LIberty University has no other 'good works' to pursue with the monies it wastes on health care reform?

The Supreme Court has not endorsed the objection to the Affordable Care Act. It has provided a reason to offer a procedural issue to go forward. Liberty University knows it has a legitimate request as a very weak challenge to the law, but, basically view this as 'what the heck, why not.' Liberty is hoping corruption of the judiciary rules rather than the USA Constitution.

The Wall Street Journal: Court Orders New Review Of Health Law (click here)
The Supreme Court told a federal-appeals court Monday to consider several lesser-known legal arguments against the national health-care law, in an order backed by the White House. The move came in a case brought by Liberty University, a Lynchburg, Va., college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, and observers said the challenge was unlikely to succeed (Bravin, 11/26).

Politico: SCOTUS Orders Appeals Court To Hear Liberty University Health Care Lawsuit
The Justice Department declined to comment on the Supreme Court order Monday, but it told the court last month that it wouldn’t object to the 4th Circuit taking up the case. In that brief, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli wrote that Liberty University’s arguments “lack merit” but that the Obama administration wouldn’t oppose a hearing because the issues weren’t fully aired the first time around. Some legal experts are skeptical that Liberty would get anywhere with its arguments against the employer mandate if the case does get to the Supreme Court (Haberkorn and Smith, 11/27).

The Hill: Supreme Court Revives Challenge To President Obama's Health Care Law
The court's decision Monday is purely procedural and does not indicate that the justices believe Liberty is likely to win on the merits. The lower court will still be bound by the Supreme Court's decision upholding the healthcare law as constitutional (Baker, 11/26).

There is no negotiations on The Bush Tax Cuts. They have to go and will expire. End of discussion.

As of midnight New Years Eve there will be a return to a previous tax structure. What about this does the President not understand? The reason this is going to happen is because the Republicans are unable to save the Middle Class and the USA economy. What does the President not understand about that?

The Bush Tax Cuts expiring on New Years Eve at midnight is going to happen. There needs to be tax reform. There has needed to be tax reform for years now. I do believe President Obama convened a tax review lead by Simpson-Bowles. It was rejected and that was a mistake. It was a huge mistake and as of midnight on New Year's Eve the Bush Tax Cuts will expire.

We have a National Debt. Maybe the Republicans haven't noticed. That is possible. The Republicans live in a parallel universe. They sincerely do and the fact there are issues with a dysfunctional House of Representatives is the direct fault of the American people. They had a chance to address this problem and haven't. I suppose the question arises whether they can adequately address the problem in their own ability to discern the truth, but, it is the problem of the people. 

The Bush Tax Cuts will expire and if the President plays with that reality it would be huge mistake. The tax structure of the USA needs to be reworked. Until now the leadership on this issue sucks! The elected in DC have viewed this issue as a 'toy of politics.' Hello? When the Bush Tax Cuts expire and the sequester begins reducing the National Debt, the country will begin to understand the impact of a Dysfunctional House of Representatives that continue to return to settled law, including the sequester, as a plan for political fodder.

No more. That is the lesson of the 2012 elections. The Middle Class is no longer the hostage to the Plutocrats and their supporters, namely the Republican Party. We are not hostages. The President forgets how the Republicans view the Middle Class as the 'beast of burden' to their political outcomes. The Middle Class is not a priority of the GOP. The GOP deceive and lie and gerrymander to manipulate the will of the people.

The Nation is more than government. We have lives. We need to demand change in our society. We need to demand higher wages, paid benefits and vacation time. We need to demand the forty hour work week mean something again. It means nothing today. There is a lot that has to happen in the USA and it is not all about government and government control.

Now when the Bush Tax Cuts expire the national debt will finally begin to be addressed. What has to occur is for Americans to be Americans. They have to demand better products manufactured in the USA. They have to demand better wages to counter the higher tax rates. They have to return to being the people their parents and grandparents used to be. They need to demand huge profits to stockholders be converted to 'a living wage.'

The Bush Tax Cuts are going to expire on New Years Eve and the sequester is going to begin. It is up to Americans to handle their social structure in a way that empowers them. Is there something about that the President doesn't understand? He needs to be the leader of the Executive Branch that will empower the Middle Class to achieve their status again. 

What's so hard about this? 

We have bills to pay.

We need a new tax structure to empower the Middle Class. 

Warren is correct. It is time the people get on with their agenda to empower their lives and pay down the national debt. The Republicans have been unable to govern the country for years now. Decades even. It is the job of the Democrats to point to the reality of this folly and continue to push the nation in the right direction. What else is there to do? More bartering with the future of our children? No. The time has come for the country to stop the manipulation of the GOP and begin a government that facilitates their lives and the promise of their country. 

The USA is a representative democracy by majority. It should mean something. The problem is the elected Republicans don't care about the majority of this country once they are 'over the hump' of being elected. That is a reality and it has to change. If the American people are unable to solve their problems because the House is unable to govern it is their responsibility to change that. Americans can do this, it is time they did.

Warren Buffet (click here) could well be the most fascinating American of this or any generation. Combining common sense and shrewd calculation, his rock-star status in the financial markets is earned. Lately, the second-richest man in the United States has been surprisingly vocal on the subject of taxes, and when Buffett speaks, it’s wise to listen.'

Wall Street and Washington were both abuzz Monday after Buffett published a national column that essentially mocked the idea that higher tax rates on capital gains discourage investment. According to Buffett, legislators should increase taxes on those earning more than $500,000, including minimum rates of at least 30 percent on all income above $1 million....

The Freedom Project is a PAC that backed Pence.

The Freedom Project usually backs federal elections, but, since Pence was a former recipient of their monies he received monies for his Governor's run. He spent twice the amount he raised, so he is now in campaign debt, which is not a good place for a new Governor to be.

The Freedom Project likes Speaker Boner and backs Republicans to be elected to the House. The Freedom Project is a GOP PAC.

The Freedom Project (click here) is a political action committee (PAC) established in 1995 to provide assistance to Republican candidates for federal office. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) serves as honorary chairman. The Freedom Project is committed to a better America based on freedom and security, empowered citizens and personal responsibility. Our mission is to strengthen the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives that's focusing relentlessly on jobs and the economy....

Pence Donors also includes The Koch Brothers (click here).

$762,575 Campaign Debt

$354,395 Campaign Funds received by Pence.

Pence currently has a little over $71,000 which I am sure is all set aside for his inauguration as Governor. So, if any business is waiting for payment by the Pence Campaign they might want to act to receive their monies before it all goes for beer kegs and champagne bottles.

Add caption

I found this interesting, too. Pence had a huge amount of fundraising arrive at his disposal in 2010 compared to his peers. Can't help what happened to those funds after he was re-elected to the House.

Indiana's Post-Election Flip Flop. It is impossible to trust them.

They never live up to their campaign promises. There should be a study to the outcomes of Republican administrations compared to their campaign promises. They always have a faux face to the public.

...Kathy Saris, (click here) an Indianapolis restaurant owner and lesbian who was on the GOP platform committee, said the platform change was "a big step" for her party.

She said the silence on same-sex marriage -- coupled with the inclusion of a statement saying Republicans "embrace, encourage and will work to ensure the opportunity for full participation of ALL citizens in government" -- will help the party reach out to younger Republicans.

"They view marriage as something that should be open to everybody, " Saris said.E...

What happened in between is the election of Mike Pence, the social issue nightmare. He advocates a theocracy, not a democracy.

Marriage

"Marriage between a man and a woman is the most enduring human institution. Marriage was ordained by God, confirmed by law, and is the glue of the American family."

--Congressman Mike Pence

Marriage is the backbone of our society and a sacred institution established by God between one man and one woman. Numerous studies confirm that marriage between a man and a woman makes for strong families and strong families make for a strong nation.

Unfortunately, many activist judges across America are undoing this very fabric of our society by changing the traditional form of marriage between a man and a woman. As a result, I am sponsoring the Federal Marriage Amendment (H.J. Res. 56), a bill that would define marriage in the Constitution and protect it from being radically redefined by activist judges who overstep their constitutional boundaries.

This bill will hold unelected judges to account and prevent them from redefining marriage. It also allows for state voters and legislatures to determine if they wish to grant these types of unions, without imposing on the rights of other states.

Pence was never a good legislator in the House, why did they elect him to the Governorship? Amazing.

5:40 PM, Nov 26, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS — A report researched (click here) by a group of Indiana University students finds that 614 laws in Indiana provide rights or responsibilities to Hoosiers based on marriage and family, which could make them unavailable to same-sex couples under a proposed constitutional amendment.

The report — released Monday by Indiana Equality and students from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law — comes just weeks before lawmakers are expected to take up a proposed amendment that would put a same-sex marriage ban in the Indiana Constitution and prohibit laws that grant rights that are similar to marriage to unmarried couples....

What came first the chicken or the egg?

The chicken.

Without the genetic content of a warm  blooded ovum, there would never be an egg.

In any form of creation and/or evolution the adults existed before any young.

Reproduction is a function, not a constitution.

American children do not have the same rights as American adults.

The Republican stand on personhood rights does not carry through as a right a child has before they are born with the right as a citizen.

The laws of the USA governing child rights are primarily criminal in application. Even when a child is earning money as a child model or owns property the laws that exist surrounding their rights are protective and criminal of the people taking care of them.

So, when Republicans state a fetus should have the same right as a USA child it is glamorizing the content. The Republicans are doing nothing but criminalizing pregnancy. They are adding murder to abortion law. The fetus has no extraordinary rights that parents don't provide. The very nature of a child is dependent upon parental or guardian care. The idea a child stands alone as a citizen is not correct. Heck, it isn't even correct when one asks a pediatrician how they view the treatment of a child. Most pediatricians realize the outcome of a child's treatment depends on the compliance of the parent to rendering the treatment. Frequently, pediatric medicine does not view a child as an autonomous person, but, a child in treatment with their parent(s). 

The idea a personhood amendment is realistic is contrived. It is not adding rights to a fetus, it is criminalizing pregnancy. Pregnancy by its nature is not an autonomous ability of a fetus, but, the dedication of the mother to carry the fetus to term. So, the entire concept is bizarre. It removes the 'parent-child' relationship from the 'state of being pregnant.' It is hideous. A fetus does not have a pregnancy, a woman does.

A uterus does not transfer its ownership to a fetus because it is conceived. A uterus belongs to the woman. It always belongs to the woman. The placenta, is an organ belonging to the woman and acts between the fetus and the woman. The umbilical cord belongs to the woman as a means to support the fetus. There is nothing here viable to the idea a fetus has an autonomous right to dominate the ownership of the woman's body.

A constitutional amendment criminalizing abortion as a means to personhood is not based in reality and lends itself to act in ways that separates a woman's body from her habeas corpus. Did I make that clear?

A woman has habeas corpus. When a constitutional amendment removes her body away from her for the purpose of birthing a fetus, it acts against the writ of the USA Constitution.

A woman has habeas corpus that cannot be removed to the contrived right of a fetus. The fetus has no right to habeas corpus until it is autonomous in its ability to live on its own. Up to that point, the woman has control over her body. It is very simple.

...Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (click here) the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance,

Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community,

Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding,

Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity,

Bearing in mind that the need to extend particular care to the child has been stated in the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924 and in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1959 and recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (in particular in articles 23 and 24), in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (in particular in article 10) and in the statutes and relevant instruments of specialized agencies and international organizations concerned with the welfare of children,

Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth",...

There are universal understandings a child is conceived to be part of a family, not a matter of an autonomous citizen of personhood. The entire mess of a USA Constitutional amendment removes the 'identity' of child as partnered with parent(s). It is simply "W"rong and a political ideology. It is not remotely recognized as a viable option of a society to demand for a woman to choose pregnancy over not. It is ultimately the mother's option to continue a pregnancy. 

Even the dynamics of unwanted pregnancy leading to unwanted children is socially devastating. Who would ever want a child to be born into circumstances where they are unwanted? That is not a good start and what occurs when parenthood is not in their future, but, simply a life of a child becoming an adult in an institutionalized setting? The entire dynamic is anti-social. There is nothing like a childhood abandoned at birth.

Don't tell me all children are adopted. That is a lie. That is a lie in the year 2012 and there is still abortion. It is a completely bizarre concept, political ideology and a cruel option for the USA.

Eric Cantor's latest 'Turd Blossom."

"The President needs to lead and put the Affordable Care Act on the table."

And where did he say it? The place otherwise known as "The Garden of Turd Blossoms," FOX News.

The Democratic Party won in the election of 2012. They need to be the champion of the Middle Class. No Compromise.

If the Democratic Party allows the dysfunctional Republican House demand completely unrealistic demands for concessions they are failing the public. The Democrats have to 'keep it real.' The 'politics as usual' is old methodology. The country wants the national debt addressed without compromising our seniors, our young or the promises of generations. 

We want our country back and allowing people like Eric Cantor to continue to float his turd blossoms is not protecting the vulnerable in this country.

What did Paul Ryan do for Thanksgiving?

Until tomorrow. Next week I'll start discussing the promise of the Obama Economy.

I hope Thanksgiving was warm and comforting.

Posted by Felicia Sonmez on November 14, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Asked Tuesday (click here) why he lost his home county and home town of Janesville, Wis., in the election, former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan chalked it up to the fact that more voters came to view him as “Paul Ryan, Republican” rather than “Paul Ryan, Janesville guy” following his ascension to the national party ticket....

Not sure how we would ever top yesteday's Small Business Saturday (click here) when we were wonderfully surprised by a shopping visit from President Obama and his daughters Sasha and Malia!

In answer to the many, many questions we've received:

• We found out they were coming about 10 minutes (!) before they arrived.
• No, we can't share specific titles they purchased. Virtually every bookstore has a policy regarding the privacy of customer purchases.  We can say they purchased a number of books as gifts for kids.
• They all were wonderful, gracious and very friendly....

National Monitor, Staff 

November 25, 2012

President Barack Obama (click here) took some time out of his busy schedule to promote “Small Business Saturday.” The president and his daughters visited One More Page Books (an independently owned bookstore) in Arlington, VA Saturday, according to a White House pool report.
Mr. Obama bought 15 children’s books during his visit to be given as gifts to family members for Christmas. ”Preparation,” he told shop owner Eileen McGervey when asked how he was able to purchase books without browsing the shop’s selection first, according to the report. “That’s how I shop.”
President Obama and the White House are urging Americans to take part in “Small Business Saturday.”According to the official Facebook page of “Small Business Saturday” (which has more than 3.2 million likes), participants in this special retail day visit non-franchise shops and restaurants or buy gifts from independently owned stores online.
“From the mom-and-pop storefront shops that anchor Main Street to the high-tech startups that keep America on the cutting edge, small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of our nation’s promise,” Mr. Obama said in a statement on Black Friday. “Through events such as Small Business Saturday, we keep our local economies strong and help maintain an American economy that can compete and win in the 21st century.”...


Children are a theme to this White House. First Lady Michelle Obama always seems to have children, especially those of military families, filling the halls of the White House.

The Obamas are pretty cool. They have filled the White House with more than ceremony, they have filled it with the laughter of children on a regular basis.

Still yet another natural gas explosion.

A minor mistake results in injuries, infrastructure damage and residents fearing for more tragedy.

...Friday night's natural gas blast in one of New England's largest cities was caused by "human error," State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said at a news conference. He didn't name the Columbia Gas worker who pierced the high-pressure pipe in Springfield.

The blast flattened a strip club, heavily damaged a day care center and scattered debris over several blocks.

Some officials called it a miracle that no one was killed. The cause of the spark that ignited the explosion is still unknown....

It is called a spark. It happens when something punctures metal. Personally, I think someone has a grudge against strip clubs. This is the second one in a week that ended the careers of local hopefuls. Look, there is always hope again with the next wet T-shirt contest.

...The gas company (click here) planned a news conference for later Sunday afternoon. A message left for a company spokeswoman wasn't immediately returned.

Most of the injured were part of a group of gas workers, firefighters and police officers who ducked for cover behind a utility truck just before the blast. Part of the neighborhood already had been evacuated because of reports of a gas leak and odor.

Preliminary reports showed the blast damaged 42 buildings housing 115 residential units. Three buildings were immediately condemned, and 24 others require additional inspections by structural engineers to determine whether they are safe.

Springfield, which is 90 miles west of Boston and has about 150,000 residents, is the largest city in western Massachusetts. It's known as the home of the Basketball Hall of Fame, which is not near the blast site....

So, at the news confernce did the natural gas company state what they are doing to make all their lines PUNCTURE resistant?

By Erin Ailworth

GLOBE STAFF 

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

...From the Bay of Fundy to Long Island Sound, (click here) new technologies are harnessing the power of ocean tides and winds, promising not only an inexhaustible source of energy, but also hundreds of jobs, billions in revenues, and new life for struggling fishing communities along New England’s 473-mile coastline.

This future is still far off, but the first steps toward it are underway. Since September, an underwater generator built by a Maine company has used the powerful tides of Cobscook Bay near the Canadian border to make electricity distributed by local utilities. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, as well as universities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, are working together to demonstrate similar technologies in the Cape Cod Canal and ­Muskeget Channel off Martha’s Vineyard....

Isn't it time to move more quickly into the future? Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and there is a question about what exactly? The location of the ocean currents or the technology that delivers the electricity? What is the problem already?

What Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist stated on his Twitter feed was a Turd Blossom.

24 Nov

Grover Norquist ‏@GroverNorquist (click here)

Avenge Twinkie.....shop at Walmart today.

Staring to get the picture?

What is a turd blossom? No, it is not Rove. That is just a pet name for Rove because Rove is the master of the turd blossom.

A turd blossom is a thought that will sell well to the Club of People with Shit for Brains.

Turd blossoms are suppose to spread to all those even those outside the Club of People with Shit for Brains.

Turd blossoms is why Willard Mitt Romney stated, "Fact checkers don't matter." It is why the media is always the 'biased liberal media' or 'the lame stream media.' It is because they don't have shit for brains so they have to be villainized for a reason to disregard them.

Turd blossoms are how the GOP functions. The GOP just has to 'give them a reason.' So, Norquist, the Good Old Boy gave the Club of People with Shit for Brains are reason for being angry with those outside their club. It gives them a reason to become infectious to the USA's economy in favor of those more powerful than they.

There is a real methodology to turd blossoms. The methodology demands the turd blossom be believable and common sense. It doesn't have to be based in facts or the truth and why the GOP refuses to give credence to the Lame Stream Media and fact checkers. A Turd Blossom has to be believable and easily understood by those with shit for brains.

See. It is easy to live life when you have shit for brains. Just get on the gravy train and 'keep believing.'

In the South we have a name for someone like Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist.

Yep.

This is the part no one likes to hear and calls hubris. It isn't.

We say, "He hasn't got shit for brains."

That doesn't mean he is not successful, it just means he got success in spite of the fact he's got shit for brains.

See, it is easier to live life with shit for brains. It saves a lot of money, too. I mean why pay for Harvard if there is no reason. So long as the economy works for you if you have shit for brains then everyone with shit for brains believes they can be as successful as everyone else that has shit for brains.

See Murdoch has made a life out of taking people for a ride when those people have shit for brains. It is how Cheney gets an energy committee and Halliburton with no bid contracts. Because, when people are 'on the take' of a military industrial complex the size of the USA military industrial complex they enlist everyone into their 'Club for those with Shit for Brains.' 

So, I don't have to go on, now do it? Unless, of course, you have shit for brains.

Norquist doesn't understand what happened to the USA economy?

Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, displays a copy of the pledge that he encourages politicians to sign. At left is a Guy Fawkes mask given to him by an acquaintance. Fawkes was famous for attempting to blow up the English House of Lords in 1605. (Bill O'Leary - The Washington Post)

What right does he have to speak to the USA tax structure if he doesn't even realize what occurred to the USA economy?

24 Nov

Grover Norquist ‏@GroverNorquist (click here)

Avenge Twinkie.....shop at Walmart today.

How much are Twinkies at Walmart???? (click here)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

$2.50 per box

try the little debbie version of twinkies....they are just as yummy for about half the price

• 4 years ago

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

thank you for ur answer, at the moment i cant go to the store and look, i've been looking for the price online and i cant find it, i guess its not a popular conversation.....

According to Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist the American people are allowed to be consumers without quality of life to deliver maximized profits to Wall Street.

What Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist didn't stop to realize is that when counting on impoverished Americans to be the consumer of products it causes contraction of the USA economy. When that occurs the global economy tanks. So, while Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist has made a lot of money pretending he knows what is best for the USA, he had no clue and his comment about Twinkies and Walmart is proof.

Unions are the only economic mechanism (and not the Fed) that have held the line on impoverishment, extending the USA economy and the tax base of the USA. If Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist wanted to continue to shrink the tax footprint of the USA on CONSUMERS, he should have asked Georgie "W" Bush why he drained the USA Treasury, the surplus and any and all fiscal reserves of the USA federal government while running the National Debt up!

Lucky for Good Ole Boy Grover Norquist that Food Stamps / SNAP covers "Little Debbie's Cloud Cake" at Walmart. It continues to provide profits to Walmart and Little Debbie.

Republicans are endangering the nation's security.

The desperate Republicans of the USA continue politicizing the State Department and Ambassadors and Consulates around the world.

In regard to Benghazi the argument in the media ASSUMES the public had a right to the information the USA intelligence community had about any terrorist attack.

Do I have to say this?

Who in the hell gave the Republicans the right to release information about USA intelligence the agencies have not consented to? Is everyone 'getting this?'

Do sane person in the world believe as soon as information is released to the USA media the rest of the world pays attention? By any chance does anyone in the USA media 'get it?' Any chance at all?

McCain and Graham are engaged in removing USA intelligence protocol for the purpose of national security. Please tell me the USA media is not lined with morons from one end to the other!

The question is NOT, why did Ambassador Rice say what she said. She said what the USA intelligence stated she was to say. The question IS, "Why are two USA Senators seeking to invoke the actions of a USA Ambassador in a DIFFERENT manner dictated by the USA intelligence community?" What right do they have to state there is a role of a USA Ambassador other than one dictated by the national security of the USA and its State Department Consulates?

Are there wall to wall morons everywhere except in the Obama Administration or is this the latest 'fire storm' of political gossip of the day? Because none of what is being stated by the USA Republican Senators MATTER !!!!!!!

The fatwa of peace, prosperity and a future for Gaza's children.

It's back to business for Palestinian fish vendors in Gaza City on Sunday after Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen following a truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting. (Reuters)

3:35AM EST November 25. 2012

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A leading Islamic cleric (click here) in the Gaza Strip has ruled it a sin to violate the recent cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that controls the Palestinian territory.

The fatwa, or religious edict, issued by Suleiman al-Daya late Saturday accords a religious legitimacy to the truce and could justify any act by Gaza's government to enforce it.

"Honoring the truce, which was sponsored by our Egyptian brethren, is the duty of each and every one of us. Violating it shall constitute a sin," the fatwa read.

The Wednesday truce put an end to an eight-day Israeli offensive against Gaza militants who fired rockets into Israel. The agreement remains fragile because details beyond the initial cease-fire have not yet been worked out.

I have an assignment for the political capital of McCain and Graham.

Help the budget and deficit, chase down all the Bridge to Nowhere monies. People might even appreciate it. You know, rather than cutting SSI, Medicare and Medicaid.

McCain and Graham should be able to handle at least that.

The sign on Pike's Peak highway in Chipita Park, Colorado photographed on July 5, 2011 mentions sightings of Bigfoot, but science doesn't back up those claims.

By Ryan Richardson

Jeff Meldrum wants to search for Bigfoot (click here) by using a remote-controlled blimp. Because when you're looking for a mythical creature famous for eluding all who search for it, a giant, buzzing, looming balloon is clearly the way to go. Meldrum, a tenured Idaho State University anthropologist who established his career studying primate foot anatomy before shifting his focus to monsters, expects he'll have to raise $300,000 to get the project airborne. He's trying (and so far failing) to get funding from private sources. (No surprise that his home institution wants nothing to do with the endeavor.) That's a lot of money and effort for what will undoubtedly turn out to be a collection of blurry photographs that look like Instagram snapshots from a visit to the Pacific Northwest woods....

"...sharped tonged Susan Rice..." is a bigoted statement.

There is nothing 'sharped tongued' about Susan Rice. She is a diplomat and used to straight talk. She is not a politician. She has never exhibited anything but professional conduct and straight forward statements regarding any of the duties in her capacity. The description plays to hatred and bias.

The word to describe Ambassador Rice style of speech is terse. She is devoid of superficiality. Not sharped tongued. Kindly remember that.

That really describes the style of the Obama administration, now that I think of it. His State of the Unions have been terse. The American people aren't used to that. They like Hollywood, not straight forward facts. The Republicans like hate in their speech. Viciousness.

Sat Nov 24, 2012 10:41am EST

* Rice's chances of replacing Clinton damaged by Benghazi (click here)

* Her behavior at U.N. seen as blunt, rude by some diplomats

* Supporters say has the credentials to be top U.S. diplomat

* Has had some impressive successes for U.S. at the U.N.

By Louis Charbonneau and Susan Cornwell

UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Susan Rice has had a series of diplomatic triumphs as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. President Barack Obama, an old friend, showed he has her back when last week he publicly challenged her Republican critics over the Benghazi controversy to "go after me" rather than her. She knew former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from the age of 4...

The so called heavy weights of the party. You know the ones with all the 'political capital' believe they can carry out an agenda of lies and manipulation.

Ripping U.N. Amb. Susan Rice (click here) for telling the American public that the Sept. 11 Benghazi terrorist attack was due to rioting from a viral YouTube video defaming the Prophet Mohammed, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (S.C.) accused her of either incompetence or deliberately misleading the public....

Senator McCain has little political capital with the GOP. He is primarily an icon of war and therefore able to speak about it with an authority due to his service and POW years which left him somewhat paralyzed. But, political capital? I do believe he had quite a run for his money during his last election. He sort of ranks in there with Newt; useful but not endorsable.

Graham on the other hand amounts to nothing more than a bad habit. He was some kind of lawyer in the military and that has provided him an easy seat in DC. But, I can't he has done much in the way of improving the circumstances of the country; especially the past four years. Are most of his cronies and contsitutents white guys or something?

Another natural gas explosion. No one died, but, it was due to dumb luck.

Between seismic activity due to fracking and gas line leaks and explosions one might ask a state representative if this is a good combination.

11/23/2012 8:40 PM

By Derek Anderson and Melanie Dostis, GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS

SPRINGFIELD -- A natural gas explosion (click here) rocked downtown Springfield on Friday evening, injuring at least 18 people after leveling a downtown strip club in the city’s entertainment district, fire and hospital officials reported.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, according to spokeswomen at Baystate Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. Three of the injured were gas workers, two were firefighters, and at least one was a police officer, according to hospital officials and the New England Gas Workers Assocation, a nonprofit that promotes gas safety.

The explosion at 453 Worthington St., happened about 6 p.m., leveling the Scores Gentlemen’s Club, punching a large hole in the street, and blowing shards of glass and other debris through downtown streets. The Springfield Republican website reported that a nearby day care and five-story building were heavily damaged.

It was “just a mushroom cloud of an explosion -- big and orange,’’ said Victor Bruno, who owns Adolfos Italian Restaurant in the district. “It’s just a bad scene.”

Residents in Wilbraham and South Hadley felt the explosion, according to the Republican.

About 4:30 p.m., gas workers were reportedly finishing an investigation after receiving several calls about the smell of gas. Having evacuated the street during the investigation, workers were getting ready to let people back in when the explosion happened, according to Mark McDonald of the New England Gas Workers Association.

“It’s a good thing the people were still evacuated,’’ McDonald said. “If there were people in the building, it would have been a real catastrophe.”

The area is a bustling entertainment and residential area. It was quiet Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, although Bruno and other witnesses said it would have been crowded later in the night....

Magnitude 3.6 - ILLINOIS (click here)

2012 November 20 23:28:22 UTC

Seismic Hazard Map (click here)

%g - (click here) When there is an earthquake, the forces caused by the shaking can be measured as a percentage of gravity, or percent g.

I don't believe President Morsi will do anything strange.

I do not believe he has a strange agenda. I think he demonstrated that already, hasn't he? What do the Egyptian people expect a Jeckle/Hyde kind of thing? I don't think that is going to happen.

This is democracy. President Morsi needs to take a very cool approach to the demonstrations. He doesn't want to cause the people alarm more than they are already worried about.

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (click here) have ransacked an office of the Muslim Brotherhood, burning books and chairs in the street....

5:03PM GMT 23 Nov 2012

...President Morsi's decree puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, which has caused fury amongst his opponents who have accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution....

The USA has no room to criticize. There are generals that retire and leave for a lot of reasons all the time. All one has to do is examine the number retiring during the Bush years. So, I am more concerned about the fact Egypt was experiencing militarized leadership over civilian leadership.

1:07PM BST 13 Aug 2012

Mohammad Morsi (click here) dismissed Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as Egypt's defence minister and head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Sunday night in a dramatic attempt to stamp civilian control over an institution that has run the country for almost six decades.

The general's forces helped remove the former dictator Hosni Mubarak from power during the popular uprising last year. Tantawi then acted as Egypt's de facto head of state for 17 months.

However, in a clear signal that the balance of power is shifting away from the generals, Mr Morsi has issued a decree cancelling an army declaration that restricted the powers of the presidency.

Damien McElroy said the timing of the confrontation had come as a surprise in Egypt just a week after a Cabinet reshuffle....

There is some discussion by Morsi to replace the constitution and retry Mubarak. I guess. He is sentenced to life in prison now. There were many police and/or military actually carrying out the deaths of citizens that have gone untried. It may very well include the generals. Mubarak was tried and found guilty of complicity. I suppose, but, it was the military that removed Mubarak and replaced his authority until the elections when Morsi was elected. So, I don't really see Mubarak the greatest danger to the new government. All this assuming the new government is going to remain benevolent.

In some Arab nations there are Moral Police. I don't recall their formal names.

I always thought it helped with 'self talk,' 'self identity,' when people were reminded of the glory of their religious values while carrying out every day activities. I didn't think it was a bad idea, just something the leadership saw as important in assisting the sophistication of their country's to move forward.

Muslims pray five times a day and with that in mind it is easy to understand how person to person reminders of 'values of the day' would be very important. Their devotion to their theocratic authority is paramount to their lives. They are not 'thought' police so much as reminders of the way things are.

At this point in Gaza, where so many do not understand this is a ceasefire leading to larger summits of power to define borders and assist the Palestinians to autonomy, it might be a very good idea if there were Moral Police within Gaza.

The idea that Hamas had a victory against Israel is what brought on this movement of Palestinians to the border fence. How many Palestinians actually understand Israel, want to understand Israel and know there is a lot of tolerance by Israel to seek a peaceful solution? Probably not many.

The Palestinians have come a long way from the earliest years of Arraf. They are recognized as a peoples, a homeland while moving toward sovereignty. Yet, the Palestinian people do not comprehend their achievements or their 'place,' if you will. They chronically 'rage against the machine' when in fact the machine exists because they rage against it.

I have no doubt there are many Palestinians and those belonging to Hamas that absolutely hate Israel and Hebrews and the Jewish faith. That will only change with time and generational acceptance. But, today, Hamas and Palestine have an opportunity to live without violence while being supported by the global community. Today, their opportunity, if well done, will live for generations and generations. But, if they throw away this opportunity they will suffer as in times past because they are unable to reach an understanding of tolerance and peace.

There sincerely needs to be a connection to the leadership of Gaza and its people. If roving holy men without guns will work, then do it. Be sure the Palestinians understand they are moving forward without violence and it is a good thing. Let them know their children are not in danger and should be studying books of math, language, rules of writing well and science like biology, physics and the natural world to prepare for the future. Tell them the days of hatred and anger are ending. Allow them to be grateful for those that died in promoting their lands and bringing about calm. Redirect their anger to ceremony of celebration of the sacrifice and allow them to understand they are not alone in the world and their future has a great of hope.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired Friday (click here) to push back Gaza crowds surging toward Israel's border fence with the Hamas-ruled territory, killing one Palestinian and wounding 19 in the first violence since a truce between Israel and Hamas took hold a day earlier.

Hamas security tried to defuse the situation and keep the crowds away from the border, signaling the incident is unlikely to jeopardize the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

The truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years....

And give some real thought to ending, or at least reducing, celebratory firing of guns and anti-aircraft guns. The weapons are no longer necessary to secure their place on the Mediterranean, but, instead peace and an economy that will rob poverty of its power.