Does Santa Claus have a new sled?

COWLEY COUNTY, KANSAS -

Residents (click title to entry - thank you) in Cowley County, Kansas are still talking about a mystery craft, seen being towed down US 77 Monday.

Sitting inside Lindly's Appliance Store, Kammi Root is used to seeing large machinery towed down US 77. But what she saw Monday afternoon is something she won't soon forget.

"There was this funny sphere that went through on this big trailer and my first thought was, 'That looks like a UFO,'" said Root.

A huge 32 foot craft, wrapped in tarp, was as mysterious as the transport company who called Sheriff Don Read for help.

"They told us that it was an aircraft and that they had explored other ways to transport it but this was the best way for them to do it and they asked us not to say a whole lot about it," said Read.

After all, the massive load's shape would certainly draw enough attention on its own....

Are there UFOs? 

Possibly.






How do they travel at the speed of light undetected?

Researchers (click here) rely on numerical simulations to visualize the structure of the heliosphere and its interaction with the Local Insterstellar Cloud. Solar wind data from the SWOOPS instrument on the three-dimensional structure of the inner heliosphere provide important constraints on heliospheric models.


On Electro-Magnet Currents and solar winds (ionic charged particles from the sun.  It is why they can hover motionless one minute and be gone the next.  All they have to do is reverse their polar direction.

Fairly simple to understand when one accepts the idea it is possible.


I am sure all those that have attended school in The West understand how electricity can create magnetic fields.  There is no need for nuclear powered or hydrogen powered anything when physics is applied correctly.  If a ship were able to maintain polarity through minimal electrical conduction and harnessed it anything would be possible.

The TransCanada Folly is supposed to end at the Valero refineries in Texas.

The reason the Tax Cut and Unemployment Benefits were renewed for two months, is as a threat to the President and still another political 'hot potato.'  


See, the Republicans don't care about people unless they have oodles of money they throw at them and their elections.  So, the only reason the House passed the bill was not for the benefit of the people, but, to insure there would be a pipeline.


Follow yet?


Simple really, so long as the citizens commit themselves to understand they are meaningless to the Republican agenda.


The Tax Cut and Unemployment Insurance extension is not really the issue.  If the Republicans had done their jobs they would have passed it for another year.  But, there was a crony having trouble with the White House.  So, the Corrupt Republican House and Senate fashioned a bill that would bring both the pipeline and the tax cut and unemployment insurance to the forefront at the same time.  President Obama after signing the bill to benefit the Working Class, Middle Class and Poor of the USA will  have to make an Executive Decision regarding the folly of TransCanada.  


If I were President Obama I would defeat it, because, in two months time after it has been defeated (And the argument can easily be made it was set up to be defeated as there isn't enough time) the Republicans are going to attach it anyway regardless of the harmful and wasteful nature of the project.  They will demand to pass the pipeline along with the extended tax cuts and unemployment benefits after it is defeated by the White House; proving once again who actually OWNS THE REPUBLICANS.


TransCanada is a folly because the British markets are now closed to their garbage grade oil and sludge and I sincerely doubt Venezuela will allow an ally of the USA sales into Latin American and South America.  I don't really care, because, I think TransCanada is a garbage stock anyway.


So, there it is.  The Dirty Garbage Politicking of the GOP.  I know who I am voting for across the board in 2012 and there won't be one Republican among them.


Oh, yeah.  I won't be purchasing not one drop of Valero gasoline from any station anywhere in the USA.


Indeed, Valero's (click title to entry thank you) September 2011 presentation to its investors clearly shows how the company plans to export diesel and jet fuel from its Gulf Coast refineries, while importing gasoline from its Pembroke refinery in the U.K.


The 2011 Presentation has been removed from an online access.  There is a lot of propaganda, especially by Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.  The propaganda is necessary to keep the investors committed to this disaster.

Liz knew how to take care of herself and those that surrounded her life.

Star: Liz Taylor,(click title of entry for more photos and video - thank you) who died earlier this year aged 79, is pictured here enjoying tea and a cake in her dressing room in 1950

Princess Zinaida Yusupov wearing the La Pelegrina Pearl as a head ornament surmounted by the La Regente

Characteristics of the "La Pelegrina Pearl" (click here)

The older "La Pelegrina Pearl" with a history of over 350 years is a natural pear-shaped white pearl, with high quality silvery luster and a weight of 133.16 grains. The pearl undoubtedly has all the desirable characteristics under GIA's seven pearl value factors :- size, shape, color, luster, surface quality, nacre quality, and matching.

Socio-economic choices for women. - From the New Zealand Herald.

...Meanwhile, (click title to entry - thank you) one in 10 45-year-old women in 2010, when the information was collated, had four or more children, compared with one in five women born in 1938.

According to the figures, women born in the 1960s and 1970s had fewer children by age 30 than previous generations as more and more opted into higher eduction, delayed marriage and established careers.

Those born in 1965 had 1.18 children on average by their 30th birthday, compared with 1.86 for women born in 1938.

And those women born in 1980 had 1.03 children on average by their 30th.

Future projections suggest that the percentage of women having just one child will rise from 13 per cent among women born in 1965 to 18 per cent for these born in 1970 and 1975....

While in the USA the political right wing wants to define an embryo as a citizen and prohibit birth control to insure they have enough people for their military aspirations.

The Congress is ineffectual. They can only agree on a two month bill for the tax cut and unemployment benefits? That is nothing short of sad.

The Republicans have anchored their bids for re-election and presidential hopefuls on being "The Party of NO!" When a Congress is this divided the nation is unsuccessful. The Republicans do no respect the election outcomes of 2008 and 2010 with a spirit of cooperation and commitment to recover the USA as soon as possible.


The Republicans are 'power players' with obstruction as their 'wedge' to inhibit forward movement of vital legislation for the country.  They snubbed the President's "American's Job Act" and in doing so they snubbed the American people.


The Republicans refuse to tax the wealthiest after their bailout and the money to fund effective change and government remain out of reach for the Middle Class and Poor. The proof of the draconian intent of the Republicans is revealed in the fact over a third and nearly one half of the nation's populous is at poverty level or just above it. The SHAME belongs to the Republicans as Americans face yet another new year of deprivation.  The Republicans have no moral compass, they have no conscience, only wallets bulging with Wall Street money.


I think I'll return to reading the American Jobs Act to conclusion as there remains about half to finish.

...Those talks (click title to entry - thank you) are still continuing and Reid said he still hoped they would succeed.

But with lawmakers hoping to leave town soon for the holidays, negotiators are working on shorter version they would revisit when Congress returns next year.

The bill would also avoid cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors that would last two months....

Kindly donate to the "Bradley Manning Support Network" - Click title to entry, thank you

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, left, is escorted out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, after the first day of a military hearing that will determine if he should face court-martial for his alleged role in the WikiLeaks classified leaks case. Manning is suspected of being the source in one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of classified information in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Cliff OwenCliff Owen / AP


I wonder if he could be considered a journalist?


By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy News Service

FORT MEADE, Md. -- A hearing (click here) to determine whether Army Pfc. Bradley Manning should face charges of illegally releasing thousands of classified U.S. military documents opened Friday with the defense questioning the presiding officer’s objectivity....

The hearing Mr. Manning is facing is a military hearing and his attorney sees the first approach as a conflict of interest.  Mr. Manning's attorney, Dr. David Coombs states the presiding officer, Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, as someone who cannot remove himself from a pre-determined outcome.  When asked to recuse himself the Colonel saw the request as preposterous.


The Manning Family has been overseeing Bradley's return to the USA and vigilant to his wellness and treatment.  Kindly support the family and bring justice to Bradley.  

Christopher Hitchens Dead at 62; Prolific Columnist and Author Succumbs ...

My deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleague journalists.  He was rather an incredible personality.  The world will be less colorful and insightful.

Before the House and Senate gets too bent out of shape regarding the Oil Sands of Canada as there are facts few know.

The Keystone Pipeline is the work of corrupt lobbyists.  That is already known, but, the really incredible aspect to this monstrosity is the fact there will few American jobs that will out live the actual building of the pipeline.  I am not even sure if Canadians will be building it actually.  I don't believe there is any guarantees to the expertise needed.


Once the pipeline crosses the USA with all the unnecessary risks that comes with it, including imperiling the world's most productive farmland when (not if) a spill and/or explosion will occur, the oil in it is being shipped abroad.  Not a drop in the refineries in Texas will benefit the USA.  The USA is simply a "Right of Way" for Canada.  The refined oil will be shipped to Central America and Europe.  So, thanks to Republicans all the risk lies with the USA with none of the benefits.


The jobs with longevity if the pipeline is built will be in Canada and Texas at the refinerie.  There won't be any sustainable employment until there is a rupture or explosion of some kind.  Then the USA will have to send out crews to rescue the area, including potential human deaths if there is a significant enough explosion.


In the application by TransCanada it states:

Existing markets for Canadian heavy crude,(click here) principally PADD II, are currently oversupplied, resulting in price discounting for Canadian heavy crude oil.  

Access to the USGC via the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected to strengthen Canadian crude oil pricing in PADD II by removing this oversupply. This is expected to increase  the price of heavy crude to the equivalent cost of imported crude. Similarly, if a surplus of light synthetic crude develops in PADD II, the Keystone XL Pipeline would provide an alternate market and therefore help to mitigate a price discount. 

The resultant increase in the price of heavy crude is estimated to provide an increase in  annual revenue to the Canadian producing industry in 2013 of US $2 billion to US $3.9 billion. 

The pipeline has absolutely NOTHING to do with the USA's energy costs.  Nothing.  This is a Canadian company seeking to make a ton of money via Texas.


Not only that, but, the drought ridden Texas is now coveting water from all the other fifty states, when they need to be building desalination plants.

...The proposed pipeline (click here) could also be used to pump water from the Ogallala aquifer in the U.S. Midwest, one of the world's largest, to the badly parched states in the arid southwest such as Texas, currently suffering its worst drought in history. 

Pipeline industry officials often say pipelines like Keystone can be easily used to transport water, said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians, a large environmental NGO....

The Texans are willing to dry up the nation because they don't care about environmental controls and carbon dioxide emissions.  At one point, Bush, when it was in office was looking to pump water out of the Great Lakes, so this is no surprise.


...Therefore, "Keystone XL poses a double threat to the Ogallala through contamination from a pipeline leak or by pumping water that is already being overdrawn," Barlow said in an interview with Tierramérica. 

Spills from pipelines are not rare. Another Canadian pipeline company spilled 3.2 million litres of thick tar sands crude into a river in Michigan only a year ago, she noted. 

Despite massive clean-up efforts, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials say it may be years before the work in the Kalamazoo River watershed is completed, largely because the heavy tar sands crude, called bitumen, is heavier than water and contains more heavy metals.... 


The demands by Republicans to include this pipeline in a Tax Cut Bill is about corruption and cronies.  There is no reason for this to occur.  Whatever happened to State's Rights where the people don't want this pipeline for all the reasons here and more?  It doesn't matter if states don't want the pipeline, it only matters that Wall Street is served.


Secretary Jackson at the USA EPA is a wonderful administrator of the laws of the USA and the right of the Executive Branch to protect the states, the food supply of the world when the world is not able to feed itself and the air and water we breath and drink.  The Republicans are trying to prove to their FINANCIER from Wall Street they are more powerful than any state in the union and citizen alive.  It is just that simple.  It is corruption beyond any imagination.


Ask yourself if you feel you've been deceived and lied to by Wall Street and the Republicans YET AGAIN !


Oddly, Europe has doesn't even want the lousy stuff.  I hadn't seen this before.  The truth is TransCanada's market for its tar sands oil is diminishing by the day.

Nobody Even Wants Keystone's Tar Sands Oil

Wednesday, October 05, 2011
In a victory for Connie Hedegaard,(click title to entry - thank you) the EU's climate change commissioner, the commission has decided to back a new directive on fuel quality. This will set minimum environmental standards for a range of fuels, including tar sands, coal converted to liquid and oil from shale rock. Hedegaard said: "With this measure, we are sending a clear signal to fossil fuels suppliers. As fossil fuels will be a reality in the foreseeable future, it's important to give them the right value.'' ...The proposals have now been sent to EU member states who will meet in four to six weeks to vote on the proposal. It will then go to the European parliament for final approval. ...The commission has proposed that tar sands be ascribed a greenhouse gas value of 107 grams per megajoule of fuel – this compares with 87.5 grams per megajoule for ordinary crude oil, on average. Producers will also have to cut the carbon footprint of their fuels by 6% in the next decade....


While Bush and Cheney were in office, they worked closely with the UK and Canada to push through technologies that produce huge amounts of carbon dioxide through 'conversion' processes.  Tar sands and 'liquid from coal' are the two technologies.  The sad truth is that these technologies produce high amounts of carbon dioxide in the process of conversion fuels.  The final product has carbon dioxide emissions no different than gasoline.  I don't even know if the final product can actually be added to gasoline enhancements to increase cleaner fuels and/or mileage.  By cleaner I mean sulfur, lead, ozone, nitrogen and the list goes on.  If one burns gasoline without additives, it is fairly nasty stuff and causes acid rain.


But, these technologies when they were introduced were controversial in all circles of environment, conservation and human health.  These aren't just tree huggers.  They are highly qualified people able to level opposition.  


What TransCanada wanted to do with the Keystone XL pipeline was to increase demand for the oil extracted from the tar sands.  I hadn't seen this information before, evidently the UK has decided the country is not going to create incentives for the use of the technology and demand for the product.  With this decision from the UK it may very well be that TransCanada will loose its shirt while demand will not increase by diminish while costs escalate.  There are no guarantees this Tar Sand oil, which is a very poor quality oil, will have a market even after it reaches Texas.  The Latin America countries receive their oil frrm their own oil wells within their borders, Venezuela and Mexico.  I doubt if they are going to take an interest in this mess even after it reaches the Gulf Coast.  


Bold Nebraska (click here)

...Jane Kleeb, director of the anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska, said research hasn't shown the effects of the tar sands oil on land, water or human health if a pipeline were to leak. Kleeb noted that the state hasn't enacted laws to shield landowners from oil-spill liability or dealt with the prospect of eminent domain if they oppose a company's offer to buy land for a project.

"Our concerns have not been addressed, and the opposition is not going away," Kleeb said. "We do not know the proposed route. We have no idea if the pipeline will cross the heart of the Ogallala aquifer, or areas where the pipe sits in the water table."...

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution :

The Keystone pipeline will NOT create 20,000 new jobs (click here)

12:09 pm December 14, 2011, by Jay

And that, of course, is false, and Lugar and McConnell have good reason to know it is false. The Keystone XL Pipeline, the centerpiece of the latest standoff in Washington, will not produce 20,000 shovel-ready jobs. Even TransCanada, the company pushing the pipeline’s construction, now acknowledges that it is false.

The number that the company likes to throw around is now 13,000 direct construction jobs, but that too is misleading. When challenged, the company acknowledges that it is counting what you might call “job years.” In other words, TransCanada believes the project will produce 6,500 jobs that last for two years.

Six thousand five hundred jobs is a far cry from 20,000. And even the 6,500-job estimate is much too high. According to an independent assessment by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the project would produce between 2,500 and 4,650 construction jobs, and could even end up costing the country jobs, for reasons that we’ll get to below....


Wall Street.  Blackrock is a Wall Street equity firm.  They are going to try to turn oil sands in to their own form of liquidity.  This is a CASH COW for Blackrock, IF, anyone purchases the product.


Transcanada Corp. (NYSE:TRP): On 06/30/2011, BlackRock, Inc.(click here) reported holding 13,548,085 shares with a market value of $593,948,048. This comprised 1.17% of the total portfolio. On 09/30/2011, BlackRock, Inc. reported holding 15,061,561 shares with a market value of $609,842,630. This comprised 1.38% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 1,513,476....


TransCanada is a failing company.  The pipeline mentioned in this article is a gas pipeline that is losing money.

Pipeline caught in ‘death spiral’ of rising costs (click here)

Published On Fri Dec 16 2011

John SpearsBusiness Reporter

TransCanada Corp.’s main gas pipeline is caught in a “death spiral” of a dwindling customer base and negative market forces, according to some of its customers.

And those customers – who include some of Ontario’s new natural gas-fired generating stations – say they’re being whacked with soaring tolls in the pipeline’s struggle for survival.

Those costs are passed on to consumers....


And commodity prices are dropping for the products TransCanada produces.  Oh, well.

Canadian Gas Declines on Higher-Than-Normal U.S. Stockpiles (click here)

By Gene Laverty
Dec 15, 2011 4:54 PM ET


...Gas traded on the exchange is shipped to users in Canada and the U.S. and priced on TransCanada Corp.’s Alberta system. NGX Alberta gas has slipped 21 percent this year....

Where does it look as though TransCanada will make money?  Ready?  ALTERNATIVES.  Particularly Wind Energy.

TransCanada Corporation: Cartier Wind Energy Delivering Additional Power to Quebec (click here)

Nov. 29, 2011, 10:04 a.m. EST

CALGARY, ALBERTA, Nov 29, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- TransCanada Corporation  (TransCanada) today announced the completion of the Montagne Seche project and phase one of the Gros-Morne wind farm. Combined, the two projects are capable of producing 159 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, enough to meet the needs of over 17,000 homes.

"We're pleased to add these two additional projects to our diverse energy portfolio as it demonstrates our commitment to increasing the supply and availability of clean, renewable energy," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "With the successful start-up of these projects, we have taken another step towards realizing our vision of becoming the leading energy infrastructure company in North America. Looking forward, we are positioned to complete another $12 billion of new projects that are expected to come into service by 2014."...

Another Wall Street Company.

Transcanada Corp: Genworth Financial’s Biggest Utilities Stock Position in Q3 (click here)

By Dave Friedman

Wall St Watchdog reveals information regarding Genworth Financial’s top holdings in the Utilities sector for the quarter ending September 30th, 2011. The firm held 19 stocks in the Utilities sector at the end of the quarter with an aggregate market value of $40.734 million.

I don't need anymore to know this company is best off staying in Canada to supply the energy sector there.  They have no solid basis for expansion, the CEO is finding monies in equity firms and portraying a HOPEFUL outlook.  I would no more purchase this stock than shoot myself in the foot.  I don't own a gun.

Corruption, incompetency, but, the attack on the institutions created to assist homebuyers is unwarranted. This is proof.

...“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives told the world that their subprime exposure was substantially smaller than it really was,” Robert Khuzami, the head of enforcement for the S.E.C., said in a statement. “These material misstatements occurred during a time of acute investor interest in financial institutions’ exposure to subprime loans, and misled the market about the amount of risk on the company’s books. All individuals, regardless of their rank or position, will be held accountable for perpetuating half-truths or misrepresentations about matters materially important to the interest of our country’s investors.”...


This does not diminish the fact the American Dream was treated as a commodity that could be traded in bundles for profit, leaving homeowners floundering to whom owned their mortgages.  It also does not absolve the fact the five banks drove their companies over a cliff in anticipation of being covered by insurance at AIG.


There was gross mismangement and corruption everywhere.  No one is a scapegoat for the others.  Wall Street investment banks are suppose to come to understandings of risk based on their ability to assess companies and markets.  That wasn't happening at all.  They were playing with risky tools of investment and on margins.  


...The complaint alleges, for instance, that Fannie Mae executives described subprime loans as those made to individuals “with weaker credit histories” while only reporting one-tenth of the loans that met that criteria in 2007. The S.E.C. complaint contends that Freddie Mac executives falsely proclaimed that certain businesses had virtually no exposure to ultra-risky loans....


The facts were simple, the housing market was saturated with artificial price inflation and no one was minding the store.  The fact the equity market of home loans was out of control was ASSESSABLE other than the descriptions of Fannie and Freddie, but, everyone was enjoying the fun and games more than they did their jobs across the board, be it investment banks or qualifying agencies.  There is nothing wrong with the programs that aren't right with the programs, it was gross negligence of the responsibility of investment banks to accurately track the data regardless of the jazz coming out of the agencies.  It was far to easy to throw down the gauntlet and bank on AIG carrying the load.

Fannie Mae (click here) 




Freddie Mac (click here)

The only Republican running for President that is not a 'shape shifter' is Michele Bachmann.

She is the only Republican among the entire field that has held her values from the beginning.  She has not changed her position on any topic even once.


But, she is criticized for her values.  The criticism I am hearing is that the Republicans have to set the social conservative aside in order to win the elections of 2012.  Some in the country would say that is a wise decision, but, with the field very fluid as to their beliefs, policies and positions, who can believe them?


I can't believe how much the Republican candidates want to appear to be John McCain.  Romney dissed President Obama and I was waiting for him to launch into their favorite song; "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."

A Domestic 'Sky Net?' I don't think so.

Is this somebody's idea of a joke?  It isn't a good one.  This isn't a camera in a convenience store, it isn't ordinary surveillance.  The drones are weapons, they have been designed as weapons for the purpose of war and there is absolutely no use for them in the USA.  Damn the Mexican Border if that is the justification.  There is absolutely no reason for weapons to be patrolling the skies over citizen's heads.  


The record of these machines outside the USA is horrible and we are suppose to trust them within our borders.  


AIN'T NO WAY!!!!!!!!!


Get over it!

By Sylvia Wood, msnbc.com

The Federal Aviation Administration (CLICK TITLE TO ENTRY - THANK YOU) is preparing new rules that could make it easier for law enforcement agencies to use drone aircraft in the U.S., raising concerns about privacy at a time when the aircraft are already conducting surveillance missions in some parts of the country.


The American Civil Liberties Union released a report Thursday demanding better protections against a surveillance society, “in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities.”...


WALL STREET IS HUNGRY!!!


If this mess continues we need to rethink swat teams.  This is militarization of the police force.  This is not IRAQ!

It is odd the manner in which some PROFESSIONS are classified in the USA.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on new minimum wage/overtime protections for in-home care workers at a “We Can’t Wait” event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House, Dec. 15, 2011. Among the workers joining the President was Pauline Beck, right, a home care worker from California who, in 2007, was shadowed by then Senator Obama as part of an event called “Walk a Day in My Shoes.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


President Obama is doing wonderful work by insuring a fair wage to homecare workers.  They are definitely underpaid and under appreciated.  This isn't the only profession wrongly categorized.  I haven't checked recently, but, the nursing profession was classified under housekeeping.  So much for being appreciated as a professional.


This will bring better quality of life to those that care for the homebound.  Home care has increased in recent years as more states are paying homecare workers to care for the elderly and disabled in their own homes rather than in nursing homes.  


This will also return monies to the US Economy rather than leaving it in the pockets of Wall Street.  I applaud President Obama for taking on the good fight and bringing sincere justice to the people that deserve it most.  I thank you and the homecare worker for their dedication to selfless service.

The only codified APPLICATION of previous statute was implemented after the attacks of September 11, 2001..

In some instances people were literally rounded up and placed in jail and prison cells.  A Pakistani man died while jailed from a heart attack.  He was refused most of the rights afforded citizens even then.  Then there is Gitmo, but, that is a military installation and not a civilian prison.  It would seem as though if Congress has its way the facility will remain open and include citizens of the USA.  


The entire expansion of the President's powers is unnecessary because Marshall Law can be invoked to limit the rights of everyone.  I am sure President Obama included or plans to include a signing statement, however, it seems like a redundant law, unnecessary and dangerous.  It is these occasional brushes with citizen's rights that bring a great deal of skepticism as to what the heck is going on with the military and the elected officials of the Congress.  


I am sure this provision will end up in a lawsuit nothing short of when the ink dries on the paper.  The entire concept should have been addressed separately and without the appearance of sneaking through on National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.  

AG Holder has talked before in Texas when discussing the border security and the drug cartels.

The Houston Chronicle considers his speech to be 'a challenge.'  I am not surprised as Texas finds HONEST, FAIR AND LEGAL voter's rights as a challenge as it could not get its redistricting correct. 


AUSTIN - The nation's (click title to entry - thank you) top law enforcement official drew attention to two of the state's hot-button political issues - redistricting and voter ID laws - telling a Texas audience Tuesday night that making it harder to vote "goes against the arc of history."...


Voter Fraud has never been a problem that required laws to ensure the legal outcome of the ballot box.  Quite the contrary, Cornyn should know from the illegal election in the year 2000; that DISENFRANCHING voters is the problem.  The elections of 2000 threw the election into the Supreme Court and Bush was appointed by three justices.  The 2000 elections were stolen from the electorate of the USA.  


..."Voter identification laws are constitutional and necessary to prevent fraud at the ballot box," Cornyn said. "Facing an election challenge next year, this administration has chosen to target efforts by the states to protect the democratic process."...


I have yet to witness a single legislation within these states insuring there will be no disenfranchisement of the voter.  When is that going to happen?

Christine O'Donnell is you and now she is Mitt Romney as well.

It would seem as though Mitt Romney can identify with Christine, especially when it comes to speaking clearly to the electorate. Recently, Romney stated how wealthy Newt Gingrick was in that he had a half a million dollar purchase from STIFFANY'S.

I am still trying to discern weather his Freudian Slip was slander of Newt or his own hubris.

It would seem as though the heir apparent to the Murdoch empire is as corrupt as it comes.

...But in a more fundamental sense, James' luck has finally run out. The publication of the newly discovered emails between him and the then editor of the News of the World documents not only the mechanism of a big cover-up but also, crucially, the way that James has repeatedly shifted his story and sought to blame others. It is not a good look for the would-be captain of a mighty international corporation.

The News of the World's then editor, Colin Myler, and lawyer Tom Crone have always testified that James was in on the cover-up, which involved paying more than £700,000 to hacking victim Gordon Taylor as the price of his silence. Back in July 2009, Myler told the media committee: ''Myself and Mr Crone … went to see James Murdoch and told him where we were with the situation … James Murdoch was advised of the situation.''

But two years later, after the collapse of the cover-up, James was still pleading ignorance. ''The company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so.'' To the committee, he claimed that Crone and Myler had concealed from him the smoking gun - an email transcribed by News of the World reporter Ross Hindley and marked ''for Neville'', i.e. Neville Thurlbeck, the paper's chief reporter. MP Tom Watson asked James: ''Did you see or were you made aware of the 'for Neville' email, the transcript of the hacked voicemail messages?'' He replied: ''No, I was not aware of that at the time.''

Myler and Crone then openly contradicted him, saying: ''James Murdoch's recollection of what he was told when agreeing to settle the Gordon Taylor litigation was mistaken.'' James fought back: ''They did not show me the email, nor did they refer to Neville Thurlbeck … Neither Mr Myler nor Mr Crone told me that wrongdoing extended beyond Mr Goodman or Mr Mulcaire.''...

His pathetic defense is that everything was done by Mrs. Peacock in the Kitchen with a knife.

Carrot and Stick

How is the House going to pay for it by destroying Social Security?

House Republicans Push Toward Vote on $1 Trillion Spending Bill (click title to entry - thank you)

December 15, 2011, 8:15 AM EST

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- House Republicans unveiled a $1 trillion spending bill setting budgets for hundreds of government programs in a bid to force U.S. lawmakers to wrap up their work for the year.

Republicans aim to put the more than 1,200-page spending measure to a vote tomorrow, a move designed to give them an advantage in a separate battle with Democrats over extending an expiring payroll tax cut.

Passing the spending bill would let Republicans leave for their Christmas holiday, increasing pressure on the Democratic-controlled Senate to accept it as well as Republicans’ version of the payroll tax cut. Democrats have been holding up the legislation on concerns that approval would ensure the House recess, forcing them to accept both measures.

A short-term bill funding federal agencies expires tomorrow and without action by Congress, the government will partially shut down. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said his colleagues want to break the payroll-tax stalemate.

“Hopefully, the Senate will act,” he told reporters yesterday. “But you know how they are. We’re not going to sit around here and wait two weeks, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the Senate.”...

It would seem as though the current budget before the Senate continues to defund the government and this is the House's answer.

...House Republicans (click here) officially unveiled the massive, bipartisan spending bill late Wednesday to fulfill transparency rules, but Senate Democrats had yet to officially sign on. However, the measure wasn't expected to change much, if at all, before a vote Friday, despite White House protests and an explicit veto threat regarding provisions placing limits on the ability of Cuban immigrants to visit families on the island or send money back to them....

As the USA officially leaves Iraq and returns home there will be a variety of criticisms.

It is what both the Iraqi and USA people wanted.  NATO will complain they have been left in the lerch to defend themselves, but, NATO is never satisfied unless there is a USA presence nearby.  NATO chronically feels vulnerable by their geographic location on the planet and to that end there has to be other means of security and not simply wars unending.

Wall Street has many, many plans for Iraq.  Hopefully, the people will see the benefit of developing their economy, but, if it means low wage employment such as China and India their future is not necessarily bright.  The USA is not going to be the security force for Wall Street.  If contractors want to enforce Wall Street sovereignty then Wall Street needs to pay for it themselves.

Last updated: Dec 15, 2011

World's big firms target Gulf region for growth (click title to entry - thank you)

Foreign investors are putting more than $1 billion into the region, investing in the Middle East's young and growing population despite a difficult global economy....

So, why exactly has Wall Street been sitting on its bailout?  Another China and India perhaps?

Shell plans venture to expand presence in Iraq (click here)

Dec 14, 2011

...The company is now looking to add to a string of new petrochemical projects by capitalising on the emerging feedstock source, and is undertaking a study to access the feasibility of an Iraqi venture....

This is where the Republican Tax Cuts for the wealthy are going.  This is where the Bush Tax Cuts are going, not the domestic economy of the USA.  That has to be addressed by local business ventures and a return of the independant business owner including building refrigerators, washers and dryers.

Local USA economies need to be the focus of all legislation addressing the economic problems of the USA.  An entire generation is unemployed, Wall Street is NEVER going to solve it!