Happy Thanksgiving

deserves to live a long healthy life.

EAT TOFU. Gobble, gobble.

unfortunately for Mr Butterball..

Then it's nap time.. ;)

**

Happy Thanksgiving to You All ! :-)

**

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Long time no see..

I hope you have been doing ok..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 9:56am.
Deficit Commission Gains Traction In White House

A bi-partisan commission that would tame the federal deficit by limiting cost-cutting decisions to a select number of lawmakers is gaining traction in the White House. Congress would be able to vote on the plan put forth by the panel, but no amendments would be made. It's a proposal put forward the Senate Budget Committee's top-ranking Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad (ND) and Republican Sen. Judd Gregg (NH). The Wall Street Journal reports that the White House is pondering its own commission that would be similar, but would grant lawmakers less power:

The idea is to bring Republicans and Democrats together to make tough decisions about how to cut costs or raise revenue in areas including Social Security, Medicare and taxes. For the White House, establishing a commission would show that the Obama administration is serious about tackling the deficit while postponing any real moves until after the 2010 elections.

The federal budget deficit swelled to a post-World War II record of $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2009 and isn't expected to shrink much this year. The White House budget office has already asked each cabinet department, except for defense and veterans affairs, to submit two budgets for fiscal 2011 -- one freezing spending at current levels, the other cutting spending by 5%.

The Economist recently wrote about the deficit commission, and reported the success of a similar commission that was used to restore solvency to Social Security in the early 80's:

A similar commission was set up to restore solvency to Social Security in 1982-83. It succeeded because the problem was imminent, the consequences of failure were unacceptable to both parties, and its members were trusted and pragmatic dealmakers, according to a joint analysis by the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation. Entitlements and tax reform today are a far larger, more amorphous problem, the threat of catastrophe is absent so far, and politics is more polarised. But "the alternative--political paralysis--is far worse," the analysis concluded.

In a blog post about deficit commissions, the magazine suggested that the best way to fight a crisis is to act like you're in a crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is opposed to the idea of a deficit commission because it would take power away from House Committees. She argued against the Senate proposal in an interview with The Hill, saying Congress can accomplish the panel's same goals:

"How we proceed should, I think, have a strong basis in our committees in the Congress," she said. "They are bipartisan, they are elected by the people. They can have public and open hearings on different initiatives in relationship to curtailing the growth of entitlements."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/24/deficit-commission-gains_n_3700...

...

=======================================

This is not a mere operational tweek. This is giving MORE -- and UNEQUAL -- power to a select few. Unacceptable.

there were transparency in the Obama administration?

This video segment documents some differences between the promises and the actions and how those compare to Bush/Cheney behavior...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW2Qr4P4eTY&NR=1

the Constitution? Three quarters through this video segment, the claim is made that Obama is violating the Constitution by simultaneously being U.S. president and being chairman of the U.N. Security Council. Any experts here who have another view?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW2Qr4P4eTY&NR=1

Ever hear the term "Culture Industry"? Wow. The idea isn't new to me but the term is! Influence, control, propaganda, programming...we don't CREATE our own Culture, it is created and packaged for us....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT8UmUF5gdM&NR=1

form the basis for a new derivatives scheme? Boy, I'd like to hear a clearly neutral party parse this stuff...(I admit, if Gore has money in the game, I can't see him as a neutral party)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SVK5MraX04&feature=related

Creepy. Don't people talk to their clergymen confidentially? I think this is NOT about evident wrong-doing, but rather categorizing people. This discussed in last three minutes or so of this segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBRCgN54BfM&feature=related

the picture that was supposed to be
on this post - is not available @
this time -
the picture of Thom Hartmanns book
i have not a clue as to how it got posted.

Oakland’s Rep. Lee continues call for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

As the deadliest year of the U.S. war in Afghanistan draws to a close, Oakland’s congressional representative Barbara Lee today stepped up her calls to end U.S. involvement in the conflict.

“I stand here today to put this stage of American history—a stage characterized by open-ended war—to a close,” Lee told a crowd of more than 200 people attending a noon rally at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in downtown Oakland.

So far this year, 297 American service personnel have died in Afghanistan, almost twice as many as in any other year of the war. Taliban forces have re-established strongholds in southern Afghanistan, and deaths among NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians have also increased over figures from recent years.

After scaling down its presence in Iraq, the U.S. military has intensified its efforts against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and, since 2008, in neighboring Pakistan. U.S. ground commander General Stanley McChrystal called in late September for more U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but President Barack Obama has not committed more troops as he awaits a full review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

http://oaklandnorth.net/2009/11/23/oakland%E2%80%99s-rep-lee-continues-c...

Bush administration was 'running out of steam' before 9/11, Iraq inquiry told

Source: The Guardian

George Bush's administration was seen by many as "running out of steam" on the eve of the "great atrocity" of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Britain's ambassador at the time, Sir Christopher Meyer, told the Iraq inquiry in London today.

It looked like an administration that had run into trouble very quickly, the former ambassador to Washington said. People were saying the effort of getting big tax cuts and medical prescription benefits for older people through Congress had "killed" Bush, Meyer said, adding that secretary of state Colin Powell's efforts to narrow and deepen sanctions against Iraq had failed and there was a "huge bear market" against Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary.

=snip=

On 9/11 Condoleezza Rice, then the US national security adviser, told Meyer she was in "no doubt: it was an al-Qaida operation". The following weekend Bush and his key advisers met at Camp David and contacts later told Meyer there had been a "big ding-dong" about Iraq and Saddam.

It seemed that Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld's deputy, argued for retaliation to include Iraq, Meyer said. It was not clear where Rumsfeld stood. But later that month Bush and Tony Blair, on a visit to Washington, were agreed on a "laser-like focus" on al-Qaida and Pakistan.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/26/bush-administr...

Avoid cod, plaice, swordfish and ling while stocking gurnard, pollock and mussels, says Marine Conservation Society

Supermarkets could be doing more to help the environment and boost Britain's dwindling fish stocks by offering consumers a wider variety of fish and seafood, according to a report published today.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) also recommends that retailers should refuse to use North Sea cod, plaice from the western Channel, swordfish and ling in own-brand products. These are on the charity's list of fish to avoid on sustainability grounds.

The society urges supermarkets to sell more seafood which has not been overfished, including gurnard, pollock and mussels, while improving labelling and information for customers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/26/supermarkets-fish-seaf...

Freedom & Life: Of Turkeys & Men
Dear Mr. President:

Today is the official Presidential Turkey Pardon Day for 2009, your very first since taking office. I understand you are planning to fly your pardoned bird(s) First Class to California, where they will live at Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland. How lucky are these birds, how kind of you to value their lives and freedom, and how generous of you to release them.

Mr. President, there are many innocent human beings who have been caged for over six years, under deplorable conditions, including torture – despite being innocent and having done nothing wrong. Their last ten months of detainment and torture have taken place under your watch, per your orders, and with your instructions.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/

At State Dinner, Did Tom Friedman Tell Anyone to 'Suck on This'?
I was reviewing the guest list for President Obama's first state dinner -- held to honor Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- and it was full of interesting picks: Ari Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel's brother and a notorious Hollywood power-agent; Gayle King, Oprah's BFF; Greg Craig, the soon-to-be-ex White House counsel; Michael Bloomberg, the barely re-elected mayor of New York City; Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor left out of Obama's Cabinet; M. Night Shyamalan, the "I see dead people" film director; moguls Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg; and news anchors Katie Couric and Brian Williams. Also on the list was New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. And that reminded me: I am miffed at Friedman.

http://www.davidcorn.com/

I am so thankful to all of you for being so kind and welcoming to me when I first came here. You are all inside of my heart as I go through my day. I think if it weren't for my participation on this blog I would not have thought about being on the radio myself(even though I have to pay now). And then Ya Think happened which is such a joy mainly because I know each of the brilliant panelists better now. You all really ARE the cream of the crap!

Love you so much

To save the largest animals on Earth from some of the largest -- and most deadly -- vessels at sea, last week the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, represented by the Environmental Defense Center, warned the feds we'll sue over their failure to protect blue whales from deadly collisions with ships. According to the 1998 Blue Whale Recovery Plan -- which the feds must legally heed for the sake of the species' survival and recovery -- the National Marine Fisheries Service needs to take steps to eliminate or reduce blue whale mortalities from ship strikes. But despite the documented ship-strike deaths of at least five blue whales off Southern California in 2007 and two more this fall, the agency has done nothing to address the problem for more than a decade.

Hunted to near-extinction by the mid-20th century, blue whale populations have inched their way toward recovery. But now they're faced with a host of new threats, including not only death by ship strike but also climate change, ocean acidification, and ocean noise pollution.

Get more from Marine Science Today.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/marine-scie...

have a good turkey day :)
will u b with your grandbaby?

The greatest blessing of all is the blessings we give one another.

Free hugs all day long.

*

/|\)0(

Tic Toc
Time Is Fleeting.
What tis the rhyme?
Entropy is The many decade Clock.
Have We {WTP} ran out of Time?

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/movies/03unmi.html

We just watched this movie on netflix view instantly. It was amazing and beautiful. If you want to learn more about the process of finding a reincarnated master (tulku), this is a movie to see. If not, it is still fascinating and so reverent of the Tibetan Buddhist way.....

>>> CALLING AIR-ONO <<< COME IN PLEASE, AIR-O

We are in Reno right now, but will be going to Minden this am to spend the day with family and Iris will be at the center. You have a happy day to ok?

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai is shaking investor confidence across the Persian Gulf after its proposal to delay debt payments risked triggering the biggest sovereign default since Argentina in 2001. - Bloomberg

http://www.rocketnews.com/2009/11/dubai-asks-for-debt-payment-delay-2/
no shouts

RSS
Previous

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Dubai’s financial health has come under scrutiny after a major, government-owned investment company asked for a six-month delay on repaying its debts.

Dubai World, which has total debts of $59bn (£35bn), is asking creditors if it can postpone its forthcoming payments until May next year.

Dubai World has also appointed global accountancy group Deloitte to help with its financial restructuring.

The company has been hit hard by the global credit crunch and recession.

It was due to repay $3.5bn of its debts next month.

The request for a delay in repayments led to major credit ratings agencies downgrading a number of state-backed companies.

Following six years of rapid growth, the Dubai economy has slumped since the second half of 2008.

"Standard & Poor’s and Moodys immediately downgraded all six state-back corporations in Dubai, downgrading some to junk status"

Jeremy Howell, BBC Middle East correspondent

This has led to Dubai property prices falling sharply.

‘Shocking’

The Dubai government said in a statement that the request to delay debt repayments also applied to property developer Nakheel, a Dubai World subsidiary.

"It’s shocking because for the past few months the news coming out has given investors comfort that Dubai would most probably be able to meet its debt obligations," said analyst Shakeel Sarwar, of SICO Investment Bank.

Dubai is one of the seven self-governing emirates or states that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Analysts say the Dubai government has paid the price for a flamboyant economic model centred on foreign capital and giant construction projects.

Questions are now being raised about Dubai’s ability to repay its $85bn of debts, said the BBC’s Middle East correspondent Jeremy Howell.

Some have speculated it is likely to turn to the more economically conservative Abu Dhabi emirate to bail it out.

Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, which rules on a company’s or government’s ability to repay its debts, said the announcement "may be considered a [debt] default".

Our correspondent said: "Standard & Poor’s and Moodys immediately downgraded all six state-back corporations in Dubai, downgrading some to junk status."

Junk is the term commonly used to describe bonds that are rated below investment grade by ratings agencies.

The Dubai World announcement was made on the eve of the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival, which will see many government agencies and companies close in Dubai until 6 December.

Give thanks. Because this isn’t one of those Thanksgiving lists of things for which we should be grateful -- although health, family, friends, laughter, etc., would certainly all be on mine.

And Jane Goodall.

Yes, that Jane Goodall, the woman we all grew up with watching those National Geographic specials on TV as she communed with the chimpanzees of Tanzania’s Gombe National Park in East Africa. Everyone I know seems especially to remember those scenes of chimps ingeniously utilizing straw and blades of grass to poke around in mounds hunting for termites, proof that they know how to make and use tools. I still have trouble opening a can of tuna.

Goodall was interviewed by my colleague Bill Moyers for this week’s edition of BILL MOYERS JOURNAL on PBS. She began her work in Africa in 1960 at the age of 26, spurred by the encouragement of her English mother and the great anthropologist Louis Leakey, as well as the African adventure books she read as a child. “I was in love with Tarzan,” she told Moyers. “I was so jealous of that wimpy Jane. I knew I would have been a better mate for Tarzan.”

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/11/michael_winship_a_jane_go...

London — The Associated Press Published on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009 8:24AM EST
The London Stock Exchange PLC halted electronic share trading Thursday because of technical issues and said it has not yet determined the root cause of the problem.

The exchange took trading offline at 10:33 GMT, placing all order-driven securities into an auction call period instead. That allows customers to continue to place buy and sell orders into the exchange's order book, but they are not being executed.

LSE spokesman Alistair Fairbrother said that customers will be given 30 minutes notice before the exchange ends the auction period, once it sorts out the technical issue.

The auction call period is usually used to set prices at the start and end of the daily trading session.

The exchange took trading offline, freezing the FTSE 100 at 5,264.97, after customers reported intermittent connectivity issues during the morning session.

The glitch halted trade when stock indexes in both Europe and Asia were down sharply as investors fretted over debt problems at Dubai World, a government investment company, and the continued fall in the U.S. dollar. Those factors were driving interest on a normally quiet day – Wall Street is closed for Thanksgiving Day.

The problems also came just a day after the LSE posted a posted an 40-per-cent drop in first half earnings on the back of lower trading and increased competition from new platforms.

The LSE has been losing market share to multilateral trading facilities such as Chi-X and BATS since pan-European regulation opened the market to competition in 2007.

The last time the LSE experience a lengthy trading outage was September, 2008, when a software glitch was to blame for a seven-hour shutdown that angered customers on one of the busiest days of the year on world equity markets.

On that day, the shutdown left many clients unable to cash in on a worldwide stock market boom that followed the U.S. government bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/technical-glitch-halts...

mhappenow - I will :)

The fridge is humming! Yeay!!

The beer is cold and the turkey gumbo will soon be in process.

Hope you all have a great day and thanks for being there for me all these years!

You too Seder!

"this machine kills fascists"

;) NORA OR smcgee43 up for a debate :)

IF One NEEDS the meat ... GIVE UP ALL EATING of Sacred Pigs, Cows, & Lambs & ...... ... if one MUST eat our fine feathered friends ... FOWLS SHOULD BE TREATED AS SACRED - GREAT FREE ROAMING LOCATIONS & NO UGLY PAINFUL DEATHS...
SACRED FOWLS FEED US -- TREAT AS SACRED, as FOWLS ARE!

I am of O Blood and crave meat {at times} NOT CHOCOLATE!
Now family grew up on ALL MEAT ... sister even went vegetarian, but she is EATTING meat as with YOUNG FRIEND {was near where I was born & lived in, NOW called Central CA area, now in AZ} was ONLY vegetarian (almost vegan) now is a MEAT of all kinds eater ... but maybe starting to change back...however :):(

...eek I should be cooking ... but no Wolves this time sniff sniff

Obama wrote the playbook on how to win an election using the "here comes everybody" *nature of the Internet. But a year into his presidency, many feel that his administration is governing in the same old Washington way. What happened?
Basically, the whole arm of the campaign that used the Internet was severed from the group that moved into the White House. They used the Internet as a tool for enhancing the effectiveness of their grass-roots organizers, and they did it better than anyone else. They just haven't figured out yet how to move from campaigning to governance. That's a long and difficult transition for any politician to make.

..more in RS on this article

Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.

{they were "old" then {giggle}} in background "flying" between Gay Divorcee & ANGEL {the kewl Vampire, with a soul}
mwah haha

toniD's Ya Think?

.."food insecurity" and make them go hungry for a month.

Found the following list. Isn't it amazing these are the states with a majority of elected representatives in Congress who are against national healthcare?

Ten states exhibited statistically significant higher household food insecurity rates than the national average in 2009 (12.2%):

1. Mississippi 17.4%

2. Texas 16.3%

3. Arkansas 15.9%

4. Georgia 14.2%

5. New Mexico 14.1%

6. Missouri 14.0%

7. Oklahoma 14.0%

8. Kansas 13.8%

9. Maine 13.7%

10. North Carolina 13.7%

Many of the callers attacked her and called her a liar.
Some were good calls.

Check c-span for video

toniD's Ya Think?

If this is a good day to watch a truly remarkable humanitarian movie for you may I suggest, "Unmistaken Child". However there's lots of humanitarian football on the tube today too! Giving Thanks not tanks!

I know I grumble and complain alot...but I have a lot in my life to be very thankful for. You all, and this place, are high on that list.

I wish peace, love, health, and happiness for you all and those you love...

People take food for granted... Sometimes we lose sight of just what it takes to produce what we eat.

When you consider everything that goes into making something as simple as a club sandwich it is staggering...and humbling.

The earth and animals feed us...disrespect of any of it is self contempt.

..now I'm all teary-eyed.

Like I said over at FDL, I'm thankful for all you literate people, grounded in reality and who congregate here and elsewhere on the digital deity.

I stand corrected, Sederville. Eat and enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Book store chain Borders goes into administration, insolvency firm MCR confirms. More details soon .

I'm a little late on this... I eat everything
but the turkey... no meat 4 this gurl.

No wolves - lets get some.....

On the brink for a long time, way before Obama.

..not just Borders. Let's just hope we can keep the libraries alive.

Now that the world can publish for basically free, booksellers are in a tough place. Add electronic books to the mix and the inevitability is clearer.

Guess Going Rogue wasn't enough to pull them out, eh?

"To a Teacher"

Hurt once and for all into silence.
A long pain ending without a song to prove it.
Who could stand beside you so close to Eden,
When you glinted in every eye the held-high
razor, shivering every ram and son?
And now the silent loony bin, where
The shadows live in the rafters like
Day-weary bats,
Until the turning mind, a radar signal,
lures them to exaggerate
Mountain-size on the white stone wall
Your tiny limp.
How can I leave you in such a house?
Are there no more saints and wizards
to praise their ways with pupils,
No more evil to stun with the slap
of a wet red tongue?
Did you confuse the Messiah in a mirror
and rest because he had finally come?
Let me cry Help beside you, Teacher.
I have entered under this dark roof
As fearlessly as an honoured son
Enters his father's house.

Leonard Cohen

To You All !

Take care.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

I knew I should have used my gift card before this..
But,their prices were so dang high..
Maybe it's still good..Probably not..O'well..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

food.

a good time to reflect on it's qualities.

winter, people, celebration (hopefully, though the thanksgiving from hell is fairly common)

had a laugh at Michelles "Thankfulness" post.

mhappenow on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 8:02am.

a friedian slip?

Thanks to you all for being here and helping others when needed. May your goodness come back to you threefold!

Don't forget the hungry and the poor this Holiday Season. That includes the animals.

toniD's Ya Think?

.
.
.
_ _ _
brr | WTF

Re: MMRules on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 12:42pm.
_______________

very depressing.
Kind of like when Tower Records went under.

In the late '90's I spent all my time & money
at Tower and they still went under.

I think you can still order stuff online at their website..
But,I haven't done that in awhile..
You still could after they went bankrupt..They had everything in warehouses..Their customer service sent me a email saying their online site was still open for business..
And,I used them..But,like I said,it's been awhile..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

Dear XXX,
Today, Americans from all walks of life and all political persuasions come together as one and reflect upon all those things for which we are thankful -- our family, our friends, our country, and the ideals we hold so dear.

Marcelle and I have so much for which to be thankful.

We are thankful for the health and well-being of our daughter, two sons, two daughters-in-law, son-in-law, and five beautiful grandchildren.

We are thankful for the warmth of our neighbors here in Vermont and our friends around the world -- the old friendships that still flourish even as our lives have changed quite a bit over the decades, and all the new friendships we've made through public service.

We are thankful to our men and women in uniform, especially those who can't be with their families today.

We are thankful to those who came before us, emigrating to this great land, fighting for our freedoms, and building a more prosperous, more just world for each successive generation.

We are thankful for the opportunity Vermonters have given us to continue that legacy, so that we may leave our grandchildren -- and their children -- with a nation and a planet better off than those which we inherited.

And we thank you for all your help and support along the way.

We wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Warm Regards,

Patrick and Marcelle Leahy

“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”

---------

Submitted by toniD on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 9:42am.
Jane Hampshire was on c-span this AM
--------

For the first time in several months, I tuned in to C-Klan. During the holidays, the Nazi that monitors the phone is usually on vacation. If you've noticed, this is the time when a few Progressives may get through. But it didn't happened today. Joseph Goebbels was on the job.

I began to listen around 7:40- when DAVID BECKMANN (Bread for the World Institute) president was on. Though the subject of hunger profoundly effects women and children, no phones calls- during this segment- were from women. They were exclusively right wing, southern males. The same pattern continued with Jane Hamsher. One female caller got through. However, she was angry at Jane because Hillduggery didn't win.

When Craig Shirley, the right wing Reagan worshipper came on, he received the kit glove treatment. Though Gretta, the host, challenged Pastor Beckmann and Hamsher on their views, she remain quiet throughout Shirley's interview. In totality, from the time I began listening to C-Klan- until it ended at 10:00, I counted approximately 3 callers from women, and about 4 calls from Democrats.

As I've said, I had pretty much given up on these type of shows. I know longer watch the Sunday Morning Gasbags, either. It is as though we are waiting for them to do the right thing. They will not. That is, unless we are willing to seriously challenge the Republican owned cable companies. But, it appears we are not. I guess we are willing to fuel the Republican Party with our cable subscription and advertising dollars. And in case you don't know, conservatives are the minority in the C-Klan audience. The Majority are Democrats & Independents.

:(
re: I loved Tower Records too,Jmach1JP..
new
Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 1:37pm.
I think you can still order stuff online at their website..

Kewl MMRules, I didn't know one could still get online...

Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner Table PSAs : (2008):

80 Second ^ Clip ^

.
.
.
_ _ _
brr

1083 | brl vod | WTF

Funny ^^^^^^^ tanks 4 that little clip.

Landrieu with Semen in Her Hair

We'll have to take his word for it because the offense picture is already down, but Jason Linkins of the Huffington Post reports that Mark Halperin, on Time Magazine's "The Page" , when relating the story of Landrieu's timeline concerning her reading of the health care plan, (which turned out only to be, "Sen. Landrieu is still reviewing the bill and CBO score. There is no timeline on when she will make and announce her decision on the motion to proceed.") Halperin accompanied the statement with a picture of Landrieu with semen in her hair, ala There's Something About Mary .

This comes on the heels of both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck calling her a prostitute for, according to Mediate, "striking a bargain Friday that brought $300 million in federal aid to her state in exchange for a vote to allow debate on a healthcare reform bill." Mediate has video of Keith Olbermann's take on the right's sexualized response to Landrieu's negotiations and to the audio and video of Limbaugh and Beck.

con't

http://www.feministing.com/

NOT what you think of as Tower Records. Use Amazon or someone else.

of music, pay attention.

What about buying directly from the artist? It's always more expensive but do they really get that much more per unit sold when they sell themselves? I'm thinking Rickie Lee Jones and others who sell off their webpages.

..that I recall michele. I do play him though.

I never heard of iLike before. I'm assuming it dumps right to iTunes? Or takes you to iTunes to buy?

I am filled with gratitude for her being in my life.

Thank you, my darling Veronica.

I so hoped she would be spared the bouts of intermittent dementia.

Today she proudly handed me an oven mitt and said, "Here papa, hot hand!"

Thank you Sam and Sederhaven site! I really am grateful for such a great place and interesting bloggers and super info and posts. The expectation and gratitude is there each time I open Sam's site. THANK YOU!

see ESPN for more. The score is 7/7 first qtr. Aggies have the ball.

But,thanks..A&M is looking kinda good,unfortunately..
Still,I think our Horns just have too many weapons for A&M..

Cool picture of your Daughter..I hope she's still playing the Geetar.. :)

Hook em Horns !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

http://hypem.com/#/track/964913/Joni+Mitchell+-+River

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Pic posted as a link with warning to vegetarians

http://babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2007/11/16-22/thanksgiving_turk...

(I'm too sexy for this plate?) As soon as it gets feminized, it kind of brings fertility sculptures to mind--same disproportion in the proportions.

Coincidentally, comes from "Stroller Derby: The Ultimate Parenting Blog."

Love y'all.

"FUCK YOU, WHITEY!"

Michaele and Tareq Salahi—crashed Obama's state dinner last night.

Michaele an ex NFL cheerleader is shopping for a part in the trashy Bravo Real Housewives series. Her husband looks like the typical, pudgy, sugar daddy.

Prolly you've already seen if you wanted to. Don't know if your exact taste...

This piece of a review gets it just about right:

"A gripping film noir, all the more effective for being staged by Milestone as a steamy romantic melodrama." -Derek Adams, Time Out (It says on Netflix.)

Anyhow, I had fun with it last night and today. Out in the kitchen etc. and so going back and watching the parts I didn't actually see till I had seen it all. It was very worth it. (You know the visual details in these old movies.) It is so wonderfully sexy and kitschy and dances around social issues without truly problematizing...Well, you know, it's noir. (And it has Barbara Stanwyck and Lizbeth Scott, so how can that be bad?)

Long day!

Hope your day was full of Thanks and giving and good food, family, and friends!

toniD's Ya Think?

still plays, but more and more focused on school. She plays to blow off stress.

Feel better MMR... :{ (:}?)

I was blippin' a buttload of depressing songs recently and thought of that one but it fell through the cracks...(But you caught it for a segment called...)

thank you. I think so too.

sometimes in my dreams, I see her selling flowers under the pyramids from another time. It's so weird.

Pretty, pretty!

toniD's Ya Think?

My daughter is awsome
Submitted by Fernando on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 8:22pm.
-----

My granddaughter has my genes
Submitted by maggiesboy on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 8:37pm.

--------

Indeed fellas. The kids are absloutely beautiful.

Enjoy the cute stage! I love them when they are that age!

toniD's Ya Think?

He's doing alot of the old Beatles songs.

Singing Get Back now and Hey Jude is next!

toniD's Ya Think?

edna ellen poe did a great job
as 2 expressing my exact same thoughts -
& (believe it or not) photo I was tinkin
of.
So DITTO on her blog.

ditto on the blog ?
ditto from her blog?

(where is air-ono when I need him most??????)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Thanksgiving of the Fantasticals
A Day of Rule breaking, and Spontaneous Mirth

When we used to do Thanksgiving as cross-dressing and insulting authority:

Thanksgiving was a Northeastern regional commemoration until Abraham Lincoln promulgated it as a national holiday in 1863, and it was celebrated in lots of different ways. One of those ways was for young men to dress up as women or in fantastic costumes and promenade, and mug, and make fun of authority. It was a "masculine escape" from the family, an opportunity to break rules and be outlandish. In our increasingly regimented national security state, we could do with some of that old Thanksgiving cheekiness, though we need both sexes now.

Thanksgiving in the nineteenth century in some parts of the country was a combination of Eddie Izzard (cross-dressing), Lady Gaga (wild costumes and breaking conventions), and Jon Stewart (mirthful insults directed at high political authority). Some historians suggest that the homey, nuclear-family Thanksgiving meal was a reaction against all this public rowdiness. Alas, so successful a reaction that the carnivale side of the holiday has been erased from public memory (Elizabeth Pleck, "The making of the domestic occasion: The history of Thanksgiving in the United States," Journal of Social History (Summer 1999) Vol. 32, Iss. 4; pg. 773, 17 pgs).

http://www.juancole.com/

River??? Oh dear.
new
Submitted by gloryoski on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 10:27pm.
Feel better MMR... :{ (:}?)

*******
Kind of a wintery song..
:)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

How did you like that track meet ?

Not a whole lot of defense on either side..
But,we won..
I sure hope we get in the title game..Finger crossed.. :)

**
Submitted by Fernando on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 10:27pm
She plays to blow off stress.

*******
Yep,playing guitar is great for that..

**

And,all your guys grand kids/daughters are dang good looking kids..With personalities to match too,I bet.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1124edit1nov24...

[excerpt]

Stimulus snow job

The Obama administration claims that its $787 billion economic stimulus program has "created or saved" 640,329 jobs across the country, with more to come. That breathtaking figure includes 24,448 jobs in Illinois.

Really? Those employment claims are looking like a snow job.

As the Tribune's Bob Secter and Erika Slife recently reported, the figures for Illinois don't come close to adding up.

State and federal officials claimed that the stimulus money had saved 473 education jobs in North Chicago. But the school district there employs only 290 people. Officials claimed 166 jobs were saved in Wilmette schools. The real number: 0. The 382 jobs supposedly saved in Dolton-Riverdale? That's 142 more people than the school district employs. And on and on.

Across the country, journalists and government watchdogs are finding the same yawning gap between stimulus claim and stimulus reality.

Alabama housing authority officials said that a $540,071 grant would create 7,280 jobs. They were off by only 7,266 jobs, the Birmingham News reported.

ABC News reported that Moore's Shoes & Services in Campbellsville, Ky., claimed nine jobs were created from an $890 grant for nine pairs of work boots for the Army Corps of Engineers. Yes, $890. No zeros are missing.

The California State University system supposedly saved 26,156 jobs -- but that's more than half the university's statewide work force.

The Wall Street Journal found hundreds of reports that, taken together, artificially inflated the stimulus claims by at least 20,000 jobs. College work-study money? Jobs saved! Money spent to give some folks modest raises? Jobs saved!

The government's Web site, Recovery.gov, reported that 30 jobs were saved or created in Arizona's 15th Congressional District. Except Arizona has only eight congressional districts. Memo to Washington: There is no 99th Congressional District in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In all, officials claimed jobs were created in more than 400 phantom congressional districts, according to ABC News.

So is this fraud or wishful thinking or rampant sloppiness?

Here's the most benign explanation: Tens of thousands of public and private entities have received money. There is a long, tedious and apparently confusing government form to fill out. Obama folks have been keen on showing that the billions they've shoveled out have gone to good purpose.

Result: Grateful locals happily reported magnificent results and a grateful administration didn't ask any questions. Probably because hard questions -- the kind being asked by reporters -- show that a lot of stimulus money has not been targeted at economic stimulation. It has been old-fashioned government largesse.

Trying to measure if a job has been "saved" by a federal windfall is like trying to find the pea in a shell game. Chances are you're going to be fooled. If the money covered a worker's paycheck for a few weeks, is that a job saved? No. But let's count it anyway!

Administration officials say they're scrambling to fix the problems. But their credibility on the impact of stimulus spending at this point has been badly wounded.

Actually, you can precisely measure it: 0.

[end excerpt]

The Motion Picture Academy seems to have forgotten "Capitalism" on its documentary shortlist...

http://www.indiewire.com/article/academy_names_15_to_documentary_shortli...

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - In a potentially embarrassing situation for the Obama White House, a turkey pardoned by President Obama earlier this week went on a three-state killing spree on Thanksgiving Day, killing nine.

While authorities were still piecing together the motivation behind the recidivist fowl's homicidal rampage, a chorus of Republican critics complained that pardoning the feathered killer was symptomatic of the Obama administration's misguided policies.

"First they close down Guantanamo, then they let killer turkeys run free," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). "Next thing you know they'll put this turkey on trial in New York."

Elsewhere, a person believed to be a party-crasher who attended this week's state dinner and acted inappropriately turned out to be Vice President Joe Biden.

Free Democracy

then I will get batteries, when next I venture out ...

but in truth -- I have to read & learn HOW ...
and I am working on certain things ... & I MUST finish before "doing" ANYTHING More... and this could take numerous months to finish. I believe I was sent a pix (of her leaving the hospital) perhaps from that pix I will "get it" as to "What to do to post?". Sorry Gloryoski.
;)
She, ShadowWolf, is so sweet & adorable. If I was to call, she would "yip" for you.
{Wolves & Wolf Hybrids - even a Dear Beta - DO NOT BARK. If "questioning one's actions", Wolves Snort.}
;)
You might have gone by now.

Even without the visual, Don Asmussen cartoon is a great smack at Mr. & Mrs. Joe LieBerman...

Headline: "LIEBERMAN: I HAD ROCK STAR SEX AFTER VOTING DOWN PUBLIC OPTION"
Subhead with Lieberman quote: "'Depriving poor of health care got my wife hot.'"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/25/DDASMUSSENBR...

OH WHAT A BOX OF HAIRDYE & A NOSE JOB CAN DO!
Submitted by edna ellen poe on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 10:47pm.
...

=============================

The hair is quite striking to the point of distraction of other features. Brings to mind the Ann(thony?) Coulter look.

But that is one gorgeous gown. Like a big red twinkly Post Thanksgiving Christmas sale display decoration.

Washington Post

Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists are likely to be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington, according to White House officials and lobbying experts.

The new policy -- issued with little fanfare this fall by the White House ethics counsel -- may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama, who also has sought to restrict the ability of lobbyists to get jobs in his administration and to negotiate over stimulus contracts.

The initiative is aimed at a system of advisory committees so vast that federal officials don't have exact numbers for its size; the most recent estimates tally nearly 1,000 panels with total membership exceeding 60,000 people.

Under the policy, which is being phased in over the coming months, none of the more than 13,000 lobbyists in Washington would be able to hold seats on the committees, which advise agencies on trade rules, troop levels, environmental regulations, consumer protections and thousands of other government policies....more...

LBH teehee ;)

e-r 2 me grrr

:)

"...Most of suspected swine flu was nothing at all." Reporter Sharryl Atkisson indicates that the HHS/CDC stonewalls about releasing health stats/info that are OWNED by the people of the United States.

Only a FOIA request reply resulted in a clear indication of the policy of lack of transparency: The government claimed that the PANDEMIC EMERGENCY info was not important enough for public/press perusal! Incredible!

I think I'm getting this clear: This reporter's investigation shows that any and all presumed suspected cases reported were classified as the pandemic, even if they were upper respiratory symptoms that turned out to be NOT flu at all.

Ramifications of this government policy: Because unclear about who has really had swine flu, those who think they had it will never seek a vaccine even though they should according to the swine flu protocol; or those who did have the swine flu but have no proof, will be encouraged to take the vaccine unnecessarily (and so deprive someone else the vaccine 'protection').

Listen to the interview and see the video:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/24/Superstar-...

If the U.S. does not sign on under Obama's administration, what are we to think about him? Does he care?

Are land mines just too important a destabilization tool of the militarist imperialists?

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN24329250

On... ?"

Read you were recuperating so I hope you are feeling better! I don't want your head to hurt!

I was just going thru a very extreme grieving period without keeping anything within, then had to relearn what barely I can now eat ... ... so please, no worries...
thx :D

Aren't the enemies we must guard against 'blind obedience', loss of individual integrity, blind belief? And doesn't that apply whether these descend upon us via cult-like leaders or the magic of Modern Advertising and Propaganda?

I love this old movie. I enjoyed the costumes, the history, the portrayal of intellect and poetry as important and appreciated contributions to life and society and outcomes.

And this is an interesting view of the film:

[excerpt]

By: Wade R. Goria "Historian" (Brooklyn, NY USA)
This is a wonderful film and it came as a most pleasant surprise. Omar Khayyam provides us with a splendid cinematic introduction to Persia's greatest poet. Khayyam was a compassionate and noble figure whose extraordinary literary talent and all-encompassing intellect displayed no natural boundary. Important aspects of Khayyam's fascinating personality are admirably portrayed by Cornell Wilde. The casting of the movie was exceptional and we are treated to fine supporting performances by distinguished actors such as as Michael Rennie and Sebastian Cabot among others. I was particularly impressed by extent to which this movie explored key historical issues surrounding the life and times of Khayyam. We learn about the Byzantine Roman Empire's war with Persia involving an alliance composed of Bulgars, Greeks, Franks and Lombards. We also confront a number of other historical and scientific issues in this film that are portrayed with an interesting admixture of detail and insight that seems to be unusual for such Hollywood productions. Omar Khayyam additionally provides us with a fascinating glimpse of the Assasins of Syria, believed by some to represent one of the world's first terrorist organization. As an advisor to the Persian Shah, Khayyam's effort to root the Assassins out of their extrodinary mountain fortress in northern Syria bears a striking resemblance to events taking place in Afganistan in the wake of September 11th. There is indeed an eerie parallel between the Persian Assassins, as depicted in this film, and the American and Northern Alliance-led effort now being waged to blast Osama Bin Laden and his al Qaeda units from out of the caves of Tora Bora. Omar Khayyam has a most satisfying ending. After seeing it, the viewer should be encouraged to read Fitzgerald's splendid translation of the Rubaiyat. By all means see Omar Khayyam - the film's artistry, poignancy and depth will not elude the sensitive viewer.

[end excerpt]

There's a great speech against usurpers and power grabbers in the second half of this 'Omar Khayyam' movie segment (1957); it's given by actor Cornel Wilde who always seemed to embody sincerity and portray someone who is actually thinking....(If you start laughing uncontrollably when they mention "hashish", turn it off until you recuperate.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJua0HmP6So

happy post-thanks, my dear blog friends

bloated, hangover, warm and cozy? not me, I had a very sober holiday, lonely (no family,other than phone calls and distant cheers) no turkey, but yeah to hot soup, filet mignon, salad and pumpkin pie

and did get to see the mhappenhows' movie recommendation - the lama baby, cried a little, especially the parents' separation part, but excellent movie for the occasion, i must say, uplifting and beautiful

spent a lot of time trying to find it as a piratable torrent download, battling the new computer set-up (don't have a desk and it's hard to operate sitting on the floor using a large new tv as computer screen with a wireless mouse and a keyboard that still needs to be trained....)

so, gave up on pirating activity and joined the netflix family...

will use black friday to go buy a space heater for the bathroom; the little central heat vent struggling to do its job and failing

getting slowly familiar with my new digs

i moved in last saturday and was in total disarray for many days, just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel today

actually the view is till obstructed by the pile of empty cardboard boxes occupying 50% of my living room, can't wait to expunge them from the house but will have to wait for garbage day or risk obstructing the whole sidewalk on this tiny neighborhood street (love it!)

michele! love the sentiment, but your cream of the crap is hard to digest! is that meant as a compliment?

you all are priceless, with the cheers and sharing of goodfeels! mind if i join you? (a little late)

fernando and maggiesboy, gorgeous family pics, gorgeous family! I'd add some of mine, but i am still a little computer-challenged here; found my camera finally - buried deep in one of the boxes i unboxed yesterday, but still looking for that cable, and batteries, and and...

You have found/run over a copy of Sarah Palin's "book." Now what?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

[San Francisco's] Green Apple Books is donating 100% of the profits from sales of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance --Green Apple blog

Did you think I was going to say toilet paper? Or birdcage liner? Something to do with animal waste in general or perhaps roadkill, moose droppings or Alaskan elk carcasses in particular?

Well, I am not going to say that. It's just far too easy, and obvious, and does nothing to give either "Going Rogue" or the former VP candidate its/her proper respect, and, of course, by "respect" I mean quivering lamentable hellshot of blinding cerebral pain that makes you wince as though you've just been smashed in the face with a hammer.

Here then, a far more artfully compiled list of things you can do with the former Alaska governor's book -- or, as millions might say, "book" -- should you accidentally stumble across one in a trash bin somewhere, which is very likely indeed, given how it will surely be available in the remainder bin at Wal-Mart in about three weeks, and you can pick up an entire pallet for about five bucks and a dead chicken.

1) Compost.

Con't..

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/11/25/notes112509....

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

used to have a crush on him, but now i could hardly remember his name... gloriosky! yes i did see that movie long time ago (the strange love of martha ivers) but wouldn't mind a re-watch, especially now that i am all net-flixed and ready, and enjoying a blissfully long weekend

as part of a magazine subscription, I think. Man, they'll do anything to disseminate that Dominionist manure.

i wish you could have sent some through the blog

love you all, those i mentioned and all others - you're all great and mean a lot to me, very thankful for ya'll's friendship

and now that was my happy thanks and giving wish to ya'll

and before ya'll start moaning and complaining that i didn't share the spirit timely enough... remember i am italian and truly, though i love the food and warmth and family glow around it all, (and especially the long pre-xmas weekend) this holiday is not ingrained in my psyche and soul, ok? all this indians and turkeys stuff, well... ok, let's just say it's not a big deal if for once i spent it among cardboard boxes and wandering from cold room to cold room, answering phone and refusing lunch invitation because i have so much to do with my new house and need to take advantage of the available time to look for where the hell have my winter tights and sweaters been packed? (went to work barelegged in the cold all week because i couldn't find them)

and don't stand out as distinct memories. But your Thanksgiving 2009 sounds like it will always stand out as singular, anyway.

Have you seen the French film The Taste of Others?

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=823%20Desire%20street%20new%2...

close to the french quarter and the river but high and dry and right smack center in a neighborhood full of bars and cozy quaint spots!

eat just mushrooms for their first Thanksgiving main course.

It's all myth. My friend says they probably ate ship rats.

what is it about?

I miss Seder's whine about visiting his wife's relatives in Ann Arbor for the holidays.
"Waaaahhhh. I had to go to the most beautiful, intellectual town in the Midwest again. Waaaaah. It was green, quiet, and the people are so friendly and smart.
WAAAAAAAAHHHHH."

Actually, I don't miss it.

"SLEEP TIGHT, BATSHIT."
-Bill Maher to 9/11 nut
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

"crop" - crawl back will ya pleeze

http://www.bing.com/maps/

they have a birds eye view from 4 compass points.

When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it 'til
I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop's gonna sanctify me
And if he don't come across
I'm gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna stake my claim
I'll guess I'll change my name

We had snow here yesterday, early morning. It melted before 9 AM but it was a cold gloomy day yesterday. Today the sun is out.

Have to get ready for work in a bit. I was off til today and found I filled my days easily.

Yesterday I did some holiday shopping for myself. I had two Gift Cards I needed to use up before they were no good anymore and found a good deal on a 22 inch flat screen TV. LCD Flat Screen for $160.

mire, I still have boxes to go through from a move 3 years ago. I labeled the boxes, at the time of the move, so I could just deal with what I needed to at that time. It's funny how you never get to those other boxes.

toniD's Ya Think?

http://www.bing.com/maps/#JnE9eXAuODIzK2Rlc2lyZStzdHJlZXQrbmV3K29ybGVhbn...

this image is neater than anything i have seen on google, but i am used to google, and easier to stick to what's familiar, they're really similar (is bing copying google?)

i need me a croissant

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=823%20Desire%20street%20new%2...

later, folks, have a good, safe, black friday

Be Glad Tomorrow is a short Trading Day - Dubai Taking it's Toll

World Markets are reacting to the news of Dubai World and it's pretty bad

The selling resumed on Friday in Asia, with the Hang Seng Index down 4.8% and the Nikkei 225 Average down 3.2%, their worst percentage fall since March. Markets were struggling to figure out what kind of exposure banks had to Dubai debt.

Shares of heavyweights Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC /quotes/comstock/13*!hbc/quotes/nls/hbc (HBC 62.07, 0.00, 0.00%) fell over 7% in Asian trading. The banks rank as the top two lenders respectively in the United Arab Emirates.

Gold dropped to 1140 from an all time high of 1192 earlier. The reasons are the need to raise cash and the dollar being safe haven and stopping the dollar shorts. Margin calls by the need to raise cash as well as the rising dollar making gold more expensive are also cited as reasons.

U.S. futures are way down, 234 by the time of this post and few seem to know what's really going on.

It's quite unclear if Dubai will create a domino effect in a fragile global market and what kind of effects that will have.

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/be-glad-tomorrow-short-trading-d...

toniD's Ya Think?

toniD's Ya Think?

Beck Rules Out 2012 Run With Palin: She'd Always Be 'Yapping' Like We're 'In The Kitchen' (AUDIO)

Fox News host Glenn Beck put to rest any rumors of one possible "dream ticket" team for 2012: Palin-Beck. On his radio show Thursday, Beck said he was "absolutely" ruling out the possibility of running for office with the ex-governor at the top of the ticket. His proffered reason: Palin would always be "yapping," like they were "in the kitchen."

Earlier in the week Palin said that she was open to the idea of pairing up with Beck. Palin told Fox News she "got a kick" out of the idea of them running together. She went on cheerfully, "He probably thought it was just a hoot too. I don't know, we'll see." Palin told Newsmax she could "envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet." She added: "But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He's a hoot."

It looks like the respect might not be mutual. From the morning's radio show:

BECK: I don't think things are hoots. I don't. I don't think it's a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word 'hoot.' [...]

No, no I'm just saying -- Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen."

Video at link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/beck-rules-out-2012-run-w_n_371...

toniD's Ya Think?

electronic markets are already open. starting to see some basing and bounce back as dubai and its creditors do damage control and the panic subsides. still one would expect panic to set in when the bell rings at 9:30. especially for all those people standing in line at black friday sales...

AWAD (o'knowledge...)
-----
scienter

PRONUNCIATION:
(sy-EN-tuhr)

MEANING:
adverb: Deliberately; knowingly.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin scienter (knowingly), from scire (to know; to separate one thing from another). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skei- (to cut or split) that also gave us schism, ski, shin, science, conscience, and nice.

NOTES:
In law, scienter is an important concept. Scienter must be shown, i.e. a person was aware -- for example, the currency note he was passing was counterfeit -- to prove the guilt. The word is often used as a noun.

USAGE:
"The judge said that the complaint, if true, would show BankAtlantic's executives acted with scienter -- the intent or knowledge of wrongdoing that's the key to a plaintiff's argument in a class action complaint."
Brian Bandell; Judge Lets Class Action Suit Proceed Against BankAtlantic Bancorp; South Florida Business Journal; May 22, 2009.

Or just look at pictures of 'em.

http://ten-thousand-trees.blogspot.com/

Living in "paradise" in the wrong person's house can still feel like hell.

your new house is beautiful. Looks like you have some nice trees too. Love the porch too. You are so close to the beach.

MMR,
I always expect a tough game when Texas plays A&M. Both teams always seem to do more for the game. It was fun though.

Can definitely relate about it being months before I should really be doing fun/side stuff. (Not that I don't...sometimes.)

My newish (about 2yrs old) camera worked well at first. Now it won't interface with my computer. Can see the pics on the lil' screen. Can see the old pics on the puter. Cannot see new pics or get them to transfer.

Pain in the butt...Didn't drop it er nothin'.

Will avoid Bing however as they (Microsoft) are getting w/ Murdoch on getting people to de-index from Google.

Competition is good, but that is not what this is about (as we know). And it could have a really deleterious effect on the intertoobs and the free flow of info if it takes off.

Glad you are happy in your new place.

----
Oh, now I see. Can't zoom as much in the Bing either (unless I am missing something).

But I see the zoom of your house in Google.

Mire, you have a forest beside your house. ;)

Ran a full dishwasher 4 times yesterday. I'm still picking up dishes.

I always make turkey enchiladas the Friday after thanksgiving with the left overs. I made a 22 lb turkey. It's gone.

and I'm starring at another full dishwasher to run....

yikes!

definitely different style than usual Steph sub hosts.

First I thought he was a jerk but he's growing on me a little.

Can I use him to get auburn hair? I love having auburn hair, but it never lasts long.

My hair is extremely resistant to any kind of intervention. ;-)

----
Ooops. That's henna. I'm so loopy today. Black Friday is usually slow here, as we are small and don't have any kind of huge sale.

Mire, glad you liked the movie...I was so touched by it that it confirmed for me why I am Tibetan Buddhist. Back to work today. All the dishes are done and floor is washed. It is perfectly quiet here right now so I am enjoying the peace. Don't even want to watch the news much.

Taxing the Speculators
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation? Yes, say top British officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world’s two great banking centers. Other European governments agree — and they’re right.

Unfortunately, United States officials — especially Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary — are dead set against the proposal. Let’s hope they reconsider: a financial transactions tax is an idea whose time has come.

The dispute began back in August, when Adair Turner, Britain’s top financial regulator, called for a tax on financial transactions as a way to discourage “socially useless” activities. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, picked up on his proposal, which he presented at the Group of 20 meeting of leading economies this month.

Why is this a good idea? The Turner-Brown proposal is a modern version of an idea originally floated in 1972 by the late James Tobin, the Nobel-winning Yale economist. Tobin argued that currency speculation — money moving internationally to bet on fluctuations in exchange rates — was having a disruptive effect on the world economy. To reduce these disruptions, he called for a small tax on every exchange of currencies.

Such a tax would be a trivial expense for people engaged in foreign trade or long-term investment; but it would be a major disincentive for people trying to make a fast buck (or euro, or yen) by outguessing the markets over the course of a few days or weeks. It would, as Tobin said, “throw some sand in the well-greased wheels” of speculation.

Tobin’s idea went nowhere at the time. Later, much to his dismay, it became a favorite hobbyhorse of the anti-globalization left. But the Turner-Brown proposal, which would apply a “Tobin tax” to all financial transactions — not just those involving foreign currency — is very much in Tobin’s spirit. It would be a trivial expense for long-term investors, but it would deter much of the churning that now takes place in our hyperactive financial markets.

This would be a bad thing if financial hyperactivity were productive. But after the debacle of the past two years, there’s broad agreement — I’m tempted to say, agreement on the part of almost everyone not on the financial industry’s payroll — with Mr. Turner’s assertion that a lot of what Wall Street and the City do is “socially useless.” And a transactions tax could generate substantial revenue, helping alleviate fears about government deficits. What’s not to like?

The main argument made by opponents of a financial transactions tax is that it would be unworkable, because traders would find ways to avoid it. Some also argue that it wouldn’t do anything to deter the socially damaging behavior that caused our current crisis. But neither claim stands up to scrutiny.

On the claim that financial transactions can’t be taxed: modern trading is a highly centralized affair. Take, for example, Tobin’s original proposal to tax foreign exchange trades. How can you do this, when currency traders are located all over the world? The answer is, while traders are all over the place, a majority of their transactions are settled — i.e., payment is made — at a single London-based institution. This centralization keeps the cost of transactions low, which is what makes the huge volume of wheeling and dealing possible. It also, however, makes these transactions relatively easy to identify and tax.

What about the claim that a financial transactions tax doesn’t address the real problem? It’s true that a transactions tax wouldn’t have stopped lenders from making bad loans, or gullible investors from buying toxic waste backed by those loans.

But bad investments aren’t the whole story of the crisis. What turned those bad investments into catastrophe was the financial system’s excessive reliance on short-term money.

As Gary Gorton and Andrew Metrick of Yale have shown, by 2007 the United States banking system had become crucially dependent on “repo” transactions, in which financial institutions sell assets to investors while promising to buy them back after a short period — often a single day. Losses in subprime and other assets triggered a banking crisis because they undermined this system — there was a “run on repo.”

And a financial transactions tax, by discouraging reliance on ultra-short-run financing, would have made such a run much less likely. So contrary to what the skeptics say, such a tax would have helped prevent the current crisis — and could help us avoid a future replay.

Would a Tobin tax solve all our problems? Of course not. But it could be part of the process of shrinking our bloated financial sector. On this, as on other issues, the Obama administration needs to free its mind from Wall Street’s thrall.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/opinion/27krugman.html?pagewanted=prin...

toniD's Ya Think?

It does absolutely no good to put hair dye on my hair since most of it fell out years ago.

mhappenow - My favorite part of Thanksgiving is seeing so many of my friends who are rarely in town. We had a blast last night. But now I do have a dilemma because I've already committed myself with dinner plans for the left overs which no longer exist.

Obama Pushes Lobbyists Off Federal Advisory Boards

In a little-noticed blog post published on the White House website in September, President Obama's special counsel for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen announced that the administration no longer wanted federally-registered lobbyists appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions.

These appointees to boards and commissions, which are made by agencies and not the President, advise the federal government on a variety of policy areas. Keeping these advisory boards free of individuals who currently are registered federal lobbyists represents a dramatic change in the way business is done in Washington.

As has been reported, the President has made a commitment to close the revolving door that has in the past allowed lobbyists and others to move to and from full-time federal government service. In furtherance of this commitment, the President issued Executive Order 13490, which bars anyone appointed by the President who has been a federally-registered lobbyist within the past two years from working on particular matters or in the specific areas in which they lobbied or from serving in agencies they had lobbied. The aspiration we are announcing today builds on this commitment. While the letter of the President's Executive Order on Ethics does not apply to federally-registered lobbyists appointed by agency or department heads, the spirit does and we have conveyed that to the agencies who are responsible for these appointments.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the move "may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama," resulting in "hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists" being ejected from federal advisory panels.

Not surprisingly, lobby groups, corporations, and other K Street influencers are up in arms.

The reaction from the lobbying community has been swift and overwhelmingly negative. Some of the loudest criticism has come from the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), a collection of more than a dozen panels that provide policy advice and technical assistance to the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative. The ITACs, whose roughly 400 members include at least 130 lobbyists, officials say, have taken the lead in attacking the White House policy as misguided and harmful to U.S. business interests; a letter to Obama from committee chairs last month included executives from Boeing, IBM, Harley-Davidson and International Paper.

"This action will severely undermine the utility of the advisory committee process," the letter read. ". . . The characteristics that make many Advisors valuable to the Administration [are] the same characteristics that are being used to artificially disqualify them from participation in the Committee system."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/obama-pushes-lobbyists-of_n_372...

Read the full Washington Post story here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR200911...

You can read Norm Eisen's full letter responding to lobbyists' critiques of the decision here.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Why-We-Bar-Lobbyists-from-Agency-Advisory...

toniD's Ya Think?

Husband got for free when he got something down south - then gave to me, some day/year - which was kewl -- but I have never "played" with it, YET.

I am more fearful than u folks think...
When Bing was ALWAYS jumping "in" My Computer...
I just did not understand nor wanted To Learn so I Cleared all. Isn't BING from Other nations, since it showed WorldWide Pictures or at least has access with other nations...
I ATT ONLY try to stay amongst American items ... just 2 show American support ... but this is to "assume" I have the time to care - cuz ultimately:

I'm Late. I'm Late. for a very important date.
No Time to say hello goodbye.
I'm Late. I'm Late. I'm Late.
& when I wave, I loose the Time I save.
My fuzzy ears & whiskers took me to much time to shave.
I run & then I "Hop, Hop, Hop".
I wish that I could "fly".
There's danger if I dare to stop.
And here's the reason why...
You See I'm overdo. I'm in a "Rabbit stew".
... ...
{& a bit more ... pant pant ... but I'm Late...:D}

Dubai's Request For Debt 'Standstill' Shakes World Markets

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's explosive growth, the city is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills – causing a drop on world markets Thursday and raising questions about Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investment.

The fallout came swiftly and was felt globally after Wednesday statement that Dubai's main development engine, Dubai World, would ask creditors for a "standstill" on paying back its $60 billion debt until at least May. The company's real estate arm, Nakheel – whose projects include the palm-shaped island in the Gulf – shoulders the bulk of money due to banks, investment houses and outside development contractors.

In total, the state-backed networks nicknamed Dubai Inc. are $80 billion in the red and the emirate needed a bailout earlier this year from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Markets took the news badly – with the Dubai woes and the continued fall of the U.S. dollar giving investors twin worries. Dubai's move raised concerns about debt across the Gulf Region. Prices to insure debt from Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain all rose by double-digit percentages Thursday, according to data from CMA DataVision.

In Europe, the FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and the CAC-40 in France opened sharply lower. Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai index sank 119.19 points, or 3.6 percent, in the biggest one-day fall since Aug. 31. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.8 percent to 22,210.41.

Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday and most markets in the Middle East were silent because of a major Islamic feast.

"Dubai's standstill announcement ... was vague and it remains difficult to discern whether the call for a standstill will be voluntary," said a statement from the Eurasia Group, a Washington-based research group that assesses political and financial risk for foreign investors interested in Dubai. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/dubai-request-for-debt-st_n_371...

toniD's Ya Think?

Have a great day!

Something to read:

China, Russia Turn On Iran At UN Nuclear Meeting, Back Censure

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/iran-censured-at-un-nucle_n_372...

Later Sederites

toniD's Ya Think?

Will try to keep an eye on Spanish-language stories there.

World markets shaken.

Turkey Day.

mire - congrats on the new digg's.
I'll have to ask Wendy if she's familiar
with the area. She lived in N.O for
10 years.

toniD - have a good day @ work :)

gloryoski - kewl picture of that huge
beautiful tree.

What is up with the Obama Admin. & land
mines. Princess Di would NOT be very
pleased with that decision -

Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 12:02am.
Just love Joni's voice & melodies/songs..

since Steve posted that thing a week or so ago about the scale of the negative effect of methane.

The other day I sez to Carol at my favorite lil' bakery/deli...I sez to him...how come does this roast beast on sourdough have to beef in it? Not fair, I sez to him. But I didn't buy/eat. Also "helped" that they wanted 5.25 for a lil' sammich (not a sub). But you know, they practically want that at convenience-store "markets" too and that's not fresh bread, local bi'ness etc.

Anyhow, now that I've written this, I'm sure I'll relapse.

chile powder, onion and garlic...delish!

by a big Venezuelan fash right now.

And, to a lesser extent by super-polemical people on the other side.

Hopefully it'll change later.

Honduran court: Zelaya shouldn't be restored

(AP) – 19 hours ago

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The Honduran Supreme Court recommended Thursday that lawmakers vote against restoring ousted President Manuel Zelaya, another blow for his quickly fading chances of returning to power.

The Supreme Court submitted its opinion six days before Congress is scheduled to vote on Zelaya's fate as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement to end the political crisis over a June coup.

The justices concluded that Zelaya should not be restored to the presidency because he has criminal charges pending against him, Supreme Court spokesman Danilo Izaguirre said.

"While he faces judicial charges, he cannot return to power," Izaguirre said.

Zelaya, who has been holed up in the Brazilian Embassy since sneaking back into the country from his forced exile Sept. 21, has declared the U.S.-backed pact a failure, arguing Congress is violating the spirit of the agreement by waiting until after presidential elections Sunday to decide his future.

The agreement called for the formation of a unity government but left the decision on restoring Zelaya up to Congress, which was given the option of consulting the Supreme Court and other institutions.

The Supreme Court justices had initially deemed Zelaya's ouster legal because he violated court orders to cancel a referendum on rewriting the constitution.

Opponents say Zelaya wanted to lift a ban on presidential re-election; Zelaya denies that was his goal.

Soldiers arrested Zelaya and whisked him out the country at gunpoint on June 28. Hours later, Congress voted to back his ouster.

Western Hemisphere countries, once united in condemning the coup, are divided on whether to recognize the elections, which had been scheduled before Zelaya's ouster.

Left-led Latin American countries say supporting the vote would be tantamount to whitewashing the coup. But the United States has indicated it will restore ties with the next Honduran government.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbY...

----
Convicted of six charges according to AFP story. Try to find a transl of that although bb coming down to get stuff out of stockroom right now.

German minister quits over raid

Franz Josef Jung, Germany's labour minister, has resigned from the country's cabinet over a deadly bombing in Afghanistan, a day after the army chief stepped down.

Jung resigned hours after saying he had no plans to quit over the bombing of two oil tanker lorries in the northern province of Kunduz, which took place in September while he was serving as defence minister.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Thursday that videos and a secret military report had clearly pointed to civilians having been killed during the attack at the time when the government and the army was saying only Taliban fighters had died....

In a devastating front-page editorial entitled "Resign Please", the Financial Times Deutschland said: "Franz Josef Jung failed as defence minister and should resign from his position as labour minister."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/11/2009112713523241875.htm...

Not a word on KOS about the escalation. Just reflections on the insane rantings of Bachman and how Dubai is no big deal. KOS has practically achieved complete irrelevance.

FACTBOX: Key facts about crisis-hit Honduras
Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:16pm EST

(Reuters) - Honduras chooses a new president on Sunday in an election that has been touted by the United States as the way to end a political crisis sparked by President Manuel Zelaya's ouster in a June coup.

Zelaya, a leftist former logging magnate, has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy since sneaking back to the country from exile in September and denounced the vote organized by the de facto government as illegitimate.

His supporters are boycotting the ballot and some Latin American countries say they might not recognize the winner.

Here are some facts about Honduras:

* Honduras has a long history of military coups. The army overthrew presidents in 1956, 1963 and 1972 and proceeded to head a series of governments virtually uninterrupted until 1982, when power was handed over to civilians.

* In the 1980s, the United States used Honduras as a staging ground for its proxy war against the leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua, training and funding thousands of Contra soldiers and providing millions of dollars in military aide to the Honduran army.

* Honduras is the second most populous country in Central America after Guatemala with 7.7 million people, mostly of mixed Spanish and native decent. Before the Spanish conquest, the Maya built elaborate temples and sculptures at city of Copan in the jungle near the border with Guatemala. The Garifuna people -- descendants of Arawak Indians and shipwrecked African slaves -- live near the Caribbean coast.

* One of the poorest countries in Latin America, Honduras suffers high levels of violence from youth street gangs and drug traffickers moving South American cocaine to consumers in the North. The largest source of foreign currency is money sent home from the more than 1 million migrants living in the Unites States. Heavily dependent on foreign aide, Honduras had a setback when international lenders pulled funding to condemn the de facto government after Zelaya was toppled.

* Honduras' economy was dominated, until the mid-20th century, by foreign-owned banana companies that wielded outsized influence in politics and controlled wide swaths of land. Still a major exporter of the fruit, Honduras is also Central America's No. 2 coffee producer. Part of a regional free trade deal with the United States, Honduras developed its textile industry to diversify away from dependence on agriculture.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg and Gustavo Palenciain Tegucigalpa; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5AP40E20091126

U.S. risks isolation over Honduras election: Brazil
Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:03am EST

By Raymond Colitt and Natuza Nery

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The United States risks souring relations with much of Latin America if it recognizes upcoming elections in Honduras, the foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview on Wednesday.

Honduras will on November 29 hold elections which de facto leader Roberto Micheletti hopes will end a political crisis that began when soldiers exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya in June.

Washington -- which condemned the coup -- has not announced an official position on the election but has suggested it will support the outcome by saying recognition of the presidential election was not contingent on Zelaya's reinstatement.

"The United States will become isolated. That is very bad for the United States and its relationship with Latin America," Marco Aurelio Garcia told Reuters, after he spoke on the telephone to White House national security adviser Jim Jones.

"Very important countries -- the majority in terms of population and political weight -- won't recognize (the result)," said Garcia.

Neither Micheletti nor Zelaya -- who has been holed up inside the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since he snuck back into the country in September -- are running for president.

Much of Latin America had hoped that U.S. President Barack Obama would herald a new era, after eight years of the unpopular Bush administration and decades of perceived meddling by Washington.

"It would be good if that expectation were not frustrated," Garcia said he told Jones.

Recognizing the election was paramount to legitimizing a coup in a region that has been consolidating its democracies, said Garcia, adding that conditions for free elections in Honduras were not present.

"The election has the fingerprints of a coup," said Garcia.

"If we (accept) it, we're encouraging another country to adopt the same solution -- 'We don't like this president; let's topple him.'"

POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES

Garcia, who said Lula shared his views, explained his concerns to Jones in what he described as a friendly conversation.

"General Jones thanked me and said he would discuss it with his colleagues in the White House."

The intention of Brazil, which has been seeking a growing leadership role in the region and beyond, was not to challenge Washington.

"We don't have a strategy to confront the United States. This is what you do between friends -- you say 'Hey, that's not OK,'" Garcia said.

But if Washington insisted in recognizing the elections, several countries would respond by taking counter-measures in the Organization of American States, or OAS, Garcia said.

"The OAS itself would deal with that and I already heard from some members that Honduras could be excluded from the OAS," he added.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AQ2HK20091127

Sounds like new-agey parental discipline to me. ;)

U.S. Military Unveils Huge New Prison in Afghanistan

by Feraidoon Khwazoon

KABUL - The U.S. military has announced the opening of a new prison on Bagram Air Base. The prison, costing 60 million dollars, will hold up to 1,100 prisoners at any one time.
Eager to dispel its image as a rights abuser after many "war on terror" prison scandals, the US has opened a huge, new Afghan jail that critics say still falls far short of basic legal standards. (AFP/Massoud Hossaini)]A US captain is silhouetted as he looks on during a media tour of Bagram prison, north of Kabul, on November 15, 2009. Eager to dispel its image as a rights abuser after many "war on terror" prison scandals, the US has opened a huge, new Afghan jail that critics say still falls far short of basic legal standards. (AFP/Massoud Hossaini)
U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, a U.S. Army lawyer who undertook an examination this year of Afghan and American prisons, said that the prison would be handed over to the Afghan government, though it is unclear when that handover will take place.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/27-0

Can't wait for 2017 when we can lay the first mile of track on that high speed rail line to LA. Gives us plenty time to save up for a ticket.

Venezuela pedirá a la Unasur "asumir plan de paz para Colombia"
Venezuela will ask Unasur to "be in charge of drawing up a peace plan for Colombia"

05:02 PM Caracas.- Venezuela pedirá al Consejo de Seguridad de la Unión de Naciones Sudamericanas (Unasur) asumir "un plan de paz para Colombia", informó el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Nicolás Maduro, a través de un comunicado oficial difundido este sábado.

...said Minister of Foreign Relations Nicolas Maduro, in an official press release this Saturday.

"Vamos a exigir que Suramérica asuma un plan de paz para Colombia, para que se acaben los motivos y las causas por las cuales pretenden y van a instalar esas bases estadounidenses en ese país", señaló el responsable, citado en el texto oficial.

"We are going to demand that South America take responsibility for coming up with a peace plan for Colombia, in order to do away the motives and causes for which they are asking to, and are going to, install those US bases in that country," said the official, quoted in the official text.

El acuerdo militar que permitirá que tropas estadounidenses operen de forma controlada en al menos siete bases militares colombianas es considerado como un "poderoso peligro en el continente" por el gobierno del presidente Hugo Chávez, que congeló sus relaciones con su vecino en julio, divulgó AFP.

The military agreement that will permit US troops to operate in a controlled fashion at at least seven bases in Colombia is considered to be "a powerful danger on the contient" by the government of President Hugo Chavez, who froze his relations with his neighbor in July, AFP reported.

Recientemente, una delegación de ministros peruanos iniciaron giras como enviados del presidente de ese país Alan García para plantear la suscripción de un Protocolo por la Paz, Seguridad y Cooperación, que tuvo el beneplácito del presidente pro tempore del bloque, Rafael Correa.

Recently, a delegation of Peruvian ministers sent by the president of that country, Alan Garcia, began a tour/junket to raise the issue/possibility of a Protocol For Peace, Security adn Cooperation, which had gotten the approval/endorsement of the President Por Tempor of the body [UNASUR], Rafael Correa [Prez Ecuador].

La última reunión de ministros de Exteriores de la Unasur, celebrada en Quito en septiembre, concluyó sin consenso y con Colombia atrincherada en su posición de defensa del acuerdo militar y de no "sacrificar" soberanía en la búsqueda de obtener consensos en la región.

The last UNASUR meeting of Foreign Ministers, which took place in Sept in Quito, ended without agreement and with Colombia entreched in its position of defending the military agreement [with US] and not "sacrificing" its sovereignty in an effort to maintain agreement/consensus in the region.

http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/11/21/pol_ava_venezuela-pedira-a-l_21A30...

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Lots of tweets this morning that Colombia should boycott the meeting all together. No links in any, so don't know if any organized political basis in that country (or out...or in from outside...,)

Colombian defense minister is not gonna show up.

Let's see if there are stories in English. If not, I'll translate this barring "interuptions" (i.e, work).

http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/11/27/pol_ava_venezuela-denuncia_27A3124...

Colombian Defense Minister confirms that FARC leader is hiding in Venezuela

Western Hemisphere

Gabriel Silva, Colombian Minister of Defense, reiterated on Friday Colombia's complaint according to which at least one top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is hidden in Venezuela. He admitted that Bogotá has lost "in part" the regional dispute by explaining that there are no US bases in Colombian territory.

In August 2009, during the presidential summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) held in Argentina, President Álvaro Uribe publicly denounced for the first time that two top FARC leaders, Luciano Marín Arango, also known as "Iván Márquez," and Rodrigo Londoño, aka "Timochenko" or "Timoleón Jiménez" were in Venezuela, AP reported.

Uribe gave no details on the origin of the reports on that occasion, and neither did this time the Colombian Defense Minister.

Minister Silva said that "everyone knows, and it is an irrefutable truth, that leaders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) are hiding in Venezuela. We know that Iván Márquez is in Venezuela."

Silva admitted that "we have not been good communicators," when he referred to regional criticism on the military agreement signed by Bogotá and Washington in October.

http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/11/27/pol_ava_venezuela-denuncia_27A3124...

Suddenly all the ministers in Latin America are trying to baffle us with touchy-feely bs-speak?

What gives?

The Colombian government decided not to send its Foreign and Defense Ministers to Friday's UNASUR meeting in Ecuador, due to a lack of "respect, objectivity and overall balance," the Foreign Ministry announced.

Colombia Won't Send Ministers to UNASUR Meeting
Friday, 27 November 2009 09:11 Adriaan Alsema

Instead of Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez and Defense Minister Gabriel Silva, Colombia is sending a team of lower-ranking diplomats.

The twelve members of UNASUR plan to discuss the military pact Colombia signed with the U.S. and has caused unrest on the continent. Most member states have expressed concern over the pact and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez even said the pact could lead to war.

"The attitude and recent escalation of grievances the Colombian government and people have received make us foresee that the discussions taking place at the Friday meeting will be done in a tone of respect, objectivity and overall balance," explained a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/7080-colombia-wont-send-mi...

this will be the future of America for fifty more years:

Bailed-Out AIG Forcing Poor to Choose Between Running Water and Food

....Middlesboro and Clinton are two tiny, impoverished towns in southern Kentucky with a combined population of 12,000. In 2008, Middlesboro's per capita income was $13,189.......
the state is so broke that half the people eligible for unemployment benefits can't receive them. Life may be tough and most people live in poverty, but that doesn't mean they can't be made a little poorer. That's the lesson locals learned after bailed-out insurance villain AIG took over their water utility and instantly raised rates to squeeze an extra $1 million in profits out of its new customers, forcing some to consider choosing between running water and food.

In Clinton, you have to track down actual hand-written notes that residents filed with city hall to read their complaints about the rate increase. Luckily, city officials were nice enough to scan some of them.

Here's one, dated August 8, 2009:

My husband and I are on a fixed income and with everything going up in price this would be very a very large burden on us as well as most of the citizens of Clinton. Our town is mostly of people like us and this would be such a hardship for us. A 50.8% raise is outrageous on anything. Please do not let this happen. It would mean the difference in bringing buying food and medicine or paying a high water bill to make someone else's life easier.

AIG had reason to be pleased with its purchase. Water utilities are one hell of a profitable business, with international corporations easily making a 20 to 30% profit margin, according to a 2007 report by Food and Water Watch. In the US, federal regulations limit profits to 10%, a pesky rule that companies easily subvert by shuffling their income around and “investing” it in side businesses. These kinds of returns would be the envy of the pharmaceutical and oil industries. How do water companies do it? According to Food and Water Watch, they charge 50% more for services than public utilities and pocket the difference, thereby unleashing the potential of the free market....
http://www.alternet.org/

Clinton, Kentucky. obama's America.

OK, kind of a dated reference...

http://www.alternet.org/world/144210/is_obama_following_in_the_footsteps...

Had a script go up over 50 per cent from price in June, thereby crossing the line between "This is something I am probably always going to be able to afford" to "Well it's not like it cots a fortune, but it's the type of money that might get hard to 'find' under certain circumstances."

I am sure others are experiencing the same and worse (Pharma cost increases, as per Sam), yes?

(Sorry if I missed earlier posts if I did...)

for boots on the ground versus (only?) social network activism, since it is impossible for these people to do the latter.

I sure hope some org with good lawyers sees the story and decides to help them file the necessary complaints--for a start.

I'm sure ACORN would have been all over it but...

----
From comments section:

water hostages
[Report this comment]
Posted by: littlepitcher on Nov 26, 2009 6:32 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Murray Co., Ga is about to get hit with a 30% rate increase.
The company's rationale is that layoffs at carpet manufacturers and plant closings cost them profit that the rest of us will be required to supply. Unemployment here is among the nation's highest.

The carpet plants closed? Many of them were owned by Warren Buffett. Wondering if the water company is similarly owned.

What we folks in temperate climates need is a solar or other natural collector of atmospheric water--especially dew point water--so pure drinking water can be sourced by those whose wells have gone dry or whose water supplies have been polluted by chemicals, bacteria, or corporate greed.

Utilities Occupation
[Report this comment] [Ignore this user]
Posted by: goodiemonster on Nov 26, 2009 9:45 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
Should the people of Middlesboro and Clinton decide to occupy and expropriate the water company from AIG, I would fully support them. This is absolutely outrageous! I would suggest watching the video The Take by Naomi Klein.

(But, as next commenter reminds, the utility office was closed.)

---

why city wants our water
[Report this comment] [Ignore this user]
Posted by: eosrk on Nov 26, 2009 9:32 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
I live in a unincorporated area, and the city I live in has been trying for years to take this section over...why...although we have sewer, they want to take over the water now, for we have wells, and have no water bill...I hope we don't sell out to these greedy fuckers..in fact I found our tap tastes way better than the city tap...we check it for radon, and so far its been good

hope you all had a good one!!!

Well, we can all hope. I bet McLiar/Palin carried the area by 60%. (I'll try to look it up.)
With the destruction of public education, the weakness and lack of political activism of the today's unions, the ground-level power of evangelical churches, and the absence of honest, militant progressive leaders, I'm not very optimistic. I think Clinton's destitute residents could keep on voting against their own interests for decades.

btw in my area of rural poverty, I'm seeing a few more Confederate flags every week, not just on bumper stickers, but proudly waving in front of run-down homes-- some in foreclosure.

MI NUEVO LIBRO/MY NEW BOOK!
http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/11/mi-nuevo-libromy-new-book.html

Afternoon Sederville. It's a cloudy 37F.

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Submitted by ghettodefender on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 12:51pm.
Middlesboro and Clinton are two tiny, impoverished towns in southern Kentucky with a combined population of 12,000. In 2008, Middlesboro's per capita income was $13,189.......
the state is so broke that half the people eligible for unemployment benefits can't receive them.
--------

Well these Kentuckians probably believe the millionaires and billionaires, not government, have their best interest at heart. A steady diet of bigotry is what the rich feed these southern states. They've been doing this for generations. For their devotion, the south has been rewarded with truncated poverty.

Andrew Hacker wrote a book called "A Statistical Portrait Of The American People". It was copy-written in 1983. The book is a break down of every state in America. It reveals population, income, taxes and spending. What's shocking is to see the income in these states before Reagan. Cleveland Ohio was once among the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the country. But after 30 years of Reagan & the Conservatives, Ohio has been reduced to Mississippi. The southern states are getting exactly what they voted for, and when Ohio voted red, so did they.

By the way, according to Hacker's book, the south lead the nation in sexual transmitted diseases.

Hee ha. On the banks of the Mississippi. McLiar got 65%
(Nader got 29 votes.)

I'd simply paste in my very angry reply to somebody who had a somewhat similar comment on the alternet post, but since you are my blog buddy, I will let Noam answer you more gently (in re teabaggers @ about 3:45).

Now, I'm not saying that it's your job to go anywhere and organize racist white people (and it probably wouldn't be very effective anyhow, since they're racists, which is disgusting). And I understand why it is especially infuriating to you that these same tacitly pro-corporatist attitudes in crackers are still screwing you over. But they are human beings and, even if you don't care about that..any inroads that these corps make in this regard make it that much more SOP to do it in the next place, where you might care about the people more. (Not to mention the profits they gain from their dirty deeds in Clinton makes them that much more able to buy pols [when "they" aren't being pols, cabinet members etc], thus easing the way for more perpetration.)

Also, I wonder why you feel it necessary to introduce irrelevancies like the physical appearance or presumed sexual behavior of those you don't like into discussions that rarely have anything to do with those subjects. It has bothered me for a really long time but I have let it go...

It's one thing (kind of) in a post when you are playing, but that post seemed intended to be pretty serious/informative all the way through.

----
OK, I see it was less about race and more about politics per se than I thought. Still don't agree and don't think the attitude gets us anywhere. It's a Catch 22 because we have to fix entrenched corporate power (including over "public enemy #1," also over elections/legislation, also over schools) before we can say the average working and/or poor people "get what they deserve." It's what you say about the "steady diet"--only Fox et al etc are trying to hide the very existence of "vegetables." You are what you eat only if you have any meaningful agency in choosing a different "diet."

Golf superstar Tiger Woods was taken to hospital in "serious condition" after a car accident in Florida, US media reported Friday.

re: The hated republican murderer Obama is shooting bears & wolves!
Submitted by ghettodependswearer on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 9:37pm.
Submitted by Ms_Anthrope on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 7:34am.

You mentioned about Pres. Obama & me not thrilled about how rethug-Dem Obama has damned and has caused their death?
Well, now that I just truly got back to here, save 4 a few hours & I thought fine, until stomach said differently - I just discovered over past few days that ATT:

http://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2008/polarbear012308/polarbearspromo.htm...

...so now I blame Pres. Obama {& his ADM} regarding THE MURDER of Wolves and their babies & WTP that DIDN'T VOTE FOR VP Gore or whomever ... since WTP {We The People}
want rethugs & rethug likes -- I hated Hillary, but then SHE & HUBBY HATED {then, b4 Obama} ALL "rethugs" -- which gave hope 4 future -- but now this "cowardly lion" & adm LOVES RETHUGS ... & Hillary 2 has drunk the KoolAide...
now I am 4 no one save AGAIN THOSE FOLKS THAT "GOT IT RIGHT" even in '80s & B4. GOSH we protested GLOBAL WARMING IN early 70's and some folks bit B4.

U know that rethug light Obama just SIGNED DANA PERINO {sp & so not worth looking up} - bush spokestoxicbitchperson...
there is ZERO GOOD 4 that action...

now this is my opinion, with many NationWide & WorldWide, who believes similar...

//but now this "cowardly lion" & adm//

What's that in reference to? (I mean, besides "The Wizard of OZ.")

...Not Called Them Racists

Growing up in Pittsburgh, I had known many poor white people, but they all seemed to vote for Democrats because they had manufacturing jobs and were union members. Gradually, though, the unions - which were a means of educating people about politics - evaporated under the anti-union policies of Democrats and Republicans alike. I saw more and more strong Democrats turn Republican as they began to distrust a Democratic Party that took away their jobs with policies like NAFTA and one after another massive corporate giveaway.

Even recently, my own grandmother, a lifelong Democrat, admitted to my mother that she was unsure about health care reform because of the "death panels."

Is my grandmother some sort of stupid, racist, teabagging reactionary? I think not. This is the woman who, after all, told me stories about how she was called a “Mediterranean n**ger” growing up and was sympathetic to the experience of African-Americans. But has my grandmother been lied to by Democrats and Republicans alike and seen her standard of living decline over the past 30 years? Sure...
http://www.truthout.org/100409B

re: Looks like I'm the pc thug for the afternoon : { (STFU :})
new
Submitted by gloryoski on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 3:15pm.
//but now this "cowardly lion" & adm//

What's that in reference to? (I mean, besides "The Wizard of OZ.")

Twit ... LION has to do with {e-r 2 U} LEO i.e. Pres. O's "sign" ... u r very linear ...
AND HE NEVER FOUGHT B4.

I was saying STFU to everyone in terms of my saying "pc thug _for the afternoon_." In other words, I am AWARE that some would say not just for this afternoon.

I understand where you were going now, but the reference was a little obscure to anyone not as into astrology as you are (at least).

I also think that others have had similar misunderstandings about your attitudes about the Clintons vs Obama, until you started writing more clearly about the origins of those attitudes.

Still I apologize.

(But I am not am not am not linear! Just not as zig-zaggy as you often are. ;))

Science and I then I have to (especially over the "WEB")
take things Literal...

the reason why I sound more "abstract" during some issues HERE, is I have been here since the beginning & have said so many times B4, that some had said I was REPEATING myself here B4...
... also I am doing other important "stuff" regarding the "issues" which is so very important than repeating myself here ... :D

(further down at the link)
--------
Martin Luther King Would Have Loved the Teabaggers....
Submitted by ghettodefender on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 3:19pm.

...Not Called Them Racists

Likewise, I cringed a few weeks ago when a well-off, South Asian colleague of mine at a strategy meeting stood up and said, "Forget about white working class males. We need to expose them for the racist scumbags that they are."

[snip]

I thought to myself, "I bet you the only white working-class males this guy interacts with are the guys serving him hamburgers on the way to his vacations in the Hamptons." My immediate reaction was not to listen to him, but to figure out a way to attack back.

MsA. :D

You get there by clicking "The Daily News" on the Spanish homepage. I noticed there was an story in English from this Venezuela paper but did not see how to get to English stories there before.

--------
Colombia deploys new military unit on the border

The Colombian government commissioned on Friday a new army division to fight leftwing guerrillas and illegal armed groups linked with drug traffickers, and also ensure security along the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

The army eighth division started operations amidst the diplomatic impasse involving the governments of Venezuela and Colombia.

The move also followed Venezuela's criticism of presumed poor security by Colombia on the border, Reuters reported.

However, according to Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva, the new military unit has "nothing to do" with the present showdown or the threats uttered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who called upon military for preparedness.

"The eighth division is a need because it is a huge, strategic territory for Colombia, with agricultural, cattle breeding, mining and oil activity," he said.

"The purpose of this division is to curb the country's internal threats," Silva added, and conceded the presence in the area of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), drug traffickers and other outlaws.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/11/27/en_pol_esp_colombia-deploys-ne...

----
The deployment of this unit was indeed announced by Silva on Colombian TV on the very night that the bridges got blown up. (I saw a YouTube in Spanish.)

Is this an opposition paper? I don't know. Maybe find out later. The tone could be interpreted as simply "objective."

Where's Ono when ya need him.. ;)

*******

SYDNEY (AFP) – A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, according to officials.

AFP/File – A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a..

Fifteen firefighters and two trucks were called to a property at Axedale in central Victoria state after reports of a gas leak, the Country Fire Service said.

"When we got there, as we drove up the driveway, there was this huge sow, about a 120-odd kilo (265-pound) sow, and it was very obvious where the gas was coming from," said fire captain Peter Harkins.

"We could not only smell it, but we heard it and it was quite funny."

Harkins said the pig's owner was "a little bit embarrassed to say the least," and it took fire crews a little while to compose themselves.

"It was fairly obvious what it was. I think we dealt with it fairly professionally and had a bit of a giggle when we got back to the station," he told public broadcaster ABC.

Link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

On The Record with Greta Van Susteren"
tonight 10pm ET

Dear Friends,

Dennis to take his "Out of Afghanistan" message to Fox News:

Fox News: On The Record with Greta Van Susteren
Friday, November 27th, 2009, at 10pm ET
Subject: "Out of Afghanistan"

The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

"Resolves any serious pig-fart situations that may arise in an efficacious and professional manner."

to find out who the assholes are.

sitting in the living room, sipping wine, a roaring fire, cats and dogs zonked out around us...I am reading, wifey is beading solstice gifts for her friends, Dave Brubeck's Indian Summer on in the background.....

I don't deserve this.

Nader Mulling Senate Bid
Ralph Nader "says he wants to gauge the level of grass-roots support before deciding whether to make a bid to represent Connecticut in the Senate," the AP reports.

The Connecticut Green Party is trying to persuade Nader to challenge Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) next year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvGky28IfeN9Eygc6iwhqY...

toniD's Ya Think?

Obama's Secret Climate Pact
by Richard Wolffe

After the Olympic-sized disappointment of his last trip to Copenhagen, why on earth would President Obama want to travel once again to the Danish capital for next month’s UN climate talks?

The answer, according to White House officials, lies in several weeks of intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy that the press corps entirely overlooked during Obama’s recent trip to China, and during the recent state visit by India’s prime minister.

Beyond the photo ops and press statements, Obama was pushing President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the kind of climate deals that eluded him at the G8 summit in Italy in the summer – and have eluded international negotiators for the last decade. China and India have played central roles in blocking past agreements, alongside the US, in a seemingly intractable dispute between fast-developing economies and the older, wealthier polluters.

Now Obama is at the point where he feels on the verge of a breakthrough, based on the kind of talks that don’t get covered by reporters obsessing about state dinners. “He had extensive conversations with President Hu specifically on climate and conversations with the prime minister of India,” said one senior White House aide. “So he has been building momentum for a political agreement to be brokered at Copenhagen.”

That was the backdrop for Wednesday’s White House announcement of specific targets to reduce emissions “in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020.” The next day, on Thanksgiving, China announced its own bargaining position to slow the growth of carbon emissions by 2020. Using a different standard from the US – measuring carbon intensity (relative to its own economic growth), China is offering a 40 to 45% cut below 2005 levels.

Environmental groups have criticized both the American and Chinese targets as too low. But the criticism was much sharper when it looked like President Obama might not attend Copenhagen. Now the White House says Obama believes he can be a decisive factor in turning the talks into a success. “He feels he can be a catalyst for getting a political agreement in place,” says one senior aide.

Obama’s decision to attend Copenhagen only crystallized over the last two weeks as the Chinese and Indian talks progressed, out of public view. However Obama will not stay for the conclusion of the week-long talks, and he arrives at the start of the conference before traveling on to Oslo, Norway, to accept his Nobel peace prize the following day. Instead, he will leave behind several White House and Cabinet officials, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House climate change czar Carol Browner.

By leaving early, Obama has drawn some European criticism since he will not be present for the later-stage arm-twisting that could be decisive in reaching an international agreement. Yet that scheduling decision also avoids any potential embarrassment in case Copenhagen ends up with no agreement whatsoever – a possible repeat of the Olympics fiasco. Speculation has already surfaced that the President might jet back to Copenhagen if a deal is within reach a week later. “Let’s hope there’s good karma in Copenhagen this time,” says one White House official.

The main difference between the Olympic trip and the climate talks: The White House has been doing its own prep work instead of relying on others. Obama’s personal investment in climate talks – from the G8 to his recent Asian travel – appears to have delivered some concrete, if modest, agreements. His prep has also delivered other benefits, including this week’s support from China for a strongly-worded, but limited, statement condemning Iran’s nuclear program at the IAEA. Both were overlooked during the Asia trip that was widely criticized for its lack of so-called deliverables. more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-26/obamas-secret-...

toniD's Ya Think?

Fed lending for emergency bank loans rises a bit

WASHINGTON — Banks borrowed slightly more from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week.

The Fed said Friday that commercial banks averaged $19.9 billion in daily borrowing over the week that ended Wednesday. That's up $139 million on average from the previous week. However, it is still $73.7 billion lower than the borrowing pace set a year ago at the peak of the financial credit crisis.

Banks' use of the program has been declining for the last several months, reflecting more stability in the banking system. Banks pay just 0.50 percent interest for the emergency, overnight loans.

The identities of financial institutions who make use of the Fed's emergency loan program are not released.

There was a slight decrease in the use of a separate program intended to boost the availability of short-term financing crucial for business operations like payroll and supplies. Loss of such so-called commercial paper financing was a central part of last year's financial crisis.

The Fed's holdings of commercial paper averaged $15 billion for the week ending on Wednesday. That was $72 million less on average than the Fed's holdings in the previous week. At its peak in late January, the Fed held almost $350 billion worth of commercial paper.

Banks' use of short-term loans from the Fed's "term auction credit" facility dropped to an average of $101 billion for the week, down by $8.4 billion on average from the previous week. Compared to a year ago at the height of the financial crisis, this type of bank borrowing is down by $305.5 billion.
Story continues below

The fact that banks are utilizing this emergency program at a sharply lower rate has not translated into increased flows of credit for businesses and individuals. For them, the flow of credit remains weak, one of the factors cited by economists who believe the recovery from the recession, the worst downturn since 1930, will be slow and halting.

The new report showed an increase in the central bank's purchases of mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those holdings were valued at an average of $854.9 billion, up $9.2 billion from the previous week.

The Fed in September said it planned to bring to a close next March its effort to buy $1.25 trillion of the securities, extending a program that had been scheduled to conclude by the end of this year. The goal of the program is to drive down mortgage rates and prop up the housing markets.

Rates on 30-year home loans fell this week to a nationwide average of 4.78 percent, down from 4.83 percent last week and equaling the record low reached on April 30. The records compiled by Freddie Mac go back to 1971.

The Fed said this month that it planned to scale down from $200 billion to $175 billion another program designed to support mortgage rates through the buying of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The central bank's weekly balance sheet showed that it held $153.6 billion of these securities on average for the week ending on Wednesday, up by $1.9 billion from the previous week.

The Fed normally releases the weekly snapshot of its balance sheet on Thursday but postponed the release until Friday this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20091127/us-fed-emergency-lendi...

toniD's Ya Think?

What sux is I bet if there was a party that actually spoke truth to the working man, many of the teabaggers would be onboard

Noam is right. The sentiment and anger is out there. People know the banks and corporations are shafting them. People know jobs are being shipped overseas, benefits slashed, stagnate wages etc etc...............

I think now would be an excellent time to appeal to average person

Nobody trusts the news anymore.

Audit the stockholders/shareholders of defense contractors companies/corporations. Tax these individuals and entities who gain profits from war, and then use those taxes to pay for the war/so-called war/imperialist adventures.

Pelosi says we need a war tax if the Afghanistan war continues? Then let the War Profiteers be the ones who pay such a tax. If the war ends, their tax ends via a sunset clause. Think of the war tax on war profiteers as a 'user tax'; since the war profiteers are the only ones who "benefit", let them pay for 'using' it!

And Speaker Pelosi, that may mean that you and Senator Feinstein and others in the legislatures have to pay some of those taxes, but, so be it.

Now that I look as Micheale Salahi and think Ann(Anthony?) Coulter, I see an Adam's apple on Micheale(Michael?) Salahi.

Look at this photo at 300% --

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/State-Dinner/photo//091128/480/17108dde53e...

New show is up and running.

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5507

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 6:49pm.
...

The Connecticut Green Party is trying to persuade Nader to challenge Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) next year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvGky28IfeN9Eygc6iwhqY...

=================

My cynical friend says, "It shouldn't be hard to persuade Nader. Just buy him a cup-a-coffee. Throw in a jelly donut, and you got'im."

I love Nader. Viva Nader! Lincoln lost alot of elections too, right?

Obama Pushes Lobbyists Off Federal Advisory Boards

Updated: 11-27-09 09:47 AM

In a little-noticed blog post published on the White House website in September, President Obama's special counsel for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen announced that the administration no longer wanted federally-registered lobbyists appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions.

These appointees to boards and commissions, which are made by agencies and not the President, advise the federal government on a variety of policy areas. Keeping these advisory boards free of individuals who currently are registered federal lobbyists represents a dramatic change in the way business is done in Washington.

As has been reported, the President has made a commitment to close the revolving door that has in the past allowed lobbyists and others to move to and from full-time federal government service. In furtherance of this commitment, the President issued Executive Order 13490, which bars anyone appointed by the President who has been a federally-registered lobbyist within the past two years from working on particular matters or in the specific areas in which they lobbied or from serving in agencies they had lobbied. The aspiration we are announcing today builds on this commitment. While the letter of the President's Executive Order on Ethics does not apply to federally-registered lobbyists appointed by agency or department heads, the spirit does and we have conveyed that to the agencies who are responsible for these appointments.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the move "may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama," resulting in "hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists" being ejected from federal advisory panels.

Not surprisingly, lobby groups, corporations, and other K Street influencers are up in arms.

The reaction from the lobbying community has been swift and overwhelmingly negative. Some of the loudest criticism has come from the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), a collection of more than a dozen panels that provide policy advice and technical assistance to the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative. The ITACs, whose roughly 400 members include at least 130 lobbyists, officials say, have taken the lead in attacking the White House policy as misguided and harmful to U.S. business interests; a letter to Obama from committee chairs last month included executives from Boeing, IBM, Harley-Davidson and International Paper.

"This action will severely undermine the utility of the advisory committee process," the letter read. ". . . The characteristics that make many Advisors valuable to the Administration [are] the same characteristics that are being used to artificially disqualify them from participation in the Committee system."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/obama-pushes-lobbyists-of_n_372...