waitforufo

They call that the full faith and credit of the United States.

If the republicans keep the house and or win the senate in 2016 it will be because they fought ACA. Of course they will kill it if they have the chance. That will be why people voted for them. The voters will expect it from republicans.

Did I not mention the UFO's super technology. How are they going to bail us out of our troubles if the UFO's dont have super technology? Maybe it would be a fair trade. Problems solved for a little hanky-panky. Besides, Hollywood keeps telling us that earth girls are easy. Is it possible that this is the reason that the UFO's keep coming back? I say we keep the gold. Is it possible that the other 30% was put there by UFO super technology? Duh...

Republicans believe that ACA will fail on its own merits. All of this brouhaha is republicans making sure everyone knows this will be a liberal failure that they never voted for and tried to stop. Remember that the house was lead by the democrats and Nancy Pelosi when ACA was enacted. Republicans gained the house because the people were upset that ACA passed. Their fight against ACA won them the house so they keep fighting it. If they keep the house they can stop any changes to ACA making it more likely to fail. Their hope is to leverage that failure to gaining the senate and the white house. I doubt that the government will shut down or that ACA will be defunded. This will be touted as a great democrat and obama victory, further tying the eventual failure of ACA to them. We will soon find out if I am wrong. Never forget that we are just pawns of the political class. This is all just a game to them. Neither party cares how it impacts the people. They are just playing a game.

Printing money causes inflation. So printing currency causes the currency value of everything to go up. The actual value of everything stays the same. If your currency income stays the same during this inflation, then your income is devalued. Yes, and by doing so we reduce our debt burdens because the currency value of our debt stays the same while the currency value goes down. Why do you think the fed cancelled their quantitative easing taper? The US cant afford to pay it's bills. You will never find a person that complains about the "rich" willing to define just what that term means. Is it the top 10% of earners? The lower threshold for these earners is $118,000 a year. I have been working in engineering and have been making that for more than two decades. I don't know any engineers that have more that 20 years of experience that don't make at least that. So by working for 20 years and reaching the ripe old age of 45 one can reach the top 10% of earners. That then leaves a person 20 more years to bank cash for retirement. In today's dollars thats $2.36 million in income over those 20 years. It shouldn't be too hard to bank half of that even while accumulating lots of cool stuff and having many fun adventures. I'm glad to know that the proceeds of such work won't make me one of the evil rich. Printing money devalues savings because your savings can buy less. Think of it as a tax on savings. Ever wonder why Americans don't save money? If you save money inflation robs you of the proceeds of your labors. Spend your money and you have stuff that is not impacted by inflation.

This is getting to be even better than Ancient Aliens. The International UFO Congress? Who knew this organization even existed? How does one join? If I join and stop cutting and combing my hair would that make me a ufologist? Is it possible? Could I get my own history channel TV show? This is what happens when people start believing in little green men from outer space. I blame Carl Sagan and his billions and billions of stars. The next thing you know people will stop trying to solve humanities problems and will simply wait for the UFO’s to show up to bail us out with their alien super technology. -waitforufo PS. When the UFO's do show up we may have to keep our eyes on our gold and women. From what I've seen on Acient Aliens the UFO's want both.

Come on people. Grow a sense of humor. Yes it was appropriate to move this to the Lounge section. I don't think oblivion is serious, so I don't see a need to move this to Speculations. The opener is essentially what the history channel's Ancient Aliens program is teaching our children every day. Children however must believe it is true because its on "history." My favorite part of that particular program is how often they use phrases like "is it possible?" My second favorite part is how crazy their "experts" look. Especially that guy with the unkempt hair.

I have been visiting Greece since I was in high school. I have many friends who live there and visit about every other year. My comments will be anecdotal so they may not be worth much but here goes. From my first visit until the EU went to the common euro currency Greece could be best described as quaint. Most people had two jobs. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This allowed Greeks to take a midday nap. Since they took a midday nap most Greeks stayed up into the late evening where they would promenade at conveniently located city or village social areas. The above is a rather positive spin describing the day to day activities of a poor country. Yes, Greeks were poor, but it always seemed to me that Greeks simply had a different social contract than most other western countries. I remember Greeks being happy. I also remember Greece being a very inexpensive place to visit and live. Everything was cheap. Greece was a country with beautiful beaches, great weather, good food, lots of historical sites, and all at bargain basement prices. Tourism was of course their major industry. Then along came the Euro. Suddenly prices went up. All I can assume is that Greeks decided if a tourist had to pay a euro of a bottle of water in Paris, they should pay a euro for a bottle of water in Chania. I always purchased food in markets and local stores and I saw those prices go up as well, so it wasn't just impacting tourists. Next, there were many infrastructure projects in Greece. For example Athens now has a subway and a new airport. Suddenly Greece was modern country not a quaint back water. Finally, visitors from other EU countries started buying property in Greece creating a real estate bubble. When prices went up, the impact of Greek poverty became more acute. When the financial crisis hit, the real estate bubble burst, the economy collapsed and Greece couldn’t pay for all those infrastructure improvements. Like I said, antidotal, but that is what I saw and felt. I’m sure there is more to it than that.

Maybe that is where it take you, but I have never felt that way. Three generations is 60 years so your timing is right. But three generations is nothing. From a historical perspective either is 150 years. The Democratic party should be proud of the atonement that they have made so far, but they have a long way to go. There are lots of people alive today that remember the the 50's and 60's. I don't think they would say it was a "whatever" moment.

620000 fatalities and 476000 additionally wounded all to preserve slavery seems like a big deal to me. I remember watching all that TV news with attack dogs and water cannons too. I seem to remember a Democrat behind every one of those prejudical acts.

It's the democratic party history plain and simple. There is no doubt. Also, I'm in my fifties and remember watching a Democrat Governor say on TV “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Is Jim Crow ancient history? No. I’m not a big fan of the tea party but they haven’t started any wars, let alone a civil war that caused over 600,000 fatalities. The bloodiest war in US history. This is not something that should be quicky forgotten as yesterday's news. It’s disingenuous to say that when Democrats act badly they are suddenly transformed into Republicans.

Nice try, but the Democratic party can't sidestep it's history. They are the party of slavery, secession, civil war, segregation, jim crow, and the KKK. This will never be lost to history, and the Democratic party will forever have to atone for this history. Yes, the tea party will always be owned by the Republican party, but so far, in comparison, their actions have been trivial.

Don't forget Jefferson Davis (Civil War). 620,000 fatalities and 400,000 additional wounded all to perpetuate slavery.

You should study history a bit more. By "pre-Civil War future Confederates" you mean Democrats right?

Being President is a tough job. Maybe too tough for some. I really don't think you should bring up Libya. The President's policy there hasn't turned out too well either. Your comments about the Fukushima reactors seem like fantasy to me. It's hard to defend exploding reactors even when they are old out of date ones. James O'Keefe is a nobody with a camera when it comes to the President. Why would the President be distracted by him? Why didn't the President bomb Bahrain if chemical weapons cross the "international red line" which is so important to our President? What you are saying a above is that the President was distracted and dropped the ball. I agree. So the Democrats didn't try to make Bush a one term President? So the Republicans didn't try to make Clinton a one term President? So the Democrats didn't succeed in making H.W. Bush a one term President? So the Democrats didn't try to make Reagan a one term President? So the Republicans didn't succeed in makeing Carter a one term President? ....................... It's the President's job to make the executive branch function properly. No one elses. Powerful factions are always working against Presidents. Good ones over come those factions. Poor ones don't. I'm not sure what your point is. That's politics. That is the way politics has always been. It you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen. In Syria the President backed himself into a corner he isn't willing to fight his way out of. No one's fault but his own. Now the advantage is to Syria and Russia. His fault. Even Joe Klein seems to agree... http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/11/obama-and-syria-stumbling-toward-damascus/

Has it been a month since the latest use of chemical weapons in Syria? Yet Obama is ready to bomb. A month is a long time in politics and foreign policy. Foreign policy is the President's job. What ever happened to contingency plans? That powerful political faction you are talking about, could that be the Democratic Party? My guess is that you are correct in assuming that Democrats would have abandoned there "let’s quit our current wars" president if he would have started another one. Second City however disagrees. Obama has even lost Second City. Sad

Is Russia at war? They are supporting Assad. They are providing weapons and advisers. Had the president supported Assad's opponents we would likely not be in this place now. iNow, this is my point exactly. That is why I said he was parading around. You would think that a constitutional lawyer would know the place of a President. Especially that part about one equal branch of government. So let me recap. Obama should have developed a plan on how to deal with Syria while peaceful protests were still underway. He should have, and continue to, set his foreign policy objectives in private with our allies and congress before he shoots his mouth off about red lines.

I don't recall saying I wanted to go to war in Syria. I don't believe projecting weakness is a path to war avoidance. I don't think a President should parade around like the leader of the free world and then act surprised when no other country follows. I find that embarrassing. Don't you? The current estimates are that over 100,000 people have died in a civil war that Assad could have easily avoided. I don't understand why our President is diminishing our standing in the world over the last 1500 dead bodies. We don't have any moral high ground on chemical weapons. During the Iran-Iraq war the US gave Saddam targeting information on masses of Iranian troops knowing that Saddam would gas them. Now we have Putin the peace maker bailing out Obama. Like I said embarrassing. The mad dictator is out maneuvering the US with his allies (Russia, Iran) because Obama is clueless on foreign policy. This is a crisis of Obama's making. He had a chance two years ago and blew it. He could have supported the peaceful protests in Syria. When civil war broke out he could have supported those who wanted moderate government in Syria. Instead he left a power vacuum that is now filled by extremists leaving him no options except an ineffective slap on Assad's wrist. Is there any wonder that our allies have said no?

Obama set down the red line not believing that Syria would have the audacity to cross it. But Syria did. Kerry proposed eliminating chemical weapons expecting that Syria would reject the idea. But Syria accepted eliminating the weapons knowing the elimination could not be enforced. I didn't know Hans Blix was looking for work. I doubt Kerry even checked with Obama about this elimination offer. So now we have foreign policy by public blunder. I have to admit that it is entertaining. I'm sure some form of victory will be declared soon. What an embarrassment for the US.

I thought the note was sweet as well, but it was a bad ideat to make the note public on facebook. Her son should decide how and to whom he wants to come out.

After watching Jon Stuart, I wish I would have titled this "Operation Just the tip" http://www.ijreview.com/2013/09/77056-operation-just-tip-daily-shows-jon-stewart-goes-epic-tirade-syria/

There are some good examples of deliberate stupidity in your list. What's different this time is how the President is publically bumbling his way in to war while catering to his own narcissism. That is what makes it unique. Now we have Kerry saying that Arab countries have offered to pay for the war. Where have I heard that one before? Well I guess if we can't get the economy going any other way we should just become a nation of mercenaries. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/the-houses-syria-hearing-live-updates/#e68f139f-e012-476c-876e-2467ba30e5e3

If the President loses Trudy Rubin he is in trouble. She does a great job pointing out our Presidents incompetent foreign policy. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/trudy_rubin/20130901_Worldview__Parsing_a_U_S__response_to_Syria.html What is worse is that now he is claiming that he didn't set a red line on chemical weapons. Yet, we all heard him lay down that line. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/04/201163/obama-i-didnt-draw-the-red-line.html#.Uidxoz-BV8E I don't think Obama will be able to pass the buck on this one. Does anyone? Perhaps he is hoping that congress will turn him down in the belief that he can blame congress. Or perhaps if his bungling turns in to a full blow regional war the will be able to blame congress for that. In my 50+ years I have never seen anything as crazy as this. It's too late for Syria. The president had a chance early but did nothing. We should now just stay out and watch the carnage in shame.

I appreciate that corruption in government is frustrating. That’s especially true for those actively interested in the government providing solutions to problems. However, let’s face it, this situation is the same as it always was, and the same as it always will be. That is why the founders of our country set up our divided branches of government with checks and balances. That system is frustrating in itself, particularly in the slowness in which things get done, but has been show to keep corruption in check and the people in power. Obviously a dictator could get things done more quickly but I don’t think any of us would be happy with the result. Perhaps the work and social circles the rest of you participate in are different than mine. Most of the people I interact with have no interest in politics. The impression I get from those I interact with is that they vote for is based on the following reasons. 1) They vote for a party like they root for a sports team. They have no idea what a candidate stands for, but will vote for them as long as they are wearing the right jersey. 2) If things aren’t going well for them personally, they simply vote out incumbents. 3) If the media demonizes a candidate or party enough, they vote against that person or party, regardless of the truth of the mud slung. Item three causes the most problems in the modern area because of speed of communication. The other two mostly average out. Finally, I think iNow needs to raise his opinion from millionaires to billionaires. Millionaires are a dime a dozen these days and have no influence. I have two brothers who are retired public school teachers. Both are in their mid 50's. If you count the present value of their pensions with their other assets not including their homes they are both millionaires. One edit to the above. While I say item three causes most of the problems, I believe few people pay attention to the media. People who get caught up in the 24 hour news cycle tend to think everyone else is as well. Few people even pay attention to such nonsense. The “news” is just like any other form of entertainment. They try to get you hooked so they can sell you soap. They also sell their programming so there ratings go up allowing them to charge more to the soap manufacturers. They don’t care about the truth, just selling soap.

My guess is that one’s opinion on the magnitude and frequency of political corruption has more to do with the perceived motive of the perpetrator or their party. If one sees a particular politician or party as “good” and the other party as “bad” then their opinion is that the magnitude and frequency of corruption is less for the “good” politician or party. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Don’t be a fool and fall for it. Money and personal power is what it is all about for every politician. Yes it would be nice if all politicians were as obvious as James Traficant. For years he was blatantly and humorously obvious in his corruption. I almost voted for him when I lived in Ohio but he was arrested before I could. Too stupid to hide his corruption, but smart enough to know what the game is all about.