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Gall Together Now
Author: BobR    Date: 11/17/2010 04:25:46

Some people have a gift for gall. Think about used car salesmen, or pedophilic priests... It takes a special kind of person to take a principled stance, and then privately (or even publicly) go the other way. Somehow, though, they all pale compared to Republican politicians.
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52 comments (Latest Comment: 11/18/2010 03:18:19 by clintster)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 11/16/2010 11:39:30

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,799th day in Iraq and our 3,327th 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): 4427
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4288
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3568
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 199
Since Operation New Dawn: 9

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,385
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 824
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

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

$ 1, 108, 128, 250, 000 .00



We're just past Veteran's Day....and over the course of the past week quite a few new stories have popped up about what it means to be a Veteran in these United States. One of the hardest things a vet has to do once he gets out of the service is find work...a task not made any easier by the current state of the economy.

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35 comments (Latest Comment: 11/17/2010 01:53:31 by trojanrabbit)

What's elite?
Author: Raine    Date: 11/15/2010 13:55:15

I suppose you heard about this last week:
The draft proposal, penned by commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, suggests a number of ways to cut discretionary spending by more than $200 billion in 2015 -- including reducing federal funding for the Smithsonian and the National Park Service. The commission co-chairs suggest the Smithsonian Institution should charge admission fees at its 19 museums and the National Zoo, which are all currently free, to make up for the lost funding.

If the Smithsonian's federal funding were cut by $225 million in 2015, it could make up for it by charging an average fee of $7.50 per visitor, they argue. Bowles and Simpson point out that several notable private museums in the United States charge anywhere from $10 to $20 per visitor, with lower rates for children and seniors, while zoos charge even more.
This is not just fiscally irresponsible. As it suggests cutting funding that is already there while increasing the fees, it is - in my opinion - morally unethical.
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42 comments (Latest Comment: 11/15/2010 21:24:08 by livingonli)

The Audacity of George W. Bush
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 11/14/2010 15:39:29

Disclaimer: I have not read this book, and it's highly doubtful I ever will. I can only imagine a situation where I would read it, that I would be the last person on Earth and his book is one of only two books left on the planet and the other one is in Mandarin Chinese.

But I've read reviews. I've read parts of the book in these reviews, so I feel completely qualified to tell you without hesitation, that Bush is still the same temperamental, juvenile, spoiled, apathetic man that he was when he was President.

Save your money and do what I'm doing: sending the price of the book as a contribution to the ACLU or MoveOn.org.
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9 comments (Latest Comment: 11/15/2010 03:05:12 by BobR)

Wag the Dog
Author: TriSec    Date: 11/13/2010 13:08:27

Good Morning!

Well, after another long stretch of ugly weather, we’ve got a beaut here in New England. It’s sunny and expected to be near 60 this afternoon….pretty nice for November.

In just about two and a half weeks, one of the great migrations of mankind will be taking place. Millions of Americans will saddle up, with spouse and children in tow, and head back to their ancestral homelands for a ritual known as “Thanksgiving Traffic”, or perish in the attempt. (Sadly, some will. Let’s be careful out there, hmm?)

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3 comments (Latest Comment: 11/13/2010 18:18:27 by Raine)

Pulled Pork
Author: BobR    Date: 11/12/2010 12:55:59

There's been a lot of discussion lately over earmarks, and how they "pork up" the budget. The term itself is likely a reference to a pig's ear, since it originated in the notching of livestocks' ears for identification purposes. Although the practice is an easy target for those claiming to clean up government waste, the reality is that it is a tiny part of the money spent by government, and eliminating them will not affect the budget at all.
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46 comments (Latest Comment: 11/12/2010 20:33:44 by TriSec)

Thank A Vet
Author: Raine    Date: 11/11/2010 13:43:04

Today is Veterans Day.
Mr Jon Soltz, Chairperson of VoteVets.org wrote this yesterday
[..] On the 11th Day of the 11th month on the 11th hour, in 1918, World War I ended. Armistice Day was celebrated until 1954, when it became a day to remember everyone who had served this great nation, honorably.

As America 's 21st Century Patriots, we Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are the newest to this community, but also among the proudest. We are not just proud of our service, but proud to be joining some of the greatest Americans who ever lived. From those who served in battle, from World War II through Operation Desert Storm, and to those who served during peacetime, we are now a part of an extraordinary community.
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24 comments (Latest Comment: 11/11/2010 21:41:06 by BobR)

Politics and Power
Author: BobR    Date: 11/10/2010 13:30:39

Politics in the U.S. is a strange animal. It seems that winning is more important than doing, and power is more important than than money (at least to the candidates). The most recent election, and the stories swirling in the eddies that any election creates (both prior and post) are no exception.
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34 comments (Latest Comment: 11/11/2010 02:40:08 by velveeta jones)

The Simple Unspoken Truth
Author: Raine    Date: 11/09/2010 20:04:30

It doesn't get more simple than this.
"Republicans are using spending cuts as a weapon and condition for extending unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who have lost their jobs. Republicans claim they want to cut spending by $5 billion to $6 billion each month, and on the surface it sounds like a good idea to reduce the national deficit.

At the same time though, Republicans are fighting to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that helped create the record debt we are drowning in. When Republicans gave tax cuts to rich people, they knew they were not funded, and had to let them expire after 10 years."
Source: Politics USA
As a married couple, we never seem to hear plain ol' boots-on-the-ground conservatives complaining about that. We usually rail against politicians, as we both don’t like to alienate our friends and the good people who have a sincere political ideology that differ from ours. That said, this is a fact: The GOP is fighting to give tax cuts to people who are richer than plain middle class voters can ever hope to be.

This is a conversation we have in our household on regular basis, as we have struggled and eventually did succeed in getting out of debt. We use that struggle and success as a way to identify with what the country is going thru and how we see solutions to what ails it.
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 01/01/2013 22:06:22 by TriSec)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 11/09/2010 11:35:54

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,792nd day in Iraq and our 3,320th day in Afghanistan.

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

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4427
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4288
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3568
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 199
Since Operation New Dawn: 9

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,371
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 825
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

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

$ 1, 104, 857, 675, 000 .00



Turning to the news at hand, while the left is licking their wounds from the election, so is the veteran community. The good news is 9 vets won their election and will be taking their seats in the new congress. The bad news is they are all Republicans. One of the comments to the story below notes that GOP vets tend to vote for the defense industry, while Democratic vets vote for Veteran's issues. Only time will tell which way the freshmen go this time, so it's up to all of us to keep them in the hotseat.

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39 comments (Latest Comment: 11/09/2010 20:07:50 by Raine)

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