Sunday, August 19, 2007

THE YO-YO and THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS. Please contact your local USO and send CARE packages and letters to our troops as often as you can. They need our love and support and chocolate. Or Rice Krispie Treats, as one Marine told me. Also, Sgt. Timothy Deane is back home safely. Welcome home!!

God Bless miners who are trapped and the rescue workers who have died. It's odd that the news networks cover the mine tragedy 24/7, but never profile a single soldier who has died. We should at least have news coverage of the families of soldiers and how they cope with their losses.

This just added! IMPORTANT ITEMS from my friend Brad Friedman, investigative journalist of BradBlog.com: "There are -- far too quietly -- some of the most important decisions of our generation now being made in states and counties around the country. Again, over the past few days, we have been focusing on them at The BRAD BLOG. Here are links to some of our most notable reports from the last day or two, leading off with one stunning revelation concerning the 2000 Election...believe it or not...and how we got to this mess in the place.... -- Brad

DAN RATHER REPORTS VIDEO: 'The Trouble with Touch Screens' Will be HUGE Trouble for Sequoia, ES&S and Maybe the Republicans from the 2000 Election! Complete, Disturbing Investigative Exposé, Featuring Troubling New Revelations About America's E-Voting

NOTE: The original Google video of this report has been taken down for some reason, so we are making it available in full, in three easy to watch segments. FULL STORY, VIDEO OF RATHER'S COMPLETE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT:
BradBlog.com

Holy Cow! If you haven't seen this report's enormous news concerning Sequoia's apparent effort to create havoc with Florida's punch-cards in 2000, you must do so immediately.

Seven company whistleblowers, all interviewed on camera, and by name, reveal their repeated objections to the company's use of faulty paper and purposeful misalignment of chads -- specifically for Democratic Palm Beach County, FL only -- in the 2000 Presidential Election.

"Someone" at the company okayed the faulty ballots despite the objections of the employees, including the Quality Control manager at the factor who is also interviewed. Sequoia has yet to admit who that "someone" was.

The revelations here are remarkable and breathtaking, should earn "Dan Rather Reports" an award for investigative journalism, and have already led to a call for a full Congression Investigation... Companies, Now Available in Full Online... FULL STORY, VIDEO OF RATHER'S COMPLETE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT:
BradBlog.com
*************


Good news! According to the new book "Richistan" many of the new billionaires, the younger ones, are Democrats, eager to do good things in the world. There is nothing wrong with wealth or the American spirit of the entrepreneur. But as Hilary Clinton stated, the old Republican idea that "You're on your own" does not work in any society. As Hilary so brilliantly stated, "You're On You're Own" stands for "Yo-Yo". Think about it: someone is pulling the strings of the middle class, just like a yo-yo. Boy is she right. Kudos to Hilary for this great metaphor.

To repeat: the old Republican idea that "You're on your own" does not work in any society. The term "society" means we are social beings, interdependent, interconnected -- and we can not do it alone. No one does it alone. And it's our societal obligation to take care of widows, orphans, the elderly, the lame and the poor. Public education is in society's best interest. Most of these unfortunate people do not have equal opportunities in this new America, called "Richistan" by Robert Frank in his bestselling new book. http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/06/05/why-richistan-why-now/

By raising the standards of the poor and middle class, we create goodwill and harmony, thereby uniting America.

Andrew Carnegie, the wealthiest man in America at one time, wrote "The Gospel of Wealth," in which he stated his belief that the rich should use their wealth to help enrich society. In fact, he basically said that the rich have an obligation to help society with their wealth, which does not really belong to them, it belongs to the community which helped him get rich. In other words, 'you can't take it with you' as Shakespear said, so it's important for the mega-wealthy to teach their children good values of charity and generosity -- that no one can do it alone.

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. Carnegie is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in United States history, and, later in his life, giving away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools, and universities in America, Scotland and other countries throughout the world.

The following is taken from one of Carnegie's memos to himself:

"Man does not live by bread alone. I have known millionaires starving for lack of the nutriment which alone can sustain all that is human in man, and I know workmen, and many so-called poor men, who revel in luxuries beyond the power of those millionaires to reach. It is the mind that makes the body rich. There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. Money can only be the useful drudge of things immeasurably higher than itself. Exalted beyond this, as it sometimes is, it remains Caliban still and still plays the beast. My aspirations take a higher flight. Mine be it to have contributed to the enlightenment and the joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to all that tends to bring into the lives of the toilers of Pittsburgh sweetness and light. I hold this the noblest possible use of wealth. ”
Carnegie believed that achievement of financial success could be reduced to a simple formula, which could be duplicated by the average person. In 1908, he commissioned (at no pay) Napoleon Hill, then a journalist, to interview more than 500 high and wealthy achievers to find out the common threads of their success. Hill eventually became a Carnegie collaborator, and their work was published in 1928, after Carnegie's death, in Hill's book The Law of Success (ISBN 0-87980-447-5) and in 1937, Think and Grow Rich (ISBN 1-59330-200-2). The latter has not been out of print since it was first published and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. In 1960, Hill published an abridged version of the book containing the Andrew Carnegie formula for wealth creation. For years it was the only version generally available. In 2004, Ross Cornwell published Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised, which restored the book to its original content, with slight revisions, and added comprehensive endnotes, an index, and an appendix.

137 comments:

  1. Great article, Lydia. The only way the elite can continue to thrive is for them to be held up by a prosperous populace. We should remember from 1929 that following the Bush plan, under which only the rich prosper, will bring down the entire economy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every single time I get a twitch in my aging body I tell my wife that the government is pulling another string. I was always joking before, but . . .

    Not to change the subject, but how do I get an autographed copy of the new book for reviewing? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Tomcat and Robert. There is also a spiritual principle at work here, and if we start to apply it we will see a huge change. "Think and Grow Rich" also applies to our mentality. We really need to stop seeing all Republicans and wealthy people as the enemy and bless them. That doesn't mean back down on exposing their crimes, but it does mean we have to give up hopelessess.

    A great book I wish Bush would read is Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" about how to negotiate a win-win. "Seek first to understand rather than to be understood (and you will soften the heart of your opponent or competitor or enemy....) The St. Francis prayer.

    Robert,
    Thank you for your request. I will get you my book as soon as it comes out. I have to keep mum about it right now, but will explain later.

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Men of power and welth have an aggressive lust for money, they succumb to the love of it.
    You have a gentle soul Lydia Cornell, I know whatever you seek will be found, now I need to listen and succumb to some of your thoughts. I hope you all understand my rants.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lydia, EXCELLENT article I couldnt agree more.

    When these anti middle class, anti working class greedy fascists say we are AGAINST success and captitalism we need to show the MANY examples of the MOSR success out there who support generosity and policies that help the working class because THEY KNOW that that is the ONLY way to keep a economy and democracy vital.

    I also wrote an article on how great and successful men like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, George Soros, Ted Turner etc all support the same principles we do rather than what Rove Cheney and Bush do.

    Tomcat is 100% right, rigging the game so ONLY the rich prosper is poison for the economy and will bring on an economic depression as uneven distribution of wealth, with the ultra wealthy getting EVER richer at the expense of the middle class and excessive debt levels are the two greatest causes of Depressions.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Let's talk - thank you so much for your kind comments. I swing between blood-curdling anger, paralsis and hope. The first two are not healthy. But hope springs eternal and "problems" are challenges meant to be overcome.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey, this is very important from BRADBLOG:

    "There are -- far too quietly -- some of the most important decisions of our generation now being made in states and counties around the country. Again, over the past few days, we have been focusing on them at The BRAD BLOG. Whether you are paying attention to them and our reporting of same, it has become quiet clear that America's Voting Machine Companies certainly are, and they are making themselves no strangers at BRAD BLOG, in comments and via email.

    Here are links to some of our most notable reports from the last day or two, leading off with one stunning revelation concerning the 2000 Election...believe it or not...and how we got to this mess in the place.... -- Brad


    DAN RATHER REPORTS VIDEO: 'The Trouble with Touch Screens' Will be HUGE Trouble for Sequoia, ES&S and Maybe the Republicans from the 2000 Election!
    Complete, Disturbing Investigative Exposé, Featuring Troubling New Revelations About America's E-Voting Companies, Now Available in Full Online...

    NOTE: The original Google video of this report has been taken down for some reason, so we are making it available in full, in three easy to watch segments.

    Holy Cow! If you haven't seen this report's enormous news concerning Sequoia's apparent effort to create havoc with Florida's punch-cards in 2000, you must do so immediately.

    Seven company whistleblowers, all interviewed on camera, and by name, reveal their repeated objections to the company's use of faulty paper and purposeful misalignment of chads -- specifically for Democratic Palm Beach County, FL only -- in the 2000 Presidential Election.

    "Someone" at the company okayed the faulty ballots despite the objections of the employees, including the Quality Control manager at the factor who is also interviewed. Sequoia has yet to admit who that "someone" was.

    The revelations here are remarkable and breathtaking, should earn "Dan Rather Reports" an award for investigative journalism, and have already led to a call for a full Congression Investigation...

    FULL STORY, VIDEO OF RATHER'S COMPLETE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT:
    http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4960

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lydia Cornell said...
    Thanks Tomcat and Robert. There is also a spiritual principle at work here, and if we start to apply it we will see a huge change. "Think and Grow Rich" also applies to our mentality. We really need to stop seeing all Republicans and wealthy people as the enemy and bless them. That doesn't mean back down on exposing their crimes, but it does mean we have to give up hopelessess. "

    Lydia, I really dont think we see ALL wealthy people or ALL republicans as bad..........like I wrote about there arte MANY brilliant and generous and decent wealthy people and there are some very decent republicans as well although at the moment I would categorize them as the free thinking libertarians who value freedom and fiscal responsibility.

    I have an uncle who is a republican/liberterian and my best friend is as well........I dont agree with all their views but they are decent people.

    As for hopelessness, i'm sure it might sound that way at times but if that were the case i think most of us would have stopped speaking out by now and given up..........

    I'm probably the least religious person in here, and i'm probably out of my element on this one so maybe you guys could help me out here........God and Jesus say to love your neigbor and forgive your enemies but doesnt that depend on if MORE evil would occur if they continued to run amuk.

    Didnt jesus turn over the money changers table and attack them, and didnt God cause a flood to cleanse the world of evil, and didnt Moses (I think) kill the wolf that was murdering his flock.

    I think it can be perfectly reasonable be a pascifist to love people and animals, yet if a rabid dog is trying to attack and kill your child............you kill it rather than allow it to destroy everything you love and value...........we have a rabid dog that is trying to destroy everything we value right now who is bent on insuring the quality of life of our children is MUCH inferior to that of our own starting WW3.

    I think they must be challenged before it is too late because just like the rabid dog they know of no other way. its you or them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lydia, you should really try to get Warren Buffet on your radio show..........he is such a brilliant person with great ideas it would make for a very interesting show.

    besides.........the Reich Wing tries to portray us as AGAINST success and capitalism it would be great in dispelling that lie if we had Captains of industry like Buffet, Gates, Soros, Turner that supported and were affiliated with our cause.

    Not to mention that I KNOW they are appalled with the inequities that are going on and once a relationship is developed i'm sure they would be MUCH more receptive to supporting liberal radio and and hint or essence of unbiased or liberal MSM.......if it still exists.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kudos to Hillary, that was an apt metaphor! Carnegie too was entirely right. That principle is exactly that extolled by Thomas Jefferson.
    I was researching my first attempt at a book and it was based on morality at the time of our founding. Thomas Jefferson extolled the mentallity at the time saying any person who becomes a member of a society will inherintly do the right thing for that society.
    He or she will put society first and that the poor was as equal as the wealthy but no more. I do not understand not putting others and the country first.
    I thought that was just normal and so wasn't doing the right thing but after researching Thomas Jefferson I found out why I was different and by todays standards it was me that was not normal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yes, you're right Mike, I am in a hurry and wrote too fast. I didn't mean all wealthy people and all repubs. There are many, many wonderful wealthy people as you mentioned and even more that give anonymously, rather than for their own glory. and there are some wonderful Republicans too.

    You make some great points.

    ReplyDelete
  12. But I must say, "conservatism" as a movement leaves a lot to be desired. I think it is antiquated. More on that later.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think it is getting harder to find a Republican who hasn't been entrenched in the tripes of the greedy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dan Rather's segments on Voter fraud are excellent, it's a shame many people can't view it because of technology.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Check out the latest post by Anon-Paranoid. It is an eye opener.

    America Weeps

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have written numerous times on the dangers of those machins. They are for the politicians as they can manipulate them undetected. Ca. is the only State that is doing something about them and they are still allowing some. I say get rid of all of them. I kept warning of another stolen election and I am afraid it is going to happen again because the machines are still everywhere. God help us because no one else will!

    ReplyDelete
  17. really wonderful Lydia that you pointed out the wonders of Carnegie, I feel very lucky, I grew up in a part of Baltimore where he was loved, he built schools, and parks, and libraries...my favorite library as a child had his picture on the wall, and held a party every year for his Birthday...my family is Scottish - and it was kind of a joke- that he was Scottish...because he was very frugal- but gave with his heart and his head.....But what a wonderful thing that he remembered those around him... And HOW to give....Keep up the great writing.....and blogging over here...

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  18. Oh, Quick question has anyone sent the Rather Machine Piece to MSNBC & Keith Olbermann ? CNN did do the story with Dan , and they did not do a good job, they cut him off...it was disrespectful...any other ideas of where to send it ? or you should run it?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I made booboos in that last comment - sorry...
    I meant to say Voting Machine piece...and I also meant to ask WHO else to send it to ?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Official George W. Bush
    "Days Left In Office"
    Countdown:

    519 DAYS
    3 Hrs 51 Min 21.8 Sec

    Will this day ever come?

    ReplyDelete
  21. lydia...
    We all know that the elections were stolen and your right about not all Republicans being RFN's.

    As to Buffet I've heard him say he don't need no stinking tax breaks. He knows that we need everyone to have an opportunity to do well and get ahead.

    As to the rest, will I for one don't trust Gates. He had the NSA help with security on the Windows Operating System and may have caved in to Big Brother over their lawsuits against Microsoft. Back door root kits to help spy on you I don't believe would be past him.

    Only those who stand up for the rights of all Americans even when they may be arrested or be attacked by the Reich Wing should get respect from the citizens of America.

    Good post on how are elections and the distribution of wealth are being stolen on a daily basis.

    God Bless.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lydia Cornell said...
    But I must say, "conservatism" as a movement leaves a lot to be desired. I think it is antiquated. More on that later."

    Well your certainly nicer than me..........I think Conservatism is a disease, its a blight on humanity, its a plague.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Conservatism is one of the true evils of our lifetime.

    ReplyDelete
  24. an average patriot said...
    I have written numerous times on the dangers of those machins. They are for the politicians as they can manipulate them undetected. Ca. is the only State that is doing something about them and they are still allowing some. I say get rid of all of them. I kept warning of another stolen election and I am afraid it is going to happen again because the machines are still everywhere. God help us because no one else will!"

    Patriot, I believe they can ONLY steal the elections if they are close, their game has NOT been to change millions or tens of millions of votes but two steal JUST enough votes in the few critical swing states that are close enough to be up for grabs to steal ALL of the electoral votes for THOSE states..........NAMELY Florida and Ohio.

    I Dont think this tactic will work anymore for several reasons:

    1) I dont think this election will be close enough to even ATTEMPT this tactic.

    2) We Know their game plan, and will be watching and monitoring them.

    But I DO agree with you that we should scrap those stupid hackable repug machines that ONLY the repugs seem to want to keep.

    ReplyDelete
  25. enigma4ever said...
    I made booboos in that last comment - sorry...
    I meant to say Voting Machine piece...and I also meant to ask WHO else to send it to ?"

    We Knnew what you meant!

    ReplyDelete
  26. BTW, I know this is a little off topic but I just watched Enemy of The State..............scary stuff, but it had a great ending.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Mike:

    I think Patriot may be right. They were watched after Bush was handed the election in 2000, but look what happened anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  28. One more off topic rant...........Lydia, Bartlebe, Larry, Patriot. Anon, Clif etc.......I'm re reading George Orwell's 1984 and I strongly suggest you all read or reread this book as well............it is amazing when read in the context of what is going on today.............its like Rove, Cheney, Bush and the other Neo Con cronnies drew up a game plan based on a combination between 1984 and Hitlers game plan.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yeah Larry but like I said before they only stole and disenfranchised enough votes in Florida and Ohio to get ALL the electoral votes in those states.........they need things to be close enough to pull that scam, I dont think this election will be close.

    I'm FAR more worried about GWB declaring martial law and canceling the elections than I am about them trying to steal it.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I haven't read 1984 since High School, but from what I remember, Bush has passed some of it in many ways.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Mike:

    Read some of Anon-Paranoid's postings and he always references the similarities between Bush and Hitler.

    He is right on target.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I have read many of his writings.......and I think he is Right on the Money.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Check out these two blogs by the same person. They center around the New World Order and also the Bush/Hitler similarities.

    EuroYank


    EuroYank

    ReplyDelete
  34. Don't forget to vote in Robert Rouse's "Left of Centrist" Blog World Awards.

    Lydia is nominated in several categories. Here is the link to find them.

    Blog World Awards

    ReplyDelete
  35. Wow, Larry that was an amazing video with Chris Hedges (The End of Democracy)..........i'm going to buy his book American Fascists.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Here's how Bush cares for the veterans:


    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new study found that 1.8 million veterans under 65 are uninsured and unable to find care at Veterans Affairs hospitals.

    This finding was released during the House Committee on Veterans Affairs earlier this month.

    Stephanie J. Woolhandler, a Harvard Medical School professor, testified there that about 290,000 have entered the ranks of uninsured veterans since 2000.

    Veterans counted as uninsured include those who said they lacked health insurance or veterans or military health care.

    Woolhandler’s information is based on two national surveys, one administered by the Census Bureau and the other by the Department of Health and Human Services.

    Republican lawmakers, however, questioned her study since she is an advocate for government-run national health insurance program.

    Woolhandler disagreed with their conclusion, noting that her experience in the VA hospital system backs up her figures.

    In 2005 alone, about 45 million Americans were uninsured, according to the Census Bureau.

    The hearing itself covered discussion over whether to allow Priority 8 veterans to receive healthcare services at VA hospitals.

    Adding these specific veterans into the system would increase the cost estimates up from $366 million to $3.3 billion a year.

    Lawmakers worry that this inclusion would prevent veterans with more serious health problems from receiving needed services.

    In 2006, the VA health system enrolled almost eight million veterans. But only 900,000 of the uninsured veterans are Priority 8, while the rest are unable to travel to the VA for care, according to Woolhandler.

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  37. Clif, go watch that video if you have time and let me know what you think...........that Chris Hedges seems right on!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Mike he has a lot of videos and other information on both sites.

    ReplyDelete
  39. YOYO, great acronym.

    The great industrialists of the past recognized that they didn't create their wealth out of a vacuum and that they had a moral obligation to give something back. With only a few exceptions (Gates, Buffet) today's billionaires pretty much think "F### everybody else, this is mine!"

    Who Hijacked Our Country

    ReplyDelete
  40. "Whatever you're thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you're worrying, you are planning. When you're appreciating you are planning...What are you planning?"

    Abraham-Hicks

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi Lydia!

    Excellent article! :)

    The NeoCons do not see middle class or poor as equal to them. Greed consumes them and money keeps them in power. If we stop buying from those corporations who support the NeoCons, we will end the cycle...

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi Guys!

    Larry, TomCat, Robert, Mike, other Larry,
    Jim, Christopher, E4E, Anon Paranoid, Tom, et al..

    Yes, Larry, I hate to say it but there seems to be too many similarities between Bush and Hitler!

    I feel like our country has gone back 60 years with this administration.

    ReplyDelete
  43. About 28,000 American combat troops would be withdrawn from Iraq during a five-month period beginning in April under a plan to be submitted to President Bush next month by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq.

    Petraeus' deputy, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, said Friday that the five combat brigades ordered by Bush to "surge" to Iraq last winter would be withdrawn at a rate of one brigade per month. The withdrawal, to be completed in August 2008, would leave about 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.(…)

    But the withdrawal of the five combat brigades that composed the surge is based less on conditions in Iraq than on the simple unavailability of fresh troops. In April, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reluctantly extended troop deployments in Iraq to 15 months from 12 to maintain troop levels at about 162,000. At the time, Gates said the extension of tours "upholds our commitment to decide when to begin any drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq solely based on conditions on the ground."

    This isn't a troop withdrawal!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Check out Alicia's latest post on Bush's "compassionate conservatism."

    Good stuff!

    Last Left Before Hooterville

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  45. Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring.

    The Army’s 38 available combat units are deployed, just returning home or already tapped to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that President Bush sent to Baghdad this year, according to interviews and military documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

    That presents the Pentagon with several painful choices if the U.S. wants to maintain higher troop levels beyond the spring of 2008:

    -Using National Guard units on an accelerated schedule.

    -Breaking the military’s pledge to keep soldiers in Iraq for no longer than 15 months.

    -Breaching a commitment to give soldiers a full year at home before sending them back to war

    Thanks to Bush the War President.

    ReplyDelete
  46. VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

    The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere. What soldiers call the “battle space” remains the same, with changes only at the margins. It is crowded with actors who do not fit neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen, criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the questionable loyalties and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers’ expense.

    A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families.

    As many grunts will tell you, this is a near-routine event. Reports that a majority of Iraqi Army commanders are now reliable partners can be considered only misleading rhetoric. The truth is that battalion commanders, even if well meaning, have little to no influence over the thousands of obstinate men under them, in an incoherent chain of command, who are really loyal only to their militias.

    Forgetters of Truth: Just like Bush!

    ReplyDelete
  47. The US Army, struggling to cope with stepped-up operations and extended deployments of its soldiers to Iraq, has shortened the duration of several of its bedrock training courses so that troops can return to fighting units on the front lines more quickly, according to senior training officials.

    One training course that is considered the “first step” in educating newly minted sergeants — the noncommissioned officers considered the backbone of Army units — has been cut in half to 15 days. Meanwhile, an intensive program designed to prepare young officers for advanced leadership has been compressed from eight months to less than five months so that the Army can fill positions in constant demand from commanders in the Middle East.

    In a series of interviews in recent weeks, Army training officials expressed confidence that soldiers are able to master the skills they need to perform their jobs, and stressed that their units are gaining invaluable, real-time experience in both wars. But they also acknowledged that it is becoming increasingly difficult to prepare them for all the missions they are assigned, such as tank crews and artillery battalions that are participating in patrols and counterinsurgency operations.

    Bush doesn't care if they are ready, he wants bodies for war!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Larry cutting back on enough training time to PROPERLY train new soldiers both NOC's and officers is going to short change the US Military and the nation for years to come, but Bush ET AL don't give a damn because they will be gone to Paraguay counting their looted money they have stolen the last 27 years from the American people.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Lara Berch, thank you for your link at Laraberch.com art tutorials.

    Sorry I got paranoid at the anonymous poster.
    It wasn't you!

    My apologies.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Suzie-Q,

    You are so correct.

    But then, Bushco has always wanted to be a dictator.

    Bush is a dangerous sociopath who likely suffers from micro penis syndrome and as a result, feels woefully inadequate.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Christopher:

    That syndrome is giving Bush more credit that his Pickled wife will attest to.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Bush's two-day summit with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon is the third of its kind during his presidency. Each one has been meant to bolster an evolving compact — dubbed the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America — that serves as a way for the nations to team up on health, security and commerce.

    Yet for Bush, the event also allows him to show he does not take his neighbors for granted; they are both vital trading partners and energy providers for the U.S.

    "The message for Canada and Mexico is that despite the ongoing emphasis on Iraq and terrorism in U.S. foreign policy ... the U.S. is investing time and attention on relationships with our own region," said Chris Sands, a scholar of North American studies and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    The partnership of the countries is a framework for working out problems — not a deal that was ever intended to produce dramatic announcements. None are expected at the summit.

    Personally, Bush shares plenty of views with Harper and Calderon, two fellow conservatives and free-market advocates who have come into power during his second term.

    It's not all cheery. The summit is drawing protests from critics of Canada's troop presence in Afghanistan and of the partnership among the three countries. Some Canadians see it as an insidious threat to their sovereignty, led by the United States.

    Police were out in force Sunday in Ottawa, where protests began even before Bush was to arrive Monday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The summit itself will take place about 50 miles to the east at a luxury resort in Montebello, Quebec, where security is even tighter.

    The broad theme of the summit is economic prosperity, built around several topics: border security, competitiveness with India and China, product safety and energy solutions.

    What this really is about is the finalizing plans for the North American Union.

    ReplyDelete
  53. (Reuters) - More than half of top U.S. foreign policy experts oppose President George W. Bush's troop increase as a strategy for stabilizing Baghdad, saying the plan has harmed U.S. national security, according to a new survey.

    As Congress and the White House await the September release of a key progress report on Iraq, 53 percent of the experts polled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress said they now oppose Bush's troop build-up.

    That is a 22 percentage point jump since the strategy was announced early this year.

    The survey of 108 experts, including Republicans and Democrats, showed opposition to the so-called "surge" across the political spectrum, with about two-thirds of conservatives saying it has been ineffective or made things worse in Iraq.

    Bush is too power hungry to listen to experts!

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  54. Three lives are lost and counting in the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. The flamboyant, camera-hogging mine owner, Bob Murray, has called this a “once in a lifetime” accident, like a car crushed by a boulder suddenly dislodged. These horrors happen.

    Yes, but when we add one plus one plus one, we don’t call three an accident. We call it a product, a sum, the result. And the Utah disaster wasn’t random; it is the product of conditions just waiting to be added up.

    Murray, a self-made millionaire, owns companies producing more than 20 million tons of coal annually. He’s known as a hard-driving executive who pushes the limits in his mines, seeking to extract the last dime from the coal.

    At Crandall Canyon, the miners were working at depths that test the limits of safety. Although Murray denies it, federal regulatory officials say that retreat mining was being practiced. Retreat mining is a perilous technique in which pillars of coal hold up portions of the roof, and when the area is mined, the pillars are pulled down, capturing the useful coal and collapsing the roof.

    This mine owner needs jailed!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Voting is still going on for the World Blog Awards of which Lydia is nominated in several categories.

    You can vote at:

    World Blog Awards

    ReplyDelete
  56. I heard Dan on tv talking about the voting machines. If it wasn't so damned serious, it might be funny. It sounds like something out of a Woody Allen movie. How could anyone have allowed this to happen?

    ReplyDelete
  57. Anonymous10:16 AM

    Is this Larry guy the only person in America who has'nt made money in the booming economy the last four years?
    On the bright side he did get his minimum wage raised.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Leahy sets final deadline for White House on wiretapping docs.

    ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
    This morning, listen to our show. It was hilarious. Three tales of Republican corruption.
    You can access it in the "Today's show" listen online archives: www.bashamandcornell.com

    thanks

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  59. You guys aren't going to beleive this but NBC has decided to give Keith Olberman a shot on network television.

    NBC will be showing Keiths MSNBC show, COUNTDOWN, with Keith Olberman, Sunday night before the pre-season Football game between the Steelers and the Eagles.

    He's also going to be doing some announcing on pregame shows too.


    NBC senior vice president Phil Griffin said, “The world has changed, and I think people have come in line with the smart, focused approach [Keith] has on the show..... It may be the first of several times you see Olbermann on the network.”

    I didn't see that one coming.

    Way to go NBC!

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  60. Bill Oreilly must be seething.

    ReplyDelete
  61. NBC senior vice president Phil Griffin said, “The world has changed, and I think people have come in line with the smart, focused approach [Keith] has on the show..... It may be the first of several times you see Olbermann on the network.”

    I didn't see that one coming.

    Way to go NBC!"

    Ever hear of the "Smart Money" realizing which direc tion the winds of change were blowing in the market and getting there first before all the lemmings follow................This guy is the "Smart Money" of the MSM, he senses the direction the population is shifting to and its decidely to the left towars freedom, justice, truth and equality and away from fascism, Orwellian lies and elitism.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Sometimes someone wealthy will come along and still care for others that have less. That is a true humanitarian. If there were only more like those few.

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  63. I wouldn't want to be Bill Oreilly's producer right about now.

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  64. BAWAAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  65. Can you hear it?

    “calm down Billo, maybe we can get you on before the Simpsons”.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "of course two cartoons back to back might not work…”.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Think North America is not shifting towards becoming an Orwellian Police state read the following article and think again.......our leaders are working compulsively to give police and government far more power than is wise.

    Canada Introduces $10,000 Speeding Ticket
    Ontario, Canada applies street racing penalties to motorists who are not racing anybody.

    Ontario, Canada Premier Dalton McGuinty today announced that being caught driving 50km/h (31 MPH) over the speed limit will automatically trigger "street racing" penalties -- even if the accused motorist is driving alone on an otherwise empty road. The change in definition will, in effect, turn ordinary speeding into an offense that can carry a $10,000 (US $9305) fine and up to six months in jail, making it one of the most expensive traffic tickets in North America.

    "If you choose to break the law, we consider you a threat to our public safety and you're going to face stiff penalties," McGuinty said in a statement.

    In June, McGuinty cited the importance of combating the "organized crime" of street racing as he urged passage of the Safer Roads for a Safer Ontario Act which created the $10,000 penalty. The change in definition also means that the word of a police officer is all that it takes to confiscate a car and driver's license for at least seven days.

    "There is no appeal from, or right to be heard before, a vehicle detention, driver's license suspension or vehicle impoundment under [the street racing] subsection," the Safer Roads Act states.

    McGuinty also announced a proposal to hire 55 new traffic police officers and purchase a high-tech surveillance airplane in an attempt to rack up several of the expensive new fines.

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  68. So basically with no proof on the word of a police officer you can be subject to 6 months in jail, a $10,000 fine, and have your vehicle and license impounded and confiscated...........oh and dont forget the airplane surveilance.

    ReplyDelete
  69. You like driving fast, huh Mike?

    :D

    ReplyDelete
  70. Lydia,

    Thanks a million!!!!!

    xoxo,

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  71. WORFEUS THE SEER said...
    You like driving fast, huh Mike?

    :D"


    Uh yeah.......guilty as charged there.......but thats not the point, the point is on a whim a police officer who doesnt like you can get you imprisoned for 6 months, cost you $10,000 get your vehicle and license confiscated all on his word and you have NO RECOURSE.

    Any one who doesnt think this is a problem or thinks this is a good thing needs to think again..........therte is a clear push to make police and government Supreme all in the guise of saftety and for the record that is the epitome of a police state and is the polar opposite of states that value freedom and democracy.

    ReplyDelete
  72. See the gameplan for these authoritarian fascists is to turn up the heat and seize more and more power slowly...........just like if you turn up the heat slowly the frog wont jump out of the pot and will be boiled alive.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Liebermann wants a war with Syria:

    Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) writes today in the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. “road to victory” in Iraq goes through Damascus, and urges Congress to “send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime“:

    The United States is at last making significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq–but the road to victory now requires cutting off al Qaeda’s road to Iraq through Damascus. […]

    It is therefore time to demand that the Syrian regime stop playing travel agent for al Qaeda in Iraq.

    When Congress reconvenes next month, we should set aside whatever differences divide us on Iraq and send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime, as we did last month to the Iranian regime, that the transit of al Qaeda suicide bombers through Syria on their way to Iraq is completely unacceptable, and it must stop.

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  74. Bush is crying the blues:

    By the time he arrived in Prague in June for a democracy conference, President Bush was frustrated. He had committed his presidency to working toward the goal of "ending tyranny in our world," yet the march of freedom seemed stalled. Just as aggravating was the sense that his own government was not committed to his vision.

    As he sat down with opposition leaders from authoritarian societies around the world, he gave voice to his exasperation. "You're not the only dissident," Bush told Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a leader in the resistance to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "I too am a dissident in Washington. Bureaucracy in the United States does not help change.

    Stop whining Bush: You did it to yourself!

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  75. The leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico are expected to meet Monday at this log cabin resort, near Ottawa, for a two-day summit to bolster trilateral trade and security.

    But, local demonstrations and a deadly hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico already threaten to derail the talks, aimed at unifying trade rules and security following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

    The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) was launched at the first "Three Amigos" summit in Waco, Texas, in March 2005.

    Since then, it has been maligned by activists, labor groups and academics who lament its acute business focus.

    The "Security and Prosperity Partnership" is really a phony name for the North American Union.

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  76. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  77. Get ready for $4 gas:

    The United Arab Emirates plans to reduce crude oil production by up to 25 percent within weeks.
    The reports of a UAE oil slowdown — not yet confirmed by the government — have driven up the price of Abu Dhabi crude to its highest levels in eight months.

    Industry sources said the UAE was planning major cutbacks in October 2007. The sources said this could result in a halt of up to 810,000 barrels per day, or 25 percent of total oil production. The UAE produces 2.54 million barrels of oil per day.

    Thanks Bush for ruining the economy!

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  78. Are we next:

    The United States has set a new precedent in its reliance on private contractors to perform dangerous military duties in Iraq, reports the Washington Post in its Monday edition.

    Writes the Congressional Research Service in a recent report: "Iraq appears to be the first case where the U.S. government has used private contractors extensively for protecting persons and property in potentially hostile or hostile situations where host country security forces are absent or deficient."

    Of these contractors said to perform "functions once carried by the U.S. military," recently gauged at 127,000, less than 20 percent were Americans.

    The CRS report goes on to say that the increasing reliance on private contractors, of whom 1,001 have died as of June 30, 2007 in the Iraq offensive, saves resources that would otherwise be used to court volunteers for military service; it also appears to lessen the chance of a draft.

    When will Bush use "Private Contractors" on us?

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  79. Help me out with this one guys, 3/4 of our nation believe the economy is poor and is either in recession or about to enter recession........again MORE than 3/4 of our country is opposed to the war in Iraq and many also strongly oppose Bush;s illegal spy program, his pardon of Libby his support of Gonzalez and his stance on National security............Bush and Rove have stated that the people are wrong and misinformed.

    So my question is if according to Bush and Rove the judgement of the masses is so suspect..........lets examine the fact that the judgement of people who elected and supported this administration is VERY suspect.

    The highest percentage EVER think the economy is poor and we are in recession yet our President and chief advisor state the economy is grreat.........same with Iraq the overwhelming majority oppose Bush's policies.............i think that makes it CLEAR The Bush Administration is out of touch with the majority of the population and reality in general.

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  80. Btw isnt it interesting how Bush bristled over helping to prevent working class people lose their homes but was quick to push a tax cut for corporations.

    People are losing their homes and we have a vulture in the White House trying to pick their bones for their wealthy corporate cronnies.

    We have an election people lets pick up on this stuff and MAKE it campaign issues.

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  81. Larry said...
    Bush is crying the blues:

    By the time he arrived in Prague in June for a democracy conference, President Bush was frustrated. He had committed his presidency to working toward the goal of "ending tyranny in our world," yet the march of freedom seemed stalled. Just as aggravating was the sense that his own government was not committed to his vision.

    As he sat down with opposition leaders from authoritarian societies around the world, he gave voice to his exasperation. "You're not the only dissident," Bush told Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a leader in the resistance to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "I too am a dissident in Washington. Bureaucracy in the United States does not help change.

    Stop whining Bush: You did it to yourself!"


    You sure Bush wasnt confusing Democracy with bureaucracy Larry, because its quite CLEAR he loathes democracy, but he seemed to like bureuacracy quite a bit when he had a rubber stamping repug congress that rubberstamped his decrees and used bureaucracy to stifle the opposing party.

    As for Bush wanting to END tyranny and push democracy thats like Dracula wanting to exterminate vampires and give EVERYONE a cross, garlic and holywater.................NOT very likely.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Mike:

    I took it he was crying because he was hated which made him feel like an outsider, or a Dissident.

    The idiot wants sympathy!

    ReplyDelete
  83. AWE the 25% dont do it for King Georgie anymore............maybe he should just do us all a favor and resign then he can have a good cry with his buddy Karl Rove.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Bush can't resign, he has a wedding to pay for, after his unwed daughter has his first grandchild out of wedlock.

    They are a morally upright family!

    ReplyDelete
  85. The leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico are expected to meet Monday at this log cabin resort, near Ottawa, for a two-day summit to bolster trilateral trade and security.

    Oh.
    My.
    God!

    Bush is supposed to be face-down at the Crawford, TX pig farm by now with a brewski in one paw and a coke spoon in the other paw.

    All this work! He'll have to take off 60 additional days to recover!

    These soft-in-the-middle elites aren't accustomed to actually working for a living.

    Like Speaker Botox. Instead of jetting off to Paris to shop, she had to make an appearance in Naw Leens recently in her official capacity of House Speaker.

    She didn't look too happy either!

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  86. Christopher:

    Pandering Pelosi wasn't happy being around poor people who are depending on her to do what she was elected for.

    ReplyDelete
  87. I'm still trying to get over the news that NBC is going to show Countdown on Network television.

    Thats a pretty big step.

    The trolls in TP were devastated.

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  88. Hey, i'll be able to watch Olberman now.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Pelosi is a fraud: a war profiting witch and a Bush enabler.

    I predict she will only serve one term as Speaker.

    Then, back to the House or possibly, back to Pacific Heights.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Off topic..........but did anyone catch Barney frank fighting with the host of On The Money on CNBC..........it was hillarious.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Check out the photo of Pickles Bush and her sister on Christopher's blog.

    From the Left

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  92. Oh, Yes Rudy Cares:

    Aug. 18, 2007 | On Friday, a New York Times story examined Rudy Giuliani's schedule in the months after 9/11 to verify his controversial claim that, like rescue workers, he'd spent long hours at ground zero, and so was "in that sense ... one of them." In fact, the Times found, he only spent 29 hours at the terror site between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16.

    What was he doing instead? Giuliani's beloved New York Yankees made it to the World Series in 2001. We decided to compare the time he spent on baseball to the time he spent at the ruins of the World Trade Center.

    The results were, considering the mayor's long-standing devotion to the Bronx Bombers, unsurprising. By our count, Giuliani spent about 58 hours at Yankees games or flying to them in the 40 days between Sept. 25 and Nov. 4, roughly twice as long as he spent at ground zero in the 90 days between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16. By his own standard, Giuliani was one of the Yankees more than he was one of the rescue workers.

    During three postseason playoff series that began Oct. 10, 2001, and ended Nov. 4, 2001, Giuliani attended every one of the team's home games, with the possible exception of the third game of the American League Championship Series, for which Salon could not confirm his attendance. According to Salon's arithmetic, Giuliani spent about 33 hours in stadiums -- this includes two World Series games he watched in Phoenix -- during the Yankees' 2001 postseason run, four hours more than he spent at ground zero. (We do not know if he stayed for every pitch, but famed baseball writer Roger Angell described Giuliani in the the New Yorker as a "devout Yankee fan, a guy who stays on until the end of the game.")

    Giuliani also attended the first regular season game the Yankees played in New York after the attacks; that game lasted almost three hours. (We do not know if he was present for any of the Yankees' other seven post-9/11 home games.) And he spent one of the away World Series games in a specially reserved box with his son at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, London's Daily Mail reported. The Daily Mail said he did that, in fact, for every away game of the American League Championship Series and the Yankees' first-round Division Series against the Oakland A's, but Salon could not independently verify that report. (Giuliani watched the first game of the World Series from his City Hall office.)

    Then there's the whirlwind tour Giuliani made traveling back and forth to Arizona for games six and seven of the World Series. Granted, he and his now-estranged children were traveling with a small entourage composed of the families of some of 9/11's victims; Major League Baseball had chipped in free tickets, Continental Airlines had donated a charter jet, and hotel rooms were comped as well. Still, once those families were in Arizona, Giuliani -- who had been predicting that game six would bring a Yankees victory and an end to the series -- made an extraordinary effort to ensure that he could attend to his responsibilities in New York and still make it back for game seven.

    Guiliani cared more about baseball than he did the 9/11 victims!

    ReplyDelete
  93. Bush really hates children:

    The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it much more difficult for New York, California and others to extend coverage to children in middle-income families.

    Administration officials outlined the new standards in a letter sent to state health officials on Friday evening, in the middle of a month-long Congressional recess. In interviews, they said the changes were aimed at returning the Children’s Health Insurance Program to its original focus on low-income children and to make sure the program did not become a substitute for private health coverage.

    After learning of the new policy, some state officials said today that it could cripple their efforts to cover more children by imposing standards that could not be met.

    Ann Clemency Kohler, deputy commissioner of human services in New Jersey, said: “We are horrified at the new federal policy. It will cause havoc with our program and could jeopardize coverage for thousands of children.”

    Stan Rosenstein, the Medicaid director in California, said the federal policy was “highly restrictive, much more restrictive than what we want to do.”

    The poverty level for a family of four is $20,650 in annual income. New York now covers children in families with income up to 250 percent of the poverty level. The State Legislature has passed a bill that would raise the limit to 400 percent of the poverty level — $82,600 for a family of four — but the change is subject to federal approval.

    California wants to increase its income limit to 300 percent of the poverty level, from 250 percent. Pennsylvania recently raised its limit to 300 percent, from 200 percent. New Jersey has had a limit of 350 percent for more than five years.

    As on other issues like immigration, the White House is taking action on its own to advance policies that were not embraced by Congress.

    In his budget request in February, President Bush proposed strict limits on family income for the child health program. But in voting this month to renew the program for five years, neither house of Congress accepted that proposal for the program, whose legal authority for the child health program expires on Sept. 30. The policy in the Bush administration’s letter would continue indefinitely, although Democrats in Congress could try to pass legislation overriding it.

    This proves Bush hates children: Especially POOR CHILDREN!

    ReplyDelete
  94. FOR YOU WORFEUS:

    Countdown with Keith Olbermann is getting a tryout on NBC. The NYTimes reports, Countdown will air before NBC's broadcast of this Sunday's pre-season game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Says NBC SVP Phil Griffin, "The world has changed, and I think people have come in line with the smart, focused approach [Keith] has on the show."

    In April, NBC announced Olbermann would be joining the roster of NBC's "Football Night in America" pregame show. And Griffin adds, "It may be the first of several times you see Olbermann on the network."

    SECAUCUS, N.J., August 20, 2007 – MSNBC's Keith Olbermann will bring his unique take on the day's events, from politics to pop culture, to a primetime network audience this Sunday night. A special edition of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will air on Sunday, August 26th at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on NBC, leading into the network's "Sunday Night Football" pre-season NFL matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers, live at 8 p.m. ET. Olbermann is joining the network's "Football Night in America" studio team this season. The special edition of "Countdown" will be broadcast live from MSNBC's studios.

    "Countdown's" network debut comes on the heels of the program's stellar performance this year. According to Nielsen Media Research, the program attracted 721,000 viewers in July, up an incredible 88% over July 2006. "Countdown" continues to be the number two cable news program at 8 p.m. ET, beating CNN by a 20% margin for the year.

    "I'm delighted we're getting a chance to show off in a bigger storefront window," said Olbermann. "It's much better than trying to take it door-to-door. I do advise new viewers to sit well back from their screens."

    Izzy Povich is Executive Producer, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Dan Abrams is General Manager, MSNBC. Phil Griffin is Senior Vice President of NBC News and Executive in charge of MSNBC.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Capital One Financial Corp. said Monday it will cut 1,900 jobs and shutter its wholesale mortgage banking business, a move that comes as lenders continue to struggle in the nation's housing and mortgage markets.

    Capital One said it will shut down GreenPoint Mortgage and eliminate most of the jobs by the end of year. The McLean, Va.-based company will close 31 GreenPoint locations in 19 states and "cease residential mortgage origination" effective immediately but said it will honor commitments to customers with locked rates who have loans already in the pipeline.

    It's the collapsing Bush Economy!

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  96. Regional banking group SunTrust Banks said Monday it would shed some 2,400 jobs by the end of 2008 as part of a restructuring program aimed at trimming costs and improving shareholder value.

    The cuts represent about seven percent of the workforce of the Atlanta-based bank, mainly in "non-customer contact employee positions," according to a statement.

    SunTrust, the ninth largest US bank holding company by assets, said it would set aside 45 million dollars in the third quarter to cover the costs of the job cuts.

    It's the faltering Bush economy!

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  97. A roadside bomb killed a governor in southern Iraq on Monday, the second provincial boss assassinated in nine days and a likely prelude to an even more brutal contest among rival Shiite militias battling for control of some of Iraq's main oil regions.

    Another normal day in Bloody Baghdad!

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  98. Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money than at the peak of the last economic expansion, new government data shows.

    While incomes have been on the rise since 2002, the average income in 2005 was $55,238, still nearly 1 percent less than the $55,714 in 2000, after adjusting for inflation, analysis of new tax statistics show.

    The combined income of all Americans in 2005 was slightly larger than it was in 2000, but because more people were dividing up the national income pie, the average remained smaller. Total adjusted gross income in 2005 was $7.43 trillion, up 3.1 percent from 2000 and 5.8 percent from 2004.

    Total income listed on tax returns grew every year after World War II, with a single one-year exception, until 2001, making the five-year period of lower average incomes and four years of lower total incomes a new experience for the majority of Americans born since 1945.

    The growth in total incomes was concentrated among those making more than $1 million. The number of such taxpayers grew by more than 26 percent, to 303,817 in 2005, from 239,685 in 2000.

    These individuals, who constitute less than a quarter of 1 percent of all taxpayers, reaped almost 47 percent of the total income gains in 2005, compared with 2000.

    People with incomes of more than a million dollars also received 62 percent of the savings from the reduced tax rates on long-term capital gains and dividends that President Bush signed into law in 2003, according to a separate analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice, a group that points out policies that it says favor the rich.

    The group’s calculations showed that 28 percent of the investment tax cut savings went to just 11,433 of the 134 million taxpayers, those who made $10 million or more, saving them almost $1.9 million each. Over all, this small number of wealthy Americans saved $21.7 billion in taxes on their investment income as a result of the tax-cut law.

    The nearly 90 percent of Americans who make less than $100,000 a year saved on average $318 each on their investments. They collected 5.3 percent of the total savings from reduced tax rates on investment income.

    The I.R.S. data showed that the number of Americans making less than $25,000 a year shrank, down by 3.2 million, or 5.5 percent.

    Nearly half of Americans reported incomes of less than $30,000, and two-thirds make less than $50,000.

    The number of taxpayers making more than $100,000 grew by nearly 3.4 million and accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in the number of returns filed in 2005 compared with those in 2000.

    The fact that average incomes remained lower in 2005 than five years earlier helps explain why so many Americans report feeling economic stress despite overall growth in the economy. Many Americans are also paying a larger share of their health care costs and have had their retirement benefits reduced, adding to their out-of-pocket costs.

    Lower incomes: It's the Bush economy!

    ReplyDelete
  99. Larry,

    LOL! I thought the picture might be too mean but hell, after Pickles said what she said about gay marriage a few years ago, why should I worry?

    ReplyDelete
  100. LOS ANGELES - Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, said Monday it has eliminated about 500 jobs as it tries to ride out problems from a credit crunch that has rocked the home loan industry.

    Another result of the faltering Bush economy!

    ReplyDelete
  101. Reuters) - Finance chiefs from the world's three biggest economies sought on Tuesday to keep a lid on global market jitters as banks at the sharp end of a global financial storm said they faced serious trouble.

    Japanese Finance Minister Koji Omi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agreed to keep a close eye on markets while German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said there was no sign of the turmoil hitting the wider economy.

    But the Chief Executive of Germany's WestLB bank, Alexander Stuhlmann, said a meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market was making it difficult for German banks to get credit lines from their foreign partners.

    Stuhlmann told reporters that German banks were in a "not uncritical situation" overall. WestLB has said it has over 1.2 billion euros in overall exposure to the U.S. subprime sector.

    His assessment followed an announcement from Capital One Financial Corp that it will cut 1,900 jobs and shut down a wholesale mortgage unit it acquired less than a year ago, as it struggles with the U.S. housing downturn.

    It's the faltering Bush economy!

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  102. Throw Cheney in Jail!

    Vice President Cheney’s office acknowledged for the first time yesterday that it has dozens of documents related to the administration’s warrantless surveillance program, but it signaled that it will resist efforts by congressional Democrats to obtain them.

    The disclosure by Cheney’s counsel, Shannen W. Coffin, came on the day that the Senate Judiciary Committee had set as a deadline for the Bush administration to turn over documents related to the wiretapping program, which allowed the National Security Agency to monitor communications between the United States and overseas without warrants.

    White House counsel Fred F. Fielding has also declined to turn over any documents about the program, telling lawmakers last week that more time was needed to locate records that might be responsive to the panel’s subpoenas.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Voting for the World Blog Awards is still taking place at the Left of Centrist blog.

    Lydia has been nominated in several different categories.

    You can vote here:

    World Blog Awards

    ReplyDelete
  104. Are you just a tad bit frustrated?

    President Bush acknowledged frustration with the troubled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday but said it's up to the Iraqi people to decide whether to continue supporting him.

    Stopping short of offering an endorsement, Bush said it was not up to the United States to give a verdict on al-Maliki's government.

    "The fundamental question is, will the government respond to the demands of the people," the president said. "And if the government doesn't ... respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians."

    What a stupid statement!

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  105. IMPEACH HILLARY:

    Excerpted from Hillary Clinton's Remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (Kansas City, Missouri):

    That begins with ensuring that America does have the world's strongest and smartest military force. We've begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Al Anbar province, it's working.

    We're just years too late changing our tactics. We can't ever let that happen again. We can't be fighting the last war. We have to be preparing to fight the new war.

    And this new war requires different tactics and strategies. We've got to be prepared to maintain the best fighting force in the world.

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  106. Reagan Knew the Real Bush:

    This is a recently released direct quote from Ronald Reagan about George W. Bush entered into his diary. The entry is dated May 17, 1986.

    ‘A moment I’ve been dreading. George brought his ne’re-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I’ll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they’ll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.’

    The Republicans favorite President knew what kind of person Bush was before anyone else!

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  107. The Iraqi people want the troops out:

    Tens of thousands of Iraqis held a massive demonstration against the American forces' savage raids on the peaceful parts of Baghdad Monday morning.

    According to IRIB correspondent in Baghdad, the demonstrators began their protest in Baghdad's Sadr city from early morning by chanting anti-occupation slogans.

    While holding Iraqi flags, boards condemning the presence of occupiers and pictures of the martyred Iraqi civilians, demonstrators chanted slogans against America, the Zionist regime and all the occupiers and condemned the raid by the American forces on the secure Shia-settled areas of Baghdad and the air raid on Sadr city.

    The protest was the greatest popular demonstration in Baghdad in the last two months.

    Heads of tribes, women, university students and doctors from different parts of Baghdad were among the protestors.

    The demonstrators called on the Iraqi government to condemn the American forces' attacks and stop the occuppiers from any aggression on secure regions.

    The mass protest took place in one of the hottest summer days of Iraq. The Iraqi TV announced the weather is 50 degrees high Celsius.

    Bush said the troops would leave when the Iraqi people wanted us to: They said it again!

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  108. Huffingtonpost:

    What makes Karl Rove's politics uber alles strategy chilling is connecting the dots between it and the Utah mining disaster.

    Rove's unprecedented use of federal assets for political gain, laid out in yesterday's Washington Post, meant that every tool at his disposal was employed to help foster his goal of a permanent Republican majority. "It was all politics, all the time," Rep. Henry Waxman told WaPo.

    "It was total commitment," marveled Rep. Thomas Davis III, who worked closely with Rove in 2002 on the GOP's House reelection campaign. "We knew history was against us, and [Rove] helped coordinate all of the accoutrements of the executive branch to help with the campaign."

    These accouterments included, in the words of the Post, "enlisting political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of [Rove's] strategy to establish electoral dominance." But Rove's plan involved much more than having Cabinet officials make election year visits bearing federal goodies to the districts of embattled Republicans; it also meant using the government's regulatory mechanisms to reward major GOP contributors. Major contributors such as Big Coal.

    Coal mining interests have donated more than $12 million to federal candidates since the Bush-era began with the 2000 election cycle, with 88% of that money -- $10.6 million -- going to Republicans.

    And what did that largess buy the coal mining industry? Mine safety regulators far more interested in looking out for the financial well-being of mine owners than for the physical well-being of miners.

    Exhibit A is Bush's "mine safety" czar, Richard Stickler, whose agency both approved the controversial mining technique used at the Crandall Canyon Mine before the collapse, and oversaw the rescue operation.

    Stickler is a former coal company manager with such a lousy safety record at the companies he'd run that his nomination as head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration was twice rejected by Senators from both parties, forcing Bush to sneak him in the back door with a recess appointment.

    In other words, the guy the White House tapped to protect miners is precisely the kind of executive the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration is supposed to protect miners from. And now Stickler is the one who will lead the "investigation" into what happened in Utah -- unless there is enough public outcry to force a truly independent investigation.

    Rove and Bush tied to the lack of Mine safety!

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  109. I just got back from Pittsburgh (sorry, guys, for the neglect!) and I really thought about the idea of the wealthy and philanthropy as there are signs of Carnegie's influence there.

    I hope the "new" money will have some of that spirit. Obviously the Bush sort are interested in themselves, public be damned.

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  110. Glad you are back Lynn and I just left a comment on your latest post which affects all Americans.

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  111. Insiders say Bush will attack Iran soon:

    Fox News asked former CIA field officer Bob Baer on Tuesday whether the US is "gearing up for a military strike on Iran." Baer has written a column for Time indicating that Washington officials expect an attack within the next six months.

    "I've taken an informal poll inside the government," Baer told Fox. "The feeling is we will hit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." His Time column also suggested that "as long as we have bombers and missiles in the air, we will hit Iran's nuclear facilities."

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  112. Lydia, I think there are lots of wealthy people who also have heart and conscience, who give back out of the bounty they have received. It's the neocon/theocon elite that I would like to bless all the way to San Quentin. :-)

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  113. Good point again Tomcat!

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  114. Mike, as usual we see eye-to-eye. :-)

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  115. Suzie, I've started thinking of Bush as more like Mussolini than Hitler. Hitler was a competent megalomaniac.

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  116. Bush's Economic Depression Is Coming!

    The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month jumped 93 percent from July of 2006 and rose 9 percent from June, the latest sign that homeowners are having trouble making payments and finding buyers during the national housing downturn.

    There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported during July, up from 92,845 during the same period a year ago, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday. There were 164,644 foreclosure filings reported in June.

    The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing for every 693 households, the company said.

    "While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states — California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia — accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.

    The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

    Some properties included in the survey might have received more than one notice, if the owners have multiple mortgages.

    The company did break out individual properties as part of its report for the first six months of this year, when a total of 573,397 properties reported some sort of foreclosure activity.

    That represents a 58 percent jump from the 363,672 properties in the first six months of 2006 and a 32 percent increase from the 433,504 in the last six months of 2006, the firm said.

    In the July report, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan accounted for the highest foreclosure rates nationwide.

    Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate: one filing for every 199 households, or more than three times the national average. It reported 5,116 filings during the month, an increase of 8 percent from June.

    Georgia's foreclosure rate was more than twice the national average, with one filing for every 299 households. The state reported 12,602 foreclosure filings, up 75 percent from June.

    Michigan reported 13,979 filings in July, a 39 percent spike from June.

    California, Florida and Ohio were among the states with the highest number of foreclosure filings in July, RealtyTrac said.

    California cities continued to dominate top metropolitan foreclosure rates.

    The state reported 39,013 foreclosure filings last month, the most by any single state. However, the number of filings rose less than 1 percent from June.

    The state's foreclosure rate was one filing for every 333 households, RealtyTrac said.

    Florida's foreclosure filings dropped 9 percent between June and July to 19,179. The July figure, however, represents a 78 percent jump from the year-ago period.

    In recent months, the mortgage industry has been battered by rising defaults and foreclosures, primarily driven by borrowers with subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages.

    Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices have made it more difficult for homeowners who fall behind on payments to sell their homes and clear the debt, spurring the rise in foreclosure activity.

    Loan types seeing higher delinquencies and defaults in general are home equity loans or second mortgages used to cover a downpayment, subprime loans to people with shaky credit histories, and Alt-A loans, which can include interest-only and adjustable rate mortgages sold with little or no documentation.

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  117. Average Incomes Fell for Most in 2000-5

    By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

    The average income in 2005 was $55,238, nearly 1 percent less than the $55,714 in 2000, after adjusting for inflation.

    Bill Clinton improved people's lives and incomes while he was president, George W Bush not so much(and not JUST in Iraq either).

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  118. Hey Lydia, great post, as usual! Hope you and your family had a great summer and holiday abroad.

    *HUGS*

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  119. "TomCat said...

    Lydia, I think there are lots of wealthy people who also have heart and conscience, who give back out of the bounty they have received..."


    Lets put aside for a moment the fact that Carnegie was a socialist. (read up on the "Fabian Society")

    What about the wealthy business owner who gives nothing to charity?

    Hasn't he STILL "given back" by employing all those who had no jobs?

    And does not society STILL benefit by all those added by him to the tax rolls, helping to fund all the gun point charity that the government hands out?

    You know, the biggest kick I ever got was when Clinton was about to sign the welfare reform act. (you know, one of the 10 points on the republican "Contract with America"
    of which he signed 7?)

    All these poor poor people who couldn't work and were on welfare somehow through great sacrifice and struggle, made it to Washington to protest and claim they weren't getting enough...

    Don't you just LOVE it when you give someone a gift and they spit on it and DEMAND an even BIGGER and more EXPENSIVE one?

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  120. Voltron said...
    Don't you just LOVE it when you give someone a gift and they spit on it and DEMAND an even BIGGER and more EXPENSIVE one?"

    yeah sounds like all the billionaires and Neo Con cronnies demmanding more tax cuts after the close to a trillion dollar wealth redistribution that GWB gave them..........Funny how all the lobbyists and billionaires made their way to Washington to beg and bribe to steal MORE of the pie from the working class.

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  121. I knew he would be on spouting his hate and attacks on Lydia today.

    Recent circumstances told me so.

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  122. Voltron said...
    "TomCat said...

    Lydia, I think there are lots of wealthy people who also have heart and conscience, who give back out of the bounty they have received..."

    Lets put aside for a moment the fact that Carnegie was a socialist. (read up on the "Fabian Society")

    What about the wealthy business owner who gives nothing to charity?

    Hasn't he STILL "given back" by employing all those who had no jobs?

    And does not society STILL benefit by all those added by him to the tax rolls, helping to fund all the gun point charity that the government hands out?

    You know, the biggest kick I ever got was when Clinton was about to sign the welfare reform act. (you know, one of the 10 points on the republican "Contract with America"
    of which he signed 7?)

    All these poor poor people who couldn't work and were on welfare somehow through great sacrifice and struggle, made it to Washington to protest and claim they weren't getting enough...

    Don't you just LOVE it when you give someone a gift and they spit on it and DEMAND an even BIGGER and more EXPENSIVE one?"


    Apparently you have a reading comprehension problem Duncetron.....didnt you just see right above your riddiculous post that wages for the working class has declined coincidenta;;y since GWB seized power........see thats just it the billionaires are taking more and more of the pie and not paying living wages that keep up with inflation no less better ones standard of living...............picking cotton on the plantation to make the big bossman richer doesnt cut it duncetron most people want the American Dream and want a better life as well........rising wages shouldnt just be for the top 1%-5%................you idiots want to make that a campaign issue I say go for it but the days of your trickle down, supply side BS, and Voodoo Economics going unchallened are over.

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  123. All the troll is doing is making veiled attacks on Lydia, like he does each uninvited time he slithers in here.

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  124. yeah, i'm sure the sockpuppets will slither in tomorrow just like they did last week.

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  125. I misjudged the troll. I expected him yesterday, since that is always his next move.

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  126. Wonder what the troll thinks about what his hero Reagan said about GWB.

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  127. I think it's grand what Reagan wrote about Bush! The funniest thing I have read all week!

    ROFLMAO

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  128. For once I agree with Reagan Suzie!

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  129. Wisdom from the grave............he KNEW Bush was an ignorant punk the minute he saw him.

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  130. The Republican they all worship spoke true words over the little dictator they all protect, and those words will be ignored.

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  131. Larry said...

    For once I agree with Reagan Suzie!
    -----------------
    Larry:

    Yep, that's the only sensible thing he ever said!

    LOL

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  132. Suzie:

    Even in Reagan's ultimate senility, he was keenly aware of how worthless Bush was then.

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  133. Check out the new thread on White House secrecy and the 5 million missing emails.

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  134. Jacq - thank you! Hugs to you. I have been in and out of town all summer and when I finally was able to log onto your blog, the invitation had expired.

    Sorry. In 3 weeks, I'll be back on the planet.

    xoxo
    God Bless you.

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