Economists & Governments Looking into Latvia for Lessons of a Failed Economy, Lending Binges, Declining Manufactories & Exports to Blame:

Economists & Governments Looking into Latvia for Lessons of a Failed Economy, Lending Binges, Declining Manufactories & Exports to Blame for their Carnage:
By Marc Chamot & Source AP

"To those doubters out there who still don’t believe in the importance of preserving our manufacturing, industries and exports, I got really bad news for you, just read on:"

President Barack Obama, and Democrats and Republicans please take special note!

Because, the proof is in the pudding, when there are too many declining manufactories, industrialization, and heavily unbalanced trade in exports, and coupled in with too much loose credit and loans, it will totally destroy a nation’s economy financially.

Latvia’s current economical depression has become a case study, as to what can happen with a “free” market system that has become too dependent on loose credit and borrowing, added on with the massive declines of industry, manufacturing facilities, and foreign exports for mass produced products can all be, a real nation killer.

Latvia who was once a thriving economy after the fall of the Soviet Union; it has now become the scourge of the European Union. It once became a dynamic market economy in the past, but now people are leaving in droves to Russia and elsewhere to find jobs, because of a total broken down economical system.

Latvia had just slashed all government employees’ salaries by a whopping 20%, and Latvia was just declared as the European Union’s worst performing economy. People cannot meet their financial obligations anymore; it has become quite a desperate place to live in.

Their economic situation nosedived, mainly because production, manufacturing and foreign exports also nosedived.

Latvians stopped producing and manufacturing products that other world markets wanted, and the exports also stopped, but they kept on lending money for people to keep on buying foreign imports that kept flooding into their country.

A country that once had Europe’s highest per capita in hospital beds has finally collapsed into an abyss of desperation for its people. Besides schools closing down in droves, some analysts thought that Latvia was in a recession, but unfortunately they now realize that Latvia is under a full blown depression.

Their economy shrank by a mindboggling 18%, the steepest fall of all EU nations and the steepest of any country in the world and there seems to be no ending in sight, and they might be reaching into a 20% loss in their GDP soon.

The signs of an implosion are popping up all over the place. Reminiscent to what we are seeing in some American cities and towns, when industries close down, boarded up storefronts, abandoned businesses, and empty store fronts.

Unemployment in Latvia has hit 16 percent in March, according to EU statistics. New car registrations fell 75% from January to April! Corporate revenue and taxes plummeted 85% compared to same time last year.

This is exactly what can happen to the United States and those countries that lose their industrial competitiveness and edge. It’s all about manufacturing industries and exports dummies. Once we lose that edge, it’s an economical nightmare for everybody, just ask the Latvians about it?

California Supreme Court Says "FAT NO" to Homosexual Marriages in a Six to One Decision:

California Supreme Court Says "FAT NO" to Homosexual Marriages in a Six to One Decision:
By Marc Chamot

California Supreme Court says a resounding "FAT NO" to homosexual marriages in California! But those 18,000 that got hitched before the election can be legally recognized.

The California Supreme Court upheld the voters’ pro-man and woman marriages state constitutional amendment that was recently voted in by the voters in Proposition 8, by a 6 to 1 decision.

It’s a great day to be in California today, seeing a sweeping defeat on an arrogant minority groups of homosexuals who regard themselves as in (race,) a persecuted minority that want to have matrimonial privileges that are normally reserved for men and women.

The California Supreme Court Judges were playing with potential explosive powder kegs if the decision went the other way. To keep invalidating voter majority in elections in a democracy, is a potential ticking time-bomb that destroys a democracy and puts the nation in great danger for civil disobediences.

Now, I have alienated some good blogger friends over this issue, because I have been a big critic on gay marriages. I have my reasons to be critical about it, other than my Christian religious upbringings, but my key reason is, after having lived for two decades in this crappy city of San Francisco, I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with them, and it wasn’t pretty at all.

It wasn’t the gays, not the male homosexuals, or lesbians that turned me off against their groups; it’s these hateful “butches,” the female version of the male wannabes.

When their “gaydar” isn’t telling them something about a straight male, they are jealous, spiteful, straight men-haters, very discriminative, nasty and rude. They all love to show their hatred towards straight men and they are very proud of it.

They think that they are better than anyone else, but they are “big” and “fat,” they’re always trying to imitate Fat Bob with his Harley Davidson Pan.

That is what sets me off against the whole group, and I’m not the only straight man that has ever mentioned this, I hear it all over, even Radio Show Host Michael Savage on numerous occasions has also voiced his opinions about these women’s demeanors and behaviors. They represent the absolute worst in a human being.

Who wants to sympathize for these kinds of trashy people? It’s their attitude that gets them in real trouble with the rest of us. If they were a much different lot, they’d get more sympathy and support from people all around.

They are now talking about taking it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but I seriously doubt that the Supremes will listen to a state constitutional case voted by a six to one margin by its own highest courts.

They might want to bring another ballot initiative in front of the voters to repeal it, but let them, it’s the second time the voters voted against them. So why just not stay quiet, admit that you lost and stay home and cry?

California Supreme Court upholds same-sex marriage ban; lets stand existing gay unions
The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8, the voter-approved law restoring a ban on same-sex marriages in the state, but at the same time left intact the more than 18,000 marriages for gay and lesbian couples who wed last year before the ballot measure went into effect.

The Supreme Court's decision puts California in unusual territory for the time being, establishing a two-tiered system of marriage across the state for same-sex couples. Under the ruling, Proposition 8 will continue to outlaw same-sex marriage in the future, but those gay and lesbian couples who got their marriage licenses before last November's election will remain on equal legal footing with heterosexual couples.

At least 2,000 "Marriage Equality" supporters gathered in front of the Supreme Court this morning to await the ruling, including Zinnia Gaines and her wife, Rasheeda Gaines. The African American couple got married Sept. 25, 2008, just a few months before the November election. As word of the decision spread, the crowd let out a resounding "boo" and many hugged. Zinnia, who was holding a large poster that included a copy of their marriage certificate, photographs from their wedding and of their 7-year-old son, burst into tears.

"They keep talking about gays and lesbians as if we are not humans,'' said Zinnia Gaines. "Even though we got married before the election, it's still scary because they can always revote."
Gaines said she feared that Prop. 8 supporters could somehow file another statewide ballot initiative that could ultimately nullify her marriage.

"We have to really start getting out there and telling the stories of our families, and letting our children talk,'' Zinnia Gaines said.

After the court's decision was released, hundreds of people somberly walked across the place to San Francisco's City Hall, where the first gay marriages were performed in February 2004. Inside, attorneys for several organizations that fought Prop 8 gave an hour long news conference.
"It is impossible to square the elation we felt a year ago with the grief we feel today," said Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "It is clear this is not the end."

Gay marriage advocates vowed to take the fight to "win marriage back" to California voters again in 2010.

About 150 protesters, some holding roses, blocked the intersection at Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street near city hall with hundreds more rallying around them. Police stood nearby to contain the crowd but kept traffic away until noon when they began arresting people still blocking the intersection.

The 6-1 decision to uphold Prop 8 was widely expected by legal experts, as it was considered unlikely the justices would have the legal authority to overturn a voter-approved amendment to the California constitution. Only Justice Carlos Moreno voted to strike down Prop 8.

Chief Justice Ronald George, who authored last year's ruling striking down the state's prior ban on gay marriage, wrote today's majority opinion upholding Prop 8, cautioning that the decision is not based on whether the measure "is wise or sound as a matter of policy,'' but instead "concerns the scope of the right of the people ... to change or alter the state Constitution itself.''

The ruling is likely to shift the battleground over gay marriage back to the political arena, as gay rights advocates already are mobilizing to push another ballot measure to erase Prop 8, approved by voters by a 52 to 48 percent margin.

Civil rights groups are hopeful they can duplicate the political momentum they've gained in Iowa and on the East Coast, where a number of states have moved in recent months to legalize gay marriage.

"While we were hoping the court would rule in favor of equality, we have been building the infrastructure to win marriage equality rights at the ballot box,'' said Rick Jacobs, chair of the pro-gay marriage Courage Campaign.

Gay marriage foes quickly praised the ruling.

"In America, we respect the results of fair elections,'' said Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund. "The California Supreme Court arrived at the only correct conclusion available."

In a statement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger repeated his past stance that he believes gay marriage willl eventually be permitted in California. "While I believe that one day either the people or courts will recognize gay marriage, as governor of California I will uphold the decision,'' he said, adding the justices "made the right decision" to keep the existing marriages intact.

For the state Supreme Court, today's ruling rested on very different issues than what the justices considered last May, when they overturned California's previous ban on gay marriage in a historic ruling that rocked the state and sent thousands of same-sex couples scrambling to the altar. In that 4-3 decision, the court concluded that a ballot measure and family law statute outlawing same-sex marriage violated the California constitution's equal protection guarantees for gays and lesbians by depriving them of the equal right to marry.

Prop 8 altered the legal debate because it actually amended the state constitution itself, the ultimate trump card against Supreme Court intervention. The majority portrayed Prop 8 as a measure that has limits, removing the label of marriage for same-sex couples but not "the right of those couples to establish an officially recognized family relationship.''

And other things, Prop 8 does not impact the state's strong domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples. Gay rights advocates, however, have decried such a system because it sets up a separate status from heterosexual couples.

Karen Strauss and Ruth Borenstein, lead plaintiffs in one of the legal challenges to Prop 8, expressed disappointment that they will be unable to marry now. "I was so hoping the court would find its way to a decision that continues, rather than repeals, our equality under the law,'' Strauss said.

In his dissent, Moreno, who'd been mentioned in recent weeks as a possible U.S. Supreme Court candidate, warned that the ruling "places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities.''

A number of local governments, including San Francisco and Santa Clara County, challenged the measure, along with civil rights groups and same-sex couples seeking the right to marry. The central argument was that Prop 8 amounted to an improper method of amending the California constitution, and that it unfairly targeted a minority group by taking away the right to marry.
Attorney General Jerry Brown went further, arguing that Prop 8 should be invalidated because it conflicted directly with last year's state Supreme Court ruling finding a gay marriage ban unconstitutional.

Prop 8 supporters defended the law, arguing that the Supreme Court should not tamper with a voter-approved amendment to the constitution. Kenneth Starr, the former Whitewater special prosecutor and now dean of Pepperdine University law school, led the defense of the ballot measure in court.

My Heart is With Google’s Blogger and Entrecard, while other Blogging & Paid Writing Hostings are Biting the Dust:

My Heart is With Google’s Blogger and Entrecard, while other Blogging & Paid Writing Hostings are Biting the Dust:
By Marc Chamot

"Don’t put all of your apples on some of these free blogging hostings and paid writing sites. They may be scams, and it may be a total waste of your time and effort."

Blogging these days is tough. Rummaging through many of these new free blogging, and paid writing services may come to a surprising heart breaker for many bloggers.

I’m always looking to generate traffic into my blogger account and believing that these services will do it, but it’s always the opposite, they steal it.

There are many opportunities abound for bloggers, and I have tried a few, but in my opinion, nothing is better than Google Blogger, at https://www.blogger.com/start.

http://wordpress.org/ is another blogger service that is profoundly good also, but I’m not very familiar with them. I do see many bloggers using their services.
I have done a short stint with http://www.ning.com/ it was a total failure.

The problem with Ning, they don’t get your stuff into search engines to generate traffic into your page, so basically my link from my blog was directing traffic into their site. And they also censor stuff that they don’t like. My page has been reshuffled and changed a few times, and that some of my postings have been lost or disappeared. But to me, loss of Ning was no loss of sleep.

There is a firestorm of controversy brewing with Ning right now http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/03/ning-exposed-tech-company-ning-scams-its-clients/ “To make matter worse, the new Ning.com combines all member data from all websites created using the Ning system. The owners of the websites have no option to opt out or remove their members. There’s going to be a lot of explaining to do when members see their own picture, profile, and information on Ning.com, a website that most members have never even heard of.

Is Ning a scam? There’s a theory that Ning’s actions are part of a carefully planned scam to make the company the next MySpace or Facebook. Instead of spending millions of dollars advertising and gathering enough members to compete with MySpace or Facebook, why not create a social network platform and rely on the ambition of thousands of other network creators to up build membership. When the time is right, simply take all of those members and combine them into one super-site, Ning.com.”

The other one I unfortunately got into was http://www.today.com/ and that was a total failure also.

I just recently got evicted from that site. They said that the Marc Chamot Report was not a fit for their business model. Of course I wasn’t in their business model, because I had stopped posting there almost as soon as I started. I did not like what I was seeing.

I noticed when I posted on today.com, it removed my article links from blogger on search engines, in other words, my posted stories and Internet traffic were going to today, rather than my blog on blogger, I was losing in my Google ads. So my blogger blog was basically losing traffic from Google searchers, and today wasn’t generating traffic into my blog, nor wasn’t I making any money either.

And for good reason, I did not put all of my apples on today.com neither, because they have been banning bloggers left and right recently over payouts not being taken care of as promised.

A good many of them devoted their time and effort in today.com and lost their total control of their blog contents which is pretty sad. There is a network of these fallen today.com survivors who banded together http://todayexiles.blogspot.com/ to keep their blog traffics and their blogs alive.

Posted from todayexiles.blogspot.com, “I signed on a year ago, back when Today.com was still relatively new. I didn't expect to be accepted, but was, and was shocked. It was only much later that I realized that they accepted everyone, and that I wasn't special. Everyone back then made a fairly decent income for running a blog, $5 a post per day, and that was for posting anything we wanted to. I was their first Most Popular Blogger. When others would diss the place I'd tell them this was among one of the better places that I had ever written, as I knew they truly had my best interests at heart. This is despite the fact that a few months later, newer hires were receiving a fraction of the money I was.”

Today.com didn’t like me for two reasons; I wasn’t willing to dump blogger for them, especially since blogger has been good to me for the past two years since I’ve been blogging with them. And also because I was duplicating my blog posts from blogger into theirs, so basically I was very fortunate not to lose control of my posted articles.

http://newstex.com/ is the only place on the Net that has been paying me for my blog postings on a regular basis. Not a whole lot money, but just about $35.00 every quarter. They are growing, and they are very reputable. I was one of the lucky ones to get on board with them earlier on, they have so many blogs that I don’t think it is as simple to latch on with them now.

I would also suggest for folks to get on with http://www.linkreferral.com/adwel.pl, it has done wonders in bringing traffic into my blogs. I have even posted all the comments that people have said about my blogs.

But the bottom line folks, after two years of blogging experience, there’s nothing better than Google blogger and its search engines, and Entrecard at http://entrecard.com/, those two truly generates larger traffic into blogs. Even though it takes time for Google to work, it takes a whole lot of writing, postings and patience for Google search engines to finally kick-in for your blog. In the meantime, use Entrecard.com as another great blog traffic generator for your site.

Google is a very trusting and reputable company to be associated with. They are a phenomenal Internet machine, and being associated with them is a big benefit for bloggers in general. Entrecard is pretty new, but they got an owner that’s really involved in making it a great Internet tool for bloggers.

All of the other gadgets on my blogs are pretty much too new to rate or mention at this time.

Democrat Lawmakers Reject Funding to Shut Down Detainee Center & Judge Rules Detainees Can Be Held Indefinitely:

An Obama Defeat; Democrat Lawmakers Reject Funding to Shut Down Guantanamo Bay Prison & Judge Rules Detainees Can Be Held Indefinitely:
By Marc Chamot

“A BIG message was sent to President Barack Obama; We Don’t like the Way You’re Running this Country”

It has been a very bad day for President Barack Obama, California politicians, and his left leaning supporters. People aren’t going for any more higher taxes and wanton neglect of this country any much longer.

As I had mentioned on my other blog the other day, in the Marc Chamot & Opinions, I had said that President Barack Obama, will not get that “carte blanche” that he wants on many of his pet issues from other Democrats and from anybody else, unless he comes down to earth and be more realistic, instead of running this country like his OWN pipe dream.

Obama needs to become more realistic and be a whole lot smarter on issues and he’s not showing any of that yet.

On the heels of that California tax revolt, who voters have just rejected a massive proposed tax increases through voter’s initiatives, and now this, it looks like a big setback for President Barack Obama and his left-wing backers.

The U.S. senates Democrats have just given Obama and outstanding defeat in getting funds to close Guantanamo Bay. But not only that, a U.S. Judge has also declared that these terrorists cannot come to the U.S. and can remain in Guantanamo indefinitely.

US judge rules Guantánamo detainees can be held indefinitely “Ruling comes as Republicans renew efforts to prevent transfer of any of the prisoners to the US. A US federal judge has ruled that President Barack Obama may indefinitely detain without charges al-Qaida and Taliban members and terrorist suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, as Republican senators are renewing efforts to prevent transfer any of the 245 prisoners to the US.”

Barack Obama has been waffling around on too many issues lately, especially on where these violent terrorist would end up going, and maybe coming into the states.

Obama’s also failing on jobs, he’s not meeting his campaign promises on jobs and NAFTA, and some of his Democrat allies, and voters are beginning to lose their patience with him. "He’s just not meeting with many of his campaign promises and obligations as commander in chief." Just pure rhetoric is coming from the Obama White House, but no action yet on improving national security and jobs.

It’s a JOLT of reality that Obama is going to face, until he settles down and does the right thing for this country, or ELSE, there will be more embarrassments like these.

I’m sure after all of this, and the Nancy Pelosi fiasco and these new current developments, Obama’s favorable ratings are going to drop a little further.

New polls show that Nancy Pelosi’s poll number has dropped considerably since the CIA briefings fiasco; a recent CNN poll showed that 48% of the people disapprove the job she’s doing while only 39% approve.

And a separate Rasmussen poll puts the CIA in favorable 63% to Pelosi’s paltry 35%. That is pretty shameful and sad for Pelosi and the Democrats.

Like I said before, if Democrats don’t get their “heads out of their arses” soon, they won’t make it too long with these kinds of poll numbers.

The bottom line is folks, people are not VERY happy with the ANEMIC performances coming from these politicians, and this president, and mainly Democrats. Even some Democrats aren’t happy with some of these casts of characters.

Democrats on Capitol Hill Rebel against President Obama's Guantanamo Bay Plan
By JONATHAN KARL and Z. BYRON WOLFMay 20, 2009

The U.S. Senate today voted overwhelmingly to block funding to shut down the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, dealing another blow to one of President Obama's signature national security issues.

In a 90-6 vote, the Senate followed in the footsteps of the House of Representatives and passed an amendment deleting $80 million in funds from a war funding bill earmarked to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Republicans have been raising alarm bells for weeks about the prospect of Obama's planned Guantanamo closure.



Where will the detainees go, they've asked over and over. Will they be tried in the United States? And will former detainees, if cleared of the charges against them, be walking the U.S. streets?
Democrats have answered by rejecting Obama's request for money to start the base closure.

Nancy Pelosi under Fire; obviously she’s a Liar & a Hypocrite with the American People:

Nancy Pelosi's under Fire; obviously she’s a Big Liar & a Hypocrite with the American People:
By Marc Chamot

Nancy Pelosi did a big doo-doo that politicians must never do; she became a hypocritical critic about waterboarding and tortures goings on, during the former President Bush’s administration.

Updated Saturday, May 16th 2009 CIA Refutes House Leader Claim

In regards to any doubts about Nancy Pelosi's guilt, and what some people are saying in her defence, is basically that a well known Democrat and close ally to Pelosi and head of the CIA Leon Panetta is also a liar?

Quoted from the New York Times: “Mr. Panetta, a former Democratic congressman from California and a longtime associate of Ms. Pelosi, issued a statement that said the agency’s “contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that C.I.A. officers briefed truthfully,” a rebuttal of Ms. Pelosi’s claim on Thursday that intelligence officials had lied to her.”

Today came out more bad news on the scandal, Nancy Pelosi knew and has somewhat admitted to it, “. Pelosi said she did not learn until five months later that the practice had already been used at the time of that 2002 briefing.”

CIA Director Leon Panetta told employees in a written statement Friday that records show the agency truthfully briefed lawmakers that year, during a closed session on enhanced interrogation methods. Representatives, told reporters Thursday a CIA team under the Republican Bush administration specifically told her waterboarding, a practice that stimulates drowning, was not being used.

Pelosi said she did not learn until five months later that the practice had already been used at the time of that 2002 briefing. Panetta, a Democrat, and former senior member and close colleague of Pelosi in the House of Representatives, who was appointed by Mr. Obama, told employees it is not the agency's practice to mislead Congress. He also urged them to ignore the political battle and remain focused on their mission.

Now Pelosi realizing she’s in a heap of trouble with her base, she said this yesterday, in a statement issued Friday evening, Ms. Pelosi also sought to quiet matters. “My criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe,” she said. “What is important now is to be united in our commitment to ensuring the security of our country.”

Even some of her hardcore supporters in California had this to say, in Ms. Pelosi’s home state, California; residents say they are having a hard time accepting her account. “I’m very skeptical of what she’s saying, and when she goes to get re-elected, this could really damage her credibility,” said Delphine Langille of San Ramon, one of several people interviewed Friday outside of City Hall in San Francisco.

Madame Speaker of Lies: Update 3:21 p.m. New York Times

"Under fire from Republicans for what she knew about harsh questioning of terror detainees, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday acknowledged that she had learned in 2003 that the C.I.A. had subjected suspects to waterboarding, but she asserted that the agency had misled Congress about its techniques."

At a tense press conference, Ms. Pelosi said for the first time that a staff member alerted her in February 2003 that top lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee had been briefed on the use of tough interrogation methods on terror suspects.

But she said the fact that she did not speak out at the time due to secrecy rules did not make her complicit in any abuse of detainees."

Obviously, Nancy Pelosi being a confirmed Catholic, forgot the Biblical meaning of, “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”

What annoys me about some of these Americans, they seem to forget that four planes were hijacked and crashed into buildings where over 3,000 Americans were murdered by murderous terrorists back around September 11th, 2001.

So to keep America safe, maybe we were a little to harsh to react, but let’s face it folks, America have been a safer place since, but unfortunately there are those amongst us who want to rehash open wounds, when they should be left alone as part of past American history.

It’s a lesson for President Barack Obama; this is what I mean can happen when one elected administration goes after the previous one, especially when they have ideological differences. There will be backfires, and the Nancy Pelosi charade is a big one for the Democrats.

President Obama needs to worry more about our dire economy and lack of jobs, rather than concentrate his foolish efforts going after former Bush’s cronies. Otherwise his Party may not make it by the end of his four years term.

President Obama is still failing miserably on the economy and jobs, especially with Chrysler and General Motors cutting off approximately 2,000 dealerships among themselves, and possibly putting additional 100,000 workers on the unemployment lines.

But, President Barack Obama is absolutely correct in not releasing damaging photos to the public, about our military’s questionable acts that were committed towards our enemies for our own security.

Apparently those on the left who are pushing for the release of these photos are so anti-American and anti-military it’s maddening. Putting the lives of our honorable service men, and women at stake is so incomprehensible and evil.

And now:

Former VP Dick Cheney is right to push for the CIA records to be released about the success in our interrogational systems to get information about other future terror acts.

Hey! Never mind that these terrorists crashed our own passengers planes and killed over 3,000 innocent Americans and foreigners, they brought the war into our soil, and so what seems to be the problem if we retaliate harshly a bit?

This fight was brought about by the left and Nancy Pelosi, and now she’s ensnarled in a torture scandal with her adamants supporters.

Of course Nancy Pelosi knew that these tortures were going on, she was part of the Democratic hierarchy that had to know about it, but the imbecility of Nancy Pelosi’s insistence in pushing for a “truths commission” has bit her on her royal butt.

She’s now fighting hard to survive politically, when she’s got no legs to stand on.

I had in a previous posting suggested that the matter should be dropped, but unfortunately some people were pushing for something that was better to be forgotten, but instead it grabbed one of their biggest Democrats.

Nancy Pelosi is lying to us, it’s her words against the CIA’s, and I’ll take the CIA any day over one lying politician out from California. Nancy Pelosi had made herself a legitimate target for being hypocritical about the former George Bush presidency and she deserves her karma.

The question to be asked, is Nancy Pelosi fit to represent Americans as a whole, especially as speaker of the house? I really don’t think so.

I think that the Mrs. Nancy Pelosi bit too much that she could chew on, especially when she went full steam ahead to appease her left-wing supporters. And President Obama is heading down the same path.

I couldn’t be any happier with what’s going on with that one sleazy woman. Great going lady!

Pelosi under more fire
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor May 15, 2009 12:19 PM
If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thought her press conference on Thursday would put to rest accusations that she knew about waterboarding of terrorist suspects and did nothing to stop it, the exact opposite seems to be happening.

By accusing the CIA of misleading her and other members of Congress, she has ratcheted up the controversy.

Republicans are hammering her, defending the spy agency, and some are calling for her to step down as speaker.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said she is involved in a "despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort" to withhold what she knew about the interrogations.
""I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters," Gingrich said on ABC Radio.

Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican, called on Pelosi to resign. On Fox News Channel, he said that her criticism of the CIA was "an outrageous accusation" and said that it was the height of arrogance for her "to think she can roll back the truth."

"I think it's a tragedy that we are seeing this massive attack on our intelligence community which has kept us safe," Senator Kit Bond of Missouri, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on NBC's "Today" show where he questioned why Pelosi was "going after the agency and calling them liars."

In the news conference Thursday, Pelosi insisted that in a CIA briefing she received in September 2002 she was told that waterboarding was not being used when it was.

A Glossary of Democrat & Republican Dialect/Doublespeak; Two of the Top Media Political Writers are dishing it out:

A Glossary of Democrat & Republican Dialect/Doublespeak; Two of the Top Media Political Writers are dishing it out:
By Marc Chamot

I found this very interesting piece in the San Francisco Sunday’s Chronicle’s Insight opinion piece. It’s a glossary of both parties, and what the words mean for each party. It’s quite funny and amusing to read.

Some of them hit-it-right-on-the-nail about each perspective’s party and their perceptions, and some I don’t know, it could be pretty lame. Can anyone ad to this?

But I disagree with New York Time’s Jaime O’Neill’s on Activist judges: Judges whose rulings are at odds with the perceived wisdom of Republicans, as explained to them by Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh.

Republicans aren’t the only folks that think that way. Many People and Democrats all over are getting damn sick and tired when our election results are OVERTURNED by these activist judges. JO is absolutely wrong in that perception.

Mastering the Democrats' dialect
Debra J. Saunders
Sunday, May 10, 2009

Doublespeak is alive as Democrats pull the strings in the White House and Congress 25 years after 1984. What do they mean when they engage in Democrat-speak?
I know I'm not worthy, but I've got an assignment, so I shall borrow a page from Ambrose Bierce, not with a Devil's Dictionary, but a Democrats' Dictionary. The easy part: There's no dif.

Academic freedom: Full license to espouse liberal thought to unformed minds.
Bailout: Billions upon billions - trillions really - of government aid doled out to financial institutions to remind voters of the need for strong regulation.
Biden, Joe: Running-at-the-mouth politician, but, hey, he was elected vice president.
Bipartisanship: 40 Republicans and 60 Democrats.
Bush, George W.: Big-spending, war-waging Republican.
Cheney, Dick: Satan.
Clean coal: What Santa Claus puts in Democrats' stockings so they don't have to admit that their global-warming agenda is anti-coal.
Climate change: Global warming during a blizzard.
CNN: Unbiased news network whose reporters battle "right-wing" media.
Deficits: Overspending before 2009, or spending practices that President Obama inherited. For current usage, see: Investment.
Extremists: Abortion opponents.
Fox News: Unlike CNN, biased news network.
Global warming: An apocalyptic theory that every scientist believes in - except dissenting scientists who don't count - best bemoaned from one's Gulf Stream jet en route to an international conference on the environment.
God: What people in small towns clung to before Obama won the White House. See: guns, anti-immigrant or anti-trade beliefs.
Health care costs: A spiraling chunk of the U.S. economy that can be reduced by providing health care to all Americans. Really.
Homeland security: Gun control.
Iraq: An immoral war, once the focus of numerous anti-war demonstrations, which Democratic leaders vowed to end immediately upon winning the White House - until Obama won the 2008 election.
Liberal: The L-word, a term unfairly hurled by name-calling right-wing kooks.
Lieberman, Joe: Former Democrat turned independent senator from Connecticut. Sellout.
McCain, John: Former GOP maverick who - the nerve - turned out to actually be a Republican.
Middle class: Families that earn less than $250,000 - until Washington decides it might be a good idea to pay for all the new Obama-era programs.
Nuance: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to refer to terrorist attacks as "man-caused disasters." Formerly known as doublespeak.
Obama, Barack: God, at least in Detroit.
Oil: A crude substance used to fuel other people's cars.
One hundred days: The first in a series of holy days during which dutiful media preside over national thanksgiving.
Palin, Sarah: White-trashy grandmother utterly unqualified and too dim-witted to be vice president.
Pandemic: CNN-speak for flu.
Pelosi, Nancy: Grandmotherly House speaker who could not be expected to understand that when Bushies authorized waterboarding of high-value detainees, it actually might happen.
Progressive: Liberal.
Public transportation: What other people should take to work.
Regulation: The threat of a salary cap for executives with firms receiving federal funds.
Republican Party: The party of the rich - if the California inland empire and Central Valley are rich, and Beverly Hills, Marin County and Malibu are not.
Sacrifice: Something Bush never asked for during time of war. Now a tax cut for 95 percent of working families while U.S. troops fight in two wars abroad.
Specter, Arlen: Republican turned Democratic senator from Pennsylvania. Free thinker.
Stimulus: A rush in the nether regions at the prospect of spending trillions of dollars you don't have. Not to be confused with: banking.
Surge: A tactic involving troop increases that could never work in Iraq, but always made sense for Afghanistan.
Tobacco: Toxic substance that should be overtaxed or banned - unless it is marijuana. Then see: Medicine.
Tolerance: An essential element to civil societies; individuals deemed insufficiently tolerant must be re-educated.
War on terror: The fairness doctrine, the only weapon that can harm America's true enemy: Rush Limbaugh.
Waterboarding: Torture - unless a plane piloted by terrorists hits a reservoir.
You can e-mail Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@sfchronicle.com.

A glossary of Republican doublespeak
Jaime O'Neill
Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Republican universe is a bit topsy-turvy, rather like the one created by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." In that story, the Queen of Hearts did not restrict herself to the generally accepted meaning of words. When she used a word, she said, it meant exactly what she wanted it to mean, no more and no less. It was good to be queen.
And, until recently, it was good to be Republican. They held the White House, and their top guys had most of the money and consequently got most of the tax breaks. Yet they still felt aggrieved and put upon, stalked by demon Democrats who didn't understand their fundamental goodness or the language they were speaking.

People who don't dwell in the land of Republicans might become confused upon hearing the alternative English they speak. Republican is a tough language, but with application and study, you, too, can learn it:

Activist judges: Judges whose rulings are at odds with the perceived wisdom of Republicans, as explained to them by Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh.
Bankers: Stewards of the capitalist system who always know what's best for the economy, who deserve low taxes and big year-end bonuses no matter how poorly their institutions have performed.
Class warfare: Assaults on rich people in the form of the usual whining of poor people.
Clinton, Wm. Jefferson: Democrat president whose sexual dalliance sent the nation into a tailspin from which even George W. Bush could not save it.
Compassionate conservatism: Ignoring the poor, except for an occasional contribution to the collection plate at church. Also see "conservatism."
Democrats: Devil-worshiping scum, foes of free enterprise, champions of the shiftless and the lazy, enemies of hardworking Americans everywhere.
Energy policy: Drill, baby, drill.
Fairness Doctrine: A government regulation once imposed on broadcasters under the mistaken notion that the public airways were owned by the public. Wisely rescinded by Ronald Reagan, paving the way for the careers of Rush Limbaugh, et al.
Fox News: A place where failed newsmen go to live out their golden years (e.g., Britt Hume, Geraldo Rivera), with paychecks provided by an Australian capitalist intent on explaining America to itself.
Gore, Al: Democrat presidential candidate and sore loser who concocted the myth of global warming just to steal joy from the Republicans who beat him.
Greed: The emotion that drives food-stamp recipients.
Justice Department: Agency created to legitimize illegal acts of Republican presidents.
Liberal: Any of a species of lily-livered, weak and effeminate men, or pushy and overly masculine women who have either renounced men altogether, or turned them into "girly-men."
Limbaugh, Rush: A male Mother Teresa for the oppressed captains of business and industry.
New York Times: Propaganda organ, once affiliated with Pravda, now a subsidiary of Al-Jazeera.
No!: All-purpose reply to any idea that doesn't include tax cuts for the wealthy.
Obama, Barack: Inept, inexperienced and inarticulate Negro man elected to the highest office in the biggest mistake the American electorate ever made.
Patriotism: Hoping the nation's leader fails, if he's a Democrat. Hoping the nation's leader succeeds, if he's a Republican.
Pelosi, Nancy: See also "harpy," "harridan."
Poor: People born lacking the gene that creates a solid work ethic, but with an excess number of genes that prompt whining.
Profit: The most sacred goal of human existence. Anything that interferes with its pursuit or acquisition is an affront to God.
Republicans: 1) The only real Americans; 2) Those who uphold traditional American values, such as marital fidelity, and disdain un-American practices such as homosexuality. Republicans uphold these values in public, though they sometimes are found to betray those values in private. They're only human, after all. (see also Vitter, David, or Craig, Larry).
Saint: (n.) See Reagan, Ronald.
Secular humanists: See "spawn of Satan."
Victory: A word foreign to Democrats, who always favor retreat or capitulation to the nation's enemies, foreign or domestic.
Wall Street: The nervous system of America, linked directly to the heart and brain. In short, the essence of this great nation.

Jaime O'Neill is a Butte County writer whose work has been in the New York Times Sunday Magazine and other publications. Contact us atforum@sfchronicle.com.

Thanks for the Memories; The Oakland Raiders Mystique is Long Gone; it’s Time for Al Davis to GO:

Thanks for the Memories; The Oakland Raiders Mystique is Long Gone; it’s Time for Al Davis to GO:
By Marc Chamot

I rarely bring sports into my blogs, but there’s an exception to every rule.

"What used to be a commitment to excellence mantra, it has slowly become more like a commitment to idiocy by Al Davis with his bad drafts lately."

Back around 1975 I joined the U.S. Navy. This former immigrant who came to America knew nothing about American football. I grew up playing soccer, soccer was in my blood. I can remember after boot camp, I was stationed on board a naval ship, in New Port Rhode Island around 1976. I was accustomed of watching a whole lot of television, but football wasn’t the stuff that piqued my interest.

I remember when I blasted my shipmates when football was on every television sets on the ship. It sure was annoying as hell, I just plainly hated it, and I made sure to let them know about it.

Then one Sunday, I happened to be at an enlisted mans, NCO club on base. But guess what was on TV? Yeah, that’s right the Super Bowl! It was the Raiders vs. the Minnesota Vikings. But what happened next, it came as suddenly and unexpected, it was the love for American football. I fell in love with those “bad boys” the Silver and Black.

I can remember the quarterback, Kenny (the snake) Stabler, when he made that huge pass to Fred Biletnikoff on the sidelines, which led them to win their first Super Bowl.

Unbeknownst to me, the Oakland Raiders had a mystique about them, which I learned later, they were the Bad Boys of the league, they were known as the most feared Raiders of the league. And I personified that image right unto myself.

In my opinion, this was the GREATEST Raiders teams that Al Davis ever produced.

I can remember them all, Dave (the Friendly Ghost) Casper the tight end, Cliff Branch wide receiver, the Mad Stork, Ted Hendricks, once known as the most impenetrable line in football with the likes of Art Shell and Gene Upshaw, and who can forget the Tooz, John Matuszak, and Otis Sistrunk? Here are the memorable Raiders and the rest of their roster.
DB Butch Atkinson
RB Pete Banaszak
RB/TE Warren Bankston
LB Rodrigo Barnes
WR Fred Biletnikoff
LB Greg Blankenship
LB Rik Bonness
WR Morris Bradshaw
WR Cliff Branch
CB Willie Brown
G George Buehler
TE Dave Casper
DB Neal Colzie
C/G Dave Dalby
RB Clarence Davis
RB Carl Garrett
RB Hubert Ginn
P Ray Guy
LB Willie Hall
LB Ted Hendricks
RB Marv Hubbard
QB David Humm
RB/WR Rick Jennings
LB Monte Johnson
RB Terry Kunz
TE Ted Kwalick
T/G Henry Lawrence
K Errol Mann
DE/DT John Matuszak
DT/DE Herb McMath
G Dan Medlin
RB Manfred Moore
DB Charlie Phillips
DE Charles Philyaw
QB Mike Rae
DB Mike Reinfeldt
LB/TE Floyd Rice
DT Dave Rowe
T/HC Art Shell
WR Mike Siani
DT/DE Otis Sistrunk
QB Ken Stabler
K Fred Steinfort
C/G/T Steve Sylvester
DB Jack Tatum
DB Skip Thomas
G Gene Upshaw
RB Mark van Eeghen
T John Vella
LB Phil Villapiano

I was a devoted and a hardcore Oakland Raiders fan since then, I became a big Al Davis, Raider’s owner fan also. But unfortunately things change, and I truly believe that Al Davis has lost his Midas touch in football.

Ever since their last Super Bowl thrashing in the hands of the mighty Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, it was all over for Al Davis and his Raiders. I knew right then that Al Davis had made so many drafting errors in the past, it had finally caught up with him and bit him right on his butt.

Football has changed through the times. They sure don’t make football players like they used to anymore, football has evolved where players have no loyalty for the teams they play, and for the fans, but they are more loyal for the almighty dollar.

It’s sad watching one of the greatest franchises in the AFC, slowly dismantling itself as the owner himself. Al Davis should have left football years ago, he’s become nothing but dementia ridden and an egocentrical baboon.

Take this year’s draft, it was a real shocker. Three wasted top draft picks picked on inferior quality players. There is uproar among Oakland Raiders fans in Oakland, and there will definitely be a whole lot of empty seats at the stadium this year.

Al Davis! Mind you folks; he took a third ranked college wide receiver in the seventh pick, bypassing the two best in college league. Michael Crabtree arguably the best out of college went to the San Francisco 49ers three picks later.

Al Davis thought that Heyward Bey was a real good catch. He should have known from his past mistakes that speed don’t usually make a good pass catching receiver. He’s got tons of them that were left on the football field of carnage.

I have no doubt that it’s time for old Al Davis to retire and remove himself from Oakland Raiders football. Football has passed him by, his old philosophy of throwing the bomb; the deep pass is old and predictable. He’s old and predictable.

The Raiders old mystique is pretty much a memory to most of us. It’s very sad watching an old senile fool, whose full bent on destroying a once proud franchise. I have stopped watching the team, a team that I have followed for 28 years, and seven years after first arriving to America, the team that personified me, it’s no more for me and that’s for sure.

Banks Rule! U.S. Senate Kills Obama’s Plan to Help Struggling Home Owners:

Banks Rule! U.S. Senate Kills Obama’s Plan to Help Struggling Home Owners:
By Marc Chamot

I told you so people that these Washington politicians don’t give an ounce of a DAMN about you and me. This lackluster interest in helping out hurting homeowners in an attempt to change the 2005 contrarian and destructive bankruptcy laws, to help struggling American homeowners, isn’t happening.

It proves only one thing that banks in America truly rule over us peons, and their puppets are these Washington BOZOS that we keep on electing in office.

The Democratic controlled Senate yesterday, defeated a plan to spare hundreds of thousands of homeowners through bankruptcies.

A proposal that President Barack Obama embraced but did little to push for it, a dozen Democrats joined with the always Party of “No” Republicans in a 45-51 vote to kill the measure.

Even backstabbing California senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer voted along with the Republicans to kill this measure.

President Obama had said that the measure was very important to help struggling folks and saving the economy. And he promised to push it through congress, but didn’t do it, it’s just another Barack Obama lie and a disappointment that we have to put up with.

Banks are saying that a whopping 8 million Americans are facing foreclosures!

The reason given for their disapproval was that it would spike up filings. “No bull! Sherlock,” when 8 million Americans are about to lose their homes, of course there will be a spike in filings.

President Barack Obama had been talking about this for over a month. It was to help provide debt ridden Americans, who have lost their jobs, or cut backs in incomes, to receive some kind of help from bankruptcy judges, in lowering their mortgages.

In recent days, as it became clear that the proposal would fail, Obama did little to put the squeeze on his Democratic cohorts. And he tumbled like a collapsing folding chair, when the BANKS were aggressively fighting this bill.