What did we do right to increase Ryan's tax rate in 2011? He and Romney are in the same club.

Romney/Ryan pay less than most millionaires in the USA. We just don't know about Thompson.

Aug. 17, 2012 4:20 p.m.

Paul Ryan and his wife, Janna, paid an effective tax rate of 15.9% in 2010 and 20% in 2011, according to tax returns provided by the Romney-Ryan campaign to the Journal Sentinel on Friday.

In 2010, Ryan and his wife paid $34,233 in federal taxes on $215,417 of adjusted gross income.

In 2011, they paid $64,764 in federal taxes on $323,416 of adjusted gross income.

A little more than half of the Ryans' total income in that two-year period came from the congressman's congressional salary.

But the couple also earned significant outside income from dividends, capital, real estate and other sources.

For example, in 2010, the couple reported $39,013 in income from "rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trust, etc....

They don't care about transparency. Ryan simply mirrored the same standard as Romney. Now, Thompson is refusing to release any tax returns. That is the type of leadership Romney/Ryan propagate. The lead in opposition to the American people, that will not stop, it will only get worse and we will see more and more exploitation of our democracy if elected. 

John Kraus
press@tammybaldwin.com
414-939-8376

Facing calls to release his tax returns, (click here) Thompson desperately clings to discredited poll

Thompson Campaign Attempting to Distract From Thompson's Blow Up On The First Day of the General Election

MILWAUKEE – John Kraus, Tammy Baldwin For Senate Communications Director issued the following statement in response to the Thompson campaign's desperate attempt to discredited Republican poll to distract the media and voters from the fact that Tommy Thompson refuses to release his tax returns and supports cutting taxes for millionaires like himself while raising taxes on Wisconsin's middle class.

"In the face of calls to release his tax returns, and after a testy and rattled exchange with the Wisconsin press corps on the first day of the general elction, Tommy Thompson is trying to distract voters by clinging to a widely discredited pollster who used to work for George W. Bush," said Tammy Baldwin for Senate Communications Director John Kraus, "Thompson can try to dodge and distract all he wants but the people of Wisconsin want to know why Tommy won't release his tax returns at the same time he is calling for tax breaks for millionaires like himself and tax increases for the middle class."...

By Seth Hanlon | August 4, 2011

Republicans in the House (click here) of Representatives got their way this week: The final budget deal struck with President Barack Obama raises no additional revenues while cutting more than $2 trillion from public investments, defense, and government services that all Americans rely upon. That’s a better outcome than a Tea Party-caused default but it’s a bad deal for America’s middle class.

Meanwhile, America’s millionaires won’t be asked to contribute a single dime. That’s unfortunate because they certainly can afford it. Not only have their incomes been skyrocketing but data released this week by the Internal Revenue Service reveal that their tax rates have plunged over the last two decades. As a percentage of their incomes, millionaires are now paying about one-quarter less of their income to federal taxes than they did in the mid-1990s....

Vice President Biden is a regular Joe. He is an asset to the Middle Class, hence the American people.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Institute of Advanced Research and Learning in Danville, Va., Tuesday.

Steven Mantilla/The Register & Bee/AP

He is a great legislator. He has spent most of his life protecting the Middle Class in the USA. He understands loss at a very profound level. The Second Lady Biden is an educator. She understands and believes in Community Colleges. We don't have to worry about lobbyists living within the Executive Branch.

With a new 'super PAC' ad that mocks Joe Biden for all manner of verbal slips, it’s almost as if Republicans are mirroring the way Democrats attacked Sarah Palin in 2008. (click title to entry - thank you)

By Peter Grier, Staff writer / August 17, 2012

...Already this week, Team Romney has accused Mr. Biden of injecting race into the campaign, because he told a largely black audience that the GOP would “put y’all back in chains.” And on Friday, the "super PAC" American Crossroads is releasing an ad that mocks Biden for all manner of verbal slips, from the “chains” remark to his assertion that “jobs” is a three-letter word....

We all know Joe does not necessarily have the best manners every minute of every day. But, Joe is Joe and he demands a great deal of respect for his work in the Senate for so long.

I think President Obama said it the best, "...it wasn't the best choice of words."

It is what it is. We can trust inarticulate Vice President Biden. All the CIA agents are still intact, right? 

Go, get 'em, Joe!

I am beginning to feel like one of the Romney boys. "Mitt says no and no is no." I don't want to be talked down to.

President Obama has come to us as a resource to assist with important measures to rebuild our country after the global economic collapse. The USA people are the backbone of this country. We can rebuild our own country, we don't need Mitt Romney's help. We don't need it at all. 

The Family Research Council is afraid of the truth. They do promulgate intolerance and hatred.

Flags fly above the entrance to the Family Research Council headquarters after a security guard was shot in the arm on Wednesday.

The Family Research Council is welcome to fly the flag of the USA over it's headquarters, no different than any other peaceful organization in the USA, but, they do not embrace all Americans.

Aug. 17, 2012 10:25 am
Jesse Walker
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins (click title to entry - thank you) on Thursday said the shooting at the conservative Christian organization's Washington, D.C., headquarters was an act of terrorism and he accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of fostering the climate that allowed the crime to occur...

The Family Research Council is a Political Right Wing activism group. It should be prepared for people that feel the oppression of their policies and views. 

The Family Research Council was Michael Powell's best friend during the Bush/Cheney years. They worked to elect and re-elect Right Wing political figures to effect laws that would ostracize members of the USA as being unworthy of recognition of wholesomeness, feelings of love and the ability to sustain marriage relationships.

Violence is never to be rewarded, but, if guns didn't flow MORE THAN water in the USA, there would not be as much LICENSE to commit violence against innocent people. After all, the FRC and the NRA are practically poured from the same political mold.

Below is a reporting from FRC Action, The Legislative Affiliate of Family Research Council. Not exactly what I would call a peaceful demeanor for a family based organization, now is it? 

NRA UNLOADS ON KING & SPALDING (CLICK HERE)

"Coward for Hire" isn't exactly a slogan that attracts business--or, in King & Spalding's case, keeps it. Barely two weeks into the drama over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law firm that quit the suit has lost--not one, but two--high-profile clients. Yesterday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) joined the state of Virginia in firing K&S for walking out on its contract with the U.S. House of Representatives. The NRA's decision will rock the legal community, since King & Spalding had represented the gun lobby in last year's Supreme Court case, McDonald v. Chicago. Sources say the two sides had been negotiating a bigger role for the firm after it won the Second Amendment suit. But, like Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the NRA has new doubts about the firm's credibility....

If one didn't know better, the DEMEANOR of The Family Research Council is down right militant. So, if the Family Research Council insists on activism that acts to limit the freedom of Americans while escalating the number of guns on the street and insisting judges in the USA, across the spectrum represent their values and only their values; they need to be prepared for what threatens other Americans into action in protection of their own understanding of the world.

The Family Research Council exudes intolerance while insisting on legislative dominance over the populous of the USA. If that isn't threatening, then I don't know what is. 

Actually.

The gunman has the argument, as far as I am concerned, that his impetus was aggravated by the very entity he choose as a point of violence. It isn't as though the Family Research Council can declare innocence to their desire of oppression of innocent Americans, now can they?

I believe one person was injured during the rampage. Lucky. They are very lucky no one else found the violence ONE gun can bring to a peaceful scene in the USA.

They certainly are paying the price for their art. When is their probationary period?

Gee, whiz, it isn't as though they were caught dealing drugs or something.

Moscow needs to provide an incentive for good behavior, so they need to know when they can receive probation for good behavior.

I don't think they did any damage to the church, did they?

They could do public service at the church for their probation, too. I hate to say this about Russia, but, I get the feeling feminism is a real issue there. I don't recall a Punk Rock guy band going to these extremes to be recognized.

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti)

18:35 17/08/2012

Three members of the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years prison on Friday after being convicted of hooliganism and inciting religious hatred by a Moscow district court.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were convicted for staging an anti-Kremlin “punk prayer” in a central Moscow cathedral in February.

The three have already spent more than five months in pretrial detention, which, according to Russian legislation, equals ten months in prison....

continued...

"I told you so."

Besides the tragedy upon us with global warming, I stated years ago the troops should be home by 2012. It is on the blog.

If Karzai wants to embrace the Taliban and bring them on into his military to be trained, that is his headache. We are not starting this mess all over again. 

We need to be out of there, now! There isn't anything NATO can do to improve the dynamics in the region.

Karzai sabotaged his own country. We are not refighting this war.

When it comes to the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, I want to know the plans for Afghanistan and our distressed soldiers?

This is the force used against tribes in Africa when natural resources are mined or drilled. Nigeria had the same problem over oil some time ago.

\\

They were going to kill them all if necessary. Government forces did exactly that in Nigeria when tribes objected to the pollution they were exposed to due to drilling.

The miners need more pay from the largest platinum mine in the world. Just that simple. None of this would have happened if they had been given the pay they were promised.

Tanks? Tanks? Over a pay dispute? This is outrageous. I would have asked for a lot more than money, like better working conditions and quality of life for my family, insurance policies for my family when I die in the mines for mining platinum.

16 AUGUST 2012
PRESS RELEASE

..."We are shocked and dismayed (click here) at this senseless violence. We believe there is enough space in our democratic order for any dispute to be resolved through dialogue without any breaches of the law or violence.

We call upon the labour movement and business to work with government to arrest the situation before it deteriorates any further. I have instructed law enforcement agencies to do everything possible to bring the situation under control and to bring the perpetrators of violence to book. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of all who have lost their lives since the beginning of this violent action," said President Zuma....

Military hubris that believes they have a right to ridicule the President reminds me of another time when it proved to end a distinguished officer's career.

There are Veterans having a different view of the world and with a suicide rate of 26 last month, I really believe it is completely irresponsible to go down this road.

posted Aug 3, 2012 5:25pm EDT

An election year battle (click title to entry - thank you) between liberal and conservative veteran groups over President Barack Obama's national security record has taken a nasty turn, with a prominent pro-Obama group VetPAC raising questions about the service record of Ryan Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who is chairman of an anti-Obama group.

“It’s Swift Boat Veterans all over again,” retired colonel Dick Klass, vice-president of VetPAC, told BuzzFeed. “It’s some guys being used, they are trolling for money among the Boone Pickens and Koch Brothers.”...

George W. Bush was never able to kill the man who killed so many in the USA. The USA went to war in retaliation for an attack on our civilians and our economy. President Obama carries the responsibility for the outcome of the raid. It is just that simple. Leaks did not kill Osama bin Laden. Think about that for awhile. And when it comes to leaks the Bush White House championed one that ended the career of a valuable CIA agent seeking to impact the trade of nuclear materials, so when people talk about leaks they need to get their act together. President Obama does not tolerate leaks and has ordered investigations. I wish people would grow up, the military really is about life and death; not just of soldiers either.

Army had 26 suicides in July, its highest monthly total on record and double the June total (click here)

By Associated Press,

WASHINGTON — Suicides among active-duty soldiers in July more than doubled from June, accelerating a trend throughout the military this year that has prompted Pentagon leaders to redouble efforts to solve a puzzling problem.

The Army, which is the only branch of the military that issues monthly press statements on suicides, said 26 active-duty soldiers killed themselves in July, compared with 12 in June. The July total was the highest for any month since the Army began reporting suicides by month in 2009, according to Lt. Col. Lisa Garcia, an Army spokeswoman....

Ramadan is suppose to be a time of peace and reconciliation, that doesn't seem to be the case in Afghanistan.

Eid al-Fitr is practiced at the end of Ramadan. It might prove to be an assault on foreign troops. NATO really doesn't belong there anymore. The training mission now appears to be training the Taliban. The mission needs to end.

Another Afghan police attack kills 2 US troops

By By KAY JOHNSON and AMIR SHAH, Associated Press – 18 minutes ago  

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A newly recruited Afghan village policeman opened fire on his American allies on Friday, killing two U.S. service members minutes after they handed him his official weapon in an inauguration ceremony. It was the latest in a disturbing string of attacks by Afghan security forces on the international troops training them.

Later Friday, an Afghan soldier turned his gun on foreign troops in another part of the country and wounded two of them, a spokesman for the NATO coalition said.

The attacks in the country's far west and south brought to seven the number of times that a member of the Afghan security forces — or someone wearing their uniform — has opened fire on international forces in the past two weeks.

Such assaults by allies, virtually unheard of just a few years ago, have recently escalated, killing at least 36 foreign troops so far this year. They also raise questions about the strategy to train Afghan national police and soldiers to take over security and fight insurgents after most foreign troops leave the country by the end of 2014....

Tell me this is not happening. Can Glen Beck be far behind? Romney cannot be this desperate.

This is Greer, South Carolina. I would be insulted if I were in that audience.

Unbecoming of a President. Really? Well, he has already been to Israel. 

Romney lies about everything and this is just another time. 

He doesn't really expect people to believe if Medicare is not changed, there will be solvency in the future. He is expecting everyone to consent to the idea the current Seniors are not going to be sabotaged, but, only the Seniors of the future will.

He loves these gimmicks. It was the flashing red numbers about the national debt. Then he fudged the numbers about unemployed women after 2008. Now this. Romney loves deception, half truths and lies.

...”Our plan is, (click title to entry - thank you) for people 55 years of age and older, there’s no change. The only change I’d mention for 55 or older is we’d restore the $817 billion President Obama took out of the Medicare trust fund,” Romney told WBAY — apparently erroneously adding almost $100 billion to the amount of money he typically accuses Obama of taking from Medicare....

When do the grown ups arrive?

Romney wants to restore Medicare Advantage. He won't be able to expand on it, because, the vouchers won't pay for the entire cost of subscribing. And if there are vouchers, I guarantee there won't be any Silver Sneakers Programs either.

If there were ever standards for a voucher, it would have to be met with a cost of living raise at the same rate as SSI. Is Romney/Ryan really ready to discuss that and solvency? I am sure they are not at all ready to reasonably discuss numbers.

The USA medical system is out of control when it comes to cost. Cost containment is the most important issue. It needs to come into alignment with standards setting excellent care, but, removing all the duplicity of exams, tests, etc. The only traumatic topic people in a hospitals should be worried about is the illness or injury they face, not the blatant reality of affording the care without health care insurance.

That is the America I understand. Nothing unreasonable standing in the way of care. A health care system that responds to the disease or the injury and not the billing office. Nixon and managed care really did a number on this nation. It made a mess no one can clean up today. Managed care under Nixon was about profits, not people.

Unless we address the cost of care, we won't get the cost under control. If that occurs there is no change to the Medicare system or health care insurance industry that will end the expense, year after year. 

The health care industry has been exempt from ridicule in their cost, that is not the case in other industries. Costs to consumers matter and the profession needs to seek to streamline and reduce their costs as a method to access. It is unethical for the profession to simply look the other way while costs skyrocket. The profession needs to accurately and dispassionately look to their costs in relation to access by the people they care for. No American believes paying for health care is wrong, however, they have to be able to afford it.

If corporate health care insurance systems are not the best venue for the American people, than what is? I am sure the professions have their own opinions. I can't believe any professional wants to turn away Medicare patients. Their professional organizations need to work on programs that work for the people of the USA and their physicians.

Everyone knows vouchers are the worst idea that exists and it drops the Seniors at the curb to fend for themselves. It won't be a matter of accessibility if they can't pay for the unpaid balance of their health care insurance costs.

The entire pool of Seniors are necessary to obtain the best costs for the elderly. There can't be smaller pools of sicker people. It won't work.

The USA has a lot health problems, part of lowering health care costs is having a healthier America. There is no quick fix for the country. 

Having the federal government dump all the responsibility assigned them with the development of the Medicare program is not remotely responsible. Vouchers do nothing but dump that responsibility. It is the easy way out. 

The cost curve has to be bent down and that will take place in time, not overnight. I'll tell you one thing, with the Affordable Care Act a part of the USA, there won't be promotion of unhealthy eating habits as before, there won't be ignoring obesity as a health care crisis.

So while Sununu continues to make a fool of himself seeking leverage on meaningless rhetoric, the real problems of solving the nation's health is before us. Real responsibility with real solutions are needed, not calling the Medicare problem solvent by dumping the responsibility of Seniors currently 55 or younger by the curbs of hospitals.

There is no voucher program that can predict the future costs of health care, it is not remotely responsible to take this approach.

Brewer is a bully. Absolutely. She finds more ways to waste the taxpayer money by spawning lawsuits.

Between her and the crackpot sheriff one has to wonder who really is in charge in Arizona and why the drug cartels aren't running the place? Arizona has spawned some of the strangest political people in the country. The only person half way reasonable is John McCann and even he has his moments. Kyl is always bizarre, always the extremist.

Go eat scorpions, Brewer, you'll feel better in the morning. Selling books today, Jan dear?

At any rate, the Dreamers need to go forward with their registration under the President's Executive Order. Brewer is going to be asking for money from the Federal Government, just like she does for everything. She can't raise taxes and stay in the Governorship, so she confabulates some outrageous nonsense. She is looking for money to pay for the services the Hispanics will cost the state over the next two years if there is no Dream Act AGAIN after 2012.

by EYDER PERALTA

Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer is throwing more punches (click title to entry - thank you) in her contentious relationship with the federal government.

Today, she issued an executive order that says young people granted a deportation deferral under President Obama's new policy will still be considered undocumented and won't be granted public benefits....

I don't know if anyone can call them punches, but, she is certainly throwing DC a "Curveball." See ya in court, Jan.

Congressman Paul Ryan is lying.

The context the Republican hopeful is putting the CHANGES to Medicare under the Affordable Care Act has nothing to do with providing the services it was designed to provide.

Those that offer "Medicare Advantage" have hyped the coverage by adding fluff to the enrollment. One of the perks is The Silver Sneakers Program. It isn't as though it is a harmful program for Seniors at least that we know of, but, the idea the nation is going to pay for gym classes for Seniors when we don't even have the same classes for our children is outrageous. The Seniors that never use the program still have it attached to their coverage when they should receive a credit for not using the program.

We should know as well if any program attached to Medicare enrollment is actually beneficial for Seniors and not harmful. For all we know this is causing problems for Seniors that actually raise the costs to their Medicare coverage, ie: injury.

The FACT is the Romney/Ryan programs would FUNDAMENTALLY change the Medicare Health Insurance Program as we know it. The Affordable Care Act seeks to improve the costs to the Medicare Program, not cause a greater burden on our Seniors.

The Romney Campaign cannot deny their plans to 'SAVE' Medicare is nothing more than giving up on change to the Medicare Program. They have arbitrarily carved out a dollar figure $7000 for premium support. That is giving up. They do not seek to improve the costs to the Medicare Program which would include making prescriptions less expensive. 

The American Senior can count on paying far more for their health care, including medications, if Romney/Ryan have their way. They will have to fill in the gap to their premiums in their budget and the return of the 'donut hole' to the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

There is a fundamental problem with any premium support plan by the USA government. If it were instituted today and a person aqe 55 had a disabling injury what would be THEIR options? Premium Support? It is hideous. Medicare is the most comprehensive coverage a nation can offer its citizens. It covers citizens when anything happens that removes them from the work force, be it age or disability. This is a ridiculous discussion.

People should be able to make online reservations as they wait in line for "Deferred Action." They won't lose their place, but, have an appointment instead.

President Obama's Executive Order was the right thing to do with a deadlocked Congress, but, the outcome to the elections in 2012 has to be to engage the Dream Act within the next two years. There is only one way to do that, put Democrats back in majority of the House and Senate. The Democrats should be running on this issue to remind their Hispanic communities there is a timeline running to insure The Dream Act is passed in the next Congress.

Representative Gutierrez can be a strong ally for making the concerns known. He could be a good spokesperson for the movement to encourage voting for those that will pass The Dream Act next time.

By Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) (click title to entry - thank you)

Tomorow from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier in Chicago, Rep. Gutierrez and others will host DREAM Relief Day.

Tomorrow, the first of perhaps a million or more people who qualify for the DREAM Act will begin stepping forward to apply and pay fees for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a form of temporary deportation relief for undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria. Each case will be evaluated individually, but I am encouraging those who meet the basic criteria to consider applying for DACA or at least get all the information they can about whether it is the right thing for them.

Thousands will join me and Senator Dick Durbin, the author of the DREAM Act, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago at the Navy Pier for a workshop on the new program conducted by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and numerous local groups....

More Libor.

Published: 16 August, 2012, 12:08

Seven major world banks (click title to entry - thank you) are to be questioned in the US over the possible manipulation of the Libor interest rate .

The Attorneys General in New York and Connecticut have sent summons to British banks Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings. US lenders Citigroup and JPMorgan, Swiss bank UBS and Germany’s Deutsche banks have also received subpoenas.

New York AG Eric Schneiderman and Connecticut AG George Jepsen are conducting a joint investigation into alleged Libor rigging by global banks between 2005 and 2009. Meanwhile Florida AG Pam Bondi is “actively reviewing the Libor matter” and has issued subpoenas, spokeswoman Jenn Meale said. Libor is an international interest rate which affects transactions worth trillions of dollars, as well as mortgages and bank-to-bank loans.

The Libor case came into limelight after Barclays paid $452 million to British and US regulators to settle the probe over its involvement in alleged rate fixing. Barclays’ chief executive Bob Diamond, chairman Marcus Agius, and chief operating officer, Jerry del Missier resigned under huge public pressure....

LIBOR has ceased to be a reliable benchmark for commercial and residential loans. The corruption has complicated every issue regarding the banks and consumers.

Keller Rohrbacki, L.L.P. Investigates Manipulation of the London Interbank Offering Rage (L.I.B.O.R.) (click here)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

SEATTLE, Aug. 15, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keller Rohrback L.L.P. is investigating potential claims against member banks of the British Bankers Association ("BBA") for manipulating the London Interbank Offering Rate ("LIBOR"). This investigation follows inquiries by the United States Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodities Futures Exchange Commission, and several European governmental agencies into such conduct.

LIBOR is the primary benchmark for short term interest rates globally and is used as the basis for settlement of interest rate contracts on many of the world's major futures and options exchanges, including those in the United States. LIBOR is calculated based on submissions by member banks, which have included: UBS, Bank of America, Citibank, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., HSBC Holdings PLC, Barclays Bank PLC, Lloyds Banking Group PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, WestLB AG, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Group, Inc., Rabobank Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Societe Generale, and the Norinchukin Bank....

The last thing the housing market in any part of the world needs is more turbulence with LIBOR in question to its impact globally. However, realizing there are investigations taking place should stabilize the prices of housing. There is help coming if investigations prove to have caused hardship.

California Housing Market post gains in July (click here)
By Alejandro Lazo

August 15, 2012, 2:25 p.m.

The median home price in California rose to near a four-year high in July as more expensive homes sold and fewer foreclosures were purchased in the key Southern California and San Francisco Bay Area markets.

The Golden State’s median home price increased  2.6% fromJune and 11.5% from July 2011 to $281,000, real estate firm DataQuick reported. It was the fifth consecutive month that the median has risen year over year and the highest point for the measure for any month since September 2008.

Sales fell 3.7% from June, part of a normal seasonal decline. Sales were up 13.9% from the same month last year, as 39,507 newly built houses and condominiums sold statewide last month.

Sales of so-called distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales, in which the lender allows a property to be sold for less than what is owed – accounted for 41.0% of the market last month, down from 43% in June in 2011....

This is a good thing, the housing market is starting to show recovery. If the number of houses sold slows for awhile it is not tragic, it shows the purchasers are not simply investors with hopes of grabbing cash from state settlements with the banks (which does nothing to build neighborhoods). This may be the point when neighborhoods are actually finding recovery as families purchase into the market again.

If more individuals enter the market, the recovery of value will return. It is not an artificial value either. As real people return to communities the value within that community will increase. Local economies will become more important, schools will receive more attention locally and real estate taxes will return to the local governments. The government structures across the country have been deflating due to lack of revenue. A real turn around in housing values will return stability to the State and local governments.

One of the favorite attacks these days is against Public Employee Unions. The reason this seemed like a reasonable attack to the average citizen is because wages, pensions and benefits appeared to be too high compared to revenues of their governments, basically unaffordable. Those wages and benefits including pensions were established during a time when they were reasonable solutions for everyone, it is not the fault of the unions the banks failed and sent local governments into turmoil. Actually, the unions usually have credit unions for their members and the Credit Unions were uneffected during that time. The homeowners through Credit Unions weren't in stressed homes unless of course they lost employment.

When value returns to housing, people return to their communities, the requirements for the services of public employees will be greater with better functioning of the local governments with better income from taxes. Hopefully, as communities return to function, the Public Employees will be recalled to work again. It would not only help the unemployment rate, but, it would increase the local economies increasing the demand for good and services.

This may be the turning point, let's hope so.

You see, See what happened here? Now, Assange is an international incident.

The USA and the UK are not going to win this argument, they took it too far and used the threat of violence. Now, Assange is going to Ecuador to protect the Galapagos Islands. Yep.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Ecuador says it is granting political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning for alleged sexual misconduct.

Russian society is headed for confrontation.

The leadership of the nation cannot pander to women without accepting their freedom of speech. President Putin has, in the past, held many town halls with the populous of Russia and he needs to continue talking to his nation.

He has stated he isn't interested in entertaining any more dissent in Russia, but, in reality that is a choice he can make. He has nurtured a more open society engaging politics in a way that brings in the people to participate. It may have been insulting and embarrassing, but, transparency may be the next challenge to the Russian leadership. I thought Former President and Current Prime Minister Medvedev had a more engaging relationship with Russia.

Pussy Riot is a punk rock band. I can't believe they actually pulled off an appearance inside a church. That is like, major cool.

Pussy Riot has an amazing resemblance to the Brits favorite sound and the bands of the Northwest USA. It is Russia evolving. I find this harmless. I think the resistance to hear the voice of Russian youth is more dangerous than the leadership realizes.

You'll excuse me, but, the current opposition to the government oppression of the 'new sound' in Russia look remarkably more dangerous than admiring crowds of a punk rock band.

..."Essentially, (click here) it is not three singers from Pussy Riot who are on trial here. It is the entire state system of the Russian Federation which is on trial," Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one the three defendants, said in her closing statement last week.

Tolokonnikova, 22, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, face up to three years in jail for bursting into Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in balaclavas, short skirts and bright tights and belting out a "punk prayer" protesting against Putin's close ties with the Orthodox Church.

Judge Marina Syrova is scheduled to start reading the verdict at 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Friday and could hand down a sentence by the evening on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred....

I am sure the Russian courts can find a fair charge for the three ladies and not alienate more people than are already worried about their own freedoms in Russia. Three years in jail for being outrageous and bold at the end of a guitar is not exactly an act against the state.

It is a dangerous time for the world, Europe is a prime example of how bad decisions cause civil unrest. But to seek retribution against SINGERS and GUITAR PLAYS is not going to promote peace within the country of Russia. The lack of singers and guitar players making outrageous alligations against the state is more likely to send any dissent underground and dangerous. None of us want that for the people of Russia.

The voice of the youth President Putin is seeking isn't gone, it simply is growing up. It might be different than the Russian people are used to, but, it is not unhealthy. I am sure there are many other youth voices in Russia that would be center stage for President Putin and he has spotlighted them, even though he could not bend a fry pan. 

President Putin needs to chalk "Pussy Riot" up to the generation gap and nothing more; making them the stars of the dissent is not prudent.

See that, Pussy Riot is wrong. I still think have concert is a church is wild, don't you? Next time, with permission, maybe.

Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:47pm IST

* Patriarch says Church and state are autonomous (click here)

* Pussy Riot trial fuels debate on Church role

By Gabriela Baczynska

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has called President Vladimir Putin's rule a "miracle of God", defended its close ties with the state on Friday against criticism fuelled by the trial of three members of the Pussy Riot punk band.

In remarks published a day before a court issues its verdict in the trial over the band's protest against the Church's political role on a cathedral altar, Patriarch Kirill said the Church and state were merely bound by a "common agenda"....

The violence among Muslims are the problem of their leadership, not the military of the USA.

Case in point. Iraq is having escalations of violence. This is Muslim on Muslim violence. The Sunnis and Shi'ites are escalating their advances against each other. There isn't anything the USA could or should do.We don't belong in Iraq.We never did....Worsening violence

At least seven people were killed and about 30 injured in a car bombing in the Husseiniyah district of Baghdad, officials said.

In Daquq, a town in Kirkuk province, six policemen died when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a counter-terrorism department's compound, AFP reports.

Other attacks were reported in al-Garma, Tuz Khurmatu, Dibis, Fallujah and Baquba, officials said.

The violence is thought to be linked to Sunni groups trying to undermine the Shia-led government.

More than 300 people died in attacks across Iraq in July - the highest monthly death toll since August 2010, according to government figures.

Although the violence is still below that seen at the height of Iraq's civil war in 2006 and 2007, it has been growing again since US troops withdrew last December.

Does Romney love vaginas or papayas or both? He seems to love so much, including trees the right size.

Romney should limit his foreign language expertise to French.

He has character issues, who knew he loved vaginas this much? Does anyone thing that was a code to someone in the audience? 

Look, anyone that won't provide at least six years of tax returns while running for the Presidency of the United States of America has character issues. He is afraid of the truth. That is all I need to know. For all I know he has a real love for vaginas of the right size.

Posted: 08/15/2012 6:01 pm 
Updated: 08/15/2012 9:55 pm

That's probably (click title to entry - thank you) what presidential candidate Mitt Romney was asking himself as he finished up an interview with Miami's Radio Mambí on Monday, a station mainly targeted at Cuban exiles.

According to Mediaite.com, in light of the governor's imminent campaign stop at convicted cocaine trafficker Reinaldo Bermudez' El Palacio de los Jugos (The Palace of Juices), host Carlos Santana asked Romney, “They’re waiting for you with a mamey and a guayaba — Cuban fruits — here in Miami, do you like those?”

“I am a big fan of mango, papaya, and guava,” Romney answered. Well of course he's a fan of papaya, it is a superfruit after all.

Santana, stifling his laughter, added. “There are mangos there too.” Great, but will there be papayas there?...

There are too many guns on the street.

The guns finally made a visit to the Political Right Wing. Their reply is to quiet the hate rant against them. Against them? Since when is the Family Research Council on the lips of hate mongers?

The Family Research Council has a right to exist in the USA, but, they need to state the guns are the problem, not anyone else.

Posted at 05:21 PM ET, 08/15/2012

Family Research Council shooting injuries security guard at DC office (click title to entry - thank you)

By Jeannine Hunter

...The alleged shooter, whose name was not released to media by mid-afternoon, entered the conservative group’s downtown Washington building and opened fire. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the guard a hero for subduing the shooter who allegedly expressed disagreement with FRC’s views. Investigators have not determined a motive.

“We don’t know enough about him or his circumstances to determine what his connection is to this group [the research council] or his mental state, or what he was doing or thinking of doing,” said James McJunkin, the head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “So we’re going to try to sort this all out, pull the evidence together, do all the interviews we can.”

A law enforcement official said the gunman carried a bag containing a Chick-Fil-A bag; the fast-food company’s leader recently expressed views against same-sex marriage similar to those embraced by FRC....

Julian Assange is in the news again. The UK is planning a war on Ecuador for his arrest.

Give me a break, the UK actually is stating the Ecuador Embassy is not an extension of the sovereign nation of Ecuador. I congratulate Cameron, he makes up the rules as he sees fit.

The UK cannot invade another nation that will not extradite someone, that is an aggression. I doubt the UK wants to initiate hostilities with South America, does it?

By Associated Press

LONDON — It is an inviolable diplomatic principle: (click title to entry - thank you) British law and the British police cannot reach inside the embassy of a foreign country.

But Ecuador says British officials have threatened to march in and grab WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from its London embassy, where he has been holed up in a bid to escape extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations....

The UK needs to rethink their aggression against the embassy, because, by carrying out such an aggression changes the relationship it has with every other embassy around the globe. The UK may find their embassies asked to leave or worse if they change the game with Ecuador. It is quickly becoming a larger issue with such aggression against an embassy. There are rules, like it or not the UK has to play by those rules. Assange is not worth changing the entire dynamic of diplomatic relations within their embassies. If Ecuador has no problem giving Julian Assange sanctuary, that needs to be respected with the understanding they have that right as a sovereign nation.

Ecuador is part of a larger community in South America. Both the UK and the demands of the USA need to reassess exactly what their intentions are in this matter. Neither the USA or the UK want to estrange good will with South America and it just might should the UK continue aggressive actions against a benevolent embassy.