swaminathan, Social Science Quarterly, June 2006

The presence of a Wal-Mart store hinders a community's ability to move families out of poverty, according to this study. After controlling for other factors that influence poverty rates, the study found that U.S. counties that had more Wal-Mart stores in 1987 had a higher poverty rate in 1999 than did counties that started the period with fewer or no Wal-Mart stores. The study also found that counties that added Wal-Mart stores between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates and greater usage of food stamps than counties where Wal-Mart did not build, all other things being equal. Although the study does not attempt to draw a conclusion about why Wal-Mart expands poverty, the study's authors suggest several possible factors, including a loss of social capital that occurs when locally owned businesses close and the shift from comparatively better paying jobs at independent retailers to lower paying jobs at Wal-Mart (an earlier, unpublished draft can be downloaded for free here.) Many university libraries also carry Social Science Quarterly.

6. SOCIAL AND CIVIC WELL-BEING
This study found that Wal-Mart reduces a community's level of social capital, as measured by voter turnout and the number of active community organizations.

Wal-Mart and Social Capital - by Stephan J. Goetz and Anil Rupasingha, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Dec. 2006.

The presence of a Wal-Mart store reduces a community's level of social capital, this study found. The study examined communities that had or gained Wal-Mart stores in the 1990s and controlled for other variables known to affect social capital stocks in a community, such as educational attainment. "Both the initial number of [Wal-Mart] stores and each store added per 10,000 persons during the decade reduced the overall social capital measure," Goetz and Rupasingha found. Communities that gained a Wal-Mart had fewer non-profit groups and social capital-generating associations (such as churches, political organizations, and business groups) per capita than those that did not. Wal-Mart's presence also depressed civic participation and is associated with lower voter turnout in the 2000 presidential election. Goetz and Rupasingha hypothesize that the drop in social capital is owned to the disappearance of local businesses and the decline of the downtown following Wal-Mart's arrival.

http://www.newrules.org/retail/key-studies-walmart-and-bigbox-retail#5

The 'idea' of moving Wall Street to 'Ghetto Main Street' was to improve their qualify of life by offering benefits and equity to minority citizens.  The reality works out to be just the opposite.  Where pvoerty exists these 'low end' employers enjoy the profits without the hassle of unions.

The point is there is no solution Wall Street can offer that improves the impoverishment of citizens in the USA.  And if Henry Paulson can walk away form racking the USA over the coals for bailouts to banks then there is a double standard at work with the minority members of the USA Congress currently being 'muckracked' for November.

The Bush Tax Cuts have to expire. These tax rates are indefensible.

How did the Republicans ever pass their tax cuts in 2001?  Immoral is not the word.  They wanted to 'gut' the USA Treasury.

Those advocating to keep the Bush Tax Cuts have no defense.  Absolutely none.  These tax rates have been in effect for a long time, but, they have also been in effect since the Great Recession of 2008.  If there were gonig to be improvements in the economy due to these tax cuts it would have already happened.  The most wealthy in the USA have given the current Congress and administration NO REASON to keep them. 

Danel Akerson, managing director of Carlyle Group, takes over at GM? An IPO? Where's OUR money? IPO and we haven't received every red cent?

Akerson is going to break up GMC and sell its assets including the mechanisms to the Volt.  He's a hacket guy.  Carlyle is ruthless.  They want the technology and want to break up the unions with a vengence.

...Dan Akerson is managing director of the Carlyle Group, and was named to the new GM board of directors in July '09, when Whitacre became chairman. Akerson was CEO of Nextel from 1996 to 1999, and chairman from '96 to '01. He also was chairman and CEO of XO Communications from '99 to '03. Nextel replaced Winston cigarettes as series sponsor of NASCAR in 2004, the only car connection I've found to Akerson. Akerson is 61, just the right age to keep grooming GM North America President Mark Reuss for the job when he breaches his 50s.



Akerson takes over Whitacre's CEO title on September 1, and Whitacre will hand over his chairman's title by the end of the year. In his year-plus leading GM, Whitacre has shuffled around a lot of GM management, and fired many of the desk-jockeys. He's obviously happy about the impending IPO, and he's retiring, again, mostly on his own terms. Whitacre said last week he'd like Treasury to unload all 60.8 percent of its GM stock in the IPO. That sounds like a long shot....

There is no 'sticker shock' with the Volt and there is no reason to outsource jobs to bump up the new CEO's bonus.  Every knew for a long time the Volt was running at $40,000.  The Volt will pay for itself in no time to anyone that purchases one. 

...Dashing hope that GM’s new electric car will jolt the American auto industry into a greener era, the new vehicle’s $41,000 price tag is a shocking disappointment. When visiting Michigan last week to tout the success of the auto industry bailout, President Obama drove the new Chevrolet Volt a few feet and proclaimed, “This car right here doesn’t need a sip of gasoline for 40 miles and then keeps on going after that.’’...

http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=23796



...ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - The first Chevy Volt customers in southeast Michigan will get a special perk from DTE Energy.
The company will pay to install the first 25-hundred of the costly charging stations that are required to recharge the Volt's battery.
DTE will install separate meters for the stations.
The meters will allow the utility company to understand how and when people charge their electric cars.
That information will be crucial as electric companies prepare for the day - five, ten, fifteen years from now - when electric plug-in vehicles are more common....

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1687142/Michigan.News/DTE.Unveils.Special.Incentives..Disincentives.For.Volt.Owners.




GM to increase Chevy Volt production by 50%
July 31, 2010

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times


GM says it aims to increase production of the electric vehicle to 45,000 in 2012. It says the Volt will be available in seven states in December. Nissan says its electric Leaf will be available in five states, including California, in December....
 
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/31/business/la-fi-autos-volt-20100731



...It's a quirky idea that's generating some buzz in the world of IPOs. The thinking is that since the federal government used our tax dollars to rescue GM, small investors/ taxpayers ought to benefit when the company first offers stock for sale.



Six years ago, when Google Inc. went public, we heard talk about finding a way to offer an IPO for everyone. The Google offering was designed as an auction, open to the average Joe — or Jo — and supposed to be very unlike IPOs of the past, which went to the well-connected and very rich.


The new GM IPO has even more reason to include a populist pitch. When GM was on the brink of collapse, plenty of taxpayers protested over their money going to save it....

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20100812/OPINION01/8120304/1014/OPINION/Susan+Tompor++GM+stock+offering+should+include+a+pitch+to+public

Rep.Charles Rangel is absolutely correct to continue with his life. The Blue Dogs need to run their campaign and stop complaining about the black man from New York.

Go get 'em, Charles !

Accused or MISUSING Congressional Stationary. 

Your gotta be joking.  Chuck types?

This man has represented Harlem for twenty years.  Harlem?  Twenty years? 

Where do I get the idea this is a lot of nonsense.

The rest of the charges are just as hideous.  He failed to pay taxes on rental income from a beachfront home in the Dominican Republic. 

This was like an audit from the IRS, yes?  No?  Who PREPARED the document, H&R Block?  This is ridiculous.  The IRS needs to examine the documents in question and ask the good Congressman to kindly correct it, IF it is necessary.

Chuck submitted an incomplete financial disclosure statement.  Now I know for a fact there is not ONE House Representative that does his own accounting.  Representative Rangel needs to look into the inconsistencies and correct them if necessary. 

This is outrageous. 

Favors and benefits from donors to the Rangel Center under circumstances which might be construed ... as influencing the performance of his governmental duties."

? Might be Construed ? 

? Might be Construed ?

If the ranking Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul from Texas, hasn't got a rock solid case AFTER TWO YEARS of investigation, then he needs to throw the entire mess out.

This is nothing but election year hogwash.  I don't even want to hear it anymore.

Charles Rangel has performed exemplary work representing Harlem.

You know, I don't even like some of Rep. Rengel's views..  I don't agree with his view of mandatory military service for every young person in the country.  It is too much power to be 'at will' use by Republicans like Bush and Cheney whom would like to start WWIII. 

There isn't anything here and any accounting errors need to be corrected if necessary. 

If I were Charles Rengel, I'd sue McCaul for harassment and defamation of character and discrimination based on race !

Don't think about it Charles, just file the suit.  This is after two years of investigation and this is all they could come up with.  A two year investigation alone is harassment.  Two years of inappropriate pressure on Rep. Rangel when he was leader of Appropriations.  I don't think so !!!!!!!!

When McCaul couldn't get 'his way' in Appropriations he decided to put the Chair through the 'wringer' to have a change in leadership to try it all over again !

No wiretaps or money laundering or prostitutes or anything like that.  No rubbing elbows with Abramoff?  No?  There is nothing here but accoutning errors and poor decisions by his staff in the use of stationary.  You know after twenty years I really think any people receiving a note on Congressional stationary regarding re-election, if that is accurate at all, already knew Charles was in Congress.  You know?  This is outrageous.  This is NOT influence peddling, folks.  It is a PRINTING error.  Hello?

You always hurt the ones you love. We are the easy targets, Robert.

The first two years of this Presidency has been nearly impossible considering the losses in the country when President Obama took office.

No one is saying Robert Gibbs had an easy job, but, the Left has definately 'been there' for him and for this President with 'healthy constructive criticism' all along the way.

Nothing "W"rong with that.  Chin up, Robert, it could have been worse if we didn't have a President that have brought us the best minds alive to help solve our problems. 

Mr. Gibbs needs to find a way to apologize.  Sincerely.  We don't deserve the 'wrath' of anyone.  We are the honest, tried and truth and trustworthy.  We are hard to please, but, then solving the problems of the country in the state we received it is nearly an impossible task and don't think for one minute it wasn't 'designed' to be that way by the folks that vacated the Oval Office either.

Kucinich to Gibbs: You've read the liberals wrong
(AP) – 29 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — A Democrat whose name was invoked by President Barack Obama's spokesman in an attack on the party's liberal wing says the White House doesn't understand deep public frustration over the troubled economy.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich tells ABC's "Good Morning America" that press secretary Robert Gibbs shouldn't have attacked the "professional left."
Gibbs had said liberals were too hard to please and that they wouldn't be content even with Kucinich, a renowned progressive, as president.
The Ohio Democrat said, "Those of us who call ourselves liberal say we're not going to rest until we get back to a full employment economy." Asked if he would challenge Obama for the party's nomination in 2012, Kucinich, who ran in 2008, replied, "No."

Oh, yeah, by the way Robert, get a Bluetooth and remove the phone from the side of your face, the technology is worrysome for LINKS to brain cancer.  Seriously.  We love you, Robert.

Wildfires, Drought Costing Russia $15 Billion. Russia's national emergency.

...A state of emergency (click title to entry - thank you) has been declared in seven of Russia's regions that have been hardest hit by peat-bog and forest fires. The fires spread from Russia's north to Central Russia, the Volga Region and the Caucasus. Forty people have been killed, while the survivors have lost their property and homes. But there are no wildlife losses statistics available now, and there may never be....

On the heels of a global financial crisis, the Climate Crisis doesn't make recovery any easier.


...A Russian business newspaper says early estimates show wildfires, drought and Moscow's two-month-long heat wave will cost the Russian economy at least $15 billion.
Kommersant said Tuesday this is about 1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has suspended grain exports until the end of the year to keep domestic food prices from skyrocketing....


http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Report-WIldfires-Drought-Cost-Russia-15-Billion-100345539.html



Sunday, 15 February 2009

...Wildfires
Prof Field said the impact on temperatures is as yet unknown, but warming is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than had been predicted.
He says that a warming planet will dry out forests in tropical areas making them much more likely to suffer from wildfires.
The rising temperatures could also speed up the melting of the permafrost, vastly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, Prof Field warns.
"Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7890988.stm



Putin puts out two wildfires in central Russia (update 1)

17:57 10/08/2010
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took part in extinguishing forest fires in Ryazan Province on board an amphibious firefighting airplane.
The Russian head of government was the co-pilot for half an hour aboard a Be-200 plane scooping up water from the nearby Oka River and dumping it on raging forest fires some 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
He dumped approximately 12 tons of water on each of two fires, extinguishing both completely.
Putin initially sat in the cabin in front of a thermal imaging monitor together with Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ryazan Governor Oleg Kovalev.
However, shortly after takeoff Putin suddenly entered the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot's seat....

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100810/160145818.html



U.S. State Department warns against visiting Russia

02:39 11/08/2010

...The department recommended U.S. citizens to postpone travel to Russia because of acrid smog and numerous flight delays.
A scorching heat wave has gripped much of western Russia since mid-June, sparking wildfires and causing the worst drought in decades. More than 50 people died in the fires....

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100811/160150878.html

Representative 'Boner' states "We are broke.' He is a 'non-positionist.' He's slick and very slippery. He is always avoidant on any issue.

...House Minority Leader John Boehner (click title to entry - thank you) said Tuesday before voting on a bill to aid cash-strapped states that the states need to figure out their budget woes on their own.
“We are broke. We do not have the money to bail out the states. It’s time for them to get their arms around their own problems,” he told reporters....

The Minority Leader in the House is far less a leader as he is a dodger.  He states nothing but rhetoric.  ALLLLllllll the time !!!
 
Someday the House Minority might even decide to have a real leader, rather than one that is 'anchored' in their electorate without risk in Texas.  Pathetic.
 
Hoyer: I don't use same tanning salon as Boehner
 
August 10, 2010, 4:42 pm by Christina Wilkie
 
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) went on defense Tuesday, and took a swipe at his GOP counterpart, Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) in the process. The issue at hand? Who is tanner, and how they got that way.
Hoyer was speaking to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, when Scarborough asked him why he wasn't as bronzed as Boehner is, even though it's summer.
"John Boehner has this remarkable tan at all times," said Scarborough. "Do you just not go out with the people as much in the streets as John Boehner?"
Hoyer, who has a very good relationship with Boehner, didn't miss a beat. "Well, I guess I just don't have the same salon that he has perhaps." Zing!


Hoyer's not alone. Making jokes about Boehner's seemingly impossible, year-round tan is a favorite topic in Washington.
President Obama has said Boehner is "a person of color."
Boehner attributes his tan to playing a lot of golf.

http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/5515-hoyer-i-dont-use-boehners-tanning-salon


"Avoidant" is a personality disorder, by the way.  You know I remember someone once telling me that TRUE politicians are actually suffering from Anti-Social Personality Disorder, because they lie so much.  The example at the time was Richard Nixon.

David Gregory tried his level best to try to get Mr. Boner to make a statement that actually addressed issues.  What did Mr. Boner do?  He avoided reality at all costs.  You have to wonder sometimes if he is capable of answering the call for any subject. 

At any rate, in desperation, Mr. Boner states there is 'funny accounting' in the government that causes runaway spending and an unhealthy economy.  Mr. Gregory wasn't prepared for the 'funny accounting' statement, who would be.  But, in all honesty, he should have asked Boehner to submit proof of the funny accounting as soon as his golf schedule allowed it.


MR. GREGORY: [Y]ou're not, you're not being responsive to a specific point, which is how can you be for cutting the deficit and also cutting taxes, as well, when they're not paid for?



REP. BOEHNER: Listen, you can't raise taxes in the middle of a weak economy without risking the double-dip in this recession. President Obama's favorite Republican economist, Mark Zandi, came out several weeks ago and made it clear that raising taxes at this point in, in the economy is a very bad idea.



MR. GREGORY: But do you agree that tax cuts cannot be paid for...




REP. BOEHNER: You cannot balance the budget without a...



MR. GREGORY: But tax cuts are not paid for, is that correct?



REP. BOEHNER: I am not for raising taxes on the American people in a soft economy.




MR. GREGORY: That's not the question, Leader Boehner. The question...




REP. BOEHNER: And the people that the president wants to tax...




MR. GREGORY: ...is, are tax cuts paid for or not?



REP. BOEHNER: Listen, what you're trying to do is get into this Washington game and their funny accounting over there. You cannot get the economy going again by raising taxes on those people who we expect to create jobs in America and to get the economy going again. If we want to solve the budget problem, we've got to have a healthy economy and we have to get our arms around the runaway spending that's going on in Washington, D.C.


http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/08/09/john-boehner-vs-funny-accounting/?xid=rss-topstories


So, Mr. Boner believes the country is too broke to support a child's education in the face of the Great Recession, but, has no answers regarding tax cuts. 
 
Avoidant.  It is.  It simply is. 
 
I suugest Mr. Gregory actually use his talent and program for issues that actually are discussed. 

So, the country is broke, BUT, not too broke to continue the tax cuts for the most wealthy in the country. 

Of course. 

Private school tuition is a tough one to cut from the budget.

Tne years after Alaskan Statehood, Ted Stevens became its Senator. He was never a 'native' Alaskan.

Ted and Catherine Stevens

There is no doubt the Late Senator Stevens moved Alaska into the status it finds itself today, however, he never moved the people of Alaska forward. 

The Stevens and the Murkowskis had captured Alaska and having seen it from territory to Statehood, they 'occupied' the power structure that resulted afterward. 

To say Stevens was ambitious is an understatement, but, his ambition existed as an opportunitis and not a Statemen.  He never moved native born Alaskans to lead their State's infrastructure.  It shows.

...Several days after Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration as president (click title to entry - thank you) in January 1953, the Alaska Republican Party Central Committee demanded that "all Democratic appointees [in Alaska]" resign their patronage jobs."‘ One of the Democratic appointees who did so was Robert McNealy, the U.S. attorney in Fairbanks, who submitted his resignation effective February 1." However, rather than accepting it, the newly appointed Eisenhower officials at the Department of Justice asked McNealy to stay on the job until the president appointed his replacement;" so Charles Clasby knew when he offered Stevens a job at Collins and Clasby that McNealy's position was vacant and would be filled by a Republican political appointee.
Winter passed into spring and then summer, and in July when his suc­cessor had not been named, McNealy notified Fairbanks District Court Judge Harry Pratt that August 15 would be his last day in office.
When McNealy departed, on August 31 Pratt named Ted Stevens to serve as U.S. attorney until the president appointed McNealy's replacement.
Stevens was a peculiar choice, since he had little to no trial or criminal law experience and, having arrived in Alaska less than six months earlier, was something of a carpetbagger. Who, if anyone, discussed Ted Stevens' appointment with Pratt before he made it is not known. What is known is that when the appointment was announced, a majority of the members of the Fairbanks Bar Association were outraged, but had no candidate for the permanent appointment until December when the association met and the members in attendance voted to support Carl Messenger, the legal officer at the nearby air force base.9' Two weeks later the Alaska Republican Party Committee for the Fourth Division (in which Fairbanks is located) also endorsed Messenger. But the decision on the permanent appointment would be made 3,500 miles to the east....



Victims in crash that killed Stevens identified
By RICHARD MAUER, LISA DEMER and KYLE HOPKINS


Anchorage Daily News
Published: August 10th, 2010 03:49 PM


Last Modified: August 10th, 2010 04:03 PM
Former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a political icon who helped steer Alaska from its frontier territorial days to its modern present, was among five people killed in the crash of a lodge floatplane near Dillingham on Monday....

http://www.adn.com/2010/08/10/1404123/troopers-id-victims-of-crash-that.html

Has the USA offered aid to Russia during this CLIMATE event?

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks with local residents who lost their homes to fire near Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: AFP

Russian Church collects $217,000 in aid for wildfire victims

The Russian Orthodox Church has collected 6.5 million rubles ($217,000) for those affected by wildfires, the Moscow Patriarchate said on its website Monday.
22:22 09/08/2010

Wildfires caused by an extreme heat wave are raging in 22 Russian regions. A total of 52 people died in the fires and 472 have received medical assistance. Over 1,900 houses have burned down, leaving 3,500 Russians without a roof over their heads.
The Church's Synodal department for charity and social services also invited volunteers to collect and distribute aid to those in need....

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100809/160133678.html


Human influence on the warming of Earth has been recorded since the late 1800s.  The change in climate is directly due to the Climate Crisis that is human induced.


Climate change: how to play our hand?  (click title to entry - thank you)
There have always been extremes of weather around the world but evidence suggests human influence is changing the odds
Peter Stott
guardian.co.uk
Monday 9 August 2010 16.20 BST
 
Over the past week or so, Pakistan has been devastated by its worst floods for generations and Moscow has suffered under a blanket of smog after its hottest day in 130 years of records. What is causing these and other recent extreme weather events and are they linked to climate change?
Because of a rare meteorological pattern we can see a connection between extreme weather across Eurasia. Usually, the flow in the upper troposphere over northern India, the Himalayas and Pakistan is dominated by the monsoon anticyclone which pushes the sub-tropical jet to the north of the Tibetan Plateau. This prevents mid-latitude weather systems from penetrating very far south, unlike this year, when active weather systems have spread southwards into Pakistan. Here this has combined with the monsoon to produce record rainfall. The record-breaking high temperatures in Moscow, forest fires and damaged crops are another consequence, as was the excessive rain over China when the Three Gorges Dam almost reached capacity a few short weeks ago....





Another Russian nuclear facility threatened by wildfires
02:35 10/08/2010

Emergency regulations over the threat of spreading wildfires were enforced late on Monday in the town of Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region, where one of Russia's largest nuclear-waste plants is located.
The Mayak plant, which makes tritium and radioisotopes from decommissioned weapons and waste from nuclear reactors, is about 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) from the town of Snezhinsk where a forest fire has recently threatened a major nuclear research center.
"The head of Ozersk administration has enforced emergency regulations in the forests and parks due to a serious wildfire threat," the local administration said in a statement....

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100810/160135776.html

The tropical weather at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska (Crystal Wind Chime) continues:

Lat/Lon :: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 feet

Local Time: 2:09 PM AKDT (GMT -08)

Temperature :: 61 Fahrenheit

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 72%

Dew Point :: 52 Fahrenheit

Wind :: 9 mph from the South Southeast

Pressure :: 29.97 inches (Rising)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles

UV :: 2 out of 16

Clouds :: Mostly Cloudy at 4100 feet


              Mostly Cloudy at 4600 feet


              Overcast at 6000 feet


               (Above ground level)




I suppose if I were God, I'd make myself known in an interesting way, too.

The calving of these large icebergs including the one in 1962 is directly related to The Climate Crisis.  The warming of Earth due to Human Induction started in the late 1800s.  It is hideous to continue to deny it!

Giant Glacier Breaks on Anniversary of Global Warming  (click title to entry - thank you)

'Analysis by Michael Reilly



Sun Aug 8, 2010 03:50 PM ET

On Thursday, scientists discovered that a huge mass of ice four times the size of Manhattan had broken free of Petermann glacier in northwestern Greenland. The "ice island" was the largest calving event on the glacier since 1962, and researchers estimated Petermann lost nearly a quarter of its floating ice tongue in one go....

...As it turns out, the new ice island was born just in time for the 35th anniversary of the scientific paper that coined the term "global warming." On August 8,1975, the journal Science published the article entitled "Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?" by Wallace Smith Broecker of Columbia University....

Whatever happened to the Geico Caveman? (click here for ring tones)

Geico replaced the Caveman with a Wacko Drill Sargent.  Let's hope the man in the chair for therapy isn't suffering from PTSD.

Bring the Caveman back, the Drill Sargent therapist is simply a 'bad idea.' 

Seriously.  A bit insensitive.

Since hearing from Castro that nuclear war is near, Dickie heads home to be near his fallout shelter.

Vice President Dick Cheney (click title to entry - thank you) was released from a Virginia hospital Monday a month after he underwent a heart procedure....

For real. 

Representative Maxine Waters cannot be held responsible for saving a bank during the 2008 global financial collapse.

The law that was passed to 'bailout' the banks exempted anyone form being procecuted or held responsible in any way.  That is why Goldman got away with a fine and nothing more.  This is just about as ludicrous as it gets !  One United is a minority enterprise and I am sure everyone involved was scrambling to save homes and minority owners from foreclosure, especially after the news from Countrywide.  The charges need to be dropped.

The House Ethics Committee (click title to entry - thank you) says that even as the Los Angeles Democrat was warned against interceding on behalf of a bank with ties to her husband, her chief of staff was 'actively involved' in helping OneUnited....

Castro is no joke. He knows the mind of his friend in North Korea.

The USS George Washington in Busan on July 27. The Pentagon said Thursday the carrier will be in a joint drill in the Yellow Sea. By Song Bong-geun

August 07, 2010

Ignoring China’s protests (clcik title to entry - thank you) about large-scale military maneuvers near its shores, U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea in the next few months will include a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Pentagon said.
“The USS George Washington will exercise in the Yellow Sea, in the West Sea,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters in Washington Thursday, “but I don’t have for you yet dates when that exercise involving that aircraft carrier will take place.”
The U.S. Defense Department said future drills, designed to rebuke North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, will take place on both sides of the peninsula. The first of the exercises took place from July 25 to 28 in the East Sea and the USS George Washington aircraft carrier took part....

The Chinese Navy has been showing increasing prowess in the Pacific.  It was a surprise to the USA.  In recent years, Russia has launched new nuclear submarines as well.  I hope this isn't going to end up being a major confrontation.  It might be very tempting for Asia to rid the world of any potential for "A Return of the Neocons." 


North Korea fires artillery rounds into the sea
The move comes a day after the North seized a South Korean fishing boat. Pyongyang had vowed to respond to South Korea's naval training exercises.
By John M. Glionna and Ethan Kim
Los Angeles Times
August 9, 2010
4:25 a.m.
Reporting from Yichang, China and Seoul — In a pointed example of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea on Monday fired more than 100 rounds of artillery into the waters off its west coast, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.
The move came one day after the North seized a South Korean fishing boat and its seven-man crew that officials claimed had violated North Korea's exclusive economic zone.
In recent days, North Korea had vowed "strong physical retaliation" in response to South Korea's launching last week of five days of naval training exercises near the disputed sea border between North and South. The exercises ended Monday....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-north-korea-artillery-20100810,0,4308176.story

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

The warnings of the Climate Crisis began with the industrial revolution and an concern of increased carbon dioxide levels.

Due to lower populations of human society and a consumerism that wasn't yet in full blossom, the idea of a 'warming gas' to the troposhere was dismissed as unimportant in the face of capitalism's wealth and philanthropy.

It would be later with the advent of cars and personal purchasing power and the exponential growth of consumerism that the reality would take a prominence as a scientific pursuit.  Even in 1960, there was a race to find the evidence and reverse the trend when scientists realize how long the growth of greenhouse gases had existed.

In the early 1960s, C.D. Keeling measured the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: it was rising fast. Researchers began to take an interest, struggling to understand how the level of carbon dioxide had changed in the past, and how the level was influenced by chemical and biological forces. They found that the gas plays a crucial role in climate change, so that the rising level could gravely affect our future.

The pursuits of this alarming reality would be conducted on a short while when it became evident 'The Greenhouse Effect' would override Earth's ability to maintain life 'in the thin blue line.'  '

Keeling began the study which would result a decade later in the first "Earth Day" on April 22, 1970.  Below is Ron Cobb's Ecology Symbol.  And the race to stop deadly trends was launched with full vigor and still hangs in the balance today.