Love this new anthem for the protests in NY and elsewhere.

I went to get a late lunch at the local sandwich establishment. I Ordered the "Wolverine" with special sauce... When I went to pay and my trusty plastic came up as "invalid". Huh? "Can't be". I looked at the mag stripe on the back of the card thinking it was damaged. Nope. I went next door to an ATM. It came back with the recipt saying "20.00 requested" 0.00 dispensed....

I went back into the sandwich shop and said, "I am concerned that I don't want you to toss the perfectly made food be cause my card is not working"...

They had me sign an I.O.U. and I will pay them tomorrow for a sandwich today.

I might be underfunded, but I am not flat broke yet, so I called the sanehalf to give her a heads up.

me: "My card came back invalid, what's up with that?"

sanehalf; "thats wierd, crazy daughter had the samething happen this morning. I looked at her balance and my computer froze. I had to reboot it."

This was sent to me, I am forwarding it becausemath is not in my personal data base.  To me, SS has been alot like any insurence policy - you pay into it every month.  If something goes wrong, there it is; if not the money is lost.  But SS differs in a significant way - if one lives long enough it is a savings policy that pays off, keeping many elderly people off the dole.

Steve Chapman - Chicago Tribune

Obama's home town paper sees the light.  Will Obama get the point?

Even if, and there is a good probability, he is reelected, his second term will be even more devisive and contain fewer successes for his policies or his party.  His is a failed Presidency and if he cares at all about his party or his country then he must not run again.

To me, a second term would mean four more years of no action on climate change.  It would mean increased drilling for oil rather than investing in the alternatives we know we need.  It would also mean a good chance of never having true single payor healh care in this country.

Please Mr. Obama, listen to those of us who care.

Why Obama should withdraw

When Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, his slogan was "Morning in America." For Barack Obama, it's more like midnight in a coal mine.

The sputtering economy is about to stall out, unemployment is high, his jobs program may not pass, foreclosures are rampant and the poor guy can't even sneak a cigarette.

His approval rating is at its lowest level ever. His party just lost two House elections — one in a district it had held for 88 consecutive years. He's staked his future on the jobs bill, which most Americans don't think would work.

The vultures are starting to circle. Former White House spokesman Bill Burton said that unless Obama can rally the Democratic base, which is disillusioned with him, "it's going to be impossible for the president to win." Democratic consultant James Carville had one word of advice for Obama: "Panic."

 

--snip--

In the event he wins, Obama could find himself with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. Then he will long for the good old days of 2011. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner will bound out of bed each day eager to make his life miserable.

Besides avoiding this indignity, Obama might do his party a big favor. In hard times, voters have a powerful urge to punish incumbents. He could slake this thirst by stepping aside and taking the blame. Then someone less reviled could replace him at the top of the ticket.

The ideal candidate would be a figure of stature and ability who can't be blamed for the economy. That person should not be a member of Congress, since it has an even lower approval rating than the president's.

It would also help to be conspicuously associated with prosperity. Given Obama's reputation for being too quick to compromise, a reputation for toughness would be an asset.

As it happens, there is someone at hand who fits this description: Hillary Clinton. Her husband presided over a boom, she's been busy deposing dictators instead of destroying jobs, and she's never been accused of being a pushover.

Not only that, Clinton is a savvy political veteran who already knows how to run for president. Oh, and a new Bloomberg poll finds her to be merely "the most popular national political figure in America today."

If he runs for re-election, Obama may find that the only fate worse than losing is winning. But he might arrange things so it will be Clinton who has the unenviable job of reviving the economy, balancing the budget, getting out of Afghanistan and grappling with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Obama, meanwhile, will be on a Hawaiian beach, wrestling the cap off a Corona.

 

 

Steve Chapman - Chicago Tribune

 

Not much is made of this heroic, volunteer effort - an example of Americans working together without politics or politicians screwing things up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg&feature=player_embedded

and of course he's being hammered for his honesty.  See Huffpo for the details or read the full post below.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-of-shame/

The Years of Shame

Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?

Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

In Memory
September 11, 2001

Like millions of others I was deeply effected by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. My daughter was a new freshman at NYU, incredibly excited about moving to the city of her dreams. Her dorm was on 4th street, about 20 blocks from Ground Zero. there's more not showing please read on...

She called my cell phone to tell me she had just watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center. My phone rang as I was pulling into the parking lot at work. Her first words were, "what the fuck is going on. A plane just flew into the World Trade Center".

Walking back from crew practice across Washington Square that morning she joined the street people in amazement as a plane flew over their heads towards the WTC. She and her parents are forever changed but very much alive and thankful for the wonderful and resilient people of New York City.

I took this photo during our first visit a couple of weeks after the students returned. The three guards resting under the Odd Job sign seems well, odd. It really captures the mixed feelings we had while gawking yet participating in a pilgrimage we had to make.

If you wish, please use this thread to share your memories.  nh

note:  this is a repost that I like to share yearly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/06/ihop-shooting-gunman-dead_n_951084.html

CARSON CITY, Nev. — A gunman wielding an AK-47 opened fire on a table of uniformed National Guard members at an IHOP restaurant on Tuesday in an outburst of violence that killed four people, wounded eight others and put Nevada's capital city on high alert as the shooter unloaded his assault rifle in a bustling business district.

The shooter's motive was unclear, but family members said he had mental issues. He had never been in the military and had no known affiliation with anyone inside the restaurant.

Five Nevada National Guard troops sitting together at the back of the restaurant were shot – two of them fatally. Another woman was also killed, and the gunman, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion of Carson City, shot himself in the head and died at a hospital.

Witnesses and authorities described a frantic scene, in which the shooter pulled into the large complex of retail stores and shops just before 9 a.m. in a blue minivan with a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker on the back. He got out and immediately shot a person on a motorcycle, a witness said.  more

Of course this isn't the only place this happens.  I've had a life of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or more likely saying the right thing in the wrong way.  I piss people off.

At my place of delicate employment, I'm known as the guy with the zingers.  Can't seem to help it they just pop out.  The lesson I missed growing up was the fact that people very rarely want to hear the truth about themselves.

Now me, I love hearing the truth.  I was raised in one of those Jewish families where nothing is held back.  Nothing.  Jews are disgustingly honest, annnoyingly so.  It is, I think, the trait that others can't stand the most.

So, I get really pissed when peeps get pissed at me for being honest and saying what is in my heart.  I get called a dumb liberal or told I always wanted to vote for Obama and was looking for an excuse.  It is almost funny to read the comments on my post at NoQuarter.  The same post I copied from here.

But I get hurt when old friends say I haven't been hurt be the recession and that I don't feel the pain of what Obama hath wrought.

I shouldn't need to but here is my story of the last year.

Many arial shots of damage from flooding. 

http://www.mansfieldheliflight.com/flood/

To view or purchase a “I Am Vermont Strong T-shirt,” visit www.vermontstrong.mybigcommerce.com

All net profits will go to relief efforts
 

Whatcha up to?

Me?  I'm heading up to Lake Ontario with my son to go sailing with my big bro and my sis in-law.  If the weather is good we will see some beautiful country and if not we'll fish and drink.  Can y'all check in on Mrs. Hamp in my absense?

If I gave a crap about which Republican was running against the Republican in the White House, then I'd stay home and take in some of the speeches and free barbecue to be found around NH.  But I really don't give a crap so I'm going sailing.

'tis Monday morning and we've been without power since 11 AM Sunday (Southern, NH).  Has anything happened in the world?

I do have a generator so the reading has been good but no TV and no news other than what I get off my Droid.  I'm now at work where power never went off.  

Have to go home to gas up the generator at noon and check on Mrs. Hamp who's in rotten shape from a herniated disk that was worsened by her fall and hip break in Feb.  Hip is great, back and leg are not.

114,000 are powerless in NH, probably more in Vermont.  Vermont got soaked and flooded badly.  My son on the Connecticut River in Springfield, VT reports that the river is rising 6 inches an hour and they may have to move to higher ground.  Luckily the folks he's staying with have homes a good 50 feet above flood.  That comes from living on the river for 150 years or more.

Twandx how are you doing up there in the Green Mountain State?

Open thread for Irene reports.  

And Irene is not done.  Many of our rivers in New England begin in Canada or far north.  The CT, Hudson, Merrimack, Androskogin and others will be rising all day.  Our best wishes for all those in the path of Irene's leavings.

 Mother Nature is a woman.  She loves to tease.  She'll faint left then jab to the right.  She is a woman and I truly love what she is doing to this country this weekend.

Have fun all.  Be safe.  Watch the candles, they kill.

http://www.nationofchange.org/labor-day-we-need-protest-marches-rather-parades-1314369472

By Robert Reich

Labor Day is traditionally a time for picnics and parades. But this year is no picnic for American workers, and a protest march would be more appropriate than a parade.

Not only are 25 million unemployed or underemployed, but American companies continue to cut wages and benefits. The median wage is still dropping, adjusted for inflation. High unemployment has given employers extra bargaining leverage to wring out wage concessions.

All told, it’s been the worst decade for American workers in a century. According to Commerce Department data, private-sector wage gains over the last decade have even lagged behind wage gains during the decade of the Great Depression (4 percent over the last ten years, adjusted for inflation, versus 5 percent from 1929 to 1939).

Big American corporations are making more money, and creating more jobs, outside the United States than in it. If corporations are people, as the Supreme Court’s twisted logic now insists, most of the big ones headquartered here are rapidly losing their American identity.

read the rest

http://nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday.php

August 26.  Also known as the day Irene teases the east and giggles as we all wonder who is gonna get slapped upside the face.

What is Women’s Equality Day?

At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.”

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women’s Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, or other activities.

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971
Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

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I hope the cleanup and recovery is speedy.

Shades of Gorge Orwell revisited.  For all who hated the Hopi/Changi incarnation, this vids for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8_os8MnI-3g

[Stolen from Uppity who stole it from Widdershins]

Cya in a week or less.  This was on Deerfield Beach today.  Mom turns 91 tomorrow.

A few minutes after I took this pic, one of those great Florida downpours hit.  They dropped the curtain wall and we enjoyed the noise and darkness for 10 or 15 minutes before the sun came back.

 http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/15/breaking-google-buys-motorola-for-12-5-billion/

Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Combination will Supercharge Android, Enhance Competition, and Offer Wonderful User Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

“Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

I'm in the same boat as most of my generation in that I get the Fwd: Fwd: Fwd:  from my mom and mostly delete without reading.  This one though is rather good.  Enjoy!

A woman in a hot air balloon
realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat
below. She shouted to him,

"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an
hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air
balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above
sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100
degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am, “replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is
technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information,
and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are
going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You
made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your
problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but
somehow, now it's my fault."
 

An old, young, friend from the '08 campaign is helping to start a new blog called Chrosstalk.  It seems the young founders come from two sides of the aisle and there is some good reading to be had over there plus interviews with folks you normally wouldn't see interviewed.  Take a look.

http://chrosstalk.wordpress.com/

Hillary Told You So

As Democratic disgust with Obama’s debt fumbling spreads, Clinton supporters recall her '3 a.m. Phone call' warnings—and angry, frustrated liberals are muttering that she should mount a 2012 challenge.

Aug 7, 2011 8:58 PM EDT
 
At a New York political event last week, Republican and Democratic office-holders were all bemoaning President Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling crisis when someone said, “Hillary would have been a better president.”

“Every single person nodded, including the Republicans,” reported one observer.

At a luncheon in the members’ dining room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, a 64-year-old African-American from the Bronx was complaining about Obama’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the implacable hostility of congressional Republicans when an 80-year-old lawyer chimed in about the president’s unwillingness to stand up to his opponents. “I want to see blood on the floor,” she said grimly.

A 61-year-old white woman at the table nodded. “He never understood about the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy,’” she said.

Looking as if she were about to cry, an 83-year-old Obama supporter shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in him,” she said. “It’s true: Hillary is tougher.”

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and whether I am allowed to post.  However, rather than deprive you all of viewing the pile of trash the Baptist volunteers with FEMA took out of my basement, I'll jump right in to test the pic posting and avitar.  This shows about half of the stuff they bagged along with all the partitioning.  All now residing in the town landfill.  R.I.P.

The US has enjoyed the top AAA credit rating since 1917 and now, it's history. Standard & Poors, the ratings agency that deals with sovereign debt, just downgraded our long term credit rating late Friday night after the after hours markets were closed in the US. Everyone is pointing fingers but not taking the blame for what happened. It was simple. S&P warned but no one took them seriously enough to prevent the downgrade. Now, we all have to live with the consequences.

There's a lot of blame to go around for the creation of the financial meltdown we had a few years ago but the problems began all the way back during the Carter administration. To be fair, though, the problems for the country began in 1913 when president Wilson created the extra-Constitutional Federal Reserve which took monetary policy out of the hands of Congress and put it into the hands of those who are not answerable to anyone. Since then, over the past 98 years, we've had a series of boom and bust cycles or bubbles. We've lived through some of them. After each bubble pops, there's a recession. Some recent bubbles were the tech or dot com bubble which popped in 2000, followed by the 2001 recession; the housing bubble which began to pop in 2006, followed by the recession which began in December, 2007; and the oil bubble that popped in the summer of 2008. The stock market crashed a few months later.