ThinkFast: November 2, 2007
ThinkFast: November 2, 2007
“The conservative British newspaper, The Telegraph, has named its top 100 most influential conservatives (and top 100 liberals), and coming in at #2 on the conservative list — right behind Rudy Giuliani, and just ahead of Matt Drudge, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh” — is Gen. David Petraeus.
Several civil rights organizations and leaders are “urging black Americans to refrain from spending money” today in a “national blackout.” The move is meant to send a message to Washington “that blacks are fed up with racism and injustice,” in light of recent racially-charged incidents nationwide.
“The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don’t feel welcome,” according to tourism professionals. The decline has cost America “94 billion dollars in lost visitor spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and 16 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he is “weighing” whether to support the Mukasey nomination. “No nominee from this administration will agree with us on things like torture and wiretapping,” Schumer explained. “The best we can expect is somebody who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.”
Consumer Product Safety Commission chief Nancy Nord and her predecessor “have taken dozens of trips at the expense of the toy, appliance and children’s furniture industries and others they regulate,” according to internal records. Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on Nord to resign.
The Democratic Governor of Puerto Rico, AnÃbal Acevedo-Vilá, “says he has been improperly made a target of Justice Department prosecutors” for political reasons. His “case is one of several under review by the House Judiciary Committee” for allegedly selective prosecution of Democrats by the Bush administratiion.
While there are pockets of security where life in Baghdad is starting to get back to normal, “it’s not normal by most standards. Across the city Sunnis and Shiites live in sectarian enclaves, many walled off. Sunnis fear visiting Shiite areas and vice versa, even if it is just a few blocks away. Trust has broken down so much that a stranger in a neighborhood can arouse enough suspicion to warrant an attack.”
On Monday, President Bush “spent an hour with 14 reporters in an off-the-record session — meaning what he said could not be reported — to offer those assigned to the White House a rare look at his thinking on a variety of issues.” The White House said the strategy driven by “a desire to be creative to try to provide some access to the president.”
And finally: Some of Georgetown’s “most notable homes” shut out trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), CBS News’s Bill Plante, and former George H.W. Bush aide C. Boyden Gray, for example, were nowhere to be seen. At the home of journalist Bob Woodward though, “two old men sat on the front steps in front of a glass bowl of lollipops and chocolate treats and mechanically reminded small children to ‘just take two. JUST TWO.’”
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So Schumer says “no nominee will agree that torture is torture”, but he expects the AG to “uphold the rule of law”.
My head just exploded due to an overload of insane stupidity. Schumer is a joke.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:09 amSen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he is “weighing†whether to support the Mukasey nomination. “No nominee from this administration will agree with us on things like torture and wiretapping,†Schumer explained. “The best we can expect is somebody who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.â€
Really? Guess you should impeach a couple of war criminals first to show the new AG that law still is the bottom line….
until then, a big FU*K YOU!
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:12 amGreat. The Dems fold again. Pussies.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 am“The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don’t feel welcome,†according to tourism professionals. The decline has cost America “94 billion dollars in lost visitor spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and 16 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.â€
Are these people high? The foreign visitors are all here in New York City–usually down at Century 21 fighting with each other over the ridiculously marked-down designer bargains. They come to shop with their Euros, Pounds and Yen in our devalued stores and then go back home. We have become Europe’s Mexico–and are soon to become Canada’s Mexico as well.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:20 amOn Monday, President Bush “spent an hour with 14 reporters in an off-the-record session — meaning what he said could not be reported — to offer those assigned to the White House a rare look at his thinking on a variety of issues.†The White House said the strategy driven by “a desire to be creative to try to provide some access to the president.â€
The absurdity of this speaks for itself. Let’s give reporters meetings with the President which they can’t report on. Great. Sounds like a plan to me.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 amSen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he is “weighing†whether to support the Mukasey nomination. “No nominee from this administration will agree with us on things like torture and wiretapping,†Schumer explained. “The best we can expect is somebody who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.â€
Hey Chuck–listen to one of your constituents. WE ARE BETTER OFF with no AG, if this is the kind of AG nominees the President puts up.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:25 amCepan – you get a perfect 10 on your kool-aid carrying form.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:25 amThis kind of thinking is why Democrats are perceive as losers:
The underlying message from the Democrats is, torture and violating the 4th amendment are within the rule of law.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:26 amSen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he is “weighing†whether to support the Mukasey nomination. “No nominee from this administration will agree with us on things like torture and wiretapping,†Schumer explained.
Not good enough, Chuck. Not NEARLY good enough.
You can claim you were blindsided by Gonzo…but knowing what you now know about Mukasey’s stance on torture, if you confirm him, you are condoning torture.
That what it boils down to, Chuck. A vote to confirm Mukasey is a vote to make torture acceptable in this country, and such a vote is UNACCEPTABLE.
For the love of GOD, Chuck, show some backbone.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:29 amCepan, there are lot’s of State Department openings in the Green Zone. Since everything is calm and we won and all, maybe there is an opportunity there for you…
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:29 am“The conservative British newspaper, The Telegraph, has named its top 100 most influential conservatives (and top 100 liberals), and coming in at #2 on the conservative list — right behind Rudy Giuliani, and just ahead of Matt Drudge, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh†— is Gen. David Petraeus.
But…but….I thought he was an impartial member of the military!
Nice to see that The Telegraph recognizes Betrayus for the neocon water-carrier he so obviously is.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:33 amIn other news:
Democrats end Colbert primary bid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7074694.stm
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:44 amCepan – You need some help enlisting? Hell, I’ll even kiss your mama goodbye for you…. you ready or are you a “phony” american?
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:47 amCepan sez:
Enlist yet?
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:47 amCepan,
why do you embrace war?
If you think it is so great, please, move to a war zone and live out your life under those conditions.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 amAre these people high? The foreign visitors are all here in New York City–usually down at Century 21 fighting with each other over the ridiculously marked-down designer bargains. They come to shop with their Euros, Pounds and Yen in our devalued stores and then go back home. We have become Europe’s Mexico–and are soon to become Canada’s Mexico as well.
Comment by Menehune — November 2, 2007 @ 9:20 am
In fact, two of my Brit friends are on their way to NYC right now. When one complained about how expensive the hotels were, I reminded him the cost was actual 50% of that. In fact, the whole damn country is half off for Brits. “Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.” Ha.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 amDamn. I thought the worst of the trolls would be at school by now. I guess Mommy still has to clear the desk, I mean dinning room table. Or maybe she gave them a day off for Hating everything different than us?
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:50 amDamn. I thought the worst of the trolls would be at school by now. I guess Mommy still has to clear the desk, I mean dinning room table. Or maybe she gave them a day off for Hating everything different than us?
Comment by pete — November 2, 2007 @ 9:50 am
It’s “school”. Sort of a metaschool thing that doesn’t involve actually attending classes or doing any work. “School” is what trolls do in between video games and trolling and munching Doritos.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:52 amNord is a classic example of how bushco and his right-wing enablers have raped, ravaged and pillaged ordinary working American families.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:52 amWould you like some more lead for your children?
So I ask, once again, how is it that the right wingers are so sure that Petraeus is “conservative” and is a Republican? Aren’t generals supposed to be non-partisan?
See you on Nov. 5, 2008, Cepan. Assuming you dare to show up.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:53 amNord is a classic example of how bushco and his right-wing enablers have raped, ravaged and pillaged ordinary working American families.
Would you like some more lead for your children?
Comment by helenahandbasket — November 2, 2007 @ 9:52 am
You can be quite sure her kids (or grandkids) play with lovely carved wooden toys from Denmark–none of that Chinese crap here!
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 amHere’s a couple other reasons for the, reportedly, reduced casualties: Lack of targets (we are sticking closer to our bases while many Iraqis have fled or died), enforced segregation of rival groups, coordination of their next step and, here’s the scary one, a general movement of fighters to Afghanistan for the announced winter offensive.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:55 amComment by gummitch — November 2, 2007 @ 9:52 am
I thought that home”school” was what I implied. I have yet to meet a troll who showed any signs of contact with an institute of learning. I’m guessing that their curriculum consists of: one part loving Jesus and six parts hating everything else.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:59 amI’m guessing that their curriculum consists of: one part loving Jesus and six parts hating everything else.
Comment by pete — November 2, 2007 @ 9:59 am
Don’t forget the “self-love” in there, pete. Lots and lots of “self-love” for the trollie trolls… snark/off.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 amThe conservative British newspaper,
So conservatives in Britain are influenced by our conservatives. What’s wrong with them. Don’t they have their own conservatives to worship?
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:06 amSo Petraeus is an “influential conservative”. That is SO worng and SO scary. Do these idiots NEVER understand the fire they’re playing w/ here? Is Petraeus on the record as being a staunch Christian too? Just asking…
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 am#25..LOL.Yep! but you forgot the one part worship at the feet of bull shit bush….Blessings
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 amDon’t they have their own conservatives to worship?
Comment by bilbobaggins — November 2, 2007 @ 10:06 am
Their conservatives couldn’t possibly be as rock stupid as ours. Perhaps they’d care to take a feww off our hands come Jan 2009.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:10 amWhat’s there to “weigh” Sen. Schumer?
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:11 amOnly how you will step back from your initial recommendation of Mukasey – other than admitting you made a mistake in putting his name up, your action is simple. He made a fool of you, say so, and deny his nominaiton.
You will get no credit for the victory, and all the blame for trying to make us lose
Comment by Cepan — November 2, 2007 @ 9:40 am
Hmmmm. I seem to remember you saying that we won the war– That it is not a campaign issue because the war is over. I was just pointing out that the new Iraq is full of exciting career opportunities for go-getters like yourself. Carpe phallum.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 amDon’t forget the “self-love†in there, pete. Lots and lots of “self-love†for the trollie trolls… snark/off.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — November 2, 2007 @ 10:05 a
Nah. They practice self abuse. Self love might interfere with their hating sex. And make no mistake, if they didn’t hate sex, they wouldn’t seek it in bathrooms, brothels and “sex shops”.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:13 am“The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don’t feel welcome,â€
I know if I was a foreigner I would not want to come here. Especially if my skin was not lily white.
George Bush has ruined what was once a great nation.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:14 am“What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.”
Good economic news:
Payrolls Grow by Strong 166,000 in Oct.
Friday November 2, 8:56 am ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Payrolls Grow by 166,000 in October, Jobless Rate Holds Steady, Labor Department Reports
WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers boosted payrolls by a surprisingly strong 166,000 in October, the most in five months, an encouraging sign that the nation’s employment climate is holding up relatively well against the strains of a housing collapse and credit crunch.
The Labor Department’s report, released Friday, also showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent for the second month in a row. It’s a figure that is considered low by historical standards …
The latest snapshot of employment conditions around the country was better than economists were anticipating. Economists were forecasting payrolls to grow in October by about half the pace seen — around 80,000. They did correctly predict the unemployment rate would be unchanged.
Still, the trend this year has been toward softer job growth. And, that is beginning to show up in wages.
Average hourly earnings rose to $17.58 in October, a modest 0.2 percent increase from September.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:14 am“The best we can expect is somebody who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.â€
What is wrong with the Democrats. Have they sold their souls to the corporate devils too?
Mulkasey has already said that the President doesn’t necessarily have to follow the law, so how is he going to put the “rule of law” first?
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:16 amKilo sez:
“Today”? Where have you been? This is old news.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:18 amGood economic news? Real inflation (not the core inflation rate) is expected to top 30% by years end. I hope no one is stuffing cash in their mattress. Unless they are merely using it as cheap stuffing.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:18 amThe Democratic Governor of Puerto Rico, AnÃbal Acevedo-Vilá, “says he has been improperly made a target of Justice Department prosecutors†for political reasons.
You know, I almost wish that the Democratic President who will be elected in 2008 would just continue to do what Bush has done, such as selectively prosecuting only Republicans. I would love to hear the Right Wing Noise Machine to start screaming about “abuse of power”. Then we can all say “But Bush did it first”.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:19 am“The only thing more damaging to a nation, than losing a just war, is winning an unjust one”.
I bet your average troll can’t possibly guess who wrote that.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 amComment by Exley — November 2, 2007 @ 10:14 am
Wow, Exley. Payrolls grew by 166,000 in October. Maybe one of these days it will reach 225,000, the average number created over the duration of the Clinton presidency.
There is nothing more pathetic than the relentless lowering of the bar for Bush and the Republicans. Their putrid economy generates 26% fewer jobs than the average under Clinton, and it is cause to celebrate.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:23 amThe White House said the strategy driven by “a desire to be creative to try to provide some access to the president.â€
Anyone want to bet that Helen Thomas was NOT one of the reporters allowed in? I’m quite sure that Bush chose only his sycophant buddy reporters for the session. Besides, what kind of “access to the president” is it if they can’t report what he says. In truth all it was was another propaganda campaign by the Dictator guy.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:23 amStill, the trend this year has been toward softer job growth. And, that is beginning to show up in wages.
Average hourly earnings rose to $17.58 in October, a modest 0.2 percent increase from September.
Comment by Exley — November 2, 2007 @ 10:14 am
And in local news, Freightliner, headquartered in Portland since founding in 1929, is shipping 341 sales and marketing staff to North Carolina. Good times, good times.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:25 amThis one is too funny not to share. I just heard a “radio troll” make one of the most asinine comments I’ve heard in a long time. This poor soul actually sat on hold for an opportunity to say:
“Everyone knows Muslims can’t be trusted. It’s in the Bible”.
Now seriously, is it even possible to fit more nonsense in such a short statement?
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 amEmployers boosted payrolls by a surprisingly strong 166,000 in October, the most in five months, an encouraging sign that the nation’s employment climate is holding up relatively well against the strains of a housing collapse and credit crunch.
Anyone want to bet that a large number of those jobs were in the service industry paying minimum wage. Plus, the “jobless rate” is a joke. If you have exhausted your unemployment benefits and still don’t have a job, you are not counted in the jobless rate. I’m willing to bet that the number of people in that gray area (without a job but not counted in the jobless rate) has skyrocketed. If they were somehow counted too, I’m willing to bet that our jobless rate is better than 10%.
Then there are the multitude of families who are working two jobs (getting counted twice) just to make the same as they were making before some corporation shipped their job to India or brought in a worker on an H1 visa to take there job here.
If our economy is doing so well, then why does the current polling show that a vast majority of the people in this country think the economy is going poorly and are not happy with the direction this country is going in. Those who think the economy is going poorly are those who are working two jobs to get by, haven’t received a raise in 4 years and who are on the brink of losing their only asset, their home.
Yes, the economy is doing very well for the small percentage of rich people in this country who live off their stock market investments. But they, too, are going to be less rich when the stock market crashes. Leading economists say that all the markers are there for a crash some day soon, similar to the markers that were there before our last stock market crash.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:30 am“What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.â€
Interesting political news:
Obama chides Clinton for playing gender card
Fri Nov 2, 2007 9:13am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrat Barack Obama, the only black candidate for president, accused rival Hillary Clinton on Friday of hiding behind her gender after she was pummelled in a debate with six male candidates.
“I am assuming and I hope that Sen. Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else,” the Illinois senator said in an interview with NBC’s Today Show. “When we had a debate back in Iowa awhile back, we spent I think the first 15 minutes of the debate hitting me on various foreign policy issues. And I didn’t come out and say: ‘Look, I’m being hit on because I look different from the rest of the folks on the stage’,” he said.
“I assumed it was because there were real policy differences there, and I think that has to be the attitude that all of us take. We’re not running for the president of the city council. We’re running for the presidency of the United States.”
He was speaking a day after New York Sen. Clinton — the only woman running for president — urged women voters to rally behind her against “the boys club of presidential politics.”
“So it doesn’t make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says: ‘Don’t pick on me’,” he said. “That is not obviously how we would expect her to operate if she were president.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:31 amWhat is it with this Hillary obsession? Isn’t it premature before the primaries have even begun? Seriously, any particular candidate may not even be around. They might get caught in a crime. They might die tragically. Heck, some of them will just plain quit.
I think it’s been well established that Hillary has a number of “electability issues”. Except when compared to ANY Republican.
Oops! I answered my own question. The trolls are bat-scat crazy over the mere possibility of getting beaten by a girl. Lord knows it has nothing to do with issues since Hillary is closest thing the Dems have to a Republican.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:41 amExley, that’s an issue that needs to be addressed. This is the big game and all should be treated as equals. Nobody should be voting for a person because they are the same race or gender.
I believe that the republicans are wanting to go up against Hillary because of all the baggage she brings from her husband. For that reason, but not that reason alone, I don’t want to see her as the Democratic candidate. She could be very effective as the Sec. of State or UN head but I think as the Democratic candidate the republicans will have their strongest chance.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:46 amAt the home of journalist Bob Woodward though, “two old men sat on the front steps in front of a glass bowl of lollipops and chocolate treats and mechanically reminded small children to ‘just take two. JUST TWO.’â€
Ewww, creepy.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:46 amAnnual inflation predicted to exceed 30%.
This is the evidence of the free-MARKUP at work.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 amSome headlines in today’s Chicago Tribune
12,000 jobs cut by Chrysler.
Suprise lump for factories. Industrial activity in the US suffered a worse than expected slowdown last month. Booming economy huh?
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:59 amHello, Im back from Houston. Oh, I have a lot of opinions about the US, hehehehe and the media, my gosh!!! It is mind-numbing. A baby in a box, child predators on Halloween, the wife of a Police Officer missing, Kobe… wow, now I understand a lot of American-centrism in some of our trolls. It is so hard to get out of the bubble and see other POVs.
Great people, BTW.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:00 amMy only question is who are the two idiots recommending Cepan comments?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:01 amWelcome back, Juan! Good to read you. :-)
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:01 amHiB,
Actually, I am not one of these people who thinks that beating Hillary will be at all easy. She and her husband are brilliant political campaigners. Even with all their supposed baggage, they won two presidential campaigns (albeit never with a majority of the popular vote) in the 1990s….It will be hard enough for any GOP candidate to win the presidency in 2008 and I think going up against Sen. Clinton makes the job all the harder. If any Republican thinks we will roll over, Hillary in the general campaign, they are deluding themselves.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:03 amZoo, Im so glad to read you as well, although I read your comments in the zoo from the shadows these days.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 am“Here’s a couple other reasons for the, reportedly, reduced casualties: Lack of targets (we are sticking closer to our bases while many Iraqis have fled or died), enforced segregation of rival groups, coordination of their next step and, here’s the scary one, a general movement of fighters to Afghanistan for the announced winter offensive.”
Comment by pete
And lest we forget, in many areas of Iraq, American soldiers have just stopped trying. They position themselves in places they won’t be fired upon, and tell local Iraqis that they just want to be left alone. They sit around, smoking cigarettes and bullsh*tting, while calling in bogus raids, to fool their superior officers. When they did that in Vietnam, the war was effectively over.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 amBogus statistic alert!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 2, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Not at all. It’s widely available from many independent sources. Is it the worst case scenario? Yes. However, our country has shown a remarkable aptitude for achieving the worst case. Please keep in mind, this is not the “core inflation rate”. This is total inflation including all those unimportant things like: gas, heat, electricity, food, clothing etc.
Remember, oil prices are approaching double what they were a year ago and winter heating season has not begun. The local gas company is predicting that prices will be 15%-20% greater than last year. And that’s natural gas which, traditionally, lags a bit behind crude and gasoline. It’s a good thing that there are protections for people who have to choose between their utility bills and unimportant things like food.
BTW, the same loaf of bread I purchased in April for $1.69 cost $2.25 yesterday. I’ll leave the arithmetic to you.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 amThis is the evidence of the free-market at work.
Comment by O. Bigfoot
Hahahaha. I love that free market motto.
Im still waiting for the G-8 countries to open their markets as they force III World countries to do it.
Besides as more and more companies merge, there will be absolutely no free market, because the only thing that they do is transporting the money from one self-company to another one, so the money doesnt change hands…but, thats OK, we keep thinking free market is that. Sure.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 amExley,
The republicans have next to no chance of winning this next election. I believe they are setting the tables for down the road. There would be more than enough ammo.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:13 am“On Monday, President Bush “spent an hour with 14 reporters in an off-the-record session — meaning what he said could not be reported — to offer those assigned to the White House a rare look at his thinking on a variety of issues.†The White House said the strategy driven by “a desire to be creative to try to provide some access to the president.â€
I’d be very interested to know exactly WHO those 14 reporters are. Track any differences in their reporting as a result of this meeting with Bush.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:14 amZoo, Im so glad to read you as well, although I read your comments in the zoo from the shadows these days.
Comment by Juan C. — November 2, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Sneaky monkey! :-D
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 amThere would be more than enough ammo.
Comment by hellinabucket
With all due respect, after the performance of the supposedly opposition party and statements like this Schumer Senator, what is the difference between them in political issues?
Nahh…the representation of people via this type of democracy died…a long time ago.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 am“I’d be very interested to know exactly WHO those 14 reporters are. Track any differences in their reporting as a result of this meeting with Bush.”
Comment by impeachcheneythenbush
I doubt that their names would do you any good – these reporters were asked to attend because most had just been assigned to the White House beat. Bush was simply trying to “thumb” the journalistic scale, by giving them an off-camera preview of his Heritage rant. It must have made them feel special, the poor dears.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:19 amSneaky monkey! :-D
Comment by Zooey
BTW, you were good. And Trip made a great job at typing the debate.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 amOnce upon a time our nation exported resources and manufactured goods, which we had in abundance, and bought those which we lacked. Increasingly we have resorted to exporting production contracts and technology for cash. Those of us who are perceptive could see the signs of this when we stopped producing such things as TV’s and VCR’s.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT. VCR’s are a technology developed, almost entirely, in this country yet we never produced them. How sad, and unprofitable, is that?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 amBTW, you were good. And Trip made a great job at typing the debate.
Comment by Juan C. — November 2, 2007 @ 11:21 am
:-)
Wasn’t Trip amazing? Better coverage than the actual “news” programs.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 amAnd just to deflect any, “you can’t blame Bush for shipping out production” crud. It’s an old problem for which our legislators, and “captains of industry”, share the blame. It has, however, proceeded at an accelerated rate during the Bush administration.
I gotta run. Later bye.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 amBogus statistic alert!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 2, 2007 @ 10:56 am
You must be referring to your own post claiming that unemployment is virtually non-existent. Stop lying, or shut up.
Back to Exley: October was the BEST showing in five months, and it still fell 26% short of the average under Clinton. And yet your media source describes this as a “good” result. Some “liberal” presss, eh?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 amI’ll leave the arithmetic to you.
Comment by pete — November 2, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Whoa, pete… are you trying to ruin Li’l Footie’s day? Makin’ him do basic arithmatic ‘n all? Geez, now he’s gonna hafta take off his shoes, ‘n then find someone to tie ‘em for him when he’s done. Bad pete… bad pete!
You apologize ta Li’l Footie… see, you made him cry.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:31 amBogus statistic alert!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 2, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Actually, THIS is what a bogus statistic alert looks like.
“… The troops have drawn conclusions about fellow citizens back home. Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans are unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don’t believe a continued occupation will work.â€
Comment by O. Bigfoot — August 25, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
Since Little [ ] won’t link to his “sourceâ€, I found at least one of them for ya, folks. The above info is actually from a Zogby poll taken almost a yr and half ago (source below! ;-D!!). No wonder Little [ ] didn’t provide the reference. Don’t know where the rest of it comes from, but ** YAWN **, I think it’s safe to ignore Little [ ]’s “data†here.
There… that’s what it looks like when someone jimmies up phony numbers to make a case!
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:33 amExley, here are some more facts to chew on, as reported by the NY Times:
“The estimate of job growth, which came in ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, follows a downwardly revised 96,000 gain in September and a 93,000 gain in August, the Labor Department said today.”
“The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent in October, the highest rate since August 2006, but only because the survey found that more people stopped looking for work and were therefore not counted by the government as unemployed.”
“Adding to the uncertainty about the report, most of the job gain — 103,000 of the 166,000 net new jobs — came from an estimate that the Labor Department makes each month about how many jobs were added by new businesses. The Labor Department did not actually find evidence of these jobs; it assumed they were created based on historical patterns.”
You can spin all you want, Exley, but you have credibility here.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:33 amHere is the link for the entire list of Top 100 Conservatives and Liberals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/exclusions/uselection/nosplit/listintro.xml
Looking over the Liberal list, I am thinking maybe 10 out of the 100 qualify as “liberal” hearabouts.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:34 amno, “George Bush’s economy” is “booming” because there’s a Taco Bell out west that’s having trouble hiring one more employee. [/sarcasm]
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:38 am“What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.”
Interesting media news:
Even Harvard Finds The Media Biased
Thursday, November 01, 2007 4:30 PM PT
Journalism: The debate is over. A consensus has been reached. On global warming? No, on how Democrats are favored on television, radio and in the newspapers.
A joint survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy — hardly a bastion of conservative orthodoxy — found that in covering the current presidential race, the media are sympathetic to Democrats and hostile to Republicans.
Democrats are not only favored in the tone of the coverage. They get more coverage period. This is particularly evident on morning news shows, which “produced almost twice as many stories (51% to 27%) focused on Democratic candidates than on Republicans.”
The most flagrant bias, however, was found in newspapers. In reviewing front-page coverage in 11 newspapers, the study found the tone positive in nearly six times as many stories about Democrats as it was negative…
In stories about Republicans, on the other hand, the tone was positive in only a quarter of the stories; in four in 10 it was negative…
Reviewing 154 stories on evening network newscasts over the course of 109 weeknights, the survey found that Democrats were presented in a positive light more than twice as often as they were portrayed as negative. Positive tones for Republicans were detected in less than a fifth of stories while a negative tone was twice as common.
The gap between Democrats and Republicans narrows on cable TV, but it’s there nonetheless. Stories about Democrats were positive in more than a third of the cases, while Republicans were portrayed favorably in fewer than 29%. Republican led in unfriendly stories 30.4% to 25.5%.
CNN was the most hostile toward Republicans, MSNBC, surprisingly, the most positive. MSNBC was also the most favorable toward Democrats (47.2%), Fox (36.8%) the most critical.
The anti-GOP attitude also lives on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” There, Democrats were approvingly covered more than a third as often as Republicans. Negative coverage of Democrats was a negligible 5.9%. It seemed to be reserved for Republicans, who were subject to one-fifth of the program’s disparaging reports.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=278808786575124
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 amYou can read the handwriting on the wall here. Blame now shifting from the PKK to the Kurd leadership itself. Eventual betrayal of the Kurds by the U.S. — again. This is an historical pattern that always seems to repeat itself.
ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 2 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came under pressure from Turkish officials upon her arrival here today to publicly blame Kurdish leaders in Iraq for the recent Kurdish rebel attacks on Turkish forces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/world/europe/03Turkey.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 amBy the way, post #4 by “Cepan” is plagiarized from this right wing blogger:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22689634-5007146,00.html
Pathetic that the trolls can only cut and paste.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:51 amHow is that interesting Exley? The study doesn’t confirm media bias towards dems, except for coverage in the coming election. Are you admitting that previously it was GOP-centered? You’d have to, to make the case that suddenly the media is again “liberal.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:51 am“Dems never learn.”
Comment by Kucinich’s Alien Pal
Yeah, that’s why we’re the majority in both Houses.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 amI see that Exley has cut-and-run on the job growth statistics.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:54 amI see that Exley has cut-and-run on the job growth statistics.
It t’was ever thus.
He’s yet to post something that isn’t immediately debunked.
I think he’s secretly (or given the topics he posts, not too secretly) a masochist.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:57 amBogus statistic alert!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 2, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Big O prefers the bogus fear alerts.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 pmVerbalKint,
Not cutting and running. I am just not disputing you. I am hardly an expert on economics (It doesn’t really interest me all that much). I simply posted an article that called the job-growth strong and noted that the current 4.7 unemployment rate is considered historically low.
I do not doubt the veracity of your statement that job growth was stronger during most of the Clinton administration. You are most likely correct. I bow to your superior knowledge on that.
Still the fact is that October had stronger than expected jon growth and unemployment remains near historic lows.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pmmaybe if the repub party fielded candidates that weren’t all ridiculous, then perhapds they’d get more ‘favorable’ coverage.
who could’ve ever expected that a bunch of old, out-of-touch men who trip over each other in their efforts to praise perpetual war in iraq, torture, and eavesdropping on americans would get bad press?
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pmComment by Exley — November 2, 2007 @ 11:43 am
Perhaps you have to look at the context of when this liberal bias in media is happening. There is an election coming in one year. The republicans have not done a good job in the last 7 years. The republicans have very poor choices for their candidate (the dems aren’t much better off there). The republicans have shown more amoral behaviour lately. The republicans have shown a lack of upholding of the law. Is it any wonder that the media is being hostile to the republicans? Why have the media NOT been more hostile to the republicans in the last 7 years?
A good study would be to compare percentage of good/bad stories for the ruling party versus the other party one year before elections. Then maybe you will find something. The media has been far to nice to the Bush admin and the republicans.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:09 pm“I am hardly an expert on economics (It doesn’t really interest me all that much). I simply posted an article that called the job-growth strong and noted that the current 4.7 unemployment rate is considered historically low.”
And the good little german in him couldn’t help believing it, even though this story was produced by “the liberal media.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:15 pm“Still the fact is that October had stronger than expected jon growth and unemployment remains near historic lows.”
Comment by Exley
If history began in 2001…
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pmBarfly
The lowest average unemployment rate achieved during the Clinton administration was 4.2 percent in 1999….Not significantly lower (.5 percent) than this months 4.7 percent.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pm“It’s common practice for liberals to ignore statistics when the statistics don’t support their pet theories. That’s the only way they can justify themselves.”
prehaps basing my opinions on what goes on in a single Taco Bell franchise would be a better strategy.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:47 pmGround beef: $1.60/lb a month ago. $1.20/lb yesterday.
Apples: 99 cents/lb a week ago. 75 cents/lb yesterday.
my guess is that a lot of people are more concerned with this line:
Mortgage: _____ a year ago. _____ yesterday.
but if repubs want to point to the price of apples and say the economy’s awesome, please run on that. you’ll do great.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:57 pmIt’s called a “fixed-rate†baby.
again, please run on that. you’ll do great.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:08 pmKucinich Will Introduce Privileged Resolution To Force Up Or Down Vote On Cheney Impeachment
[...]
“Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme.
“Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress know how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences.â€
[...]
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1102-01.htm
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:36 pm.
“Every time the liberal “experts†predict the “next statistic†will “bring down†the economy, they are confounded by the fact that the economy keeps surgin ahead.”
unfortunately foreclosures too keep ’surgin ahead’! here’s what one ‘liberal expert’ had to say: “Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has predicted that there would be more than 1 million foreclosures by the end of this year.” but fear not if you’re among those who’ve lost your home: some person hanging out at a taco bell in the middle of the desert says the economy is awesome!
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:42 pmSchumer must be looking for the weasle room to confirm thye nomination of the athorney torturer.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 pmFrom katy’s article:
“The privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor. Once introduced, the resolution has to be brought to the floor within two legislative days, although the House could act on it immediately. Kucinich is expected to bring it to the House floor on Tuesday, November 6.”
What a bombshell! Does this mean Pelosi can’t stop it from coming to a vote? And how glad do you think Clinton, Obama, Biden and Dodd are that they won’t have to vote on this one?!?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm