This is quite a debate. Gingrich called the questions asked by Chris Wallace, ‘Mickey Mouse questions.’ Is it fair for the press to take their own talking points to grill the candidates about said talking points? So far, I can spot some winners.
If you had to pull 4 to move ahead and 4 to stay back, just based on debate performance, who would you allow to advance to the next level?
Michele Bachmann? Herman Cain? Newt Gingrich? Jon Huntsmand? Ron Paul? Tim Pawlenty? Mitt Romney? Rick Santorum?
It’s official now. Ipad trumps big oil. Here’s the story from the Richmond Times Dispatch:
Its lineup of sleek phones, computers and iPods, irresistible to customers even in tough economic times, propelled it to the No. 1 position by market value Wednesday, surpassing Exxon Mobil. Apple’s stock on the open market is now worth more than any other company’s.
Apple’s stock fell for the day, but Exxon’s fell more. Apple finished with a market value of $337 billion, beating Exxon’s $331 billion. A single share of Apple stock now costs $363.
Apple occupies a rarefied spot once held by General Electric and Apple’s own rival Microsoft. Exxon had held the top spot since 2005.
The power shift is a substantial milestone for Apple, which has enjoyed a triumphant comeback since the 1990s, when it struggled to stay afloat before its co-founder Steve Jobs returned to take the helm.
But it’s not just the comeback. Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall says Apple is giving investors something that has never been seen before. Apple’s numbers are huge, with $30 billion in revenue in the latest quarter, for example. Yet Marshall said the 35-year-old company is “growing like a startup.”
“Even in 2008 and 2009 Apple grew like a weed and the world was coming to an end,” Marshall said.
Washington Post:
Virginia to hold day of mourning for Navy SEALs, others killed in Afghanistan
By Anita Kumar
Gov. Bob McDonnell said that Friday will be a day of mourning for the 30 Americans — including Navy SEALs with ties to Virginia — who died in Afghanistan after Taliban forces shot down their helicopter last weekend.
All state flags will be flown at half-staff from dawn to dusk Friday.
McDonnell (R) asked Virginians to donate money to organizations, such as the Navy SEAL Foundation, that provide support and financial assistance beyond that provided by the Defense Department. Other organizations that residents are encouraged to assist include the Armed Forces Relief Trust, Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation.
“The human impact of the loss of these servicemen upon their families, their units, and the Virginia military community are profound,” McDonnell said. “It is with a heavy heart that I ask all Virginians to join me in a day of mourning and remembrance for those who lost their lives defending our country and to offer their support and thanks to the families and military community they left behind.”
Hopefully this day of mourning will include all Virginians who have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan. Perhaps it is time. To not include them somehow minimizes the ultimate price other Virginia troops have paid since the post 9-11 wars have been waged. That sure isn’t the message we want to send from Virginia.
Virginia has a long military history that includes all 4 branches of the service.
On the Senate side, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will serve on the commission, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced. Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) will represent House Republicans, said Speaker John Boehner.
All six Republicans have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform that they will not vote to raise taxes.
Well, why bother to even meet. These people have sworn allegiance to Grover Norquist, whoever the hell he is. Any tax code change, and additonal federal fees is raising taxes. Increasing the Social Security ceiling is a form of ‘raising taxes.’ Making someone who currently doesn’t pay federal taxes start paying them is ‘raising taxes.’
I think that kind of ‘pledge’ should disqualify each and every one of those Republicans. You cannot come in to negotiate something with that kind of caveat. It won’t work. They either have to commit to serving the United States or Grover Norquist.
Senator Reid appointed Democratic Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to serve on the committee. If any of these Democrats have pre-existing pledges under their belt, they should be disqualified also.
According to Huffington Post:
After the show, lobbyist Jimmy Williams, who sat on Tuesday’s MSNBC panel, wrote to Ratigan to express support for his angry tirade. “I’m proud of you,” wrote Williams in an email obtained by The Huffington Post. “Someone just texted me and said, ‘You didn’t get to say anything!’ My response: ‘I didn’t need to.'”
“Money in politics is pure, unadulterated corruption,” Williams continued. “Get rid of campaign contributions and the political parties will cease to exist because policy will prevail or politics. We have amended the US Constitution twice with regard to liquor but not once with regard to the buying and selling of our politicians. What’s wrong with this picture?”
Are Williams and Ratigan extreme?
Respond.
Jon Stewart thinks Standards and Poors has a stupid name. Plus they gave a clean bill of health to mortgage backed securities that were worthless.
Another sign of the dog days of summer–an annual cicada shell, left over from molting.
These shells have delighted many a kid over the generations.
Kids, its all coming to an abrupt all all too soon. Put down the video games and get outside!
For What Its Worth…
there’s something happin in here
what it is aint exactly clear
theres a man with a gun over there
tellin me i got to beware
There is an education god! According to Politico:
Seeing “no clear path” toward reauthorizing the “No Child Left Behind” education law, the Obama administration will unilaterally issue waivers to states, exempting them from some of the law’s regulations.
“Today we’re less than a month from the start of the school year, and…we still believe there is no clear path toward a bipartisan bill to reform “No Child Left Behind,” said White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes in a conference call with reporters, the contents of which were embargoed until Monday.
“Our administration has been working on plans to provide more flexibility. The president has directed us to proceed with those plans.”
Months ago President Obama called on Congress to address the issue of correcting some of the flaws of NCLB that is about a decade old. Congress apparently went off in different directions and produced nothing. The president decided to issue waivers to exempt states from having to comply with many of the laws regulations that were particularly burdensome. Every child, teacher, and administrator is probably collectively cheering the decision. NCLB, while sounding good on paper, created upheaval in schools and required that unachievable goals be reached by students, teachers and schools.
On paper the legislation sounds pretty good. After all, who wants to leave children behind. In practicality is it dreadful. The goals are unrealistic and often unachievable. Schools must go through all sorts of expense and gyrations to document what they are doing to meet the unachievable goals, causing burn out across the board. NCLB is too much bureaucracy into local affairs. It needs a burial at sea so kids can get back to learning.
From the Boston Globe:
So why is President Obama the villain in all of this? At what point are the Republicans going to admit their culpability in extreme debt over 8 years? Any time it is brought up, Obama is accused of trying to blame Bush. Well…we need to stop blaming anyone. However, facts are facts.
Financing 2 wars and a drug program and cutting taxes caused the problem. There was more going out than coming in. It is a relatively simple math problem. I liked having a tax cut. Who wouldn’t? But it contributed largely to our current situation, given our expenditures during the Bush years. Let’s all just be honest where it came from and come up with solutions to fix the problem rather that racing right up to the edge of the cliff over ideology.
The S & P also needs the American people to collectively give it the finger. Where was that agency before the Crash of 2008? Obviously playing switch.
Eric Cantor (R-Va) apparently had much more of a hand in the debt ceiling debacle than we thought. Just 10 days after the freshman class of the Congress was inaugurated, Cantor and the frosh booked it up to Baltimore Harbor for a retreat. (retreat from what? to days of work?) and he told them how things were going to be. All dewy eyed and excited about their new job, the frosh now had a way to fulfill their campaign promises.
According to the Washington Post, it went down something like this?
A vote to increase the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit was coming soon, he told the caucus members who had gathered at the Marriott in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for a closed-door retreat less than 10 days after taking power. Think of it as a “hidden” opportunity, he implored them, a chance to achieve their goal of reining in the federal government and its spending habits.
“I’m asking you to look at a potential increase in the debt limit as a leverage moment when the White House and President Obama will have to deal with us,” said Cantor, one of several new House leaders who detailed the game plan for the coming months. “Either we stick together and demonstrate that we’re a team that will fight for and stand by our principles, or we will lose that leverage.
With everyone, especially the 87 GOP newcomers all revving their engine, the plan was in place–the plan to take the country to the brink of potential disaster, again. This time, that disaster resembled a default on our debt.
So, what does all this mean? Honestly, I won’t pretend to understand the full ramifications of this downgrading, but I can tell, from what I have been reading in the Washington Post and New York Times, it isn’t anything good.
What I can ascertain, is that being unable to fully come to the table to compromise is the financial death knell for this country. What if, for example, the Democrats were to say, we will only allow deep tax cuts to cut 4 trillion dollars? Can you imagine, the Republicans would have an epileptic fit! As they rightly should. Inversely, how could the Republicans believe that Democrats would only be willing to sign a deal based on spending cuts alone?
Obama put a deal on the table for 4 trillion dollars, Boehner was willing to talk, but what happens, the Tea Party cuts his feet out from below him. They actually admit, proudly I might add, they are unwilling to compromise.
This quote from the Washington Post says it best. There was actually the beginnings of something really grand, something this country had never seen before, Democrats willing to put their sacred entitlement cows on the table, but where were the Republicans and their sacred cows………AWOL!
S&P’s downgrade was as much a political critique as a financial conclusion. It is based on a view that American political leaders would be unable to come up with at least $4 trillion in savings, which is needed to bring the nation’s debt to a manageable level over the next decade.
How this will effect our overall economy is yet to be seen, there are many different views, the future is uncertain.
S&P stated it bluntly when they made their decision to downgrade, it wasn’t just based on not dealing with the debt, it was based on their belief that Congress would be unable to come together to solve this pressing issue. This wasn’t a time for ideological grandstanding, it was a time for people to come together, in good faith, and compromise. Thanks for nothing Tea Party. I just cannot fathom there were those in the fringe wing of the Republican Party who actually wanted to allow the United States to default? Shocking and Frightening. This truly was a completely self inflicted wound at time when this country could least afford it.
The downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenge,” the company said in a statement.
If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.
Harry Truman
August 6, 2011 marks the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan and the above words were spoken by President Harry Truman. Over 100,000 Japanese were killed by that first atomic blast. Unfortunately, there was no surrender and 3 days later another atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. On August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered.
There has been much debate since the Enola Gay slipped into sky above Hiroshima and unleashed the atomic age. Most folks of that era felt that using atomic weapons was the only way to go. Some historians have justified the use of the bomb by talking about the number of lives, both American and Japanese, that were saved by using atomic weapons rather than a land invasion. Others have talked about how debilitated the Japanese navy was and how surrender was immenent anyway. The ethics question will probably go on for centuries.
My dad was on the west coast awaiting orders for Japan. I know where I stand. Had things gone another way, I might not be posting this thread. That fact, however, doesn’t make me immune to the ethics of the question of using atomic weapons on other human beings. Where do you stand?
The Daily Show – Dick Durbin
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The weekend is almost here. Let’s hope the extreme weather doesn’t come back.
Are storms on the horizon? Any results from the Sesquicentennial in yet?
