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Returning to The Jungle
Author: BobR    Date: 2011-06-15 10:35:49

It took the collapse of Wall St. in 1929 and the Great Depression to bring an end to the Gilded Age. Gone were the days of a few super-rich and a vast panoply of laborers, toiling long days in a growing industrial society for pennies. Once it became clear that a middle class was required for America to survive, regulations were put in place to ensure the robber barons and captains of industry shared the largesse created by the sweat of the employees. Labor unions helped push forward a set of standards that we enjoy to this day.

It's clear that the Republicans believe all of the standards that saved America from its feudal lords are now choking our "Free Market". Are labor standards an anachronism of a bygone era? Are 40 hour work weeks a symbol of laziness? Is minimum wage too much to ask of business that rewards it's top-level executives in greater percentages every year? Who will have enough money to spend to support these top-heavy salary distributions? It seems we could be headed back to The Jungle.
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28 comments (Latest Comment: 06/16/2011 06:03:49 by livingonli)

Ask A Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 06/14/2011 10:38:17

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,009th day in Iraq, and our 3,537th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4460
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4321
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3601
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 232
Since Operation New Dawn: 42

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,613
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 903
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448


We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 206, 628, 375, 000 .00

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57 comments (Latest Comment: 06/14/2011 19:30:07 by Scoopster)

Missing, Lost, Embezzled.
Author: Raine    Date: 06/13/2011 12:51:50

From this morning's LA Times:
This month, the Pentagon and the Iraqi government are finally closing the books on the program that handled all those Benjamins. But despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash — enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things.

For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an office created by Congress, said the missing $6.6 billion may be "the largest theft of funds in national history."
Isn't this something we have all at the very least suspected for years?
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25 comments (Latest Comment: 06/14/2011 02:10:45 by livingonli)

Lay a Spell
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 06/12/2011 15:04:12

Velveeta is vertically inclined on the fainting couch with a headache. Open Blog

But, stay on that couch.... 'cause in just a few short hours: TONY AWARDS!!
Here are my picks.
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8 comments (Latest Comment: 06/12/2011 22:40:51 by trojanrabbit)

I got nuthin'
Author: TriSec    Date: 06/11/2011 12:56:24

http://www.pluspets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cutest-Puppies7.jpg


http://oopsiedaisy.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54f9290b988340120a7a9ec61970b-800wi


http://flowersnamess.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Field-Of-Flowers.jpg

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8 comments (Latest Comment: 06/12/2011 04:13:31 by Raine)

Science Stack Friday
Author: BobR    Date: 06/10/2011 12:16:56

If you've seen the news the past couple days, you'd think all the worlds problems had been solved, and the only thing of interest is Rep. Anthony Weiner's weiner. The coverage is non-stop. This makes it a little difficult to find other topics to discuss, so I am just going to make this a Science Friday, and cleanse our palates.
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48 comments (Latest Comment: 06/11/2011 00:58:30 by TriSec)

What a prick
Author: Raine    Date: 06/09/2011 12:36:42

I'm still trying to assemble today's blog. In the mean time take a quick read of this blog post from The Reid Report Mala was the first to share this Opie and Anthony story yesterday, and it appears as tho more truth is coming out with regard o the Weiner scandal.
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77 comments (Latest Comment: 06/10/2011 01:01:13 by Raine)

What the Dickens?
Author: BobR    Date: 2011-06-08 10:33:29

As the 2008 presidential campaign season began in earnest, the Republican candidates all paid their tributes to Ronald Reagan. His was a myth writ large, with facts being buried beneath legend, and little critical voice given to the realities of his tenure. One debate was jokingly referred to as a séance, so often was his apparition summoned from the great beyond.

Time has passed, though, and the times are more dire, and the Republicans are seeing their temporal grasp on power slipping once again from their fingers. With very little left in their bag of tricks, they are attempting to resurrect the language of the Reagan era. They are clinging to the talking points; this time, however, we have 25 years of evidence and the benefit of hindsight.
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54 comments (Latest Comment: 06/09/2011 03:22:30 by Raine)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 06/07/2011 10:34:44

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,002nd day in Iraq and our 3,530th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4454
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4313
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3595
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 226
Since Operation New Dawn: 36

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,605
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 906
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq: 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 205, 431, 300, 000 .00

Continue reading...

67 comments (Latest Comment: 06/08/2011 00:27:30 by Raine)

Dis-Ingenuity
Author: Raine    Date: 06/06/2011 13:13:03

Schieffer: The fact is, the Congress has been in session since January and it's done basically nothing.

Pelosi: Well you can talk to Mr. Boehner about that.

Schieffer: So it's all their fault. It's not your fault.

Pelosi: Well no, they set the agenda. We have said every day that they're there another day goes by and there's no jobs agenda or jobs bill that has come to the floor. But again, it's about how we can work together to go forward. These issues are bigger than politics, they're bigger than elections. They're about the country that we will live in. And what we will see as we go forward is one vision of America that's encompassed in the Republican budget plan that abolishes Medicare, that makes college unaffordable for nearly ten million young people in our country, that takes us deeper into debt and does not create jobs, or you can talk about an agenda that talks about making it in America, investing in American education, innovation and that's what campaigns are about.
Karoli at Crooks & Liars managed to catch the video of this exchange from Face the Nation yesterday. I concur with Karoli when she says "...Bothered about the jobs report? Talk to Mr. Boehner, because he's the guy who has set the agenda for this session of Congress. Democrats should be running with this message and asking Americans whether or not they understand Congress' role in the economy and what this crazy Republican House of Representatives is doing to tank it."

The jobs report last week wasn't great, and the higher unemployment numbers weren't helpful either, but the reality is that we still had jobs created, not lost. What I find interesting is that in 5 months, we have had NOTHING in the way of promoting economic recovery from the GOP-led House. Back in September, The Christian Science Monitor wrote the following: Republicans in Congress are urging two simple steps they say will help put Americans back to work: Freeze all tax rates at current levels and reduce federal spending. Interesting. In their ongoing attempt to do so, an already slow -- but growing economy, has slowed down even more.
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68 comments (Latest Comment: 06/07/2011 02:44:12 by Raine)

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