A Wisconsin county official, Tom Ament resigned before his recall ballot was successful. (click title to entry - thank you)

...The group gave the commission no advance warning before they arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse with seven boxes of petitions.

Sheriff's deputies stood by as the recall group sealed the boxes and received a receipt for turning them in. The deputies then took the boxes across the street to the graphics department where workers will make copies and begin validating the signatures.

WISN 12 News was told that Ament's attorneys will examine the first 4,000 signatures and then decide whether to continue with the rest....

100,000 Wisconsin Protesters can't be wrong !

Tom Ament Announces Retirement (click here)

Ament: I Realized I Can't Lead County Government Effectively

POSTED: 9:32 am CST February 21, 2002
UPDATED: 7:09 pm CST February 21, 2002

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament announced his retirement Thursday morning at the Milwaukee County Board meeting.

"I have sadly come to the conclusion that I cannot lead this government at this time. Therefore I'm announcing my retirement effective at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002," Ament said.

He said that he accepts responsibility for the lump-sum pension payout controversy.

Ament, 64, said that he asked his staff and department heads to remain.

He ended his speech by saying "God bless all the people of this community."...

I guess enough time went by and he thought he'd try again.

Ament Considers Running for County Executive  (click here)

By The Journal Sentinel

Story Created: Nov 12, 2010
Story Updated: Nov 12, 2010

MILWAUKEE - There are a few things Tom Ament wants you to know.
He never took or even wanted a "backdrop" pension payment. He's still stung by the chain of events that led to his resignation in disgrace nearly nine years ago.
And he's got an itch to run again for county executive....

The next Van Jones. Meet Vail Nasr, the target of Right Wing Hatred rather than admired for his qualifications.

All the Right Wing knows is hate.  In an interview John Bolton stated the United Nations is an illegitimate organization.  Let me see, there was a global concensus that such an organization is beneficial, but, since Bolton states it is illegitimate it must be.  When is the Right Wing going to DO SOMETHING that is LEGITMATE in any opposition. 

Jerks.

Does every statement from the Right Wing have to be a commercial for the NRA?

...For example, (click title to entry - thank you) the Tehran-born Dr. Vali Nasr was appointed to co-direct Obama foreign policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Former Saudi Arabian supplicant Charles Freeman was appointed by Obama to chair the Administration's National Intelligence Council, but withdrew his name when it was revealed he issued a 2-page screed in which he postulated a conspiracy theory claiming he had been 'victimized' by American supporters of Israel.  In addition, John Limbert was appointed to direct U.S. policy toward the Islamist regime in Iran.  Limbert, who was taken hostage during the Iranian upheaval of the late 70s-early 80s, is an Iranian sympathizer who advocates negotiation with one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world....


February 12, 2011 2:12 PM

John Bolton: Egyptian Democracy May be Bad News  (click here)

...It is the "responsibility of our government to protect our interests and our values and our friends and our allies," Bolton said. Referencing former President Theodore Roosevelt, he added  that "first and foremost we must make the world safe for ourselves."...

Governor of Wisconsin Salary without including benefit costs $137,092 (click title to entry - thank you)

"I don't want to be paid," Schwarzenegger said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, adding that "the people have my full devotion."  (click here)


Wisconsin - Governor's Mansion (click here)
Associated Press ... direct feed | November 27, 2002
Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 12:15:25 PM by NYer
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) _ State Sen. Robert Wirch is asking Governor-elect Jim Doyle to sell the governor's mansion as a way to address the state's projected $2.6 billion budget deficit.
Wirch said selling the $1.3 million mansion would be more of a symbolic gesture than a way to save a significant amount of money. ``Considering the budget deficit and talk about borrowing money against the pension fund, we need to cut all extravagances, and the governor's mansion is more an extravagance than a necessity,'' said Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie. Doyle spokesman Thad Nation said he would not comment until he had seen Wirch's letter.
The governor's mansion sits on the shores of Lake Mendota and is worth about $1.3 million, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. But Wirch said that the value of the land the mansion sits on and the costs of running the house amount to around $4 million.
Wirch said he got the idea from other candidates in the governor's race and that he would have suggested it regardless of who won the office. In his letter to Doyle, Wirch notes that at least six states have either sold their executive residences or have never offered an executive residence. Wirch also mentioned that Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura refused to live in the governor's mansion in St. Paul.



“I’ve said all along the protesters have every right to be there,..." Scott Walke stated on February 21, 2011 (click here)

"Morning Papers" - Its Origin

w

The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

Tonight are the awards for exemplary films. "Gasland" is a profoundly important film without any awards. Enjoy this evening.

Come 2012 the RNC plans to make the action Republicans are taking against unions a directive of the "Race to the Top."

It was noted that there was legislation in Florida that was vetoed by Former Governor Crist to break unions.  That same bill is being introduced into the state legislature with hopes of passing this year.

...Several school districts (click here) around the country have experimented in recent years with tying teacher pay to student academic growth. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have also used federal grants to promote the idea – raising concerns that too many good teachers are driven out of the profession because they aren’t rewarded for the great strides their students make. But they’ve been careful to emphasize that performance pay systems are complex, and need to be developed in cooperation with teachers, not imposed on them.
Research shows that “involving key stakeholders in any pay-for-performance effort is vital to future success,” says Susan Freeman Burns, program manager at the National Center on Performance Incentives in Nashville, Tenn....

Florida was a winner in "Race to the Top" without destroying unions or their current compensation.  Crist was correct, there was no need for the legislation and ultimately it would hurt the children of Florida.

The link at the title to this entry arrives at the Wisconsin state government website that recruits teachers to work in Wisconsin.  The pay rates are listed there; the average Wisconsin school teachers earns $47,602 while starting with $31,753.  The administrators are far fewer in number and earn much more, but, those salaries are more than reasonable through collective bargaining.  Pubic employees compensation packages cannot be compared to the private sector to 'bring them into line.'  If that is going to occur, then their salaries have to be adjusted up rather than receiving delayed compensation at retirement or through their health care dollars.  Health Care Dollars to TEACHERS that come in contact with children need to be in place and should never be a burden or short changed for the benefit of the general health of the children, their familes and the well being of the teacher.  The attack on eduction unions and public employees is grossly unwarranted.

Republican House Representative Peter King, new title by the RNC strategist for 2012 "Religious Bigot and Zealot Czar."

Everyone knows there is nothing but political strategist Karl Rove and the Murdoch media mess behind the 'concerns' of Mr. King.

This is a waste of taxpayers dollars AGAIN for the purpose of setting a stage for 2012.  I hope this permanently damages the 'career politician' and most likely least damaged at the center of hatred toward "The Ground Zero Mosque" in New York City.

This "King Circus" goes to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Republicans are PUPPETS for Murdoch's 'power play media.' 


The Republicans are running out of strategies for 2012.  They have turned viciously on the Middle Class and they are now trying to 'drum up' more hate and fear at the very time when the Middle East is celebrating huge steps toward democracy.

Does King actually think he is going to get away with this? 

I don't think so.

Republicans are corrupt to the core and this is more and more and more proof. 

You can always count on the media to give advantage to the plutocracy when it comes to exploiting Americans.

When US Representative Gabriellle Giffords was shot with an attempted assassination Murdoch's media went into over drive to push the idea that the gunman was somehow insane and that was 'the flaw in the law.'  In competition with Murdoch, CNN's Crowley spent an entire hour with psychiatrists on how it could have happened and now mental health is an issue when it comes to violence in the USA. 


It was all 'buzz,' rhetoric and manipulation.  Not until Christiane Amanpour on ABC did we actually get the truth as if it sincerely mattered. 


Now, since Libya is imploding and its dictator needs to be removed there are hugh pushes for 'the idea' by CNN and Murdoch, once again; that oil is far more scarce than anyone can predict.


Surprise, once again and still it is all nonsense to benefit the bottom line of the petroleum industry ESPECIALLY since dead deformed carcasses of infant dolphins are showing up on the USA Gulf Coast.


Here is the truth, from all places, Saudi Arabia.


Oil jumping in price is simply that and not based for any other valid reason except exploitation on the 'opportunity.'  Read the article below carefully, because the assumption is that since Qaddafi no longer controls eastern Libya the oil exports are going to hell in a hand basket.  Eastern Libya is NOT where the unrest and the disposed despot are in danger.  So.  Like.  What does Wall Street want, Eastern Libya to go back under the rule of the despot.  I think that is how we got in this mess in the first place, is it not.  While the Libyan people are conducting their daily lives seeking to displace their dictator through protests one can hardly say they are disrupting their own way of life in East Libya.  Wall Street is bizarre and it is nothing but specutlation that is the problem.

Oil jumps 7.5% to $119.79 a barrel (click here)

...Eastern areas holding much of Libya's oil have slipped from the control of Muammar Qaddafi.Goldman Sachs said the spread of unrest to another producing country could create severe oil shortages and require demand rationing. "The market cannot accommodate another disruption, in our view, with the problems in Libya potentially absorbing half of OPEC's spare capacity," analyst Jeffrey Currie said in a research note....

Goldman is screaming 'the sky is falling, the sky is falling.'

Goldman fears 'severe oil market shortages' (click here)

...“The market cannot accommodate another disruption, in our view, with the problems in Libya potentially absorbing half of OPEC’s spare capacity,” Jeffrey Currie said in a research note....

Wow, really?  I suppose it would be better to continue with the despot in power so the price of gas in Europe and the USA doesn't spike, huh?

Iranian oil.  I'll be darn.

Iran sells more oil as Libyan exports dwindle (click here)

TEHRAN/LONDON: Iran is taking advantage of Libya’s turmoil and dwindling exports to sell more crude that it has found difficult to offload due to economic sanctions.

Unrest in Libya has slashed a big chunk of its crude oil output of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), with estimates of capacity shut down ranging from 500,000 to 1.2 million bpd.
Ahmad Ghalebani, Iranian deputy oil minister, said on Friday Iran had already seen an increase in demand following political upheaval in the Arab world.
“Demand for Iran’s oil has increased,” Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Ghalebani as saying.
Italian oil refiner Saras SpA, traditionally a big buyer of Libyan crude oil, said in a Reuters interview on Friday that it was looking at replacing oil shipments from Libya and had already slightly increased sour crude supplies from Iran....

Not that I want to increase Iran's revenue, but, it doesn't seem as though purchasers in Italy find it a bad idea.  Give a little, take a little and it all works out.

Editorial: What oil crisis? (click title to entry - thank you)

Those talking up the market in the hope of making a killing will burn their fingers

When a supposedly reputable organization such as Nomura Securities suggests that the price of oil could hit $200 a barrel because of current unrest in the Middle East, questions have to be asked about its intentions.
The Nomura projection is based on both Libyan and Algerian oil production being stopped. Yet there is no indication that Algerian production is about to cease — certainly not at the same time as Libya’s. Moreover, Nomura’s figures do not take into account increasing production elsewhere, such as in Brazil and Russia. In any event, Saudi Arabia has sufficient spare capacity to meet not only a 1.7-million barrel-a-day Libyan shortfall but a 1.4 million b/d Algerian one as well. It has made it abundantly clear in the past few days that it can — and will — pump the extra oil if required. That is a guarantee.

So is the Nomura suggestion a case of straightforward ignorance by researchers out of sync with reality? Or is Nomura deliberating talking up the price?...

...This grossly irresponsible speculation becomes even more absurd in suggestions that unrest could “spread” to the Kingdom and affect Saudi production. Bloomberg, for example, did just that a couple of days ago, on the basis that “unrest in Bahrain, which is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 26- kilometer causeway, has in the past spread across the border.”
Bloomberg evidently knows nothing about what makes the Kingdom tick. The situation is very different to that in North Africa or Bahrain. Saudi Arabia is no more likely the next location of protests than Switzerland or Singapore. The idea would be laughable was it not for the fact that such ill-informed speculation is doing great damage. It is the real cause for the oil price going up....
The 'idea' that oil is becoming more and more scarce due to 'lack of production' is just about as hideous as worrying about The USA Fifth Fleet anchored in Bahrain and unarmed protesters.

Ah, yes and then there is 'The Volt.'

...GM said the 2012 Chevrolet Volt (click here) and the Equinox would come equipped with a new system dubbed "Chevy MyLink" anchored by an 18cm colour touch-screen display in the dashboard....

Everyone carrying out this huge deception that is costing consumers dearly at a time of economic stress should be far more than ashamed.  The Right Wing Media is TOXIC.

Cancer and Birth Defects Possible Outcome of Exposure To BP Oil-William ...

I can't help but wonder if the dispersants are very teratological. Those chemicals have to come out of that water.

The tragedy of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster is far from over. Every dead dolphin extends the endangered status of the species.

Infants that can't survive outside the uterus and stillborns that were unable to survive in it.  Why does that sound like extinction to me?

Intern Rhiannon Blake, (click title to entry - thank you)  left, and volunteer David Spence of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies photograph one of four dead dolphin calves being recovered from Horn Island before taking tissue samples on Tuesday, February 22 2011.

 Unless we understand and minimize (click here) the consequences of these factors, bottlenose dolphins may not be around for future generations to admire and appreciate.

"I will rule you or I will kill you !"

He is removing the bodies of dead unarmed demonstrators in Tripoli from the streets so they cannot be found.

How many will die before he is stopped?

Feb 25 (Reuters) - The United States (click title to entry - thank you) is not taking any options off the table with regard to its response to the violence in Libya, including potential U.S. military action, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday.

A Libyan gunman flashes a V sign as he stands on a military truck loaded with launcher rockets at Al-Katiba military base after it fell to anti-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi protesters few days ago. (AP)

...Qaddafi, (click here) who just two days ago vowed in a televised address to crush the revolt and fight to the last, showed none of the fist-thumping rage of that speech. This time, he spoke to state television by telephone without appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory.
"Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe," Qaddafi said.
A Tripoli resident said: "It seems like he realized that his speech yesterday with the strong language had no effect on the people. He's realizing it's going to be a matter of time before the final chapter: the battle of Tripoli."...

Mourners in Libya carry coffins containing the bodies of protesters killed in Benghazi on Friday.

Image Credit: Reuters

...A defiant Gaddafi (click here) Friday challenged the rebels, saying those who do not like him do not deserve to live. Addressing his supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square amid tight security, Gaddafi said he would not give up the leadership of the country under any circumstances.
Earlier, militias loyal to Gaddafi opened fire on protesters streaming out of mosques and marching across Tripoli, killing several people, reports said. In rebellious cities in the east, tens of thousands held rallies in support of the first Tripoli protests in days.
With the regime offering no prospect for an acceptable solution to the crisis, Libyans have opted to go ahead with their revolution no matter its toll in lives, Salim Al Okali, member of the revolutionary committee in Derna, told Gulf News....

We have been here before in New Zealand and what did I say then? I know I am nobody, but, what did I say then?

What I stated was that Christchurch was a coastal area with a lot of stress being applied to it from the mountains.  Isn't that what I stated?  Did anyone take is seriously?  It would not seem to be the case.

Does everyone understand why the city of Christchurch survived the first time, but, not the second time?  It would seem as though New Zealand needs some input from some decent seismologists that can actually understand the stresses and dynamics of their land.  New Zealand can be a very delicate place with glaciers, water dynamics, beautiful mountains and gorgeous coastal areas, but, when one puts all that together there are 'stress points' within the land that need to be identified. 

Liquefaction to the soil is a dynamic when earthquakes occur.  The high dynamics of high magnitude quakes 'shakes everything' loose.  You know how earthworms are good for gardens as they aerate the soil?  That is what earthquakes do only in huge dynamics.  Are people paying attention or considering themselves lucky that the luck will translate into immunity from it happening again?  Because the words 'christ' and 'church' are in the name therefore everyone is immune from Earth's physics.  Yes?  "W"rong.

Christchurch earthquake: Levels of liquefaction 300 - 500 pc worse (click title to entry - thank you)

By Hayden Donnell and Paul Harper

6:13 PM Friday Feb 25, 2011
The level of liquefaction after Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude aftershock dwarfs the amount caused by the original earthquake that hit Christchurch in September, Mayor Bob Parker says.
He says the amount of damage is particularly high in the city's eastern suburbs.
"The scale of this is huge.
"Possibly 300 to 500 per cent the level of liquefaction we had in September."

Liquefaction happens when soil is subjected to severe shaking, causing it to lose strength or stiffness.

It is most likely to occur in soils with poor drainage....

Poor drainage in this instance is not because of drought ridden land, it is because it has a high level of water in the soil because it is a coastal area.  The ground is saturated at some 'depth' and is unstable in its components, especially after the first earthquake.  Add the stress of 'weight' of the mountains and their own dynamics and what exists? 

There is an equation of mountain dynamics to 'plains' or 'coastal areas' that states, the longer the land is from the base of the mountain the more stable it is.  It is true.  Mountains are very heavy.  There has to be enough surrounding land to 'hold them' in place and/or 'a mountain base' that is anchored to something like the USA craton. 

The reason there are mud slides and quakes along the California coast is because there is virtually nothing holding the mountains in place as they come down toward the Pacific Ocean.  The homes built along the coast at the base of mountains might be beautiful, but, they are basically some of the most dangerous dynamics in the world when it comes to peaceful enjoyment of one's home.

The government of Libya is all but dissolved. There are many private citizens of mulitple ports of call in the Med

There are huge container ships in the area of the Mediterranean as well.  I cannot help but believe they can attempt resuces of people from the North African Coast where passenger boats may be stranded and trying to leave areas such as Libya.

There is no real war being conducted.  This is all civil actions that are seeking to remove dictators and oppressive regimes.  The potential for rescuing people to safe ports of call on the European side of the Mediterranean may be an option.

Maersk teams with Hapag to enhance U.S, Mediterranean services  (click here)

By gCaptain Staff

Mearsk has announceed that it will enter into a slot swap agreement with Hapag Lloyd between their Mediterranean Gulf Express (MGX) service and Maersk’s own WestMed service.
This swap will offer new direct service from Barcelona, Spain and Valencia, Spain to the US East Coast and the US Gulf, along with new direct service from the US Gulf to Italy and Spain.  The agreement also adds new US ports including New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Texas and Port Everglades, Florida.  New Mediterranean ports include Valencia, Spain; Barcelona, Spain and Cagliari, Italy.
The new services will commence on 1 March 2011 subject to final Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) approval.

A guaranteed ample supply of fuel paid for my relief efforts may be all they need.  The pirate issues are primarily in the Indian Ocean because they are unable to access the Mediterranean to date through the Suez and it is a long time around the Cape of Good Hope.  Besides the chance they would be discovered even before they reached the Strait of Gilbralter will deter them as they can be boarded themselves and arrested for international crimes.

Thank you, Ian. You are a sincere hero.

...Murphy (click title to entry - thank you) simply called Walker's office, saying he was Koch, and was ultimately connected with Walker's chief of staff, Keith Gilkes. "The most ridiciulous thing to me is when I get on line with the chief of staff and he wanted to take my number down, and I said I couldn't give it to him because my maid, Maria, had thrown my phone into the washing machine," Murphy says....

What I would expect from any Governor of any party if they were to take a call from a billionaire donor is, "David who?"

Walker's ego is unbelievable.  Talk about a demigod.  To actually believe he could literally belly up to the bar with David Koch is far more than hubris.  He was looking for plenty of money to spill into his re-election campaign after the conversation.  And the people of Wisconsin are his 'toys' in his political game.  Well, isn't the GOP wonderful?  Huh?

I expect plenty of concessions from the Wisconsin Republican Senators realizing that public employees is how the work force is supposed to be paid and compensated.  They should set an example for the Plutocracy and take workers away from private industry.  I sincerely believe public employees should be the BEST compensated, in whatever form that takes, in the country and give private industry a real run for their money.

,,,An Indiana Deputy Attorney General (click here)  "is no longer employed" by the Attorney General's Office, after he tweeted for "live ammunition" to be used on protesters in Wisconsin, the office announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The deputy AG, Jeff Cox, wrote his comments in response to tweets from a Mother Jones editor named Adam Weinstein....

Former Indian Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox

Pitch your tent somewhere else. Muammar. The people of Libya aren't frightened of you anymore.

Muammar has 'a thing' about planes no one appreciates.  He needs to stand trial for Lockerbie.

I believe with the added aggression against the people of Libya and his knowledge of his own guilt, the United Nations Security Council needs to convene and issue a resolution against Libya's leader to prevent mass refugees into already unstable civilian venues in surrounding countries.  The Libyan people are scared when they need to stand their ground.  The Libyan military needs to find generals sympathetic to the people's movement to organize an effort of 'relief' for the people and 'limiting' the Colonel from acting against the people any further.  The Libyan generals can do this.  They need to take control and seek relief for the people under their own Marshall Law.  The military leadership needs mentoring to have a favorable resolve for their people.  They are unfamiliar with theses dynamics.  They can take control long before any UN Resolution takes effect.  Time matters.  But, the UN needs to react to the violence ordered by the Colonel, there can be no more loyalty toward him if he is killing his own people and using advance weapons to achieve that goal.

Mass Libya evacuations as Qaddafi digs in (click here)

The United States has sent a ferry and planes to Libya's capital, and Turkey has already rescued 5,000 nationals – making it the biggest evacuation in Turkish history.

By Drew Hinshaw, Correspondent

February 23, 2011

Libya s mass expatriate exodus has begun, amid escalating violence as embattled leader Muammar Qaddafi employs mercenaries to prolong his spectacular, 41-year-show of autocracy and eccentricity....

Establish an alternative voice of authority and the people will follow.  It is tricky in that they should not be lead into deceptive situations to find themselves facing death or prison.  The best approach is Marshall Law and people remaining 'safely' within their own homes while the Libyan military establish relief efforts and organize its distribution.  The Generals of the military have to sequester the Colonel and his supports and order them to stop their fighting otherwise their will be consequences.  Muammar is not stupid, he'll know his time is finished.  Some kind of alternative radio and possibly television, but, the message has to reach the people and radio is probably the best way.  It has to be an authority they recognize and trust to consolidate their understanding of their safety.

Libyan opposition reportedly seizes city of Misurata  (click here)

Opponents of Moammar Kadafi's regime reportedly take control of Misurata, which would be the first city to fall in Libya's western half, where Kadafi traditionally has maintained strong tribal support.

By Bob Drogin
Los Angeles Times

February 23, 2011, 8:51 a.m.

Reporting from Cairo —

Anti-government protesters claimed control of their first major city in Libya's far west Wednesday, a significant expansion of their popular uprising a day after embattled strongman Moammar Kadafi vowed to defend his regime "to the last drop of blood."

Gunfire echoed intermittently in the capital, Tripoli, and residents said police in some neighborhoods had abandoned their posts. Pro-government militias were roaming through residential streets and shooting from Land Cruisers, they said."We don't know who is in charge," Najah Kablan, a teacher, said by telephone. "It is very frightening."...

It would not hurt at all for a European and/or American voice was the best alternative to be sure their is an understanding to the authority to trust.

It's a mess.

When did the attack on the Middle Class begin?

Christine Lagarde, (click title to entry - thank you) the French finance minister, warned her US counterpart Hank Paulson that he had to bail out US investment bank Lehman Brothers or face global financial collapse, but her advice went unheeded....

The economic collapse of 2008 was the beginning of the maneuvering of public opinion against itself.

The 'belief' that cutting taxes would stimulate jobs was the beginning of the attack on the conscience of America.  There needed to be taxes placed on the wealthy as soon as the First Quarter of 2009.

The banks took their money and ran.  When it was evident the USA's economy was being abandoned as a house of cards, taxes on those that benefited from the bailouts in unreasonable ways should have been taxed.  The bailout was supposed to stop the economic decline of the Middle Class, maintain workers in their jobs and stabilize fedreal and state treasuries, was also suppose to prevent retirement losses and home foreclosures due to job losses.  All that was suppose to be buoyed by the bailout.  Why would anything change if the banks were provided with the equity they lost because of bad investments when AIG was pushed over the edge?

When President Obama and the Democrats were faced with initiating the Recovery and Reinvestment Act a Windfall Profits Tax should have accompanied the bill along with tax increases on the wealthiest Americans whom were also benefitting from the bailout. 

The problem was for any initiative that would maintain federal and state budgets through tax increases was so strongly opposed by the people as a means to further economic deterioration it became impossible to even discuss it.  It was a political issue that has lead to the election of Republicans that state they can 'leap the worst' deficit in a single bound.  Not possible.  Not without raising taxes.

So, with extremists in the Governorships of the States, they cut taxes further and in doing so plummeted their treasuries into the 'negative' range.  It was a 'designer' way of breaking the unions and destroying pensions.

The public employees have to have unions.  It is the individual against a government entity with nothing but rules and regs and elections to confront, it is impossible to find fairness.  If a public employee has a grievance their chance of being able to have it resolved without ample legal bills is impossible.  The unions provide a lot of support for the individual public employee so they can receive fair treatment while maintaining their income and assets.  It just has to be and to remove their bargaining power is to victimize the individual employee.

The 'packages' of pay, benefits and pensions is just that, a package which is the compensation for their work hours.  Pensions accumulate large amounts of cash and equity.  Those pensions have a fiduciary relationship with the public employee.  It is part of their compensation package.  That can't be taken lightly, nor should it be.  Those pensions provide economic stability for employees and their families no different than Social Security and provides stability to the USA economy.  The attack on pensions and employees is a hideous concept and one that needs to end.

No citizen in the USA or otherwise ever expected to fund a compensation package for Goldman Sachs, but, we did and now our country's budgets are stressed and a target for further exploitation by the wealthy, cronies of Republicans.

It has to stop and people need to be able to live good lives in the USA.  Enough of the attack on the Middle Class.  We have all had enough.  The Republicans should never have been elected in November and many of us stated same, but, the country wasn't ready to hear it.

Good night.

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

I hope all enjoyed President's Day.  It might be the last year the nation will celebrate federal holidays.  The Plutocratic Tea Baggers in all their ideological glory want to remove federal holidays from the calender.

That is what their priorities are.  Somewhere lost in the 2010 elections was the understanding that Republicans of any vairety are ideologues without ideas.  How did that happen?  No one learns what extremists these people are and how they are pandered to by the Plutocracy?

Dissolving federal holidays is like dissolving unions, it a Plutocratic priority and very, very Anti-American.  Without unions the country will sink into a 'two class' system, the rich and poor with very little chance to move out of poverty without education to facilitate that movement..

"Good Night Moon"

Waning Gibbous

88% of Full

Sunday, February 20, 2011

(At Midnight, US Central time, as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere)

Illuminated Fraction: 0.868

2.9 days after full moon

A very small number of human beings with political power, namely the Republicans in the USA House and Senate, are diluted about the Climate Crisis.

In less than 40 years. 

Two generations. 

Our Earth won't resemble the digital pictures and otherwise records will leave as comparison.

It is NOT a 'belief system.' 

It is scientific and verifible fact.

Quibbling about birth control and population control seems so hideous and ridiculous. 

Planet Earth 'unrecognisable' by 2050 (click title to entry - thank you)

12:42 PM Monday Feb 21, 2011

A growing, more affluent population competing for ever scarcer resources could make for an "unrecognisable" world by 2050, warned researchers at a major US science conference.
The United Nations has predicted the global population will reach seven billion this year, and climb to nine billion by 2050, "with almost all of the growth occurring in poor countries, particularly Africa and South Asia," said John Bongaarts of the non-profit Population Council.
To feed all those mouths, "we will need to produce as much food in the next 40 years as we have in the last 8,000," said Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
"By 2050 we will not have a planet left that is recognisable" if current trends continue, Clay said....

Former Governor Jennifer Granholm has joined the "Meet the Press" round table. I enjoyed it.

She and her husband are also enjoying new lives.  I think Cal-Berkeley have a couple of wonderful professors.  A sincere addition to their university's expertise.

$300K Combined Salaries for Granholm and Mulhern at Cal-Berkeley (click title to entry – thank you)

Financially embattled school offers 'substantial' time off for summers and other employment.

By Tom Gantert

Feb. 17, 2011

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her husband will each teach two classes at the University of California-Berkeley in 2011 as part of a combined $300,000 deal, according to documents released by the school in response to a Michigan Capitol Confidential freedom of information request.
In an Aug. 12 letter sent to Granholm and her husband Dan Mulhern announcing the appointments, Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley Jr. wrote: “We propose that each of you teach two courses or seminars per year, and have active affiliations with one or more policy research centers.”
Edley added: “In addition, University policies will permit you to devote substantial time to outside consulting or other compensated activity, as well as your summers.”...

What is going to happen if she is once again the focus of a potential Supreme Court nominee?  Does the USA have the guts to increase the ladies on the Court to four?  We can dream, can't we?  Thomas spending time in partisanship and not recusing himself and now Scalia is mentoring the Tea Baggers.

The Distortion of the Constitution  (click here)

Robert Reich

Feb 20, 2011 2:09PM

The third part of the Republican strategy is being played out in the Supreme Court. It has politicized the Court more than at any time in recent memory.

Last year a majority of the justices determined that corporations have a right under the First Amendment to provide unlimited amounts of money to political candidates. Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission is among the most patently political and legally grotesque decisions of our highest court – ranking right up there with Bush vs. Gore and Dred Scott.

Among those who voted in the affirmative were Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Both have become active strategists in the Republican party.

A month ago, for example, Antonin Scalia met in a closed-door session with Michele Bachman’s Tea Party caucus – something no justice concerned about maintaining the appearance of impartiality would ever have done.

Both Thomas and Scalia have participated in political retreats organized and hosted by multi-billionaire financier Charles Koch, a major contributor to the Tea Party and other conservative organizations, and a crusader for ending all limits on money in politics....

We have come a long way from these economic indicators of 2009.

Current US recession (click here) is severe using all type of economic indicators. Shap falls in wealth, in private consumption, in residencial investments, in equity prices or high increase in unemployement and in government consumption. Compared with another historical crisis, present US recessions is worst than median of previous recessions, it’s clear. 

In recent months, the 'tea leaf reading' of these indicators have been mixed and unclear.  There is a lot going on in the USA.  If one accepts the dynamics 'at work' on the USA economy are complex, including the collapse not just of an economy but of the corruption that existed within it, then the indicators are going to be 'odd.'

 

The traditional indicators should be scrutinized to the relevence of actually assessing the recovery of the USA economy.  We have noted from many sectors 'the reporting' of how the economy is picking up.  Those reports are mostly 'from the street' and 'local experience.' 

The housing and construction indicators are worthless.  These markets are saturated from the housing bubble and commercial property is becoming more and more worthless.  Housing is beginning to take on a positive movement in value 'as an investment,' but in the majority of USA markets there was a 'net loss' by most homeowners, hence the foreclosures and personal bankruptcies.

One of the inticators ignored by most economists is the turbulence created by irresponsible political pandering and the 'chronic campaign.'  It does not add to a clear path for the country nor the recovery.  When newly elected officials are all too willing to play politics with 'real issues' of budget and spending without taking 'the legislative process' seriously it will impact any economic predictions.  There is a lot of uncertainty with the bizarre political agenda currently of the USA House of Representatives.

It is for that reason there has to be a clear delineation between the issues of budget, deficit and debt.  There has to be a clear separation of entitlements and their remedy and the current budget of the USA. 

Any change, if necessary 'in perspective of economic recovery, in the entitlements of the USA is completely separate legislation, should not be attached to any budget or spending measure and treated with the respect and reverence it deserves.  These are the lives Americans, their Golden Years and a huge 'stable base' of the USA economy.  The entitlements deserve separate debate, serious reflection and 'proven' need and outcomes.

So, in the future I would expect the country's dialogue to address the economy, the USA budget, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as completely separate subjects, otherwise, there is no use in a dialogue of deception.  Now is there?

WASHINGTON
Thu Feb 17, 2011
10:06am EST

WASHINGTON Feb 17 (Reuters) - A drop in building permits (click title to entry - thank you) and a soft labor market held back the U.S. economic recovery in January, according to a private group's index of economic indicators, released on Thursday.
The Conference Board's measure of leading indicators rose 0.1 percent to 112.3 in January, following a downwardly revised 0.8 percent gain in December.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent rise for January....

Libyan city falls to anti-goverment forces (click here - thank you)

It would appear Libya is on its way to liberation.

4:26 PM Monday Feb 21, 2011

Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, has fallen to anti-government forces after a crack army unit defected to the opposition and clashes spread to the capital, Tripoli, residents and news reports say.

The raging uprising against Muammar Gaddafi appears to be seriously threatening the Middle East's longest ruling dictator's 42-year grip on power day breaks.

Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif Gadhafi, seemed to acknowledge in a rambling speech on state-run television that Benghazi and the nearby eastern city of Baida were no longer under government control....

Was the 'democracy, freedom and peace movement' in the Middle East 'due to happen?' Or, was President Obama instrumental in its incubation?

A Bahraini anti-government protester (click title to entry - thank you) prays at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011. Reading in Arabic says " No dialogue until the regime falls". Bahrain's opposition leaders gathered Sunday to examine offers for talks by Bahrain's rulers after nearly a week of protests and deadly clashes that have sharply divided the strategic Gulf nation. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)


Granted this is a poll from 2009 and supposedly President Obama lost ground in his popularity in the Middle East, but, consider this...

Poll: Obama more popular than U.S. in the Middle East (click here)

Monday, May 11, 2009 - 1:30 PM
Posted By Blake Hounshell

...Notably, Egypt ranks dead last on both poll questions, but it's also the site of Obama's upcoming address to the Arab and Muslim worlds. The country is also the thankless recipient of billions in U.S. economic and military aid....
...would the populous throughout the Middle East believe they were 'safe enough' to carry out their protests if they knew a hostile USA would seek military retribution on the behalf of the current regimes in power in these countries?

I think not.

President Obama is withdrawing from Iraq.  Seeks to end corruption, which Egypt is notorious for,...

...Egypt is a state where corruption (click here)  is widely viewed as systemic, which is also why the crowd gets aggressive trying to buy up the subsidized bread. Cheap state bread can be resold, often for double the original price....

...in Afghanistan and is fighting the oppressive regime of the Taliban.

I remind, this unrest in the Middle East was begun by the 'ideals' of young men, the very young men that sometimes seek violence against others to resolve their anger.  The cry of the young men was met with support by their female counter-parts, whom find economic survival very difficult when they are alone in the world.  I believe there is a strong female component to this movement.  But, there was also a rise in female martyrs under the Bush White House.

I believe President Obama has 'made the world' safer for 'the young people' of the Middle East to give their voice a life of its own.  Whether he is given credit for this 'peace and freedom movement' or not; it cannot be denied that the USA under the Obama Administration has a far less threatening face to the people.  They do not see Western retaliation or support for anything less than freedom.  That is important.  Very important if we are to believe every human life has the right to be free and make personal choices.

Denying the Taliban control of the social cultural content and government, while allowing their voice in participation, gives great hope to the women of the Middle East.  When the USA first moved into Afghanistan following September 11, 2001 we witnessed a great deal of social upheaval when the men shaved their beard and women oopened beauty parlors and books were returned to the shelves of their university.  The 'tone' of the USA toward this 'peace and democracy' movement is just as important as the movement itself and today the USA is not viewed by these movements as supportive of the regimes or a threat to change.

Turkey plays growing political role in Middle East  (click here)

By Christopher Torchia

 February 19, 2011

The call was a sign of Turkey's growing confidence and stature in the Middle East and beyond. Hobbled by economic and political chaos just a decade ago, Turkey is increasingly taking on the role of regional model, mediator and leader, with a solid economy and an evolving democracy. It has sought to balance many of the forces that shape, and shake, the region: The East and the West, Israel and Iran, religion and secularism.

As elections approach in June, results of a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggest that Turkey's government will pursue a path of relative pragmatism, despite fears of the influence of Islam on the state....

Send the children home during severe weather in Madison, Wisconsin. (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

February 21, 2011
0230:15z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite of USA.

The leadership within the demonstrators in Wisconsin have to have contingency plans to maintain their presence, but, do it responsibly.

Take the children home while realizing the Democratic Senators doing their work out of state are 'holding the line' on the abuse of Governor Walker.

Weather currently in Madison, Wisconsin  (click here)

 

Temperature  ::  32.4 °F

 

Feels Like 23 °F

 

Conditions  ::  Overcast

Fox News Barbara Bush Health care is a right (How the Democrats could 'bust' the lies of Murdoch.)

The Democrats have to realize 'the prejudice' against many of the issues they hold dear to their hearts are for political fodder and can be viewed as generational.  In the recent past, Ms. Barbara Bush is making her mark for social reform.  I like it.  Why aren't the Democrats referring to these wonderful young women, including Megan McCain, when they hear the bigotry of the Right Wing seeking votes in a manner unbecoming their young people?  The future belongs to the generations that come after the 'old, white men' in the Legislature and power structure of the RNC.

Barbara Bush, unlike her father, George, supports same-sex marriages (click title to entry - thank you)

February 1, 2011 

..."I'm Barbara Bush, and I'm a New Yorker for marriage equality," she says in the short video released Tuesday. "New York is about fairness and equality, and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love. Join us."...

And the Bushes are not invisible, yet, from the Democratic point of view it would seem as though they are.  There was an absolutely charming interview of Former President George H. W. Bush and Former First Lady Barbara Bush recently whereby they were interviewed by their granddaughter.  Who best to carry out that interview except 'an insider.'

Barbara Bush on George H.W. Bush crying: ‘You could be Speaker of the House’ (click here)

Laura Donovan

The Daily Caller Laura Donovan

The Daily Caller

Tue Feb 15, 7:52 am ET

Former President George H.W. Bush lost composure and cried when he recited an old love letter to wife Barbara during an interview with granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, reports MSNBC.
“As children, my sister and I were delighted to find boxes of love letters in both sets of my grandparents’ houses,” Bush Hager said, adding that her grandparents George H.W. and Barbara have been writing each other love letters for years.
During the interview, George H.W. choked up as he read a particular letter from 1994, which was after almost 50 years of marriage.
“Will you marry me? Whoops. I forgot you did that 49 years ago today,” George H.W. said. “I was very happy on that day in 1945, but I’m even happier today. You give me joy that few men know. I’ve climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband,” Bush said, his voice cracking. “Mom used to tell me, ‘Now George, don’t walk ahead.’”

“You never listened to your mother,” Barbara said....

The Senior Years of marriage can be a point of joy for the family to enjoy.  This was definately a moment to remember with the Bushes.  Very well done.  Very touching.  Thank you.

The Democrats should not be preceived as hating anyone and should be having dialogues that endear 'sweet and decent' people to their consituencies as well.

Here again, Zakaria was 'on his game.' (At title to entry - "Muslim Brotherhood Speaks Out On Egypt.")

Military pardons soldier who turned protester  (click here)

February 19 2011 at 04:05pm

Cairo - The Higher Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, now in control of the country, said Saturday it had pardoned a soldier who defected to join protesters during the recent popular uprising.

The military said Major Ahmed Shoman was pardoned because the army “believes in the noble purpose behind the January 25

revolution,” despite his actions having gone “against the laws and charters ruling this institution.”

Shoman spoke to Arab media during the protests in Tahrir Square, which served as the hub of Cairo's anti-government protests, saying he wanted to protect the people, not the regime....

Again, I have to agree with the program content of "GPS" when stated "The Muslim Brotherhood" is more or less 'in transition' of what the sterotype of "Radical Islamists" is in the USA.

If one admits the Murbarak regime was oppressive, then one also has to make the statement that the 'so called radicals' are not really all that radical if they are demanding freedom, human rights and democracy.  Of course, it has always been debateable that the "Brotherhood" would actually allow democracy as the Egyptian people are envisioning it, but, the Brotherhood took a very deliberate 'back seat' to the demonstrators.  While they supported the movement, they did not come out to deceive anyone as to the beginnings of the current democracy movement.  And let's face it, would the Muslim Brotherhood actually be expected to be marching along side an Egyptian soldier?

The current movement in Egypt and the Middle East will bring these groups to prominence.  There is no doubt about it and they will even move into the political structure with quite possibly powerful seats of government.  But, will the people of Egypt actually seek these groups as their answer knowing they could end up worse than when they started? 

The people of the Middle East are also not alone.  Beside 'The West" hoping for the best, there are international voices, such as Mr. ElBaradei, positioned in the dialogue to insure peace is a directive of the new democracy.  Currently, Omar Suleiman seems to be far less offensive to the people of Egypt.  There is no displacement of a 'peaceful' Egypt in the current transition.  So, the alarm is hardly real.

The Muslim Brotherhood are not foolish and illiterate.  They are educated people seeking change in Egypt.  We have to trust the people of Egypt and its current leadership to insure 'peace' is a high priority when the transition is complete. 

This is not time for 'scardy cats' from the political Right to begin to rattle their sabors.  There is simply no reason to believe democracy is adverse to Egyptian's peace movement.

Israel is right there and The Six Day War was no joke.

 21.02.11

Latest update 02:19 21.02.11

The lighter side of the uprising (click here)

Whether in conversations, texts or e-mails, jokes are part and parcel of the Egyptian revolution.

By Amira Hass

 

...Some 20 years ago, I learned from Gazans that their neighbors, the Egyptians, "always make up jokes." That was a partial response to the question of why the Gazans themselves always know how to make themselves and others laugh with some sort of amusing witticism concerning their terrible situation. And when does one know that the awful situation has become even worse? When the supply of jokes runs out....

The Republicans analogizing that Egypt was come to the USA in Wisconsin is completely stupid. Sorry. I don't like saying that by the way.

Protesters in Benghazi demonstrate against Colonel Gaddafi.  (click title to entry - thank you.)

Do the Republicans actually believe 'the freedom and democracy movement' in the Middle East has a direct correlation with the demonstrations in Wisconsin?

I mean really.

The Republicans could not be more "W"rong in drawing those analogies.

The demonstrators in Wisconsin are seeking 'fairness' and a 'dialogue' with an abusive Governor and Republican majority, while the demonstrators in the Middle East are only at their beginnings of demanding such luxury as having unions, equality of representation in government and constitutions that reflect those priorities.

I wish American politicians were so stupid in their analogies.  But, then again when one looks at their primaries, it is understandable why they say such things.  But, they really shouldn't.  The circumstances in the Middle East are highly dynamic and dangerous.  There are profoundly brave people at the heart of these movements that are putting their lives on the line for the freedom and democracy of present and future generations.

The demonstrators in Wisconsin are seeking 'fairness' while they reflect on the new costs their medical insurance and pensions may cost them. 

Why is the Wisconsin Governor Walker abusive?  Because the deficit has been corruptly manipulated to CREATE a deficity. He has included issues unrelated to the budget to achieve 'election campaign promises.'  He is playing politicks with the livelihoods of real people and their families.  And realizing Wisconsin's faux budget deficit is becoming a national stage, it looks all to 'set up' to be respectable.

Egypt to Wisconsin?  Give me a break.  Not even close.