As many people in the world take some time to remember the victims of the holocaust, for many the wounds are being cut deeper by the rhetoric of a few. While it certainly troubles me personally , we should take this time to focus on remembering the those who perished and pause for a moment to reflect on the gravity of this horrific event. By elevating those who make outragous claims of revisionist history, we are giving a pulpit to those who do not deserve one. There will be sufficient time to address these dangerous elements but I would like to spend this week reading stories, watching videotaped testimony, and if possible talk with actiual survivors and in our own individual way, remember and never ever forget. We should preserve the dignity of the perished and should have a new respect for the dignity of human life in general. I think that is something that all people should agree on.
I have walked the grounds of Aushwitz and believe me, it is chilling.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The Taliban is Correct
about one thing at least.
Taliban insurgents rejected on Wednesday a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation" as a "lunatic idea"
what i want to know is why don't we think so as well. have we become so "all or nothing" that we swing wildly from end to end without any regard for where we truly should stand on each individual issue. Anti-war, fine. Pure Pacifism, sure. I understand people have ideals and they should stick to them. Most would agree that even with deposing (and ultimately executing) a tyrant like Saddam Hussein, the Iraq war was a blunder. But to make nice with the Taliban (which unlike Iraq, is very much linked to Osama Bin Laden and al quaida). If we are going to walk away because that suits our national interests and takes troops out of harms way, let's just say it like that and let's just walk away but let's be true to our ideals.
Taliban insurgents rejected on Wednesday a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation" as a "lunatic idea"
what i want to know is why don't we think so as well. have we become so "all or nothing" that we swing wildly from end to end without any regard for where we truly should stand on each individual issue. Anti-war, fine. Pure Pacifism, sure. I understand people have ideals and they should stick to them. Most would agree that even with deposing (and ultimately executing) a tyrant like Saddam Hussein, the Iraq war was a blunder. But to make nice with the Taliban (which unlike Iraq, is very much linked to Osama Bin Laden and al quaida). If we are going to walk away because that suits our national interests and takes troops out of harms way, let's just say it like that and let's just walk away but let's be true to our ideals.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Obama Fires GM CEO, who's next?
Obama Fires Wagoner!
The White House forced the head of GM to step down Sunday as President Obama warned Detroit automakers to clean up their act if they want more government cash.
General Motors Chief Executive Rick Wagoner didn't make the grade amid government demands that he retool the automaker and nudge the embattled car company towards profitability.
"We asked him to step down and he agreed," a senior administration official told the Daily News.
Wagoner, who ran GM for eight tumultuous years, earned the ire of the American people last year when he and other Detroit honchos flew on private planes to Washington to plead for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
It was unclear who might succeed him.
Just hours before Wagoner was forced out, Obama insisted Detroit's Big Three automakers still have more tinkering to do.
"They're not quite there yet" Obama told "CBS's Face the Nation." "There's been some serious efforts to deal with a combination of long-standing problems in the auto industry and the current crisis, which has seen, you know, the market for new cars drop from 14 million to nine million."
The ouster of the head of the iconic automaker is one of the most dramatic signs yet of how strong a role the government is now playing in the private sector.
Obama intends to reveal new plans Monday for bailing out Chrysler and GM, which already have been handed $17.4 billion in federal government loans.
GM is asking for another $16.6 billion, while Chrysler wants an additional $5 billion. So far Ford has not asked for handouts from Washington.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, appearing on ABC's "This Week," admitted, "We're prepared as a government to help that process if we believe it's going to provide the basis for a stronger industry in the future that's not going to rely on government support."
Pushing out the unpopular Wagoner makes it easier for the administration to hand over more cash to the ailing auto giant, another adminsiatrtion source indicated.
Obama is laying down tougher prerequisites for Detroit than his administration has demanded of Wall Street, which has not had to provide restructuring plans to get the billions of taxpayer dollars.
Obama insisted he gave the nation's top bankers a wake up call that they need to clean up their act when he met with them Friday.
"It's very difficult for me as President to call on the American people to make sacrifices to help shore up the financial system if there's no sense of mutual obligation andf mutual help," Obama said.
Insiders have acknowledged that Obama won't let the automakers go under for a variety of reasons, including protecting the 140,000 mostly unionized workers and their pension plan.
Obama also reiterated his plans for a troop surge in Afghanistan aimed at smoking out Al Qaeda and other militants.
He promised his plans to do not currently include invading border areas of U.S. ally Pakistan, where militants are believed to be hiding out.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," pressed the point, saying, "What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand these groups are now an existential threat to them and we will be there as a steadfast ally for Pakistan."
The White House forced the head of GM to step down Sunday as President Obama warned Detroit automakers to clean up their act if they want more government cash.
General Motors Chief Executive Rick Wagoner didn't make the grade amid government demands that he retool the automaker and nudge the embattled car company towards profitability.
"We asked him to step down and he agreed," a senior administration official told the Daily News.
Wagoner, who ran GM for eight tumultuous years, earned the ire of the American people last year when he and other Detroit honchos flew on private planes to Washington to plead for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
It was unclear who might succeed him.
Just hours before Wagoner was forced out, Obama insisted Detroit's Big Three automakers still have more tinkering to do.
"They're not quite there yet" Obama told "CBS's Face the Nation." "There's been some serious efforts to deal with a combination of long-standing problems in the auto industry and the current crisis, which has seen, you know, the market for new cars drop from 14 million to nine million."
The ouster of the head of the iconic automaker is one of the most dramatic signs yet of how strong a role the government is now playing in the private sector.
Obama intends to reveal new plans Monday for bailing out Chrysler and GM, which already have been handed $17.4 billion in federal government loans.
GM is asking for another $16.6 billion, while Chrysler wants an additional $5 billion. So far Ford has not asked for handouts from Washington.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, appearing on ABC's "This Week," admitted, "We're prepared as a government to help that process if we believe it's going to provide the basis for a stronger industry in the future that's not going to rely on government support."
Pushing out the unpopular Wagoner makes it easier for the administration to hand over more cash to the ailing auto giant, another adminsiatrtion source indicated.
Obama is laying down tougher prerequisites for Detroit than his administration has demanded of Wall Street, which has not had to provide restructuring plans to get the billions of taxpayer dollars.
Obama insisted he gave the nation's top bankers a wake up call that they need to clean up their act when he met with them Friday.
"It's very difficult for me as President to call on the American people to make sacrifices to help shore up the financial system if there's no sense of mutual obligation andf mutual help," Obama said.
Insiders have acknowledged that Obama won't let the automakers go under for a variety of reasons, including protecting the 140,000 mostly unionized workers and their pension plan.
Obama also reiterated his plans for a troop surge in Afghanistan aimed at smoking out Al Qaeda and other militants.
He promised his plans to do not currently include invading border areas of U.S. ally Pakistan, where militants are believed to be hiding out.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," pressed the point, saying, "What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand these groups are now an existential threat to them and we will be there as a steadfast ally for Pakistan."
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
AIG execs resign in NY Times
is this what it has come to. He takes the money, quits, and donates the money to charity. tough to be mad at that. he made his point while doing some good. maybe this will lead us in a new direction of political discourse.
Monday, March 16, 2009
AIG Shares Up 66%, shouldn't we be happy
after all, we do own 80% of this thing, don't we?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aig
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aig
AIG Bonus , Shareholders including Taxpayers gain
let's try and get this straight. i don't like to see our taxpayer bailout money go to bonuses but can we at least take a second to follow this through. we, the taxpayer, have bailed out AIG hundreds of billions of dollars. for this, WE, the people, received 80% of this company (aside from the primary reason to bail them out which would have been the collapse of many other institutions). now don't get me wrong, i am no apologist for aig, and wall street. i don't like it either that we hear from john mccain now that we shouldn't have bailed them out(quite different than the side he took during campaign). but i digress. We the taxpayer gained 66% on our AIG shares just today. let's stay on aig to do the right thing but let's also make sure that we do in fact profit, if there is something to profit from.
Asbestos Allegations Hit Washington DC
Now who do we blame for this one? asbestos at the smithsonian? say it aint so!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
what is going on in dc
i know we are all focused on the biggest crook ever, bernie madoff(as we should be) but what the heck is going on in dc:
FBI raids office of D.C. CTO, Obama appointee
Federal agents this morning are searching the office Washington, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer.
The search of the office at 1 Judiciary Square is part of "an ongoing investigation," said a spokeswoman for the FBI's D.C. Field Office, Lindsay Gotwin, said.
She said two men, Yusuf Acar and Sushil Bansal, had been arrested.
Acar is an information security officer who was also, according to online requests for proposals, responsible for contracting. Bansal is listed on the city's procurement website as the CEO of the Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation, which was awarded two technology contracts last year worth a total of $350,000.
The Washington Post and WTOP Radio report that the men are being held on bribery charges.
The outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration. His last day at the city government office was February 4, a spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Leslie Kershaw, said. He was appointed to the Washington post in 2007, and held it when Bansal's contract was awarded.
"We know the FBI is over there but that's all we know," said a staffer in the D.C. CTO's office, Mario Field, who was working from a separate location. Another source familiar with the raid said the FBI had sent all staffers other than senior executives home for the day. WTOP reported that agents are searching the 9th and 10th floors of the building.
A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.
D.C. mayor's spokeswoman Kershaw said, "Our office has been alerted of FBI's being at CTO office, but we cannot comment until it's over and we get more details."
No one answered a phone listed in Acar's name.
FBI raids office of D.C. CTO, Obama appointee
Federal agents this morning are searching the office Washington, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer.
The search of the office at 1 Judiciary Square is part of "an ongoing investigation," said a spokeswoman for the FBI's D.C. Field Office, Lindsay Gotwin, said.
She said two men, Yusuf Acar and Sushil Bansal, had been arrested.
Acar is an information security officer who was also, according to online requests for proposals, responsible for contracting. Bansal is listed on the city's procurement website as the CEO of the Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation, which was awarded two technology contracts last year worth a total of $350,000.
The Washington Post and WTOP Radio report that the men are being held on bribery charges.
The outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration. His last day at the city government office was February 4, a spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Leslie Kershaw, said. He was appointed to the Washington post in 2007, and held it when Bansal's contract was awarded.
"We know the FBI is over there but that's all we know," said a staffer in the D.C. CTO's office, Mario Field, who was working from a separate location. Another source familiar with the raid said the FBI had sent all staffers other than senior executives home for the day. WTOP reported that agents are searching the 9th and 10th floors of the building.
A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.
D.C. mayor's spokeswoman Kershaw said, "Our office has been alerted of FBI's being at CTO office, but we cannot comment until it's over and we get more details."
No one answered a phone listed in Acar's name.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
charles freeman, anyone??
i was a bit surprised at the lack of media attention this story got. Mr. Freeman withdrew his name from consideration for a top intelligence post and openly and loudly blamed the "israel lobby" . the post he was up for was intelligence, not diplomacy. probably should have stuck it out, who knows? is there another shoe to drop? anyway, just interesting to me that there wasn't much discussion about a topic which usually garners a lot more harsh rhetoric.
omnibus stimulus 410 billion baby!
let me get this straight, we got into this financial crisis by overspending, with irresponsible spending, earmarks, etc... , and we are going to fix it by: spending, earmarks, etc...
i guess all we can hope for is that some "other" insiders get rich off of this and it will even things out.
hey, i do like our president, and unlike others, I am hoping he succeeds(that we all succeed as a nation). i do think unfortunately that some democrats on the hill are going out of their way to show us that it's not the republicans that abused power, it's the majority party that abuses power.
good luck to us all!
i guess all we can hope for is that some "other" insiders get rich off of this and it will even things out.
hey, i do like our president, and unlike others, I am hoping he succeeds(that we all succeed as a nation). i do think unfortunately that some democrats on the hill are going out of their way to show us that it's not the republicans that abused power, it's the majority party that abuses power.
good luck to us all!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
rush limbaugh?
i guess we should have seen this coming. a major drawback to having won the election and having Barack Obama as president is having to put up with this loser in the news almost daily.
i hope it's worth it
i hope it's worth it
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)