Bill Clinton says Barack Obama must 'kiss my ass' for his support

What if you threw a tantrum and nobody came? Read More......

The McCains in default: Weren't paying taxes on one of their many houses -- the one on the beach in California

Via Huffington Post:

Newsweek is set to publish a highly embarrassing report on Sen. John McCain, revealing that the McCains have failed to pay taxes on their beach-front condo in La Jolla, California, for the last four years and are currently in default, The Huffington Post has learned.

Under California law, once a residential property is in default for five years, it can be sold at a tax sale to recover the unpaid taxes for the taxpayers.

The McCains own at least seven homes through a variety of trusts and corporations controlled by Cindy McCain.

Now, listen. These things happen when you have a lot of houses. How are John and Cindy supposed to keep track of all of this? They're really just regular people with too many houses. They're in default like many other Americans. Except, most Americans in default will lose their homes forever. This is just a glitch for the multi-millionaire McCains.

McCain's friends in the traditional media will surely give him yet another pass on this. And, why not? McCain obviously has some great houses to which he can invite his media pals. But, just for a second, imagine the furor if Barack Obama didn't pay his property taxes. Read More......

How do you feel about having your laptop searched at the border?

A recent court decision found that border guards can search your laptop computer. Hell, why stop at the border. They can already search your luggage at the airport on a domestic flight - and that seems to be the rationale the courts are using, it's just like a luggage search - so what makes you think they won't start searching your laptop too. And why not? The only way to really ensure that there are no thieves or terrorists in our midst is to pry into the private lives of every one of us - our phone calls, our letters, our computers. Well, that's not 100% true. The only way to REALLY eliminate all crime and terrorism is for the government to simply kill everyone - or at least a few tens of thousands (we don't have soccer stadiums, but perhaps football fields will do).

This is what happens when old men, like John McCain, frankly, try to make important decisions about new technology. They don't understand it, so they screw up. A search of a laptop computer, or a cell phone, is not a search of your luggage. It's a search of luggage that happens to contain the equivalent of a tape recording of every phone conversation you've had in the past ten years. Luggage that contains details of your sex life, including possible a recorded history of it. Luggage that includes your medical history. Nude photos of your spouse, or yourself. Your personal diary. A computer is not the same thing as an electric razor or a radio. It's an incredibly intimate look into the life of the bearer, and old men who know nothing about the brave new world of technology shouldn't be in the position of deciding how personal a computer really is (or isn't). Read More......

Credit card companies unilaterally changing terms

I am against using extended credit with credit cards but this move by banks shows yet again how US regulations are too heavily tilted in favor of business. Americans have been living beyond their means for years due to credit and now many are trying to keep up due to increasing food and energy costs. Now banks are making changes that will negatively impact consumers all while being propped up by taxpayers in the form of bailouts and discount loans by the government. As I've been saying, when the tables are turned, banks don't hesitate to screw consumers so why are we helping them when they continue to pull stunts such as this? Let them go bankrupt and see how everyone else lives. For the millionth time, Democrats continue to let Wall Street and the GOP get a free ride on their problem.

Just as Americans grow more reliant on credit cards to help pay monthly bills, they’re being hit with a one-two punch: Card companies are reducing borrowing limits for tens of thousands of consumers, which then can lead to lower credit scores.

Those facing this predicament might not even know it until they apply for a loan or another credit card, and then get denied because their credit score has dropped.

Read More......

Pakistani city could fall to Islamic militants

From Canada's Globe and Mail:

Security around Peshawar, the provincial capital in northwest Pakistan, has been dramatically stepped up amid fears that the city could fall to heavily armed Islamic militants who have now massed around its outskirts.

From three sides, Peshawar, which borders Pakistan's wild tribal belt, is menaced by Taliban groups and other warlords.

If Peshawar is taken over by extremists, the rest of the North West Frontier Province is also threatened, raising the possibility that religious fundamentalists may gain control of a state on Afghanistan's border. The drama in Peshawar reinforces existing doubts about the new Pakistani government's policy of pulling back the army and seeking peace deals with militants.

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McCain calls Carter "lousy"

It's predictable that the GOP is going down the Jimmy Carter path, as if they were somehow worse than what the country is experiencing today under the Bush years. Why not take a look at things Carter did not do and compare Carter to Bush, since McCain has been such a strong supporter. It's true, Carter failed terribly when it came to the S&L; crisis by not having a catastrophic banking crisis during his term that could compare to today or The Keating Five scandal. John McCain could tell us more about how well he personally handled that. While he's at it, he can tell us how his co-chair kicked ass as he jammed through CFMA 2000 (aka, "the Enron Loophole") and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that set the stage for the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. Wall Street is currently enjoying one of its worst periods in decades courtesy of GOP leadership.

We should also note that the US dollar is celebrating lows not seen since the Nixon years, joining the record high gas prices not seen since that period as well. Carter was so bad, he failed to hit record lows with both. What a loser! Instead we have McCain hugging President Bush who ushered in this new period of economic misery. Now *that* is leadership. Overseas, Carter failed to get the US hostages in Iran and the US lost 8 soldiers in the failed rescue mission. Compare that to the illustrious Bush record of over 4110 soldiers lost in Iraq and 536 in Afghanistan. Carter failed again!

If McCain wants to talk about the Carter years, go ahead, let's talk about those times. Let's talk about how much worse the Bush years are and the let's take a look at what we are going to experience for the next few years as a result of GOP policy that McCain supported. Please talk more about this and see where it all goes. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

In lieu of a poem, I'm linking to the post below from Chris with Bruce singing "This land is your land." That's poetic -- and you know what? It is your land and you can take it back in November. Wonder if Springsteen will be out on the campaign trail this year?

Hot, hot, hot and humid in DC today. But, we're not flooded and the surrounding areas aren't on fire. Given that is the case in other parts to the country, I guess we're ahead.

Thread, please. Read More......

Za Boss à Paris

My sister and brother in law invited us last night to see Springsteen and wow, that guy and the E Street Band continue to be amazing. The last time I saw Springsteen was in Cleveland in the 1980s when my friends and I happened to meet the E Street Band (without Bruce) at a hotel bar not far from the Cleveland Coliseum. In person they were every bit as friendly as I imagined. This song is of course, Woody Guthrie's and is from a 1980s concert but is as relevant today as ever. One of these days we're going to get the country back on track and think about everyone instead of the select few. Read More......

Red ink to save your life

Democracy in action in Zimbabwe. If you can show an ink stained finger, perhaps you will avoid a beating. Without it, anything goes. This is what Thabo Mbeki of South Africa thinks is democracy though the (probable) next President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has been critical of the despot. Nelson Mandela has delivered mild and veiled criticism of Mugabe this week in London though sadly, it's been a terrible missed opportunity for the otherwise respected elder statesman who guided the peaceful transition from apartheid to the new South Africa. I expect neighboring despots and Mbeki to be meek though it's not easy hearing so little from Mandela. Of course he is old and frail, but a few words would have gone a long way.

The young man who gave his name only as Wilson wanted just one thing from yesterday's presidential election in Zimbabwe: the indelible red ink on his little finger to show he had voted.

"They said they would come to see if we voted," he said after casting his ballot in a tent in a Harare suburb. "They know if we went to vote we would have to vote for the president. They were watching."

Who are "they"?

"The ones who made us go to the meetings at night. The ones who told us we must be careful to correct our mistake."

Wilson voted for Robert Mugabe yesterday, against his will but judging that it was the best way to save himself from a beating or worse.

Read More......

Wall Street on edge of official bear market

One financial site says it was one of the worst weeks in the market seen in modern times. Obviously they don't understand economics, because the Republicans always tell us how much they know about economics and surely they must be right, right? Putting fantasy land aside, the Dow slightly fell below a 20% decline from its peak (the definition of a bear market) though eventually finished just above.

It wasn't long ago that the Dow was at 14,000+ and authors vying for a spot on CNBC and other Wall Street cheerleading outlets were writing books such as "Dow 30,000 by 2008" and "Dow 36,000" and "Dow 40,000." As ridiculous as they all sound today, it's surprising that there wasn't a book called "Dow, but this one goes up to eleven." Read More......